What's New?!

Good Morning!  I am sitting in the quiet of my living room looking out on a rainy morning with a cup of Earl Gray tea.  I love this time of quiet.  It is so unusual that both of my children would be asleep at 9:00am!  Usually we have already completed a class for school by now, but I couldn't bring myself to wake them up!  Actually, my daughter has been up, but cuddled up in my bed with the Kindle and is now drifting in and out of sleep.  My daughter, Grace, gets up, fixes her own breakfast, reads her Bible and prays, usually before my eyes open!  She is 8 years old and very indepedent!  She cleaned the kitchen last night for me.  I love that!  This morning, I was up before anyone, so I made pancakes with fresh peach syrup.  I have all of these peaches, so I grabbed a few, peeled them, put them in a pot, added a little bit of water, some honey, cinnamon and 2 glucomannan capsules to thicken it. Then I cooked it until bubbly.  Yummy!!  The Glucomannan is used to thicken sauces, puddings, etc.  This is a Trim Healthy Mama ingredient!

What is new in my shop?  LOTS!  I have added headbands made from my wire yarn, mostly.  These are so cute!  I love them.  My daughter, Grace, was my model and she kept saying, "Don't list this one.  I want it."  to about all of them!  It is a great use of the wire yarn.  I have a customer who said she was going to use the wire yarn she purchased for hat toppers instead of pom poms.  I had a gentleman buy some from me last year at a craft show I did.  I wondered what he was going to do with it!  Something creative, I bet.  Anyway, the headbands were listed with the hope of bringing a little fun into your hair!  

I also added a monthly Fiber Box Club.  You will get a box of mixed types of fiber each month for however long your subscription is - 1, 3, 6 or 12 months.  There is a minimum of 4 oz. in each box.  It will be a mix of wool and exotics and maybe a little bit of sparkle!  Gift wrapping is available!  I am trying to come up with some fresh ideas.  My shop is doing well, but just want to take it to the next level.  Any ideas are being accepted!  What would you like to see?

School is going great!  I think I have hit upon a winner for curriculum!  Finally!  Ben is enjoying school and so is Grace.  I am using Tapestry of Grace with Ben and Rod and Staff with Grace.  Ben is using Singapore Math and Apologia science.  It is great to see happy faces every day!  (well nearly every day! lol).  In the summer, we are finishing up right after lunch, then head to the lake for swimming and fun!  It is a great incentive to focus and get the lessons done.  

Take care and God bless you!

Kim

Reminiscing

Today is a rainy day!  I love rainy days - the smell, the cleansing (especially of all the pollen), the freshness!  I am one of those moms who let their kids play in the rain as long as it is not thundering or lightening.  They love it!  I, myself, like to sit on my back porch and just enjoy the peace of it

It is also a perfect day for all things fiber!  I have a sequined yarn that I am working on.  I finished one skein, but have enough left over for another skein.  Urg..  It is very pretty, but spinning with sequins is not a lot of fun.  It is also very time consuming.  I spun a single out of Ashland Bay's Concord colorway - Tussah Silk and Merino.  It is beautiful and soft!

Before

After

I had a dye day last week, so I will have lots more yarn to spin!  I went through my beads, buttons and ribbons stash and matched some fiber to them.  

So, those are my Finished Objects and some of my Works in Progress.  I am still working on my messenger bag and my quilt, but not much progress there.  I am going to start my dad's Irish Clan Sweater next week!  Trying to decide whether to spin the yarn or just buy it  The Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool is really calling to me.  lol  I did find out the yardage today - 2100 yards.  That is a lot of spinning!  

We are taking a break from school.  We finished up the year and did a trial run of the coming year.  There is a lot to schedule for this coming year with both children.  The trial week went fairly well.  Both Ben and Grace like their curriculum, praise the Lord!  They are ready to begin, so we will probably start next week.  Ben will be using Tapestry of Grace Year One.  It is themed around the Ancients and he loves it!  Grace is using Rod and Staff.  She loves that!  She is my workbook child. My challenge is to be able to juggle both with teaching one on one.  Ben has more independent work, but Grace is a lot of hands on teaching  I am using Homeschool Skedtrack  for scheduling, grading and tracking days off.  I really love this program and it is FREE!  

