I'm loving blog giveaways!

I think bloggers are some of the most generous, kind-hearted people on earth. I don't know of any group of private citizens that love to give things away as much as bloggers! But who gives away TWO items a day for 12 days? Tip Junkie, that's who! You'll see the button for this giveaway at the top of my right hand column. Go. Enter. Win something cool. It's all good!

Halloween candy left over? Remember our Soldiers!

I mentioned that we had minus three kids for Halloween this year, compared to well over 100 in years past. I bought candy for the "well over 100" group that never showed. I don't give my grandson sugary treats, and neither Jeff nor I need to be eating that much candy. What can you do with leftover candy? Send it to the soldiers overseas! What a great idea! A non-profit group called Soldiers' Angels will accept your leftover Halloween candy to put in Care Packages they ship to our soldiers overseas. You can find more information here. And while you're there, look around their web site because they have numerous ways to help out our soldiers, from sewing quilts to knitting scarves to making handmade canes for the wounded to sending cards and so much more. I believe they have 23 different programs! What a worthy cause!

My crafty project for the Kitchen

I was cruising around the Budget Decorating blog on About.com, and saw the cutest idea for hanging up measuring spoons. I fell in love instantly. This is truly my kind of decorating! My kitchen is decorated in a coffee motif. I actually collect electric percolators (anyone remember those??) from the 1940's through 1960's, and have other coffee paraphanalia around the kitchen. (By the way -- "collect" means I buy them if I can find them for $2 or under at flea markets, yard sales, estate sales, etc.!) So I headed to Ebay to see if I could find a coffee pot or tea pot picture frame. No luck. But I did find this: And fell in love with it -- except for the rafia and the curly-cue wirey thingie on the top. The sign arrived in yesterday's mail. It is 8 x 9.5 inches and the colors are just perfect for my kitchen. Hi ho hi ho -- a'crafting I go... and gather up 5 small cuphooks and a picture hanging hook, and a pair of wire cutters. Snip! Off came the rafia and curly-cue wirey thingie on top. Luckily, the frame is made of soft pine, so I didn't need to pre-drill the holes for the cup hooks. Just a ruler to figure out how to space them across the bottom. And now I have this hanging in my kitchen over the sink!

