Holiday Pin It/Do It: Pins No, 11 & 12

Another round of the Pin It/Do It Challenge, hosted by Trish @ Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity, is coming to a close.  The Holiday version kept me motivated to try some new ideas for Christmas decorations, gifts and food.  

#11: I wanted a centerpiece for the table.  Since we don't have a dining room, we would be eating in the kitchen so I thought it called for something not-too-formal, kind of rustic.  I loved this idea of using Mason jars...

from Ribbons and Bows, Oh My

 ... but preferred this idea of completely filling the jar with cranberries . . .

From Midwest Living

...but it needed more - like apples . . .

From Style Estate

  ... then I saw this idea, and wanted oranges and pine cones.

From Better Homes & Gardens

As too often happens, the ideas worked better in my head than in reality, but here's what we finally ended up with:  A plank of barn board for the base, artificial greenery, mason jars filled with cranberries and topped with tea lights, red fabric bows (yeah for quilting scrap piles), apples, oranges, pine cones and -- because I was getting frustrated that the fruit was too heavy to stay wired in place where I wanted it and nearing a Christmas melt-down that involved throwing the entire thing out the back door -- an adorable cardinal-wearing-a-stocking-cap wired on top of an orange and stuck in the center.  (Thank you to my sister, Teri, for the gift of the cute cardinal.)  Not as gorgeous as what I had imagined, but festive and fun and colorful - just what the table needed.

#12:  Random Acts of Christmas Kindness.  This was my favorite pin of all!  There are many versions of this idea out there, but I got mine from KatherineMaries.com.  The basic idea is to do something nice for a random stranger every day during December leading up to Christmas.  I read several lists of ideas and culled the ones I liked and thought I could accomplish.  

There were several challenges that made this more difficult than I had anticipated.  First was cost.  Most of the ideas involved spending or giving money and over 25 days, that adds up.  I would have loved to have paid heat bills for needy families, or paid for the entire grocery cart of the young mother in line at the grocery store, but those large ideas didn't fit my budget.  The second challenge was keeping things "random".  It was tempting to reward the people who treated me well or did something for me, but the idea is to give randomly, not necessarily to those who deserve it.

Here's what I came up with:

 

1. Small bottles of lotion, tied with ribbon and a card reading "You've been RACKed.  A Random Act of Christmas Kindness to brighten your day."  I carried them in my purse and handed them out to a couple store clerks and a post office worker.  Their reactions were awesome.
2. Bags of quarters tied with a RACK card and taped to various pop machines.
3. Similar bags taped to machines at the laundromat.
4. $10 Wal-Mart card - Purchased in advance and sealed with a "You've been RACKed" sticker.  Here again, we had trouble with being "random".  We were going to give it to the checker to apply to the person in line behind us.  But that customer looked prosperous enough and had a cart full of cookies and chips - obviously having a party.  So we scoped out a family with three small children.  Dave handed the envelope to the small child in Mom's arms and said "Give this to your mommy."  And we walked away - grinning!
5. My largest RACK was $20.  Our nephew is a Marine, stationed in New Jersey, so we mailed his Christmas gift to him.  I included the small red envelope in the picture with a $20 bill inside, sealed with a RACK sticker, and a note instructing our nephew to give it to the next Marine he saw with our thanks and best wishes.  I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet to find out how that went.

Those five items used up my budget of $50, so the remainder of my RACKs were good deeds - such as returning an elderly ladies shopping cart to the cart rack to save her the long walk in the cold - that cost me nothing but some time and effort.

It's amazing how many ways you can find to be kind if you look around - and how good it feels.  I plan to make this  a daily part of life rather than an event to save for one month per year.

Christmas Break

Our Christmas celebration has begun.  We are traveling to my mom's for a couple days.  When we return, our kids will be here for a few days, and we'll be adding Dave's extemded family on Christmas Day. I will return to blogging after the festivities.  In the mean time, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

For unto us a child is born. Unto us a Son is given . . .

And He will he called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, 

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. - Isaiah 9:6

The Things We Take For Granted . . .

Pop Quiz:  This home has

a.  a major gopher problem

b.  an archaeological dig for a very narrow primitive village

c.  an underground railroad

d.  water

Hallelujah!  The answer is d.  We have water!  Well, technically we've almost always had water - but only "almost".  The well that supplies our house is a shallow well (approx. 18-20 ft.).  With average annual rainfall of nearly 40 inches, the water table at that depth is usually sufficient for two people.  However, in a drought year with only 25 inches of rain, the water supply suffers.  