With the help of a good friend, I have been able to make yogurt a bit more easily.  (Easily - is that right?  It is an adverb describing make? )  lol  To begin with, you don't have to have raw milk to make delicious yogurt!  Great news since my source dried up  You put 1 gallon of milk (I used whole, but my friend just used 2% and it turned out fine) in a crock pot.  Add 2 cups of dried milk and stir to dissolve.  Then turn it on and wait for it to reach 180 degrees.  It takes hours, so you can walk away and live your life  I heated mine on the stove which is much quicker.  Either way works.  Once it hits 180 degrees, you remove it from the heat and cool to 120 degrees.  Then add a little thing of yogurt.  I actually added 2  individual servings of Okios Vanilla to mine  Stir it in really well.  At this point, you could add a sweetner - sugar or stevia or sweetener of choice.  I didn't add any sweetener to mine  I did add some vanilla - about a teaspoon  You could add any flavoring - lemon, caramel, citrus, etc.  Walmart has an excellent selection of flavorings  Then you pour it into jars, cap it, and put it in your oven with the light on (I think I forgot to turn my light off yesterday!)  and leave in 12 hours  If you go longer it's ok.  Mine was due to come out at 11:30 at night.  I dozed off and woke up a 1:00am and put it in the fridge then  It was yummy!  There was some whey liquid, but I stirred it into the yogurt.  Great flavor  Another friend told me she stirs peanut butter into her plain yogurt and it tastes like peanut butter cheese cake!  It is good!  

I am off to Muddy Pond to visit my sisters!  Until next time...

Kim

P.S.  I did forget to turn off the light in the oven!  Oh my!

Plans and Projects

“Spring is the time of plans and projects.” 
― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Where to start!  The last freeze has ended and my yard is alive!  We have not lived here during spring, so I am waiting with anticipation as all the green wakes up in my flower beds.  I know there is one Iris and some lilies.  My maple tree is happily full of leaves.  The birds are singing.  But none have decided to make our birdhouse their home - yet!  I planted tomatoes and some Iris bulbs that I had forgotten about.  They had started sprouting in a bag on my porch.  So, I put them around the edge of the lake.  I have a box of heirloom seeds in the freezer.  My goal this next week is to plant them in pots and put them on the side of our home that gets sun.  Pots will allow me to move them around to the sunniest spot.  Not sure where that will be as we live in the woods!  But, our new neighbor has cut down a lot of trees, so hopefully that will help.  I will post pictures!  It is nighttime, or I would include some pics now!  Anyway...

We have been enjoying our meals on the screened in porch.  We have also had school out there.  The kids love it.  This afternoon, I was working on spinning my first sock yarn on the porch.  My plan is that it will be self-striping.  The trick will be to match up the colorways on the plys.

I have been watching a great knitting/craft  podcast - MandoCrafts.  She is into all kinds of crafts and her podcast is very organized.  She has different segments - What I Have Learned, Finished Projects, Works In Progress, Upcoming Events, etc.  And she has such a wonderful attitude.  She , Amanda Manus, has inspired me to work on projects for myself and family.  I have had such a hard time working on my projects.  I tend to spend that time on my ETSY shop.  Anyway, I have pulled out cross stitch, a quilting project, I finished my daughter's sweater, working on a messenger bag which has been on the needles awhile, and I have cast on a hat for my new niece, Viola, who will arrive in September.  I owe her a big thank you, so thank you, Amanda (MandoBug)!  Now to tackle my dad's Irish clan sweater!!  That will really be something.  Over 3 years!!  It is the monkey on my back!  I must restart it!  Here is MandoBug's Blog - http://mandobugcrafts.blogspot.com/.  Check it out.  You will love it!

Grace's Sweater
My niece's hat and a sweater will be in this same colorway.  I was about 10 yards short of enough yarn so I bought another skein.  I found the one I knew I had purchased with the original, so now I have plenty of this colorway!  What is this colorway?  It is Universal Yarns Classic Shades in Cool Blazes Colorway.

My Messenger Bag.  This was a free pattern from Craft Passion.  I goofed this up, but I think I can still make it work!  No way was I ripping out all of this work!

My Quilt Project - This is a set of 12 blocks called Butterfly Garden by Black Cat Creations.  I was in this block of the month club at a local quilting shop.  This was our first block.  The others are still neatly tucked in their packages, waiting to be colored!  You color each one with crayon.  Then set it with an iron.  Then you embroider around the pictures.  It will be beautiful when I finish.  I had intended to to this for my sister, Karen, who loved, loved loved flowers.  Unfortunately, she is with Jesus now and never even knew about this quilt.  It is hard to work on for that reason, but Amanda has inspired me to get it out again.

