Scavenging Finds

After stealing batteries out of my middle child's Thomas the Trains in a cover of darkness, I was able to take some pictures of a couple of my favorite finds the other day. My favorite score was this HUGE pile of dollies.

 This colorful one is my favorite.

 These are actually warm, sunny yellow colors.

 My daughter's favorite were the pink and also the heart.

 In the same box, I also found some cute embroidery work.

I have some great stuff I also found on some thrifting trips but these are my favorite. Not only because I LOVE this kind of stuff, but these were all free. Free is always my favorite kind!

Lisa

Garden Whimsy

When I grow up I want to have beautiful gardens filled with whimsy. All of these garden markers would look beautiful in my gardens in my mind!

'Garden Markers' by countrykidsboutique

Things to make my garden beautiful.

Garden Marker Forks - ITALIA... monpetitchoubo... $30.00	Set of 10 Copper Plant Herb ... overthemeadow $36.00	Pick 5 - Custom Hand Stamped... jessicaNdesign... $45.00
Set of 3 wooden garden marke... elleartdesigns $21.00	Garden markers, garden Stak... kpdreams $29.95	Ceramic Garden Markers in Ru... liciapfadt $20.00
Herb Garden Markers Upcycled... SpoonPerceptio... $16.00	FLOWER GARDEN - Antique Silv... SugarPlumStitc... $69.00	Vintage Silverware Herb Plan... TheSeasonsOfLi... $26.00
Garden Marker & Decoration -... Whimsicalheart... $7.00	Vintage Silver Spoon Garden ... SpoonPerceptio... $30.00	Herb Garden Markers Plant St... SpoonPerceptio... $18.00
Five Herb and Plant Garden M... BlueSkyPottery... $40.00	Garden Markers / Plant Stake... dillybags $22.75	Wooden Spoon Garden Markers ... MiltonsGrdnMen... $10.00
Garden Markers Green Slate H... KnittingOleBag $45.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Life and slowing down

We all have those times in our lives where everything becomes hectic. As moms, we already juggle so many things and we know it's sometimes a struggle to keep all of those balls up in the air. And life takes a swing at you and you struggle harder to keep all of those balls in the air. Sometimes it keeps swinging and you're afraid of dropping all of those balls.

That's where I've been...trying and struggling to keep all of those balls up in the air. And with those struggles, I needed to focus on the ones I was dropping...like taking my anger out on the Farmer. Whom I love dearly and thank GOD everyday for giving me such a man.

We have a rental property and I'm not a good landlord. Not because I'm a slum lord but because I believe that all people are good and don't lie. I believed my tenants when they told me they were trying to get the rent money. I have too big of a heart and they have children. They made it appear that they were struggling and I let it slide. In the end, it was a lie. They lied to me for four months and they committed worse crimes against other people in our community. I took them to court on January 31st and today spent four hours with our local police chief and county deputy trying to get them out of the house without taking the route that would cost us even more money.

It was a struggle and was taking everything out of me. My balls were beginning to drop.

But it's over. The Farmer and I stood in the living room of the rental property amidt grime, dirt, and junk left behind this afternoon and I cried and prayed and asked forgiveness.

And I can begin working on getting all my balls back up in the air.

This was a lot of negative stress. I have had some good stress such as co-chairing my first church dinner with my good friend and it was a RAVING success. I also found a lot of fun treasures lately on some scavenging outtings. I'll share them as soon as I get batteries for my camera since a certain 3 year old took my batteries for his Thomas the Train.

Now hopefully will be a time of slowing down. Of taking time to enjoy life again. Of course, there will be sewing and lots of garden and farm planning. There are chickens to buy and seeds to plan and dreams to work toward again.

Lisa

Valentine Day Outfits

I'm a sucker for matching outfits on my kids and fortunate for me, my kids have yet to put a stop to it!

A simple skirt for Miss Em trimmed with ribbon. The waistband is made using 2" wide elastic.

And a matching tie for the lil' man. He LOVES ties. I LOVE that he loves ties. I need to make him lots more. The tie pattern I use is from Little Gentleman on etsy.com

Now onto Easter outfits! Bowties maybe?

Lisa

Aww shucks...I'm flattered!

And I truly am flattered. MooMama has given me the Versatile Blogger Award. Thank you!!

It truly is a blessing to know that others appreciate you, and in the form of a blog, appreciates your thoughts, however random they may be sometimes.  J

Here are the RULES for the Versatile Blogger Award-

1. Add the award to your blog.
2. Thank the blogger who gave it to you.
3. Mention seven random things about yourself. (see below)
4. List the rules.
5. Award to 15 bloggers.
6. Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blog.

So for SEVEN random things about me...

1. I was born with a double thumb which was heart shaped. One was removed at when I was a year old and now I have a crooked thumb.

2. I talk...a lot.

3. I believe all people are good...even after they prove me wrong. This thinking tends to get me hurt..I trust too easily.

4. I love children and would really become the next Duggar family if the Farmer would let me. The Farmer won't let me so we have three children...although I continually ask him if we can adopt.

5. I love to read. I usually have 15-20 books checked out at a time from the library and we go to the library once a week. This includes novels, cookbooks, how-to books, DIY books, history books, art and crafts books, etc.

6. I have a very short patience level...I work on this, constantly, usually 9,345 times a day.

7. I laugh and joke and tease...a lot. Life should be fun. My children will probably hate me when they are teenager. I look forward to this!  :)


This was the hardest part. I could give this to so many bloggers. I love reading each and every blog I subscribe to and I am also finding more and more blogs to read. It's really a good thing that I like to read because blog reading is part of what I read on a daily basis. It took me a long time to do this because all the blogs I read are my favorite and I wanted to pick everyone! (I also wanted to cheat and give it back to Moo Said the Mama but I thought that may be cheating).

