Miss Alaineus

Miss Alaineus is a delightful children's book about a missed vocabulary assignment. (I love children's books.) Anyway, today's post is a bunch of stuff.

A friend gave me a bag of plum tomatoes from her garden. I ate as many as I could in salads (tomato, garbanzo beans, feta cheese) and then made the rest into some delicious soup. I made up the recipe and it turned out fabulous. I chopped up some onion and slowly cooked it in some olive oil (I don't use exact measurements) while I chopped up the tomatoes. Then I added them along with some basil and simmered it for an hour. I mashed it with a potato masher but that wasn't fine enough and I couldn't find my "ricer" so I put it by cupfuls through the blender and that worked great. It was DELICIOUS! Sprinkled a bit of Parmesan cheese on top, dipped in toasted homemade french bread and was in heaven.

The other day I cooked up some chicken quarters, de-boned it all, and put it into containers for the freezer, except one portion for dinner. After some pondering I decided to make a soup. This time Cream of Chicken and Vegetables. I chopped up a carrot, onion, two ribs of celery, and a few potatoes, added some frozen peas, a little bit of thyme and parsley, covered it all with water, brought it to a boil, turned the heat down and simmered it while I made the cream sauce (flour, butter, milk). When the veggies were done along with the sauce I added the chopped chicken, and the white sauce to the veggies, stirred it up and set the table while it was heating through. HEAVENLY! Even Dandylion liked it. Autumn and soup just go together.

We are moved into our new-to-us house. It has many advantages, one of which is the spacious kitchen and working oven. It has fewer rooms but they are larger. Still some work to be done but it's good to be in here before the snow flies. Next projects will be new curtains for my bedroom, the kitchen, and living room.

I began this blog as a way to document my weight loss, but that didn't work and I didn't lose any. In June of this year I joined T.O.P.S. (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly) after reading a piece in the local newspaper about a man who had lost close to 100 pounds. TOPS was touted as encouragement and accountability, which is what I needed. I joined and have lost 15 lbs. so far. There is value in having to weigh in and report each week; not to mention the great women I've met there. I notice a difference in my body, but as I wear loose clothes anyway no one else has noticed. My first goal is another 15 lbs. (Doctor wouldn't approve any more than that) and when I reach that goal I'll set another, 20 lbs. lighter. When I was 42, after having had five children I weighed that much (or little) and looked and felt great. I want to get there again.

I haven't hit the thrift stores for a while, keeping my eyes on the goal of spending less. I did make Noble a cute skirt for her birthday this summer, which she really liked. I promised to make another one in wool for winter. (Still have to set up my sewing room.)

I know I've done some other frugal things, but my mind has gone blank and I don't remember what they were. You understand I'm sure!

Lastly, this Saturday I'm teaching a class at a church women's conference. The class is Cooking with Basic Commodities. I teach three sessions, each 25 minutes long. How am I supposed to cram 30 years of cooking knowledge and experience into 25 minutes? Not going to happen. What I will do is go over reasons why we (well not me) don't cook from scratch, good reasons for doing so, overcoming the obstacles, starting to cook from scratch (The Principles), and then give some resources and recipes to help them on their way. I'm looking forward to it.

Everybody Needs a Good Laugh

On Saturday I was Skyping with Noble (I really miss her!). Behind her on the wall of her dorm room are pictures of Korean Boy Bands and Singers. They are all very lovely to look at. In the course of our conversation Noble mentioned that she has gained weight, but not inches as her clothes still fit. She was trying to figure out what was going on. Our of my mouth popped "You've had too much eye candy and it's making you fat!" She almost fell off her chair laughing.

 It feels so good to laugh!

Bread

My two boys, Dr. Hair and Dandylion, informed me today that my bread is awesome, the best, incredible; and they want some!!

Remember, I don't have an oven in this house, it is over in the other house. Totally inconvenient. So I promised them that as soon as we are moved into the other house I will bake bread: whole wheat bread, white bread, muffins, pita bread, granola bars, cookies, cakes and other delights. They both hugged me, in fact Dandylion hugged first and Dr. Hair said "Hey, I want a hug too." Dandy asked him "Are you hungry? Come on, Mom Sandwich!" I got squeezed between the two of them. Do you know how strange it feels to have your "little" boys, the babies of the family, taller than Mom and able to squeeze the stuffing out of her? Oh my goodness! I love them both.

