Hectic Heaven

I Needed More Than a Week

Well, today is Monday, so let's see how well I did on my goals list!

# 1- Get all of the laundry done - all of it!

Okay, not all of it, but A LOT of it.  Thank you Olivia and Heather!!

# 2- Organize all of those clean clothes.

Hmm, well, at least we started organizing them.

# 3- Prepare for the next six weeks of school.

Did I mean part of the six weeks or all of them?

# 4- Do an all around house clean-up.

Okay, I really did an all around house clean-up.

You just can't tell it now.

# 5- Finish reconstructing my website.  http://candyfoote.com/

Yeah, I did a lot on my website.

I am adding more daily!

# 6- Discipline myself to blog daily.  Well, hopefully daily.

Hey, at least I am blogging more than I was.

# 7- Keep working on my next three books!

I forgot how much work it is to write a book.

# 8 - Can tomatoes.

Sorry, tomatoes, I couldn't find time for you.

# 9- Freeze peppers.

I never froze any peppers, but we ate a lot of them.

# 10- Wrap and freeze about 300 pounds of beef from the bull that we just had butchered.

We ended up getting 400 pounds of beef!

I guess you know what the menu will look like all month.

Now add in my grandson getting an infection and being put into the hospital.

Plus, attending an aunt's funeral .

All and all, I think it was a successful week "off".

Thanks For the Prayers

Gabriel is coming home!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the prayers!!

Candy

Been Fishin'

This weekend the signs were good for fishing. Plus our neighbor/friends want their big pond/lake to be fished. They don't fish so us four, Mom who is 82 yr, Sis ,Dh and I went on a fishing trip this weekend and really didn't leave the farm. Its just 3/4 of a mile as the crow flies to the fishing lake. Sis's DH went turkey hunting and didn't get his bird, should have been fishing with us.

Not only did the fish bite but my oh my was the weather perfect both days, Sat and Sunday. Saturday was a better fishing day but fish was caught on both. All total we caught a little over 100 bass and bluegill. I caught the biggest and sis caught the smallest.

My bass weighed in just under 2 lbs. most were 1+ lbs. hand size bluegill.

Plans were to cook outside at the Outpost but we / I , all just got to tuckered out. Well now fishin and skinin does wear a body out, LOL.

But sis and I still camped out at the Outpost. We didn't build a campfire, it was pretty windy so ate sandwiches and chips, colas while we read our camping adventure magazines and books. Sis brought up her Bible to read, I would say the better of all books, But I still like reading my camping trip books and know hows when up at the Outpost and then in those quiet times reading Scripture. I'm reading about wolfs attacking in the Outdoor magazines and sis is reading how the wolfs attack in our lives , pretty much the same kind of reading. Just different weapons to use.

Oh this lake is a beautiful place to just sit and watch the leaves fall and fall they did. The fallen leaves looked like brown sail boats at sea heading into shore. A gust of wind and down they would come. We all had to laugh cuz they were so many and awesome to see. The lake itself would whip up when the wind would blow and it came from many dirrections. And that saying, Wind in the West Fish Bite the Best, is true B/c everytime the wind blew out of the west someone had a fish on the hook or was setting hook. And then we would just sit there when it was blowing from the East. Wind in the East Fish Bite the Least, oh so true.

This lake is surrounded by many hundreds of acres of trees and wildlife. It connects to my Moms homestead.

These were taken before the major leaf fall.

The leaves are turning and we are getting another pretty Autumn this season

I had to buy a new rod and reel for myself, only the thing would not work, blast it. I gave up and let DH mess with it. Found out the people that put things together in the stores had it backwards, some thing of ma-jig. So I took DH old rod and reel and he took the new one that he fixed. Thats ok cuz I caught the biggest fish anyways : ). Next time i'm bringing my fly rod and see if I can catch a bass or two on a fly.

