Finally finished! Well at least that one.

I finally finished the gown and bonnet for my moms doll.  Here is the final pic.

I made this as a gift for my mom, but this is something I enjoy and so will also accept orders to make clothes for other people's dolls.  This dress and bonnet will go for $30 all total.  I will be posting pics of other basic outfits in a few weeks that will be a lot cheaper.  Just FYI.  Here are some examples of other work I have done.  In case you are wondering the doll below is the same doll as above.  This doll was reconditioned  by me as a Christmas gift for my mom.  She needed a new outfit in a different color so Voila! enter new dress.

The little doll in the yellow dress is my baby doll from my childhood.  She looks pretty good for being 41 years old.  The dress isn't her original.  In fact I believe she came in only a diaper.  This is another example of my work.  Hey, I have to toot my own horn if I want to do this as a side business.

In other news, I can say my strongest crops this year so far are my blueberry bushes, beets, herbs, and my spinach.  I have to say though, I had to replant the spinach in a window box on my deck.  For some reason they didn't come up in the raised bed.  The tomato seeds(at least 40 little babies) and onion seeds ALL came up due to the large amount of rain we have had.  I am thinking I will be potting these guys and selling off some of them; the tomatoes that is.   I have no room for all of the tomatoes.  I bought seedlings( 16 plants) as well in order to make sure I had tomatoes this year.  I was afraid if I relied only on tomato seeds, I might end up with no tomatoes.  That is not an option.  I will be out of tomato sauce soon, so need to make sure I am able to make more.   Anyway, because of that I will have too many tomato plants.  So maybe I can recoup some of the cost of my tomato seedlings.  On the negative side of rain, about 8 of my tomato plants (purchased) had to be moved because the area I had them planted got flooded.  Poor things looked so pitiful.  I moved them yesterday and am hoping they bounce back now that they can breathe!  Lol.  I am going to have to put a raised bed in that area to keep the plants out of standing water.  I still need to move my squash plants.  They are not happy where they are.  Not sure why.  I am getting little to no growth and instead of lush green, the leaves are a greenish yellow.  It is risky moving squash plants.  They do not like to be moved, but I think where they are is too wet, so I have no choice.  I always tell my plants that have to move "I am giving you the only chance you have, what you do with it is up to you".  After that, it is all on them.  If you ever have to move a plant, try and do it  on a cloudy day or in the evening.  That way the plant can get its roots situated before the sun comes up again.  It is also a good idea to keep the newly moved plant covered with straw for a few days to block full sun.  It helps it adjust without all the transplant shock.  Not a lot of straw, just enough to protect it from the sun. 

Chance of rain today, so will probably be inside in the kitchen.  I need to make bread and a goodie to take to church tomorrow.  I also want to make some granola.  If I get a chance, I am going to try and do some doll clothes sewing.  So far I have two outfits ready to sell; a little bunting and bonnet set, and a little pair of jeans with a little pink summer top to match.  They are so cute!  Once I get a few more outfits, I will post them on here for those who may wish buy them. 

So my coffee cup is empty and I hear my Dh stirring around.  It is Saturday morning and so we will  drink coffee, eat breakfast, and be lazy for a bit. Then it will be time to get started on my day.  You guys have a great day!