1. Sparing Change

2. Homesteading at Redtail Ridge

3. Walnut Acre

4. Savoir Vivre Autrement

5.  Proverbs 31 Living

6.  Life of a Novice

7.  Homestead Rules

8. Hungry Chicken Homestead

9. Wise Family Living

10. Heartland Renaissance

11. Deborah Jeans Dandelion House

12. Hopeful Threads

13. Hidden Meadow Farms

14. He Sows, She Sews

15. Eager Hands


Lisa

Conversations with Kids - 1

I love the things my kids say...most of the time. I always think I'll remember them forever...but I know I won't. Someone once told me I should write down all the funny things they say. True, but how many of us have the time, ability, or that much money to spend on notebook paper to write down everything (funny, etc.) that our kids say!

But I do want to remember certain things so I'm going to start a little thing called, "Conversations with Kids."

We were getting ready for school this morning and I was trying to help Miss Em with her socks...

Emily: "Mama, I can do it myself."
Me: "Sorry, I forget you're growing up and don't need mom to take care of you."
Emily: "It's okay mama. You can still butter my toast."
Me: "Oh thank you."

Emily: "You're welcome mama"
Connor: "Mama, I will let you can take care of me forever."
Me: "Thanks for the warning Connor."
Connor: "You welcome mama. I ove u."
Me: "I 'ove' you too Connor."

 

Lisa

A simple blanket

It started over a year ago when I made this blanket for lil' man and a pink similiar one for Em. They haul them with them when the stay the night somewhere and sleep with them almost every night. They've been on trips and lots of overnights at both Grandma's houses as well as every trip to the cabin. Then over the 4th of July we were all at the cabin and came in for the night to find my two of my nephews wrapped up in those blankets. And they got a lot of teasing because, well, not only did they steal the little kids blankets, one of them was pink. They liked them because they were soft and cuddly. Then all three of them proceeded to tell me that I could solve the problem simply by making them their own blankets because that's what they wanted for Christmas.

So that's what they got.

One wanted blue, one wanted brown, and one wanted green. The green one I finished today. When I ordered the original flannel, the picture didn't look like it had pink in it and it didn't list pink but there was pink so I ordered different and it was backordered.

Today I did a little sewing and finished up this blanket.

It couldn't have been simpler. Flannel and minky sandwiched between quilt batting.

I know as parents we often forget that the simpliest things in life will make a child most happy. A simple handmade blanket that took me under 30 minutes to make. Nothing fancy, I didn't even do any quilting.

Simple and handmade with a reminder from some great kids that life really isn't complicated. It's not always about the newest gadget or video game.

Simple and handmade. A good lesson!  :)

Lisa

Granola - My version

Granola is one of those things that you don't really need to have a recipe for. Or if you do have a recipe like me, it's got a basic recipe and then a bunch of notes and chickenscratch written all over it.

I love granola. I love it with my yogurt. I used to buy the full of fat version sold at every chain store across the country. Then when I started having a more natural lifestyle and diet I switched to an organic version, at nearly $6 for a 11.5 ounce box. And one day read the ingredient list on my organic version of granola and it lists "Oat Syrup Solids*" and the * says, "Organic, Contains soy." Sigh.

I should soak my grains. But in truth, I was really lazy yesterday. For tons of great recipes and reasons as to why I should have soaked the grains, follow Katie at Kitchen Stewardship.

Basic Recipe:
10 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup flax see

In today's batch I then added:
2 cups sunflower seeds
3 cups sliced almonds
1 cup pumpkin seeds

In a pan I heated:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup honey
1/2 cup molasses*
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
3 tsp. vanilla extract

Pour over dry mixture and spread into baking pans. Bake at 300 degrees for 30-45minutes stirring frequently. At 30 minutes, I usually shut off the overn but leave the granola inside while it cools down. This saves on electricity and gas but also gets the granola crispy. Once cooled, add raisins and dried cranberries.

I store in a freezer bag in the fridgerator because I'm worried that I may not have dried it enough and mold will grow ruining the money and time I put into making dried foods. I'm a little weird about that.

*Molasses is a by-product from processing sugar cane or sugar beets. Because it is a by-product, I only buy molasses from our organic co-op. Molasses also has a strong flavor, so I sometimes omit it.

And if you accidentially burn a batch because you were too busy scrolling through Pinterest...your chickens will love you!!

Yes, I realize my recipe states to add the raisins/craisins after cooling down but his is the result of having ingredients set up and a 3 year old and 5 year old as kitchen helpers. It still turns out good.  :)

Lisa

Some diaper sewing

And it felt GOOD!

I love these colors and I love how they look together. The bad winter lighting does not do the colors on these diapers any justice. The blue should be a fun seaformy color and the raspberry color on the back right should be more purply.

I've gone back and forth on sewing diapers and if I want to continue. It always comes down to being a time management thing, especially now that I'm working. Life always seems so busy and my kids are young. I have a bunch of covers cut out and I will list them. My wonder is if I want to do custom work. Which is what 90% of all my diaper sewing has been. Living in a small house, it becomes a challenge of keeping an inventory of ready-made trainers. There is also the upfront cost of making those trainers when business has typically been slow.

But as we all know. Our lives ebb and flow like a river. Sometimes I think it's just best to enjoy the ride and see where the current takes you!

Lisa