little house in the pines

  My best friend who was diagnosed with liver cancer had another scan yesterday.  All is well with everything else in her body, just that the liver has some spots on it.  They are going to check more, she has an appt. with an oncologest later this month.  At least we know now nothing else is involved, so prayers are being answered.  She is in good spirits and her bronchitis is getting better.

   It`s been beautiful weather here, we`ve been spending lots of time outdoors and cooking out.  Tomorrow it will cool off and we have a couple days of rain coming.  I guess that`s okay because now I need to do inside stuff.

  DD and fiance` are righr now signing papers for their house.  I guess that means they got it!  They are excited.

  Okay, Saturday morning and Hubby is at school so I better make myself useful and get something done!

Thanks for stopping by!

That Girl

Today was just so pretty out that I decided that I should sit outside and get some hand work done while soaking up the sunny rays. While sitting there, the birds were just chirping away like crazy, the mason bees were buzzing around my feet, and hubby and I could hear a woodpecker in the background pecking his little heart away. Oh the sounds of Spring, I just love it.

I did get my other mini greenhouse filled today with new garden seeds. I put in bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, carrots, mexican red beans, great white northern beans and greeen onions. Man o man, are those the tiniest seeds I have ever had to handle. It was almost a tweezer time with the onions and peppers. We love chili in our house so I am starting some mexican red beans for the first time along with the white northerns. Come winter time next year, we will be set for chili and bean soup.

Hubby and I did get some black plastic anchored down on the four garden beds today. I am hoping that it helps to heat up the soil plus kill of any weed seeds that may have gotten in there. I plan on keeping it covered for at least a couple of weeks so it does really good. That's the nice thing about raised beds, you can do it fairly easy. I am hoping by then to add my fertalizer and get planting the rest of the way. They say for our area to start putting things in the ground four weeks before the last frost and that should be about right. My fingers are itching to get dirty!

I guess I should go and see about some supper. Hubby and I watched a movie earlier and ate a bowl of popcorn, so now dinner is gonna be a tad bit late. Oh well.

Oh, and the good news, daughter called me from the grange to let me know that the chicks will be arriving on the 30th of this month. They will have all kinds to choose from. Hubby and I plan to get two of each, maybe three. At $2.33 each, I think that will work out great. Doing the happy dance here.

What a beautiful day today is gonna be. We have been having sunny days for the last couple of days and I have been outside and soaking up the sun. I am getting around better, which is good, and am getting things caught up. Yesterday hubby and I went out to the front yard and got some weeds pulled and some raking done. I am so excited to get some bulbs planted but will have to wait about three more weeks to do that. By then I will be able to bend the knee better and sit on the ground. In the meantime, I have been watching my seeds pop up their little heads in the greenhouse garden down in the basement. I have noticed that some seeds did not  come up yet and hope that they do soon. I will need to take the heating pad out from under them soon to start more seeds in the next greenhouse. I have 72 cells to fill and lots of seeds to plant. I have found this wonderful site that I thought you might like. This company sent me a catalog and it is a keeper. Gardeners is a very useful site as it has a virtual kitchen garden planner that you can go to and set your garden beds up with. I usually do it on graph paper, but this site is fantastic. I couldn't believe how much more I am able to plant in my 4 by 8 feet raised beds. I sat one night and played around to do all four of my beds and was able to print it all out. Great for those that keep records of what they planted where, so they know what to do next year. I can't wait to go get my hands dirt!!!

As for today, my daughter is bringing over the grandbabies and me more floss. I am making a waist apron out of red gingham and doing some cross stitch work on it. I have the pockets done but am now working on the borders at the bottom. I hope to have it done this weekend and put in the shop. I need to hit Wal-Mart at payday time to get more gingham in other colors as well. Working with the little checks makes my eyes go buggy but I have found a secret that works for me now. With that in mind, I can work on more aprons using this material. I also need to go and turn off all the fans in the house. I mopped the floors this morning and didn't want to see kitty foot prints all over the floors.  Since all the laundry is done, oh it was so good to sleep on sun dried sheets last night, I think hubby and I will work on getting started on those kitchen towel holders today too. Lots and lots to do.