We have been rationing water for months - limiting shower time and number of loads of laundry per day, etc., but we finally hit bottom - literally.  By last week the water table had dropped so low that a single load of laundry would empty the well and we had to wait several hours for it to replenish before we had water again.  We cried "uncle"!  

Fortunately, there is a deeper well in the pasture behind our house that supplies water to the cattle and garden.  The landlord dug this lovely trench through our yard and ran a new water line, so we are now connected to both wells and can switch between. The yard is a disaster, but that can be fixed.  For now we'll use the deep well, but when the rain returns - as we know it will - we will switch back to the shallow well and use the deep well for the garden.

Water is something I've always taken for granted, but when it's in short supply, it changes your perspective.  I'm not sure I'll ever be as glib as I once was about the resources we use so freely.  If this were Twitter, we would file this under #farmgirlproblems!

Holiday Home Tour

I DON'T live here!

'Tis the season for touring homes to view the elaborate Christmas decorations and "ooooh" and "aaaah" over the homes we wish we had.  The first tour I ever took was of historic homes in Ft. Scott, Kansas, with my mother-in-law.  The 100+-year-old homes were gorgeous and, of course, elaborately decorated.  

When I moved west, stately Victorians were tough to find.  The west end of Kansas lacked trees for lumber, and the wealthy businessmen who could afford to ship it in.  Home tours in our area tended to be less about the history of the homes and more about bragging on who could afford the newest home or elaborate remodel - or just plain nosiness.  I skipped them.  

A couple days ago, I was visiting with a fellow blogger and Twitter pal about the craft/decorating projects we found on Pinterest and tried in our own homes. She didn't want to post pictures of her creations because people would see her home and it didn't look like the pictures on Pinterest.  That struck me as kind of sad.  No one should be embarrassed by their home - few of us actually live in the grand houses we see online.  So, I decided to start my own Holiday Home Blog Tour.  It's fun to get to know the people behind the blog, so I'm hoping some of you will join me in posting pictures of your home decked for Christmas - regardless of size, age or legos in the carpet.

Our house is a 1950's ranch-style - living room, kitchen, two bedrooms, one bath, unfinished basement, and an enclosed breezeway between house and garage.  Plenty of space for the two of us.  We gladly sacrifice space indoors for the space outdoors.  Being a rental home, we don't put money into updating (and neither does the landlord, obviously) so we have outdated carpet, wood paneling in the breakfast nook, and ancient linoleum in the kitchen and bath.  But did I mention that OUTDOORS we have 2 acres, a huge garden plot and cattle for neighbors?  Welcome to Green Acres!

Come on in.  We have 3 trees this year . . .

The traditional...

the miniature . . .

and the retro aluminum.

The stocking are hung . . .
 by the coat closet with care?

My Santa collection mixed with my favorite Christmas books.

My newest addition: The Polar Express.
Still searching for house and figurines in proper proportion, but it's a start.

In the kitchen, there are some pretty dishes, knick-knacks, an Amaryllis . . .

. . . and some ornaments and book page trees in the window.

That concludes our home tour.  Thank you for visiting.  If you want to add your lovely home to the tour, just post a few pictures and leave a link in the comments.  I hope that more bloggers will give us a peek into their holiday decorated homes.  It's not about the cost of the decorations or the size of the house - it's about home, family and Christmas traditions.

The Sounds of Christmas: Part I

Tonight was the first of two Christmas concerts on my calendar.  The Brownville Concert Series Christmas Gala was amazing!  We attended the Gala last December and were so blown away that we bought season tickets for this year.  For those of you outside southeast Nebraska, or who haven't heard me carry on about it before, you can read about it here.  It is amazing talent for a rural Nebraska location - or for New York, for that matter.  The talent this evening was beyond amazing.  A young man named Scott Decker sang Oh Holy Night . . . and I just don't have words to tell you.  But honestly, experiencing music is a very personal thing, and hearing second-hand about a concert never gives you the same physical and emotional rush as being there, so I'll just move on.  

One of the performers was Marieann Meringolo, who looks - and sounds - eerily like Barbra Streisand.  She performed a song that has been recorded by many artists, but I happen to have on Streisand's Christmas Memories album.  I hadn't thought much about the song - it's not usually one of my favorites, but after the school tragedy in Connecticut this week, it became more poignant.  I bought Ms. Meringolo's Christmas album, and I searched youtube for a video to share with you, but no luck.  So, here is the original - My Grownup Christmas List by Barbra Streisand.  May we each make it our prayer this Christmas.