So, it is night and I have to help Ben finish a paper for composition.  Until next time, may God bless you richly!

Kim

Surviving the Storm

We have had quite the adventure on the Cumberland Plateau in the last couple of weeks.  We still have folks without power.  For those who don't know, we had a tremendous ice storm Friday before last.  I have never heard such scary sounds in my life.  The wind was blowing and you could hear the branches cracking and then breaking under the weight of the ice.  Then, BANG, they would hit the roof.  I lay awake all night praying for protection.  I love the snow, but hate the ice.   We were without power for almost a complete week.  It went out Saturday morning and was restored last Friday evening.  We drove to Knoxville on Sunday to get one of the few generators available anywhere!  My hubby hooked it up to our fuse box somehow and we had power.  Everything worked but the stove, the dryer and the hot water.  To get those to work he needed a different cord - a 220 or something like that.  Finally, on Friday, he was able to get one from Lowes.  But the power came on!  Praise the Lord!  Our friends had a gas hot water heater, so we were able to take a hot shower.  The hot water is what we missed most of all. 

There was some fun! Our lake froze!  This is not an every year occurrence for us.

Apparently, we are in for another round tomorrow and Thursday.  I felt kinda sick when I saw the alert on Facebook.  My husband went out last night and bought more gas cans and a tank we can use to heat water and have a hot shower.  One of us will have to stand outside the shower and pour it out from above, but that will be ok.  Teamwork!  Family!  A time of growing closer.  We are blessed with a gas fireplace and a gas grill, so we did have heat and a way to cook.  This time, we should be ok.  I just pray that all branches that were going to fall, have fallen!  No more trees down! 

In shop news, I am selling lots of Ashford products!!  Happy about that!  I have some yarns to post and my hubby is working on weaving some purses.  Can't wait for that! 

On the subject of cooking - I am using ground turkey in place of ground beef.  It is better for you and a lot cheaper than ground beef.  I have made hamburgers and tacos with it and my family loves it.  Even my 10 year old son loves it.  I am doing well following the THM S plan and keeping my sugar down.  I feel so much better!  I am going to host a THM get together soon and I will have some great recipes to share from that event!  Everyone will bring a THM dish that they really like along with the recipe.  That way, we can try different things and share ideas.  Great fun!!

Until next time, stay warm and may God bless you!
Kim

Good Eats!!

Ok, I am enjoying the Trim Healthy Mama S plan!  I really am.  I am still challenged in the baking dept., but I have found some really yummy recipes!  I am going to share 1 original and 1 from the files on the THM Mennonite Facebook page.

Blackberry Crisp - Really more like Blackberry Soggy.  I made this as an experiment for our small group on Friday nights.  I melted a stick of butter in a casserole dish - a 9x13.  I then added my blackberries to the melted butter.  Now for the topping.  I used coconut flour, almond flour - 1/2 cup of each.  Then I put in about 1/4 t. salt and 1 cup of xylitol with a 1/4 t. Stevia.  I cut up about 1/2 stick of butter and made the mixture into a crumble.  I then sprinkled it over the top of the blackberries and baked it for about 40 minutes at 350.  It never did get crisp, and I almost didn't serve it, but I had nothing else.  My hubby went out and bought some cookies from the store, but I hated not to have something homemade.  So, I put it out with some homemade whipped cream (Heaving Whipping Cream and a sprinkle of xylitol whipped up in the mixer).  It was almost gone!  Some even had seconds.  The taste was great but the texture - ugh.  But apparently not so bad to everyone else.  Some remarked that it was like a pudding.  Even my picky son loved it!  So, it is worth a try!  Experiment and make improvements!  Let me know how it works!  Remember to be THM - no flour and no sugar! 

This next one is great! 

Satisfying Low-Carb Pancakes
4 eggs
1 c. ricotta - I used 1 c. of cottage cheese
1/2 c. flax seed meal
2 t. baking powder
1/8 t. salt
sweetener to taste (8-12 dashes of Stevia Extract)  I used stevia powder
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1T. Cinnamon

Mix this all together and cook on a griddle.  It makes 12 4" pancakes.  I served them with real maple syrup, but you could also use Greek yogurt with berries.    This is considered an S breakfast.  Serve with Sausage or bacon.

