Oils

This would smell better than commercial bug spray!

In my continuing quest to clean up my pinterest boards ~ I started on my Essential Oils board yesterday.  But I got hijacked, after deleting duplicate pins, by the information I saw.  I've gotten in a rut with my oil usage and use the same ones over and over for the same things.  Yesterday, I made some new "brews" and they are working quite well.  As with anything you see or read on the internet or from other folks ~ do your own research and decide what works well for your family ~ any advice or "recipes" found here, should not be taken as medical advice or as an alternative to medicine you are already taking.

I have done my research on oils and we use them topically (on the skin), diffused, and some internally.  I personally love a drop of peppermint oil in my hot chocolate and have no problems with it ~ however, I can't use a drop in hot water because it burns my lips, weird.  Amy and I use lemon in our water and its delicious.  I also add lemon and orange drops to my hot spice tea. 

All essential oils are not created equally ~ cheaper isn't better nor is more expensive the best option.  Do your research and find what works for you, your family and your budget.  There are several large essential oil companies that sell through reps directly to the customer (I sell for one of them).  There are also some good quality oils at Sprouts, Whole Foods and Trader Joes.  Before I would take an oil internally, I would contact the company directly and pin them down for a definite answer about the safety of internal use. 

There is loads of information and tons of pins on pinterest about oils.  I am going through and printing off the ones that are of interest to me.  Because the FDA is cracking down on claims made by some companies about their oils (and usually the claims are correct information, the fda just wants to control this), something you pin today, may be gone tomorrow.  Which has happened with lots of my pins.  Government regulations and all that are stepping on too many toes these days.

My buddy Deanna over at http://plainhomesteading.blogspot.com/, makes a lot of salves for her family, which is something I would like to do.  These salves could easily take the place of the commercial brands of products for things like dry skin, itches, bug bites, etc.  Maybe I can talk her into sharing her recipes with me.....hint, hint!

If you have an allergy to anything already...one of mine is cedar ~ then that's an oil I won't even try.  I can walk into Home Depot and instantly tell if they have cut cedar wood ~ itchy eyes, nose and throat is no fun.  So use caution ~ even when opening a bottle to test the fragrance.

If you would like to order any oils from me or have any questions about them ~ I would love to hear from you.  Just leave a comment & your email address and I can contact you that way!

Here are some pins I rediscovered yesterday ~

I don't have the Vetiver, but do use the lavendar

wonder how this would work?

This would smell better than commercial bug spray!

Thankful for ~

Gods provision for our health

cute pins to share

information about healthier living

taking care of my family

Happy Birthday Oldest "Little Buddy"

4 years ago today our world was rocked ~ we became GRANDPARENTS!  We love that role and the 4 precious little grandsons the Lord has blessed us with~ 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBERT!  You are loved more than you can comprehend and are prayed for daily! 





We are thankful for ~

your energy
your laughter
your snuggles
your love
your health
your beautiful brown eyes


We love you bunches Little Buddy!  And hope you have an awesome birthday and a very blessed year~

Mesh Wreaths

Mom bought several rolls of the deco mesh last year from Walmart - on clearance!  And then she handed them to me to do something with.  They sat here for months ~ taunting me.  I looked on Pinterest and found a couple of ideas, then I just decided to make up my own.  You need the deco mesh~ my rolls are 30 feet long and you use 95% of that!  A wire wreath frame ~ ours were 12 inches.  And pipe cleaners....only they aren't called that any more.  For a while they were known as chenille stems now (at Walmart) they are called Fuzzy Sticks.  I guess calling them pipe cleaners inplies you are going to use them to clean your pipe.  Whatever!  Our art supplies now have to be politically correct.  For the sake of the rebel in me....they are pipe cleaners! 

one package from Walmart was enough for 3 wreaths with leftovers

Gather the mesh & twist the pipe cleaner around the end then twist the pipe cleaner to the inside ring of the form

the inside ring is done ~ more on the mesh below

this is what the back looks like with all the pipe cleaners

then I twisted all the pipe cleaners neatly around the form

the finished wreath!

I did 2-3 loops on the inside sections of the wreath and 3 loops on the outside sections.  I only did the inside and outside, the fullness of the loops fills in the middle sections.  My loops were gathered about every 7 inches...but I didn't measure and do it exactly.  This mesh is about 24 inches wide, so you've got a lot of fullness after you fluff the loops.  This stuff is very forgiving and I don't think you could mess it up!  As long as you use your pipe cleaners.....fluffy sticks!  It does come in handy to clip the "sticks" in half before you start.  Also, you use one continuous piece of mesh, don't clip off 7" inch pieces and do individual loops.  After you fluff it out....you will fill in all the gaps.

Thankful for ~
craft supplies
clearance sales
ideas
time to craft

A Loud House

This past weekend, our house was loud and full of folks ~ to celebrate both Fathers Day and Greg's preaching his first Sunday morning Sermon in church (he did an AWESOME job on The Sovereignty of God).  A little kitchen work was done (backsplash), the gate on the little dog yard was completed, Greg got in some studying for Sunday morning, and lots of playtime with our little buddies ~ all 4 buddies were here on Saturday afternoon and for dinner.  The boys wore their Hawaiian outfits we bought last fall for pictures ~ and true to form....trying to get 4 little guys (4 & under) to sit still and get in one picture is challenging~

Thomas ~ age 2

Robert ~ just a few days shy of his 4th birthday

Alvin ~ our cabbage patch doll!  age 9 months

the digger tractor got a workout on Saturday

"I can do it myself!"

