Doing Something About It

I'm Back - But Not Here

2010-11-01T08:14:00.002-08:00

I've finally got a reliable computer and internet connection. Yippee!!! However, I decided I wanted to change the name of the blog and the URL. So I've transfered all the old post to the new URL and will be posting there from now on. So If you are interested in this blog you can keep reading at Roots And Wings.

Thanks
Lyneya

Catastrophic Computer Failure

2010-04-03T11:15:00.002-08:00

For those of you who haven't guessed yet I experienced a catastrophic computer failure and took it as the Universes way of telling me I was spending way too much time planted in front of mine. Hopefully honey and I will have a functioning computer again soon but in the mean time I'm using my time making healthy meals and weaving which is actually pretty nice. I'd like to have the computer again to be able to look up answers to all my garden planning questions but the local library is proving very helpful in that regard (again life goes on without computers). Eventually I'll be back on and post all the great pictures I've taken in the meantime but be patient.

Thanks

I found the most amazing cookbook...

2010-03-18T00:22:00.003-08:00

Today I found The Victory Garden Cookbook at the thrift store. It's awesome. Each chapter is based on a different vegetable and has a bunch of great, easy recipes using that veggie. Say I get carrots in my CSA box ...Oh look here some 20+ carrot based recipes. Say I get something a little different like Jerusalem Artichokes or Kohlrabi or Okra...they all have chapters too. I'm really excited about using this cookbook. I know I could probably find all these recipes online but it's so much nicer to have them all in one place and this way I don't have to print out recipes or run back and forth to my computer while cooking.

Sunday and Monday's CSA produce usage

2010-03-16T21:03:00.004-08:00

The Fail: a cautionary tale -

I tried to make a stuffed acorn squash with what I had on hand. I read several recipes online but didn't have all the ingredients for any of them. I tried to make it work with a frozen veggie mix, leftover chicken, cream cheese and some spices. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't something I'd want to force anyone else to eat. The best part was when the filling was gone and I was able to eat the acorn squash on it's own. Basically the moral of this story is "don't improvise a recipe with a veggie you've never eaten before."

The Win: waste not want not-

I'd heard of roasting the seeds after you carve a pumpkin so I thought I might be able to do something similar with other winter squash seeds. I looked it up online and pretty much everyone agreed that any recipe that works for pumpkin seeds should work for all winter squash. I (mostly) followed these directions and made some yummy roasted squash seeds to snack on.

And an old favorite-

Since I'm almost out of the chicken broth I made in this post and this post back in January I decided to use the chicken bones and some of the veggies (especially one really old onion) to make another big batch of chicken stock. I really like making my own stock. I can put the spices I like into it and it's a great way to use veggie scraps.

Total produce used so far -
2 heads garlic
1 banana
1/2 bunch spinach
2 carrots
1 onion
2 sticks of celery
1/2 c chopped fresh parsley
1/2 acorn squash

Friday and Saturday's CSA week produce usage

2010-03-14T00:13:00.005-09:00

This is actually pretty fun. I've experimented with making my own recipes and everything has been pretty tasty so far.

Friday I started by roasting two heads of garlic in tin foil (for the first time). The beautiful white heads of garlic were just too much to resist. I'd missed lunch (bad Lyneya) so the first head's worth was spread out on bread for a quick snack. The second head was split between a chicken dish and making some garlic cream cheese.

My first disappointment occurred when I tried to find out how to store my spinach and discovered how quickly the nutrients in spinach disappear (considering how long it took to get to Alaska there are probably no nutrients left in my spinach). In an attempt to use my spinach while it had the possibility of some nutritional value, I tossed some chopped spinach, leftover roasted chicken and half a head of roasted garlic in a frying pan with some olive oil. I fried it up a little and it made an amazing dinner with some dehydrated apple chips on the side. (In the future I'd probably use more spinach since it shrunk a lot more than I expected.)

Then I mixed the last of the roasted garlic with about 8oz of cream cheese and a little basil, oregano, sage and onion salt. It made an amazing spread and a great breakfast on toasted bread this morning (no one else had to smell my breath).

This evening I got home pretty late and wasn't in the mood to cook. Instead of cooking I decided to make a "green smoothie" like the wonderful ones I'd seen Sheri post on her Green and Crunchy blog. I tossed a bunch of spinach, a banana, some blueberry syrup I made last fall, and some strawberry Kefir in a blender and made a really tasty (kinda weird looking) green smoothie.

Total produce used so far -
2 heads garlic
1 banana
1/2 bunch spinach

My pretend CSA box

2010-03-13T23:46:00.003-09:00

The CSA I'm thinking of joining requires that you pay for your box a couple weeks ahead of the expected delivery date so even if I join today it would be about three weeks until I could expect my first box. Since I'm pretty excited about this concept I decided to get enough veggies and fruit to pretend I'd received a CSA box and see if I actually use it. Honestly, I probably didn't buy as much as I'd get in a box. However, since honey isn't here and I'm the only one eating I thought I'd be a little conservative. I went to the local grocery store and gave myself a free pass to buy anything that interested me (and looked good because not all their veggies do). I lucked out because some of the veggies were being restocked and I was able to wander behind the store employee and get amazingly fresh veggies.

What I'm starting with -
1 bunch Spinach
1 bunch parsley (Usually I have my own window grown parsley but my plant needs a break so I get store bought)
1 Acorn Squash (I made extra money in college working at a farm picking Acorn Squash so I think I should see what it tastes like)
2 bananas (they didn't look great but I really wanted some for smoothies)
1 bunch Celery
2lb Alaska grown Carrots
3 yellow onions
5 heads Garlic (picked them right out of the restocking box. Beautiful and fresh)
1 big bag shredded Cabbage (leftovers from my sauerkraut making class)
1 lemon
1 orange
8 lb apples (leftovers from a big bag bought in bulk a couple weeks ago. I should probably dehydrate some of them)

To some of you this may seem a pitiful amount of fresh produce but if you knew how little fresh produce normally lives in our fridge you would understand how overwhelming this amount of produce looks to me. Where my family lived when I was younger necessitated canned or frozen goods because fresh produce would spoil before it reached us. Plus going to the store was not a regular occurrence. Now that I have regular access to fresh food I need to change those habits.

Is anyone a part of a CSA?

2010-03-11T16:19:00.003-09:00

I'm considering joining a CSA (community supported agriculture). We are trying to switch our diets to be more natural and healthy but have encountered a few hiccups.

1 - The produce we can get at the grocery store in AK is usually a step away from spoilage
2- I didn't grow up using a lot of produce so get a little lost when I look beyond the carrots, celery, onions and potatoes
2b- My husband is getting really sick of carrots, celery, onions, and potatoes
3- I'm intimidated by the prices of produce in the grocery store and tend to only bring home an item or two
4- We're both still learning how to cook
5- We need to keep our budget in check

The CSA I'm thinking of joining, Glacier Valley CSA, is Alaska based (not all the CSA's that deliver in AK are actually based out of Alaska farms). They try to use as much local produce as possible from a variety of farms but in the winter they do supplement the root cellar offerings with organic produce sent in bulk from farms in the lower 48. Each box is $35 and you can buy them weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. It seems like you get some staple veggies in each box and some new and interesting veggies to experiment with.

I'm hoping some of my readers who've tried CSA programs or something similar will chime in with their experiences and help me decide. It's a big expense and I'm a little nervous about making a commitment to get boxes of fruits and veggies when we haven't been the best about eating them in the past.

Introducing....FrankenDehydrator!

2010-03-09T23:53:00.002-09:00

A dehydrator only a mother (or thrifty maven) could love. It takes the trays from the dehydrator I bought when I was in college ($40 new), a slightly better dehydrator and it's trays ($5 Salvation Army) and the trays from another used dehydrator ($12 Value Village). All told I can use up to 11 feet of dehydrating space (I'm only using 9 of the trays in the picture). Additionally my thrift store purchases also came with 8 fruit leather trays and I have another functional fan/heater if my favorite one ever breaks. Just the extra trays would have cost me $7-10 each new and the fruit leather trays would have been about $5 each.

And here's the jams I made in my class at the Cooperative Extension. A nice blueberry jam and a low sugar strawberry. One of the people in the class brought bread she made that morning and a french butter bell. So we got to eat fresh made, still warm jam with homemade bread and nice spreadable butter. Best class ever!

Thank You Grandpa

2010-03-07T02:37:00.002-09:00

Thank You Grandpa ...
-for loving so many children no one else wanted
-for taking a chance on a troubled teenage boy
-for unconditional love
-for creative punishments
-for being a man of principle and honor
-for teaching that to your children
-for stories
-for smiles
-for being a cranky old man

I love you Grandpa and I'm going to miss you so much. I'm so glad for you that you don't have to be trapped by your own mind anymore but I'm going to miss your smile and stories so much. You didn't have to raise my dad and you surely didn't have to love him but you did and it changed everything. I hope at the end of my life I have even a fraction of the legacy you've left behind. Thank You Grandpa and I love you.

Progress

2010-03-05T10:56:00.002-09:00

Colin Beavan over at No Impact Man recently wrote a piece for the Guggenheim Museum on progress and it really struck a chord with me. I strongly recommend stopping by and giving it a read and maybe checking out some of his other posts.

Canning Class!!!

2010-03-04T14:53:00.003-09:00

I looked up "retro canning" and found pictures of a bunch of WWII era posters.

Now that spring is getting closer (this is AK so despite the unseasonably warm weather we've been getting this year I'm not convinced it's really spring yet) the Cooperative Extension is teaching preserving classes again. I found out about the classes yesterday. Just in time to sign up for the first one - tonight. I'm getting pretty confident with making jams and jellies (the subject for the first class) but could definitely use some additional help. And I haven't yet tried any of the other techniques they will be covering - Pickles and Sauerkraut, canned fish (my fisherman uncle might come with me for this class), canning veggies and meat, and lastly dehydrating and freezing. I'm really excited about these classes. I've always been the kind of person who can find a book to teach me just about anything but one of my goals regarding simplifying our lives is to become more involved in the community. So taking classes in preserving will help me spend time in the greater community and learn useful, tasty stuff.

On a side note the plumbing is now fixed. And I gained a lot of knowledge on plumbing troubleshooting.

I'm starting to miss the outhouse

2010-03-02T10:56:00.004-09:00

Caution - Gross subject matter and pouty author ahead

I'm staying at the family home to help watch my nephew. Unfortunately. right before I arrived, the plumbing stopped working. Our best guess is that the aforementioned nephew facilitated a meeting between the household plumbing and one of his toys via the toilet. Yippee! (yeah that was sarcastic) So today I'm pretending to be a plumber and trying everything I know (or can find the directions for on the Internet) to get it back up and running again.

Day 7 Money Free Week - Review

2010-02-28T20:33:00.002-09:00

Day 11 money spent - $0
Fly lady - on hold until I'm back in my own home

While I didn't always enjoy it, it was very freeing to spend an entire week money free. Normally, when I get bored or just want to get out of the house, I go shopping at the thrift stores or book stores. While I am very good at looking for deals, I still often spend money I don't need to just to alleviate my boredom. This week I had to discover other ways to entertain myself. I spent some time just hanging out at the library, I made my own instant oatmeal, I dehydrated lots of food, read several books, and had a couple adventures in creative cooking. Not only did my spending moratorium help us save money but it also helped me in a couple several seemingly unrelated areas of my life. It helped me loose weight because I had to eat at home. I can think of at least three times this week when I was heading home hungry and was tempted to just stop and pick up something to eat but didn't because of the money free week. It helped me get in shape. I was much more active this week than normal. I got out and did things instead of wandering around behind a shopping cart. It built my cooking skills. I ran out of milk on the second day of the money free week and had to get creative with some of my recipes. Going "money free" also taught me a lot about eating from the pantry. Normally I see one ingredient, decide what I want to cook with it and make it happen even if every other ingredient in the recipe has to come from the store. This week, I looked at what was in my pantry and came up with creative combinations thereof. It was actually really fun and I made some outlandish and tasty meals.

