... especially after nearly 23 years of calling a cubicle "home." Okay, so I haven't been in this same cubicle all that time, but I have been here for at least 10 years. And you can collect a lot of stuff without even realizing it... old bills and receipts that were brought to work because I didn't have time to take care of them at home, CD's and CD player, toothbrush, toothpaste, curling iron, brush, makeup, odds and ends of food, stuff to eat the food with, assorted mugs and cups, pictures, nick-nacks, plants, jacket, wrapping paper ... and the list goes on and on. And I thought I had a lot of junk to go through at home before making the big move. Now I realize most of it isn't at home at all; it is at work - my true home. Thank goodness I have a whole 'nother five weeks to get my stuff sorted and out of here!
For some reason I keep hearing Neil Sedaka singing "[Cleaning] up is hard to do."
Friday, January 27, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Decisions, decisions
I finally, after considering my alternatives for nearly a year, made the tough decision to leave my employment and move to Arizona. This decision was especially difficult considering I have been employed with the state of Utah for nearly 23 years, and leaving means no paycheck, no retirement, no insurance. And that's just a small part of what needed (and still needs) consideration.
My mother's mental health has been declining for years. She is at a point where she has difficulty remembering how to do the simplest things. The move will allow me be closer to two of my siblings and many nieces and nephews, who, I anticipate, will help me from time to time with my mom.
Over the next six weeks, I will need to dejunk my house and determine what I need to take with me and what can be sold, given away, or thrown out. An intense cleaning of the house will begin ASAP, and it will be put on the market this week. Hopefully it will sell quickly.
Another decision I made, not quite as difficult as the move, was what to do with the Orca Bay layout. I took a recommendation from I can't remember who (thanks quiltvillechat ladies for all your input!) that I needed a larger layout than just a few blocks to get the real picture of what might look the best. While the dark blocks looked great on a small scale, I couldn't see the design when they were laid out large-scale. So, I'm keeping the light & dark star blocks in the quilt. And, I'm going with the light stars where Bonnie put the dark ones. The top is half-way sewn. I hope to finish this week before I'm in the thick of house-cleaning. A picture of the finished top will be posted soon!
Since one of my goals before the move is to use as much food storage as I can, so I'll have less to move, I'm going to provide some recipes for using those items.
Blender Wheat Pancakes or Waffles:
In your blender, combine 1 cup wheat with 1 cup milk. Blend until a batter forms (about 5 minutes - batter will be thick). Add in 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 Tb. honey or sugar, 1 Tb. oil, and 1 egg. Blend until mixed, adding a little more milk if batter is thicker than you like it. Heat griddle or waffle iron. Cook as any other pancake or waffle recipe.
Homemade Syrup:
I really like making berry syrup, but if you don't have the berries, just make maple syrup.
1 cup light corn syrup
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1-2 cups berries (depends on what I have as to how much I throw in)
Bring to a boil. When berries are soft, mash them up (or blend them before you start). Add 1 Tb. maple flavoring (I use Mapeline). Syrup is ready to use. Strain if you want, but I don't mind chunky syrup. Keep any leftovers in your refrigerator, and use up within 2 weeks.
Fresh Fruit Smoothes:
I keep a good variety of fruit (thanks to Bountiful Baskets) in my freezers (we have 3 freezers - so yes, I need to get those cleared out too!). I have bananas, mangos, pineapple, peaches, apricots, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and kiwi. I even have bags of fruit combinations ready to go. I just pull out a bag and go with it.
Now for the recipe:
2-3 cups frozen fruit
1 cup yogurt (doesn't matter if it's plain or flavored)
2 cups orange juice OR milk (or you can mix them)
Blend until smooth and pour into several glasses. Enjoy!
My mother's mental health has been declining for years. She is at a point where she has difficulty remembering how to do the simplest things. The move will allow me be closer to two of my siblings and many nieces and nephews, who, I anticipate, will help me from time to time with my mom.
Over the next six weeks, I will need to dejunk my house and determine what I need to take with me and what can be sold, given away, or thrown out. An intense cleaning of the house will begin ASAP, and it will be put on the market this week. Hopefully it will sell quickly.
