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!

God Is So Good!!

Well, let's see....
My son no longer has Chrone's Disease.
After forever - I no longer snore.
Toothache gone and tooth is in the process of being restored.
My other son healed from the beginning stages of MS.
A friend has been healed from Parkinson's Disease.
Another friend healed from head numbness.
Another friend received healing on her sprained ankle.

And, I am not talking about waiting for this - these healings happened immediately upon receipt.

God is pouring out His healing and miracles in these last days!!  Praise God!  He is alive and well in 2015 and still in control!

Everything else pales in comparison, news wise, but still going to share!

I am in the process of spinning my first ever sock yarn.  I hope to finish this week while on a break from school.  I also have 2 Ashland Bay rovings to spin - Merino and silk!  Yummy!

I am still working on the Messenger Bag and the quilt.  More on the bag than the quilt.  I am going to start my dad's yarn for his sweater this week.  I also hope to have it on needles by Saturday! 

I want to leave you with a recipe for a very simple cobbler.  I thought everyone knew this recipe, but I served it at our life group and several had not heard of it, so here it is!

1 cup of sugar ( I used one cup of xylitol and a pinch of stevia)
1 cup of self-rising flour ( If you don't have self-rising, use regular flour with 1 1/2 t. of baking powder and 1/2 t. salt.)
3/4 cup of juice from fruit or milk

Melt 1 stick of butter in your casserole dish.  When butter is melted, all fruit of choice.  I used frozen peaches on my last one.  Then pour the above mixture over the fruit.  bake for 30 minutes or until done.  Serve with ice cream or sweetened condensed milk drizzled over the top.

Enjoy!

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

Beautiful Day!!

It is absolutely beautiful outside.  The temp is around 70 and the sun is shining brightly. 

 I was sitting on my porch, working on my ETSY shop, thinking how blessed I am to have such a beautiful home.  My 8 year old little girl was asking me this morning if everyone had a shower.  I said, no, not everyone has a shower.  We are very blessed to have one.  We don't think about this often, if ever, but most of the world probably does not have an indoor shower with hot water and the turn of a knob.  We are very blessed here.  I told her that we should never take anything for granted. 

Now, on the eating front!  Several people at church this morning remarked about my weight loss.  It is all from the lack of sugar and wheat in my diet!  I am still trying to stick with the Trim Healthy Mama plan - mostly S plan - because of my sugars being so out of whack.  I baked the Chocolate Chip Cookies the other night and they were a big hit.  I believe I have posted the recipe in a previous blogpost.  If not, I will post it in the next one.  Last night, we had Big Mac's THM style.  It is called Big Mac In A Bowl!  It is a bowl of lettuce, hamburger with cheese, tomato, onion, pickle (I left this out) topped with Thousand Island Dressing!  It was really good.  Grace and I were the only ones who had it in a bowl.  Gene and Ben ate theirs on a bun. 

In shop news, I have a new goal of 211 views/day.  I did a numbers analysis on my shop, because, as I learned in sales, numbers never lie.  It is true, but you have to have accurate numbers!  So, after 4 years of my shop, I have some pretty accurate numbers to deal with.  Anyway, to reach my goal of $1500/month in sales, I need 211 views.  If you are interested in the formula, you can email me for the details.  So, on to the task of increasing views!  How?  More frequent social networking!  I am actually toying with the idea of a regular podcast. 

I have taken a few classes on spinning different types of yarns from Ashley @ Neauveau Fiber Arts.  She has a lot of YouTube videos, but she also has an ETSY shop where she sells various video courses.  I have bought just about all of them!   So, I have spun 3 different types of yarn as you can see below.  The blue one is a mohair wrapped wool yarn.  The red/green one is a supercoil, which I learned from Jace Boggs' book, Spin Art.  And the funky green/orange one is called Root Yarn Spinning.  It reminds me of Jamaican hair! 

My next yarn is going to be a fabric yarn spun out of this bunch of strips!

