The Simple Woman's Daybook

I'm trying to get back into the habit of participating in Peggy's 'The Simple Woman's Daybook', but I almost forgot this morning and it's only the second week!
Be sure to click on the picture to visit Peggy and see the other journal keepers!

FOR TODAY

Monday, November 9, 2009

Outside my window... it's overcast but strangely warm. Is this really November? Three loads of wash are flapping on the line outside.

I am hearing ... my two best students clapping out the syllables of Dreamer's spelling words. Storyteller is counting the claps!

I am thinking... how nice it is to look ahead at a rather quiet week and know that's I'll be able to catch up on some things I've been neglecting ... or at least that's my goal!

I am thankful for... the opportunity to home school our children, to stay home each day and enjoy our quiet simple life!

I am praying for ... a friend who is grieving silently.

I am remembering... the goodness of God and His faithfulness in the midst of the trials we face.

I am wearing... denim skirt, sage green t-shirt and a cream hooded sweater.

I am going... to take Dreamer to piano and ballet later. The Storyteller and I will take back a bunch of books to the library and hopefully run an errand or two before picking up Dreamer and the Historian and heading home. We are back to one vehicle while we wait for parts for the little car, so it's a bit of a juggle.

I am reading... my Christmas idea books - one from Southern Living and another from Gooseberry Patch.

I am hoping... so many things, but most of all, I am hoping to continue to feel as well as I have the last couple of weeks! These short times of wellness are quite a blessing considering that I feel so unwell so much of the time!

On my mind... yesterday's morning message on Leaders and Losers. The Pastor was teaching from the life of Abraham, the friend of God. So much to learn there about obedience and the far reaching consequences of being slow to obey, or choosing to disobey. Abraham heard the audible voice of God, but we have His written word to study and reference, and still we struggle.

From the learning rooms... we are ticking right along with our classwork. Dreamer is still struggling with spelling and Storyteller is finding that reading is still a challenge, but they are both making progress.

Noticing that... more clouds are rolling in! My washing may not dry out there today, but at least we are not expecting rain, and there are no bugs to soil it so I will just leave it alone until it does dry! I knew I was taking a chance this morning, but I was hoping for sunshine to burn through the clouds!

Pondering these words... from 1 Timothy 2 ¹I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; ²For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. ³For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; ⁴Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. ⁵For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; ⁶Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

From the kitchen... empty cookie jars! That will never do! This week I need to make apple sauce and clean out the freezers - all three!

Around the house... things are still pretty neat and tidy, but the bathrooms need a swish and the floors need some attention, as always when leaves are falling and scurrying into the house every time the door opens!

One of my favorite things... a hot cup of good tea and a fresh cookie warm from the oven shared with a sweet friend.

From my picture journal...

We were all talking about how much we are missing Poppa and Grammy - it seems like it's been sooooo long since we saw them!

Bulletproof pie and other thoughts on hospitality

Have you ever had a day in the kitchen when things went 'suspiciously well'? I love those days! Everything turns out perfectly the first time and I am cleaned up and out of the kitchen way before expected!

Yesterday was not one of those days! Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong! Never the less, dinner was ready on time and everyone seemed to enjoy the meal. At least I didn't poison anyone - and that's always a good thing! We had the pastor from the church we are attending and his family for the first time - and we looked forward to their visit all week. Since Sundays are crazy busy for them, I figured we'd never be able to have them over for a nice Sunday dinner, so I did Sunday dinner on a Friday night! It was so nice to have them come.

I prepared Cheesy Potatoes and Mandarin Orange Jellied Salad the night before and thawed the chicken for Rolled Chicken Washington . I was hoping it would thaw enough so that The Historian could pound them flat before he headed to work, but they were still pretty frozen! I boiled the beets and made some fresh cranberry sauce before going to bed. In the morning I started Sunday Dinner Rolls and timed it they so that they would come out of the oven just in time to slip in the chicken and potatoes. I was flying through and quite sure I was going to have time to french the green beans and put my feet up for a bit!

The children got going on their schoolwork with just a little instruction from me, and I set to making dessert - and that's where everything began to fall apart! I've never had such a struggle! TWO pie crusts hit the garbage - TWO!!! The final result was a passable Lemon Tart and Cranberry Custard pie, and one bulletproof Chocolate Pie! Too funny! I was ready to get out the chain saw to cut the poor pitiful thing, but thankfully my trusty knife finally did the job, and the filling was rich and creamy as usual. My tried and true pie crust recipe failed - my error all the way! Well, that and a certain little boy who turns off the timer when I'm not looking! Ahem!

