My plants are happier today!

Yesterday was a beautiful day here with lots of sunshine and high 60's temps.....SO.......since I had failed to get my repotting done in the Fall when I usually do it, I did it yesterday.  I like to do it outside because it's such a "dirty " job....get it..."dirty"!  Ha! Ha!
Some are a little limp today.  I think after all the neglect they're still in shock to have fresh soil, food and water! LOL!  Plus, I divided my shamrock plant (not sure if that's the real name for it) and it is a very delicate plant but needed to prepare it for it's big show and flowers come St. Patty's Day!  Does anyone know the real name for it?  How often do you repot your plants and how do you get them to look so full and healthy like the ones at the store?
This is the "before" picture...

This is the "after" picture...I know...it looks worse but they'll perk up...won't they?

Here's the rest...I have more to do but these were the ones that needed it the most....

 

I just started using Picasa but I'm having a little trouble getting the pictures uploaded to my blog....one minute they're there and the next minute they're not so bear with me while I figure out this new way of posting pictures.   Thanks for stopping by!

Miscellaneous.........

Yesterday morning I took a nice hot bath first thing to ease my aching joints into the day. I'm not much of a 'girly-girl" but I do love Philosophy's Amazing Grace fragrance products.  They're fresh and clean smelling and not over powering.  I love the "philosophy" that's written on their packages too.  Here's one of them: 

                       " How you climb up the mountain is just as important as how you get down the mountain and so it is with  life, which for many of us is one gigantic test followed by one gigantic lesson.   In the end, it all comes down to one word, grace.  It's how you accept winning and losing, good luck and bad luck, the darkness and the light."

Next, I changed the sheets on the bed and did some ironing.....

 

There was laundry and supper to make.  I made a soup recipe that I got from Velma at Down Our Country Road  It was her Cheesy Chicken Chowder and just wonderful!  She has angel biscuits with hers but I didn't get that far! LOL!  The soup was really good...it's a keeper for sure!  Thanks, Velma!

 

And who can forget dessert?  I know this looks like a giant serving and it is but it was the last bit of this dessert and I needed to make room in the frig for the soup pot.  REALLY!!!!  and of course the ice cream had to be in proportion to the dessert which was dump cake....I can't remember if I ever posted it before so I'll post it here for you now.  This is not a "health" dessert by any means but when you need a "go-to" dessert that is fast, easy and delicious......this is the one to fix!

DUMP CAKE:
You can double this recipe for a rectangular pan but the amount of butter remains the same regardless.
375 degrees for 45 minutes
This recipe uses an ungreased 8 X 8 pan
Throw a can of any pie filling or fruit not drained into the pan.  Next sprinkle 1/2 of a cheap yellow cake mix on top of the filling or fruit. Take 1 stick of butter and slice into 16 pats and place on top of cake mix in pan.  Sprinkle 1/2 cup of nuts on top and bake for 45 minutes.  Oh, and if you haven't guessed yet....serve with a massive amount of your favorite ice cream!  (double up on your cholesterol medicine after eating this....no...just kidding..DO NOT do that! LOL!  But if you don't take medicine for your cholesterol yet...you might want to think about starting after eating this! Ha! Ha!) (Paula Dean would be so proud of me!)

Is this too much or what?

I love living alone, although having a few locally close friends would be nice and the reason I say that is because when you're alone you have no "barometer" to gauge your behavior by or your physical appearance.  I could be really whacky in the head....FOR REAL but who's going to tell me???????  So, blog friends...it's up to you!  Should you decide to accept this mission...well, you know how it goes.  WARNING!!!!  This will not be easy though as I tend to laugh things off most of the time so you'll have to be vigilant!

