{ A very Fall day in the life }

Good morning friends, come on in out of the cold.  It is a mere 50 degrees here this morning, and quite nippy outside.  I have some hot coffee with homemade vanilla syrup, just waiting for you, so grab a cuppa and sit with me for a little.

It's been a while since I've done a proper sit down chat and a day in the life. 



The days are getting shorter, the mornings are still pitch black and we've dipped down in the temperatures.  I think it's safe to say that we are finally in Fall.  There are a few days here and there with some hotter days, but nothing beyond 80 degrees, and that is quite alright with me.



I've had a pretty slow week has contributed immensely to my well being and rested state of mind.  Not having to rush about every day, has recharged my batteries, and given me the opportunity to go back to doing what I love more than anything in this world.  Being a homemaker.



I've pottered around, caught up on projects that needed tending to, fluffed pillows, rearranged and reorganized, enjoyed copious cups of coffee and chai tea, indulged in fat slices of yummy homemade cake, read books, watched documentaries and prepared even more comfort home cooked meals.

In short, I've been thrown back into homemaker heaven.



I'm not quite yet ready to give up my clothes drying outside, so even though it's been a bit cooler, I still make full use of nature and its warm sun. 

I'm loving the new washer, though it's been a bit of a learning curve as it doesn't have the agitator that I'm so used to, but nonetheless the fact that I can wash a king size comforter with no problem, or two queen size comforters at the same time, is well worth the non agitator issue.

Does it wash as well as the older models?  To be honest, I don't think it does, but it may also be the fact that I'm learning how to use it, which settings are best and so on. 



I've been meaning to set up my coffee corner for a while, but never could figure out how to arrange it, what to put where and so forth.  I sat for what seemed like an eternity, although in reality it was 40 minutes, shuffling things back and forth, moving them from one counter to the other, until I could come up with a set up that was functional and pretty too.  Well, pretty is totally subjective to each person isn't it?

Pretty to me, that's better.







In this little basket I have my coffee and tea in the white canisters, in the little green bottle is the sugar which actually works perfectly to pour out either straight onto your coffee, or onto a spoon, and then a little milk jug with my sweet n low.



Next to it are my Keurig pods, the Keurig and the water kettle.  It is so much easier to prepare myself a cup when I have everything in hand, instead of opening cabinets and pulling things out.

In the winter I plan on adding a hot chocolate station too, but don't ask me how or where, I have no clue and no doubt will once again sit staring at the counters for another 40 minutes.



My mother in law asked if I wanted these two old cast iron pans that had been sitting at her old house.  Looking at them you would think that the best decision would be to pop them in the trash, but really, it's not.  They are very easy to bring back to life.  It will take some time and a lot of elbow grease but we will get there.

The first day I left them sitting overnight in a bath of vinegar and baking soda.  It removed quite a bit of the rust and in the morning I was able to use a steel wool pad to scrub off more of the rust and caked on pieces.

I would love to say that it all came out and they are pristine looking, but they're not.  It will take me quite a while longer to fix them, but I did go ahead and rub some coconut oil on, and season them.  I didn't want them sitting around rusting again until I had time to put some more hard work into them.



I've made more homemade vanilla syrup, I do have a recipe over on the food blog if it's something you're interested in trying.

Between all this, I've been working with Nick on homeschooling, and planning Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

We still have our pumpkins to carve and I'm hoping we can go ahead and do that tomorrow, because then Jasmine is back to work on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Although, if not tomorrow we can do it Sunday afternoon once she's home from work.  We will see, I may just carve mine on my own when I get a chance and then let the others do theirs in their own time.

I've been watching a lot of homemaking documentaries, vlogs, reading blogs and so on.

I do miss the old blogging kind of ways, everything has changed so much and it's hard to find as many homemaking blogs as there were back in the day.  Blogs are more commercialized lately, more about business and how to blog (I have never understood these articles, I thought blogging was just about being ourselves and writing about our lives).

We used to share our lives, our homemaking ways, tips and tricks and encourage each other through the blogs, but that seems to be a way of the past and there are very few of us out here still sticking to that kind blogging.

I have been lucky to find quite a few like minded blogs still out there and it's such a joy reading through them.  They not only continue the same style of writing, but even the blog templates and way of blogging is the same as it was when I first started in 2006.