A few years ago such 'disasters' would have devastated me, but it's wonderful to have the perspective of age and the blessing of a more Biblical understanding of hospitality. When we were first married, we used an old set of camping dishes that I dug out of my parents basement for our everyday fare. They were thin black speckled tin and they clinked and clanked in the most cheerful way! They went perfectly with the table that we dug out of the garbage and painted and we had many other young couples over for meals without feeling the least bit embarrassed by our lack of real dishes.

I served our first Thanksgiving Dinner ever to my mother in law on those dishes in our first cavernous apartment. I ran up a $$ phone bill (for my dad) calling my mum in Canada for recipes and advice, but it never occurred to me that preparing a holiday dinner was something to be feared or fussed about. I just copied what I'd seen my mum do 1000 times for Sunday dinners, and it went really well. I thought the borrowed card table that we ate at was going to collapse, but it didn't!

I used to serve thick soup and homemade bread on those same tin dishes to the many folks who traveled the rails behind our parsonage and somehow knew our door was the one to knock on for a hot meal and warm facecloth. They had to stay on the back porch because often my husband wasn't home and the church folks worried about the young pastor's wife. We found a picnic table by the roadside and hauled it home to serve our backporch guests. Our church young people were served on those tin plates too - hundreds of donuts, hot from the fryer. They were cheap and filling, and the kids ate them so fast, I don't think they cared too much about the dinnerware.

Somewhere along the line, we got the 'real' dishes that we had registered for, and the lovely fine bone china set that my Nanny left for me as well. I made matching napkins and learned a few more 'company' dishes to serve. I enjoyed adding extra touches and making everything pretty ... then suddenly, I was no longer content with 'pretty' and became focused on 'perfect'. Instead of being hospitable, we were entertaining.

There is a big difference, to my way of thinking- perhaps you will agree. Entertaining is more about showing off your home, your cooking and decorating skills and pulling off the 'perfect' event. In the heart of entertaining is the desire to impress your guests and gain their approval. Entertaining has it's place - there are times when it is a necessary means to a desired end in the business world. We are not in that type of situation, so entertaining to impress was just that.

Hospitality is about making things pleasant, certainly, but it's more about opening your home to share the blessings of God with others. In the heart of hospitality, the focus is on the comfort and enjoyment of your guests. It's about sharing a laugh, getting to know one another, providing a meal and not turning 6 shades of red when your children lead their new friends in a loud 'hide and seek' game that includes messy closets and dusty cubbyholes as hiding places! It's far more relaxing for both our family, as the host, and our guests - when our 'good enough' is the goal and we don't feel like we need to impress anyone.

The children will agree that I'm still a stickler for cleanliness - and I do get a little tense when they get distracted from their tasks and make more mess than they clean up, but I working on that! We have our 'everyday' clean - they know the standard that we expect for their rooms and they do a decent job of it by keeping up with their daily 'zones'. They know that the next level is 'Grammy Ready' - which is more picked up and tidy than usual, but not perfect. Then there is 'Company Ready' which involves a little more cleaning and the complete removal of the layer of dust that accompanies life in a 1949 home. We keep the bathrooms up pretty much all of the time, so they just require freshening up and new towels before company, and the toys in the yard always need to be picked up and put away.

I don't fret so much about the dust we didn't get too these days - we just do our best and ignore the rest. Or shut the door to the room where all the junk lands! Which doesn't really help when everyone is scrambling to find a hide and seek spot!

We had a great time with our guests last night, and it was a blessing to practice hospitality again. Our children are close in age and share many interests, so that's a blessing too! I've been amazed that I am feeling so well lately - and tremendously grateful. I'm certainly not superwoman, but I seem to be able to do a bit more, and that's just wonderful! I don't know how long it will last this time, but I aim to enjoy it - and share more hospitality, as we are able.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

It's been a while since I participated in Peggy's 'The Simple Woman's Daybook'!
I thought a brand new month might be a good time to get back into this good habit!
So, here goes!

FOR TODAY Monday, November 2, 2009

Outside my window... Sunshine and heavy frost. Most of the leaves have fallen, and it looks like we've got some raking to do!

I am thinking... that it's fun to get back to daybooking!

I am thankful for... a warm home and my family

I'm praying for ... a dear family who has been through the wringer with H1N1 - the mama is having a hard time to not worry.

From the learning rooms... we have a full school week this week, starting with history with the Historian this morning.

From the kitchen... the cookie jars are almost empty, so I am glad tomorrow is baking day! I think I'll make some pumpkin cookies and we need bread.

I am wearing... my soft flannel p.j.'s

I am creating... more felted wool purses for orders! Another linen pillow from an old linen skirt, and a baby gift with some soft flannel receiving blankets and burp cloths.

