Whats Up Around Here

Dear HHH readers, I want to give you an update on why I have been absent. You see I had a plan for this blog as well as for my other blog, Family Home and Life. I planned to post here my how to's, DIY's, and goings on with family and home. FH&L would be more for promoting other bloggers as it didn't seem I was doing a good job combining the 2 over at FH&L.

However, that was before I knew about grandchild #10! You see I currently care for 2 three yr olds, a 4 yr old, and a 1 yr old 4-5 days a week. Then I pick up the older kids after school. We also have a part time business that has increased productivity lately. I am increasing my veggie gardens due to the cost of food these days and that takes time too. In a couple of months I will have the care of my new born grandson to add to the mix of all this! Oh and remember I have health issues that slow me down. It is a juggling act that I am having a hard time keeping up with! A really hard time.

What am I getting at? Time. I don't have time for keeping up with 2 blogs and I feel I can't let go of FH&L since I have put so much into it over the years. I will once again start posting there and the feel and look of FH&L will change a bit to be more like HHH as I have time to deal with it. I hope you will follow me over at FH&L and you will get the same kind of post there like the ones here as well as others like link parties, and features of others. I love HHH and will not remove or shut it down but I probably will not post here again for a long time. I am really sorry about that!

So with that my dears, thank you for following me here and please follow me over at Family Home and Life! See you then!







 Copyright © 2013 by Hill House Homestead ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Three Things

Every fall I make apple butter from store bought applesauce to give to my kids. They swear mine is the best they've ever tasted.You know it's not all that great but they like to butter me up and get free apple butter :) 

I don't have apple trees, they are not common here though you can grow them. Nor are there orchards close by (at least not close enough for me to spend gas money on) that I could go to to buy apples for applesauce and apple butter. But there was a really good sale on apples at Safeway and I decided to buy several pounds and try my hand at making apple sauce. It was a fun project but I don't think I will do it again without a way to speed up peeling the apples. Maybe get one of those nifty peeler corer gadgets. Really, though I love homemade from scratch, it wasn't worth the trouble and I didn't save any money over buying applesauce I don't think. I made apple sauce, then apple butter,  canned it and will pass it out at Christmas.

Kids Can Food Preparations, Kids Club Style

The kids summer vacation from school was 9-10 weeks. The first week or two we just chilled and did whatever we felt like at the moment.  Then I began Kids Club having weekly gatherings. The meetings consist mostly of teaching and learning the rest of the year so I wanted to focus on fun as well as learning for the summer.

Repurposing: My Hardworking Office/Class/Kids Craft Room, an Unexpected Tour

I was looking through some photos of Kids Club meetings and thought you might like to see a room I don't often photograph in. Let me tell you, other than my kitchen this room is a very hard working room! It is an addition to the house and the former owner who built it did not connect to the A/C duct work in there. There is an added A/C window unit but it doesn't really help and oh my gosh is it expensive to run!

We have 3 doors leading from this room into the main house so by leaving all those doors open we mostly get the cooling we need in the summer. Winter is not a problem at all because this room is on the south side of the house. So let me show you my hard working space. 

Easy Bibs from Drop Cloth & Scraps

With a 7 month old, one on the way and three 3 year olds that still use bibs; I needed new bibs. It's super easy enough to make bibs, and I always have lots of scraps to choose from. I could have even used an old sheet, dish towel or shirt. I noticed a drop cloth scrap and I  remembered seeing that someone had drawn stripes on drop cloth to make it look like toweling. I decided to try that out. I choose some quilt scrap prints for the other side. 

Catching Up & A Vow Renewal At Sunset

One of my plans here at HHH is to record some of what is going on in my world. It was one of things I enjoyed over at FHL back when so I can read through it all at the end of the year and review happenings.  I have a lot of catching up to do and I don't know where to start! 

Since my oldest son and his wife celebrated their anniversary last weekend, I think I will write about them. Here's a few things about them and a really funny story. 

My oldest and youngest grand daughters :)

Memorial Day 2014

 Copyright © 2013 by Hill House Homestead ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Mason Jar Solar Light

First published at Family Home and Life.

I love to use Mason jars in all kinds of ways. I found solar light lids you could buy online to make a solar light out of a Mason jar. I thought that was a great idea but when I wanted to purchase one they were out of them. I went online and found some tutorials on how to make your own but I really didn't like how they looked when finished. They had the solar unit sitting on top of the lid and it looked, well….. it didn't really look like a Mason jar anymore. I wanted a solar lid that still left my Mason jar looking like a Mason jar. So, I explained what I wanted to my husband and he made a solar lid for me that fit inside the jar, no big thing on top of the lid!

Itty Bitty Turns 3!

Today we are celebrating a birthday with a party; Itty Bitty is three years old! My how these last three years have flown by. Happy Birthday sweet girl! 

Perfect Boiled Eggs

Do you know how to make the perfect boiled egg? Seems like such a simple task to boil an egg yet I boiled my eggs wrong for many years. I like my eggs cooked firm but not over done. Runny yolk? Eww no way! A while back when we were at the cabin with my family, one of my daughter in laws who is a decent cook asked how to boil eggs.....seems she had never made boiled eggs without an egg 'cooker' before. My other daughter in law spoke up and said she always boiled them for at least 30 minutes or longer. 

