Wednesday Post

I went to Newton today and didn't spend a cent. I was sooooo tempted to make some crystal earrings and a bracelet, but I abstained from spending any cash. I go to Twist tomorrow and really need to make sure I do the same there. While unpacking boxes this weekend, I realized I really have entirely too much stuff. I will be working hard to cull the herd and get things sorted and under control. I am one of those people who need to feel like I have everything I might need--as a result I have doubles and triples of some things. For example, I realized I have 3 crockpots. Who in the heck needs THREE crockpots? One of the crockpots is pretty old, so I am going to just toss it this weekend. The funny thing is that thought is causing me to resist actually going through the action of getting it done..like I have some kind of attachment. Mind you, I have two of the newer models also. One even has a temp. probe! GEEZ! And I have a really large amount of waffle makers in every sort of design. Why? I haven't even made waffles in a while (although I really enjoy making them). I need to find my favorite three (1 Belgian and the heart shaped Villaware one stays for sure..) and give the rest to Brandon and his girlfriend. I need to get away from being attached to things and shopping when I'm bored or stressed. This includes Internet shopping.

I am considering doing something different to keep me motivated to save money. Every time I get the urge to buy something, I will calculate the cost, including tax, and put it into savings. At the end of each month I will analyze how much I have added to savings.

I am still tired from the boys' 8th grade graduation on Tuesday. The convention center parking was a madhouse since there were other schools that had their ceremonies going on at the same time. I don't do well in traffic and general chaos. I do wish Mom had been able to spend more time here. We really don't get to see each other much. I have to go to Stillwater for my niece's baby shower on Sunday. The goal tomorrow is to only spend money on a gift for her shower.

My diet this week has been pretty poor, so I will spend the rest of this week getting back on track. I have had doughnuts and cake --both something that I have been able to stay away from until this week. Time to get motivated again.

This morning when we started to open the patio door downstairs, there was a huge Sphinx moth trapped inside between the screen and the glass. We were able to get him out without the cats seeing him, so I hope we see plenty more of these huge beauties this summer.

I haven't made much progress on actually getting the garden planted. I really need to get going on that if we are going to have any kind of veggie harvest this summer. Veggies from the garden are always so much better tasting!

Well, I guess I'd better sign off! Good coffee and great friends to you and yours.

Slow weekend

It has been a pretty darn good weekend. A friend and I went to Lawrence, Kansas for a little road trip and some shopping. I spent more than I had budgeted, but I did get some things that are going to make my life easier and provide some entertainment. I bought a set of Ashford hand carders for $55 --more than I had planned to spend for the day, but I really needed a set. I have been searching for a used set, but that hasn't happened. I have been waiting quite a while. So when I went to the Yarn Barn, I bit the bullet and bought a pair. Now I can comb out and reuse the little bits of wool that get matted or I've pulled while spinning. If I get a lump in a skein, I stop and pull that inch. With hand carders I can comb it out and reuse it. I did pick up a pound of merino superwash, which was an impulse buy, but I will have an excellent time spinning and dyeing this, and it is something that will keep me occupied at home and produce something usable. Eventually I want to sell my handspun and handyed. I have a lot more learning to do in that arena. I will however start making stitch markers this week to sell at Twist. I want to use non tarnish base metals instead of sterling. Sterling sounds good, but it does tarnish and it does drive the cost up of the final product. I personally like using crystals, so that is where I chose to put my extra cost.

I did find a really good budgeting magazine on the newsstand this weekend. I bought it because it has a really good worksheet that I intend to transfer to Excel. I've been looking for one, but this one is the first one I've seen that is pretty complete. The booklet also has excellent tips for saving cash in a lot of different ways.

My goal this week is to use what we have in the freezer and only grocery shop for things we really are out of. I can probably make it through most of this week without having to grocery shop, with the exception of buying a cake for the boys 8th grade graduation on Tuesday. Funny, they didn't have "graduation" in the 8th grade when my oldest was in school. Someone said having these little graduations is supposed to encourage students to stay in school and graduate from high school. Hmmm. Do you think this works?

Spending Friday: Gas for car: $30 Dinner out with friend: $22 Artful Blogging magazine: $15 . I must say I do get am immense amout of inspiration from this magazine, so I consider it a necessity. It feeds the creative muse. Spending for the day: $67

Spending yesterday: $40 gas for trip, $85 handcarders and roving, $16 used books, $12 lunch in Lawrence, $7 pop, coffee and snacks on road Total: $160.00

You know, by themselves they looked little. When I added them up in one lump sum, I went CRAP!! That seems to be my favorite phrase this year. No more spending this week on anything other than necessities.

