Journey to the Center of the Couch

I am planning a living room redo in a couple of weeks and most of the furniture has got to go. It's dark leather and while it's held up nicely to all my kid's abuse, it's just not my style and I need to make room for stuff that is. So last night I started getting the couches ready to photograph and put up on Craig's List.

I sat down on the first couch and stuck my hand down between the cushions. I'm beginning to think I may have unintentionally used the recesses of my couches as extra storage! I started fishing things out and separating the trash from treasure. The next time I reached in, I noticed that the fabric underneath was torn and sure enough there was another cavern below the tear. That's where I started to retrieve the really big items. Things like forks and large ziploc bags full of change. My treasure pile started to look kind of comical so I decided to take pictures and give you a run down of what I found. Remember, this blog is about important, life-altering subjects.

Sorry about these pictures. I had just crawled out from inside my couch and I was a little too tired to worry about setting up a proper photo shoot. And I was, after all, supposed to be cleaning. I just got a little sidetracked.

This is what I separated from all the trash.

The next 5 pictures contain the details of my findings.

Guess I'd better get back to my regular cleaning duties. At least I know the couches are done!

A couple of months ago, Elliott and I made the decision to give our garden a break for a year and just build up the soil. Just about the time that everyone was talking about their newly planted gardens and every store from the local supermarket to the farm stand down the road had their seedlings out.

I hate the idea of not gardening, but it actually came as a little bit of a relief when the decision was made. I didn't have to do any back-breaking work to get ready and I didn't have the pressure to get my stuff in the ground as soon as possible. Really. Just a huge relief.

Then, the other night, my mother-in-law said that she bought way too many tomato plants and could I take some off her hands? Sure, I said. Knowing full well that we are taking this year off. They've been sitting in my window sill looking charming and full of possibilities.

Then, today, while out picking up a few things, I stopped by Reed's farm store. They have all their veggie plants and potted flowers out on tables in front of the store. I'll just look at what they have, I assured myself.

Now, here I am with 10 tomato plants, 2 basils and a thyme. I guess it's time I go outside and find a place where my garden will not be. Maybe pick up some pretty pots to plant this garden of mine that doesn't exist.

But remember, when everyone is talking about their beautiful, bountiful gardens this summer, don't ask me about mine because I don't have one.

Shell

This morning I've been seeing a lot of blog posts about Easter and new beginnings and all things eggs. It reminded me of something my husband wrote last year right about this time and I wanted to share it here. I think it might be perfect timing.

Shell

Written by Elliott Park on April 12, 2010

Just thinking the other day… if it seems like the walls are closing in on you – tighter each day. If you feel completely alone. If you’re tired of waking up from bright dreams only to find your nose against the same black, immovable wall. If you’re yearning to feel the Sun on your face, but every day is the same – just a black hard wall between you and happiness. Maybe you should just… peck.

I’ve spent a lot of restless nights wondering what this whole music thing will lead to. Whom should I network with? What kind of music should I write? Am I too old? Is it too late? Are the walls of my age closing in? Will the world ever hear the songs I once thought destined for the multitudes? I gotta say, I’ve gotten myself in a tizzy or two about the whole silly thing.

Back in January or so, God whispered something to me… just sing. So now I’m singing. Wherever I can and whenever I can: Munday Chamber of Commerce, Clyde Woman’s Club, Abilene Credit Union banquet… you want me to sing? I’m there. And two really cool things are happening: I’m enjoying it, AND I’m seeing a sincere reaction in people. Eureka! That’s what this is about – touching people.

So let me pull this all together. I’m a songwriter and that’s what I do. So I was out gathering eggs the other day and thought of the aforementioned picture of a hatchling chick. And it has dawned on me over these past few days – sometimes what seems like a cursed barrier to a destiny is really the protective shell of incubation. And if it feels like the walls are closing in on you, maybe it’s just you out-growing your walls. Thank you God for YOUR timing.

I’m no spring chicken. If I were, I guess I’d peck. But as it is… I’ll sing. Sing my way right out of this shell.

I finally took the plunge...

I have been needing something, anything, to nudge me toward getting projects done in my house. I have so many ideas and incidentally the more time I spend on here, the more ideas I come across that I think I can't live without.

My latest "need" was a chalkboard wall. I realize they're everywhere and it's all anyone can talk about anymore, but I don't know anyone around here who has one and to be perfectly honest, I think it was just the thing my kitchen was missing.

My husband wasn't too sure about it, but realized it is, after all, only paint. I wasn't asking to knock out a wall!

Here's my kitchen before shot. This is the only wall in my kitchen that isn't attached to walls that lead to other areas of the house. It's a relatively small space and it's seen as soon as you walk into the house. Perfect.

(I have to point out that I had just unloaded groceries when I decided to take this picture.)