What did I learn this week?

-I don't need money to be happy. I was at least as happy as normal this week and maybe a little more.

-The easiest way to avoid spending is to not go shopping. If I'm not in a store I can't buy stuff. (simple and yet so revolutionary)

-I don't have to follow the recipe exactly.

- A good deal is only a good deal if you need what you're buying.

-Free cycle. Need I say more?

- I have a LOT of food in my pantry.

-Both the base and town libraries are great!

-Lots of other stuff I'm sure I will remember later.

It made me smile

2010-02-28T20:19:00.002-09:00

Money Free Week Day 6 - Late Post

2010-02-28T11:09:00.003-09:00

Money spent day 10 - $0
Flylady - still working on hot spots

This is actually yesterdays post. I spent most of the day out in the Valley again helping my brother paint his house. When we were done, I was so tired and hungry it was a fight not to just stop somewhere and pick up food before the 1hr drive home. I was very stern with myself and came right home. Then I snacked on a bunch of dehydrated apples while I cooked some dinner.

Honey was able to get to a WiFi connection yesterday night so we got to spend some time in a real-time chat instead of just sending e-mails back and forth. It was really nice to get to communicate back and forth.

On my last visit to the library I checked out The Home Creamery. I'm hoping to try some of the recipes once I have some milk again. I'm thinking I might be able to set my dehydrator up to keep the milk at the right temperature to make yogurt. Eventually I want o try making Keffir but I need to find a source of keffir grains first.

"How It All Ends" - A Climate Change Video Worth Watching

2010-02-26T22:15:00.003-09:00

Thanks to Rachael over at Happy Doings for this link. Trust me it's a video worth watching and then sending to all your fence-sitting friends and relatives.

Money Free Week Day 5 - I am worn out

2010-02-26T22:07:00.003-09:00

Day 9 money spent - $0 (yippe!!! Back on Track)
Day 7 Fly Lady - paused as I wasn't home today at all

I spent today at my sister's house watching my 4 year old nephew (on about 2 hrs of sleep). I am worn out. I wish I could post something fun or helpful but right now my main priority is getting some sleep :)

Money Free Week Day 4 - Homemade Instant Oatmeal

2010-02-25T21:32:00.004-09:00

Day 8 money spent - $30 (My sister's child care for tomorrow fell through so I had to get gas so I can get there to watch my nephew. I'm sad that it broke my money free week a little but not that I will be able to help out family.)
Day 6 Fly Lady - working on my "hot spots"

Homemade Instant Oatmeal....seems a little like an oxymoron but I'm always on the lookout for quick affordable breakfast ideas. I like oatmeal but it takes too long for our normal morning routine and I usually only buy the little "instant" packets for camping trips and the like. Since I'd dehydrated so many apples and wanted to figure out some uses for them other than just snacking, I decided to try and figure out how to make instant flavored oatmeal. The obvious choice for my first adventure was "Apple Cinnamon" (plus it's my favorite).

The Simple Dollar and Budget 101 both had decent directions for making your own instant oatmeal packets so I used their recipes as a starting point to figure out a recipe that works for me. The first thing I wanted to change was the use of zip lock baggies to store the individual servings. All those plastic baggies seemed wasteful and I've been trying to get away from storing food in plastic. Instead I decided to make a mix that could be added to regular quick cooking oatmeal to turn it into instant. Below is the recipe that worked for me.

For the Instant mix

(this is made to please my palate so you might have to change the amounts to please yours)

1/2 C Oat Powder (oatmeal that's been ground in a blender to make powder)

1/2 C Dried apple bits (I used the blender for this too)

1/4 C Sugar

1 tsp Salt

2 tsp Cinnamon

Mix it all together in a jar.

When you are ready to make the oatmeal, add 2 Tbsp mix for every 1/4 C Oatmeal (the apples tend to float to the top so make sure to get the whole mix in every scoop). Then add as much water as makes you happy and enjoy.

Money Free Week Day 3 - Buying Stuff Withdrawal

2010-02-24T20:25:00.004-09:00

Day 7 money spent - $0
Fly Lady day 5 - so so but still working on it

I think I'm suffering spending withdrawal. I don't need anything. I'm not going to die if I don't see what's at the thrift store but I still really, really want to go and check. The first two days went OK but it seems like I can't turn around without thinking of something I should run out and buy. Honestly, it's pretty sad. I didn't realise to what extent I was using the thrift stores and just wandering a store and shopping in general as a stress reliever. We are working so hard on getting out of debt but to make it happen I need to curtail my spending (a great deal at the thrift store is only a great deal if what you bought was actually a necessity). I really need to reevaluate this area of my life and come up with a plan. I do not think this kind of relationship with money is healthy so I need to change.

Money Free Week Day 2 - More Dehydrator Fun

2010-02-23T18:42:00.003-09:00

Day 6 money spent - $0
Flylady Day 4 - doing OK and my sink is still shiny

Zucchini and Apples

(not together)

Before my money free week started, I picked up some zucchini on sale. Inspired by Sheri over at Green and Crunchy, I decided to dry them and make zucchini chips. (I'm really enjoying my dehydrator and have no idea why it was in the garage for so long)

I couldn't decide which seasonings to put on the zucchini so I tried several different seasonings. Clockwise from the top- taco seasoning, nothing, sodium free Mrs. Dash, Johnny's seasoning salt, and garlic salt (I was pretty light on the ones that involved salt). My favorite seasoning were the garlic salt and seasoning salt. I think because they taste more like potato chips. The chips were great plain but even better with a tiny bit of ranch on them.

Since I had half a zucchini left that didn't fit in the dehydrator, I sliced it up and cooked it with a little olive oil and some spices (Really yummy). I think I'm going to have to add zucchini to our menu more often.

And apples! And more apples! The results of dehydrating a big bag of apples picked up in bulk. I actually should have a couple more jars of apples in this picture but it took me a few days to dehydrate all of them and I wiped out a couple jars while I was waiting.

Day 1 Money Free Week - A Yummy Accident

2010-02-22T20:44:00.000-09:00

Day 5 money spent - $0
Day 3 Fly Lady - so far so good

This morning I decided to see if I could use up some of the leftovers and older veggies in the fridge. The idea was to make a soup for lunch. From the fridge I gathered bacon, veggies, leftover Benihana Chicken and then added some of my homemade Chicken stock. I didn't have any onions so I threw in some lipton onion soup mix. I added a wild rice mix with seasonings from the pantry and toward the end I tossed in some frozen peas. I guess the rice soaked up all my stock because the finished product had the consistency of gumbo instead of soup. But it was really, really yummy and I used up some of the fridge debris.

I'm also trying to get rid of a lot of the extra clutter that we don't need and putting stuff up on Craigslist and FreeCycle (depending on the item). I've given away a few things and sold two things so far.

Have you noticed that I've got a lot of self improvement projects going on right now? I've noticed that every time Honey is gone I get in this "fix my world" mode. When honey is home, we stay pretty busy with working on the house and "Army stuff." When he's gone, I can only do so much on the apartment and all the "Army stuff" disappears. Plus, I get kinda lonely. So to keep myself entertained (and hopefully not shopping) I use these times to work on the big projects that are easier w/o honey here.

Let's Try this Again

2010-02-21T20:30:00.000-09:00

Day 4 money spent - $20 (food at the Cafe hosting the Pagan Meet up Group and seeds for the Ostara planning session)

Day 2 Flylady - my sink is shiny and I'm dressed to lace up shoes

I haven't done as well as I'd hoped with my spending goals so this coming week (Feb 22-28th) I'm going cold turkey. I officially declare a Money Free Week! No food, no gas, no thrift stores, nothing! I have more than enough food in the pantry to feed me for a month much less a week and I can't think of a single thing I absolutely can't live without in the next week. Let the freedom from money begin!

My Sink is Shiny :P

2010-02-20T23:59:00.000-09:00

Day 3 money spent - $30 (took sister grocery shopping at Costco and picked up a few perishable staples for myself)
Day 1 Flylady - Shined my sink

I've been trying to spring clean my house (keyword - trying). Organizing and cleaning is one of those tasks that overwhelms me pretty quickly. It seems to be a never ending task so it's really hard to get excited about accomplishments when I know it's just going to have to be done again in a few days. I never let my house get dirty but it tends to be cluttered and that drives me crazy.

A friend at our last duty station was a devoted follower of the Flylady system and it seemed to work for her. I've decided to try the system for myself while honey is away and I have the house all to myself. The website has 31 days of baby steps to get you started and develop the habits that are the backbone of the system. Even if the whole system doesn't work I'll probably gain some techniques that will work for me.

Something to Hug

2010-02-19T21:17:00.000-09:00

Day 2 money spent - $4.50

Meet Honey the Second

Honey the First gave me this wonderful teddy to keep me company during the various missions that keep him away from home. He made the bear at Build-A-Bear and the outfit came off a stiff uncuddly military bear I'd picked up at the thrift store. The combination of cute cuddly bear and cute tiny ACUs is wonderful but the real kicker is that Honey recorded a message so when I hug the bear it says "I love you Honey." Awwwwww.... Cute and Smarmy.

A Company I already liked just got better

2010-02-19T12:52:00.000-09:00

Owner of Multi-Million Dollar Company Hands Over Business to Employees - ABC News

I first discovered Bob's Red Mill when I wanted to make a Gluten Free dessert to take to an SCA feast for my friends with Celiac disease. I was impressed with their variety of Gluten free products and had a lot of fun experimenting over the next few months in making yummy tasting desserts that my friend could enjoy. As we've been trying to eat out less and keep our food at home healthier, I've used Bob's Red Mill products quite a lot (I can get them in bulk at Natural Harvest).

This morning my news feed was headed by the news that the founder of Bob's Red Mill has given the company to the employees. Pretty cool huh? He decided he could never sell the company to someone else and trust they would maintain the principles the company was founded upon. He could however trust the company in the hands of the people who had built the company right along side him.

And it began with a wimper...

2010-02-18T20:26:00.001-09:00

Day 1 money spent - $0

In the days leading up to Honey leaving for another 5 week army trip, we found out we were going to have to replace our roof. We knew when we bought the house we were going to have to replace the roofing in the next few years but this winter has been especially hard and some of the roof issues have come to a head. We came to the conclusion that we're going to have to replace the roof this summer and fix these issues before they get any worse. Since some of the problems stem from having a hot roof flowing into a cold roof, we're going to be changing some of the underlying roof structure while we're in there. Sucks to be us. I'll be honest it was not a pretty sight when we came to the final conclusion. We're entering the home stretch on the apartment and I was really looking forward to having the summer off to work on my garden and plant trees.

Sad, bummed, such is life...

Because we have some major expenses coming up this summer we decided to try and save as much as possible in the next couple months. For the next five weeks Honey is gone and wont have many opportunities to spend money. I'll be here but I'm going to try and eat from the pantry and avoid most spending. The only thing I'm really worried about is gas money. I've already committed to helping my family (60 miles away) with several projects while honey is gone so that's a good chunk of change in gas money right off the bat.

