Sunday Chores . . . With My Cat

It's kind've hard to do laundry when your furball decides to take over the basket. And lawdy mercy, she's so cute that I just can't disturb her. This cat makes a beeline for the laundry basket every time I take a new load out to fold. She proceeds to burrow herself in the clothes and swats at my hand when I try to take clothes out from under her. Eventually, I find her in the pile.

So, because she's stole my heart with her cuteness, I just leave her alone. I'm sure I can find something more productive to do . . . like watch t.v. or blog about her cuteness. After all, laundry can always wait.

Crazy Weather

Here is NC weather for you-- snow on Monday and sunny 73 degree weather on Friday. Actually, the wild temperature change doesn't bother me much. Having lived in Hawaii for 10 years, where the weather rarely fluctuates, I have immensely enjoyed the seasons that NC has to offer.

I can, however, say that I am ready for spring. I'm cold, I want to be outside again and I desperately need some sun. So, I'm ready for this weekend. This is also the month that I start my garden, so I want to start thinking about what I want this year. I really want to beef up on my herb garden this year-- last year I let it slip a bit. And I want to grow tomatoes and some other vegetables again this year.

Grant and I also want to work on our yard some. We have an ugly chain link fence that divides our property from the Shriner's Club, so it needs to be covered up. I decided that gardenia bushes would probably be the best option for us. After unsuccessfully trying climbing roses and jasmine plants, bushes seemed the next best option. Besides being my favorite flower, they are evergreen bushes and grow pretty tall. Hopefully, this will add some texture to our backyard. We also need to finish covering our slope with creeping phlox. This ground covering is so pretty in the spring- white, purple, pink and blue flowers cover our whole hill. Very nice. I also want to put some color in our front yard. I'll probably just get a big pot and put some flowers in there.

Well, I'm ready for spring-- are you?

Vacation

So, I decided to take the week of Christmas off from work. What a great vacation and much needed break. I have done so many things this past week-- I hope I can remember them all.

Grant and I cleaned out our attic- threw a lot of stuff away and made a trip to the goodwill. There is much satisfaction in completing a project. Grant and I almost never complete projects together because we have such different work schedules.

I have been experimenting with bread recipes this past week. Some have been successful and others have not been! I have pictures that I will post later. I love my new wheat grinder, but I am trying to find the right balance of whole wheat in bread recipes without the end result being a hard, thick bread. Still working on the balance. In the meantime I have made four wheat bread loaves, cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, and a french artisan white bread (by far the most delicious).

I made homemade sauerkraut this week. It's still fermenting, but we should be able to try some in the next day or two. Did you know that homemade sauerkraut is super good for you-- one of the best fermented foods you can eat. According to the Weston Price website:

"Many sources say raw fermented foods are beneficial to the digestive system by increasing the healthy flora in the intestinal tract or creating the type of environment for them to flourish. Sauerkraut and its juice are traditional folk remedies for constipation. Fermentation actually increases nutrient values in the cabbage, especially vitamin C. Fermented foods are also said to facilitate the nervous system."

I discovered a store at the Farmer's Market that sells pasture fed, antibiotic and hormone free poultry, pork and lamb. I picked up some eggs, a whole chicken and some chicken parts. Made a chicken stock last night with the chicken and chicken parts. I am so excited to discover this store and hope to be able to get there at least once a month.

I finished two books this week. I have been so inspired by one of them-- I will have to blog about it later. All about traditional foods vs. industrial foods. I can't say enough good things about it.

I went to the flea market and stocked up on salts, herbs and green teas.

I know there are other things I've done, just can't remember them right now. I'll post pics of our Christmas and going-ons soon.

Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas with family and friends.

In case you were wondering . . .

Our ceiling has been completely fixed. I know, I hear the collective sigh from everyone. You were holding your breath on this one. Yes, the ceiling is 100% fixed and looks like new.

This is an in-between picture of the process.

I haven't taken a picture of the finished product, because, quite frankly, that would be a boring picture.

This is what happens . . .

when a less than nimble plumber is precariously balancing on a wooden beam in my attic while installing a water heater (and not just any ‘ole water heater-- oh no, we have to have a special kind that costs 3x as much as a normal water heater). The guy just lost his balance and says he put his foot through the ceiling-- either he is a LARGE footed man, or a lot more than his foot went through.

I’m so glad that I paid a ton of money for that fine piece of workmanship.

And let me just fill you in on something. I am sort of anal about my house. I don’t like spots, holes, stains, etc. in my home. I sort of pride myself on the fact that I will sit on my hands and knees and scrub out a stain in my carpet until the dang thing comes out. So, yeah, this sort of bothers me. But, I’m going to get over it now. Yep, right now. I’m over it.