In My Home This Week: Where Did September Go?

Saturday:  Sam and I were exchanging again this Saturday morning.  He made cinnamon rolls, I had an extra loaf of Pumpkin Banana Bread.   Those cinnamon rolls were lovely; light, finely rolled, well risen, and plenty of cinnamon with a surprise touch of lemon icing.  Yum!



I set up a roast to cook, pot roast style, in the slow cooker.  I used potatoes, onion, baby carrots and parsnips in my roast.  I like parsnips, even the large woody ones.  I dice finely and let them slow cook in soup or pot roast or stew.   I had a plenty of roast left to slice for sandwich meat and extra meals in the week.  I put a pint of beef broth in the freezer which will make a nice base for soup one cool day.  I'm ready to make a pot of soup, even if it is still mighty warm outdoors.

I find myself with what is common to me these latter years, mourning the loss of each season and triumphantly entering into another at the same time.  I think it must be like that to leave this earth and enter heaven, though I suppose one to be so caught up in the glory of it that we'd have little time for mourning.  And it is just so now.  Summer is past.  Autumn has come.  Time has moved on.

I spent my day mostly wading through the county genealogical site, losing myself in a time long past and thinking how really our DNA is like a pot of soup, a bit of this and a bit of that and we keep stirring and adding in a new little something here and there and passing it along.  And so I come back around to soup and the end of the day.

Sunday:  Broke out the heating pad last night.  My shoulders muscles reacted to the strain of lifting boys on Thursday and cleaning rafters of the porch on Friday by seizing up in painful muscle spasms on Saturday.  I woke in the wee hours of the morning, midway through the time a dose of the most powerful pain reliever we had in the house should have been at work in enough pain to cry.  I spent the rest of the night with the heating pad placed strategically on various spots of my back as the painful knots relaxed and the spasms spread from shoulders to hips.

John did a full load of laundry this morning.  I set about reheating those lovely cinnamon rolls Sam brought us and making a simple breakfast with them.  Made potato salad, fed the pets, stripped the bed and unloaded the dishwasher and then got dressed for church.  I'm always amazed at how much can be fit into a two hour period of time.

After church today, we went into the grocery.  I had a mental list again but told John I'd like to sort of look around a bit.  We bought fried chicken,  bread, coffee, half and half, cottage cheese and soda.  Those were the expected things.  John asked for peas and onions as a side dish one day, so we walked up the canned vegetable aisle to get some, as I told him the tiny onions in the produce aisles were high priced and difficult to peel anyway.  I bought a jar of pearl onions, found 8 ounce cans of sauerkraut which is best suited to our needs as well as small cans of vegetarian baked beans.  I cannot buy any of the last mentioned items at our Aldi.  John mentioned other items I did need but I told him they could be purchased at Aldi and would be.  I figure at this point I have just spent about half of my two weeks budget.  I had cash over from last pay period, too, so I am not too concerned at present with spending.

I put away a portion of our lunch foods for John's lunch tomorrow.  There was also enough chicken for another meal for the two of us.  I'll make fresh sides to go with those leftovers.  With John working 3 of the next 7 days and the leftovers covering two meals I don't need to plan but two more dinner meals this week.  I will try to work out a plan for breakfasts and suppers, as well, and prep what I can ahead.

I made our bed up fresh after lunch.  I'll wash the sheets I removed this morning and our bath towels tomorrow.

I think tomorrow I shall clean out the fridge, and plan and prep ahead meals as much as possible.  I'd thought I'd finish the porch  but I'd meant to keep Isaac Tuesday for several hours and I think I'd best rest my back as much as possible.  So my plan today is to make tomorrow a planning day for the new season, for future spending, for work to be done, etc.  John is already asking me about Thanksgiving plans, lol.  I need to put together fall outfits.  I was almost, but not quite there this morning in my clothes for church.  This in between time when we must plan for warm weather and want to dress for the season is one of the most difficult if I haven't done my work ahead of time.

Monday:  The best laid plans of mice and women.  I got some of what I'd meant to do today done.  I also didn't get to a good bit of it and yet I was busy from the time John left until 3pm or so when I crashed and gave in and took a nap.

I sent John off as usual: fed, with a packed lunch, thermos of coffee, etc.  I came indoors and went right to work at various tasks: making bed, starting laundry, picking up.  Fed the pets and read my Bible then hung the clothes out to dry.  Came indoors and cleaned the fridge which was a deeper cleaning than I thought it needed and took longer than I'd meant to give to the task.  I rearranged my baskets, added in a new one and now everything in the fridge is self contained and easily gotten to.  I am going to make chalkboard tags for the baskets because John is likely to shove things just anywhere at all.  I have the tags and the chalk markers, just a matter of getting to that task.

