A Few Sounds Heard 'Round Our Household Recently

* Plock *

The sound of a full bottle of olive oil shattering on the kitchen floor

* Whooeet! Whooeet! * 

The sound of me whistling to call the kittycat. 

* Whooeet! Whooeet! * 

The sound of a mockingbird...um...calling the kittycat?  Lucky for the mockingbird, the kitty has learned to ignore us both.  A mockingbird in our yard once learned to mock our phone ringing.  Very entertaining.

* Thoomp!  Thoomp! Thoomp! *

The sound of a little gymnast practicing round-offs

* Thoomp! Thoomp! Thoomp! *

The sound of a little gymnast practicing back walk-overs - they are quieter than round-offs

This picture has no relation to the post above it, but I am just so happy to have rediscovered my camera, tucked into my crochet bag during Gymnastics camp, and wanted to show off what's left of my first 2 batches of bluberry jam.

17 More Projects

I have that whole 17 Projects vibe goin' on in my head again. I am wanting to do it myself!  Today I'll show you some home decor inspirations that are calling my name.  Maybe later this week I'll show you some more, including crochet and sewing.  Hey, maybe I'll even get crazy and post recipe inspirations!  Here is the today bunch:
 We painted Earthgirl's room LAST YEAR, but have yet to add a new bedcovering, window treatment, and accessories.   - We already have purchased enough polka dot fabric for a duvet or quilt top, and enough floral for pillowcases. 

We found this inspiration from Hobby Lobby

The pillowcases may even get You Go Girl's posh pillowcases treatment.


I have the plainest white cabinets.  I'd like to mess with them a little and give them some kind of character:
It would be a good idea to close the pantry door before taking a picture, huh?

Kitchen re-do, especially using that beadboard wallpaper.

 Maybe I could beadboard the cabinet doors, then mould them?  I like how they upgraded the cabinets without purchasing new cabinets:

Drab to Fab's kitchen re-do

A blog post link-up on kitchen cabinet re-do's is brewing over at Funky Junk Interiors.  I'm looking forward to perusing the results - I could find some heavy-duty inspiration there!

I want something aqua, like this:

Sweet as June Aqua re-do.

or this for Flea Market Trixie

OK, that's all for today.

Comfort Food

Even here in the middle of Florida we have seen some cool days and cold nights this winter.  It's a great time for a bowl full of comfort!

Everything is Homemade has a yummy recipe for Un-Chicken Noodle Soup. This is a new favorite for me.  When I made it, I was missing some of the specific herbs and spices, so I just used Italian seasoning and Beau Monde seasoning instead. (We just recently bought our first Beau Monde seasoning, and we have been dumping it on everything!  It's yum on chicken, fish, vegetables, salad, boiled eggs, bread-and-butter, bagels-and-cream cheese...)  And I did not run buy the vegetarian bouillon; I used the chicken bouillon I already had on hand.  We think this would be really good with actual chicken in it, too.  Hmmm...maybe I'll make some more tonight!

I just learned how to spell bouillon.  I thought it was "boullion", but Mr. Spelczek underlined it, so I checked my fave online dictionary. 

We love Southern Plate's Chicken and Dumplings. Hmmm...maybe I'll make this tonight! 

We also love homemade chicken pot pie, topped either with Mama's dumplings, Pillsbury's pie crust, homemade biscuits (for those of you not from the US, these are NOT sweet biscuits/cookies, but Southern quick-bread biscuits), or frozen biscuits.  Maybe I'll make THIS tonight.


The theme here seems to be "chicken and starch."

Recreating history

I am awash in a sea of brown fleece today, making a cape for a Spanish serving girl.

Our young friend goes to St. Augustine to take part in recreating history.  I'm embarrassed to admit that though we live less than 2 hours away from this historical city, we have yet to really do a history fieldtrip to St. Augustine.  

.

She'll have the cape at bottom right, but calf-length.

Our friend goes to St. Augustine every year to carry a lantern and be a part of history.  Her brother, a re-enactor since age 6, even gets to fire a musket! Since I did a little dress-up-and-play-history when I was young, I think it is really cool.  Because of the time I spent being an 1850's girl, I feel very confident about that period of history in south Georgia, at least, the everyday history of the doctor, the lady who spun cotton and wove it, the quilter, the potter, the syrup-maker, the shoemaker - I spent time in all their houses, showing them to visitors.  From age 9 until I was grown, I always had a long 1850's dress or skirt. 

We lit real candles on the tree in this stagecoach inn at Christmastime.  Over the years, we drank wassail, hung the greens, ate the yulelog cake (I never was the one who found the good luck pea), and in spring, danced around the Maypole.  I did not chase the greased pig on July 4th, though. 

