Sabbath Praises

I hope that everyone has enjoyed the Thanksgiving Holiday! :O) 

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a great day to Praise God for all of His blessing. But let's not just only take this one day to thank the Lord for His blessings- let's remember to thank Him every day! A grateful heart blesses us and Him!! 

Sabbath Praises

A Little More Information on Leave Mould

So today is another day to take my Mother in law to therapy. So I will be gone for several hours, but I wanted to leave you with this: 

This is just a quick 3-4 minute video that I thought ya'll would enjoy! 

A Great Way To Make All Those Leaves In Your Back Yard Usefull!

Ok so one of the cool things that has been keeping me busy and out of trouble is that I have been learning about leaf mould. Normally youtube allows me to share videos - nice and easy, but for some reason this video ( and it may be because it is out of country) will not do it so I have a link below. When I have have tested it - I have been taken to a page and then have to click on another link to actually get to the video. The video starts out slow - he opens his back door and walks across his lawn but if you will be patient I think you will learn quite a bit. 

So I had a whole bunch of leaves accumulating in my back yard and what better way to deal with them than to get my mower out. My push mower that has a catchment bag. I did not do this but one of the videos I watched said that it will cut the leaves littler if you raise the blade up - but since I don't know how and I did not want to bother my husband with that since I don't know if it makes a big difference or not, I just used my mower as is. I mowed around over the leaves. I lucked out because the weekend before there was a young man at our house and he and our granddaughters were out in the back yard - he used a rake and was gathering up leaves so they could jump in them. Well thankfully most of the pile stayed put so I mowed over several areas and would hit a bit of this pile. You see if you mow and get some greenery - in your leaves - mix it up a bit with some of this and some of that - you have a better chance of things breaking down and doing better. 

So in the description of the video below he has a link to a couple of composter bins. My husband ordered me one and when we saw how cool it was he got me a second one. Anyway so one weekend I mowed a bit and then dumped leaves into a trash bag and then mowed some more, dumping that into a bag. And just kept doing that till I had 6-8 bags worth well I had 6 bags and a large trashcan full. I took the leaves that were in the trashcan and I put them into a good sized raised garden box that we had that was pretty empty. And I layered it with some droppings from my chicken coop as well- I put some cardboard over that and wet it all really good. When I water my plants I water this as well. I am hoping that this can all break down and just add to the nutrition level of this garden box. We had to wait a week or so for the boxes to get here. And so this past Sunday I actually got my composters placed where I wanted them and then I filled them up - doing the same thing I did with the raised bed- I layered some chicken waste in there as well. Then I soaked the leaves with water. This is very important. So do not leave this step out. 

You will want to press the leave down when you fill it up. And then once you water them down - be prepared that a few days later the leaves will compact down quite a bit. That happened with mine. And so yesterday I actually mowed some more leaves and grass to put some more leaves into the composters. And then I watered them down quite a bit. 

So they say that if your leaves are cut up that it will take less time to decompose. So if you use just straight leaves - the way they fall - it could be a year before you have nice leaf mould, but if you cut up the leaves- like you do with a mower- then it takes about 6 months. I am excited about this because come spring I should have some awesome leaf mould to add to my garden!! 

And if you can't get composting bins - you will be happy to know that you can just put the leaves in trashbags and fill the bags  up with water - then you will poke holes in the bags all over. And just put them aside and you will get leave mould - in either 6 months or 1 year.   

So much great information on youtube - wade through all the junk and find the great stuff. Here is the video that I was refering to! Enjoy! :O) 

Great Leaf Mould Youtube Video 

How to make Leaf Mold (Mould) the Easy Way

Hey... Hi!