And just to show it never rains but it pours. When I tried to turn on the computer this morning (honey has my laptop again), it just constantly restarted itself. I don't think honey's computer likes me as it did something very similar last time he left as well. So I dug out the 11 year old laptop honey had when we met. (I'm pretty sure the duct tape holding the casing on isn't factory original) It's pretty slow so I'll be cutting back on my Internet time (that's probably a good thing) but I'm going to try and keep posting regarding how my low spending month is going.

Strawberry Kiwi Jam - Yummy

2010-02-14T11:38:00.000-09:00

In honor of my newfound canning jar collection I made Strawberry Kiwi Jam last night. The strawberries are ones I froze last summer for just such occasions and the Kiwis were purchased as they don't freeze well and I don't have a good source for Alaska grown ones yet (guess I just might have to grow my own). Unfortunately, I still haven't mastered the art of keeping my fruit from floating but it turned out much better in this batch than in previous ones.

I got the recipie from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Jams, Jellies and Preserves which I checked out from the library. I'm really liking this book. It has great recipies that have been tested and idiot proofed (I need that when cooking).

My Kitchen has been Overrun!!!

2010-02-13T01:14:00.001-09:00

Ok. I think I'm ready to admit I might have enough canning jars.

I responded to an add on Craigslist from an older lady who wanted to winnow down her collection of canning jars now that she was preserving for two instead of a whole family. For a few dollars I gained all these canning jars and she gained more room for her fabric stash. It's mostly pint jars (several dozen) with a few of the quilted crystal 1/2 pint jars and about 20 quart jars. Since it'll probably be a couple years until we have our garden fully up and running, I probably wont use all these jars right away but it's nice to know I'll have what I need when I need it.

Dehydrator Fun

2010-02-11T23:10:00.000-09:00

I recently dug the dehydrator I purchased back when I was in college out of storage and now I can't figure out why I didn't have it out this whole time. I'm terrible about eating my fruits and veggies. However, I will snack on dehydrated apples like they're candy. I was having so much fun dehydrating snack foods I ended up buying a second dehydrator at the thrift store for $5 so I could add the extra trays onto mine and dry more food at once.

Apples I picked up for $0.45 a LB (this is AK people, that price is just short of miraculous). I'm giving the slices a pineapple juice soaking before dehydrating to prevent browning. The apple infused pineapple juice is amazingly yummy after you're done soaking the apple slices.

Laid out on the dehydrator trays.

Waiting, waiting, waiting. My house smells so yummy.

Victory! Apple Chips. I dehydrate the hell out of my apples because I like crisp chips better than the smushy textured dehydrated apples you can get at the stores.

My loot for the last two days. Apples and some carrots that were getting soft for using in soups and taking camping.

The Toy Society

2010-02-10T14:05:00.000-09:00

This is the best idea ever! The Toy Society makes small homemade toys and stuffed animals and leaves them in random places for children to find. I am going to have to go through my fabric and find some that will work for toys.

Pretty Wally Hangy Thingy

2010-02-09T00:29:00.001-09:00

(Yeah, I'm weird. Live with it)

The last few weeks I've been worried about one of my favorite little stores. Good Karma is a wonderful little store run by a young couple. It has such a happy vibe. They both work at the store so they can spend time together as a family and I've watched their daughter grow from an infant into a toddler. They have great ritual supplies and the best essential oils made by local artists with intent. Since mid January every time I've driven by their lights have been off and the store has been closed. They are a small niche business so they usually operate month to month and I was worried that something happened and they went out of business.

Last week Honey and I stopped by one more time crossing our fingers and hoping they would be open. They were. Kinda. The store was lit by candles and they were having a candlelit sale. Apparently, there were some family related financial issues and in taking care of what had priority they were unable to pay the electricity for the shop (But they are still open and will have the electricity back soon!). Honey and I decided it was worth a little spending spree that we would normally not indulge in to help out one of our favorite little shops...Hence the pretty wally hangy thingy...

I've always really liked this wall hanging when they had it in the store but I try not to buy things new unless I have to. Fortunately, the circumstances allowed me to finally own it without feeling guilty for needless spending. Each part is a different Sabbat. You could use them separately or hang them all at once like I have. My MIL got us the copper pentacle in the middle for Christmas (I really did luck out in the MIL department). We performed a little house blessing and protection ritual before we hung it.

The hanging for Imbolc. So pretty.

I also got several new essential oils, a little cauldron, 3" pentacle for our portable altar box, and honey got a nice metal pentacle plaque to replace the resin one he was tricked into buying online (they said it was clay). If you have a chance, send some positive energy toward this wonderful little store and the family that runs it.

My Card is Here! Happy Dance! My Card is Here!

2010-02-06T15:20:00.001-09:00

My Card for the Imbolc Art Card Exchange came! I've been eagerly awaiting its arrival since I sent off the one I made last week. Tami made my card and it is absolutely beautiful. The picture on the front is from a painting she made for her daughter's room. The sun on the inside is from a stamp she carved and she wrote the poem just for me :) I hope Jen over at Chasing Domestic Bliss does this again because it was wonderful fun (hint, hint) but we wont pester her too much about it since she's pretty busy with other projects as well.

Perserverance Pays Off - The Tale of a Food Mill

2010-02-03T13:32:00.000-09:00

Last fall my Mother In Law taught me how to make jam and can it. One of my favorite parts of the whole experience was the feeling on connection and tradition that it carried. She taught me like her grandmother had taught her. We used a food mill that her grandmother had given her and had been in turn given by her mother. I loved it.

When I left that day, she gave me the food mill she'd bought before she inherited the family food mill. Unfortunately, it was cracked. She hadn't used it in so many years it had been shoved aside in storage and somehow gotten cracked. We tried to fix it but the first time I tried to use it the crack got bigger and the bowl broke. :( Poor little food mill. I salvaged the bottom pieces with the various sized holes and the metal crank part that pushes the fruit through the holes and put it into storage with my canning supplies for next summer. Throughout the winter, as I slowly gathered my collection of jars for next years canning season from the thrift stores I kept my eyes out for a new (used) food mill.

A couple months ago I found a metal food mill bowl and crank with no bottoms for a couple dollars. I was so excited and brought it home in the hopes I could use the bottoms from my MIL's food mill and make it work. They didn't fit. Now I had two incomplete food mills :( This Monday I found a food mill bowl at the thrift store without any of the other pieces ($0.99). Why not give it one more try? I brought it home. The bottom pieces from the first food mill fit but the crank is too wide for the bowl. The crank from the second mill fits the bowl but the bottom is a little too big for the opening in the bottom pieces of the first food mill. Enter handy-dandy honey (he is going to hate me calling him that) who was able to take a metal punch and make the holes just a little bit bigger so all the parts fit together. Now I have a food mill made from the parts of three food mills :) Am I weird that this situation just tickles me pink? Plus my "new" food mill is still using an element of the food mill my MIL gave me so I get to keep the family connection going. Eventually I might find the parts to fix my other incomplete food mill and pass it on to someone else and keep the chain going.

Imbolc Open Circle

2010-01-31T21:58:00.000-09:00

The night started with all of us who weren't active participants in the ritual (calling the quarters or being the maiden, mother, or crone) gathered in the fellowship hall of the UU building we were borrowing. Those who were familiar with the chants for the ritual taught them to the rest of us (simple, repetitive and beautiful). It really set a tone for the rest of the ritual.

When the time came for the ritual, we all formed a line and slowly processed into the main room of the UU building. The room was darkened except for the candlelight. The circle was marked by a large ring of battery operated tea lights (beautiful without the risk of fire in someone else's building). Each quarter had a small alter with several candles and the symbols of its element and there was a raised fire pit with a small fire in it as well. We followed the inner edge of the circle, chanting "The Wheel Turns" and after everyone walked the entire circle once we spread out evenly along the edge. With chants interspersed throughout - the circle was closed, the quarters were called, the Lady was invoked in her three-fold maiden/mother/crone form (poor Lord was ignored). We all (who wanted to) participated in a working involving holding a ring, setting a goal or intention into the ring, heating the ring in the flame, setting it on an anvil and striking it with the hammer and then quenching the ring in the water from the cauldron. Basically, it was an opportunity to ask the Lady's blessing on a goal for the year ahead and affirm it through action. Then we were led on a guided meditation (not my favorite. I prefer silent meditation) based on the Imbolc tradition. We shared milk and cookies (yummy). The quarters were thanked and released and the circle was opened.

Overall I really liked my first Open Ritual (normally my exposure to formalized rituals is participating with Honey in a Wiccan style ritual). It seemed a little one sided because while the Lady/Moon/Goddess was referenced several times the Lord/Sun/God was completely ignored (kinda sad since Sabbats are supposed to be Sun based holidays). But it was an opportunity to meet other local Pagans and see how they celebrate. The set up was really well done and they were able to invoke a very otherworldly and mystical feeling in a very regular space. Not to mention the great potluck afterwords. Everyone brought great food and a lot of the offerings were traditional Imbolc foods. I brought some of the Raspberry Chipolte Sauce I made last fall with cream cheese to pour it on and crackers to spread them on. I figured Imbolc is still the winter season of eating from the stores (preserved food), the time of calving (dairy), and spicy food for the growing sun (chipolte).

The chants at the Ritual were -

The Wheel Turns
Brid is Come
Tall Tree
Everything She Touches
Holy Well and Sacred Flame

Imbolc Open Circle Prep Night

2010-01-30T00:24:00.001-09:00

This evening, we went to help set up for tomorrow's Open Circle for Imbolc. Afterward, there was an opportunity for fellowship and a little bit of a bardic type event. It was an opportunity for those of us who were new to get to know the rest of the group and everyone to trade Imbolc lore from their particular tradition. Overall pretty awesome and casual. One of the organizers brought her henna and gave designs to those who wanted it.

One wrist had the symbol for the Lady and one has the Lord. She sealed it with some sugary lemon juice (the white flaky stuff) and I'm trying to leave the design on as long as I can to get it darker. I think I would love to get tattoos like these one day.

Yesterday...I wove a Sunrise...It made me smile

2010-01-27T20:54:00.000-09:00

A pictoral trip through my yesterday.

I call this pattern "Woven Sunrise." I thought it was a fitting craft for Imbolc.

I finally made a home for all the canning jars I've been collecting at the thrift stores this winter. I figure if I pick them up a few at a time when I can find them at the thrift stores, I'll be able to build my collection for .10 to .25 cents a jar instead of about .75 a jar like they are new. Hopefully I'll have enough jars by the time canning season comes along.

The cutest "green" shirt ever. Picked it up at the thrift store for my niece (who isn't born yet).

My adventure in Plantable Paper Making

2010-01-26T02:27:00.000-09:00

I wanted to try making plantable paper for Imbolc. I have a papermaking kit I got at the thrift store last fall but I never seemed to have the time to use it. The other day I noticed the stores have started getting seeds in for spring, so I thought it might be fun to try making plantable paper. I bought a couple packets of forget-me-nots. This evening (if 2am can be called evening) I tried it. Since I couldn't dry the paper with the iron per the directions (I was afraid it would kill the seeds), I've got it laying out on some fabric. I wont really find out until tomorrow if it worked.