Now we did some Channel Cat fishing to later in the evening using the liver from the butcher roosters from last week. Did not get any Channels. Maybe another day. But while we were sitting there and just light enough to see objects a big crane came swoopy by across the lake. Then we heard a big noice and see him swoop right by us. We figure we are sitting in his spot cuz he just circles the lake. We're not movin cuz we are fishin'.

Didn't get a dang thing done on the homestead but we got a freezer full of fresh fish. And a beautiful weekend just enjoying the outdoors. Watching my Mom fish, drinking hot coffee from thermos. Shaking the bucket of worms to find a nice big juicy one. Washing hands in the just a little cool to swim in water, after you take your fish off the hook and toss it in the basket and hearing the sound of the days catch being plopped in the water. We had three baskets going and no one said anything but I kind of think there was a contest going on the amount of fish in the baskets, but I still caught the biggest one, Hehehe!!!

While the fishing was letting up for a while, Wind in the East. I started to gather hickory nuts, many all over. They were little but tasty. DH brought over a huge Hickory nut, Wow , so I took the basket and went where the big ones were being assured that they would watch my rod.

I picked up only a half basket of nuts cuz I heard them catching fish over yonder, the wind coming from the west now. I was worried about my rod going in the water. But still I gathered a good mess of Hickory Nuts. Oh these are hard to crack but well worth the trouble, esp. the big ones.

So the weekend was foraging, fish and nuts. Its healthy, clean (well sorta) fun. We had a good time.

So get your fishin rod out, grab somebody to go with ya and have a wonderful day. Plus fresh fish is mighty tasty along with fried taters and onions, can of pork and beans and cornbread. We'er talking stick to your ribs food now

Its quite something to sit and watch water how it moves, watching the reflection of the clouds form in the water. Having leaves fall on you and hearing the sounds of tiny to big critters as you watch the sun go down and the moon comes out to make a whole other world before you with different sounds and sights to see. On another forum I read something like "Being outside is Being". I love that.

Thanks for visiting, hope you liked my fishing trip. Winter is coming head on fast and will be here before we know it. I read others who are getting, gathering and preparing for the coming months. Whether its weather or the state of our nation and the world and challenges it is facing that will effect everyone.

I would like my blog to be helpful . So well gear it toward that direction . Theres many sites I would like to share as well that will make our winter bearable and strengthen us along our path. I never ever want to feel I'm stuck, theres always a way out and many options , but we gotta do the homework and work at it. And the thing is every little or big thing we do has an effect. I would like it to be effective on the positive side.

So have some fun when you can, get down and serious on important things and make it work.

Blessings
linda

Autumn Activities

"I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. 
So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air."
-  Nathaniel Hawthorne

Oh, how I can relate to those words!  I love Autumn and the blessed relief it brings from Summer's often scorching heat.  I find myself slipping out of doors the moment the sun begins to lighten up the sky in the mornings, and having to force myself to go back indoors to attend to the daily duties that need my attention inside: breakfast, homeschool, the inevitable laundry, dishes, and so forth.  As soon as the "must-do's" are done, I pop right back outside to find some other enjoyable tasks outdoors. 

Here are a few things that I enjoy doing during the lovely days of Autumn:

Planting and tending crops for the Fall & Winter gardening season.  We have a nice garden growing right now, a blessed improvement over our sad Spring/Summer garden.

Planting herbs that enjoy the cooler Autumn & Winter weather here in Texas, such as Parsley, Cilantro, Dill and Calendula. 

Planting flower bulbs for Springtime blossoms.  I like to plant Crocus, Daffodils, Grape Hyacinth, & Tulips.

Planting Violas (my favorite), Pansies, Ornamental Kale & Cabbage for Winter color in the garden and on the porch.

Repotting my Rose Geraniums before bringing them inside for the winter.

Dividing perennial herbs and flowers and sharing the divisions with a friend.

Harvesting the leaves of Lemon Verbena, and drying them for a wonderful Winter tea.

Collecting seed from the annual herbs, flowers, and veggies to dry for next year's plantings and to share with others.

Making a scarecrow to decorate the garden.  I doubt it is very effective at scaring crows, but he (or she) always makes me smile. 

