A belated Merry Christmas!!

I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday. Mine was nice, but exhausting! Between filling orders, making gifts, cleaning house, hosting friends, baking, wrapping, etc., I've had no time to spend on the internet. Sorry for the lack of blog posts. I am sure you have all been on the edge of your seats, waiting to read my next update! (grin)

We did not have any family commitments for Christmas Eve, so a week before Christmas, we decided to invite a few friends from church to come over and visit. Well, our invitation to a few friends snowballed into having "open house" and basically inviting the entire church. We ended up with about 40 people coming over in addition to our own 9!!! (And no, I do not have a big house.) It was really fun. My daughters and I baked and cooked all day Saturday. I made lots of food since I had no idea how many would show. I wanted to do luminaries, but I feared there might be kids in the yard and that the candles in paper bags might be hazardous. So instead, I wrapped votive candles with wire in all sorts of odd and funky shapes and swirls and hung them from the trees in our front yard. It turned out soooo pretty! We decorated the table and house with live greenery and fruit, brewed up lots of coffee, hot spiced apple cider and I made my own punch recipe (cranberry juice, pineapple juice, orange juice, ginger ale, and soda water). The table was spread with rolls and ham and turkey and lots of goodies. Good food, good friends, good fellowship...what more could a person want? I wish you could have been here! After the vast majority had left, a few of the teenagers stayed and played games with my kids for a while. Later our whole family just flopped in the living room and hung out until after midnight.

Yesterday, I used a little Christmas money I received and bought myself a present: Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby. It was tops on my Amazon wishlist, and when I saw it at my local Barnes and Noble, I had to have it!


It is a lovely book. The pictures are all taken on location in England. The projects are all scrumptious. It is full of useful information, not only on technique, but also on the history of Victorian knitting. I can not wait to get started on one of the projects! Of course, that may require that I go out and buy MORE yarn, and the necessary double-pointed needles...

Here's something I have been making...

These are stone donut necklaces that I crochet. This one is made of Leopardskin Jasper. Here is another one made of black onyx.

The possibilities are endless as can be seen by this photo of several different donuts I have been able to round up.

I have been selling them faster than I can make them to friends and family and I haven't even had a chance to photograph them and get them up for sell on my business website! Today, I finally got them posted up on my site (www.bluemoonartistry.com).

I think they are pretty cool! However, I can not take credit for the idea. Pam, of the Knotty Generation shared it on her site and gave me permission to make them and sell them. She is awesome! Thanks Pam!

Fiber lovers will understand!

I am sooo excited!! I confess, I am a yarn addict. I love rich, touchable fibers. For years now, my only local options have been Michael's Craft Store, Hancock Fabrics (which only carries Lion Brand) and WalMart (choke! choke!) Don't get me wrong. I am thankful that I have any store in my town that sells yarn, but I just have not been able to get my hands on the stuff that dreams are made of. However, that has ended! We now have a small, independent yarn shop in our area...well in a nearby town less than 25 minutes from my house! Huzzah! Huzzah! (Oh, and for those of you who do not have boys who are into historical books and stuff, and that would be pronounced "huh zah" with the accent on the last syllable.)

Because it is close to my local, independently owned bead shop, I have had the opportunity to drive past this yarn shop multiple times wondering when it would finally open its doors, always to be disappointed. On Tuesday, I was thrilled when I saw the owner's van parked in front. FINALLY, I would get to browse. I just about wet myself I was so excited. But alas and alack! They were not open! She was just there vacuuming the shop. I peeked in the windows and wanted to cry. I walked past the door 2 or 3 times and then finally marched up to it and boldly knocked. She opened and I begged for a brochure or something with their hours, etc. I was secretly hoping she might invite me in, but she was there on her lunch hour from another job and was in a hurry. Needless to say, I was back the next day during business hours. As luck would have it, friend of mine who is an avid crocheter also happened to be there. The only thing better than drooling in a yarn shop is drooling in a yarn shop with someone else who also appreciates yummy yarns. I am sure that the owners got a big kick listening to us "Oooooo & ahhhh!" We were like kids in a candy store..."Oh! Look at this!" and "Come see!!" The owner's also probably got a big kick out of the fact we both bought yarn! I confess, I spent every single penny that I had in my wallet! In fact, I had to borrow six cents from my friend! But it was worth it! Not only does this shop carry nice, manufactured yarn, but also handspun, hand-dyed, and hand-painted yarn!! Photos can not do it justice, the colors are much prettier in real life, but have a peek:

This is 250 yards of 100% wool that has been hand-dyed. I wish you could see and touch it! It has a lovely sheen and is very soft, not rough like some wool.

