Laundry Day...

My friend, April, calls me up one day and asks if I have any left over wool yarn for a project that she’s making.  Since I have knitted enough socks to outfit a centipede (I swear…I am not kidding here), I tell her that I’m sure I do and I will bring her what I can find.  Seems she’s making “dryer balls”.  Per her instructions, you wind the wool yarn very loosely into balls.  Put one ball into the leg of a pair of panty hose and tie a knot, put in another ball and tie a knot, etc. until you get all of your balls into the panty hose.  (Ooops…the ending of that last sentence sounds a bit strange when I re-read it, but I doubt many men are reading this so hopefully no one will be offended.)

Getting back to the instructions…after you get all of your balls…well…um…next, you put the panty hose into the washing machine with a pair or two of blue jeans and wash them.  The dryer balls will then “felt”.  This means that the agitation of the washing machine, along with the friction produced by the blue jeans rubbing against the balls, will make the yarn sort of meld together to form a porous and semi-solid ball.  Apparently, these balls are used in place of dryer sheets in the clothes dryer.

After I took the yarn to April, I got to thinking that I should try this for myself.  Now, I also spin sheep wool…not to mention llama fiber, Angora rabbit hair, dog hair, cat hair and anything else that will form a twist…into yarn.  (No, I do not have bald animals at my house…my pets all have full coats.  I got the dog hair from April, who brushes her Samoyed dog and saves the fur and the cat hair came from my friend Martha who has her cat’s long hair cut short during the summer months.)  However, it would be hard for me to justify using any of my roving to make dryer balls, especially if I was unsure if the dryer ball project would actually work.  So I came up with the following source of materials instead.

I went to my local thrift shop (the $5/bag place) in search of supplies to support my artistic addictions.  I found about ten wool skirts of varying lengths and three pairs of wool pants.  I think these items, in addition to what I already have on hand, will be enough to make the braided wool rug that will go in my new kitchen.  I found four Ball canning jars that will come in handy during the garden harvest this year.  In addition, I found nine 4”x4” tiles that are white and have flecks of color that closely match the color of the walls in my new kitchen.  I’m hoping to work these into some kind of project to match the décor.  Maybe I’ll use them in a tray or trivet of some sort.  Finally…tadadumdeedum…I found two sweaters that were made of 100% wool.  JACKPOT!

On laundry day, I cut the sweaters into sections (arms, back, and front).  I then unraveled the sweater sections and very loosely wrapped the yarn into three balls.  No point in making more than three until I could determine if this project would really work.  After I made the three balls, I put them into the panty hose as I so artfully described in my earlier paragraph.  I then put the balls into the washing machine, with the jeans, using the hot water setting.  Because my washer is a front loader, the balls didn’t felt as well as I would have liked them to, so I filled my bathroom sink with hot water and dish detergent and plunged the balls under the water.  I squeezed and swished the balls around for about five minutes.  After taking them out of the sink and squeezing as much water out as possible, I re-shaped them into balls and put them near our wood stove to dry.  They turned out great!  Upon April’s suggestion, I will add a couple of drops of lavender essential oil (I use Doterra brand essential oils because they are so potent, but other brands may work as well) to the balls prior to use.  This should give the laundry a nice, fresh fragrance. 

I also did some research on the internet to find out just why anyone would want to go to the trouble to make these things.  First of all, they are supposed to cut down on drying time by about 25%...so if you normally dry a load of clothes for 60 minutes, these would theoretically cut that time down to 45 minutes, which could save you money over time.  Second, they are supposed to cut down on static and wrinkles.  Finally, if you buy them from a company on the internet you’ll pay about $36.00 for a set of six.  One website that sells them indicates that they will last for 1,000 loads of laundry.  I cannot verify that any of this is true as I have not yet used them.  At any rate, since I got my materials from the thrift store for almost nothing, I figure that they’re worth a try.  Assuming that these work, they would also make a great housewarming gift.  Add the dryer balls, some laundry detergent…home-made preferably, but store-bought would work as well...and some clothes pins into a small laundry basket with a bow and you’d have a nice, inexpensive, eco-friendly gift! 

