A whole lotta random stuff.

The lovely Angie from Children in the Corn gave me this award.

"This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his/her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary and personal values every day."

So kind of her but my question is... Are you reading the same blog as me? The blog that almost never sticks to just one topic, the blog that during the time my spell check was out for months only posted words as difficult as cat, hat, mat, sat?

Knowing I am my own worst critic, I will just say "Thank You" and trust her judgement.

So in my typical writing "style", I'll show you what has been going on around here.

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I have been in a bit of a slump in the art/craft department. This is the time of year when I should be cranking out the inventory for the summer and fall art/craft show craziness, but the winter grays have put my creativity into hibernation. Since i get the twitches if I go a week without touching my sewing machine, I did sew something.

See this chair?

No I didn't pick it out, it was a freebie. I pays to know a designer whose clients change their minds. Retail, a $900.00 chair, I got 2 of them!

I made a slipcover. Don't inspect it to close, I didn't have a pattern

(I wouldn't recommend doing it this way).

One down one to go.

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We've been doing some spring cleaning. I know it isn't spring but we are trying our best to hurry it along.

Yes, the man likes to work in his jammies too.

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T-bone barked furiously to let me know the car was parked in a different location. The funny thing is that we (T-bone and I) had just gotten home from grocery shopping, and he hopped out of the car from that spot. I wanted to park it in the sun to help melt the snow I couldn't reach under the wiper blades.

Speaking of grocery shopping, this weeks total was $33.25. I did spend $16.94 in scratch grain for the chickens ( I count it in the food budget). So my $50.19 total at least averages my $90 something from last week down to a more respectable number.

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I got some free movies. Not to keep but to borrow.

Nothing was on tv, and I hadn't checked out any movies at the library for our Friday night game/movie night, so I boxed up a pile of our movies, had my brother do the same, and we had a movie exchange. As my brother was looking through our box, he kept repeating what a great idea it was. We'll trade back in a few weeks, but it is nice to have some different movies to choose from and no cash is leaving our pockets.

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Uno and i have been practicing our falconry techniques.

What do you think?

Earth day 2008

In honor of earth day I ran to the mall, bought some overpriced t-shirts, whose proceeds go to a good earth friendly cause, that proclaimed my love of the earth so everyone would know what a good person I am. NOT!

Instead I....Sewed a bag that I am donating to a local shop that has artists donate small works, auctions them off and the proceeds go to the local food gatherers.

http://www.salinepictureframe.com/showroom/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=368

This will be my third year.

I started more bread for tonights dinner.

I washed some bags. Remember, I'm cheap.

Took one of my 9 day old chicks on a field trip.

Notice those fancy new wing feathers.

Planted potatoes.

The dog gave himself a bath.

Launched the boat. Yes, it was a curbside find. You didn't really think I spent money did you? It's a tad ugly and a bit leaky, but we have fun in it.

Added ham and cheese to bread dough, let it rise, then baked it into.....

Tonights dinner. The family loves it, it doesn't use much ham or cheese (frugal tip),

and with the added grains and a salad on the side, it makes for a tasty, healthy meal.

We have had such nice weather, I am sending good weather vibes to my blog friends in the pacific northwest, and wishing for less winds in the southwest.

Busy Weekend

Aside from sewing dog food bag bags, I did some more(secret) sewing. I'll unveil later this week.

On our way to a nephew birthday party (one hour away) we got an exciting call.

Very exciting!

Our babies were in!

This is the batch of Partridge Rocks. They supposedly make good broodie hens and mamas. None of the older girls have cooperated so far, they are my hope for a more self sustainable future at our little mini farm.

We have to wait 2 weeks for our batch of Dark Cornish. I tried to get them at the same time, from the same hatchery, no luck. I would have had to get all males of the Dark Cornish and I wanted a straight run to keep a handful for future babies for next year.

Since I only wanted 5, I was lucky enough to be able to add these little cuties to my Dads' order. (they wont ship less than 25 in a box) Dad was sweet enough to baby sit until we got back from the party.

They have a beautiful brown mink coat. Fancy. They are very sweet.

(Pay no attention to the hand in severe need of lotion)

Aren't we cute!