So, here's your first assignment:

First of all I have to tell you that I pride myself on "no-nail" construction....long story but I have several of these "no-nail" construction projects around my house.   Scary, huh?  What you can't see above the pots and pans is a broomstick on top of the 2 cupboards (a good 7 inches on both cupboards) from which those pans are suspended by GIANT  "S" hooks.  I used 6 of the 12 hooks I bought.  I think that's enough weight but if I want to hang more there is room for another broomstick!  But I don't want the cupboards to come off the walls either so maybe one is enough.
The little wire "whatchamacallit" below the pans is the back of a kitchen shelf that I had gotten free at a sale as it was falling apart.  I dismantled it and only used the back part.  I couldn't use the shelf part as it was wider and wouldn't fit between the cupboards.  When I held up the wire part to see if it would fit I sort of shoved it in between those cupboards and miracle of miracles.....it wedged itself in there buckling a little at the sides but fit nice and snug...It was an accident actually...I was just "puttering around" to see what it would look like.  And get this.....it did not scratch the side of the cupboards!  Another miracle! 
Here's a better picture of the pot and pan hangar.

No, I'm not showing you my clean sink...although it is nice and clean isn't it.  I thought I'd throw in "a few of my favorite things" for the kitchen.   This one (and I have several of these because when they're dirty I just throw them in the dishwasher) is a wire mesh drain "picker-upper"?  It keeps things from going down your drain that you don't want to.  I took out the ones that came with the sink, those metal twist ones that never work for me.  For years I would use them, fill up my sink with soapy water only to turn around to discover it had drained out.  Now, I use a plastic dish tub that fits right in my sink (I got mine at Dollar General) and I don't use the metal sink drainers at all anymore.

Below is what I use to store my vegetable brush, a scrubby and extra drain catchers.  Of course, it's a little something I picked up at a sale years ago.  It's a planter but I never use anything for what it was meant to be used for and it's yellow...need I say more?

The gadget below is the "bees knees"!  It cost like $2.50 at Walmart and it allows you to rotate the head of the faucet to reach all areas of your sink plus if you pull down it sprays and if you push up you get a steady stream.  I love it and it was LOTS cheaper than buying a new faucet!  And actually I prefer it to the sprayers that are separate from the faucet that come with some sinks.  I've had those before and never again.  Sometimes simpler is better.

And last but not least is my Mrs. Meyers counter top cleaner which is really her all-purpose cleaner diluted
and put in a spray bottle.  I LOVE her products, they're natural for one and smell divine and do the job!  It's so  much better than store bought chemical stuff and it makes cleaning a joy...literally!  She has all kinds of scents and some are seasonal.  I love basil and sweet pea and in the winter I use pine but it's the Christmas tree pine and it's called Iowa Pine.  The 2 products of hers that I cannot live without is her all purpose cleaner above which I buy the big size and you dilute it 1/8 cup to that spray bottle and it lasts me a year or longer.  I guess I should clean more often?  The other are her candles; they are soy, and they really don't smoke or turn the container black, come in reusable cute jars, are reasonably priced,  burn right down to the bottom each and every time and smell divine! 
Okay....you can leave your comments about my decorating sanity by posting "anonymously" if you don't want to identify yourself.  I can't afford a therapist or a brain scan so it's up to you all! 

Moving right along in the kitchen.... area #2 done

I can't even remember what challenge this was but out of 52 weeks of organizing, week #1 was kitchen counters.  One would think that in 1 week I could get my kitchen counters done but noooo...not I!!!  Today is the last day and I'm still not done.  Am I the only one that gets off tangent and into wild forays of decorating and rearranging that make you question your sanity????  I am even staying home from craft group today (we have severe weather looming here also so this reorganizing may be all for naught if "the big one" hits but on a brighter note it's a sign of Spring!).  This counter wasn't too bad except I just had to go get my Keurig that I have wanted for 2 years but was waiting until they got the "bugs" out and the reviews got better and they did...hopefully.  So, having purchased it I had to set up a "coffee and cocoa bar"  like Brenda over at Cozy Little House .  I'm also trying to cover up that UGLY wallpaper.  Not sure putting the signs in back is the answer.  Any suggestions are welcome!  I'm also thinking maybe a tray to corral supplies would be better than the little chair etc.  Anyway....here's what it looks like so far....oh....and should I remove the lamp and instead put that little chair I got the other day with a plant on it?  Am I anal or just looney?  You don't have to answer that last question.

