February Craft Day...

l-r: Donna, Deb, Linda K., Adrienne, Kim and Marie

We had a grand time last Saturday! For this project we used pinecones cut to resemble flowers. Marie and Adrienne took care of the cutting, so all we had to do was arrange and if we wanted to, paint them. 

 

We can always count on Kim to choose these blues for her projects. I've never been to her home, but I suspect this is her main color scheme. Marie brought canvas boards, as well as wooden hearts but there were also frames, and we were encouraged to bring anything we thought we might want to use.

Adrienne chose her favorite burgundy colorway, and chose to create a sweet arrangement on her wooden heart base. 

Linda K also chose a reddish color for her wooden heart. By the time she was finished, I told her it reminded me of an old-fashioned box of chocolates! Don't you agree?

Deb also chose the aqua colorway, but want in a different direction with her arrangement. She added jute cord embellishments, with one resembling a little nest. When we talked about that, she decided to add three small buds that looked egg-shaped and went with it. I love it!

When we first moved into the farmhouse, Linda and Marie came over to visit. Marie and her husband had taken a road trip to the retail store for the two guys who are on the television show, American Pickers. She gave me this rustic galvanized piece from an old barn so I could do something with it for our decor. Until last weekend, I had no idea what to do with it.

I decided to keep my pinecones unpainted because I loved all the natural colors. I added a bit of artificial leaves and then arranged everything to accentuate the shape of the panel. I'm thinking that I'm going to add some paper clay in the shape of a rustic vase at the bottom. We were talking about whether or not I would paint it, and I said, I could almost just rub dirt on it for the rustic effect. (I think I was kidding.)

I don't have a closeup of Marie's because she wanted to wait until she finished hers. (I wasn't constrained by such thoughts. lol) Now that Tuesday is behind me, I'll probably play with this later this week. For now, I'm going to take a good look at it and enjoy what's done so far.

We got more snow yesterday. Not like they're getting out East, but it was pretty wild getting home from work yesterday. I'm always grateful for Handsome handling the driving when the weather gets crazy. On those days, he drops me off so my Explorer doesn't sit outside, and then picks me up when my shift is over. Don't tell him I said so, but I'm really glad he decided to pass on travel to Florida this year. I'm happier with him home.

I think I'm going to stitch today. We were really busy at work yesterday, so stitching would be restful for me. I'd like to finish that bridal brooch, too, so I can get the three removed from the ground fabric and turned into brooches. I'll see you tomorrow.

Farmhouse Pantry...

Top to Bottom: 1) stewed tomatoes and pickles; 2) pears, pineapple, alfredo sauce, turkey meat; 3)potatoes, carrots, creamed corn, sweet corn and tallow; 4) rutabaga, sweet potato, green tomatoes, chili beans

Apologies for the lateness of today's post. I was called in to work early this morning (boss is on vacation), so I'm just getting around to it now. Because it's already after lunchtime, I'm going to leave this post up for tomorrow, too. There will be a new post after this one on Wednesday. Last weekend was Craft Day, so I'll be sharing what our latest project entailed.

1) zucchini relish, corn/black bean relish, bbq sauce, salsa, homemade rotel; 2) venison, taco meat, chicken breast, mexican seasoned chicken thigh, beef stew 3) canned butter, strawberry jam, jalapeño jam, cheesecake, black rasp. jam, grape jam, lilac jam

Now, for today's post. I promised photos of my home preserved pantry shelves, so here goes. While I admit there are some store-bought items in our pantry, most of what we eat these days is local, non-GMO prepackaged, or home canned/frozen. I'll try to give you a good idea of what's on each shelf in the photo captions.

1) dehydrated milk and cream, purchased chai tea (hidden) dried beans to can later, pizza sauce 2) Freeze dried pineapple, cowboy candy, pinto beans 3) various dried rice and grits 4) dehydrated ingredients for soups and stews, pasta and celery

1) Handsome's jam (in use) and Jif peanut butter (non-GMO and no Xylitol, which means safe for dogs), applesauce 2) baked beans, condensed mushroom and tomato soup mixes, turkey vegetable soup base, premixed seasoned rice 3) non-GMO purchased cereals 4) various pastas (Some day I'll make my own, but we buy them for now.)

I'm writing the copy on my computer, but adding the photographs through my cell phone, so I'll try to keep things straight. (Yes. My computer is still acting up.) sigh

1) hickory nut pie filling, apple pie filling 2) homemade muffin, brownie, sugar cookie and corn bread mixes 3) homemade vanilla (in process), Ghirardheli choco chips, hickory nuts and pecans

So, there you have it. I have more things on my To Do list, but this is where I do most of my "shopping" when it's dinner time. We do have meats in the freezer, but it's much easier to grab something off these shelves. (No thawing required.) 

I'm working all day tomorrow, but I'll be back Wednesday with the Craft Day post. See you then!

Sunday Scripture...

Psalm 62:5-6