I Won!

I mentioned the Canning Party that was going on at A Latte' with Ott, A in this post (scroll to the bottom of the post), and I've been sporting their button on my sidebar since that post. (I love the pink canning jars on their button!)



Well, the party has ended and guess what? I won the canning contest! The prize was the book, Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms by Jane Doiron,and the author, herself, was the contest judge. I can't wait until my book gets here! It sounds like one that will be put to a lot of use in my kitchen. I love getting my meals done ahead of time so I can play!



She chose my post about my home-made apple butter as the winning post.



I am so honored to have been chosen as the winner of this contest because I visited many of the other participating blogs and they were beautiful blogs full of wonderful recipes and canning tips. There were also several creative posts on using canning jars for purposes other than canning. I hope you'll go by and check out A Latte' with Ott, A.

PS. It's a new week and I have a new project! I'm going to try my hand at making a Roman Shade for our bathroom. Stay tuned, pictures (hopefully) to follow one day this week.

The Magnificent Miracle Party

After my massive decluttering session summer, I have a confession to make, I am still a collector! But my collection isn't sitting on a shelf, gathering dust. Instead, it is contained in this one notebook.

I am a collector of words. I love funny and inspiring quotes and I have been collecting them for years. At one time I had little bits of paper with hastily scribbled quotations tucked here and there in so many different places. Deciding one day that I wanted to gather all my quotes together in a lovely place, I covered a three-ring binder with some girly fabric from my stash and made myself a "Happiness File."

I included inside pockets to hold special cards and other mementos that make me smile.



I collect snippets of magazine articles that I find useful and glue them on pretty scrapbook paper, placing them in page protectors and adding them to my notebook.



And lastly, in my very best handwriting, I added, and continue to add, quotes that hold special meaning for me.



I am including some of my favorite inspiring quotes on this special Pink Saturday:

• Worrying does not empty Tomorrow of its troubles, it empties Today of its joy. ~ Unknown
• Nothing good was ever achieved without enthusiasm. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
• No day is so bad that it can't be fixed with a nap. ~ Unknown
• We are shaped and fashioned by what we love." Goethe
• A good laugh is sunshine in a house. ~ Thackeray
• A loving heart is the truest wisdom. ~ Charles Dickens
• Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. ~ Abraham Lincoln
• God has given us life to be lived with enthusiasm and joy. ~ Rabbi Magnin
• Live your life and forget your age. ~ Norman Vincent Peale
• Celebrate every day! ~ Unknown
• It's never too late to live happily ever after. ~ Unknown
• Be still, and know that I am God. ~ Psalm 46:10
• He who sows courtesy, reaps friendship: He who plants kindness gathers love." ~ Basil the Great
• Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others? ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

We all have a chance to do something for someone else this weekend, and all it costs is just a few seconds of our time. Simply go to The Katillac Shack and follow the instructions at the bottom of the post. We can help others by just following the five links on this page and leaving a comment on each one. It's such a worthy cause! Thank you Beverly, for being one of these supporting links and allowing us all to participate in this inspiring Magnificent Miracle party!

My Art File

In 2005 I used some of my rainy-day-money stash and bought myself a drawing book, the Lee Hammond's Big Book of Drawing to be precise. It is a wonderful instructor for a beginning artist. Wanting to keep my artwork in some type of file, I decided to keep that file here, on my blog. It is a file just for me, but you are welcome to visit it any time you like.

My drawings from December 2005:

Simplifying Housekeeping

After decluttering our home (mentioned in this post), I have set up a cleaning schedule and made myself a Cleaning Schedule Notebook that makes me smile.

Wanting to replace the tacky old steno notebooks in which I had written my daily to-do list for years, I set about to find a way to make my regularly-scheduled cleaning lists reusable. Meaning, I didn't want to keep writing the same list out week after week. I knew about Flylady and her idea of using a notebook and page protectors for her to-do lists, but I didn't want a big notebook cluttering up my limited cabinet space. So when I found this cute little photo album in town Saturday, I knew I had found my solution.

I brought my little book home and personalized it with my favorite kitty picture which I had scanned from a piece of fabric.



I then cut pink paper down into a size to fit in the photo slots. On seven of these sheets, I wrote the days of the week and the daily chores I do on each of those days:



Monday: laundry, vacuum, clean out frig, make menu
Tuesday: sweep/mop, buy groceries
Wednesday: laundry, dust
Thursday: wash sheets, clean baths
Friday: laundry, Pink Saturday post

And on the bottom of each page is a spot for me to keep up with the glasses of water I drink each day.

