As we gather with our families to celebrate this Memorial Day lets not forget the reason.... 

A day for honoring the brave men & women that have lost their lives while defending our country and protecting our freedoms.

Goodies in my Mailbox

Hello All,
I've been MIA for the past couple of days. Nothing going on other than relaxing and enjoying the time off from school. I had planned to take a few weeks off and just do as I wish with no schedules to follow and that is just what I am doing.

Now to the goodies in my mailbox!

My husband brought a package in to me yesterday as he came in from work. It was the giveaway that I won from WEST SIDE OF STRAIGHT last week. I felt like a birthday girl as I opened and unwrapped each piece that she sent.

Thank you so much Jo Lynn. I loved each and every one of them. You know, it's amazing at how a little ol' package can brighten your day.
Now you've got me thinking about doing a giveaway on my blog. I just need to figure out what to give away.

While I've been relaxing I've been reading, watching movies ( I can't wait to watch the new movie Dear John sometime today) and slowly working on my rug hooking.
The pattern that I chose to work on was a freebie from Bird In The Hand Primitives.

I just used a black marker and traced the pattern on to my cloth. Then I began to hook away. Yes, I am slow and no I have not accomplished  very much but it's new to me and I've still got lots to learn. The darn wool strips keep twisting as I pull it through the cloth so I end up having to stop and fix each loop before I go on to the next one. In time, I'm sure I will get better with the technique and be able to go much faster.

GINGER gave me a heads up last week and told me that a package would be arriving soon. Well it got here this morning and I was so tickled when I opened it up.

It was a rug hooker's dream.

A whole box of wooly worms!

Look at all those beautiful colors!

Thank you Ginger!

I already have an idea of what I'd like to make with these.

Well that's about it for today.

I'm off to catch up on some chores and then hopefully settle down with that movie and maybe hook a bit.

Hope you all have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Peanut Butter/Chocolate Pudding Mousse

This pudding is so creamy that I consider it to be more of a mousse than a  pudding and if you love peanut butter then this one is for you.
You can make it several different ways.
~ go for sugar free and use S.F. pudding & Cool Whip
~ go regular and use full fat milk, regular pudding and Cool Whip
~ (my version) whatever you have on hand which in this case was 1 box regular, 1 box S.F. and a lite Cool Whip.
Play with it a bit and maybe try other pudding flavors and leave out the peanut butter.

Peanut Butter/Chocolate Pudding Mousse

1 small box vanilla pudding

1 small box chocolate pudding

3 1/3 cups milk

5 tbsp. peanut butter

8 oz. Cool Whip

Do NOT use an electric mixer with this recipe. Mix by hand with a wire whisk.

In small bowl:

 whisk together vanilla pudding and 1 2/3 cup milk.

Add 2 1/2 tbsp. peanut butter and whisk again.

Add 1/2 of the container of Cool Whip and mix well with whisk.

Spoon into individual serving size containers but leave enough room in each for a layer of chocolate to go on top.

Repeat recipe instructions again using the chocolate pudding.

Spoon over peanut butter layer.

Cover and refrigerate.

Enjoy!

I have to tell you that my mother got this recipe from a friend at work. Her copy was titled Vivian's pudding. Not sure where Vivian got the recipe but I changed the name so as to give you a better idea of what Vivian's Pudding was.

Rugmaking Update:

I managed to get a little bit of time this weekend to begin on my rug. It's slow going as I am new at it. Sometimes I have to remove the loops and redo them but I'm getting the hang of it. I'll have to snap a picture later and show it to you.

That's all for today!

C-Ya

Happy 39th Birthday!

My husband's 39th birthday was yesterday.

We celebrated with a cookout with the family. He got to try out his *new* grill and then we had a DQ Blizzard cake.

Here's my three guys putting together the new grill on Saturday. I had to take the picture from inside so that they wouldn't see me. Trust me on this one.

The pictures that I took after they saw me weren't meant for blogging. :-)

Hope you had a great Birthday!

Love Ya,

Jessica

Oven BBQ Round Steak

Here is a tasty recipe that I used to make all the time. It's great for those days that you want something nice for dinner but are short on time. I like to prepare it in the morning and then let it set in the refrigerator till it's time to place it in the oven. That way I can get busy with whatever I am doing and when it's time just pop it in the oven.

Oven BBQ Round Steak

3 lbs. round steak

2 tbsp. oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup catsup

1/2 cup vinegar

3/4 cup water

1 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tbsp. mustard

1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Trim meat and brown in oil.

Once browned, remove and place in a greased baking dish.

Mix rest over ingredients in a bowl and then pour over meat.

Cover and bake at 350° for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Add mashed potatoes and a side and enjoy!