On Sunday mornings, my Hubbie always cooks breakfast, a deeelish break for me. No this isn't what he made. But i took the bacon grease and added scratch grains, popped in the freezer, makes a tasty and cheap suet cake for the birds. My frugal tip of the day.

And for the record, we did not have a snow storm yesterday. It was just major dandelion fuzz. Winter is done, winter is done, winter is done. Hey a girl can dream right?

Saturday morning project

What do you do on a Saturday morn, soccer games are cancelled due to rain, and the rest of the family is sound asleep? You recycle dog food bags into dog food bag bags.

The bag our dog food comes in is made of a woven plastic type fabric. It seemed a shame such sturdy material gets pitched. I have been saving them up until inspiration struck.

Step one: Turn dog food bag inside out. (easier said than done) Wash bag to the best of your ability. You'll need soap since the dog food leaves a greasy film. Rinse well and let dry.

Cut off the top few inches of the clean, reversed bag.

Open cut top portion at seam. This becomes your handle. Fold edges in and sew.

If you have the needle down option on your machine use it. The fabric is slippery and the feed dogs slip a bit so help guide it through.

Fold over top inch of bag and sew.

I did this two times 1/4" apart to give it a finished look.

You want your dog food bag bag looking good right?

Hold the edges and cram your foot in, to reverse bag.

Wearing pajama pants is your call.

Stitch handle onto bag.

I did this twice, 1/4" apart for reinforcement.

See how nice the stitching is.

Fold over and secure at the top. You are covering the raw edge of the handle and making it very sturdy.

See how purdy it looks. Ok, my photo skills suck.

Now you have a finished dog food bag bag.

Its very roomy.

Here's the back side.

This bag isn't water proof due to the stitching on the bottom, but it is very water resistant.

I figured it would make a great bag for the car, holding winter blankets, hats and gloves. A great beach bag for the sandy towels, buckets and seashells. Picnic bag for the Frisbees, balls or other toys. Soccer or other sports gear. Just hook it on the headrest and let hang behind the seat.

I made four. One is definitely going in my car.

We Have Oven

Finally! How long has it been? Feels like months. I am a gal who loves to bake. I couldn't give up Friday night pizza, so with only the top heating element working, I'd put the crust in first, top shelf, then added toppings and cooked the bajeebuz out of the pepperoni but it was still edible.

The crock pot coffee can worked ok, but the brownies and cakes were very compressed.

Hubbie scrounged a "new" heating element from a stove in our barn, a spare from one of our rental houses. I think he wanted the return of the home made bread as much as i did.

Here is the first thing I made:

Baked Oatmeal

1 stick of butter in med mixing bowl Zap til melty

2 eggs beaten

1 cup sugar (a bit less if you don't like things so sweet)

1 t salt

2 T baking powder

1 c milk

2 t vanilla

mix until smooth, pour into a buttered 9"x13" pan. Stir in

3 1/2 c quick cook oats (dry)

1/2 c chopped walnuts

1/2 c golden raisins

Bake 350 for 35-40 mins

when done, take out and stir till crumbly

I make it at night and zap individual bowls in the morning.

You can add milk or eat as is.

Its G E Double U D, Gewd!

Then I turn off the oven and put in

Crumbled eggshells to sit awhile in the heat. I then crush them even smaller and give them to the girls as a calcium supplement. They like it and its free unlike ground oyster shells.

Confessions of a Trash Picker

I am a trash picker. I have been for years. I have a huge list of items I have rescued from the curb. In our family we like to call them curbside treasures. One I'm proud of is my fashion model which I've bragged about before.

Here she is in the garden earning her keep, modeling an apron.

The cool gal from Henbogle ( I still haven't figured out the link thing but you can go to the sites I love and click to her site) talked about this topic on her February 12th blog. I left a comment and she requested a photo of my dresser drawer bookshelf I made. So here are many photos and the story behind it all.

My home, if you climb the stairs to the upper floor, has a bathroom straight ahead. To the left and right are my kids bedrooms. There is a small landing with not much room but I invisioned book shelves on both sides. We have tons of childrens books and I figured it would be nice for the kids to just walk out and pick a book at bedtime, also saving valuable floor space in their rooms.

