House in Pictures

Sorry for the exceptionally long delay in posting.  I have lousy excuses other than the insanity of mentally getting through a disaster. 

A few things have changed since last I posted…

Right now, I’m 32 weeks pregnant with our second daughter!  We very much wanted to have another child, but I had a very hard time getting pregnant… needless to say, chlomid (an entry level fertility drug) and disaster recovery make for some interesting mood swings. 

Eleanor Edna is due August 29… but as I will likely have a repeat c-section, she will probably come a week earlier.  And, the first anniversary of the fire is Sept. 4, so apparently we decided to have as much change in one year as possible.

We also got a new kitty in November.  A calico named Ruby.  She turned 1 around June…

We also got a new house.  But, as people were asking what it looked like here before, I am doing a series of pictures below.  From before, right after, during and now…

March 2009, the day we moved in.  Rosie was 8 months old then.

This is spring 2011 I think.

Fall 2010.

September 2011

And then, today.  the new house, which is currently in the process of being painted by volunteers.

The new house was built by a group called Christian Aid Ministries, which is a cooalition of Mennonite and Amish volunteers who go to disaster areas and help.  We paid for materials, Russ did a LOT of the labor, but they did 3/4 or so of the house building, the stuff that was beyond our tool and capacity set.

The carport has been taken down, Russ will put it on the left where the car will park eventually.  The shed will be pulled to behind the house.  The RV sold.  And we still have a lot to do after that.

There’s a lot more sunlight than before.  A lot fewer trees… we’re slowly planting back trees and Russ had planted annual rye grass to stabilize the soil over the winter.  He’s since planted tall native grasses around the perimeter – we’re not used to being so exposed and are wanting some privacy back.

Officials say it will be 60-100 years before the trees return to what they were.  Maybe Rosie and Eleanor will get a chance to see it.

I really hope to be posting more now that I’ve braved it all again.  My stress is getting less, with each step towards normal that we take.  I have even started sewing again this week!  More later… thanks for stopping by.

All We Have

Hi all.  Sorry for the LONG delay in posting.  Apparently, my avoidance of the issue is strong and … honestly, it’s just embarrassing at this point. And depressing. And… well, I’m sure you can imagine.

But, I wanted to show you what we managed to bring with us from our evacuation in September.  These pictures were taken at my sister in laws house in the first couple of weeks after the start of the fire.  We’ve replaced a lot of stuff since then (especially clothes and kitchen stuff) but…  This, plus 2 large dogs and a kid is what we have left from “before”.  We’re lucky to have gotten this much out to be sure.  Luckily, I had thought about this situation  before and so had a few piles of pictures/files…  What would you bring out?

fire

You may have seen on the news the horrible fires near Austin Texas that started on Sunday.

We were in those fires.

We were forced to evacuate at 3:30 pm… we got out what we could fit into 2 cars.  Pictures, computers, papers, my sewing machines… a few clothes and a couple of dolls for my daughter.  That is it.

Gram’s Cookbook made it out by the way.

We are staying with family in San Antonio.  We don’t know what the next step is, I don’t think we are allowed back in at this point.

I will keep you updated as I can…

Please keep us in your thoughts.  Much love to you all.

Oh, and I’m sorry, but the apron in the give away didn’t make it out.  My clothespin bag pattern made it, but I don’t have any fabric to make more now… oh well.   Now I get to go fabric shopping at thrift stores! 

Clothesline Profile – Cindy from the Beach!

This week’s profile is from Cindy who lives happily on a beach somewhere in the US.  Lucky her!  She has an inspiring profile and has done something that I am hoping to challenge all of you to do in August… a clothesline only challenge!  More details to come, but I would love to have everyone participate in the challenge that I can.  And, to sweeten the pot, I’ll be giving away one of my clothespin bags to one lucky participant!  

Now, on to the wonderful profile of Cindy … 

Hi, I’m Cindy from Siestas and Sewing where I blog about my sewing projects and life.  I live with my husband and 4 kids not far from the beach in Virginia. I am a stay at home mom. Though with 4 kids involved in multiple activities there’s not much staying at home!  I’m excited to be at Life on the (Clothes) Line today to share about my clothesline.

