How I Did On My 10 Things And 10 More Things

1. I only go one half of the garden covered with cardboard and paper.
2. I got through probably 30 magazines culling from them information for a creative project I am working on, I have more magazines stored up than I realized : ).
3. I enjoyed my stampin up event.
4. I started some new seedlings, one has not germinated so I need to start something different.
5. DS and I started his room redo.
6. I staked the plants that needed it using large sticks dropped during storm, I like the rustic look.
7. I paid the bills.
8. I rearranged the Man Cave which included moving the chair from my office into it.
9. Got shredding started.
10. Started culling my bookmarks on main computer.

I should have done more on the lists, bit I am pleased with what I did do and BONUS! I started a new creative project which I am excited about.

Water and Preparedness

I live in a suburban city in the Midwest and am trying to become better prepared (for what exactly I don't know or didn't know until yesterday).  One of the things I have done to be prepared is to store some tap water (we have great tasting, award winning tap water) just in case.  Periodically, I will change out the water using the old water to water in the garden or hand wash something.

Yesterday, my DH called to tell me we were under a boil alert until Saturday at 5 pm.  I was delighted to tell him that that wouldn't be necessary because I would just use some of our supply of saved water.  It felt sooo good to grab a bottle to stick in the refrigerator for a cold drink, and a bottle for each of the bathrooms for tooth brushing and medicine taking.  Easy peasy, both to save it and to grab and go with it.

We may never know what we are being prepared for or what we are preparing for but it is nice to be prepared either way.  I hope to reflect on this some more to see what other small problems could come up that I can make even smaller by being ready.

Have a great 4th!

10 More Things in 10 Days

1. Organize bookshelf in studio
2. RSVP to next Stampin Up event
3. Put all sewing stuff in one area
4. Put all memorabilia in one area
5. Move second chair to Man Cave
6. Box up fabric
7. Put DH stuff in old fabric drawer
8. DS work on religious ed
9. DS work on study island math
10. Paint furniture

10 Things In 10 Days

At Sit, Relax and Read there is a task completion party going on and it is right up my alley.  I find that if I have lists, things get done.  If I don't have lists, I forget what needs to be done.  The ten days start today and here is my list.  I also have an additional list of ten to do as well.  That is written in a separate post.  Most of what I am doing are not things that require a lot of time, they are just things that I really need to do.

1. Clean and fill pots for new seedlings.
2. Finish covering garden plot with cardboard.
3. Start DS room redo.
4. Take old magazines to recycling center
5. Pay bills
6. Talk to DH about what I can do to speed along the 58 gallon tank change out.
7. Make menu plan
8. Put files in filing cabinet
9. Put string dividers between plants in garden
10. Stake pepper and squash plants

10 Things I Will Do via Notes from a Master Gardener

1. Practice eating what’s in season locally. This will get your family used to eating seasonal produce, and, therefore, what you can grow in your own garden.
2.  Keep a bucket filled with sand and a bit of motor oil mixed in to clean off dirty gardening tools.
3. Solarize your garden area to get rid of weeds a few weeks before planting season. Clear out weeds or scalp mow your garden beds. Moisten the ground well, and cover with a large sheet of clear plastic. Weight the plastic down around the edges with rocks or bricks. Weed seeds will germinate, but the heat will kill them. Leave the plastic sheet on for 6-8 weeks. This will reduce the rate of weed seed germination by 60-80%.
4. A wire mesh trash can is good for sifting compost.
5. Mail order companies are best when it comes to buying seeds because they store their seeds in optimal conditions.
6. Never work the soil when it is wet or very dry and have your soil tested so you will know what additives it needs.
7. Transplant when it’s either a cloudy day or at dusk.
8. Plan your garden so you’re planting for a staggered harvest. Otherwise, you may be harvesting tons of zucchini, for example, during a single week and then have to wait several more weeks for another zucchini harvest.
9. Don’t water at night, and be sure to water the soil, not the leaves..
10.  Use soapy water to get rid of many types of pests. (Don’t use a soap that contains citrus oils/ingredients.) Planting marigolds in the vegetable garden is another way to deter pests.

Composting, A New Spin

We have been composting for about a year, essentially what we have done is throw scraps into the dormant garden spot during the off season and during the season we toss them in a large spare pot and let it bake in the sun.  We periodically bury the contents in the garden.  My collection point is a old Quik Trip cup sitting on the counter--not terribly attractive.



