Soil Sterilization Debacle

 

This post is not a tutorial for sterilizing soil. This story is purely for entertainment purposes. You can laugh with me at all that went wrong!

I was excited to start some seeds this spring! I had heard about sterilizing soil in the oven and I wanted to try doing that with my soil in order that I might kill any weed seeds. Soil from the store is already weed free. I have recycled potting soil, though, so my soil was possibly contaminated with weed seeds. 

I dug through our garden shed to find all my bags of dirt. I had this very large, heavy duty, aluminum tray that was also in the garden shed. I thought it would be the perfect thing to bake all this dirt on in the oven.

I brought the dirt inside to my kitchen. It had to sit around for a couple of days to thaw. Once the dirt was thawed throughout I carefully piled dirt onto the giant aluminum tray. Cautiously I lifted the tray full of dirt and took it to the oven entrance only to find that the tray was too wide to fit into the oven. What a pain!

I had to scoop the dirt off the giant tray and distribute it among several of my good baking trays.

I baked the soil at 400°F. for 30 minutes.

The house was filled with the smell of wet dirt. Reminiscent of what it smells like outdoors when it starts to rain after a long dry spell. I can't say it was the most pleasing aroma to fill my house with. Little did I know how much worse the house was about to smell.

I had a lot of dirt to cook. I ended up doing several batches. I scooped the hot steaming dirt into large Tupperware containers and then refilled all my baking trays with more dirt. I was in a time crunch because I had a friend coming over in the afternoon. Maybe it wasn't the smartest move to cook a bunch of dirt before having company over. 

My thought process went like this,

"I don't want this thawed dirt sitting here on the kitchen floor when my friend comes over."

"I must get it all sterilized so that I can put it away before she gets here."

So, now my house stinks and I am having a hard time containing this dirt. It is getting on my table and floor and clothes!

The last portion of dirt that I had to sterilize was mostly peat moss. I didn't think peat moss was much different than soil. I certainly didn't think it would ignite in my oven!

Smoke began to permeate through the house. At first it blended in with steam and went unnoticed. The smell went from wet dirt to smoldering organic matter. Think of musty leaf mulch burning. It was nasty!

I opened the oven to find burning coals of peat moss and waves of stinking smoke! 

I quickly took the baking tray of peat moss outside to the porch. 

I had one more batch of peat moss to put in the oven. I soldiered on! More peat moss on the trays, back into the oven they go. Only 15 minutes this time.

Back outside to check on the tray of burning peat moss. There was a gentle breeze outside supplying my burning peat moss with plenty of oxygen. The flame continued to burn and consume more and more of my peat moss! Agh! 

I fetched a bucket of water and put an end to the fire once and for all.

I hope you take this take into consideration if you ever sterilize soil in your oven.

In conclusion, I was able to air out the house sufficiently to have my friend over in the afternoon. I had a funny story to tell her as I explained why there may be a smokey smell in my house. We had a good laugh! 

All's well that ends well!

Gethsemane (Poem)

 

Gethsemane

By Henry Beer

It was in dark Gethsemane

Where Jesus in His agony

Endured the anguish deep and great,

In view of His impending fate.

On Olive's brow, 'neath shadows deep,

In dark Gethsemane's retreat,

The Master knelt in earnest prayer,

While loved disciples slumbered there.

Gethsemane, O woeful place,

Where Jesus sought the Father's face!

"O take the cup of death from Me,

It's awful pain and agony.

Yet not my will, but thine be done."

This was the plea of God's own son.

None other could for sin atone,

In anguish deep He prayed alone.

The loved disciples did not know

The depth of sorrow and the woe

Which Crist the friend of man must bear

To save us from our dark despair.

Prophetic words must be fulfilled;

The blessed Lamb, as God had willed,

Must give His life upon the cross,

To save us from eternal loss.

And thrice He prayed in earnest tone

In dark Gethsemane alone. 

With angel's help the victory won:

Then Jesus prayed, "Thy will be done."

If we would Christ's disciples be,

Our will with His must blended be. 

Our very self must be o'ercome,

That we may say, "Thy will be done."

As Jesus in Gethsemane

By prayer attained the victory,

So shall we, when we seek His face,

Still find in Him abundant grace.

The Girl's Have Dresses Finally!