With gas prices being what they are, I have already cut back on using our car and shopping. I wish Wichita was more bike friendly. There are no bike lanes. Even if they had lanes for mopeds, that would be an improvement. I think we Americans are such a car nation that we don't even look for alternatives. Look at the Netherlands. Biking is a normal sight. And it seems to me they are also more physically fit than Americans on the average. I would love to eventually be able to convert some, if not most of our house to solar power. The budget restricts that right now, but I am exploring for the future.

Goal for the upcoming week:

Monday: Have boys help put futon in family room. Unearth the desk and hutch for downstairs. Find a table to put TV on so marble one can be moved upstairs.

Wednesday: Look for a work desk for the guest bedroom to replace the cheap one already there that is falling apart.

Thursday: Get guest bedroom cleaned and things packed . Prepare walls for painting.

Friday: Enlist boys into helping me paint the guest bedroom walls.

Start shopping for an area rug for downstairs.

Mama said there'd be days like this...

Apparently the cosmic God of pissiness resides in my corner of the world today. Or at least it felt like it. I was having a rushed and pissy day today.

I went to the pottery studio to clean some of my green ware and prepare it for firing--and promptly crushed one of my largest bowls that I had labored on. Crap. Oh well, what can you do. If you get upset, the bowl remains crunched. Lesson learned. Thin walls should be supported from the bottom. However, with my schedule being so weird and gas prices being what they are, I am giving serious consideration as to the convenience of having a wheel here at the house to allow me to throw more and get more pots done without having to drive to the studio all the time. this would also allow me to get more wheel time and experience. I will just have to make sure I transport the pots carefully to the studio for firing.

I was rushing this morning and forgot to wash the clothes my boys wanted to wear to the sports awards ceremony this evening at 6:00. So I made a mad dash at 4:15 to get the clothes washed and dried by 5:45--except they told me the coach wanted them there by 5:30. CRAP.......So I made them wear collar shirts and nice pants instead of the t shirts that they wanted to wear -which were in the dryer. Guess what? Every kid there wore t shirts and some kind of shorts. And not all of the T shirts looked like they had been cleaned in the past week..Some of the parents had muscle shirts and dirty T shirts on....go figure. I thought since it was an awards ceremony, they should at least look nominally presentable. I did tell them they had better prepare themselves because 8th grade graduation is coming up and they would be wearing collar shirts and nice pants. I'm such a mean Mom.

I have got to work on getting some kind of a routine down. During the first months that I no longer worked outside the home, things ran pretty smoothly. Now, not so much. I am going to have to think about running less and getting things back on track at the house. Especially with gas prices getting so close to $4 a gallon, it isn't even funny! Screw the economic stimulus checks. They all went to gas. Everyone I know is making an effort to NOT spend since gas is so outrageous. If we were in the home remodeling stage and could afford it, I would give serious consideration to converting part of our house to solar. Even part of the house would be a big improvement over having everything on the grid. I must say however, this house is much better on gas and electric costs than the other smaller house we lived in last year. Our bill run almost half the cost for twice the square footage. We have much better cross ventilation in this house so we have been able to keep the house much cooler and extend the time before we absolutely have to have the air conditioner on.

I have pretty much decided that this week I will buy the supplies to make my stitch markers to sell at Twist. I have been thinking about it for quite some time, the time is now.

Budget:
Interweave Knits magazine and a British knitting magazine at the shop $11 (used my discount--what a lifesaver) I probably could have lived without this, but using my discount helped and I would have bought these in the long run....

Dinner for 4 Subway sandwiches $21

We went to the grocery store and picked up chips and soda --this way we could have chips and soda for the week instead of spending $8 for sodas and $8 for bags of chips with a combo...)
$12 chips and soda (however this will last several meals, not just one, so it was a good move)

Monday, Monday....

Just something pretty--remember to appreciate the flowers you come across each day. They are a frugal luxury......Often you can enjoy them for free at public areas. I like to take pictures so I have something pretty to look at and to share with others.

This has been one of those days where I WANTED to get things done, but haven't accomplished a heck of a lot.

As I write this, "Follow that Food" with Gordon Elliott was on in the background, but the sound of his voice was starting to get on my nerves, so I turned it to a country music station. Blake Shelton's "I want to Go Home" is playing--I LOVE this song. As he gets older, Blake's voice gets richer. I will buy this album.

What I would like most of all right now is to figure out why the dog food that we bought last night is making Cocoa the equivalent of a canine stink bug. Seriously!! I had to open the doors to keep the lights from causing a flash fire!! I guess as dogs age, they become a lot more sensitive to different foods. Kinda like us humans...Except when a dog passes gas, he hangs around to watch your reaction. Come to think of it, just like a teenager. How's that for a perfect picture?! LOL..