I started drying clothes on a line 12 years ago after my oldest daughter was born.  I used cloth diapers on her and had heard that hanging the stained diapers out in the sun was a great way to get the stains out.  Much to my surprise, it worked!  I ‘borrowed’ an old retractable clothesline that my parents had sitting in their garage since they moved to a development with a Home Owners Association (HOA) that prohibited clotheslines.  It was the same one my mom used when I was little at our old house to dry our clothes.  I have many fond memories of running in between the sheets and clothes that were drying.  My husband ran the retractable from the house to a 4×4 and I used it to dry the cloth diapers and baby clothes.
When we moved to our current house (9 year ago) there was already a clothesline.  I used it sporadically since it was in the shadiest part of our backyard.  There was no sun bleaching going on for the stains on my 2nd child’s cloth diapers.   Several years ago, my husband took down the old line and ran the good ol’ retractable line from our house to a tree in the sunny part of our yard.  Eventually, I found another retractable line at a small hardware store and he ran that from our screened in porch to the tree that the other line ends at.  The bonus is that those clotheslines are located right outside the door to my laundry room.  With the added convenience and sunny location, I began to line dry most all of our laundry.

During the summer and fall, as long as the weather is nice, I hang most of our clothes out to dry.  Sometimes, I throw the smaller stuff (socks, underwear, etc.) in the dryer since it’s time consuming to hang those out.  I don’t really like cold weather so you won’t find me venturing outdoors if I don’t have to in the winter!  Though if there’s a stained top (and with my kids there usually is) I’ll hang that out.  In the Spring, the many oak trees in our backyard drop pollen all over everything so I wait until the trees are done doing their thing before loading the lines.

In July of 2009, I did a little experiment…I didn’t use my dryer at all.  I was curious to see if there would be a noticeable energy savings in our electric bill.  That month we had the lowest electric bill we’ve ever had!   $60 vs. the usual $100+.  That little experiment made my husband a believer in the benefits of line drying.  Though you won’t find him helping me too much with hanging/bringing clothes in.  Not that he minds…he’s just usually at work when I have clothes to hang/take in.   My kids enjoy helping out.  The youngest 2 will stand on a bench and hang as far as their little arms reach.  And they are all trained (husband too!) to hang their swimsuits and towels on the line after a day spent at the beach or pool.

So that’s my clothesline!  Thanks Jeannie for giving me the opportunity to share!

Clotheslines over at Small Notebook!

One of the (many) blogs that I read is Small Notebook.  They just got back from living for a while in Italy and her latest post is on clotheslines there!   Lots of pretty pictures of wonderful lines in so many places that we never would think to put a line here!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tripoli.JPG

 

Then, she also has a page where she explains how you can figure out how much electricity your dryer uses per run – and how much that costs you.

Beyond that, where’ve I been?  Several doctor appointments, a cold and having to get the newsletter that I write each month done pretty much took up all of my time.   We live in a small town, doctors are in the big city… and as a result, each trip essentially amounts to an all day affair.    But, never fear… more posts are on the way!

The exciting thing is that I’ve found several more old cookbooks.  One at a yard sale and a couple at the house of my husband’s late grandfather.  So, I will be adding those recipes to the list to include in the Old Timey Recipe Collection.   Some look really good and I wonder why we’ve stopped making them?

Recipe Storage

Years ago when I was in college, I bought a little spiral bound book… it was made of recycled/upcycled maps and I thought it was just so clever.  But, I had no idea what to do with it.

Then, I decided to turn it into my own little cookbook.  I write and taped recipes into it – and it worked well for many years.  In fact, I still use it!  But then, the internet happened, and recipes were EVERYWHERE.  So, what’s a girl to do?  Save a zillion recipes via PDF and word file on the computer – where they are almost never looked at again.

Years ago, in a lame, failed, ongoing attempt to be more organized, I found the Flylady website.   She tells about this mythical thing of a “control journal” where your daily routines are written down and followed (ya right) , contact info and other important things are written down.  It sounds like a good idea… except that I never did it.  But then.. I got desperate again this fall.

