Monday, January 31, 2011

blenders make a monday morning

So I woke up this cold Monday morning like you do and checked my email while I waited for the coffee to finish.  There, in my inbox was wonderful news.  I had WON a Blender, a Kitchen Aid one to be exact.
Thank to Northern Cheapskate I can now make smoothies in a brand new Blender.

I've been following Northern Cheapskate for a few months now.  I'm on a quest to cut some costs and I am following several blogs, including Christina's.

I'm so freaking giddy right now, I can't think! More later on the Blender, I promise.  WOOHOOOOO!!!!!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

more deer tracks

In my neighbor's yard this morning, I saw 3 sets of deer tracks all leading to an exposed plant.  Hungry little buggers!  MORE DEER!  Prints were too narrow in the deep snow to be dog and way too far apart.

We saw the same kind of tracks at the end of the block too.  A deer cut across the corner of the lot.

It becomes an adventure every morning for me to see what hoodlums were roaming the street while we slept.

I am seriously considering in setting up a camera to video the wee hours of the morning.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Mom,... I want to live on a farm

as says my 7 year old girl.  "with chickens and cows".  And apparently, when we clean up the cow's poop, its going into the garden.  She then said I could live there too and help milk the cows.  Lucky me.

I told her if she lived on a farm, she probably won't be near stores so she'd have to learn to make bread.  "We'll have a wheat field mom".    Her grande idea is all planned.

Lots of land
A husband
A couple of kids to help
Cows
Chickens
horses
a garden
wheat field
Me
(I said I don't think Tim would like it very much so I may be a part time resident)
An Alarm clock - so she can get up at 5 am to milk the cows.

 The more I think about it, the more I like it.  I wouldn't mind living away from the crap city.  A big farm house....  sigh..  if  I could, I think I would.

Doe.. A deer

this is the second day i have found deer tracks on the sidewalk. Next to them were bunny tracks. I think bambi and thumper moved to our neighborhood

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

tracks

As Erin and I walked to the corner this morning to get the school bus, I noticed a flurry of snow tracks in our drive way.   Some poor little bunny was being chased my a cat.  Looks like the bunny escaped to our back yard and under the shed.  Stay there bunny.

The cat then walked back and down the sidewalk.  Now, in looking at the tracks, I saw not only Rabbit and Cat... but a new one.  Deer!  We live in the "city"... well the edge of it anyways.  Plus we live near rail road tracks and the nature preserve.  There are a ton of deer that live not more than a mile away.  One of the little girls Erin waits with said last week she saw deer in her back yard and at her grandmother's house - which is on the street behind us.

Possible?  I should thinks so.  We've been here 10 years and I have never seen one.  There is a first for everything!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Girl's weekend


Tim was away this weekend (the boys went gaming).  So the kiddo and I went to Swim class and then to the mall.  Since it was lunch, I treated her to Jack Astors. Such a proper little lady.  She skipped the fries and ordered a salad.  A knife and fork were in order for eating chicken fingers.   

No manis, no pedis.. just a walk around the mall.  My sweet girl.  

Friday, January 21, 2011

Morning ritual

this is what she does when it snows. She brings the shovel down to the bus stop and clears out the fire hydrant.

Monday, January 17, 2011

laundry update

I have done 4 loads with the Borax/Washing Soda mix.  With it, I swapped out my normal fabric softener with vinegar.  Yes, vinegar.

I have to say I am impressed.  My clothes are super soft.  Only one fleece was staticy but it always is.  No smell either.  I just peeked into the washing machine and boy, was that water dirty.  The soap must be doing its job.  If this works, I will be very happy.

Next batch will be a different soap.  I have see if I can find more about which soaps are better than others.

Updates to come later!  Its Laundry Day 2

Sunday, January 16, 2011

laundry

I don't mind doing the laundry.  I mind putting it away.  Regardless, it needs to be done.  In an attempt to save some money, I scounged the web to see what  the correct (or somewhat  correct) ratio would be to make Laundry soap from scratch.