 

It took me a while. I didn't finish these dresses in February. I barely finished them in March.

My 20 minutes of sewing a day program gets pushed to the wayside more often than not. I did finish a sewing project in February. What I did was sew buttons onto a shirt that I made for Mr. In The Mid-west years ago. 

This shirt has been sitting in a pile of unfinished sewing projects for over SEVEN YEARS! A long time ago I made matching shirts for myself and Mr. In The Mid-west. But Mr. In The Mid-west never got to wear his because I didn't have enough matching buttons for both shirts. I put the buttons that I did have on my shirt. I wore my shirt out. It was stained and faded. In February I took all the buttons off of my shirt and sewed them onto Mr. In The Mid-west's shirt. It was my Valentine's gift for him this year. I was so happy to see him wearing the shirt I made for him with my own hands. He liked it and even wore it to Church!

 As the month of March drew to a close I began to cram. The last days of March saw me sewing much more than 20 minutes a day. I was determined to finish the doll dresses before April came.

As the dresses got closer to completion it became harder to put them down. I didn't want to quit sewing. I was so close to being able to put the dresses on the dolls!

I finished the last stitches. The final touch was to put the snap buttons on the back. 

The following morning my daughter helped me by posing with the dolls for my Etsy listing. She loves every doll I make. I feel a little bad selling them. She does have her own doll that I made for her a couple years ago, besides the multiple store bought dolls she has. A girl can never have too many doll, I guess! 

Check out my Etsy listing!

The March Woods (Poem)

 The March Woods

By Henry Beer

Come out into the woods,

And leave your cares behind.

The trees and flowers there

Will cheer the heart and mind.

There's beauty in the woods,

Though strong the March wind blows.

The sap from maple trees

Into the buckets flows.

The trees as sentinels

All leafless there they stand;

The budding trees foretell

That spring is nigh at hand.

Come out into the woods,

And see along the stream

The pussy-willows fair

With robes of silver sheen.

The violets budding forth,

Beneath the leaves are seen.

The mosses and the ferns

Are robed in vivid green.

Come out into the woods,

This anxious life forsake.

And here in God's great realm,

New friendships you shall make.

Have I Found The Key To Laundry?

 

Am I so presumptuous to claim that I have found the key to the looming task that is LAUNDRY? Du...Du....Dah... (Dramatic music)

Perhaps not everyone loathes laundry as much as I do. (as much as I did) I used to say many times a week, "I hate laundry. I hate folding clothes!" 

It dawned on me in back in December that chanting, "I hate laundry. I hate folding clothes!" probably wasn't a healthy habit. I was reenforcing and entrenching a pathway of thinking that was unhelpful to me. The more I said it the more it became true.

My Grandma told a story of how that when she was a little girl she hated Ox Tail Soup. She had the poor judgment to say out loud how much she hated Ox Tail Soup when it was served to her one supper time. Her Daddy said, "There are staving children around the world who would be happy to eat Ox Tail Soup." She had a smart alec retort: "Well then send it to them!" Her Daddy made her say, "I love Ox Tail Soup." every time she took a bite. And every time Ox Tail Soup was served she had to say, "I love Ox Tail Soup." And Ox Tail Soup became her favorite soup. Right up to old age she said Ox Tail Soup was one of her favorites.

I experienced something similar with eating tomatoes. When I was a girl I hated tomatoes. They made my stomach turn. When that slimy gel surrounding the seeds in a tomato hit my tongue it made me gag and want to puke. They were acidic gross little fruits not meant for human consumption in my opinion. When I was 10 I decided that I was too old to be a picky eater anymore. I made a resolution to like tomatoes. My rule for myself was that every time tomatoes were available I would take one on my plate and eat it. Cherry tomatoes in salads and vegetable trays, sliced tomatoes on sandwiches and just as a side I now took every opportunity to eat. Before long I got accustomed to the texture and flavor and eventually learned to like tomatoes. Today I love tomatoes!

These stories testify that you can change your feelings towards things. Your mind is in control of your feelings. 

The Psalms show this too. How often does the psalmist say, 

"I will rejoice," 

"I will praise," 

"I will declare," 

"I will not fear," 

"I will offer," 

"I will sing," 

"I will arise," 

"I will be glad," 

"I will give thanks," 

"I will trust,"

"I will hope,"

.......?

