Warm but Fuzzy Memories

For years I have tried to understand VHS to digital transfer of videos representing 30+ years of family life, events, and vacations. With no success, I was still waiting for a good deal to pay someone else to do the project for me. $$$$

I found a solution this week. Because I use my Amazon Reward Points for FUN purchases, I checked on Diamond VC500 One Touch Video Capture. I read the reviews because the device was exactly what I need as an amateur...and it would be free with points. All was easy despite the sparse directions; however by trial and error, I got results. [Do not ask how I did it. As I said - trial and error...]

The images show the fuzzy damage of years of playing these tapes, but so does memory. 

Outside Little Townships

As I do occasionally, I visited the area where I was born, along with five generations before me. The progenitor of my father's family in America was Samuel Jeffcoat, born in England in 1752. Here he settled in what is today my beloved South Carolina. On this particular trip, I attended the history day for our National Jeffcoat Reunion to learn why Samuel and others settled in this place called Big Pond Branch.

From the Map Collection, Mouzon Map of NC and SC, 1775 
SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2014/01/08/3196667_rediscovering-the-indian-head.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

Michael Jeffcoat , The State

Leading the history tour was my cousin Michael Jeffcoat, a forensic historian.[We share the same great-great-great-great grandfather.]

Interested in what Michael has learned so far? The State carried a wonderful article "Rediscovering 'The Indian Head,' A Special Place Lost to History" by Joey Holleman. Read about Michael's research here in Holleman's article.

Next year's history tour should be even bigger and better. Michael did a great job as a presenter and guide. I look forward to attending again!

Order in the House!

Steps so far to bringing order to "my house"

1. Working on my home organization steadily, I continue to find balance for a new life. Somewhat following this blog, I plod on daily. The difference, I believe, is that I have occupied this structure probably as long as this competent blogger has lived. She has great ideas, so I have adapted her ideas to my home. The big difference? I have taken fourteen months compared to the fourteen week challenge. I enjoy a process!

2. My friend Sammy introduced me to Fitbit Flex, a wireless activity and sleep band. The Flex tracks my activity and sleep, as well as syncs my stats wirelessly (number of steps toward a daily goal of 10,000, calorie intake from my food log, calories burned, and sleep patterns). I like that the Flex provides real-time progress with graphs and charts, while allowing feedback from fitness partners. My biggest challenge has been to put it back on when I have my hands in water (Flex is waterproof, but I do not want to test it). Thanks, Sammy! I needed to be accountable to someone concerning a creative way to get back to healthy lifestyle habits.

"I will reward myself with new colors when I reach certain goals."

3. Want to revisit my family cooking project? After about two weeks, I needed to cook again. I shopped on senior day at Publix (Wednesday), got the crock pots going for overnight (being thrifty by considering Peak Hour Energy times), and then spent about four hours on Thursday morning preparing and cooking our meals to divide.

[Recipe links are at the end of this post.]

I had spent the weeks since last cooking by putting together a method for my visually learning brain to plan menus. I created a personalized magnetic "Pinterest" board of my recipes. My daughters had a chance to choose what they liked, and I created a "balanced" plan for the month. (I guess that I missed creating my back-to-school teaching tools. Yes, I do have my own crafting laminating machine. Is that too strange?)

"So as not to be really tacky, I will remove these once the month to six weeks is planned."

This was the plan for this week.

[Salad, Soup, Veggie Meal, Chicken Meal, Beef Meal]

"We will divide the $81.68 three ways - DELICIOUS and THRIFTY!"

"I saved $36.68 for my red wine purchases this month."

Simplify, Simplify. Simplify. Well, now I feel like a modern Thoreau, but he would probably frown on my dependence on technology.

RECIPE LINKS: Savory Tomato Cobbler, Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole, Chicken Tortilla Soup, Slow Cooker Java Brisket (I used Top Sirloin Steak), Cobb Pasta Salad

Home Cooking

Squash Cups with Beef, Tomato, Zucchini, and Eggplant

Home cooking has individual meaning. Here in the South, "home" can be an adjective ("what kind of?") or an adverb ("where?"). For me, home style refers to both grammatical constructions, as well as the legacy of my grandmothers and my mother.

Cooking evolved for me from being complete novelty to almost forty years of experimentation and creativity based upon the health needs and taste preferences of family members. For my grandmothers, cooking was survival. For my mother, cooking was genuine love. Always for me, cooking was utilitarian...but still tasty.

Today I associate home style cooking with the words "yummy" and "comfort," words that described my grandmothers' and my mother's cooking. However, those results were not always dictated by a written recipe. For the most part, I too became an intuitive and creative cook to make the task fun. [That explains why I am a terrible baker; baking requires precision.]

Life has changed drastically now. I must cook for one, so I rarely had been cooking. I have a Pinterest board where I collect favorite cooking inspirations, but to be honest, I titled it "Cook? As Needed." One day when I was calculating my overspending, I discovered my great cost of eating out - mostly takeout food (I am not going to mention the extra pounds that were adding up). I had seen on Pinterest how pinners were cooking for their families in one day and freezing meals for a month of menus.