I wish I had taken pics, but I didn't.  The recipe I followed had the cinnamon as optional, but I can't see leaving it out.  It really gave it a great flavor.

So, since I don't have any food pics, I will share a couple of yarns I posted to my shop last night!

I now am over 200 items in my shop!  I am at 201!  lol  More coming!  The Lord has renewed my motivation! 

Grab a cup of coffee, a good book and a blanket.  Snuggle in the arm of the couch and enjoy your day!  You have my permission!! 

God Bless You!
Kim

Where is Your Quiet Place?

Good Morning!!  Today, in our Good Morning Girls devotion, we read Exodus 8.  Below are my SOAK thoughts:

S & O: In today's reading, one verse really stuck out to me and that is v. 10 - "Do it tomorrow..." This was in response to Moses' question to the Pharoah, "When do you want me to pray for you, your officials, and your people? Then you and your houses will be rid of the frogs". TOMORROW?? Really?? Why not right now? Crazy! Then when God sent the flies, Pharoah told Moses to "Hurry and pray for me." (v.28). I wonder why he didn't want rid of the frogs right now. Hmmmm. Verse 27 was a verse I can pick to apply to my life. "We must take a 3 day trip into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, just as He has commanded us."  

A: Today, we think we can live in the world and pray in the world. We need to get away and spend some quality time with God. Jesus would often go away and pray. He left all the people and the disciples and went away to pray to His Father. It's hard to have a good visit with anyone when there is chaos all around. We can't concentrate, or listen to what God has to say when we are in the midst of noise and cares of this world. We are in the world but we are not of the world. Get away, in the quiet, all alone, and let God minister to you. That is what I am going to do today! Now where will that place be?? Usually it is the shower for me. That is the place where I can hear from God the best. If I get so frustrated, I head to the showers. When I need desperately to reconnect to God, I head to the shower. I am a very clean person! lol  

K. Father God, I am so appreciative of Your patience! You love me and never give up working on me. Lord, help me to get away and visit with You, even when there are no problems in my life. Help me to come to You - just as desperately as I do in the bad times - in the good times. Bless the Good Morning Girls today as we go through our day. Speak loudly to us and pull as away to just spend time with You. I love You so much! In Jesus' Name.

Remember: S stands for Scripture, O stands for Observation, A stands for Application, and K stands for kneeling in prayer.

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Last night I finally got my Dye It Yourself Yarn Kit posted in my ETSY Shop!!! I love dyeing fiber and creating new and unique colorways. It is interesting sometimes to see how the colors bleed into each other, creating an altogether new color. Sometimes it is frustrating when they bleed together to make a new color! lol But when I spin it into yarn, it totally changes into a new and beautiful creation - well usually. I once spun some yarn from a beautiful roving. I loved the colors in the roving. Well, the yarn, I thought was horrible. It was the ugliest yarn ever. I don't have a pic to show you, but take my word for it. Well, I needed to make a baby gift, so I used this yarn to make a baby hat. Let me tell you, there has never been a more beautiful baby hat color wise. That ugly yarn knitted into a self striping fantastic hat! I could not believe it! Anyway, lesson being, looks can be deceiving - in people and yarn!

I am going to post an art batt I created last night. I will give you a sneak preview:

Until next time, have a blessed day!

Autumn is Officially Here and So Are All Things Apple and Pumpkin!

I cannot stress enough how much I love the Fall!!  Especially for one suffering from hot flashes, the cool, crisp air is a blessing from my precious Lord!  On that note, I am enjoying a cuppa of my homemade pumpkin coffee.  Yummy!  I simply put my favorite coffee, Chock Full Of Nuts, into my brewing basket.  To that I add about a teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 t. cloves, nutmeg, and ginger, with just a pinch of allspice.  I mix that around and voila!  Pumpkin Coffee!  Once that is poured into my favorite mug, I will often add sweetened condensed milk.  Wow!  So delicious!  This is to be savored sitting in a comfy chair, curled up under an afghan, with a good book in the peace and quiet.  Nice!

I have been busy dyeing roving and knitting swatches of my yarns for my shop.  Getting ready for the fall/winter selling season.  You never know what a yarn will look like when it's knit or crocheted.  Hopefully this will help.

