In My Home This Week: Two Big

In my home this week:

...on Sunday, Josh turns two.  He's learned so many things this past year: how to walk, how to talk, how to climb, how to fall...Ouch!  Life lessons can be hard, can't they?  And the life lessons we watch our children learn hurt us as badly as it hurts them.  It all starts with that first fall.  I've told my children these days are just training them to deal with the hurts their children will face when they are older.  Sad but true.

I've made cupcakes for Josh's celebration.  His real family party will occur in July when the family is settled in their new home.  This is just an acknowledgement of his actual day.  Next year perhaps it will be more important to him than to us.  Do you remember how anticipated birthdays were when you were young?  I do.  It wasn't a big deal in my childhood home, but it was still anticipated.

Saturday morning his Grampa got him out of bed.  Where he'd fuss and complain to me, "No! No!  Mama!",  not a peep came out of his mouth when his beloved Gah picked him up.  He rode out of the room on Grampa's arm like a proud prince on his finest steed, smiling from ear to ear.  I'm telling you that Gah is something special in this boy's eyes.  Gramma Gah is okay but Grampa is the thing.

I think I'm liking this new season, this sweet season of life.

...we plan meals:

Frugal Friday: Trying To Make a Difference

          My last project, using mostly what I already had on hand...I'm pretty pleased with it.

Saturday:  I went into town this morning to pay booth rent.  I made zip again this month for the third month in a row.  I talked it over with the owner and told her I'll be giving in my notice at the end of July. 

Went by the post office to mail off Josie and Rosalyn's birthday gifts, which I combined into one box. 

I went by the grocery and picked up extra large trash bags and ice cream.  John has mentioned ice cream multiple times in the past week.  It's a small indulgence.

Stopped off at two yard sales.  I spent $.75 at one on two books and $7 at the other.  I purchased another rectangular frame to do a second set of the seed packet prints for the living room wall and a purse.  I also got a large bottle of Goo Gone for a very good price.

Came home and made garlic butter spread for toast and a salad to go with the Crock Pot Lasagna Bess made.

I've been raising the AC temperature 2 degrees more during the day.  It's been mighty warm of late and when I heard the AC kick on at 7am this morning, I knew it was imperative I follow my energy saving protocol.  I kept room darkening shades and curtains closed on the sunny side of the house and let in natural light on the shady side of the house.  We all commented this afternoon on how much cooler the living room felt when I pulled the curtains closed on the west side.  It's awfully dark and almost gloomy in the living room with the curtains pulled but cooler and I'll take gloomy with cooler temps rather than have it light and too warm.

Everyone said they were too full following our late lunch to eat supper, but I know better.  Sure enough, food was wanted but no one wanted a heavy meal.  I had vegetable beef soup in the freezer which I heated for three of us and John opted to have a bowl of cottage cheese with applesauce.

Every now and then it pays to have a financial conversation, whether they are unhappy or happy in nature.  I have two medical bills that I've been paying down steadily, but slowly over the last three months.  John has opted to take on more overtime in an effort to get these bills paid off in full.  I am determined that if he's working harder I can change a few things myself.  I indulged myself with a Birch Box subscription at the beginning of March and I've really enjoyed it but truly?  Well it's $10 a month I would rather put into something needed here at home which will free up $10 more to go towards those two bills.  It's a small amount but it's a start.

The Front Porch Project - A Long Drawn Out Project

I've meant to focus on the front porch since summer 2014...but then we'd asked my brother to get us a quote on redoing one section of it and John suggested I wait.  He figured my brother could paint the whole porch at one time when the rebuilding was finished.  I agreed.  After all, why waste money on paint when you know it's going to be painted later?

Well here we were this past summer (2015) and the back porch still looked fairly fresh and new and the front porch looked terribly shabby.  I'd added to the shabbiness over the year as this porch became my studio for spray painting since it was going to be painted afresh anyway.   Looking at medical expenses and judging my brother's new job and his very busy schedule for carpentry work, I realized we weren't likely to see this rebuild any time soon.  I couldn't bear having the porch look so bad.  It got worse.

You see mid-way of cleaning railings, I decided to paint the iron chairs with a fresh coat of red.  And even though I carefully laid out newspapers, a rough breeze came up and slung papers here and sprayed paint there and...well what didn't get on  the chairs, covered me and the porch floor.  Now it really looked horrible.  Ugh.  To add insult to the whole affair the tacky (as in sticky) red spray paint over four coats of latex paint did no favors either.  Every step I took, great sheets of paint layers came up.  I got busy scraping the paint off the porch, working in ten and fifteen minute increments throughout most days.  I never did get it all up but I got up every loose bit up after something like a month of scraping floors.  That was August 2015...

An Iced Tea Chat: This Sweet Season

Hello and do come in!  It's been a little more difficult of late to have a chat or write a post but that is to be expected.  It does seem, even the sweetest little almost two year old boy is true master of the household and when he's fussy, the world falls at his feet in an attempt to make his world right once more.  Josh is pretty well behaved overall and not the messiest of children but there's enough extra to do to keep one hopping.  When he feels off then we all try our very best to soothe him. 

He calls John and I "Gah".  He's very fond of John who didn't woo or cajole him but simply was himself and let Josh decide on his own that Grampa was A-okay.  They now have a special handshake that is all their own.  It begins with a conventional handshake, a fist bump, a high five and then they snap their fingers and point at one another.  Josh can't snap but he twiddles his fingers and points, just to imitate Grampa.  It's all ended with a kiss.  It is the cutest thing to watch the two of them.  And now I see that indeed life without this little one about will be a little less than it was before he came into my home to smile his sweet dimpled smile at me.  This segment of our sweet season is rapidly coming to an end, if not at the end of next week then just a little further along

Well, it's all been lovely, truly it has, but they close on their home next week and are very much looking forward to having their own furnishings and routines and unpacking of clothes and not living in suitcases.  And most especially having all their kitty cats in their home once more. 

