Sock It To Me: My Last Blog, Socks, Snowbound/Icebound, Saving on Food and Cleaning AND Cell phones PLUS My BEAN SOUP RECIPE

RE: My last blog. I never meant to say so much and I want to clarify a few things. I am not banging on those pearly gates yet (at least I don’t think so) and most of those folks who passed last year were in their 60s or 70s and had had very full lives-in fact I envy them for that. They did a lot for others and will be missed. Although sometimes I shed a few tears I am okay with it-we will all pass someday. I am sure that they are catching up with those that went before.
I will let that go now…

Re: Socks: I could probably knit lovely tube socks but I eventually want to make boot socks so the heels and toes must be nice! I am making slipper socks out of LILY’s Sugar and Cream in chocolate stripe right now so I call them the Chocolati Socks. They will be comfy but the first one needs to be ripped as I did the figure-eight cast on okay but ended up purling on the outside (?). I have another project that I am working on but I can’t discuss it yet, it’s a gift! (since I began writing this-several days ago-I managed to “ turn the heel” on the 2nd sock and I am 1/3 way through with the cuff after ripping the heel out 5x! Also, I need more of the Lilly cotton yarn.
I Don’t have a pic yet as I am without a working camera, but I will get a card reader and post the pitiful sock attempts that I have made so far!
It is a SKILL issue and I have done most of the stitches before but not in the manner that I need to do them in!
I finally figured out how to use the DPNS (double-pointed needles) so I am happy about that.