Last evening, I discovered, what I think, is a wonderful Science website, Physics4kids .  They also have Geography4kids, Biology4kids, Chemistry4kids, and a link to a really good math site - Rader's NUMBERNUT.  My sweet hubby wants me to start teaching some serious science to our 4th grader, Ben.  So, we are going to start Physics.  Just a basic class - nothing too involved, but he wants Ben to have a general knowledge of motion, matter, speed of light, etc.  I am pretty convinced , right now, that I am definitely am going to go for DVD courses in science when he gets older.  I was pretty good in Biology, Earth Science and basic Physics, but to get an in depth education in Chemistry and Physics will require DVD teaching!

As far a our organic, healthy way of eating, it's coming along.  The trouble is leaving home.  When we go to anyone's home or church for meals, it's tough, mentally, to stay the course!  However, we are doing much better than we were a year ago.  Now,I am going to be forced to stick within my $60.00/week budget!  I will post my menu for this coming week, along with my grocery list.  Then, I'll let you know how I did staying in my budget.  I love the challenge!

Going Natural!

Hello everyone!  Well, it's been 5 months since I last posted.  That seems to be a recurrent theme!  Let's see...

We started our new homeschooling year using the Charlotte Mason method.  We began our new school year the first of June and my kids are loving it so far!  So do I.  It is so exciting to see them anxious to do school.  We are using living books for science, history, literature and grammar. Ben and Grace are remembering things much better using the living books.  Message me if you want details about what we are doing.  I'm happy to share but don't want to bore those who have no interest!  We also started French using a YouTube course with 72 lessons!  My children have taken Spanish for 3 years and I thought I would let them experience French for 2 or 3 years and see what they like.  We have school at the park, at home, outside under a tree - really nice to break it up.

My yarn shop, Simply Homespun, is doing great!  I am introducing mini skeins this month.  I didn't even know they were in demand!  People are using them to make "hexipuffs" that are then joined into a Beekeepers Quilt.


So, I decided to take the mini skeins and do a little twist (no pun intended) - I made them energized!  These should make quite a show in a quilt.  Look for more of these coming soon!

The Hines family has also gone all natural!  We haven't had sugar in the house in about 2 months - well, there is a little bit left in the canister, but it is about 3 months old.   We are using honey and stevia in place of sugar.  I still haven't mastered making a cake with stevia, but I'm working on it.  I did make some lemon lavendar muffins and they did rise, so that was a major victory!  I used yougart as a bulking agent in place of the sugar.  When you use stevia, you have to replace the bulk that the sugar would have given you as it only takes 1/4 t. Stevia to every 1 cup of sugar!  Sugar really contributes a lot to a recipe - sweetness as well as texture and bulkiness!  It is fun experimenting though.  I am using Stevita.  It doesn't have any after taste.  It is expensive, but using so little of it, it is probably going to wind up being less than sugar per serving.  I am trying really hard to use only food without chemicals or hormones.  It is really expensive - about double our $50.00/week grocery budget, but it is worth it.  My little 6 year old was starting to develop early thanks to the hormones added in meat and milk!  That was my motivation in switching our life style to an all natural one.  I made my own laundry detergent, am making our own bread from chemical free flour, and have gone back to raw milk from hormone free cows!  We are making our own butter from the milk so that has helped us save on butter as well as cutting down our usage of butter significantly.  All in all it has been fun, but I'm going to have to be more diligent in sticking to a budget and planning a detailed meal plan each week.  I will be posting our menus here so that anyone interested can take advantage.  Also, I will put the food cost up for you.  I wish I had this now from an experienced "naturalist"!

We are getting ready to go to our small group Bible study this evening!  So, until next time...

May God bless you and yours!
Kim

Hace Mucho Friooooooooooooooooooooooo!

We just had Spanish class, Can you tell?? 
It is very cold outside!!!  Yikes!  I opened the door to hand Ben and Grace the pig food and was smacked by Jack Frost!
Sitting inside with the heat cranked up and sipping on some Chai tea.  Yummy.  Ben, Gracie and I made Pumpkin Muffins this morning.  I had some leftover brown sugar and cinnamon topping.  So, I put it in my Chai Tea with some fresh cream.  Yummy!

Pumpkin Muffin recipe was very good and very easy!

God has sent me the sweetest gift in the form of a customer.  Her name is Kelli and she is an awesome photographer!  She happened upon my shop in ETSY and voila!   She is a source of encouragement for me right now.  Thank You, Lord, for sending her my way!