I took another picture, with my real camera, and sent it to my husband. He's an illustrator and knows how to use photoshop. I'm a housewife and a mom, therefore all of his attempts at teaching me how to use photoshop for myself have failed. That's what he's for, right?!? I asked him to work his magic and show me what it would look like when it was finished.

That's really all I needed to proceed. That, and a quart of chalkboard paint. First, though, I needed to smooth out the orange peel texture that was on the wall. I knew it would be too much work to try to sand the entire wall until it was smooth, but I also knew that writing on it wouldn't be fun if it was too bumpy. So I borrowed my aunt's belt sander, covered my desk with a sheet, put on a mask and got to sanding.

I don't know if I felt I got it smooth enough or if I just got sick of working that belt sander on a vertical surface while standing precariously on a ladder, but at some point I decided it was good.

The paint is very thick, but goes on pretty smooth. I did 3 coats and called it a day. The next day, I did what I heard you're supposed to do before your chalkboard is open for business - I covered the whole thing in chalk. Doing this quickly revealed that I could've gone a little longer with the sander, but I'm not persistent like that.

I let the kids help me wash off all the chalk, I wrote a message at the top, a list on the side and

then I handed the chalk to my kids and they proceeded to break it in.

Here it is, all finished and marked up. My son decided that some of my words needed outlining and my oldest daughter thought it needed hearts.

And my middle daughter tried her hand at a little subliminal messaging by adding a few things to my list ;)

This project really did motivate me to get moving on some other projects I want to do. We will have been in this house 6 years in May and I'm finally beginning to figure out what I want it to say about me. Feels good.

I'm linking this up with Whisperwood Cottage

A list

I don't know about you, but I love a good random list. I was getting stuff out to make lunch today and I realized that there are more than a few things that I regularly buy at the store without even having to think about it. So here's a list I composed of all the things you'd be likely to find in my shopping cart if you followed me around my favorite grocery store (which happens to be H-E-B).

This is by no means an exhaustive list. If I could get by with just these things, our grocery budget would be way more under control. These are the things that are always on my list, and if they're not, I throw them in the cart anyway.

In our family, we're big breakfast eaters and we love good sausage. We usually eat deer sausage, but eventually it runs out and I have to buy my sausage from the store. When I saw this sausage from Jimmy Dean, that has none of the nasty preservatives found in the other sausage brands, I was overjoyed! I cut it into patties and fry it for breakfast or brown it and use it in my spaghetti sauce or on pizza.

Mmmmm, bacon. I love the stuff. Can't get enough. However, I hate that most bacon is cured with nasty nitrites and nitrates. My husband is allergic to preservatives like that and they give him horrible sick headaches. So Hormel is my hero. They've started making bacon and lunch meat without all the nasties.

Here's their lunch meat. Let me tell ya, I make a lot of sandwiches around here. When I first saw this product, I squealed with delight. Until I raise my own hogs or have my own meat processing plant, this is what I will use. I haven't bought another brand since this came out.

And while we're on the subject of sandwiches, this is the bread I buy. Always. My family has been eating 100% whole wheat bread for as long as I can remember so my kids are used to it. Would they eat the Wonder stuff if I bought it? Of course they would, it's like cake! So I don't buy the white stuff. Ever. Now I will admit, they leave the crust on their plates every time, but I don't care about the crust. What's so special about the over baked part of a loaf of bread?

When it comes to sandwiches, half of my kids like a ham and cheese and the other half like good old pb&j. For the ham and cheese set, I just recently switched to this brand of mayo because I was feeling guilty about the cheapo mayo I had been buying. I buy a lot of mayo, too. Like I said, we eat a lot of sandwiches and I also make my ranch dressing from scratch. So we can really go through the stuff. I tried a recipe for homemade mayo, seeing that we have farm fresh eggs right outside our door, but I just couldn't warm up to the flavor. When I used olive oil, it had a funny olive oil taste and when I tried sunflower oil, well, I just didn't like it. So to compromise, I started buying organic. And this is the only brand they have that is organic.

For my pb&j lovers, I buy this Central Market brand peanut butter. I like the fact that it's organic, but more than anything, I like that it has no sugar in it. The ingredient list is one item long: dry roasted peanuts. And my kids love it. They go back and forth between smooth and crunchy, but I prefer the smooth so that 's what I get if no one says anything.

The jelly I am currently on, is this plum jelly that my mother-in-law made. Yes, I am aware that it has gobs of white sugar in it, but it was made in a kitchen across the street from me from plums that grew on their trees. How could I not love it. And it's delicious. And I have about 15 jars of it so it'll be a while before I buy any. If I were buying it at the store, though, this would be my brand of choice. I know it's expensive, but it's awesome and I save the jars and use them for juice glasses.

One thing I am likely to buy, no matter where I am, is honey. I don't know why I love it so much. Probably because it always has a unique flavor depending on what part of the country it's made. And I'm sure part of it is sentimental. My mom grew up in upstate New York and on a sweet little country road near the place where she grew up, is a little table stand by the road that has a shelf and a money box. The shelf always had jars of fresh honey and when you'd take one, you'd leave the money in the box. That was the best honey I've ever tasted. The brand above is a local brand and I think it's pretty apparent that we like it.

