Yarn Party

Apparently I'm having my own private yarn party today. I went to the store to buy a yarn needle and walked away with $40 worth of yarn. They were having a clearance sale... half off on most the yarn in stock. So I of course loaded up. Two one pound skeins, and about four pounds of miscellaneous pastels. I don't really need pastels, but I'll find something to make with them! *grin* I also picked up a new crochet hook. You can never have too many.

I learned to make a granny square yesterday and have been going crazy scouring YouTube for different patterns. Up until now I've only done straight line afghans, pot holders and baby blankets. I am really enjoying branching out.

The newest creation:

Absolutely Nothing

That is the plan for today. Bastian is home and we're taking it very easy... and very lazy! TV, popcorn, coloring (for him) and well.. that's pretty much it. Life can be good, now and then. *grin*

Empty...

The house is so empty with Bastian in school. I miss him like crazy for the 7 hours he is gone. It didn't seem so bad Wednesday, because I spent the day at the barn. Yesterday I took a long nap so it wasn't so bad either. Today seems to be dragging though. At least the weekend is near. Maybe we will go to the park or the movies tomorrow, just the two of us. Daddy has to work.

Did manage to get some things done this morning. Made a large batch of spaghetti and put it in single serve Tupperware containers for quick microwave lunches. Washed some dishes... thought about vacuuming but decided to procrastinate another day or so there. I really dislike it, the noise is unsettling to me and the cats. *laugh*

Modern Technology... and how much it sucks!

My internet has been rather shoddy lately. The technician came out yesterday and informed me that they installed the wrong modem for our area and it was too slow to read the signal correctly. He fiddled with it and it seemed to work better. He told me if it slowed again or quit seeming to work I should call again and they would replace it. Well, if you know it's likely to break down again why not just replace the stupid thing this visit? Yeah, well... needless to say it's slowed again, and will likely poop out in the next few days. It takes forever to get these people to fix things. I guess that's more human error than machine, since they installed it wrong though. Still....

I wish the internet weren't so necessary. If it weren't I certainly wouldn't have it. It's how I keep in touch with most my family and almost all of my friends, so it's a necessary evil. We did manage to ditch television, well... cable anyway. No reason to have 2000 channels if you only ever watched it a few nights a week. I do miss Animal Planet, but I have learned to live without! *laugh* Besides the internet streams most shows or I can download them if I really feel the need to watch it. Of course, streaming is hard when the modem is shoddy... *glares at the mass of metal and wires*

Apartment Composting

I started a compost bin in my kitchen about a week back. I had to with all those corn husks! I couldn't just toss them out. It's small, but that's the best way to start. Especially if you are unsure of how it will pan out!

I just bought a $5 rubbermaid bin from Walmart and some potting soil to get it started. Placed the potting soil in the bottom, layered a good amount of shredded newspaper in it, gave it a liberal spritzing to make it a bit damp (not soggy!) and then chucked in my husks and also some eggshells, crushed up. Placed the lid on top and shook vigourously. That part was fun. I shake it e very other day and anytime I add something. I'm being picky about my adds though since it is small and in an enclosed space. Not eager to have a smell, you know.

I'm pretty excited about it all in all. Can't wait for time to pass and that rich dark gold emerge from what I would have thrown out a few years ago!

Trail Mix Cookies

Here's my recipe for Trail Mix cookies. It's probably my family's favorite. It has oatmeal, which my husband likes, and add-ins like chocolate chips or M&M's which Bastian likes. Plus the recipe makes tons depending on how big you portion the dough, which keeps me from having to make batch after batch!

Trail Mix Cookies:

3 eggs
1 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
12 oz. jar peanut butter
1 stick butter, softened
2 tsp baking soda
4 1/2 cups 1 minute oats (not the Instant kind, the 1 minute kind!)

Add ins:
Any 2 cups of adds... whatever you love. I call this trail mix cookies cause we usually add 2 cups of trail mix, the chocolate lovers kind with M&M's... but you can use any adds you want. 1 cup M&M, 1/2 cup nuts, 1/2 cup raisins.... anything as long as it adds up to 2 cups. Be creative, or use family favorites.

1. Heat your oven to 350*. 
2. Combine the eggs and two sugars. Should be creamy looking.
3. Add salt, vanilla, peanut butter and butter. Mix until creamy again.
4. Stir in baking soda, then add oats. I do this step slow so they get blended in well.
5. Add your add ins and mix well one more time!
6. Now you have your cookie dough/batter/whatever you like to call it.
7. Drop by spoonfuls on a cookie sheet (lined with parchment if you do that sort of thing, I've never had trouble with a plain non stick sheet though). You could use a melon baller to be more precise I guess. I just eyeball it. Some cookies I scoop bigger for a tray, some smaller. It really depends on you. You could probably even put it in a brownie tin and make cookie bars, but I've never tried that.
8. Bake 8-10 minutes and let cool on tray before moving to cookie rack or plate. If you try to pull them off too soon they are very soft and big ones could break easily, trust me!
9. Eat and enjoy!

Barn Hoppin'

Tomorrow is Homestead Barnhop day! I love Mondays. I'm going to share a recipe for Trail mix cookies, which is very versatile and you can make to suit your tastes. You can put anything as an add in these cookies. And they always taste yummy. Well, I mean I guess you wouldn't want to put, say, salmon in them... but if that's your thing who knows? *laugh*

My Lehman's Non-Electric catalog came yesterday. I could literally order one thing off every page and still want more from it. Of course I can never afford half the stuff in it, and the other half I can make do with gadgets I scrap together here at home... but still.... *want, want*