Welcome Kemper!

Today we welcomed our newest grandchild to the world, Loren's (our #2 daughter) and Jonathan's first child, and our third grandchild!  Presenting Kemper Lizbeth:

She's a big ole juicy baby -- 10.6 pounds!  Mother and baby are doing great, and even though Loren and Jonathan and Kemper are far far away in Austin, TX -- the wonders of technology and the web made it almost like we were there.

Quesadillas with pork and sweet and salty glazed onions

Oh this was yummy!  So yummy I forgot to take a picture of it plated up and I'm trying to refrain from posting pictures of half-eaten food.

Quesadillas made with left-over pork, and my most favorite condiment or "relish" -- sweet and salty glazed onions.

It all began yesterday, when to celebrate Downton Abbey Sunday, I made some barbecue boneless country style ribs, along with roasted carrots and potatoes and an especially nice salad with Asian stir fry greens from my winter garden, topped with clementine orange slices, cucumber slices, and avocado, dressed with a citrus dressing of equal parts olive oil and lime juice, salt, pepper, and minced red onion, sprinkled with lightly toasted sunflower seeds.

A special dinner for a special Sunday.  I heard that there was some sports show on another channel last night, but I don't really know anything about that ;-)

But the dinner I made tonight with the leftover pork -- sublime!  And simple.

1.  cube up leftover pork (theoretically you are supposed to shred these things, but shredding was not happening).

2.  fix up a batch of Sweet and Salty Glazed Onions (3 or 4 onions, sliced, sauteed in olive oil for 10 minutes or so until softened, stir in 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar and 2 T red wine (I didn't have wine, so I used balsamic vinegar and a good red wine vinegar), 3 T sugar, 1 t salt, 1/2 t freshly ground pepper -- and let all of this cook on low for about 20 or 30 minutes until thick and syrupy.

3.  Make a quesadilla using cheese (provolone or a smoky cheese is especially good), the pork, and the onions.

yum yum.  It was one of those meals you just want to keep eating even after you are full (so best just make one per person so you won't be tempted!)

I've also been busy with other matters.

Found some sprouting seeds at Whole Foods, so I dug out my c. 1976 sprouting lids and did up some seeds.  This is a 3 seed salad mix, with alfalfa, radish, and broccoli seeds.  Should be ready in 4 or 5 days.

super scientific hygienic seed sprouting method

I also replaced some pictures over the couch in our family room with some panels I found on sale at Pier One for less than $10.00 each!

Here is the wall with its tired old pictures and arrangements -- I had bought those pictures at an auction in Hernando, Mississippi over 20 years ago for around $1.50 each and they've been hanging there for 15 years!

Time for a change -- here are the new ones (our family room is rather dark, it only has one window which looks out onto our screened porch).

Much improved.  I think it really freshens up the room.

The picture on the left actually covers up a huge hole in the wall where the stupid non-functioning 1970's coppertone colored intercom/radio went that we ripped out -- which thus dictates all the furniture placement.  I guess one day we will have to deal with the hole in a more reasonable way.

The Paper Towel Dilemma

First, a picture of my daughter and her friend ready to head to an Anime convention held at the Memphis Botanic Garden this weekend.  Cree is a "My Little Pony", and her friend has been "consumed by darkness".  I'm sure you can guess which is which in the picture.  Cree and her friends love to CosPlay (dress up in costume) and the environment at the Botanic Garden was a very nice, safe venue.

Now, on to paper towels.

Oh, the dilemma of Paper Towels!  So handy and convenient, yet wasteful, kind of expensive, and guilt inducing (at least for those of us that worry about waste and recycling and frugality and such -- I have to add that I know many many worthy, considerate, kind people who never give paper towels a single thought).

Years ago when I had cloth diapered babies, and ultimately 4 children, we eliminated paper napkins from our house and began exclusively using cloth napkins.  Since we seemed to be doing laundry all of the time, adding cloth napkins to the mix did not seem burdensome at all -- and so we have continued over the years.  The napkins live in a drawer in the kitchen peninsula between the cooking area and the eating area, facing the table -- so they are very convenient to get to when we need them.

But paper towels remained in our lives.  Until recently.  I figured out a solution that works for our kitchen layout and keeps things handy and convenient.

1.  We do keep one roll of paper towels, because sometimes things come up that you just want to use a paper towel for -- you don't want to put anything in the wash -- you just want it GONE.  I won't elaborate on what those occasions are for me, but I'm sure you might have your own list.

We keep the roll in the utility closet in the kitchen, so it's there when we need it, but not so convenient that we automatically grab it for spills and clean up, microwaving, crumb catching or whatever.

2.  I purchased a pack of 12 smallish white washcloths at Target when they were on sale with all the dorm stuff back in the fall ($4.99) and started out with that, and later augmented that with a purchase of 12 (I think -- or maybe it was 24) very ample white washcloths from Costco for about $16.00.  White, so they can easily be bleached if we want.

