My Loving Home

Spring Fever

{ 02:15, Thursday, January 1, 2009 } { 0 comments } { Link }

Yesterday I bought some supplies on sale to start on handmade gifts for next year.

The red yarn will be used in an afghan for my hubby's mother, and the fabric book kits will be for my two youngest sons. I'm going to enjoy working on projects throughout the entire year, rather than feeling rushed once Thanksgiving is past.

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My life--with five children, striving to be a more loving wife, homeschooling, planning and cooking nutritious and frugal meals, laundry, and all of my other assorted daily tasks and responsibilities--seems to get busier and busier each day! Because of this, I didn't finish all of the projects that I had hoped to finish for Christmas 2008. So, I'm trying to get a jump-start and plan ahead for Christmas 2009. This will include the "basics" that most everyone is successful at: Christmas cards, special menus, decorating, craft projects to make with the children, etc.

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I'm excitedly planning our 2009 garden. This will be the first year that we've done any serious gardening; all I've grown in the past are small gardens just for our summer eating. This year, though, we're getting serious about a larger garden which will produce enough for canning, freezing, and dehydrating. We're concerned, like most people, about the economic uncertainty and difficulty.

Our garden will include, with the Lord's help, guidance, and provision: loose leaf lettuce; tomatoes; cherry tomatoes; green onions; yellow onions; red peppers; bush green beans; pumpkins; sunflowers; basil; parsley; dill; and oregano. I have been spending my evenings looking at seed catalogs and library books on raised-bed gardening, container gardening, and food preservation and storage.

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I took advantage of the low prices on cabbage yesterday and bought two large heads. I'm going to make coleslaw with one head, and the other went in my large 6-quart crockpot with red potatoes and smoked sausage. Yum! A perfect dinner for this cold, cloudy day.