It’s something new…Something different.
Maybe not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you want to take a look, you’re invited. There will be art, poetry, stream of consciousness babble, and who knows what else? I’m just letting it flow. It started off pretty sombre because that’s how I’ve been feeling.
Nancy
Filed under: Announcement | 6 Comments »
Seen such a cute apron????
This is the best giveaway you’ll find today.
Tomato Soup Cake is my favorite tomato patch and Diane is a seamstress extraordinaire. She’ll be the first to admit that she has kind of an apron problem (we’re looking for a 12-step program to address the issue and – say …do you know of a rick rack group as well?)
But you can benefit from Diane’s strange addiction by commenting on her blog post for the apron giveaway. You’ll be sure to come back, once you’ve visited the tomato patch where she rules with a velvet glove and a pincushion.
Filed under: Announcement, Giveaway | 3 Comments »
That Make Me Happy.
This is the title of a meme that I decided to participate in. I got it from Diana at Sunshine On My Shoulders, where that fine lady presides over many important things.
Here are mine~
Well, to me they’re important!
I invite you to join me in filling out this little list. I’d love to know what makes you happy. And if you do, please leave me a link in the comments.
Nancy
Filed under: meme | 9 Comments »
Here is a picture thought I am sharing…
Thank you for visiting.
Nancy
Filed under: Simple Woman's Daybook | 7 Comments »
I belong to a group called MAD Mamma where we make and post dolls according to the challenge given for each month. We get to see every doll that will be in the swap, and then we are matched by random generator for swapping with each other.
Up to 5 dolls can be made, so you can wind up with dolls from 5 different people. It’ s a lot of fun. The challenge for June was inspired by Jeanette Janson. You can see a whole gallery of them by scrolling down the left side of her page and clicking on “birds”.
Here is my first bird, made with Rosehill Paper.
Thanks for looking at my Paper Craft.
Go toKelli’s House for more Paper Crafts and a great GIVEAWAY!
Filed under: Art Doll, Papercraft Thursday | 9 Comments »
Visit Papercraft Thursday at Kelli’s House for more.
I have been making original postcards. They are cheaper to send than greeting cards, and my friends and family get a kick out of them because they are original art. For collaged or hand painted ones, I make copies of them to send. The digital ones, well, they are all copies arent they.
Here are a few samples.
This one is completely digital. I don’t have a fancy program like PhotoShop, I’m using PhotoPlus which is FREE to download online. I’ve barely scratched the surface of what I can do with it. Lots of fun!
This one is textured collage background and hand painted.
And this one is totally hand-collaged.
These are so much fun to send and receive. There are some people who trade back and forth with me and we have such fun. You can also decorate the other side with stamps, stickers, etc. just leaving room for a message and the address.
Thanks for looking at my papercraft entry today.
Nancy
Filed under: Papercraft Thursday | 16 Comments »
Go toKelli’s House for more show and tell fun.
I’ve brought some of my perennials and special plants from Nita’s yard to my yard and wanted to share some of my green friends. I just transplanted them yesterday and took the photos this morning. They are gonna be very happy here!
This columbine is a very special friend. First planted in Alaska by the folks who homesteaded out East Road in the Homer area, the seeds have been harvested and planted- year after year- for decades.
During the time we were in Homer, Nita lived on the Jones’ place where she tended the heirloom flowers there. Harvested seeds were brought here to Ohio and planted. Unlike the hybrids, these seeds seem to produce the exact same plant every time. Very cool. they will also re-seed themselves from time to time.
This is my sage bush. Five years old now, it has grown from a little store-bought seedling to a fine, strong, woody shrub. 
The flowers are so unique in their shape.
I like to take a fresh frond and stick it whole inside a chicken or turkey before I bake it. (Along with an apple…maybe a stalk of celery and a small onion)…yum. Even whole stems which have been dried are pungent and flavorful in the Thanksgiving bird. This is one herb that really holds its flavor and aroma when dried and kept sealed in a zip lock bag or glass jar til used.
