Holiday Chaos!

Once again, things are total chaos on the Homestead.  With the Holidays threatening to outrun me before I even get my dishes done, I will be spending less time blogging and more time cleaning, baking, sewing and wrapping.  Just in case I don't post here again until after the 25th, here's wishing everyone a 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Homemade Christmas Gifts And More - Review

Kindle Exclusive

Once again, Susanne, the Hillbilly Housewife has done it.  She has compiled a trove of frugal Christmas gift ideas, old and new, into one handy volume.  At only $2.99, this Kindle exclusive will save you hundreds of dollars on Christmas gifts, not to mention hours of shopping and stress.  

With some inexpensive yet up to date packaging - ideas included in book - cookies, coffee mixes and bath goodies become coveted gifts for family and friends.  The best part is, these don't take all year to make.  In just a couple of sessions, you can easily assemble several bath and body gifts or baked gifts and homemade mixes.  Crocheted and sewn gifts may take a bit longer, but not much if you keep it simple.  Susanne has all kinds of ideas there, too.  There are even simple gifts for kids to make and receive.

I was very happy with the recipe section for baked gifts and mixes, and also the gift basket ideas, but a little disappointed in the handmade section.  There are lots of ideas for handmade gifts, but no directions for any specific crocheted, knitted or sewn gifts, although links to other sites are included.  Also, I would have hoped for a little more in the section of gifts children can make.  That drawback pointed out, I still love the book for the price, and have plenty of other resources for kid stuff.  

I have given many of these gifts myself over the years, yet having it all there in front of me reminded me of how easy and inexpensive gift giving can be, and gave me some inspiration for those on my list this year.

For lots of frugal tips and recipes for low cost home cooking from scratch, see Susanne's website http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/.

To purchase Homemade Christmas Gifts and More, Frugal Christmas Gift Ideas for the Whole Family, (c) 2012 by Susanne B. Myers, visit Amazon.

It's Christmas Time in the City

I just got back to the homestead from visiting my family in the Big City.  It was a particularly enjoyable visit, and for once I wasn't quite ready to come home.  This trip, I was able to appreciate the little pockets of respite in an otherwise dingy, expensive, lonely city life. 

I sat outside my son's apartment, watching him play basketball with his little brother, and admired the palm trees, stretching up above the rooftop of the complex, swaying and rustling in the chilly breeze, waves of green against the blue of the sky.  I took delight in watching the Christmas decorations going up in mom and dad's neighborhood; twinkling lights, inflated, lit-up snowmen, front yard Nativity scenes.  I soaked up some last autumn rays of sunlight on a strategically placed patio nook with southern exposure at my parents' house.  Over the years the old neighborhood has gone from plain and drab to green and well tended, with colorful flower beds, not restricted to the edges of the houses, but creatively scattered throughout front yards.

As much as I basked in the comfort and love of my family, there were those moments when I knew I must eventually return home to my own life, where the background noises come from the chicken coop and the paddocks and a wild indian of a boy, not from constant traffic and electronic buzz.  The early morning aroma is from the barnyard and the juniper trees, and not that peculiar big city odor of mingling garbage and sewage.  And the blankets of stars in the darkness before dawn, outnumber the streetlights ten billion to one.

Happy New Year 2010!

I love the time between Christmas and New Years. For me it has always been a kind of quiet, contemplative time.  A time to sit in front of the fire with a much anticipated new book.  A time to reflect on the past year and reevaluate goals for the new one.

Now that the school supplies have been broken in and well used, it's a time to break open a crisp new calendar, planner and journal.  The unmarked pages lie full of hope and promise.  Perhaps a colorful new pen and some stickers and stamps with which to decorate the record of a life.  I know it will be another year where the pages of the calendar turn too quickly, the jobs in the planner will never get all crossed off, and the journal may not be written in as often as I'd like.  But just for these few nights, I will reflect, and plan, and look forward joyfully to a fresh start.

I will try to be more realistic with my goals, flexible with my plans, more disciplined in my work.

I will worry less and pray more.

I will smile until I feel like smiling.

I will try a little harder to see and serve Jesus, especially in those I don't like.

I will sacrifice some of my excess and even, sometimes, some of my necessities, so that someone else may have basic comforts of food, shelter,clothing or education.

I will try to remember to make the best of every situation I find myself in, and if possible, to have fun with it.  Even if others are determined that I should not.

I will play music, and read books, and walk in the woods.

I will share all these things with my children.

I will try to leave my little corner of the world a better place.