I am going... piano and ballet later today! The Storyteller and I will head to the library while Dreamer is dancing, and also to the grocery store for a few items.

I am reading... I finished Grace Livingston Hill's A New Name last night and haven't got anything else on my side table right now.

I am hoping... that the strong Biblical messages we heard preached on Sunday will really penetrate the hearts of those of us who needed to hear them and change our lives. They weren't easy topics, but our hearts where challenged and encouraged. For October, our pastor preached a series of messages on Globalism, Modern Education, The World Economy and Jerusalem. The 'Shaken' series is available for download or just listening HERE.

I am hearing... the grandfather clock inside and a leaf blower outside.

Around the house... you won't be one bit surprised to hear that I have a mountain of ironing to tackle, now will you? My iron is broken ( it's the fourth one I've killed) and that's why it is so out of hand this week! Bathrooms need a quick cleaning and the whole house needs a vacuum.

One of my favorite things... fall is a wonderful time of year, and so far we have been blessed with good health, for which we are very very thankful. One of my favorite things in fall is getting back into our family routine and enjoying our quiet, simple life.

A few plans for the rest of the week: We need to clean up the yard - more leaves have fallen over the weekend! I still have some herbs in the garden that I think will be fine to dry and save. I can't believe we haven't put away the garden hoses yet - that needs to be done too! We have a full school week, and some appointments as well. Wednesday is AWANA and Thursday is co-op. Friday night we are having company for dinner, so we are really looking forward to that.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

We visited a local living history farm on Friday!

Be sure to visit Peggy HERE and read her Daybook! She has provided a Mr. Linky so that you can read over 200 other Daybooks as well!

Making the change

"Everyone appreciates the long, light evenings. Everyone laments their shortage as Autumn approaches; and everyone has given utterance to regret that the clear, bright light of an early morning during Spring and Summer months is so seldom seen or used." -William Willett (1857-1915), "The Waste of Daylight" 1907

Many people intensely dislike the beginning or ending of Daylight Saving Time, and our children are among them! They really don't worry about the inconvenience of changing our many clocks, because, as everyone knows - that's the Daddy's job! Adjusting to a new sleep schedule is what they have a hard time with, along with being hungry at all of the wrong times. For us, this is a mere nuisance, but we feel sorry for some people with sleep disorders who find this transition very difficult indeed.

We decided long ago that making the transition slowly was the best idea for our family. Dreamer was just a toddler when we first figured this out. The seasons when we have been too busy and forgotten to implement the 'turn back the clock schedule' by increments of 15 minutes for the four days prior to the official time change, have often been the most frustrating weeks of our school year. It's no wonder that there are more serious accidents and on the job injuries after the time change - along with a decrease of productivity - we're all half asleep! It is better to ease into the change for us - and that's why I thought I'd share this with you!

We don't actually mess with the clock until the time change officially takes place, but we do start thinking towards earlier meal times, snack times and bed times. This year DST ends at 2:00 AM on November 1st. With this in mind, we are working on this schedule:

1. Wednesday, October 28 - Lunch at 11:45, Snack at 2:45, Supper at 5:45, Bed at 8:15
2. Thursday, October 29 - Lunch at 11:30, Snack at 2:30, Supper at 5:30, Bed at 8:00
3. Friday, October, 30 - Lunch at 11:15, Snack at 2:15, Supper at 5:15, Bed at 7:45
4. Saturday, October 31 - Lunch at 11, Snack at 2, Supper at 5, and Bed at 7:30

Our normal daily routine is: Lunch at 12 noon, Snack at 3pm, Supper at 6pm, and Bedtime (for the children) at 8:30 - Storyteller goes to bed at 8:15, and Dreamer gets to read until 8:45, usually.

Breakfast happens at different times, but after dressing and morning chores are done, we eat and get started with school. We really need to keep on schedule for our Storyteller - he becomes somewhat irritable and suffers from terrible tummy aches when he doesn't eat every few hours. The problem is, he has very little interest in eating, so the schedule reminds me to slice a banana, or other fruit and put it in front of him each and every day, or he suffers tummy clutching, rolling on the floor kind of discomfort. Never a good thing.

If we follow the time change schedule, by the time we awaken Sunday morning, we should be all adjusted to the new time and not be put off by the changes too much. Often we turn Saturday breakfast into a 'Historian Special' brunch and make the day fun that way. Saturday is the hardest day to keep the routine, but we try because we know it works well for us. We will do all of our Saturday night routine in preparation for Sunday, to be ready for the Lords' day as usual. If you'd like to read about our routine you can go here and maybe get inspired to customize a routine for your own family - if you don't already have one! Since we do not celebrate the big candy grab of October 31st, we usually just pop some popcorn, play games and enjoy a quiet evening together.

