Sunday Thought ~ Daniel 2:2

Love and Hugs

Phoebe x

Like Mother...Like Daughter...

Miss C....

and 20 years later..

 Little Miss

Where has the time gone??

Love and Hugs

Phoebe x

Sunday Thought ~ Deuteronomy 31:6

 Love and Hugs

Phoebe x

When The Earth Moves....

 Last night ... just before midnight... we were jolted from our sleep by a 4.5 earthquake. Being just over a mile from the epicentre.. it was very loud... and there was a lot of shaking. Since living here I have felt a few tremors... but for the first time.. pictures, china etc actually fell.  MrD.. as usual..took it in his stride... said we will deal with it in the morning... turned over and went back to sleep. He really is Mr Cool! Covid..  riots.. wildfires and now an earthquake! 2020 has been a doozy!

Seeing as its stitching Saturday... I thought I would share the hearts I sold this week.. 

They were sent to Ohio and Florida. 

Coincidently ..they were all blue.

Enjoy the weekend

Love and Hugs

Phoebe x

Hints of Fall...

 A much better morning for walking...and for the first time in a while... 

a lovely blue sky without a whiff of smoke.

The air quality though is still poor according to the weather channel.

but it was lovely being out and about enjoying the first hints of Fall

Love and Hugs
Phoebe x

More Preps...

 My prepping continues...

I was face timing with my friend in Idaho this week...and were talking about prepping . Luckily she and her young family are safe from all the terrible fires. But she mentioned that the fires were destroying many crops... She warned that with wheat fields burning.. flour prices would go up... With no feed for animals... meat prices would go up...and as for their famous potatoes!!  

So with this in mind.. My local store is selling flour that works out at $1.39 a bag ...if you buy four.. So thats what I got. Making my own bread and cakes and cookies from scratch...especially with Thanksgiving and Christmas not too far ahead... I use a lot.

I bought another 10lb bag of potatoes to dehydrate ready for soups and stews... and will get more this week. At the moment I can get a 10lb bag for a $1.50 so Im taking advantage of it. Yes there are 10lb of potatoes in those two jars!

I dehydrated a head  of cabbage.. which filled a quart jar 

More Bell Peppers... Incredibly 5 dehydrated peppers take up very little room

and finally..I dehydrated the turnips I had in the freezer and theres room for more in the jar                  

So thats the five preps for this week. Im feeling so much better about not keeping so much in the freezer

Easy Crock Pot Four Cheese Ravioli Lasagna

For dinner we are having a very simple Dump and Go Crock Pot meal using items from the freezer. Usually I would make it as below... but I have a few bags of the meat mixture already frozen so Im using one of those. Anything for an easy life lol

1 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped onions
2-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (24oz) jar of pasta sauce
1 (25oz) package or frozen cheese-filled ravioli(do not thaw)
1 cup shredded Italian blend cheese

• Cook ground beef, onion, and garlic in a large skillet over a medium/high heat
• You could also add green bell pepper and mushrooms which my hubby loves
• Drain if needed
• Mix in the pasta sauce
• Spoon 1/2 meat mixture into bottom of a lightly greased crockpot. 
• Layer half of the ravioli.
• Next layer with reamining meat mixture.
• Then top with the rest of the ravioli.
• Sprinkle with shredded cheese.
• Cover and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours until pasta is tender... (mine was ready after 5) 

A Touch of Autumn...

Love and Hugs

Phoebe x

Cousins with Colds...Yay!!!...

Just a quick post today... Im still feeling a bit grotty..  But I had to let you know... The tests came back and both Little H and Little Mr are covid free. They just have really bad colds.

                

Ive never before been so relieved that a child has got the sniffles

Love and Hugs

Phoebe x

Whats For Dinner ~ Meal Plan Monday...

Here we go...the start of another week. My accident prone hubby has gone work.. and I said a silent prayer as he left. Almost every day last week he came home with an injury. As well as the split lip... a heavy metal coil rolled over his foot..which is badly bruised but luckily no broken bones. The next day he came home with a duck egg lump on the top of his head.. after a metal bar swung at him..and he didnt duck fast enough. And finally.. and I dont know how.. he got a nasty pinch on his thigh that drew enough blood to pour down his leg and to soak through his trousers. I told him ... he either needs danger money... or preferably... he just has to slow down.. and remember he's not getting any younger! lol!