Thinking about the one-day-cooking-for-a-month strategy, I devised a plan that I proposed to my daughters who live independently and work long hours or extra jobs. To keep us healthy and on-budget, I would purchase groceries, cook healthy recipes, and divide the selections into "the all-important" portion sizes for weight control. We would divide the cost of groceries to stay on our individual household budgets. The results? After six weeks, we have saved money and calories. We are happy with the results!

Here are the meals for this week:

For my favorite recipes for weight loss and management, see my Pinterest board.

I buy fresh and frozen produce and meat selections based upon food preferences, low-fat and low-sugar recipes, and what is sale-priced and available. I prepare mostly from memory and in an assembly line of crockpots, one saucepan, and one cutting board. Cleanups are easy.

This week, I cooked the following portions in one day for $90. We divided the following dinner options three ways: $30 each for this week...WOW..and delicious!

We are individually responsible for our healthy breakfast and lunch choices. My lunches are salad, soup, or one of the week's menu selections. This is my favorite breakfast meal for four days. Here is one recipe on-line.

Overnight, No-cook Refrigerator Oatmeal

Another great lowfat breakfast recipe is here.

from Kalyn's Kitchen

I still eat out but choose special times with friends and family. Cooking for my daughters is fun and creative...And I get to eat well and save money and calories!

Traveling Shoes

Since April I have worn a variety of traveling shoes to many wonderful places. The last trip was a pilgrimage, a last request of my late husband. Traveling back to locations we loved to visit as a family, I can best describe the sites, as did John Muir, "where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike."

The 2070 mile road trip from Phoenix, Arizona, to Grand Rapids, South Dakota was exactly what I needed to fulfill his wishes. As a Marriott Vacation Club owner, I was able to trade for this trip through Collette. The adventure began in in June with my youngest daughter: Phoenix, Scottsdale, Sedona, Lake Powell, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona; Bryce National Park, Zion National Park, and Salt Lake City in Utah; Jackson Hole, Grand Tetons National Park, and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming; and Cody, Sheridan, and Keystone in South Dakota.

We met wonderful people on the trip, as well as along the way. The tour was thorough, informational, fun, and safe. My daughter and I spent twelve days of laughing, crying, photographing, and sharing. 

All created wonderful memories for us both, as well as for the close loved ones who knew and understood our journey. Thanks to you all! Enjoy my video made from my photographs.

[Song Credit: "He Walks with the Wild and the Lonely," by the Bar-J Wranglers, P.O. Box 220, Wilson, WY 83014; (307) 733-3370]

Add Two Weeks of Nurturing

What a difference two weeks of attentive nurturing produces in the month of April!

Photos tell the story best.

 

 

Happy Spring!

A Child-Friendly Little Town

Planning my Little Town of Parsley, I always keep in mind that I want to share it with all ages. Wouldn't it be more fun if anyone could walk through it, as well as circle to view it? And, if my little grandson wants to visit the farm and the animals, I know that I must have easy access for his enjoyment.

A dry bed that can work for walking and weeding

The Dry Bed

I determined a human-size walking path for the the little garden. The width was more than I think looks good for the scale of the buildings; however, here was a good place to begin for everyone to adjust to the path. I knew that plants would eventually cover the edges and creep to take up the awkward visual space.

Underneath the layout, I had used landscape fabric to prevent weeds. I dug down to the fabric level - which was only about two inches - where I previously planned pathways/waterways. Filling the outline with paving sand, I wet the sand and tamped it to the firmness that I wanted in texture.

If you want to do something similar, be sure the sand is PAVING sand.

The next day I was off to Lowe's to use my Christmas gift card. Here I purchased items for hardscaping and landscaping.

More paving sand, egg rock, pea gravel, Moisture Max Garden Soil

This tray was packaged as "Drop and Grow." I could divide it and save$.

I added the pea gravel first and then lined the edges of the dry bed with egg-size rock. I will mix a few egg rock in the bed so that the rocks appear to have been washed along. I can fill the gaps of the sides with the pea gravel. I continue to walk on the bed to tamp it further.

Add pea gravel. Add egg rock along sides and randomly in bed.

I followed a natural flow of water from heavy rains we usually experience.

At the end of each section, I used rock to appear as if water came from underneath them.

I continued to firm the edges so that moss and other plants would hold the soil from washing into the beds.

My plant purchases: Silver King Hens and Chicks; Sedum "Lime Zinger"; Viola "Silver  Gem"; Sedum "LimeLight"; Hedera "Spetchley Gnome" (Miniature Perennial Ivy)

Snowflake Creeping Phlox

Silver King Hens and Chicks - I use these to mimic cabbages in the gardens.

Packaged as "Drop and Grow," various types of sedum that I divided

Packaged as "Drop and Grow," various types of sedum that I divided

Packaged as "Drop and Grow," various types of sedum that I divided

When I divided the various types of sedum, I saved all the "debris" to plant.

Hedera "Spetchley Gnome": miniature ivy on the arbor

I will "test the waters" now - waiting for several days of rain. Wish me luck. See you soon!