As children we believedThe grandest sight to seeWas something lovelyWrapped beneath our tree.
Well heaven surely knowsThat packages and bowsCan never healA hurting human soul
No more lives torn apartThat wars would never startThat time would heal all heartsEveryone would have a friendAnd right would always winAnd love would never end.This is my grown-up Christmas list

Holiday Pin It/Do It: Pin #10 - Taco Soup

Soup is a tradition for Christmas at our house.  My mother always serves soup when our extended family gets together, and soup is our usual Christmas Eve supper before we open gifts with our kids.  This year, I'm hosting Dave's family on Christmas day.  Since our little house has no dining room and the kitchen table will only seat six, we have no place to have a formal, sit-down-and-pass-the-food-around meal.  I briefly considered borrowing another table and setting it up in the living room, but that would be crowded - not to mention block the TV - and you can't easily pass dishes between two tables.  Instead, I chose to have a less formal Christmas dinner of soup and and "finger foods", served buffet-style from the kitchen counter.  Folks will have to eat wherever they can find a spot - kitchen table, couch, piano bench...  I even purchased TV trays for those people who don't get the spots by the coffee table.  

Chili is mandatory.  Dave and Mitch love chili and the want it hot!  My favorite is potato soup, so of course we'll be having that.  But I thought we needed a third choice for those who don't care for potato soup and don't care to have their digestive tract set on fire.  I found this recipe among the pins on my Recipe Board and it seemed like the perfect compromise.

Weight Watchers Taco Soup

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef or ground turkey breast
1 (15 ounce) can stewed tomatoes (any flavor)
1 (15 ounce) can stewed tomatoes (Mexican flavor)
1 large onion (chopped)
1 (1 1/4 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 (1 1/4 ounce) package hidden valley ranch dressing mix
 (15 ounce) can hot chili beans
1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn

Preparation
1. Brown the the meat and onions and drain.
2. Mix the taco seasoning mix and ranch dressing mix into the meat.
3. Add all the other ingredients, without draining.
4. Simmer for about 1 hour.
5. Serve hot, topped with sour cream, cheese, avocado, raw onions, or nacho chips (optional).

Never one to leave well enough alone when it comes to recipes, I made a few "tweeks".  I used chopped white-meat chicken in place of the ground turkey, and cannellini beans in place of pintos.  I have this prepared and in the freezer so the only review I can give you is from the sample I tasted while cooking - and it was delicious.  One recipe serves 10 (the web site does not specify a serving size) at 239 calories per serving, so this will be a great option for me if I haven't gotten rid of those last, stubborn five pounds by Christmas day.

Holiday Pin It/Do It: Pin #9 - Cleaning With Vinegar

Pinterest is overflowing with tips on housekeeping and natural cleaners.  One of my resolutions for 2013 is to be more consistent in my housekeeping (see upcoming post) and to use natural products when possible.  The three household items that seem to be getting the most attention as cleansers are baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and distilled white vinegar. I decided to start with the vinegar and found dozens of websites listing possible uses, from cleaning floors and counter tops to keeping fleas/tics of pets to deodorizing the fridge.  Here are a couple of my favorites, if you want to see for yourself:  Vinegar Tips or The Vinegar Institute .

But the main reason I chose to experiment with vinegar was this pin:

366 Days of Pinterest

Save the peels from oranges - or lemons/limes - and steep them in white vinegar for homemade orange cleaner.  You can store the fruit peels in a zip-lock bag in the freezer until you've collected enough.  Put peels in a mason jar, fill with white vinegar, cap and let sit for a week or two.  The vinegar leaches the essential oil from the orange rind, which helps mask the vinegar's aroma and, some say, ups the grease-cutting ability. 

When time is up, strain the liquid into a spray bottle, dilute half-and-half with water, and you're ready to clean house.  I haven't tried nearly all of the potential uses for this elixer, but I can vouch that it takes the grease off the stove vent hood and cleans stains from ancient linoleum.  The end of the hallway where the dogs' food and water bowls sit had become discolored.  I've scrubbed it repeatedly with various commercial cleansers - including bleach - and the stain may have faded, but it was still visible.  I poured undiluted vinegar onto the stains, let stand a couple minutes, then mopped the spots away.  Seriously amazed!  Of course, the vinegar odor is still present, but much less abrasive. I have a second jar of orange vinegar steeping on the counter (I eat a lot of oranges!) and am excited to see what else it can do - well, as excited as I can be about cleaning.