See below for pictures.

Happy To Be Gluten-Free...

As I mentioned in my first post, my digestive system is sensitive to gluten.  Gluten is found mainly in products that contain wheat, barley, and rye.  Gluten sensitivity can cause gastrointestinal issues such as diarrhea or constipation, bloating, indigestion, and many other problems.  One of the biggest problems with gluten sensitivity is that the gluten works on the intestines in such a way that prevents nutrients from being absorbed by the body, which can cause all kinds of medical issues. (Wow, this paragraph really resembles what might be written in a 6th grade book report...sorry for that.)

For many, many years I suffered with diarrhea on a continual basis, Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), leg cramps, insomnia, and I was tired just about all the time.  After going on a gluten-free diet in 2012, all of these issues have greatly improved.  The daily bouts of diarrhea are pretty much resolved, I no longer take medication for GERD, I haven’t had leg cramps in over a year and I sleep better than I have in ages.  I credit this improvement in my health to living the gluten-free life. 

Because I am feeling so much better, I find it fairly easy to stick to the gluten-free diet.  I mean, after all, I can choose to eat anything I want and be sick all of the time or I can choose to eat gluten-free and feel good.  That’s a “no brainer” for me.  I have to say, though, that it is easier to stick with a gluten-free diet if you like to cook from scratch like I do.  Although there are many pre-packaged gluten-free foods on the market now, many are still full of salt, sugar, fat and chemicals that you don’t really want or need in your body.  I like knowing what is in my food and also what is not in my food.  In my opinion, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) allows way too many unnecessary chemicals and “modified” ingredients into America’s food supply.  I really believe that many of America’s health issues would be decreased if everyone relied more on freshly homemade meals and less on the pre-packaged stuff that is on the shelves in the grocery stores.  Just take a look at the ingredient list on any packaged food in your local grocery store and see how many words you recognize as actual “food,” as found in nature. 

You can buy small boxes of gluten-free baking mix, cake mixes, or brownie mixes in the grocery store, but each will cost you from $4 to $5 per package.  I found a grocery store within an hour’s drive of our house that sells bulk flour, sugar, rice, wheat, oatmeal and other food items in bulk.  I asked and they were happy to order gluten-free flours and oatmeal for me, in bulk.  I ordered a 25-pound bag of millet flour, a 25-pound bag of sweet sorghum flour, a 10-pound bag of oatmeal, and a 25-pound bag of white rice.  The cost for all of these items was less than $125.  I used our flour grinder to grind the rice into flour.  I then separated the big bags of flour into gallon-sized plastic bags, labeled them with date & type of flour, and put them in our freezer.  I normally keep a huge plastic jar on my kitchen counter that’s filled with a mixture of one bag of millet flour, one bag of sorghum flour, and one bag of rice flour.  I shake the jar vigorously to mix the flours.  (I also give the jar a good shake prior to taking any out for baking.)  The flours that I have stored in my freezer will last me for a year.  This is much more cost-effective than buying individual cake and/or baking mixes.

Below is my favorite “quick” recipe for Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Muffins.  Unlike store bought, you really can’t tell that these are gluten-free.  My sister says I should market these because she thinks they are so good and Charming thinks they're "awesome", but Charming thinks everything I make is "awesome".  (Ahhhh...he's so well-trained.)  Happy eating!

                        Gluten-Free Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup  canola oil

1 cup fat-free milk, at room temperature

1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla

1 3/4 cups gluten-free flour

3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2 cup  sugar

1/4 cup  cocoa

1 teaspoon  baking powder

1/2 teaspoon  salt

1 1/2 cups  Hershey’s semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine wet and dry ingredients and fold together gently, until just mixed.

Spoon into either greased muffin tin or paper-lined muffin tin.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 – 20 minutes.

Remove from muffin tin and cool for 15 minutes.  (To keep muffins moist, store in airtight container.)