Being in the clear plastic pages means I can use a dry erase marker to mark off each chore as it gets done or make a tic mark for each glass of water I drink. I can just add the occasional chores (like ironing) on the plastic sleeve for the day I want to do them. Since I don't do them on a certain day, I don't want them added to my permanent list.

I am still working on the next section but here's what it's going to be; a detailed cleaning list for each room.



I started my detailed cleaning on one end of our home, the utility room, and plan to work myself down the line, from one room to the next, until I get to the other end of the house. Then I can start all over in the utility room. I am working in my breakfast room this week.



I will work in here until my list is all checked off, whether it takes two days or two weeks. Then I will move on to the next room. I am trying to resist pressuring myself with time limits for each room. That way, my schedule will remain flexible and I won't feel guilty if I want to make time for some fun.

And my little notebook is cute and out of the way,standing on my cabinet or on top of the frig, when not in use.



Ahhhh, life is grand when clutter is gone and cleaning is broken into small snippets. It doesn't take much to make me happy, does it?

Linked to: CraftOManiac
Modern Craftswoman
Made by You Monday
Making the World Cuter

Going for the Gold on Pink Saturday...

...and spray painting it.

Being inspired by several creative bloggers, I have been on a treasure hunt in my own home looking for things that would benefit from a redo. I found this little candle holder and decided it would fit into my decorating scheme better if a different color. I forgot to get a "before" picture but I also forgot to paint the bottom of it, so there's no doubt what it looked like before, bright, shiny, metallic-looking gold.



And here's what I'm still working on when I get away from my spray painting for a while. I've got the blocks all made, now for putting them together. I'm making this into an afghan for the camper. The blocks are not all pink, those are just the ones that crawled to the top for the picture on this Pink Saturday.



I want to thank Beverly for sponsoring Pink Saturday and for featuring my blog this week. I want to welcome anyone that is visiting here for the first time. Please leave me a comment. I love meeting new friends!

Making Strawberry~Fig Preserves

Our fig tree had more figs than we could eat this year so I decided to make preserves. Neil and I, both, remember the wonderful tasting strawberry fig preserves our mothers made when we were kids, so with some instructions from our County Extension Service I tried my hand at it. I'll show how I did it ~ the trials and the triumphs.

Step 1: Wash jelly jars in hot, soapy water.



Step 2: Sterilize the jars and lids.



Step 3: Wash, peel, and mash figs. Well, now that's what the instructions said to do but it didn't start out too well for me. My figs were very ripe, meaning very soft. I don't know if you've ever tried to peel a soft fig before but...



...the fig and I quickly became enemies. After working at this for about ten minutes I had about three little "blops" in the bottom of my big pot and knew at this rate it would take me all day just to peel them. I decided to just pull out the stems and forget the peeling. So, after pulling out the stems, I just mashed them up and went on with the next step.



Step 4: Measure 3 cups mashed figs into a large, thick-bottom pan and add two 3-oz. boxes of strawberry gelatin and 3 cups of sugar.



Step 5: Heat to a boil. Lower heat and boil slowly 3-5 minutes, stirring often.

Step 6: Fill hot jars immediately with fig mixture leaving a 1/4" headspace. Wipe jar rims and add lids.



Step 7: Process half-pints in a boiling water-bath canner 5 minutes. This makes about 6 half-pints.



Step 8: Scrape the pot and taste-test your finished product. I put a spoonful over some plain yogurt and sat down for a yummy snack.



Guess what we had for supper that night? We had hot, made from scratch, buttermilk biscuits, homemade strawberry-fig preserves with a side of bacon and a pot of coffee...Southern eating at its best!

Linked to Show and Tell Fridays
                Eat at Home

Yesterday was no ordinary Monday...

...by no means! It started out with a love note from God. He sent me this beautiful unexpected bloom trellising up my garden bench. He even attached a heart leaf to show how much He loves me.



Then a special friend came by with some special gifts just for me. While visiting her daughter in another state, Sharon came upon some things she knew I would love. She knows me so well. She found some cups to replace some that had recently been broken at our home. This special set of dishes was a wedding gift from my mother-in-law over 29 years ago, and we still use them every day.



Sharon also found this beautiful pink bowl for me. Oh my, Sharon, it is so happy in its new home! After a nice visit with Sharon, I walked down to my mailbox and found another surprise. A package from my sweet daughter! And inside the package were the beautiful soft green napkins that you can see cuddled up inside my new pink bowl.



