A Weekend of Making Goodies...

Well this weekend has been an exciting one. We finally (after over a year of wanting to) made some homemade lye soap! The kitchen is filled with the aroma of lavender essential oil and our soap is curing snugly wrapped in a towel. In a few weeks we will get to lather up with this wonderfully natural soap and I can't wait! I will post some pics when they come out of the molds...

We also picked out some fabric and lining so that I could sew some curtains for the french door in our bedroom. I have sewn one panel but still have to hem it. We decided this might help insulate our bedroom a little better. It is so cold in the mornings!

And lastly (I think), B and I are fixing to make some homemade play dough. He can't play with the store bought stuff because of the coloring. He has some reaction to artificial coloring that we still haven't figured out. We will be using natural coloring of beet juice, blueberry and turmeric. He LOVES to help Mama Bear make things so it should be fun for everyone. The added bonus? We know it is safe! (even if he eats some!)

Pics to follow...

History of Aprons

I ran across this today and thought it was very cute...

The History of 'APRONS'

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath. She only had a few and it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material. Also, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven. It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms. Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove. Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron. From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that ' old-time apron' that served so many purposes. Share this with those who would know (and love) the story about Grandma's aprons.

REMEMBER: Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool.Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw. They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron. I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron.
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I have been wanting to make myself an apron for the longest time. I have plenty of fabric. I just need to take the time and do it! I have been making biscuits almost every day and sure could use an apron to keep from getting flour all over everything...

Repairing Broken Toys...

I just wonder how much time I have spent so far repairing broken toys. How much time will I spend in my life repairing broken toys? B is SO rough with his toys so I have to repair some of his toys quite often. The majority of the ones he breaks are plastic and a little super glue usually does the trick. In fact, he has now learned that if something breaks (anything at all) that it needs glue or batteries. LOL. He is hilarious! So anyway... My latest repair job came last night. I have been telling him I would fix his 'Cowhoy' since before Christmas. 'Cowhoy' is a cloth cowboy doll that I bought him from a nice lady on etsy.com. He really didn't pay it much attention until about 6 months ago. Since then, we have literally carried this and his baby doll everywhere and slept with them too. With all that said, I have added a picture of Cowhoy's damages above. You may not be able to see all the holes where stuffing is coming out of his head but trust me - it is brutal!

I decided since his head was pretty much destroyed I had to recreate a new one. I am a beginning sewer at best but I am pretty impressed with my results. So here they are...

I used a reclaimed canvas curtain for his head. I hand stiched in his blue eyes and tan lips. I had to cut his hair out from the old Cowhoy and sew it in.

After three hours I finally finished! This is one satisfied little fellow. Unfortunately, I sewed his head on backwards! LOL. After all that work! I figured I will have to make another repair on him sometime. And when I do, I will fix that head of his...

My first blog...

Well this is my first blog - ever! I hope that you all enjoy my posts. Since it is impossible for me to decide to blog about just one thing, you will find that my posts will be of a plethora of topics. Anyway, we were lucky enough to receive a Cuisinart Stand Mixer and a Country Living Grain Mill for Christmas. Everyone in our family will benefit from us having these. I am sure these two topics will flood my blog the majority of the time since our garden is barren these days. (I do have a couple of herbs out there that nature is caring for...) Oh how I long for the spring when we can start cultivating. I have aspirations of growing tons of veggies this year. I also want to learn how to preserve our bounty by canning this year. Oh if we could only have more time...

My goals and aspirations for this new year are as follows (in no particular order):
I want to focus on living life more simply.
I want to become more self-sufficient by growing as much of our food as possible.
I want to learn how to preserve our extras so that we can enjoy them all year long.
I want to grow enough in our garden to be able to share with my friends and neighbors.
I want to enjoy nature and all of God's wonderful blessings more this year.
I want to continue to experiment with recipes to find dairy free alternatives to some of our favorite meals.
I want to be a better mother and wife.
I want to work on myself. Becoming more patient is a top priority.
I want to learn to take a little time for myself so that I can get back on track after a trying day.
I want to spend some time learning more about sewing and knitting.
I look forward to watching my boys grow and develop.
I want to continue to foster that learning and loving desire that they both have.
I want to spend more time with my husband.
I want to focus more on leading the life that God has planned for me.

I am sure this list is not complete. Newly inspired goals will surface but I am sure that none will slip away. I look forward to this year. I look forward to the surprises, blessings and even the tears...