Goodbye 2019

I can't believe it's really the last day of 2019. Where did the year go? I had so many plans and ideas, but because of weather or other circumstances, they didn't all get done. There's always next year and I am really looking forward to it!

Although many things weren't done, there were accomplishments and new things tried. We dehydrated more, canned new things and explored new places. I cannot complain, even with all that we didn't do. Every year is a time to try to better one's self and every year that seems to be accomplished, maybe not to what I'd originally set out for, but still there's improvement.

Tonight will be quiet for us. We will settle down with a good book or movie and probably go to bed before midnight. Us old folks here don't stay up late like the young'uns do. We will just enjoy the day and evening and reflect on the last year and think about all the things we would like to do next year.

Now on to a new and clean slate!

Have a safe and happy New Years Eve!!!

Last Finishes of the Year

Bluprint had a nice sale last week where they had all knit and crochet scarf and cowl kits at 50% off, plus I had a 25% off coupon that I could use on top of the discount as well. I purchased 4 kits - 1 crochet and 3 knit - each costing less than what the cost of the yarn would have been for them!

My first finish was the Start Up Library Crochet Cowl Kit by Salena Baca and it really was a surprise to me. When I purchased the kit, I had originally gotten it to try out the yarn included in the kit: Sprightly Yarns Spectrum in Worsted Weight #4. I found a lovely color, Cresting Waves that would go with a few things in my wardrobe. Well, when it arrived, I thought I'd just work a few rounds of the cowl and see how it behaved and find another pattern. That cowl had such a lovely drape, that I decided to finish it. It's such a simple pattern - chains and double crochets, however, when put on, it looks so nice. Who would have imagined that I'd have fallen in love with it!?! Even more strange, is that I'm considering making another one from some yarn I have stashed. I think I'll make it a bit longer next time.

My next almost finish was the Fisherman's Wife cowl by Kalurah Hudson of whiletheyplaydesigns.com. I can not find the link to the kit, so I'm assuming it has been sold out since it was on clearance. The pattern is very well written and even has a link to a tutorial for making the picot edging. I'm really quite impressed and if her patterns are anything like this one, they are definitely worth the money! Now, back to the kit... This pattern uses Sprightly Acrylic Wool Super Bulky #6. I chose the color "suede" for my scarf. I so enjoy doing cables, however have never done any cabled projects in super bulky weight before. I'm still on the fence when it comes to bulky yarn, but it does look quite neat when finished, plus, it was a quick knit. I still have to block it and put on the buttons. Unfortunately, when laying my scarf out to take the photo, I found, not one, but two mistakes! (can you find them?) I haven't decided if I'm going to fix them or just say, hey - it's for me and just leave them as is. That's what I end up with when I'm counting and talking to hubby at the same time! I really should have checked my work before binding off. I have 2 more skeins of the super bulky in a Blue Heather colorway, so I could just make another one (or 2). I still haven't decided what I'm going to use it for.

This appears to be my last finishes of the year. I've had hats and other finishes I never recorded and will just have to do better next year. I made many gifts this year as well as some hats, scarves and mittens to donate. Hopefully, next year will be even more productive than this one was!

Dishcloths

What can I say? I'm an old fashioned type of gal that loves handmade things. One of those things is handmade dishcloths that are either knitted or crocheted from cotton yarn or thread. I was running low hand have been in the need for some new cloths for some time now. I  was looking for something just a bit different than my old standby, Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth. It's such an easy pattern, but since it's all knit except for one YO at the beginning of the row, it gets boring and it relies heavily on the color of the yarn. It's great fir mindless knitting in front of a TV or knitting in public, but a girl just needs something new now and then. (In the photo, you can see the lovely set of handmade Peppermint soap and Peppermint lip balm that my husband got for me. He knows how to spoil me!)

Speaking of the old standby, I found some Bernat Handicrafter Holidays in Holly Jolly Print colorway that I thought would be perfect for Grandmother's Favorite. I love the jogs of color throughout the white and loved how crisp and clean it looked after it was finished. Certainly a color that was perfect for gift giving, so I made a few to give away as well. I really wished I had tested the colorfastness before giving them away, as it really ran and the white became a pink. Now, mind you, I still like the color. The pink is light and pretty, but I lost the crisp look that I fell in love with. I've never had a yarn run like this one from Bernat. This is my first time using Handicrafter and I certainly will never buy another skein of it unless it's on sale or it's a solid color. I'm really bummed because I gave all the cloths away except one.

