{ When you just want to kick yourself }

Like right in the chops too.  I am talking about the fact that I have been putting off watching Jamestown.  I knew I wanted to watch it, I mentioned it here on the blog, I had all these reminders up and so on and I even went so far as to start watching the first episode a few weeks ago, then I stopped it about 20 minutes in and completely forgot about it.

After watching the documentary special on the Roanoke Colony yesterday and the mention of Jamestown, I remembered the show and so today I watched the first episode.

That is when that overwhelming feeling of me wanting to kick myself, settled in.  It's such a good show, at least from the first episode that I watched, that I'm quite annoyed for not watching it sooner.  But never mind that, I can just catch up now that there are a few episodes.
 

So yeah, if you're looking for a good Period Drama, you might want to check out Jamestown.

And speaking of Period Dramas, did you see the new preview for Will????  About William Shakespeare???  It's a new series starting tonight on the TNT channel.  I have to check it out, matter of fact I need to set my DVR before I forget.....let me go do that and I'll be right back.

*insert elevator music*

Alright all done.  I don't know if I'll like it, it's a contemporary version of his life played to a modern soundtrack, but the trailer looks brilliant.  I'll let you know what I think.

I started on Part 8 which seems to be a copy of Part 6 with a ton of single crochets.  It's a little daunting when the blanket is so big already, but it's also easier when I know I can zip through it without worrying too much about changing stitches.

Marley as always loves being anywhere the blanket is.  I went to set it down on the ground to block and there he was.  My sweet boy :)

I'm trying to eat healthier.  I haven't been doing my Zumba and I've actually put on 6 pounds since moving to Texas.  My husband is happier with me like this, he said I was too thin when I moved to Texas and he prefers women with a little more curves hahaha

But I just don't want to put on any weight.  Granted I look fine and I'm happy with myself, but I need to get a grip on my eating habits before it gets out of hand.  Truth is, I've eaten far too much junk the past few weeks and the weight has been creeping up.  Starting next week I'm forcing myself back to Zumba and exercising daily.  Notice I said next week.....I have far too much going on this week and if I try to set that goal for now, it's NOT going to happen.

In the meantime, this morning I started trying to eat healthy again and drinking my water.

For breakfast I had my Banana Nut Crunch Cereal with sliced bananas, it was so good but unfortunately I'm all out so I need to get more.

For lunch I had a wholewheat sandwich thin with black forest ham, pepper jack cheese and lettuce.  Some cherries and strawberries and that was it.  It was more than enough and really filled me up too.

Then while I fixed dinner tonight, I went ahead and cut up the watermelon that I got at the commissary. 

It's always a bit of a hit and miss with the watermelon, I never know if I'm going to get a good one, or if it's going to be too dry and bland.

Luckily this time, I scored one of the best watermelons I've had in a really long time, if ever.  It was so refreshing, so juicy and sweet.  I've got it all cut up, some in wedges and some in small cubes and it's in the fridge for a quick snack.  Much better than reaching for the chips or some chocolate, though I have to tell you I have the biggest craving for chocolate at the moment and am trying very hard to be good.  I'm determined NOT to cave.

Dinner tonight was so good too.  I tried a new recipe that I've had bookmarked for years, and when I say years, I mean since 2013.  I kept telling myself I'll try it next menu plan and never got around to it. 

Gnocchi Bolognese.  Simple, easy, pretty inexpensive especially if you make the gnocchi yourself, and a winner for the family.  I've got the recipe up for you already, I'm telling you, I'm on the ball lately :)

Well friends, I am going to get some reading in, need to finish Monticello for the review.  Have a great night :)

{ Happy Homemaker Monday - 07/10/2017 }

Good morning everyone, and a very Happy Monday to you :)

I hope you've had a brilliant weekend and are ready for the week ahead.  I'm often told that because I'm a homemaker, I really shouldn't dread the work week or Monday because it's not like I have to go to work.  That in fact is true, but my husband does, and usually school is going on, so our schedule is very different from the weekend.  There's early getting up, and appointments, errands, running around and all sorts of things going on.

Anyway, here's to another week, we are now almost halfway through July, unbelievable.  Let's see what's going on for us all this week, shall we? 

The weather:::
It's been nice and hot but boy have we had some intense storms here and there.  Had one the other night that felt like the whole house was coming down, the lightning was non stop and I have never in my life experienced it anywhere else I've lived.  We have a week of upper 90's and cloudy skies which should be pretty nice :)

Right now I am:::
As usually, drinking my coffee, waiting on a load of clothes to finish drying, watching Marley playing with his chewy bone on the ground and working on this post. 