I did get around to making chocolate chip cookies today, but so far the bread has not materialized. That will entail cooperation from me...I will saunter upstairs in a little bit and make the bread since the recipe looks amazingly easy and it would be really sad if I don't get it made FINALLY. I am also looking forward to using my Lodge Dutch oven. I'll let you know how it turns out. Hopefully it lives up to the hype.

The boys have 8th grade graduation coming up next week so I am trying to make preparations for a little party here. Since it is in the evening, I am considering doing finger foods and something easy. We may actually end up going out to eat as a treat for the boys. I can't believe they will in high school next year. It's amazing how fast time flies. Summer is going to be action packed also. Both boys have football camp and various other sports related event, so I can see a lot of kid related errand running. I need to get a master calendar going so I am not trying to remember all of this in my head!! I do have to say, I am glad I am home. It makes it a little less stressful since I will not have to worry about how the kids will get to and from morning practices. Little blessings.

I will be at the yarn shop and the pottery studio tomorrow. I really would love to have a wheel here at the house, but would I realistically use it enough? Maybe..It would be nice to be able to go throw some pots on the nights I am wandering the house or the days that I can't get to the studio but want to be on the wheel. We'll see. It's not in the budget yet, but if I am careful over the summer, we'll look at the budget again and decide.

I have been looking at my books about chickens a lot lately. I may actually make the leap and have a small chicken coop built so we can have a couple hens. I love fresh eggs. We'll have to completely enclose the chickens though. We have a lot of cats here at Casa Davis--not to mention the ones that run the neighborhood. The only option would be to enclose them for their own safety. I am seriously looking at Bantams. They are smaller. However that means the eggs would be either medium or small sized. Hmmmm.......maybe we should have bought a farm or at least something rural.....I'm still trying to figure out how to disguise an alpaca as a dog....

Spending: $0 --this one took a little discipline since it is too easy to hit the BUY button when I'm online at Amazon and BOMC2.........but I behaved...

Mother's Day,,,,

Hubby and I actually slept in late today. It was great! We got up and went to a diner for a late lunch and then to the public library. Unfortunately the library closes at 5:00 on Sundays, and we only had an hour to peruse the shelves, but I did find a honkin' big stack of books to check out.

We have been in this house for almost a year and I have decided to get serious about the decorating and taking care of it. I intend to scour thrift stores and flea markets for chair and stuff that can be fixed up for relatively little with a little paint and fabric, and other little things to feather the nest. I am planning to get the library area completed this week since we actually have guests coming for the boys' 8th grade graduation on the 20th. Nothing like a deadline to get me going....

Tomorrow I will concentrate on getting some cleaning done and finally getting around to baking the no knead bread from the New York Times article. I bought a 6 qt enamel coated cast iron dutch oven this past week. The price was a bit much, but I can see that I will use this a lot for other things such as stew and soups. I think it will pay for itself.

I did break down and order the Artisianal Bread in 5 minutes a Day book--Amazon had it for $16+, which is cheaper than it's cover price, but after a little searching, I actually found it for $9.99 (shipping included!) from the book club I subscribe to. It used to be called Zooba, but now it is BOMC2....You put books on a list in the order you want them sent to you (they auto send once a month from your list, but you can order more any time). I have been really pleased with the books I've been able to get from them. I have saved a large amount off the regular price for a lot of books I wanted to buy anyway. I just have to be careful not to hit the BUY NOW button a lot...it still adds up if it isn't in the budget..However, for what I have bought, this is a great way to save money.

Fun Day

Although the budget took a wee bit of a hit today, I had a lot of fun! I will have to be careful for the rest of the week, but today was a treat.

I drove to Newton today to take a sock class. Since no one had signed up in advance, they ended up cancelling it and the shop didn't open until 10 a.m. That gave me time to hit Prairie Harvest Natural Food store a couple doors down and have a cinnamon roll (their homemade cinnamon rolls and bread are to die for!) and a Tazo tea for breakfast. Then I even had time to peruse the thrift store next door. I always find treasures there. I picked up some really good cooking magazines and a couple cookbooks for a steal. I probably didn't need any more cooking magazines, but these had some really good oldies that I haven't seen since I was a kid...I know, lame excuse.

The good thing about the sock class getting cancelled was that was I got to take a beading class from Julie. The Newton Beadery has both beads and yarn--the best of both worlds. I've taken a couple beading classes there in the past and completely loved it so today was a real treat. We did a crochet bead work bracelet. It was FUN!! I'll post pictures later...I met up with Cindy a little later and we went for lunch and then to Border's to sit and knit/read. Hubby joined us a little later and hung out with us until the bookstore closed.... An overall EXCELLENT day! Except for that little budget thing....oopsie....

$ spent today:
Bead store: $30
Breakfast $5
Lunch $10
Thrift store $6
Coffee : $4 (this could have been skipped...)
Filled the gas tank: $23
Groceries: $24

I will behave and be careful the rest of the week.........

