Well hello, I am still kicking. I had actually forgotten I even had this website. I have had a lot of health problems. I actually broke my foot 2 Wed. ago and all the bones going to my toes were broken plus some on the side. They put some pins in it and I have to go back to the Dr. on Monday and I sure hope I can get this boot off. Can't put any weight on it at all right now. 

Here in the south where I live it's hot and humid so you know how hot this boot is. I'll be glad to get it off. 

How I broke my foot.......my blood sugar dropped since I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast that day. I wasn't hungry and hadn't even thought about not having anything to eat. So I started feeling woozy headed and fell going to my daughters' bedroom to get her to help me. I felt it when my toes curled under my foot and thought, oh this isn't going to be good. It started swelling right away. SO we headed to the E.R,

They did a few x-rays and told us it was broken. 

So now I hope I am healing. 

Recycling Clothes or Restyling Clothes, However You Want to Look at It

Our little thrift store in town has this fill a bag for $5 going on right now. The bag is one of those 13 gallon trash bags. A ton of the clothes will fit in that size bag and I never did fill mine either time I went. Lots of the clothes aren't in style anymore the way they are made etc. I went in today looking for nice stretchy fabrics for some children's leggings I want to make. I was looking for funky fabrics, wild fabrics and pretty, but mainly stretchy. Threw some tee shirts into my bag as well. I found some cute fabrics and also needed some long pieces since some of the little legs I am going to sew for are long ones. I got a load washing now in the washer and one load of them drying. If you're like me you like before and after pix and if this goes good I might can post some afters. Wink wink. 

I have been checking out some you tube videos of some ladies making the little leggings for babies and toddlers and some are reusing fabrics like I am about to do. I also found some free patterns on some of the video's as well and instructions as well. Really don't think I'll need instructions though. I do plan on cutting out some seams on one of them as well since there are side seams that really isn't necessary. I just hope I get the legs long enough! LOL IF I get them to long they can bunch them up, but to short wont be good. Here is one link I found for a pattern. There are many of them. Baby Leggings Pattern

I have went to the little thrift store here in town like 3 times now getting these bags of clothes for various things. One of my little friends needed some clothes and I found her a bunch of little things. It's a really good deal and a very good way of getting rid of clothing so they can put in new stuff. Here are the things I found today for making leggings and such with.

Black fabric with all colors of lines in it. Most of these fabrics are the slinky fabrics as I call them. 

 Another slinky fabric with blue, white, and black. I think these will be some really cute leggings!

Then the next piece is navy blue and white. 

Tee shirt fabric shirt with various of colors in it. 

 Black and white complete with a bow. lol

 Then another tee shirt. It has something on the back of it but I can get what I need out of the front of it for one pair.

A black and white slinky again. This will make some good leggings. I can use some of that black band on the bottom there for the top waist band and for the bottoms of the legs if I chose to do so.

This one is another slinky type fabric. Has the long ties on it to tie at the neckline. Could use that as my waistband/leg bands as well.

I LOVE this next piece! LOVE the colors of it! Has a wide band at the bottom as well. 

Got one more pair made from this one. It was a little to short so I added a band at the waist to make it work. Not going to hem these nor do the elastic yet until I found out their measurements so I will know for sure.  I don't know if you can tell or not from the above pic but there was a really wide band on the bottom of it. IF the pants was to be to short I can add the little ruffle like they do and that will make them longer.  I dearly love this type of flimsy fabric, but it sure is hard to sew and get to lay right when you're trying to sew it together. 

This one is some of that athlete shirts. It's a blueish color and I think would even match the above piece for cuffs or waistband if I chose to do that. 

NOW I need to fix me a hanging thing in my sewing room to hang all these on so I can choose which one I want and they don't get all wrinkled. Don't know about you, but I HATE messing with wrinkled up fabrics! 

I also like this one and might do one or two like this. Just not sure how I want to do them yet. Leggings with a Skirt Attached

This teal skirt is really huge and I can make a bunch out of it. It's also tee shirt fabric. I can make two to match so they can be twinkies. 

