Slimmer Pickings

Twenty months ago I joined Weight Watchers (WW) with a friend.  I had wanted to join for a long time but was reluctant and tried not to focus on the extra baggage gained in my 40s and 50s.  A year ago June I met my goal weight (actually ten pounds below goal) and have kept off 40 pounds going from a  size 12 to a size 6 (USA size).  Believe me .. this is a 'feel good' size and in my younger days would probably have been about a size 9 back in the 70s.  The fashion industry has padded the egos of American women by adjusting the bigger sizes down a notch or two in number only.

To aid in the slimming process AND develop strength during/after the weight loss I began exercising to the PBS show Classical Stretch; doing the 22 minute routine five days a week.  This is a gentle workout to help with balance, toning, and aging. 

Today is weigh in day for July to keep my free 'lifetime' membership with WW.    Free WW and free exercise show ... both good things! 

Mr. & Mrs. Mac

Guide to keeping weight off:

• Use a smaller size plate
• Don't take seconds
• Eliminate sugary drinks
• Limit snacks
• Eat more vegetables & fruit
• Limit starchy foods

I have not tracked my food through the WW app on my phone for two months; will probably be up two pounds so will be back to tracking this coming week.  

Feeling better in my 60s ~ priceless!

Hello Summer!

Don't let the green grass fool you in the picture taken this morning at sunrise.  Smoky skies have been hanging around for a few weeks.  Things are drying up around here and elsewhere in the west.  Devastating fires covering many western states have turned into infernos.  Oldest son has been fighting fires for several months.  First in Arizona .. and now a little closer to home in Southern Idaho.

I've been filling up the hummingbird feeders almost daily ... poor little birds are swarming looking for a drink.

A trip to Sandpoint to pick up our annual chicken order for the freezer.  I don't think there is a bird under 7 pounds and many of them are close to 10 pounds.  We ordered from a different farm this year and I was so surprised to see how BIG these birds are!  Good thing I have a dedicated freezer just for chicken.  

Filling up the winter pantry.

Chicken Stock

Our sour cherry tree produced quite a bit of fruit this year and we picked it before the birds devoured our treasure!  Pie filling in the freezer ... and brandied cherries 'maturing' in the basement pantry ..oh, YUM!

Brandied Cherries

The ever labor intensive homemade Boston Baked Beans ... it's a once a year endeavor that I'm always happy to have completed.  

Boston Baked Beans

What's up in your neck of the woods?

My Other Name ...

Grammy. 

Wee One arrived on his due date.  This grammy is in love all over again.

Reclaiming My Passion

Home-keeper at heart. The past few years I've been preoccupied with other stuff.  Getting back to my passion for all things of hearth and home is rejuvenating.  Like rediscovering a favorite comfy sweater tucked away for years in the bottom dresser drawer.

Today's goals: 

• Putter in the garden purposely, not rushed
• Make an awesome braised pork shoulder roast for dinner
• Be attentive to the Mr.  Hang with him in the garage.  Conversing.
• Read three chapters from a book mom gave me for Christmas in 2012, with her hand written inscription, " Merry Christmas, 2012, when I saw a little clip of this story, I knew it was meant for you.  Enjoy, Love and Hugs, Mom and Pops."  After reading the first few chapters of the book, A Dog Named Christmas, it is clear how much thought she put into the gift selection. 
• Long soak in the tub tonight
• Church service online.  

Today's inspiration comes from Tasha Tudor. 

"Life isn't long enough to do all you could accomplish. And what a privilege even to be alive. In spite of all the pollutions and horrors, how beautiful this world is. Supposing you only saw the stars once every year. Think what you would think. The wonder of it!"  Tasha Tudor

Preserving History

Being a member of the DAR, preserving history is a great past time.  Once a week I head to town to volunteer giving tours at our local museum.  It's a lovely place to hang out and meet new people.  In between patrons, I put on my apron and dust away cobwebs, mop the floor and spritz clean the glass display cases.  It's rewarding and sorta fun studying about the town's founding fathers/mothers and looking at all of the gadgets.  Many museums are struggling to stay open - I encourage you to support and take an interest in your area's history. 

Expecting and Soon!

Mrs. Mac here.

Hello old blog and anyone still following the Thrifty Garden Home?
I'm thinking of resurrecting this site!

Social media, politics and the news have driven me to my wits end.  I know there is civility somewhere, so this will be my place to ponder.

If you are reading this and recall our past visits, please leave a short note.

We are expecting our fourth grandson!   Our youngest daughter, Ann, and her husband are due with their first child next week!  
TTFN (ta-ta-for-now),

Mrs. Mac

Purposely Going ....

... 'Old School' ....

(Made in the U.S.A.)

Sick and tired of crummy crackly VoIP phone service with wireless handset, we've gotten our land line back and opted for a wall phone, curly cord and all!  And I'm about to ditch my smart phone for a internet free flip phone.

Sick of the pull being 'tethered' to the www all the time.  Spacebook ...don't get me started, oy!  Oh .. and all of it's spying with advertisements for this or that when I search on google or Pinterest.

My absence in blog land has been mostly due to the vacuum sucking effect of being on Face Book; where there is boundless selfie action and TMI being shared.

There is more to life than snippets of this and that.

OK ..

Rant over!

Has anyone else fallen into this 'rabbit hole'?

In the mean time .. I am enjoying sitting on the front porch rocker sipping coffee each morning with hubby; spending time with the grandboys .. including the newest little feller that is a month old!  Visiting with my folks every few days .. enjoying their presence making up for many years of lost time due to time and distance apart.  The garden flowers .. new church fellowship ... RETIREMENT life tends to be busier than when hubby worked a full time job!