Cutting Wooly Worms

This is the next step in my rugmaking adventure.
I have my wool all dyed and ready to be cut.
I don't have one of those fancy rug cutters so I just used my rotary cutter, self-healing mat and a long strip quilting template.

It worked pretty good I think.
I doubled up the fabric to make it go a bit quicker and then stacked them in colors and tied them up so as to not lose any of the wooly worms.
All I need to do now is trace my pattern onto the monk's cloth and start hooking.
Don't think I will get around to it today though. The sun has decided to come back out and push all the rain clouds away so I've got lots to do outdoors. The grass needs cut, I've got more garden work to do and a little SEWING request for someone.

I'll keep you posted with more pictures as I get the rug started and I've got a few more recipes to share with you soon.
Have a great day!

ME vs. THE BIRDS

I know I said that I would post more about my adventure in rugmaking today but it will have to wait till tomorrow.

Why?

Well the time that I could have been working on my rug yesterday was instead spent working in the garden.
These dirty little birds (Starlings) have stripped many of my tomato plants of their leaves as well as swooped in and plucked two of my three zucchini plants right out of the ground. They have also ruined some of the pepper plants too!

Only two stems still standing. All the leaves are gone.

Now what I would like to do is to get the BB gun and have target practice with the lil' boogers however they have nests of babies nearby and besides that's just cruel.

Instead I went to Walmart and bought some netting, cut it into squares and pushed it overtop of the stakes so that it would drape over the plants.

The garden is one big mudhole with all the rain we have been getting. I sunk in spots clear way up to my ankles. It kind of felt like walking in quicksand. You just kept sinking.

I now need to go buy more zucchini plants and replant a few tomatoes. I'm also going to cut up an old bicycle innertube into strips and then lay the strips out in the garden. We did this last year and it did help to keep the birds out. I guess they see them and think that they are snakes so they leave everything be.

I'll leave these little tents on the plants till they get a bit bigger. Once they grow the birds don't even seem to bother them.

 I also saw another deer walking down the middle of the road this morning when I got up at six. I can't believe they are sticking around so much. They usually aren't seen that much until fall arrives and they come for these apples on my neighbors tree.

 

I guess if I want to get anything accomplished on that rug today then I had better get off here and get a moving.

Catch you all later.

Rugmaking ~ A New Hobby on the Horizon

Snickers with my wool finds from Goodwill

In my blogging adventures I have come across so many new & different crafts and creations. I am totally blown away by the talent of everyone.
Rugmaking in particular has really caught my eye.
I love to look at the creations of Ginger at Primitives by the Light of the Moon & Betty's over at Primitive Betty's as well as many other wonderful sites.
After drooling over their creations I decided that I wanted to give it a try but I've never seen rugs like these locally nor any of the supplies needed to make them with. I contacted Ginger and asked if she could steer me in a good direction for purchasing the right tools and thankfully she was willing to help. She told me of a few places to shop online as well as where to find some tutorials to get started with. She was also kind enough to send me a lil' package of stuff to use for practice. ( Thanks again, Ginger!)
Now that our schooling is over I have more spare time to be able to get started on this new hobby. I went to our local Goodwill store in search of some used 100% wool clothing. It is much cheaper to do this and dye it yourself than it is to buy new wool by the yard.
I was able to find a skirt and two pairs of pants.(Pictured above with Snickers) I then washed and dried them and boy did they ever shrink. Next I cut them apart, removing any buttons and zippers.
Now they are ready to be dyed to a shade of my liking.
I mixed up two different colors ~ blue and green. Here the wool is soaking in the green dye which looked black to me. I was beginning to think I had screwed up somewhere along the way but it turned out green once it was dry.

These pictures don't show the true colors that well. They are much more vibrant than they appear.

In person, the blue piece clear way to the right is so pretty.
Now I just need to cut my wool strips and get started but I'll save that for tomorrow. For now I'm off to the Goodwill again. I'd like to have a few more colors to work with so I'll pop in and see if I can find anymore wool.
Enjoy your day and hope it's not as soggy as it is here in my neck of the woods.

Got it all planted now!

It's been a busy weekend with lots going on.
It was time to stock up on groceries for the month so that is what I did ALL day Saturday.
While I was gone my husband was busy tilling up part of the front yard. 

Our yard is not flat and this area is always a pain in the rear to mow so he wanted to cut a bit of the bank away hopefully making it a little easier to mow. It's raining today but I'm hoping that we won't get any big downpours that will wash all that grass seed and straw away. (Keeping fingers crossed.)
We also got the rest of the garden planted. We finished it by adding 22 tomatoes, 16 banana peppers and 3 squash plants.