I made a couple pair pants last night out of the above skirt. I used the original hem on it for the hem on the pants. Here is one of the pair of pants. I used the wide elastic and everything that was in the skirt for both pair pants. All I have left to do for both pair is to sew the edge of the waist band down since I used my serger to sew on the elastic and then sew down the middle of the elastic to keep it from folding in half like they tend to do sometimes. Lighting isn't the best since it was dark when I took the pic of the pants. I am guessing big time on the lengths and on the waist sizes since I really don't know their measurements. These are suppose to be leggings but I think the legs are much to wide for leggings, but I guess we shall see.

This next piece I thought stretched better than it does. Might have to do this one on the bias for a smaller baby since it really needs to stretch.

This one is black A line skirt with wide waistband. If I am remembering right it's like tee shirt fabric. I have several tee shirts as well in various of colors that I wont bore you with since they're just plain and solid colors.

OK I think that's about it on the clothing. Now to get to sewing. lol 

I sure hope you guys are having a great week!

Rose

Edited to add:I found a few more tee shirts, nice thick fabric ones for a buck each at the thrift store so I bought them. The yellow one was a tank top but my friend always loved butterflies.  I knew it would make a pair for her baby so I bought it. 

The white background one was a tee shirt fabric baby blanket. I could probably make 2 more from it. A little skirt added to one would be cute to. Love how they're doing that now and the ruffles to on the bottoms. I had so much pieces of fabric left over on the blue stripe one I made bath clothes with it for her to. You can see the neck piece of the fabric at the top above the little pants. She's so tiny at a year old she only is in a 6-9 mo. and some of the 9 mo. are to large. She's also walking and she doesn't look like she should be walking she's so little. Just a doll I tell ya! SO precious! Those yellow ones with the butterflies..... see how wide the legs are? That was the 1st pair I 

made. I added length to the pattern and when I started trying to pen it together I was like something is really really weird here. What it was, the pattern was UPSIDE down! I'd found it online and I was like what in the world? So I finally figured it out and it WAS upside down so hence the wide legs because I was making what I THOUGHT was the waist wider. I am hoping they fit her since I don't know measurements and just guessing at it. 

OK will share more of the afters when I get them all made. OH and I did get measurements of my 2 nieces and I got to add a ruffle to the one I hadn't finished yet. Was waiting to see measurements and it's about 2" to short.
Rose

Well we replanted zucchini and yellow squash today (July 23rd) and some cucumbers. Ours did OK but didn't get enough to even hardly put up any. So I decided to replant in hopes of getting some more before winter sets in. I think I must have put up like 7 or so quart bags of finely shredded zucchini and about that many spiralized. Since we're doing low carb and have been for quite a few years now I use the spiralized ones for spaghetti.

I told hubby this evening I thought we needed to make our garden 3 times the size it is now because even the okra we're not getting enough in one batch to even have a mess for us. Takes 2 pickings to get enough. I wanted to can some in quarts and then can some tomatoes in pints for cooking together. They're so good done like that. I think I have canned 4 qts. of the okra so far and that's it on it. Haven't gotten enough tomatoes to even can any yet. I have no clue what's going on this year with the gardening seems no matter how hard I try it's just not happening or making enough.

Now tomorrow I will plant the other garden closest to the house in hopes it does really well and I can get some things canned out of it. I sure hope you guys are getting more put up than I am.

I guess this is all that's happening lately other than me pulling something in my left shoulder getting out of the bed a couple weeks back. It's taking it's ever loving time to heal to. I just let the rattlesnake pole beans go to seed because of it. I canned like 20 qts. so that should be enough. I still have some left from other years anyway.

I got some plums out of the freezer yesterday I'd put in there last year to make jelly out of. The freezer is full and it was taking up a lot of space since they were whole ones. I cooked them down and got out the seeds. I plan on canning those today and making sugar free jelly with them. I'd love to have some blueberry, strawberry, and blackberry sugar free jelly to but I don't have any of those. The stuff is almost 4 bucks a jar and hubby can eat one jar in 4 settings! He wants it to mix with his peanut butter but wont get but 3-4 servings out of one of those little jars. ☹️ SO I figured I'd try to make some. Just wondering how many of the little pints of strawberries it would take to make about 20 half pints? Might have to check into that. 😃

OK I think that's all for today.

