Clearance Sale time!

Time to clear out the cottage! I'm starting a "SALE" section in my Etsy shop for all interested parties. LOL I plan to add to this section over the next week, so keep a look out! www.ajscountrycottage.etsy.com Look for the section called "SALE" :) :)

Spring is finally here!

My flower bulbs are popping up left and right! Purple and white crocus are already spent. Golden daffodils and jonquils are nearly gone. Pink tulips burst forth just yesterday. The redbud tree, Bradford pears and forsythia bushes appear to be in a fierce competition to see who's the showiest. The only drawback to spring is the brevity of the blooms; I suppose that's why we cherish them so much.

Over the winter, I crocheted and knitted like a madwoman. I've got heaps of shawls, throws, and whatnots made. I took up beading as well. I'm now sporting not one but FIVE pretty new necklaces! I double crimped, hoping and praying that these creations stay put. I'm still a rookie and a bit of a one-trick pony, but I will soon come up with some different styles with any luck!

I also made some new candles for spring. My daughter & son both have new kittens. Such a joyous time of year! Must get pictures.

Computer Blues

Why, oh WHY do we get so dependent on our pc's? Mine crashed a few weeks ago. Fortunately, it was under warranty, so back it went for repairs. Was PC-less for weeks. (Oh, the horrors.) On the plus side, I've been able to get some organizational projects done around the house, spend some great time with family, and even got some knitting for MYSELF done! That's a real change; generally I'm knitting / crocheting for everyone else. :) Just finished a gray shawl for myself so I can toss it around my shoulders while reading in bed or watching a movie. Crossing my fingers for sunshine tomorrow so I can take a picture!

May your winter season be peaceful and relaxing. But NOT pc-less. :D

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR

Had some CRAZY weather this Christmas, but at least it was WHITE! Driving in ice and snow - not fun. Serious nail-biter. But being together with family for the holidays is priceless.

My family is nuts. But I'm going to stick with them for another year, I think. ;) May you be blessed with a prosperous and healthful new year!

Easy Spicy Soup

I threw together a soup tonight w/ 2 cans broth, 1 can beans, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1/2 lb. cubed ham, salt and special seasoning. (1/4 tsp. of Slap Ya Mama, to be exact.)

Got rave reviews from the family. Go figure. Sometimes I shock even myself.

GARLIC MUSTARD POTATOES

When we make these, they get scarfed up FAST!

6 med. potatoes (2 lb), cut into cubes/chunks
5 TBL. fancy prepared mustard - spicy, brown, dijon - whatever you like
2 TBL. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
salt to taste

Mix all ingredients except potatoes. Then toss potato chunks into the mixture to coat. Put potatoes on lightly greased cookie sheet and roast in 425 degree oven for about 40 min., stirring occasionally. Done when fork tender.

CYBER MONDAY!

Like many Etsy sellers, I'm involved in the Cyber Monday sale by offering free lip balms with purchase. In addition, I had to take a silly photo of myself holding my product for an Etsy promotional. Boy did I feel like an idiot, and my daughter certainly thought I was a dork as she snapped one goofy expression after another. But if it helps my sales, well...so be it! I'll be a fool then. haha My sale details are posted in my Etsy shop.

The KC Etsy team, of which I'm a member, is also sponsoring a Cyber Monday sale. Details are on our blog. KC Etsy Team's Blog

Who loves giveaways?

I do! If you love giveaways, check out the KC Etsy Team's Blog for a cornucopia of terrific goodies!

This week, Diane of South House Boutique is giving away a pair of cute, whimsical Chalkboard Christmas Stockings just in time for the upcoming holidays!

Friends

The best way to have a friend is to be one. I'm not sure how good I am to others, but I definitely know I have been blessed with lots of GREAT friends. Not just good ones - great. What makes a great friend?

I just spent a weekend with six girlfriends. We do this periodically, and I always come away from our gatherings feeling affirmed, blessed, and refreshed. We may not see each other often, but we have no trouble at all picking up where we left off and enjoying one another's company tremendously. We all stay in touch via letters. Bottom line? We are THERE for one another. We are all equally committed to each others' success in navigating this often turbulent journey we call life.

If you have friends, cherish them. Don't take them for granted! Let them know how much you value them and treasure your relationship. Friends do sometimes disappoint; love them anyway. Faithfulness and loyalty are gifts I value highly. To keep the friendship fires burning, bestow forgiveness often and liberally. It's hard to do that sometimes. But if you extend grace and kindness to your friends, I think you'll be surrounded by them for a lifetime.

Happy Birthday!

For my birthday this weekend, the family went camping near Branson. I love going to the arts & crafts festival held in the fall at Silver Dollar City! Lots of lovely handcrafted wares and oodles of skilled artisans -- coopers, basketweavers, blacksmiths, jewelers, painters, weavers, woodworkers, soapmakers, glassblowers, weavers, chandlers, quilters. You name it! Handcrafted paradise.

Camping in the fall is lovely. The evenings were cold, but we were snug and warm in our tiny teardrop trailer. I discovered crock pot liners and made overnight breakfasts with those, so clean up in the mornings was a snap! Off we went on our adventures for two fun-filled days. Home again, we're tired but happy. Lovely memories made. :)

Wordless Wednesday: Oregano

THREE NEW LIP BUTTERS IN STOCK!

It's been a delicious fall at my place! I'm LOVING three new lip butters I just added to my stash: RED DELICIOUS APPLE, PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE, and BUTTERY TOFFEE CRUNCH. Yes, this makes well over two dozen flavors that I carry; what can I say? I'm crazy for this stuff! I use it all the time. (Well at least I can say my lips are NEVER chapped and dry!) Visit my shop here to see all available flavors. We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog ramblings. ;)

RANDOM RAMBLINGS

September! Rough month for me. Nothing major; just threw my back out and cracked a tooth! The latter is very discouraging to me since I don't chew ice or hard candy. Not fair! (pouting here) Can't figure out how it happened. Alas, dental work is in my near future. :) Ah well, I keep telling myself how glad I am to live where dental care is readily available.