Very narrow.

One side is deeper than the other and I was trying to find a bookshelf narrow enough to fit the shallow space. I didn't have any luck size wise or price wise. My husband is a busy man with many projects of his own. I am an independent woman and only ask for help when absolutely necessary, but my building skills are piss poor. (sorry if i offend, but it's true) I didn't want a bookshelf that looked like I built it.

I live on a beautiful tree lined, semi rural, dirt road. One of the bad things about it are not so nice people come out here and pitch their trash on the side of our road instead of throwing it away in a proper way. Not nice. Luckily people on our road take pride and it usually doesn't stay for long.

One sunny day quite a few years back, I was driving home on our beautiful tree lined road and saw a crappy, particle board dresser with a pile of other house hold items strewn about. But as I mentioned before, I am a trash picker and hit the breaks. The dresser and one of the drawers was wrecked but 5 of the drawers were fine. I put the dresser on it's back, took the good drawers and emptied them into the dresser and stacked the rest of the discarded items on top. I'm not strong enough to lug and dispose of the junk but I can at least make it a little neater/easier for someone who can.

I took these drawers home and when I get a wild hair, I have to do things right away.

First I screwed the drawers together using the holes that were in the drawers for the handles. Lucky for me the screws that were in the handle were pointy so I didn't have to scrounge for just the right size and amount of screws.

I made sure to use the holes for the bottom side of the "shelf" so the screws would be covered by the books.

Once done, the "shelf" was very wobbly since they were only connected in the center.

I scrounged some trim pieces from hubbies stash and covered where the 2 drawers connect to make it purdy. I put the flat side up so it would be level with the shelf.

On the side facing out (remember it's fitting into a corner) I ended up using 2 bigger trim pieces to cover the joints of the drawers and to make it look nice. With all these it made it very sturdy.

I used nail filler and caulk to fill nail holes and gaps. I primed it with about 2 or three coats since the particle board sucks in the paint. I never did get around to painting it, I couldn't decide on a color. Someday.

It fits!

I got together with my dad who is a builder and made one with scrounged lumber to make one for the other side. (pay no attention to the messy books) I still need to prime and paint that one. Someday.

I liked this project because even a gal with piss poor building skills with good tools, can build a sturdy, straight bookcase that even impressed the real builders in the family. I also saved a bit of trash from going into the landfill. Best of all it was FREE!

lunch

Yay! The boy went to school after eating us out of house and home last night, and my chicken's foot seems much better. I joked yesterday about my boy being sick after eating the schools lunch. (I know cooties don't work that way) So I thought I'd tell you about something I have been making for my families lunches that makes it easy peazy for me in the morning.

I have talked about my love of homemade bread.

Here is the recipe I use.

I use these to make it a chewy, healthy bread.

I stir with a wooden spoon right at bedtime until everything is well mixed.
Cover it with plastic. It takes less that 5 mins.

In the morning after I get my family out, I stretch it out on a floured surface.
I cut off about 1/5 th of the dough.

I spread it out, then put on about 6 pepperoni.

Top with about 1/4 cup of cheese.

I use Ham and cheese too (my daughter loves). This photo is when I used the whole loaf for dinner. With a side of broccoli, it made a tasty meal.

Seal, put on sprayed or buttered pan, finish the rest and cover with plastic and wait 2 hours.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 mins.

Cool, then I wrap with wax paper and label. Then refrigerate.

In the morning I grab one, put homemade Iced tea or juice in a recycled gator aid bottle (from soccer), a piece of fruit and a little goodie in a lunch bag. Super easy.

I figured out my cost for lunches at about $1 each. Our school lunches are $2.50, $3 if they get the extra treat, my hubbies lunch would be around $4. So by spending a little time I am able to save around $7 per day, $35 per week, $140 per month, you get the picture.

If you work during the day you can start the bread in the morning and do the rest after work, or do a big batch over the weekend.

I forgot to add that I have put in cinnamon and sugar, rolled it up and made cinnamon rolls. I have also put in ingredients for apple pie inside, it is deeeeeeliiiiiiishhhh.