{ Laundry, baking and Hashbrown Casserole }

I sat down, for the first time today, about 30 minutes ago.

To say my lower back is aching is quite the understatement.  Ouch!

Why is it that you don't realize how sore you are until you actually stop and sit?  And then try to get back up again and are met with horrible back pain.

It's just been one of those days, where laundry took up most of my time.  I lost count of the loads I've done, and spent most of the day in different stages of laundry.  Throwing in washer, carrying big loads out to hang on the clothesline, removing those when dry, hanging another load in, and tossing another in the washer.  My ironing pile is humongous, thank goodness I enjoy ironing or this may have been the straw the broke the camels back.

While that nonsense was going on, I vacuumed and washed both living room carpets (hence the culprits for my lower back being so sore right now), baked hot cross buns for Easter, cooked a dozen eggs for deviled eggs, washed a ton of dishes and moved plants around, watered them and so on.

Curt did a lot of mowing, matter of fact, the only thing left to mow is the enclosed back yard, but I told him to leave it and I will get to it this week.  He got a mighty ugly sunburn out there too, guess it's already that hot.

When he popped to the local hardware/garden store to get a new belt for the mower, I went along just to keep him company, and ended up coming home with 3 new plants that were 25% off.  I got a Tabasco Hot Pepper Plant, a hybrid tomato and some sweet basil.  They've been planted in the new little garden area.

Back at it with the laundry.  It is never ending.

I wanted to show you a quick tip for the kitchen.  To make my dishwashing liquid last longer and to also get the dishes even cleaner and fight that hard to clean grease, I use a mixture of washing liquid and vinegar.

I don't measure, I simply mix them together.  For example, before I went grocery shopping I noticed that I had that much left in the dishwashing detergent bottle, instead of buying a new one, I fill the rest of that bottle up with white vinegar, shake well and use as normal.

It really makes a difference.  You all know how powerful vinegar is for cleaning, I use it in quite a few homemade cleaning mixtures.

Hope you enjoy that tip, and if you try it out, let me know what you think.

Finally, for dinner, I was keeping it very simple.  We had basically breakfast for dinner, I made some buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy, and then a hashbrown casserole very similar to Cracker Barrel's.

It was delicious, filling, and quite an inexpensive meal to make.

Here in a few minutes we have to go pick up Jasmine from work, and then I'm coming home, getting into my pajamas and getting into bed.  My back is killing me.  I already had my shower and just put on a little summer dress to run out.

Tomorrow we are having family over for Easter lunch, so I'll have to be up early to make the deviled eggs, and the rest of the dishes.

But I'll be back in the morning to wish you all a Happy Easter and to share our menu and some of the food we will be having.

Have a blessed night :)

{ Books I'm reading and some more crochet }

My newest book list is slowly growing again.  I am so thankful and blessed to be part of a great book website that keeps me constantly supplied with fantastic selections to read.

The beginning of the year is off to a good start with some really good ones, and I thought I would quickly show you my little pile.  These are books that have come in recently and that I'm already working through for upcoming reviews.  As new ones arrive I'll be sure to share with you as well.

{ My Saturday }

Saturday was mowing day, here in our country home.  Mowing 3 acres, even with a riding mower, can take hours and it's hot and tiring to do.

My husband and I take turns, it's easier to get everything done with more than one person putting in the effort, and I must say I do quite enjoy using the big riding mower.

With living in a big property like ours (big to us at least, I'm sure 3 acres for some is just a tiny little blip), one of the perks is that when spring and summer roll around, the land burst into color with gorgeous flowers and trees.

It is during these months that I take full advantage of all the beautiful flowers available, and I fill vases or mason jars with the cuttings to bring a bit of color indoors.

I've also been reading up on how to propagate cuttings so that I can try and regrow some of my favorite flowers and trees outside.  If you have advice and tips on doing that, please let me know in the comments.

I pulled out my cotton yarns to see what I have, because I really want to make some crochet placemats.  The picture below is just a pattern that I was testing out.

Wish I could spend more time out on my back patio, but the Wasps are out in full force and making it unbearable to be out there.  We need to get some wasp spray to get all the nests they've been building around the patio overhang and the walls etc.  It's the one thing about this time of year that frustrates me to no end......wasps, flies AND the darn mosquitoes that are out in huge numbers too.