The things I learned tonight -

- papermaking is a lot harder (and messier) than I thought
- I probably shouldn't do projects that require the blender to run for long periods of time at night
- honey does not like being woken up by the blender in the middle of the night
- forget-me-not seeds are bigger than I thought
- I can mess up the kitchen a lot quicker than I can clean it up :) (actually I pretty much already knew that one)

All the paraphernalia associated with making paper. This was the point in the night when I figured out it was going to be messier than I expected.

A sheet of paper with forget-me-not seeds in it. It's still pertty damp but hopefully it will dry.

Sad Thought - Happy Thought

2010-01-26T00:51:00.000-09:00

Sad Thought -

I just found out that Anchorage School District no longer has a Community Schools program. Sometime while we were stationed Outside the school district decided they didn't want to have any part in supporting the community schools program. They turned it over to a volunteer group. But the school district charged the volunteer organization so much to use the school facilities they couldn't afford to keep the program open. How lame is that? They used to have the greatest classes (all kinds of dance and martial arts, cooking, crafts, business). I was hoping to find a beginners canning class through community schools and now I'm just out of luck.

Happy Thought -

KeepMusicPagan's Channel on Youtube. Instead of sorting through pages and pages of search results on Youtube to find good pagan songs when I'm in the mood to put on something drummy and dance around (yes, I have now declared "drummy" is a word), I just pop on to KeepMusicPagan and find something that fits the bill.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

2010-01-24T15:01:00.001-09:00

I recently found a copy of one of my old favorites at the Thrift Store. I first read this book in elementary school as assigned reading while we were studying Colonial America. I liked it so much I read it several more times while I was in school and each time I got something new from it. Rereading it again, I've been reminded how much this book influenced my worldview. The blatant xenophobia of the townspeople, the religious persecution of anyone with a different worldview, the sparks of friendship in unsuspecting places. I didn't realize it then but this book planted seeds in my head that helped create the accepting, adventuresome person I am today. Read it, let your kids read it, and then read it again.

A pictoral walk through making crock-pot candles

2010-01-22T23:55:00.000-09:00

My first adventure in crock-pot candles (as inspired by Bonzai Aphrodite) was more of a learning experience than a success. I needed to get the wax a little hotter before I mixed in the colorant so mine ended up pooled on the top of the candle. It looks kinda cool but not the effect I was going for. Today I tried again. Much better. (The lack of strong pain meds might have helped too.)

These are going to be the candles that mark North, South, East and West on our circle when we do ritual. The colored candles Honey usually gets are tall and thin and only fit in those tiny holders. I'm always afraid they are going to tip over. I though something short and fat like a votive would be sturdier and since they are inside their holder already ... no wax drips!

1) Get some containers (you probably have a few laying around or you can always get cheap empty candle containers at second hand stores) and clean them out (pry out the old wax with a butter knife and soap and hot water takes care of the rest)

2) Fill the clean, dry containers with soy wax chips to the brim (it will melt down)

3) Put the containers in the crock-pot. Make sure they are evenly spaced and not touching each other or the sides. (various directions differ but I don't put any water in my crock pot. I did the first time and it condensed on the lid and dripped into my candles)
4) Turn the crock-pot on high. Check in 20 min. (It will probably take a while to get up to temp. Just keep checking every once in a while)
5) When the wax has melted, you will probably notice that your candles aren't quite as full as you would like. Take a spoonful at a time of the wax chips and add it to your containers until they are full again.
6) Wait for the new wax to fully melt.

7) Once all your wax has been fully melted for a few minutes, you can add colorant. (I used the store bought cakes of candle color because I had them on hand but I've used crayons in the past with good results. Although I haven't tried them with soy wax yet) It's pretty hard to tell what your final color is going to be based on the melted candle so just use your best guess and remember soy candles tend to be creamy and lighter than you expect.

8) Stir the colorant. (I used different Popsicle sticks for each color).
9) Then leave the heat on and let the colorant truly melt in for about 10 min.
10) Stir the colorant again.
11) Turn off the crock-pot. (If you wanted scented candles this would be the point to add the scent. If it is the solid block type scent, make sure it melts completely into the candle)

12) Add the wicks and let the candles cool overnight in the crock-pot.
13) Trim the wicks.
14) Enjoy your pretty candles

Root Canals and candles

2010-01-21T00:37:00.001-09:00

Warning - Heavily medicated blogging ahead

Today I went to the dentist. Root Canal ensued. I tend to respond strongly to pain meds so I basically spent the afternoon passed out and now I'm wide awake.

So I'm following the directions posted on Bonzai Aphrodite to make Crockpot candles. So far so good.

A lazy day with some crafty goodness

2010-01-19T22:57:00.000-09:00

I've got a toothache and I want to curl up and die. Unfortunately, If I do curl up, all I can do is think about how much my tooth hurts and that I can't get into the dentist until tomorrow. So I spent most of today working on projects in a desperate attempt to distract myself from the throbbing on the side of my face :(

Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread. This was kind of an expiriment since I didn't have all the ingredients. It tasted great though. I suprised Honey with it when he came home for lunch. It's a good thing I took this picture before the bread cooled and I flipped it out of the pan. It didn't last long enough after it cooled to take a picture.

The Bobbins I use for Viking Whipcord Braiding. Two people toss them back and forth in a pattern and can make cord. Honey made me these out of wooden balls and candlesticks from Michael's but I've done this braiding technique with water bottles and juice bottles as the bobbins too.

The finished cord. Enough for two necklaces.

I used blue and black for this cord. Blue for protection and Black for the absorbtion of negative energy. While Honey and I made the cord, we spoke words of blessing and protection for the people who will recieve the necklaces.

The finished product :)

A Decision to Study

2010-01-18T22:05:00.000-09:00

I devoted four years of my life and quite a lot of money to learning about Christianity, only to realize that the more I learned about Christianity the more I knew it wasn't for me. I've been a Pagan for several years now. I've learned the basics of Paganism and some of its branches. I've read many books on the subject. However, reading the books is not the same kind of in depth study you do when you get a college degree in a subject. I've always been more comfortable discussing the minutiae of Christianity than the basic premises of Paganism. It's time to change that. I've decided to try an recreate the kind of study I embarked on in college as applied to Paganism. I hope to start with the generalities of Paganism as a whole and the philosophy and psychology behind the movement. Than focus on the different traditions that are practiced by individual groups within the movement. I'm going to take a ridiculous amount of notes as I work through the books (writing helps me remember what I learn).

I've found a Pagan Seminary that I would love to take classes from someday, but since our budget doesn't really have any wiggle room right now, I'm going to use their syllabi to help determine the books I use for my study.

My reading list so far -

Paganism: An Introduction to Earth-Centered Religions
It seemed like a good general overview of Paganism to start my study with and has excercises and questions at the end of every chapter. (Plus I already own it) I'm only 24 pages in and already have 8 pages of notes. I'm really enjoying this book and have to limit myself so that I have time to process the new information.

Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion
One of the required reading books for the Cherry Hill Seminary. I don't own it as yet but was intrigued by the description and think it would be a good book to look into.

An Ye Harm None: Magical Morality and Modern Ethics
A discussion of the ethics of Paganism. Pagan ethics are a lot more situational and particapatory than the ethical structures of religions that give a "do this" and "don't do that" list of rules.

Drawing Down the Moon
I'm going to steal Honey's copy. I've heard several Pagans reference this book and it seems to discuss the history and origins of the movement and reasons behind the rise of Paganism.

I'll start my look at specific traditions of Paganism with Wicca since Honey is Wiccan and we already have a lot of books discussing it.

A Witches' Bible: The Complete Witches' Handbook
It seems to be an in depth look at the beginning of the Wiccan tradition. Some of the information might be dated and biased toward certain branches but overall a good source of information.

Crafting Wiccan Traditions: Creating a Foundation for Your Spiritual Beliefs and Practices
How to take all the dispirate elements of Wicca and personalise them into a system of belief that works for you.

I'm not planning on rushing through these books so don't worry if it takes months or even all year for me to get through the list. If anyone else wants to recomend books for my study, feel free. I would especially like recomendations of books that you think define any of the various traditions because I will be relying on others to guide me as to which books best define their traditions of Paganism.

Imbolic Art Card Exchange (you don't have to be artsy)

2010-01-17T23:49:00.000-09:00

Come play with us and make an Imbolic Art Card to send to a fellow Pagan somewhere in the world. Follow the link to Jen's blog Chasing Domestic Bliss to sign up before Jan 22.

Honey is home!!!!

2010-01-16T14:34:00.000-09:00

Meet my lovely looms

2010-01-15T21:37:00.000-09:00

You've already met my favorite loom. But I have a few others that were feeling left out.

The reigning favorite. I can both inkle and card weave on it.

The box loom I picked up from Lynn the Weaver as Estrella War.

The last of the looms hubby made for my class. He made a loom for each student and this was my demo loom. My honey is awesome.

Ashford Inklett with an altered stand. When I first bought this loom, I hated it. It was always tipping over during warping and while I was weaving it. A wonderful woodworker in the SCA made a new support for me and once I added that, it worked great and had a perfect handle to boot. This loom is the one I take to camping events and feasts.

The full size Ashford is not my favorite loom. It tends to twist as you warp it and put tension on it. You have to do a lot of extra steps to get the warp even. It does however have a nice long warp so sometimes I'm willing to jump through the hoops to get the extra length.

The copper loom I made for card weaving based on the directions I found at the WormSpit Blog. It is an awesome loom for card weaving a continuous warp. It's especially useful for two-way turning or double face weaving.

The 4 harness loom I bought on Craigslist. It needs a little repair work but we moved not to long after I got the loom and I haven't really had the time since. Hopefully I can get in touch with the local weavers guild soon and find someone to teach me how to warp it.

My last loom is my 7yd inkle loom. It looks like the one below from Thomas Creations. Unfortunately, it's not a very sturdy loom. When I warp it, it tends to bow extreemly bad unless I leave the tension so loose as to be almost non-existant. The Oak is only 3/4" and only half that at the joins so it just doesn't have the strength to handle a lot of tension. This last army move the loom was broken and I haven't had a chance to fix it yet. Honestly I'm going to try and reinforce it so it doesn't bow otherwise it's just not worth it to use it.

Idiocy begets idiocy

2010-01-14T11:44:00.000-09:00

Warning - Rant Ahead

Pat Robertson...Do I really need to say more? I probably don't but I'm going to anyway. He's an idiot. Not only is he an idiot but he's a misinformed, judgemental, beep, beep, can't-print-here descriptive beep. What kind of idiot tells a nation reeling from the loss of thousands of people that it's all their fault because their founders made a pact with the devil? Oh wait I already answered that question...Pat Robertson. Want to know what the supposed pact with the devil entailed? Here's the text of the supposed pact with the devil from the Bois Caïman ceremony that Robertson is referring too...

"The god who created the earth; who created the sun that gives us light. The god who holds up the ocean; who makes the thunder roar. Our God who has ears to hear. You who are hidden in the clouds; who watch us from where you are. You see all that the white has made us suffer. The white man's god asks him to commit crimes. But the god within us wants to do good. Our god, who is so good, so just, He orders us to revenge our wrongs. It's He who will direct our arms and bring us the victory. It's He who will assist us. We all should throw away the image of the white men's god who is so pitiless. Listen to the voice for liberty that speaks in all our hearts."

Doesn't sound like a pact with the devil to me. It sounds like a group of people who are being told that the "god" preached at them by the slaveholders created them to be slaves. I'd go looking for a better "god" too. I can see how 200 years ago narrow minded people with an interest in keeping the staus quo might spread the belief that the Haitian Revolution started with a pact with the devil but there is no excuse for a person in this modern age to spout this kind of drivel when 20 seconds on the Internet can give you the facts.

