2009 To Do List Countdown - Laundry Room Cabinets

Here's a picture of what I saw when I looked out my backdoor this rainy Saturday morning. This is Spot, the bottle fed goat. Can you believe he sleeps in an Igloo dog house? He is growing so fast I'm afraid he'll get stuck in there and we'll have to call the fire department to get him out! At least he is able to get out of the rain. He is still kept in this smaller pen until we can trust him to hang out with the other goats in the big pen. He is in the process of being weaned from the bottle and eats solid goat food really well now.

Its a rainy day and I'm planning to stay home all day. My hubby took my car to town and had the oil changed and filled it up with gas. He also bought groceries and dropped off some donations at the thrift shop. He even swung by a fund raiser bbq plate sale and brought home our lunch. The food was good and I especially liked the fact that the portions were normal sized and I didn't do too badly on my eating plan. Normally I would have complained about the plates being a little skimpy, but now I realize those portions are really the correct size!

I skipped last weekend as far as any sewing or decluttering/organizing, but got right back on the wagon this morning.

I have some before and after pictures to show you of my laundry room cabinets. These cabinets are where we store things like light bulbs, extension cords, batteries, candles, the battery charger, telephone wires, cell phone accessories, trash bags, and all kinds of miscellaneous things.

I wanted to organize and declutter these things and so I bought some stackable bins and some more see-through plastic shoe boxes at the dollar store. It looks better and I think we'll be able to find what we are looking for easier and faster.

BEFORE: LEFT SIDE ABOVE THE DRYER



AFTER:



I am going to pick up a couple more stackable bins for the top shelf to replace the cardboard boxes up there, but not today!


BEFORE: RIGHT SIDE ABOVE WASHER



AFTER:



The bins and shoe boxes can be pulled out, looked through, and returned to the cabinet.

Show and Tell Friday - More Chickens

Last week On "Show and Tell" at Kelli's House, I showed some of the chickens that are residing in my kitchen. You can see those HERE.

All week I kept seeing other chickens in there and decided to go ahead and show the rest of them this week.

This is my favorite picture. My husband brought this one home as a surprise from a place out in the country that was having a big sale. I just love the Americana look combined with chickens.



This is my newest chicken! A birthday gift from a good blogger friend. This chicken's tail is made up of measuring cups. Remember the one last week that had measuring spoons for tail feathers? Well, now I am fully equipped with chicken tools. I love the fact that its both functional and decorative.



This pillow is one of my attempts at learning to do applique. This chicken is made from various scraps in my stash. His feet turned out really big, so I tried to fold up the bottom of the pillow so you couldn't see! LOL



This tray was a gift from my husband. It matches some other items in the kitchen that he also gave me.



This chicken sits on top of the china cabinet beside the tray above. We found it at a thrift store in the mountains while on our annual anniversary trip one year.



This is a light switch plate my sweet son-in-law saw and thought of me. He mailed it to me. Isn't it beautiful?



A random plate found at Family Dollar:



This is a vintage trivet found at a thrift store.



Another gift from my husband. Two of these are trivets and the one in the middle is a decorative plate. They match the tray up above.



Well, that about covers my chicken collection. There are several dish towels and pot holders left, but I imagine you have seen all you can stand!

Happy Friday!

Husbands in the Kitchen

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Today is Kitchen Tip Tuesday at Tammy's Recipes, so be sure to check out the wonderful kitchen tips posted there.

Sunday I posted about how my hubby gave me a wonderful birthday celebration. He found recipes on the Internet and printed them out:



He made a "big" grocery shopping trip, after clipping coupons and taking inventory of our pantry and food cabinets. He was in the kitchen Sunday morning at 6:00 A.M. and worked on everything until mid afternoon, which included cleaning up. You can see more about my day in the prior post down below this one.

My tip for today is this: If your husband shows an interest in cooking, encourage him to be creative in the kitchen, be available if he needs help, and then show him that you admire and appreciate the fruits of his labor.

I want to thank my hubby and say, "Honey, it was great!"

Here are the links for the recipes he made:

Herb Roasted Pork Loin



Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes



Broccoli Casserole



Mixed Vegetable Casserole

Sorry, I didn't get a picture of this, but it was very appealing to the eye, trust me.

The meal also included my hubby's grandmother's recipe for cole slaw, a big plate of crescent rolls, a plate of pickles, and a birthday cake!

