Worth Sharing November 9-15

It's November when Fall truly makes her presence known here in the South.  The town criers, those trees that change early in the season,  have come and announced her coming and then disappeared and we wait about, tapping our foot, impatient for autumn's actual arrival.  And then one day we notice a tinge coming to the trees across the forest in the river valley...and the next day when we top the hill, there she is dressed in her golden, crimson, magenta, and flame colored glory.  Never late, always right on time.  My heart swells, and at least inwardly, I cry out a welcome.  "There you are!  I've missed you.  I'm so glad to see you once again!"  I throw open the curtains at the windows and try to watch the daily progression on our bit of land, but even so, it changes each time I blink.   It's impossible to drink it all in, but I want to be aware as much as is humanly possible, to enjoy and embrace this third season of the year.




Excerpts from an Instagram post by Rhonda Hetzel (rhondahetzel)
"Almost all good things are difficult to acquire and you usually have to work for them....like most things, it's a process of small changes."

and this:

"There is a lot to be said for cultivating respect for oneself, others, our work, homes and environments.  I doubt you could live like this (she's referring to a simple life) if there wasn't some respect there to begin with but as you move into it, as your mindset changes, your respect grows and builds understanding and contentment into your ordinary days...It's our ordinary days we need to be mindful of because if you're not careful, they slip away, wasted online, in shops or multi-tasking mindlessly.

I want my life to be full of spectacular ordinary days that are sprinkled with special days..."



This last line of Rhonda's reminded me of the LM Montgomery quote from Anne of Green Gables
“After all," Anne had said to Marilla once, "I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.”



I have not kept my pantry as organized as I'd like these past few months.  I've spent almost all my spare time catching up on housework or prepping foods for the week.  However, I noted that I couldn't find an item in my big pantry the other day, that the kitchen cabinet where I like to keep a couple of cans of often used items was empty and that the cupboard where we generally keep snacks had gotten overfull and we were pushing other items out of the way and into another cupboard space where I keep items that are usually handy to me when I'm cooking.  It was a mess!

This week I've been concentrating on getting these cupboards and the pantry sorted out in my spare moments.   I moved some things about, culled a few cans and jars to use in the next month or so, restocked my kitchen cupboard where I keep canned foods and made out an inventory list.  I noted three areas where I need to stock up and one or two that I thought might be low that are not.  All in all it was a very well spent hour or so.

If you find yourself with a mess such I had and aren't sure where to start, Patsy posted a very helpful item on her blog about pantry organization.

I love looking at her neat little pantry.  It's a thing of beauty with it's shelves full of home canned foods.


Did you note that I said I moved some things from the pantry to the kitchen cupboard?  I don't do that just for convenience sake.  I do it because when I walk into my pantry the plentiful supplies  make me feel a little more free handed in my measurements and portions than I feel if I have only a small supply in my kitchen.  It mightn't be a problem for you, but I do find temptation is best avoided.


John and I have been looking at double wides on YouTube.  He's apparently subscribed to a channel that a local to us (which means it's within 50 miles or so) dealer has set up.   Are we in the market for a new home?  No, we are not.  We are however, interested in seeing what we might do to upgrade our own home that will make it look nicer.  Like paneled interior doors instead of the plain, not quite long enough doors that came with the house from the factory.  For under $150 we can replace four doors and improve the overall appearance of our home.    I also noted how my stove hood area might be cosmetically improved.  I'd wager that job would cost less than $60 if I employ the skills of my oldest son.

In looking at other homes, we're also seeing why our home is IDEAL for us.  We have looked at some gorgeous homes but the use of space in the interior is not always the wisest we've seen.  Our home doesn't have a lot of wasted space in it!  Looking never hurts...it's letting envy get involved that makes for dissatisfaction.


Having a proper Shabat time each week has been important to me but in the past two years I've found that often my Day of Rests are busier than ever.  Despite this there are certain things we do and don't do, as a rule!  There are days when we simply must do what is set before us, and God understands that.  (Luke 14:5).

In our home, Sabbath generally means we reheat ready prepared foods that I prep ahead on Friday.  We don't go shopping.  We don't clean house (but I do rinse and stack dishes used).  We don't work (except the Saturday each month when John is scheduled and then if he can find someone willing to take the 24hour shift he will usually be at home).    We try to live very quietly on each Sabbath.  

Land of Honey shared the ways she keeps Sabbath in her home.

Often people tell me they'd like to keep a Sabbath day but they are too busy, can't stop, etc.  It would be very difficult to do this if we had children in sports and activities that require travel on weekends. Keeping a Sabbath day is a commitment just like any other and you may have to shift things around in your life but you can find the time.  The benefits of a day devoted to Sabbath are mighty!




I read in a post by Jenny of ELEFANTZ several weeks ago that she was soaking flour, a practice she'd given up but started once again.  She mentioned a book by Sally Fallon called Nourishing Traditions. Since I am not in the market for a new book at present, at least not one I must pay for, I looked online to see if anyone else did this and found this site.   It seems easy enough to do this per the instructions on the page and it's benefits are supposed to be great for health purposes.   I understand that this is generally used with whole grain flours.  I have not studied this deeply and by all means, do a more in depth study rather than take my word for it.  I admit it's a process I'm curious about and plan to look into further.  I've remembered all these weeks later and generally when something comes to notice and then lingers in my brain it's something that will prove beneficial.



