We welcomed a new little grandson into the world this week.  He is precious and we are thankful.

I went to a big annual flea market in a little town nearby recently and the found that the home grown peanuts were selling like crazy. No wonder.  They were huge!   They were boiling them there on the spot or you could buy them roasted or just get them green (raw) like I did.  I got a big ole bag and lugged it back to the car right before heading home.  I had enough to fill 2 cookers then bagged them in quart bags and put them in the freezer.  All I have to do is take it out and let it thaw then warm them up a bit and they taste like they just came out of the pot.

answers about boiled peanuts from a previous post (2006)

OH, and by the way, that cute little green dish was a little gem I found at the flea market that day too to add to my collection of green milk glass and Jadite.  It was only a buck.  Sweet!

I just thought I would post a couple of books I have read lately that I really enjoyed.

Serve God, Save the Planet: a Christian call to Action by J. Matthew Sleeth

The Total Money Makeover: a Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey

Both were great books.  I just checked them out at the library.

Have a great day!

Two years ago there went out a blog challenge to write down 1000 things you were thankful for. I took that challenge and seriously enjoyed it. Not only that but it helped teach me to be thankful for so many things I often overlook and to learn to be thankful for those difficult things in my life that don’t even seem the teensiest bit close to being considered . . . .
Last year I added a few more things to my list.
This year I will add a few more.
I also take the time to look back and re-read my list- reminders- stepping stones of what God has given.
What God has brought us through.
I noticed that the 1000 gifts list is now the Endless Gifts List. Obviously I am not the only one that felt the need to keep adding more.
To view my list up to now- just click on One Thousand Gifts List under categories on my side bar.
Do you have a thankful list? 
1041. My crockpot (I might have mentioned this one before but it bears repeating).
1042. Sunday Dinners- real Sunday dinners
1043. Running my fingers thru my daughters’ hair
1044. Little boy hair cuts a la Daddy
1045. Family movie nite
1046. Staying up most of the night and laughing with my girlfriends
1047. Crying with my girlfriends
1048. God teaching me real hospitality
1049. Mr. Conductor’s possibles box (holds his teeny treasures)
1050. Old barns and pieces of old barn siding
1051. The playhouse my parents built for the grands
1052. Goin’ Gatoring with the family
1053. Our 3^rd year of homeschooling
1054. Queen Homeschool’s Language Lesson book for Sassafras (Oh, Lord
           thank you for saving my sanity and restoring her confidence)
1055. I can still do a cartwheel
1056. My massage therapist
1057. A friend who is an accountability partner
1058. Nature hikes
1059. Finding a pair of jeans that really fit- feel good & look good
1060. The glimpses of me God gives me thru Mr. Steady’s eyes
1061. And thru my children’s eyes
1062. The confidence to sing in the grocery store if I wanna
1063. Two bathrooms
1064. The delete and backspace keys
1065. A daughter who makes lunch at least 4 days a week
1066. The smell of a book store
1067. Being able to hear the difference in my children’s footsteps (helps to know            who’s sneaking up on you!)
1068. Sharpie pens
1069. White boards
1070. snowball fights

Notes: It’s Thanksgiving Week! Lots of yummy food. This is the week of the 3 Family Dinners so we’ll be cleaning out the fridge to make room.

Monday
B: French Toast, apple sauce
L: hot-diggity dogs, cheese crackers, pickle spears
D: Campbells mac-n-cheese, sausage
Dessert: ice cream sundaes
Daily Cost: $9.33
Tuesday
B: Mama’s cheesy scrambled eggs, toast
L: Homeschool group lunch: Bring: nada- provided for! Thank you Lord!
D: Harvest Soup, h’made bread
Dessert: none
Daily Cost: $7.21
Wednesday – Clean Out The Fridge Day
B: Choice: cereal or yogurt
L:  Diner Dinner
D: Clean out the fridge nite- leftovers
Dessert: whatever you find!
Daily Cost: $1.00 (or so)
Thursday – Happy Thanksgiving
B: Pumpkin waffles, fresh fruit
L: @ my parents- bringing: Spoonbread, Mr. Steady’s mashed potatoes and Triple Fudge BrowniesSupper: leftovers from dinner
Daily Cost: $15.66
Friday – Day After Dinner
B: Pumpkin waffles (leftover) & sausage
L: Diner Dinner
D: Turkey Dinner w/Mr. Steady’s parents
We’re heating up leftovers and Mr. S is frying a turkey (given to us free).
Daily Cost: $2.00
Saturday –Day After After Dinner
B: Daddy cook (eggs, bacon, toast etc.)
L: Leftover Smorgasbord
D: @ my sister’s- bring: leftover potatoes, homemade bread
Daily Cost: $3.50
Sunday
B: Cocoa Wheats, toast
L: Open Face turkey sandwiches
D: Leftover Smorgasbord
Daily Cost: $2.75
Weekly Total: $41.45
~~ Don’t forget to check out the yummy menu ideas every Monday over at The Organizing Junkie’s blog. You just might find your next favorite family recipe!