I opted for powder.   I am lucky I only needed to get a bar of soap.  I opted for Dr. Bronner's Lavender Bar soap.

Here's what I did.

1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda
1 bar (well, 3/4 of a bar 'cause my hand hurt) finely grated bar of soap
Mix well together and store in an airtight container.
use 1/8 cup (a tablespoon) for a small load
use a 1/4 cup (2 tblsp) for a large/heavily soiled load.

It smells wonderful.  I can only hope it works out as well as people say it will.  I would love to not have to buy the liquid stuff.  They take up so much space and it would be one less thing to throw out.

I'll let you know how it goes.  I have several more loads to do over the next day.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

relaxing


the big cheese

This is the view I prefer to have while I am Chuck E Cheese. sitting down with my feet up.
Ours was recently remodeled and I have to say, its much better. More games, more chance for tickets. More room for the kiddos to run around and not bump into each other.

The food is, well, edible. The pizza has gotten better over the last few years. The fact that they also have beer and wine doesn't hurt either.

They also added several Big Kid games, like Guitar Hero. And some trivia games. Over all, a much better place.

The only downfall - the Skee Ball game. The old Cheese had used machines that used wooden balls. Now they are plastic and too light. This sucks! Bring back the wooden ones!!
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new year

We have a family custom to go to Tim's sister's house for New Year's Eve.  Its an important day for her and her wife.  So we are lucky to spend it with them and ring in the new year.
This year, we toned it down since Gracie was introduced into the mix.  So game night 2 happened.


 Moe was apparently getting very specific about something.


 Bernie, our Niece, tried to play.  She did really well.  I was very proud of her that night.

 Almost midnight and E wanted to snuggle with Tim.


Me and my girl.

stocking up

I ventured out today to accomplish a long over due task. We call it "Big Shopping".  I'm talking stocking up on meat and staples.  Especially paper products like paper towels and bathroom paper.  

So I braved the snow and yuck this morning (while Tim took Erin to her first Swimming lesson).  First stop was BJs Warehouse.  I really only needed 5 things... TP, paper towels, 2 kinds of cheese and Tim's meds.   I ended up grabbing some extras to save $$ - like drink boxes...  better get them there than pay thru the nose in the store.  Mission 1 accomplished.  

Off to Target.  Note to self - avoid Target on Saturdays.  Women there are nuts!  Talking the phone, not paying attention to what they are doing in the aisle.  I needed only 1 thing really - had coupons for a few more..  walked out with my Biore strips (Facial night!), Kleenex  and a sweatshirt for only $3.75. 75% off!!  SCORE!!  Mission #2 done.

Final stop Wegmans.  List in hand, I tried to stick to it best I could.  Only wavered a bit.  All in all, we have enough food to last us a month.  Coupons really didn't make a dent... I wish veggies and meat had coupons.  

A MONTH!!!!! 

With any luck, I will only have to buy Milk, bread , Lunch meat and maybe some veggies.  Thats it.  Heck, I can make bread if I wanted.  I have no issues with no lunch meat either ( but tell that to the 7 year old, not gonna happen).  I am content with PB&J or raman or soup.  

To make it even more fun, I drove home in a snow storm.   BRING IT ON MOTHER NATURE!!!  I have food, TP and Booze.. I am good to go.  'cause really, what more do you need?

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

stalker

I'm such a stalker.

I follow so many Vintage/Retro, craft and sewing blogs, I forget I have my own!

I'm such a dork.

On a good note, the living room and half the kitchen are clean.  So is Erin's room.

Hey, its something.

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Really late Christmas photo


Christmas Eve
Originally uploaded by melblackrose
I am so behind in posting so its time to get going.

Erin was all dolled up for Christmas. She even had me do her hair. She sat in curlers for over an hour and then we put her hair up. It needed something so we added a ribbon. It really made it stand out - she looked like Cinderella!

Her Godmother bought her the dress and it of course came with a matching doll dress. Two peas in a pod.

Erin even wore my good pearl necklace. She really does clean up nice.