First Day of the Garage Sale

wow..am I tired! didn't realize how tiring it is to stand for 4 hours but there you have it..we did fairly well on our garage sale..made over $100....and have another sale tomorrow....that is if we can find  more things to put out...the weather was really wonderful which helped .......the only bad thing that happened was a sheriff came by and said we couldn't park the van in the street with a for sale sign on it...said if she came by again and it was there, she would ticket it...go figure..Alan washed off the paint and will re do it after the sale....who knew that ordinance? I surely didn't.
I put out tons of craft patterns but no nibbles....did sell some craft supplies...cinnamon sticks, beads, etc. plus alot of frames....the biggest sale was a pastor and his wife who bought some weights and a weight bench for their son....good to have those things out of the garage....getting rid of things always makes me feel good.lighter somehow....less is more......

Meet a New Blogger, Etsy and a Purchase!

A new blogger and crafter, Freida has opened her blog/shop and I hope you will all welcome her.....love her blue grass music and her darling primitive dolls and such......Persnickety Primitives


I hope more people will sign up for my Christmas in July giveaway....would love to get my 100 followers and give away the second set of snowman tags......only have 24 people who signed up so far...this will end on the 31st....I am 20 from the 100 follower goal.....

I have some new tag patterns so am working on those plus  more black work....I am going to start fresh on Etsy within a month or so..with a shop....so want to fill it with lots of stitchery and goodies.....It will be called the same as my selling blog..Sweet Home Stitchery.....

I also wanted to show you something I bought!!! after the gloomy month we've had, I decided to treat myself to a little something.....and found through another blogger this wonderful Etsy shop KeepSake Corner..

I ordered this darling candle wrap. we love candles, especially in the fall and I like the larger ones but always hate to have the labels showing.....solved that problem!

its this cute or what?

Online Surveys, and a Yard Sale

Something I've wanted to discuss for some time is online surveys and such.....the last few years I've experimented with many and have come down to two which really pay off in actual cash...thought someone else might like to know about them.....
the first is Swag Bucks.....you actually make $ by doing your web searches through their tool bar....I have in the last year made over $40...not a lot of cash but its going toward Christmas presents this year..if you really worked at it,  you could make alot more...they have a FB page and run code searches  where you can win big...if you are interested, let me know and I will refer you...that way we will both win as every referral helps me out....they also give away prizes, and I personally like the gift cards, American Express,  Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and others, plus they put your winnings into your Paypal account........you earn swag bucks by doing your searches, surveys, swag TV and other fun things..even games....

The second is a more conventional survey, Ipsos I say...this is a French marketing survey group..and its actually a little more profitable than the Swag bucks...I have made over $75 this year already and when you redeem your winnings, they send you a  check.....the company has been in business since 1975 and is very reliable.....when you sign up, they will email you surveys to fill out...sometimes you are sent new products to test...I've tested barbecue sauce, toothpaste and cologne...you get to keep the products plus get paid....
Neither of these will make you rich but it is nice to have a little extra here and there, isn't it?Its like my Christmas club money..remember those?

We are getting ready for a yard sale this Friday and Saturday....actually sales start here on Wednesday and go through Saturday....rather interesting..

.I've gone through my craft chest of drawers and pulled out tons of craft things plus counted cross stitch patterns and such..I closed my Bonanza store and am selling all the stock I had in it......I don't do cross stitch much any more...I am a great pattern collector as I know alot of you are too..but really, how many patterns do we actually use? I have saved all my Aunt Martha embroidery patterns and alot of the primitive ones of course but have reduced my "load" by at least 2/3...and it feels good.

A few videos and the colorful box on top has an entire collection of thimbles...thinking again, I think I will put the thimbles on Yard seller....garage sale folk don't want to pay what I would ask, me thinks...lots of books, we find them in vacant houses...mysteries, cook books, etc. A large box of hardcover and paperbacks...a breadmaker...much more....

We  harvested  tomatoes and will have them at the sale.

Alan has tons of very high quality Schlage locks for sale.....these are in the $35 to $50 range if you bought them at the big box stores....we are charging a pittance...we keep getting them as the Fannie Mae people insist on Quick Set locks for all their houses...so when we go to re key, we have to replace any Schlages....but Schlage is a higher quality lock....our house is completely Schlage. It took a bit of getting used to..kept locking myself out!

Sweet Potato Pie

The very first time I had Sweet Potato Pie was at Allen's Alley, a small diner in our old town of Vista, Ca....the cafe is  in a back alley of the down town section and is famous for its breakfasts and pies.

 Its rather a "hole in the wall" little diner..with great old fashioned service and food....been there for 40 years or more....and a legend in its own way...

I was in heaven with that wonderful pie and when we ran across a 10 lb. box of sweet potatoes at Costco last weekend..well...had to get it.....we both adore sweet potatoes anyway.....did you know 1 medium sweet potato has only 100 calories? they are a powerhouse of good things like beta-carotene, Vitamin A, C and more...plus..well they just taste good...
Here is the recipe I used for the above pie..found it on the recipe card that came with the potatoes.....and its a goodie.....the night before I baked several, we ate two and saved the rest of the pie...

Henry's Famous Yam-Yam Pie
1 3/4 cups oven-baked mashed sweet potatoes
1 1/2 c. or 12 oz. can evaporated milk
1/2-3/4 c. sugar (I used Splenda)
2 eggs
salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves and/or other spices of your choice to taste...1/4-1/2 t. each.(.we like a cinnamon/clove mix ourselves) you could use pumpkin pie spice too.
Pie shell of your choice.....this makes a 9" pie....

Combine sugar, salt and spices in small bowl. Beat eggs lightly in large bowl. Stir in sweet potatoes and dry mixture.Gradually add evaporated milk to the sweet potato mix. Pour into a pie shell and bake in a 350 oven for 40-50 minutes..cool for at least 2 hours before cutting....

