If you give this wife a paint brush ...

One of the favorite books when I was teaching was 

"If you Give a Mouse a Cookie"

Basically the story is a large circle.

The mouse needs milk,

he spills,

he cleans it up,

he cleans the whole house,

he ...

until he is hungry again and needs another cookie.

Well,

I must say,

when I get a paint brush and start changing things ...
it just builds and builds and builds.

The bedroom is almost done.
It was a little delayed by the need to help hubby with a clutch job on his work truck.

Wanna peek?

Lighter bedding.
 Repurposed throw pillows that I had covered in brown before.
Side table painted white.
Bed scarf sewn to protect whte bedding from things "thrown" on it.
Small side wall was brown before.

Instead of verse directly on the wall, we put a new verse on a project board.

Sheer curtains for light and privacy.
Hubby fixed the closet door so that it now stays closed.
We painted all the doors and trims and put in new knobs (bye-bye brass).

The little wall here was brown before.
Now it has our wedding samplers and pictures.
Frames painted white and pictures rematted all in white.

Close-up of wedding tributes.

The room was repainted the same color as before (a celery) but I went with satin instead of semi-gloss.
The only thing that is not finished is the vanity in the master bath.

It will be white (hopefully next week).

I have been working on trims and doors in the back rooms as well this week.

Come March, the main living area will get painted grey.

Still making decisions about the kitchen cabinets and counters.

Not a furbaby ... but ...

You all know them,

childless couples whose pets become their children.

No, we have not adopted a dog, cat, fish, or bird ...

but I fear that I have a "house baby."

Yes, I love remaking my house.

It takes time and resources,

but it seems to fill the void for a little while.

We began redecorating our bedroom at the beginning of January.

New duvet and cover.

New memory foam on the mattress.

New curtains.

I am using some pillowcases embroidered by
my great grandmother and finished by my grandmother because they finally match the decor. 

(I am actually using them as shams because they are so special).

This week I am repainting doors and walls

and working on a special wall hanging.

In the past, the room was inspired by Cabelas - 

woodland, pine cones.

Now, a much lighter look.

Keep watching for next weeks Tuesday Transformation

for a glimpse of the crazy lady's "house baby."

In Honor of National Pie Day

I was planning to make the pie sometime soon,

but then my mom mentioned that it was national pie day ...

so I made it today.

An apple pie sweetened only with no sugar added apple juice concentrate

and as a special treat ... a dollop of vanilla bean coconut "ice cream".

Perfect timing because it wasn't the best of days for hubby,

and a pie can help straighten out a day 😋

And it is ... January?

Anybody else struggling with this crazy weather.

Oh where, oh where has the winter gone?  oh where oh where can it be?

Ever since our wonderful snowfall ...

spring like temps.

The high today was over 70*!

Kind of missing winter,

but I am enjoying a daily walk without bundling up or traipsing through the mud.

Redemption

So, tonight was the night to redeem myself ...

AND...

the salmon cakes turned out fine.

What else is on the meal plan this week?

Hamburger/Green Bean Pie
Goulash and Salad

Crockpot Turkey Chili Pie

Breakfast for Dinner

Black Bean Plantain Veggie Burgers

Your Amusement (at my expense)

This could also be titled

"Multitasking Gone Wrong - Very Wrong"

Last night,

the french fries were in the oven,

the green beans on the stove,

the salmon cakes mixed up and ready to be fried ...

There was still time and so I began to make some blueberry muffins for breakfast.

As dusk fell,

I added the blueberries to the "muffins."

When I saw the truck pull in,

I turned on a light and

I reached for the bowl of salmon

but...

there was the bowl of batter

sans blueberries

and ...

there was the bowl of salmon

with 1 cup of blueberries stirred in.

Anyone for blueberry salmon cakes ...

YUCK!

We enjoyed the fries and beans,

but instead of salmon cakes,

we quickly browned some chicken sausage on the stovetop.

Enjoy the Laugh!

Hubby certainly did.

Delight Yourself In The Lord

My little Bible Study on Wednesdays has finished a study of the Proverbs 31 woman.

What a blessing and rebuke that passage was.

The other topic that they picked was "Desires."

It's root was Psalm 37:4.

"Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

The girls are at the stage of desiring their own home.

My desire has been to have a home filled with children.

And so we look at Psalm 37:4.

The "magic" key, right?

Delight in God ... Get what you want.😊

Kind of like Hannah's prayer,

the prayer of Jabez,

a simple 1,2,3.

Delight ...

Do I delight in the Lord?
Is He all of my peace, my satisfaction, my fulfillment?
If He is, then He will be the desire of my heart.

Regardless of the situation, my delight needs to be in my God.
He needs to be first.
He needs to take precedence.

What a challenge for the new year!

A Belated Welcome to 2017

Happy New Year to one and all!

December flew by.

My schedule was thrown out of whack by changes in piano lesson schedules,

time off with hubby,

making Christmas dinner for almost the whole church (only 17),

some special dates with my sweetheart

...

It was a pleasant season.

We had a simple celebration of our Saviour's birth.

There were no presents under the tree.

There was no snow.
There were no excited children on Christmas morning.

We were able to enjoy the day at church with the blessing of two normal church services.

We were able to share a Christmas meal with those, like us, who had no family in the area.

We are a blessed people.

This weekend, we have enjoyed the rare snowfall in NC.

The snow began Friday night,

and the 8 inches of snow closed everything down on Saturday and much of Sunday.

Oh, the simple joy of walking in the snow on the vacant streets of our little town.

It is still very cold, so the snow is oddly still on the ground 3 days later.

With the cold and snow this weekend,

I decided to try a new recipe.

I regularly bake with beans- white bean cake, choclate brownies ... .

This new recipe was for black bean gingerbread bars.

Yes, I did receive a strange look from my hubby,

but he will try anything once,

and he was the one hanging out of them on Friday night.

Are you daring?

Care to give them a try?

Black Bean Gingerbread Bars

from the Detoxinista

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cooked black beans, or 1 (15 oz.) can drained and rinsed

1/2 cup gluten-free oat flour (I just throw whole oats in my blender until they are like flour)

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

3/4 cup coconut sugar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease a 9-inch square baking dish.
In the bowl of a large food processor fitted with an “S” blade (I used a high speed blender), combine the black beans, flour, oil, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt, baking soda, vanilla, molasses, and vinegar. Process until a smooth batter is formed.

Pour the batter into the baking dish.
Bake until the top feels firm to a light touch, about 25 to 30 minutes.
Cool completely before removing the bars from the pan and slicing.