I can't wait to spin this.  I believe it will be something I love or hate the process of spinning it.  Hoping for love!  So many ways to spin yarn!  Love learning the new techniques.  I am so glad I invested in the Ashford Country Spinner.  It makes all of this possible! 

Until next time...
God Bless You!
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

A Cold, Misty Morning

A misty, cold morning on the Cumberland Plateau! 

Yesterday, I got my 400th sale on ETSY!!!  A milestone that took 4 years!  My goal is to make 500 by the end of this year.  Can I do it??  Yes, I can!  With God all things are possible!  I also hit 200 items in my shop, another goal!  Well, it is now 199, as I sold something yesterday ( my 400th)!  So, not complaining.  I am going to dye some wool today and spin away.  I also have some cashmere, mohair and angora I could create with!  Hmmmm. 

I am running an idea around in my head - Yarn Home Parties.  I don't know exactly what that would entail, but with some creativity - who knows??  Any ideas from my readers???

I am still doing the THM S plan.  Last night, I had spaghetti squash with tomato sauce (which isn't really on plan).  But, the good news is, my family loved it!  I am so happy about this!  So, for lunch today, I am going to have spaghetti squash with a white sauce and salmon.  It sounds good, so I will let you know!  Also, after about 2 weeks of just using Stevia, I am developing a taste for it.  Yea!!!!

I am still participating in the Good Morning Girls reading the Bible through in 3 years!  Today, we read Exodus 28.  I want to share my SOAK with you today.  Remember SOAK is Scripture, Observation, Application and Kneeling in prayer.

 S: v.35 "Aaron will wear this robe wheneer he ministers before the Lord, and the bells will tinkle as he goes in and out of the Lord's presence in the Holy Place. If he wears it, he will not die." O: When the God tells us to do something, He means business! We, too, need to heed God's commands and obey. I think we have lost the reverence we should have for God. We, as a Christian society, have dumbed Him down to our level. To think that you can appraoch God in any way but in fear and trembling is a lie from Satan. God has not changed. The God that killed Aaron's sons, is the same God we worship today. He is Holy, Holy, Holy!! Just because we do not approach Him in that manner, does not change the fact that He commands our respect. In Mal. 1:6 God says "A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve?" Do you know everytime we use God's name flippantly, it is blasphemy? There is a whole marketing campaign, complete with products, using OMG. This is the way the devil works. It it socially acceptable to say "Oh my God" and not give God a thought. Christians do this all the time. I do it! I caught myself yesterday doing it, but thankfully, the Holy Spirit gave me a huge whack upside my head and I immediately repented out loud in front of my children. God is Holy. Do we really want anything less? Rev. 4's picture of God is tremendous. This is the God we serve. There is so much comfort in knowing that He is in control. A: I am praying daily, that I have a Holy reverence for God. I have the Holy Spirit in me and I can talk to Him and just be the messed up me. The Holly Spirit is God's Spirit, but it is not God Himself. God Himself sits on the throne in Heaven and is worshipped by angels who cannot even look at Him He is so Holy. Wow! And this God - this Holy, Holy, Holy God - loves me! He knows my name! He knows my thoughts. He knows me through and through and He desires a relationship with me! Unbelievable! Yet, through Jesus' sacrifice, I can approach His Throne. But I must have a reverential fear and respect. He is Holy. I must never think less. K: Father God, may I never, ever use Your Name in a flippant manner again. I want to always, always remember Your Holiness and treat you with respect and awe. I thank You that I can approach Your throne and that the veil was torn that seperated me from You, but that did not make You less Holy. You are the same yesterday, today and forever. I find great comfort in that. Thank You for Your Word, thank You for loving me and caring about the smallest details of my life, and for giving me the Holy Spirit to guide and direct my every step. In Jesus ' Name!

Well, time to dress, get my son up and begin a great day of school, fiber and food! 

Until next time!
Kim