Another decision I made, not quite as difficult as the move, was what to do with the Orca Bay layout. I took a recommendation from I can't remember who (thanks quiltvillechat ladies for all your input!) that I needed a larger layout than just a few blocks to get the real picture of what might look the best. While the dark blocks looked great on a small scale, I couldn't see the design when they were laid out large-scale. So, I'm keeping the light & dark star blocks in the quilt. And, I'm going with the light stars where Bonnie put the dark ones. The top is half-way sewn. I hope to finish this week before I'm in the thick of house-cleaning. A picture of the finished top will be posted soon!
Since one of my goals before the move is to use as much food storage as I can, so I'll have less to move, I'm going to provide some recipes for using those items.
Blender Wheat Pancakes or Waffles:
In your blender, combine 1 cup wheat with 1 cup milk. Blend until a batter forms (about 5 minutes - batter will be thick). Add in 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 Tb. honey or sugar, 1 Tb. oil, and 1 egg. Blend until mixed, adding a little more milk if batter is thicker than you like it. Heat griddle or waffle iron. Cook as any other pancake or waffle recipe.
Homemade Syrup:
I really like making berry syrup, but if you don't have the berries, just make maple syrup.
1 cup light corn syrup
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1-2 cups berries (depends on what I have as to how much I throw in)
Bring to a boil. When berries are soft, mash them up (or blend them before you start). Add 1 Tb. maple flavoring (I use Mapeline). Syrup is ready to use. Strain if you want, but I don't mind chunky syrup. Keep any leftovers in your refrigerator, and use up within 2 weeks.
Fresh Fruit Smoothes:
I keep a good variety of fruit (thanks to Bountiful Baskets) in my freezers (we have 3 freezers - so yes, I need to get those cleared out too!). I have bananas, mangos, pineapple, peaches, apricots, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and kiwi. I even have bags of fruit combinations ready to go. I just pull out a bag and go with it.
Now for the recipe:
2-3 cups frozen fruit
1 cup yogurt (doesn't matter if it's plain or flavored)
2 cups orange juice OR milk (or you can mix them)
Blend until smooth and pour into several glasses. Enjoy!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Orca Bay decisions
Since I had to unstitch my rows, I decided I would arrange blocks again to see how I liked alternate layouts. Here are my choices. I'm leaning toward stars with all dark backgrounds, which means I'll need to make more hourglass blocks and cut a few more dark squares, but that's okay. And if I go with the all-black stars, then I'm wondering if I should put a blue square in the middle of the new ones (so the X will be complete). I don't like the all-white block design. The other two are okay.
I'm a pickin' and I'm a grinnin'
Do you remember Hee Haw? That's where pickin' and grinnin' comes from. But that isn't what this post is about.
Last weekend I sewed three rows together of Orca Bay (it looked like only a single row of blocks, but really it was three rows). I went to add another row onto the first last night and realized that, as I laid it out on the bed to make sure the blocks were where I wanted them to be, I had placed my blue string blocks in the wrong direction (and I had already taken them out once because they were wrong). So I was pickin' out stitches late into the night.
But now that everything is back to the building blocks, it gave me a chance to play with layout. Not sure which I like better. I'm trying to keep in mind that this quilt is likely going to Brandon, my sister's grandson who graduates from high school this year. But if it looks too feminine, it will go to Tajehra (pronounced tee-air-ah), my sister's granddaughter who also graduates this year (I'm also making a Winston Ways quilt - so we'll see who gets which one when I'm finished).
Here is the original layout:
Here is the alternate layout:
Not sure which I'm going to do at this point.
As for the grinnin', I helped my Mom make 18 loaves of bread (yes, 18!) on Tuesday. Six each of white, wheat, and half and half. Then I had to find freezer space for them! But aren't they beautiful? Wish you could smell them - nothing better than the smell of hot bread coming out of the oven.
I can't publish the recipe, because my Mom insists on keeping it a secret (she used to earn her living by making bread for people).
Have a great day, everyone!
Last weekend I sewed three rows together of Orca Bay (it looked like only a single row of blocks, but really it was three rows). I went to add another row onto the first last night and realized that, as I laid it out on the bed to make sure the blocks were where I wanted them to be, I had placed my blue string blocks in the wrong direction (and I had already taken them out once because they were wrong). So I was pickin' out stitches late into the night.
But now that everything is back to the building blocks, it gave me a chance to play with layout. Not sure which I like better. I'm trying to keep in mind that this quilt is likely going to Brandon, my sister's grandson who graduates from high school this year. But if it looks too feminine, it will go to Tajehra (pronounced tee-air-ah), my sister's granddaughter who also graduates this year (I'm also making a Winston Ways quilt - so we'll see who gets which one when I'm finished).