Matthew Yglesias Post

Bois Caiman Ceremony

Back to my first love

2010-01-12T14:52:00.000-09:00

I'd forgotten how much I love weaving. This summer I promised a set of Medieval garb as a wedding present to our best friend and her new hubby. Over Christmas they finally decided what kind of garb they wanted (Norse) and in what colors (pretty much blue and earth tones). Since I want it to be a really nice set of garb I'm going to weave all the trim. Last night I warped up my favorite inkle loom with the pattern I'd designed to use for their garb. (I'd forgotten how much I disliked working with wool). Since I need quite a few yards of trim for the outfits I'll be keeping this loom warped and weaving a couple hours a night while I watch TV until I have enough trim. There's something really relaxing about sitting in a cozy chair, passing a shuttle back and forth between the warp and watching cloth (really thin cloth in this case) appear.

(My favorite loom. It was my first loom that I picked up at a thrift store for $15 and I've never found one I liked better. I have looms that will take a longer warp but none that is so portable and easy to work with. I used to have an inkle loom with a 7yd warp but the Army movers broke it on the way to Alaska and I haven't been able to replace it yet)

(A bad picture of the design I charted out for this trim. I use an offset brick pattern for charting designs that best reproduces how the threads really line up. I get my graph paper from a free website that allows you to design your own.)

(The hopeful end product. Norse male and female garb. I usually wear Norse garb to medieval reenactment events. I know the male garb is not completely accurate but sometimes we have to make compromises to meet the needs of the recipient.)

A Place for Everything (I Wish)

2010-01-11T23:46:00.000-09:00

Sometimes "a place for everything and everything in it's place" is just not possible. Sometimes we just have to accept "a place for almost everything and nothing too much in the way." That's the compromise I've had to make while organizing my craft room. The room's closet has the washer and dryer in it so I don't really have much storage in there. I've got a lot more of a fabric stash than I really want but since I've moved to a place where I don't have the same resources I used to, I'm not willing to get rid of it. I've been using the dining room for sewing but now that I've got the craft room cleared out I'll be working in there more. I'm excited to have my own (functional) crafting space.

A movie recomendation (and maybe a little pouting)

2010-01-10T18:22:00.000-09:00

Pout, Pout Honey is gone again. This time for a week of training in Hawaii. Baby and I miss him. At least this time it's only for a week.

I spent most of the day working on organizing my craft room. When we moved into our house, I pretty much just put my boxes of craft supplies and fabric anywhere they would fit in the craft room. Since we jumped right into making the needed repairs on the house, I've never really gotten a chance to organize my supplies properly. Unfortunately, that means everytime I've needed something I've had to search for it which doesn't lend itself to keeping my craft room clean and organized. Since Honey's gone this week I'm going to make working on the craft room one of my priorities along with going out to spend a couple days out at my parents with my grandpa (who has Alzheimer's) so that Mom can have a break.

This evening I'm having a little bit of a girly night. ColdStone and a chick flick. I'm watching one of my favorite movies - Arranged. A young Muslim woman and a young Orthodox Jewish woman are first year teachers at the same school and strike up a friendship.

Update - The Chicken Stock came out beautifully. I left it on low in the crock pot all night and half the next day. Then I strained out the solid bits and put it in the refrigerator overnight so I could take out most of the fat. Now it's in the freezer waiting for my next batch of soup. I got about 12 cups of stock from things that I would have just had to throw away (or compost).

Pay-It-Forward Giveaway going, going, gone

2010-01-10T15:59:00.000-09:00

I have my three participants for the Pay-It-Forward Giveaway. Thank you ~*L*~, Tracy, and June. I'll be starting on your crafty surprises very soon.

Pay-It-Forward Giveaway going twice...

2010-01-10T01:01:00.001-09:00

I've got two participants so far in the pay it forward giveaway, ~*L*~ and Tracy. I have room for one more participant if anyone is interested. Just read the first post to get the details.

The Good, The Bad and The Chicken Stock

2010-01-08T23:33:00.000-09:00

The Good -
We finally got back to work on the MIL apartment. Dad has Friday's off so he came over so we could start work on the plumbing in the MIL apt.

The Bad -
As we opened the door to the cellar under the MIL apt that holds our furnace, hot water heater, and the foundation of the plumbing for the entire house, we started to feel water hitting us. One of the really old pipes that we were hoping would hold up until next summer or fall had developed a pin hole leak that was spraying water all over my cellar. We don't know how long the pipe had been leaking since we rarely have to go down there. It's really frustrating since the leak could have happened at any time in the last 50 years (it was in the middle of a straight stretch of pipe and the weakness was probably in the pipe when it was first installed) but the leak waited until now. However, even when Mr. Murphy-I-had-a-law-named-after-me tries to beat me down, I always have Mr. Caffeinated Optimism to pick me back up. Since we were already planning on doing some plumbing, we just changed our focus. Dad and I and Honey ended up redoing all the foundational plumbing (cold in, cold to the house, cold to water heater, and hot out from the heater). We were able to add shut off valves in all the places they needed to be and get rid of the Hodgepodge of weird connections and pipes that no longer went anywhere that used to drive me crazy. It was a little frustrating and money for the MIL work will be tight this month since I spent most of it on our little plumbing adventure but I'm actually really happy to have all the pipes that are so important to our entire house redone and redone right.

The Chicken Stock-
Taking into account all the above Drama, when we all got hungry, none of us felt like trying to cook with no running water. I ran to the grocery store and grabbed a rotisserie chicken for dinner. After we ate dinner, I stripped the useful meat off the chicken for taco's tomorrow. Now I'm taking the leftover onion, celery, and carrots in the fridge that are just about at the end of their useful life, adding some spices, the chicken carcass and throwing it all in the crock pot overnight in an attempt to make my own chicken stock for the first time. Wish me luck. If it comes out OK, it will help to salvage a day that has otherwise gone completely off course.

I'm pretty sure my dog hates me (he's probably justified)

2010-01-07T21:04:00.000-09:00

It's bad enough that I can't seem to clean my house without ending up wearing a belly dancing hipscarf and a tiara (no joke, I'm just weird). It's even worse that somehow in my latest cleaning endeavor my poor Baby ended up wearing a costume too.

OK in my defence this was actually the costume I found at the Thrift Store for Baby to wear on Halloween while we gave sweets out to the trick or treaters. Unfortunately, my MIL ended up coming home from the hospital that night and I missed all the trick or treaters. This week I've been tearing apart and reorganizing my craft room and happened to come across the costume (along with the aforementioned hipscarf and tiara) and wanted to at least see it on Baby.... Yeah, baby wasn't really impressed with my reasoning either.

Just to make you wince...

2010-01-06T00:37:00.001-09:00

We've all met one, the uber-Wiccan (if you haven't you, might want to check the mirror). It just goes to show idiocy knows no religion. I was a religion major so I pretty much see all religions through irony colored glasses, especially my own.

Also Something Positive is an awesome web comic. In a never has been and never will be PC sort of way. But start at the beginning.

Pay-It-Forward going once ...

2010-01-04T20:32:00.000-09:00

So far ~*L*~ at Out of the Blue has joined my Pay-It-Forward giveaway but I'm still hoping for two more participants. If anyone else is interested in joining the giveaway read the details in the first post, let me know you're interested in the comments and I'll send you a message to get the rest of the details I need.

One Word ...

2010-01-03T12:15:00.000-09:00

Several of the bloggers I read are doing something a little different for their new years resolutions this year. The concept is pretty simple. Instead of picking a bunch of new years resolutions and trying (usually unsuccessfully) to keep them you pick one word that you want to describe your new year. It took me a while to find just one word to describe all my hope for this coming year but I think I finally found it...

ACTIVE

I'm going to resist the urge to clarify what I want this word to mean and just allow the word to sit here on my blog and in my subconscious and see what comes of it.

Fire and Ice Festival for New Years Eve

2010-01-01T01:07:00.001-09:00

(A picture from last years festival I found online. Unfortunately, I was pretty cold and I didn't want to expose my camera to the elements so I didn't take any pictures)

We spent New Years Eve at the Fire and Ice Festival in downtown Anchorage. Lots of Fire Dancing, Fireworks, Ice Carving, and Skating. This year was the "Year of the Volcano" in honor of Mt. Redoubt's antics earlier this year and Hawaii's 50th anniversary. One of the best parts of the event was that it was totally free. Got to love fun activities that don't cost us a thing.

Tomorrow is Christmas at my parents. My brother was on the slope for Christmas and my sister took the only grand baby to his other grandparents home for Christmas so we decided to postpone the family Christmas until we could all be together.

Must learn Poi.

One for Now and One for Later

2009-12-30T20:54:00.000-09:00

My first foray into the whole freezer cooking thing. I felt like making enchiladas so I made two pans and am putting one in the freezer. Since this was a spur of the moment cooking adventure it wasn't as cost effective as if I'd planned my shopping to take advantage of the best deals but I had a lot of the ingredients on hand already.

Unfortunately, when I was trying to make a flat spot in my freezer to put my enchilada pan, I realized that I have a lot of random food items in my freezer that I should really use up. So the rest of my freezer cooking adventure is going to have to go on hold while I spend a couple weeks trying to use up the contents of my chest freezer.

Aprons, Aprons Everywhere

2009-12-29T13:04:00.000-09:00

(An apron for my future SIL and a cute little matching pinafore apron for her daughter. )

So far this year I've made Christmas aprons for Grandma, Aunt L, Wonderful Crazy Aunt G, Honey's Aunt C, Cousin A's Texas themed Apron, Honey's BBQing Apron, a Gingerbread themed apron for my sister, and a gingerbread man apron for my nephew. And last night I finished my last aprons of the year. A set of mother and daughter aprons for my maybe future sister in law and her daughter. Future SIL has been trying to learn how to cook so I thought this would be a great present to encourage her and give her something pretty and homemade.

(a matched set of aprons I made for my sister and nephew. Hers is a basic apron with gingerbread print fabric and his is a little gingerbread man.)

Of course now that I've made all these aprons and the year is almost finished I realized the one person I didn't make an apron for this year is me. Oops. Guess that can be my first new years resolution.

Cooking...

2009-12-28T21:09:00.000-09:00

I like cooking, sometimes, and the rest of the time I hate my kitchen with a passion. My husband laughs because one day he will come home to pot roast, veggies, homemade rolls, and cookies or brownies. However, the rest of the week we're eating hamburger helper or those skillet insta' dinners. Instead of continuing this feast or famine style of cooking, I'm going to try freezer cooking/once-a-month cooking. Hopefully, I can have a big cooking day when I feel like cooking, freeze a bunch of meals, and then just drop them in the oven on the nights I don't feel like cooking.

Unfortunately, I've had mixed experiences with recipes I get from the Internet so if I'm cooking really big (read expensive) batches of dinners I want to be sure the recipes are worth cooking. I got one book at the used book store - Linda Larsen's "Meals for a Month" and I have the "Super Suppers" Cookbook on hold at the Library. The book I have so far has some really good looking recipes in it. I'm having a hard time picking just 10 recipes to try first. They all look so yummy. I've seen the website for Super Suppers and they have some tasty looking dinners too but I'm too cheap to buy their dinners so I'll just try cooking their recipes at home :)

If anyone has any freezer recipes they've tried, liked and are willing to share, I'd appreciate it. Otherwise wish me luck with my new experiment and I'll let you know how it goes.