Economy wise:  Winterizing outdoor faucets and insuring the pump house has a working heat light.   Granted we do little enough in our area of the South to get ready for winter, but it's important we attend to these tasks.  Burst pipes are no fun and frozen water lines are at high risk.  After last year's burst hot water line and the resulting struggle to get a plumber out here I'm all for doing all we can to prevent any further problems.

We also drained water hoses and put them up for the year. Aside from insuring our pets have adequate shelter and water and food to face truly cold weather we're set for the next five months.


Gratefully accepted a coupon a clerk handed me at the grocery store.  It was for $15 off a Butterball turkey!


Recommended Viewing:   "Cross Creek" (1983) starring Mary Steenburgen    Confession: I read The Yearling in high school and loathed it.  And then I read something recently @SarahWanders about The Yearling and thought just maybe I ought to rethink my stand...attempt it as a grown up and see how I liked it.  When this popped up on my Amazon Prime line up I thought I'd watch it.  I'm a sucker for biographies anyway.

I really enjoyed this film and the view of Rawlings as a woman: homemaker, writer, homesteader, gardener, neighbor...I'm sure there were plenty of liberties taken and all that, but it was a good film and I enjoyed it a great deal.

By the way, on one of our trips to St. Augustine we visited Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum, (the very first museum set up for Ripley).  Interesting fact: the museum is housed in a building once owned by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

The house was built by a wealthy business man who was a partner in the Standard Oil Company.  He had all the modern amenities of indoor plumbing in 1887:  ONE bathroom and 16 bedrooms!  Rawlins and her second husband bought the building in 1941 and made it a hotel.  (Here's hoping they added some more bathrooms...).


Wednesday was fairly cold for us here in the South.  By noon it was barely above freezing despite the sun shining outdoors.  When I started my dinner prep earlier in the morning it was just 27F.  I wanted something suited to the cold weather and with a bit of spice to it.  I had a jar of the Aldi Tikka Masala Simmering Sauce.  This is quite good right from the jar.  However, if you read the jar, it suggests you add red and green bell pepper strips to the sauce along with the chicken.

Here's my take on that dish: I cut 2 chicken breasts into bite sized pieces and browned (as directed on the jar).  Then I removed the chicken from the pan and added in half a small onion diced, a seeded red bell pepper cut into strips and one large zucchini cut into fairly big chunks.  I cooked the onion until just translucent, added the pepper strips and after cooking for a minute or two tossed in the zucchini, the chicken bites and poured over the Tikka Masala Simmering Sauce.  This really extends the Tikka Masala and increases your vegetable intake for the day.  I served  over rice in deep bowls for our lunch.   It was so good on a day that never got much over 38F!

I experimented with making Naan today.  It was my first time ever and I'd never had it before so had no comparison to know how I'd done.  Isaac dubbed the bread 'pancake' and kept asking for another, so I'll say it was a success on that score when a 2 year old eats 3 or 4 pieces!  I used this recipe and skipped the anise seed addition, didn't butter or sprinkle with parsley.

When Bess came by later to pick up Isaac, she sampled it and said the texture was right but it was a bit thick.  I told her the soft dough proved hard to get up and folded upon itself as I put on the griddle.  In the end, I started using the dough scraper to pick up the pieces and drop onto the pan.  I'll experiment with this again.


My recipe to share this week is an easy dessert recipe.  There's a lot of butter in this but don't skimp, it's magic in the recipe.  And note that this makes 24 bars.  So a little will do you...

Raspberry Bars

3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 375F.  Mix dry ingredients.  Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Press 2/3 into bottom of a 7x11 pan with a 1in. rim.    Press 2/3 of the crumb mixture into the Un-greased pan. I like to push it up the side a little so the jam doesn't stick to the sides of the pan when the mixture cooks.  Spoon over the jam and spread to cover bottom.  Take remaining dough and crumble loosely over top.   Bake 30-40 minutes.  (Mine came out of the oven about 27 minutes...So do check it.)    Cut into 24 bars.


I know, I know...I said no more photos of outfits and then I got dressed on Tuesday and felt so GOOD in my outfit of the day that I just had to take a photo and share it.   I combined the Dress Barn shirt with the hunt print silk scarf and a dull gold heavy necklace.

Funny how the same shirt that felt a tad too short with the blue jeans, worked just fine with the black jeans.  It was rainy and got gradually colder this day so I wore my black trench coat, black ankle boots and used my black purse.

Here's a closer look a the necklace and scarf I combined.

Today was my only other day out of the house. I wore the floral print shirt with the olive tank under it, olive drab pants and the green necklace.  It was another rainy day so the black raincoat was my topper for the day.  No photos.  But that makes week two of using a capsule wardrobe.   I think if I was out of the house more often I'd definitely want MORE clothes in my capsule but what I have is sufficient for what I do.

I experimented at making my own sheep.  I didn't bother to paint the legs and I didn't have felt on hand to make ears or a tail but I'm pretty pleased with this fellow.  I won't do eyes or a mouth on these.  I've seen some pretty awful looking ones, lol.    I have since cut out 17 more shapes and will take time to paint the legs etc.  I bought black felt for ears and tails,  thin velvet ribbon in blue and red to put around their necks, too.  I think they're going to look great on my Christmas tree this year.


That's it for this week!