Re: Money Saving tips for food and etc.: I tried this and it worked great: I browned and drained ¾ ILB of hamburger and some minced onions, to which I added one can of pink beans, drained, pulsed in a cuisinart for 40 seconds on high, and mixed well. I added a teaspoon of chilli flavoring.
This makes a filling for burritos and cuts down on the meat needed. It was an experiment and I want to try cooking pintos, draining and doing the same thing-hopefully it’ll be dryer and more like a beef extender. I us flour tortillas but corn can be used, and sometimes I roll them up (especially the larger ones) and lay them in a glass or metal pan, drizzle tomato sauce or salsa over them, sprinkle with 4 ounces of cheese, and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
If you have no cheese on hand but cream cheese, use a little of that, just dot it on (Don’t use too much. Watch so you don’t burn the cheeses, and you can use foil to avoid that). I serve with one teaspoon of sour cream per serving and a side of Mexican rice. Lettuce can be served also. The beans add a lot of protein-which you already get from the beef and they also ad starch (so watch this) and FIBER. ALSO-rice and beans eaten within a 12-24 hour period (not necessarily the same meal) makes a COMPLETE protein!
I always look for mark down labels when I shop for meat. The meat can be frozen even if it is close to expiration and sometimes I get two meals from a package, although I might have to change my menu a bit! A few days ago I made my lentil soup (YUMMY) an yesterday I made my BEAN SOUP. I use Northern Beans because they are the highest-or just about-in protein, followed by black beans. When I make my chilli (with black beans) I get several meals and lunches from it-more about that another day.
This recipe is INEXPENSIVE and HEARTY, full of vitamins, minerals and PROTEIN!!!
Vals Busy Day Bean Soup
1 bag of Northern Beans, sorted and rinsed, boiled for two minutes and let to sit for 10 minutes covered.
6 cups of water or 5 cups of water and 1 can of any broth: vegetarian, beef, or chicken
1 onion chopped fine
½ bag of peeled baby carrots
1 stalk of celery chopped small
4-5 medium potatoes, wshed, peeled, and cut in small chunks (about 1 to 1.5 inches square)
1 hamsteak, any size, cut into pieces 1 inch square ( with kitchen shears)and rind removed
(or use 1 or two meaty smoked hamhocks)
(If you don’t have the vegetables you can use bagged or frozen stew vegetables from the grocer,
BUT still add the extra potatoes.)
About ½ teaspoon pepper
1 tsp salt
2 bay leaves
1 tsp margaram
½ tsp sage
1 teaspoon Lawry’s Seasoning (lowsalt version) is optional.
In a large slow cooker add a all ingredients BUT the potatoes and stir well. Put on high for 1 hour , add potatoes, then on slow for another 3-4 unless you started late; then just use the “high” setting. If you will be gone all day, put the potatoes in right way too, but make sure you use a timer and don’t cook for more than 6 hours. I usually put my potatoes in a little latter so they don’t turn to mush. Serve with a salad although my gang really likes anice crusty bread with this soup.
This keeps for several days and after the first day it gets really thick due to starches breaking down. BTW, the amounts of seasonings and vegetables can be adjusted. Some want more or less, and some folks don’t like sage, prefer oregano, etc. MAKE SURE to use cheesecloth or fish those bay leaves OUT! FEEDS at least six people using large soup bowls and more with the smaller ones, although be prepared, folks like seconds! BTW, you can make a double recipe in the 5 quart cooker.
Yes, after all those years of no snow the Orinoco Flow and the melted Arctic cap have gotten the better of us. We have had more snow this winter than we had ALL of last winter! We beat the count by over three inches (as of January 30th)! We are not getting the BIG storms that we had last year but we get hit every 3-5 days so right now there is a big wall of snow outside of where we live. The kittens (about 8 and 9 pounds now) think they want to go outside but they have no clue…and take turns sleeping on the window ledge!
I woke up at 3:12 am several days ago and outside my bedroom the sky was a deep sapphire blue framed by a tall evergreen “bush” a few feet from my window covered in snow!
If you don’t already know this, most cleaning supplies can be replaced with vinegar and baking soda! I never buy stove cleaner, etc. as I make a solution of warm water (about a cup) and add ¼ cup soda to it. I use this to wipe down surfaces, including the stovetop and sink and use a bowl like this heated for a minute in the microwave to soften stuff left inside the microwave before wiping it down.
NOW-today is February 3rd. the previous part of my post was written five days ago, and since the we have had a good sized ice storm. I know that many of the folks to the west of us (such as Oklahoma) got a lot of snow and that Arkansas had a terrible ice storm, plus it’s STILL snowing in TEXAS, so I guess we just need to accept that winter, after a few decades of mild weather (here at least will be cold, wet, and unpredictable again, as it was in my childhood.
Everyone should have certain things on hand, especially if you have children or elderly folks in your family-or if you are elderly. It would not hurt to be prepared EVEN if you are an apartment dweller. See the FEMA site-there is a good suggested list of emergency stuff there.
My parents wanted to unload the kerosene heater that they bought several years ago “just in case” but I cautioned them against doing that. What if we had some major weather patterns and ended up without power for days or weeks? Two blocks away my BIL was without power at his home yesterday. It happens. If you have a home and a grill, you can still cook OUTSIDE. Camping stoves are good (OUTSIDE) and in the winter I always try to keep extra canned goods on hand.
I am not a dooms-dayer (as I’ve been called) at all, but I do believe in being prepared. Several gallons of water and a week’s worth of caned-dry goods is not a bad thing to have, nor is a radio and batteries, candles, and some battery operated lights.
TIP: Saving electric in winter: DISCLAIMER: USE these thoughts with caution. We evaluate our own situation and everyone needs to be safe! Theses are just thoughts and examples. In cold weather you can do damage IF YOU Are NOT careful!
We don’t heat the bedroom during the daytime Monday to Friday unless it is below twenty degrees. We are halfway underground so we don’t need to and the plumbing is away from the wall. When it’s in the 30s we don’t use any heat EXCEPT to warm up the living room for an hour in the morning; when the night comes we heat the living room only with an oil-filled radiator. The bedroom gets warmed up in the same manner after 7 pm (if needed) and once it’s warm, the heater is shut off and the door is kept almost closed. We unplug EVERY appliance that we can, even coffee makers and toasters, after each use. At night I turn our TV, etc. and pc OFF AT THE POWER STRIP and everyone knows to call our cell phones on case of emergency (our landline is connected to our pc).

By the way, I saved us nearly $100 a month by just leaving our cell phone carrier (we were no longer on a contract and of COURSE we weren’t told) and going to a track type phone. Shopping around is easy on line-we ended up with NET10 (owned by the same folks who own tracfone, etc.) and you have to see what works for you. My daughter has to have a phone since she has no landline; I only use mine for “emergencies” to say “I’m at checkout 7” or in case I have a small child with me and need a ride or help, so mine is super cheap: $300 minutes for 3 months at $30 ($10 a month) and we’ve realized that my husband and daughter can get away with 600 minutes for 60 days at $45. Yes, initially we did have to buy phones and transfer our phone numbers, but the cheapest phones (no web connection) are just $14.95 and you can buy better ones online, some refurbished, and certain ones offer you free minutes or free minute cards WITH THE PHONE PURCHASE and at times they ship for FREE. I REALLY LIKE NET10! They purchase tower use from other companies and I recently read online that sometimes you will get a signal when the more expensive ones don’t, it had something to do with this tower situation. We very seldom have a dropped call or can’t get through.