Wasting the Day....

This has not been one of my most productive days -- that I must admit. I woke up feeling like a crushed Styrofoam cup this morning...used up and not renewable....and that has pretty much been the whole days business.

I was able to make myself go to the grocery store here in town to get dog and cat food, but that was to prevent the dogs from consuming my little feline friends. There was a little incident at the cat food dish this morning and I felt compelled to fill the dog food bowl with something for the canines. However, Cocoa still likes cat food (and cat boxes) better than just about anything the dog food companies make, so she was a little disappointed to have lost the excuse to forage.

This past weekend my mom in law and I went to Temple, Texas to visit my sister in law and her family. Carol and I did a little exploring this time and struck out to find the downtown. I was amazed that Temple has this potentially fabulous downtown and yet it had all but died out. Next time we go, I will take pictures. I did get online and found out there is a drive to revitalize the downtown going. That would be so fabulous. I think it would be great since you can tell that at one time the downtown was a real gem. The architectural detailing on some of the buildings are amazing. I hope they offer incentives for artists to open galleries and studios in some of the storefronts. Supposedly there is a steakhouse down there. I am going to seek it out next time and look around at what other businesses there are. The biggest problem I see in Temple is that the highway/interstate divides the town and chain stores have moved to the other side of the highway, drawing business away. As in many towns, the chain stores have made a mess of the potential businesses with real personalities. Hopefully someone takes the reins and gets a solution going. In Tulsa, Home Depot opened a store in downtown and drew people to it. Wouldn't it be great if some of the other stores did the same. Then it would ease the excuses the residents have for going "all the way down there"..I fell in love with the downtown. It is amazing. Much like a gem that was once sparkling but fell down on it's luck. It's still a gem, waiting to be discovered. That is part of the reason my drive this year is to buy from local, family or indie owned places. I can't always find that kind of alternative, but when it does exist, that is the direction my money goes. There is a face behind the product and that is good.

I did blow the budget on wine though. I'll recoup and be more careful this week....Really...

Mid day post

It has been a pretty busy day here at my house. Busy, but not completely productive.

I had aimed to get out of the house early and hit Sam's at 7:30 (I have a business membership so can shop between 7 a.m and 10 a.m. before they open the doors top the general public. ) but instead I fell back to sleep. I have been having a heck of a time sleeping through the night lately so it has been an issue with me sleeping in after everyone is out of the house. I really hate doing that since it makes the day less productive! Anyway, I decided that I would skip Sam's. Last time I went we spent over $300. The meat deals were great, but sometimes it doesn't pay to buy in bulk. I could buy 30 lbs of rice and 5 pounds of noodles, but will we use it all in a timely manner?

Probably not.

So I will shop the sale ads and stock up that way unless there is something we use in bulk (tissue paper, pop tarts, Lifewater, etc) regularly. I did go to two different grocery stores today. One stocks a certain kind of flour (Hudson Cream) that I love, so it is worth the side trip. They also had great grocery deals this week. I did do a little impulse spending on magazines at Wal-mart, and I paid $50 for a Lodge cast iron enamel finish 6 quart dutch oven...I have been shopping for one to make the no-knead bread recipe that the New York Times published. It is getting rave reviews and has an almost cult like following, so I have been looking for a 6 quart heavy pot. The Lodge pot came in two colors (blue really caught my eye) and was REALLY heavy. I can definitely see using this for soups and stews too. It's beautiful! After I get back from Texas, I am going to make the no-knead bread and a kettle of chicken noodle soup...

Home Day

Not my house--wish--a shot of the gardens at Botanica. Another way I save money is by getting a membership to places that I love to visit often. Although I garden at home, a Botanica membership lets me have a place where I can take my knitting and or a book so I can sit by myself and have "MOM TIME" to myself, take the boys and let them walk and enjoy the flowers, indulge in a gardening lecture or class at a member's discount, and just have a place where I can slow down. Plus, they give a REALLY cool annual picture to each member when you renew or join. It is worth every cent.

I'm feeling a little sick today so I am staying home instead of helping out at the yarn shop. I am planning to go to the pottery studio at some point today to try to fix a pot I whacked with my hand after I threw it on the wheel.

The windows and doors are open and it is really nice to hear the birds sing.

I will be bundling up some of my trips today and getting some housework done. It is probably a good day to bake some banana bread from the bananas we have on the kitchen table, they are getting pretty ripe. I also plan to make some chocolate chip cookies and extra dough for freezing.

Instead of buying cookie dough, you can save a bundle by making up dough and freezing the dough either in a freezer safe tub, or scooping the dough into individual sized scoops and freezing them on a cookie sheet until firm. Once the balls are firm, put them into a freezer bag (I put 2 dozen cookie balls to a bag), label them and put in the freezer for use later. It makes homemade cookies a flash on days you want something sweet but don't have time to drag out the mixer and all the other stuff. The individual balls thaw out quicker than a tub and you can put them directly on the cookie sheets to thaw. I make chocolate chip, oatmeal and peanut butter cookies this way, but just about any recipe will work. You save both time and money. It is very satisfying.

