Here it is, the promised pictures of our recent bathroom make-over.  My sister from Pennsylvania is arriving Sunday night and so I debated about whether to post the pictures or not.  I thought she might enjoy the anticipation and surprise of seeing it all when she arrived.  But no, she wanted to see them now.  And when you have a sister that knows how to say "Aiiii Yiii!" in such a ferocious tone that you shrivel up on the inside from fear, you learn not to mess with her.   I was traumatized as a kid at night when she would karate chop the bed down the center and woe…

Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie is hosting a 30-Day Organizational Challenge which you can join up and do anytime this month.  It ends November 30.  There’s a chance for you to win a lot of great prizes so if you have an area or room that you want to declutter, now’s the time! For myself, I decided to tackle the cabinet in my children’s bathroom.  Things have gotten totally out of hand in there and (gasp) my mother’s coming at Thanksgiving.  She’ll be using this bathroom and I don’t want her to see this cupboard in such  chaos.  Laura might be good at motivating us to get organized, but Mom’s are even…

Why did we plant so many cucumber seeds when Serenity is really the only cuke lover around here?  Did we just want to see something, ANYTHING grow, beside a weed?  Or maybe we were concluding our 8 year study seeing how long seeds could sit around before they would no longer germinate?   It might have been a little of all the above, but mainly because I wanted to make pickles.  Lo, and behold, all the seeds sprouted and produced plenty of cucumbers for me to make my pickles, along with a few more from a friend. I made wonderful Bread and Butter Pickles using my Grandma’s recipe.  We love them on sandwiches and in pita pockets and…

Today, with free time on my hands – Seth (16) having gone scouting for antelope again, Zachary (15) and Wesley (12) out on their horses for a mountain man outing and Serenity (9) working on her blog, Beautiful Girlhood   (which you really should check out if you haven’t yet), I decided to rearrange some cabinets.  I wanted to move all my spices, mixing bowls and the like to a cupboard that is 9" bigger.  First I started emptying one cupboard, wiping down shelves and then emptying out the other cupboard, putting the contents of the second cupboard into the first one.  It looked so nice – when it was only half full. …

These mini pecan pies are easy to make.  A nice touch at a luncheon or shower or if you need a finger dessert but want something a little more interesting than cookies, this would do nicely. Crust: 8oz. pkg. softened cream cheese 1cup softened butter 2 1/2 cups flour Filling: 2cups light brown sugar 3 lg. eggs, well beaten 4T melted butter 1tsp. vanilla 2 1/3cups nuts Blend cream cheese, butter and flour.  Refrigerate 1 hour.  Roll into 1.5" balls and press these into ungreased muffin tins (about halfway up the sides).  Mix brown sugar, eggs, butter, vanilla and nuts for filling.  Fill the mini crusts.  Place muffin tins on a baking sheet and…