Well, I am talked out. Update on the socks when I have pics!

Talk More Later,

Valerie ; )

I've Been Gone a While...Reducing My Lifestyle, And Saving Big Time on Laundry Soap

I've been gone months and while I haven't been here spilling my thoughts, I have been somewhere.

Over the last two years I've lost a lot of STUFF. Let me explain that I've had a problem with STUFF, not like hoarding, but coming from that same place, for about twenty years.

One more cute thing from a flea market or dollar shop couldn't hurt, right?


While I'd been pondering that-and I knew that the impulse comes from unresolved life issues-other STUFF happened. I had slowly workd my way into administrative work in the 15 years since my factory job went away. I liked it well enough, really liked my co-workers, it paid okay and then the economy went pffft.



During a stressful few years I lost another job (different venue) due to cut backs and every time this happened, my income was down another several hundred dollars a month. Eventually we had to downsize. And in 12 months eight people in my life (half of them close) passed away, some suddenly.



Stress will give you big problems and after 18 months of trying to hold it in, I developed a five month bout of kidney trouble (never really knew why) that was the predesessor of several potenially chronic health problems. I won't go into it as I am not here to complain, I am just saying that this is how one goes from pretty good health to constant complaints. For months I suffered from what I think was "referred pain" in my shoulders. I was REALLY painful and I worked hard to manage it with reiki and meditation.



During this time I almost fiinished my college degree-except for the internship-with a grant, and had to figure out what we'd do to survive in an economy where the cost of living is going up and up and reliable cash is way down. We had to downsize our lives and I donated or threw out about half of what was in the house so we could fit ourselves into a space that was over 300 square feet smaller and required less $$$ outlay and much less physical work for people heading into the autumn of life.



Now some folks would see this as failure. and initially I thought so, because we are trained to think so but as time went on I realized that I had been wanting to move into "voluntary simplicity" as a lifestyle and spend more time with family, in particular, my grandchildren. We also "adopted" two kittens that weighed less than a pound, born under my parents' shed, a real decision on my part, because of the added costs and my limited ability to chase them, but it was either let them pass away or give them to a shelter and I wouldn't do either. A local shelter helped us with inexpensive healthcare and they are sweet additions to our lives now, affectionate and a little wild at 7 months! And I had previously thought I'd never have an animal again. So all-in-all at times prayer is answered in strange ways!

Now-although our space is all electric, our carbon footprint is smaller because we are using less space, resources, and own less, so we have less to maintain. And although my husband is not really getting it yet, we are using much less electric than similar households because I am working at it! More about that next issue. Yes, there are ways to reduce your usage in winter!

NEXT issue: I will give some tips for less expensive meals that still are extra nutritious AND less expensive ways to cook them! Below-make your own laundry soap...from the Duggar's recipes and given to them by a friend...although these recipes have been around for ages. you make 10 gallons of soap and if you need fragrance add some essential oils, purchasable at healthfood stores or online. During the "cooking" portion of the recipe you must stay with it and stir so it doesn't boil over and the "storage containers" can be bought cheaply at Home Depot (2 paint buckets, 5 gallon) or reuse a clean cat litter container!

Home Made Liquid Laundry Soap-front or top loading

4 cups hot tap water
1 bar Fels Naptha Soap (purchase in cleaning aisle) or use a bar of Ivory Soap
1 cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda * (see note)
1/2 Cup Borax

-Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until completely dissoveled into the water.
-Fill a five gallon bucket 1/2 full with hot tap water . Add melted soap, wshing soda and borax. stir well, cover and let sit overnight. (It thickens)
-fill an empty laundry soap bottle half full of solution and fillthe rest with water. shake well before each use.
**(I suggest that the bucket is kept locked up if you have small kid so busy pets and use the usual care with the laundry bottle!)
-
Optional-add 10-15 drops of essential oil to each two gallons and suggeste dis rosemary, lavendar or tea tree oil
**My Note: research before you do this, as some oils are not recommended for: pregnant women, small children , diabetics, those with hypertention, the elderly or ill, etc. for instance, Oil of Bergamot: not recommended for pregnant women or those with Hypertention. (*per Valerie Worwood's books on essential oils)

Per the Duggars' site, this makes 10 gallons and does 160 toploads or 640 front loads!
they say the A&H Super Washing soda can be bought at Meijer.com. This is NOT baking soda, it must contain sodium carbonate to work.