Makes:  1 dozen

Simple Chores, Big Benefits…

January 22, 2014

One of my favorite chores is something that many people will do almost anything to avoid.  I simply like to wash dishes.  To me, there’s nothing like being elbow-deep in a big sinkful of hot sudsy water.  This is where I manage to sneak in some “alone” time to ponder personal problems, world events, formulate life goals, or sing to the top of my lungs as I methodically wash every inch of the dish that I happen to be tackling.  (I think I’ve mentioned in previous posts that my life occasionally mirrors “I Love Lucy” episodes and that is sadly apparent when I sing.)  When planning the ongoing kitchen renovation at our house, Charming offered me the choice of getting a bright and shiny dishwasher or having more cabinet space.  Without hesitation, I immediately opted to go for more cabinet space. 

Our local thrift shop has “Bag Days” for $5/bag.  You go into the shop, pick up a plastic kitchen trash bag at the cashier’s counter, and go on a treasure hunt throughout the store.  I often find decent baking dishes, cookie sheets, enamelware and plastic trays.  (Charming uses the plastic trays to catch excess water from seedling pots that we start every year in February.)  I bring my bag home and dump its contents into a sink of hot soapy water.  I then take my hand-knitted scrubbies (see below) and scrub to my heart’s content.  Usually, these items are almost unrecognizable as the items I had just gotten from the thrift store.   This is like getting new dishes and cooking pans practically for free.  I consider this “the thinking woman’s cocaine”.  For me, it’s addictive.  I save tons of money and get my “fix” at the same time.  It’s a win-win situation.

Scrubbie Instructions (can be knitted or crocheted):

Materials:

2 Yards Nylon Netting (I got mine from Walmart for $.98/yard...will make several scrubbies)

Size 8 or 9 knitting needles OR Size H crochet hook (really any size needles or hook will work)

Read all instructions before cutting the nylon netting.  Strips should be cut into 1” to 2” strips.  To avoid having to join strips, cut each length to within 1 ½” to the end of the fabric.  This will allow you to have a continuous strip to knit or crochet.  (See first picture below.)

Cast on approximately 16 stitches to knit (or chain 16 for crochet).  Knit each row until piece is the size you want.  Bind off and weave in ends.  If you’re crocheting the scrubbie, single crochet in each stitch, with a chain 1 at the end of each row.  Continue until piece is the size you want, then finish by pulling the length of netting through the final loop and weaving in ends.

Note that it is not easy on your hands to knit or crochet a 2” wide strip of nylon netting, so you may want to use thinner strips.  I’ve made quite a few of these and don’t have any problems, but some people say that making these can be painful while you’re knitting or crocheting them.

When you pair these scrubbies with a knitted or crocheted dishcloth, a bottle of dish detergent (either store-bought or home made), arranged in a small thrift shop basket, and tied with a bow will make a quick and heart-felt gift for a bridal shower, craft show, or raffle item, etc.

Good Food...

January 17, 2014

I love January!  It’s the month when I start pouring over the seed catalogs in anticipation of planting our garden in the spring.  The pages of these catalogs will be curled and ragged by the time spring actually rolls around.

Perusing the seed catalogs always brings back memories of when I was young and my family grew vegetables in our garden.  I remember spending what seemed like hours picking up small rocks after Daddy tilled the garden in the early spring.  Then Momma and Daddy would lay off the rows in straight lines using two long sticks tied together with a long length of baling twine.  Momma would stand at one end of the garden and Daddy would stand at the other, eyeballing the line they held between them.  When they agreed that the line was straight, they would push the sticks into the soft, brown dirt and Daddy would “lay off” the row to be planted.  Being a carpenter by trade, he was all about the straight lines and always seemed to get the rows laid off perfectly.  However, Momma was endlessly teased because, even with the baling twine to mark the row, she never seemed to be able to hoe a straight row.  In defense of her gardening ability, she would adamantly assert that the vegetables would grow just as well in a crooked row as they would in a straight row.  It is from my own experience that I can verify that vegetables do, indeed, grow just as well in a crooked row.  (What can I say…like mother, like daughter!)