Just one more – the wonderful Lemon Balm. I took just a few small clumps for potting, but will be digging in a small bed of this lovely herb in short order. I planted this 5 years ago too and it just keeps coming back fuller and taller every year.
These small plants will go into a hanging pot near my back door. I like to crush a few leaves and drop them into my iced tea!
These are just a few of my green friends who are finding new homes in my new yard and garden. Thanks for looking at my show and tell.
Nancy
Filed under: food, herbs, Show and tell | 13 Comments »
I was going to do the Simple Woman’s Daybook, but that would not have been me today. I decided to write what was really on my mind. I don’t look for sympathy from my readers. That part is over. I’m just revealing a piece of the life journey that makes me who I am.
LIFE. It’s a journey, is what it is — a long trip. Life. Ups and downs, struggles and setbacks, deep valleys and glorious mountaintops. Travelling through.
Some of the roads are steep and uphill, perhaps with twists and turns that cannot be predicted until you round the next bend. Maybe rocks or deep ravines bar some of the pathways. We can find a way around it or climb it, or descend into its darkened depth to ascend the other side. One way or another, we can get to the mountaintops.
But as we said, “It’s a journey.” All the way to the end. You can’t live on a mountaintop – not forever. In order to complete the course, we must descend to the valley.
When daylight dawns bright and full of hope, we are energized and sometimes by nightfall everything may have changed. We cannot know. The night can be dark and filled with phantoms of fear and sadness … where sleep won’t come.
the valley can be very pleasant, lush, filled with farmland and peace and quiet. Or they can be dark and wintry, filled with tangles of brush and thorn with no identifiable pathways. Saint John of the Cross said,
“In the dark night of the soul, bright flows the river of God”.
I can attest to the rushing of that ‘bright river’. I have, like so many, plumbed the depth of that dark night… and I found Him there.
We are approaching the anniversary of the day our daughter, Libby, was killed instantly in a motorcycle crash. The darkest night we have ever been through. But let me assure you that God was there with her and with us on that darkest of nights 14 years ago, and is still amazing us with His Grace that keeps us – all through our journey.
We are healed of our pain, sorrow, and grief and look forward to the time we’ll have together in eternity. We only had 21 years together and I, for one am looking forward to making up for lost time. And since God’s Word tells us that one thousand years are but a day to Him, I know that Libby will have only been waiting a few minutes for us to arrive.
I always get ’emotional’ around this time. I can’t call it sadness, exactly, anymore. It’s just an emotional stirring that is different than anything else I feel. Thinking, “wish she were here to see….”; “wonder what she’d think of this ____ I just made…”; “she would have laughed so hard at that…”; “remember that time when she came into the kitchen 6 times, each one wearing a different hat and doing a different character…”
Remembering and dreaming. I use some of her paintbrushes she left behind. She was a very fine artist. She sang beautifully – did solos in church and at school and was the lead singer for our family quartet (around the piano). A lot of songs come to my ears in her voice. She was a percussionist and a French Horn player. She could have been a standup comedienne, she was so funny. She could have been…
In memory of Libby, here are just a few of her many faces. She was an amazing person.
I’ll always miss her.
Nancy
Filed under: Announcement, Family, Libby | 34 Comments »
Show and Tell at Kelli’s House
This was posted last summer, but with the hot weather we are having, I wanted to make it available to those who might have missed it the first time around. Since we made them, I have used mine a lot when working outside. They really do help!
And I have added a little something special, because we are having an excessively “buggy” season here, in Ohio.
Here is the addition:
Lavender!
Before you put on your cool wrap, drip a few drops of lavender essential oil along the length of it. Lavender is safe on the skin, so if it touches your neck it’s ok. (see my lavender article for more info.
Here’s the original article ~ Below.
With the very warm weather as it is, we decided to make some of the cooling neck wraps we had been thinking about, for them to take along. I first saw them when I was in the desert around Las Vegas. They were sold in shops for people who were out hiking and sightseeing. You can get them in stores and on line, but you can make them a who-o-o-o-le lot cheaper. We had fun doing it and it was very quick. Nita and I had a kind of assembly line going.
