Puttering Around the House.......

Starting off the morning with coffee, it's the fuel I need to get the cobwebs out of my head and concentrate on the day ahead.

An unmade bed needing attention

A load of laundry waiting to be washed, dried and put away

Filling the sink with soapy water for the rest of the day, I throw in dirty dishes throughout the day and wash as I go.

Who says decorating has to be expensive? I've learned to use what I have around me and when I went to trim my Honeysuckle bushes this morning, I kept the trimmings, filled some mason jars with water and VOILA!

My lemon tree is growing again, I love watching the progress from a tiny sweet scented flower to lemons

I'm off to finish my crochet bag and see what else needs tending to.

Have a great day everyone, and don't forget that tomorrow my Slow Cooking Thursdays are back.

Washing dishes.....

"Simple living is about living deliberately. Simple living is not about austerity, or frugality, or income level. It's about being fully aware of why you are living your particular life, and knowing that life is one you have chosen thoughtfully. Simple living is about designing our lives to coincide with our ideals."
- Janet Luhrs -

Thank you all for the wonderful comments left on yesterday's post, it thrills me to know that like me, there are so many out there wanting to go back to the basics too and do things more simply.

As I make the transition to a simpler life, I'll be sure to share it with you.

Now as I stood at the sink tonight with all the dinner dishes around me, I made the decision to wash them by hand instead of hurriedly popping them in the dishwasher and quickly moving on to my next task.

I began washing and as I did I wondered why it is that suddenly we stopped doing things like washing dishes by hand, rinsing and drying and talking to the family while we do it?

I understand that times are different and there are days that we're so busy we need to just get things done, but for me, I've actually stopped using the dishwasher and only do it if I am sick or have a huge amount of dishes, or am in a really big hurry and headed out the door.

It feels to me that there was a time when people used to bond, do you remember doing dishes two people at a time? Standing at the sink shoulder to shoulder, one washing, one drying and all the time talking about the day or your interests?

Just feels that people had a lot more time to bond, nowadays once we're done with the kitchen work we rush into the living room and either get on the computer or on the tv and there we stay, for hours on end, everyone engrossed in their own thing, no one talking.

So next time you go into the kitchen, instead of popping the dishes in the dishwasher, fill up your sink with warm water and bubbles, turn some music on, slide your hands into the warm water and use the time you are washing dishes to meditate, to think, to pray, to ponder, to relax.

You'll be surprised at how good it feels!

Walk with me on this path

Many already know it and others have never heard of it.

I'm talking about the Simple Life path, the one where I learn to make do with what I have and strive to lead a good simple almost self sufficient life.

I feel the calling, pulling me back to my roots, that longing for a more traditional homemaking, making things from scratch, needlework, gardening and so forth.

But I find myself a little overwhelmed, oh there are plenty of blogs that I visit and get good ideas from but it's quite a different thing when you read and actually try to implement it into your own life.

I guess this is where you come in, I know a lot of you already lead a Simple Life, you have your own homesteads and you raise chickens and bake bread and sew etc.

I think there is nothing more exciting than seeing the fruits of your own labor, cooking that meal for your family, baking your own pies, knitting or quilting that special item that you can one day pass on to your children.

I'm hoping that by opening myself up to you all, I will get a lot of helpful information, you have no idea how much I want to learn, so if you know how to make ice cream or cross stitch, if you have stories about milking cows or gathering eggs, won't you share them with me and the other readers?

See I was sitting in bed the other day and thinking about the joys of making something with your bare hands and how wonderful it is to give handmade gifts, to know that you are creating an heirloom.

I feel like I have the prairie girl spirit in me and no matter where I am or how far from the country I live, I think it's something that will always stay in me, there's this connection, this joy that I feel when I'm sticking my hands into a big bowl of dough, it's like for that brief moment I'm a Pioneer woman, back in the day.

Oh I'm sure by now some of you may think I've done lost my mind but I can't help the way I feel.

So what I'm asking for is ideas, advice, how-to's, you can even just drop me some links and I'll go wander on over by myself, what do you say?

It might actually become fun if we teach each other and learn together.