I looked through all my yarn to see what kind of cotton I had because I've been wanting to make some crochet placemats, and maybe even see about selling some.  The picture below is of a simple pattern I was trying out, but I'm not thrilled about the colors of this yarn.

This weekend has been so relaxing, between the usual daily tasks, I've been able to take moments to have a little fun and do things I enjoy too.

Last night, hubby and I decided last minute, to make fajitas for dinner.  We ran to the store, bought the fajita mix, and some beer and came back home, then quickly invited my brother, sister in law and nephew to come join us.  It was not planned at all and I have to tell you that I am the kind of person who loves being spontaneous and just up and deciding to do something and going.

I only really like planning for something big in advance, if it's a road trip, or a special occasion coming up in the future etc.  But, on a day to day basis, I love just being like "let's go" and jumping in the car and leaving.

We had a wonderful couple of hours with the family, ate good food, enjoyed some cold beers, ate ice cream for dessert and played Jenga and so on.  Truly feel that those are the best moments, the last minute get togethers :)

I did try to stay up and watch some TV, but by the time I climbed into bed with my Marley, we both  asleep within a few minutes. 

Best kind of Saturdays!!!

Laundry Day

All day the blanket snapped and swelled

on the line, roused by a hot spring wind....

From there it witnessed the first sparrow,

early flies lifting their sticky feet,

and a green haze on the south-sloping hills.

Clouds rose over the mountain....At dusk

I took the blanket in, and we slept,

restless, under its fragrant weight.

I spent all day yesterday doing laundry.  It seems to multiply from one day to the other doesn't it?

As I went about my day, my daughter brought to my attention that I was doing laundry all dolled up LOL

I had gone out in the morning for an errand and didn't want to change before taking on the task of laundry, besides I happen to believe that just because we're doing household chores doesn't mean we have to be sloppy or messy.

It was such a beautiful Fall day, just a bit of a breeze, cool temperatures but not cold and that crisp sharp sun shining over head.

You may find it crazy that I have my camera on me at all times, but I never know when a good photo opportunity will show up and I do so love being able to record all these memories for a future day. 

As the day went by, I walked in and out of the house, loads of laundry on my hip and the exchange from line to basket and basket to line becoming a fluid motion without much thought going into it...as if my body was on auto pilot.

I washed, I dried, I ironed, I packed away and all while looking *dolled up*, as my daughter put it.

Glad to say that I am all caught up and the laundry baskets are empty.  Well, they were until last night but after everyone's shower, they're filling up again.

*sigh* 

Tomorrow is another day right?

{ Laundry Day!!! }

 Is it ever not laundry day at your house?

It seems that every day for me, is laundry day.  Whether it be tackling the overflowing dirty laundry basket, or folding clean laundry, or ironing, or putting it all away. 

With it being such a daunting task, I feel that the best way to get around this with a smile on your face, is to make laundry a chore that makes you smile, instead of grimace.  To do that all it takes is some cute vintage inspiration, maybe hanging some vintage looking laundry on a shelf.

 

Or buying yourself one of the old vintage scrubbing boards.  I want one so very badly and have been on the lookout for the perfect one for my laundry room.

But I think for me, the thing that makes me smile the most while doing laundry, aside from the clean wonderful scent of Homemade Laundry Detergent, is the fact that I constantly remind myself that I have it pretty easy compared to how women had to wash their clothes many many years ago.

There were no such things as washing machines and dryers.  It all came down to elbow grease and a full day or two devoted to getting the family's clothes all clean.

And just to give you an example of how wash day would have gone, here is something I found on the internet.  Advice to a 1900's bride.


ADVICE TO A 1912 BRIDE

Years ago a Kentucky grandmother gave a bride the following recipe for washing clothes (misspelled words and all) :

• Bild fire in back yard to heet kettle of rainwater.
• Set tubs so smoke won’t blow in eyes if wind is pert.
• Shave one hole cake lie soap in boilin water.
• Sort things, make three piles. 1 pile white. 1 pile cullord. 1 pile work britches and rags.
• To make starch stur flour in cold water to smooth then thin down with boilin water.
• Rub dirty spots on board, scrub hard, then boil. Rub cullord but don’t boil — just rench and starch.
• Take white things out of kettle with broom stick handle then rench, blew and starch.
• Spred tee towels on grass.
• Hang old rags on fence.
• Pour rench water in flower bed.
• Scrub porch with hot soapy water.
• Turn tubs upside down.
• Go put on cleen dress, smooth hair with side combs, brew cup of tee — set and rest a spell and count your blessins.