You can find a lot of these blogs on my sidebar, right under my favorite reads and inspiration.  I need to give those lists a quick clean up though, some of the links on there are for blogs no longer updating.

Anyway, that's what I've been up to, enjoying Fall and all my days at home with nowhere to go.

I'll leave you with my plans for the rest of today.  Hope you all have a fantastic Wednesday and thank you, again, for stopping by and sharing a cup of coffee with me.


WHAT I'M COOKING:

I am about to go have some toast with cottage cheese for breakfast.  For lunch I have leftover roasted brussells sprouts and squash that I'm going to warm up, and I also think I may have a sardine sandwich.  I'm pretty sure a bunch of you just crinkled your noses but I love sardine sandwiches, it's something I grew up eating and it always reminds me of home.  For dinner we are having a good ol' Spaghetti with some Salad. 


WHAT I'M WATCHING:

General Hospital
Catherine the Great
Sanditon
Homemaking and Vlogtober vlogs on Youtube



WHAT I'M DOING:

Daily cleaning chores
Making Chelsea Buns
Reorganizing our closet

A day in the life and some recipes for you all

Hi everyone, come on in and sit with me, let me show you a bit of my day.

I had yet another home day which I'm really, and I mean reallllyyy loving.  It's been so relaxing to not have to rush out the door or be watching the clock constantly.  What it's done is help me reset, so to speak and recharge my batteries.

{ My Friday }

It is late, 9:27PM to be precise.

It's been a long day, a long busy, tiring, but fulfilling day.  My husband had the day off for Memorial Day Weekend, and I always love having him home with me.  He doesn't get days off, and hasn't taken any leave for the past year, so moments like these are always appreciated and very much welcomed here in our home.

I had my coffee this morning, got dressed for the day and threw in a load of laundry, and then remembered that I am supposed to be trying to blog as often as I can.

Quickly grabbed my camera, set it on the tripod and let it snap a few pics as I got busy with the day's work.

It's funny but I used to be so good at daily blogging, that I didn't take a step or do anything without whipping out the camera and remembering to document that moment, to later share on the blog.  I guess I'm out of practice because I completely forget at times, so I'm thinking it will take a few days to get myself back into the habit.  We will get there, I'm pretty sure.

You know what I find funny about housework?

The fact that I can never just stick to one single task and move on, I tend to start one thing and see something else that needs doing, and before I know it or can even blink, I've now added 5 more chores to my already long list.

For example, I vacuumed all the floors and then decided that I needed to clean out and organize my dresser, so did that too.  My goodness!!!

Once all the floors were done and the dresser organized, I pulled down the curtains to wash, and then lit one of my favorite Lavender candles.  I bought it at our local Atwoods, last year some time, and I'm hoping that they still sell them because this one is almost out.  I'll have to take a look next time I'm in the area.

My wood paneling was needing some TLC, so I pulled out my Old English oil and gave every single wall in the den area, a really good cleaning.  It was hard work mainly because it hurts my shoulder, but it needed to be done and the end result is well worth it.  Beautiful, shiny, clean walls :)

As the weather has gotten hot, I've stopped using my dryer as much, and unless it's raining outside, it really doesn't get turned on.  I get immense pleasure out of hanging clothes out to dry, I honestly don't know what it is about it that I like so much, but the act of hanging them out, watching them blow in the breeze and then pulling them off, makes me happy.

While I worked inside, Curt started the mowing of the huge yards.  I usually help him, and tomorrow I still have the front left of the house to do.....not because he told me to, but because I enjoy mowing and I do like pitching in too especially when we have 3 acres to mow.

The mower needed a new belt, and I also needed a few things for the house, so we both headed to Walmart.  I picked up milk, creamer, toilet paper, some sodas and chips for the weekend and Curt grabbed the belt.

As we were leaving, he said that he was starving and wanted to take me to lunch, to a place I hadn't been yet.

We don't get to go out to eat together very often, we usually have the kids with us or if we get something to eat, we bring some back for the kids too.

This time, he took me to The Gypsy Kit Cafe.

They do tacos and sandwiches but with very different ingredients, not at all the kind of tacos I would have thought to make at home, but oh my word, they are delicious.

They are famous for their Dr Pepper Pulled Pork Tacos with Kimchi Sauce.  Yes, Kimchi Sauce, and they also do AMAZING Kimchi and Bacon loaded fries.  I can't even tell you how good those were.