Store bought wheat bread can not compare...at all

Yesterday was the first day I got to use freshly ground wheat flour for bread making.  I was needing to finish up the flour I had already bought at the store.  I am amazed at how different the texture and taste is compared to the store bought wheat flour. 
Now there are two different types of wheat berries, hard and soft.  Soft wheat or spring wheat is the kind you use to make whole wheat pastry flour for things like cakes, cookie, etc.  Hard or winter wheat is what is used to make flour for any type of yeast bread. Hard wheat comes in either red or white.  The red makes a darker,  more dense loaf, and the white makes a lighter loaf.  The flour you buy at the store, unless specified otherwise, is red.  Now it was good, but I needed to mix half regular flour and half whole wheat flour to get the right lift in my bread.  Yesterday I tried the white for the first time.   It is the best of both worlds.  You get the texture of bread made with regular bread flour, but the benefits of the whole grain.  Plus the taste is wonderful. 
I still used the half/half ratio of flour because I wasn't sure what it would do, but my next batch will definitely be 100% whole wheat flour.  I already use 100% whole wheat(pastry flour) when making my cookies and such.  This should not be a big stretch. 
Those in my area who want to have the benefits of fresh ground flour, but don't have a grain mill, Nora Mill is where I get my wheat berries.  They run the mill on Saturdays til noon.  You can request something fresh ground I am sure.  I get my wheat germ there as well.  Some stuff is more in cost, but not the wheat germ and not the wheat berries I buy.  I get them by the 50 lb bag.  For those of you not in my area, do some research to see if there is a granary or mill in your area.  Mean while you can do like I did and troll thrift and antique stores to see if you might happen on a grain mill for your home.  It is so worth it. 

My "I don't have time to make cinnamon rolls" ..uh..cinnamon rolls

My kids love these almost as much as the real thing, but these are much quicker to make. 


"SELF RISING" CINNAMON ROLLS

1 1/2 cups flour (I use half white and half wheat pastry flour)
3 TBS sugar
1 1/2 TBS baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup milk


FILLING

3 TBS softened butter
liberally sprinkled cinnamon sugar
1/3 cup chopped nuts(optional)
2 TBS raisins(optional)
1 TBS choc chips


Icing
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
dash salt
2-3 TBS milk or enough to make a syrupy glaze

To begin, preheat your oven to 400.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the first 4 ingredients and mix well.  Cut in the shortening until you have a crumbly mix.  Add the one cup of milk and lightly toss until everything is incorporated.  Dump out onto your now floured counter.  Knead just enough to form it into a ball (about 8 times).  Roll out into as much of a rectangle as you can make  and it be about 1/2 in thick maybe a little thinner.  Spread with butter.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, nuts, raisins, choc chips.  Roll up jelly roll style.  Slice into 12 rolls and put in an ungreased 9 X 13 pan.  Bake about 20=25 min or until golden.  Remove from oven.  Pour icing over the top while still hot.  Serve.  Enjoy!

When I was 22....

Yesterday was my birthday.  I turned.....46.  Can't really complain.  My mom says consider the alternative.  That always helps keep things in perspective.  Another thing that eases the "Ouch" of getting older, is when I look back over my life and see how far I have come. 

When I was 22, I was a single mom who had only a high school diploma.  I was delinquent on many debts such as credit card bills, utility bills, etc.  I was a single mom who took a job at a McDonalds in order to get off welfare and food stamps.  I was immature, shallow, and on the run from Christ.  Thanks to God He kept pursuing me.  The biological father of my daughter had left me for another woman.  I found out the hard way.  I shouldn't need to explain that one.  I really shouldn't have been surprised.  He had done the same thing to his wife...with me.  Yes, I was that woman.  I was "the other woman".  When he left me, I found myself devastated and sitting on the small porch of the garage apartment I shared with my daughter.  It was a cold evening...and late; probably around midnight or so.  Before I could stop myself, I said "why me?".  No sooner were the words out of my mouth than I was regretting it.  Never ask a question you A) already know the answer to, and B) know that God will hold up to you and force you to answer.