Speaking of my shop, I have created some great holiday yarns, and have sold most of them!  This one, will be a particular challenge for someone, but I can't wait to see something knitted from it!

I also had some really great customers come into my shop last weekend.  I am working on a baby bootie and hat set for a little boy.  I need to get started spinning this alpaca I have had for 3 months also!  She should have never told me she didn't need it until Christmas!  I also have some llama from this same customer that smelled like stinky socks, but with a few months of being left outside, I think it's much better now.  I'm considering rinsing it in a lavendar rinse, but then it may smell like stinky feet soaked in lavender!  I also want to delve into that box of Shetland that my mom sent to me and I have a box of Angora goat fiber that my cousin sent!  Wow!  I am so blessed!!!!!!!!!!

I am taking the Fall challenge present by Courtney at Women Living Well.  I have my candle lit to remind us, particularly me, to be peaceful in word and deed.  I have cleared off my clutter area - a countertop in the kitchen, and am working on a filling a big box for donation to Habitat for Humanity!  I hate clutter, but I have so much of it!  Clutter = Chaos and that produces stress and no peace!  So, check out the challenge.  This is a great blog, too.

Grace and Ben are doing great in homeschool.  Grace, in particular, really enjoys it and doesn't want to stop!  UI am using Rod and Staff with her - the ABC series.  She gets to start speech therapy in 4 more weeks!  She told me the other day when we were practicing saying a word, "I can hear it, but I can't say it!"  She is doing much better though.  
Ben is doing his final project in the Thomas Kincaid art class he's been taking.  He put together a still life that says something about him.  Here it is:

Well, I need to get back to homeschool and back to spinning!! 

May God rain down His incredible blessings on each of you!

Kim

Fried Pies

What a great treat - Homemade Fried Pies!  It seems like I have made 100 over the past few days - not really 100, but a lot.  Tonight, I made some for dessert - peaches from my canning efforts from a month ago.  Yummy!  Here is the recipe I use.  It's quick and easy and the dough will keep in the fridge for days!  Good for breakfast and snacks, too!
http://www.grouprecipes.com/53270/southern-fried-pies-the-best.html

So, we had an adventure and I have no pics, for which you may be glad!  My husband and our great neighbor and best friend, Mike, butchered our first pig!  I had been praying for a freezer to put the meat in, as ours has been broken just about ever since we gave our spare one away!  Anyway, butchering day came and no freezer, so I got rid of almost everything from our freezer - the kids loved eating the ice cream!  I filled it with sausage, which I made with a food processor!  It was yummy!  Then we canned about 8 jars of meat.  I happened to check facebook and a message from a dear friend, who knew nothing about my freezer prayers, asking me if I needed a freezer!  Praise the Lord!  He is good!  So, I now have roasts, ribs and bacon in my new freezer!!!!!  I'm ready for piggy number 2 in the winter. 

This is Gracie and Pork Chop, the one who got away! 

Can you tell I'm about to turn 50!?

I can be an official Red Hat!

Shop news: Got in lots of Christmas yarns!  I'm trying to finish my entrelac scarf and it's coming along beautifully.  Also has spun 2 skeins of Red Hat Yarn.  Jessica, my oldest daughter, was up yesterday with all of her knitting projects.  She has a renewed interest!  Yea!!!  She's also one of my best customers! 
Check out our new products at Simply Homespun!



We are still finding ourselves financially challenged, but in a way, it is the best thing that has happened!  We are depending on God for our daily needs and He is providing!  Gene and I are both working hard and God is faithful to His word!  It is so awesome to experience His generosity and love daily.  I am really watching our electricity and water usage and we haven't thrown our food like we used to do.  We are eating leftovers and I'm creating new dishes from leftovers.  It is really fun and challenging.  The kids are getting on board.  Ben is really thinking about ways to save and is learning at a very early age to be content whether abased or abounding.  What an incredible thing  for kids to learn!  I'm learning it at 49 and it's not near as easy!    We are using the online library for Tennessee called R.E.A.D.S.  to save on gas.  Going to our library costs us about $7.00 in gas!  We used to go once a week!   You can check out digital books and audio for up to 28 days.  They have a wonderful selection of children's books.  Also, this is StoryLine Online is a wonderful website.  Celebrities read children's books.  One thing I have learned is that $20.00 here and $20.00 there soon add up to $100.00!  How wasteful and not a good steward of God's money I have been!  Another good thing that has come from our challenges.  In case my family reads this - WE ARE NOT STARVING AND WE HAVE HEAT, LIGHTS, PHONE AND GAS!!  SO DON'T WORRY!  I love you!!

