Before you know it, March is gone . . .

And before I knew it, March was gone!  March is a big month for birthdays at our house.  I was able to celebrate with three of the five grands who had birthdays.  We were able to celebrate with all of them after Brody came home from Croatia!  

Nathan

Caleb

Emily

Speaking of Brody!

It was late when he came home but there was a crowd to meet him when he got off the plane.  Here he is with his mom, dad and sister, giving his sister a big hug.  She was so excited to see him!  We were overjoyed to see him after two years away from home! I had the cutest video, of him coming through the gate, but of course, it wouldn't upload.  Later in the week we had a big family dinner for him with all of my children and grandchildren.  It felt really good to have all of them under the same roof.  

Last week-end, we had two of the boys over to help us clean up the yard and do all of those things that I'm just too old to do now ;0)  We have such a problem with Starlings getting into the shed, so Bob helped them make a few bird houses to hopefully help with that.  We've already seen Starlings coming in and out of the birdhouses!

Of course the best part of all was being lifted up in the tractor bucket! It was such a beautiful week-end, and we accomplished almost everything we needed to get done, and had the chance to spend some quality time with our grandsons.

At the beginning of March, I went and saw, Hello Dolly with a few friends.  We have a wonderful local theater called, The Center Theater.  They have the most wonderful musicals, and this one was no exception.  The acting and singing is top notch, and the costumes are absolutely gorgeous and professionally made!  The photo is taken from their play bill, and does not do Dolly's costumes justice, they were amazing.   It was so much fun, I'm looking forward to attending the next play . . . Fiddler on the Roof.  

We also bought a freeze dryer this month!  We have been wanting one for the last year, and they had the small ones that we wanted on sale, so we bit the bullet and bought one.  We have dried chili, peppers, and marshmallows for hot chocolate.  Today I cooked a bunch of potatoes, grated them, and put them in the freezer.  Tomorrow we will stick them in the freeze dryer.  They will be wonderful to have on hand or camping,  and will be great addition in our foood storage.  This is one of the three trays that we will dry tomorrow.

I have been trying to eat and use more fermented foods.  My favorite is sourdough.  I also have a big jar of homemade sauerkraut on the counter that will be ready to eat in a few days.  

Today I decided to make a batch of sourdough muffins, and they are delicious!  For those of you who like sourdough and use it, this is the recipe I used.  It's actually for blueberry muffins but I used chocolate chips instead, I also omitted the streusel topping.  

Well, that's a few of the highlights for March.  I hope to get some blogging and commenting done soon.  Thanks to all of you who have hung in there with me.  See you in April!  Love you all!

Hugs,

Barb

My Daybook . . .

Happy Tuesday!  

On my playlist today . . . .Roberta Flack passed away  yesterday.  I'm so sad, I just loved her voice!  I remember all of her songs so vividly!   Remember, Play Misty for me, with, Clint Eastwood?  This was one of the songs that he requested for that movie.  

Outside my window . . . It's still cold, but not as cold as it has been.  The snow is melting, there's ponds of water all over our place, and my dog gets wet feet every time she goes outside, but at least it's water, not mud!  The rest of the week will be sunny and warmer... Yes!

How was my week-end . . . On Saturday we attended a beautiful funeral, where I saw so many people I hadn't seen for over 20 years, but we just started where we left off.  It was so  nice.  The funeral was more of a celebration than a funeral.  Joy was a wonderful woman, she was 90 years old, and had lived such a full life.  What a blessing she was to all she knew.

On Sunday, we attended church, and later that night one of my daughters and her family came to visit us.  We visited and had cake and ice cream, it was delicious.  But most of all, it was fun to spend time with them.  These two cute pups played so hard... But slept really good, 

I've been creating . . . I finally finished a crochet vest I have been working on for a few months.  I'm always cold and I think this will help me stay a little warmer.  I really like it, and it was fairly easy to make.  

Something I'm grateful for . . . I'm grateful to live close to all of my children.  My daughter,  Amber, has been going to a 3rd grade class for several years to teach the students about what it's like to be blind.  Averi, my granddaughter who is blind, goes with her and talks to the kids if they have questions for her.  She also shows them how to type in braille by writing a letter to their class.  I didn't get any photos, but it was such a fun experience.   Hopefully I can go with her next year -  I just loved watching the students as they realized that blind people aren't scary!

Someone I'm proud of . . . My granddaughter, Clara, and my grandson, Nathan.  They both competed in a debate in Boise last week.  Clara won first place and Nathan also placed.  They go to the same school and are in the same grade.  I'm so proud of both of them for their hard work!

In my Kitchen . . . Last week I made a menu for the week.  I mostly stuck to it!  I didn't make ham and beans, or baked chicken thigh's. But they will be on the menu for this week.  In fact, we had ham and beans for dinner last night.  I made bread to go with it, because, you know, ham and beans need yummy biscuits. ;0)

I also made these yummy cookies last week, they were delicious.  I put chocolate chips and raisins in them,  but we also love them with butterscotch chips, or M&M's.  Nuts would be really good in them as well.

This is the cookie recipe.  It's from the, Senior Citizen center here in our small town, the, Elite Retreat.  They have several good cookie recipes.  and at Christmas they make and sell them.

Plans for the rest of the week . . .  We heard that beef prices are going up and so we are going to stock up on ground beef, and roasts and, I have a haircut this morning.   I am giving a lesson at DUP (Daughter's of Utah Pioneers) next Monday, so I need to get that prepared.  I also want to tie and bind the quilt I am re-making.  And,  I need to starch and pin some beautiful crocheted snowflakes that I made a few years ago. They're so pretty, I'll show you what they look like when I'm finished.

Just Sayin' . . . 

Have a great week!

Hugs and Love,

    BARB

 

Something new on Wednesday . . .

 Happy Wednesday!  I hope my post finds everyone healthy and safe.  I know there are so many disasters happening around the country and my heart and prayers go out to anyone who is suffering.  The cold temps are also so hard for so many, so bundle up and stay warm.  

Last fall was a whirlwind for me!  My garden produced a lot of tomatoes, and I just didn't have the time to process all of  them.  So I cleaned them, put then in freezer bags, and stuck them in the freezer.  So, the something new part of this post is that I made chili sauce from frozen tomatoes.  I had to make a few changes, but it turned out delicious!   After reading several articles, this is the basic recipe I followed.  This lady made salsa, but really, there's not much difference between salsa and chili sauce.  

Something else I'm attempting,  that I've never done before, is a quilt make-over.  I had a full size quilt that my grandmother made for one of my children.  The top was still good, but the batting had all but disappeared because of much use.  I also have an old comforter that is still in very good condition, and a full size sheet that I  am no longer using.  I'm going to use the comforter for the batting (yes it is pink, but you won't see it), and the sheet for the outside and binding.  I have my fingers crossed that it will work.  I'll show you the finished product when I'm done with it.  No, I don't need another quilt, I don't even have a full size bed, but I have always believed that having extra quilts and blankets is important.  You never know when someone else might need a warm quilt.  

Have a wonderful rest of your week!  And, try something new!

Hugs and Love,

BARB