On my reading pile:::
Still working through Monticello by Sally Gunning.

Movies or Shows I watched this weekend:::
Watched a documentary on Roanoke, with the hubby.  It was very interesting and it ended with them making the decision to excavate a certain site.  I would love to find out what happened after that.
Watched the Amelia Earhart documentary on the History Channel and boy was that good, certainly gave a lot of food for thought. 

On my TV:::
General Hospital
Jamestown

ID Discovery Channel

On the menu for this week:::
Have meals planned until Friday, but I'm working on the new menu after that.

Monday
Gnocchi Bolognese, Spaghetti and Salad    
Tuesday
Asian Lemon Chicken Fingers, Steamed Rice      
Wednesday
Bangers and Mash
Thursday
Slow Cooker Chicken Curry with Rice  
Friday 
   
Saturday
 
Sunday


On my to do list:::
Kitchen......unload and reload dishwasher.  Make more bird seed wreaths.  Make cookies.
Laundry.....finish last load of clothes in the dryer and put away.  One load of bed linens and comforter to wash.
House......usual vacuum, dust and tidy up.
Post Office.......mail off the book for the winner.
Crochet......start Part 8 of the Atlanticus.


What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::
Starting Part 8 of the Atlanticus.  There is also a new CAL starting on Friday, not a long one, just a cushion and I am going to take part in that one because I want to make two cushions to match my bedding.

Looking around the house:::
Floors need some attention.  When it rains it's almost inevitable that with Marley going in and out to potty, my carpets get really dingy.

From the camera:::

What I'm wearing today:::
Still in my nightie, it's pretty early, so I've only managed to pull myself out of bed, and get coffee for the hubby and I.  I'll be wearing a sundress later though....just a plain white, eyelet dress. 

One of my simple pleasures:::
Last week I said watching documentaries, I'll just add that watching documentaries with my husband is definitely one of my simple pleasures :)   


Inspirational Quote, Bible verse, anything you want to share:::
Absolutely love this quote :)

{ Weekend in Review }

Hello friends, here we are at the end of another weekend.

It is currently 6:34PM here in Texas, and I'm relaxing on the couch, in my pj's, freshly showered and sipping on a lovely cup of hot tea with milk (my favorite way to drink tea).

Before I do a quick review of the weekend, let me show you my bird wreath from the other day.  I made it, let it dry overnight and have finally hung it on the porch.

How beautiful is that?  And how perfectly matching and appropriate is the ribbon I found to use?  Cute little birds :)

I went through my stash of ribbons and found this small piece, it's only about a foot long or so and was just what I needed to hang my wreath.  I'll be making more this coming week, but if you're interested in making some for yourself, I did a tutorial on them a few years ago, so you can check it out on my post titled "Bird Seed Wreath".

Now what did I do this weekend?

Well a couple of things actually.  I started my Saturday morning needing to get my new car tags done as mine had just expired on the 30th of June.

Living in a small town means that quite often, you don't have everything you need at hand and so last year, when we go the tags done, we had to go to one place for the State Inspection on the car, and then to another for the tags.  We actually went to United Supermarkets for that as our local one does them.

Drove all the way to Hayes to do the inspection only to realize when I got there, that I didn't have my insurance card in the car.  Dangit.  I drove all the way back home to get print a new one, and my printer decided not to cooperate.  I was so frustrated to be doing this back and forth so early in the morning, so I just went ahead and installed my app for USAA and now I have my Insurance proof at hand anytime without having to rely on paper.

While I waited for the inspection to finish, I walked around the store.  They have such a huge variety of home ware, furniture, washers and dryers, guns and candles and all sorts of cool things.

The inspection didn't take but 10 minutes and when I went to pay for it, they informed me that they now do the tags too, so inspection done, tags bought, registration renewed and they even get the tags up on the windshield for you.  Perfect!!!

Of course what isn't so perfect is the price.....almost $100.  Good grief!!!

I returned home, got the laundry going, did a bit of housecleaning and sat down with a quick lunch for myself.

Yellow pepper strips with some hummus, two small pieces of the Crazy Pizza Bread, the last 2 deviled eggs from the 4th of July and a banana yogurt.  By the way, I didn't enjoy it, I also tried another flavor from these Custard yogurts and didn't like it either.  Not really sure what it is about them, but I didn't like them and definitely won't be buying them again.



Around 6pm, Curt, Jasmine and I were heading out to go grab some Panda Express for dinner.  We just recently got a Panda Express in Wichita Falls, so even though it's about 20 minutes from us, and not something we do often, we figured it was Saturday night and it sounded really good.