 Good Afternoon! How are you all doing? I am so sorry I have been missing in action. It has not been my intention to be gone so long. Normally I can at least get on my ipad and pop on and do a quick up date- but I have a pretty old ipad - I got it 7 years ago when I got diagnosed with cancer and had to go through treatment. And it wasn't the newest version then when we bought it. I am thankful for it because I really enjoy watching youtube videos on it -but lately it is saying that something isn't compatible and so I can not use blogger from my ipad any more. And where my computer is located - it is challenging to get on here and get blogs typed up without being disrupted. But I have an idea that I am working on and hopefully I can get it all worked out soon. I have quite a few things to tell you about. Some steps I am taking to make our home here- more of a homestead. With all the craziness going on in the world - I am learning the value of taking advantage of the space I have and putting it to work for me. There are some new projects that I have done - new things I have learned that I want to share - that way you too can try these things out if you are interested. 

I have also been quite busy. This is one of my few "free" days this week. What do I mean by "free" day - well there are a total of 3 appointments that I need to take my mother in law to this week - 1 Monday, 1 Tuesday and 1 Thursday. And if things keep up like they are I will have 11 more appointments to take her to before the end of December. Oh my! The worst part about it all is that 99% of these appointments are downtown in a large city nearby. Not only that but we have to park in a parking garage and usually have to go up at least 4 stories or more before we find parking. And all this mess in the world - it makes it even more miserable...

Lots going on around here and more things planned and I can't wait to get on here and share them with you. Hoping I can catch a few minutes here and there to get some great posts written up for you all. Hope you are doing well and staying safe. As a fellow chemosabe used to say - Stay Strong and Thrive....SS&T!!! 

Sabbath Praises

So this week I am just seeing if you are paying attention....lol 

Yes, this is the same song I shared last week but this is a different rendition. This is my favorite one! I absolutely love it! I hope you are blessed by it as well! Let's continue to praise God! :O) 

Raspberry Jam

 

So over the last week or so I have not felt the best. I don't know if it stress with all of the mess going on in our country and the fact that all these restrictions just keep hanging on month after month. It is truly very discouraging at times. It could be allergies. I just don't know. But that has not stopped me from getting some fun stuff done around here. 

Luckily for me Aldi's ran a great sale on raspberries. $1.29 for a 6 oz container. I bought a case - 12 packs in all. I had no idea how many containers it would take. In the past I have went to make salsa only to find out that I did not buy enough tomatoes- so now I will be buying more than what I need, just to make sure I have enough. It is much better to have too much than not enough. 

I got 10 half pint jars of raspberry jam. And oh it is SO good. And yes - I like the seeds in there. I know it looks like alot of seeds but when you eat this on toast - you can not really tell. 

I had thought about using my machine that I used to make applesauce- but after just a bit of the berries went through - I realized that it would send way too much of the stuff to the trash bin and I did not want to waste that much of my berries. I would rather have alot of seeds than to waste half or more of the berries.  

It feels good to add a few jars here and there of delicious food. 
My husband is not a fan of raspberries so these will be all mine. :O) 

Don't Forget Your Bubble Wrap

 As I was visiting with a sweet lady after prayer meeting, someone walked by and handed her a stack of newspapers. Beverly began to tell me the story of them visiting a beautiful little town in Arkansas and how she and her husband were wanting to move there, hence the newspapers. 

Later that same evening the stress of the undecided elections started to raise it's ugly head again and as i lay there trying to go to sleep, I started praying. I had noticed over the last few days my prayers had taken a turn. I found myself praising God even more and praying for my friends and family more and more. 

As I was thinking, I began to realize how during these -crazy, chaotic times we need to be spending more and more time in prayer and Bible study.. Just as the newspaper helps protect the fragile items we have when we are packing, God's Word and prayer acts as the newspaper(or bubblewrap) to protecting us from the fear and discouragement at the times we are facing. The closer we get to the last days the closer we will need to come to Jesus for everything we need...strength, courage, peace, joy, etc... 

If we know Jesus as our personal Saviour and if we love Him, we will be drawn to obey God's commandments and to hold onto our faith in Jesus. This will seal our forehead for Jesus and when He comes, which I believe will be soon, we, too, will be going to a beauty city! One that He has prepared for us! 