Thomas prefers the slower train speed.

PaPa had some study distractions

Aiden loved peeking around the corner of the office and seeing PaPa ~ he had never been in this room and was fascinated!

And there is my cousins picture ~ Aiden escaping off the couch & Alvin was asleep in the bedroom!

kitchen backsplash!

Thankful for ~

Greg's diligence in study to bring the Truth of Gods Word
His opportunity to preach
Our family that was able to come to church on Sunday (we packed a pew!)
Laughter of grandchildren
Our dishwasher ~ it got a workout with 6 company meals in 2 days
My daughters cleaning the kitchen after lunch on Sunday
My Life

The Blessing!

Yesterday I skipped going to the garden ~ it was just too hot, my foot hurt (dropped a canning jar on my toe), and I was just too lazy.  Sitting in the air conditioning seemed like a better idea.  This morning I went out with the little blue basket pictured below.  I quickly exceeded that basket and switched to the yellow, 5 gallon bucket and just about filled it.  I was so excited to find a green bean ready to pick....and that excitement turned into the garden happy dance when I saw the loaded plants!  Green beans are my favorite vegetable~  Greg has lots of squash casseroles in his future too!  Now its time to chop and freeze squash, slice zucchini and snap beans!  All of which can be done in the air conditioning ~ thankfully!

Thankful for ~

lots of yellow squash
2 more zucchini
green beans!
ripening blueberries
gardening weather ~ would like a little more rain

Pinterest House Cleaning

I am doing lots of "housecleaning" on my pinterest boards.  I saved loads of pins for ideas to use in our keepers group and for fair projects....neither of which we are involved in any more.  And saved lots of cross stitch pins for pictures I will never do, so they are being deleted.  That being said....there are lots of pins still on every board because I like them!

Here are some wonderful Patriotic Cross Stitch pins to share with you ~ some are freebie patterns and some are for purchase ~

this is a "for purchase" that I need to get!

Another "for purchase" ~ that I need ~ love these Ursula Michaels patterns

Thankful for ~

the rich Christian principles of our Founding Fathers
The Men & Women of our Military ~ past, present & future
Our beautiful Flag


Praying for ~

The Lord to raise up Christian leaders for our country
Our Nation to turn back to the Lord & His principles
For Biblical Standards & Teaching to replace the rampant liberalism
For children to be taught the real History of our great country

Sewing/Craft Room Pictures

My sewing room has been completed for a while, but the we started on the kitchen, so everything ended up in the sewing room, pantry, sunroom or dining room table.  I've reclaimed the sewing room!

our scrapbook/craft table, cart is from Moms house

I love the vinyl tile floor~easy maintenance!

cutting table Greg made for me

Old China hutch from my aunts house

Thankful for ~

a sewing room
ample room to work
a ceiling fan in the room
easy to maintain flooring
project ideas
completion on my Hawaii vacation scrapbook

The Meeting

Have you ever met a friend after a long absence and picked up your conversation and friendship like your last meeting had been yesterday?  I did that with several friends in Mississippi on our trip and it was great!  We are going back in several weeks and I am sure we will pick up again.

My meeting 2 days ago was quite unusual, but we had the same amazing, we've always been friends result, even though we had just met in person for the very 1st time~  I've been following Deanna's blog (http://plainhomesteading.blogspot.com/) for years ~ at least 10 from what we could figure.  I recently started following her on Instagram.  She lives near Tupelo, Mississippi, I was about 3 hours away in Brandon.  We occasionally joked about meeting up but it never happened....until this week.  She posted a picture on Instagram about driving by Talladega on her way to Atlanta.  I piped in with where in Atlanta, she & her husband had gotten a hotel room in Alpharetta for his working here.  Whoo hoo, the plans were on!  That's about 32 miles from me but with the stupid traffic took over an hour to get there.

It was an fun, amazing time.  We talked and chatted like we had "known" each other for years and were catching up where we left off, which in our case would have been our last facebook post or Instagram picture or blog post.  Amy went with me and had a great time also.  The Mexican restaurant we found was probably glad we left after 2 1/2 hours because of all the laughter and stories.  I can't wait for the next time! 

So, it was great meeting you friend!  Let me know next time you are in town ~ we will find a fabric or craft store to invade for a while! 

Amy found this picture for you after hearing all your animal stories ~ 



Thankful for ~

a new friendship
a uncrowded Mexican restaurant
"maps" app to get me where I needed to be
a fun visit and conversation
The fact that we finally met! 

Garden Update!

tomato plants with lots of little green tomatoes

crooked neck yellow squash plants

we think this is a watermelon

Greg's corn patch ~ a small section

green bean patch

old shutter hinged together for runner beans to grow up

more corn

I planted cucumbers on these trellises today

todays squash harvest

the deer have been here

squash!

Thankful for ~

fresh vegies

lots of plants flourishing

the rain to water the garden

summer days