Handy tips

Wanted to share some handy tips that I recorded in my journal from Kiwi December 2009 issue.

• p. 12 Use a natural brush to brush the skin in a circular motion before taking a shower. Stimulates and exfoliates skin.


• p. 19 For a better nights sleep mix lavender essential oil and water in spray bottle then mist the pillows. (My first thought was can I just carry around a bottle to spray myself to destress on those "challenging days")


• p.19 Rub diluted pepperment in oil on temples to ease tension and headaches. (If you are a mom no comment needed as to why and how much we need this.)


• p.22 Cold weather veggies: roast brussell sprouts in oven, make kale chips in the oven, for mac n' cheese substitute cauliflower for the pasta. (Some nice twists on food I'm thinking for the next grocery list.)


• p. 43 Make your own organic fruit and veggie wash in a spray bottle. The article recommended it as Christmas gift along with the recipe.


• p. 45 "Herbal Helpers" to keep on hand this winter to help mom's. Eucalyptus essential oil for chest congestion. Peppermint oil for nose and chest. Slippery elm bark for throats. Echinacea for reduce cold and flu symptoms. Elderberry syrup to support the immune system according to Jessie Hawkins author of The Handbook of Vintage Remedies. (I'm curious about this book)


• p.61 "Silly Sweet Popcorn" It's popcorn tossed with butter, cinnamon and sugar. Sounds like a nice snack.

I thought this would make for some handy homeade tips. Sorry if I was vague on some of the information but I didn't know how much I could rewrite without crossing a line. Hope it sparked your interest. If you have any homeade remedies that you swear by p;ease feel free to share I would love to read them on the comments.

Thanksgiving weekend

I hope everyone has had a nice Thanksgiving filled with good food, good conversation and many other blessings and maybe even some crochetting. Since I was in charge of the baking my mom cooked which was nice. After dinner I finally finished crochetting the shoulder strap and drawstring for the bag I have been working on to carry around my next project. I pretty much made up the design for this bag so I'm not sure how sturdy the shoulder strap is going to be. Good thing yarn isn't heavy.

While at my mom's we went through her stash of doillies that her mother-in-law made her. I brought them home for some inspiration and memory keepsakes.

I hope that I can somehow replicate some of these designs to make Christmas snowflakes for the tree. But for now we're taking it slow this weekend and enjoying some leftovers.

Trying my friend's dairy-free, egg-free pumpkin pie recipe. Hopefully it will pass family inspection.

I think it's a yes with the last slice left for me. Happy Thanksgiving!

Art Fun

Satuday afternoon art break. We really enjoyed sketching and doing some watercolor. I couldn't resist so I also joined in to do some watercolor and dove in with my sketch journal. Most people I talk to remember that art was one of their favorite classes. Well why not have art at home?

Week's End

Well hefty week is over and now ready to begin a slightly hefty weekend of cleaning and laundry. I have even resorted to paper plates this past week. (It's temporary for the paper plates.)

While waiting this past week during one of the kids activities I thought of a way to use up this yarn. Crochet a bag so I have something to carry around my knitting. It is one of the only ways I could help get rid this yarn I have no love for.

Besides those canvas bags are not getting done any time soon. I'm thinking they will become December possibilities.Happy weekend from This Little Kitchen to yours!

Blog Break

Just wanted to drop a hello while I check out a couple of blogs. Hefty week is almost over but still more work to be done in the corner.

My husband asked how things were going yesterday. I said fine but I could use a wife. I needed extra hands to help me out. He said I needed a mid wife. You know someone I could call if I can't finish a job right way well call a mid wife. Or when some children need to be picked during a nap time well call a mid wife. I said maybe we should find another name to call this woman because I don't want to insult the midwives out there who are doing something really special.

I guess sometimes we could all use another woman's help when we are short on patience or hands, get interrupted numerous times while trying to complete a task or simply outnumbered by kids.

But for now I'm happy to settle down after a long day with a slice of lemon cake and a slice of pumpkin spice cake.

This is the golden cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World but I made them into cakes instead of cupcakes. For one I substituted the vanilla extract with lemon extract. For the pumpkin I added several tablespoons of canned pumpkin and added pumpkin spice.

Hopefully another fall favorite around here.

Cleaning Corner

Well friends a new week begins and there is much to do around here. I'm looking at a full schedule this week so I will be off for most of the week. I'll drop in at the end of the week hopefully and with any luck I will have made some progress on one of the November possibilities.

It's to clean out this corner to make space for all our treasured books.

My Journal Page

Well we are already well into November and I forgot to write my month in review. It started about a year ago when I was writing in my journal and I thought to myself what is it I do again? Yup I cook, clean, laundry, do lots of dishes and change never ending diapers. So what else do moms do? I thought well why not keep track of what that is in my journal. Around January I made a list of what I'd like to accomplish this year but then it just seemed like another New Year's resolution. So what I came up with is A Month in Review. At the beginning of each month I write a list of Accomplishments and a list of Possiblities. The accomplishments are things that I completed the previous month. The list of Possibilities are things I would like to have completed during the up coming month.

Example of Month in Review for November
Accomplishments
-Started sewing-made Halloween skirts
-Tuned up the sewing machine
-Maintained blog...
Possibilites
-Finsih canvas bag
-Read
-Crochet a baby blanket...

Why do this? Because I think for any of us it's easy to see the pile that's not cleaned up, something is not sorted or a project still waiting. Well if the messes are so obvious why not make the accomplishments even more obvious. It's a gentle reminder of things I have completed or learned. Sometimes there are unexpected accomplishments which is nice. Other times like last month I made a list of possibilites that was too ambitious and absolutely knew it would never be completed. Doing this Month in Review keeps me in check of things that I actually did complete and feel good about even if there is a pile that remains.

