Forced Blogging Break ((sniff, sniff))

My computer broke a couple days ago. We are in the process of getting a new one. ( I am hoping a week but not sure how long it will be) So till then I am on a forced blogging break. I guess it will give me time to get some well neglected things done. And I will have to update you all on what I did during my time away.

Blessings and ((HUGS)) !

-Mary

A Kitchen Tag

I have just been tagged by my friend Lady Rose in a Kitchen Tag. I don't normally do these but this one looked like fun so I was all game to play. So I hope you enjoy learning a bit more about me and see a bit more of my home.

Do you have magnets on your fridge?

Yes, I have a few nice ones and some advertising ones I try to put on the side that is harder to see.

Do you have a calendar in the kitchen and if so, what is its theme?

I am going to say yes. I have a open room layout that the kitchen, dinning room, and living room is all one room. It creeps just into the dinning room area but it is next to the fridge.

What is your favorite kitchen gadget or tool?

This is a hard one because I have a few. I don't even know what you call it but here is a picture.

It is wonderful for cutting dough, scrapping up things from the counter, I mix my granola with it when it is baking. You can even core a apple with it.

Are you lucky enough to have a pantry of some kind?

Yes, when we made " The House That God Built" that was high on my priority list. It is downstairs but I do have a double door cupboard that I store all my flours, oats, and rice in upstairs to make life easy.

What is your favorite appliance?

I would have to say it is my Kitchen Aide mixer. I got it a couple of years ago and and it really helps so I don't over use my wrist. I have tendinitis in my right wrist.

Do you have an eat in kitchen?

Even though it is a open floor layout I am going to say no. You can tell what is the kitchen and what is the dinning room.

Do you have a bread box?

No but I do have a bread drawer. This is something that I grew up with and was happy to imply it.

Do you have a picture of your kids on the fridge?

No I don't but I do on my piano.

Do you ever cook breakfast in your pj's?

I haven't in a very long time. When I started to apply flylady.net I haven't stayed in my pj's after waking up. I don't even feel comfortable hanging out in my pj's if you can imagine that.

Do you have a favorite cookbook?

This is another hard choice. But I have to say I use a lot of recipes out of Betty Crocker's Cookbook. That is a cookbook my mom used a lot and I have continued to use a lot. Actually I know my older brother and sister use it a lot too.

Are you lucky enough to have recipes that were passed down from your mom and grandma?

Oh yes. I have one cookbook that I have hand written them all in and I hope once we salvage my hard drive off one of our computers I can use my e-book program. I will be putting all my family recipes on it and ones I have found over the years on my own and make it available in a e-book for anyone who might want it. I can't wait to make it happen. ( I know some you old friends know about this project but my computer died before I got it done.)

What’s your favorite food?

This is a REAL hard one....that means I would have to choose between cherry-o- cheese pie, or raspberry chocolate coffee cake, or blueberry coffee cake, or pumpkin pie. Okay I see a pattern here. I am smitten with sweets. ((blush)) I would have to say almost anything with chocolate is a winner with me.

What’s your favorite thing to cook?

I have been really enjoying making Quiche Lorianne. It has been a real winner with the family.

Is your coffee pot electric or stove top?

It is neither. My hubby uses a single serving drip cup that sits right on top of the mug and we pour boiled water in it and it drips one cup right into the cup. I would have just given a name if I new what it was, lol.

Do you make your own bread?

Oh yes for sure. But on a rare occasion I will buy a loaf if we need some to go somewhere and I have too many other things I have to make and do. Then in those times I cave in and happily let my hubby buy a couple of loaves.

Does your kitchen have a theme?

I was going to say not yet but I'm starting to decorate it in ivy and bird houses. I am hoping to stencil some ivy on the walls this summer. The walls are yellow, I have a brown stone look to my counter, white cupboards, and a English Country print on the curtains. And where ever I can sneak in red in, I do .

Is there a clock in your kitchen?

The only clock I have in the kitchen is on the stove.

Do you have a bowl of fruit on your table or counter?

No I don't. We keep it in the fridge for some reason. I think that is because that is what my mom did growing up and I just do that without thinking.

What type of canisters do you have?

My mom gave me some ivy canisters and I love them. ( look at picture above)

Name one thing you have hanging on the wall in your kitchen.

You know the funny thing is? I only have one thing hanging in my kitchen right now. I have hanging on my window a little birdhouse ornament that my dad carved. I need to find a better hanging spot in the kitchen but I haven't figured it out yet. I had to take it off the window to take a picture because the lighting wouldn't co-operate with me.

What’s for supper tonight?

I am thinking maybe a tuna meatloaf.

Do you have enough cabinet space?

Yes but I have to say I NEED to de-clutter. When we first moved into this house I was amazed I couldn't fill all the cupboards. But now I am overflowing. I need to de-clutter them. Isn't amazing how we can fill what ever space we are given?

Does your family use paper plates?

No I would say 99.9% of the time we don't. But on Friday homemade pizza nights we use paper towels instead.

Do you have a good set of china packed up?

We do have a nice set of china but not packed up. I have it stored nicely in a couple of cupboards for when we have the BIG family meals.

Do you wear an apron to work in the kitchen?

I am trying to develop a habit of wearing one. I for sure wear a apron when I am baking and making bread but I should also wear one when I'm working in the kitchen. I should try to put one on when I cleaning house too. Hopefully it would get my mind in the working frame of mind and speed things along. I am hoping to make myself a pretty one in the near future that is not so faded or stained. Maybe it would motivate me to want to wear one more. [o=

Name one thing you would change about your kitchen if you could.

If I could afford in the the future I want to change the cupboard doors to a light coloured wood. I still want it light and airy but I don't like how the white shows every little bit of dirt and what not.