While browsing my Facebook Feed,  I came across a posted a link to the Flower Power Dishcloth.  It's a quick and easy to follow crochet pattern that created a bright and cheery flower dishcloth. As soon as I saw it, it screamed "MAKE ME!!!"  The directions call for a solid cotton cloth, but I had some scrubby yarn in my stash that I thought would be perfect for the center. The purple cloth was made using Premier Yarns Washi (Purple)and Lily Sugar 'n Cream Scents (Lavender). For me, the Washi was a bit difficult to crochet with. It could be my old eyes, but with all the texture and nubbies, I found it hard to find the loops of the stitches. It was only 3 rounds, so it wasn't too frustrating and I liked how the center turned out - nicely textured.

The blue flower was made using Red Hear's Scrubby Sparkle (Lemon) and Premier Yarn's Premier Home Cotton (Delft Blue). The Scrubby Sparkle was easier to work with, but made a tiny bit smaller flower center. It was much easier to work with and adds a sparkle to the center. The Premier Home wasn't as easy to work with as the Sugar 'n Cream. It kept splitting. I'm going to have to get used to it, as I bought a case of it from the Dollar Tree.

Winding Down 2019

Here we are with only a few days left in 2019. Looking back, I didn't do as much as I wanted, but did do some things I hadn't planned on. I know, life does that. That's why I don't do New Year's Resolutions, but instead make a list of things I'd really like to do. Every year I do this, except for this past year. I started the year healing from a shoulder injury I ended up with in 2018. The surgeon said it would take a good year to heal, so I decided I wouldn't push it, but just work with it. There was no garden and I put up food that I had bought from the farmer's market, etc. when I could. It's not what I originally would have wanted, but, hey, it's life and we got to work with what we have.

Hubby surprised me a couple of weeks ago and bought me a lovely bread maker. I have one, but it's showing it's wear and making noise and not making nice loaves any more. The new one is a Cuisinart Convection Bread Maker CBK-200. Wow - what a machine it is! It has 16 settings including quick breads, jam, gluten free and low carb. It works well, produces lovely loves and is so much more quiet than my old one (even when the old one was new!) Although I enjoy making my own loaves, when making one loaf at a time, this is much more economical than heating up the oven for just a loaf of bread. Now, if I'm using the oven for other things or cooking more than one loaf, I'll use the oven and make the bread by hand.

An Imperfection Can Hold the Greatest Beauty

December is my time to reflect on what has happened throughout the year. I go over my accomplishments, "failures" that hold lessons learned, and things I didn't have time for. It is also the time that causes me to remember so many things about family and friends.

As I was sorting through some boxes in the basement, I came across a box that held a ceramic bird tree.  My mother made this tree for me many years ago. She was taking ceramic classes at the time and decided to make a snow covered bird tree for me for Christmas. She had glazed it and put the snow on it and perfected it to make it look exactly how she wanted it to be. The tree was put in the kiln to fire, and that evening, the electricity went out, so the owner of the shop couldn't fire it right away. I can't remember how long the power was out, but it was long enough to allow the snow to slide down a bit. The owner didn't let Mom know what happened and just fired it. When Mom went to pick it up, she was very unhappy with it and was going to throw it out! It wasn't the perfect tree that she wanted and felt it wasn't gift worthy.

I absolutely loved it. It looked so much more realistic to me. I begged her to finish it by adding the lights and to let me have it and not toss it. She did finish it for me, but was terribly reluctant to give me the tree. She was so disappointed in it. My mother was a perfectionist and , believe me, she would never gift something that she felt was not up to her standards. However, by her doing this, I'm sure there were things people missed out on, because something she made for them was not "perfect" and she wouldn't gift it, but go out and buy a gift from the store instead.

I will admit, her needing things to be perfect had rubbed off on me some. It has taken me a long time to get over the need for perfection. Pulling out the tree brought back so many memories and how much I learned from it. Believe me, I see the tree and realize that an imperfection can hold the greatest beauty. I think the tree is much more beautiful that if it had turned out perfect.

Buy Nothing Group on Facebook

When Yahoo Groups change, my FreeCycle List vanished. They went to another platform and changed their name and the group pretty much is dead now. I started searching for another place that I could post my items and have them go to someone that would want them as well as use them. I have donated to the Good Will in the past, but when I went to take things in, I had to drive by their overflowing dumpsters of things I was shocked to see tossed. Things were not staying out of the landfill as I had hoped.