Baking Gluten Free Sugar Free Desserts and Wilton Baking Pan

Well a few days ago I was watching one of my cooking video's on you tube I like to watch. He or she can't remember just the one shared this Wilton baking pan and was using it in the vid and said there was a link below the vid. I'd been wanting one of these pans for like 2 years at least now. Everyone I'd found they wanted almost 20 bucks for it and I just couldn't do that. I have my limits on what I will spend on things. So I click on the link and this is a WILTON baking pan for 7.49 and I about fell out I couldn't believe it. SO I start reading all the comments which were hundreds and decided I was ordering not one but TWO. It has 12 square holes in the pan and I will post the link just in case anyone is interested in it. I got mine in the mail today and already tried them out and love them. They are nice heavy pans to. I couldn't believe how heavy they are for the price.

I've been getting a few zucchini from the garden so I have been spiralizing some and finely shredding some for the freezer for winter baking. Next I need to slice some in rings, but first I need a few more bags like this. I want to make some spaghetti out of the spiralized ones. We don't eat spaghetti noodles so we'll use these as our noodles.

So I got in there and hubby was finely shredding up the zucchini while I threw the walnuts into the food processor to whiz them up just a little and getting the recipe ready. I even forgot 4 of my eggs that I didn't put in there until AFTER they both were in the oven cooking! LOL Was wondering WHY it only filled up 7 holes on the 2nd pan although I had added in a little shredded carrots in mine as well. I will also post the link to the recipe in case anyone wants that to. Also on the icing I just use cream cheese icing and used my stevia in it. You can find that recipe all over the internet. Just look for sugar free cream cheese icing. The recipe for the muffins that I add all spice, 1/2 cup shredded carrots, pumpkin pie spice to so it would be a carrot cake and made them in the square hole Wilton baking pan. https://lowcarbyum.com/coconut-flour-zucchini-muffins/

Now the link for the Wilton baking pan before I forget that. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008KE7JLG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Now for pix of my baking. I am no cake decorator by a long shot. To stressful to do that for this one! Here are both my pans and one is out of the cover and one isn't. That is a full sized colander sitting there with peppers in it.

This is my carrot cakes iced with the cream cheese icing. Oh man they are so good. I ate to many! lol I am stuffed. Low carb and gluten free AND sugar free. This recipes uses the coconut flour and no they do not taste at all like coconut. The spices I told about above was used and that is what you taste. You can't taste the zucchini either. I shredded the zucchini up fine as well as the carrots. Or Hubby did the zucchini that is. 

Then here is hubs plate. He is a happy camper to say the least. He told me like 3 times so far how good these things were. He said they were awesome. Needless to say this is a keeper recipe! She has some really good ones that I have used in the past as well. Fair warning though do not load up on these because they have coconut oil in them and the carrots AND the zucchini has fiber. Lot of fiber here........So yeah, eat only one. lol Freeze the others.



I really really like my Wilton baking pans!
Well that's all for now. Maybe if it rains again tomorrow and cools things off I can bake something else in the pans. One lady on the comments at Amazon said she likes to do her meatloaf in it. Then another said she uses the pan to make personal sized stuffing for her family at Thanksgiving. How neat and one said pound cake. How cool would that look to have a square pound cake in a serving size with strawberries and whipped cream on top? So many good ideas!

Have a blessed day!
Rose

Gardening

I have been doing a lot of gardening this spring and summer. I have okra, rattlesnake pole beans, zucchini and yellow squash, egg plants, cucumbers, bell peppers, cayenne, banana peppers, and tomatoes planted. All of it is finally starting to make and we're in a heat wave right now. Heat index up to 108 today and sure hope it gets back to normal really soon because this is miserable with our humidity to.

We picked our first okra today and I made some okra and tomatoes with it. I just cut it like you're going to fry it and added some avocado oil to my skillet and stir fried it a bit in some onion flakes, sea salt, and garlic. Then I added a pint of tomatoes I'd canned a few years back. I cooked it until the okra was done. I plan on putting up some chunks of tomatoes this summer in jars as well as the okra so I can put them together like this and cook them for a side meal. We're all on low carbs around here so having a bit of trouble with side dishes since we've been at this for awhile now and getting tired of the same O same O.

