Have You Missed Me?

I have posted a couple video's to YouTube this week......Go check them out! Crochet Challenge Check - In and Update Crochet -- A Silent Short My Smelly Bug is Alive -- '74 VW Super Beetle Replacing the drivers side mirror '74 super beetle   I have another video in pieces that I need to edit together and post.  Hopefully I can get to that next week.   Thanks for stopping by!

HHM ~~ 6/19/17

  Good afternoon everyone!  I'm in one of those moods today.  Just can't get my mind off wanting to take off and go and go and go.  You know, be a nomad.  *sigh*  Well I'm trying, honest I am.  So here's a little about my day:   It's such a nice last day of spring.  Tomorrow is the first day of summer you know.  The weather is much cooler than they said it would be.  There is a slight breeze and the clouds are helping keep the sun from heating the concrete up. I'm not complaining.  It's fine with me that it's cool enough the AC doesn't have to be turned on at the shop and probably not at the castle tonight either.  Fans will do.  I left the curtains open upstairs to let the cool breeze in.  Hopefully we can "keep the cool in" for a few days after it warms up again. Today for lunch Hubby had a "deluxe" (lettuce tomato onion) bologna sandwich and a jalapeno sausage.  I had 2 "deluxe" bologna sandwiches but with cheese also.  We had unsweet iced tea to drink. I really need to decide what I want to fix for suppers this week.  Not much money from last week so I can't be lazy.  I also need to decide lunches.  Preferably crockpot meals for the evening, that way it's ready or nearly ready when we get home.  leftovers or bologna sandwiches will work for us for lunches.  Tonight I think we will have bacon sandwiches.  Hubby suggested it.  We did it last week and it was really good.  We got a bunch of bacon super cheap, so why not.  It's good bacon, but it's ends and pieces so they aren't thin uniform slices.  Some are thin some are almost a half an inch thick.  We also have a bunch of pasta samples, so I think I will get some spaghetti sauce and have a pasta sampler one evening.  That's two, just need another couple meals. Today I have a few things I nee to do after I get home.  I have already sent out a couple invoices and have taken a short walk to the post office to buy stamps and send those out.  While I was there I walked a bit farther and dropped the water bill payment into the drop box instead of taking it to the city building (which is across from the post office).  It was a nice walk.  Tonight I have a few more laundry items to wash and I need to put away the laundry I washed last night.  Probably grocery shopping as well. I haven't much been in the crochet or reading mood here lately.  I keep wanting to start a new crochet project but I have been able to refrain.  I really would like to get my uncle's camo blanket finished so I can give it to him the next time I see him.  I'm maybe 2-3 blocks into the row after the half way point.  It could be that it's been hot that I haven't wanted to crochet, I'm not sure.  Anyway, it's cooler so maybe tonight? Want to hear something funny?  Last week we ate at Mazzio's when we went to get lumber. They weren't very busy and the buffet pizza was cold.  I kept watching for new pizzas to come out.  Finally more customers started to show up and they pulled a pizza out of the oven and I told hubby "they are cutting one in the kitchen"  He busted up laughing. Oh yah, a kitchen tip.......Same as last week only sauces.  Pizza Sauce and diced tomatoes.  We don't always use a whole can.  We divide the #10 can up into 3 quart sized zippy bags and freeze what we don't need at the time.  We have found that the quart size bag is about the right portion for a week of sales etc. We really haven't done much to prepare for warm weather.  Not sure what else we can do right now.  We still need to fix the screen in the boy's room.  We weren't able to get all the boards we need last week.  I did get the metal shelfs we used last year and opened his window,  It has helped a lot, but it's a pain to open/close the window when it rains.  Also I need to figure out a way to cover the top windows to help keep the sun from coming in.  I'm thinking about putting up come colorful construction paper sheets and put some aluminum foil on the inside.  I'd love to put the foil directly on the window, but I don't want to blind the people across the street or create a glare for anyone driving down the street.  I may try and do that this week  I will have a little extra time I think.  I just have to find the construction paper. Well I hope you enjoyed your visit.  I hope to see you again soon. I'm linking up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom  today.