Today I was preparing squash, asparagus and cantaloupe for dinner.  I ended up with a bunch of waste to compost.  I had the little food processor out because I had shredded some carrots for a salad and I thought to myself, if I shredded up all this waste, mixed it with some soil that would give it a start on the composting process.  I also thought since I am covering the weedy part of the garden plot with cardboard, wetting it down each day then letting it bake in the sun that I could toss the soil mixture on top of the cardboard which would help weigh it down, cover the cardboard and speed the process.





So sitting on my counter is a blue covered bowl with dirt and shredded cantaloupe rind, asparagus woody ends, a bit of squash, some egg shells, some coffee grounds and some orange peels waiting for my morning trip to the garden where I will pile it on one corner of the cardboard.  I will keep you posted on how this little experiement turns out.  Since I use the processor several times a week and have a large bag of soil leftover in the garage, I should be able to cover most of the weedy area by mid July.



I am hoping that I will be able to say that this little experiment panned out to be a success.  Wish me luck!

10 Things I Learned From My Garden This Year

I started a garden late last year after hearing my oldest son talk about his garden and how much fun he was having, how much better his produce tasted and how much cheaper it was especially when the money ran out before the week did.

I picked up a pepper plant, a tomato plant and a squash plant and put them in the old sandbox that DH had been using for our grass clippings and fall leaves.  Lo and behold, the plants grew and thrived despite me ignoring them except for the times I threw out kitchen fruit and veggie waste and when I watered.  We actually grew squash and one red pepper and a lot of tomatoes but some bug always ate them the day before I planned on picking them.  As a result of tossing fruit and veggie waste, we were surprised with cantaloupe from which we got a couple of good melons from.  Not much to brag about, but still we grew some stuff and was able to eat some of it.

This year I purchased some seed packets and planted seeds, watched them germinate, transferred them to pots and then waited for DH to till up the garden area.  He was so excited he built another box and filled it with fill dirt.  We finally planted the seedlings after all the rain ceased and now we wait for our bounty.

Without further adieu, the ten things I learned from my garden this year are

1. When you see the seed potatoes at Nuts and Bolts, buy the seed potatoes because when you want them, they will be gone.
2. Plant more squash as DS LOVES squash.
3. When DH rebuilds the sand box plot, remind him that I want the box built narrower.  I am doing the square foot method and the center of the box is too hard to reach and (I don't want to get too dirty.)   Not really, but it is pretty inconvenient.
4. Make a compost bin, stop using the large green pot.
5. Use the large green pot for the seed potatoes (see #1).
6. Read the seed packet and sow the seeds accordingly.  Some seeds grow quickly and others do not.  Work on timing.  Timing is everthing.
7. Browse through seed catalogs to see what all is available because I want to incorporate more veggies into our daily meals.
8. Build a couple of trellises from old stakes or small branches so that I can do some vertical planting.
9. Buy a strawberry bush.
10. At the end of the season, put cardboard down on the new garden plot and wet it.  Then shred some newspaper and put it on top of the cardboard.  Wet this too.  Add clippings from garden waste, contents of compost bin and leaves.  Then cover all with a tarp to encourage disintegration throughout the fall.  The fill dirt DH purchased is AWFUL.  This process should help greatly.

What about you?  Do you have any things you have learned from your garden this year that you would like to share?

10 Things I Learned By Reading Blogs This Week

1. Did you know that you can boil eggs overnight in a crock pot?  Apparently you can.  I will give this a try and report back.  This info came from the Grocery Shrink.
2. At the blog Happy in Dole Valley she is doing a muffin series, a new muffin for each week for 52 weeks.  I love muffins.
3. You can make your own chalkboard labels with chalkboard paint, who would have thought?  
4. I don't like plastic.  I like clear glass jars. Glass jars don't break down, unless, of course you break them.  I can see what is in them.  I use jars to store leftover's in, to drink out of, to store dry goods in but I never knew that you could freeze food in them.  Now I know.
5. I knew you could make you own vanilla and I've seen tutorials on it before, but this one really caught my eye.  I love the bottle, the label and that it is all homemade.
6. Crockpot love again, you can apparently make mac and cheese in one!
7. If I want pancakes, now that I am trying to eat less gluten,  I can try this recipe.
8. I would really like to get a rain barrel, or two, and I need to remind myself to talk to DH about it.  I have seen several posts about them, this being the most recent.  Just found another one here.
9. I can make my on potting soil see Chiots Run and also the Square Foot Gardener book.
10. Should we want to travel this summer, we only have to head here to get great vacation information.

This post is linked to oh amanda top ten.