Thinking about what I learned through my involvement there and how it enriched my life makes me wonder where and how I can help my daughter have some of this kind of experience. 

I hope to post a picture of the Spanish serving girl (a well-dressed serving girl), and maybe her brother the soldier in a few weeks.

Dream Job

The other day, Earthgirl asked me what my dream job would be.  Then she said, "I think I know.".

She was right.

I have my dream job.  I'm a wife and homeschooling mama.  I get to do some crafty artsy sewing-y things, and sometimes do a little technical work, self-employed.  That's what I want to do.  That's what I AM doing. 

Sometimes, though, I forget that I am in my dream job.  Sometimes I forget to thank God for my dream job, and for the husband and daughter who make it possible.  Sometimes I act grumpy.  I murmur and complain.

Mary Engelbreit did a piece of artwork years ago that has stuck with me.  It says, "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."  She attributes the quote to the very quotable Abraham Lincoln.  The quote is double-edged, isn't it?  There is the sunshiny, positive outlook of a woman who finds a way to take joy in  whatever place she finds herself.  Then there is the outlook that can grump even while living  her own dream.  I don't want to be viewpoint number 2 - I want to look around me and remember that I am in my dream job.

 At her Birthday Pajama Party: Though she is 10 now, Mama can still pick her up

B4 and After

I found this counter-height metal chair at a local church's yard sale.  It was so sturdy and sat so well that I circled back around to it.  I could so easily envision it in a bright shiny color, so I plunked down $5 for it and hauled it out to the minivan. 

 

It's sitting in my newly-repainted laundry room, next to my newly-spray-painted rolling cart.  The laundry room paint is a darker khaki color than it appears in the picture.

It said "Art Department" on the back in Magic Marker.  I'd love to sit in it while creating art.  


Now look at it!  It was the favorite counter stool for Earthgirl and her friends at her birthday sleepover Friday night.

I might be...laboring on Labor Day

We seem to have developed a tradition of laboring on Labor Day.  Years ago, when we lived elsewhere, friends dropped by to see us on Labor Day, while they were out house-shopping.  We had spent the day pulling muscadine vines out of  trees, sawing overgrown limbs, trimming hedges, raking and mowing our 1/2-acre lot. They took one look at us and decided to narrow their search to houses with a postage-stamp sized yard.

Our last week was a bit disrupted by a flood in the laundry room.

I thought I'd have to buy a washer, the old one being maybe 10-12 years old, but Pluto Boy saved the day.  He stayed home Friday so he could haul appliances if needed, but first he pulled the old one out to the driveway, hooked it to the hose, and tried to recreate the flood.  As long as he was running water, I tossed in detergent and clothes (after all, who knew how long it would be before I'd have a working machine?), and we looked like the answer to, "You might be a redneck if...your laundry room floods, so you haul the warshin' machine out to the front yard, hook up the hose, and do your warsh as usual."

I have misplaced my camera (left it somewhere?),  so I don't have a picture (Mama is probably relieved to hear that), though I'm sure it was an entertaining sight. 

After 3 loads of laundry, we had no flood, so in went the machine, where it promptly flooded.  PB, though, figured this one out - a hose had a split that only manifested itself when the hose was curved  - YAY!  Way less than $400 later, the floor is clean (6 moppings-worth of clean!) and dry, and so is all the laundry.

Well, as long as we had pulled both appliances away from the wall, it seemed like a good time to paint behind them.  I have had paint for a while, just waiting for a good time.  Since we were painting Earthgirl's room over the weekend, we even had brushes and rollers out. 

So as long as I had already painted behind the appliances, we decided it was a good time to take the wire shelving down (and, of course, everything on the shelves) and paint the whole laundry room. 

And as long as we were moving the little rolling cart out, it seemed like a good time to sweep it off and spray paint it - red!

And as long as we were painting the laundry room, it seemed like a good time to paint the base of the island in the kitchen the same color as the laundry room...

Now, mind you, the project of the Labor Day weekend was supposed to be ONLY Earthgirl's room. 

Do you relax or labor on Labor Day?

Made for the Shade

Red smudges decorate our white door.  I cannot blame anyone but me - those fingerprints match...me.  And the evidence mounts:  my feet wear a misting of red paint, the spray paint can - and the poor, outmatched paint thinner can are in my laundry room.  And in the garage, progress is being made toward a fresh seat in the shade for this summer.

Happy summertime, y'all.