Charming and I grow vegetables in our small garden behind our house.  It has thirteen, 4’x 8’ beds.  Our land seems to be extremely well suited to growing all kinds of great-tasting tomatoes.  Last year, some of the tomatoes that we grew included Amish Paste, Mortgage Lifter, Cherokee Purple, Mr. Stripey, and a “Mystery” tomato that we originally rescued from our compost pile a few years ago.  Our Mystery tomato is quite prolific, produces decent-sized fruit and has (so far) been disease-resistant.  We also grow potatoes, green beans, limas, snow peas, green peppers, onions, cabbage and hot peppers.  We make every effort not to use pesticides.  You can often find me crawling along the ground and “murderizing” any unwanted bugs that dare to invade my precious garden patch.  In addition, I usually plant marigolds around the perimeter of the garden to help deter the unwanted bugs. 

With the help of a couple of “hoop houses” that Charming constructed, we’re usually able to keep Napa cabbage growing through December and often into January.  This allows me to make some awesomely fresh stir-fry suppers during the winter months.  Three years ago, Charming also set up a wonderful cascading water catchment system, made from three 32-gallon trash cans.  We use this to water our garden during the summer dry spells.  It recycles the water that runs off our garage, while saving us from having to pay for clean “town” water to water our garden.  (See pictures below.)  Charming has plans to expand this system to allow for even more water collection.  This will come in handy as he has plans to build a small greenhouse within the next couple of years.

Growing and maintaining a garden keeps us connected to the earth, ensures that we eat healthier, and is great exercise.  We have found that there is absolutely nothing more rewarding than being able to take responsibility for the quality and freshness of the food that we put into our bodies.

Family...

January 14, 2014

My family is one of those big, loud, and boisterous groups.  My parents had twelve children…seven girls and five boys.  I’m the youngest girl and the next-to-youngest child.  Although I don’t have any children of my own (other than “Max - The Wonder Dog!”, I have between thirty and forty nieces and nephews…at last count.  We are continually adding to this large, loud family. 

In October 2012, my nephew and his wife had their fourth child…a little girl.  I knitted the baby a pink blanket and made her a sweater outfit to match.  For the baby’s itty bitty feet, I knitted shoes in a Mary Jane style.  The sweater and hat set was designed by Lynn Cullen (see the web address below for her instructions). 

http://www.estelledesigns.ca/images/Estelle/Cloud%20Cotton/EP112%20Estelle%20Baby%20Sweater%20and%20Blanket.pdf

Then, earlier this month, my niece and her husband had a little girl.  In anticipation of her birth, I made her a quilt.  I also knitted her a yellow sweater and hat set with Mary Jane shoes.  I’m hoping there’ll be a little hiatus on the family reproductions…my fingers need to recover from all this knitting!

January 10, 2014

A Comfy Place to Sit...

Well, I survived “the cleaning of the bathrooms” in my house. I found it to be a bit like “the running of the bulls” thing that they do in Spain. The chore made me just about as breathless as if a pack of bulls were chasing me down the street. I followed the advice that I found on the internet and started at the sink and worked around the room, spraying everything down before I started the actual cleaning process. What I didn't realize was that after you spray everything down, then the stuff starts to run…down the mirror, down the sides of the toilet, down the outside of the tub. I was feverishly whirling around the room (that I Love Lucy episode with in the chocolate factory had nothing on me) trying to wipe the spills before they reached the floor. I know, I know…it shouldn’t have mattered if the spills reached the floor as I was going to mop the floor anyway. What can I say? I’m just a teeny, tiny bit of a control freak. About half-way through the cleaning, as I was gasping for air, I realized that using the four different store-bought products for each cleaning chore was probably not the greatest idea. The combination of all these fumes in a small space is definitely not a good thing. I think I’m going to have to donate what’s left and use the natural stuff after all. (Oh, how I miss Linda, my cleaning lady!)