A poem I found on Craigslist

2009-12-27T22:32:00.000-09:00

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
With no thought of the dog outside filling their head.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Knew he was cold, but didn’t care about that.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Figuring the dog was free and into the trash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the luster of midday to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But Santa Claus – his eyes full of tears.
He unchained the dog, once so lively and quick,
Last years Christmas present, now thin and sick.
More rapid than eagles he called the dog’s name.
And the dog ran to him, despite all his pain;
“Now, DASHER! Now, DANCER! Now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! On CUPID! On, DONNER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
Let’s find this dog a home where he’ll be loved by all”
I knew in an instant there would be no gifts this year,
For Santa Claus had made one thing quite clear,
The gift of a dog is not just for the season,
We had gotten the pup for all the wrong reasons.
In our haste to think of giving the kids a gift
There was one important thing that we missed.
A dog should be family, and cared for the same
You don’t give a gift, then put it on a chain.
And I heard him exclaim as he rode out of sight,
“You weren’t given a gift! You were given a life!”

—Author Unknown

Merry Christmas!!!!

2009-12-25T14:20:00.000-09:00

Merry Christmas, Yule, Kwanzaa, and late Chanukah to everyone out there on the web!!! Blessings to you.

Thankful Thursday - Merry Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T13:23:00.000-09:00

This Christmas Eve I am thankful for ...

1) Getting to spend Christmas Eve with family and Christmas day with family and friends
2) I finally finished my MIL's wall hanging (just in time)

3) Honey is home
4) Cuddling
5) Having a wonderfully white Christmas

Watching Youtube to avoid Working

2009-12-23T02:01:00.000-09:00

I'm supposed to be stitching around the letters in my MIL's wall hanging. I'm avoiding it. But in the process of avoiding my project I've found some really cool videos on YouTube :) The first video is actually my Belly Dance teacher at last year's New Years Eve Fire and Ice festival in Anchorage (I'm going this year and looked it up just for fun and came across her video). She's doing an improve fire poi dance. Sometime I dream of taking up fire poi, but then I remember two very important things. First I'm a klutz and second I like my hair. I have the feeling those two facts might be mutually exclusive if I add fire poi to the picture.

The second is the video for the FloBots' song "Handlebars." It's one of my favorite music videos but you have to pay attention to get the back and forth. I get all warm and fuzzy when a group uses their music to convey a message instead of just to get a paycheck.

Maybe I should get back to work now ... nah

A Very Domestic Solstice and Chicken Barley Soup

2009-12-21T23:50:00.001-09:00

Today was a good day. I'm sitting at my computer, sipping raspberry herbal tea, smelling the wonderful soup I have simmering in the crock pot, and I can't help but think that today was a very good day. Honey got off work early and we were able to spend a couple hours just hanging out an watching silly cartoons. I got half-way done with the wall hanging I need to finish before Christmas for my MIL. I have my favorite soup in the crock pot. Honey cooked a wonderful dinner/mini-feast for us to share and then we performed our Yule ritual. As I said, A very good day.

(What I've accomplished so far on my MIL's wall hanging. I still need to put bias tape around the edges and get some brick red thread as the red parts are the only ones I still need to stich around)

My Favorite Chicken Barley Soup

(a big batch for putting up in the freezer)

Needed-
- 5qt Crock Pot
- 4 large Chicken Breast Halves (boneless, skinless)
- 4 cans chicken broth
- 2 C Water
- 2/3 C pearl barley
- 1 Large Onion (chopped)
- 2 garlic cloves minced (more if you like garlic)
- 4 large carrots (grated or shredded)
- 4 large celery stalks (chopped)
- 1/2 C chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
- 1/4 tsp ground celery seeds
- 2 large bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- salt to taste (optional)

combine all ingredients (except salt) in slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 1 hr. Change to low and cook an additional 7-8 hrs.

Remove chicken breasts. When cool enough to handle cut into bite size pieces (usually they are soft enough for me to shred them with a fork). Return chicken to crock pot and cook an additional 20 min on high. Add salt if desired.

I always eat one bowl of soup to celebrate the completion of the batch and then divide the rest into freezer safe individual portion bowls. Let the soup cool in the fridge and then freeze. If you keep it in the fridge it only lasts 3-4 days but in the freezer it can last for months (but I like it so much it usually doesn't).

(My batch of soup all ready to go in the fridge and then the freezer)

Pay-It-Forward Giveaway (Finally)

2009-12-17T14:37:00.000-09:00

Now, that I have a working computer I am excited to start my own Pay-It-Forward Giveaway.

For those of you who might not be familiar with this type of crafty give away, let me explain. If you enter this giveaway you will receive something home made and crafty from me. Once I let you know that it is in the mail, you then get to start your own pay it forward giveaway on your blog and make three wonderful crafty things and send them to three readers of your blog who in turn start their own pay it forward giveaways. Basically, we are trying to cover the world in crafty goodness :)

A couple months ago I entered the Pay-It-Forward giveaway at Sara's blog Blessed Simplicity. She made me a wonderful fillet crocheted bookmark.

I wont say what I'm making for the pay-it-forward giveaway but I will say I already bought the fabric and I'm really excited to make them. If you are interested, post a comment letting me know and I'll contact the first three posters to get your addresses and such. I'll be honest and admit that it will probably take me a month or two to finish the crafty surprises once I have your information.

Thankful Thursday !!! I have a working computer again!!!

2009-12-17T01:23:00.000-09:00

****Warning - Really Long Post - I have a lot to be thankful for ******

I have so many things to be thankful for this Thursday I'm having a hard time deciding where to start ...

- Honey is home. My honey got home at 1am Wed morning. And I can't stop grinning like a idiot.

- I have my computer back!!! I got so frustrated with the old broken down computer I decided it was time to take a few weeks off from the Internet but now I'm back!

- I have a ton of cookies from my families Cookie Party

- Last week Mom and I had a sewing night and I got a ton of stuff done.

- Dad and I got a ton of stuff done on the MIL apartment over the last couple weekends

- I can finally start my Pay-It-Forward give away since I have a reliable computer

- I made wonderful Chicken Barley soup tonight. (I always have a bunch of servings in the freezer for quick filling meals)

- Christmas Decorations

Make a Flake !!

2009-11-30T03:45:00.001-09:00

I found a great website that lets you make your own paper cut snowflakes without all the mess and with an undo button when things don't come out quite like you envisioned :) Check out Make-a-Flake and make some snowflakes of your own

A Very Thankful Thanksgiving Thursday

2009-11-26T23:52:00.000-09:00

This year I am most thankful for ...

-My wonderful honey. He's sweet, patient, cuddly, handsome, weird, funny, mine :)

-Being back in Alaska. You never think you'll miss -40 until you spend time +100

-Having my family nearby.

-Our wonderful, complicated, not-quite-finished new house

-All the help our family and friends have given us toward finishing our house

-Belly Dance and Jazzercise classes

-Titlewave Books

My Computer is Possesed ... Or Just Really Freaking OLD

2009-11-24T00:47:00.000-09:00

I've been using our old laptop as MY shiny new laptop is in GA with honey (that's how he knows I love him). This laptop dates from honey's days in the barracks and has been dropped off an armored vehicle (or two) so it's not surprising that it has some issues. Mostly we've learned to work around them on the rare occasion we have to use it. However, last week it started crashing every few minutes. I've tried everything I can think of and a few things honey talked me through over the phone but I think it's time to accept that fixing it is beyond my skill set and wait for honey. To that end I haven't been on the Internet much (bumming computer time from friends). Here's what happened in the last couple weeks.

- MIL is recovering nicely. She's back home and self sufficient as long as I can come every few days to help with the things she can't manage yet. We managed to live together for two weeks without killing each other :)

-I'm still going to Jazzercise. I went three times last week. It still kicks my butt but I love it.

-I bought a treadmill on Craigslist for a great deal. I bought it from an older couple who live rather out in the sticks (that's saying something since this is Alaska). It's an older model but sturdy as hell and works great. From the sounds of it they never really used it as anything other than a treadmill shaped coat rack. I've been using it for low impact walking while I watch TV.

-Dad and I are still going strong on the MIL apartment. (I've got some pictures of all that we've accomplished I'll put up once I have a computer of my own again). Last Saturday I got insulation all over myself from crawling in the roof space and dirt all over me from working in the crawl space. I should have been miserable but I had a lot of fun working with my dad all day.

-I've got five aprons almost finished for Christmas gifts. I just need to put on the ties and they will be ready to send.

-I've been making snowflake kanzashi (another set of pictures I'll put up once I have access to my own computer)

-Last week was my last Belly Dance class until the new cycle starts in mid January :(

-Expect post to be fairly erradic for the immediate future. Sorry.

Thankful Thursday

2009-11-12T23:09:00.000-09:00

This week I am thankful for ...

-Being Alive. I was in an accident and could have easily ended up not-so-living. While I was driving into town, the first big storm of the winter hit with limited visibility and wet snow that was freezing to the roads and making them really slick. Since I'm not an idiot, I slowed down to a decent speed for the road conditions. Unfortunately, I was sharing the road with one or more idiots. Someone decided I was going too slow and whipped around me and then tried to change lanes into my lane. Actually, they tried to change lanes into the very spot my car was occupying. I'm pretty sure they bumped me but I can't tell since I put that side of the car through a very large snow bank immediately after. I ended up spinning around, sliding into the median backward, and almost sliding out the other side and into the opposite lane of traffic. Thankfully I plowed into a large snow berm and it slowed me down enough to stop me before I slid onto the other side of the highway. I was very scared and am very, very thankful it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

- My MIL is getting better and is much happier this week.

-I found a reconditioned fridge at Home Depot for the apt for about half what it would cost me otherwise.

-Cell Phones. With honey on the other side of the country, I really appreciate that we can use our cell phones to keep in touch and make kissy noises at each other.

-Jazzercize. It's really fun (in a drop dead tired half way through sort of way). I've gone three times this week!

Holy Crap ! I've become my Great Aunt!

2009-11-10T13:46:00.000-09:00

(this is not my Jazzercise class but it's close enough to be it's twin sister or a cousin who looks really similar)

Yesterday I joined Jazzercise. Before going into the center the only thing I knew about Jazzercise was that my great aunt used to do it when I was a little girl (scary leotard and all). However, living in a smaller town gives me limited options. We have the overgrown Fitness Club that is all over AK and has put most of the smaller gyms out of business, a Curves, and a Jazzercise center. I refuse to patronize the big fitness club. I've seen too many great, small, family-run gyms pushed out of business because of them. I went to the Curves and was pretty interested until they sprang a $200 joining fee on me and then explained that most of the benefits they'd told me about (working out at other locations, putting membership on hold while injured, transferring if you move, etc) only applied if I signed a 1 year contract. I was a little miffed that they waited until the very end of a 1 hour spiel to tell me about the membership fee and 1 year contract but I probably still would have considered joining if the Curves employee hadn't been so pushy in trying to get me to sign up right then and there. I understand that businesses have quotas for their employees and that the employees are put under a lot of pressure to fill them but I also understand that they make most of their money off people who are no longer coming to the gym but still trapped in a 1 year contract. I have a personal policy that once pressure to buy is applied (on a car, appliance, gym membership, etc) I leave and decide whether I want to buy that item at home away from the pressure. So I walked out of the Curves after thanking the employee for her time and letting her know I would contact her if I decided to join the gym. In the end I decided that I was not ready to make a year long financial commitment. So that left me contemplating how my size 18 body would look in a leotard :) I did some research online and discovered Jazzercise has updated their program from the one I was envisioning. Their music play list includes ones I hear on the radio on a regular basis and no one on the website was in a leotard (Thank the Divine). The website was very upfront about their fees and how the classes were structured. So I threw on some gym clothes and went to a class last night.

