treasure in the trash!

today, while zipping through the side streets in town, my eyes spotted this banged up old trellis, in some ones garbage! putting the car in reverse, i backed up and asked the owner if it was trash? yes! and you can have it! trying not to let him see me hyper-ventilate... i shoved it in the back of my trailblazer. i need to paint the top board white... other then that... it is a fine piece of shabby chic garden art!

so..... have you ever in your life stopped off and pulled something out of some one garbage? if so... let me know in my comments! (i've also pulled two old bushel baskets from some one's garbage.... great for my garden!)

getting down and dirty!

getting down and dirty in this nice november weather in michigan! here's a snap of yours truly planting handfuls of antique pink hollyhock seeds. i planted them in a big old row along our barn. i've always loved the look of hollyhocks standing in a parade of bloom along old barns! now, i hope to have my own display!

i also got the knees of my blue jeans dirty, while planting garlic and egyptian onion seeds. i popped the seeds and cloves in each slot of this recycled horse window (above). i am hoping, in the spring, when they begin to show growth, i can just slip this screen off and i'll have "martha stewart perfect" rows!

i also re-did our little bird and squirrel feeding habitat. freshened it up with dried sunflower heads, fresh-dead branches (oxy-moron) and dead asparagus sprigs, which provide a soft and light protection. well, i think it does, anyway.

today calls for rain. i'm planning on making chicken tortellini soup in the crock pot and homemade bread.

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penny and robin... thanks so much for the blog award! i appreciate it and i enjoy your blogs as well. you can find robin's blog, pardon my dust and penny's diosa domestica on my sidebar!

seeds. do you save them? i do. if you do too, check out this site for free printable seed packets. some are well, sort of tacky... others quite cute. click here: free printable seed packets!

other late saturday night and sunday stuff: watched the movie (disney's) three musketeers, boy scout event: launching rockets, quirky church, a sunday morning visit at the in-laws with tim horton's pumpkin doughnuts and muffins, cut and hoping to root four mulberry trees, homeschool lesson planning, major grocery shopping, grilled pork chops on bbq, carved a pumpkin, two loads of laundry, baked and froze squash, packaged ebay and etsy stuff up, made homemade fabric softener. looking ahead for tonight: hot shower with good lotion follow-up, nice soft pillow, lots of soft blankets and a good book!

garden organizer!

whenever i'm outside working in the gardens, i'm always wishing i had an apron on, so i can carry supplies in. recently, at the salvation army, i found this garden-green tote for $2.99. it's a heavy canvas... perfect for outdoor toting! now.... let's take a look at what's inside:

see right there? that's one of my homemade fingerless gloves that i embellished with a funky felt patch! fingerless gloves are so nice to use outside in michigan! and fun to make, too!

now... what else is in my little garden tote? pistachio colored spray paint, empty and clean baby food jars for seed storing, scissors, clippers, cell phone, digital camera, large lime green paper bag for gathering glad bulbs and sweet annie seeds.

how did i ever live without this? smile, wink, nod.

30-second seed bottle!

i love quick crafts.

i love thrifty-recycled crafts.

and, i love stupid humor. that said, i recycled this vinegar bottle into a dried flower seed container. i'll sprinkle the variety of seeds in my wildflower bed in the spring. i crudely cut up a vintage cowboy magazine, dotted the black and white picture with pastel chalk and slapped some modge podge on it. i honestly think the whole project took 30 seconds. the seed bottle now sits on my basement shelf, in my pantry...eagerly waiting for spring. smile, wink, nod!

guess what's wrapped up in newspaper?

hundreds of green tomatoes. okay not really hundreds... but probably a good 50. we had a frost last week... and, since our garden was still producing like wildfire... i..... in a fever went out and gathered the harvest (doesn't that sound so quaint and lovely?) it really wasn't as pretty as it sounds... i was picking by flashlight, it was cold and the boys were out working late. plus, my socks kept slouching down in my wellingtons...which irritates me as much as a migraine. not pretty. however, i am sure... when the snow is flying and our local grocery store is selling their tomatoes for $4.99 a lb, we will enjoy eating our own homegrown tomatoes.

