Saturday March 21, 2020 , update, craft and mason jar instant mix

Like everyone else we are hunkering down as much as possible.  Most of my family have service jobs and have to still be out - plumbers(people! only flush toilet paper!), builders, metal companies, and delivery service such as FedEx (working 6 days and overtime hours daily). Each morning I check in with my sons to see how everyone is doing. They send the funniest stuff as we deal with stress with humor.  One grandson calls me at night, the others send pictures - it keeps the distance short and is the highlight of our day.  My mom sends all her adult children a trivia question at night. No cheating, no one can look up the answer but give it a shot... it ends up everyone laughing so hard we can barely get the answers out.

So what am I doing..... a lot of organizing... the sewing room, the pantry, the freezer. News fasts.  I am also making a list of what I would change or improve after this settles. Such as, I have been making a case the last few year for grinding my own flour. Dude would poo-poo it and I bought flour instead. I will buy a grinder in the future and wheatberries and such. Replenish our bleach - we use these in our toilets and had to stop to use for cleaning. I had vitamins, lavender and tea tree oils, elderberry syrup and dried berries, as well as Wellness Formula.  I can our food but plan on doubling it because canned goods  requires no adding water later.  Things I dried - carrots, tomatoes, celery, etc need water to rehydrate. 


Before the snow came Thursday night I was working in the greenhouse and taking stock of the seeds we have.  Right now we onions, garlic, lettuce, collards, spinach, carrots and beets all planted. Next week I will begin seeds if not tomorrow.  

I still find time to craft/sew.  Here is one you can try.  Let's make tiny Easter or Treat Boxes. 

Here is the pattern I made.   Cut out and trace onto decorative paper.

Fold at the dotted lines. 

Glue the end with tab to the other end. 

Fold and tuck in the bottom.

Tie the top. 

I did use a hole punch verses the long  hole on pattern. Either one works. 

 Mason Jar Instant Mix

Layered Lentil Soup Mix in Pint Jar

1 cup split peas

1/2 cup brown lentils

1/2 orange lentils

Season pack 

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon dried mince garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon sage

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Layer the peas and lentils a half cup at a time.

Mix the Season pack and put in a snack bag.

Attach these directions:

Empty jar into colander , pick over peas and rinse. (make sure the colander has small holes)

Place in a large pan with 7 cups of water. 

 Add one chopped onion and season pack. 

Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Remove cover the last 15 minutes to thicken.

Stay safe and social distance yourself. 

peace 

Tea-riffic Tuesday, out in the greenhouse, sewing project finished, what am I reading, and what is Dude up to?

I know I have said it before... I love snow.  We got a couple inches last night, we need the moisture , so no one is complaining. 

I found my old traveling tea box I made when I used to commute to work.  I made it from an old box that would have been thrown away, spray painted it and added a few things. 

I love today's teapot. This one came from England... can you tell?  Grin.  It was given to my mom when my sister lived in England. My mom had been to visit a few times and loved it there. 

After some morning tea and cleaning the bathrooms it was now time to clean up the mess I made yesterday making cards. 

Since the group of cards I had made were for someone else , I decide to make two more just for me. 

Then is was time to head outside to the greenhouse. 

Norman was ready to help once again. 

I hope those are cat prints!

I have been neglecting the greenhouse. When I got inside it immediately smelled like garlic! Plus I noticed it was a good twenty degrees warmer inside than the 30* outside. 

By some miracle everything is still hanging in there. 

I dumped a bunch of ash from the woodstove. 

and more... tomorrow or Thursday I will bring in some manure from the lambs and horse. 

Sorry, Norm. You just trample on everything!

The snow was already beginning melt and that means... mud. 

Back inside... 

 I added another row to my temperature afghan  and finished another gift... a cat for my son, his cat. 

Here is when I began last week. 

I had to change up a few bits . 

I got it on a background and sewed on whiskers and ear fluff.  It is hard to see but it turned out pretty good. 

Here is the picture I took the idea from.

What I am reading... 

And where was Mr Man ?

While he was working on a new horse bit I went out to say hello to the animals. 

There is always someone that thinks it is greener on the otherside. 

It was very muddy and icy. They had to come back in . Daisy slipped with Mr. Man on her.  She did great and got back up with both of them just fine and still together. 

Get back here!

peace