I have canned 8 quarts of the rattlesnake beans so far and sure hope I can get more of them canned. With this heat the beans are having a time of it since they don't like hot temps. Leaves are turning yellow and falling off. :( Also fighting birds that keeps wanting to build in the trellis they're on and not having that because they will squawk at me the whole time I am trying to pick my beans. That will drive me bonkers! Sigh

A precious lady gave me some canning jars the other day and that was a huge blessing if you know how much those things cost these days. I am really on the look out for wide mouth ones at the thrift stores when I get to go. Most of the time I can get them for .25 each and I grab them. I am only buying those now since I would like to have more of those. Got plenty of the small mouth ones now I think. I've been trying to get all the jars cleaned she gave me so they will be basically ready when I need them. I usually re-wash in the dishwasher when I am ready to use them, but they had stuff stuck in the bottom of them I was trying to get out so they'd be clean.

I have a gallon of cucumbers in the fridge now soaking in their pickling lime. Someone shared a Claussen fridge pickle recipe the other day so I am going to try that one. They said no way to make them taste just like theirs, but close. The recipe didn't say anything about soaking them in the lime but I know this helps them have crunch so I am doing it. I have my own dill planted I will use as well as some dehydrated garlic I did as well. Going to use some of that in them. Tomorrow I will rinse out the lime really well and then got to soak them again for 3 hours it said on the lime bag. Then I can get the Claussen recipe out and get them made. Here is the recipe in case you'd like to make it. This will be my first time to try this one. I hope it's good because my daughter dearly loves these pickles!  https://www.foodiewithfamily.com/homemade-claussen-knock-off-pickles/

So this is what I have been up to now for weeks, gardening. I am hoping I can get a few things canned this year. Hope you guys are doing some canning to.

I guess this is all for now.
Happy canning
Rose

Summer in the South

WOW how time flies. Been awhile since I have been on here and just now seeing just how long!

 I have been so busy with planting seeds and growing seedlings and then bringing them inside and taking them back outside. Then finally got it all transplanted into flower beds and into the garden and having to water it since we were having no rain. Got rain today thank the good Lord! So now everything is starting to come in so we're happy campers around here getting fresh veggies.

So nice having your own fresh vegetables knowing how they were grown etc. I canned 8 qts. string beans yesterday and that was the 1st for this year. I sure am hoping I get to can 3 or 4 times that amount. Our cucumbers and squash has just started coming in as well.

Sure hoping you guys are being able to can some things this summer for your families. 

My New Bike

Wanted to share my new bike with you guys. I found it on Facebook Marketplace and messaged the lady over the weekend. Went and picked it up on Sat. Got to buy a tube for the front tire but am excited over my new bike. It came with the cup holder and the basket on it.
Love the little accent pieces on the ends of the fenders!
I have ordered me some new hand grips because these are sticky. I wanted lavender to match the bike but could only find purple or white and ordered both those colors. So now I will have an extra pair.

Health, Blessings, and Life

To start this post off this year has been something for me. Back in January of this year I had the flu. It was really at the end of Dec. into January I guess. I passed out here at the house and hubby took me to the Dr. that we had just been to 3 days before. He checked us both and said we didn't have the flu, just had sinus crud he says. Once in hospt. they actually did the test to see IF I indeed had the flu and I did. Primary Dr. had not checked for it. Just said we didn't have it. Since I passed out Dr. said I had to go to E.R. to get checked out. So he took me and I was admitted. I stayed 3-4 days I can't really remember. They did the heart scan score and several other tests to see why I had passed out. Dehydration was the cause my daughter and I think. For someone that goes the whole day with something in her hand drinking I dehydrate at the drop of a hat almost. Just crazy and I think I am FINALLY figuring out WHY! Same primary Dr. has been prescribing me blood pressure pills with fluid pills in them. I know there is a word for that, but I can't think of it right now. 

So they wanted to do a stress test in a week when I leave the hospital in January and I wasn't able to do one yet. I was still coughing my head off and very weak and basically had been in bed mostly since I got home. We cancelled the appointment and they rescheduled it for another week out. Still not back up to par I went on to the appointment. STILL coughing my head off. :( We get there and both of us are wearing masks because the flu was STILL going around very bad. We get in there and it is I mean really really hot in this waiting room. When ones coughing that is the very last thing you need is a hot room. As we sat there I was noticing at least every 3rd person was also coughing. I over heard one woman complaining to her husband and telling him lets just go thru the E.R. since it was the hospt. where we were. They had been there for 2 hours and this is the cardio waiting room to this Dr. and she was worried about her husband having a heart attack while sitting there. I asked hubby to go to the desk and see if we could reschedule the appointment and just told them we would get back with them when I could do it. We didn't actually make an appointment.

