Needle Book Project

Mr. In The Mid-west bought some boxes of miscellaneous odds and ends at an auction a few years ago. Most of the stuff was junk. While I was going through a box I came across this little Dutch girl. It appeared to be made from woolen felt. There were a few moth nibbles here and there.

I thought it must have been some girls play thing in the past. But no, it had a couple of needles inside. So this little felt Dutch girl was a needle book. "Aww, that's cute," I thought.

Wait, what's this in the bonnet? A thimble! How clever! "I must make some of these!" I said to myself.

I had a nice piece of remnant wool felt. It was a small enough piece that I had not been sure I would be able to use it for a project. It was perfect for this needle book project. I thought the original Dutch Girl was cute, but I added some decorative lazy daisy flowers to my versions to spice them up a little.

Aren't these darling!

I am still using the bedraggled, junk box needle book. She serves my purposes well. (And I do use her a lot!) It would be a shame to retire her now. But when she does wear out I'll have a new, flowery needle book to take her place. :)

If you are interested in having one of the Dutch Girl Needle Books that I have made you can purchase them on QuietStandards, my Etsy shop. :)

A Right Spirt

This is the lesson I heard in Sunday School this week. I found it to be very applicable in my life. I am posting the notes that were in the hand-out.

A Right Spirit

Psalm 51:10

Create in me a clean heart, O God; 

and renew a right spirit within me.

The word 'spirit' speaks of an attitude which is portrayed through your spirit, your expressions, functions, or conduct.

One can have the right beliefs and hold the right stance without having the right spirit.

Malachi 2:15 

And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take head to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

• We are to keep a close watch on our spirit towards our spouse.

1Corinthians 6:20

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

• We are to glorify God, not only in our body, but in our spirit.

Proverbs 15:1-2

A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.

• We need a right spirit when dealing with others.

What was it about Daniel that impressed the king?

Daniel 6:3

Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.

What was it that Elisha wanted from Elijah?

2 Kings 2:9

And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said into Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

What did Paul pray for the Galatians, for Philemon, and for Timothy?

Galatians 6:18
Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Philemon 1:25
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

2 Timothy 4:22
The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.

What did David pray for in Psalm 51:10?

Psalm 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

A Right Spirit:
I. COMES FROM GOD.
II. MUST BE PRECEDED BY A CLEAN HEART.
III. COMES FROM A DESIRE TO BE LIKE CHRIST.
IV. THE SPIRIT OF MAN REVEALS THE EXTENT THAT HIS HEART IS IN TUNE WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.

The fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.

Galatians 5:22+23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Let us not have a fault finding spirit, a critical spirit, a condescending spirit. 

Let us be separated unto God, not merely separated from the world.

The closer we follow God the more of The Holy Spirit will show in our spirit.

Fire Water: Home Remedy For Cold and Flu

Fire Water

Home Remedy For Cold And Flu 

Particularly Healing For Sore Throats

Recipe:

1/2 cup Boiling Water

1 tsp. Cayenne Powder

1 tsp. Salt

1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

Mix cayenne pepper, salt, and boiling water. Stir until salt is dissolved. Add apple cider vinegar. Take 1 tablespoon every 15-20 minutes until flu is gone. To treat a sore throat gargle each dose before swallowing.

This is my favorite remedy for sore throats. I have used it many times. The ingredients are simple and effective.  I always have them on hand, unlike the ingredients for Decongestant Tea, which are a little more specialized. I, also, really like how effective the Decongestant Tea is, but I don't always have all the ingredients.

This recipe is taken from Be Your Own "Doctor"  by Rachel Weaver. I love this book! I highly recommend you order yourself a copy! Rachel Weaver is a midwife and master herbalist. She has lots of experience and advice on treating common ailments naturally. I purchased her book from Nature's Warehouse. Their store is in Kidron Ohio but you can buy the book on their website. Here is a link.

Chocolate Gravy Recipe

Does chocolate gravy sound strange to you? I can understand why some may think pouring chocolate gravy over biscuits is unappealing.

Let me tell you how I became acquainted with chocolate gravy.

My Grandma on my mother's side usually would come stay at our house when my Mom had a baby. She was there to see the baby, of course, and help out while my Mom recovered.

My third brother was born at night and the following morning Grandma made chocolate gravy and biscuits for breakfast for us all! They were delicious!