As I’ve mentioned before, Charming is doing some renovation in our kitchen. The layout and workflow will be much improved by the time he gets done. I’ve been happily planning the redecoration phase. The main colors for the kitchen will be black, white (called "honeysuckle" on the paint chip), and beige ("Irish Cream" on the paint chip). I know…a little on the blahhhh side, but I have very plain taste. The most basic colors are the ones that I seem to gravitate towards. I can’t seem to get enough beige into my life. However, I do have quilted wall hangings and throw pillows that add a little bit of color to the boring palate, but most of our stuff is basic brown, black or some variation of the two. I love wood furniture and all things rustic, so most people would say that my house resembles a semi-organized landfill. All in all, we find our dumpy little ranch house to be very cozy and comfortable.

For the past week, I’ve been working on replacing the seats of my kitchen chairs. The chairs originally came from a local fire department, where they were used in the fire hall for bingo games, weddings, parties, and other community functions. The fire hall was replacing their wooden chairs with metal chairs. Lucky me! They fit perfectly around the round wooden table that my younger brother made for me many years ago. The seats are done in a “shaker style” checker board pattern, using solid black for the weft (side to side) and a combination black/white for the warp (front to back).

Below are pictures of my progress on the chair seats. I’ve gotten two of them done and have two more to do. After that, I will move on to making a small braided rug for the kitchen with…you guessed it…blacks, browns, and possibly a pop of color in there somewhere.

I think they turned out nicely and, in the words of Goldilocks, they feel "just right" when I sit in them.

January 7, 2014

Brrrrrr…Baby, it’s cold outside!

Last night when we went to bed the temperature outside was 7 degrees. The wind was gusting hard when I let our dog, Max, outside. Needless to say, he stayed outside for only about one minute. Right now at 9:20 a.m. and it’s 5 degrees out there! I woke up at 3:30 this morning (my “used-to-be” normal time of the morning to get up and go to work). I was so thankful that I could get back in bed and burrow into the crease between Charming’s back and the mattress. I think quitting work is going to be a great thing after all.

Here’s a picture of my pup, Max. We got him from the local animal shelter and he’s been a wonderful addition to our lives. He is so protective of me that Charming can’t even pretend to come at me in a menacing way without Max jumping in front of me and barking at him. (Good dog, good dog.)

I’m now cooking all of our meals at home and making them from scratch as much as possible. Last night we had stir-fried chicken and onions, with fried rice on the side. I think it’s yummy…and Charming says it’s “awesome”. It’s gluten-free, fairly quick to make, healthy and tastes good. In my book, it doesn’t get any better than that. Below is the loose and easy recipe that I made up. You can tweak the salt and spice content to your personal taste.

For onions:
2 T. olive oil or canola oil
1 lb chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 t. butcher’s pepper (this is just a very coarse grind of black pepper)
1/2 t. salt
3 lbs large sweet onions (Vidalia works well), sliced with the grain
1/8 t. crushed red pepper
1/4 t. crushed garlic

For fried rice:
2 t. olive oil or canola oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1/2 cup peas and carrots
1 egg, beaten
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. crushed red pepper
1/4 t. crushed garlic
1 ½ cups brown or white rice, cooked according to package directions

Heat a large skillet, over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive/canola oil. Add chicken breast pieces, butcher’s pepper and salt. Cook until chicken is no longer pink. Add onions and crushed red pepper then stir; turn heat back to medium. Cover and let the onions cook down for approximately 7 minutes, or until onions are translucent. Add garlic to onion mixture and stir. Cover and remove from heat.

Meanwhile, in another heated skillet, add the 2 teaspoons olive/canola oil. Add chopped onions and cook for 2 minutes. Add peas and carrots and cook for another 2 minutes. Push onions, peas, and carrots to the side of the pan. (At this point, you may need to add just a bit more oil so that the egg doesn’t stick and make a mess in your pan.) Add beaten egg and stir. Quickly chop up the egg into little bits as it cooks. Add salt, crushed red pepper, and garlic. Add rice and stir until thoroughly mixed. Serve immediately alongside of onions.