I just got an email from our library that a copy of a bread book I have been wanting to buy is in. I put a hold on the first copy since it is a new book and has been checked out every time I try to check it out. I love the library! This is going to be my new best friend in my quest to save $. I also put a copy of Larry Winget's "You're Broke because You Want to Be" on hold...I read a little about him on one of my favorite budget sites "The Simple Dollar". Check out the site--it is really good for little tips on saving $. They have a really good article on getting motivated to save $ by using coupons. I've never been a big coupon user since a lot of the stuff is for brand name items and I tend to veer towards store brands, but I am going to start out with baby steps and try to get a system together for organizing them so they are easier to use when I'm at the store.

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Budget -end of day post: $27.00 Chinese restaurant for 2, $7 Sonic for one kid.....a little backslide, but I'll watch it the rest of the pay period so it doesn't happen more than once. Paid for pottery lesson for son and I. I consider this a necessity.

A little swerve in the budget road...

OK, for some odd reason today I have been eating anything that isn't nailed down and can remotely be classified as food..don't worry, the cats and dogs are safe and alive...

I ate a really large breakfast this morning and then headed off to The Beadery in Newton. After getting there, I worked for a little bit, then got really hungry. Since I had assumed the huge breakfast would tide me over until I got home, I had not packed anything. So $5 later, I finished half an egg salad sandwich and a Tazo Mango tea....I probably could have lived without the tea as far as the budget goes. After getting home today, I inhaled bagel bites and a candy bar..WTF?!! Tomorrow will find me at Twist and the pottery studio, but I fully intend to pack a lunch.

I am heading to Texas with my Mom in law on Friday to see my niece and nephew. I love going with my Mom in law and having a girls weekend. Last year we hit the outlet malls on the way back to Oklahoma. We plan to do that again, but I will be really conservative if I buy anything. I do intend to buy a lot of Texas wines while I am there. In Texas you can buy wine--really good wine--in the grocery store. We are going to have a wine tasting at our house sometime this summer so I want to get a variety of Texas wines to sample.

A friend is coming over tonight for a visit. At some point, I would like to bake cookies and a cream cheese poundcake to tide the boys and hubby over while I'm gone. On Monday I plan on hanging out at home and baking challah bread and brownies to freeze. I love baking and it is a budget stretcher, so it is good all around. I am thinking about teaching the boys to make sopapillas this week since I have a large stockpile of honey here at the house.

Spending today: $5 on lunch

Busy Day

I went to Twist today and managed not to spend a single cent. Given that there are shelves and shelves of luscious yarns, this is a major deal for me. At one point I had 4 sets of Addi circular needles, 10 balls of yarn to complete a sweater and some more stuff. I put it back. I really need to focus on working from my stash. We are going to have to be in major conserve mode in order to make up for the huge dent the fuel bill is making in our budget.

I even managed to get to the pottery studio today. The studio owner is selling my favorite wheel for $400....Is this the equivalent of being offered chocolate the day you decide to lose weight? I think so. DAMN. I really want a wheel to be able to throw at home (in the garage) on late nights and days I can't justify using the gas to get to the studio. Darn....I guess if it is meant to be, the perfect wheel will come along when we have the extra cash for this type of investment...

Today I cooked dinner from what we had in the freezer and canned goods.

Impulse or etc. $ spent by me today: $0

Day 2 of no spending..even for a pop, and I have to admit, I was tempted. I brought my lunch and a snack to the yarn shop. I even packed a pop so I wouldn't spend the 50 cents.

Hubby is going to have to pick up a small bag of dog food. The cats are getting eyed by the dogs, so I feel compelled to feed the little beasts..money well spent..however, I intend to buy a much bigger bag at Sam's on payday and monitor how much we feed them instead of just keeping the bowl filled 24/7. He is also going to put a little gas in my car.

Thursday I am going to use up some bananas and make banana bread. The good thing about banana bread is it tastes even better if you freeze it for later. I found some killer recipes for challah bread online and am using the library inter-library loan to get a peak at a book I have been dying to cook from but can't justify the $25.

Little things that will hopefully add up. Gas is $3.50 in our area right now. Although that is less than what they are paying elsewhere, it still takes such a huge bite out of our budget that I am going to have to REALLY watch my spending everywhere else.

I plan to shop more at thrift stores also. I should have been doing that all along, but it is to the point where I am really motivated to use up and make do, or do without.

Stayin' home......

Learning to appreciate the simple pleasures such as these pictures that I took of flowers at Botanica (in Wichita) earlier this month.