Up In The Air

I'm really up in the air about things.....I'm not sure what to do. 2 of the 3 companies I applied as an affiliate with to sell yarn/craft supplies have denied me.  One their site was messed up and they never responded to my plea for help and the other it ha something to do with the tax laws in Kansas or something like that.  Still waiting on #3 but I have a feeling it will be a tax law thing too.  Those 3 reasons are why I moved my blog off blogger and to my own server.  I don't have time to go visit other blogs and read/comment like I should to build a "community" here.  Blog stats here are probably more real than they are on blogger, and sometimes the only day I have any views is Monday when I link to HHM.  Is blogging just past it's prime?  Are more people vlogging and watching/listening instead of reading?  I have several youtube videos and even without trying very hard I have generated some income (not enough to be paid yet) from monetizing most of my videos. BUT.........Videos take time if I want to edit multiple clips together. Video's need some mount of quietness without interruption if I just want to record and upload.  Then there is the issue of what do I record with?  only 2 of my mobile devices work where the volume is loud enough, and one is my cell phone, the other is an iPad.  The problem there is where/how do I hold them while I am recording something like a how to or showing a wip or finished project?  These are things I have thought about.  Another is content.  I can tell you now about something that happened way back, possibly share pictures.  Doing a video is a bit different.   What do you all think?  I can't decide.  That's why I always bounce back and forth between doing things, trying to get one or the other working.  If you want to visit my YouTube channel that'd be awesome.  HERE's THE LINK I'm thinking maybe trying videos again.  So if I disappear here for a while....go check there.

Crochet Star Garland

Here's a quick, cute weekend project for you.  Enjoy! I absolutely love this thing!  I'm thinking about making another one.  It took me about 4 hours with interruptions from customers, just having to get up and walk around, checking facebook, chatting, etc.  For sure an afternoon or evening project.  I used cotton yarn, but you could use any yarn,  I used this pattern for the stars.  I made 4 of each color. I chained 20 and slst in the 10th chain to make a loop at the end to hang it up with.  Chained 20 and SC in one of the top points of the star.  Chain 20 and SC in the top point of the star until I reached the last star.  I chained 30 and counted back 10 to join with a slst for the last loop to hang it up with. I really like it!  It is perfect for any "flag" holiday.  

Crockpot Gravy

Ok, so I didn't just make gravy, I cooked  some meat along with it.  I have finally mastered making crockpot gravy though.  This recipe is my stand by.  Any kind of meat that you want gravy with will work.  This time I used 4 cube steaks.  I salted and peppered them for seasoning.  I added 1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup to the bottom, added my meat (with a little soup in between to prevent them from sticking together).  I used a secon can of soup and mixed in a packet of onion soup mix and spread that on top of the meat.  I added 1 cup of beef broth and set it on low to cook for about 4 hours. When the meat is cooked, remove it and turn the slow cooker on high until the gravy starts to boil.  To thicken it I figured approximatly 3 cups of liquid (he cans are almost 16 ounces of concentrate and then 1 cup of broth) so I added 3 TBSP of corn starch and just enough water to make a paste in a measuring cup.  When the gravy started to boil I added in the cornstarch and stirred a little.  It didn't take long to get thick. I heated some water and mixed up some instant potatoes.   A very yummy meal indeed!

Thoughts on Homemade Laundry Soap - Part 3

Well another laundry soap post.....I like the dish soap one but hubby seems to be allergic to something in the mixture.   However when I was using just plain Zote and nothing else he seemed to be fine.  SO....Thought #3 back to just plain Zote Laundry bar.  This time instead of shaving it I am grating it.     The grater I have makes it into a powder.  I have done this a couple times and he seems to be itching less.  I think I am on to something.  One thing I do need to figure out though is smell. Not an after smell that smells good for the clothes, but something that helps remove the sometimes lingering smell in the clothes.  I may add some baking soda to my powder next time.  I'll let you know how it turns out.  I know Washing Soda, but it and borax are in the powder and liquid I have been using the past couple months. One of them may be causing the problem.  Baking soda is known for helping with odors.       I'm not sure how much this measurers out to be.....couple tablespoons probably.  This is the measurer from the oxy cleaner I bought. This amount seems to work well.           Here's my grated bar.  I grated just about enough for my last washing.  Looks like I will get several more washes out of this bar.         I'll keep you updated.......

Recap on Winter Upstairs

I'm not sure I have found everything, but here is a recap on preparing for and staying warm upstairs for 2016/2017 winter.  I will link each one to the post I talked about it.  Some will link to the same post some are just things we did and have no post that I have found......

• We put our coats across the foot of the bed
• We used a warm fuzzy blanket as a top sheet
• We put some trim and weather stripping on the inside to where the door only opens out
• We used space heaters, a kerosene heater and candles to help warm the room(s)
• We bought a few moving blankets from Harbour Freight to put over our bedroom doors that lead to the main hallway.
• Space Heater, kerosene heater and candles again
• We put plastic over the windows
• We kept stocked up on Kerosene for our heater.  I think we only ran out once
• We put lots of extra blankets on our bed
• We added a blanket between the mattress and the bottom sheet
• We heated homemade corn sacks in the microwave and took them to bed with us.