Picture Thought

Words-Wednesday

"Be still, sad heart, and cease repining; Behind the clouds the sun is shining; Thy fate is the common fate of all, Into each life some rain must fall, Some days must be dark and dreary."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow-An April Day

Under the Influence

We know that we ,as parents, have the largest impact on our children. From infancy on they mirror us, good or bad. We often can learn a lot about ourselves just by watching them.
When I was pregnant with my son I didn't have any odd food combination cravings. But I did crave strawberry milk and drank it often during the early stage of my pregnancy until the doctors told me to stop. Put quite simply either I stopped drinking the strawberry milk or they could give me shots to control my sugar. Thus the end of my new favorite drink. While I kicked the habit, unbeknownst to me, my unborn son evidently had developed an addiction. From an early age he requested strawberry milk and still drinks a glass in the morning and one in the evening.
Likewise I ate breakfast foods regularly while carrying him and breakfast is his favorite meal no matter what time of day. Beginning to see a connection?

When he began to wiggle around and show signs of crawling, I looked for something to motivate him and came up with a twinkie. The package was shiny and made a nice crackle sound when squeezed. And it worked. He learned to crawl that day. Nowadays when at the grocery store it never fails that a box of sweet cakes always seems to find it's way into our cart. I often wonder if I would have gotten the same results if I had used broccoli instead. Something tells me I would have been sadly disappointed.

Picture Thought

Words-Wednesday

The man who claims to be the boss in his own house will lie about other things as well. Amish Proverb

All or Self

Don't worry this isn't some big soul searching post. In fact this is a confessional. You see I've done the whole "tightwad" thing for years. Being frugal for the future and for the betterment of our budget. But I have a secret that may turn all fellow frugalites against me. I've been sneaky. I've been bad, bad for years. Weak of heart look away. Are you setting down?

I buy self rising flour.

No seriously, that's it , I BUY self-rising flour in addition to all-purpose. Yes, you read right.

According to most frugal articles I've read, this act alone could have me ousted from tightwadism altogether. They claim buy only plain flour then add in baking powder and salt for any recipes calling for self rising. And why not? I mean it's simple to do, saves you from having multiple canisters in the cabinet, and it's cheaper.

So why do I buy it? . I already have the canister in the cabinet. It's not that much more expensive and sometimes I'm in a hurry when I'm cooking. In short, laziness I guess.

But there is hope for me. The other day I was cooking and decided to throw a cobbler together for dessert. They're fast to whip up and put in the oven. And if I would hurry there would be just enough time to get it done by the time hubby came home. I went to work grabbing ingredients and when I reached for my self rising flour it was empty. Not to worry I would just run to the freezer and pull out another bag. I buy several at once and store in the freezer for safe keeping. I get to the freezer and there is only plain flour. I return to the kitchen dejected, already mourning my lost cobbler. Then inspiration hits. Why not just bite the bullet and add baking powder and salt. So I did. The cobbler was ready when the Man got home. No one knew of my dilemma turned victory except me. But wouldn't Granny be proud!

Will I buy self rising again? Probably. But it's nice to know that I have options. That I am queen of my domain. That I am a contender. Ready to do battle next time, armed with my apron and my wooden spoon.

Picture Thought

Words-Wednesday

The beautiful is less what one sees than what one dreams. Belgian Proverb

Wow It's Monday!

We have a dog, a rat terrier, the christmas puppy we purchased for our son. Buddy is his name. Everyday Buddy goes out into the same yard, rolls on the same grass and chases the same birds. Pretty routine stuff including the fact that he greets each and every day with renewed enthusiasm. I watch him in wonder every morning at the utter joy he expresses over these somewhat mundane things. How many times I have thought "another Monday, another day, another week of the same old thing" just trying to make it through to something more exciting. How much better my day would be if I took a cue from Buddy and looked forward to what today will bring me. Joy instead of dread sounds good to me. So Happy Monday!!! Hope it brings you much joy! Until next time.... Kristi.

There's Treasure All Around

Made a stop by Goodwill last week and these are the treasures I found. I know your saying a gaudy candle holder and a dime a dozen cheese board, that's a treasure? It is if you see it's potential. First thing I did was spray paint the candle holder black. Then washed the glass topper (it was a mess when I got it). Put them together and added moss and bark from the woods behind the house and ta-da! I love it!! And I can change out the decor inside with the seasons or whims. Just a note... I kept the wood bottom of the cheese dome. Thought I might give it a good scrubbing and possibly paint it a festive color and use it for holidays. Just steal the glass topper back and I'm ready to take a cheese ball to a family get together.

Happy Easter!

Spring bursts to-day,

For Christ is risen

And all the earth's at play.

Christina G. Rossetti

Easter Carol

Picture Thought