head gear for little tikes

 Elizabeth came to my house in her Pat the Bunny outfit - see the ears?

Gavin took a tumble at his house and had to get 3 stitiches in his forehead.  He looks like a cool ninja toddler.
To keep the the bandage in place, his head is wrapped in the tape like I remember we used way back when I worked at a plasma center. 

a very pleasant forecast

after 14 straight days of 100+ degree HOT days in August, a "cold front"  came down from the north and is spending some time in our state.

It is so much cooler now, not even 80 degrees and very breezy. So, I turned off that very overworked central air conditioner and opened a few windows. The fresh air in the house is very welcome and it is even cooler with the windows open than with the AC on.

Little Gavin is with me today. He takes good naps so I have got a few things done today.

One chore was the ironing, another was ruthlessly cleaning out some craft supplies and also working on  a bulletin board for the grandchildrens play area. The play area is coming along - I'll post pictures later. However, no progress in the dining room. I am still thinking.....


Supper will be Swiss steak with lots of carrots, onions and tomatoes on top with baked potatoes and fresh fruit for dessert.  Finally, it is not too hot to turn on the oven  :)

This and that

The Hall Bathroom

Jeff helped me with the household cleaning Saturday morning.  I did the floors and cleaned out the fridge.

Jeff cleaned the bathrooms, emptied the trash and fixed the drain on my sink that was barely draining.   

 This bathroom looks pretty good after he cleaned it

 He put out 3 hand towels on the bar by the sink. 

 and then he put out 3 more hand towels on this bar - he said the grand children would like them.    

Not sure I would of put out quite so many - but if someone helps me with the house chores, they can do them just about any way they want to.

Sometimes you just gotta get rid of stuff

These  2 little round accent tables were purchased more than 10 years ago - on clearance at Walmart.  They have never been terribly sturdy but were OK if they did not have too much on them. 

I've been doing some furniture rearranging and ended up not needing them anymore. 

I've got a pile of things started to drop off at the thrift store but they were in such bad shape,  I put them in the trash.    Are you wondering why they had aluminum foil on top?  Well, the tops were rough pressed particle wood stuff and snagged the tablecloths. 

So, good bye flimsy end tables!

The Dress Jeff Bought

When Nina was born in 1984,  Jeff made a special trip to Dillards to buy a pretty pink dress for our daughter. 

This first picture is Nina wearing that dress. 

and this is her daughter Elizabeth wearing the same dress. 

They don't look exactly alike, but they are very similar. 

A little baking

I baked 2 loaves of quick bread this evening.  The first one is banana bread - I used  a recipe from my friend Elizabeth.  It is a pretty basic recipe that calls for a teaspoon of cinnamon - the cinnamon with the banana and pecans is a very nice combination. 

The second is a very nice bread that calls for no oil or shortening.  So if you are watching your fat intake, or if you are short on butter and can't go shopping right now, this might be a recipe that works for you too. 


Nut Bread

1 egg

1/3 Cup sugar

1 Cup Milk

2 C flour
2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 Cup chopped walnuts ( pecans are good too)

Preheat the oven the 350 degrees.

Beat the egg and sugar together with a whisk. Whisk in the milk. With a spoon or spatula, mix in the dry ingredients. Add nuts.

Pour into a very well greased 8x4 bread pan.

Bake about 35-45 minutes or until it tests done.

Serve warm with a little butter. Jeff likes it toasted.

Rain! clean slate and more seeds

 We woke up rain this morning and have had showers off and on all morning. It has been a hot dry summer so the water and cooler temperature are very much welcome.

Clean Slate -

  I got tired of the way our dining room was set up.  I took everything off the walls, then patched all the nail holes and touched up the paint.   For now, just the table and chairs are in here but they won't be looking like this forever.  I am not sure what I will do,  I just know I want some color this time.

 any suggestions?

More seeds

 I hope to have more seeds.  These are some pink and red geraniums drying.  I bought them as small plants and they looked beautiful blooming all summer.  I am not sure if their seeds will "work" though.

these are zinnias that I grew from seed - I am pretty sure their seeds will grow next summer.  Each flower has so many seeds in each one, it is really amazing.

Brown bag lunches

Jeff takes a lunch box full of snacks and his lunch everyday to work.  When I worked, I also took snacks or lunch as needed with me.  Debbie  says she packs lunches and she asked me how I do our lunches.   Debbie this might bore you,  Jeff takes almost the same thing everyday.

A travel mug of coffee

a bottle of water to take with him when he is on the road

his entree is either a dish of last nights leftovers or a sandwich.  This lunch was a sandwich and dish of veg soup

2 servings of fruit - he has plums and cantaloupe in this one

1 serving of nuts and 2 string cheese

a bunch of grapes - I bag them into to serving sizes and store them in the fridge like that.

Nuts are one of our favorite things to snack on.  But it is really easy to eat way more one serving without even realizing it.  2 summers ago,  I got a case of 1 ounce portion cups at a yard sale.  The  portion cups are perfect for holding 1 ounce of nuts.  So when I open a new can,  I get out those little cups and divide them.  Then they are ready to put in a lunch box or a snack.