When I was done with the fridge and freezer above it (also cleaned and rearranged) I had about 8 bread bags with two or three slices each in them.  I set those out to thaw.

I had also set out the roast beef I cooked on Saturday, lettuce, an English cucumber a tomato, feta cheese and the  bunch of celery.  I set aside in the fridge the spaghetti sauce and cheeses I needed to make lasagna.  The next two or three hours were taken up with dealing with food.  I divided the roast beef:  some for a big salad for my lunch, some for another meal this week, and some for a future meal of BBQ Beef Sandwiches.    I used the feta, a little cucumber, tomato and lettuce for my salad for lunch along with some of the roast beef and some black olives.   I sorted out the bunch of celery, cutting away the portions of stalks that were deteriorating and then cutting the remaining portion of stalks into sticks for John to snack on.

I made a loaf pan of lasagna which will  likely be two portions each for John and I.   A loaf pan of lasagna is a much more manageable amount than a 9 X 13 pan.  I used six sheets of lasagna noodles minus about 1 1/2 inches off the end.  I broke those into bits and put on top of each layer of noodles.  It's just a tiny amount more pasta.   This size pan was the perfect way to use up the last of the spaghetti sauce I'd made last week as well as odds and ends of mozzarella and asiago, which is similar to the pungency of Romano cheese in my opinion.  I did purchase a small container of cottage cheese to use in the lasagna, a personal preference of ours.  I had some of that leftover which will go into John's next work lunch on Thursday.  The lasagna went into the freezer.

Since it continues hot in our area, I took some of the chicken broth and poured into 3 ounce cups to make Maddie's Pupsicles.  She really enjoys these frozen chunks.  Rufus has sniffed at them but is unimpressed with them.  He's happiest if I break him a dog biscuit into smaller pieces so he can manage them.  I managed 8 Pupsicles from the broth on hand.

I cubed the bread slices and put them in a slow oven to dry out.  I made 1 pint and 2 quarts of croutons.  These keep well and can also be ground up to use as dry bread crumbs.

I did sit down to do some  small bits of planning today: I planned a list of 24 projects I can do right now with the materials I have at hand, plus two more that require only the expense of $10 spent for two bags of mulch and a package of mirror clips.  If ever I think I'm itching to do a project and I've nothing to work with, I shall refer myself to that list and see what I might get accomplished.  I made out a short list of items for Bess to pick up for me if she manages to go to The Fresh Market tomorrow.  I wrote out a short list of the entrée items in the fridge and planned menus with them.
My last bit of planning was a short list of purchases to make.  Some will require saving and some are do-able at present but will wait to be batched into one online order.

I worked and worked and worked all morning.  I sat down to have lunch as I watched "The Kitchen", about the only program on Food Network I ever watch anymore.  They were talking about fall meals and what they find comforting in Autumn months.  Well as it happens I'm working on a list of fall inspired meals, too.  You'll see it before you see this post this week!

After that I was up and back at work again but I was very tired and for the third day in a row, I began to have an anxiety attack.  I fought it off the past two days but today the sense of gloom and doom was so strong and so persistent that I just went on and took a smaller dosage anxiety tablet.  That made me terribly drowsy and I took myself off to bed to sleep.

I was awakened by the beep, beep, beep of the propane truck backing up in the drive.   It's a sure sign autumn has arrived when the propane trunk comes to fill the tank.  I should have gone to the door to greet the man, but I wasn't keen to appear so obviously freshly awakened from a nap as I looked.  I still can't quite shake the long held family stigma that anyone who isn't sick and takes a nap during the day is lazy though John has spent 25 years trying to relieve me of that guilt, lol.   I lay abed and listened to the hose being dragged across the yard and then roll up again and the noises the truck makes when it's put into gear to drive away.  I seriously tried to go back to sleep but then I heard the familiar 'boom, boom, boom' that is Katie's radio in her car.  I got up and brushed my hair and greeted her at the back door.  She came in with the propane invoice in her hand.  It was higher than I'd thought it might be by about, but only by about $5.

I shoved the invoice into the bill box after staring at it hard for a few seconds too long.  I was still just barely awake and completely unable to comprehend the cost of propane this year or how much we'd required.  Later I looked at it with a wide awake mind and realized that prices had gone up by 10c a gallon and we'd gotten about 40 gallons.

