Gardening and kitchen revelations

We have had gale force winds around here and I didn't get much done over the weekend.  Finally, around dinner, the winds stopped, the sun shone, and I put in all my seeds into the ground.  Ahhhh.  I feel much better now. I'm particularly excited about my French pumpkins, affectionately called the Cinderella pumpkin.  They are an heirloom variety that the carriage in Cinderella was made from.  It's a large, flatter shaped pumpkin and looks just beautiful.  I'm crossing my fingers and praying for just one beauty this summer!!!

I also decided something...instead of pining away for an expensive Bosch mixer, an expensive grain mill, and a horde of hard grain, I decided to break out my bread machine and make dough so I can bake it in the oven. I think we often times get in a rut of "I have to have..." something in order to accomplish something.  Why not make dough and then bake it in the oven???  I finally dug the machine out of the small appliance cemetery in the garage and put it to work!!! It's been in the garage because with my family of six, one little bitty loaf of bread equates to one slice per person...not exactly worth my time and effort.

So I decided I was making rolls for my family and you know what, they turned out gorgeous and delicious!  No more feeling sorry for myself because I don't have the newest, most efficient fandangled gadgets out there.  I think back to the prairie women who did it all by hand and cared and nurtured for their families amazingly well with what little they had.  They are truly inspiring and help me when I'm not feeling like I'm homesteading very well.

I hope your homestead is running smoothly!  Dust off some of those small appliances and put them to work! You just may be surprised with what you turn out!!!

Recycle your jeans into a quilt

Hi all. I am revamping my little blog here. I hope I spark a little interest. A project I will be working on is a massive picnic quilt made from recycled jeans. These are all the squares I have cut. They are 6 1/2" x 6 1/2". I have been collecting our jeans for years specifically for this project! I can't wait until I have it all finished! This is only the first stage so I will keep you posted on my progress. It's a great way to reuse and recycle something that we all have! Wait until I show you what I have planned for some of the pockets that weren't used!!! But that's for another post!!!

As you can see, I have many different colors and I have included seams and some decorative features, too. I've watched some youtube instructions and some people don't feel seams should be used or stretchy denim--hello, I've had four babies, you better believe my jeans stretch!!! It wouldn't be recycling if I didn't use them!!!!!! I've also included stained jeans. My husband works very hard for us so it will be included. With my family of six, we all have contributions and it will be a quilt for the family!!! What are some clever uses of old jeans that you have???