Putting out seeds and other goodies for the birds and other little creatures that visit our yard. 

Decorating the front porch with a pumpkin, Fall flowers, and perhaps a basket of gourds, corn and other pretty Autumn decorations.

Last but definitely not least, sitting on the porch with a cup of tea, a notebook, a few seed catalogs, and planning and plotting my gardens for the Spring!

Please share your favorite Autumn Gardening activities with us!

Now, I'm off to wander about the yard and see what I can find to do this evening.

Blessings,

Catherine

shampoo bar soap

Top Five Tips to Successful Grocery Shopping

1. Check your local newspapers for specials and clip coupons.

Now I have always said I can save more money by buyinng generic than clipping coupons.  And in years past, this may have been true.  But today, clipping coupons can save a family big money, depending on where you shop.  I am a little envious of those of you who have large stores near you who offer coupon and saving programs and offer double coupons.  We live in the sticks and most of these coupon games are not available for us.  However, finding coupon sites online and printing out coupons can be so helpful even if you don't have those stores in your area.  Finding soap on sale, great!!!  Finding soap on sale and having a coupon for it in your purchase, priceless!!!  LMSO  If done correctly, buying this way can cost you little or nothing at all for the item!

2.  Do not shop while hungry!!

Need I say more???  LOL  I myself, end up buying cheesecake and anything else with cream cheese in it when I am hungry at the grocery store.  Things I don't normally buy or eat because it goes straight to my hips (and everywhere else I am sure).  When hubby shops hungry he ends up coming home with JUNK FOOD GALORE!!!  Have you noticed when you are hungry at the grocery store, you don't stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables??  Save your waist line and your pock book, and don't shop while hungry.

3.  Avoid impulsive buys and stick to the list.

This is something I don't have much trouble with.  I make a list before going to the store.  It is divided into the areas of the store that make it easy for shopping.  Dairy, meats, canned items, cleaning supplies, frozen foods, produce, breads, etc.  I know exactly what I need, and I buy those things and get outta there.  I don't mind grocery shopping, but I can't stand the rude people, the loud screaming kids from 3 rows over or the children who drive their parents carts like they are race car drivers, so I am usually trying to hustle and get outta there.  LOL  Hubby, on the other hand, sees something, doesn't think about it and tosses it into the cart.  It doesn't register to him that buying those items will put us over budget.  He doesn't think about it not being good for him, or even looking for the generic version.  Nope.  He just tosses it in the cart.  He went to the store one time for milk and bread only.  He came home with $65.00 groceries!!!!!!!!!!  One month, he did this so much we went over our budget not by tens of dollars, but by HUNDREDS!!!!!  So the following month, I put us on a grocery diet and we didn't go to the store except for milk to make up for it!!!!  And don't ever give my hubby a blank check when going to the grocery store.  It makes him even worse! LOL 

4.  Plan week-long menus.  Plan a variety of meals.  Keep nutrition in mind,  and prepare well balanced meals.

As I said in a previous post, this is my main reason for planning dinners.  If I don't keep track of dinners in a menu, I can't tell how often we have had a spaghetti meal in one month, or how often we had ham.  With a menu planner, I can keep better track of what my family is eating and know that we are getting a variety of foods, and the fruits and veggies our family needs.  When our family doesn't plan meals we end up eating quick foods, which most of the time are processed junk and greasy fatty foods.  When planning dinner ahead of time I make sure they are more balanced.

5.  Don't let the packaging fool you.  Compare products.  Let weight, price, and content be your guide to value.

There are a few items in our pantry that I refuse to buy generic (after trying it once or twice first of course).  Everyone has those "luxury items"  I suppose.  LOL  For instance, does anyone use a generic Velvetta?  Not many I would say.  The generic is awful.  And although we use tomato soup in our house mostly in other dishes, we have realized the generic has a weird taste to it, so we wait until Campbell's goes on sale and stock up.  We no longer buy cereal because it has a brand name.  We buy cereal in bags from Malt-O-Meal at a much cheaper price or we make muffins and other breakfast foods instead.

