Spring Cleaning?

For many years I have followed the Fly Lady's method of spring cleaning or basically breaking down deep cleaning of your home into zones. You basically focus on a zone every week and I just do this a few times throughout the year. The first zone is the entry way. I spent one morning scrubbing the entry way top to bottom. This is a good place to start because it is often smaller than the rest of your rooms and it is the first thing you see when you walk in so you enjoy your work right away.

A little gloomy today so the pics are sort of dark but here is my entry way.

I cleaned the glass doors with my mixture of water and rubbing alcohol. It works better than any other glass cleaner than I have ever used. Cheap, less toxic and just smells clean too. I also use it for other uses here.

I also needed to polish up the brass light fixture. I Googled it and found that taking a rag dipped in vinegar and then salt works great as a brass polish. The fixture is old but we are not changing it out. All clean and shiny it looked so much better. Just spiff up your home and enjoy and appreciate what you already have and leave the money in your bank account.

One thing we did when we first moved in here was to hang this peg rack right by the door. It helps keep purses and jackets from being dumped on the floor as everyone walk in and is a great place to hang our keys.

This photo of my husband's grandparents hangs in our entry way. This was their home before we bought after they had both passed. This is them on their wedding day during the depression.

Linking to:
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Time Warp Wife
Coastal Charm
Wow Us Wed.
Women Living Well
Thrifty Thurs.
Transformation Thurs.

Kitchen Shelf for Valentines

It is just about sundown and here is my little kitchen shelf with it's Valentine's doo-dads for the year. In the late afternoon my little heart lights come on and have the brightest cheery red glow. I love them.

Here is the shelf last year. I know use some of the things elsewhere so it fun to change it up year to year.

 I am just adding tucks of hearts and red here and there. I will show the rest later on.

Just a quick update on my patient that had her wisdom teeth pulled today. She was a bit weepy but I finally go her to eat a little something so she could take her pain meds. She is now fast asleep. Hopefully she doesn't have too much swelling as she has to be back at the hospital on Thursday no matter what.


Linking to:
Today's Creative Blog
A Return to Loveliness
Coastal Charm
Tabletop Tuesday
Cozy Home Scenes
A bowl full of lemons
Simply Sweet
Rednesday
Wow Us Wed.
Women Living Well
It's Overflowing
Thrifty Thurs.
Trans. Thurs.

Monday Monday

My new kicks came and they fit great. I was so glad to find these so cheap. I wore them Saturday night to dinner at my sister in laws for my husband's mom's birthday. It was casual and we watched football. I am a huge football fan and love the playoffs. This weekend was fabulous. Two days of all day football.

At one point my daughter laughed cause I was watching one of the games and my husband was re-arranging some of the Valentine decor. She teased us that we had things backwards. It is how we do it. I buy and get the stuff out and he arranges it for me. It is a crack up.

Today my oldest babe has to have all of her wisdom teeth out. Poor thing has been so sick this last week with an infection around one of them. Who knew you could have so many problems. I hope it goes well for her.

So in preparation I pulled out some of the shredded chicken I had made and some various leftovers and made a pot of garbage can soup, all the food that would be tossed in the garbage if I didn't cook it. This way she will have something when she is ready to eat. I doubt she will be even ready for this today so I stocked up on soft foods.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Forced to find a recipe to use up six pounds of chicken I had cooked up in the crockpot, I found a yummy basic freezable meal that the family loved. I like to double cook so I can cook once and eat twice.  The recipe is from food.com. You can go there to look at it. It was easy to make and you could vary it to your tastes or what you have on hand. I served it over steamed rice.
At .99 a pound these breasts on the bone cost me about $6 for 6 lbs. I just put them in the crockpot with season salt and lemon pepper with about and inch of water and let them cook for about four hours on high.

Layered and ready to go in the oven with one to freeze for later.

Pulled out my Valentine decor and here is a little peek.

I am not done tweaking it but will share when I am done.

Linking to:
Met Monday
Seasonal Sundays
The House in the Roses
Making Monday Marvelous
Savvy Homemade
Coastal Charm
Bowl Full of Lemons
Comfy in the Kitchen

Saturday in the Kitchen

I think today is the day to get the Valentines decor out. Can't wait to decorate my new old kitchen shelf. I think the red and white will be so fun in here.

A gift of fresh eggs and lemons just make me happy.