Take care and enjoy the website.

  I just found out that my best friend has liver cancer.  I am too upset to say anymore right now.  Please keep her in your prayers it`s going to be a long hard road. She has been cancer free for almost 9 years.  Please pray.  Thank you so much.

That Girl

Morning to you all,

What a beautiful day we are going to have today, and sad to say, I am not going to get outdoors and get things done. Why?

Well yesterday was such a busy day for me. I had laundry to do so while doing that I decided to get some seeds started in the mini greenhouse set up in the laundry room. As of right now, I have corn, green beans, wax beans, tomatos, and peas going in one. I found my heating pad and put that under them to keep them warm. My other greenhouse will have to wait till this weekend till I get another heating pad. I have lots to plant still. After that job was done, I worked on getting the house picked up and then read some so it was a restful day. With the time change I had decided to go to bed early and as I was headed for bed, I realized I had left the window open down in the basement and didn't want my seeds to get cold. I headed down the stairs and whne I hit the bottom of the landing I heard this loud pop and felt my knee go one way and my leg go the other. I hobbled to close the window but had a dickens of a time getting back up them stairs. I couldn't put any weight on that knee. After several moments of deciding what to do, I bowed down to hubby's wishes and went to the ER. Here I was in my jammies and not wanting to go without a bra!

The doctor thinks that I dislocated my knee and now here I am.

Don't mind my hubby's messy room, he is getting that done today. At least htis morning the swelling has gone down and I can get this monster of a thing better wrapped around my leg. And since I can't bend my knee, sitting in the recliner is my best bet right now. I guess I will ned to hobble downstairs today to check on the seeds plus to bring up soem hand work for me to do for the next couple of days. I am hoping that by the end of the week this will be off and I can get back to getting things done.

Hubby's waiting to get to his room so I must scoot for now.

Will talk to you later.

Hello everyone,

Just got done getting things saved to my computer regarding our taxes this year. I usualy do our taxes online as we don't have a thing to claim or writeoff. I go through Turbo tax and have no problems with them at all. This year we actually owe money as we had to take hubby's 401K out early to help make the house payments while he is out with his heart. It was a blessing that the money was there so that we had the money to make the payments on our house when no money was coming in. However, it was the penilties, for taking the money out that hurt us. I have been online getting all these forms downloaded so that we can see about payments being made. I am so upset though, that when I was reading some of the requirements, that we are actualy in the below poverty level based by the Department of Health and Social Services. I have worked all my life since the time I turned 14. That was the first year that I had money taken out for social security. Now, here I am going to the 50 mark, and I read this. It's a hard thing to swallow, but it might help us in the long run for tax purposes. We will have to fill out paperwork for them to see our expenses to help us with a payment amount. Well they can stand in line with all the other five doctors who would like to be paid off along with social security who wants their money for my medical payments. This is not how I had pictured my life, but that is what I am handed right now. I know God has a plan for me in all of this, I just wish I could see it all right now.

On the good news, we had a touch of snow last night. It's been a long while since we have seen the white stuff. It's not sticking much though and melting off quickly. I did have plans to get laundry done and on the line today, but it will have to go to the dryer instead. That will be good since I am about to go and start our garden seeds. Hubby helped me with getting a light set up for them and now all I need to do is get planting. Since tomorrow is Sunday, I think I will get that done along with some quilting. It will be my relax day and maybe I will also look at a pattern or two for some aprons. A dear friend of mine sent me a wonderful book in the mail. (Thanks Mom). It is called "New Believer's Bible". It is the first step for the new Christians. I am finding it very easy to read where the bible is concerned. I have another bible that I was reading the old Testament pages.  It is the New International Version. I think between the two, it will help me out alot.  So tomorrow, my day will be filled with a day of relaxed reading, gardening, and sewing.