Yesterday was “laundry day”. That was done without difficulty. I make my own liquid laundry detergent, using “the Dugger’s” recipe (check out the Dugger’s website for the instructions at http://duggarsblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/duggar-recipe-liquid-laundry-soap.html. It gets the job done and the clothes seem to be softer when I bring them in from the clothesline). You may want to cut the recipe in half as it makes a lot!

Since we made the decision for me to quit work, we found many items to cut from our expenses in an effort to try to minimize the impact of the loss of my salary. Unfortunately, one of these cuts included letting the cleaning lady go. (I miss you, Linda!) Today is “cleaning the bathrooms” day….uggghhhhh. I normally try to use “natural” cleaning products and make my own stuff as much as possible, but because I hate waste and am trying to spend wisely, I will use up the store-bought stuff that we already have on hand. (If I toss it in the trash, it’ll still end up polluting the environment in the landfill, so I might as well try to use it.) After the harsh stuff is gone, I will share my cleaning product “recipes” with you.

I found information on the internet that suggests cleaning a bathroom starting with the sink and removing all items that normally sit on top of it. I am then instructed to work in a clockwise manner around the room and spray each item that needs to be cleaned (sink, toilet, and shower/tub). The idea is that by the time you’ve cleaned the sink, then the toilet cleaner will have had enough time to work its magic and it will be easier to clean. By the time you finish the toilet, then the shower/tub cleaner will have had time to do its thing and that will be easier to clean. I’ve got my new cleaning caddy in tow and am going to give it a try, but I must confess that this feels eerily like the “I Love Lucy” episode where she gets a job at the candy factory, making chocolates. Theoretically, the circular bathroom cleaning advice should work, but I have “that Lucy feeling” that I may end up spinning around in circles like a spinning top and pass out on the floor from all the cleaning fumes. (I miss you, Linda!)

If I live through the bathroom cleaning episode, I’ll post again later in the week.

Snow and Keeping Warm...

January 4, 2014

It’s a beautiful morning in the Valley! We got a little part of the snowstorm that hit the Northeast on Thursday. There are still a couple of inches of the snow in our yard. When we went to bed last night, it was 9 degrees outside. This morning it’s a toasty 18 degrees. I feel fortunate not to live in places like Minnesota and North Dakota where the temperatures routinely fall below zero in the winter time. Fortunately, Charming keeps our woodstove running in the winter so that our house stays a snug 72 degrees most of the time. (One more reason to really, really love that man.) We’ve used the woodstove every winter since we were married. Luckily, we’ve never had to buy wood. There always seems to be someone who has downed trees on their property at some point during the year. Once the word gets out that you burn wood, people are happy to have you dispose of that for them. This is a win-win situation. They get their tree disposed of and we get free heat in the winter. Our furnace hardly ever comes on so we save lots of money this way. Love it!

Just ahead of the frigid weather, I finished knitting my “Pony Tail Hat” and sorta matching “Neck Warmer”. They are both extremely easy to make, even for a beginner knitter. I bought some yarn, on sale, at Michael’s craft store. I bought two skeins of Loops & Threads Country Loom yarn (one Carnival and one Wizard to make both items, but to make it even easier you could just buy two skeins of any one color so you don’t have to worry about changing colors). Here are the quick directions for the cowl that should work with almost any thick/bulky yarn and size 7 or 8 knitting needles. For the cowl, cast on approximately approximately 50 stitches. Knit until the piece measures somewhere between 20 to 22 inches (or will wrap comfortably around your head, as you will be stitching the ends together and pulling it over your head). Bind off loosely. Stitch ends together. This can be worn either folded down around your neck or pulled up to block the wind off your face. It’s great when paired with the pony tail hat, which is a basic pattern where one size fits most. I can post the directions for the hat if anyone is interested. No copyrights to worry about, just the result of basic knitting skills and math that we all learned in 3rd grade.