There is no mention of being filled with joy prior to the declaration, "I will rejoice." The goodness of God is the only fact that precedes this rejoicing, or gladness, or praise, or trust, or hope. No feelings are mentioned, only a declaration of an action that the psalmist will take: 

"I will rejoice."

"I will praise."

"I will declare."

"I will not fear."

"I will offer."

"I will sing."

"I will arise."

"I will be glad."

"I will give thanks."

"I will trust."

"I will hope."

I was in the midst of a smoldering depression one time when I read Psalm 28:7

"The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him."

And I thought, "I can't rejoice." "I can't praise." This verse is not for me now.

Then I read Psalm 70:4

"Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified."

I began to realize the ball was in my court. It was up to me to rejoice. It was up to me to change my feelings. One of the key factors to changing your feelings, based on these and other verses, seems to be changing your words.

Now we are getting back around to the laundry topic...... My feelings towards laundry needed to change. To rephrase that, I needed to change my feelings towards my job of laundry. I decided to start with the words coming out of my mouth. I made two rules: 1) no saying, "I hate laundry," and 2) everytime I fold a piece of laundry I would say, "I love folding (insert child's name) pants." "I love folding so and so's shirts." And so on and so forth.

Everytime I say, "I love folding Mr. In The Mid-west's t-shirts," or, "I love folding the baby's onesies," my heart warms a little. A surge of satisfaction with my own work wells up inside of me. I hear my family members names and I am reminded of how much I love each of them. I am forced to recognize what a rich life I am blessed to be living. Slowly, I am learning to like folding laundry. Forbidding spoken complaints and instead requiring spoken gratitude has led my feelings. I am changing my mind by changing my language. And that is the key to laundry for me. I have been able to conquer the laundry mountain and keep it in check since implementing this technique. This is a huge victory for me! Perhaps you will be intrigued to give this method a try in any areas that you are struggling to overcome.

Proverbs 15:23
A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth:
 and a word spoken in due season, 
how good is it! 

Keep The Love Kindled

 At our Church sometimes people donate stuff to pass out among the members. In February a lady brought whole boxes of brand new, never used Valentine cards. I had this idea come into my mind, "What if I get a bunch of these Valentine cards and put one into Mr. In The Mid-west's lunch box every day?" He was about to start a new job and I was so excited for him! I wanted to show my support and do as much as I could to boost his confidence.

As wives we all have to know our own man. It takes some time and studying. But, year after year you learn and get to know him better and better. 

I am married to a sensitive soul and I knew he would feel so special to get a card in his lunch box every day. I had almost enough cards to send him one everyday for his first 3 weeks on the new job. I had to make a couple hand made cards to finish out the week.

Here is the art I made for one of his cards.

Speaking of art, this is a cartoon I drew for one of my boys birthday card this month. This idea is not original to me. I was inspired by a cartoon I saw on Pinterest. 

My 7 year old drew a version, too:

His dragon is so darling! I think his drawing is adorable! These are the kinds of things that make mothering fun.

Easy Simple Experiment

 My son enjoyed this experiment today. 

You take a penny and coat it in ketchup. Let it sit for a few minutes (maybe 15 minutes).

Before:

After:

Isn't that fun!

He a did an experiment of soaking the pennies in vinegar, but the ketchup did a better job of cleaning the pennies.

Fun Pretzels!

 I made pretzels with my children yesterday.

When I was a little girl my mother let us make pretzels one time. And she let us use food coloring to color the pretzels!

I wanted to give my children the same experience.

I told my children, "Now you have to say that I am a fun Mom."  Haha! 

I sprinkled some food coloring on their individual chunks of dough. (This was natural food coloring so it took a lot, and even then it didn't make a bold color.)

They mixed in the color.

Then they had to make long snakes of dough.

Roll, roll, roll.

The shaping of the pretzels was a little tricky for the children. I did the shaping for the most part. My oldest son was able to learn the right moves to shape his own pretzels after a couple tries.

The pretzels had to be boiled in baking soda water for 20 seconds.

The pretzels were finished by baking in the oven.

Violá!

Tie Die Pretzels for lunch and fun points for Mother!

The recipe that we used is from Sally's Baking Addiction. If you are looking for something fun to do with your children, I recommend that you make pretzels! This was an easy project and the memories that we made will last a long time! :-)