Month: January 2014

  • The Weeks Just Fly By

    The weeks just fly by, don’t they? January is almost over, and it seems like Christmas was just a couple of weeks ago. It seems to pass by so quickly, but as I look back at what all has been accomplished in these last weeks, the date on the calendar makes sense. We’re back to […]

  • Paperless Homemaking – An Introduction

    Though my home is not (yet) entirely paperless, I have made most aspects of my day to day homemaking paperless. My old homemaker’s journals and planners? Paperless. To-Do lists? Paperless. Household schedules and routines? Paperless. Menu planning? Paperless. Recipes? I have hundreds, but even there I am moving towards being completely paperless. Craft projects and […]

  • This Isn’t Your Mom’s Slow Cooker Cookbook

    A little more than a year ago, my daughter, Corin, gave me a sweet gift basket filled with all sorts of goodies. It was meant as a wedding recovery gift for the days right after Dani’s December 29 wedding. Included in the basket was a new-to-me crockpot cookbook. That cookbook has totally changed the way […]

  • When The Menu Plan Doesn’t Happen

    My normal Monday Menu Plan post isn’t happening this week. Here’s why! As I write this, it’s late Saturday evening. We’ve had a busy day. My husband has continued working on the new, custom trim in the dining room and back hall. William is doing several days of hard labor clearing ditches for the neighbors.  I […]

  • One Thing Leads To Another

    My home has what is commonly known as an open floor plan, so when it comes to remodeling, repainting, or redecorating anything in my home, one thing definitely leads to another. There’s no break in the ceiling line, for example, between the kitchen, dining room, back hall and laundry room. Walls between rooms or areas […]

  • It’s Been A Good Week!

    It’s been a good week! A lot has been accomplished, not the least of which has been that I have finally finished piecing my ten year old grandson’s quilt. I’m a very, very novice quilter, with only a couple of very simple table runners under my belt, before tackling the quilt for my oldest grandson […]

  • Just Like Portuguese Sweet Bread For The Bread Machine

      When I was in high school, a family from Portugal bought the house right next door. Since I spent quite a bit of time one summer with their oldest son (ahem), the mama of the family quite often shared homemade Portuguese food with my family. Delicious! The days that she made Portuguese Sweet Bread […]

  • Simple Menu This Week

    We’ve got a birthday happening this week. William is turning 15! With everyone’s oddball work schedules, church events, and just regular old life, we’re celebrating off and on for more than a week. We’ll take him out for the traditional restaurant birthday dinner on Saturday, celebrate with extended family Sunday evening, and he’s partying with […]

  • Now That The Kitchen Is Done

    The kitchen was finished in mid-November. We hurriedly painted the new wall in the front parlor, and all of the living room, but then we had to put the rest of our plans on hold until the holidays were over. It’s now mid-January and the next phase of our plans is well under way. The […]

  • Progress Is Progress, No Matter How Small

    Sometimes, I think, we can get discouraged when we aren’t accomplishing things quite as quickly as we’d like. We’re better served to look at what we have accomplished with gratitude. I was just sure, when I posted last week about my creativity and reading goals, that I would have finished piecing the second of seven […]