Fun Saturday

Loading up with my sis-in-law,

Stopping to chat with my (now retired) 3rd grade teacher and (not at all retired) gardener extraordinaire,

Eating a hotdog outside, (and discovering the ladies room in this establishment is decorated in "Elvis"),

Plant sale,

Home decor store, Lowe's, Sear's,

Baskin and Robbins,

Another nursery for blue ajeratum and a hanging basket full of bright pink,

An errand or 2,

Pick up Krispie Kremes to take home, 

A visit with a friend in hospital - and seeing that she is doing much better (PTL!),

Stopping back by to pick up the lantanas left for us by gardener extraordinaire,

Cajun food with family,

Doughnuts for dessert,

Sigh...a really good Saturday.

Pretty good haul.  See the Krispie Kreme bag hanging on the left?

Wait - who's that riding along?

It's Abby.  She is such a good companion.

"Is it time for ice cream now?" 

RFD

I'm mailing something to my brother and sister-in-law today.  I am trying to remember what their address is.  No, they didn't move.  They live right on the farm where I grew up in the beautiful home they built a decade ago.  Their mailbox is right where it has been.

Some of my brother's 2009 crop of peanuts

In recent years, my home county, along with many other places, has changed the addresses for most of their rural residents.  Instead of using an RFD (Rural Free Delivery) address, such as "Route 4, Box 72" (not their real address), residents now have official number and road addresses, such as "1472 Maytown Road" (also not their real address.)  This makes it easier for emergency vehicles to find a particular house. So many folks live on smaller roads, and even little field roads, and each road had to be named.  Sometimes the road is named after the family who lives there; other times after original landowners.  Sometimes the road is named by the community name, or where it travels to and from.  As I travel up US 27 toward home, I pass by Benevolence-Pumpkin Road, one of my all-time favorite road names.

But I do not recall whether the Post Office prefers the current or former addressing system.  Doesn't matter - it's a small enough place that whichever address I use, the letter will get to them.  And, of course, if either of them or my Mama should see this blog post, I could get a phone call or e-mail. 

About 15 years ago, when my grandmother was over 90 years old, her home county underwent this address-updating, and the house that was older than she was got a new address.  She mailed out little letters to everyone in her address book, telling us all that though she had not moved, the Post Office informed her that she had a  new address.  She closed the letter with, "I am so glad they let me keep my name."

Peanuts

It's peanut harvesting time in South Georgia.  That means it's time for boiled peanuts. Now, sometimes we Southerners have been known to tease those from elsewhere, telling them peanuts grow on trees.  Actually, you can see the peanuts grow on vines, and the nuts develop below ground.  The whole harvesting practice is mechanized for the main harvest, but for boiled peanuts, after the peanuts have been dug (really, the vines are just scooped up and flipped over), we grab a few vines, toss them on back of the truck, and come home to pull them off the vine.  Boil them in water with a lot of salt until they are soft.  I'm a purist - not interested in hot spiced boiled peanuts, or any other addition. 

The Georgia Peanut Commission (children's section) provides  information about peanuts. Here's another good write-up.  I wouldn't expect anyone to just take my word for it.

This is one of my brother's fields.  You can see he has dug a few rows, and further back the peanuts are not yet dug. You can see how two rows are dug and tossed together into one windrow. We are at one corner of a large field. 

First Day of 4th Grade

Home's Cool!

Wash Day

Warning: photographs of a laundry appliance below.

These days, I just walk right past the laundry detergent aisle.

I don't even check the laundry detergent coupons.

Yes, I've become one of those Homeschoolin' Mamas who stays at home (most of the time), makes my own bread (some of the time), makes my own clothes (at least some of them), AND the laundry detergent I use to launder them. Pretty domesticated, huh?

It's been a long while coming. When I ordered Fels Naptha laundry soap from Soaps Gone Buy, I read the recipes. I saw write-ups in magazines, on blogs...I knew that one of these days I'd make my own detergent. I read up on making the liquid detergent, and figured I will probably never make that kind. A few weeks ago, I took the plunge with the easiest recipe I've seen, the one from Southern Plate, and we are happy with the results thus far. I mix it up a little at a time (we are a pretty small family, and store it in a soup container from our favorite Chinese food take-out place. {I'm not so domesticated that I can't appreciate good take-out Chinese food. I grew up in the country, and I enjoy a few in-town conveniences}

I was delighted to find all 3 ingredients, including two kinds of laundry soap, stocked on my local Publix supermarket laundry aisle. I guess this trend is catching on. When you use this detergent, it does not make suds, but the clothes are clean.



Here's the method I use:

Homemade Laundry Detergent

1 cup grated laundry soap
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup Borax

Mix together. Use 1/8 cup per load.

The initial batch I made up using the partial bar of Fels Naptha I had. It had been laying open for a long while, and grated up very fine.