The white coffee and tea cannisters hold my "K" cups for my Keurig and yes..the coffee one holds the coffee K cups and the tea holds the tea K cups....ingenius huh?  Cream (coffeemate) and sugar are on the little bench and the jar with marshmallows is...you guessed it....for the hot cocoa K cups and actually I added another tin with those after I took this picture.   

I also put cup hooks up underneath my cupboard and hung my favorite mugs which freed up some prime real estate in my cupboard.  Speaking of, have you ever looked underneath your cupboards?  DON'T!  Things splash and guess where it goes?  OMG!   Gross!  But that's another project for another day.   Sometimes I think there's nothing wrong with "blind ignorance".  

Picked up a few treasures yesterday!

    Yesterday was shopping day.  I needed to go to Ash Flat, which is about 30 minutes away, where the hardware store is, Walmart and the Thrift Store.  I stopped at the thrift and saw a few items but they raised their prices!  I saw 2 mugs that were colorful but they wanted $4.00 each which is about 3 times as much as I was willing to pay! LOL!  They had some pretty dishes too but again, $4.00 each.  I know, I'm a real cheapy but these are used and also we don't live in a highly populated area plus the economy and people down here don't have a lot for the most part.  I think they must have gotten someone new in there that's pricing but for the first time in years, I walked out with NOTHING!
Then it was on to the hardware store where I needed some BIG "S" hooks (another project I will post about when done...if it works else you'll never see it here..Ha! Ha!)and Johnson's had just what I needed as they always do!  It is a family owned "Ace" hardware store that's been in this area for several generations and as I like to say..."If Johnson's doesn't have it....you don't need it"! LOL!  And that's the truth!  They know exactly where everything is and take you right to it and they are so knowledgeable about all of it!  So, "sure nuff", they had my "S" hooks and then I wandered over to their "decorating" section where they have a little bit of everything; antiques, new, some furniture and decorative items for the home and even rocks!  They're really not just rocks though,  they're crystals and various gems in rock formation.  Arkansas has LOTS of those if you know where to look.  I digress, but you get the picture and they were having a 50% off sale on some of their items....BINGO!  I found my treasures there! After that it was on to Wally World to get supplies and my long awaited and researched Keurig Gourmet Single Cup Special Edition Home Brewing System but that's another post!  I'm still setting up my "coffee bar" which you'll see tomorrow.  So, enough said....here are my pretties from yesterday.

This is a doily that has a stain, as you can see, but that doesn't bother me as it will match all my other "stained" items in my house! LOL!  The workmanship is what I admire and the time someone took with those teenie, tiny crochet hooks to work on it for hours and hours and it was $2.50....I felt guilty only paying that much for it even with the stain which I could probably get out if I researched it.  I love it!

This is a strange item, new and made in China of course but it is made with wire and WOOL...you know how I

cannot resist WOOL!  It is a leaf, berry and pinecone swag made from WOOL...yes, it's Chinese WOOL but it is WOOL, I checked.  Oh, and there's bells on it too.  There was no price on it so I asked and she said $5.00....I said DEAL!  It will probably go on my fireplace mantel as it is Winter, not necessarily Christmas....there's a difference.  Winter decorations can be left out longer! Ha! Ha!  

Isn't this cute?  Don't ask me what exactly it is but for me it will be used for a plant on a table or surface somewhere.  Again, it is new and made in you know where but it was marked down from $19.95 to $9.00 and that was okay by me because I have been looking for various plant stands to elevate my "dangling" ones like spider plants and such.  There you have it!  Were they deals or not?  You be the judge!

Look what came in the mail.......