This coffee pot never stays in one place long. He is a nomad traveling around the kitchen all the time.

Lots of pots of hot tea with lemon and honey as my littlest generously shared her cold this week.

And I tried a new recipe on the family last night and they loved it. Basic, healthy and nourishing is my style of cooking. I have never shared that I have acid reflux and have for years. I no longer cook with garlic or certain spices but if a recipe calls for it I will include it when I share. You can decide if you want to add it. I modify lots of recipes. I can adapt most to my limitations and have become quite good at it over the years. My husband adds hot sauce if he wants to spice things up as I cannot eat that way any longer. So lots of my recipes are for basic filling meals that are never too spicy. I will share this recipe tomorrow.

Off to make cookies and brownies for my mother in laws birthday this evening. Great day everyone!

Linking to:
Get Schooled Saturday
Funky Junk Interiors
Gingerbread
Sat. Spotlight
Show and Tell Saturday
Weekend Whatever
Sister Sunday
I Heart Naptime
Seasonal Sunday
Tabletop Tuesday
Bowl full of lemons

Update on My Post from Yesterday

I have had so many moving comments on my post from yesterday about the state of struggling families. So many of you are hurting and fighting to stay above water and I pray that you will find the days and years ahead easier. It was never my intention to shame any of us that show our homes or wonderful times as that is what we are, home and life bloggers. I want to see them again. You cannot always be focused on the negative right? When my father in law starts to get too excited about the future of our country I try to remind him that my girls need to be hopeful about their future. If they don't feel like they have all possibilities open to them then they are robbed of what we all had when we were young.
I just wanted to share some thoughts on what was going on in our week and the problem is a very real one. One we do have to deal with but please don't stop showing me the beauty of life. It is important and vital and necessary too.

Threading Commenting or Allow Replies to Comments

I just discovered that Blogger has started to allow replies to comments on our blogs. Maybe this is old news to you but in case you would like to enable this on your blog here is the link with instructions. Just make sure you are set up with embedded comments. It took me a minute to figure that one out. Here is the link:
http://buzz.blogger.com/2012/01/engage-with-your-readers-through.html

Are We Ready to Step Up?

Something has been weighing heavy on my heart. Last week something happened that just shook me. It started with my two older girls. We always try to eat dinner together meaning if you are in the house at dinner time you eat dinner at the table. Our time to all come together and share. Well, what the girls began to share has really made me think. In the space of four days, the girls told four different stories of families and friends they know who have had to move in with others or face homelessness or to prevent someone they know from losing the roof over their head. Inability to cover one's mortgage and renting out rooms to another family, a friend moving in with an uncle who no longer can afford his rent, a girl having to share a room with a family member and her baby after they lost their home. I don't want to be too specific but I am sure you get the idea.

I hear of the economy supposedly starting to rebound but it is surely not happening fast enough. I personally believe we are seeing families face what many of us have not seen in our lifetime. I know my grandparents faced situations very similar in the depression because I heard the stories. I have also read the unemployment rate is much higher than reported. Those no longer looking or under employed are not represented. How about those that take a new job but no longer make what they were making before. My own brother is facing this situation. It is simply devastating. I worry for him and for other family members affected by this recession.

It is more than just doing without little things like less dinners out, maybe you don't take a vacation. It is now whether you can keep a roof over your head, your utilities on and just put enough food on the table. I have some of my own family members facing tough decisions like this. I have received several e-mails through my blog of others facing situations similar or having to help someone. I don't remember a time like this that I can recall. Everything is so expensive. It is so costly to maintain just a vehicle, let alone a home and care of a family. When wages are dropping and inflation is rising it is a recipe for disaster.

So what I am trying to ask here is are we all ready to accept a change in the way we live? Multiple families having to share a home, helping others get enough to eat? I am dealing with these questions for myself. What can I do to help? How much can I help? Have I helped enough? I hope this is temporary and I apologize if I sound depressing but while we all show our lovely homes and little pretties I just felt the need to share this burden on my heart. Do you feel the same about the way our lives may be changing? Have you seen what I am seeing here. Maybe it is just our part of the country. I will be back to my normal posts next time but for now I felt compelled to share. Thanks for listening. Please let me know what you think.

Garden Patio in Winter

I have cut back all the plants in my pots for the year and pulled the annuals out. With our mild winters I keep my impatiens for years just cutting them back in the winter and feeding them.
The ivy is the only greenery now as the other vine dies off in winter.