my grandma and as well as other atomic aged housewives, used to wrap their tomatoes in newspapers... store them in a cardboard box (only layer 2 deep) and they will slowly ripen up to christmas. you keep them in a cool, dark place. my vintage basement is perfect for that!

i also gathered a bushel basket of eggplant. i've froze enough eggplant over the last few weeks... i need no more. however, thanks to mr. google... i found this excellent, excellent, amazing roasted eggplant soup recipe that you can freeze. it's the best! click here if you'd like it! (i didn't use goat cheese and i added cumin to taste, and only added 1/2 c. of cream)

recycled junk!

my neighbor, my good neighbor was cleaning and revamping his old horse barn. his hired men have been throwing junk in a big burn pile in the field between us. being the thrifty, dumpster diver i am.... my big blue eyes spotted these ventilated window frames! i knew they'd be shabby-chic perfect as trellis' in my garden. perfect for the late crop of snow peas and purple beans that are tendrilling. vocabulary homeschool word of the day: tendril. the windows were used in the barn that housed race horses! just think... race horses used to look out these windows.

i'm not horse savvy... but i do know the horses use to race in kentucky somewhere. i should find out the breed... it would just be nice to know. the window frames should winterize pretty easy, too. we'll slide them right into our barn!

and the windows, live on! smile, wink, nod!

dirty carrot!

imagine what i thought when i pulled up this carrot, tonight? it gave me a good laugh out in the garden & i just had to share it with you! i hope it brought a smile to your face, too. smile, wink, nod.

vintage serving pieces and a turkey egg!

during the summer, i've collected a variety of antique serving utensils, from estate sales and shabby chic sales. my out of pocket cost for these was $4.00. They needed a little cleaning up... so, i boiled them in a baking soda paste with water and steamed them! then, i sat tommie down to polish. except for a couple of the reallllllly old spoons, all came out shiny and a bit too nice looking! i loved not using harsh chemicals to bring back the beauty. i also wonder where they all came from and who owned them?

note: the turkey egg in the picture. i just put it in there for fun!

today look's like i'll:

-enjoy the rainy day

-burn a peach scented candle

-make more applesauce and can it

-can more pizza sauce

-work on homeschool lesson plans

-take tommie to the military shop... his $5. is burning a hole in his pocket!

-dehydrate and make zucchini chips sprinkled with chili powder

-work on my hand-hooked purse

-start a new novel... which one? i'm just not sure.

-by the way... i'm really trying respond to your comments... so if you've left any... click on my comment button and read the follow-up's.

-will post jamie's blueberry bread recipe soon!

i'd love to here something creative and fun that you have planned for today! comments welcome. smile, wink, nod!

not spaghetti.... not even close!

no.... this isn't a pot of skanky looking spaghetti.

it's actually 100% wool yarn, that i found a goodwill. .35 cents a skein... i bought several (plus) skein's with this idea in mind:

one of my goals this summer, was to self-teach myself how to dye with kool-aid. i have an opportunity to learn how to crochet at our homeschool co-op... although i haven't asked the instructor... i'm sure there's always room for one more student, right? and, i've also had an invitation extended to me from brad's uncle, to learn how to knit-a-winter-reversible-winter-hat-on-a-loom. which, i look forward to.

for now, i will use this yarn to bind a rug that i've been hand-hooking. i'll post snaps of it when i'm done!

you have no idea how beautiful this yarn was... hanging in my apple tree to dry! just beautiful.... at least to my blue eyes.

so.... if you're interested in learning how to do this (so darn easy and fun!) here is the site i used: how to dye with kool-aid!

MY KIND OF PRESERVING!

okay, this is my kind of preserving. yesterday i made vegetable broth. how easy is this? you just pick odds and ends of any vegetable imaginable... anything works. including celery tops and carrot tops, swiss chard and onion tops. wash them and put them in a soup pot. fill the pot with one-gallon of water... add any herbs and salts that you'd like... bring to boil. stir occasionally. reduce heat and simmer for an hour. let cool. strain out the vegetables and herbs and throw them to the pigs... or your compost bin... pack the broth into canning jars and freeze for up to 6 months. no need to peel, chop or dice. just throw everything in! can you even begin to realize how loaded these jars are with vitamins? this may be our answer to the common cold this winter!

now.... how about taking a look at our latest nature find! c'mon over to my twisted education blog and see this pre-historic looking creature! click HERE!