Katie asked me if I'd come to the house and help her unpack.  She'd gotten overwhelmed with all that appeared to be needing done.  We put away her clothes and then I cleared up the kitchen and pantry and laundry area messes.  She hung pictures and vacuumed the floors.  I straightened up her bedroom and carried her basket of shoes to her closet.  We work steadily for two hours and could say honestly that there was plenty to do yet, but we'd made a hard dint in it all.

 I never expected her to move back again to be honest and I'm not convinced this time around she will stick around either, but I let John encourage me to just leave things as they were when I walked out of Mama's old house for the last time in July.  Well, I shouldn't have done because now it is necessary to finish the very difficult task I started some months ago.  The utility room and the two front bedrooms are both lousy with stuff that should either be moved out or donated.  There's as much in the pantry.  I could go and load up my car eight timesand still not finish the task.  I put two bags of trash into the trash can this evening on our way out of the door of odds and ends that were obviously not required by anyone.

We came back here and had a light supper.  I ate leftovers from our dinner yesterday.  Katie opted for a big plate of salad.  We chatted for a couple of hours and then she returned to the house in town.

I reminded her, and myself too, as she left tonight that life will not always be as it is just now.  This has been a long period of family struggles for us all this year.  I shall be heartily and truly glad when this particular stretch of life is done.

Tuesday:  I went to bed early-ish last night and slept late.  I was sleeping so soundly that I missed a call from John and a text from Bess.  That's with the volume turned up and the phone on the bedside table!  Fortunately I woke early enough to get a shower and be prepared when both arrived at the back door, though I hadn't time for coffee.

John brought in fresh eggs this morning from one of his co-workers.  I do love that rich yellow that home grown egg yolks have.  He brought a half dozen for us, half a dozen for Mama and half a dozen for Bess.  Bess's chickens lay eggs but are currently free roaming so weeks sometimes pass before they find a stash.  He's promised her our egg cartons.  I told him to check if she's willing to sell me a dozen a week.

Isaac was happy to be here for the day and we enjoyed having him.  He played happily for the longest time this morning, going from Grampa to me and back again,  but the sweetest time of all was when he climbed into my lap and  dozed off.  He's my youngest grandchild and the days of rocking a baby to sleep are few and far between and dwindling fast away.

John had not had time to deposit his check yesterday so we had to ask Bess to be sure and get back early enough that we could run that necessary errand.  When we went to the bank we stopped to mail off items, as well.  John wanted ice cream today.  He'd mentioned it a couple of days ago and I hadn't an idea we were going to get it today.  We cannot buy carrageenan free ice cream in our county towns.  I told John I'd get some Sherbet for myself and that's what he bought for himself as well.  When I asked why he said if I couldn't have ice cream he couldn't have it either.

What John really wanted was a fancy Sundae of sorts with caramel corn and hot fudge sauce and peanuts.   Sherbet is a long way from a sundae, isn't it?  We'll get some gelato next time we go out of our area...and whether or not he realizes it he's just given me the impetus I needed to get busy and make homemade ice cream.   I'll also look for some carrageenan free heavy cream.   I've got an ice cream maker Mama gave me several years ago that I've never used.  It might not be cheaper than buying ice cream  at the store but I can at least try my hand at making it and look for less expensive recipes to use.

Bess went to the market where we both like to purchase meats.  I put mine in the fridge while we went to do banking and made that little side trip into the grocery.  John asked me what I'd make for supper...I didn't even think about that meat sitting in the fridge at all until he mentioned I could make hamburgers and I headed to meat case.  "Can't we use what we have in the fridge?" he asked.  Yes, yes we can.  I pled a headache clouding my thinking and that's truth, I did have a headache that had been with me all morning and had quickly moved to migraine status.

I divided the meat into 1/2 pound packets.  I've found that works best for John and I and if we have more to be at the table,  I simply take more from the freezer.  I have pretty much eliminated zippered bags from my budget.  I keep a box or two on hand for John's use mostly but I am using the simple plain bags with a twist tie.  A box of 75 was about $2 I think.  I used about a half dozen of those and a half dozen bread sacks saved from yesterday morning's clearing out of the refrigerator freezer.

I noticed this morning, as I looked out the windows that it really does look like autumn is here.  Yellow stars are all over the sweet gum tree.  There's one small young tree on the fence line that has turned berry red.  The pecan trees are turning yellow.  It's very dry here and we do need rain but the dry grass has only added to the look of it's being autumn.  If only the temperatures would begin to feel the least bit cool.  So far, we're stuck in at the same range we've had all summer long.

