July #8 - last day of this month

I’m sure you’ve all had days like the poor woman above 😂  so we will just continue to grin and bear it.  

But never order chocolate from Amazon during an Oklahoma summer as I’m sure it would arrive very melted.  

We’ve had lots of rain this month and some of our plants are loving it 

But others, not so much 

The 5 local grands were here for a play day that turned into a sleepover.  

It was a good opportunity to do our traditional back to school shoe shopping.  I didn’t get photos but all their feet but here are the 8 year old grandson’s

I’m not sure they are practical shoes for a farm boy but he really wanted them and I don’t say no to Old Glory 🇺🇸

Schools are planning to open in late August but who knows how that will go.

  I’m very concerned about my daughter, 2 son in-laws and brother who all work in education as they will be exposed to many students.  

But as I said,  who knows what will happen.  

For their breakfast after the sleepover,  I baked a double batch of Struesel Puffs 
  

➡️Struesel Puffs Recipe ⬅️⬅️link here 

They are a really tasty muffin,  made a bit different from other muffin recipes,  and you probably have all the ingredients on hand to bake them for your family ❤️

We all enjoyed eating the muffins and we dropped off some to one of their mothers and my parents.  (See the rain outside?) 

My husband’s summer garden plants are about done and he brought in a big pile of produce,  so yesterday I froze tomatoes, bell and poblano peppers,  and canned jalapeños.  

We have ate lots of fresh salsa this summer.  We like cilantro in our salsa but it seems to go slimy in our fridge.  

I tried this dried cilantro and we like it just fine- it’s much milder but still adds the cilantro flavor- and it’s much easier 

Above is this week’s to do list - yes,  I’ve done some of it but that is marked off on the paper copy 

It is a shorter list than usual.  

Today is cooler and the ground is mushy from rain,  so I’m planning on working in the front flower beds this morning,  

I’ll try to take before and after photos as I hope it will look a lot different 

Have a great Friday everyone 

❤️Rhonda 

July #7 - a new recipe, masks and kid stuff

Hello,  sorry about the long break and no new to-do list this week.  We had places to go 3 days this week and knowing I wouldn’t be home much,  I didn’t even make a list.  I’m just doing what I see needs done,  as I have time, and it will all be fine.  

This recipe was in a Taste of Home magazine and it is so good and easy.  I made it for our supper tonight and will definitely make it again.  

I followed the recipe exactly except I added 2 cans of beans and I used homemade chicken broth instead of purchased broth.  

Red Beans and Rice

I’ve made more veil style masks as they are our current favorite style-much easier to breath in! 

I did lengthen the pattern so they can be tucked into your shirt 

free veil mask pattern

I also made some veil masks from this mustache fabric from Walmart and they turned out especially cute. 

My husband wore a mustache veil mask for his appointment at the VA hospital and he said almost everyone complimented him for the mask.  Sorry I don’t have a photo of him though.....

We saw our 3 grandchildren that live away this week.  It was a fun day too! 

They have a backyard pool and we spent much of the visit there. 

This swim mask is a very clever design,  It completely covers the nose so the swimmer doesn’t get water up their nose.  

Some of the local grands were here this week and they had fun playing with our grocery stockpile.  

They played grocery store (of course) and even made these signs for the door 

Our neighborhood has a private Facebook group.  Most messages are about lost pets or found items.  People also give away things. 

One neighbor offered a bunch of boy toys.  When no one had responded all day,  I asked about them and was happy to get them all.  

And this is just about 1/3 of them.  

It also included a Calico Critters cabin and treehouse with lots of accessories and cute furniture.  

I don’t usually like having this many toys but since we don’t really go anywhere for entertainment, because of the virus,  the extra toys are very welcome.  

And they were all free! 

That’s the highlights from here

Hope everyone is good

❤️ Rhonda