Any other hints you have for grocery shopping you would like to share????

Menu Plans: Why I Have One (even though it changed often! LOL)

I love making out my menu plans for the month.  Don't ask me why!  I know some of you dread it.  It is a chore, but one I like doing.  It is the same as some people enjoying mopping or hanging clothes on the line, while other dread the unruly task I suppose.  LOL

I recently had a comment on my blog and a pm asking me why I plan a weekly menu if it is continuously changing.  Well, I had to think about that for a moment.  Much in the same way that you make your bed every day to jump in it that evening to mess it up again I suppose.  LMSO  (This was my excuse as a teen and even sometimes now as an adult when I get busy and forget to make the bed.  It worked as a teen only because my room was on the second floor and my mom never had to see it. LOL)

I usually plan out a months long menu planner according to what we have in stock (a large standing freezer, 2 refrigerators with top freezers, a large pantry and flats of canned items) and what is on sale.  I used to grocery shop once a month.  We have a family of 3, so it was doable, but I wouldn't suggest it.  LOL  First of all, we walked out with 2 overflowing carts full of food for just the three of us, it was exhausting, and it took most of the day to shop, stand in line to pay, load the car, drive 30 minutes back home, and unload and organize it all.  UGH!  Now I find shopping weekly or bi-weekly is much more managable, and I shop more of the sales doing this too.

I plan a menu mostly so I know what to expect, and so that I can guarantee that our family isn't having the same meal over and over again.  When things aren't planned out ahead of time here, we seem to make it a quick dinner and it isn't always that healthy.  Having the menu planner helps me know the night before what to thaw from the freezer and what to prep the next morning.  I use some time before or after breakfast each day to prep for dinner.  This is when I chop vegetables, brown the hamburger, or put things in the crockpot.  This way if the rest of the day ends up being busy, we end up running late because of a doctor's appointment taking 3 times as long as I would have liked (happens all the time), I have a step up on getting dinner on the table on time

Why does my menu change almost weekly?  Life happens!!  LOL  Matthew will end up working late, and I will change the menu to accomodate sometimes.  If I haven't felt well that day, I will look into the menu for the month, or see what I have on hand to fix a quick easy dinner of BBQ Beef Sandwiches (on buns I almost always have on hand in the freezer and can thaw when needed) instead of fixing lasagna that night.  Or sometimes Matthew requests a specific meal, and if I have the ingredients on hand I will try to accomodate his wants.  After all, he works super hard all week for this family, and if he wants one of his favorite meals that evening instead of what was planned, it isn't that hard to change a few things to make him feel loved!!  (I secretly love when he does this, because it means he likes my cooking and it is a pat on the back for me!)

For my family, having a menu planner helps us in having a variety of ingredients and dinners up our sleeve.  But it isn't anything cut into stone.  We need to be flexible and not let the menu planner be a controlling thing.  If we are invited by the inlaws to eat out (and because we know they always insist on paying, we usually say yes! LOL), then we know we can always have the Parmesan Chicken planned for that evening another time during the month.  If it goes onto the menu planner, we already have all the ingredients, so that is one meal later I don't have to shop for.

So, how about you ladies??? Do any of you love to menu plan?  Do you keep yourself strictly to the menu plan, or is yours forever changing??  Let me know!!!  I would love to see how others are handling this.

Menu Planner Monday

Here is my menu for the week.  Although Monday in the past has been for us a Meatless Monday for us, this week it is not.  I have some sausage that I need to use up quickly, so today is PIZZA NIGHT!  We planned on having this on Friday of last week, but things happened at the last minute. 

Monday:  sausage pizza

Tuesday: hame and cheesey potatoes, peas, crescent rolls

Wednesday: Chilli and cornbread

Thursday: fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans

Friday: sticky chicken, fried rice, vegetables

Saturday: rosemary porkchops, roasted vegetables, steamed broccoli

Sunday: Planned Leftovers

Apologies to Sarah

Can anyone use coupons for baby items?