A Joyful Keeper

This past week has been full of fun and learning! As I look back over this week I am thankful that God has been with us as we traveled and as we have spent time with others.

 

Here is what went on and what I learned:

 

~*~   As I said in my last post, the children and I spent the first part of the week at our American friends’ home. I printed out one of the free ebooks we so kindly were given for Mother’s Day from homeschoolebooks. (I am so thankful for the many people who are willing to give their ebooks out for free, and hope that I may one day be able to do the same for others.) The three eldest children did this ebook and also did their normal Math. Matt, the youngest, did pages in his Grade 3 Practice and Learn.

 

While we occasionally supervised the children in their school work, my friend and I sewed! I had some patchwork techniques that I wanted to teach her and she had a few for me. So we were learning as well as the children! I love to be able to learn new things in the area of homemaking, including sewing and quilting. I also love to teach others what I have learned! It is all part of being a Titus 2 woman – being willing to learn and being willing to pass that knowledge on.

 

~*~   We had easy meals those days we were busy with school and sewing One night we had chicken on the BBQ (grill) with a tossed salad of spinach leaves, tomato, onions and grated carrot. We also had a pan full of corn on the cob which the children just loved (yes, us adults ate the spinach salad!)

 

Another night we had homemade hamburgers which are so much healthier than the ones from take away shops, much cheaper, and also very easy to put together. We had the buns out and everyone had the choice of what to put on their hamburger. It was quick, easy and healthy.

 

I realized that sometimes I try to hard to make fancy meals, when the simple ones work just as well, if not better I am thankful for this reminder, and last night I put it into practice with making chicken rolls – thinly sliced chicken breasts/thighs fried in a pan with cooking spray, and placed on rolls with various salad ingredients. The whole family loved it and it was so simple!

 

~*~   One of the techniques I learned from my friend was so fun and easy. It is also very frugal as it uses scraps that would otherwise be thrown away.

 

When I cut fabric for my projects, I am often left with little bits at the end of a 2” or 6” strip that will go in my scrap box. I soon found my scrap box full to the brim and I had no idea what to do with them. It was also a daunting task to go back and cut them to the sizes I would want them to be. Then I learned to cut the scraps into various sizes before they went into the scrap box! I have now got many 2” squares, 6 x 2” strips, etc,  all piled neatly and ready for a project that needs these sizes.

 

Now on to the project my friend taught me! I had to have 120 2” squares in a paper bag! I had to take these and put them one at a time (without looking at what I was grabbing) onto a piece of iron on interfacing with a grid. I did this until it was all covered. When I had finished doing this, I was allowed to change 5 squares if I thought they were in the wrong place – no more.

 

When all the squares were in place and I wasn’t allowed to obsessively compulsively change any more around, I ironed them in place. Now sewing them together was a breeze. I just folded the row of squares with right sides together and stitched a ¼” seam along the row. After doing all the rows, I snipped into the seam a little so that the seams interlocked nicely, and sewed down the other rows. I now have a nice little scrap quilt that I need to frame and put borders on and then decide what to do with it – lol!

 

When I get time I would love to show you with pictures how I did this. Another project for a rainy day!

 

~* ~ My friend lives on an army base and told me about the thrift shop there on base where everything is sold for 10c each! We went there and just had a ball! Here are some of the “treasures” we found:

 

~ A little book called “In Grandmother’s Footsteps – A treasury of household hints from the past” I’m sure I’ll find lots of handy hints in here!

~ A pair of flannel pj’s for my ds 8

~ A pair of jeans for dd 10, with embroidery on the legs, plus a few t-shirts

~ A little book called “The patrol goes to Camp”, written in the 1950’s with instructions on how to set up camp sites, tie certain knots, making simple camping gadgets, etc! It looks so fun!

~ Two sets of icy pole makers – don’t know what they are called! Your pour in juice or cordial/koolaid, and then freeze them. At only 10c a set and then making them ourselves, we will save a lot over time!

~ Around 20 old National Geographics to use for school projects.

~ A little toast rack – to sit toast in after it has popped and before it goes on your plate!

~ Lots of kids books

~ Various puzzles

 

I just love thrift shops, or op shops as we call them here in Australia! I know that God has special things for us whenever we go there.

 

 

~*~  When I came home I still had a lot of things to tidy up and unpack. I tackled the kitchen and dining room first. I cleared the table and then took a scrap of fabric and put it in the middle of the table as a table runner. I put a set of coasters on it and a candle on each side. It looked lovely in case we had visitors drop by for a cuppa.

 

I cleared the kitchen, did the dishes that my husband had left me to do (smile), and put away some of the extra clutter. I put a few cute ornaments that I had been given on display and the kitchen also was company ready

 

~*~ This week I have been working on stocking my pantry. Actually I have worked on it for the past fortnight, but finished it to my satisfaction this week   The way I did this was to go through the specials catalogues and firstly write a list of the things that were on special and that I like to have on hand. Then I went through my normal shopping list and looked at the things that I had missed.

 

With the staples like flour, sugar, custard powder, cocoa, salt, etc I bought store brand - the cheapest. For other items we have our favorite brands and I usually would buy them on special. Now that I have one of each item in my pantry, I can look out for specials to replace them when needed.

 

I said to my husband that I think we have a very well stocked pantry and freezer now, and over the next month will only have to spend money to replace various things and buy fresh fruit, veggies & milk. He was pleased because he still doesn’t have a job and our money is running quite low.

 

 I think I have rambled on long enough about my week I hope I have encouraged you to think about your week and all that you have achieved and learned. I know you God has been working in your life too! I love to look back on my week and realize that even though it has gone by so quickly, it has been a productive one.

 

Have a great weekend everyone