The second batch contains some gratings of Fels Naptha and some gratings of Zote soap. Those new bars did not grate into powder, but into sticky shavings, and I have to mix it a little each time I dip it out. Currently, I have the rest of those two bars open in hopes they will season up and grate more finely next time.



A couple of notes:

1) You are supposed to use washing soda, not regular baking soda (I have no idea what the difference is), but when I checked at Walmart, I saw they had stocked large boxes of regular baking soda next to the Borax.

2) I like the smell of the Fels Naptha better than the Zote, though I like both. I understand you can use Ivory soap, too.

3) I don't know how well this works for those with sensitive skin, but I gave a few loads-worth to my SIL, who is married to Mr. Sensitive, and hope to report back on that soon.

A Real LIVING Room

The house where I grew up had no playroom - well, no official playroom. What we had was an unfurnished formal living room. By the time I finished high school, it had grown into a pretty much furnished room, but during those earlier years it was a Very Useful Room (sound like a Winnie the Pooh description?)

Our living room held an old upright player piano (missing the player mechanism), a sewing machine, an ironing board, sometimes a quilting frame, a chaise lounge, and, often, a Hot Wheels track set. My brother had a pretty good set of cars and lots of tracks and accessories, and we both enjoyed them. I was reminded of this when I read Crispy's post about the $1 track set. (What a deal!)

The question arises in my mind; if the living room had been furnished, where would the Hot Wheels have run? Where would we have sewn? The answer, of course, is in the corners of the bedrooms. And we would have had to put away the tracks more often. -just wouldn't have been the same.

I wonder whatever happened to that chaise lounge? Today we would call this "eclectic" decor.

Greenery

Right now I have no flowers in my yard worth cutting. In fact, a lonely Daylily and an exuberant Knock-out Rose are the only blooms period.

Two weekends ago, when we expected guests, I bought some bouquets from Publix (the 5-day guarantee seems to work), and put arrangements in the family room, on the piano and jelly cabinet, and of course, in the dining room. I really enjoyed having the flowers. Since I don't have any houseplants, they were the only live decor in here (except for maybe a napping cat, but he's practically comatose under the fan, so "live" is a bit of a maybe). But I don't want to spend money on flowers every week. What to do?

Foliage! Greenery! That's what. That lora petulum needs a trim anyway. I plunked a few sticks in a vase and tied a little ribbon around it and called it all done. I think there are even a couple of little blooms. That little vase of green is a spirit-lifter for me.


My home church is a little country church. When I was growing up, different ladies in the church were in charge of different months as housekeeper (maybe it was called "hostess"?) During your month, you'd clean up a little (dust, sweep, straighten up the hymnbooks), and put flowers up front. Seldom were these purchased flowers. Potted plants might be used, azaleas and camellias in Spring; roses, daisies, marigolds, lilies in the Summer, chrysanthemums and more camellias in Fall -- but flowers weren't the only choices. Sometimes there would be a big vase of Summer greenery or Fall foliage or a dried arrangement. And sometimes a lady would resort to one of the artificial arrangements stored in an unused Sunday School room. As a child I did not realize how surrounded I was with natural beauty and grace. Today, though, I am cooking peach preserves and I have this little vase of greenery, and I thank God for these simple things.

...but it's Summer

Yes, I said only 15 minutes, then it's back to some schoolwork. {We are doing a little school 2 days/week this summer to finish a few things we want to finish and to get further in Math just for fun}

But it's Summer, and Earthgirl and the little boy we watch are making frog houses in the cool damp sand under his playhouse, and it's Summer after all. There will be hotter days and rainier days to stay inside and enjoy some schoolwork, but today the frogs need houses and the children need fresh air and dirt.

Diligence - A Big To Do

We are pretty much home ALL DAY today - yay! There are 20 items listed on my To Do list for today. I have already thought of a couple I forgot, and have put the 2 laundry maidens to work (forgot "laundry" - imagine that).

I find that I seldom complete everything on my To Do list, but if I don't write it down, I wind up doing a whole lot of nuthin'. In recent years, that is, the post-45 years, I find I do better writing bigger and with a bolder pen for lists like this. I still like to write smaller with a fineline pen , but my list is not effective if I have to find a pair of reading glasses to glance at it.

My all-time favorite pens: Pilot Precise V-5, Pentel R.S.P.V, and Sharpies.

When we were up in Georgia for the wedding last week, I observed that my SIL was carrying around an old-fashion Flair pen. Back in the 70's Flairs were the coolest. Her list could be read from about 5 feet away. I gotta get me one of those.



As though I need more pens...

Project in progress

Such promise!