I also got two 100 yard skeins of this, also hand-painted 100% wool:


Aren't they simply scrumptious? Yummy?! And, the owner wrapped it all in pretty tissue paper, put it in a bag with a bow and candy cane and tucked a little baggy of candy inside as well. You just can't beat small, locally owned businesses! Now my new yarns sit where I can see them. I am waiting for them to speak to me and tell me what they want to be knit (or crocheted) into!

And, lest you think that I have been unproductive these past few months...
let me set your mind at rest! Here is a shot of the afghan I crocheted for my Autumn Secret Pal. I don't think I have shown it here yet. I did not post it earlier because I did not want to ruin the surprise. She wanted purple and yellow, and so that is what I made! I have the hardest time getting the color purple to look true with my photos! But this will give you a general idea.



Here are some other items I have been making and selling like crazy! Can you guess what they are?



They are headbands! I make them out of cotton in all kinds of colors. The nice thing about them is that they are totally "ouch-free!" The crocheted cotton has a bit of stretch to it and it also does not tend to slip. I make them with ties so each person can adjust it to fit their head perfectly. I often forget I am wearing one.

And for my friend, Anna, here is a "fun shot."



I have also made a ton of earrings, hair sticks and necklaces in the past month or so. I will save those for another post (which can be interpreted as: I don't have any photos of those and so you will have to wait!)

Thanks, Kim, for the inspiration!

My lips are orange.

You may be asking yourself, "Why on earth are her lips orange?" Well, I shall tell you. My lips are orange because instead of having a second cup of coffee today, I pulled out my juicer and juiced some yummy, organic carrots. I sacrificed my java as an act of solidarity. My internet friend, Kim is trying to kick the coffee habit. So, I figure if the caffeine queen can give it a go, so should I.

Actually, I need to do a total overhaul on my eating and drinking habits. There is too much bad and not enough good these days. I know that this may sound extreme to most of you, but if I really want to feel good, I have to cut out caffeine, sugar, dairy, processed foods, red meat, most other animal products, and do proper food combining (fruit alone, proteins with veggies okay, carbs with veggies okay, but don't eat carbs and proteins in the same meal). I managed it after my last baby was born. I ate lots of whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies, and drank carrot juice regularly. I lost weight (which was nice, but not a major goal for me now), and more importantly, I had energy, my joint and muscle pains went away, and I felt good. I was also frequently making two different meals...one for my family and one for me. That got old. Also, I missed the whole social part of eating. I did well for months until the holidays came around. Then I fell off the wagon. I just haven't had the will power and determination to do it again.

However, I am getting pretty tired of feeling crummy, so I am praying about what I should do. I want to be my best and not settle for falling apart at 40.

The joys of the season...

I don't know who coined the phrase "The luck of the Irish," but I would like to punch him in the nose! I have good strong Irish blood running through these veins, but as my mother says, if I didn't have BAD luck, I wouldn't have any at all!

I have been married for almost 19 years, and I can not think of one, single Christmas (or anniversary which is the 20th of December) that has rolled around when we have not had some sort of major car repair or household repair come up. Well, maybe our first Christmas, but then, we had only been married 5 days! One year recently I got a water pump on my van for Christmas. Woo! Hoo! Another year, the washing machine died. Oh thrill! It has been like that repeatedly. So, lest we break tradition, this year is bound to break the records! So far, in the last week, I have had to order a $70 part for my computer. Thankfully, my son is a geek extraordinaire and will be installing it for free. Then there was the hot water heater that had to be replaced yesterday. That was over $700. Who wants a hot water heater for Christmas? And today??? Well, I found out my car needs $1000 worth of repairs!!

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!

I guess it is a good thing that we have never wanted to get sucked up into the commercialism and lavish gift-giving that goes on at this time of year. We couldn't, even if we wanted to! I wonder if there is a way that I can wrap up some hot water and give it to my kids as their Christmas present? Hmmmmm...

Can't talk now!