This is a brand that I got for a flaugnarde I recently made that called for wildflower honey. It was divine.

And this honey is so local, it doesn't even have a label. Just a price. Mmmmm, did I mention I love honey?

Here's the grain that's replaced rice and potatoes for me. I discovered it when I went on a strict low-carb diet and my list of allowable foods had this on it. It's pronounced keen-wah, in case you're wondering. The first kind I tried was the red kind. It had a pretty strong flavor and no one in my family, besides me, would touch it. Then I discovered this brand, actually from the health food store, that's white. The flavor is much milder and it goes pretty well with whatever I'm making. Definitely a keeper.

Onto yogurt. I've been switching back and forth between this brand of yogurt and the Stoneyfield Farms brand. Brown Cow just happens to be what's in my fridge at the moment. I don't like the fat free variety because it doesn't have the cream on the top. Much better with the cream on the top. We mix granola, raisins, honey, chocolate chips, nuts, you name it into it and it makes a good bedtime snack. Does anyone else have kids that are always hungriest right before bedtime?

And speaking of bedtime, this is my husband's snack of choice either a half hour after dinner or right before bed. I'll admit, it's a great combination. Sometimes he mixes other things with it, but he always starts off with chocolate and walnuts. When he asks me to pick up a little "sum'n sum'n" at the store, this is what he wants.

And there you have it. A list of some of the things I can't live without.

Happy New Year! I trust everyone is off to a good start. I thought I'd start off the year not by telling you how long it's been since my last post (ha! you know who you are), but by giving you a tip on list making and probably a little peek into how my mind works. ;)

I love making lists, but lately they haven't been quite as motivating as I've needed them to be for me to actually get things done. One day a couple of months ago, I decided to try something different. Instead of coming up with an unrealistically long list, which I'm prone to do, I started with a blank piece of paper. As soon as I did something productive, I wrote it down. For some reason, it was motivating to me to think of me filling up that piece of paper with all the things I accomplished that day. I don't exactly remember the catalyst for this switch, but it may have had something to do with me wanting to prove to my husband that I actually do get things done while he's at work all day. But, like I said, I don't really remember.

I guess I just needed something more than a check mark. It's working pretty well, but as soon as the newness wears off, I'll probably have to come up with something different.

Speaking of getting things done...I am going to be working on a new blog, that will be shared by some of my craftiest friends, about DIY projects. For some reason, I am obsessed with them right now. It'll have regular DIY projects and other crafty ideas we come up with. We'll also be sharing links to a lot of the sites that inspire us. I know that I have enough project ideas all by myself to keep it going for a while! Maybe I'll just let that blog be my blank piece of paper and I'll try to fill it up! Stay tuned!

Update: Wanted to let you know that I still make various lists of things that I need to remember to do or get. Those lists will never go away. I just need a little motivation for the things that need to get done sometime.

It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas!

I thought I'd share a quick recipe with you for a stovetop potpourri that will have your house smelling like Christmas quicker than you can say, "Oh no, my Scentsy bulb is burned out." This evening, I was planning on making a pumpkin custard from a recipe I got from this brilliant woman, but I botched the whole thing. And when I say botched, think broken glass botched. Not salvageable. And I wasted 9 egg yolks from my dear sweet chickens that took about a week to collect because they're not really feelin' it right now.

I needed a double boiler because I was attempting to make custard, but the double boiler I got from IKEA was too small and that's all I had. So....I put a glass mixing bowl over a pot of boiling water, added my custard mix and walked away. But only for a minute. When I came back I saw a big crack and then I tried to pick it up and the cracked piece gave way splashing hot custard and water everywhere and blah, blah, blah. I just need to stick to things like stovetop potpourri.

Here's what you need.

An orange, some whole allspice, a couple of cinnamon sticks and some scrap branches from your cheap Allsup's Christmas tree. I did a batch that included apple, too, but I don't care too much about the smell of apples. I'm more of a citrus kinda girl. So if you want to add a cut up apple, knock yerself out.

Fill a small saucepan or pot with water and add all the ingredients. Turn on high and bring to a boil. Let it boil for about 5 minutes, making sure it doesn't run dry, and then turn down to low and keep on as long as you want. Just be sure to add water periodically as it gets low. I've let mine boil dry twice. Not fun to clean. This mixture will last several days on the stovetop and then you can just dump it in the compost and start over.

If you're having people over, or you just need a great big whiff of Christmas cause you basically just threw out 9 precious, free range, organic eggs, make this stuff. It'll make your day.

***Update*** I totally forgot to mention another great benefit of the stovetop potpourri is that you will be putting much needed moisture back into the air during this very dry season. Helps with dry skin and nosebleeds.