I make up the pie crust way ahead of time and keep rounds in the freezer so its no problem making pie here...just have to remember to get out several in the morning so they can thaw out.!
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Tomato Soup and Black Work

Our tomatoes are really getting ripe now with the warm weather.....so today I decided to make some tomato soup...I know, I know..a little too hot to think of soup but after last year, we decided that of all the things we canned, we liked the tomato soup most of all....this recipe is from Sue at Oodlekadoodle Primitives ...

its so good with a mixture of varieties of home grown tomatoes...a bit of work but worth it...
the recipe originally came from a old Kerr canning booklet from the 1940s...

14 qts. ripe tomatoes.....comes to about 3 lbs for each quart
7 medium onions
1 stalk celery
14 springs parsley
3 bay leaves
14 T. butter
14 T. flour
3 T. salt
8 T. sugar
2 t. pepper
Wash and cut up  the tomatoes. No need to peel...Chop onions, parsley and celery and add to the tomatoes, cook until celery is tender. Put through a sieve (I used a food mill). Rub flour and butter together to a paste and thin with tomato juice. Add to BOILING soup: stir to prevent burning.Add salt, pepper and sugar. For smoother consistency, you can put it through the sieve again if you like...I didn't...Fill clean jars and process for 30 minutes in a  hot water bath....
I didn't have enough tomatoes for the full amount so did a half recipe......and I think we are going to just enjoy it without canning...I may try to freeze some...I did a search of tomato soup recipes and there are lot of good ones, including some that use chicken stock but I think this one is one of the best...

I also found some more nice black frames so framed this black work from Bird Brain this morning....not the best photo as it was late in the day when I took the picture but think it turned out well...

Hope you have signed up for my July giveaway! if not, please go over to the left at the giveaway link and join  the fun....you can get up to 4 entries and if I get 100 followers, I have another set of snowman tags to give away to a second winner!

Humid Weather

The weather has been very hot and not a little humid....unusual for us...we usually get a dry heat....as far away as Las Vegas is getting rain..very unusual for July...this afternoon, I looked out the front and saw the sky completely black, then thunder and lighting...but we didn't get any rain....so what did we do? We watched the old movie, "Twister" of course....
One of my favorite lines from the movie..remember this?

Finished!

Over the weekend, I finished Jaydon's baby afghan...think it turned out nicely for not having crocheted in about 10 years or so.....still have a little yarn left over so decided to make a matching toy..already have the bear hat which I posted about before.....I found the cutest pattern for a bunny...the pattern is from Lion Brand yarn....this photo is from the website and I will make it the same colors as the afghan..green and blue..what do  you think..blue with green ears or just the opposite?
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of course..I am going to embroider the eyes, no buttons for the little guy to swallow....I couldn't resist this little bunny's floppy ears.....
Alan went to the trailer the kids are renting to re key the two sheds for their storage...and says its very nice with plenty of room.....and the park is very clean and well maintained...our son says he found out they have a pool and a spa also in the park which delighted them both.....he's been moving things in all this last week..so it won't be long until we will have an empty room....I will miss them....

We called about the real estate help and are in the process to be accepted....have to get our "ducks in a row" they will be sending us a packet of information to fill out and mail back....it takes about 35-40 days to be approved....if  you are reading this and are having problems with your mortgage...behind in payments or something else..and live in California...here is the link..the  program is called Keep Your Home California...I don't know if we will be approved but at least we are doing everything we can and trusting the Lord for whatever His will is.....
We had another quiet holiday..we did barbecue some rib eye steaks, corn on the cob...potato salad and I made a peach jello parfait for desert.....we hadn't had steak in some time and it was a real treat!

Christmas in July Giveaway.!!!!

Hello, All...I am pressing forward and continuing with a Christmas in July giveaway......you can sign up over on Sweet Home Stitchery.....all the rules (such as they are)  are there also....

and if I  get 100 followers..a second winner will win 3 of my snowman tags...

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As warm as its been, nice to think about cooler temps and the holidays

A Little Vent of sorts

We got some further news on my mother in law, Patty....(I've always called her Mom so will in this post)..Mom had a cat scan done yesterday and the cancer has spread throughout her body....the doctor says its a very aggressive type...he did suggest chemo but as it would only give her an additional two months if that..she decided not to go through the discomfort and pain......so Hospice has been called in and starts today....Hospice was very wonderful when my own mother was ill and am so thankful for such a wonderful organization....the doctor gives her 2 to 4 months....

my grandmother, my dad and one cousin died from cancer....my dad got his from exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam.... my cousin by going on a special natural foods diet program..managed to put his cancer in remission for a number of years before finally succumbing..he got an extra 10 years and was able to enjoy riding his horses and camping..things he loved to do.. his bucket list...

then you read things  in the news Canadian Researchers Obtain a Simple Cure
it sounds quite hopeful if only someone would forget the bottom line and think more about the millions who could be helped...

Giveaway Winner

I announced the winner of my June Giveaway  in Sweet Home Stitchery and will announce it here too....its Lynn from Sewinggrandmalynn
congratulations, Lynn! she makes awesome raggedy quilts so please check out her selling blog at Raggy Anne Creations
I will be posting my July giveaway after the holiday weekend..
we were so busy yesterday with jobs..left the house early about 7 a.m. and didn't get finished to about 6 p.m. both of us were very tired last night but it was a good tired and went to bed early...

I also got a message about a California program to help homeowners who were behind on their payments through no fault of their own..and we qualify so will have to pursue more information on it...it looks good so far and if you stay in your house for 5 years, you don't have to pay it back.... this weekend we will get our paperwork out and then call them.....maybe there is  hope!
Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th!