So the next thing I know they had made me one on their own and never even told me they did so. I get a call the day after with them saying they were sorry I didn't make it to my appointment on blah blah day and I was like huh what appointment? lol So by this time I had decided I wasn't even doing no stress test at all. I was going to work on this and see if I couldn't get my heart scan score better doing something Dr. William Davis talks about in his "Undoctored" book. Thing is now I see it was too late for me to start that the plaque had already started clogging my arteries. Not to late for working on the problem tho.

I wind up back in the hospt. the last of Sept. with symptoms and had to do the chemical stress test due to near passing out 5 times in less than a week. So they did the stress test and then a heart cath and found the lower left quad. of my heart the artery was 80% blocked. They put their stent in and now I am still working at making the plaque better so hopefully I wont have to have another one put in.

Now for the BLESSINGS part...... SMILE God is so good,  He helped me through all of that and several times I had to call out to Him for help due to me being scared of the unknown. When they got me to get off my bed onto the table to do the heart cath I was praying. He gave me that peace that passes ALL understanding.  I met so many good people in the hospt. So many good RN's and cleaning lady. Ms. Joyce was a hoot. She writes on my board the very 1st day she comes into my room. God loves and I knew what she was going to write next and I told her, and He loves YOU to! She says AMEN yes AMEN! LOVED that lady! She was my sister in Christ! Then I met Rodney a RN my brother also in Christ! He told me he prayed for me before he entered my room. What a blessing to have a RN that prays for his every patient before he enters their room. He came back the next morning to check on me and tell me bye. Such blessings!

More blessings...... A friend of ours came the other day to see us. I was sharing with them I had been looking for me a treadmill for over a year as I shopped the thrift stores and everyone I found had already been sold. So he tells me they will keep a look out for me one. So he goes to a small town close to them looking in a thrift store I don't go to. While in there he sees an elderly lady out in the parking lot close to her car calling for help. She had fallen trying to get in her car I guess. So he can his wife get the wheelchair and go out there to help the little lady get up. That I know had to be a blessing for her!! So while they are talking to the little lady and making sure she was alright another lady walks up that had worked with my friends wife. She asked them had they ever eaten at this place around there and they tell her no. So he says lets go and we'll buy you lunch. So while they're eating lunch he tells her yeah we're just off down this way looking for a treadmill to which she says, you really looking for one? He tells her yes and she says I have one you can have for free. Come to find out her daughter had gotten married and had brought the treadmill there and given it to her. They went to her house and looked at it, plugged it in and it worked. So now my husband is headed over there to get it along with our friend.

I had shared with them that I had been walking but then when it gets hot I just cannot handle the heat to walk. Told them it's so discouraging to get to walking and then have to stop because of these hot humid summers. Things I have read says to walk 3-4 times a week to help the plaque in ones veins so I was like OK I need to get back at it again. It's cooled off now to where one can walk and my daughter and I have been walking. She's losing loads of weight and I am so proud of her. She had to take steroids to get well for like 4 years now almost every month. She has asthma and it was going crazy. Only way she could get well was to take those things and lots more. :(  

So I am hoping to not get the flu this winter and hoping AND praying no hospitals in my life for next year. Twice in one year is enough. :-) 

Blessings,

Rose

Still Around and Doing Some Canning

Hey you guys, I am still around. Just not blogging much these days as you can see.
I had a program I was using on here and have forgotten my password for it and have no clue HOW to get my password. :(

Been doing a lot of canning this summer and putting things in the freezer to. I have so far canned tomatoes, peppers, basil, thyme, pears, two kind, pear halves and pear butter, dill pickles, pickled okra, okra to fry, and okra to boil. I have probably missed something I am sure.

Not doing as many projects as I used to do. I miss that, but health isn't allowing it these days and I do good to get what has to be done finished and done.

I sure do miss our decorating forum we used to have and I think I have 1 or 2 of the ladies subscribed to my blog that used to be on it. Miss all you guys!

I sure hope it's cooler where you are than where we are here in the hot humid south. All our vegetables are playing out now from the heat. Only have okra, cherry tomatoes and some cayenne peppers making it. I want to plant some fall stuff. I have rooted some of my Black Cherokee tomatoes I had going this summer. Took some nice shoots off and rooted those and just transplanted them in their large pots on Monday I believe it was. They had some nice roots on them. Hoping to get a bunch out of those before frost.