We step outside and noticed smoke and a fire on the property right across from us.

Two firetrucks quickly pulled out and there was a big of a confusion going on.  We weren't quite sure what was happening because the house had been for sale and didn't have anyone in there.

My husband of course, went over and talked to the neighbor and the firemen, and it turns out that a little old lady moved into the house a few days ago and was mowing and clearing up the back yard.  She decided to burn a stack of wood sticks and stumps she cleared up, not realizing that she is still technically considered to be in city limits.

The firemen quickly put out the fire.  That was a bit of excitement here in our quiet neighborhood, for sure.

We eventually made it to Panda, got our food, came back home and ate dinner, I did the dishes, then sat down and watched the new Ghost Adventures.

Sunday::::

I finished off the laundry, got it all put away, worked on finishing up Part 7 of the Atlanticus blanket and caught up on Youtube videos.

Around lunch time, hubby asked if we wanted to go to lunch at this hole in the wall Mexican place downtown.  He had been there before with his coworkers and really enjoyed it.  And so we went.

I switched out my handbag before leaving, to one of my Cath Kidstons.  I just absolutely adore that handbag, especially during the summer months.  Love it's square, boxy look :)

We had an amazing lunch, the food was so good, and so far the best Mexican we've had in Texas, though there are quite a few others we want to try before we really decide which is our favorite.

If you want to see what we had, you can check out my Instagram, I shared our meal on there.  Matter of fact, if you haven't yet done so, be sure to follow me there, I share quite a lot on there :)

Came back home, and then hubby and I sat and watched the special that was on the History Channel today, about the Roanoke Colony.  It was very good and we quite enjoyed it.  I find all of that fascinating, really.

And that my friends, is how we spent our weekend.  Tomorrow is Monday already, and one day closer to school starting.  Feels like summer is just rushing on by, isn't it?

I'll leave you with some pictures of Mister Atlanticus in all his gorgeous glory.  After having to pull out about 20 rows, I was able to get caught back up and now ready for tomorrow's Part 8 release.

He is currently in the corner of the living room, on the floor, being blocked.   The center has a tendency to bulge a little, even though I've tried to redo it and make sure the stitches are right and the tension is not off etc.  It is what it is, and to be honest, if you know me, you know that I don't like perfection in my projects, I much prefer to see a flaw here or there, it gives it more character.

Righto, I'm going to work on my next Menu Plan for the next 30 minutes or so and then head to bed.

OH before I forget, if you're interested in the Amelia Earhart story, the History Channel has a special going at 8pm about her disappearance and what could have happened, and new clues that may point to her having been taking hostage by the Japanese and so on.  It sounds and looks quite interesting, so Curt and I are going to settle into bed and watch that before turning in for the night.

Have a wonderful Sunday evening and I'll meet you all back here tomorrow for Happy Homemaker Monday :)

{ Love watching birds }

When we lived in Arizona, I used to spend many days out in the back yard, with my camera in hand.  We had so many birds flying around and they would come into the yard, stand on the fence, fly around and eat the bird seed we would set out for them.

I even had a bird feeder right in front of my kitchen window so that I could just grab the camera and snap pictures as they came by to feed.

Since then I haven't really done much bird watching, I'll snap a picture here and there but nothing like it used to be, I mean I even had an album on Flickr designated to just bird photos.

Anyway.  It was such a gorgeous afternoon yesterday, so I spent some time in the back yard, catching some sun, reading a little and bird watching.

I'll be reviewing Monticello very soon, and I'm really enjoying it.  The story centers around Thomas Jefferson and his daughter Martha, and of course Monticello which was Jefferson's primary plantation.

The sun was absolutely glorious and Marley and I enjoyed just sitting, quietly, listening to the birds and feeling that warm sun on us.

The birds were all around us, flying in and out, going about their business.

Love getting action photos, catching them as they fly around, their beautiful wings gracefully flapping up and down.

It's not always easy catching them in action though, more often than not I get a big ol' blur of a wing or a total blur of a bird.  But then you get that perfectly timed shot that captures them in action, and it makes me smile.

I've been a bit busy the past few days but I'm still trying to stay on top of blogging and housework and summer in general.  It seems to be going by so fast and before I know it, school will be back in session.  Oh boy!!!

This morning I had to get groceries.  Usually I do the shopping for two weeks but since Curt just switched from his contracting job to the GS Position, the pays have been all off.  He only gets his new pay next week, and so I'm trying to pay bills and shift things around the new pay dates.

It's always a bit of a confusion at first, until we settle into a rhythm.  Takes me a month to see when everything comes in and how much comes in, to be able to adjust the budget accordingly and shift bill dates around here and there.