Here is the original layout:
Here is the alternate layout:
Not sure which I'm going to do at this point.
As for the grinnin', I helped my Mom make 18 loaves of bread (yes, 18!) on Tuesday. Six each of white, wheat, and half and half. Then I had to find freezer space for them! But aren't they beautiful? Wish you could smell them - nothing better than the smell of hot bread coming out of the oven.
I can't publish the recipe, because my Mom insists on keeping it a secret (she used to earn her living by making bread for people).
Have a great day, everyone!
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Making Laundry Soap and Other Household Products
When I was a little girl, I often helped my Grandma make laundry soap (and bar soap, too). Her recipes and methods included washing saved bacon grease, mixing the clean lard with lye and other ingredients, and stirring for what seamed like hours. Today I made laundry soap, and this method takes only 15-20 minutes, and does not involve bacon grease or lye.
Easy Homemade Laundry Soap (liquid)
This recipe makes 5 gallons, and you'll need a 5 gallon bucket for mixing. You can find the ingredients in most Walmarts and some grocery stores (laundry isle) for just a few dollars. My cousin recommends mixing in a container of your regular liquid laundry soap because it helps prevent "washer stink." I concur, it also cleans your laundry a bit better and keeps the homemade stuff a little more on the liquid side.
1 bar Fels Naptha Soap
1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda (NOT baking soda)
Grate the Fels Naptha bar. I use a food processor. Kind of looks like grated cheese, doesn't it?
Put grated soap in a 4-quart pan and add enough water to cover. Melt the soap over medium-low heat until it is desolved.
Add the borax and washing soda, stir until dissolved. Pour mixture into a 5-gallon bucket and fill with hot water. Stir. If you're adding in a bottle of commercial liquid soap, add it now, and stir again.
Your laundry soap is now ready to use. 1/4 to 1/2 cup per load. You can keep it in the bucket (put a lid on it) or you can pour it into empty bottles. Because the soap gels, you need to stir or shake it before each use.
We poured ours into empty bottles.
All of these bottles of laundry soap cost me about $2 total(well, $4 if I count the cost of the commercial laundry detergent I added in). This really saves me a ton of money! And it lasts forever, too.
Fels Naptha costs about $1 a bar (I paid $0.88/bar at Walmart and $1.09/bar at my grocery store). Washing Soda and Borax, depending on the size and where you buy them, cost $3-$4 each.
So now you want to know how to make old fashioned granulated laundry soap, right? Well here's the recipe my Grandma used.
The day before you plan to mix the soap, wash the grease. Use twice as much water as grease and boil 15 minutes. Remove from heat and fill kettle with cold water. Let stand until firm (clean lard rises to the top and impurities will settle on the bottom). Make hole in set grease on opposite sides, then run a knife between the kettle and the grease all around the perimeter. Lift grease out; put into another pot and repeat process. When cooled the second time, drain off water. Melt the grease and strain. Now you're ready to start the soap process.
In a gallon glass jar, dissolve 1 can lye into 2 quarts plus 3 cups waterr. Add 1 cup clorox and 1 cup borax. Cool until outside of jar is just warm. Mix 2 tsp. citronella into 2 quarts melted grease. Cool till warm to touch, then pour into lye mixture which you have placed in a large enamel pan (lye eats aluminum). Be careful around the hands and eyes! Using a wooden spoon, stir constantly for 15 minutes, then stir every 15 minutes until mixture is well granulated (the more you stir, the more granulated it becomes).
As long as I'm sharing household recipes, here are some I can't live without:
Window Cleaner
1 pint rubbing alcohol
1 Tb. ammonia (non-sudsing kind)
1 Tb. liquid dish soap
1 gallon water
Mix together in a bucket, then pour into several spray bottles. Use just like windex. *When I was a teenager, I washed windows for a widow on my street, who always used this recipe. And she had me wipe the windows with wadded up newspaper. The combination of the cleaner and newsprint really makes those windows shine! I still use newspaper when I'm washing windows.
Plant Food
This recipe will turn anyone's thumb green! It comes from my Aunt Veleen who says "Don't use more than once a month for watering plants or leafy ones will crowd you out and blooming ones will bloom themselves to death!" Aunt Veleen's home could be mistaken for a tropical paradise.