The package held not only the lovely napkins~which go so well with all my soft pinks~but it also contained a sweet-sweet note from my sweet-sweet little girl. Like Sharon, she had found something while out treasure hunting that made her think of me.

You three ~ Heather, Sharon, and my Heavenly Father ~ will never know how special, and how loved you made me feel with your unexpected gifts. Thank you all! I love you!

I finally did something I've always wanted to do!

Since I'm still hiding inside due to the heat outside, I've been making good use of my time. After many, many summers of saying this is the year I'm going to get my home decluttered before school starts back, I finally did it! But guess what, there is no school for me this year. I am retired from teaching ~ homeschool ~ after 16 years. But, I can still enjoy my clutter-free home.

I can walk into my little laundry room, and instead of seeing clutter and obstacles to step around, I can enjoy the little touches that we have added over time. I can look up and see the light fixture that I repainted and my sweet husband hung for me. It adds a rosy glow to my laundry days.



While going through old folders I found some more of my drawings from years gone by. Thought I'd let this little fellow parade through for Pink Saturday.



This blog is a happy participant of Pink Saturday.

Lose 25 Pounds in One Week!

Just joking, but I got your attention didn't I? Seriously, I think there is some validity to the claims that Apple Cider Vinegar can help with keeping weight down and possibly aid in losing a few pounds. My boys joke that they can't come up with an ailment that ~according to Mom~ Apple Cider Vinegar can't cure.

Here is a quote from the Earth Clinic website:

Apple Cider Vinegar, that wonderful old-timers home remedy, cures more ailments than any other folk remedy -- we're convinced! From the extensive feedback we've received over the past 8 years, the reported cures from drinking Apple Cider Vinegar are numerous. They include cures for allergies (including pet, food and environmental), sinus infections, acne, high cholesterol, flu, chronic fatigue, candida, acid reflux, sore throats, contact dermatitis, arthritis, and gout. Apple Cider Vinegar also breaks down fat and is widely used to lose weight. It has also been reported that a daily dose of apple cider vinegar in water has high blood pressure under control in two weeks!

Apple Cider Vinegar is also wonderful for pets, including dogs, cats, and horses. It helps them with arthritic conditions, controls fleas & barn flies, and gives a beautiful shine to their coats!

If you can get over the taste of apple cider vinegar, you will find it one of the most important natural remedies in healing the body. As a wonderful side effect of drinking apple cider vinegar every day, we've discovered that it brings a healthy, rosy glow to one's complexion! This is great news if you suffer from a pale countenance.


Wow! I've never known anything else with such a wide variety of health claims! You can check out Earth Clinic's website (link above) for testimonial after testimonial and dosage suggestions. I take one tablespoon of vinegar in a half cup of apple juice in the morning and one tablespoon at night in a cup of cold or hot water. I'm convinced it helps me with my weight maintenance and overall general health.

According to most authorities to get the optimum benefits you should use unfiltered, unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar with the "mother." I order mine from SwansonVitamins.com. I think $1.62 is cheap for 16 ounces of a miracle cure. But, I've heard of some people that use the plain old cheap pasteurized apple cider vinegar from the grocery store and get good results.

Have you tried it? Do you plan to? I'd love to hear from you!

Emerging from Hibernation for Pink Saturday

I am taking advantage of my days inside my home while our temperatures are soaring outside. I've gone through my scrap stash and made some useful little items that make me smile. So here's what I made:

A case for my little carry-everywhere camera.





An Ipod cover with a pocket for my hot pink ear buds:





And, last but not least, a soft, cuddly pillow for my reading chair:



The weatherman is promising some rainstorms and cooler temps for the weekend, and I plan on grabbing my umbrella and enjoying every minute of it!



This blog is a happy participant of Pink Saturday and Show and Tell Friday.

The Temps are Soaring in Pleasant Valley!

But I'm keeping my cool...



I'm staying in and staying busy. I'll post pictures of my projects and creations soon...I promise. Hope you're staying cool, busy, and happy!

Our Short Vacation...or Long Date...

...whichever it was, it was enjoyable! We claimed our prize that I wrote about here. The resort was wonderful! The play was outstanding! And, my companion (my sweet husband) was simply the best! Here are pictures of the resort:



Outside our room's window (they were setting up for what I am sure was a beautiful wedding):




Finally, a bird's eye view of the resort.