10 Things I Learned By Reading Blogs This Week

1. Did you know that you can boil eggs overnight in a crock pot?  Apparently you can.  I will give this a try and report back.  This info came from the Grocery Shrink.
2. At the blog Happy in Dole Valley she is doing a muffin series, a new muffin for each week for 52 weeks.  I love muffins.
3. You can make your own chalkboard labels with chalkboard paint, who would have thought?  
4. I don't like plastic.  I like clear glass jars. Glass jars don't break down, unless, of course you break them.  I can see what is in them.  I use jars to store leftover's in, to drink out of, to store dry goods in but I never knew that you could freeze food in them.  Now I know.
5. I knew you could make you own vanilla and I've seen tutorials on it before, but this one really caught my eye.  I love the bottle, the label and that it is all homemade.
6. Crockpot love again, you can apparently make mac and cheese in one!
7. If I want pancakes, now that I am trying to eat less gluten,  I can try this recipe.
8. I would really like to get a rain barrel, or two, and I need to remind myself to talk to DH about it.  I have seen several posts about them, this being the most recent.
9. IPAD apps like this.
10. Those little annoying stickers on  produce actually mean something,  if the number is five digits and starts with a 9 then the produce was grown organically.  If it has five digits and starts with an 8 then the produce is genetically modified.  A four digit number means the item was grown conventionally.  I learned this at Wellness Mama's blog.

Seven, Seven, 7

1. My heart has no calcium deposits in it per the Cardio Scan.  Yeah!
2. I exercised Friday, Monday and Thursday
3. The weather is in the 50's!  It has been in the 80's way to early for it to be so hot.  Fifty may be a bit too cool, but I don't want to be a complainer.
4. I love, love, love, Pinterest.  When I go to my pins, I can see me.  All the things I love.  It think it would give real clarity to anyone who wants to "know" what their style is.  How do you want your home to look, just pin some things then look at the picture as a whole.  All your colors are right there.  Do you like simple or fussy.  Clean lines or look at me stuff.  It is all right there.  Awesome.
5. I read way to many blogs, waaay too many.  I finally took the time this week to organize my reader (Google) so that all my files are up top, alphabetically arranged except for the blogs that are in my Favorite Blogs folder.  Feels so good to have that done.  I make it a point now to assign a folder to any new blog I subscribe to.  I also go through my folders regularly and unsubscribe to blogs that don't speak to me as they originally did.
6. I am not a SciFi girl, however one of the days I was ill, I called up NetFlix on the IPAD and it recommended Torchwood to me.  So I thought what the heck, I'll fall asleep anyway (and I did) but not before I decided that I kind of liked it.
7. There are only 13 days of school left.  Where has sixth grade gone?

My Favorite Current Television Shows

In no particular order, my current favorite television shows are

1. The Closer
2. In Plain Sight
3. NCIS
4. MI-5
5. Davinci's Inquest
6. Castle
7. The Good Wife
8. Burn Notice
9. Army Wives
10. Covert Affairs

         

House Account Monthly - Meme - A Prudent Homemaker

Something to consider

House Account Monthly - Meme - A Prudent Homemaker: "

House Account Monthly is a meme for Prudent Homemakers.

On the 1st of each month, we will write a check-in post of our adventures in keeping detailed records of our spending. We will not be sharing any personal financial information, but simply encouraging one another and answering a few check-in questions. Next, come back to this site and link up, so we can all visit the various blogs and see how we are all doing.

A Background on House Accounts:

Keeping a ledger of household accounts was a common practice. Sarah Edwards, wife of Puritan minister Jonathan Edwards, was said to have provided historians with a detailed picture of their spending because she wrote down every single transaction.

'It was a happy circumstance that he could trust everything to the care of Mrs. Edwards with entire safety and with un-doubting confidence. She was a most judicious and faithful mistress of a family, habitually industrious, a sound economist, managing her household affair with diligence and discretion.' from Marriage to a Difficult Man- The Uncommon Union of Jonathan & Sarah Edwards by Elisabeth D. Dodds

Did you ever see the movie, Little Women starring Susan Sarandon? You will see them, at times, leaning over a household ledger account.

Edith A. Barnett, in 1894 (London) wrote a book called 'Primer of Domestic Economy.' Here is a quote from this document - 'Whether the income be small or large, certain or uncertain, the good housewife will keep an accurate account of her income and expenditure.' She also wrote this: 'Probably women as housekeepers spend the greater part of the money that is spent in the world.'

The History of Your Estate

Whether you live in a mansion, mobile home or a cozy apartment, your assets are your estate. This includes your furniture, savings, vehicle and personal belongings. Every family has their own estate. If we carefully record our household spending, we are providing a history of our estate!