Isn't our multi-colored fence lovely? I'd love to take it down but then I'd have to constantly yell at the dogs to get out of the garden plus it keeps the rabbits out!

We've seen deer and raccoons recently too and I sure hope they find their food elsewhere instead of in my garden.

Tomatoes and Peppers

Corn is slowly growing.

Potatoes that sure could use some weeding!

There was plenty more that went on over the weekend like cooking, cleaning, laundry, sewing and doggie haircuts and baths.

Bailey all trimmed and bathed.

I can actually say I'm glad it's a rainy Monday.

A good day to rest up after all the weekend chores and maybe get a bit of time to begin a new project (or finish an old one. :-)

Crumb Coated BBQ Chicken or Pork Chops

I have to thank my SIL (Joan) for passing this one on to me. She made it using chicken and they all loved it.
I used pork chops instead of chicken & Yumm-o.
I love quick, easy & simple yet tasty recipes like this.

Crumb Coated BBQ Chicken or Pork Chops

Chicken or pork chops

bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

Italian Seasoned bread crumbs

Place BBQ sauce in one bowl.

Place bread crumbs in another.

Take meat and coat it in the BBQ sauce.

Next dip it in the bread crumbs, coating well.

Place on a greased baking sheet.

Bake at 350 till done to your liking.

Enjoy!

Hope to be back and posting on a more regular basis soon.

Katie finished her schooling today and Gage just has a little bit more to do so it won't be long and then SCHOOLS OUT!

Hope you all have a great day!

Wanna Take a Ride? ~ Sternwheeler Fieldtrip for Homeschoolers

If you live in or near our area and are a homeschooler looking to take a fieldtrip then check THIS out.
The Valley Gem Sternwheeler is offering a one hour river ride to homeschoolers for $5 a person (age 3 and up).
The great thing about this is that you don't have to be part of a large group to go. (Most tours are booked as a group with X amount of people or more.) This time it is open to anyone that homeschools whether you come as a party of 2, 3, 5 or 10.
I contacted the company today for more details.

Tuesday May 18, 2010 from 1-2 p.m.

601 Front Street

Marietta, OH 45750

1-740-373-7862

$5 cash due at boarding (until seats are full)

or

reserve with credit card by phone or online.

Ride begins on the Muskingum River. It travels to the Ohio River where it heads north to the Interstate Bridge. There it will turn around and head home again. The boat only travels at a rate of 7 MPH so the ride doesn't span a great distance but it will be an awesome "out of the ordinary" experience for many kids.

Bean Salad

Not to be confused with a 3 Bean Salad.....because I can't stand the taste of the wax beans that they use in them.
I just left those out and then added a little red wine vinegar to give a little extra zing to this dish.

Bean Salad

38 oz. can green beans

15 oz. kidney beans

2 tbsp. finely chopped onion

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. parsley

Place beans in a large bowl.

In smaller bowl, mix all other ingredients and then pour over beans.

Mix well and refrigerate.

Mother's Day this year was spent indoors as the temperatures here are a little on the chilly side.

I spent the day sitting in front of my sewing machine and watching some great *sappy* movies on the Hallmark Channel followed by a dinner with the family at my Mom & Dad's.

Today, or better yet this whole week will be another busy one finishing up with our schooling. I'll probably be very sporadic with my posting until we get it finished. There is just not enough time in the day and I would like to truly focus on school so that we can get it done.

Then we can enjoy the summer.

Catch you all later!

Crock Pot Cheesey Beef & Mac

I am sooo glad the weekend is here. It has been a crazy week as we try to wrap up our schooling for the year. We still have a few more lessons before we can finish but it's so close to being finished. It's now time to get the paperwork in order so that it can be sent in to the school board. Once all of that is done then we can sit back....breathe...and enjoy the summer.
The recipe that I'm sharing today was on last month's menu plan. I didn't have a picture of it at the time so I didn't share the recipe. However, I made this yesterday for dinner and this time I remembered to take a picture of it.
So here it is!

Crock Pot Cheesey Beef & Mac

12 oz. elbow macaroni ( I use whatever I have on hand.)

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

1 packet beef stew seasoning mix

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 ( 10.75 oz.) can condensed cheddar cheese soup

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup beef broth ( I use more)

Cook macaroni in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain & place in a greased crock pot.

Cook beef & onion till done and drain.

Add beef to crockpot.

Add rest of ingredients to crock pot and give it a good stir.

Cover and cook on low 2-4 hours.

Enjoy!

( I usually serve this with garlic bread!)

It's been a long day so I'm off to bed.

Happy Mother's Day to all and hope each and every one of you enjoy the weekend!