It pays to complain!

Remember a few days ago, I complained to Melanie about the prize I had won two years ago?  Remember the condition it was in?  Go here to read my sad story.  Well, I haven’t heard back from Melanie, so I am guessing I won’t be getting a new prize from her.   That’s ok, I still  like her…I think.

Someone read my post and it brought her to tears.  She just couldn’t believe the condition of my poor washcloth.  An urge came over her like she has never felt before ; she was compelled to come to my rescue.   Quickly the yarn was attached to the knitting needles.  The needles flew like lightening and I am sure there were sparks as she worked.  At the end of her labor, she had knitted, not one, but TWO washclothes!

Not only are they a labor of love, but they are made from red, pink, and white yarn. They also work very well.

Thank you Chocolatechic. They are beautiful!

HAPPY 4th of JULY

Dried Fruit

Some fruit has gone on sale at our grocery store, so I stocked up and dried them for later use.  I want to use these fruits for “chips” in our lunch boxes when the school year begins.  We will have co-op every Tuesday and we have to bring a lunch.

I am learning more and more about dehydrating from Dehydrate2store.   There are lots of instructional videos that are wonderful.

From one of the videos, I learned about fruit cookies.  Slice mangoes, kiwi, and bananas, very thin.  Place the bananas and kiwi on the mangoes.  Tammy had bigger mangoes than I, so she was able to place two kiwis and two bananas on one mango, in one layer. I wasn’t able to do that.

Mine were also too thick and took a long time to dry. Tammy suggests using a meat slicer, but I don’t have one yet. My Mandolin slices either too thin or too thick.

Here are the dried cookies. You can see that some of them are missing. Yes, we ate them right away. lol  One of my liners is wobbly.  I’ll have to order a replacement.

I also dried bananas, one of my favorites.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Here are the fruit stored in glass jars. Using oxygen absorbers in the jars is the number one best thing I learned from Dehydrate2store. I haven’t been able to keep anything long term, because it is so humid here nothing lasts, even if stored in airtight containers. The oxygen absorbers help with that.

Aren’t they cute?    That’s pineapple in the middle.

Next adventure.  More fruit leather.  I have been ordered by #2 daughter to make some.  I would also like to make some dehyrdated refried beans and not from instant refried beans.

The Great Backyard Campout!

June 27th, was the Great Backyard Campout.  Our campsite, The Crazy Cove Campsite, consists of this family and the family across the street. 

This year we did not campout.  Both families agreed that it was just too hot to be camping out.  Sir Husband was too tired to set up the tent because of house remodeling and I was too tired to argue because of working at VBS all week.  So we did a “Let’s not and say we did” thing.

As planned we take the long hike over to the neighbors to eat there. We had sausage, deviled eggs, coleslaw, potato salad, green beans, and watermelon. Water for the kids and beer for the adults.

The adults sat at the newly acquired picnic table and the kids sat at “the bar”. Their words, not ours. By this time Sir Son had gone home with swollen arms from bug bites and breathing problems from the candles. He is so not a wilderness person.

The girls went swimming in the pool lake.

After the swim and a yummy dinner, we take the long wilderness hike across the street, into the wilds of our backyard.

We have fire. We love fire. Yes, it is 8:00pm and still in the upper 80’s, but we must have roasted marshmallows and s’mores.

While waiting on the adults to get their act together, the girlies practice roasting. The sunglasses they are wearing are actually “smoke protectors”.

Sir Husband always has to make me a few of the roasted marshmallows. He seems to think he is the ONLY one who knows how to make the perfect roasted marshmallow.

And here it is.

Hmmm, maybe he is right.

And here is a s’mores. I don’t like s’mores. Everyone should know that chocolate bars should be frozen before eating, not melted.

We had a wonderful wilderness adventure at the Crazy Cove Campsite!

VBS 2009

“…whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.  Matthew 18:5

 It All Comes Back To Jesus!

Awww!  We need Boomerang Bo!

Helpers

Painted T-Shirts.  A must for all VBS kids.

Let them praise his name with dancing  and make music to him with tambourine and harp.  Psalm 149:3

Aussie Creatures!

VBS Family Fun Night. Rock Climbing!

THE END

Sir Son

Yes, I have a son. This is why you don’t see him much.

Father’s Day Dinner

To find out how to fold this napkin, go to Napking Folding Instructions.

Father’s Day Menu

Garlic Beef Enchiladas, made with Whole Wheat Tortillas
Instant Refried Beans
Corn

Homemade KeyLime Pie, post about this coming soon.

This was the dinner requested by Sir Husband, the most wonderful husband and father.

Birdies Taking a Bath

Does anyone know what kind of birds these are?

They showed up a week ago. They are smallish, have brown bodies, bellies are cream with brown spots, and the wings and tails are a very pretty blue. We have had up to 20 or so in our backyard. They do not visit the birdfeeder, but do like to just sit on the roof of it.

 

UPDATE!   Donna said these might be Juvenile Eastern Bluebirds, so I did a search and found this picture.  Yep, Donna was right.

Orange Chicken or not

A few years ago, I had somewhere else to be during our family’s dinner time.  Even though I was not going to be eating at home, I had to fix dinner for the family.

 

Milling pinto beans
 

I decided on a new recipe, Orange Chicken.  It was one of those freezer meals, where you make a bunch and freeze enough for three more meals.  Since this was the first time I made the meal, I only made one meals worth.

Pinto bean flour.

 

The recipe called for the chicken to marinate in an orange juice sauce for several hours before baking.  It smelled really good. After it was baked, I set the table and placed all the food in the center.  I left happy, knowing my family was well fed.

Whisking bean flour in boiling water.

I returned home and the kids announced, “We went to CiCi’s pizza! Daddy took one bite of the chicken and said we are going to CiCi’s!” Sir Husband said the chicken was not fit to eat and he promptly threw every bit of it away. To this day, the kids ask for Orange Chicken, when they want to go out for pizza.

After one bite of these Instant Refried Beans we had for Father’s Day, it was announced that this was the side dish for the Orange Chicken.

Hey Square Lady!

Dear Square Lady,

It has been a while since I won my prize, like two years! 

I know that it is under a life-time guarantee.  This guarantee covers anything that could happen to the washcloth, including loss. You will be happy to know, that I didn’t loose it.

So… I am hear to collect on the guarantee.  I need a new prize.

I REALLY need a new washcloth prize.

Since, Sheri also won a washcloth at that same time, I bet she needs another prize. We shall be looking for them next week.  Now get busy.