2011 December 16 — Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara

New Year, New Month, New Week

December 16, 2011 · by JudyL

Most of us get so excited about the new year . . January 1 . . a new beginning. I set goals; I make resolutions. They’re almost always the same:

Lose weight
Exercise
Be better organized
Buy less yarn or fabric

There are others I’m sure but these seem to be the ones I’ve had for about 15 years now! Every year I hear from some who say they don’t make resolutions or goals because they feel like a loser if they don’t meet them. So, let’s just call them “suggestions”! When you really think about it, the New Year is made up of 12 New Months and 52 New Weeks so wouldn’t it be easier if we had a “suggestion” per month or per week? That’s what I’m going to do! I’m going to post New Month Suggestions for myself each month and a New Week Suggestions for myself each week. I may not meet my goal each week or each month but I think I might have success! I do so much better when I’ve told someone (or the blog readers maybe) what I plan to do and then I have to report whether I did it or not.

Anyone else think that’s a good idea?

· Filed Under: Worthless Chatter · 21 Comments

Getting So Much Done!

December 16, 2011 · by JudyL

Since Vince was off Thursday and since my parents are coming on Saturday, we had so very much to get done . . mainly make the path a little wider. Vince hauled a bunch of boxes to the shop and he put up the shelf unit for the laundry room.

We have quite a few of these black shelf units that we bought at Target while in KY. They’re almost indestructible and have survived the moves with few scars. We have more of the all metal shelf units from Sam’s Club and they are completely indestructible . . for the most part. I’m not sure there’s anything that movers can’t destroy but I’ve convinced myself I’ll never move again!

This is how Vince measures the distance between the shelves — his stretched out hand! We had to take several off (one off several times) because it wasn’t level. Finally I went and got one of my sewing rulers because we could not find a tape measure.

Even Speck knows to stay out of the way when Vince is working!

This is the unit that will hold the microwave. I’m so loving not having it over the stove. Notice all the dog toys in the floor. Poor Speck!

Shelf is done and in the laundry room. There is room for a full size washer and dryer to be side by side but since the sellers left this stack unit, I’m real happy to have it. The room is pretty small so it’s not easy to get a picture of the whole room. My full size washer and dryer will be hooked up in the shop. It’s already out there but not hooked up yet. I don’t know that I’m ever going to use it again. I’m really liking this smaller washer/dryer. Since it’s just the two of us now, it seemed like I was always waiting to have a full load. I know I could wash smaller loads but it just seemed more economical to fill the washer and fill the dryer if I was going to wash. Now, with the smaller washer and dryer, I rarely have dirty clothes (pretend you don’t see the clothes basket half full) because it’s so easy to wash small loads with the small washer.

See where there’s a case of chicken broth on the shelf? Once we’re set up like I want to be set up, all my canned goods will be in the closet in the sewing room. Each week I’ll bring over just what I need for that week and they’ll go on this shelf so I don’t have to bring cans back to the house every day .. just every Sunday or Monday .. whatever day I do most of the cooking.

The microwave is there on the shelf and it’s not far from the kitchen. In fact, it’s easier to get to it in the laundry room from the eating area than it was to get to it when it was over the stove .. plus, it keeps Vince out of the kitchen.

Don’t you just love my kitchen? I sure do. The painters are going to repaint the kitchen ceiling for me . . in probably 2025 when they finish their work in the sewing room!

Did I tell you that the big plank of wood on the bar is mesquite? I’ll be so happy to get that white fridge out of there! It will go in the sewing room and the movers will bring my big fridge when we bring another load over here.

The brown door beyond the bar is the laundry room. Eventually I’ll get a couple of bar stools and then it will be real close to use the microwave!

Things are getting done . . slowly but surely!

· Filed Under: Home & Garden · 8 Comments

Fantastic Hand Cream

December 16, 2011 · by JudyL

Since I started making my own hand cream, I still use some Bath & Body Works products but I almost always have a batch of the homemade stuff around. With the moves and everything leading up to them, I ran out of the homemade stuff. With the cold weather, the baking and not having a dishwasher and having my hands in the water so much, my fingers have started cracking so I made another batch of the homemade stuff yesterday.

This is the original post where I shared the recipe I was given but it’s simply 16 oz. baby lotion (any brand, any “flavor”), 8 oz. Vitamin E cream, and 8 oz. Vaseline (I like the Vaseline with cocoa butter and please don’t tell me that I should not be using Vaseline, a petroleum based product. I’ve heard it before and I still use it and if you don’t want to use it . . find something else that works!). Because I was not about to go to Wal-Mart this time of year, I went to Family Dollar and their baby lotion was 11 oz. so I got two and used only part of the second bottle. Their Vitamin E cream was 16 oz. so I only used half of that. I’ll save the rest for the next batch. Vaseline seems to no longer come in an 8 oz. size so just use whatever you find.

If you have a hard time finding the Vitamin E cream, check Family Dollar or Dollar General stores. They seem to almost always have it. I’ve also noticed folks using the CVS brand so CVS Stores must have it too.

Dump it all in the mixer and mix it up and then fill your containers. If you’re keeping it all for yourself, which I mostly do, you can put it in any small jar or container with a lid. I’ll give some of this, along with the recipe, to my new friends around here. I found these little containers at Family Dollar:

I don’t even know if they were really $1 or if they were more but they are perfect for giving a small amount of this cream to someone else. I also can’t tell you how much the ingredients cost. The 11 oz. baby lotion containers were $3 each. I saw the price on those. The Family Dollar store is right next to Kroger and I needed a few things that Brookshire’s didn’t have (jasmine rice for one thing!) so I ran next door and started shopping while Vince paid for the stuff at Family Dollar.

This cream really is the best for my hands and feet and I use it on my face as a night cream too.