Grandma started a tradition in our family. After that, every time my Mom had a baby we would make chocolate gravy and biscuits for breakfast the next morning. This happened many times. My Mom has given birth to 14 children!

Now that we are grown up and having our own babies my Mom will bring us chocolate gravy and biscuits when she comes to meet her grandbabies. And often when there is a baby born in the family (like a niece or nephew to myself) I will make chocolate gravy and biscuits at our home to celebrate.

I had a nephew born recently and while I was eating my celebratory breakfast I called Grandma to ask her where she had first had chocolate gravy. She told me that when she was a little girl her grandma made chocolate gravy and biscuits for her. She would put the chocolate gravy over her biscuits and then place pats of butter on top. She remembers thinking that the yellow pools of melting butter looked so pretty against the dark chocolate.

Grandma told me that her grandma was from Arkansas. I think chocolate gravy must be a southern thing. My mom has a cook book that has a recipe for chocolate gravy and that cook book was compiled by a church, also, in Arkansas. I have never run into anyone in the Midwest who has heard of chocolate gravy except a friend who said her in laws from, you guessed it, Arkansas, make chocolate gravy.

If you are interested in trying chocolate gravy here is the recipe. (But the main reason I want this recipe here, on my blog, is so that I don't lose it, again.)

Chocolate Gravy

6 TBS. Cocoa Powder
1 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Milk
1/4 cup Butter
1/8 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla

Combine cocoa powder and sugar in saucepan. Blend in milk. Add butter and salt. Cook and stir constantly until mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Serve over hot biscuits. Enjoy!

Denim Whale Project

Last January I had the idea to make a bunch of denim whales, some for gifts and some to sell. I had seen some cute ones on Pinterest. I pinned them a long time ago in hopes that I would commit to making some in the future. So, a year ago, last January, as I was saying, I started drafting patterns. I studied some pictures of humpback whales. They were my models for flipper and tail shapes.

I sewed a few, did some tweaking, and settled on a design. I made a big eBay order for all the materials that I would need. I purchased 3 yards of denim, 5 pounds of polyester filling, 5 pounds of plastic beads that are made for stuffed animals, 3 spools of thread (I ended up needing 4 spools), plastic mailers to ship my whales to customers, and a digital scale to weigh the stuffing, as well as calculate shipping costs.

I was able to cut all the whales from the fabric in March. I ended up with enough material for 12 whales. Actually getting them all sewn has been a long process! I finished sewing the last one in November. And, I just finished sewing the last pair of eyes on last week!

A tutorial of sorts:

The first step of sewing a whale is sewing the flippers, turning them right side out, and topstitching. Make sure to have the right side of the fabric facing out on the top of the flipper and the wrong side of the fabric facing out on the bottom of the flipper.

Then I sew the 4 pleats along both sides of the belly of the whale. Before I sew the center belly seam, I zigzag stitch the raw edges on both pieces in the area I plan on leaving open to be able to turn the whale right side out. Then I sew the belly seam stopping and backstitching on both sides of the hole. I leave a hole about 2 1/2" long in the belly right behind where the flippers go, but before the narrow part of the tail.

I proceed to the top of the whale. I sew the center top seam all the way from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail. I finish all the raw edges with a zigzag stitch, as I go along. I baste the flippers onto the top piece. With right sides together (keep in mind that the right side of the bottom of the whale is the wrong side of the fabric) assemble the top to the bottom, tucking the flippers inside, and pinning carefully all around. Then I stitch it and finish the edges.

Now the whale has to be turned right side out and the topstitching on the tail has to be done.

I stuff my whales with a combination of poly fill and plastic beads. 3 oz. of plastic beads go in the belly and the rest gets filled up with 4 oz. of polyester fiber.

To make the eyes for my whales I cut a small circle (about the circumference of a pencil eraser) out of white, tightly woven, cotton material. I hand stitch it on to the whale with little whip stitches around the edge. Then I make the pupil. I use black thread and do a padded satin stitch in the center of the white of the eye.

