Getting Things Done

I really love that feeling you get when you have had a productive day!  So, what exactly makes a productive day in my opinion? Here are some criteria, based on what I wrote about before,  which form the basics of my daily list.  

• Pray
• Read
• Write
• Fix
• Serve
• Plan
• Cook
• Clean
• Move

I simply write these  8 things in my household journal with a note after each item.  Today's list looked like this.  

• Pray for hurting church families
• Reading Isaiah 42, and next chapter in Made To Crave
• Write in my paper journal
• Fix ??  (still waiting to fix our upstairs shower) 
• Serve my family by getting groceries, buy present for Mom 
• Plan for Friday through Sunday
• Cook chili for dinner
• Clean, do a whole house tidy with kids  
• Move, do work out with Ryan 

So far, I have been able to check everything off today's list, except dinner!  It's been a good day. I have had extra time today to spend planning my daughter's 9th grade school year as well.  I am going to make it my goal to write such a list every day, except Sunday and family days.  Just think how much I will be able to get done!  

Discovering the New Garden

photo from My Farmhouse Love

I love spring!!  And right now, I am so enjoying discovering all the plants around my new house.  (I will take pictures soon.  Right now, the sky is cloudy and we've had over 5 inches of rain this month.) What is really special is that a lot of the plants are like ones I planted at other houses, and sadly had to leave for others to enjoy.

So far I have discovered hosta, lilies, clematis, echinacea, lilac, phlox, tulip, and hydrangea.  I am not sure of what one flowering bush is yet.  It is not in bloom, but soon.  We have 2 nice hard maple trees, and 2 others that I am unsure of.  I think one is a cottonwood, which is a messy tree, so it doesn't thrill me.

I bought trellis' for the 2 clematis, just in time.  They are growing like crazy!  One week, I saw them peaking through the mulch and then the next week they were wrapping around the trellis'.  I love clematis.  I had to leave one that never bloomed for me.  I was told this little saying about them.

"First year they sleep.  Next year they creep.  Third year they leap!"  

I have one empty spot that I would like to fill with a sun loving perennial.  I will have to wait and see what I find at the nursery.  My last house had very little sun, so this is a treat to get to pick out a sun loving plant. Anyone have a suggestion?  

If funds allow, I will be planting a few cherry tomato plants, catnip, and the sunny perennial, when I get my petunias for the deck boxes.  But I have to wait until after Mother's Day, for that is when my grandfather always said it was safe to plant delicate plants in Indiana.  Hey, that is coming soon!  Yay!  

Next year, I would love to have raised garden boxes again.  We will see. Until then, I am thankful to have all the lovely plants that we do have, one of the reasons I chose this house!  I knew that we would not be able to sink a lot of money into landscaping, so it is very nice that it is all basically done.   

We Who Live in the Quiet Places

"We who live in the quiet places have the opportunity to become acquainted with ourselves, to think our own thoughts, and live our own lives in a way that is not possible for those who are keeping up with the crowd, where there is always something "on for tonight," and who have become so accustomed to crowds that they are dependent upon them for comfort."
Laura Ingalls Wilder

When the Ordinary is Lovely

Photo from My Farmhouse Love Facebook page. 

It's a rainy cold Saturday here.  The kind of day that is good for baking.  I dug out an old cookbook and baked a recipe for a cake from the 1930's, thinking of how happy it will make my family tonight.

I stripped the sheets off of our bed and put them in the wash.  It will be really nice to crawl into a fresh bed tonight after a busy day.

I watched episodes of The Waltons while ironing shirts and pants for my husband to wear this week.  How I love that show!  You can learn so much from those dear people.  Such things as,"No use wishing for things you can't have."  Also, how to be a good neighbor.

For a little break after dishes and laundry, I got out my cherished copy of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House in the Ozarks to read a selection about work. I love her wisdom! She writes of us needing work that we love beyond being compensated.  It stirred thoughts of my work as a homemaker and how I love being home.

And then I listened to some wonderful big band music, as I put a chicken to roast in the oven.  In a bit my daughter and I will make some homemade icing for the banana cake. Then soon, my husband will be home from his hard day at work and we will all sit down and enjoy our evening together.

It might seem like one dreary task after another sometimes, but really, I wouldn't have it any other way!

Hello Spring?

(Picture from My Farmhouse Love's Facebook page)

While not the official first day of spring, it is exciting to be so close.  It will be spring in name only, as the powers that be are calling for more cold weather.  Even though the temperatures are lower than normal, it has been so cold this winter that below normal is now feeling warm.

This is still a season of changes.  We find ourselves with open windows and a furnace turned off.  Then in the early hours of the day, we are cold and wish for the furnace to be back on.  Hot soup one night and bringing out the grill the next is not uncommon.  A winter mix one day and the next we have a perfect spring day to enjoy.

The best part of early spring is the hope one feels.  Birds sing of this hope.  The air is filled with it, too.  I have even seen little shoots poking up in the dirt looking for the same hope.  Aww, spring!!!

My Little Notebook

Electronic journals, readers and calendars are very handy.  But, I  have always loved paper.  I keep a paper calendar.  I prefer books in print. And, for the last several years, I have been writing little bits and bobs in my paper notebook, along with blogging.  I call it my Homemaker's Journal.

On the first page, I have written, "Hard work means prosperity; only fools idle away their time."  Proverbs 12:11.  Oh, do I need this verse!

In my little paper notebook, I write my weekly menus.  I write short "to do" lists for each day.  I write cleaning lists.  I copy recipes that I want to try.  I also write down quotes that I want to remember.  And I write check lists so that when we have to be away from home for a day, I can check the list and not forget little things that are so easy to forget. It is not fancy at all.  It's written in a composition notebook that I usually pick up a few for 50 cents around back to school time.  Usually one will last all school year.  But, I love it.

Here are the last few things I wrote in my notebook:

This week I found a formula for shower cleaner, which I made today.  I will try it out tomorrow.

1 part vinegar, warmed up.
1 part Dawn dish washing liquid, stirred in.
Put in spray bottle and get busy!

This quote from J. C. Ryle , "It costs something to be a true Christian.  It will cost us our sins, our self-righteousness, out ease, and our worldliness."  Hit me where I live, in my comfort zone!

Crash Hot Potatoes (The were really good!)
Red potatoes, as many as desired, boiled until fork tender.
Preheat oven to 450F.
Drizzle baking sheet with olive oil.
Set potatoes on the sheet, gently smash with a masher, rotating both ways.
Drizzle again with olive oil, season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, favorite herbs.
Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
Bake 20 minutes.

What one of my favorite blogs says to do when recovering from an illness, which I was this past week.  

• Clean something
• Cook something
• Plan something
• Read something
• Write something
• Fix something
• Sew something
• Serve someone

This little list inspired me to keep going.  

Cookies, Snow, and Minimalism

My daughter and I made our favorite cut-out cookies yesterday for Valentine's Day.

These are fantastic with layers of flavor.

Do you like to celebrate little winter holidays?  I do.  Celebrating makes life more fun this time of the year, especially when it is snowing again and you are growing weary of snow!

Speaking of snow, we got 5 inches yesterday.  This picture was just the start.  More is coming by morning.  

And finally, a Minimalist Mantra from Money Saving Mom

Stop buying the unnecessary.
Toss half your stuff,
Learn contentedness.
Reduce half again.
List four essential things in
your life, do these first,
stop doing the non-essential.
Clear distractions, focus
on each moment.
Let go of attachment to
doing, having more.
Fall in love with less.