What’s new…

The turkeys are back!

 

Thanks so much to Kristin Staples Photography for the adorable photos!!!  So sweet.  Couldn’t you just eat.them.up!?! 

Want to make your own turkey hat??  Use a simple cloche/beanie pattern from Ravelry or Crochet Central.  Add a magic circle turkey… some French knots…. and ribbon feathers… voila!

Don’t have time to make your own?  There’s a whole flock of turkeys over at Puddintoes. 

Forgiveness

Source

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land”.

2 Chronicles 7:14

Etsy love

This week I’m loving…

Peaches and Cream

Click on photos to visit the Etsy shop listings :)

What’s new

I’ve been busy finishing up several crochet projects over the last couple weeks.  My hands have trouble keeping up with all the ideas my head thinks up!
The yarn stash is overflowing.  It seems no matter how carefully I plan my yarn purchases, I end up with a lot of THESE babies: 
 
Oh, they’re cute enough.  But eventually you have too many and the roly-poly little things become hard to contain! 
So I’ve been experimenting with projects designed to use up these small amounts of yarn.  (You know. So I can buy MORE). 
Heather gray hexagon lap throw: 

There are lots of hexagon patterns at Ravelry and Crochet Central.  Just be sure to try the join-as-you-go method at Attic 24.  Oh my word!  It’s much more pleasant than sewing them together!
Square in a square granny afghan:

Just sort of figured this square out as I went.  There may be something similar at Ravelry or Crochet Central.  This one was more frustrating to put together… I tried and tried, but couldn’t get the join-as-you-go method to work for these squares.  So there’s that. 
And I’m loving these pennants/banners/garlands/whatever-you-call-them…  I hang them on my deck railing and change them out for the seasons/holidays.  So sweet.  They are really fun for using up the last little bits and bobs of yarn: 

What do you make from your yarn stash?

Stability

Source

“When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily; but with honest, sensible leaders there is stability.”

Proverbs 28:2

Italian beef quesadillas

We love these easy quesadillas for a quick summer meal!  This super simple recipe has only 4 ingredients and is easily adaptable to make a single serving or to feed a crowd.

ITALIAN BEEF QUESADILLAS

Flour tortillas
Thinly sliced deli roast beef
Shredded cheese – we like Colby Jack… use your favorite
Bottled Italian dressing

Place a frying pan or griddle on medium heat.  Spread a thin layer of Italian dressing on a tortilla and put the plain side down on the pan.  Layer with roast beef and shredded cheese on top of the dressing.  Put a thin layer of Italian dressing on a second tortilla and place it dressing side down onto the beef and cheese layer.  Continue cooking over medium heat until the bottom is browned.  Flip to brown the top side. 

When both sides are browned to your liking, remove the quesadilla.  Slice into 4 wedges with a pizza cutter and enjoy! 

Hope

picture source

“Why, my soul, are you downcast?  Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”

Psalm 42:5

Mulching and pruning tomatoes…

These tomatoes have not been pruned and you can see how close the leaves are to the ground. . . a disease ladder waiting to happen. 

Lots of bushy leaves still touching the ground, but I have at least mulched with grass clippings in this photo.  Mulching your tomatoes is the first defense against soil born diseases and also conserves moisture.  There are many choices when it comes to mulch: leaves, straw, grass, bark or even plastic.  I like to use 3-4 inches of grass clippings.  Please don't store green clippings in a bag.  Trust me, it will smell pretty awful!!  :)  And if you use grass, make sure it hasn’t been treated with an herbicide or other chemicals.

I know it seems SO wrong to remove lush growth.   But if you leave them, all those beautiful lower leaves will become fodder for tomato viruses.  Just go ahead and remove the first 18-24” of leaves and stems, carefully leaving the main stem intact.  You can snap off the unwanted growth, but I find it easier to snip them off with clippers. 

I removed a huge pile of leaves from this row of tomatoes.  It was a lot!!  They have been pruned to create an 18 inch barrier between the ground and its leaves.  As the tomatoes grow taller, I will snip off any leaves that droop or grow closer than 2 feet from the ground. 

We had a very cold spring and even with plastic hoop tunnels, it was too cold to plant tomatoes until mid June!  The temps abruptly jumped into the 90’s at the end of June.  They were quite ‘shocked’ by the sudden warmth after the severe cold and are slowly recovering. . . but we only have about 30-40 frost-free days left, so they’ll have to hurry  :)

Freezing eggs

Last week, eggs were 10 dozen for $10 at King Soopers.  Since that’s even lower than they were at Easter, I bought 10 dozen.  That is a lot of eggs!!  But we won’t have to eat that many eggs right now… most of them are destined for the freezer.

You can freeze eggs to use later for baking or scrambled eggs and here is a good explanation. 

We really like to freeze eggs in breakfast casserole form.  This recipe is one of our favorites.  It’s very adaptable to what you have on hand and/or your family’s tastes.  You can use ham, bacon or sausage… or no meat at all.  It’s also yummy with broccoli, mushrooms, onions or peppers… or no veggies at all.  The type and amount of cheese can also be varied. 

This batch I had ham and onions to use up and multiplied the recipe times 4. 

BAKED OMELET

1 dozen eggs, lightly beaten 
8 slices bread
2 cups milk
1 to 1 1/2 cups meat, cooked and diced 
1 to 1-1/2 to 1 cup veggies
1-3 cups shredded cheese

Cube bread and mix gently with remaining ingredients.  The original recipe lists no seasonings and I do add 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. 
To bake now:  Pour into a 13 x 9 pan that has been sprayed or buttered.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. 

To freeze:  Pour into Ziploc bags and seal.  A good way to freeze food in zipper bags is to arrange them on a sheet pan and freeze them flat.  When frozen this way, the bags will stack nicely in your freezer.  Here they are, frozen, stacked and ready to return to the freezer. 

To cook from frozen:  Place frozen Ziploc bag onto a plate to catch any drips and thaw overnight in fridge, pour into prepared pan and bake as above. 

115th Daddy of ‘em All

Frontier Days has been over for a week now. . . and I finally have some photos! 

We spent most of the week putting on a new porch and didn’t get to as many events as we usually do.

Lacey and I did make it to the one of the free pancake breakfasts… the first time we’ve had less than 5 of us there!

And it was so crowded this year!  The day we were there, over 12,000 people were served free pancakes and ham.  The line snaked back and forth for 6 blocks. . .  These are the lucky people who made it to the front of the line.  We were so thankful we got there early!

A live band, straw bales, plank benches and best of all - free food! 

Clearly, I possess neither the camera nor the skills necessary to capture the Air Force Thunderbirds in action.   They’re moving kinda fast!!  

We met the cutest little girl who was visiting from San Diego and provided running commentary of the performance.  Adorable!   About halfway through their maneuvers, she informed us that the Thunderbirds are much sneakier than the Navy Blue Angels.  And the Blue Angels would never make THAT much noise.  Cuz they don’t want to scare the children. . .  I think it was a little louder than she expected  :)

Guidance

 

“A nation without God's guidance is a nation without order.  Happy are those who keep God's law!”  

Proverbs 29:18