I had been thinking along the same lines about living from suitcases myself.  When we go on vacation I like to unpack and act as though I'm there to stay awhile, not on my way out of the door at any moment.  I told John that more than ever I'm determined to put a dresser and chest of drawers in that room.  I'd use one piece as storage for my fabric and craft items and have one piece reserved for guests to use to unpack their clothes.  I think the room needs a comfortable seat, some place to relax besides lying upon the bed.  I guess, given all these things, I'll give up my idea of a vanity and look for more appropriate storage pieces...A vanity is something I've wanted since I was a girl but as a woman I have to own that what is wanted from a childhood dream isn't always just what is the most practical nor the most needed. 

This Week In My Home: Happy Days

 In my home this week:

...I had a week full of grandchildren this past week and this grandmother's heart is happy.   Of the nine grandchildren, I talked to one via text, and visited with 5 others.  All in all, a rare week and a very happy one.  This week will be a happy one as well.  Those of you who shared with me how very much you've enjoyed having your grandchild or grandchildren living with you.  Well I'm finding Josh just such a joy in my life.  Daily he does something to amuse me or tug at my heart strings in some way.   Oh how I wish I had this opportunity with all, but just possibly not all at the same time!

My oldest son confessed his concern that a home task might keep him from visiting this past week.  And we weren't just certain if all three children would come with him, since in the past he felt overwhelmed with all three.  Happily my son finished his task enough to leave it behind and came with all three children.  The house exploded.  Honestly, it's been since I've had grandchildren that I realized that my home is a small house.  Before that I'd have said it was average sized but it's small (1100 sq. ft.) and never seems so small as when the grandchildren are literally racing from one end to the other and back again and the grown ups are ranged about the dining table and living room chatting. 

I enjoyed seeing them.  I hadn't seen Hailey in over a year.  The boys are taller than they were last summer when I saw them last, Zach almost as tall as Daniel though 2 years separates them.  What was the most fun was to hear Hailey mothering Josh during a crying spell.  And to watch Josh who is almost, but not quite, two suddenly realize that Zach, at four, was the sort of boy he wanted to be.  "Dack" soon had a shadow.  Josh declined the high chair and sat on the dining chair.  He ate foods he'd have shook his head at and said "No" to any other time.  He ran.  He followed.  He went up and down the front steps hundreds of times.  If the big kids did it, he at least attempted it too and he did a fine job of keeping up.

My Frugal Week: Beginning A Summer of Savings

Putting a fresh coat of paint or a new fabric seat upon a chair can be very inexpensive, and a good way to extend the life of a perfectly good piece of furniture once it begins to look shabby.

Saturday: We traveled up to see Katie and celebrate Taylor's first birthday. Mama was going with us and insisted we use her car.

I carried along a bag of things I'd been meaning to send to Katie.

On our way home, we stopped at a local grocery in the area and purchased supper from the deli and produce section.

Katie had tucked a zippered bag of coke points in my purse. 

She also gifted me with a bouquet of hydrangea.  I recalled reading that the stems needed to be seared to seal off the sap that prevented them taking in water.  I held the ends to the gas flame of the stove.  They perked up beautifully when I put them back in water.

Questions, Answers and Comments, Oh My!

If the comments from myself this month seem a bit sketchy it's because I am literally skimming and answering only those that asked a question or required a quick update.  I'm starting this late in the evening and I'd like to finish it just in case time flies away from me once again.

From last month's Q&AJulie Baker  I hope all goes well with your granddaughter.  It's certainly been a change of pace to have an almost 2 year old in the house, lol.  He's apparently determined that he really might not need a daily nap, but boy does his mama and I need him to take one, lol.

May I?  Sarah  I crumpled aluminum foil and made ring of it a little smaller than the width of the chicken.  It didn't take as much as you'd expect it might to make the foil ring.  I then put the chicken on top of the foil, so it was lifted up from the bottom of the crock pot.  I find that chicken really does require more salt than most meats, but the Mrs. Dash seasonings are good salt substitutes to add flavor.  Montreal Chicken Seasoning (McCormack product) is also good.  I personally add a lemon or onion or apple to the chicken cavity, season heavily with salt and pepper and maybe a little bit of garlic and find that it works well to season the meat.

Susie@Persimmon Moon Cottage also had this to share about seasoning chicken:
A little note to Sarah - A couple of years ago we were just tired of eating chicken. It was seeming dull to us. I decided to experiment with some different seasonings and discovered that we really like it with salt, a little black pepper, a little sprinkling of onion powder, and (this was the new to me seasoning), curry powder. I had never had curry powder until then and thought it was just a single seasoning, like garlic, or pepper. The curry powder is a mixture of several different seasonings, coriander, fenugreek, turmeric, cumin, black pepper, bay leaves, celery seed, nutmeg, cloves, onion, red pepper, and ginger. I use McCormick brand. Even though it lists red pepper in the ingredients, I have never felt the heat of it, and I don't notice a specific cloves flavor. I am not a fan of spicy, tongue burning seasonings. Somehow, the scent of the curry seems much stronger than the flavor after it is cooked. I use the curry powder very sparingly, because I believe it could become overwhelming To me it has made a big difference in the flavor of baked/roasted chicken. Embarrassing to admit, but I used to mostly only like the baked chicken skin, where the flavor was. Now with different seasoning it all tastes good to me.