Holly Hocks, Holly Rocks and herbs!

BLESSINGS!

DAY 2

(things i was blessed with recently, from friends and family!)

i'm loving my hollyhocks.. this is the first time ever, that i've been able to grow them. i could have a field full and never grow tired of looking at them!

i'm finding it hard to believe. i'm not sure why blessings have poured in for me this past week... but each and every day (up until yesterday), i've received very surprising, wonderful, useful and extremely thoughtful gifts...from family and friends! even my friend lisa, who i seldom see, has a prize waiting for me. a big fat thank-you, to ALL of you! you know, i love you all!

my friend holly took a chance and stopped by one evening last week, with this 2 cup pyrex measuring cup in hand. i know, i know... blogging about a simple, basic measuring cup...is sort of dull.. but ummm, if you only knew how much i needed one for soooo long...you'd understand. i put out the word last spring that i was in dire need for one.... i've been using an old tin measuring cup. she actually pulled it off her kitchen shelf and gave me hers! how nice is that? thanks, holl!

after an amazing church service, which is doing a series on dissecting the Lord's Prayer and what each line means... you know...instead of just saying the prayer as fast as you can, i came home and picked a couple fist fulls of mixed herbs. i washed them, patted them dry and stuffed 4 bags full for the freezer. they'll be so welcome in the late fall and winter... i'll use them for seasoning croutons, breads, soups or casseroles.

i was thinking... if you don't have a big variety of herbs yourself...maybe you could have a herb swap. call up a friend or two, have them clip a couple ziplock bag fulls of their herbs... swap and mix them together and freeze! long about january in michigan, fresh herbs are a luxury and very pricey!

recycled garden craft and a few good freebies!

monday morning, found me swatting mosquitoes, picking snow peas (jamie...they're doing swell!), picking green beans and finger sized zucchini in our slow-growing garden!

i also pulled out the clean tin cans i've been saving. dug around for shabby chic colored paints and crudely painted them with one swipe of paint. they dried in no time at all. i stuck sprigs of mint in them and lined them up on the patio.

in the fall, i plan to arrange bouquets of my homegrown zinnias and wildflowers, in the tin cans and sell them in our mini-vegetable roadside stand.

now, how about some fun freebie's? sometimes i get freebies and think... i'll never use this.. if you find yourself doing that... donate it to your church! our church, like most, has those little grooming baskets on the bathroom counter... just toss your sample in there and bless someone! smile, wink, nod!

PURITY SHAMPOO

VIVA PAPER TOWEL

NIVEA FOR MEN

i'll be putting kid-friendly freebie's up on my twisted education blog, in a few minutes... so click over... look on my sidebar...you'll find my link. see you there!

Lily the Twig Person!

yesterday, saturday morning left tommie and i running in really slow motion... we had a late night of family fun, fireworks and way too much potato salad... i took advantage of our laziness, popped in a movie and gathered up supplies to make "lily the twig person!" the movie, "are we done, yet?" was a cute little comedy...and preteen friendly.

this craft is about as cheap as you can get! i sure wish my pictures weren't so cloudy! how about if i list what i used:

scraps of wool for the face
vintage baby buttons for the eyes
raffia
twigs
ivory colored thread
a dried allium
no glue (all tied and sewn)

the movie was 90 minutes long... and i was finished in less time then that.

the sky's the limit on what nature treasures you could use!

i plan to make a family of these and maybe a dog?

time for me to say good-bye for now and head over to our happy, up-lifting church! i can't wait!

U is for Underground Treasure!

we don't really like radishes. but, i do plant them for my disabled neighbor denny, who is quite fond of them. with all the humidity and rain lately...they've popped right out of the earth!


i've been saving this recipe since last summer. radish butter. it sounded interested and very easy. so.....

i whipped up three batches! tripled the recipe. and although the recipe suggests to use it in pumpernickel bread, which i'm sure is fantastic... i only had ritz crackers. of course i had to sample it...and it's absolutely scrumptious! it has just a tiny hint of the tangy flavor...yet not overwhelming. my husband who wrinkles his nose up over these underground treasures... even liked it.

i had fun being creative with lunch! ritz cracker, radish butter, turkey pepperoni topped with fresh basil. i can't wait to try it on corn-on-the-cob!

i've stored them in canning jars in the refrigerator. now, if you could stop off at the grocery store and pick up a big loaf of pre-cut pumpernickel bread, i'll share this with you while we chat out in my flower gardens! smile, wink, nod.