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. epsom salts
1 tsp. salt peter (get this at Lowes or Home Depot)
1/2 tsp. ammonia
1 gallon tepid water
Mix and water plants. Store unused plant food in a jar with a lid, out of reach of children.
Have fun trying these thrifty recipes!
Easy Homemade Laundry Soap (liquid)
This recipe makes 5 gallons, and you'll need a 5 gallon bucket for mixing. You can find the ingredients in most Walmarts and some grocery stores (laundry isle) for just a few dollars. My cousin recommends mixing in a container of your regular liquid laundry soap because it helps prevent "washer stink." I concur, it also cleans your laundry a bit better and keeps the homemade stuff a little more on the liquid side.
1 bar Fels Naptha Soap
1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda (NOT baking soda)
Grate the Fels Naptha bar. I use a food processor. Kind of looks like grated cheese, doesn't it?
Put grated soap in a 4-quart pan and add enough water to cover. Melt the soap over medium-low heat until it is desolved.
Add the borax and washing soda, stir until dissolved. Pour mixture into a 5-gallon bucket and fill with hot water. Stir. If you're adding in a bottle of commercial liquid soap, add it now, and stir again.
Your laundry soap is now ready to use. 1/4 to 1/2 cup per load. You can keep it in the bucket (put a lid on it) or you can pour it into empty bottles. Because the soap gels, you need to stir or shake it before each use.
We poured ours into empty bottles.
All of these bottles of laundry soap cost me about $2 total(well, $4 if I count the cost of the commercial laundry detergent I added in). This really saves me a ton of money! And it lasts forever, too.
Fels Naptha costs about $1 a bar (I paid $0.88/bar at Walmart and $1.09/bar at my grocery store). Washing Soda and Borax, depending on the size and where you buy them, cost $3-$4 each.
So now you want to know how to make old fashioned granulated laundry soap, right? Well here's the recipe my Grandma used.
The day before you plan to mix the soap, wash the grease. Use twice as much water as grease and boil 15 minutes. Remove from heat and fill kettle with cold water. Let stand until firm (clean lard rises to the top and impurities will settle on the bottom). Make hole in set grease on opposite sides, then run a knife between the kettle and the grease all around the perimeter. Lift grease out; put into another pot and repeat process. When cooled the second time, drain off water. Melt the grease and strain. Now you're ready to start the soap process.
In a gallon glass jar, dissolve 1 can lye into 2 quarts plus 3 cups waterr. Add 1 cup clorox and 1 cup borax. Cool until outside of jar is just warm. Mix 2 tsp. citronella into 2 quarts melted grease. Cool till warm to touch, then pour into lye mixture which you have placed in a large enamel pan (lye eats aluminum). Be careful around the hands and eyes! Using a wooden spoon, stir constantly for 15 minutes, then stir every 15 minutes until mixture is well granulated (the more you stir, the more granulated it becomes).
As long as I'm sharing household recipes, here are some I can't live without:
Window Cleaner
1 pint rubbing alcohol
1 Tb. ammonia (non-sudsing kind)
1 Tb. liquid dish soap
1 gallon water
Mix together in a bucket, then pour into several spray bottles. Use just like windex. *When I was a teenager, I washed windows for a widow on my street, who always used this recipe. And she had me wipe the windows with wadded up newspaper. The combination of the cleaner and newsprint really makes those windows shine! I still use newspaper when I'm washing windows.
Plant Food
This recipe will turn anyone's thumb green! It comes from my Aunt Veleen who says "Don't use more than once a month for watering plants or leafy ones will crowd you out and blooming ones will bloom themselves to death!" Aunt Veleen's home could be mistaken for a tropical paradise.
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. epsom salts
1 tsp. salt peter (get this at Lowes or Home Depot)
1/2 tsp. ammonia
1 gallon tepid water
Mix and water plants. Store unused plant food in a jar with a lid, out of reach of children.
Have fun trying these thrifty recipes!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Ironing Board Covers
I've read a lot about using a pad and/or a cloth on your ironing board, in addition to the cover that is already there, especially when using starch. I believe this is a good idea. My old cover wore out after 2 weeks of starching quilting strips.
I just purchased a new cover and already it looks like this (and this is after a thorough washing):
So my question is, what do you use to cover your board when you starch so you don't have to replace the cover every few weeks?
I just purchased a new cover and already it looks like this (and this is after a thorough washing):
So my question is, what do you use to cover your board when you starch so you don't have to replace the cover every few weeks?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