Be sure to continue to wrap your fragile self in the newspaper/bubblewrap of God's love, prayer, and faith in Him. Not only reading His Word, but also obeying it. Holding onto your faith in Him. These things will protect your soul to the end. 

Lessons From Nature

 This is a post that I actually wrote out in a notebook just after finding all of the Tomato Horn Worms but I just had not gotten it typed up here - so today is the day to share it with you all- better late than never. 

As I have been working with my tomato plants and especially when I have found a worm after I thought I had really checked the plant over has had me thinking that there has to be a spiritual lesson to learn.  

The worm is like sin. It might be so hidden that we don't think it's there, but if there is ugliness in character, like the ugliness of the tomato plants after being eaten by the tomato horn worms, then there certainly is sin. It is sin that causes the ugliness. How do we know this? We find an excellent description of what the fruit of the Spirit is in Galatians

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. 

Against such there is no law. 

Galatians 5:22-23 

I think it is neat how God can teach us lessons through nature. That is why I think it is such a great idea for us to spend time out in nature and be sure and be open to listening to what He has to say. 

Our Most Important Outfit!

I hope I did not set this photo too big - if you are having a problem seeing it let me know and I will reduce it. 

Floating around Facebook - wish I could take credit for this. ;O) 

 

My Best Deal

I know, I know... Food best deals are not as exciting as other great deals - but it is all I have to share. No other options. So here it goes... my trip to HEB this week yielded me this: 

 Kellogg's Frosted Flakes with Marshmallows- my husband loves them both so I thought he would love this cereal. Stick around to the end and I will tell you his opinion of the cereal. Anyway original price $3.24 - I paid 81 cents!! 

Hill Country Saltine Crackers Deluxe - original price 1.78 - I paid 44 cents! 

So my husband had a bowl of this cereal and he said it wasn't as good as he thought it would be. So I am even more glad now that we were able to try it for so cheap. I do usually buy him off name brand cereals- to save money and he doesn't seem to mind. 

Did you find any good deals this week? I would love to hear about it! :O) 

Sabbath Praises

It has been a stressful week for those of us here in the USA. And this song has been such an encouragement to me and has become one of my favorite songs! I hope it is encouraging to you as well. May God bless you and may you draw closer to him every day!! :O) 

Recanning and Election Results? Hmmm

A couple of weeks ago I canned up several batches of salsa. I was so disappointed with the last batch ended up being way too tart. I learned an important lesson that week- Taste what ever you are canning before you actually can it - just in case you need to tweak it a bit. 

Well since I was disappointed - I just left canning well enough alone for a couple of weeks. This week with the extra stress of the unresolved election results-  I decided it was the perfect time to recan the salsa and see if I could fix the issue. 
I felt bad because I would have to "waste" some lids. Especially during this time that it is so hard to even find lids, but I decided that these lids would be my storage lids. I have heard that used canning lids do much better when it comes to vacuum sealing dry goods. All I will need to do is to use a little alcohol to wipe off the labeling - stating the date and "salsa" on the lids. But I am leaving that on there until I actually use them - so I will know these are used lids. 

I added some chopped purple onion, 1 ear of corn, and some cilantro. I had not had enough cilantro when I made the salsa so I knew it needed that already. I think this batch turned out much better than the tangy salsa I had on hand that no one would enjoy. 

 

Since I took these photos I have wiped off these lids and labeled them and put them away. 

I am so glad that I took the time to recan these jars. Now I have put away some yummy salsa. 

Next time I can something i WILL be tasting what ever it is before I can - just to make sure I get a great product. Tweaking before canning saves a lot of time. Ask me, I know. :O) 

And just in case you were wondering the election results- Here they are: 

Something floating around facebook - so very true.... 

Great idea of how to to use your home made fabric softener

So I thought that this video shows a great idea and I have a few ideas I would like to add along with it as well. So I have shared about making your own homemade fabric softener before. You will also see in this video how to make it. And it is pretty good to use in your washing machine. But this gives you the option of how to use it in the dryer as well. 

With this idea- you can use your homemade fabric softener or store bought. You will need sponges and a container. I have some empty cat treat containers - and am thinking of using one of them until I figure out a better container to use. 