Since gas is just shy of $3.50 in my neck of the woods, it is taking a huge bite out of our budget.

As a result, I am making more of an effort to stay at home and conserve gas in an effort to save money. The past week has been a real drain! Isn't it funny how the little things and the little checks are the ones that crash the accounts? I am taking a cue from this blog and making myself actually acknowledge what I have spent each day. It is a simple gesture, but I think it is brilliant. Why didn't I think of that?!

Since it is Monday, I have decided to focus my efforts this week on using up what we have in the fridge for meals, baking snacks such as cookies, and making bread/muffins on Thursday and Friday. When I finally got around to cleaning out the fridge last night, I was not amused at myself because of the amount of leftovers that had gone past their prime and had to be tossed. Wasted $....

I am also making an effort to actually use the public library for books instead of clicking the BUY button at Amazon....this one is the hard one!!

If you have any suggestions or observations, please feel free to share them with me. The rest of the week, I am trying to bundle my trips and really consider whether it is a need or a want when I am tempted to whip out the debit card or check book.

Since the weather is warming up, I put out a flat of seeds in Jiffy pots this weekend. Hubby and I are going to build raised garden beds next weekend so we can plant a garden this season. I figure even a little garden will reduce our food costs. I definitely want to grow some lettuce, tomatoes and watermelons, along with squash and a couple zucchini (it only takes a couple of these to feed an entire army!). This year I am also planting little pie pumpkins. I will can/freeze the flesh when they ripen so we have plenty for pies and some for pumpkin butter. I think with food prices and gas prices rising, a lot of people are looking for little ways to ease the sting. I am actually looking forward to canning tomatoes. I LOVE canning. I am seriously considering planting blackberries (the THORN LESS kind) so we can have fresh berries, jam and blackberry honey...


Spending for today: Stayed home: $0

A little Art in Architecture

I love the detailing on some of the buildings downtown. These are some picture from a scavenger hunt one of the kids had as a class assignment over Spring Break. It turned out to be a lot of fun and really enlightening, although we didn't find the building downtown that had the medallion of the Greek Parthenon on it...and NOBODY knew what we were talking about when we called several city offices...ARGGGGG.

Beautiful details from the Old Historical Courthouse in Wichita. BEAUTIFUL!!

English Muffin Bread--severe YUM alert

I love Egg McMuffins from McDonald's. Actually, I CRAVE them. However, the amount of fat in them coupled with the fact we don't have one nearby prompted me to start making homemade ones in the mornings. However, the cost of English muffins is also a little bit higher than what I like, so I went looking for alternatives. EASY alternatives....I found an actual recipe for English muffins, but who has time to stand over the hot skillet and toast the individual rounds for 15 minutes each? Then I found this recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens Pink Cookbook. I adore that cookbook!!! It is such an easy recipe and the bread turns out flawless! Tomorrow I will just slice and toast the bread and then make homemade Egg McMuffins. I am also happy since it saves me money. That will be a big theme over the next couple weeks since a friend and I are taking a girlfriend's getaway to Port Huron, MI this summer...More on that later.... Aren't they gorgeous! Here is the recipe, although I highly recommend buying the cookbook. They have a pizza dough recipe and a cinnamon roll recipe that will knock your socks off and that is just the start!

English Muffin Bread
(Some of the comments are mine)

Cornmeal for dusting pans
6 cups all purpose flour
2 packages active dry yeast
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 cups milk (I use whole milk --the flavor is richer)
1/2 cup water
1 TBLSP. sugar
1 tsp. salt

Grease 2 8"x4" loaf pans. Lightly sprinkle with cornmeal (coat sides and bottom). Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups of the flour, both packets of yeast, and the baking soda. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, water, sugar and salt just until warm (120*F to 130*F).

Using a wooden spoon, stir milk mixture into flour mixture. Stir in remaining flour.

Divide dough in half and place each portion in a prepared pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubles in size (approx 45 minutes)....I put mine on top of the preheating stove...

Bake in a 400*F oven for 25 minutes (approx.) or until golden brown. Immediately remove bread from pans and let cool...or you can be a heathen like me and rip into it as soon as you can cut it without having to go to the emergency room for burns.....

Pictures for the New Year

I seem to have been pretty bad about not paying attention to this blog in favor of my main blog. From now on, I will make sure I post to this blog at least once a week. I had considered merging this one into my main blog, but I will post pictures here that do not fit on my other blog or are strictly animal related, hence the name AnimalHaus... Above is Charlie. As you can see, he is SOOOO excited to see the camera. NOT ! And this is Sugar is her "suck up" mode. This happens 90% of the time, and it works. Who has who trained?!
Now there's optimism for you. She REALLY thinks she is going to pull this from Jeremy. Got to give her credit for her enthusiasm.
Anyone know what these are? They were mixed among the Canada geese and other ducks at a city lake in Winfield, Kansas. I've never seen anything like these guys. They seemed to be equally offended that we were making a fuss over them. Not coincidentally, these pictures were taken from the safety of inside the car. Ever been bit by a goose? It hurts! I know this from experience!

