February 2018 Recap - A slice of my life

Its hard for me to believe February, 2018 is already almost over! March is almost here and it just doesn't seem possible.

The most exciting thing that happened in February was the gender reveal party for our 7th grandchild.  Who ever thought up these parties, was so smart.  This is the 4th gender reveal party we have attended for a grandchild and each party was so much fun.  Currently we have 5 boys and 1 girl.

And it is a girl!!!  Her name is Victoria.  I love that name!

There are many ways to reveal the gender.  For this party, my son bought 2 gender reveal kits at a sporting goods store.  When the target was shot by my son, the powder that rose up was pink.  I guess this is a typical southern way of doing things.  HaHaHa!

It was so exciting!  The gender was sealed up in an envelope by the ultrasound technician.  So my son-in-law was given the envelope and he chose the correct target and set it up.  So not even the parents knew until the pink cloud rose up.

I'm trying to decide what kind of girl's baby quilt to make.  I already have lots of  girl's fabric and I bought some more after I found out a girl was on the way.  I'll also be making burp cloths and other things. 

Another thing that happened in February is that I had a milestone birthday..... I am now 60 years old!  Not sure how that happened, but it did.  And I'm ok with that.  I saw a picture of myself when I was about 14 years old recently, and I wouldn't want to go back to those days.  I love my life now!  Yes, I could have done some things differently and made some smarter choices.  But, the things I have experienced have helped make me who I am today. 

Birthday dessert.

I want to work every day toward being the best version of myself.  This means being as intentional with my time as I can.

Another milestone for February... I have worked at my current job for 30 years!  My coworkers gave me a small party, with balloons, bakery treats, a framed certificate and card.

Well those are the most important things that happened in February, 2018 in my life! 

One last picture.  Spring is on the way!  This is the field behind my house.  The farmers plant a cover crop in the winter and its always so beautiful to me.

This picture made me think about the song, "The green, green grass of home".

Have a great day!

Here comes November!

Happy November!

One of my grandsons on a beautiful Fall day.

I have been plugging away steadily decluttering and organizing in the zones in the farmhouse, each week working in what ever zone the Flylady is in.  If you haven't heard of Flylady, its a wonderful program for getting organized and getting things done!  I have implemented the Flylady principles off and on for years and haven't found any other method that works as well.

Last week we were working in the master bedroom and closet.  It was the perfect time for switching to my Fall and Winter clothes and storing the Summer ones!  I filled up a couple of boxes with shoes and clothes that I no longer like, or don't fit and actually dropped them off at the thrift shop right away, instead of riding them around in the back of my vehicle for days or weeks.

I didn't quite finish doing what I wanted to get done in that closet, so this week, I have been doing tiny jobs each day.  I can get so much done by breaking up big jobs into small bite size jobs.  Sometimes its a micro size bite of the job, but eventually the job will get done if I hang in there!

The first 2 days of this week were dedicated to the living room.  I have three jobs in mind for that area.  Number 1 is to purge some old magazines that are stored in a basket.  Number 2 is to clean the dust bunnies from under the furniture. Number 3 is to vacuum under the cushions on the couch.  None of those are too much work, but need to be done.

The rest of the week will be spent on the front porch and entry way.  Neither of those areas need much work, but I do need to get rid of some scraggly plants that are on the porch and sweep.  There are also some pumpkins that are beginning to look a little bad, so I need to check on those.  I'll leave my fall decorations up for a couple of more weeks though.

I've been planning for Christmas, following along with Flylady's "Cruising Through The Holidays" plan.  I haven't made too much progress, but I'm working on it!  I bought a red journal to keep my lists and ideas in.   I plan to get more serious about getting ready for Christmas early now that November is here. 

I hope your November is peaceful and blessed!

A Slice of My Life October 9, 2017

Good Morning!

I worked in the sewing room on Saturday and completed two more of the small monogrammed tote bags that I am working on for Christmas gifts.  I also started on the 4th bag.  I felt a bit of accomplishment since I had not been able to find the time or motivation to do any sewing lately.

My plan is to work at least 15 minutes each day in the sewing room.   But, with even the best of intentions, lots of days (well most days) it doesn't happen. sigh.....