3.  Half of these I keep in a plastic bin under the sink on the "cooking" side of the peninsula.  The other half I keep rolled nicely in a wicker basket on TOP of the peninsula, accessible from both sides of the kitchen where we used to keep the paper towels.  This means we can easily get one of these cloths when we need one from both sides of the kitchen, and the basket keeps them looking nice.

4.  We have a bag hanging inside the utility closet where we throw any soiled cloth napkins and washcloths, making it easy to get them out of the way and to tote to our laundry area (which is upstairs).

Since we adopted this approach, one paper towel roll has lasted us for months!

Now, I must be honest -- if I had small children, and most especially boys -- I am pretty sure I would be using paper towels still!



Bonus Frugal Tip:  When I open a can of tomato paste, I use what the recipe calls for (often just one or two tablespoons), and then put the remainder in an ice cube tray and put it in the freezer.  After it's frozen, I pop the tomato paste cubes into a freezer bag and keep handy in the freezer part of the fridge.  One can lasts a good long while that way, before I have to purchase another one.

Sharing with Sunny Simple Sunday; Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop

Playing around with "Noteshelf" on the IPad

Above is a page I made with a new app I got for my IPad yesterday that I've been playing with, called "Noteshelf".    You can make pages for "books" using a variety of page backgrounds (this is on what looks like wide ruled notebook paper, although you can't see it well in this picture) with a variety of templates included in the app -- plain, graph paper, ruled paper, list paper, to do type lists, etc.  Then you can create text in a variety of fonts, place the text, move it around, shrink or expand it.  You can also use your finger or a stylus to doodle, write, and scribble in different colors -- either with a line or wash effect, use little graphics, and even take photos without leaving the app and size and stick them on the page, and apply text or doodles directly over the photos.  You can also send the pages you create to email, facebook, twitter, or photo stream (I put this in photo stream, so I could then use it in Blogger).

You can give the books you create names, and choose from different "covers" and they sit "displayed" on a shelf ready to click on to open and read, use, or edit.  What an easy way to do some journaling or document a project and make notes directly on photos or text.

I'm sure there are probably other programs and apps that do similar things, but this was really easy to work and worked seamlessly and cost under $5.00.  Can't beat that!

Sharing with Sunny Simple Sunday

Andrea Carlson - Christmas Card

I hope this links up properly.  Andrea is an old friend, who lives in Pennsylvania now.  She homeschooled some of her 4 children for a time, and knit with us in the park for years on end while the children played, She is a wonderful artist and musician and is going to embark on a European tour this coming year.  She wrote and recorded this Christmas song, so I hope you'll give her a listen and check out her website www.AndreaCarlsonMusic.com .  Enjoy!

Old Friends

this angel, along with 2 others (one for me and my 2 younger sisters) sat above our stockings since around 1962.  My youngest sister didn't "have" one, as she was born 8 years later after the youngest at that time.

I read on lots of blogs accounts of wondering how one will decorate the mantel this year for Christmas, what theme to have for the tree, what colors will one use . . .

I don't have those questions, because I decorate for Christmas the same way every year.  Every year we bring down the boxes from the attic.  Every year the girls tell me I have hung the stockings on the wrong stocking holders and every year they fix them ("Rhiann's goes on the snowflake, Hannah's goes on the angel, don't you remember!??" -- with 4 girls, um, no I don't).

The same stockings, the same decorations -- the two vintage looking stuffed Santa's that my own grandmother gave my two oldest daughters when they were 2 and 4 (they are now 25 and 27), the Rudolf stocking holder that sits on the mantel clock without holding a stocking because it is too tippy, the candy cane striped candles, the faux garland with lights.

And the rest of the house is the same way.  Over 35 years of ornaments accumulated for the tree -- and all (minus some breakage and deterioration) go on the tree, each with a story, a connection, a memory.  A collection of snow globes on the windowsill in the kitchen, the Christmas Village placed always in the same way on the dining room buffet.  As unchanging -- as dependable -- as the Thanksgiving Dinner menu.

Each item, an old friend that we acquaint ourselves with anew each year at the end of November, for a month's visit.

Linking to Sunny Simple Sunday

Chickens Playing Soccer

Somehow my pictures of the chickens never come out very good.  Chickens are far better appreciated in person than they are through pictures -- mine at least are constantly on the move, making pictures difficult -- especially when they are involved in a rousing game of "soccer" with a cherry tomato.

The chicken on the right -- I think it's Pomegranite -- rushed off with the tomato, with the others in hot pursuit.

Everyone else is running towards her, in hopes of snatching it away.

She's heading off the other direction, Chickahominy hoping to cut her off, and Esther blocking the retreat.

Chicken Noodle, here (a Rhode Island Red), spotted me watching and much prefers to come over for some stroking and talking to -- she's very friendly and social.

And so ended another round of Chicken Soccer.

Daughters, Grandkids, and a soon to be Son in Law

Our #2 daughter, Loren, that lives and teaches in Austin, came home to visit this past week for several days.  She and her guy are expecting their first child (to be born in late February).  Jonathan is in management for a grocery store in Austin, so knowing he can't get off for such a long trip during the holiday season, they came for a visit now so that we could meet and get to know him a little bit.  We hadn't seen Loren since last November.