This has been my first full week of not working at a regular paying job. I have to admit that there’s been a certain amount of stress for me in not having a regular routine. Since I’m task-oriented by nature, it seems to me that I should be “doing something” at all times. So I made a quick “To Do” list that currently has 35 projects on it… I’m not kidding. These are not things like “do laundry” or “wash dishes”. They’re more like “reorganize the entire house, make a queen-sized quilt for the camper, design a solar clothes dryer (not just a clothes line, which I already have), and set up a vermi-composting bin”. I’m a Type A, mind-racing, list-making machine. So expect me to wow, amaze, and bore you to tears as I “share” my successes and failures with you. Charming is also doing some renovations to our kitchen, so I’ll be redecorating that when he’s done. I will also share some pictures as soon as that’s completed.

Charming says I need to slow down and relax. He insists that I have the next 30 years to get all of the stuff on my list done…Ooooh…I gotta go add that to my To Do list…“Eat more vegetables and exercise so I can live another 30 years”. Will catch up with you later…

New Beginnings...

A new year...a new day...a new me. I'm starting this blog at the urging of my niece, Kelli. She insists that I have something of value to share with the world. I insist that telling other people what I do (and what I think) on a daily basis is not really something that the world is interested in knowing. However, in trying to make my dear niece happy (and get her off my back), I am going to give it a whirl. So here we go...

This past December (2013), I quit my job due to the long commute from my home to my work location. For months I had been trying to weigh things out and decide if I wanted to spend the rest of my life waking up at 3:30 a.m., driving two hours to work, working eight hours, and then driving another two hours back home. With many a sleepless night and a good deal of stress, I finally came to the conclusion that I needed to take a chance and make a change.

I live in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with one of the most wonderful husbands in the world. His name is Floyd, but (for the purposes of this blog) I'll call him "Charming" because he is my prince. Charming is the most intelligent man I know. He can create almost anything out of popsicle sticks and baling twine. My admiration of him is off-the-chart.

Charming and I live on a third of an acre in a quiet town. On this tiny plot of land, we have a grapevine, several fruit trees, and a decent-sized vegetable garden. My hobbies include: knitting, crocheting, spinning yarn, making braided rugs, sewing, quilting, making my own household cleaners and beauty products, growing and using herbs, gardening, and canning vegetables from our garden. I also can meat such as sausage, pork tenderloin, chicken, and roast beef. I love living as close to the land as possible. I shop at local thrift shops for clothes, household items, and stuff to support my crafting habits. There is nothing I like better than making something nice or pretty out of something that has been discarded by someone else. Charming's hobbies are: renovating our ranch-style house, anything related to computers, and guiding my eccentricities onto a productive path.

Generations ago, my Irish ancestors came to America and settled into the hollows on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in what is now known as the Shenandoah National Park. In the 1930's, my grandfather lost his land to "the Park". Many families were displaced by "the Park" and even now, a couple of generations later, the descendants of these families feel the pain of having been deprived of their mountain homes and culture. Although the fact that I am from "mountain" people doesn't totally define me, I do own up to having a certain accent and a penchant for certain phrases that make it evident that I'm from mountain stock. I will share some of those phrases with you in upcoming posts.

Lastly, I have a sensitivity to gluten (dadgumit!). After 30 years of suffering from "stomach problems", and with all the publicity regarding celiac disease, I had a long talk with my gastroenterologist. He suggested that I try a gluten-free diet. (In his words, "If it works, then gluten's your problem. If it doesn't work, then it's not. Sound advice without the cost of expensive medical tests.) I saw a huge difference after only a week on the diet. At the time, I was on medication for acid reflux and was constantly on the look out for the closest bathroom. At the risk of sounding like a "Gluten-free Evangelist", I am currently on no medications and feel better than I have in years. I cook from scratch because I'm cheap and because I like to be in control of what I eat, so I will occasionally share gluten-free recipes that don't require you to buy pre-packaged mixes at $5.00 a pop!

So this is me in a nutshell. I will try to post at least on a weekly basis. I promise the rest of my posts will be much, much shorter. Feel free to comment or ask questions…just please be kind.