Bountiful Baskets

Just before Christmas I joined a local food co-op. I know, you're thinking that with fees, minimum requirements, and massive amounts of food that co-ops are not a great investment.....especially for a household with only two people! Due to the holidays and a few other things (like my forgetting to order before the deadline) we hadn't actually ordered anything.

Some of the reasons I decided to sign up are that for this particular co-op
- there are no buying requirements. If you decide you never want to buy anything, you don't have to.
- orders are done by the "basket", so you can purchase one basket or multiple baskets depending on how much produce you want.
- they offer extras that can be purchased for an additional fee, but you are asked to inspect those, and if you don't want them you don't have to take it and your money will be credited back to you.
- you have the option to purchase organic produce if that is your preference.
- they cross their fingers that participators will volunteer now and then, but it's not mandatory.

What can be better than that! The only hiccup is that you don't get to actually "shop" for what you put in your basket. They do that for you. That means that you get what they can get that week and then divide it up among the people who have preordered and prepaid for a basket. I have to admit I find that kind of exciting. It's like a treasure hunt, and it forces you (ie: me) to try new things and learn new ways to prepare food so it doesn't get thrown into the garbage can. For instance, I learned this morning that you can freeze bananas! I doubt that I'll ever do that, but who knew?? (If you decide to try it, peel them first. There is your helpful hint.)

Okay...so today we picked up our "Newby" basket. For $15.00 ( the price of one basket) we got: a mini watermelon, a pineapple, 5 lbs of potatoes, 5 onions, 2 green peppers, 8 pears, 5 bananas, 4 lemons, 7 tomatoes, celery, and 1 lb strawberries. (We also got 8 more pounds of strawberries for an additional ten bucks.) Not too bad I'd say....and we picked them up in our own little town!

We haven't tried everything, obviously, but what we have sampled, has been really good. I'm so excited!

-Gratitude for:

- Friends who share great ideas!
- A new food saver vacuum sealer, and a freezer.
- Good produce in the middle of winter.
- A newly painted kitchen ceiling with no view into the attic.....Oh Yeah, life is good!

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Oopsy

This has been a week of mishaps!

 I have set my sights on actually finishing up some the UFOs in my sewing room.  (UFO - UnFinished Objects)  I decided to start with a red and white quilt I started some time ago, but it needed some tweeking, and I was getting frustrated, so into the UFO pile it was tossed.  I was actually cruising right along with it, but it had a marking on it which I knew could easily be erased with a wee bit of water.  Unfortunately, the water made the red dye bleed onto the white fabric!  UGH!!  The good news is that with a dampened color catcher sheet I was able to get the vast majority out.  At least I'm okay with it now.

Then the coffee maker quit!  That is a complete disaster for anyone living close to our house.  I actually have gone two days without it.  I do miss it though.  After much frustration and lots of vinegar trying to "decalcify", it just isn't working properly.  Soooo, a new coffee maker is now occupying the most special place in the kitchen.

The toilet was next.  Fortunately all that was required to get that working properly was a new flapper.  Yay! Less than $5.00 to have a functioning commode again.

Then the security system on the house decided to go psycho on me.  I couldn't get it turned off when I came home from my walk.  The security company called and walked me through some diagnostics and couldn't find anything wrong.  They had me clean the keys with a Qtip and some alcohol.  I may be a little OCD, but  I can honestly say I've never cleaned the them before. (They were really dirty - who knew??)  It seems to be working again anyway.

There were a few other Oopsies along the way.   And then....today it snowed in our kitchen. Okay, not so much snow as insulation!  Hubby was in the attic, and about the time I thought I should go check on him I heard ccrrrraaacccckkkk!  Thud!  Followed by "Shoot!" (Well, kinda sounded a little like "shoot")  After noticing the snow I looked up:

This is what I saw....except it had a leg attached to it!  The good news is  Hubby is OK!  It could have been really bad if he had fallen completely through.  This is what it looks like attic side:

See the stove and the granite counter top there?  It could have been really so much worse!  The good news is that we have a neighbor whose business is to fix these kinds of things and he has already been here to survey the damage.  We had a sheet of styrofoam insulation in the garage, so we were able to close the hole and pile the "snow" on top so it's pretty closed up for a temporary fix.

Gratitude for:
- Hubby is OK.  I'm thinking he's going to be pretty sore tomorrow though.
- There will be coffee in the morning.
- Did I mention Hubby is OK??