 I felt a presence next to me so strong I was afraid if I turned my head to the side, I might actually realize I wasn't really alone.  I heard a voice in my spirit that said as clear as day "Now do you understand why I said not to have affairs with married men "(You know the old thou shalt not commit adultery). You see I had been convinced, contrary to what I had been taught as a child, that God just loved us and all the "don'ts" in the Bible were just a power play by man to control us and keep us down.  What I realized in that moment is that, just as a mother would tell her child not to touch a hot stove, or don't play in the street, etc, our Heavenly Father tells us to not do certain things in order to protect us...not to control us.  When a child disobeys, they put themselves out of their parents protection and GET HURT.  When we disobey our heavenly father, we put ourselves out of His protection and we get hurt and hurt others.  Who did I hurt by my actions? myself obviously, the wife of the man I was involved with, and my daughter for starters.  My daughters pain has been an on going one for the past 23 years of her life.  It's a cross I bear and will for the rest of my life.  I know I am forgiven now, but the consequences of my actions are still there.
I would like to say I turned my life around right then and there.  I didn't.  I was a stubborn child.  It took many years of God shepherding me to the place He wanted me; the point where I would give my life back to Him,  I can look back and see the places where God closed one door only to open another  to allow me to move forward in the path He wanted for me. 

He brought me to a place where I could get a good job to provide for my daughter. He kept me away from those who would influence me in the wrong way, He brought prayer warriors to my defense in the form of my friend, my mom and my sister.  He brought my husband into my life first as a friend/co-worker then as my husband who is still even today my best friend.  He brought us children and made us a family.  He gave me strength at the times in my life when I thought I would be crushed by the weight of what I was dealing with.  He gave me back my life.  Life more abundant than I could ever have imagined.  I am content.  I am at peace.  I am loved.  I am forgiven.  Not just by my Heavenly Father, but also by the woman I betrayed and my daughter.  I can never thank Him or praise Him enough.
So you see,while I would looooooove to look like I am 22, I would not be 22 again.  So Happy Birthday to ME!

Well wouldn't you know it!

Yes it is time once again for the annual breaking of the tiller.  But don't you fret!  I can adapt.  It slows me down a little, sure, but I can still do what I need to cause being the wonderful planner that I am (not); I turned under my beds last fall and so I am not having as hard a time using a shovel to  remove the weeds that have gathered over the winter as well as turning under the soil.  I also am pretty thankful I have the three raised beds in.  That helps immensely cause I don't need a tiller to keep them in line.  Yay for me! 
I am finding that raised beds are a definite must for a gardener.  It is so much easier to handle things.  Now I am still not too sure about the need to spend a crazy amount of money to do raised beds.  I have to do it on the cheap or not at all.  So far the concrete beds seem to be working, but I am still anxiously awaiting the little heads of Lima beans and cucumbers to break thru the soil.  Getting a little nervous on that account, as well as for my tomato seeds.  Now I have a long growing season so I think I have time to replant if necessary, but still......little nerve racking. 
I am tickled to find two volunteer potato plants growing of course in a place they shouldn't be growing.  Hey, I'll take it.  Gonna move the little buggers though in a few days.  So right now I have successfully growing in the garden, broccoli, beets, marigolds, radishes, herbs, few potatoes and cabbage.  On the wait and see list are my Lima beans, onions, cucumbers, cilantro, and tomatoes.  I have back up seedlings to plant of squash, tomatoes, and eggplant. 

On the fruit bearing front, I have baby blueberries and blooms on my apple trees.  Not many apple blossom, but a few.  Blackberry bushes are greening up nicely.  The peach trees are a wait and see.  Not sure if the late frost zapped my baby peaches.  Update to follow on those. 

So that is my garden update for 2013.  Pics will follow later I promise!  So have a great day!  And go play in some dirt.....Good for ya!

Yummmm does this constitute going over to the dark side?