A whole day's work, indeed.

So how exactly did the day go on Wash Day????  Let's take a detailed look shall we?    This is an account of what wash day was like, given from the point of view of a young girl during the early 1900's.

Hope you have a cup of coffee nearby, this may be a bit of a long read, but it's fascinating...well, at least to me it is :)

Washday was once a week, always on a Monday, and it took the whole day, starting between five and six o'clock in the morning. There was no time for much else, including preparing meals.

Before breakfast, the copper in the scullery was lit to heat the water. Filling it took about six bucketfuls, all drawn from the single brass cold water tap over the sink. There was of course no running hot water.

The whites (sheets, tablecloths and handkerchiefs) were separated because they had to be treated differently: the whites for boiling and the coloureds for soaking and then washing.
Once the water in the copper was hot, some of it was baled out into a wooden tub.
The coloureds were put into that to soak. The whites were put into the rest of the water in the copper and set to boil with soap and soda added.

It was while the whites were boiling and the coloureds were being soaked that my mother gave us breakfast.

After breakfast the coloureds were washed in the wooden tub.
Depending on the wash load, some of the coloureds were washed by forcing them up and down onto a washboard, a corrugated metal or glass sheet in a wooden frame. My mother had to stand to do this in order to get enough pressure to force the clothes onto the ridges in order to get the dirt out, and it was very hard, hot, steamy work.

Alternatively or additionally the washing was poked and agitated around in the hot soapy water with a wooden contraption called a dolly. There were some quite sophisticated ones with handles and 'stumpy 'legs' but it was quite common just to use a wooden stick.

All the washing had to be rinsed several times. The wooden stick or dolly served to lift it out of the water, although wooden tongs were also used for lifting.

The baths for rinsing were oval galvanised ones, commonly known as 'tin baths'. They came in various sizes, all with handles at each end so that they could be hung up on the wall in the yard outside when not in use.
The women had to be strong to lift sheets and tablecloths in and out of the various baths because wet washing was much heavier than a dry load.
The washing was put through the mangle to get rid of as much dirty water as possible, and then it was let drop into a bath of cold rinsing water. It had to be mangled again after each rinse.

 The final rinse of the whites was in blue water from a bluebag which was a small muslin cloth tied round a small cube of blue substance and kept in a bowl of water.
It was important to be sure that the bag never leaked because otherwise little particles of blue would come out and leave small blue dots on the washing. (The blue bag was also used to dab on bites and stings to ease the pain.)
After rinsing, as much water as possible had to be removed before the clothes dried. Small items were wrung out but most things had to be put through the mangle again.

The tablecloths were starched. Starch was bought in granules, looking rather like dry stem ginger, and it had to be made up specially every time it was used, It was first mixed with a little cold water, and then boiling water was quickly poured onto it. If the water was not hot enough, the starch would not thicken, and if the stirring wasn't rapid enough, the starch would go lumpy. The process was rather like making custard or sauce.

The washing had to be dried: outside in good weather and indoors in bad weather. Then began the cleaning up.

I don't know about you, but this puts it all into perspective and it definitely makes me think twice next time I want to whine about the laundry. :)

All images credit:  Google

Monday, Monday.......UGH!

What is it with time just flying lately??? I feel like I barely get to take a breather before the new week starts again.

So it's monday morning, the weather is beautiful outside, still chilly but at least we have sunshine and it's supposed to get up to the middle 50's. YAY!!! Pretty sad when 50 degrees has everyone running around smiling LOL

It's going to be a busy day for me, here in 40 minutes I have a dentist appointment, and then I have to pick up Jasmine at 1pm to take her to HERS. Why couldn't they just make them both one after the other?? Why does everyone have to be so difficult???