A Day to Remember

Today was my birthday and it was a day to savor and remember.

My hubby printed out recipes from the Internet, shopped for the groceries, made all the food, prepared the table, invited the guests, AND CLEANED IT UP!








My daughter learned to crochet recently and made me this wonderful purple scarf. I will treasure it because it was the first project she crocheted, not counting the sample hat she learned on. I love it!



Getting old isn't too bad!

Show and Tell Friday - Chickens

Today is Show and Tell Friday at Kelli's House and this week I am showing "some" of the chickens that reside in my kitchen.

This is a framed under glass cross stitch that I found at a yard sale for $1.00. I'm always surprised to find handmade items at yard sales, but I guess they just become clutter if you have moved on to other things.



These are items my hubby bought me. A chicken whose tail feathers are measuring spoons, a canister and a cutting board. All of these items hold special memories for me. An anniversary, Christmas or birthday.



This is the side of the curtain that hangs on the window over my kitchen sink. It is special to me too because my son gave it to me for Mother's Day. I was so amazed that my "tough guy" bought me curtains, dish towels, pot holders and a rug, all with chickens on them, for Mother's Day one year. He wrapped each of them individually in newspaper and left them on the kitchen table for me to find on Mother's Day morning. It was like Christmas. I would have hung those curtains no matter what size or color they were, but they are perfect!



Chicken bottles, potholder and mug:



Chicken plates found at Dollar Tree:



Speckled Hen and Silver Sussex Cockerel:



The two chickens on each side came from my grandmother's house. They are glass flower vases. You can see the chipped paint. The chicken cups and welcome chicken were found at a thrift store in the mountains.



More chicken plates:



A chicken mug rack. The mugs are harvest gold and have fall leaves imprinted on them.



Do you have a collection or theme in your kitchen? If so, what do you collect?

A Slice of My Life - Fighting Fat After Forty

At this time in my life I'm trying to do better with my health. I have put on a few pounds slowly over time and haven't been exercising as much as I did at one time.

I've thought and thought about how to lose some pounds and get back into shape. In the past I've read many books and tried many different things, some of which did not work at all, some of which I really think did work for me. For one thing, I CANNOT do low carb! Maybe I'm a carb addict, but I'm not going back to that plan again.

I decided to combine all the things that worked for me in the past. Here's a list:

1. Fiber. Eating a high fiber diet helps me to lose weight. I think this is because it makes me feel fuller and more satisfied. The diet I eat when I'm not paying attention is very low fiber. I think if I can get 25 grams of fiber each day, that would be helpful for not only controlling my appetite, but also for my digestive system!



2. Stop eating when you are full. There are a couple of older books out there about the Weigh Down Diet, by Gwen Shamblins. I do not agree with a lot of what's in the book, but the basic idea is that you stop eating as SOON as you start to feel the least bit full. You eat slowly. For many people this cuts the amount of food they eat down by half. Only eat when you are really hungry. She doesn't worry about what you are eating at all, just the amount. The reasoning behind this is: 1. You are eating less of the bad food this way. 2. God didn't make chocolate for us to do without it. LOL. All foods are meant for our enjoyment, just not too much of it at one time!

3. Accumulate exercise. I am currently reading a book called, "Fight Fat Over Forty". The author states that all your exercise does not have to be in one session. You can accumulate it throughout the day. For instance, this morning I walked on the treadmill for 15 minutes. I will walk to the courthouse at work 2 or 3 times today which is not a lot, but adds up to about 10 minutes total. At lunch I plan to walk for about 20 minutes, weather permitting. So at the end of the day I will have walked 45 minutes. Baby steps, baby steps, baby steps. This idea also includes things like parking in the furthermost away parking space, using the stairs instead of the elevator, etc.

The author of this book also states that every woman over 40 who doesn't cut her calorie intake and increase her activity level WILL gain weight! AAARGH! Our metabolism slows down and we lose muscle and therefore just don't burn as many calories. Also our hormones are changing and we start to accumulate tummy fat, also known as a menopot!

4. Watch serving sizes. I eat way too much of the food I eat. My eyes are always bigger than my stomach! I am trying to eat correct portion sizes and then stop. If I can wait a few minutes, usually my "full hormone" kicks in and I'm ok. I really have a problem with this at night. After I eat a sufficient meal, I want to keep right on eating by getting a bowl of cereal or some chips.