My entire family will be at my house for Thanksgiving. That means I will have somewhere around 22-24 folks at my house. YIKES!! Needless to say, I am running around like a chicken (ahem! Make that a turkey) with its head cut off! I am trying to find places to sit them all, clean house, and prepare mounds of food. So, I really can't talk right now. I have WORK to do!!!

I hope you will have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. I know that I do! I have a wonderful husband and 7 healthy kids, food, shelter, and the greatest gift of all--forgiveness of my sins and eternal life because of what Christ did on the cross. Who could want anything more??

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Don't eat too much! ;-D

I must be a boring person!

I have decided that I must be a boring person, because lately, I have felt totally uninspired to blog. I don't seem to have anything to say! There is nothing terribly interesting going on in my life. It is just the usual hectic whirlwind of activity that comes from doing all that I do, and I hesitate to bore anyone with that! I apologize to my 2 readers who eagerly check my site daily for an update, only to have their hopes dashed! ;-D

However, for those of you who have stuck by me, regardless of my lack of posting, here is a photo for you:



Yes, that is what you think it is! It is a cut-open bottle of lotion! It was the kind with a pump. I am so dementedly un-wasteful that once the pump could no longer extract any product from the bottle, I took it out and proceeded to use it for days by turning it upside down and whacking the bottle. When that no longer worked, I would stick my finger in that itsy bitsy opening and try to get any small drop of moisturizer I could. When that became fruitless, I got frustrated because I could see there was still plenty of product in the bottle clinging to the sides. So, I cut it open to get all the rich creamy stuff that was all along the walls of the container, making it stretch for even more days!! What does this say about me? That I am extremely frugal and refuse to waste a single drop by throwing it away? That I am so cheap that I will go to extreme measures to avoid having to buy more? That I am broke, and have no choice? That I am totally off my rocker?

And my dear reader, you can take this post as proof positive on my theory that I must be boring. I mean, really! A post about cutting open a lotion bottle?? I rest my case and leave it to the jury to decide and the judge to pass sentence.

(Oh, I see that I have put both the judge and jury to sleep!)

Who says living in the South equals being warm????

I may live in the South, but my house is NOT warm!! How cool is it in my house? Well, my hubby left his glass with ice in it sitting by the sink before he left for work this morning. Three hours later and that ice had hardly melted at all!!! Brrrrrr!

I am feeling the LOVE!!!

Over at Crochetville, I have participated in a few swaps this Fall. Basically, a swap is where you send goodies and handmade stuff to your partner and you get goodies and handmade stuff from your partner. Goodies? Handmade stuff?? Packages in the mail??? What could possibly be more fun?!?!?

I was in a tea cosy swap and also a secret pal swap. My tea cosy partner made a great wool cosy for my teapot and then felted it. Let me tell you, that bad boy keeps my teapot hot for over an hour!! She also enclosed a bunch of goodies in my package, but when it arrived, it was mangled and torn and there was nothing in the envelope but the cosy! Thank goodness the cosy made it! Well, a few days ago, even though it was not required, that dear lady sent me a new package and look at what I got:



She sent me...

~a crocheted pot holder
~a crocheted mesh bag (YES! A bag she crocheted for me!! It is awesome!)
~a crocheted book mark
~a beautiful note card
~oodles and oodles of herb tea
~some imported chocolate from Holland (which is totally yummy!!!)
~a votive candle that made the whole box smell like flowers!
~some pretty floral tissues
~a ball of gorgeous yarn (with wool and cashmere in it, no less!)
~some L'occitane samples (which I have never had a chance to try before)
~a mending set (compact needles and thread for any emergency)

There were even more assorted tea bags that made their way to my kitchen before I took the photo. Also, the candle is not in the picture because my daughter swiped it. Oh, and the chocolate?? Let me just say, if anyone wants to make me a happy person, just send me some of this:



Here is another shot of the mesh bag:



Thank you, Joanne!!! I really appreciate your thoughtfulness and going WAY beyond the call of duty!!


AND JUST LOOK AT WHAT MR. POSTMAN BROUGHT ME TODAY!!!