YES!!!  More Mary Engelbreit!  I worked at the consignment store yesterday and when I came home this had arrived on my doorstep.  I ordered these from the Mary Engelbreit website.  The first is a 10" round puzzle which I plan on framing when done.  It was only $6.00.  It is one of my favorite sayings and a reminder to live in the present and enjoy the NOW!

This is my new kitchen curtain fabric!  I love it!  I am going to make cafe curtains out of it and replace the "ugly" fabric blue shades/blinds that are there now (sorry Mom but our tastes are world's apart).  As I've mentioned,  I inherited this house from my parents when they passed and they were into French Provincial, dainty and pastel.  I, on the other hand, love vintage, bright colors and cozy not formal.  I need to wash and iron the fabric and I will take before and after pictures when I do the window.  I promised myself I would ignore (which isn't easy) the paint and wallpaper so I can get the house ready to put on the market but I couldn't resist this BREIT (get it...Engelbreit?) cheery fabric for the window.

I forgot to post yesterday!

I was so busy looking at others blogs that I forgot to post!  I had taken the pictures and evidently my little mind thought that was enough...NOT!  Oh well...a day late and a dollar short here goes!

This is the top of the frig...will you look at that shine?  No before pictures here!  YUK!

The only things on the frig now are the whiteboard which I find REALLY handy for writing things down when I run out of them in the kitchen and then when I'm ready to go grocery shopping I know what I'm short on.  The towel hanger is magnetic and the only one I have in the kitchen unless you count the stove but it's farther from the sink. 

I'm following a 52 week organizational challenge and they started this week with kitchen counters but I'm going around the room floor to ceiling (sort of).  I did the hutch yesterday and today was the refrigerator.  I cleaned the inside, the outside and took all those magnets and papers off.  Whew!  That puppy was dirty!  You could see where the papers had been!  And the top was worse!  But all clean now!  Tune in tomorrow for the continuing saga!  

Changed a few things around here today!

I changed my blog to accommodate those who have trouble viewing it.  I hope this is better!  I also changed my hutch in my kitchen.  I put material behind the glass and put some different  decorations on top.  The little tree has my cookie cutters on it and I need to tie some red ribbon on them.  I decorated it for Christmas but then realized I really liked it and decided to leave it out year round.  I have a battery operated candle on top too which turns on automatically at a certain time and then goes off in 10 or 8 hours.  You can get them on QVC and I like them for putting in high places where I would like a candle but don't want to go around lighting them in those places.  The hutch needs work but this is good for now.  What did you do today on Martin Luther King Day?

BTW....thanks to Jodie at www.jellywares.blogspot.com who sent me the invite to Pinterest that finally worked!  Jodie has the most gorgeous blog, farm, children and yarn shop in New South Wales.  If you're a knitter or crocheter you really need to visit her!  She does beautiful work in everything she does!  Thanks again Jodie!

OMG!!!! The greatest thing EVER!!! Why didn't someone tell me?????

I discovered PINTEREST!!!!  OMG!!!!  It IS the greatest thing since sliced bread!  I am a "visual" person evidently because I have been glued to it most of the day.  I am addicted.....gave up cigs and now I'm addicted to Pinterest....it's always something!  But really...will some one PLEASE invite me to join?  I sent a request to  Pinterest but they are very slow...we're talking days, weeks maybe!  I did try before once but by the time I found the invite I think it expired.  I cannot get in and I want to SO BADLY!!!!

 This is great as you're aging too because I can't always remember where I "saw" something, like in a magazine but now.....who needs magazines!?!??! LOL!!! (Oh, better not tell the magazine publishers I said that.) I'm good to go with just Pinterest!  Oh, please, please, please someone invite me to join!

Thrift store "junky"...literally!

I helped out at the consignment store today and here's what I personally "nabbed" and brought home.  They need to be cleaned up yet but I already have plans for them!

This is a pottery piece or cement as it is heavy.  It's tilted for some reason so it might be hand made but no drainage hole so perfect for a plant inside

I also picked up this picnic basket and a wool blanket.....WOOL!!!!  My favorite fabric...woo hoo!