Ben is learning keyboarding.  I found a really good course for him online.  It is free!  Peter's Online Typing Course is the name of the site. 

Gracie is sick, so I will be staying home again from church.  Last week it was Ben.  So far, no sickness for mama!  Thank You, Lord! 

Take care and may God bless you all richly!

Kim

We're Still Here!

A lot has happened since my last post.  We had my sister's funeral, which went very well.  Karen left a lot of people with a lot of good memories.  Her smile was such a blessing to so many.  She struggled with her RA with dignity and humor.  She was close to the Lord and I know she is with Him now.  I love you, Ka, and miss you terribly.  I'll see you soon!  (soon being a relative term - earthly time compared to eternity.  I don't want anyone jumping to any conclusions). 

Anyway, Gracie had her surgery.  She did great!  She sounds like Donald Duck, but the doctor assured me that would go away as the swelling goes down.  So, far, 1 week, 1 day later, she still sounds like Donald Duck.  As Karen would say, "greaaaat".  lol  Gracie is so precious.  She went to church last night and was just raising her hands during praise and worship and praising her Lord.  I thank God for such a blessing and the opportunity to be her mom.  God has blessed me with 4 wonderful children.  All successful and all pretty much well behaved - as far as I know anyway.  Ignorance is bliss in a lot of areas! 

I am back in my shop today!  Had a very good day!  Met lots of neat folks,  Gracie actually sold some of her artwork to some very kind ladies from Carthage.  I have finished spinning some Golden Retriever hair for a customer and started knitting it into a heart pillow today.  It's going to be very pretty.  Reminds me a lot of Angora hair.  Has a beautiful halo to it. 

Of course, my fun project of all time is the Enterlac scarf!  I love knitting it!  And people's reactions to it are so fun!  I should finish it up within the next week or two.  Can't decide whether to keep it, sell it, or gift it!

I received my "bling" to spin with my handspun!  Stay tuned for some beautiful sparkly yarns!!  I can't wait to get started!

I received a lot of Concord grapes in Tuesday.  Luckily, my mom told me I could just stick them in the freezer until I am ready to deal with them.  That was good news!!  So, they went from the box, to the Ziplock to the freezer.  Some are in the frige for munching.  I love them!  Also, canned 10 jars of peaches.  Yummy!    Added a bit of cinnamon to mine.

Enough for now! 

Take care and have a blessed day!

Kim

www.etsy.com/shop/kjhines6065
www.facebook.com/simplyhomespun

Life Is Not Settled Just Yet!

Getting back in the groove of homeschool after a couple of hetic weeks after the passing of my sister, Karen.  Her service was Sunday and was absolutely beautiful, thanks in no small part to Rhonda Treaster and Pastor Warren.  2 hours before service, none of the videos or slide show would work.  Pastor Warren to the rescue!!  He's my hero!!!  

I'm preparing to leave for Vanderbilt Children's hospital tomorrow morning for Gracie's surgery.  I am preparing the special orders I have received and tying up loose ends.  I'm taking my Joy wheel with me to make some new yarn for my shop and 3 knitting projects, perhaps 4.  So, I will be keeping busy.  Gracie and I will be by ourselves a lot of the time as Gene is going to be working and visiting along.  I will be stuck in the hospital with nothing to do but spin, knit, read and play with my precious daughter!  I am looking forward to it, I have to say.   That is provided, of course, all goes well with Grace's surgery.  I have no reason to think that it won't.   God has her in His hand, that is for certain.

I sold my Mardi Gras Madness yarn over the weekend!  That was the yarn from you know where that I spun with beads.  Am I going to do that again???  Probably, but not now.  It was pretty, when all was said and done.

                 
My sweet inlaws are going to be here taking care of Ben while I am gone and will be holding down Simply Homespun!  So, come on out and visit.  Sorghum season is in full swing in Muddy Pond - lots to do in addition to visiting our shop.

Keep prayers coming for Gracie!

Kim

Living in The Land of Denial

Ok, it's true.  I'm living in the land of either denial (stage one in the grief process) or depression (stage 4).  Hopefully the latter.  All I know is that everytime I think about my sister, Karen, I am having no problem taking those thoughts captive and casting them out!  It just hurts too bad.  I guess I'm afraid of the hurt I will feel if I let myself feel.  Does that make sense to anyone but me??  Probably not healthy, but very comfortable for me right now. 