Home for Good-Day 2

Today is my second day of being home for good. It feels weird that I don't have a huge block of my day already preplanned for me, however so far I haven't been all that great about actually getting anything accomplished except for a baking jag I went on yesterday that netted 2 large pans of 7 layer bars (one with the coconut and one with white chocolate chips instead of coconut) and 2 pumpkin pies. Yep, that is going to have to stop. I'll have to make it a point to only bake once a week or I am going to be regretting staying home....Let's see, the agenda for this week includes an early morning trip to Sam's before it gets crowded, a trip to the public gardens and getting my closet organized FINALLY. I am working from the closet outward. I will post a before and after picture only when I have an AFTER since the before picture is pretty scary. The up side to that is it can only look better....

On the craft side, I have been taking a spinning class and am looking for a used wheel. Do you know how hard it is to find a used wheel ? I think everyone else is looking for the same thing. I am surprising myself and leaning towards Louet wheels. I am usually a fan of the traditional spinning wheel look, but I have kind of taken a fancy to the clean lines of the Louet. So if anyone knows of anyone with a Louet they'd like to part with at a good price, email me. I want to spin some yarn from the mystery roving I have ordered from Wool2dye4. They have excellent yarn and they had a mystery roving for $10 a pound. Can't pass that up! I am going to spin my own wool to dye and ply. Since they said it was a mystery but definitely not merino, I hope it is a least soft enough for sock yarn. We'll see. So far I have been VERY happy with anything I've bought from them.

I still haven't figured out my new camera so no pictures right now. Tomorrow may warrant a trip downtown so I will try to get hubby to load up my camera software tonight and hopefully have some eye candy for you. So what are your plans this week? Have you got all your Christmas preparations completed? What are your plans for Christmas? Leave me a comment with all the details!

Good friends and great coffee to you and yours!

Some Things to Think About

The house is quiet and I am contemplating how to fully revel in the fact that our office is closed for Veteran's Day. The boys and hubby are off to school and work, so I am left in a somewhat quiet house with multiple dogs and cats--and one cat in particular that has decided the empty case for the dog food cans is an adversary worthy of attacking in the most vicious and loud way. I was contemplating going back to bed, but I think I will grab a shower, take my knitting and head downtown to Dunn Brother's coffee shop and work on the sock I started over again. I got all the way down to the heel flap and decided I REALLY do not like 7 inches of plain stockinette. Who care if it is a beginner sock and that is the way it is written. It shall now have 7" of k2p2 ribbing...

I am preparing for the end of the month when my resignation becomes final. While I will really miss the law firm, I am ready to come home and get my house and health back in line. I am examining a lot of details about our hectic life and seeing what I can change or at least alter to make it soak in more. Seems like we just sail through life on autopilot without really taking time to honor the details. Here are some things I am thinking about:

1. Cooking from scratch more. Nothing fancy, just cooking with attention to little things like spices...

2. Cooking with the boys. They are at the age when making a pie crust or rolling out cookies and biscuits is a skill they need to learn, and they like being in the kitchen creating.

3. Actually getting my garden plowed for next spring. This way I can add things to the soil during the winter and they will be able to compost...and actually getting a compost bin that I can use easily. I want to grow things in the summer so we can eat from the garden more, not the store.

4. Shopping at the Farmer's markets in the Spring and Summer. I will buy more local fruits and veggies.

5. Sewing and knitting more -- to reduce my stash and make room in my house. A sweater that takes 8 balls of yarn is easier to store than the 8 balls of yarn--plus it is more functional.

6. Looking for ways to economise. Gas prices are knocking holes in everyone's budgets. I am going to look for ways to economise and still live well. When gas prices go up, my shopping budget takes a serious hit and second hand markets/bartering become my best friend!

7. Finding my art supplies such as my watercolors and prismacolors and sitting down to create something every day and shutting off my inner critic. I will give myself permission to make "bad" art if that is what rolls off my brush. I am a horrid perfectionist. That will cease, or at least be worked on!

I have become very interested in the way the Europeans are able to take little things and make focus on them. I have read a couple books that have made me think about trying to slow down and focus more. While I am sure not all of Europe does this, and it is not a blanket statement for every European, I am ready to slow down and get off auto pilot.

Those are my goals.

Scenes from my weekend!

One of my sons and I spent the day at the Wichita Art Museum and Botanica (a public garden we love). I couldn't take any pictures of the Quilt exhibit at WAM, but here are a few goodies from the gardens. My son loves to feed the koi in the pond. We have been doing this since the kids were babies and now they are almost 14. Time sure flies!