DISCLAIMER: I haven't made it yet, it's my next step. Use all reasonable care when making and using this! It should be okay for the sensitive, but I would make a smaller batch and try that first...

More talk later,

Valerie ; )

Happy Easter! Plus Scoring Vintage Stuff & Some Age-Related Things

It's hard to believe that it's been almost a month since I blogged. A bunch of things have happened and Spring blew in the window during that time. My 57th (WHOOO!) birthday is upon me. I was born on the date that the Titanic struck the iceberg--go figure.

About three weeks ago I'd had enough of the frozen tundra and we took a Saturday trip to Renningers farmers market/flea market. It was a warmer, but blustery, pouring rain day from haites but we braved it anyway and lots of folks had taken their refuge there. I visited the "vintage booth lady" and the "fabric lady" and I garnered glass "feet" for my metal bed frame and three little tole trays (2 green, one red) and a lovely 50s-60s deep buttery yellow luncheon cloth with black/gold (actual metallic paint) butterflies and black/white dogwood on it and I had my usual pulled pork sandwich.

It always pays to talk to your vendor because I went to the first booth for the glass feet (used to stop furniture from "sliding") and she said she was out of them, but I bought the tole trays there. At the fabric booth I fell in love with the luncheon cloth, but couldn't say exactly what I'd come for. Then I explained I had wanted some glass feet and her eyes lit up...she had the smallish ones that I needed at 75 cents each!

I have posted two shots of the tablecloth and and additional shot of all three trays...the color is garish since these were taken with my phone...the colors are more muted in person and the greens are different, one minty and one olive-y. The brightly colored shot is of my "new" Vera daffodil sheets, appropriate for spring. They are percale and yummy to lay on, plus the print will perk you up! I suddenly love yellow and it's a long walk but not a mystery as to how I got there from greens, blues, and rose! I'll explain one day.

I have been neglecting the blog because I was having that all important "old-age" medical testing and although I intended to keep it quiet, the "cat-bag" was opened and I will just say that my first ever mamogram revealed an issue and I had to go back three times.

So I guess that I am fortunate that one of the doctors at my clinic pushed me to get it done because I was over 50! I had just had a physical three weeks ago and my organ functions and blood work were usual--very good overall but slightly high in the cholesteral area. Yep I always shock'em, because if you know me, I am short but not a tiny gal. However, there are big girls on the English side of my Mom's family--the Smith's on her paternal grandmother's side...so it seems to be more of an inherent tendency and can only be controlled ( abit) with lots of exercise and really watching that diet, and I tend to fall off that country wagon at times!

The Slovak, Austrian and German (my Mom's dad was German and English) folks I am decsended from all seemed to be of slim to average proportions...but I also think that some of this is related to readily available food sources and some genetic makeups that don't adapt well to getting hit with more food, less exercise AND the stress of modern life.

Anyway, all that I can say is...get the tests if you are supposed to. They have been after me for a while and but I was afraid of the big mamo machine...and now I have had to use it four times, anyway....!

Say a prayer for me and enjoy this beautiful Easter day...remember what it means.

More talk later,

Valerie ; )

Scary Places to Knit & Boy Could I Use a Sauna...

I never watch Grey's Anatomy reruns but I was channel surfing and I stopped because there was knitting going on.

Patrick Dempsey: "You're knitting in a bar."

Chick: " I'm making a sweater."

Bartender: "You can't knit in a bar, you're scaring the customers!"

It made me think about taking classes this fall. I was almost afraid to take knitting needles with me. Would they be banned? When classes were just about over, I took my sustainable hardwoods with me. Only good to do battle with vampires!

Recently I read a piece and the author stated that knitting began about seven hundred years ago. My understanding is that archeologists have found linen socks knitted in Egypt that go back several thousand years. Also, I once found a picture of a sweater dug up somewhere in France that was dated to arounf 700 A.D.! I have read some fairly recent publications that state that sweaters "as we know them" did not exist until the late part of the nineteenth century; again, seamen wore sweaters long before they became a fashion statement. Since this textile form existed in many societies in slightly different forms, I think it will be hard to say where it actually began. Wouldn't it be fascinating to know the exact moment when someone said " we'll tie knots in this and make a garment"?

I haven't been posting because my neck and shouldrs have "tightened" up; I'm guessing it has to do with the weather changes...