I won't miss that part of the budget, trust me.  I'm so glad and so blessed and thankful to God for this permanent position and knowing that this is it, no more wondering, no more waiting to see when the pay comes or how much etc.  This will hopefully be the last time I need to work around the budget.

I planned on getting groceries just for one week and then doing my usual two week shopping next week when his actual pay comes in, but I can't do it.  I am so used to buying for two weeks at a time, that this is not going to work.  So I pretty much bought my usual grocery shopping, except that I only planned meals for this coming week, but everything that is not meal related, mainly the meats, chicken etc., has been bought.  Next week I'll just quickly plan some meals and buy just the meats that I need.

Tomorrow I need to get my car registration done, which means taking the car to get the inspection done first.  It's all still a little strange to me, I never had to do any of this in Idaho or Arizona.  Oh well.

I'm going to run and get my pizza dough ready for dinner, I'm making Crazy Pizza Bread, which by the way, if you've never tried it, you don't know what you're missing.

Then I'm going to throw in a load in the wash, sit and watch today's General Hospital and start on my Part 7 of the Atlanticus.  I finished Part 6 and it's finally right on track with the stitch count, thank goodness.

Well friends, I hope you have a fantastic Friday.  Ooohhhhh and as I'm typing this I just got a pop up from the school letting me know that Nick's materials have been shipped.  Wasn't I just talking about how soon school would start?  Hahah

Have a good one everyone :)

{ Fourth of July Weekend in Review }

Hi everyone.  How was your 4th of July weekend, did you have a lot of fun, visit family, stay home, have barbecues?

We had a really good weekend, though it's thrown me completely off because I've been walking around all day, thinking it was Monday.  Nevermind that, at least we know we only have 2 more days before the weekend right?

We cleaned, we watched TV, we did yard work, the kids learned how to ride the mower and had a blast on it,  I read, I crocheted, we ate amazing food and sat through some intense thunderstorms.

But let me show you our weekend....

I spent some time cleaning up my Kindle, and also downloading the books I need to review in the coming months.  

The next review on the list is for this book called Monticello.  It is quite good, I'm enjoying it and I think you all will too.

Started Part 7 of the Atlanticus.

Started my herbs, they've been sitting around waiting for me and I've been putting it off, but finally got them going last week and within a few days this is where we're are.

That's basil above and rosemary below.

Dinner on Saturday night was a family favorite and pure comfort food.  Fried Chicken with Milk Gravy and Garlic Mashed Potatoes.  So good.

Monday::::

The kids both want to get some money for chores.  Jasmine is waiting to move to Arkansas and so has not pursued a job or college around here.  But she wants some spending money by doing chores around the house and so on.

Nicholas on the other hand, wants pocket money for games, of course.  So we've been telling them both that we could use a hand with the mowing, since there's 3 acres around here.  We finally got them on the riding mower and Curt went through all the safety procedures, showed them exactly what to do, and rode a bit with them at first and so on.

They picked up on it pretty quickly and then had a blast riding around the property.  The whole time the blades were disengaged (just saying).

Seeing Nicholas on the mower made me so happy.  If you have teenagers, you know that they will spend most of their lives in their bedrooms, don't want to do any kind of outside activity and show no interest in yard work.

But he was having so much fun out there, he must have spent about an hour just driving around and around, driving by and waving and just enjoying the fresh air.

He has grown so much.  I look at him and am shocked at how quickly he has grown up.  A couple of you often ask me for photos of Nicholas because it's been a while since I've been able to get photo in.  He is 14, he is 6 feet tall already, he is shy, he is quiet, he is withdrawn, he doesn't like big crowds or big get togethers.  He has the sweetest of hearts, he is extremely smart and shocks me with the knowledge he possesses at times.

It's just such a pleasure watching him grow.

The whole time we are outside, Marley is too.  He loves being outdoors, but he's very good about staying right there at the edge of the driveway.  He will not go any further than that no matter how far we walk away from him.  I'm thankful for that because Lola used to bolt hahah

Tuesday::::

I was up pretty early and went straight into the kitchen to start cooking and baking.   The menu comprised of Deviled Eggs, Cheddar and Bacon Burgers, Smoked Sausages, Hawaiian Barbecue Chicken, Classic Potato Salad, BLT Pasta Salad, Red, White and Blueberry Pie and Star Spangled Slab Pie.

The minute I learned how to make boiled eggs in my electric pressure cooker, I never looked back.  I can't tell you how incredibly easy and perfect these eggs come out every time.  I told my husband that I need another pressure cooker, because I love mine so much and it's amazing when it comes to preparing meals for a group of people.