My Autumn Secret Pal, Anna sent me a box bursting with goodies!! It included:

~4 balls of Sugar'n Cream cotton yarn in 4 colors that I do not yet have!
~a bag of Hersheys Special Dark chocolates in the shapes of leaves
~a bag of assorted candies (Smarties, Sweetarts, Tootsie Rolls, Atomic Fire Balls, jawbreakers, bubblegum and lollipops)
~Ferrero Rocher Hazelnut Chocolates
~a BIG bar of Cadbury milk chocolate
~a bag of Sour Bears
~Vanilla Caramel Truffle tea
~a tin of Cafe' Vienna
~some Stash tea bags in the Chai Spice flavor (her personal favorite and I can't wait to try it!)
~some pumpkin pie candles (spicy scents are my favorite!!)
~some Holly Hobbie stickers
~a pocket calendar
~a pad of stationary (or is it spelled "stationery?")
~some post cards
~a set of turkey taper candles (I can't wait to use these on Thanksgiving!)
~a Tom Turkey candle (adorable!!! Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday!!)
~and the BEST for last...a tote bag that she designed and crocheted just for ME!!!

Here are some close-up pictures of the turkey candles:





I told you they were precious!!

And here are some photos of the tote bag she made for me. I can not imagine all the time it must have taken her to not only design the pattern, but then all the hours of work!!! She not only crocheted the bag, but then, she crocheted the lining!!! The pictures just do not do it justice!! The blue lining is more of a grayish denim blue and not as bright as it appears on my computer.





I would also like to point out that during this Autumn Swap, Anna moved across several states, continued to run her online business (http://www.lullabiesandlace.com/) bought a new home and painted it all by herself while keeping up with her toddler, and still found time to spoil me rotten! Thank you, sooooo much, Anna!! I am awed!!

Time for a Change??

I am really feeling the need to change the "look" of my blog. Sort of like the regular urge I get to rearrange furniture. HOWEVER, and this is a big "however," I am just not too familiar with "blogger" and how it works. It has been a while since I set the whole thing up. I used to change the way my old blog looked frequently, but that was a different host site and it was soooo easy! I am afraid that I might totally mess up the entire thing!!

I guess it is time to start investigating and see what I can figure out. Any advice will be appreciated.

The Best Way to Eat an OREO!!

Oreos and how to properly eat one...I know that there is much controversy on the subject. Do you take it apart and eat the cream first? Do you dunk it in milk? Well, my dear friends, I am here to tell you that today I made a fantastic discovery. Perhaps it is nothing new. Perhaps you have known this all along and neglected to tell me the wonderful news, (shame on you if you did!) but I have stumbled upon the truly BEST way to eat an Oreo. No glass of milk for me. No sirree! You dunk it in...a cup of coffee! Oh yum! Oh ecstasy! Oh delight! All these years and to think I never knew!!!

Just too CUTE!!!

Aren't these adorable?? A fellow home-schooling-mom-of-multitudes who goes to my church made these. Makes me want to go out and learn needle felting! So many crafts, so little time!!

Oh, and if you want your own little acorns, I believe she sells them on Ebay.

May I recommend???

Every now and then, I come across web sites or small businesses that I am impressed with. It is not always easy to find places that give quality products and good service. When I find someone who is trying to make a go at it offering unique, often hand-made items in our mass-produced society, I am always happy to tell my friends.

I recently participated in a "Teacosy Swap" with some other ladies on Crochetville. In my search for teapot-themed items, I came across Roses and Teacups. If you like teapots, or floral-themed items, then this is the place for you to go! Nancy sells some really beautiful items there. Be sure to browse the Carol Wilson stationery...the butterflies and teacups are gorgeous!! I recently ordered from her and when my package arrived, it was like having a birthday celebration. Everything was so sweet and lovely. I have had a lot of email correspondence with Nancy and I can tell you that she is a great lady. I highly recommend ordering from her.

In the interest of full disclosure and total honesty, I will tell you that Nancy and I got along so well, that she is going to sell some of my teapot earrings and hair sticks on her site. BUT that is NOT why I am recommending her site! If I wanted to hawk my stuff to you, my fine reader, I would just send you to MY site (which, by the way, is www.bluemoonartistry.com heh! heh!)

I have enjoyed my dealings with Nancy at "Roses and Teacups." I am a satisfied customer. I also happen to know that she is using the proceeds from her business to help pay medical bills for her children, but don't tell her I told you that!

Here are a few items from Roses and Teacups.

Butterfly notecards and Rose Journals:



Hand-crafted table linens and beautiful fabric boxes.