Happy Weedkend!

Thrifty Find

I found this at a tag sale yesterday and I really like the print on this skirt. But I have a different vision. I see cutting it up into squares for a summer quilt for the beach. I plan on making a quilt for the beach hopefully in the next 1-2 years. :)

Doilies

One of my newest craft addictions has been to make my own doilies. I really like them and just want a bunch on hand to stictch on to scarves, bags or something. I'm thinking about them in white to make small ones for the Christmas tree.
The thing is I think it's crazy for me to buy them. I just can't bring myself to do it. Doilies remind me of one of my grandmother who came to visit from Italy when I was a child. She stayed with us for sometime and what I remember most is that she was always mending and always crochetting doilies. My brother and I stayed near by but were not interested in the process until it was done and we saw she made for us. I thought it was something that old people did to pass the time like knitting. :) I thought to myself when I get old I'll learn to do that. I'll move the silver stick with the the thin yarn and make something. Well the day has come and I don't think 34 is old . In fact I think I'm still young enough to learn to do this and learn how to knit. I sure wish my grandmother was alive to show me the ropes. I am even hoping for one of my aunts to come help me, but I doubt she is will to take a trip across the Atlantic to show me how to crochet and sew my own clothes. So I'll settle for what she sent me instead.
The one on the right is what my aunt sent me and the one on the left is what I worked on Thursday night during Grey"s Anatomy. Now I tried to copy it but it just is not looking the same. Although I am enjoying crochetting in circles.

Autumnly

Enjoying the past few days of beautiful fall weather here in New England.

Today's Fun Finds

Ok is it wrong to post twice in one day? I say no way. Just couldn't wait to show you our fun finds from today's yard sale.

Where the Wild Things Are, The Polar Express, Happy School Year, Goldilocks, The Paper Bag Princess, Happy Thanksgiving Biscuit. We were lucky to meet the illustrater of Happy School Year and Goldilocks. The kids were excited about these books.

All this yarn for $5! I know some may think why buy someone's leftover yarn? Well lately I had ideas about what kind of yarn and how much I need for a couple of crochetting and knitting projects. So when I was digging through this bag and found more than I needed I looked at it and said I know what to do with each of you.

Today felt really good to be out with just the 3 oldest talking, yard sailing, look at artwork from local artists and having lunch together at a fast food place. What was nice about all these finds is that someone was getting rid of these and there I was ready to pick them up along with a few other items. What I hope to show my kids is yes we can buy new things but we can also buy old and recycle which saves the planet. I'm new to this concept recycle and reuse. I have been doing it about a year now going to thrift stores and yard sales. It was a little hard at first and some things I still buy new. It seems lately there has been less new and more recycle.

"Waste not, want not."

Now off to make my kind of homemade chicken soup (the broth is from a can) and laundry.

Quietness

Just wanted to say hello friends before I went sailing with the kids. Yard sailing that is and check out some local art. What I have been up to....

Reading with the kids.

Some story writing in the barebooks. We love these.

New magazines for me. I haven't read these yet I just love looking at the pictures. I made a quick run out by myself to the book store for these 2 magazines the other night. I was standing in the magazine aisle and thumbing through them ooohhing and aahhhhing that I think I annoyed the woman next to me to the point that she had to leave. What could I say have you seen these pictures? I thought of 3 ideas just standing there.

Recipe List

From last weeks recipe list.

Cauliflower With Salsa Verde from A Homemade Life

Thank you, thank you, thank you! This was a hit everyone loved and the next day we cleaned it all out. It tasted better than what I imagined. I have never seen the cauliflower go that fast!

Tomato Soup and Two Fennels from A Homemade Life

Also a hit. I halfed this recipe because not everyone here likes fennel. I must say the fennel tasted good cooked. I didn't use the right can of tomatoes so I think mine came out a little thick. But I think I have finally found a good tomato soup for cold winter nights or lunches.

Red Cabbage Salad with Lemon and Black Pepper from A Homemade Life

That was a lot of cabbage. This was a hit for me. It makes a nice side dish and it was refreshing. I loved the dressing and I bet I'll be using it somewhere else.

Now what to do with the rest of the cabbage? Well a couple of nights later it got sauteed with an onion, 2 apples, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar and some water. It was even better. Thanks Marie for the idea! But no matter which way I made it this was not going to be a hit for the rest of the family. Oh well more for me at least I tried.

Hat Night

After the evening of sewing I was feeling ambitous so I sat down the following night and crochetted a hat while watching tv. My first hat ever and I'm pretty proud. After the hat was completed I got started on a matching scarf of course. The scarf was much easier than the hat.

Ok so do you really want to know what happened the night of the hat? First of all I have never crochetted a hat so it took me about 4 hours. No lie. I think I unravelled it about 5 times I lost track after the second time. The scarf I started right after the hat but did not get completed because I fell a sleep with hook and yarn in my lap. Oh and look at why I unravelled the hat for the 5th time.


Because this was not the look I was going for. It still makes me laugh even now as I write.

Halloween Sewing Fun

A few days before Halloween I started to put all the kids costumes together which got me cracking down to do some sewing. Two of the girls wanted to be princesses so I ran out to the fabric store for fabirc and then I called a friend for sewing reinforcements. I haven't touched a sewing machine since high school. That's about 20 years now. With my friend's sewing guidance and tips we made 2 skirts and 2 matching scrunchies. It really got me out of a slump I'm happy to say. As my friend was working on scrunchie #3 the bobbin started acting up again and the round thing that holds it in fell out. So that's how our sewing session ended. But it's ok I brought it in for a tune up and the man at the repair shop showed me how to put it back in. The sewing machine will back at home later this week. I'm looking forward to a fall/winter season of sewing with the kids.