And isn't his cute?  It's going next to my tub, I think with "spa" ingredients on top of it...a pretty candle, a lace table mat, a bowl with handmade soaps....ahhh....I can just picture it!  But now I have to go make supper as I have nothing in this house to eat!  I hate when that happens.  Oh well, maybe I can play with my new treasures later if I have any energy left! LOL! 

Guess what I did today................

After making out bills yesterday, I tackled the next big issue.....THE BUDGET!  I am SO bad on budgeting.  I was good years ago but then I started being so busy MAKING the  money that I didn't have time to manage it.  Well, guess what...I have plenty of time now and definitely need to manage my money!   It's easy to move up on the financial ladder but a whole different story to come down.  I have very expensive medicines that I take which I am blessed are available but it has certainly affected my bottom line.   Living on lots less has taken me time to get used to but I'm getting there and tightening my belt has been challenging and yet invigorating at the same time.  
  The file above is for bills and receipts and inside each month is a list of bills. It's just a piece of notebook paper...nothing fancy.   It has the name of the bill, amount due, balance, interest paid, amount paid etc.  I have Quicken on my pc which allows me to pay using check, EFT(electronic file transfer for when you pay bills online), DEP for deposit and SAV for savings.  I  use SAV for deducting per month what I would need to pay bills that aren't monthly, such as taxes etc. 
There are some pictures of some old budget books/systems I used to use  and are still good but now I do everything on my pc.  I downloaded a great, yet simple, budget spreadsheet from Laurie Perry/Crazy Aunt Purl .  Scroll to the bottom of her website and on the right side you will find "Crazy Aunt Purl's Budget Worksheet".  It's the one I use and it works...well...as long as you plug in the correct numbers and "face the music". LOL! 

BIll paying day..........but a good day to do it!

We had cold and snow here today.  A far cry from the 60-70 degrees we had the last month.  It is 24 degrees right now...brrrrr!  I've had a fire going all day and did laundry and paid bills.  That's about it....not very interesting but glad I had the money to pay them!  There they are by the front door ready to be mailed.  Only 2 to mail...the rest get paid online.  I WISH I only had 2 bills to pay! 

Oh! How I Love Thee Mary Engelbreit....let me count the ways!

I am going to try and "link up" with "It's a Very Cherry World's" Rednesday celebration.  This is her 3 year anniversary!  3 Years!!!!  And she does such a beautiful job.  Please stop by her blog....you will not regret it.  It is RED, Engelbreitish, cheery and cherry and just darn cute and uplifting!  She's a role model to me!  So, in honor of her 3rd year and of Rednesday and Ms. Engelbreit.....here is today's post.  Here is a link to Sue's blog:
It's a very cherry world

Books, books, and more books.....what can I say?

More books came in the mail today from a wonderful friend of mine.....ME!!! LOL!  But you know since everyone has the e-readers now, it seems real paper books are a steal!  Most of what I get is used if I can get them that way so they're really cheap and a lot of the type of books I get aren't available on the e-readers yet anyway.

Primitive Quilts and Projects is a magazine I subscribed to.  It is 4 times a year  but pricey so not sure I'll resubscribe but they have really nice stuff in them.  I just won't make that much stuff....ever.  
The other book is about flea market finds and antiques.  It was talked about on PBS once I think and if something sounds really good I write it down for future purchase (unfortunately, our library never has the book I am looking for...it's very small).  This was one of those "future purchase" books.

The Betsy-Tacy book is the first in a series of childrens books "back in the day" which I never read and never heard about but when I did I was right "on it"!  I love those old children's books and series and I've read a lot of them.
 The Memory Quilt is about the Great Cloquet Fire of 1918.  Cloquet is a sweet little town in Minnesota that I used to stay the night in on my way to Canada.  It was the halfway mark of 8 hours in a 16 hour trip.  I had no idea of this history so I will be very interested to read about it.   