I came across a group called Buy Nothing on Facebook. Each area has their own list and I joined my area with my fingers crossed. As you can tell by the name, everything that is posted is given away to keep out of the landfill -  very much like FreeCycle. The list is awesome and active! I've been able to post a lot of things I no longer need and know that they will be going to some place wanted.

Today, I was looking to see what was posted when a post for a set of very colorful Farberware Knives with covers. I've been wanting a set of these for quite a while, but hubby said it's not worth wasting money on something that's probably junk. So, when I saw these, I asked for them, and I was lucky enough to get them! Now, I have to impatiently wait for hubby to get home, as he's picking them up on his way home from work.

I can't tell you how excited I am to finally get to try these knives, but it's even better to have gotten them for free - just the cost of pick-up, and since they are on hubby's way home, there's really no extra cost there either. I love the spirit of the group - things stay out of the landfill and someone re-homes the unwanted item, giving it a second life. So many things are tossed when there's so much life left in them. This method stretches every member's paycheck just a little more. With the cost of everything going up, this group certainly helps!

Homemade - Cheaper and Better

So many times my friends and family members will comment that it's really not worth it to make things from scratch when you can purchase it from the store. My daughter always says, "Time is money" and she doesn't have the time to put into it. Yes, it is - to a point. I don't work outside the home and she does, so her time is quite valuable to her. Yet, if she is buying things that really don't take much to make, is she really getting the best for her money?

For example, let's talk about store bought Vienna Rolls. First, I had no clue that the store sold its bakery rolls by the pound! My local store sells the rolls at $4.80 a pound and this package of 6 rolls cost $4.50 for 15 ounces! (I guess you can tell that I don't buy bread or rolls much.)

When I make bread, my loaves run between 2-3 pounds and the cost of ingredients runs about 50 cents to 80 cents if I decide to make a more specialty bread. If I make a dough for a one pound loaf, roll it into balls and let it rise - my homemade rolls will cost 25 cents, plus I know exactly what is in them. The texture might be a little bit different (depending on the recipe/type of dough I make), however, everyone says they are so much better than store bought.

If one uses the kneading cycle on a bread machine or uses a mixer to mix and knead the dough, the only time spent is the time it takes to put the ingredients in the bowl or pan. The time that it takes to raise, one could be doing something else - so it's not really working on the rolls. Then there is the punching down and shaping the rolls and putting them on a pan. That takes just a few minutes. The are put aside to raise again, and again, one could be doing something else. Into the oven they go - and baking time is another amount of time that could be spend elsewhere. So really - how much time total is actually going into these rolls? There's 25 cents in ingredients, a few minutes spent putting them into a bowl and then shaping the dough. There is the cost of running the oven, but if planned correctly, one can bake something else at the same time. With 6 rolls, the savings wouldn't be so impressive if you figure minimum wage in. 15-20 minutes is about $2 of labor, however, that's counting the pay BEFORE taxes and other deductions.

If you were to double the amount of rolls baked at one time, you would have about 20-25 minutes invested, and about $3 of labor BEFORE taxes. Three dollars of labor plus 50 cents in ingredients for $9.60 worth of store bought rolls. My rolls will weigh a little more than the store bought ones, because I am using a recipe for a 2 pound dough. By making my own rolls, I've saved over $6 (not counting the energy cost of the oven since that will vary depending on what type one uses). That's about an hour of minimum wage pay AFTER taxes that you SAVED by making your own from scratch!

Is it worth making things from scratch? Yes it is, for 2 reasons...
1. I save money and
2. It tastes better!

One more interesting fact... your rolls would be considered Artisan rolls and that would up the value even more!

Pantry Reflections Continued

In my last post, I talked about my pantry storage and concentrated on dehydrating. Dehydrating is fantastic, but there are things one can't store by drying it. That's where canning comes into the picture. Canning is probably the most work out of all the storage methods, but it is also one of the most versatile methods of storage. You can can so many things from jams, jellies, vegetables and pickles to sauces, pie fillings, beans, meats and soups. There are so many things you can put in a jar (and some things you can't!).

I'm primarily an ingredient canner, meaning I like to mostly put up the ingredients I'd use in my cooking instead of putting up jars of meals, etc. If I can a bunch of stew, then I'll be eating just stew. But if I put up some stew beef, broth, vegetables, etc, I now have a lot more options of what I can make for dinner. I'm not saying I don't have some quick meals on the shelf, because I do, but my main canning list consists of ingredients.