5. Choose healthy choices at fast food restaurants. Number one, I need to be prepared so that I don't eat at fast food restaurants to begin with. But, if I'm not organized and need some food, there are some decent choices at McDonalds, Wendy's and Burger King. Side salads, chili, baked potato, even a junior hamburger isn't too bad. Just use some self control.

Not like this!



6. Drink Water: I don't like to drink water, but it does help and I know its good for me and I need to drink more. So I'm trying to do that.

7. Special K and Slim Fast. I have tried both of these diets and I'm just too hungry on them. But, they do help me when used along with other plans. A Slim Fast for breakfast will hold me over until I can get a mid morning snack. An occasional bowl of Special K, Raisin Bran or Cheerios for supper is good and saves a lot of calories. Just not every night!

So, tell me, what works for you?

Whatcha Working on Wednesday

Today is "Whatcha Working On Wednesday" on Leslie's blog, My Country Home.

Here's what's on My Sewing Table:



This is the watermelon sampler wall hanging that is on my 2009 Sewing To Do List. This picture shows some fabrics I pulled from my stash which are "possible" choices. My new fabric storage system is WONDERFUL! Its like going into a fabric store, except there aren't as many choices. I think I do need to get a few pieces of fabric to complete the color scheme, but could make it from what I have on hand and still end up with a pretty wall hanging.

Yesterday I got the pattern out and studied it. I like to do that ahead of time with patterns to get an idea of how difficult or easy it will be. This one has a couple of things I'm not too experienced at, one being applique. I think I can do a good job on it, but it will be a challenge.

I've also made two more Spring clothespin bags. It occurred to me that these would also make good closet organizers. They could be made in all sizes and you could just hang them in the closet, on the back of a door or on the wall.

This fabric is called "Flower Party" by Daisy Kingdom.



I have named this one "Happy Cows". There are cows all over it with things like "Happy Farms" written on it. It reminds me of that tv commercial with the happy cows from California whose milk makes good cheese! LOL



So whatcha been working on lately? You can see what other ladies have been working on over at Leslie's Blog: My Country Home

2009 Home To Do List Countdown - Laundry Room Closet

This weekend's project from my 2009 Home To Do List was the Laundry Room Closet. It was a busy weekend, so this project fit right in "time wise" with my plans.

No sentimental clutter in here!!!!! That makes it so much easier and faster.

Here is the before picture of top portion of the closet:



Here is the before picture of the bottom portion of the closet:



This picture shows the upper portion after I removed everything in it. The wire shelf is a new addition and I put down new shelf paper.



AFTER:



AFTER:



This over the door hook that I bought at Dollar General works great for the brooms and mops. It is made from metal and has two slender hooks. Most brooms and mops have a hole in the top of the handle so they fit nicely on the hooks.



Next I will organize the laundry room cabinets.

Show and Tell Friday - Dolls From My Sweetie

I'm participating in Show and Tell Friday at Kelli's House today.

Since its almost Valentine's Day I thought I'd show pictures of some dolls my hubby gave me.

He ordered this "Little Debbie Collectors Edition Barbie" by cutting out the cardboard order form on the back of a Little Debbie Cakes box. Since I'm a "Debbie" and an old friend once nicknamed me "Debbie Cakes", he knew I would love it, and I do. I was so touched that he thought of me and went to that much trouble to get it for me.

I have kept it on display on my dresser in the box.



This is the back of the box.



My hubby gave me these two "Birthday Dolls" for my birthday. My birthday is in February so they wear lavender dresses and are themed like the birthstone for February, the amethyst.

If you are wondering why there are two just alike, I'll tell you. My hubby gave me one of them one year and the next year he "dis-remembered" that he had already given me one and I got another! LOL :o) (luv u honey!)



Happy Valentine's Day to my Sweetie! You are the best!

My First Buick

I recently posted about the fact that buying a good, used, dependable car was a great financial decision that we made in 2008.

Well, I guess I've always been a Buick girl!

On My Sewing Table

Spring Clothespin Bags!

Today is "Whatcha Workin on Wednesday" over at Leslie's blog, My Country Home. Here's what I worked on last night and this morning before work:





Spring is definitely in the air in my neck of the woods. Its been very warm all week and I'm getting Spring Fever.

I know, I know... Winter's not over yet! Next week will be a rude awakening, I'm sure. But for now... its almost Spring.