I had a blast. It kicked my ass and I was sweating like a pig but it was really fun. When I got there and explained I'd never been before, I was invited to participate in the class for free so I could decide if it was something I wanted to do. The moves were fairly easy to follow. It actually reminded me a little of Tribal Belly Dance with a leader and followers and a fairly set structure of moves. You could tell some people were experienced and would start the next move almost before the teacher and there were others, like me, who were a little behind but still following along. I'm also really excited that Jazzercise is going to build my Cardiovascular endurance which has always been my weakest area. And as an extra bonus, it's helping build the same muscles I need to Belly Dance well.

My Cute Baby

2009-11-08T12:15:00.000-09:00

This is our Baby. No kids yet (maybe ever) so he's pretty spoiled. He's pretty cute when he's not being an absolute terror.

Baby will make a cave out of anything (blankets, gambesons, clean laundry, a pile of penguins) but I'm still not quite sure how he managed this one. You can't really see but the gambeson he is curled into is on top of a huge pile of armor (honey and I do medieval reenactment). Somehow he manged to get to the top of the pile without it all crashing down and make himself a little cozy cave :) Did I mention I love my baby :)

Thankful Thursday

2009-11-05T16:27:00.000-09:00

This week I am thankful for...

-Honey got to GA safely
-Left over Halloween Candy
-I have not killed my MIL yet (though it's been close a couple times)
-my desire to avoid the 24 hr Soap Net marathon going on in my living room has helped me get a lot done toward my Christmas craft projects.
-So far there have been no complications w/ my MIL's surgery and she is recovering nicely (if slowly)
-Got to go to Belly Dance class last night (I had to miss it last week and was really bummed)
-I have 4 turkeys in my freezer :P (a long story for another post)

This pretty much says it all ...

2009-11-04T23:50:00.001-09:00

Update on the Dreaded Christmas List

2009-11-03T23:05:00.001-09:00

Today I worked on some of my Christmas sewing projects. My MIL is still in the recovery stage where she can't really move around by herself so I'm doing a lot of the cutting for various projects since I can do that on the table in the dining room and still be near enough to be on hand. When I get all the cutting done I'll probably drag one of my sewing machines out to the dining room and work on it. When I get the sewing projects done, I'm going to work on some kanzashi Christmas ornaments. Kanzashi are the beautiful fabric flower hair ornaments worn by apprentice Geisha in Japan. Recently, at a craft fair, I saw where a person had made some out of blue and silver fabrics to look like snow flakes and turned them into Christmas Ornaments. Since I've already made a few for my hair, I'm going to try and make some for Christmas presents this year (hopefully using fabrics I already own).

MY SIDE
Mom - ?, homemade jam, kanzashi ornaments

Dad - Sticky Fingers BBQ sauce , Worst Case Scenario Book

Sister - ?, homemade jam, kanzashi ornament

BIL - ?

Nephew - exercise video game

Brother - ?

future SIL - matching mother and daughter aprons

future niece - refurbished used Doll House

name present A - Hand crocheted chenille scarf (what she asked for, she might still get the apron too if I have time)

name present J - Funny character ties and several first books in series honey and I like to introduce him to new series

G & M - homemade apron & cookies

HONEY'S SIDE

MIL - ?, homemade apron, kanzashi ornament

L BIL - books

K SIL - cool photo spinney thing (thrift store)

M BIL - ?

J SIL - Pretty homemade necklace and earrings, kanzashi ornament

Aunt and Uncle - homemade jam and apron, ornament?

FRIENDS

M & S - homemade cookies, bath salts

C & J - homemade cookies, bath salts

Probably not going to be on for a couple weeks

2009-11-01T16:04:00.000-09:00

I'm currently the full-time caregiver for my MIL while she recovers from getting both knees replaced so my posts the next couple weeks will probably be pretty limited. No pics. Nothing long. :(

Thankful Thursday

2009-10-29T13:11:00.000-08:00

I decided I better do my "Thankful Thursday" post early today before I send honey off to GA for a couple months to avoid the potential of whinyness (too late).

This week I am thankful for -
-My MIL came through her surgery OK
-honey gets to go to a much needed training school (I'll miss him)
-cuddling together watching "Castle"
-The one week a year where I get to dress up in any of my "pretties" with no strange looks
-penguins

Peace, Calm, Tranquility

2009-10-28T23:36:00.000-08:00

My husband will recognize those words. They are his mantra when things are going wrong or he gets frustrated and needs to stop and center himself. After today, I've decided to stop teasing him and admit that sometimes he's a little smarter than I give him credit for. Today, I had to wake up at 4am to take my MIL for knee surgery (way too god-awful early). But wait there's more... Hubby is leaving tomorrow for a couple months of Army training and until yesterday we thought it was cancelled. I spent the day bouncing back and forth between my MIL at the hospital and trying to get all the last minute stuff for hubby. (Did I mention I'm irrationally afraid of hospitals?) Suffice to say it was a stressful day and I actually stopped a couple times in various parking lots between hither and yon, took a deep breath and focused on "peace, calm, tranquility."

I think sometimes I get so focused on the trappings of rituals, sabbats and esbats that I forget the best chance to commune with the Divine can be a few minutes in a parking lot and three little words.

Thanks Honey.

Thankful Thursday

2009-10-22T23:50:00.000-08:00

This week I am thankful for ...

- dinners with friends
- my new hutch
- Sheetrock in the apartment
- Maple cookies

A New Pretty For My Kitchen

2009-10-22T00:23:00.000-08:00

I've been looking for a baker's rack or hutch since we moved into our new house. I love my kitchen but it's a little lacking in the storage department. Currently, I've got a bookshelf against the wall between my kitchen and dining room with my cookbooks, canning supplies, and kitchen appliances. We found a nice hutch at the thrift store in a light colored wood that matches the rest of the kitchen and dining room.

So far I've managed to put all my cookbooks in it and a bunch of boxes of bulk food in the bottom that will go in the pantry once it's done, and a few of my special dishes.

Homemade Bath Salts

2009-10-19T18:57:00.000-08:00

This evening I made some homemade bath salts. When I was picking up supplies, I accidentally grabbed a container of fine Sea Salt instead of coarse. It doesn't really make a difference in how the bath salts work I just prefer to use the coarse sea salt because it looks better. I decided to use the fine salt to make bath salts for myself and save the coarse for presents.

The Recipe -
1 part Coarse Sea Salt
2 parts Epsom Salts
1/2 part Baking Soda

I usually take all of the ingredients and mix up as big a plain batch as possible. Then I gather all the jars and such I'm going to be putting the salt in. I fill each jar with as much salt as I want in it. Sometimes that's full and sometimes it's just partly full. Then I take the jars one by one, dump the salt in a big glass bowl, add scent and color to suit (it only takes a drop or two), and then I pour it back into its jar. I use soap colors and scents that you can pick up really cheap at most craft stores. I'm pretty sure you can use any essential oils for the scent though. I made a jar of Raspberry Green Tea bath salts and a jar of my favorite Sandalwood Rose.

*****

On a completely unrelated note I did a lot better today on my "money-free" week goals.

Crash and Burn

2009-10-19T02:33:00.001-08:00

Didn't do so great on the "money-free" thing this weekend. I went to the fabric store and spent $20 on fabric for a Christmas present. (I know. I know. I promised not to do that). I've still got 4 days to go maybe I can do better for the rest of the week. Of course it's pretty pitiful when I've spent money on 2 out of 3 days I've been trying to go "money-free" so far. I probably do better than that in a normal week.

Alright, that was depressing. I think I'll focus on something happier now. How about a picture of my favorite find in the MIL apt so far? They are vintage paper doll dresses. Some of them are even fuzzy to imitate velvet.

Friday - Some Good, Some Not So Good

2009-10-17T00:57:00.000-08:00

I ended up breaking my "money-free" week on the first day :( I had to buy a rotisserie chicken to feed hubby and helpers 'cuz they showed up this evening after not getting a lunch and the dinner I was going to make would have taken too long. I'll have to plan better for tomorrow.

Otherwise today was a complete success. Dad and I worked through the morning and afternoon while we waited for everyone else to get off work. We got the old heater units pulled out, finished putting Visqueen and insulation in the ceiling, added more insulation to the walls. Once the rest of the guys got there, they put the new Sheetrock on the ceiling (that stuff is heavy).

When we were pulling off the back of the old baseboards, we found quite a few papers and odds and ends that hinted about the houses past. I don't think any of the stuff we found dates to when the house was built but at least to the 70's and maybe 60's.

A collection of random bits lost behind the heaters over the years. Some old math homework, playing cards, cut outs from magazines, Sunday School materials with very cutesy old-style illustrations.

An old magazine cutout talking about visiting the author's daughter at the foot of (a very intact) Mt. St. Helen's. (Kinda hope she moved before 1980).

A beautiful old stamp from Hungary.

Thankful Thursday

2009-10-15T22:15:00.000-08:00

- I did not kill my husband while hanging the visqueen in the MIL apt. (I wanted too though. I'm pretty sure the feeling was mutual)

- The MIL apt is coming along nicely and we got a lot done last weekend.

- I went to Belly dance class even though I almost skipped and I had a blast.

- Homemade bath salts (blog entry to follow ... eventually)

- The give and take of living near family again.

I Am Officially Declairing a Money-Free Week

2009-10-15T18:39:00.000-08:00

This week I am challenging myself to go "money-free." No spending. Nada. No trips to the thrifts stores. No trips to Joann's for the fabric I just have to have to finish a Christmas project I haven't even started working on yet. No trips to the grocery store to buy the missing ingredient for a recipe I want to make instead of using what I have to make something a little harder. I've noticed lately I'm spending a little too much time looking for good deals on Christmas presents and deals for the house. Trying to find good deals is great but getting too dependant on shopping and "retail therapy" would be a big problem. One I need to nip in the bud.

I'm hoping hubby will join me in this little venture (although he honestly doesn't have as much trouble with spending as I do). I will, however, make exceptions for the things he needs for the MIL apt. We're working on a timeline and have friends coming to help this weekend so if they get more projects accomplished than I've already bought supplies for, I am more than willing to buy supplies for the next step.

Wish me luck and I'll let you know how it went next Friday.

This Weekend We Cut a Hole in the Side of My House

2009-10-13T16:21:00.000-08:00

The MIL apartment attached to our house started with a terrible floor plan. The door brought you right into a cramped kitchen which brought you into a small living room and then a small bedroom. We tore out the terrible built-in entertainment cabinets that divided the living room and bed room. They were no longer functional and took up about 3X10 of floor space. Even after taking out that eyesore we were still left with three small rooms that all felt cramped. We decided to change the floor plan to make the space flow better and feel more open. We moved the old kitchen wall to turn what used to be a kitchen into a nice little bedroom with its own door and little patio area outside. We took out the wall between what used to be the living room and bedroom and will now be one big open area for the kitchen/dining/living room. (note none of these walls we're doing away with are load-bearing. The walls that divide the rest of the house from the MIL are the load bearing ones). To make this new floor plan work we're putting a door back where we found the frame for one when we pulled off the walls. This new (old) door is probably where the door was in the original cabin that was changed around as the rest of the house was added on. (I love having a house with history). Mom and Dad came to help me with this project since Hubby is at work all weekend.