I'll be in the car most of the day which really does not make me a happy camper, I'm one of those people that drives but doesn't LOVE driving, know what I mean??? The thought of going out in traffic just gets on my nerves, I absolutely HATE driving in traffic. But what can I do, I'm a mom and it's not like I can just let my kids teeth fall off because I don't feel like driving right???

It's hard though because last night I was taking up my clean laundry basket, and it was overflowing and heavy, but instead of waiting on Curt I just decided to do it myself. Something about asking constantly and getting the same answer "alright, I'll do it in a minute", after 30 minutes it's just not worth it for me, I might as well get it done myself. Oh the joys of marriage!!!

Anyway, I took it upstairs and felt this sharp pain on my left wrist, I didn't think anything of it but now I'm in excruciating pain, the slights movement and it feels like daggers being twisted in there. Now if you know me, or have had the time to read my blog from the beginning, you know that I have those 2 cysts on this wrist, so I really shouldn't be doing things like this, but I'm stubborn and this is what I get in return. I am happy to say that I did learn my lesson......from now on, I will just wait on hubby even if that means that 3 days later we'll be scavaging for clean clothes out of the laundry basket.

I'm lucky with the husband I have though because he was able to take the morning off so he can watch Nicholas while I go to the dentist AND he even offered to drive me there and go shopping with Nic while he waits for me.....how sweet is that huh???

I just finished posting my Menu Plan Monday post at Laura's blog, if you're interested just run on over and go take a look, you may have to wade through tons of other menus though, this feature is doing so well that it's gotten up to the 50's in participants.....OR, you could just be lazy and click on my link above, but then you might miss all the other great meals being shared.

Well I best get off here and get ready to go, wish me luck, I'm dreadfully scared of dentists and doctors, they just freak me out.

See you all tomorrow,

Can I send some Rain your way????

It's one of those great long weekends!!!

I know a lot of people usually make big plans and go somewhere fun, but we usually stay home instead of going out into traffic and confusion. Nothing like staying home and relaxing while the rain pours outside.

I don't think I've seen this much rain in a long time.....you wake up and it's raining, you go to sleep hearing the lull of the raindrops hitting the roof while you lay snug in bed. I LOVE that!!!

Did you guys watch Grey's Anatomy on thursday night???
OH.MY.GOODNESS!!! I have yet to find a show that is so heartbreaking, I've actually starting keeping my Kleenex nearby when I watch it. The cast is amazing and the stories are so good, I just can't wait for next week.

I've been getting my Spring Cleaning list ready so that this week I can start on it. I have to get it done around dentist and WIC appointments, school functions etc. Does it ever stop???
Gone are the days where I can look around and think "boy I'm bored is there NOTHING to do?"...now it's more like "boy I could really use a nap".

I'm happy that my laundry is caught up though, not exactly put away, but it's clean and folded, some of it ready to be ironed and then I guess I'll spend the day tomorrow putting it away. Glad hubby is home so I can do it without little hands coming in behind me and unfolding all the laundry.

There's something wonderful about the smell of clean laundry isn't there???
Those warm fluffy towels straight out of the dryer, though I have to tell you, one thing I truly miss about home is hanging the clothes out to dry.
To me there is something unbeatable about that smell of crisp clean sheets drying in the warm sun....it's like a special scent to it, one you can't quite recreate using dryer sheets and an inside dryer.

But enough about towels and sheets, right now I'm sitting here while waiting for my Pork Roast to finish cooking, it's been sitting on the stove for 2 hours and the smell permeating the air is amazing. Every once in a while I hear from one of the kids or hubby "mmmm is it ready yet?".....though I think that last time it was actually me asking the question. Roast is a comfort food for me and perfect for a dark cloudy rainy day.
For dessert we're having some fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

Oh I almost forgot to tell you, for dinner last night I decided to keep it light and made Warm Ham and Swiss Wraps. They were SO SO good, just perfect with warm ham and gooey cheese together with lettuce, cucumber and green onions and a dressing made of mayonnaise, mustard and celery seed....the kids loved them and it was a pretty healthy meal too. It didn't take too long to make and everyone was satisfied.

I'll post the recipe for you on my food blog tomorrow, I'm hoping to have an hour or so to completely update it and throw in a couple of new recipes.