OK sure hope everyone is well. Will check back when I can.

Rose

Onesies From Old T Shirts

I wanted to show you guys what I am doing here lately and also wanted to start downloading my sewing things on here in case my daughter ever decides she wants to learn sewing. She has sewn some, but one day I wont be here to help teach her and wanted it to be here for her and for others I am trying to help learn.

 A friend of mine has a couple daughters that has gotten married and have had a baby each. She is now Grandma or Granna as they will call her. She's loving being a Granna. So I have started sewing baby clothes again and sure am enjoying it. Been a long time since I have sewn baby clothes.

I am still thrift store shopping as well and got the idea online to repurpose,restyle, recycle, or refashion, whatever you want to call it some old t shirts. One of the thrift stores I like has been having a fill a bag for a buck so I have gotten several bags of t shirts here lately and am making onesies with them. I can get two onesies from an x large t shirt and am practicing with them doing embroidery. I am trying to learn how to position my designs where they're suppose to be and lining them up. Getting a little better if my machine would stop messing up on me. :( See the blue colored one, yep machine messed up and top thread got all tangled in the bobbin and stretched the fabric and then when I went back to sewing the design was off. Funny thing is, it seems to happen on the VERY LAST thread I have to use every time. 

I was actually very well pleased with the white one. It turned out very well I thought. The white one I did with a t shirt that was a medium I believe it was and I wound up having to get my sleeves from another white t shirt. Actually I used the left overs from one I had made 2 onesies from. Had enough to do the sleeves for this one out of it. It was a turtleneck AND long sleeved one.

I also wanted to show you one of my finds from yesterday. We needed another little step stool and I thought this monkey one was so stinking cute.

This is the onesie close up of the embroidery.

This was a onesie I made for my niece, Hannah. She is having a girl and just found out a couple weeks back what it was going to be. This was one of the onesies I got from the other white t shirt. It was actually a Christmas one with a little embroidered Christmas tree on the neck (turtleneck) of it.

I found this square thing that had this monkey design on it awhile back and was going to refashion it some how. Then I got the idea to do a bib with it. This ones for a friend of mines little boy, Joseph. I think this thing must have been made for hanging on the wall. ??? Not really sure what it was used for. I first thought it was a pot holder of sorts, but it had poly fil in it. You can't use that for a pot holder! Talk about getting burnt!

Now for the video where I show just where I place the pattern for this onesie to get two out of an x large t shirt.
Two Onesies from X Large T Shirt


Hope you all enjoy these ideas I have found online. I found the patterns for the bib as well as the burp clothes I am making and the onesie online for free downloads PDF files.

Rose

How to Make a V Neck Out of a Round Neck Tee Shirt

Figured since I got pix to share on my Facebook page I would TRY and make a post about it on my blog. I am hoping this works because in my program I use to write my info, I forgot my info password and such and not been able to get into it. Oh well, Windows Live Writer wouldn't work for me. UGH Don't know WHAT is wrong! :(

OK here goes….. This is the tee shirt before pic but details first…. I went to the thrift store and found they were having a bag day and you fill a bag for a buck. So this was one of my deals in the bag. I like purple and I like butterflies.  Notice the round neck in the before pic.

I take the neck band off almost to the shoulder seams lacking about an inch or so. I go to the front side of the shirt and stretch it a bit and I can find the seam in there. Use my seam ripper and it's easier to get out that way.

Once ripped out I then find the center of each the shirt and the band. I cut the band at the center point. Then I cut the shirt into a V at the center point of it as well. Pics below of how much I cut out. If you cut out to much you might not have enough band to put back on there.

The part of the shirt I cut out to form the V in the above photo. Then the band in the below photo forming the V shape when sewn.

THE BAND: Notice the pen direction goes from where it was sewn onto the shirt here upwards for forming the V in the band. I have to really watch what I do here because I have gotten the V upside down before!

Then I serged it. You have to stretch the band to fit the shirt. I pen it in place when sewing, but you can’t do that with serging.

Finished.

Doesn’t take long at all to do. Now got to hem those sleeves! They’re much too long for me dangling around my elbows!