Our weekend, weekly menues and more

Whew... it's been a busy weekend here. Jeff and I spent Saturday morning and early afternoon cleaning house. I have to admit, it's nice to have a housework partner now and then! We dusted, vac'd, cleaned bathrooms and generally did a good all-over pick-up. Nothing major, but just things that needed to get done. Brayden arrived at 4pm on Saturday to spend the night and day on Sunday. Normally, we spend most of our daylight hours outside, but it was cold (40's) and windy on Saturday, so Jeff got out the wooden train set I'd picked up this summer at a yard sale ($5!!), lit a fire in the fireplace, and he and Brayden played with the train set for a few hours. Isn't this a cozy scene? I worked with Brayden on teaching him how to use the computer. He has "baby" programs that let him accomplish things by banging on ANY key, but there are so many fun activities on the 'net that he could do if he actually knew how to use the mouse correctly, so we worked on his "mouse skills". First, we went to the MostlyMommies web site to give him an idea of how the mouse works and let him practice moving the mouse and clicking. After a few minutes of that, we went to the Thomas the Train web site there is a Memory Game we played, and I showed Brayden how to point the mouse and click on the card he wanted. Then we moved on to the Coloring Book pages, where he could move the mouse to pick a color, and move it again to color Thomas. He much preferred the Memory Game over coloring, but by the end of a fairly short time he was really getting the idea of the hand/eye coordination involved in using the mouse. We'll keep working on it! Then (yay!) bedtime. He wore the jammies that my friend Lynne made -- well, she purchased the jammies and embroidered a train on the top. He loves them! And LOOK! A picture with Brayden actually SMILING! LOL We were all up by 7am on Sunday and bundled up to head to the Flea Market. It was very cold out (high 30's), but we'd promised Brayden all week that we'd take him, so there was no backing out. Layers of clothes and hats and hoods, and off we went. Unfortunately when we arrived, many of the sellers were packing up their tables to leave because of the cold! But we did manage to scout out several booths, and Brayden found a big metal truck (which we paid for) and four matchbox cars (which he paid for). Brayden had $1.50 in his pocket (though he'd tell you he had "three hundred dollars") to spend however he wanted. He dug through a big tub of matchbox cars for a good 10 minutes before finding the cars he wanted. The seller wanted $1 for three, so I taught Brayden the fine art of negotiating, and he got them for $1 for four. I'm a goodddd Umma! Brayden is fascinated with the socks I'm knitting for him. I had one done, and he wanted to try it on. It was WAAYYY too small -- it wouldn't even go over his foot! (When did he grow so fast?!?) But he loved the little sock so much he wanted to wear it anyway! Yay! At last! Someone who appreciates homemade gifts! LOL He sat on my lap and watched me knit, and wanted so badly to learn how to knit, but he's just too young. After he left, I did rip out the socks (I had 1 3/4 done!) and start again. I hope to have them done by Wednesday for him. Brayden went home around 3pm after not taking a nap (sorry, Mary!) though he promptly fell asleep in the car. I drove slower than normal so he could get in at least a 30 minutes "power nap". Jeff and I were both worn out, so I fixed a simple "breakfast for dinner" -- sausage, eggs, fried potatoes and toast. I have to tell you, if you haven't discovered the Southern Plate web site, you need to go there IMMEDIATELY. She has the BEST (and simple) recipes I have ever tried, and she even goes to all the trouble of presenting step-by-step photos of each recipe. We've tried two of her recipes now -- the Chicken and Dumplings (southern style -- New Englanders be prepared because this is NOTHING like our Chicken and Dumplings) that were just SO delicious (and ideal for a cold night), and now her fried potatoes. I always thought I had to partially cook the potatoes before frying, but her recipe calls for just plopping them in a pan raw. They came out with the nicest brown crunch on the outside and so tender on the inside -- absolutely perfect fried potatoes! Honestly, the best I've ever had in my life -- and Jeff agreed! This week (which is going to be cold here in southwestern Ohio), I am planning on trying her recipe for Taco Soup. Which brings me to my menues for the week! (How's that for a segue?) Monday Taco Soup Cornbread Tuesday Chicken and Dumplings Mixed green salad Wednesday Leftover Taco Soup Grilled cheese tortillas Thursday Baked pork chops (thaw extra for Saturday) Macaroni and Cheese Green beans Friday Leftover mac & cheese Hot dogs, rolls Mixed green salad Saturday Pork Stir Fry Egg Rolls Sunday (Last NASCAR race of the season) Delivery Pizza My week is "booked" -- Jeff is taking Monday and Tuesday off, on Wednesday and Friday I babysit Brayden (and we have Story Hour at our local library starting this week), and on Thursday Lynn and I are going to a local Salvage store and Amish market to do... well, something we probably can't afford!

Organize your online Christmas shopping

A friend of mine, Karen, mentioned on her "Now Don't Get Me Started" blog that she has begun her online Christmas shopping. I used to live where Karen lives (Salem, NH) and she's right -- trying to get through the traffic there consumes more time than it's worth when you have the option to sit at your computer and shop in your jammies while sipping a good cuppa tea! I've been purchasing about 85% of our Christmas gifts online for four or five years now. I've never had a gift not arrive, I've never received a wrong item, I've never received anything broken, and I've rarely been disappointed in the quality of an item I've received. (I say "rarely" because honestly, the one drawback of ordering online is not being able to put items through the in-person "touch" test to assure yourself of good quality.) And surprise, surprise, I have a "method" to my online shopping that I thought I'd share with you. First, in my normal day to day exchange of money, I use a debit card. I'm married to a finance person -- we don't do credit cards. However, we both have one credit card each. I use mine for online purchases ONLY. My debit card info never goes out over the Internet. (I've been through having my debit card stolen and my checking account wiped out in the blink of an eye, and thanks, I'd prefer not to go through that again!) This confines your online purchases to one card, which, with most major credit card companies, is very easy to monitor online to make sure the only purchases going on it are ones YOU made. In the case of my card company, I receive email notification for every online purchase and an actual phone call if a purchase over (any amount I set) is made on that credit card. If something happens where that credit card info gets into the wrong hands, it is easily stopped with one phone call. Next, when I make a purchase with that credit card, I deduct that amount from my checking account, just as if I'd written a check for that item. Why? So I have the funds to pay off the credit card immediately when the bill comes in. This also keeps me on target to staying within my Christmas budget. Next, I use email folders to keep track of all my orders. Every company I deal with sends an email confirmation of my online order. I have created two folders in my email called "Internet Orders" and "Received". When the email order confirmation comes in, it goes in the "Internet Orders" folder. When the item arrives at my door, that same confirmation email gets moved to the "Received" folder. If for any reason I have a question on my order or need a copy of the invoice to mail an item back or collect a rebate, I can simply look back in my "Received" folder and there it is. Once I begin ordering in earnest, I check the "Internet Orders" folder frequently to see if I'm missing any items that should have arrived. I save my "Received" folder for several months after Christmas. Again, if I need to return something, follow up on a rebate, exchange an item, etc., the invoices are right there at my fingertips. The other helpful hint I have is to place your wrapping paper station in an area close to where your package arrive -- I use my dining room table -- and wrap those presents as soon as they come in your front door! Is there anything worse than going into a panic and having to wrap presents the day before Christmas?! Things I'm Thankful for Today