Yes, it is confession time.  While in Florida I had to buy shampoo and conditioner.  Having gone three days without conditioner, my hair looked like haystacks.  Scary huh?  Well I opted to buy ....uh...name brand(SHOCKER!).  I purchased Pantene brand shampoo.  Can I just say...WOW!  I Loved It!  So there is something to being brand loyal I suppose.  Now in the interest of saving money, I purchased my next Pantene at Sams Club and it is in pump form so I won't use too much.  This also got me thinking about some other purchases I make.  One being laundry soap.  Now I have tried over and over to make my own, but I am thinking Ga water is not conducive to homemade laundry soap.  My next step up was to by a less expensive brand, but they didn't clean my clothes as well.  So while at Sams I bought the ginormous box of Gain.  I read on the box to use only to the first line for reg loads.  So that is what I am doing and I have to say I love it.  My money saving with this is to use only what I need.  It is easy to fall into the trap of using too much because you got a larger size, but I will be disciplined enough to measure all of that.  I believe this is worth it in the long run.  Ya know Proctor and Gamble should love me.  In fact I believe I will call the store and get some coupons.   Did you know you can do that?  Oh Yes You Can!  Then hold those babies til the item goes on sale.  Make the most of that coupon.
So now that I have confessed all, it is time to redeem myself frugally.  Humm what did I do this week that was frugal......  Well I hung clothes on the line.  I planted tomatoes, onions, cilantro, beets, cucumbers, and Lima beans in the garden. I made 4 loaves of bread and got to teach a bread making class.  We turned our heat/Air off and just used fans in the windows.  We(Dh and I ) began painting our back deck with paint we already had on hand.  We did have to get some brushes, but other than that, a cheap fix.  I will post a pic of the finished deck once we are done. 
So as you can see, I haven't crossed over to the dark side totally.  Seriously though, there are times when one can be penny wise and pound foolish.  It isn't a savings if my clothes are smelly or my hair is like straw.  If I have to use twice as much of a product to get the same result as a product that is only 30% more in cost, I am losing 20% of my money.  KWIM?  So, I am thinking this is a worth while investment.

Well,I know this isn't a barn burner, but there it is.  I promise a batter entry later.  Happy Monday everyone!

What would pictures of your life reveal?

I am writing today from the sunny state of Florida.  Not a planned trip, and I assure you, we were not ready. 
My 90 year old Father in law passed away yesterday, peacefully and with his wife and daughter by his side.  We live 12 hours away and when we got the call day before yesterday that it was close we cobbled everything together as fast as we could and headed down.  Sadly, my husband  was not able to make it in time.  It makes it that much more precious that we prioritized a trip back in Nov for my husband and my sons to come to my FIL's 90th birthday party.   

Part of the families preparations for the funeral were selecting pictures to display the life of their dad.  I was honored to be able to participate.  His life was remarkable.  We're looking at pictures and I see a family picture dated around the late 60's.  There is a man in the picture I don't recognize.  I asked my husband who it was, thinking it was a relative I wasn't aware of.  His response?  J Edgar Hoover.  Yep.  The creator of the FBI.  My Father in law was a WWII vet, an FBI agent, a world traveler, dad to 6 kids, granddad to 7, great granddad to 3(and 1 pending) and married to the love of his life for 66 years.  It is an amazing life filled with friends, family, serving God and others.  It was amazing to see pictures of him from his childhood to his later years.  A good-lookin guy with a quick wit and a quicker smile.  He made me feel welcome from the get go all those 20 years ago.  He has a special place in my heart, and always will. 

Upon looking at all those pictures and we could only use 51, I thought to myself, when my time comes what will the pictures of my life say.  Can you look at pictures of my life and say it was a life well lived?   While I haven't traveled extensively(really not at all unless you count a few states around Ga), I hope people will look at my life and say it has been lived in the midst of family, friends, doing what I love, trying to serve God and others.  I have my "things to do" list, but this comes secondary to getting my kids raised.  So I guess first on my Bucket list would be raising my kids.  All in all, I am happy.  While my life isn't that exciting (at all), I am content.  Do I want to travel?  Welllll Yea!  Have I done anything extraordinary?  Not in the big scheme of things I guess, but I may not know of any impact I have until heaven.  That's OK. 

So can I just end this post and say "Thank you and I love you" to my FIL, John, I am so honored to have had a place in your family and as such your life story.   It is an amazing story worthy of the man that lived it.....

God Speed you on your way...see ya soon.