Monday Message

"Let us be in a position so we are able to not only feed ourselves through the home production and storage, but others as well." (President Ezra Taft Benson)

Times are hard and people are in need. Try to uplift others, even if all you can do is give a smile. Kindness goes a long way.

How are you doing? Check in with your neighbors and friends.

Most people have been shut in due to weather. Are you suffering from cabin fever?

https://www.bradfordfamilydentist.ca/4-fun-family-activities-to-prevent-cabin-fever/

https://signup.com/prevent-cabin-fever 

We are still working on a puzzle here.

If you have young kids, put together a box of old clothes and start a dress-up box.

https://www.todaysparent.com/family/activities/fun-things-to-do-at-home/ - I like the drive-in movie idea, only inside for now.

https://www.jcfs.org/blog/fun-activities-cure-cabin-fever-kids

Set up a family game day with fun snacks.

When our girls were little we turned the living room and dining room into a carnival type set-up where there was a ring toss and pin the tail on the donkey and they could just kept going around doing different things that were set up and then had treats at the end.

When our grandson was little I snuck a box of twinkies into his room and we played hot cold till he found them then we all had fun eating them.

https://www.familyfuntwincities.com/indoor-games-for-kids/ - we always played buckle buckle beanstalk. Our girls loved it. We would pick something we all agreed to be the object to hide. All but the person hiding it would leave the room. Once hidden, they would come in and search. The person who found it would call out "buckle buckle bean stalk" and then they got to be the one to hide it.

I made some extra dough yesterday while making bread (read more about this recipe HERE). Lately I have been adding sourdough discard to it, but you can just do without that if you don't have a sourdough going. I made a pizza with it and put the rest of the dough in the freezer to make another one later. I think I will do this every time. The pizza was fantastic.

At the time I'm writing this, we are back in what feels like way below zero temps so I thought the cat girls would like a redo on their pillows. 

I had this fleece fabric and wrapped their pillows and tacked underneath for easy washing. They are happy with that for sure. You can see the curtain behind them ha! I put a blanket over the west window to help with that before mentioned cold. I have just decided to leave it on till spring.

I started a little ornament I plan to attach to my knitting bag as a skill stretcher if you will, kind of a challenge project which also helps with cabin fever. Are you working on your skill building?

I have lots of things to grow my skills planned for this year. How about you?

Just pick one and concentrate on that one thing. When you have it mastered move to the next thing. I have a friend who did that and it helped her in what she wanted to learn.

https://www.littlehouseliving.com/bread-machine-rolls.html - she has a lot of bread recipes if you follow the link. Of course, if you do not have a bread machine, doing bread the regular way is fantastic too.

https://berroco.com/sites/default/files/downloads/patterns/Berroco-Ariana.pdf - this is a free pattern I am toying with in my mind.

Still really cold here -20 windchill, brrrrr! So those of you not in winter, bask in the warmth for the rest of us.

Missy the pretty princess says pretend to be a princess as she is demonstrating, survey your kingdom for fun things to do.

Tippy Longstockings says if you have fuzzy fabric, make you a bed and then have treats.