1. Sleeping late on Saturdays
2. A warm and cozy house on a cold day
3. Having a husband willing to help me get caught up on housework today
4. Talking to my son on the phone last night
5. Being married to the person I love most in the world -- how cool is that?!?

1. My blueprint for success includes having someone other than me do the housework! 2. Leftover Halloween candy was the last candy I ate. 3. The best facial moisturizer I've ever used is good ol' Noxzema. 4. Quilting can be good therapy. 5. I'd like to tell you about my sparkling clean house -- I'd like to, but I can't because it's a disaster right now! 6. Being organized is my strongest characteristic. 7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a quiet, relaxing night after babysitting all day, tomorrow my plans include sewing in the day, having my grandson overnight and Sunday, I want to take my grandson to the Flea Market!

Need Christmas ideas for a single mom

Hello, my blogger friends. Funny, but many of you are actually starting to feel like my good friends! I just want you to know I appreciate you every single time you click that button that sends you to my blog... OK, put the hankies away and on to today's business. I don't talk about it much, but my 28 yr old daughter is a single mom (well, a mom in the middle of a divorce from the worse-than-your-worst-nightmares dad). She has a good career and works hard, she's an absolutely fabulous Mom to my two year old grandson, but she frequently gets overwhelmed by all she has to do to maintain her home, her job, her child, and everything else that's involved in daily living. For Christmas, I'm trying to think of ways to help her. She has mentioned several times that she knows she needs to work from a daily To Do list and calendar like I do, and she always complains that she needs to get more organized, but she never seems to find the time to actually do it. I'm thinking of creating her an organizational notebook for Christmas. So far, it would contain pre-printed sheets for the following:

• Emergency phone numbers and contact information
• Instructions for babysitters
• A daily printable To Do List
• A yearly calendar for scheduling
• Grocery shopping list
• List of family birthdays, anniversaries and addresses

I'm going to buy a three ring binder, make a pretty fabric cover for it, and print the lists out on pre-punched paper, in a variety of colors according to subject. I'd also include a list of web sites where she can go when she needs to print off more. I've never been a single mom, so I'm open to any and all ideas you might have that would be a good gift for someone in this situation. Maybe Toddler Activities for when she runs out of ideas? What else? And in case you're wondering, she rarely reads my blog! I think the only one in my family that does read it is my daughter-in-law (Hi Lisa!). So I'm not revealing any gift ideas here! Help me, please!