The Plan

1. You must write down every single cent you spend, every single day. You can record this in a Ledger book, composition notebook, computer software program or any kind of notebook you like.Write down the date, a description and the amount.

2. Keep receipts of all your purchases. Transfer these to the ledger book at the end of the day. You also need to transfer your debit transactions and any checks you write, into the ledger book. (You can store the receipts in a large manila envelope.)

3. At the end of the month, look this over and add up your spending. See if there is any way you can make improvements for the next month.

4. Be willing to share this book with your husband.

A Lesson for Children (Optional)

I plan to have my children do this with me. I will show them how a ledger works. I will let them record my transactions and look over my receipts. This will be an amazing financial education for them.

The Check-in Questions

On the 1st of each month, come back here and copy and paste these questions to include in your blog post.

1. Did you record all your spending this month?

2. What are your goals for keeping a ledger? (Example - Get out of debt; Get a grip on spending; Teach my children sound financial skills; Be more accountable to my family for my spending, Analyze spending habits, Have a record of our estate, etc.)

3. Do you have a success story to share? (Example - reduced electric bill; paid off a debt; lowered grocery bill; saved for a vacation, etc.) We'd also love to hear your tips and ideas!

4. (Optional) How are your children doing with this? Any cute sayings from them, or progress in their financial education?

5. Any helpful resources you've found? (such as a website, link to an article, or book)

6. Were you able to put aside some savings this month?

7. Comments or Thoughts?

Please include the Meme Image in your posts. You are also welcome to place this on your blog sidebar if you'd like:



<a border="0" href="http://thelegacyofhome.blogspot.com/2010/05/house-account-monthly-meme-prudent.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgsfRtU4U15hq3ty-A7T2D_iOXjgbs7iR35KuejJ2ITVtZZnZfFQmhdpFhv7wLhH_0yB8Daas_sGFdGX3-LxG8I4ZU9DPsvNj1Hr24F-hOcAePb80imt5G_SMncX2vy4wDblCc0dqxVnFI/s320/smallhouseaccount.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 166px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 154px;" /></a>

The first check-in is scheduled for June 1st. You are welcome to begin at any time.

Join up!

1. Write a blog post for your readers announcing your participation. (Don't forget to include the Meme Button in your post!) Next, leave me a comment here, letting me know you are joining. Please include a link to your blog post. We'd all love to read it!

2. Come back here on the first of each month to link up your check-in. I will have a Mr. Linky posted at the end of my own check-ins.

Here is what I plan to do - I prefer the hardbound Ledger book because I love to sit at the table or desk and carefully write out each item. I will also include my children in this and let them do many of the transactions.

Thanks so much for your participation! I can't wait to begin. When I told my husband about this, he was thrilled! When we used to own our store, I was responsible for all the bookkeeping and accounting. I used a hardbound ledger book and hand-wrote all our expenses. At the end of each month, I added up my transactions and came up with simple monthly statements and filed my monthly tax reports. My husband had full confidence and trust that I was handling our business accounts with honesty and integrity. I want him to have the same confidence in me with our household account.

Blessings,
Mrs. White

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Top 150 Makers Blogs

Top 150 Makers Blogs: "


There are hundreds of great inspiring and creative blogs to read, but do you ever wonder which blogs everyone else is reading? I do, which is why I have compiled a list of the top 150 design, inspiration, and DIY blogs – I call them all Makers.

The blogs are measured and ranked based on 5 criteria (Alexa rank, Compete traffic, Google Pagerank, Google Reader subscribers, Yahoo! inlinks). Scroll down to the bottom of the list to see specifics on how the list was compiled.

This list certainly isn’t perfect. Each of the 5 criteria have their quirks. However, I do think this mashup is a step in the right direction of creating better lists. Because of these quirks, one blogger has requested to be removed from the rankings, which is noted in the list.

>> SEE THE LIST




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Seven At A Time

1. My 12 year old son still wants us to hide Easter eggs for him and we are to "make it good", meaning hide them well.  I love it and him.
2. Had a great visit with my older son this week.  It was really nice as it was just he and I, that rarely happens.
3. My seedlings are doing soooo well, I can't wait to get them into the ground and see what happens.  I did flowers as well as vegetables this year.
4. I have felt fairly well for four days in a row now.  I have hypothyroidism and it has been kicking my butt now for months  For information see .http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001393/
5. Had a decent workout last night.  I love going to the gym with the family.  It was not very crowded at all either which was nice.  I taught my 12 year old how to do bicep curls.
6. I have nothing to wear and I hate shopping for clothes at the size I am now.  
7. I am more than half way through the Inspector Frost series via NetFlix (love, love, love NetFlix).