We started with several bandanas which we already had, ($1 each) and a small (about $5 bag of polymer crystals. We found ours at a plant nursery, where they are used to hold water in the soil. The florists we tried did not have them. the photo below shows how the look dry, and in the plate, how they look after soaking in water for about 30 minutes. We made 5 of these and still have enough crystals left to do at least that many more!
We folded the bandanas corner to corner in half and cut off the point of the triangle. You are left with a doubled strip which is about 7″ if you open it up. Fold it back so that right sides are together and stitch along the raw edge leaving a standard seam allowance (5/8″).
Pull one end back through so that right sides are out again and you have a long tube with pointed bandana ends. Top stitch along the sewn edge about a quarter inch in from the seam, and then sew a seam through the center, right at the midline so that you have two closed tubes -one on the right and one on the left. See below.
Place a teaspoon of polymer crystals into one of the open ends and shake it toward the middle seam.
Then close that side with another seam. I made a seam along the diagonal line in the pattern of the bandana to close the end. It makes the crystal chamber long enough to go round the neck, leaving loose ends to tie. Like this:
We then did the same thing on the other end.
Here is what this one looks like finished.
The crystals are in it, but you can’t tell because they are so small. Thanks to NIta for modeling. Isn’t she wonderful?
Here is a better view of how large they get.
These (below) are soaking and are starting to get fat.
These are going to be great for the summer we have ahead of us. You just soak the tie in cold water for about 30 minutes and the nontoxic polymer crystals will absorb enough water to keep you cool for hours. When not using your cooler you can hang it up to dry, crystals return to their original state after several days. Or store it in the fridge so it’s ready when you need it. You can even hand wash with mild soap but it must be rinsed well. These will be excellent for spending time outside in the sun — gardening, exercising or at sporting events.
I hear they work great for hot flashes too!
Filed under: Show and tell, yardwork | 3 Comments »
I must give a note of appreciation to my very good cyber-friend, Hil who posted the link on her blog.
It’s called
“10 Questions to Ask Your Mother Now”
and I found it so thorougly thought-provoking, I wanted to pass it along — even though Mother’s Day is past, it is totally relevant. Mothering is forever.
My mother is long departed to a better place. She died very young. I’d love to be able to ask her these things, but I can’t.
So I got to thinking how I would answer these questions if asked by my own children. Take a look at this article and you’ll see what I mean. And if you want to prepare some answers or ask the questions yourself, I’ve included the list (suitable for coyping) below.
From the book by Judith Newman. Ms. Newman tells about some of the feedback she received. This short article is worth the read.
1. What’s the one thing you would have done differently as a mom?
2. Why did you choose to be with my father?
3. In what ways do you think I’m like you? And not like you?
4. Which one of us kids did you like the best?
5. Is there anything you have always wanted to tell me but never have?
6. Do you think it’s easier or harder to be a mother now than when you were raising our family?
7. Is there anything you regret not having asked your parents?
8. What’s the best thing I can do for you right now?
9. Is there anything that you wish had been different between us―or that you would still like to change?
10. When did you realize you were no longer a child?
Pretty poignant aren’t they.
Nancy
Filed under: Family, Nattering, Parenting | 9 Comments »
Here is a picture thought I am sharing…
Yeah, That’s what I’M talkin’ about! I wanna make mine look just like this.
Thanks for coming by today. I hope yours is blessed.
Nancy
Filed under: Simple Woman's Daybook | 2 Comments »
Last night was an event I look forward to each year, since Micha has been attending Rosehill Elementary School. Art night!
Rosehill has a wonderful art teacher named Mrs. Leslie, who provides such incredible enrichment for her students, employing sophisticated techniques and exposing them to famous artists and their work. We will miss her so much.
One of the exhibits included 4th graders’ work inspired by Georgia O’Keefe and they were incredible. Mrs. Leslie had them study her work and provided them with a number of pictures of flowers and closeups of organic textures to feed their imaginations.
