Look at all the Knitting(and some crochet)!!!!

Asalam Alaikum,
So because of family drama I have gone about 2 weeks without my crack internet. What happens in 2 weeks with out the internet you ask? This-

Plain Vest for FIL-done

Fetching For ME-done

Tiny horse for my nephew-done



Wow you can really get a lot of Knitting done when your not on Ravelry!

A skirt from shirts

A tale of two shirts....
Ken had these two shirts but they both developed holes in them and weren't easily mended and didn't work for him anymore. I thought had neat colors and fabric and thought it would be fun to do something with them so I...

Turned them into a skirt for Mara. It was rather fun figuring out how to creatively use up most all of the fabric so we had enough. I also decided to add a large piece of cream rick rack that I had (I think it was from Grandma.) and then put the buttons from the shirt on top of the rick rack. In the end Mara had a nice comfortable skirt that was definitely an original. :-)

Saving 2 shirts from the trash to create a free skirt is my Thrifty Green Thursday activity. I also lately made a skirt from old jeans but I failed to get a picture yet so that will have to be a post another day.

the beauty of the seasons.

same driveway scene...just add a little snow!!

WFMW ~ Personal cookbooks

What really works for me this morning is being in my warm cozy house since it is -24 degrees outside. :-) But beyond that....

At one of my bridal showers (over 10 years ago) I received this cookbook. It is actually a photo album but each lady that came to the shower provided a recipe to go in it and then as I collected recipes I could put them in their as well. The friend that put it together put tabs on to divide it into categories.

This cookbook has definitely been the most used one that I have.(As you can probably tell from the picture!!) When I was newly married I remember getting from mom her cornbread, biscuit, doughnut and various other recipes.When living by my Grandma I added quite a few recipes from her. I also got quite a few recipes from my friend Tina who is a great cook as well as many other friends. In later years I have started adding ones that I found on the Internet and we tried and liked. But lately this cookbook has been less useful since it was falling apart. It was time to do something about it.

I got one of the many 3 ring binders we have around our house, bought some page protectors to go in it and then decided to use some colored paper that we had a bunch of (it was given to us in 3 colors: pink, orange and green and it was 15 inches long but I just cut it to fit.) and then I just started securing the recipes to the page. Originally I had thought that I would type all the recipes out put decided it would be easier and also more interesting to put in the recipes the way I had them as many of them are written by the person they came from and they all bring back memories. I divided them into categories the way that I liked best and had a certain color of paper for the categories (rotating the colors throughout the book), I also made a title page and tab for each category.

I am really looking forward to putting my new book to work. Some of the other benefits of this book include washable pages and a cover that has pockets on the inside so I can stick recipes that I want to put in the book in the pocket until I get around to putting them in. For recipes that I think look neat but haven't tried I stick in my recipe card box to wait until I have time to try them and see if they are actually good or not. A personal cookbook really works for me!!

Another way I have personal cookbooks is with my regular ones I make notes a lot of the time. If I try a new recipe I try to write what we thought of it and what adjustments I made. This really helps when I go back to use it again.

What do you do with all your recipes? What methods or tips do you have?

learning from life

I read this and it made me grin, so I thought I would share it with you all.

Q: How does a homeschooler change a light bulb?

A: First, mom checks three books on electricity out of the library, then the kids make models of light bulbs, read a biography of Thomas Edison and do a skit based on his life. Next, everyone studies the history of lighting methods, wrapping up with dipping their own candles. Next, everyone takes a trip to the store where they compare types of light bulbs as well as prices and figure out how much change they'll get if they buy two bulbs for $1.99 and pay with a five dollar bill. On the way home, a discussion develops over the history of money and also Abraham Lincoln, as his picture is on the five dollar bill. Finally, after building a homemade ladder out of branches dragged from the woods, the light bulb is installed. And there is light. ~Author Unknown