Busy Week

Sometime during the holidays the light in our laundry room went out.  There are no windows in there, so it was dark!  After replacing all three flourescent bulbs, we realized that it wasn't the bulbs.  We had to replace the fixture.  As much as I tried to find one that was close to the same size as the old one (without spending a fortune....light fixtures can be very pricey, and it's a laundry room for goodness sake!) the new one was a couple of inches smaller.  Why is it that one project always leads to another?!  Of course that meant that there was a halo around the new fixture where the ceiling was a totally different color.  Even Hubby realized that a paint job was next on the to-do list.  My to-do list.  We decided that the walls (and ceiling - a lot of the ceilings here are painted the same color as the walls) could use a lighter color, so we changed the color to a light blue.  Normally I kind of enjoy painting, but this was not a scheduled project, nor do I enjoy painting ceilings.  It took me much longer than it should have, but it is finished - as much as possible.  I didn't have any way to get behind the washer and dryer, so don't tell anyone, but the walls are still yellow behind there!

Next on my agenda was cleaning out the pantry.  I had purchased the ingredients to make cookies and other goodies for the holidays and then I got sick.  Over the course of several weeks, things just got shoved in there to the point of needing to proceed cautiously while opening the door.  All manner of objects could have attacked at any given moment.  That is, except for the stuff we actually needed to make meals with.  Seems I didn't do such a great job of shopping for actual meal preparation.  Oh well, we made do and as far as I know, no-one starved to death! (That is unless it was death by divinity - candy that is!)  Anyway - I have spent the last two days checking expiration dates (UGH!), cleaning, and re-organizing.  I can't quite conjure up where I saw the idea of using binder clips on the shelves. Maybe Pinterest??  I decided to give it a try.  Walmart had the jumbo clips in boxes of 4 for less than $1.50.  That is a whole lot cheaper than buying those plastic can thingys (a very technical term) at the Container Store or making them for that matter.  They worked like a charm too!  It's much easier to see what we actually have on hand now, and to restock and rotate so that the older stuff gets used up first.  An added bonus is that they take up less shelf space too.  Oh yeah....I also made a trip to Costco!

Gratitude for:
- A clean, organized pantry.
- A fresh, bright laundry room.
- Laundry washed, folded, and ironed
- Tomorrow I get to relax!

Parental Guidance

Hubby and I went to see the new Billy Crystal/Bette Midler movie, Parental Guidance, this afternoon.  We were pleasantly surprised, and found it more entertaining than we expected.  Recently we went to see Guilt Trip, and I think we expected today's movie choice to be comparable.  Guilt Trip was, well...., boring.  Parental Guidance was much better.  If you are trying to make the choice, go see Parental Guidance.  Of course, our viewpoint could be accounted for by the age bracket we are in.  I'll give this one:



As a follow up on our Season of Giving, I will apologize for not posting more.  We did learn that concentrated giving is rewarding, but also time intensive.  We didn't get everything done that was on "the list", but I also know that giving should not be confined to one month of the year so some of our planned giving will still be done - just not in the original time frame.

We did participate in some volunteer activities that we found fun, eye-opening, and very satisfying.  We spent a day volunteering at a local food bank.  While I spent my time at gift tables, Hubby spent his morning in the back of a semi-trailer packed full of hams, turkeys, and potatoes.  By the end of the morning, the truck was empty with the exception of six hams.  WOW!  That is a lot of food!  The food bank served approximately 450 families that morning!

We also volunteered at our little city's celebration.  I was particularly proud of my non-crafty husband.  He spent his night making popsicle reindeer with the kids.  There was lots of glue involved, but at least he wasn't covered in glitter at the end of night!

 Gratitude for:
- helping provide a better Christmas for families in need.
- the blessings we take for granted too much of the time.
- the light of wonder in the eyes of children.

2013

If the last two days are any indication, this year should be very interesting indeed.

Hubby and I spent New Year's Eve catching up on emails and previously recorded TV shows. We tucked ourselves in under the electric blanket long before the stroke of midnight, and slept in until our biological clocks woke us up rather than the electric one on the nightstand. It was perfect!

Yesterday afternoon we went to see "Jack Reacher". It was Hubby's long awaited choice. We went early, and it was a good thing because the theatre was crowded. As expected, it was a car chasing and multiple body count movie. The surprise was that I actually enjoyed it. In fact, it was one of the better movies we have seen in recent months. Although predictable, it had enough twists and humor in it to keep my attention, and although the body count was high, it wasn't gory. I would give it four (yes, four) Reese's Pieces. Sorry....no pic. We ate them all.