YES!!!!!  More felting is in my future...I just know it!!!!  Aren't those darling projects on the front???  I want to make both of those for sure!  My friend that owns the quilt shop just made the one on the right with a black background in the size of a dresser scarf but when she "felted it" her "woven ends" came out and she ended up with holes in it in several places....I wanted to cry FOR her....not sure she'll be doing anymore felting or crocheting in the near future.  But as an aside...she said she knew she spun it for too long...she wanted to get the water out of it because it was so heavy and wet and she wanted it to dry faster.  WARNING.....weave in your ends REALLY well and do not use your spin cycle.  Poor Jamie.....it's lesson to all of us!

Woe is me.............

Here's the book I've been reading that inspired this post.  It said to gather up your cleaning items in a bucket with a handle and that way they were ready to go with you wherever you wanted to clean!  Brilliant, I thought! 

This is the bucket she showed in the book all full of these delightful cleaning items from Caldrea.  I really liked the idea and the bucket...especially since it's yellow and don't I need new cleaning supplies????  So, I mozzie on over to the Caldrea website and for $75.00 I can have it ALL!!!  Bucket included not counting S&H.  AHHHH!!!!!  My dreams dashed...I sit there for a moment and wonder how I could possibly replicate "the cleaning bucket".  Whoa!  Wait a minute...I have a yellow porcelain bucket in my bathroom being used as a wastebasket!  So, I empty it, clean it and fill it with MY cleaning supplies!  Brilliant, I tell you!  Brilliant!

Ok...it's not new and maybe not quite as "pretty" as the Caldrea one with it's "newness" and fresh supplies but I didn't spend $75.00 and change either!

Here's what it looks like.....microfiber cleaning cloths folded in the bottom and my supplies surrounding it.  There's room for more if I think of something else too.  I did not include bathroom cleaning supplies as those are in each bathroom at the ready and those are supplies that are only used in the bathroom so why bother toting those around was my thinking.

Caldrea and Mrs. Meyers are run/owned by the same people, I think. so I even got close as to supplies since I do LOVE Mrs. Meyer's products www.mrsmeyers.com   BTW...she's having  a sale on Holiday items as we speak so stop on over to her website!  Great smells, great cleaning, and all natural!  As you will notice I have used some of the bottles for my own cleaning supplies that I make up myself.  I got the recipes from Mary Jane's Farm chat room where there is SO MUCH great information about everything!

These are leftovers from a by-gone era and as soon as they are used up I will be replacing them with something less "chemical" and more natural.  Any suggestions would be appreciated!  Oh!!!!  Silly me....I forgot to include my newest and most favoritest (tee hee) product! 

It's the Pledge Multi-surface duster which is similar to a Swiffer but softer and 360 degrees around so you can dust the most delicate of objects without even picking it up if you don't want to!  I forgot to include the handle but there are the refills in the bag in the picture.  I also found a few other things to put in the bucket....my Sonic Scrubber which is great since I have RA and my "elbow grease" just isn't what it used to be, an old veggie brush I use to get dust out of corners and next to moldings where it's carpeted and the denture brush which is really good in the carpeted corners.

 

 Okay...I guess that's enough for today,  it's almost 3:30 and I'm not sure the cleaning is going to get done today....maybe tomorrow!   I avoided that one didn't I!?! LOL!  I hope you accomplished more than me today!   But I'm all set for tomorrow!

Got a few books in the mail yesterday...Woo Hoo!

I have been REALLY bad this week but then again...they are my Christmas and Birthday presents but they just keep coming and MOI has to pay for them! LOL!  Yes...I am my own "bottom line"!  I haven't read them yet but they look very interesting to me.

This one I have already read from cover to cover!  I have another book by her that I got at a thrift store  and I loved it.  She designs her own and it is "ART".  She's very famous and has things hanging in galleries!  I don't think that will happen to me but I would like to try and design my own applique pictures.  Stay tuned for further developements!