Happy List #23
Ah, Friday. How I love thee. This week I shared the story of paddle boarding with DOLPHINS and a MANATEE!!! Yep, I’m type yelling with excitement still. STILL!!!! I also shared my shortcut to making store-bought spaghetti sauce taste good. It is not Italian chef approved, but it totally works. Here are some other random things on my mind this week. DIY Food Wrap Would you make your own food wrap? With beeswax and fabric? Did you know there was such a thing? Do you think it is worth it? I’m full of questions on this one. Here’s a tutorial. It looks pretty easy and uses beeswax pellets. Famous last…
Secret to Making Store-Bought Spaghetti Sauce Taste Good
For all of you Martha Stewart types out there who are canning your organic tomatoes and slow cooking your tomato sauce all day long, please invite me over to dinner. I’ll bring wine. And my undying gratitude. For the rest of us who say “Crud! It’s dinner time. Again!” (and there must be plenty because I see a lot of tomato and pasta sauce on the grocery store shelves) this post is for you. In general and in real loosey-goosey terms, I’ve found the more expensive pasta sauce at the grocery store tastes better than the least expensive sauce. I’m not sure why. Maybe they simmered it longer to let the…
That Time I Was SURE I Was Going to See a Unicorn
Most of us are never far from a camera. It is 2017 after all. We can document the fantastic and the mundane all we want. I can’t tell you how many pictures I have of the inside of my children’s noses just because they used my camera phone for 4.7 seconds while I wasn’t looking. I especially love the videos they make of their noses when they think they are taking a picture. Don’t worry. I won’t show you pictures of that. How about a nice sunset instead? Ahhh…. Here’s a story of a recent time I wished I had a camera, but didn’t. THE HORROR!!! Over Easter we visited family in Florida…
Happy List: #22
Hello! How are you? After a two week break from school and work, I’ve been humming “back to life, back to reality” and “if I only had a brain” all week. It was a little rough those first couple of days all week! This week I shared a virtual tour of two hardware stores in Ireland and a tutorial on how to embellish a t-shirt with embroidery thread. Here’s what has caught my eye this week. Rubber Boot Racks Or, wellies as they are called across the pond. I deal with a lot of wet shoes, not necessarily rubber boots, but definitely wet, dripping shoes that need to dry. I just…
DIY Embroidered T-Shirt: Nevertheless She Persisted
I don’t usually do step-by-step tutorials because I’m not that detail-oriented, but I’m going to try my best today. My main reason for this is because embroidery thread is right up there with felt on my list of favorite craft supplies! Also, to encourage you to try embellishing a t-shirt with embroidery stitching because it’s not as hard as you might think. I taught myself! If you can do it, the possibilities are endless. Here’s the step-by-step of how I started with a plain white t-shirt and ended up with this result. Step 1: Gather Your Supplies You’ll need a t-shirt you want to embellish, embroidery thread, a sewing needle, backing…
Living in Ireland: A Trip to the Hardware Store
A warning for all of you organized types – the pictures in this post may be disturbing. Now, for the rest of you, let’s head to the hardware store! My little village in Ireland has a small hardware store. It shares space with the post office. I’ll let that sink in. I can buy stamps and then walk three steps over and buy caulk for my shower. I can’t buy the caulk gun though because they are out of those. And have been for MONTHS. Details, details. As a side note, it’s not unusual for post offices to share space with other businesses in Ireland. I have a friend whose…
Happy List: #21
Happy Good Friday! This week I shared the most recent books my kids and I have read together. Plus, how I’m teaching them how to type. It doesn’t actually involve me teaching, so they are knocking it out of the ballpark! Here’s what’s on my Happy List. Good Friday Newspaper Ad I thought you might like to see an example of how grocery stores in Ireland advertise for the Easter season in the newspaper. At the last count in 2011, 84.2% of people self-identified as Catholic in the Republic of Ireland, so you can see why advertisers are choosing to speak to one specific religious group. Also, fun fact. You…
Quick Tip: Teaching Kids to Type
Do you remember learning how to type? Was it on a computer keyboard or a typewriter? I must have been in that transition period during the mid-1990s because I learned both in high school. While I may be in denial about how much time has passed since then, there is no denying I have two sweet children who will need to learn to type much sooner than I did. Between homework and computer games, my kids are doing more and more that involves typing. Train research, anyone? Watching them do the one-finger keyboard peck is oh, so painful. For my 6-year-old it is often accompanied by the “how do you spell” question and then a…
Books My Kids Are Reading Part 3
I was snuggling with my son at bedtime recently and thought he’d fallen asleep. I was enjoying the quiet and psyching myself up to do that slow slither out of bed to avoid waking him. Just as I started to stretch one leg off the bed, my son suddenly says to me, “Mom, I had a good day at school.” Sometimes I second-guess our life choices and then one of my kids will say something like this and I think “Phew. We’re okay. It’s all working out.” I was certain he’d had a good day because it was Active Week at school and they had done tennis and gymnastics that particular day.…
Happy List #20
Hello! My kids have a half-day at school today…the excitement was palpable in our house this morning! But the angst over the one toy they could bring for “toy day” was…intense. This week I shared the gorgeous spring flowers that are blooming in our Irish garden. All thanks to my green thumb, I’m sure. Actually, I think the blooming flowers are proof that nature finds a way. I also walked you through the “should I, shouldn’t I” decision of switching to linen bath towels. Decision was probably the wrong word there. Maybe indecision would be more apt. Here are some things I’m not indecisive about! Old Fireplace I don’t know…