I’d like to say that my house is always tidy now, but it’s not.  But, what I have gained is the perfect, for me, cookbook/brain.  What’s inside?  Well, it’s your basic notebook, made prettier with some scrapbook paper and a handy calendar.

Inside, I have the clear page protectors and notebook paper.  I often will write recipes that I find on-line onto the paper, including the website that I found it on (in case I want to share the recipe) and the month/year that I found it.  I also tear out recipes from magazines and stick them in there too.

I also use this notebook as a great way to store all of the user names and passwords, each on a separate Super Sticky Postit Note (LOVE those) stuck in rows onto notebook paper.  Same goes for mailing addresses of folks that I know.  For obvious reasons, I’m not showing you any of these pages though!

But, the ultimate storage of recipes comes in a different place – the inside of the cabinet door.

My mom visited recently and said that this is a long family tradition, going all the way back to my Great Gram (if not further).  Which of the many recipes make it to the place of honor inside of the door?  The ones that I make all of the time – corn bread, granola bars, pancakes, banana bread…  This way, all I have to do is open the door and get cooking, no digging for the recipe or trying to find a good space on the counter to put it.  For me (at six feet tall) the cabinet doors are at eye level and safely out of the way.

Mom also brought a box full of stuff for me, and I just recently started looking through it.  One of the things inside was this:

It is a cookbook that was for my Great Gram – apparently as a wedding shower/get ready for being married thing.  It is dated January, 1916 – she would have been 22 years old at that time.   Inside are about 20 pages of handwritten recipes… and one signed as “mother” – my great great grandmother!

Upon this very old book discovery, I am planning on a new series on the blog – posting one page a week of recipes from Gram’s Cookbook.   Some of the recipes look interesting enough to try… and I will and then let you know what I think and have the typed out recipe for you to try, too.

 All four generations – that’s me in the yellow!  

Since Gram’s Cookbook was all about sharing recipes with your friends… I’m going to share a recipe that we love with you.  I hope that you like it!

Basil Hamburgers 

1 pound hamburger

1/8 cup minced basil  (about one package of the fresh basil in the produce section)

couple tablespoons minced garlic

1/2 – 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1 egg

2 T Worcestershire sauce

1 t tobasco sauce

Directions:

Mix all.  All spices are to taste – except for the basil and you need lots of that!   It should stick together but not be too wet – use your judgement here.  Form into patties and grill!

Winner of the Clothespin Bag!

Is commenter #41 – Nicole!  I’ve sent an email and am waiting to hear back from her.  If I don’t hear from her by Sunday, I’ll draw another winner.

Thanks to everyone who entered!  I hope that you all come back to visit the line soon!

Clothespin Bag Giveaway!!!!!!!!

It’s Giveaway time!!!!

As part of the Sew Mama Sew! May Giveaway Day extravaganza, I am giving away one hand made one of a kind clothespin bag!  The tropical scenes bag pictured above!!!!

This tropical scenes clothespin bag is made from an old men’s shirt, so all upcycled!   It’s a nice medium weight 100% cotton – should last for many years so long as you don’t leave it on the line in the weather.  A nice gender neutral fabric, the men in the world won’t feel Y chromosome challenged carrying this to and from the line.

Our unique wire framed bags are all hand made. My husband bends the wire and I sew the bags. It’s our own pattern based off of a vintage bag found in his grandfather’s estate. I’ve updated and adapted it to current times… It features a magnet on the lid to keep it open while you’re hanging your clothes out. The wire frame on the bottom of the bag keeps the bag open – for easy access while you’re busy wrangling wet clothes.
All seams are cut with old fashioned pinking shears (to keep the edges from fraying out) and it is all sewn on my 1970′s Bernina sewing machine (thanks Mom!).  And, it easily holds enough pins to hang out several loads at one time.
 (This is a vintage tablecloth bag and is not part of the drawing – it’s just here to show you how the lid works!  Plus, it’s pretty… )

All in all, it’s machine washable (simply remove the wire before putting it into the wash).