Anyway, here is the yarn I had started in the last post.  I spun one bat and I called that yarn "the ugly 70's kitchen floor".  There were distinct colors present - brown and yellow especially.  UCK!  So, I ran my other bats through the carder a few more times and VOILA!  Here is the result:

I

Isn't it spectacular!?  I love it, love it, love it!  It's for sale for now, lol.  I don't know how long I can keep from  knitting it!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/80271048/sparkly-autumn-handspun-yarn

Back to my earlier paragraph.  You know, the Bible tells us to take every thought captive.  Why is it so easy to do with thoughts concerning Karen and not negative, complaining, mummering thoughts I have throughout the day?  Those really cause more damage that any thoughts of Karen I could come up with!  I guess it's because with Karen, it is a physical hurt and with these other thoughts, while not a physical hurt, those negative thoughts build up and cause a world of hurt down the road.  I am going to turn this over to the Lord to help me with.  I know He will sign me up for that class!  Remind me to tell you about the time I prayed for humility.  That class was NO FUN!  I can tell you.  Anyway, I always graduate a better person, but the lessons can be tough!

Be good and stay strong in the Lord! 

Kim

Coping

                                                               Me, Ben and Ka 2004

Since I last wrote, my precious, sweet sister, Karen, has gone to live with the Lord.  This is the hardest thing I have had to deal with in my 49 years.  She was my best friend, my cheerleader, my confidant.  She had been sick, but even though, in the end, it looked like she was not going to make it here on earth, it's still a shock to experience.  She passed away on Wednesday morning at 9:10ET.  My dad and mom were by her side, as they had been for weeks.  I'm now trying not to think about it because it hurts too badly, so I'm immersing myself in this:

PLUS

EQUALS

This combined with this:

 will equal the most beautiful yarn I believe, I will have ever created!  Stay tuned...

Woops!

Ok, so I misjudged the length of my rug just a bit - well, maybe quite a bit.  

So now, it is going to be a clutch bag!  Yeah, that's it!  A clutch bag!  Or, maybe a huge washcloth. Or, a decorative table rug. Or...

I am so upset about this!  I had  this beautiful area rug in mind, and then this turned up!  I knew when I warpped it, that it wasn't going to be as long as I originally wanted, but I had no idea it would be this small!  What happened?  I didn't allow for all of the  area that you can't weave at the beginning and the end!  Live and learn!  Today is another day!  I will try again and succeed!!!!!  I will defeat this loom!!!  

Good things that happened yesterday!  My shipment of Lion Brand yarn came in!  Ben and I got it priced and put out in record time!

Ben randomly merchandised them and I was inspired!  He put purple and green together!  I am going to paint and purple and green roving today!  Then, my eye kept going!  There was forest green and a fushia - beautiful!  So that will also become painted roving!  


I just looked back and this is what I saw:

She gets up, literally, at the crack of dawn.  It's 7:43am and she's taking a nap!  Conked out eating her breakfast - mac and cheese!  


Anyway, I've got to get some b'fast for moi and then set up shop for another great day!!  


Take care!
Kim

Good Morning from Muddy Pond!

We sort of started school today!  I have been wanting to create a lapbook for some time now, so, I found a website that is excellent for this.  It is based on unit studies, so we are doing Stellaluna and learning all about bats!  http://www.homeschoolshare.com/stellaluna.php

I have such a long to do list today!  I want to warp my knitter's loom for my rug, make homemade granola, make bread, clean house, catch up laundry and ...
Creating a blog - not on my list!  

Ashford Knitter's Loom

Soon to be a rug!

I found an excellent recipe for homemade granola that doesn't use dry milk!  I will let you know how it goes.    http://familyfun.go.com/christmas/christmas-recipes/gifts-from-the-kitchen/christmas-mixes/crunchy-homemade-granola-684950   I am also leaving out the wheat germ as I don't have any right now!  The kids love cereal, but as we are cutting back, I am going to attempt and make our own all natural cereal.  I spent 28.00 yesterday on groceries for the week.  And we should be eating pretty well.  Of course, I will be utilizing the 1000 potatoes we dug from the garden!  Tonight - Shepherd's Pie.  


God is good and we are going to rejoice and be glad in this day!


Kim