We took out the framing for the old door and put in a new frame since some of the old wood was a little questionable.

We cut off the metal siding and exposed the beautiful wood siding from a renovation or two ago.

Isn't it beautiful. They don't make siding like this anymore.

We cut around the opening and suddenly there was a hole in the side of my house.

They seem a little too excited about the hole in the side of my house. (Thanks Mom and Dad for all the help.)

Look a door!!!

I think my next project had better be stairs for that door.

My Hero

2009-10-13T00:39:00.000-08:00

Check out the NY Times article on The Phoenix Commotion. Dan Phillips' started a company that focuses on building beautiful and affordable homes for low income families using salvaged and recycled building materials. The sideshow has amazing pictures of some of the things they've done.

I've always been a big proponent of reusing or thrift storing instead of buying new (it's quicker for me to point out the things in my house that were bought new than those I got used or made). As we renovate the MIL apartment on our house we've been trying to stay true to our convictions by finding materials used or reusing the original materials as often as possible. Unfortunately, we are completing this project on a deadline (MIL is moving in for a bit to recover from a surgery) so when I can't find something by the time we need it to proceed on the project I've had to buy new (like the door from our weekend project that I will hopefully blog about tomorrow).

So far I've been able to find a used (but almost new) Range, a reconditioned microwave/stove vent to save counter space, more than half my cabinets on craigslist for $60, an interior door at the ReStore, and hope to hear back about some flooring from craigslist. I'm still looking for a refrigerator, the rest of my cabinets, counter tops, flooring, carpet and Sheetrock. Wish me luck.

I am not a Christian ... But

2009-10-12T01:13:00.000-08:00

Caution - extreme danger of whiny rant ahead

I am not a Christian although I grew up in that faith and hold a degree in Biblical Studies. My belief system has evolved based on my experience and research into something other than traditional Chrisitianity. I usually describe my beliefs as Ecclectic Paganism because it is the closest "name" to what I believe.

I am not a Christian but sometimes I miss the trappings of that belief system. I miss worship services. I miss having a definitive document of my faith. I miss that feeling of having all the answers and not having to figure them out for yourself. I miss the history and feeling like part of it. Mostly I miss being able to find people who believe exactly what I believe.

Paganism is a little more variable than Chrisitianity. Even my husband and I practice different aspects of Paganism. He is Wiccan and I am Ecclectic.

Mostly this post is just my way of whining that I miss the comfort of the religion of my childhood. There are some days where that lazy bum in the back of my mind just wants to follow someone else's direction. But the rest of my mind says I can't. I'm the teenager who almost got her family thrown out of their church for telling the pastor that his sermon was borderline heresy and then proving it. I couldn't even blindly follow when I was trying to be a Christian so I guess "the good old days" are just an illusion and I should stop ranting at unsuspecting blog readers.

Thankful Thursday

2009-10-08T22:52:00.000-08:00

I really appreciated the idea of taking one day of the week and concentrating on just the good. Credit goes to "today I asked for a god" for giving me the idea.

So this week I am thankful for -
- Belly dance class and a teacher that finally made playing zills make sense to me
- friends I run into at the fabric store
- having a nephew to borrow for trick or treating
- my husband having tomorrow off
- finding half the cabinets for our remodel for $60
- finally finding Pagan blogs that deal w/ homesteading, homemaking, head covering, etc.
- cookies (everyone should be thankful for cookies)

The Dreaded Christmas List

2009-10-07T23:34:00.000-08:00

The advantage of having a (for the most part) anonymous blog is that I can put up things like my chistmas gift list and don't have to worry about a relative reading it.

Honey - Don't you wish. Sorry honey I know you read my blog.

MY SIDE
Mom - ?, homemade jam
Dad - ?, Worst Case Senario Book
Sister - ?, homemade jam
BIL - ?
Nephew - excercise video game
Brother - ?
future SIL - matching mother and daughter aprons
future niece - refurbished used Doll House
name present A - Pretty apron out of blue and white fabric (got at the thrift store) and red trim
name present J - ? movies ?
G & M - homemade apron & cookies

HONEY'S SIDE
MIL - ?, homemade apron
L BIL - books
K SIL - cool photo spinny thing (thrift store)
M BIL - ?
J SIL - homemade bath salts
Aunt and Uncle - homemade jam and cookies

FRIENDS
M & S - homemade cookies, bath salts
C & J - homemade cookies, bath salts

Ok... I'm a little bummed. I'd hoped to have a better handle on my Christmas list by now but I see a lot of ?s up there. I'm trying to do everything homemade or repurposed. All the non-homemade things on the list so far are things I picked up used and spruced up. Wish me luck. I'll post pics of the homemade stuff as I finish them.

My Boys

2009-10-06T01:12:00.000-08:00

Honey and Baby. They were just too cute. Baby has been pretty stressed lately with all the commotion related to the renovation on the apartment (not to mention it's getting pretty cold here and he is most definitely a hot weather dog) so we are making sure to spend cuddle time with him as often as we can.

Donut Sprinkles Fabric

2009-10-04T01:08:00.000-08:00

This evening, after a long day of working on the house that I will probably write about tomorrow when my brain is working a little better, I went to one of my happy places. .... Oh no! you think. Drugs? Alcohol? ... Fabric Store!!! I had a 50% off coupon burning a hole in my purse and I wasn't afraid to use it! Despite the impulse shopping disaster waiting to happen this could have been I actually had a legitimate use for the coupon and was very glad to have it. I've been trying to use up some of my fabric stock and it just so happened that I have some really great Christmas apron fabric just waiting for backing and bias tape (I make my own) to become wonderful homemade Christmas presents. I got a nice dark green to back the aprons (I hate thin aprons they don't do the job) and make the bias tape out of. I'm looking forward to making the aprons and hopefully sending them out a little early so they get some use during the Christmas season. I'm always a little sad when I get a wonderful Christmas themed gift on Christmas morning and have to wait until next year to really use it.

My other reason for going to the fabric store was to find a contrasting fabric for some fun and playful fabric I picked up at the thrift store a while ago and really want to work with but have had a terrible time finding an accent fabric to go with it. The fabric is really playful and I like to refer to it as my "stripey candy fabric." Fortunately, I ran into a friend at the fabric store and she acted as my second opinion and helped me pick out some "donut sprinkle fabric" to go with my "stripey candy fabric." I'll put a picture of my finished project up once I get to it. I'm suddenly very hungry.

Check out the Giveaway at ecoMILF (Mother Into Living Fair)

2009-09-30T22:23:00.000-08:00

ecoMILF is giveing away a Sigg water bottle with a great story behind it. Check it out. Enter the drawing.

http://www.ecomilf.com.au/ecoMILF/ecoMILF_blog/Entries/2009/9/25_neverever,_chocolate_confessions_and_a_give-away%21.html#

Getting Off My Lazy Butt

2009-09-29T18:38:00.000-08:00

I've been a little lax the last couple weeks about my excercise. It's been cold and rainy so I didn't really want to go out walking but today I decided that I'm going to end up sitting on my a$$ all winter if I use cold as an excuse. I walked down to the store to pick up some veggies and stopped by the library to get some reading material. Fate decided to reward me for walking and both of the books I wanted (but didn't dare hope to find) were sitting on the new arrivals shelf waiting for me. I love these authors and reread their books almost every year but I'm too cheap to buy them in hardback so I get them at the library and read them. Then I have the leisure to find them at a used bookstore for adding them to my home library.

Birthday Party Wrap Up

2009-09-29T00:32:00.000-08:00

Well, just because a birthday party is absolutely wonderful and went off with minimal issues doesn't mean it didn't take a lot of work and require a recovery period after :P

My nephew's birthday was last week and we went a little overboard (I blame the grandma) for the party. It was awesome. A Circus theme was chosen so we had face painting (my long suffering and good sport of a husband), a clown making balloon animals (me), bean bag toss, a petting zoo (two goats and two little pigs), a little race car track, a jumping jupiter, and a bunch of games. If most families tried to pull this kind of party off it would take quite a bit of money but we did it for hardly any. The most expensive part of the party was probably the Jumping Jupiter and that only cost $100 to rent for the weekend because we could rent if from the base recreation dept. Every member of the family was able to contribute something whether it was cooking, crafting, making a bean bag game out of scrap wood and paint, or getting some friends to lend their animals to the cause. I love my big crazy family especially when we're being crazy in a good way.

Me in all my clowny glory. We were talking about the costume and realized that Mom made it more than 20 years ago. It's been worn by almost every member of our family at one time or another and been everywhere from a VBS in Barrow, AK to a children's cancer ward in Romania.

A bad shot of the wonderful bean bag toss game Mom made out of a piece of scrap wood.

My sister being a good sport about all the random flower balloons her son wanted her to wear that we eventually just made into a hat to free up her hands.

My hubby painting a "pink sports car" on my (hopeful) future niece.

My nephew and his Grandpa playing in the jumping jupiter.

The duck pond.

Mom makes the best birthday cakes.

A Really Weird "Fangirl" Moment

2009-09-26T23:20:00.000-08:00

Just in case you needed any confirmation that I'm a few degrees off true North ....

I follow "a great leap in the dark" and "the tiny house blog" and while I'm not entirely sold on the "tiny house" concept for myself (I love my fabric stash), I really admire the ingenuity of tiny house builders and the underlying reasons for which they build that way. To that end, when my hubby and I saw a mobile "tiny house" on our drive home today I simply had to follow and get a picture or two (and a really weird look from the man in the truck hauling it).

http://agreatleapinthedark.blogspot.com/

http://tinyhouseblog.com/

Coming up on the tiny house. You can see its sister house up ahead.

A closer view as we pass. I love the sign over the door

"Motel 3 - no phones - no cable - no room tax - no vacancy"

Pay-It-Forward ... Soon

2009-09-26T00:51:00.000-08:00

On the off chance I actually have any readers :)

Sara, the owner of the wonderful blog "Blessed Simplicity," has allowed me to enter her pay-it-forward giveaway. I am very excited about this whole concept. I had read about the giveaways in other blogs but I was always reading about them months after the fact or just to chicken to ask to be included. I am planning and plotting the project I will do for my pay-it-forward giveaway once Sara is done with hers. I've got the fabric all picked out and several ideas of things to make (I guess it says something about me that the fabric determines the project and not the other way around). Keep your eyes open and I'll post for victi... um I mean ...volunteers when it's my turn to pay-it-forward.

Blogs - A Window Into Someone Elses World

2009-09-22T22:39:00.001-08:00

Ok, I have to admit to a very serious psychological problem ... insatiable curiosity and an inability to blindly believe what the news media tells me. I can't help but think that most news stories are pushed that little bit extra to make the issues or events seem a little bit more interesting. So, when I hear a news story about a polygamous family or niqab wearing french women, I try to find several blogs written by people who are in the culture or situation to try and get a better, more complete, perspective. Often times I don't completely agree with the belief systems I encounter, but I always appreciate a well thought out point of view and I always appreciate having a better understanding of the people I share this world with.

So, if you think the blogs I follow are a little disjointed, this is why. And thanks to everyone who lets it all hang out (even if you sometimes have to put up with ignorant comments left by idiots who probably haven't read more than three words of your actual blogs). I appreciate your courage and I want to grow up to be just like you.