After church yesterday... we swung past the hospital and got our flu shots. They really didnt hurt..but today I do feel a bit grotty..but Im not complaining. My two grandsons age seven and two have been tested for Covid. Its a bit of a coincidence as one lives on Anglesey in North Wales.. and the other lives 280 miles away in Northumberland, England. Both have chesty coughs..runny noses and temperaures. The results are due any time now... but... it is Autumn over there... and the weather is damp and chilly!

So plans for this week include some dehydrating... some stitching...and hopefully start putting the fall decorations up...even though it still feels like the middle of summer!

Here's this weeks menu 

Weekly Plan - 14th September 2020
 
Monday              Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry 

Tuesday              Taco Chicken Salad and Mexican Rice

Wednesday         Garden Vegetable Pie, Pork Chops

Thursday            Slow Cooker Ravioli Lasagne, Garlic Bread

Friday                 Carnitas Pizza

Saturday             Out with Hubby (hopefully)

Sunday                Leftovers

Sunday Thought ~ 2 Peter 3:9

Love and Hugs

Phoebe x

Smoky Saturday....

For the past few days... 

The smoky sky has had an orange glow 

and the sun has been bright red..

These are the actual photos with no filter..

It didnt stop us from driving to the Orange Circle in Orange County..

And it was very strange seeing so many people walking around without masks

Where we had a rather nice Al Fresco lunch in a place called Smoqued

where MrD had the best Chili Mac he has ever tasted... or so he says

Walking around the vintage and antique shops.. 

I suddenly felt inspired to get my Fall decorating started..

I must ask MrD to get the Fall storage boxes out..

before he goes to work Monday

Love and Hugs

Phoebe x

September 11th ~ Remember Them...

Love

Phoebe x

Wordless Wednesday..

Love and Hugs

Phoebe  x

Hot!!...

Just when you think 2020 couldnt throw anything else at you... here come the wildfires.. adding appalling air quality to the blistering temperatures. We peaked at 111F (43C) this weekend..but Woodland Hills..not far from us.. reached an incredible 121F (49C). 

The sky looked really strange yesterday.. probably from all the smoke...and although MrD says we are in no danger because we live in a city.. the truck was covered with ash..and it was coming through our open windows

The dehydrating has begun... and the Butternut Squash has been in the dehydrator overnight and is almost done. Hopefully they will retain this beautiful orange colour. Next on the list... turnips and bell peppers. Im going to go for a walk shortly... and hopefully the air quality wont be too bad.

So I have a question. Are you prepared for if your power goes off. If so... would you share some of your preps? 

Have a great day 

Love and Hugs

Phoebe x

Whats For Dinner ~ Meal Plan Monday

Happy Labor Day!... And boy is it warm!. Temperatures reached 111F yesterday.. and I was melting. On Saturday... I power went  off for a while. No A/C or fans was not pleasant but life goes on. It was so hot that the water coming out of the cold water tap.. was very warm...even after running for a while

We are lucky that our church is having services again... albeit outside. We went to the 8am service... but even with the fans blowing.. the sun was so strong its rays were defying the tarp roof.. and it got to an uncomfortable 93F by we got to leave. 

Although it was hot...we called at the Produce Market on the way home...and I got some things to dehydrate this week. I have a budget of $5 a week for preserving... and this market helps completely... 10lb potatoes ~ $1.99... 4 Bell Peppers ~ $1... 3lb carrots ~ $1 and a cabbage for $1. I Still have apples to use... and I want to dehydrate the Butternut Squash I have in the freezer. The power going off on Saturday worried me as I thought we would lose all our frozen foods. Its spured me to get as much dehydrated and canned as possible. Luckily... our stove runs on gas.. so I can still have coffee!

This weeks meals will be quick.. involve as little oven cooking as possible... and make great use of the Crock Pot. So have a great Labor Day... a wonderful week...and here's this weeks menu

Weekly Plan - 7th September 2020
 
Monday              Beef and Green Pepper Stir Fry 

Tuesday              Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken. Rice and Salad

Wednesday         Frittata with Ham, Spinach, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Zucchini

Thursday            Slow Cooker Applewood Pork, Baked Potato, Salad

Friday                 Garlic Chicken, Mushroom and Spinach Pizza

Saturday             Out with Hubby...

Sunday                Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches