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.