Remember I've been telling you I was coming by to visit?? Well I ended up not doing so, but I'm sure I don't have to tell you that, you must have noticed the lack of comments on my part. My computer has been going haywire and doing weird things, like shutting itself down in the middle of something, lagging like crazy, or crashing and restarting while trying to get into my bloglines.

I've spent the last hour and a half fixing my computer and everything seems to be in running order so I'll be grabbing a cup of hot tea and some cookies tonight, and coming to hang out with all of you. Can't wait to catch up and see what everyone has been up to.

Right now, my roast is done, so I'm off to set the table and get things ready for dinner. Wish I could have stayed longer but time doesn't permit and besides I would rather get things all done so I can get back here earlier. I'll probably update my book blog too, I have been reading Lori Wick and she is just amazing so I can't wait to tell you all about it.

See you soon,

DECISIONS DECISIONS

So remember I told you that yesterday I wanted to get some sewing done, and you're probably waiting to see some wonderful result, well, I have none.

Yeah, I sat down with the fabrics and the directions and projects and got stuck trying to figure out which one to make first....about 30 minutes later I'm still sitting there staring at everything....so I got nothing done.

I'm frustrated with myself, I really need to get these started but you know, I also need to realize that trying to get things done on the weekend when everyone is home, is NOT a good idea.

Hubby is working midshift which means he is like a baby on a switched schedule, you know when you bring them home and they sleep all day and then stay awake all night??? Just like that, which is frustrating for me, especially trying to keep the kids quiet. What's up with kids and ear piercing shrieks, and just when did they turn into Bainshees???

So as you can see, I got nothing done, other than laundry, which I still have another two loads to get through and then a couple baskets to put away. MY.FAVORITE.PART....not really, actually I think that is the ONE process of laundry that I most hate, but what can you do???

I've signed up with the Laundry Fairies but they seem to be resisting. Something about "too much to put away" and "not enough fun involved"....who knows???

Just had to share that cartoon, it cracks me up LOL

I want to ask you all to please say a prayer for my MIL, she's having a bit of a hard time with the treatments and she's also dealing with being anemic etc....she has surgery coming up in December so please keep her in your prayers. I would really appreciate that :)

We just found out too that hubby might be leaving for Afghanistan the beginning of the year and that will be a minimum of 6 months, so keep him in your prayers too please.
It's just another part of the whole military family thing, and it's hard but it's worth it :)

I don't know what I'm going to be doing today, other than keeping children quiet as a mouse and getting some cleaning done too. I'm hoping for some TV time, I miss just laying on the couch and flipping through the channels, watching whatever comes up. Maybe I'll get lucky and the kids will take a nap??? Nah, I didn't think so!!!

Oh before I forget, I was thinking about my favorite South African dishes and what I miss about home, and I posted recipes for Koeksusters and Melktert, you have GOT to try both, they are delicious...especially if you have a sweet tooth.

I'm sorry I don't have anything interesting to share with you all today, I'm having a blah day, I've had this bad sinus/tension headache since yesterday and it's really bugging me. It interferes with my train of thought, actually, it doesn't take much to do that, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I better go make some lunch for these hungry kids, I'm making some Tuna Salad but with Black eyed peas, olive oil and vinegar, it's really really good. Try it some time :)

Have a wonderful sunday,


For dinner I'm making Fake Steak with Rice, will post the recipe for you later.



7th Heaven

Lucy has her hands full dealing with the teens and Sandy while Eric and Annie are away, but the most trouble comes from Ruthie (Mackenzie Rosman), who selfishly refuses to leave Scotland to be with the family.

Desperate Housewives

Bree meets Orson's mother (Dixie Carter), and the women don't exactly hit it off. Meanwhile, Gaby decides to get back into modeling, and Lynette is suspicious of her new neighbor. Karl Mayer: Richard Burgi.

Brothers and Sisters

Justin's vow of sobriety is severely tested by the unsettling contents of a letter.

Celebrity Paranormal Project

A mental asylum is explored by Traci Lords, Gilbert Gottfried, NFL player Jeremiah Trotter, Evan Farmer ("While You Were Out") and Kimberly Caldwell ("American Idol").

Laundry
Ironing
Cleaning