I will have the recipe up for the pie below, some time this afternoon.  It was delicious.

Here's the Red, White and Blueberry Pie.  If you love white chocolate and cheesecake, you will LOVE this pie.  The recipe is already on the blog.

It doesn't matter if there's only 2 of us or 20 of us, I always go all out, I try very hard to make the whole meal enjoyable and special.  I also like to decorate and set the table nicely and really make the best of the day.

I went through about 2 years, after moving here to the Texas, that I had become quite complacent and bored I guess.  The kids are much older and obviously not as excited for certain holidays as they used to be and I took that as meaning that there was no need to celebrate, decorate, go all out and so on as we had always done before.

But I've since changed my mind on that, I feel that NOW is the time to really have fun and celebrate, because too soon they'll be grown up and out of the house and I don't want to sit and think that I should have done this or done that.

So I decorated a bit, set everything up outside.  It was a beautiful warm day, and we enjoyed chatting, catching up, some music and delicious food.

It was great having these two beautiful ladies over as well.  On the left is Auntie Val who is my sister in law's mom, and on the right is Auntie Olga (Val's sister and Hayley's Aunt).  They are the ones that are visiting from South Africa.   I love spending time with them, they are adorable and sweet and funny.

The family all left around 8pm, they actually headed to Base for the Freedom Fest Fireworks display, but we opted out.  After 22 years of attending the festivities every year, we are kind of over it and would much rather stay home.

The picture above, I took from my back yard into the distance.  We had fireworks going off all around us, so we weren't really missing much by not going to base, and besides, I got bit something fierce by the mosquitoes out there, just in the time

Besides, I had a barbecue to clean up, a pile of dishes in the sink and really wanted to get some rest.

While moving our big exercise machine the other day, I hurt my back.  It was totally my fault, because I tried to move it on my own and I know better.  But just the trying to pull it around, did it.  I didn't feel anything the first day, but after being on my feet all day long yesterday, by nighttime I started getting a really sore back.

Usually it's my lower back that aches, but this one is higher than that, almost between my lower back and upper back, right in the lower area of my back and, oh my gosh, it hurts something fierce.  It almost feels like it's bruised, I can't even touch the area.

Wednesday::::

After the severe storms we had in the middle of the night, we woke up to a beautiful sunrise.  Just look at that.  Breathtaking.

The grass was sparkling with tons of little rain drops still hanging on to each blade of grass.

I just love bringing in the outside into my home, and using it as decorations.  These are from my Crepe Myrtles, I have tons of these trees all around the property.  Have you ever smelled the Crepe Myrtle?  They smell so good.

But most of my day today has been sitting on the couch, trying not to exacerbate my back ache, and basically facing this mess of a blanket.

So here's what happened.  Below is a picture of my Atlanticus 3 rows into Part 7.  I was feeling so good about it and pretty confident.  Pretty cocky too, because a few rows back I had noticed that my stitch count was off by a stitch or two, but not wanting to frog it and rip everything off to find the bad row, I kept thinking that I could make it work, a stitch here, or a stitch there.  No big deal.

Ummmm, HUGE deal.  By the time I got to the 4th row of Part 7, things were off, and I mean really off, where I could not ignore.

So I started the process of ripping row by row, counting the stitches, and ripping to the next, counting more stitches and ripping back yet again, until I found the culprit.....all the way on row 55 of Part 6.  I wanted to cry.

Just look at the mess of yarn.

But, I just told myself it's this or scrap the project, and I'm NOT doing that.  So I am painstakingly redoing it, all of Part 6 and Part 7.  It will take me a while but I'm hoping to get it done and finished by Monday when Part 8 comes out.

Oh my friends.  This just reminded me that sometimes we think we have it all figured out in life, and all it takes is a stupid little mistake in the past, to derail everything in the future.  But just like the crochet blanket, even if you can't go back in real life and redo things, usually you can fix the problem and move forward in the right direction.

The key to it all?  Staying calm, reminding ourselves it's for a good cause and the rewards at the end will make it all better :)

That's what I'm telling myself as I sit here crocheting the same 10 rows over again.

Well, this post has been a huge jumble and ramble, so I hope I haven't lost any of you along the way.  I'm off to get dinner figured out, I was going to just do barbecue leftovers for dinner because I have so many of those, but I am a bit over the grilled food as hubby and I had some for lunch as well.

So I think I'm going to take the leftover chicken, and do a quick Chicken Alfredo for dinner.

Have a wonderful rest of Wednesday, I'll be back in the morning with a Slow Cooking or Cooking Thursday :)