Remember when I said my menu plan was more of a set of guidelines?
We didn’t have the monkey bread on Monday as some family members were having issues at the dinner table and we decided it would be best to all go to bed early.
Yesterday evening we had an impromptu trip to Menards for some replacement pipes and fittings for the kitchen sink.
I should probably add here that yesterday, on my list of Things I Hadn’t Planned On Doing (remember this?) was scrubbing ¾ of the kitchen floor.
On my hands and knees.
Why only ¾? Because Flylady says that housework- even when done incorrectly (or in my case not completely) still blesses your family.
Huh?
Well, we’ve got skiffs of snow, layers of mud and leaves and 3 kids who are constantly tramping in afore mentioned bits of nature. And with more snow on the way- I quickly decided that the high traffic door to door path in the kitchen could stay as is.  My wrists and knees muttering protests helped to ease my conscience greatly.
Anyhoo, I quickly decided to make the most of trip by trying to do next week’s shopping since Aldi’s is just down the road. This is still a pantry week but being ever frugal-minded . . . . not to mention I’ve now checked off something from next week’s To Do List . . . .
This of course would all be taking place during evening dining time. No quick Mickey-D’s stop for us though- I’m sticking to my pantry budget week.
I quickly put together mini-sandwiches with leftover chicken salad and other lunch meats we always keep on hand, tossed some Clementine oranges in the bag, napkins, plates (just in case) and a still-warm-just-sliced loaf of chocolate cherry friendship bread. Voila.
Light dinner on the road.
I also grabbed the current family read-aloud: The Fighting Ground by Avi- very intense and riveting.
We whipped through Aldi’s in record time- the kids have the loading and unloading and packaging routine down pat. It was fun to watch Mr. Steady marvel at them. As for Menards, Mr. Steady looked for the things on his list- when a man goes to a store like that- he’s always got more things on his list than the thing that necessitated the going to the store in the first place—anyway- the kiddos and I enjoyed the Christmas displays- the trees plus the little ceramic villages.
This then lead to the kidlets asking for a Christmas movie for watching after we got home. Mickey’s Christmas Carol.
And so while it wasn’t the dinner or the evening I had envisioned for us- it was still quality family time.
And that’s what matters most.
Well, that and sticking to the pantry budget.

Tackiness vs. simplicity
poor etiquette vs. saving $$ and a tree or two
We send out quite a few Christmas cards each year. Last year I was able to save some pennies by making Christmas postcards to send out- saved by making them myself and saved on postage.
This year the budget is even tighter.
So------ I’m thinking of sending Christmas greetings via e-cards through Dayspring.
I must ask- Is this a big no-no on the etiquette scale?
Will I be vilified?
Of course, I can’t do all my cards this way as there are still some people on my list that don’t have email but I could cut my list way down.
By my calculations, I could save myself $20 easily.
I don’t know about you but $20 is a lot of cash here—in fact, that’s half the weekly grocery budget!

photo- last year's postcard Christmas cards.

Dearest Readers,

Today was just beautiful as temperatures hovered in the 60's.  I threw open the front and back doors as well as a window upstairs.  Laundry churned quietly while I tidied up our dear old home. 

I took time to look through my cookbooks and finalized my list for Thanksgiving.  I am going to can some delightful Cranberry Apple Relish.  I made this recipe last year (Ball Blue Book) and it was so good that once is not enough!  I plan to make enough relish to last throughout the year.  I also will make some smaller jars (1/2 pints) for my Darling Girl.  We stand alone in our love for anything "cranberry".  Our motto...."That's okay, it just leaves more for us!" is spoken loudly as the men in this house turn their noses up at the tasty red fruit.

We will actually have two Thanksgivings, one with extended family and one just for our little family.  Our Darling Girl will work Thanksgiving in order to have Christmas Day off, so we will have a second dinner on Friday.  I found a darling napkin ring craft that I need to make.  I will post pictures and the link as soon as I finish. 

The latter part of the day was spent folding laundry and cooking dinner.  We have fires in both stoves now, as a cold front is supposed to bring our temperatures down into the 30's by tomorrow. 

Well, Dear Friends thank you for stopping by here at Honey Hill Farm....we are always glad for your company!

Yours kindredly,

Shan

Oh how good it feels to sit down and look through blogs and let my mind just go...........

I want to thank those who have prayed for my mother and I.  Thank you so much.  She is in ICU still after having  surgery on October 27th.   I thought many times she was not going to make it but she has.  She should've only been in the hospital for a relatively short stay but had one complication after another with pneumonia and respiratory failiure and her body becoming septic and blood clots and the list goes on.  She had a tracheotomy and peg tube yesterday put in and will move from ICU to a long term critical care unit and then on to a rehabilitation home for a year the doctor said today.  This all has been horrifying.  My mother was a well person before all this and got around great with no serious health issues and was very active and happy.   She had just had new flooring put down in her house and had gotten new furniture for her den and sun room.  She was enjoying her new car and loved wearing stylish clothes and was in Church every Sunday to give you an idea of how Mama is and of how shocking this has been for us.

As for me?  I stayed with her constantly for 17 days and then a sister came from another state and has been with her while I came home and got some much needed rest.  I believe I have been at my breaking point and have been just teetering on the edge of somewhere I've never been before.  I covet your prayers for my mother and myself and my entire family.  

I hope, as time allows between trips back and forth, to blog about other things again.  I love my blog and I miss it.  I think it would be good for me to do so and it would help me get my mind off of things if I'm able to.  So come back and visit.