Our Creativity Day

I spent the day with my friend, Lynn, in her wonderful Sewing Studio. We are trying to motivate each other to get some Christmas sewing / quilting done, and thought spending a day together might do the trick. Well, we thoroughly enjoyed the day -- the coffee, the carrot cake, the exchange of ideas and patterns -- but not a lot of sewing got done! We get so busy chit-chatting (that's not a complaint - I thoroughly enjoy Lynn's company) and discovering the newest additions to Lynn's sewing room, that we often lost sight of the goal of being productive. We did work on one project -- and found neither of us had thought to bring handles for the purses we wanted to do! But one goal I did accomplish was to take pictures of Lynn's sewing room to share with you. She and her husband bought this house just a few months ago, and the basement level is a complete mother-in-law apartment. But there's no room for Mama now -- Lynn has the entire floor dedicated to her sewing. Lynn is my hero when it comes to finding good buys at yard sales. We live in the same town, probably go to many of the same sales -- but she can find bargains like no one I know. Lynn has her room broken down into "Zones" -- this is the computer zone. Behind it on the left you can see terrific red storage cabinets complete with shelves and drawers and a long counter top that fits all three custom cabinets in place. Found at a yard sale for $25! Me? Jealous? You bet! This is her "Sewing Zone". She's currently sewing on a Singer Featherweight, and it was a lovely little machine to sew on. Other machines and serger are in the back. Just to the right, behind the black lamp, you can see a TV Remote Control caddy she picked up at a yard sale to use for all the tools she needs at the sewing machine. Such a creative idea! And here's Lynn, saying "Don't take a picture of me!". LOL! Click! Too late! This overlooks a very comfy area to sit and read or do handwork or watch TV or any combination of those! And just to the right you can see a Christmas tree. Lynn keeps it up all year long. It's supposed to motivate her to be more productive. It's decorated in sewing notions! On the left you can catch a glimpse of the kitchen area. This is where we tend to congregate and chit chat over coffee and goodies. See the ironing board stool in front of the kitchen island? There's two of them. How cute are those? Again, yard sale finds. What you can't see are the three? four? other rooms on this floor, including a full bathroom and laundry room (there is also an upstairs laundry room), bedroom, sitting room and more. Most of the rooms are used for storage of Lynn's fabric and notions. Whenever my husband rolls his eyes when he sees more fabric coming into our house, I want to take him by the hand and show him Lynn's sewing room and say, "See? I don't have that much!" LOL Thanks, Lynn, for an enjoyable day. Hope to see you again next week (and I'll bring my handles!).

I won!

Now, see? All this blog visiting and reading that I do has paid off, in a very nice and surprising way. I actually won a blog giveaway over at the Honour and Love Your Husband blog -- a Dr. Seuss book! I think this is actually the third time I've won something from another blog -- a great package of organization e-books, a revamp of my blog (which I forgot to take advantage of), and now this book. Yay, me! Today was a babysitting day for Brayden, and I have to tell you, it's one of the very few days that I wasn't looking forward to having him with me all day. My back has been giving me more-than-normal problems lately, and when I woke up this morning -- it was definitely in ouchie status. Hurt to turn, hurt to stand for more than a few minutes, just generally hurt no matter what I did. I put on one of those back ache patches and gobbled 3 Motrin, and at least got out of the ouchie stage and into the "ugh, that hurts" stage. Bless his heart, Brayden understands that there are some days my back hurts more than others, and he's pretty good about letting me sit down when I need to, and picking his toys up off the floor for me. Today we actually went on a nice long walk -- exercise seems to help quite a bit. We walked up to the end of our street, then to a street we've not walked on before, and down the street across from us. It was only about a half mile or so, but that's the longest walk he's taken with me. Tonight, I'm tired, though my back feels better than it did this morning. I stayed up last night to listen to Obama acceptance speech, then got up at 5:45 to get ready for Brayden's arrival at 7:00. I somehow managed to get four loads of laundry done (with Brayden's help - he loves to do laundry), and made a dent in the ironing, though I still have a ways to go. Why did I only make a dent in the ironing (as in, two shirts out of twelve)? Because there's a chatty two year old in the room with me. I start ironing and the conversation goes like this. B: Umma, is that iron hot? Me: Yes, it's hot. B: Umma, can I touch it? Me: No, you know you can't touch hot things. B: Umma, is that iron plugged in? Me: Yes, it's plugged in. See? B: Umma, if the iron isn't plugged in, is it hot? Me: It stays hot for a little while. Make sure you don't touch it. B: Can I touch it when it's cold? Me: I'd rather you didn't touch the iron at all. B: Can I touch it when it's freezing cold? Me: I'd rather you didn't touch it at all. B: Umma, is the iron hot NOW? Me: Yes, it's hot now. B: Umma, Can I touch it? Me: I'd rather you didn't touch the iron, sweetie. B: Can I touch it when it's freezing cold? .....and round and round we go... When my eyes start crossing at answering the same questions over and over and over again, I tend to give up on that particular activity. I did get some sewing done yesterday. I'm working on the Mary Englebreit placemats that I fell in love with. It's machine applique and I got about 3/4's of the way through one and a second one cut out yesterday afternoon. So pretty! So vintage looking! The next step is some hand embroidery stitches, and I hope to get that done tomorrow evening. Tomorrow my friend Lynn and I are having a "Creative Day" at her house. I will bring my camera so you can see her "studio". Phew.... it's to die for. She and her husband bought a home a few months ago, and the basement was divided into four rooms plus a laundry room, bathroom and full kitchen -- and she claimed the entire floor for her sewing room.... I'm guess it's at least 1200 square feet! It's decorated with antique sewing machines and even an artificial Christmas tree all year long, decorated with sewing notions and supplies! She uses old wooden ironing boards turned into stools at her kitchen island. It's just wonderful and you can't help but feel "motivated" when you're in that space. I'm taking a purse pattern that I've cut out and Brayden's I Spy Quilt to work on. Hopefully we'll motivate each other and get some things done! Still no pictures of Brayden in his Halloween costume. I keep asking my daughter, but to no avail. I would have liked to see how he looked in the costume I worked so hard on! (Was that a poor me moment?) THINGS I'M THANKFUL FOR #4

