Farmhouse Fever

We are on day two of staying home in the snow. I LOVE IT! But.... I do have to admit to a little bit of farmhouse/cabin fever.

Pretty red against the white backgroud.

Looking out the kitchen window.

I'm really enjoying working in the sewing room.  Here's the progress on a purple Lemoyne Star quilt I am working on.

I'll be posting more about this quilt on my Angel Scraps Quilting blog.

If you are in an area where the recent southern snow storm came through, enjoy!!!

Homemade Rolls

I made these rolls using THIS recipe.  I love using the dough cycle on my bread machine and then finishing up in the oven.  I have to say that these were the most delicious rolls and were the easiest to make of my limited  bread making experience.

They are good eaten as dinner rolls and also as sandwich buns for things like sloppy joes and hamburgers.

I plan to make another batch and freeze the individual unbaked rolls so that I can take out and bake only the number needed for a meal.  I used Mama's biscuit cutter which made very neat little dough discs.  It only takes about 13 minutes to bake them.

In the Dead of Winter

Today I am home with the flu. Yesterday I could not have even thought about being able to do a post, but today after only one day of "anti-flu" medicine, I am glad to say I am doing much better!  But, I'm still laying on my couch as I do this post.  Luckily I have a long weekend to recuperate and don't have to go back to work until Tuesday!

Last Saturday I went outside and got my hands dirty in our little raised bed.

How in the world these weeds have grown to be so healthy in the dead of winter, I do not know!

It was only the Monday before that the high temperature was about 24.   On Saturday it was in the 60s.

We've had lots of rain this winter!  We almost have ocean front property with water standing in the field adjacent to our home.

After a little digging and pulling, the raised bed is now ready for spring planting.

I love the fact that around here in winter we have a few warm days mixed in with the cold ones.  I try to make use of those warm days.  If its on Saturday I work in the yard.  If its a work day, I try to get a little walk in on my lunch break.

I think next year a flu shot will be in order!  Although my doctor told me lots of people are getting the flu even though they had the flu shot.  This is the first time I've ever had the flu and I DO NOT want to have it again.

Happy Friday to you all!

Weekly Menu Plan!

We have really been in a rut with our meals lately.  Do you ever get that way?  Nothing sounds good and we struggle to come up with an idea for our supper meal almost every single day.  So, I made a trip to the grocery store and tried to come up with some new ideas.

Here's this week's menu:

Saturday:  Stuffed Pork Chops, Rosemary Potatoes and Broccoli and Cheese

This is the first time I have made stuffed pork chops and THIS is the recipe I used.  I bought six thick pork chops and already had all the other ingredients on hand, except for the celery.  Although I think the celery would have been good in the recipe, I just omitted it and the end result was delicious.


The Rosemary Potatoes recipe can be found HERE.  These were really good!  My only change is that I wouldn't bother with lining the cookie sheet with aluminum foil.  Even though I sprayed the foil with cooking spray, the potatoes still stuck to it a little and when I tried to turn them the foil tore.    So, my feeling is that it would be easier to just cook the potatoes directly on the pan.


Since we were only feeding my hubby and I, we now have 4 pork chops left to eat this week!  Maybe I should freeze two of them? 


Sunday:


Fried chicken tenders, butterbeans, leftover mashed potatoes and rosemary potatoes.


Monday:

Meatloaf, Seasoned Green beans and rice.


Tuesday:

Leftover Stuffed Pork chops, Leftover green beans and/or butterbeans, and leftover rice.


Wednesday:

Hotdogs, Great Northern Beans


Thursday:  Italian Meatball Soup


Friday:

Small (less than 8 ounces) chuck eye steaks cooked in the frying pan, baked potatoes and what ever leftover veggies are on hand.  We are trying to stop food waste.


Have you planned any meals this week?

Blue Paper Shorts and Witch's Noses

Now, that's an attention grabbing title, isn't it?   Hang on and you'll see where I'm going with this.

It turns out that what I thought was a wart on my nose was actually a Basal Cell Carcinoma.  Not dangerous, but something that had to be taken care of.    This particular one was located on the little piece of skin between my nostrils.  This complicated things a little, because the area is so small.  Needles for numbing the pain in that area are quite painful too....

Any how.... on Monday I had the growth removed and as recommended by the doctor, had a skin graft done over the little spot.  Here's where the witch's nose part comes in.  The sweet little nurse did such a good job of bandaging up my nose that it looks just like a witch's nose.  I couldn't have done a better job if I was trying to dress up for Halloween!  If you add the witch's nose to the bandage on the side of my face near my left ear where the doctor obtained the skin for the skin graft, I look really strange.

We stopped to pick up lunch and make a bathroom visit on the way home from the doctor's appointment.  As luck would have it, the restaurant was packed and finding the bathroom took me right through the crowd.  How embarrassing!

This, my friend, is very humbling.  Not to mention itchy and uncomfortable.  I have to wear it for a week.  I am planning to stay home until then.  I feel really silly staying home from work but its just too uncomfortable physically and humiliating, mentally.   Thank goodness its a slow work week, with Christmas and New Years winding down.

In situations like this its important to remember Proverbs 31:25   "She is clothed with strength  and dignity.....".  Because I didn't feel dignified at all on the outside, but God sees what's on the inside.

After the restaurant experience, we stopped at the drugstore to have antibiotic and pain killer prescriptions filled.  I definitely stayed in the car this time, but found myself watching the people coming in and out of the store.  I think maybe the Lord put some very strange looking people in my view that day because some of them were quite "different" looking.  I found myself sizing them up based on their appearance, when I knew absolutely nothing about any of these people!  I already know better than to do this, but it was a good reminder to remember that every single person you see has dignity and that God sees what's on the inside, not the outward appearance.  Even those with witch's nose bandages!!! 

This experience reminded me of a funny story about blue paper shorts.  When my hubby gets X-Rays in connection with his knee replacement surgery, he has to put on these blue paper shorts.  We get a laugh out of this, especially since they are "Carolina Blue" and we prefer "NC State Red".  But, I especially love the story I read in a book by Beth Moore, called "So Long Insecurity".   In the story she, too, was getting X-Rays in connection with her bad knees and had to wear the blue paper shorts.  BUT, she wore very high heels that day and had to walk around the halls and wait in a crowded waiting room in the very roomy blue paper shorts while wearing high heels.  LOL!

We have to laugh at ourselves and the situations we sometimes find ourselves in, don't we?  I placed way too much importance on what the people in the crowded restaurant thought of me.

I also have to remember how fortunate I am that my growth was not Melanoma and that I only have to be in this witch's nose predicament for a week. 

Coincidentally,  there are several kindle books by Beth Moore that are free right now.  I haven't read any of these particular ones, but I thoroughly enjoyed the one I referred to in this post.  If you are interested, here are the links:

When Godly People Do Ungodly Things

Believing God

The Beloved Disciple

To Live is Christ

I hope you have a wonderful 2014 with many blessings..... and don't forget to wear sunscreen....