Monday, August 25, 2008

Let's See......

We have been so busy getting ready for a shift in routines. I can feel it in the air, Fall is on its way. Maybe it's all of the rain we've had the last few days. It makes me want to curl up with a quilt and a good book. Cozy.

It's a little discouraging that my big tomatoes have not ripened yet. I have a few tricks up my sleeve if we end up with a bunch of green tomatoes. :~)
I am gearing up to do a little sewing, repurposing some clothing, making dolly quilts, making birthday gifts for the "birthday season" we have during October and November. I have lots of ideas. We'll see if I can fit it all in.
We are contemplating buying a Aladdin Oil Lamp to help reduce our energy usage further. We are managing to keep most of the lights turned off during the day, we have converted all our light to CFL's, and we have unplugged those things not in use. During the evening hours it would help to have a oil lamp that did a good job of illuminating our livingroom.
Does anybody have any experience with the Aladdin brand lamps?
We are starting our gift plans for Christmas. I have found that I enjoy the season so much more if I have all of the extended family gifts taken care of before November. I also like to take our Christmas photo early enough to make out our Christmas cards and have them ready to mail. This way I can enjoy Christmas for it's true meaning and our family can spend lots of unhurried time celebrating and creating.
I will spend this next week preparing for the school year and try to simplify some of our routines to cut down on too much running around. I also have some baking and canning to do.
I am continuing to de-clutter and simplify. The grocery store prices are shocking and I am making nearly everything from scratch. We are fortunate to have so many apple trees around and friendly neighbors that don't mind sharing. We have lots of wild blackberry bushes too. I foresee a pie or two in our future. :~)
Well that's about all we've been up to. I pray that you all have a blessed and productive week.

In God's Love, Tami

7 comments:

  1. Please come and see me. I've given you an award!
    Laura

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  2. We've been making apple and blackberry pies and crumbles a lot here in the UK. My children love walking around locally picking blackberry's, although they tend to eat more while picking than they collect!

    We're also starting preparation for the new year of school this week.

    Have a lovely week.

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  3. My mom and dad are missionaries and live in an area with no electricity and they used an Aladdin Lamp and regular oil lamps all my life. Aladdin lamp was used mostly for when we played games and stuff and we used just regular oil lamps to read by at night.

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  4. Keep us posted about the oil lamp. I am very interested. I also like to have Christmas presents bought before November. I think this year we are going to have my 6 yr old ds paint a Christmas picture that we will make into our family's Christmas cards. I enjoy your blog. I leave feeling inspired and refreshed. Thank you.

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  5. I've already started my Christmas shopping, too. It can never be done too soon!

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  6. Tami....our 'birthday season' is Oct/Nov too and I'm trying to gear up also. And, I've been making up my Christmas list...trying to buy at least 1 or 2 items every week so that it's done early. But, with the insanely high grocery prices, I may be making scrap quilts and homemade bread for everyone, LOL!

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  7. Hello sweet ((Tami))

    I love the apple trees and berry bushes! You can come and pick our apples and raspberries anytime you want!

    Enjoy these last days, Tami.. Fall will bring new memories and cozy times again!

    Love,
    Carrie.

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