Cards I Have Made Recently

 Here are some card designs that I have made recently. You can use them for inspiration for your own homemade cards or art. I get most of my ideas from Pinterest. I usually alter the design slightly to suit my taste.

Do you enjoy making and receiving homemade cards? I feel that there is something special about a hand drawn card even if it is not fancy. I find that just drawing with confidence and intentionality gives my art the look that I am going for. Also, a quick practice sketch goes a long way to helping my finished drawing turn out the way I desire.

Life Was Simpler Then | Book Review

This is my seventh book for this year. My sister got this book from one of those little box libraries that are placed in playgrounds and other public areas. You are supposed to leave a book and take a book. I'm sure you have seen them around. She read it and thought I would enjoy it, too. 

Life Was Simpler Then (copyright 1963, 186 pages) is a nice telling of Loula Grace Erdman's childhood. She grew up before tv, wide spread automobile use, and even radio. My favorite chapters were chapter 2 which was about the telephone operator and how integral she was to the community and chapter 10 which was about school and the literary society in which they prepared recitations. Chapter 10 in particular was very inspiring for my homeschool  mindset. It renewed my desire to have my children memorize the Gettysburg Address, the preamble of the U.S. Constitution, the poem about Paul Revere's Ride and things like that. It made me think of my Grandma who had learned the Gettysburg Address by rote memory in her school days. I can remember her saying it to me. The chapter about the telephone operator was very vivid to me because we had recently listened to the audiobook Horse of a Different Color by Ralph Moody in which the telephone lady plays a vital role. All the things that Loula Erdman describes are demonstrated in a big way in Ralph Moody's story. Hearing these stories in close proximity to one another really benefited my understanding.

I enjoy reading about how things were done in the past and the stories that make another person's life so relatable. Many things have changed over the years but people have stayed much the same. The basic desires we all have to be useful and fulfilled. The way sibling relationships fit together and people grow into new roles as we age. The human condition in all time periods has recognizable similarities. Reading first hand accounts of people's childhoods like this brings the past to life. 

This book reminded me a lot of Old Squire's Farm by C.A. Stephens. Old Squire's Farm is much longer, though. If you like these kinds of stories, I recommend you check out these books.

I'd love to hear what you have been reading lately. Please let me know in the comments!

Book Review| Escape!

 

This is an unexpected book choice for me. I am not much interested in learning about the life of Harry Houdini per se. 

 I have enjoyed Sid Fleischman's books for children. I have read or listened to Humbug Mountain, By the Great Horned Spoon, The Whipping Boy, and Bandit's Moon. Sid Fleischman's story telling is always clever with an element of surprise.

  I expected this book to be historical fiction like so many of his other books, but, no, this is a real biography.

 Harry Houdini was a master illusionist, escape artist and first rate showman. His own stories about himself are highly embellished. For example; he claimed is place of birth was Appleton, Wisconsin. But according to records he was actually born in Budapest, Hungary to a poor Jewish family. His real name was Erich Weisz. The Weisz family immigrated to Wisconsin, USA when Erich/Harry was very young.

 At the age of 16 young Erich left home to make his way in the world. He joined side shows and learned tricks of the trade. 

  Sid Fleischman does not buy into the explanation that Harry Houdini used real witch craft to pull off his seemingly impossible stunts. While some of his tricks are still a mystery and the solutions are debated among magicians to this day, most of his fame had to do with his stage presence and showmanship. As with common magic, it was all slight of hand and illusion. Not to mention the exaggeration and embellishment that went into the retelling of these feats. Was he using witchcraft? Not according to this author. Did he have interest in witchcraft? Yes, there came a time in his life that he wanted necromancy to be real.

  When Harry Houdini's mother died he sought out all the successful mediums to try and contact his dead mother. Being a master illusionist Harry saw through all their tricks. None of the mediums he found could actually communicate with the dead. This made him disappointed, but he never totally ruled it out as a possibility. (According to the Bible this is a wicked thing to even seek out. I believe that some people at some times have been in contact with evil spirits to accomplish this type of work, but most are shams.) After his investigation of seances he added a whole act to his show exposing how the so called mediums pulled off their seemingly supernatural stunts. This act made him a lot of enemies among the so-called occultists.

  As an aspiring magician himself the young Sid Fleischman was acquainted with Harry Houdini's widow, Madame Houdini, as she was called. She married Harry in 1874 when she was 20 years old, before he was famous and helped in his acts until his death in 1926. She lived the life of a traveling performer. She didn't have much time in a house with her own kitchen doing things that most married women do. It was nice to hear how they stuck together through the years. All too often I hear about a person becoming famous and/or wealthy and trading in their old spouse for a pretty young new spouse. 

  At over 50 years of age Harry Houdini claimed his impressive physical fitness was due to never using tobacco products or drinking alcohol. He made this claim during a lecture he gave to some college students. A few days later Harry Houdini died in a hospital on October 31, 1926 from complications of appendicitis. 