Anyway, really enjoyed my time with my husband, it was a nice change from my usual day to day.

Came back home and got right back into my chores.  Laundry all finished, gathered from the clothesline, folded and ready to be ironed tomorrow.

I went ahead and changed our bed linens, gave the room a good tidy up and clean and opened all the windows.

Once all my chores were done, I sat down with a cup of coffee and my current read "The Weaver's Daughter by Sarah Ladd".

I also needed to color my hair, I swear it doesn't last but 3 weeks lately and the greys start coming out in force again.  I could be irritated about it, but I count my blessings that I even have hair to be fussing over, and that I'm old enough to sport greys, because it means that the Lord has blessed me and allowed me to live this long :)

As the day has come to an end, I find myself with a very achy lower back.  I've noticed that over the past 2 or 3 years, my achy back seems to be a constant in my life, especially if I've been on my feet all day, which means that most days, after my busy day of pottering around the house, I will for sure be laying in bed all achy.

So here I am, just finishing this post up, and getting ready to dry my hair real quick, then hop under those warm covers, do some more reading and pop on something on the TV.

I hope you've had a blessed Friday. I'm off to bed, good night friends.
xoxoxoxoxo

Day in the life - August 17, 2017

Hello everyone, hope this post finds you all well :)

Oh my word, I've missed sitting down and typing from the heart, just whatever comes to mind and mostly sharing my life.  These kind of posts are always so much fun to do, and it's great to have a look back on what I was doing a few months from now.


Tomorrow I have another post for the Homemaker Series, I kind of want a kind of schedule for these posts but I know that life always gets in the way, so they will come as often as I can get them up.

By the way, if you have anything specific you would like me to talk about or post about let me know, I'm always open to new ideas :)

Alright let's get going, grab a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy.

6AM - Wake up and make coffee for the hubby and I.....

I usually sit and have my coffee and watch some youtube vlogs.  Then I move into the kitchen, empty the dishwasher and reload with any dishes in the sink from the night before.

Make some breakfast, and then go and get myself ready for the day.

The first thing I do every morning, after I'm dressed, is to open all the blinds and curtains in my bedroom, and then make my bed.

Not always the easiest thing to do with this dude on the bed.  He is so cute but I spend my whole time moving him off, and trying to maneuver around all 70 plus pounds of him.  Next I vacuum.

That's the bedroom done.  Today I had to clean the bathroom and closet, so I vacuumed the closet, tidied up the clothes in there, and then gave the bathroom a good clean, sweep and mop.

I don't always do this, but I also had to give the office a quick clean and tidy.  Hubby has so many things hanging around, and he is currently working on putting it all away, so the shelves are overflowing with all sorts of things.  We will be organizing the office this weekend though.  And I just realized that I don't think I ever showed you our office, so I'll have to do that. 

From there I move into the living rooms, and as always they need vacuuming because Marley pulls the fluff out of all his toys and is currently teething so chews anything he gets hold of.

It was almost lunch time by the time I was done with the bedroom, office, master bathroom and living rooms, so I quickly washed the breakfast dishes by hand, and got started on lunch for the kids and I.

We had ham and cheese grilled tortilla wraps.  Super easy and the kids love it.  I wanted to show you this beautiful little tablecloth I got from my sweet friend Rhonda, for my birthday.  She is just the sweetest lady :)

Story of my life in these next pictures.  He is such a sweetheart and loves being where I am and watching what I'm doing.  You would think for such a big puppy he would be overbearing or scary, but he is sweet, and soft hearted and a big cuddly bear.

Bear in mind that he is not even a year old, and just look at his size.  I adore him :)   After my housework is done, I sit to have my lunch and then enjoy a bit of crochet, watch some more vlogs or whatever show I'm currently watching.

One of Marley's favorite things to do is walk with me to get the mail.   I have this habit of turning on all my scent warmers in the afternoon, it is like an end to the major cleaning done and setting the house to rest for the afternoon.

A cup of hot tea in the afternoon is one of MY habits, and I enjoy sipping on that while I read through whatever book I'm working on for a review.  Pretty soon it's time to start getting dinner preparations underway, setting the table and getting ready to bring the day to an end.

My days are very similar, unless there's an appointment or something going on that requires a change in my routine, but for the most part, this is how I spend my days, and I truly wouldn't have it any other way.

I really am a Happy Homemaker :)