Dr. Hair, realizing that TopDad was gone for the day offered to make macaroni and cheese for lunch (Dad HATES that particular dish). It was delicious! And Dandy heartily thanked me for spoiling them with homemade macaroni and cheese, which at one time we called Pasta y Queso to make it sound exotic.

The weather has warmed up enough to feel more like summer, very late summer, but summer. We've had a dribble of rain when we need lots, still I won't complain, we've been so blessed this year.

Last Night I went to sleep in July and woke up in September!

At least that's how the weather feels. I shivered all night and woke up to chilly (relatively speaking) temperatures. It got down to 55 degrees, which after nights of 75 degrees feels cold. Tonight the low is forecast as 47! What happened? It feels like I should get out the flannel sheets and winter jammies.

However, I won't, yet. Because no matter when I get them out we have another heat wave and I regret getting them out so early (even if it's the end of October!).

Honestly, we love this kind of weather and are so grateful for the break in the heat. Rain is in the forecast for next week and we are looking forward to that; I believe I've said before that I love rain!

The boys got home from their High Adventure looking tan and Taller! They grow like weeds. Turn your back and whoops there's another couple of inches.

Noble Skyped this morning (midnight for her) so she could give me a tour of her room and then open birthday presents with me "present". It was delightful. And she liked everything I had sent. Another box is on the way so she'll get a couple more things next week.

JET called today with his birthday wish list. So now I have something to work towards. He'll be 20! Where has the time gone?

School begins in less than three weeks. Yikes! Must keep focused and finish the summer projects.

Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

July's almost over and I'm not done with my To Do list

This has been a busy month. The bathroom is painted as well as the two walls in the kitchen where we removed a huge banquette bench. I've moved all my winter clothes over to the bedroom closet and taken measurements for curtains. Noble's birthday presents are all done and the second box is on it's way. She turns 24 on Sunday. I finally got some pictures developed to send to my Dad who doesn't do email. I've helped with Dr. Hair's film project by baking cakes, breads and cookies for his fund raiser on July 4th, then shopping for costume pieces in Council Bluffs with members of the cast. I've worked in the yard pulling weeds and moving plants around; keeping a dog and two cats fed and happy, as well as taking care of a bird bath and feeder (new to my life this summer).

I've decluttered and taken bags of stuff to the thrift store. Moving is a good time to do that sort of thing. Items I haven't used or even unpacked from the last move are good candidates for removal.

My sewing room is a total mess again and will stay that way until we move out of this house and I can spread it out between the three bedrooms upstairs. I have PLANS! And with space to work in I fully expect to accomplish them.

I've given a lot of thought to my frugal lifestyle. My way of thinking is so natural now that it is automatic, without a lot of thought. The only times I think about it is when I hear what someone else does and I think to myself "That's not the least expensive way to do that." or something similar. When I think about topics for this blog I decide "Oh no one would want to know about that." I wish readers would ask questions that I could answer to give me some direction as to what you'd like to know.

This week Dr. Hair and Dandylion are off to the Scout High Adventure in South Dakota. TopDad and I are enjoying the peace and privacy. Just three short years until it will be like this all the time. Amazing! It took us ten years to get all five of the chuns here; it's only taking six for them to all leave us. (PW left in 2010, Dandy will leave in 2016) By the way, Noble is doing well in Korea. Several airmen (and women) have asked her to accompany them to Seoul because she speaks the language and can be their tour guide. She is happy to do so.

JET bought a zippy convertible sports car, red no less, and has let me drive it a couple times. It is really fun!!! He has a new job as a technician at a Honda dealership. PW is a pesticide technician for the summer earning money for school in the fall.

Everyone is happy, busy and making progress.

Lastly, the weather today is cool, dry with a lovely northern breeze. It feels like the end of September to me, rather than the end of July. But who's complaining, this is perfectly wonderful weather. Supposed to stay like this for the next week, then rain is in the forecast. Lovely!!!