This year I've put up:

My husband's Favorite Pickled Peppers
Dill Pickles
Dill Pickle Slices
Bread and Butter Pickles
Pinto Beans
Pinto Beans with Onions
Fiesta Pinto Beans
Black-Eyed Peas
Black-Eyed Peas in Smoked Hock Stock
Chicken Bone Stock
Smoked Chicken Bone Stock
Beef Bone Stock with Beef
Beef and Mushrooms
Tomatoes
Corned Beef
Corned Beef Hash
Hamburger
Chili
Applesauce
Apple Butter
Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

I still have a few more things to can - so will be posting an updated list at the end of the year.

Pantry Reflections

When it comes to out pantry, I don't stock for doomsday or any great disasters, but instead, I do it for convenience, taste, and knowing what is in the food we eat. I prefer to grow what we need and use, but there are things I can't grow, crop failures, etc. Then I buy from the Farmer's market or from people I know, and sometimes I find great sales at the grocery store that are too irresistible to pass up.

This year was a learning curve for me in many aspects of putting things up. First, there's the issue of age and slowing down. I used to stock up during the canning season - summer and autumn. It was intense and many hours in the kitchen. Notice, I said used to. I followed my mother's example of how and when to can and that model was productive, but exhausting. Now, I work on my pantry all year. Sure, there will be things I won't be able to put up, but many that I can.

One of the things Mom did was freeze and can a LOT. I can't really freeze things because of the lack of freezer space. We have the fridge freezer, and that's it. I've been concentrating more on canning and dehydrating. That's been another learning curve, because freezing was what I thought was the best way to go and the taste was close to fresh. With freezing, there is a downside... freezer burn. That will not only leave your food tasting nasty, but will ruin all your hard work in just a few month's time. A FoodSaver or other method of vacuum packing will fix that, but there's still the issue of storage and the cost of keeping a freezer running. Then there's the issue of a power outage - you can lose everything depending on how long the power is out and what time of year it happens.

So, I've been concentrating on other methods of storage. Dehydrating is one that I find fun and quite amazing. I can dehydrate green beans and they get so much smaller, store for a long time in a vacuum sealed jar, and taste darn near like fresh when re-hydrated. I've been experimenting with drying and cooking quite a few veggies this year and have been quite pleased with the result. So far, I've done:

Potatoes - both sliced and shredded

Green Beans

Mixed Vegetables

Corn
Cabbage
Carrots

Mushrooms

Onions

Bell Peppers - all colors

Celery

Celery Leaves

Peas

Squash

Chives

Spearmint
Apples - both sliced and diced

Bananas

Grapes - red and white seedless

Pineapple
Clementine slices

One of the things that I like doing is buying frozen vegetables on sale. I don't have freezer space for them, but that's ok. I bring them home, open the bag and pour them onto my dehydrator trays, give them a good rinse, drain and then put in the dehydrator. They have already been blanched and cut up, so there's really no work to doing them this way. When done, just put in jars and vacuum seal. They will last for a LONG time on the shelf as long as they stay vacuum sealed.

The list will certainly get longer as I try my hand at more items. I dehydrate all year long and continuously use from my pantry as well. I'm always rotating. Like I said - it's not for stocking for a disaster, but for using and having better quality ingredients.

December - My Time for Reflection and Planning Ahead

I cannot believe it is already December! The year has gone by so quickly - where has it gone?! I swear it was just yesterday that I was waiting for the rains to stop so I could plant my garden (which didn't happen!) Now I'm waiting for seed catalogs to plan for the coming year!

For most, December is a time of rushing and getting ready for Christmas, yet for me, it is a time to reflect and think about how things can be improved for next year. My last week will be looking at my list of goals that I made last year, seeing what I accomplished and planning a list for next year.

I like the relaxing atmosphere of not having to worry about Christmas. There was a time I was hugely upset that we no longer celebrated it, but I've come to a realization that it's nothing more than a consumer nightmare. Yes, I still give gifts to those that celebrate, but I no longer feel pressured. That is just what I need at this age.

Speaking of age - I've finally come to the realization that my body and mind are no longer the same age. My mind thinks it's much younger than my body knows it is. Getting hurt 2 almost 2 years ago made me realize I need to slow down. (And believe me - it took almost those 2 years of healing to come to terms with that!) Things don't get done as quickly, and that's OK. I don't need to be Superwoman any more!  The funny part of that is, I do a little each day and it seems I'm getting more done. Then again, maybe not.