This is Lola my six pound baby. This chair is her favorite spot on warm afternoons.

Don't those poor candles look sad all melted. Time to get rid of them. I have some bulbs coming up in a pot on my table though. They are purple Dutch Iris I divided from the front yard. I will be making less trips to the nursery this year as I we are working off a list of maintenance jobs around here.

Linking to:
SNS 116
Sunday Blog Love

Blog Updates

I love this adventure of blogging. I mean I really do love it. So fun and such great friends I have made. With all that is going on around here I always carve out time to blog and blog hop as it is such an uplifting hobby. It has made me a better house keeper as well. Now I think more of my home as my little jewel and I like to keep it picked up more so it is pleasing to myself and my husband.

Anyhoo on to the updates. I am so excited to have been asked by Brenda at Cozy Little House to take part with her and two other bloggers in a new series called Thrifty Living 2012. The series will start next week. You know if you have read my blog at all that frugal living is a passion of mine. I did not always think this way but when I left my job of 18 years when my little one was born three years ago, we had to start living on one income in a very expensive part of the country. This should be great fun but also useful I hope to others who will read the series. We are all women coming from different view points on our journey of frugality.

Sunny Simple Life


And secondly, I wanted to let you know that I have a facebook page and have had some fun making friends over there but I occasionally like to share deals I find and will start listing those on my facebook page. Come see me over there and say hi.

That's all for now folks. What are you all up to today? I have to go pick up some glasses for my hubby and hit the market for a few of the weekly deals. I am only shopping the store deals this week as I am pretty well stocked and want to keep my grocery spending low for this week.

Linking to:
Inspiration Friday
Feathered Nest Friday
Treasure Hunt Thursday
Fridays Unfolded
Potpourri Friday
Common Ground
Show and Tell Friday

My Teeny Tiny Office Re-Do

I know this is scary but I wanted to show you what I am working on. I don't have room for a home office anywhere. This has been the place for our desk top and printer and it sits in the corner in an L shaped hallway. I am declaring it mine. I want to re-do it for more efficient space for me to have as my own. 

I will keep the desk and the desk top computer. I have convinced the two oldest to set up the printer in their room. They have two desks in there and lots of space and they also use it the most. The wall color will stay the same is I don't want to repaint the entire hallway right now. I hate all those cords you see walking down the hallway. I have begged hubby to make it a project for himself to figure out how to hide them all. The shelves are going in my third daughter's room. She wants a couple shelves for books and mementos so these will be perfect.

Here are some inspiration pics all from bhg.com. 

Just love the colors and all in the above photo.

I love this entire set up. They have truly maximized wall space here and I am on the hunt for a hanging unit like the one on the left.

I just love this photo for the colors. Of course I cannot really use these colors but how cheery they are. I could sneak in some pretty paper products that would make me smile for sure.

On a side note my daughter and I have been so busy and stressed trying to get her registered in her college classes for the coming semester. This is her third semester and yet this has been the hardest time we have ever had. Continual budget cuts and an increasing student population have made it so difficult to get into any classes before they are filled. We are waiting for confirmation that she was able to get a spot into her last class. We had to go through five attempts to even get her into one class as everything was already filled by the time she could log in. I need chocolate bad!!!!!!! Yeah she just yelled back to me that she got the last class. Whew.

Linking to:
Transformation Thursday
It's Overflowing
Home and Garden Thursday
The Charm of Home
Show and Tell Friday

When You Can't Do It All

Okay, I tried. Sat there for a couple of hours crocheting my little wash cloth and have decided for now, for this season in my life, I do not have time for crafting. All I kept thinking was I needed to get busy on other things. I didn't seem to be relaxing. Perhaps I am just not a crafter. I don't scrapbook any longer, just make digital books online. I love the thought of it but just am not at a point in my life to take on something else. When I moved toward a more simpler life in the last few years I quit doing anything like that so I could de-clutter and have less pressures on my time. I am re-committed to keeping things more simple around here.

As simple as it can be with four kids, two dogs, two cats and a husband who works long hours often out of town. I love being focused just on keeping things in order and moving smoothly.

It takes time to prepare and shop for meals around here. I am so glad to have a little market where I can buy all above for $22. That included a bag of cashews for cashew chicken on next weeks menu.

