Projects, Daryl Hoole Style

I was talking to my sister the other day,  actually it was probably last month and we were talking about one of our favorite homemakers/authors Daryl (pronounced like Karl) Hoole.  She is the ultimate when it comes to managing and running a home.  Deb and I were thinking of posting some of our projects around our homes that we complete, Daryl style.  So I set out on this summer's day to do just that.

 First I got a batch of bread going.

 Then I thought I would get a picture of a bit of blue for you to enjoy.  Love the flowers, thanks to my 6 yr old for planting them.

 The bread is done and I missed taking pictures of the project for the day.

Hang on. . . This is one of those projects that lasts for days and days. . . so I should be able to find the "before" pictures.  Rats.  I will post those in a few days, after my husband gets back with his camera from Scout Camp.  But by the looks of my most recent posts to this blog, don't hold your breath.

Here's another project we finished up last week.  My husband made this sweet bench for my dining room table.  He used a Kreg Jig to assemble it.  It's super sturdy and was really easy to assemble.  The most time consuming part was staining and sealing it.

While I was at it with the staining, I sanded down this old Primary church pew/bench from my parents and stained it as well.  I still want to seal it with a coat of polyurethane.  I stripped it and stained it with a lighter stain months ago, but I love how it looks with the darker stain.  It goes well with my piano and antique sewing machine.  I have it in the front hall with baskets for each of the kids underneath to put all those random items of theirs that I find around the house. 

I invite my other sisters to share some of their homemaking projects as well.  If you can find them, "The Art of Homemaking," and "The Ultimate Career" by Daryl Hoole are really good books to read.

~Lena

Spring Garden

    Here's my garden, in January I think.  Not too much happening in it right then.  I have raised garden beds, which are really easy to take care of.  Each bed is filled with compost, (that we got from local farmers) instead of top soil.      

 

My husband joined the corners of each bed with countersunk screws.

When we filled the beds we put the frames directly over the dead grass in our back yard and dumped the compost in.  We didn't do any digging beforehand.  I get a few weeds here and there, but nothing much.  It's almost like a play garden with how easy it is to take care of. 

 

Here are some of my spring favorites to plant in the garden.  I apologize for not posting these pics sooner.  I took them in February I think.

 Pansies--I love planting pansies in the fall.  They winter really well and on warmer days perk right up and provide a lovely splash of color amid the browns of winter.

 Cabbage--great for Chinese Cabbage Salad, egg rolls, runzas, coleslaw

 Onions--did you know that if you buy green onions at the grocery store, you can use the green part in whatever you are cooking and then stick the bulb part (with a little bit of the green above it) in cup of water on your window sill and it will grow green onion shoots, which you can use a few more times.  Or you can plant that little bulb part in dirt and it will really do well.  Just be sure to leave a bit of the green above the ground.

 Broccoli--nothing beats fresh broccoli from the garden.  Try it in Broccoli Cashew Salad, or roast it in the oven.  Yum!

 Strawberries--they speak for themselves.

 Spinach--my all time favorite leafy green, pick the outer bigger leaves and it will keep growing until it shoots up and goes to seed, giving you several weeks of yummy fresh salad for dinner.

 Leaf lettuce--great until it gets too warm outside, then the leaves turn bitter, still edible, but the kids don't like it.

Carrots--grow well while it's cool, but hard to get started if it's too hot

I should have taken pictures a couple weeks ago to show how these veggies have grown.  I went on a trip for 10 days and everything looks huge now.  Check back soon to see how my garden has grown! ~Lena

"Popcorn Trees"

At church we have a fun little song "Popcorn Popping" from the Children's Songbook. My children love to see the "popcorn trees" in bloom in the spring.  For the most part, in our area, instead of apricot trees we have decorative pear trees and dogwood trees.  It's always fun to see the white blossoms popping out in early spring.


A few weeks ago, I was out walking with my preschoolers and we saw a couple of "popcorn trees".  Of course we had to stop and sing the song when we saw the white blossoms.  The night before we had a wind storm and there were plenty of sticks on the ground, inspiring us to make this fun craft. 

 Popcorn Tree Craft
Materials:
Sticks--the more they branch out the more "tree-like" they'll be
Popcorn (popped)
Vases
Marbles or decorative stones
Glue gun

Fill the vases partway with marbles or stones.  Insert one or more sticks.  Glue popcorn all over the sticks using the glue gun.  My 3 year old handed the popcorn to me while I did the gluing.

Eat some popcorn as a snack while enjoying your new decoration.

~Lena

Tornado and 72 Hour Kit Weather!

As spring fast approaches and along with it storms, there are some routine precautions that are good to have in place since tornadoes seem to be everywhere these days.   

1)  If you have not done so, please sign up with CodeRed if your community offers it.  If they do not, put in a petition to your mayor or emergency management department at the county.  It is an emergency alert system that calls your phone directly.  If there is a bad storm, a tornado warning or an emergency notification--you immediately get a phone call.  No need to worry about hearing your weather radio going off in the middle of the night.  Even with Code RED  a weather radio is still a wonderful thing to have around.

2)  Update or create your 72 hour kit.  A list is available here http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=35169 at the FEMA website.  Another great resource is available from the Be Ready Iowa website http://www.beready.iowa.gov/default.html  On there you can find lots of great information.  Their 72 hour kit checklist is found here http://www.beready.iowa.gov/documents/other/PUB_SampleEmergencySupplyKit.pdf and includes items for you, your pet and your vehicle.

3) Make sure that you have a safe place in your home already prepared in case of a tornado warning.  Make sure it is a room without windows.  Now is the time to put in blankets, bottled water, a radio with batteries and earphones if you have little kids, something to take you and your families minds off of the storm--like UNO or Skip-Bo cards, and something fun and extra--like candy--to make it more of an adventure than a scary ordeal.  Also, have your 72 hour kits close at hand.

4)  If there is a Tornado WATCH (where conditions are favorable for a tornado to form)--this is the time to make sure that people have shoes on, or they have some in your safe place, to move purses, wallets, special blankets and stuffed animals, important documents, valuable pictures/items, your laptop, a phone and/or cell phone and a back up of computer files to your safe place and calmly secure things.  Then if the WATCH turns into a WARNING (where a tornado has been spotted), you can calmly, without panic, make your way to your safe place, until the tornado warning is lifted.  Remember if you have kids they will be cued in on you--so make it fun, say a prayer, sing some songs and DON'T FREAK!

5)  Meet with your insurance agent and review the coverage on your property in case of a storm or other types of damage.  Don't forget to ask about earthquake insurance.  If earthquakes are not common in your area, it is generally not offered outright, but consequently is available at very cheap rates.   Remember--during the last days (or better put--our days) there will be earthquakes in divers places--so if you have never had an earthquake it doesn't mean you won't have one.

Remember--If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear!

Love,
Deborah