I would also like to recommend another site I enjoy visiting. This site does not actually sell anything, but if you like old-fashioned and vintage, if you want to be encouraged in your homemaking, if you like sites that have a sweet and gentle spirit, then go visit Debra's site: My Vintage Home. Funny, now that I think of it, I "met" Debra through Crochetville!

So, I guess it would be appropriate to end this entry with a plug for Crochetville an online community of folks who enjoy the art of crochet. If you crochet, or want to learn, this is the place to go for information and encouragement.

You May be Getting Tired of Hearing This!

I hate to sound like a broken record...I am still alive and kicking, just incredibly busy!!! Since I have been negligent in my blogging duties, I will try to make amends by giving you a few quotes, just to stimulate your thinking. Feel free to comment on any or all of them.


"If history has taught us anything, it is that pop culture products, performances and personalities don’t have to be good, credible, accurate or even real as long as they stimulate and motivate the masses. That’s why the most popular household appliance sold in America today is not the dishwasher or the clothes washer, but the brainwasher; that big screen fantasy machine that talks you through the highs and lows of life each day like an electronic psychiatrist, while you recline on the couch for hours on end."

--Paul Proctor


And here is something to chew on by A. W. Tozer:

"If I see aright, the cross of popular evangelicalism is not the cross of the New Testament. It is rather a new bright ornament upon the bosom of a self-assured and carnal Christianity...
The old cross slew men; the new cross entertains them. The old cross condemned; the new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh; the new cross encourages it...
The flesh, smiling and confident, preaches and sings about the cross; before that cross it bows and toward that cross it points with carefully staged histrionics--but upon that cross it will not die, and the reproach of the cross it stubbornly refuses to bear."

That is worth taking a moment to re-read slowly and think about.

Ack! Has it been almost a week?!?!

Don't you just hate it when you go to a blog that you visit regularly day after day, only to find that the blogger has not made any new posts??? Oh wait! Ummm, that would be me! Sorry about that. It is just that in the grand scheme of things, blogging has gotten pushed way down on my list. Sorry to neglect my blog and leave you hanging. I have not been able to post my projects because I have been working on something for my secret pal. (and if I posted it, it would not be secret!) And my life has been pretty boring to read about. Here is how my past week has gone: (Warning! These are just the boring details of my life, so please feel free to move on to a more exciting blog now.)

--Friday was get ready for the outdoor artisan's market. This means gathering all my creations and borrowing a tent and tables for display.
--Saturday found me out of bed before 6 a.m. and dragging all my "goodies" (i.e. hairsticks, jewelry, needlework and my son's photography) off to a nearby town to sit under a tent and peddle my wares. We did very well, thank you! Saturday evening was spent returning the borrowed tables and tent and then rushing to the kitchen to prepare food for Sunday because...
--Sunday was homecoming at our church. Is homecoming a southern thing or universal? Well, to explain it in 20 words or less, it is essentially like a family reunion, but for the church family. Everyone brings lots of yummy food and you fellowship. To make it an even more hectic day, on Sunday evening, the youth group were gathering at our house, so that meant Sunday afternoon was spent cleaning up (although I don't know why I bothered!) and preparing food to feed the hungry masses. It was great fun.
--Monday was back to home schooling all the usual family madness. (Lot's of shuttling people back and forth to various commitments.
--Tuesday meant a Dr's appt for my 12 year old son. If you pray, keep him in your prayers please, he has a medical issue that I will not broadcast to the world for the sake of his privacy.
--Wednesday brought more shuttling around during the day and AWANA on Wednesday night. My younger kids participate and my older ones help the leadership.
--And today, well let's just say I have driven one child to a violin lesson. Come home. Driven a son to the community college for a meeting. Come home. Taken 2 teens to a meeting at a house across town, dropped off another at her piano lesson, run an errand, retrieved the pianist, come home...and I STILL have to go back and pick up the teens from their meeting across town!!

Saying that I am a stay-at-home mom is becoming the family joke.

Note to Self...

When it has been months since you have even thought of working out with your TaeBo videos, it might be wise to think twice before popping in the ADVANCED video and doing 55 minutes of torture, ahem, I mean vigorous cardio, upper body and lower body workout. Also, if you are going to be stupid enough to jump right in and "Just do it" as a famous sporting goods company says, you might want to "just do it" to your upper body or lower body on that first day. Choosing a workout that does cardio plus targets the arms, legs, abdominals and glutes may not be so wise. Unless, of course, you enjoy that painful day-after feeling of not being able to move any muscles but your eyebrows!