Jeff is a big fan of Del Monte peaches canned in light syrup.  When fresh fruit is not plentiful,  I open a big can of peaches and divide them into little jars for his lunch box. A big can will yield about 14 jars full.

Bananas and cantaloupe waiting to be eaten,

In the fridge,  bagged up grapes, cabbage soup in mugs, watermelon cubes in containers.    Fixing lunches is easy in the morning when things are ready to just pick up.

Jeff's string cheese.  Actually, everyone in our family likes them except me.

His lunch all gets packed into a little Rubbermaid cooler that he has been using for about 10 years or more. 

When I worked,  I liked sandwiches, fruit, nuts or high fiber granola bars. 

My favorite snack was hard boiled eggs with a few celery and carrot sticks and just a dab of ranch dressing for dipping.

for me,  the way to have healthy and easy lunches on the go is to plan and package ahead.

Catfish and a mystery

We are still pretty much dieting at this house but on Saturdays, we eat what we want -with in reason anyway.

Tonight, we are going to have fried catfish with a few hush puppies and a big green salad.

The catfish was caught, cleaned and packaged by my parents, brother and cousins that like to fish. 
They usually go on 2 annual fishing trips in Arkansas, one in the summer and one in the fall. 

 I don't like to fish and don't really like to camp - but I do like to eat fish! 

The mystery is that our sink stopper disappeared.  I am not sure what day I noticed it was missing but I've looked every place I thought it could possibly be and have not found it.  How many places could a stopper be anyway?   I never use mine for anything else except to occasionally run it through the dishwasher. 

Jeff thinks I probably threw it in the trash by mistake.

But whatever,  we will be stopping at Lowes on the next trip to town to get a new one. 

If you are wondering why I did not post much this week - here is why. 

Sweet Elizabeth, 2 months, and Cute Gavin, 18 months, have been spending some of their days with me while their mommas and daddies go to work. 

To Fly Above The Sea

I have known Joanne as a very good internet friend for more than 10 years.  She has a big love of the sea and is an avid stitcher.  So I was very happy  when she posted that she had completed and published her first book of counted cross stitch,.   If you also love the sea or want to make a gift for s sea-lover,  you should look at her designs. 

Joanne is also an Ebay Seller and right now,  she has some great listings on very nice fat quarters and quil books. 

and one more thing about Joanne,  today is her birthday!  So if you stop by her blog or Ebay shop,  you might want to leave her a birthday greeting. 

Cabbage Soup Diet

Have you noticed I did not have any yummy food posts this week? 

 

Well, we have been eating lots of cabbage soup - it also has onions, bell peppers, carrots, tomatoes, celery and mushrooms. 

 lots of fresh fruit

 lots of green salad

 more fruit

a few baked potatoes with vegetables.

I first heard of this cabbage soup diet after my son Jimmy was born. My mom sent me a xerox copy of it that was going around her office. I remember I ate that soup pretty much for a week and lost most of the baby weight. Well, I came across it again and I think it may of had a few changes over the years.

I made the first batch of soup on Saturday and it is actually really good. It tastes just about like soup-stew I normally make but with no potatoes or meat.


I have been very, very  hungry while on this diet.  But I think that may be a good thing.  It certainly is a vivid feeling and helps to imagine how so many people feel all the time,  and not because they have chosen to go on a weight loss diet. 

I did modify it somewhat.  We ate fruits and vegetables every day. We ate the soup at least once every day, sometimes more.   By Wednesday,  we were "allowed" to add meat.  I did eat a few bites of meat but I've also eaten 2 ounces of nuts Weds. and Thursday. 


and so far I've lost 8 pounds. 

Disclaimer - I don't think doctors would approve of this diet.  I know what I am doing, have NO health problems,  take NO prescription meds,  don't have high blood pressure and have normal blood sugar rates. 
Even the diet says to only do it for 1 week and don't repeat until another month has passed. 

there are many links to the cabbage soup online, so if you are crazy like me,  then you can do  a search and do your own conclusions.

Harvesting seeds

 Here is one more baby step I just took in my hope to be a better gardener. 
I planted some marigold seeds this spring,  I got them as a freebie when I signed up for a sample of a cereal. 
They grew so tall and bloomed but they were really too big for the pots they were planted in. 
Well,  it is very hot here and I think they were about through for the summer.  Many of the old blooms were brown and dry as the desert. 
It occurred to me that there should be a way to save the seeds and replant them next year.  So I did search "how to harvest marigold seeds"  and found out.

 Inside the dry flower are many many seeds,  you just pull off the dry petals and the seeds are under the petals. 

See how many seeds  were in just one flower? 

that is a sandwich bag packed with marigold seeds,  all ready for sharing and for planting next spring.

There are 2 kinds of zinnia in my yard that should harvest just about the same way as marigolds. 
Our portulaca/moss rose has lots of tiny seeds in their dry buds too.  I will harvest them when they get drier.
I looked at the petunias but could not seeds in the dry flowers on them. 

Seed harvesting is very frugal - can you imagine how much that many marigold seeds would cost if you bought them in the little pouches? 

so, do you any of you harvest seeds and have any advice for me? 

and if you want to harvest your own seeds,  you might want to do a search to get more details in case I left out something in this post.