1. My husband's department is finally hiring more people, which will mean less hours for him. YAY!
2. Motrin.
3. Creative Friends who don't mind me hanging out at their house.
4. My grandmother teaching me to knit when I was young.
5. That my husband doesn't mind "quick meals" when I'm too tired to cook.

More from My Grandmother's Cookbook

I'm enthralled with reading through my grandmother's handwritten cookbook that I found last week. I thought I'd post a few more recipes that I found interesting. Again, she doesn't give much in the way of detailed instructions, but fairly experienced cooks will be able to figure it out. I think Gramma was born around 1910 or 1911, by the way. The most loving, happiest, family-oriented, home-oriented woman I've ever known. I love Mince Meat Pie. It's a tradition at our house. Now I'm wondering if this is the reason -- did I have "real" mince meat pies when I was young?? Here's Gramma's Recipe: Mince Meat 2 qts or 4 lbs chopped beef 4 qts chopped apples 2 qts sweet cider 1 qt molasses 4 cups sugar 2 tbsp pepper 8 tsp cinnamon 6 tsp cloves 2 pounds raisins 1 pound citron (????) Boil 30 minutes. When cool, add 1 1/2 pts Brandy and add 4 oranges. Brandy?!? Shoot, no wonder I liked it so much as a kid. I'm not quite understanding the oranges though -- dice them up, perhaps? And I assume by the quantities in this recipe that she may have canned it. Gramma's cellar had a LOT of canned goods! Chili Sauce 2 quarts tomatoes (remove skins and cut up) 2 onions (cut fine) 2 cups vinegar 1 cup sugar 2 tbsp salt 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp ground cloves 1 tsp black pepper Boil until thick and bottle cold. New England Harvest Cake 1 1/2 cups Pumpkin 3/4 cup sugar 1 1/2 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup shortening 3/4 cup sour milk 3 1/4 cups flour 4 tsp Baking Powder 1/2 tsp Baking Soda 1/2 tsp Nutmeg 1/2 tsp Cinnamon 1 tsp salt 1 tsp ginger 3 egg yolks. Beat in order given. Bake at 350 about 40 minutes. I assume this would be in a 13 x 9 x 2 cake pan or two layer cakes. I also have to assume you would grease and flour the pan(s). I'm surprised raisins aren't in this cake, as many of her cakes had raisins or nuts. I might add both to this recipe. That's enough for now! I also have my Mom's cookie cookbook to look through and will post recipes. My mom was NOT a great cook, but she was an excellent baker. Every year at Christmas she would bake around 50 dozen cookies to give away to neighbors, family, co-workers, etc. And they were amazing cookies! You'll just have to come back for more! THINGS I'M THANKFUL FOR #3

1. My grandson lives close to me and I get to visit with him often.
2. Craft ideas I find on the Internet - what a never-ending resource!
3. People actually take time out of their day to read my blog.
4. Digital cameras - one of our best technological advances, in my book.
5. Freecycle people who actually pick items up when they say they will.

MY TWO CENTS ON THE ELECTION RESULTS Obviously, the election didn't go "my" way, but it did go America's way, and that's what counts. I listened to President-elect Obama's acceptance speech last night, and there's no doubt the man has charisma. One thing I believe in, even when I was the most disappointed with President Bush, is that our President deserves our respect. So I will give Mr. Obama the respect he deserves, I hope he does good things for our country, and I will keep in mind that perhaps all those Americans who voted for him know something that I don't know, and give them the benefit of the doubt. This is one of those times that I would love to be wrong.