Wednesday:  I finished off the last of the homemade Granola this morning.  I'm definitely going to make some more.  My next batch will have craisins in it I think, and I'll use brown sugar which is cheaper than the maple syrup the last recipe called for.  I'll try the recipe over at Prudent Homemaker.

John and I planned a morning out.  We took eggs and pumpkin bread over to Mama's and had Chinese takeout.  We had a nice visit with her then went on to a new branch of the salon we'd been using.  It was very quiet and in a far less congested area for traffic.  I won't likely use the spot as much because it's a good 5 miles further drive for us but I was well pleased with the quiet of the place and the service.

Josh is a little bit jealous of Isaac.  Just a little.  So no surprise that he had to walk from the bus stop to our house today to see us. Bess allowed it with her following very slowly along.  She put Isaac out at the bottom of the yard so he could run uphill with Josh.   We gave the two boys cookies and cool water to drink.  Bess rounded them up and took them home, with Josh grumbling that he wanted to walk the rest of the way home.  And he could have, too, if he'd only have put on his shoes but he refused to do so.  Gracious there is nothing so stubborn as a four year old!

The photo below is of another walk the boys made last week.  Isaac was the front runner that day:

Took note today that golden rod is fully in bloom everywhere we were.  It is so lovely to me to see whole fields of gold.  I pointed out the Gingko tree when we got home.  All but two leaves had fallen to the ground.  I told John that is the shyest tree I've ever seen.  One day it begins to change color and the next day the leaves have all dropped off while we aren't looking.

Thursday:  It is early here and the sky has finally lightened and the birds are calling out.  Lovely sunrises these mornings make rising early worthwhile.    However, the sunrise is later and later and the sunsets earlier.  I was shocked the other morning to realize that currently there are just about 12 hours between sunrise and sunset at present.  It was fully dark at 7:45pm.  It took me by surprise.

I've only to sweep floors and the housework is all done.  Even the laundry is finished up.  It is early yet.  Too early to go shopping as I have thought I might do.  Too damp outdoors to start a project of any sort, nor do I really need to do so since my back is spasming, as tempting as the idea of projects may be.

I find myself in my usual state.  I have funds to shop with and I have wardrobe needs: black pants, a pair of jeans one size smaller, casual black shoes, cardigans or blazers since I have gotten smaller and the other outer wear had to be donated.  I need a few things for the house: rugs for our bath, new towels to replace the ones that are very faded and getting holes in them, a picture frame to replace one that broke.  I know that John will not shop with me for these things and really prefers it when things just appear at home instead of having to wait upon me while I look things over and deliberate choices.  His idea of shopping is to go through the men's section at Walmart  grab a black shirt in his size and head to the register or to stand in the automotive aisle or stare longingly at something in the deli.  My idea of shopping is to carefully choose based on quality, price and color and I am perfectly willing to move from store to store in search of the things I want.

I also have a real reluctance to leave home, especially at the idea of being out in the traffic and heat and needing to wait an hour or two before I can even consider leaving home because city hours and country hours are definitely not the same.  I have made a decision to go ahead with the shopping...but I might yet change my mind!

Yesterday, a child messaged me in distress.  I gave a considered reply and I was later taken to task by my husband because I had given advice.   "You're wasting your time.  He/She will not listen and is likely rolling his/her eyes as you speak."   This both angered and hurt me.  I do not speak lightly or glibly to my children or any other person.  I  consider whether what I'm about to say is helpful or hurtful.  The advice given was based on my own experience and was simply enough that sometimes we must stop trying to force issues in our life and simply trust God to work things out in the best ways possible.   It is not the way of this child.  The tendency is to DO something, anything, even the wrong thing, just to prove that he/she is not stalled by the recent event that has come against them.  I understand this.  I do.  But my experience is that at some point enough is enough.  You've been hit with one thing after another in the situation and the message is clearly that you need to stop trying to be in charge and wait.

It's hard.  It means trusting in something you can't see and perhaps can't feel.  But I've been there.  I know.  I know.

So I was taken to task and I let that simmer and stew a bit before I retorted.

Growing up in my childhood home we attended church routinely without missing any day.  We were admonished to not dance or play cards on Sunday.  We were told the Bible was Holy and not to be touched...In other words we were all about the religion but not at all about faith and relationship with God.