Well hubby is done in the kitchen. He was cleaning up his paint mess that he had made. I think we are about out of white paint now but most of the areas are done. Now to save for the next paint needed. I would really love to get the livingroom, hallway and dining room done with what I had found, called Tobacco Road.

This gal did her house in this color and I love it. Our diningroom set is simular and it would go great with the livingroom. I found this picture ( don't know what's going on with the kid on the table!)

Anywho, best get going. Need to decide on what dessert to make for tonight. I have cake in mind. It's been a long while since cake was made.

Will talk to you later.

  I can`t really say that a lot has been going on to write about.  All is well here and that is a good thing. 

   DD will be going back to work on Monday after her hysterectomy.  Hubby started his electrician schooling on Monday.  He came home discouraged and with a terrible headache and homework.  Today he had 3 tests and did okay but one he wants to take over for a better grade. 

   The weather has been perfectly lovely, in the 50`s and I have been walking outdoors.  Now it will cool a bit and rain till next week.  It sure did wonders for my depression,  I have felt terrific!

   I hope you are enjoying the weather whatever it may be where you are because spring is in the air, can`t you feel it?

  if you get a chance, will you say a little prayer for my Hubby to help him with his schooling and do well in this course?  I would appreciate it, Thank you!

That Girl

It's getting near evening here in the PNW and I'm just waiting for supper to get done cooking. We are back to having cool weather again, so I put on a turkey tenderloin roast that I picked up at the market on their meat sale. It is a smoked applewood flavor and it sounded good. Never had this type of meat before and thought we would try it. It will equal out to about two meals plus sandwiches for us so the $4.99 was not too bad.

Most of the day was spent cleaning the house and getting things picked up around the livingroom. I did get some fabric ironed so it will be ready for the next project. I am thinking I need to go down and get some hand sewing work and bring it back upstairs to do at night while watching t.v. I really need to get a crocheted blanket done first and get that crossed off the list. Hubby got all the cabinets done in the kitchen today, so now I can get some curtains made for the little window in there. I am at a toss up as to do either tiers or just long hanging sway back style. I need to go down and hunt in the fabric to see if I can find anything that will match the Mayflower red that we painted the outside of the cabinets with. I am thinking of doing a white curtain and trim it out with the other fabric so I can add a bit of color. It will be beside walls of white beadboard eventually. I did manage too, to give hubby his haircut this afternoon. Poor guy's hair is thinning out as he gets older and I don't  think it will be long before he will be wanting a different style.

For about three years now I have been doing a paid type of survey online for a company. It wasn't much pay, $3.00 per one completed, but while sitting there looking at the screen, I had come to a realization that I really shouldn't be doing it any longer. You may ask me why, well here goes. For all this time of doing this, I have been working at getting out of the commercial world. You know, going into the store and buying what new items were out or seeing what I could bring home new that looked good. Remember, I am wanting to live a more simple life, one that would require less buying and less waste. I wanted to make my own furniture polish, toothpaste, cleaning supplies, etc. If I had gone to the store, these items sprung out from the shelf, trying to grab my attention. While starting the survey the other day, it dawned on me, I couldn't really go on and answer these questions as they were not of interest to me any longer. If they asked me about a boxed fast food type item, how could I honestly say that I would try it. But then the one question that made me stop, think and then delete was these two questions

1. Is this type of product one that you WANT to have in your home.

2. Is this type of product one that you NEED to have in your home.

It was like a lightbulb going off in my head, you know, the kind where you see the guy with a light bulb over his head going geez. 98% of all the surveys that I had done, I had to honestly say NO to on both questions. I then realized that maybe, just maybe, I have reached a point in my goals that I have hit that mark of simplicity for our family. I am able to walk away from the urges that shopping as done to us as a nation. No longer am I a slave to commercialism (?) and it also hit me that now I shop just to replace the items that I use on a daily basis. It's like I can go through the checkout that you see sometimes that is labeled kid friendly, where there is no products like food or candy to tempt the little ones. Now I can go throught the grown up line without a second glance. Yes my lightbulb is shining bright these days.