October! One of my favorite months. Love the leaves, the weather, the scents, the food. Love getting ready to hibernate for the cold months ahead. Winter may be frosty, but I love the slower pace and the ability to knit and crochet for longer stretches. I can read a book if I so please, watch a chick flick, or play a board game with my family. And since the garden and lawn chores are on hiatus, we do have more time together as a family. Precious weeks and months left with our teenagers; they will be grown up and gone before we know it, I'm told.

Had an interesting surprise on our front porch recently. My husband always hangs several large baskets of impatiens every spring. Seems they somehow reproduced down in the yard, right behind the spirea bushes below the baskets! I'm going to have to take a pic - too funny. I'll be sorry to see them go when the first hard frost settles in.

Besides pouring loads of candles these days, I am playing with new crock pot recipes. I am so glad those babies were invented. If my house burns down, the first thing I will replace after the toilet paper is my beloved crock pot. Off to gather the ingredients for a new recipe for tonight's supper and dream about my next yarn project.

Overnight Apple Pie Oatmeal

OK, I'm on a major crockpot kick lately. Deal with it. Last night I tested a recipe that would enable us to awaken to the delicious smells of a home-cooked breakfast, READY TO EAT. Yeah, bay-bee! I awoke briefly during the night, smelled the deliciousness, drifted back to sleep and DREAMED about eating it. How weird am I?

3 cups old fashioned oats (uncooked)
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
21-oz. can apple pie filling
6 cups water

I spritzed some non-stick cooking spray into the crockpot, then I mixed the first four ingredients (dry stuff). Dumped it all into the crock, then poured in the water and pie filling. Stirred it all up, and popped the lid on. Set the cooker to LOW and let it go overnight, about 8 hours.

In the morning there was some separation, so we stirred it all together before serving. Double delish! This served the four of us amply, with some to spare.

I'm going to try again with all kinds of variations on the pie filling and spices. Peach, berry, cherry ... you name it. Let me know how yours turned out if you try this!

Photo courtesy of my son's Etsy shop. (Thanks, Brent!)

Wordless Wednesday

The Best Gift

How do you show love to those near to you? Words of love and affirmation may do the job adequately, but actions also communicate volumes. Do you quietly make sacrifices on behalf of friends and family? Do you send thoughtful notes or give gifts you know will be cherished? Do you perform acts of service such as doing an unpleasant chore to show you care? Are you affectionate physically? Are you liberal with sincere praise?

We learned early on that our children had distinct preferences in how they wanted to have love communicated to them. Our older child was always making and buying gifts for the family and took great delight in receiving presents. The younger always wanted to give hugs, snuggle, and hold hands; clearly, physical affection meant a great deal to her. Although all the different ways to communicate love are good, I think most people have a primary method to say "I care." For me, the gift of time and a listening ear are priceless. Our hurried society often leaves little time for visiting friends, and I'm as guilty as anyone of being very busy. But a simple phone call to find out how I'm doing or an occasional one-on-one lunch date speak words of love to me. I don't need hours and hours, but a kind ear to hear me sort things out and share what's on my heart is a priceless gift and a rare treat!

What speaks "LOVE" to you? How do you show you care, and how do you like others to demonstrate their love to you?

Hot Diggety!

I've been blogged about! And in a very nice way. :)

http://christopherandtia.blogspot.com/2009/09/lemon-pound-cake-yumm.html

Apple Harvest Time!

September makes me think of apples, especially when the weather starts cooling down as it has here. Every fall, our extended family gathers for a trip to Missouri apple country to stock up for the winter. We get not only apples but also apple butter; I think my brother-in-law got a whole case of jars last year! When my children were smaller, we'd often team up with other home schoolers and go apple picking at a local orchard. My husband and I would also round up the kids each fall and go to a local apple cider mill to watch the machines in action and feast on apple cider doughnuts. I hope we were making some special memories for our children; I know I certainly look back on those trips with fondness!

When I was a teacher, I got a lot of apple-themed gifts from students. So I eventually decided to decorate my kitchen with an apple motif. My husband is a career teacher, so he still gets apple goodies! We're apple crazy around here. :)

Now I'm in the mood for some yummy apple recipes. Before I became a candle maker, I used to can my own apple butter. Fortunately, my teenaged son still cans his homemade apple sauce. Here are some good looking apple recipes I found. http://www.bestapples.com/recipes/index.shtml

Dairy-Free Fruit Smoothies

I love dairy, but it hates me! So I make dairy-free fruit smoothies to get my fruit servings for the day!

1 cup fruit juice - apple, orange, or your favorite
1 small banana
1 cup frozen mixed fruit (strawberries, peaches, etc.) - I don't actually measure; I just toss in a handful or two.

Whir it all in a blender and enjoy. Simple!

Summer Bounty Pasta

My daughter and I love to experiment with food, especially when presented with a bounty of summer garden crops! Today she cooked whole wheat pasta, chopped up some fresh veggies from our garden, then tossed it all with a little dressing, piling grilled chicken strips on top. Delish meal, and not too stuffy for warm weather eating! Here's what we used.

13 oz. whole wheat pasta, cooked al dente and drained, then rinsed in cold water
1 medium zucchini, sliced
2 bell peppers, diced
4-5 small Roma tomatoes, diced
salt to taste
Kraft Cucumber Ranch dressing to taste
boneless, skinless grilled chicken strips on top (1/2 breast per person satisfies us)

Hearty enough to satisfy; light enough to not feel stuffed!