I got it a bit off on the V, since I was using my serger. I’ve always done this with my sewing machine and I had to take the pen out I had in the point of the V and it shifted on me. NEED to make me up some bands or use some I am cutting off of tees I am restyling and practice a bit with the serger. I think you get the jest of it though. 
Hope everyone is doing well!

Rose

What I'm Up to These Days

I asked my hubby and daughter for a dehydrator for Christmas. They got me an Excalibur. I've been dehydrating food ever since I got it and I love the thing! I've done my own chicken broth, my own celery powder, onion powder and garlic powder. I have also dehydrated mixed vegetables, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, okra and I don't know what all else. Then a few weeks ago I found ANOTHER Excalibur at the thrift store for 20.00. Needless to say I WAS and AM a happy camper. I sure hope God richly blesses me with more tomatoes than I can handle. I'm doing my part by planting 79 heritage red beef master plants. Then I have about 7 I'm thinking it is, of the heritage Black Cherokee ones. I'm hoping to dehydrate a bunch of tomatoes this summer.

This is my bowl I made for dehydrating the broth out of a dehydrator sheet.

This is the broth in the bowl.

Tomatoes to dehydrate





















My thrift store find.

Dehydrated celery.

Powdered Celery.

Dehydrated Sour Cream

Dehydrated and Powdered Sour Cream



If you are dehydrating food leave me a message with your favorite links. I am new to dehydrating but I am learning.


Rose

Canning Chick Peas

Since our garden didn’t do anything this summer I am going through canning withdrawals. So I decided to can some dry beans I have had in my freezer. I bought a bunch of dried beans a couple months back for like 4 packs for 1.00. So I also have a herd of those as well to can later on.
Figured I would post a pic of some of my beans. These two were left overs so they went into the fridge. I know I can pressure can more things with the two jars and if I was pressure canning them I could have used all pints. Anyway I had this much left over once I got my pressure canner full of pints. Had 9 pints in there and then I just put this in these jars and I will make some hummus with it.

Next is to get to canning those other dry beans. WHY can dry beans you ask? Much cheaper to can your own AND you KNOW what all is IN them. No nasty's in my canned beans. Winking smile Plus there is more in these pints than you would get from a can.


I found my recipe on the Homesteading forum several years ago and they said you could use all the spices and can several kinds of dry beans using them. I have been canning them ever since I tried them. The family just loves the seasoning in them as well. They’re not just plain unseasoned beans.

On these chick peas I canned today I only added just a touch of the cayenne pepper and I added sea salt, just a touch of cumin, 1/2 tea. of garlic powder and dried chopped onions as well. Since I will making hummus from them I didn’t want to add the chili powder and black pepper like I do to the other kinds of beans.

I LOVE having these nice seasoned beans in my pantry because I can grab a jar and make all sorts of recipes with them. Just like the other day, I had some left over rice that I needed to use. So I got me a jar or two of my pinto beans and fried some link sausage and made some red beans and rice with them all. Well pinto beans and rice but nobody noticed. ha

Then just a couple days ago I was searching for something to cook for dinner since I seem to get stuck on the same food all the time. I came across this recipe on the web and I can’t recall where I found it now. Someone shared it and they didn’t give the name so I just call it the Mexican chicken dish. I had all the ingredients to make it with and the ones I didn’t have I figured ways around them. But yep you got it, my canned beans came in handy yet again. I served mine over corn chips I’d gotten from the Dollar Tree. I also doubled the recipe because I knew we were going to like it. Hubby doesn’t even like cream cheese and he loved the stuff to. I didn’t have any of the Fiesta ranch mix, mine was just the plain kind and I used it. I knew my canned beans were spicy so it would have been much too hot had I used that kind of the ranch mix. Also the day before I found this recipe I had boiled some chicken legs so I just deboned them and used that meat instead of the chicken breast. I also don’t like the taste of the water in canned foods from the store. YUCK, so I drained the corn and just added fresh clean water, like 1/2 can or so. So you see how handy these canned beans are for meals. PLUS I am trying to put more fiber in my meals since we don’t get enough fiber these days. Please do try this recipe if you haven’t tried it. My family and I really loved it so needless to say it’s a keeper.


Mexican Chicken Dish


4 chicken breast
1 packet Fiesta Ranch mix (by the salad dressing)
1 can black beans
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 can corn (not drained)
1 block cream cheese



On high in the slow cooker for 4 hours or 6 on low. Eat over rice or with tortillas!