Lidded clothespin bags are great for keeping your pins from bouncing out while on the line! Growing up in Kansas with all of the wind, that was always a battle… the lid on this bag will help keep the pins where they belong. It also works well for keeping the pins in while you carry them in and out of the house.

Like the bag?  Visit my Etsy shop, Rosy Star, for more fabric choices.  And, more are coming all of the time… so if you don’t see what you like, please check back.  Plus – I can do custom orders!

To win the tropical scenes bag, all you have to do is post a comment on this post and tell me if you have ever or currently or are thinking about in the future using a clothesline to dry your clothes.

Deadline to enter is May 25 – only 3 days people!  I will check the post some time on the morning of May 26, most likely at some point during Sesame Street, and randomly pick a winner.

Oh – and I will ship internationally!

And, as an added bonus, I will select two more folks to get a 20% discount on the purchase of a clothespin bag from my shop.  Just because I like you all!

I’m also looking for clotheslines to profile.  If you have a clothesline up, send me pictures  of it in use (and hopefully one with you standing next to it) and I will feature you and your line on the blog!   Beyond pictures, you will need to give me some basic info about your line… up to you what you include though.   Email me at lifeontheclothesline [at] gmail {dot} com.    I hope to see you and your line soon!

Thanks for entering and have fun with the contests!!!!

A CLOTHESLINE POEM

 A clothesline was a news forecast

To neighbors passing by,

There were no secrets you could keep

When clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link

For neighbors always knew,

If company had stopped on by

To spend a night or two.

For then you’d see the “fancy sheets”

And towels upon the line;

You’d see the “company table cloths”

With intricate designs.

The line announced a baby’s birth

From folks who lived inside -

As brand new infant clothes were hung,

So carefully with pride!

The ages of the children could

So readily be known

By watching how the sizes changed,

You’d know how much they’d grown!

It also told when illness struck,

As extra sheets were hung;

Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,

Haphazardly were strung.

It also said, “Gone on vacation now”

When lines hung limp and bare.

It told, “We’re back!” when full lines sagged,

with not an inch to spare!

New folks in town were scorned upon

If wash was dingy and gray,

As neighbors carefully raised their brows,

And looked the other way.

But clotheslines now are of the past,

For dryers make work much less.

Now what goes on inside a home

Is anybody’s guess!

I really miss that way of life.

It was a friendly sign.

When neighbors knew each other best

 By what hung on the line.

Clothesline Profile – Lisa’s Line

Today’ s clothesline profile is from Lisa who lives near Austin, Texas.  Are you seeing a Texas theme here?  Me, too.  If you’d like to see clotheslines from other states (and really, who wouldn’t?) please submit your pictures to me!!!!  greenskunkbiz [at] gmail (dot) com

What, you only submit pictures if you get a prize?  Fine… be that way.  The next 2 people who submit pictures and answer questions for the line profile will get a 25% off coupon on a pretty clothespin bag in my Etsy shop!

And, to help on the non – Texas clothesline efforts… next weeks line is from a state that starts with the letter A and ends in the letter a.  Stay tuned!!!

Now, back to Lisa’s line!!!!

How long have your line dried?

I just started line drying again. When my kids were in diapers, long ago, we lived in the Texas Panhandle where the wind blows all the time. I would go out to hang a load of diapers and by the time I finished hanging the last one, I could go back and start taking them down and folding them right back into the basket.

What inspired you to start?

I have been asking for a clothesline for a few years now. I live in the country without an HOA telling me I can’t have one. My neighbor has a lot of horses and she has a washer in her tack room. I would admire her laundry hanging on a line near her barn and wish for the good old days.

What do you see as the best part of line drying?

So many bests! Free drying / less electricity.

Worst part?

Having laundry on the line when it starts to rain.  (Not that it is ever going to rain in Texas again…)  And fire ants.  Ouch!

Any tricks to the trade?

I fold my laundry straight from the line into the basket.

How often do you hang clothes out?

Parts of every load but I only have the opportunity to wash once a week.