Also on Saturday my hubby and I cleaned out one of my Zinnia flower beds.  The flowers were still blooming, but the plant part was looking very bad.  I picked a bunch of the flowers and then we pulled up all the zinnia plants and I trimmed all the remaining plants.  That's one flower bed that has been put to bed for the winter!   The flowers made a very pretty arrangement that I have been enjoying all weekend, and should last most of the week.

This is the other Zinnia bed that has mostly yellow zinnias.  They are still looking pretty good, so I'll leave them for a while longer.  Its been very dry lately, so we've been watering them.

This week I am working in Zone 2 on the Flylady plan which is the kitchen.  Here are my plans:

1  Declutter and throw away some of the junky plastic ware we have accumulated.  I get so mad when I am running short of time and I'm trying to pack my lunch and none of the lids will fit the bowl I put something in!

2.  Wipe off the cabinet doors and the fronts of the appliances.  Our cabinets are white and dust accumulates on them.  The best way to remove this is to use baby wipes or Lysol wipes.

3.  Wipe out the refrigerator shelves  and drawers and throw away anything that needs to be tossed.

4.  Declutter duplicate and unneeded kitchen utensils, gadgets, pans, etc.  I have a huge pile of cookie sheets, muffin tins and spatulas. 

5.  Store some things that are normally stored on the counter inside the cabinets.  Hopefully there will be more room when I get rid of some things.  For example, I don't use the blender that often, but it is taking up room on the counter.  Same goes for the red Pioneer Woman Dutch Oven.  Its pretty, but adds to that cluttered look.

6.  Wash the window over the sink.

7.  Use magic minutes:  Those are the minutes that can be used while waiting for something else, or when you just have an extra minute.  I could wipe out one of the shelves inside the refrigerator door during a magic minute, or wipe one cabinet door front!

Ideas for food this week:

Butterbeans cooked with smoked sausage that has been cut into small pieces

Beef kabobs cooked in the oven.

Sloppy Joes

Bite size celery sticks with a spoon of pimento cheese on each one.

Hot dogs

Green beans cooked with ham bits

I hope your week is blessed and productive!

A Slice of My Life - Early September 2013

A Corner of the farmhouse.

The old school desk.

Guest room for NC State Fans.

Mama's table, Bible, book, teapot and doily. (lamp from Dollar General)

Mama's OLD electric clock.  I'm afraid to plug it in.

 

Had to get new tires and rims.



The tobacco of 2013 is history.  So glad its gone!

Beautiful Day.

Remnants of the raised bed.

Marigolds

Dining room corner.

Family Reunion at Rhodes Pond

The dam had broken, so the water was low temporarily.

The corn as been picked.

A Slice of My Life

I haven't done a "slice of life" post in ages.  Here are a few pictures from the last month.

These are the toes of my daughter while in labor...

The goal was "to have a baby".

The baby's bed was waiting for him...

It was barely visible, but this is Eli's rainbow.  I often see rainbows when important events have happened or are about to happen. This one was seen on the way home from the hospital after Eli was born.

Wow, who is this kid?

Bread machine, potatoes, onions, pickles, Mama's kitchen stuff.

Recent sunset seen across the way...

This rose was just set out after being rooted under a mason jar and already had a bloom on it.  This picture was taken when we got home after Eli was born.

This is my Grandma Rose which I have never seen bloom any other time except May.  During August, it had 3 blooms.

Recent quilting:

Happy Thursday!

Life

I recently got a new camera because my old one completely bit the dust. Its not an expensive camera, but its a few steps up from the old one. Here's a shot I tried to get with the zoom. Its not too clear, but I'm still learning.



The last of the Camelia blooms.



A recently purchased yard sale chair. $7.00. I just love it.



On the back window of my son's truck!



Some birthday flowers from my coworkers on my desk.



A Pile of Family.



Mama... She will be 87 in 2 weeks. She was doing much better, but now she has DVT (blood clots in the legs) She will be getting strong blood thinners and injections to help take care of this.



Hubby's truck. Guys love old trucks and mine is no exception. Its very nice to have something to haul things around on.



On front of the truck, bought at a thrift shop.



Happy Wednesday!