But Granny was different.  It was through her that we routinely heard about God, the wonder of the world he'd created, the wisdom of His word, the difference between living faith and religion.  Her path in life was a walk of faith.  She openly admitted that she had never joined the church she attended so faithfully all her adult married years.  It was not, in her opinion the ONLY true way to God.  That was through Jesus Christ himself and not through any particular denomination.    She prayed and admonished and shared a wisdom that was foreign, and at the same time comforting, to us.  Peace surrounded her.  Even though we didn't understand what she had we understood that it was quite different from what we were seeing in our homes.

Here's the thing.  My children may well roll their eyes.  They might not understand what I mean when I speak of waiting upon God in a set of circumstances that makes my own head and heart ache thinking of them.  They might not grasp just what I mean at present.  They may well not hear the deep truths I speak.  But I pray God that every word  I speak to them is a seed that burrows down deep inside and that in time those words take root and grow into the same sort of faith that Granny had, the sort of faith that she planted within me.  One day the scales will fall away from their eyes and ears and they will see and hear as I have.  And if not one seed takes root in them, I shall have spoken wisdom and faithfully sown just the same, because that is what I am called to do.   I raised my children to think and speak and do what was right.  I raised them to love and did my best to give them strength, but I also have tried to speak of  a faith that isn't confined by four walls and a church pew.

I found this picture earlier this week.  It is, to me, the epitome of how a tiny seed may take root and overcome the most difficult of circumstances.

It says a great deal doesn't it?

later:  My feet hurt.  I am tired and weary but I had a successful shopping day and I'm so glad I went on to do it.  I got most things on my list though some seemed to change form.  I didn't find black pants but I did buy olive and khaki ones which will stand me in good stead year round, or until I lose too much weight for them to fit well.  I decided to take a dart on either side of the back waistband of my current blue jeans.   I found two cardigans to use as an added layer.  Not much of an added layer but I generally will put on a tank top as well if it's really cool outdoors.  One is black and has a lacy inset in the back that I think will be pretty over anyone of my solid shirts.   The second cardigan is a wine color.  I referred to it as oxblood in the store and the clerk corrected me.  Wine this year and Cordovan next year, right?  I found the Berry color I wanted was sadly lacking this year.  Loads of mustard and olive though, so you're in luck if those colors suit you.  They do me, but I have one of each in my closet and I believe that is sufficient.

I talked myself out of dozens of things.  Like the casual black shoes I was going to buy.  Don't I have ballet slippers with sparkly bits all over and a pair of ankle boots in black?  Don't I have a relatively new pair of black flats?   I do not need anymore black shoes.  Now brown...There's something I might use.  And the black pants.  I have black skinny jeans.  I have gray pants.  I have Navy.  I have brown.  Now I have jeans and khaki and olive jeans.  I think I'll manage on what I have at present.

I found new rugs and towels for my bath.  John will want his extra big bath sheets but I'll eventually  find something that will go with what I purchased today.  I was pleased to find the rugs and towels.  I have been very concerned because as I told Bess, if it does get cool, out bathroom is COLD.  Nothing at all on the floors is not going to work for us once it turns off cold.

And you know what else I found?  It was  total splurge, but one that makes me soooo happy.

These pumpkins and gourds are thick glass with handblown stems.  They are big.  The blue one is about 12 inches tall and the amber gourd is about 10 inches tall.  The round pumpkin is probably about 7 inches.   They are heavy, too!  I couldn't believe the prices.  I paid $41 for all three of these.  Yes, it was splurge but I consider it worthwhile.  I'll use these again and again through the autumn months to come.  I found them at HomeGoods and the prices were awesome.  That big green and amber pumpkin shape in the foreground was $12.99.  Compare that to the $35 asked at Country Door for one of similar size.  The most expensive one of the bunch was the blue one at $14.99.  Happy sigh.

I also found a live edge platter type thing that has feet.  It's not a platter but it's meant to be a cheese board or a serving piece I think.  The cast iron squirrel nutcracker, the acorn salt and pepper shakers and the blue and white china bowl fit on the piece.  Here's where I kick myself rather hard. I paid under $10 for it.  The tiny little ash serving piece cost me 3 times as much.  Ack.  I can tell myself it was to help a friend meet a sales goal and all that but golly I hate to find I've paid a ton for something that is tinky.  The wood pieces were very impressive overall.  There was a lovely olive wood cutting board, also with a live edge that I came very close to buying.  Something I find I don't mind at all these days is paying for things I truly love, will use and appreciate over and over again.  Like those aqua blue ceramic mixing bowls.  I never look at them and think "Gosh I paid a lot for those two bowls!"  Instead I appreciate that I was able to buy them at the time and I think how much pleasure it's given me to take food to the table in those bowls.

