News from the Nest, February 7

What’s the story, morning glory?

What’s up Buttercup?

What’s the word, Hummingbird?

What’s cooking, good-looking?

What’s the deal, big wheel?

What’s shakin’ bacon?

All this to say, “Hi, I hope all is good in your world!”

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• Two and half years after we moved into our current home and I’m finally tackling the bedrooms and our master bathroom. Decision-making does not come easily to me, it is often an ugly and prolonged hand-wringing spectacle. But once I have a direction, watch out! As my grandma would say, I get a ‘bee in my bonnet.’

My first project in the guest room was these flanged pillow sham covers. Trust me, if you can sew a straight line on a sewing machine and read a ruler, you can make these pillow shams. And I help you with much of the hard work, i.e. how much fabric do you need and how to cut the pattern pieces.

I’ll be sharing how I made the bed skirt next, another super easy project. Hang tight.

• Speaking of my grandma, when I came across her handwritten recipe for her Date Nut Bars it brought back fond memories of all the delicious baked goods that she would producee. I swapped out the white sugar for the more flavorful brown sugar and I think she’d be just fine with my version of her Date Nut Bars!

• A few kitchen tips for you
  • If your dishwasher has a rinse agent well, instead of purchasing a commercial brand, try adding white vinegar. You may find it does just as good a job reducing water spots!
  • Wrap a couple of sheets of folded up papertowels around a bottle of oil and secure it with a rubber band. This will prevent drips from running all the way down the bottle and onto your shelves.
  • If your wooden spoons smell a little too onion-y, you can remove that scent by scrubbing the wooden spoon in a mixture of 1 tablespoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon water. You can let that paste sit for a bit before rinsing it off.

• Given the lighthearted ribbing he is giving me, you would think that Terry rues the day I went down that clothing moth hole (pun intended). But I think he is just whistling past the graveyard and is secretly glad that I am being proactive about keeping the little nasties from nibbling on his favorite wool sweaters. I have the moth traps hung in the closet and am slowly washing and storing our wool sweaters in sweater bags. I had several leftover wooden balls that I am dousing with lavender, rosemary and cedar oil to tuck in with the sweaters. I will start this week taking some of his suits to the dry cleaners and then will store them in suit bags with cedar as well. As it relates to the sweater bags, I will say that there is a vinyl smell to them, but it isn’t very strong and I expect it will dissipate over time.

Dehydrated Sweet Potato Dog Treats are a simple treat for your favorite pupper.

• I am CRUSHING the reading goal I set for myself at the beginning of the year! (Pats herself on the back!) In fact, I think I need to increase the goal. I had initally set a goal of 25 books for the year, so two a month. But thus far I’ve read four. I know that in the warmer months I’ll spend less time indoors reading, but…I don’t know. See, that whole decision-making thing! So this year I’ve read The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz, Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby, Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin, and The Plot by Jean Korelitz. Right now I’m reading Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian. So, here’s my quick overview…I am enjoying Hour of the Witch more than I thought I would! Magpie Murders just really dragged on; Black-Eyed Susans was a good story, but I feel she could’ve done a better job setting the story up and it went back and forth and was confusing at times; Juliet, Naked was a lighthearted,nice intermission, a very enjoyable read. The Plot really disappointed me; I’m not some great critical thinker, but I knew half-way through ‘whodunnit’ and kept reading in the hopes that I was wrong and would be suprised. I wasn’t! 😒

• For all the knitters out there, how do your circular needles look right now? This was an easy way to organize my circular needles. I wish I had done it sooner!

• Walk through your home with your handy paint touch-up kit while you are stuck indoors. You’ll be ready Spring ready in no time!

Well, friends, I wish you a great day and a wonderful week.

With any luck, I’ll be back with a new baby blanket pattern, a recipe, and the bed skirt tutorial next week! Wish me luck (and a bunch of productivity! My reading progress may take a hit!)

Thanks for making my day by SHARING!!