M is for making the best of a rainy day!

making the best of a rainy day! pulled on the wellington's, my yellow, oversized raincoat, and wiggled my colander out of the cupboard then stepped outside to cut herbs for homemade peasant bread. today was the perfect day to have yeast bread rising and baking...with fresh herbs chopped, mixed with butter, and sprinkled on top! i took cuttings of them all.. parsley, dill, basil, sage, sweet marjoram, cilantro, garlic chives, rosemary, and oregano!

sure wish you could smell through the internet...because the house was heavenly! i made a total of six loaves and froze them all.

tonight, a pot sits on top of my stove with comfrey and mint steeping in 17 ounces of olive oil. it takes 5 hours to steep, then i'll drain the herbs off, melt beeswax in it and should have comfrey face and body cream!

in between the bread rising...i zipped up to redbox at our krogers and picked up a few movies! benjamin button, valkyrie and twilight. my intent was to cuddle down and sew while i watched twilight. the sewing never happened...didn't even get the needle threaded...have you seen twilight? then you'll understand why i couldn't take my eyes of the screen. i'm having a tough time describing my thoughts about the movie. i can only think of adjectives: twisted. wild. hot. weird. creative. serious. deep.

just one of those movies that leave you wondering. 2 thumbs up. smile, wink, nod.

Find your sparkle!

G stands for things in my GARDEN! Like this shabby chic scarecrow I made yesterday! I found the form in the attic of our milkhouse... the face and hat were painted in country hues, which I was tired of... so, I pulled out my summer paints and freshened it up! The apron is a precious mint green gingham...and one I picked up last week at a church yard sale for .25 cents. The rest of the clothes came from my closet!

I've never been had much success with growing peas here... no idea why... but this year the seem to be doing swell. I built this twig and twine trellis for them to grow on! The triangle twig trellis, were purchased at a local garden center. I'm really hoping the pea's pop!

Good thought for the day: find your sparkle!

(Jamie, I'm glad you're feeling a bit perkier!)

friends, ferns, flavored vinegars and freebie's!

Today's letter of the day..."F!"

As in....making flavored vinegar with flowers! Just clip a few handfuls of chive flowers, wash them well, pat dry and pack loosely in a jar. I added a bit of garlic, oregano and rosemary...then funneled white wine vinegar into each jar. Sealed the jars and set them in my dark pantry. In a week or so, I'll mix it with good olive oil for garden salads!

F is for FRIENDS! After running a few morning errands today, imagine my surprise when I pulled in and found this little package, sitting on a tray with other kitchen goodies (recipe cards, notepads, etc.) waiting for me by my garage AND all tied up in sweet ivory muslin, tied with a black polka-dotted ribbon! Inside, were fresh eggs! My good friend Rhonda had stopped by and went out of her way with this act of kindness. Which made me smile all day!

F is for transplanting FERNS!

I stopped at a garage sale today... they were selling perennials. Can you believe I don't have a single fern? Well, I do now.

F is for FREEBIE'S!!

free sun-maid raisin cookbooks!

aveeno shampoo/conditioner!

EGGS, EMBROIDERY, EASY-GARDEN-PROJECT!

E is for eggs! This planter- a lady's head- lives year round in my garden. Growing flowers in it is next to impossible. This Spring, I stuffed a nest full of chicken eggs in it!

E is for embroidery projects! I found this cotton napkin at a yard sale for just a dime and had a good idea of what I could create with it! Below... "a sweet looking cupcake!"

E is for easy-garden-decorating! Just wash out a tin can, drill two holes in the sides, thread twine or raffia through it, fill it with water, pick a handful of wild flowers and hang it from a tree! I plan to make more of these throughout the summer. So easy. So cheap. So recycle-ish. Really cute, too!

E is for another easy felted wool project! Just buy a wool sweater, felt it and stitch it into something of your choice! Making this daisy pillow was a sinch! It took me all of an hour to do... I really, really like quick projects!

Tuesday thought of the day: Life is an occasion...rise to it!