Rock Collecting

 

 I have always been drawn to picking up rocks along the way.  Several of these smooth round creations have taken residence in the back of drawers or nestled in a potted plant.  Well, I have decided to make my rocks a little more useful.  With my new gold-leaf pen in hand yesterday I turned these three rocks into "Commandment Rocks".  Needed reminders and a collection which can needless to say use many additions.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  

Philippians 4:4

Spring In Arizona

Doesn't get any better than this in Arizona!
Gorgeous yellow African Daisies smiling up at their inspiration on this sunny morning.

Alysum that is coming up all over the yard from seed blowing in the wind.  Just love these tiny puffs because they remind me of my grandmother's yard when I was a child.  Longtime friend, Barbara brought me some from her yard many years ago and when we moved into our new home I brought them here to continue on . . .

 More daisies planted in an old red handle pail that Precious Husband and I bought from an elderly couple in Kentucky selling their wares on the side of a country road.

         Yellow and purple sharing a pot and reminding me of Easter.

 Yes, living in Arizona in the spring is definitely delightful!

COFFEE FILTERS

Talked to my sister MaryAnn yesterday and when I asked her if she was reading my blog she said, "Yes, I like the tips, do more of those."  So when I got the following info from favorite cousin, Frani,  I thought I would share.  Making points with favorite sister is a good thing you know.  

Coffee  filters .... Who knew!   

You can buy 1000 at the Dollar Tree for almost nothing...even the large ones. 

1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the  microwave.

Coffee filters make excellent covers.  

2. Clean windows, mirrors, and chrome...  

Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling.

3.  Protect China by separating your good dishes with a coffee

filter between each dish.

4.  Filter broken cork from wine.  If you break the cork when

opening a wine  bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.

5.  Protect a cast-iron skillet.  Place a coffee filter in the  

skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.

6.  Apply shoe polish.  Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.  

7.  Recycle frying oil.  After frying, strain oil through a sieve  

lined with a coffee filter.

8.  Weigh chopped foods.  Place chopped ingredients in a

coffee filter on a  kitchen scale.

9.  Hold tacos..  Coffee filters make convenient wrappers

for messy foods.

10.  Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot.  Line a plant  pot

with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through  the

drainage holes.

11.  Prevent a Popsicle from dripping.  Poke one or two holes

as  needed in a coffee filter.

12.  Do you think we use expensive strips to wax eyebrows?  

Use  strips of coffee filters.

13.  Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries,

chicken  fingers, etc on them.  It soaks out all the grease.  

14.  Keep in the bathroom.  They make great "razor nick  fixers."

15.   As a sewing backing.  Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backing

for embroidering or appliqueing soft fabrics.

16.  Put baking soda into a coffee filter and insert into shoes or a

closet to absorb or prevent odors.

17.  Use them to strain soup stock and to tie up fresh herbs

to put in soups and stews.

18.  Use a coffee filter to prevent spilling when you add fluids to your car.

19.  Use them as a spoon rest while cooking and clean up small counter

spills.

20.  Use to hold dry ingredients when baking or when cutting a

piece of fruit or veggies...Saves on having extra bowls to wash.

21.  Use them to wrap Christmas ornaments for storage.

22.  Use them to remove fingernail polish when out of cotton balls.

23.  Use them to sprout seeds..  Simply dampen the coffee filter,

place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a plastic baggie

until they sprout.

24. Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers...

Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee

filters in  phone book..

25.  Use as a disposable "snack bowl" for popcorn, chips, etc.

Thanks Frani for sharing with me.  I'm headed to the Dollar Store today : )

Cookbooks - Cookbooks - More Cookbooks

What goes hand in hand with collecting dishes -- cookbooks of course.  Makes sense to me at least.  When we moved into our new home a couple of years ago I was thrilled to find cupboards on one side of the large kitchen island that made the perfect place for my cookbooks.  More are stashed in a basket on top of the fridge and usually you can find several by my chair on the floor of my office.  But guess where I get most of my recipes lately?  Using Google on my computer.  Last night it was baked fish using Panko, one of my latest favorite culinary finds. 

Recently I promised my youngest daughter that I would come over and we would take a couple of days and cook  cook  cook.  Hope to fill her freezer with handy meals to help her out on busy mommy days.   So I am browsing my cookbooks and reading lots of once-a-month type cooking websites gathering ideas to make our cooking venture a real success.  As Martha says, "It's a good thing."

It Works For Me Tip

When ever you get together and study the Proverbs 31 woman someone inevitably  brings up the fact "yes, but she had servants".  Today's Christian woman has servants too.   Have you ever counted yours?  I have a fridge that keeps my food fresh and handy right in my kitchen.  I have a vacuum cleaner that works so hard chasing the endless hair from our dog.  I especially appreciate my washer and dryer that provide me with fresh clean clothes without having to trudge them out to the laundry in town.  I won't even begin to list my servants in the kitchen.  I am spoiled for sure but Precious Husband says I am not spoiled, just loved.

With the many servants come various instruction booklets and that brings me to my tip.  Normally these booklets were piled together in my pantry and it was a pain going through all of them to find what I needed if I had a question about my microwave or something.  So last week I gathered all these bundles of information together in a three ring binder with sheet protectors.  Now it is so simple just to leaf through and find what I want.  It sits neatly on the shelf too instead of a messy pile.  It works for me.

Yes, like the Proverbs 31 woman I too have servants and I sure appreciate all of them.  Now to get that washer going and the vacuum busy chasing the dog hair.  It's Monday.