Nathan begins his last year of high school.   Ann is coming up on two years of marriage!  Patrick is off fighting wild fires in the Salmon Mountain range of Southern Idaho .. his third wild-land fire deployment this summer.  We have a very full and rewarding retirement life.

Enjoy each day that unfolds .. count your blessings!

Battle of Deep Creek

The Mr. and I, once again, trekked to see the Battle of Deep Creek Civil War Re-enactment near Spokane, WA.   Maybe next year we will take the evening lantern tour through the north and south encampments .. complete with ghost stories!  While the Mr. chatted with Mr. Lincoln and General Grant, I opted to hear a talk about the language of fans, parasols and gloves .. who knew?

Busy In The Garden

Summer arrived a few weeks early .. everything has bloomed and the garden is on its way.  Did I mention we're going to be grandparents once again?  Mid July .. oldest daughter .. so excited!!

Tomatillos

Onions, herbs and lettuces

Sugar snap peas

Nasturtium, forget-me-not, baby's breath

Strawberries .. covered with bird netting

Grapes

Tomatoes

Clematis, cat mint, spirea, delphinium, fox glove 

New wood shed

Cannon, whiskey barrel filled with flowers, day lilies 

Fragrant peonies

Waking Up From .....

.... Winter

Cabin fever.  Low sunlight.  Doldrums.

The earth is brown.  Garden landscape looks dead.  My insides are silently screaming to 'get out'.

Waiting for spring.  Changing gears.  Kayaking.  Bike rides.  Digging in the soil.  Planting.

The rhubarb is breaking ground.  Overwintered herbs are perking up.

It won't be long.

Welcome March!

A GIANT Step

Nathan stepped out in style last Friday!  He attend the Tim Tebow Foundation's Night to Shine Prom!  This was a huge-big deal for him ... the Mr. and I tagged along and had one of the best evenings ourselves shadowing from the sidelines.

All participants were crowned King or Queen

Dancing to the beat of the drum!

These two have been sweet on each other since early elementary school

A Vacation Reprieve

 This past October the Mr. and I strategized with great detail to GET OUT, GET AWAY, GET FREE from the tethers of home and the supervision of our special needs son.  Our get-a-way was planned a year in advance and took many caring people (care givers) to pull off such a fete.

Old Faithful Geyser

We met up with close friends for five nights at the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park two weeks before they closed for the winter season.

To say we had a grand time is an understatement!

A side trip to Grand Teton National Park and a gourmet picnic at this beautiful chapel .... LIFE IS GOOD!

Chapel of the Transfiguration, Jackson, Wyoming

Generating Power

The best laid plans are often set aside when times are easy going.  But when the doo-doo hits the fan, it's awful to be stuck and remorseful about not having taken steps to be prepared.

After our last great wind storm and losing our electric power, we got on the stick and purchased a generator.  We even had it sitting in our garage with an appointment scheduled for our electrician to come out to rewire our electric panel to switch to generator power throughout our home with the flip of a switch.

So close were we!  And then SNOWMEGADON arrived with HEAVY-WET-SNOW blanketing our area weighing down trees and power-lines alike.  Again, we were so close to having alternative power.  This time our power went out five times in a two day period.  We would just get it turned back on when another tree would topple over somewhere down the line and BAM!  During this weather event, we finally got the generator up and running and performed a practice run.  It worked beautifully.  This same day in the early evening the power went out for a sixth time.  I was never so excited to have the power go out!  I woke hubby up from a nap and he quickly switched the breaker panel and started up the generator.   Yippy-ki-yay & hot-dang!  We barely skipped a beat!

Table Time

For some reason the past year I've gotten lazy about setting a proper table for our meals.  There's been more 'grazing' (eating mindlessly), snacking, and family members eating in their own little places of preference.

The 'pop' news of late has been about setting purposeful goals.  Thinking on this, my purposeful goal is to get back in the habit of meals with the family AT the table.  Setting a proper table that includes real plates, metal forks, napkins (cloth or paper), etc.  This will be to our benefit, and if I eat at regular meal times, there will be no need to graze or snack (in theory).   So, not calling this a new year's resolution, I (ahem) plan to 'on purpose' eat only at the grown-up's table.

There.  I said it.  So now must live it!  Nothing like the typed word to hold a person accountable, especially when published on the WWW.

Happy New Year!

Breakfast Sausage

Our annual piggy made it into our freezer yesterday.  This is the third year we've ordered from a small little family farm; and this is the first year they've raised their own pigs from ones born on their farm.  They are pastured, moved when the grass is low or starting to go bare, fed a supplement of thick rich cow's milk from same farm.

This year the butcher asked about sausage flavorings ... and I opted to just receive ground pork to be able to add my own spices.

Breakfast Sausage:

1-1/2 pounds of ground pork
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, or red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground powdered ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons dried rubbed sage or other green herb you prefer
1 teaspoon dried chives
1 tablespoon dried onion flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried garlic powder

Mix well all spices into pork.  Shape into a log on a piece of wax paper.  Roll tightly.  Refrigerate at least an hour or overnight.

Remove wax paper and slice into 1/2 inch rounds, flatten a bit if necessary, and cook in a heated cast iron skillet over medium heat until browned on both sides and center is no longer pink .. about 5-7 minutes depending on thickness.  Strain and save the drippings to use in a savory dish.  Re-wrap any unused sausage and refrigerate;  use within a few days.