I guess my first contribution will be to show you a neat trick I use for Dryer Sheets. Store bought I way too expensive for me and I can't quite bring myself to spend $5 for a little box, so I use my own.

All you need is a tupperware bowl or even an empty butter container, fill with half water and half laundry softener, then grab a washcloth and drop it in there, when you are ready to use it, pull it out, wring it and toss it in with your laundry.

When done, just toss it back in the bowl and cover it.

Now I'm off to enjoy a cup of hot tea and some fresh warm out of the oven Snickerdoodles.

Happy Homemaker Monday

<a href="http://familycorner.blogspot.com" title="hhm by jasnicmommy, on Flickr"><img width="150" alt="hhm" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3362/3608789834_4d1bac04e0.jpg" height="150" /></a>

The weather in my neck of the woods:
It's a blue sky with not a cloud in sight and feeling pretty hot already even though it's only 7:30 am.


One of my simple pleasures:
Taking a long hot bath with the lights off and only illuminated by candlelight.


On my bedside table:
Wizard's First Rule - Need to finish this one
Return to Sullivan's Island - just finished it and think it's a great summer read, you can read my review here.
Blue like Play Dough - can't wait to start on this one


On my TV:
Paranormal State tonight
Phoebe in Wonderland - started this one yesterday but didn't finish it, not quite sure if I like this movie


On the menu for tonight:
Slow Cooker Chicken Curry


On my To Do List:
Laundry
Sweep and Mop the floors
Make cookies for the cookie jar


New Recipe I tried last week:
Nothing new last week, was still on vacation


In the craft basket:
Finishing up my crochet bag


Looking forward to:
Visiting the Pioneer Living History Museum here in Arizona


Homemaking Tip for this week:
Every two weeks or so I rotate the appliances on my counter tops, I actually take out one from my pantry and set it on the counter, if I see it, then I'll use it. You know how you have tons of great stuff like the Foreman Grill, Rotisserie etc but never use it because it's packed away?
Well this way, I see it and I make sure to plan my menus around it.


Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other):
Bonnie's post yesterday just cracked me up, I think if we were ever to meet we would have a blast OR end up in jail or something LOL


Favorite photo from last week:

This old wagon from the early days we saw up at Geronimo, AZ. I just love it!

Lesson learned the past few days:
That your home is your sanctuary, that no matter how far you may go, there is NOTHING like returning to your safe place.


On my Prayer List:
My children and husband
My family
My bloggy friends


Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.

1 John 5:1

Relaxing crochet....

If you need me today, you will find me surrounded by yarn as I finish off my crochet bag.

Remember I started it the night before we left on vacation?

Well I'm *this.close* to finishing this project and I'm super thrilled, it's been one of the most enjoyable crochet patterns I've ever tried, thanks to Lucy at Attic 24. You won't believe just how fast this works up and boy does it make a huge bag, I think I'm going to turn it into my library bag because I can never quite find one big enough.

Right now, it holds the yarn I'm using for this project.

I considered lining it, but I don't think I will, I really like the way it looks as is and it's pretty thick so I don't think it will need any reinforcement.

All that is left to do are the handles and the little flower embelishments, then I'll show you all the completed bag.

If you're interested in trying it for yourself just head on over to Lucy's and check out her Crochet Bag Pattern, and if you do make one for yourself, won't you come back and show me?

While puttering around the kitchen this morning I found the cutest little hummingbird right outside the window, now I'm not sure if this is the same little one that used to visit me all the time. What I do know, is that he reminded me that I need to refill the feeder, best get on that right away.

If you love reading as much as I do, I'm sure you've noticed by now that on the left sidebar I have an ongoing list of Summer Books I want to read, I'll add more as I go but if you have one that you think is an absolute Summer MUST READ, let me know and I'll add it to the list, think of it as *our* list of books where we can get ideas for the next read.

Oh and if I may make a suggestion, I just finished a good one and did a review for the blog tour starting today, you can head on over to my Review Blog and read it there, it's for Return to Sullivan's Island by Dorothea Benton Frank.

And I think that is all I had to say, I bet by the time I hit Publish Post I'll remember something else but I guess that will have to wait until next time.