Being Painfully Honest...

I hope that I can express myself in a coherent manner here. Please note that if I pose questions to you, that really, I am posing them to myself! However, if you have any answers that you would like to share, please feel free to leave them in the comments.

What makes you feel valued, good about yourself, appreciated? Where do you go to be affirmed? Here is another question: are you nicer to people outside your household, or the ones who live with you 24/7? Okay, I bet I know the answer to that last one...everyone I know, if they were honest, would admit that they are nicer and more polite to outsiders. Not that you are mean and unkind to your loved ones, just that we don't put forth that extra effort to be pleasant like we do with others. Why is that? Let me extend that train of thought. Why do you... okay nevermind, why do I care about what other people think of me, some of them, people I do not even know??? Why do I feel happy and affirmed when people come to my blog and leave comments? Why does it make me feel valuable and appreciated when someone admires or buys something that I make?? Why do I give a Saturday of my life to go to an artisan's market and sell my creations instead of being home with my hubby?

I wonder, how much time have I spent on outside friends that I should have devoted to my family and/or God? I am not saying that friends are bad or wrong. No way! I just wonder if I have substituted "good" for "best." TV is not a big issue in this house. We did not even have one until a few months ago, but how much time have I blown piddling on the internet when my children needed my attention?

I wonder which one pleases God more? Does He look down at me and say to Himself "Wow! Look at those hair sticks Michele made?" Or is he more pleased when I set it all aside to read that same book for the 687th time to my four-year-old? When I stand before Him one day, will He show me all the times that I said, "Not now, I'm busy!" And will He show me that what I was really saying was "Not now, I am selfish."

How do you strike a balance? How do you "find time for yourself" without neglecting the others who need you? My seven kids are only here for a limited time. Why would I want to spend one single precious moment of it doing things that are not going to matter in the end? And really, why is it not enough? Why can I not feel as eager and excited about doing a history lesson with one of my children, washing the dishes or cooking a meal for my family as I can about starting a new knitting project or chatting with an online friend? Being "mom" is not glamorous. Often it is not fun, and usually it is a thankless job. I wish that I could get the warm fuzzies from housework and disciplining children. It might make it all easier.

I truly do have creative urges. Are they something put there by God, or something I need to control so that I can focus on what is TRULY important. Are my outside interests legit and something that makes me a more complete person, or just a distraction from what I should be doing? What is the balance?

Hmmmm...

Still alive and kicking!

I'm still alive and doing fine. I have just been too busy living life to blog about it!!

That tends to happen sometimes, especially when you are the mom of 7 kids and you home school all of them and it is the beginning of the school year, and you have a mother who is in poor health and needs meals and visiting, and your family is active at church with AWANA and Word-of-Life, and you have a small at-home business with orders rolling in, and you are participating in two different swaps at Crochetville because you like to make things, and you are fortunate enough to be married to a man who actually likes you and wants to spend time with you and he deserves a little attention, and because you are having a lot of muscle and joint pain and your hair is shedding like crazy, you make a Dr's appointment, even though you hardly EVER go to the Dr, and the Dr. has the gall to suggest that if the thyroid and iron tests come back normal, you may have too much stress in your life and wants to give you a prescription for that, and you laugh in his face because you would rather ache all over than take some drug that messes with your brain chemistry, (which is not a judgement on others, just a personal thing) and so you are trying to spend less time on line and get more rest and sleep and eat more healthy so that your body can heal itself...

Not that I would know anything about this. I am just speaking hypothetically.

A Busy Home School Mom's Laundry System

Schedule your laundry! This has been the biggest life-saving tip that I can give. I will share my system with you. If my system can keep a family of 9 from having laundry pile up, then it can certainly work for you too!

–There are three basic principles to my system.

1) Keep the dirty laundry pre-sorted. (more about this below)

2) Teach everyone in the family who is big enough to reach the machine how to properly do laundry. (All my kids help load, unload, and fold. At about age eight or nine, I will trust them to actually run the machine.)

3) Designate days of the weeks for different “zones” to do laundry.

