If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Sunbonnet and pantry

Elizabeth’s one room school house outfit  needed a sunbonnet and I finally found a simple online tutorial to sew one up. 
The tutorial was great and I recommend it if you need a sunbonnet for a girl age 7-11. 
I didn’t intend to use 2 different fabrics, but when I was cutting it out, I somehow used both fabrics.  But I guess it will be fine.  Pioneers truly had to use what they had and I’m sure sometimes clothes were made with whatever fabric the pioneer was fortunate enough to have.  







No before photos but I spent about an hour organizing and wiping down our pantry.  I used some extra storage containers we already had.  There wasn’t much thrown out except some mayo we dont like and a bag of salad dressing mix dated 2014 😵
All like items are sitting on the shelves together now. 
We have lots of spices and I opened up the adjustable steps they sit on so they are more spread out and easier to see what’s what.  
Nothing remarkable or Pinterest worthy but I’m happy with it.  




It’s been raining here most of the day and even had tornado warnings near by.  But don’t worry about me if you hear of Oklahoma tornado damage.  We have a very safe shelter to get it, if need be.  

Have a good Tuesday everyone ❤️ 
And if you have a to do list, I hope things on it are getting done ✅ 

Monday, April 29, 2019

To do list, sewing, coupon shopping

My Monday to do list- I recycled last weeks and just glued this week’s plans on top of last week’s list.  


Below are dishes I plan to cook from now until the end of May.  They will be prepared in what ever order suits us.  



Below is the dress I finished for our granddaughter Elizabeth to wear when her class visits a one room school house.  It’s pretty standard that Oklahoma 3rd graders study Oklahoma history and either re-enact the Land Run or visit a one room school house.  I remember when my children visited the prairie school house, they really enjoyed it.  
The basket is for her lunch and my daughter used the same basket when she was in 3rd grade. 
I didn’t sew the dress from the scratch but I cut down an adult dress I got years ago at a $1 a bag rummage sale.  



Below are my our pioneer ancestors.  That my fraternal great grandparents.  For awhile, the farmed and lived in a sod house near Cordell, Oklahoma.  It looks like a very hard life to me and  I’m thankful for them.  






I’m still doing some coupon shopping at CVS and Dollar General.  This is what I bought this past Saturday at DG.  I only used Digital coupons,  which you get by signing up for a free account at DG.  
Both stores have similar sales going on this week too.  



I guess that’s all the news I know for now. 
Have a wonderful week everyone ❤️

Friday, April 26, 2019

Rummage sale finds, surgery for a grand and Sprouts

good afternoon,  
Thanks for the hints on my comment situation.  I mostly blog on an iPad but I will go to our desktop and see if that solves the problem.
Terri- I did try deleting my google plus account and that didn’t fix it yet, but I’ll keep trying.  
Again, thanks for all the advice

2 of our grands are out of school today and they spent the night here. 
We went to a benefit rummage sale at a nearby church. 



The Stand and salon chair were $1 each - an amazing bargain for 18 inch doll accessories
The doll is mine that I use as a mannequin when I sew doll clothes.  She is wearing an exercise outfit that I made from my shirt I never wore.  



We found all these like new American Girl books for .50 each. 


The big Tupperware tray seems to be in the brand new condition. 
The pampered chef meat forks are very heavy duty and something my husband has been wanting. 
He also got a like new contractor grade hoe 

I wanted another set of s&p shakers and I think these Crystal ones will be just fine.  


Near ball toss toy was $3.
It didn’t come with balls so I sewed some up super fast,  using old child socks and beans,  

   


This grandson has had a  rough fall and winter with 6 bought of strep. So, he had his tonsils and adenoids removed yesterday.  He had a restless, uncomfortable night but is doing better today.  
He perked up when he saw his siblings and he started happily playing with this ball toss toy.  


Sprouts sent another coupon this morning.  It had great deals on avocados, bell peppers and walnuts. 
I liked the chicken deal- boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $1.77. 
They were regular priced at $3.99
I put one pack in the crockpot and I’ll shred and freeze it for future meals. 
The others were laid out on lined and sprayed cookie sheets and put in the freezer.  When their frozen solid, I’ll bag them in large freezer bags.  Then I can just thaw out how many I need. 



Have a good weekend everyone ❤️

Thursday, April 25, 2019

Evelyn’s new bedspread







Evelyn was given a pile of fleece blankets and she remembered this older post from me where I made our bedspread from fleece blankets
And then she made her own.  

I think it turned out great and really suits her Texas lifestyle.  

She blogs at  
Blessed in Bowie.

She is a thrifty, creative and upbeat woman and she lives not too far from where I grew up in Texas.   
So, we pretty much share the same accent 😊 




Thursday cooking and crafts


My versions of batch cooking- one crockpot has chicken breasts in broth.  
The other one has a roast that we will eat for supper and share with my parents.  
The chicken was shredded and saved for future recipes. 

The veggies have been peeled and are in the crockpot with the roast now.  

I also made a sandwich box. It’s  a 3 layer Tupperware deli keeper that I got at a thrift store years ago.  
My husband and son especially like that we most always have sandwich fixings ready so they can make quick sandwiches. 



About carrot tops,  they are edible but they may be bitter.  I really don’t like bitter so I won’t be eating them,  





I pulled out these rainbow, string pieces I quilt squares I made several years ago and planned to start sewing them together.  They were stacked neatly and pressed, but they were not trimmed.  So my sewing time was spent trimming them all. 
Maybe tomorrow I’ll start sewing them together.  





I have oodles of jewelry supplies, passed to me from my mom, so I made 3 simple bracelets this afternoon.  I think I’ll like them for spring.  