With summer coming cool meals are desirable and boiled eggs can be used for egg salad, deviled eggs, an addition to other salads or just by themselves for a quick breakfast or snack. Perfect for lunch boxes too. Let me tell you how to boil the perfect egg.

My Gardening Efforts This Spring

First (partially) published at Family Home and Life. I have added to this post here.

Oh how I love gardening! No you wouldn't know that to look at my blog but really I do. It is therapy for me, and you get a nice pay off with vegetables and flowers. Before moving here 8 yrs ago I had a nice big veggie garden and I sure miss it. Here though, I have struggled to get the dirt right and still have yet to figure it out. Even my planters and pots don't do well here. It's all kinds of birds, rabbits, clay dirt, and left behind construction debris buried in the soil to the max. And to top it off, I have been well enough to do a good job or had the time with all my grand child duties. But still every year I make an effort, only my roses have rewarded my efforts.

Toddler Logic

I wrote this last October and forgot to post it then. I am posting it now as I want this blog to serve as a journal for my family as well as give you tutorials and such. I hope to be catching up with some pics of the kids and family times coming up soon.

It’s barely 9 am as I write this. I am wondering how I will get through the day with my sanity intact. The kids, 2 two yrs olds and a just turned 3 yr old, are about to do me in. These grand babies are some of the strongest willed most competitive individuals I have ever met. I am trying my best to instill in them a love for each other and good character traits like sharing and being nice.  

Benjamin Biggs Quilt A Long

I am following along with the Benjamin Biggs Quilt A Long from Just Takes 2. You will find a permanent link in my right column at the bottom if you are interested. There is also a Facebook group. I missed out on the first block, made the second one and third one, haven't had time to do the fourth yet. I chose to use pink and green instead of red and green for my quilt. I just can't seem to leave things alone; always have to add my own twist to things. So, I didn't shape the rosebud leaves like the BB quilt pattern. I found it too tedious and didn't like the way it looked with the rest of patterns anyway.

DIY Easy Bake Oven Themed Gift

It can be a challenge to keep up with all the kids birthdays that happen around here, especially when I always try to make a hand made gift for each one. Last Christmas, some of the girls received Easy Bake Ovens. I kept hearing about how they wanted to bake with their ovens but were out of mixes. I thought I would pick up some mixes for them until I saw how much they cost! Good grief, I can't believe how much they are! So I decided to see if I could mix up my own versions that would taste good too. 

Rice Pancakes

First published at Family Home and Life.

I love pancakes, and being gluten free I am always looking for something good for pancakes. I have been reacting to all grains except rice, so when I over cooked a pot of rice, I came up with these pancakes. I don't like to throw food out if it can be used, so now I have a new to me recipe. I have tried white and brown rice and either is good. It is a simple recipe and can be changed up for different flavors. 

Easy 3 Flour Ugly Bread

To say my days are busy is most definitely an understatement. I am juggling many different things and ones of those things is making homemade food for us all to eat. My grand babies love cinnamon toast after school and they can eat a whole loaf of bread in one shot. My 3 Flour Ugly Bread is my go to all purpose bread I make on a regular basis. It's fast and easy with little kneading, makes a great toasting bread, and can be used for a sandwich too. But it's not so great to look at, that's why I call it ugly bread!

Applique Quilt

Gosh I have so many things to get caught up on and so many things I could blog about that I hardly know where to begin. I will start with this child size quilt, 4 1/2 feet by 3 1/2 feet to be exact, then give you a few teasers for up coming post. I started it so long ago that I can't even remember where I got my inspiration from! But the flower design caught my eye and I re interpreted it on this quilt. I originally began it for my second oldest grand daughter thinking I would make one for each grand child eventually. Ha! that idea is out the window! Too many grand kids so close together and not enough time to quilt.

Hello Kitty Look-a-Like Scarf

Every Christmas I hand make something to give the grand kids as well as a few children of close friends. This year I made 15 scarves. I used a Simplicity pattern #4354 that I have had for a while; it is a pattern for cats and puppy scarfs. They are very cute! I decided to try my hand at making something other than the puppies and cats, I attempted lizards and dinosaurs too. The lizards looked great.....the dinos looked like lizards. Oh well, at least the boys were happy with them. And then I realized as I was looking for the pics to do this post that I do not have one pic of the scarves other than the ones I took of the Hello Kitty look-a-like scarf! Oh my!

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars After School Snack

My grand kids come home after school Starving with a capital S! Typical of most kids, am I right? And boy can they eat. If I am smart, I will have a tummy filling snack already prepared when they arrive and this one, Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars, is a favorite. They, along with their daddy's and papa, will finish off an entire recipe in one shot. It's easy and mostly healthy, so I am happy to make this for them often. My Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars recipe is a version of a no bake cookies recipe and very versatile. Leave out the chocolate chips if you want, use water instead of milk, add more cocoa; you get the picture.

Long Time No See & Pear Vinegar

Well I have had a vacation haven't I? I really didn't mean to go so long without a post. It all started, my time away I mean, when I made some changes to our internet/cable service. There was a problem with the internet line and it would let me on for about 5 minutes before it would kick me off. I would have to wait a couple of hours and try again only to get the same treatment.