A big thank you!

One scheduling issue from when we were a single car family was getting Rob to work. Most fair weather days and even a few of the foul, Rob would ride his bicycle into work. Riding in the rain was not his favorite, especially after a long day at work and riding in the snow was not happening. 

Rob has some wonderful co-workers who would help him out with a ride to and from work, and one co-worker in particular who has offered many, many rides over the last two years. So today's surprise is for this wonderful friend who has helped us out greatly. 

My helpers and I worked this morning in the kitchen to whip up a few treats. Almond cookies, Chocolate chip cookies and Almond cheese crackers. A huge thank you again to this very special man. 

Many blessings to you on this fine day.--Kate

The new ride

The first for today is a particularly exciting one. It is our first ride in our new car. 

  
New car is a Jeep just like her sister old blue Jeep, (also know as Lizzy.). My oldest loves naming things, especially cars, so this evening when we asked her what new Jeep's name is she said "Elsa". We all agreed that was the perfect name. 

We have been a single car family for a little over two years. It has not been terrible, but it does require some very careful scheduling and makes last minute plans very difficult. So this newest addition to our family is a very welcome one. 

Many blessings to you on this fine night.--Kate

Mismatched storage containers.

One thing that drives me crazy is Tupperware. We have a drawer of it and only half of it seems to fit together. I feel like I am cleaning out that drawer all the time to make sure that everything in there has its match and the very next time I go to that drawer I find pieces that do not fit. Also it seems as though there is twice as much and the drawer is hard to close. Where are all of these mismatched pieces coming from?

Do not get me wrong, I love plastic storage containers when used in other areas of our life. For example to corral those renegade toys, to hold all of the soaps that seem to take over the bathroom and to keep all of my craft and sewing supplies organized and easy to find. For some reason the containers in the kitchen refuse to stay in order.

Today's thing mismatched plastic containers. Now once again I am going through the drawer and out goes the separated sets. Of course next week I will find that missing lid under the refrigerator. 

Many blessings to you on this fine autumn evening.--Kate

Crossed off the to do list.

Life is busy right now. I am trying to get my house ready for company and I have a really big sewing contract in the works. I was tempted, so very tempted to skip my wrap-up today. These are the moments that I created the blog for in the first place. It is much too easy to fill up time and let the to do list grow and grow. 

The project I finally tackled today and am now able to cross off the list is cleaning out the dryer. The dryer has been acting up for a while now. I was thinking the problem was a build up of dryer lint and dust bunnies. So I took some pieces off gave the whole machine a good vacuum and put all the pieces back on. 

There were no surprises in the machine, just a lot of dust and lint as I expected, but in moving the machine I found a piece to one of the kid's toys that had been missing since Christmas. I also found a plastic coin that must have been part of a toy from the previous home owners that had managed to go through the whole system and was stuck in the venting shaft. 

After procrastinating on this project for so long it feels really good to finally have it done. My little helpers also really enjoyed cheering me on as I put it all back together again. 

Many blessings to you this fine night.--Kate

From feet to hands

I have a lot of fun and crazy socks. For the past few years I have received them as birthday and Christmas presents or found them in post holiday sales bins. I love the bright colors or wild patterns, but socks don't last forever. I have used old socks for a number of things, cleaning rags, dog toys, patches, and even sock monkeys.

Recently I had a couple of socks wear out in the heals and toes. They were made with a thick yarn so I thought rather then cut them up I would see if I could unravel the yarn. That way I could use the yarn in a different project. After unraveling the foot portion of the sock I realized that what remained of the sock would actually make a pretty great set of fingerless gloves. So that is what they have become.

From footwear to hand warmers. My old socks have found a new job, and my hands are loving it now that the cooler temperatures have arrived.

I am thinking that the other set might make a good pair of legwarmers for my little ballerina. 

Many blessings to you on this fine day--Kate

Chicken Nuggets

One of the dishes that the kids were most sad to see go was Chicken Nuggets. So again that was one of the recipes I went in search of. I found this delicious recipe and also fell in love with Vegenaise, which is saying a lot because I strongly dislike Mayonnaise and have not eaten it for nearly 20 years. 

Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients
-1 lb thin chicken pieces
-1/2 cup grape seed Vegenaise
-1/2 cup almond flour (I also like to add 2 Tbsp coconut flour)
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions
-Mix the flours and spices together in one bowl. Put vegenaise in another bowl. Dredge in vegenaise then in flour mixture. 
-Place on baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, flipping the nuggets at 15 minutes. 

We serve them with a honey mustard sauce for the kids. 2 Tbsp Mustard, 1 Tbsp honey stir until the color changes and sauce becomes thin. Yummy!

Many blessings to you on this fine day.--Kate

All Soul's Day

The last of the three holy days, All Hallow's Eve, All Saint's Day and finally All Soul's Day, day of prayer for the dead.

My father Michael. He passed in December of 1987

Many blessings to you on this fine Holy day.--Kate