Canna by Georgia O’Keefe
So…back to the Rosehill paper…
They always have tables set up with students demonstrating techniques and allowing visitors to try them. One of these was set up for making paper beads. The paper was prepared in Mrs. Leslie’s classes by the young students and was all crayon/watercolor resist. I always look forward to getting a new supply of – what I call – ‘Rosehill paper’ at these events, and was allowed to grab a handful!
Here is my pile of loot! They are cut in very long triangles for paper-bead making, but I know I’ll be able to use them in a number of ways.
(you really should click for a closeup – these textures are wonderful)
But, alas, no more next year.
The tax levy, which some of us worked so hard to promote, failed on Tuesday – the day before art night – meaning that Mrs. Leslie and her counterparts at the other elementary schools and middle schools are terminated, along with P.E. and MUSIC teachers in those same schools. The school day will be shortened at our schools and these programs are all finished.
My heart breaks for the children deprived of these life-enhancing experiences and for the teachers who have poured their lives into them.
And for the Rosehill paper that will be no more.
Filed under: Announcement, Art, Rosehill | 17 Comments »
Here is a picture thought I am sharing…
Thanks for coming by.
Nancy
Filed under: 1 | 4 Comments »
OK! I see your tracks, but you never stop to say hello.
For shame!
Filed under: 1, Announcement | 11 Comments »
To my friends across the world who read this article: Please pass this info along to the people you care about.
Fresh produce is one of the joys of Spring and Summer, when so many luscious things are in season and available. But we’ve found – to our dismay – that it can carry microbes that can cause illness and even death.
In this time of the outbreak of yet another very dangerous communicable disease, I want to share some techniques for increasing our defense against food-borne microbes of many kinds. It’s just a little thing, but I think it really helps.
Here are my two super antimicrobial products. (Name brands are not necessary – vinegar is vinegar and salt is salt. I don’t think anyone can mess with that.) Both are cheap and widely available, non toxic to humans and pets, and 2 of the most powerful sanitzers known.
I mix them together to clean produce that comes from the super market, or from anywhere other than my own garden.
You can place cool water into a large bowl or a sanitary sink and add 1 cup of vinegar and 1/2 cup of salt. When the salt has dissolved, place produce into the water and clean it with a veggie brush where applicable or by agitating and stirring. I let mine sit in the water for at least 10 minutes. Some things tend to float, so I go back and turn them, agitate and swish them around occasionally while I’m doing other things.
Drain and rinse produce with cool fresh water and let it dry on towels or racks, or in a collander, before you wrap/bag it to put it away.
Lettuce is really difficult. It tends to turn rusty if you clean it and then store it for a few days. I think that’s because it is so difficult to get it dry. But at least it’s clean. If you’d like to clean just what you are going to use for a meal, that is one possibility, but then you have to put the unwashed portion into the fridge. .. and I don’t think I want to do that.
I pretty much stopped buying Mexican produce a long time ago because of the difference in their allowable pesticides and fertilizers. Now, more than ever, it’s important to me to know where things are grown and packed. But even produce grown and packaged in the US has has been the source of dangerous microbes .
I hope you’ll put into practice some version of this little extra precaution. I also use vinegar to sanitize my sinks, counters and dish cloths numerous times throughout the day, as I’m working in the kitchen. It helps to keep it in a spray bottle for that. If you do this on an otherwise clean surface, don’t wipe it off. Just leave it and let it do its job. The odor goes away quickly.
A plastic container of water with a bit of chlorine bleach in it is also useful for cleaning up after cutting or handling meats. (About a cup of water to a tablespoon of bleach is a good ratio) It also keeps your dishcloth very clean if you toss it in there and wring it out occasionally. You must make up a new batch of the bleach water each day, as it loses its strength after 24 hours.
Stay tuned for a post about Tea Tree oil coming soon. I know I have a page on Tea Tree, but I’ll be updating it to give some further instruction about using it to help you keep from carrying germs on the skin.
Nancy
Filed under: Announcement, sanitizing | 9 Comments »
More Than Enough 