Today started with a plumber call. Nothing serious, but frustrating none the less. We had had them come fix it last January, and now it was running....sorry Charlie, no warranty. Grrrrrr.....

This afternoon my body decided to be cantankerous, so I called the doctor's office. Seems EVERYONE is sick, so they couldn't get me in. I did a web check-in at my local " Doc In A Box" aka Care Now. They called me and informed me it would be at least a six hour wait. Whoa!!!! I called another one to ask what their wait time was and they said four hours. I said "transfer"!! Web check-in is a wonderful thing...you get to do whatever you want and they call you and tell you to head their way when your time arrives. That is, if things work the way they're supposed to. Hubby got home from from work and we headed their way because I was right on the edge of my appointed time. Since he was driving, I decided to double check. I never got transferred! I called the original place, and thinking that I had left their system, they cancelled my check in. I was trying really hard to be a patient patient, but they were really testing my ability to be nice. (After all, it doesn't usually bode well when the only people who can help you are actually mad at you.) Fortunately, being firm but grateful worked. Once we got to the office, under the promise of a "work in", they had us on our way in less than 30 minutes- prescriptions in hand. I was doing the yippee skippy dance until I was told at the pharmacy that it would be at least 10:30 tonight before my life saving bag of drugs would be in my hands. I retrieved my scrips and I now have something to look forward to tomorrow morning.

We decided to grab dinner at On The Border since it was past our usual dinner hour. As we were seated, our waitress quickly handed us forms to be filled out for a drawing for Mavericks basketball tickets. The drawing was to take place in about...oh....30 seconds. We wrote fast. Guess what??? Yep... Hubby WON! Now he has something to look forward to too!

Yep. 2013 is suuurrrree going to be interesting! Happy New Year, Everyone!!

Gratitude for:
- modern medicine and prescription drugs
- fun surprises
- a husband who hangs in there with me through it all!

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Just Dessert!

This morning I decided that it was payback time.  My next door neighbor had shelled some fresh pecans for me and brought them over a couple of days ago.  He is always bringing me little goodies or sharing the bounty from the huge bags of  "whatever" from Costco.  I have another neighbor who built me a wooden manger to add to my life size sheep in the front yard for our Christmas display.  He had scrap lumber left over from another huge project he had just finished, but he stained it for me and coated with polyurethane so that it would be weather resistant.   I was sooooo excited to have both of these things.  I have great neighbors!

While neither one would let me pay them, I couldn't just say "Thank You" and leave it at that.  I recently found this recipe for Banana Roll with Cheesecake Filling.  It sounded yummy, and she promised it was easy to make.  It was easy, but I will warn you, it makes quite a few dishes....mostly bowls. It looks like it took a long time, but it really didn't, and only took 15 minutes to bake. (I have a convection oven, but she only baked hers 20 minutes in a regular oven.)  I forgot to look at the clock, but I'm thinking it took less than an hour TOTAL....and no frosting!  It really is as yummy as promised, so I thought I'd share.

Gratitude for:
- Great neighbors
- Sugar!  Who can't be grateful for that??
- A productive morning.

Military Giving

I wasn't planning on making a post today, but then it occurred to me that if anyone would like to send a card to a service person, or contribute towards a gift, that I'd better post these links NOW!

If you would like to send Christmas cards, go to the Red Cross website and get the specifics.  The deadline is December 7th so you will need to get them in the mail very soon.  They have very strict guidelines which must be followed, but they aren't horrible, and you will know that they will actually get to someone who could use a little Christmas rememberance.  Click on the words "Red Cross" above and it will take you to their website for the info.

Another option is Operation Holiday Stockings - click on the link for information.  They accept donations all year around.  There are options to donate money for postage, make and stuff your own stocking (knitting and sewing patterns as well as suggestions as to what to fill them with are provided), and how to donate something to fill a stocking with.  They also accept nominations for individual soldiers or military units to be the recipents.

Most of us know someone who either in service to our country, has a loved one who is serving somewhere overseas, or has lost someone while in service.  All these people could use a little TLC during the holidays.  Sending a note of thanks or simply a card to know you are thinking of them doesn't cost much in either your time or money, and I know it would mean a lot.

Gratitude for:
- The sacrifices of our military families - now and in the past.
- The return of my friend Jay this week in time to spend Christmas with his family.