 He had symptoms of appendicitis and his doctor urged him to go in for surgery. Harry refused to go to the hospital until he had performed his show for that evening. He did his last show while suffering a raging fever of 104°F. By the time he finally made it to the hospital operating room his appendicitis had turned gangrenous. In a world before antibiotics there was little hope of survival. He died with his wife, Bess and his brother, Dash, by his side.

April Stitches

 

I cut out the pieces for the pinafore.

I stitched the bodice pieces and facing together along the neck/front opening and the arm holes.

Then I turned it right side out.

Then I put the pinafore project on hold and moved onto a gauze baby carrier.

My sister in law was so kind to pick up the gauze material for me then she offered to stitch the hems and give me the whole as a baby gift. I am so grateful! 

She wasn't sure how a baby wrap was made so I helped by cutting the fabric into the right shape and I folded and  basted most of the hems just to make the stitching go a little easier. At least I hope it helped.

The color of the material is a mossy olive green. My phone camera refuses to pick this color up correctly. Just so you can imagine it correctly, it is not this puky bland color instead it is an inviting mossy olive green.

To come up with a way to mark the center of the wrap I had to put my thinking cap on. I don't have any ribbon with me at home. (Plenty in storage but no way to fetch it.) I rummaged through my project basket. I had a mouse eaten fleece sweater in there that I am saving in case I need to use the salvaged fleece. I spotted the tag on the sweater and decided it would be the perfect thing. I ripped it off and tacked it at the center of my wrap. It looks great and the colors are much closer it person.

I had to do some more patching of my compression hose. Not a fun project but very practical. 

I rigged up a make shift curtain for our bathroom doorway out of a table cloth and some leftover pink fabric. Again the colors look so awful through my phone camera. It person the table cloth is the faintest of pink with a pretty brocade flower design. I had to gather the table cloth and stitch it to the pink fabric. The pink fabric was something I had to add to make the curtain long enough.

I found the table cloth and matching set of napkins at a garage sale last spring. I haven't had a good opportunity to use it until now. I am glad that I found a use for it and that I can see it on display everyday. I know it has some staining but I still think it is pretty.

Nature This Week

 

Can you smell the lovely Lilac perfume through your screen? 

A baby bunny burrow. They were so new!

A rat snake. Everyone wanted a turn holding it.

We found some morels! My first time mushroom hunting since being married. 

These oak flowers, catkins, were so pretty in the afternoon sun. Much like earrings dangling, all eye catching in the sunlight.

April showers..............

Bring May flowers. ☺️

Book Review| Viking Expansion Westwards by Magnus Magnusson

 

This is the fifth book I have finished this year. It is only 149 pages but it took me a while to finish. I have been working on it since February.

 I learned a lot. The world back in 700-1100AD was all foreign to me. It all seemed very distant and unreal. This book helped the time period come to life. A lot was going on. Before reading this book I had the impression that Lief the Lucky was more fable than history. Now I know that there are a lot of credible records and evidence for his voyages. I learned some new geography, too. I had never heard of the Faroe Islands, for instance. I also learned some neat things about the Norse style of art during the time period. I was also surprised at how wide Christianity (loosely defined) had spread. In very isolated remote places little chapels and missionaries had been established and having influence.

I was inspired by something that Lydia said on her blog, Home Living, to make a schedule for myself to work on finishing this book. She mentioned how we should try to keep learning things and we can come with a curriculum or plan to work towards educational goals. I agree. We should have an additude of life long learning.

Book Review| Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates

 

This is the fourth book I finished this year. I found it to be very interesting. This book focuses on a time in early American history when Thomas Jefferson was president (1801-1809). 

  

Pirates from the Barbary nations had been capturing American merchant ships as well as other nations merchant vessels. The Barbary nations required hefty tribute payments for "protection." Jefferson wanted to put a stop to this with military force. He had to wait 2 years for congress to approve the war. I found that surprising. This was back when presidents actually had to wait for congress to approve warfare. 

  One of the justifications for this act of war was that the Basha of Tripoli, Yusef, had unjustly taken the throne from his brother, Hamet, and America needed to set things right. I found that surprising, too. I did not know that we have always been the world police. We were not successful at reinstating Hamet. We likely could have kept our promises to Hamet and put him back on the throne, but once we had won enough military victories to put Yusuf in a mood to negotiate we left off the pursuit to replace Yusef with Hamet. America managed to reunite Hamet with his wife and children and gave them $200 dollars a month while they lived in exile until Hamet died in 1811. The main motive for America really was to stop the piracy.

  This book was very interesting to me. It details the relevant pieces of information. The authors don't go so deep into the events of the time period that the story gets bogged down. They keep things moving and skip over chunks of time in which the pirate situation stagnates. They did include some riveting battle scenes and enough about the key players that you understand who they were and what they were like. I enjoyed Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates. If you like to learn about American history I recommend this book.

Tightwad Tuna Casserole

From the famous Tightwad Gazette, this is the tuna casserole that my mom made while I was growing up. I have found a few ways to make it even more tightwad-y.

Instead of using a canned cream soup I make a mock cream soup using the tuna juice from the drained tuna.