EDITED to add: I just found yet another recipe using beans that looks awesome! My link isn't wanting to work so I'll just add it this way. :-) http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/black_bean_salad/

Now to get to canning those other dried beans and figuring out where to store them. Winking smile


Hope you guys are having an awesome summer and got to can a lot this summer.
Rose

Next Project

I was VERY blessed to get this camper and we’ve been working on it for a couple months now. Wanted to share it with you all. She was in such bad shape when we got her, but we’re working on her to get her back to her glory.

I’ll post some before and some after pix. She’s been sitting up for 4 plus years so she had some crud growing on her. I named her Classy ‘85 and have said she’s an ugly duckling now but soon to be a Classy ‘85.

Here she is before they got her off the trailer. She was hauled home on a trailer and she was too wide to be put on the trailer itself so she was placed ON the rails of the trailer and strapped down. In the pic they’re about to unload her off the trailer at our house. The normal 7 hour trip to TN. was a 14 hour one coming home with her. Had no problems just had to drive slower. 

Bigfoot 1985 G

Shot from the side.

Close up of her sitting on the rails of the trailer. They hauled her home like that all the way from TN. and she didn’t budge a drop. Got to replace the old tires and a few more things.

Pic of the front.

Pic of the front tongue area. The cover for the bottles is on the inside. Thank goodness they thought to put it on the inside.

Back side

Inside

 

Another shot of the back

Starting to clean her up. She had old moss stuff growing on her and it was very thick. We had to wash the worst off to begin with and then go back over her over and over scrubbing it off. It was very bad.

The front getting a little cleaner.

You can see some of that old moss stuff up on the curvy area at the back and it’s already been washed once getting a layer of it off.

The Bigfoot clock inside.

Getting closer to being clean.

Hubby welding her tongue back. She had a crack in the tongue as well as in her frame. She was pulled with a 4 wheel drive that was up too high and it cracked the tongue and frame. She’s all fixed now.

 

Scrubbing the roof now. With all that washing we did to her I had to put a heater inside to dry her out since we found 2-3 leak areas. So we put a tarp over it. We got some of the lights on the outside leaking scrubbing it so hard. They all need replacing anyway.

See how nasty the roof was? She was sitting under a cedar tree.

 

You can see where we scrubbed on the next one.

 

 

I can see some shine now and she’s not even waxed yet. Going to put some oxidation remover and color enhancer on her soon. Wax is also in the mix. Got to re-paint the water heater cover there on the bottom.

I’ve got the plumbing covers to replace the messed up ones.  Also ordered some butyl tape and going to remove all the windows and re-seal them all.

Removing the awning. She was leaking at the area where my hubby is now. I’m not putting those brackets back on her. Going to use what’s called an awning in a bag with aluminum tent pegs.

Had to clean the goo off where the awning strip was. Hubby had to cut the bracket off the trailer because someone had used like 3-4” bolts much too long and had piled on washers and they were rusted together. No way to get them off. We used WD 40 and everything trying to get them off.

I raised the tarp up so I could get a shot of the roof once we got the top cleaned up. See how clean.

And the awning is OFF! I washed and scrubbed the fabric itself so we could use that part for now. Maybe later on we’ll get another awning but not like this one. Don’t want anything that’s going to tug at her like this one did.

Kept reading where everyone that had Bigfoot campers was going in an area and pulling back the carpet just a bit to see if vinyl was under the carpet and they all had vinyl. So I went under the table area and peeled it back and sure enough there was vinyl. I started pulling that carpet out like a mad woman and this is what I found under it. Cool, MEGA happy woman! I then had to go back and cut closer to the edges with the box cutter and then get some needle nose pliers and pull all the carpet out that was under all the walls and stuff.

I also got inside and put Old English all over her walls. She drank it like a sponge she was soooo dry. I can almost hear her breathing sighs of relief to have someone that is taking care of her and getting her all fixed up.

 

Now I am hoping SOON we can plug her up and see that EVERYTHING is working on the inside. I sure am praying it does!

Well that’s about all for now. We’ll post more updates as we go. Between the chickens, the house and yard and the camper we’re pretty busy these days.

Stay tuned for more.

Edited to add: We did get her plugged up but she kept blowing the breaker. I think it might be the fridge. So I will unplug the fridge and try it again soon.