I still cannot comment on any blog even though I tried signing in and out, changing settings, restarting, etc. 

This is what it looks like when I try to comment, I can’t get it to let me sign in,  and when I do go ahead and leave a comment,  they just disappear into cyber space.  

Any suggestions?  



Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Wednesday in my kitchen

I visited several blogs this morning and attempted to comment but I don’t think any went through. 
And I still can’t post comments on my own blog.  Like Kim says,  it’s probably has an easy solution but I haven’t found it yet.  

Anyway,  on to things going on here. 
When I was a little girl,  I remember my mother sometimes put carrot ends in a little bowl of water on a window sill.  The carrot tops sprout on up and grow into a nice little sort of fern.  It was just a way for her to have a little pretty plant for nothing.  I don’t think just the tops would ever grow carrots.  It’s just a way to watch a plant grow and have some brightness. 
Garden centers and all the plants in grocery stores like we have now did not exist when I was young.  And even if they did,  my family didn’t have extra funds for frills like that.  
This is really easy to do- just put carrot ends in a saucer of water,  watch the water does not all evaporate, then in a week or so,  there will be carrot tops growing in the dish.  





That’s me, the first girl.  The boys are my brothers.  The other girls are neighbors.  
The photo was taken on Easter as we are holding baskets and my brother seems to be eating an egg but the film wasn’t developed until August.  (Probably because of a lack of fund for frills). And look at the little houses we all lived in.  The houses were built during World War 2 for workers at an ammunition plant. 
I don’t remember feeling poor as a child  but looking at this photo,  I wonder how people managed.  
The photo was originally black and white but my daughter found a way to colorize it.  






My husband likes grocery store orchids.  These were all bought months ago at different times and they have since rebloomed.  
Orchid blooms last a long time too.  







Corn on the cob was on sale yesterday at Sprouts 8 ears for $1.  
Aren’t the bicolor ears pretty? 
I like being on the email list for Sprouts as they send out great coupons.  
Yesterday was for the corn
Last week there was a coupon for .99 a pound honey crisp apples and .20 cents a pound onions.  
Both coupons included good deals on other groceries but they were not things I wanted. 

You always hear that coupons are just for junk food,  well, not at Sprouts! 




I cooked the pickle chicken recipe I previously linked for lunch and we did like it.  The pickle juice just gives a really good flavor to the chicken.  And it is not overwhelmingly pickle.  
I wasn’t crazy about the flour breading and think I will try this other recipe for pickle chicken next time 


The only thing I didn’t like is how the chicken looks after being in the pickle brine- slightly green- but it tasted great.  
We are still eating veggies from the Easter relish tray.  I had some Greek yogurt onion dip and a piece of the cheese ball my son made.  
Dessert was watermelon 🍉 


I truly appreciate your comments and I hope to get my replies straightened out soon. 

Have a good day everyone ❤️

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Blog issues and today


Good evening everyone, 
I was so surprised and so pleased to read so many comments on yesterday’s post. 
Thank you 😊 Y’all are very kind. 

But when I tried to replied to the comments, on my own blog,  I can’t.  It says I’m not signed in but obviously I’m signed in or I couldn’t add new posts.  

Frustrating!  Oh well, no sense wasting time on things I can’t control. 




I am doing WW online ( used to be called Weight Watchers but the name is shortened now.  
And so far I really like it.  The app works great and the points are easy to count.  
I’ll say more about it as time goes on.  


Tonight for supper,  we had a homemade pizza made with 2 ingredient dough.  The dough recipe is just 1 cup of self rising flour and 1 cup of plain, fat free Greek yogurt.  This recipe has many variations and is all over Pinterest.  It is not exactly like traditional pizza dough but it’s very good.  
The pizza is on a 10 by 15 inch pan and 1/4 is a 7 point serving.  I had enough points left at supper to eat 2 but was very satisfied after 1 quarter.  My husband gave it a thumbs up too. 
On the side was some of relishes left from our big Easter meal.  

Tomorrow I’ll make the pickle chicken recipe.  It’s marinating in the fridge.  And the pickle juice was saved from when I made the Easter relish trays.  
pickle chicken recipe

I’ll let y’all know how we like it.  

Here’s an update on my to do list- I sewed on the pioneer dress and it just needs the hem finished.
I’m pleased with my progress so far.  





We’ve started our spring gardening,  I had fun putting little succulents in these copper molds that I got at a church rummage sale for a nickel each several summers ago.  
I bought them for the grands to use as sandbox toys.  They had great fun with them when we had a huge sandbox. But now that sandbox is planted with berry bushes.  



So now the grands play with sand in this water table and they’re just as happy.  



Monday, April 22, 2019

Weekly to do list and where I’ve been

Good morning friends,  
I made a pretty to do list for this week and thought I’d share it.  





I just wasn’t in  a blogging mood all winter.  There seems to be so much drama on the internet and I have no interest in.   
I’ll be blogging things I do.  I’m no expert and I’m not giving or seeking advice on how my family eats or shops or doctors or uses resources or anything.  I’ll just share what I do and you readers can visit if my life interests you.  
That being said,  let’s move forward, OK?  



One of the our recent highlights was a trip to Southern California to celebrate our 39th anniversary.
We didn’t see any whales but we truly enjoyed our 3 hour cruise 🚢.  It was beautiful day and the ocean water was so clean! We did see lots of dolphins. 




I have an early appointment to get my teeth cleaned and then I plan to come home and get some housework done. I’ll also be checking on my parents.  My dad was so sick yesterday and he couldn’t come for our family Easter lunch and egg activities.  

Have a good day everyone ❤️