A note on using tuna juice for cream soup:

If I am using tuna canned in water, I will make a roux with butter and flour to thicken the soup. 

If I am using tuna canned in oil, I will thicken the soup with a flour and milk slurry. 

  For the topping the original recipe calls for soft bread crumbs and butter. I found these herbed stuffing mixtures on sale after the holidays for 69¢ a bag. I crumble this dry mix over the top for the topping. I don't feel the need to add butter. They have enough flavor and crunch without the butter.

  I learned from my mom to add frozen peas. My mom has never thought a meal is complete with out a vegetable. That is a good lesson. 

I always add the peas after the casserole is cooked to each plate. Some people like the peas mixed in and some like them to the side. Okay, the truth is that most the people in my family don't like peas period, so I serve them on the side and mix them in to my serving because that is the way I like them.

My Tuna Casserole Recipe 

7 oz. Pasta 

1/2 c. Milk or Broth

1/2 c. Mayonnaise 

1 c. 4oz. Melty Cheese, chunked 

1 10oz. Can Condensed Cream Soup -OR-

(Mock Cream Soup: 2 T. butter browned, add 2 T. flour cook for a minute add tuna juice and enough broth or milk to equal 2/3 c. of liquid. Season with 1/2 tsp. onion powder, salt, pepper, and 1tsp. each of lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce.)

1/2 tsp. Dill weed

6-8oz. canned Tuna, drained

Topping

Prepare pasta, follow package directions; drain set aside.

 Make mock cream soup, add milk or broth, mayonnaise, cheese, dill and tuna. Heat and stir until cheese is melted.

 Mix sauce into the cooked pasta. Pour into a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish. Sprinkle topping over and bake at 350° F. for 30 minutes. 6 servings.

Amy Dacyczyn uses this recipe to give a lesson on Tightwad cooking. The lesson can be found on pgs. 209+210 of The Tightwad Gazette copyright 1992. The original recipe is designed to be a time saving recipe. Amy altered it to make it more frugal, in so doing the results cost more time. I have found this to be true in many, many cases. You either pay with money or time. It's a trade off.

Amy's prices are lower than you can find today, of course. I find it interesting to see what prices used to be for pantry staples. I, also, find it fun to see how close I can get to the old prices.  

For cheese now days I like to buy it for $3/lb. It is hard to find it for that price where I live, but it is possible. In this recipe, though, I always use the melty processed cheese. I don't buy it often. Usually, it goes on sale around Superbowl Sunday and I buy a few blocks.

Back in Amy's day powered milk was cheaper than regular milk so she uses it for everything. I don't think powdered milk is cheaper than regular milk nowadays, thankfully, because I don't like the powdered stuff.

Amy always uses margarine. I won't buy margarine. If our finances are too tight for butter I will use chicken fat that I save in a jar in the fridge.

Original Recipe:

Mix and Match Seafood Casserole 

4-5 oz. Pasta

1/2 c. Dry White Wine or Milk

1/2 c. Mayonnaise  or Salad dressing 

1 c. Shredded American Cheese 

1 10 3/4 oz. can Condensed Cream of Celery, Shrimp, or Mushroom Soup 

1/2 tsp. Dill Weed

6-8 oz. Canned Seafood (tuna, salmon, crab, or shrimp), drained

Topping (below)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare the pasta, following the directions on the package; drain and set aside. Mix white wine with mayonnaise. Add cheese, soup, and dill. Gently combine the noodles and the seafood with the most ingredients. Pour the mixture into a1 2/2 quart casserole dish. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the cover, top with Topping, and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Serve hot. 

Topping: Stir 2 TBS. melted butter into 1 cup of soft bread crumbs. You can also try 1 cup of crushed corn chips, cow meeting noodles, or french-fry onions, or 1/2 cup sliced almonds.

How Amy Dacyczyn changed it: 

Pasta: We use any pasta purchased on sale. We get it for 33¢/lb. I increase it by 2 oz. because the recipe makes too much sauce. 

Milk or Wine: Wine is more expense, but I like the flavor .

Mayonnaise or Salad dressing: Buy store brand for 99¢ per quart. You can make your own mayonnaise but the savings is marginal, and depends on the price of eggs. 

Cheese: Use any mild cheese purchases on sale. We always buy it for less than $2/lb. Shredded is usually more expensive, but not always. 

Condensed Cream Soup: costs 69¢ to $1.11 depending on type. Instead I make a mock cream of celery soup that costs 15¢. Melt 2 TBS. of margarine in sauce pan. Saute 2 TBS. chopped celery. Blend in 2 TBS. flour. Add 1/3 cup dry milk powder and 2/3 cup vegetable broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook until smooth. 

Seafood: Tuna is the obvious choice. We stock up when it goes on sale for 44¢ per can.

Topping: Make your own bread crumbs. Save all your crusts, cereal, and cracker crumbs. Store in a bag in the freezer. Process in a blender or food processor. 

And that concludes our lesson on tightwad-ary for today. Go forth and save money while you feed your family!