More talk later...!

Woke Up to Visions (c) of Italy-Southern Style...! Vintage Patterns...

I was up very early and could not sleep. When I finally started dozing, I had on the Public Broadcasting Station and they we showing a video that I had seen before...although I never knew what it was called. It is Visions (c) of Italy-Southern Style, which is sold as part of a two DVD set and can be bought with Visions (c) of Sicily. Breathtaking!

I have wanted to visit Tuscany and the Amalfi coast for many years and a while ago I realized that my fascination likely relates to almost two years spent in the Azores Islands as a child. I understand that although the political climate has changed (Portugal, the parent country, was Socialist for more than thirty years) and financially things are much better, the Islands are still a quiet destination for vacationers and little has changed in the more than fifty years since we lived there.

I recall picking fresh peas from our house-helper's garden at their cottage by the beach (one bedroom with a large dining-living area and a lean-to kitchen) and speaking in Portugese to the peddlers, bullfights (the Portugese do not kill the bulls), festivals, puppies, beef roasts on a spit, riding around the island and stopping at a bar and getting chocolate shaped like closed parasols with a plastic covering printed like lace and foil underneath and a plastic handle sticking out. Chocolate is a BIG deal over there! I remember more often we got long dark bars of it in different shades of bright foil.

I will finish this post when I have more thoughts...anyway, the Visions (C) series is nice to relax or sleep to...according to the folks at PBS I'm not alone in doing that!

By the way I scored about five jumper patterns and two blouse patterns on line very inexpensively...gotta love Ebay and Etsy! Spring clothes are coming...hopefully my sewing machine is okay or I will need to borrow one. Someone was mean to mine!

Talk more later...

Valerie

After Days...My Mind on The Down-Low

I was going to title this submission " After Days of Overstimulation..." but it sounded so wierd!

My mind has been going 100 miles per hour and I have been designing a spring wardrobe in my head (SEWN, of course!) AND house projects all the while trying to give away, donate and declutter for SPRING-I do believe it is coming!

This is typical of me, especially when I have been cooped up too long with bad weather and without somewhere to go on a daily basis. This is the personality trait that makes me a dynamo in the workplace. I am a creature of order, after all!

I am getting all sorts of creative ideas but I feel downed from all of the snow, etc. I did add a new blog to follow--check them out: "Young House Love" which is a site that a young couple with a new bungalow put up. They share their crafty ideas and such. The submission I ran into shows their conversions of a worn mid-century modern dresser into a shaker-look dresser in their new nursery. They made it "funner" by adding colorful papers to the inner drawers (Modge-Pogge-d in) as they just over-stained the outside and painted the top white. If a pad was added it would double as a dressing table!
By the way, the pic is of my grandkid #1.

I will talk later since someone needs the PC now...

Valerie

Some VERY Bad Things & PCs That are Ded and Dedder

Okay. So it seems the "web problems" that I was having were because I either: picked up a virus while surfing the web OR because I attempted to shut down malware/virus and it had started downloading (according to my bro, who is my resident web-tech).

Fortunately, other than my now dedder (deader) PC...well, it's dying, we have another PC that's pretty old,the ded one (dead). The issue with the dedder one is that it is nearly impossible to download anything but small files (he managed to save my word-related files) and my music, which I've had for years, is now GONE. He is now trying to figure out how he will clean of the hard drive to reload it and says possibly the drive, and old one he'd given me, is damaged as well. (UPDATE: 3/4/2010: the "saved files" are damaged, too!)

I haven't been knitting for two days as I am preoccupied with other things and right now I am in Regency Mode. Yesterday I watched the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility. Jane Austen's heroines always have such complicated un-love lives...they don't know how the hero feels, they aren't sure whom they want, or they have more than one failed liason, or more than one of them has a scandal, and there are always busybodies in the pot. I just love the scene where Elinor Dashwood's skanky sister-in-law physically attacks Lucy Steele when she realizes that the monetarily poor girl has been secretly engaged to her brother Edward Ferrars for five years! Feathers actually fly!

I personally would like to attend a Jane Austen week at least once. I am confident that I can save a bundle by making my own clothes as I used to do a lot of sewing. I am just less patient than I used to be. Plus I have a 20-yard bolt of brown polyester grosgrain fabric bought for $1.00 a yard that is waiting for a life as something else!

Here is a good Regency costume/pattern link: http://www.lostcoasthistpatterns.com/seandseregop.html

More talk later!

Valerie