*****Please if you want to be tagged consider yourself tagged*****

Relaxing A Bit More

I have to say that I am learning to relax a bit better in the last week. I thought by sitting at my dinning room table clicking away with my knitting was quite relaxing already. But in reality I needed to take it one step further. I needed to create a cozy corner in my living room. What got me to take the leap there? hmmm It was seeing a picture of another online blogging knitter with a sweet picture of her knitting on her couch looking all comfy and cozy. Also there was one other inspiration. I had my lovely rosewood trunk, that I restored with my dad when I was in high school, come out of storage. Yes, that future bathroom is no longer holding this beautiful trunk hostage anymore. I had it in storage for many years feeling all concerned that a little boy would fall and hurt themselves on the metal pointy corners. But I came to a revelation that I no longer have any more "little" boys, lol. My youngest boy is now ten years old. So I think I can loosen up on this a bit. I now noticed myself feeling all content, cozy, and happy clicking away in my new little knitting corner. I find myself asking...why didn't I do this sooner? Oh well, I am there now and getting better at relaxing. What a simple thing but a wonderfully BIG thing that has made difference.

Tightwad Tuesdays~ 17 Ways To Cut Your Grocery Bill

17 Ways To Cut Your Grocery Bill

Dear Friends and whom ever else is inspired to read this,

I want to rebirth a special thing here on Mary's Little Corner. I used to host Tightwad Tuesday's meme for over 3 years on my first blog over at Homeschoolblogger. It was a meme that the Lord put very strongly on my heart to start before our economy was hit so hard. I feel once again strongly to bring it here but not as a meme but posts to encourage others in what that Lord has been teaching me in how to get by in tight times. As the price of food, electric/ natural gas and gasoline keep going up it can make life more challenging. I use to say that ...."I have cut so many corners that I am down to a circle." Well, the Lord keeps showing me that there are a few more corners I can cut. I hope this weekly posting will be a spring board on how we can make our dollar stretch a bit more to cover the needs and maybe a few wants in the process. So here we go...post #1.

There are only so few big ways to save money but so many small ways will save you money. Cutting your grocery bill will add up a lot of savings before you know it. Here are 17 ways that will put money in your pocket rather than your mouth.

1-Grow a garden

2-Perservation of Garden Surplus

3-A Price Book ( go here to find out to create one !)

4-Buy In Bulk

5-Eliminate Non Nutritious Foods (…such as soda pop, junk food, candy)

6-Eliminate Convienience Foods (…the single serving packaging are the money killers)

7-Choosing More Ecconomical Foods (tuna for example or less expensive fruits and vegetables)

8-Buy Generic Brands and Store Brands

9-Buy Marked Down Foods ( look for discount bins. Cans that have a dent or just about to expire but that still can be used in time. Fruits and veggies that need to be processed now are a good savings if you make the time to preserve them . For example freeze, make into sauses, dry in the dehydrator. Dried banana chips are sooooooo good.)

10-Coupons ( I have to admit I don’t find as much savings here b/c we make so much from scratch that it doesn’t save us that much. But when it is on basics we are happy to use them. )

11-Make Low Meat Or No Meat Meals ( Casseroles and soup/stews and stir frys are a GREAT way to save. Bean dishes are a frugal and yummy way to go to.)

12-Portion Comparison ( for example compare different kinds of meat and get the less pricey one)

13-Free Food ( garden surplus from friends and neighbors, wild fruits, get through bartering,

14-Waste Nothing

15-Eat To Maintain Optimum Weight

16-Eat More Casseroles, Stir Frys, and Soups/Stews

17- Make Food From Scratch ( this is one of the biggest savers)

There are only a few BIG ways to save money but there are TONS of small ways that ALL adds up.

I pray that the weeks to come will be a blessing as I transfer my TWT posts here and add to it too as I can.

Blessings!

-Mary

I am also joining my sweet friend Jasmin at her blog today with....

also my sweet friend Trish at...

Making Headway with the Future Bathroom

I do hope to someday soon to rewrite our journey about "The House That God Built" or transfer the posts onto a separate page on my blog soon. But, for now I am going to share the latest project we are working on.... (affectionately called) the future bathroom. We have been in "The House That God Built" for about 5 years and have managed just fine with one bathroom down stairs. But we needed to get going on finishing the last two big projects. They are the future bathroom and shelves in our pantry and laundry room. All is being done this spring.

My biggest part in all of this is to clean the stuff that we have been storing in the future bathroom. Ohh I knew this was a mammoth project and I had to stop avoiding it. ( like I have for the last five years) I figured the only way to finally conquer this was to make a rule with myself. That rule was...when I pull it out to sort, if it doesn't belong in the bathroom it cannot back in then. I did very well with this rule. It made me face my stuff that we have been moving around for the last twenty years of marriage. I have very limited storage so I have to really be ruthless to get rid of things and then be creative in how I am going to store it.

I knew it was going to be a big project but it was really BIG. One day I moved a lot of fabric out of that room and then into the master bedroom. Okay this is not a good place for it, that I know. So when my husband started to get asthmatic I had to take a break from the bathroom and get all that stuff out of our bedroom and give the room a total wipe down. The next day I had to start weeding out and then find a home for my craft supplies. Not easy tasks but it is happening. In reality if all I get done on my "spring break to do list" is to get this cleaned out I am doing good.

Now that I have gotten this far with cleaning my hubby is now figuring out all we need for the plumbing and wall tiles. I can't wait for this to all this to materialize. Here is some before and after pictures of my cleaning so far.

Before

After

Oh btw thank you Lori for working along side me and getting my blog to feel perfect and cozy for me. (((HUGS)))

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