We had a great little family dinner with 3 of the 4 daughters -- Loren, Rhiann (the oldest), Cree (there on the right) and the two grandkids -- who were very excited to see Aunt Loren -- and she was excited to see them!  Hannah, college girl, was disappointed that she was too far away (other side of the state at her college) to make coming home practical.

Loren insisted that as an extremely athletic and fit preschool teacher, she was perfectly safe in giving Ari and Aydan pony rides.

Looks like Aydan will remain the only boy in the family (I and all of my sisters have all girls), as Loren's baby will be a girl, whom they plan to call Kemper.

Aydan got a new "fire fighter" themed umbrella and rain boots set and insisted, with his button up red corduroy shirt and decked out in the boots, that he was a fire fighter and now he was ready to fight fires (with his "gumbrella" to protect him from the water hose I guess.

Aydan stayed over for the whole weekend, so lots of fun in the driveway with Aunt Loren and Uncle Jonathan.  It was kind of cold and rainy for part of their stay, but Jonathan kept saying how much he was loving all the rain and cold (so different from Austin and where he grew up in Texas).

They brought their 5 mo. old puppy, Olympia, with them -- who got along great with Trixie and Champas (the cats, however, were horrified and kept a low profile all weekend).  At times, with 3 dogs, 2 cats, the grandkids, and Loren herself (who is VERY high energy despite being pregnant) it was a definite 3 ring circus.

We had a wonderful baby shower (which I did not manage to take one single picture of) while she was here, with some of Loren's college friends and some of my friends and their now grown children who have been part of our homeschool "family" since Loren was 6.

Looks like we will be working in visits to Austin over the coming years!

More Magic Bling for My Garden

Aah, we (and by we I mean my husband) finally finished painting the front of the house.  He had to rig up a special paint brush holder that could reach to the top of our top eave (saving us from having to rent an even bigger ladder than the huge one we share with my parents).  I have to say I just love love love the purple trim -- purple enough to be fun, but not too terribly outrageous for our somewhat staid and conservative suburban neighborhood.

Of course I couldn't just stop with the purple trim.  That eave has been begging for some kind of focal point -- some kind of bling!  I found the sun medallion at Costco -- this was the last one at our store, marked down to $16!   Of course it had to come home with me.  For $16 I could find a place for it, even if it didn't work out for the eave (it's really hard to tell whether it would be the right scale before getting it up there).

It is absolutely perfect for the space!  We are having a nice little cool down this weekend, with highs of only 80 and lows in the low 60's (which is good, because our downstairs AC quit working last night, sigh), so a great weekend for going to our local annual community festival, The Germantown Festival, and the grand opening of our new Urban Farm Park (Bobby Lanier Park).  And maybe some progress can be made on the remaining painting that needs to be done, on the south and north sides of the house.  But at least our front is finished now.

Where Does the Time Go??

Sheesh -- will I ever have the time to leisurely work in my garden, take some pictures, and write a nice blog post?  I guess, eventually.  In the meantime, despite all of the unrelenting heat and drought, it seems like I haven't really had a summer.  TOO MUCH BUSY-NESS!!  Which makes me kind of cranky.  And disorganized.  And discombobulated.

lofting the bed -- then unlofting when she decided it was too high

Got Hannah off to college -- 400 miles away on the other side of the state.  I hope she appreciates how I am not calling her and interrogating her every night.  We have had a lot of texts and emails over the past 2 weeks, and this afternoon a telephone call for me to walk her through printing something out from her new computer and unfamiliar word processing program to her new printer, and lengthy discussions about how to handle the purchase the required Spanish textbook (does the Amazon version that is $100 cheaper than the school book store come with the required computer code pass key, which appears to cost $100 separately, is the book store one bundled . . . ?).

This 1800's farmhouse is next door to her dorm, and is where she will be working as the Freshman Fellow for the Mountain Challenge organization that is headquartered here.  There's a dog and 2 cats, a garden, solar panels, etc.

A view of the (weedy) garden and the mountains beyond.  It was overcast that day -- on less dreary days you can see layers upon layers of mountains.

One of her first tasks was to climb to the top of this "Alpine Tower".  Down below are Mountain Challenge staff, with whom she'll be training all year.

When we got back, it was time for Cree to jump back in to homeschooling.  Here our some of our books for this year:  Civics, American History (Civil War to present), Algebra I, Forensics, American Literature, The Scarlet Letter.

Hosted and taught the first session of the homeschool Civics Class with my 15 paying (yay!) students.

And had a lot of this going on:

Our 3 yr old granddaughter spend an unplanned (as usual, sigh) 3 days and nights (while preparing for the Civics Class -- sure wasn't counting doing my prepping with a 3 yr old in the house -- challenging to say the least).  A 3 year old who doesn't take naps and doesn't go to bed until 10 or 11:00 at night.  I really understand how her mommy needs a break now and then because Ari is a huge handful, but she is hard to have over for that long of a time.  She's cute, but oh my she is so intense and in constant motion!