I, personally do not feel like you need as many sponges as what Tessie uses in this video - but if you have a lot or can get a lot for a great deal - that is totally find. I plan on just doing a few. At this point I have not tried this yet, but wanted to share the idea with you all because it can possibly stretch your money a bit - and if you end up not having dryer sheets- then not all is lost. You have other options. I hope you have enjoyed! :O) 

Fulfillment of all the Truths

 "The Lord Jesus and His ministry is the one great lesson we should seek to learn.

O church of God to-day! keep thine eye fastened upon Him, the fulfillment of all the truths in the word of God! See that in Him is all beauty, grandeur and glory; and by beholding Him we shall become changed."

~ "practical lessons for the Church of today" F.C. Gilbert

"I Know You Too!"

 "One of these days soon the heavens will open and we will see Jesus coming at the right hand of God. He will be surrounded by millions of angels among whom will be the one that has followed you from your earliest moments. As you look into the face of Jesus, won't it be wonderful to be able to say, "I know you!" ... but greater yet will be the thrill as He looks into your eyes and response, "I know you too!"

~"Hard to be Lost" by Morris Venden.

And this will only be possible if we have set aside time everyday for our relationship with Him. Make your time with Him a priority- you won't be sorry.

Alternate for Neo.....

So about a month or so ago I watched a cool youtube video that Homestead Tessie put out about how to make a neosporin type of stuff using a lot of stuff you may have around your house already. The only think I had to buy for this project was the beeswax. 

So you will need: 

• coconut oil 
• beeswax 
• witch hazel 
• vit. E 
• lavender oil 
• tea tree oil 

And of course you will need containers to put the product into. 

That's it!

Be sure and check out the video so you can get the amounts. By the way - a bit of a tip for you - she used shredded beeswax - probably easier to measure out who she did the recipe. I bought some little beeswax bars- it was suppose to be a package of 8 - 1 ounce bars - but what I got was 8- 8 oz bars. So it was a bit of a challenge to get the right amount of measurement. 

Oh in the photo above you will notice that the larger jars are still melted- and the smaller containers are mostly solidified. 

My Best Deal

 Yay! I am excited to tell you that I got some great deals this week that I am going to tell you about!! Lately it has been a challenge to find great deals, for one I am not getting to the thrift stores so it is hard to find the great deals unless you are actually shopping. 

So onto my great deals. Several weeks ago my son told me where HEB puts their clearance things and I so I have been checking that area out every time I shop there now. Sometimes I find great deals - sometimes I don't. 

This weeks "Best Deals" come to you specially from HEB grocery store!! 

So last Wednesday early morning I went by HEB and found some great deals!! Stay with me till the end and you will see my BEST deal! 

 Jack Links - Beef steak sticks - 5 sticks - normally priced at $4.96- I got them from $1.24! All were there - just the box was damaged. 

Del Monte Manderin Oranges - normal price $2.18 - I got them for 54 cents! 1 of the 4 cups was missing was the only problem! So I bought all 3 of these cups for the price of just one cup with the original price. 

Imperial Sugar - a 2 pound package - normally prices at $1.78 and I got it for 44 cents!! The package was damaged and taped up. Once I got it home - I weighed it to see if any product had been lost- nope - all of it there!! 

And my very best deal: 

HEB brand Old Fashioned Oats - usually runs $2.39. I got it for 5 cents! It said it was 59 cents - and that was an excellent price for it but I like the 5 cents much better! My containers were getting low - so I was able to fill them up for 5 cents!! It just had a dent in the top section of it - but as far as I could tell the plastic over the top was not damaged or opened. 

I love getting good deals! And since I am not able to thrift store shop as much I am SO much more thankful for being able to get great deals like this ever so often. 

They have some 12 packs of their brand Orange soda for 59 cents - I almost bought them until I noticed they were Diet - ugh. Oh well...it is not something that we needed. 

Have you found any great deals? I would love to hear about it! :O)