Starving when I got home from errands this morning, I made a yummy fried egg sammie. I stayed home yesterday not leaving at all. I am trying to have more no drive days where no gas in my car is used and no money spent. I have had two since Saturday.

For now my creativity will have to be fulfilled with making things nice here in the home, arranging my lovelies, gardening and caring for my family.

Being a full time home manager is what I do. Love it, thankful for it and am always brought much joy in doing my best around here. Spending time making out my weekly menus, shopping for the family and managing what hubby and I call "organized chaos" is where my energy must be at this time in my life. Having a baby in my forties ensures I will be in this stage a bit longer. I don't want to rush life so I am content here. I will have time enough some day to pursue other interests and if I don't then I won't.

For now the crafts are left to the three year old.

Linking to:
Wow Us Wed.
A Beach Cottage
The Stuff of Success
Organize and Decorate Everything
Time Travel Thursday
The Charm of Home

Moist Tender Barbecued Chicken

Our family loves bbq and chicken is one of our favorites. My dad was an excellent bbq man and thankfully taught my brothers and husband as well. The secret to moist tender barbecued chicken is in parboiling it. Something about that just always gives you such good results. Before you even light the barby, take a big pot and fill with water and some salt.

 Just drop the chicken in and bring to a boil. Turn it off once it starts to boil and let it sit for just a few minutes and remove. Season and then grill. Put the sauce on just before your finished grilling. Sauce burns so easy because of the sugar so just put it on near the end.

Linking to:
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Tuesday's Treasures
Not Just a Housewife
Coastal Charm
Northern Cottage
Ivy and Elephants
Wow Us Wed.
A Beach Cottage
Transformation Thursday
Domesblissity
Inspiration Friday
Fridays Unfolded
Common Ground
Show and Tell Friday
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/

Just wanted to share this great deal. hip2save.com has all the details but it is two boxes of 10ct. Cliff Bars in Honey Oat for $6.78. Best thing is I used $5 in Amazon credit I earned from Swagbucks. We love these in our lunches or for a quick breakfast on the go.

Lil' Sweetie

When we were on the coast in November I bought this darling little Pyrex bowl in a tiny quirky thrift store we always visit. 75 cents. Here it would have been $2 to $3. Do you think it is a ramekin? I have never seen such a small pyrex bowl but would love to collect more. It is the perfect little thing for olives and such at dinner time.

Organize Kitchen Counters Into Work Zones

                                                                       Christmas Time

Like most people out there, I have limited counter space. With my naturally non-organized mind that I am training ever year into an organized brain, I study books and magazines all the time. One area I strive to keep the most organized is the kitchen. I am in it everyday for at least three meals a day. I have been reading up on the best way to keep it organized and use my counter space most efficiently.

The idea of work zones on my counters is an a-ha moment. Yes, why am I walking to the cabinet way over there when I always use the thing I need most over here sort of thing. Here is what I have come up with for my kitchen counters.

First is the coffee and toast zone. Not only do the coffee maker and toaster match, but they are used by my husband as he rushes out the door every morning. They should be close and easy to get to as he is in a hurry. I keep a jar of coffee right on the counter and sugar and mugs are right above in the cupboard.

Next zone is my baking area. Not big by any measure but used all the time. I keep my mixer out because one it is heavy and it is used several times a week. I now have flour sugar and brown sugar in old glass jars right next to it. Baking tools are in the drawer directly below this area. Baking can be done all in this one area with fewer trips to the cupboard.

Last on the right of my stove is where I do most food prep. I keep the tools I use most often in crocks that flank the stove and a knife block is right there. I want to ditch the knife block and get magnet holders to mount on the cupboard sides to free up more space. I have a handy cutting board sitting here and a jar of rice on top. I was walking to the other side of the kitchen to get rice every time I cooked so this will lessen the steps I have to take.

Last is a butcher block we use for our napkins and salt and pepper. This is where the line begins at mealtime with plates and silverware at the ready.

My kitchen is small but it works for me. Think of your counters as a work area and ditch as many knick knacks as you can if you are short of space.

Linking to:
Mingle Monday
Seasonal Sundays
Making the World Cuter
The House in the Roses
Met Monday
Savvy Homemade Monday
Mod Mix Monday
CraftOManiac
A Stroll Thru Life
Barn Hop
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Tuesday's Treasures
Not Just A Housewife
Farmhouse Friday
Let's Organize 2012
Today's Creative Blog