–As an example, here is how it works in my household: The “zones” around here are GIRLS, BOYS and PARENTS. Each zone contains at least two dirty clothes hampers — one is for lights/whites and one is for darks/colors. In the boys zone, there is also a hamper for towels/linens. Even the youngest person in my house knows that their dirty clothes go into the proper hamper. We no longer spend time sorting laundry. It is pre-sorted for washing!

–My laundry schedule runs like this:

On Monday and Thursday, the girls must do all the laundry in their zone. That means wash, dry and fold and put away! They are also required to change their bed linens on one of those days.

On Tuesday and Friday, the boys must completely do all the laundry in their zone, including all the towels. They also must do their bed linens.

I do laundry on Wednesday and Saturday.

Even if your family is not as big as mine, making a laundry schedule and following it may revolutionize your life!!!

For more Works-for-Me-Wednesday tips, visit Rocks In My Dryer.

Kim, Are You Reading This???

I have a friend named "Kim." My old blog used to be listed on her list of blogs that she reads. But my old blog is dead and this blog is not on her list. It makes me sad. I feel left out. It may be an oversight, or it may be on purpose in an effort to make her list more concise.

I don't know what I need to do to merit getting listed again, but hopefully flattery will work!

Kim is smart.
Kim is witty.
Kim is pretty.
Kim is nice.
Kim has cute kids.
I like Kim!!!

Can You Smell It???

My wheat finally came in last week! So today, just like the Little Red Hen, I ground the wheat and made the dough and baked the bread. Mmmmmmmm! Can you smell it??



And just like the Little Red Hen, plenty of folk showed up once the baking was done, happy to help me EAT the bread! Truly, it took less than 60 seconds for the entire first loaf to disappear!!

Works-for-Me-Wednesday!

A good friend of mine is participating in this and so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon. The concept is simple: every Wednesday, post an idea or system or recipe or helpful hint...something that makes life easier!



Maybe in the next week or two I will tell you about my laundry system...a life altering plan that I developed that has made doing laundry for nine folks manageable. But for today, I am sticking with something very small and simple.

HOW DO GET OIL/GREASE STAINS OUT

I can not tell you how many solid t-shirts and turtlenecks I have **ruined** by splattering something greasy or oily on them in the kitchen. If you have spent any time in a kitchen, then you know how cooking oil, or any type of fat will leave a dark spot. Well, I have found that if I use Dawn dish detergent on the spot followed by scalding hot (preferably boiling) water, the oil stain usually comes out! In fact, you can just boil some water in a pot and then plunge the offending shirt into the water and let it soak a bit. (I recommend taking off the shirt first!)

Of course, wearing an apron is a good option, but some of us who are messy cooks need something more like full body armor!

**NOTE--"ruin" means that they become worthy of wearing around the house only. If worn out in public requires quick action when sighting someone who you don't want to think you are a total mess. The duck and hide technique, or the quick-pick-up-the-youngest-kid-to-hide-your-stained-shirt technique are options.)

For more WORKS FOR ME WEDNESDAY tips, go to Rocks in My Dryer here.

Now, if I could just figure out how to get her handy little banner up! Kim, please help! EDIT: Hey Kim! Thanks! I did it!

THANK YOU, Secret Pal!!!

I have a lovely secret pal! This Saturday, after waking at 5 a.m. and spending a hot and tiring day at an open-air artisan's market, I came home to find a package waiting for me! Woo! Hoo! Of course, I ripped into it and found these lovely things: hand-crocheted dish cloths, a crochet pattern book, a cook book and a nice card. The red in the dish cloths matches the cranberry color on my walls in my dining room and kitchen perfectly. Later in the evening I sat down and browsed the Gooseberry Patch Taste of Autumn cookbook and now I have a bad case of autumn fever! I can't wait for cool weather, crisp leaves and autumn colors!

Thank you, Secret Pal! You are a real sweetie pie!



And here is a close up of one of the cloths. Isn't it pretty???

Who's the Busy Bee??? Me!

I like photos in blogs. So, here is a photo-rich entry.

I have been busy, busy, busy the last week or so. Just look at all that I have made! (For those of you who may be wondering what some of these are...they are earrings, of course. And the ones with beads sitting atop wood are beaded hairsticks. Most of the metal is sterling silver. The glass beads are either Swarovski crystals or fire-polished Czech glass. The ceramic beads are hand made and one-of-a-kind by a local artist. So, although they may not be "perfectly" symmetrical, I think that adds much interest. Her glazes are to die for!