Feel free to make your own whales with the ideas I have laid out here or head over to my Etsy store, QuietStandards, to purchase one from me! :)

Doulingo: A Free Language Learning App

You may have heard of Doulingo. It is a free language learning app. I downloaded it a year ago and have been using it to learn Spanish. I have learned over 4,000 words. The app is very easy to use. It only takes a few minutes (like 5) each day to complete a lesson. A few minutes here and there can really add up, though. Over the course of a year I spent over 78 hours learning Spanish just a few minutes at a time. Doulingo makes learning  fun and interactive. Doulingo teaches by using sight and sound and speech. There are listening exercises, as well as reading and spelling exercises, and portions of lessons where you have to practice speaking. By using all these methods to teach Doulingo is more effective than just learning by reading a book.

I still have a long way to go before I will be able to speak Spanish fluently. I would like to reach that goal before I am 30. Why? I have heard that if you don't learn a foreign language before you are 30 you likely never will. I have also heard that learning a language is good for your mind. It engages parts of your brain that other activities don't.

If you are interested in learning a language I recommend checking out Doulingo. They teach all the major languages like German, French, and Spanish, as well as obscure and endangered languages like Hawaiian
Navajo, and Irish, plus everything in between!
Here is a link.

Click here

The Wonderful Pineapple Weed!

I just learned, this month, that Pineapple Weed is Wild Chamomile!
I have long loved the scent of Pineapple Weed. Years before I knew the plant even had a name I would pick a bud whenever I passed a patch in the driveway, give it a pinch and smell the sweet aroma. The fragrance is so fruity and tropical.

I have tried for a few years to grow Chamomile, only being successful this year. I noticed that my Chamomile plants looked uncannily like Pineapple Weed. So, I decided to do some reading about Pineapple Weed. One of the first things that I came across is, that Pineapple Weed is, in fact, Wild Chamomile. I was super excited, because I get excited over these kinds of things. :)
Now I have been going out and picking Pineapple Weed buds every few days to dry for tea. I really enjoy Chamomile tea. The flavor of Chamomile is unique to that herb. I brewed a cup of Pineapple Weed tea and was very happy to find that it tasted just like Chamomile tea. It is indeed Wild Chamomile. :)

Recipe For Beef Jerky

Story Time Before The Recipe:

I grew up in a family that did not celebrate Valentine's Day. It was considered a pagan Roman Catholic holy day. We never participated.

After I got married I assumed that Mr. In The Mid-west had that same view of Valentine's Day. I remember saying in a conversation one day, ".....we don't do Valentines." And he said, "We don't?" That was my first clue. 

For several years we didn't do anything special. But, the year before last Mr. In The Mid-west did something sweet, gave me chocolate, I think. And, last year he bought me chocolate and a gave me a hand written card. I didn't have anything for him and I felt bad about that. 😔

This year I was determined not to be caught empty handed. I decided to make him beef jerky. It would be a special treat for him, because he never buys any for himself. He just can't justify the cost per ounce. Packaged store bought beef jerky is super pricy!

I watched prices for various cuts of beef. In January Beef Bottom Round roast was $2.99 per pound at our local IGA. I bought a 2 1/2 pound roast for $7.48 to make jerky for Mr. In The Mid-west.

The recipe I used was from Allrecipes.com (I really like their site). It so happens that it was a Chef Jon recipe from FoodWishes.com! I really like Chef Jon's YouTube video recipes. I have shared one of his videos in a post I did several years ago about making hash browns. I am not sure if any of you remember but here is a link. Back to jerky....... I went over to YouTube and watched Chef Jon demonstrate how to make beef jerky.

Partially freeze the roast. Pull it out of the freezer before it is solid. You want your roast to be firm this will help you to able to cut very thin slices of meat. Cut the beef into 1/4 slices.

Wisk together the marinade ingredients and pour or sliced beef. Separate the slices to insure that all surfaces are exposed to marinade. Soak overnight.

Pat the excess liquid off of the slices of beef on some paper towels. Dry the meat on racks in a very low oven for 5-6 hours. Package and present!

Chef Jon's Beef Jerky

From foodwishes.com

2 pounds thinly sliced beef top round

3/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

3/4 cup soy sauce

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 rounded tablespoon smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 generous tablespoon honey

- Marinate for 3 hours or more.

- Bake at 175 F. for 3-4 hours or until dry and leathery

My jerky took longer to dry completely, more like 5-6 hours. Also, I didn't have honey. I used some brown sugar and molasses instead.