Speaking of light bulbs, for years the government has been getting us all to change out bulbs over to these new twirly CVF type to help save energy. I have to admit, I used them too. I was hooked into believing that what I heard was real. Well, no longer. As of the first of the month, when pay day hits, I am replacing those bulbs and giving them back. After much research, I have found this horrible truth. If, by chance, one of these bulbs should break, you should evacuate all pets and people from the area! Why, you might ask? MERCURY. Yes these cute little light bulbs that the government has been getting us hooked on contains enough mercury to make you ill. Disposing of them is another issue all together. Once broke, you should not touch these pieces with bare hands. Wouldn't want you to pick one up, poke your finger, and well you know the rest.

Well the timer just went off and I need to get the vegetables done and the meat sliced. For some reason, my stomach is gurgling something aweful, and the tastebuds are drooling. What a picture that must be. Enjoy the rest of your evening. Will talk to you later.

Evening to all,

It's been a hectic crazy week but today was about to drive me insane. I have been on here trying to figure out how to do a few things to my blog to no avail. I did figure out how to add to the catagories but hope now I can figure out how to get my future blogs to go to the right places. I am NOT computer savy at all and when I look at some of this stuff it reminds me of algebra. What I have in knowledge would fill a thimble. Thank goodness I know how to save things to notebook incase I goof big time and have to fix something.

Had the grandbabies again this weekend, and it was so good that our weather was really nice. We spent most of the two days outdoors soaking up the sunshine and playing. I didn't even notice that I got a sunburn just from the time outdoors. Today, however, turned into a gloomy gray day. While I worked on the computer, hubby was busy painting the inside of the kitchen cabinets. I don't have doors on the cupboards and painting the inside the white really makes things bright. Some day I will have the funds to get the beadboard so that can go up. Little by little, it will get done.

Things are moving along with getting my classes lined up and ready to teach. Tomorrow I will be out and about getting all the flyers posted and will contact the local town paper too. I spoke with the gal that cuts my hair and she feels I probably will get quite a few people. I am hoping so as I really am eager to teach quilting. She even said the cost of the class was actually too low. I am offering a six week class for $60.00. Since it is a beginners class, it is for now 2 1/2 hours long every week. I think that will give them enough time to really go over all that is needed. I would really like to do two classes a night, with one being just a quilting group get together. I would provide a different pattern or class every week or so. It would be fun to do it this way so that you can enjoy having block exchanges, fabric swaps, and all. I think I just need to get this first class going though.

Well tonight for supper was just so so. We had tacos and rice. For dessert I cooked up some homemade chocolate pudding. In fact the timer just went off, so nows the time to get it while it's warm. YUM.

I should go for now and check out this site for chickens. This weekend we built all the nest for the girls and cleared out all the stuff from the shed. Thei week hubby will build a ramp for them for the outside to come in and get a electic hookup done. Chicks will be here soon so need to get ready.

Take care and will talk to you later.

This week`s treat:  Choco-Peanut Butter Bars

1/2 Cup butter

1/2 Cup peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 tbs. water

1 1/4 cups flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup chocolate chips

   Cream butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg and water.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Spread in lightly greased 13X9 pan.  Bake at 350* for 25 min. or until set and lightly brown.

   I made these today and they got grabbed up fast!

  My best friend is sick so they will not be coming to visit tomorrow as planned.  Now they are planning to visit April 11th.  Let`s hope this works because it will be the third time they tried. 

  It`s been a beautiful weekend and I opened the windows and got in a really good long walk, laundry hung outside and feelin` good all day!

   Hope your weekend was terrific, too!

That Girl