I sort of also looked for a table to put the printer on at Home Goods since they have a large selection of furniture..  I knew what John thought he wanted.  He'd shown me what his idea was.  I actually bought a very sturdy bedside table  at Ross today that matches the other wood pieces in our bedroom.  It has an open shelf under the table top and a drawer.  I measured it to be sure the printer would fit.  (tip:  I keep measuring tapes in my purse at all times).  I'll be able to store ink and paper with the printer for convenience sake.

We've decided to move the printer to our room because right now Isaac is drawn to it like a bee to honey.  In future we can move the piece back into the living room.  I got a very good buy on the piece, paying less than 1/3 what I'd planned I'd pay.  John shall be rather happy since the piece came in closer to what he was thinking we might pay, lol. I always say bid a bit high and then when it comes in lower, let them congratulate you on getting a bargain.

One thing I saw today that I fell head over heels in love with at HomeGoods was the desk chairs. They are so pretty you completely fail to notice the bottom rollers on them.  Oh my!   Well it was far too fancy for my home but I admired them for a few minutes before moving on.

Now I have spent all the saved allowance and a wee bit more besides.  We shall call this my fall spending spree. I purposely did not purchase a great deal in the line of clothes today because I do truly feel I have enough with the addition of the two extra cardigans.  I shall play in my closet tomorrow and see what I combinations I come up with.

Friday:  Sometimes when John is away all night long I sleep well enough through the early hours of the night but I tend to wake very early in the morning.  I've mentioned before I loathe getting up in the dark and yes, there are lights in the house but somehow sitting up in the wee hours of any morning (or very late evening for that matter), always make me feel something dire has occurred.   So I doze off and wake and doze off and wake and by the time I smell coffee brewing I have battled my way to an hour nearer daylight, but boy do I feel weary.  That is today.

It hasn't stopped me working however.  The house is neat and clean, though the floors need to be swept and vacuumed yet.  I have bread rising, meal plans for our main meal today and for tomorrow.  I've blown the great pile of leaves off the porches and patio and picked up the limbs that blew down in yesterday's wind.  Laundry is done and put away.   I've done enough I reckon, but no, I haven't worked on putting together my outfits as I'd planned but then there's no natural sunlight at the moment either so if I did set anything up I can't photograph it as I'd planned.

I moved the printer after John approved the table I'd bought for it.  He felt I'd paid too much ($60) but I know too well what things cost and this is solid and a very good buy.  I made him lift it so he knows how sturdy it is and that's when he approved it.  Had it been $50, I'd never have waited on his approval as that is our set amount for spending as we choose, though we seldom of us ever spend that much except for our own allowance.  However, I've put quite a bit of personal money into the house of late and the household account will cover the cost of this piece.

I got the Eleanor Roosevelt autobiography in the mail this past week and look forward to reading further in that.  I'm fascinated by her early Edwardian travels as a school girl.  I'm debating dragging out the October magazines from my vintage collection.  I am slowly culling out the worst worn falling apart issues and the few that simply do not interest me because they are short on the sort of stuff I like in a magazine: decorating, recipes and homemaking.

I have been watching three different vlogs on YouTube lately as well.   I'm still fairly new to vlogs overall and have watched a few like Life on a Dime and Fundamental home but I am really enjoying these three as something different and out of my normal interest range:   Out In the Country, Tiny Notes from Home,  Life with Laura farmhouse restoration   Essentially the first two are based on a simpler living ideal where little money exchanges hands yet they both are raising families.  This idea fascinates me because it's more as my ancestors lived.  I think we all just take it for granted that we will have cash to exchange for whatever we choose and while neither family lives without any money they live on considerably less than John and I do.  The third vlog is an offshoot of her regular vlog but centers around the work being done on an old farmhouse that her father purchased.  It's a lovely old place and I look forward to the future episodes.

Remember my saying I was preparing myself to help out someone in my family?   Well, intuition was spot on.  I was more than happy when I got the phone call to assure this one that I was already prepared to do so.   We'll start with my own pantry/freezer extras and I'll take the extra I set aside to go tend to any other needs.  Sometimes, it just takes a little to make a difference in another's life and I'm glad I thought of this.

I hope you all have a great weekend!