It is getting closer to the time when I will be ending my work at the law firm I work at. I have loved the job but it is time I come home and work on my house and my health. I am amazed at how things fall into place and things I have wanted to learn are placed in my path. when I was in Georgia, my friend and I found a wonderful scarf done in entralac. She mentioned how much she like the pattern and I remarked that I have always wanted to learn it. I saw a set of stitch markers while at the shop that got me thinking about learning wire working so I could make my own. And last but not least, I have considered trying a little faire isle, but can't get the hang of it from books. I am taking a wire working class in Newton tomorrow at the Newton Beadery and a Faire Isle class there Saturday. November 8th I am taking an entralac class at Twist. Is that not wild or what?!!!

Creativity Plans

Pictures from my trip to Tulsa on Monday and Tuesday...

I am sitting here completely chilling out to a really neat album that I am surprised I like. It is Love, Sensuality, Devotion by the group Enigma. For those of you who lived through the 80's, it is very 80's style...but in a cool way! I can see painting or knitting to this group! I may just have to order more. I am a member of a monthly music service called Your Music and the albums are only 6.99 . I have found some good stuff there and you can't buy most of these for that price, so I'm lovin' it!

With winter approaching, my thoughts are turning towards artistic endeavors. While I was in Tulsa last week, I came across a bead store that is offering a class on making your own jewelry clasps, jump rings and other findings out of sterling silver wire...definitely something I want to learn. So I am contemplating whether I can make it up to Tulsa at the end of the month to take this class. It would take a little juggling and I am trying to watch finances in anticipation of me ceasing working outside the home, so I am still weighing the pros and cons. One pro would be that I can make jewelry for Christmas gifts....one con would be the actual logistics of getting to Tulsa....

I am having a creativity spike right now. I have made myself go on several field trips for inspiration (Artists Dates for those of you familiar with Judith Cameron's incredible books such as The Artist's Way", "Vein of Gold" etc) . The artist date is a field trip to a place in order to get inspiration or to push your creativity along. It is definitely working! I have been free writing (again, Judith Cameron calls them Morning Pages) for 3 pages in the morning after I get everyone off to school and work. This is my time to get my heart ready before I head to work....

I am trying to make myself behave when it comes to buying more yarn--kind of a yarn-a-holics 12 step...I fell off the wagon this week when I ordered 10 skeins (a bag) of Bretton yarn from Patternworks. Hey, I save 15% --does that count? And I got 5 free patterns with it that use Bretton. I have not ordered yarn from Patternworks before and sometimes I am hesitant about buying yarn without touching it first--but this is a superwash wool (70%)/Nylon (25%) and alpaca (5%) blend that is really going to be wonderful for socks. I ordered white and I am planning to dye it. I figure I have enough sock yarn now to keep me knitting for the next year without having to buy more...let's just see how that turns out. I think I need a sponsor...but everyone that has volunteer is a sock knitter themselves and on that shaky ground!!! However, I am quite firm that I will finish the socks I am working on before starting another pair....

Things I am trying to do in anticipation of not working outside the home:

1: Taking stock of all the books I have and have not read--technically I have enough to keep me interested for years!

2: Taking stock of all my cookbooks in anticipation of cooking more at home. I have quite a few and it will be fun to actually start using them!

3. Taking stock of all my fabric in anticipation of actually having time to quilt. I have enough that I can get several really good sized quilts completed and only have to buy backing fabric.

4. Taking stock of all my knitting supplies. This includes yarn, patterns, needles, books etc. I am set for life!

5. Taking stock and getting all my beads and jewelry supplies in one place.

A few of these will happen slowly as I am having to work through the contents of our garage. That alone will keep me busy for a while once I leave my job in December... it will be good to take time to get the house in order. We moved into this house in June and still have boxes unpacked in every room and a garage full of boxes. I will roll up my sleeves and get working on putting the house in order one I am home full time...

Great Day in T Town!

I had to take my mom to the cardiologist today in Tulsa Oklahoma. She lives in Stillwater, Oklahoma, so it is not too far of a drive for her. However, when the appointment is at 7:30 a.m. it is too early to get up and make a 1.5 hour drive in the morning so she rented a cabin at Keystone lake and we stayed the night. I did a little running around while she was having tests run and got to remember how much of a spot this town has in my heart. It is a very good place to learn artistic endevors --and there are some killer bead stores there! I am hoping to get back at the end of October to take a class at one of them on how to make my own findings, clasps and etc.

I used the time she was at her appointment to have an Artist's play date (from the Artist's Way for those of you not familiar with the phrase). I got to go to a couple bead stores and soak in the inspiration. It was good stuff..I needed it.