Don't forget ...
Change the batteries in your smoke detectors when you change your clocks - more than 90 percent of homes in the United States have smoke detectors, but one-third are estimated to have dead or missing batteries.

Finding my 'go-to'

Don't tell my husband, but I think I might have a few too many cookbooks. Just maybe. I lost count at 120 ... I'll worry about thinning them next year! I'm sure I'll need a mid-winter project, after all!

One of the problems of having so many great cookbooks and recipe websites, and so many favorite meals is deciding just what to make. Often I am limited by the ingredients I have on hand, but since I am blessed with a well stocked pantry and freezer, there are still a lot of choices! Sometimes I think I am a bit scatterbrained!

Making my monthly menu helps a great deal - I have two menus for cool weather when meals are most likely made in the oven or crock pot, and two warm weather menus, featuring meals that are likely to include fresh garden produce, a salad of some sort or something grilled. Flip flopping the two menus makes for a nice variety and keeps me focused when it comes to grocery shopping. If I'm not following the menu plan, we often don't eat as healthfully or enjoy the variety that we do when we stick to the plan.

There are times when I am not well or just plain tired and than we usually eat something simple, use a meal from the freezer, pick up a roasted chicken, or do the take-out thing. I really need to do a big cooking day again soon and re-stock my freezer, since we have used all of the dinners that I previously prepared. Our supply of pork and beef is dwindling nicely which will leave room for some meals, and give us a bit of a break before the next slaughter time. We've already spoken for another hog or two and quarter of beef since it was very economical and wonderful to have such quality meats on hand all spring and summer. I don't know when we've ever enjoyed such lean and flavorful meats.

Our weekly family meals are really not the problem. The problem is when we have company, take a meal to a family in need, or when I need to take something for a potluck. That's when I seriously ponder the cookbooks and struggle to make up my mind. I must say, this is one area where my husband is no real help. I don't know how often I have heard, 'Heath - anything you make will be great! Do what ever you like or feel up to.' Arg! See what I mean? Very complimentary, but his answer doesn't help me narrow down the selection in the least.

When I grow up, I'd like to be 'known' for a signature dish, like some of the women of my grandmother's generation. I really would. 'Did you see Heather brought her _____________ ( fill in the blank) again? I'll have to tell my husband. He'll be the first in line!'. I am not an ambitious woman, and I don't generally seek accolades, but it's just one of those things I'd like to do when I grow up. Come to think of it, I'd better get to it soon!

My own sweet Nanny was known for her love of all things lemon. Lemon meringue pie that made your upper lip sweat, lemon sponge cake that floated off the plate and her lemon loaf - with a sticky sweet-tart syrup poured over it while it was still hot, it was the most moist loaf at the luncheon. My Mum is known far and wide for her shortbread. She has literally made at least 400 pounds of butter into melt in your mouth shortbread over the years - and that's a conservative estimate! When I was a girl, I loved the ones shaped as holly leaves with green sugar sprinkles and the wee red candy at the end to represent the berries. For years she hosted a Bible Study in her home and served all manner of muffins and coffee cakes - all well received. My husband's mother could be counted on for a nice big dish of homemade macaroni and cheese and a generous slab cake. Her mother made an amazing black walnut cake and served it on a square Fostoria cake pedestal that I now enjoy using from time to time.

Finding my own 'go-to' has been far more difficult. So many great recipes, so few church suppers!

This week a family from our home school co-op was in need of a wee blessing. The mom had surgery and was out of commission for several days. We decided a meal might be most helpful, but it took me forever to figure out what I wanted to make. I narrowed it down to Baked Ziti, homemade Italian Rolls, Fall Apple Salad, and a spicy pumpkin struesal cake. I asked before I planned, and there were no food allergies or strong dislikes to work around, so it was pretty easy - except for the deciding part!!!

What I want to do is have a standard 'go-to' meal for 'meals on wheels' deliveries - one for spring and summer and another for fall and winter.

It needs to include:

• a salad
• some type of bread
• a main dish
• a dessert

It must be:

• easy to transport ( not sloppy)
  
• generally well liked by children and adults alike
• tasty
• using everyday ingredients that I can keep in my pantry or freezer
• seasonally appropriate
• economical

Do you have any suggestions? Are you known for a 'meals on wheels' supper that you bring to those families in your circle of friend who are in need of a blessing? Do you have a signature dish for potlucks?

Please do share - I want to get this thing narrowed down and typed up. I'll post it inside my cupboard door and than I won't have to think about it again!

Thanks for your help!