A hundred uses for that

Did you ever have to do one of those tests of creativity, like "Can you list ten uses for a flowerpot besides growing flowers?" Or paper clips, or rubber bands. Being Squirrels, with a bit of packrat wired in, we like to store things up. Being more minimalistic Squirrels in a small nest, we like things that are multifunctional. And if things don't come with extra functions, we find them some.

Fall hall decorations:

Fake flower arrangement, bought on clearance at Michael's five years ago. Wire basket, thrifted last spring. Pinecone things, from a dollar store two years ago. Paper-covered can, decorated by a Squirreling many years ago. Wooden cottage (behind the pot), from Mr. Fixit's childhood.

I thrifted a new-with-tags-but-several-years-old scarf, which came with a detachable chain necklace. There's a You-tube video still online that shows all the things you can do with it: wear the whole thing together, pop the chain off and just wear the scarf, turn the scarf into a belt, or wear the chain as a necklace or a bracelet. All that for two dollars. Fashion critic Mr. Fixit gave a "meh" to the whole-works look, but he liked the necklace by itself. (He also fixed one of the strands of chain that had somehow gotten broken.) 

And that's the point: you may own a whole-thing item you don't like, or can't use, or that doesn't work in the way you used to use it; but maybe you can use half of it, or turn it backwards or inside-out. One person's junk...but what about your own "junk?" Is there a way to re-use what you already have? Do you have to go buy an extra new whatsit, or do you already have one and just not notice? (Try searching "things to make with Lego," if you want to see real creativity.)

I sewed several of these weighted device-holders four years ago, as Christmas gifts. They are also handy to hold greeting cards, postcards, or small books. 

Recently I wanted to display a small plate, but couldn't think how to make it stand up. Device-propper to the rescue, disguised with a doily.

Side view:

Basket with wooden base, thrifted a year ago 

What we used it for last Christmas

What we used it for this month, for Thanksgiving (I lined the bottom with waxed paper and then coloured paper)

So...what are ten new ways to use a flowerpot?

Favourite posts of 2017, #10: Thankful Hodgepodge

First posted November 22, 2017

1. T radition...how tightly do you cling to tradition when it comes to holiday gatherings and celebrations? For instance do you always do the cooking, never eat at home, always go to grandma's, never miss the parade, always watch football, never change the menu, always eat at 2 PM, etc.? Have you ever celebrated Christmas or Thanksgiving away from hearth, home, and family? How did that feel?

That one's hard to answer, because over fifty-plus years of my life, and twenty-five-plus years of marriage, of course some many things have changed. This year we are in a different home, and we have given away a lot of things associated with former holidays. The thought of holding on to things lightly (even traditions) seems to be the most relevant.

But I will probably make a pan of cheater fudge for Christmas. Some things you have to hang onto.

The half-size tree we bought recently (it even came with lights)

2. H elp...is it easy for you to ask for help or are you a do-it-yourselfer? How is that a good/bad thing?

Not sure, it depends on the situation, and the help that is or isn't available.

3. A bundance...what is there an abundance of in your kitchen?

Space (compared to some apartment kitchens).

4. N ame...the smallest thing you're thankful for? the biggest?

Really, really small? Like cells and atoms?

Or a little bigger, like the bit of Velcro that Mr. Fixit stuck on the door behind where our dryer door opens, so that it doesn't hit me on the head when I pull the clothes out?

Or somewhat bigger, like a hat I crocheted last year from some free yarn Ponytails gave me to use up? I was thankful for that yesterday when the wind was blowing hard.

Jan Karon's new Mitford book. Sarah Mackenzie's interview with Katherine Paterson. Tickets to hear Steve Bell and Malcolm Guite next month.

Or much bigger, like our apartment building that means we will not have to shovel the driveway this winter?  (I also like going downstairs for the mail instead of around the block to the super-mailbox.) And the store next door, a real lifesaver. And the Chinese restaurant five minutes away, and the library about twenty minutes if you walk fast.

And there are so many other things, big and small. Clean water. People. Poetry. Clouds. Cough medicine (not me, another Squirrel). People behind desks who actually help with problems.

Which reminds me of another big thankfulness...that after several years of heart clinic visits, Mr. Fixit was recently told he doesn't need to come back, ever. He's too healthy.

(Mr. Fixit says he is also grateful for car floor mats that fit properly. If you've ever had to deal with dirty, salt-sticky towels on a car floor, you'll know why.)

5. K ey...What do you think is the key to living a more grateful life?

Having to go without something for awhile, then getting it back.

And concentrating on God's promises.

6. S tate your own random thought here

My random thoughts for this week were already posted here.

Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

Wednesday Hodgepodge: T H A N K S

1. T radition...how tightly do you cling to tradition when it comes to holiday gatherings and celebrations? For instance do you always do the cooking, never eat at home, always go to grandma's, never miss the parade, always watch football, never change the menu, always eat at 2 PM, etc.? Have you ever celebrated Christmas or Thanksgiving away from hearth, home, and family? How did that feel?

That one's hard to answer, because over fifty-plus years of my life, and twenty-five-plus years of marriage, of course some many things have changed. This year we are in a different home, and we have given away a lot of things associated with former holidays. The thought of holding on to things lightly (even traditions) seems to be the most relevant.

But I will probably make a pan of cheater fudge for Christmas. Some things you have to hang onto.

The half-size tree we bought recently (it even came with lights)

2. H elp...is it easy for you to ask for help or are you a do-it-yourselfer? How is that a good/bad thing?

Not sure, it depends on the situation, and the help that is or isn't available.

3. A bundance...what is there an abundance of in your kitchen?

Space (compared to some apartment kitchens).

4. N ame...the smallest thing you're thankful for? the biggest?

Really, really small? Like cells and atoms?

Or a little bigger, like the bit of Velcro that Mr. Fixit stuck on the door behind where our dryer door opens, so that it doesn't hit me on the head when I pull the clothes out?

Or somewhat bigger, like a hat I crocheted last year from some free yarn Ponytails gave me to use up? I was thankful for that yesterday when the wind was blowing hard.

Jan Karon's new Mitford book. Sarah Mackenzie's interview with Katherine Paterson. Tickets to hear Steve Bell and Malcolm Guite next month.

Or much bigger, like our apartment building that means we will not have to shovel the driveway this winter?  (I also like going downstairs for the mail instead of around the block to the super-mailbox.) And the store next door, a real lifesaver. And the Chinese restaurant five minutes away, and the library about twenty minutes if you walk fast.

And there are so many other things, big and small. Clean water. People. Poetry. Clouds. Cough medicine (not me, another Squirrel). People behind desks who actually help with problems.

Which reminds me of another big thankfulness...that after several years of heart clinic visits, Mr. Fixit was recently told he doesn't need to come back, ever. He's too healthy.

(Mr. Fixit says he is also grateful for car floor mats that fit properly. If you've ever had to deal with dirty, salt-sticky towels on a car floor, you'll know why.)

5. K ey...What do you think is the key to living a more grateful life?

Having to go without something for awhile, then getting it back.

And concentrating on God's promises.

6. S tate your own random thought here

My random thoughts for this week were already posted here.

Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

A little autumn atmosphere (photos)

I like to move holiday decorations around in the house, sometimes even during the same holiday. We use a lot of the same things every year, but they end up in different places. At Thanksgiving I had a few dollar-store pinecone-leaf-ribbon things in a bowl and on the table. I don't usually go out of my way to buy things like that, but I was planning on using them later for something quite different. Which turned out to be impractical, but I still did find another use for them (see below).

The Thanksgiving decoration in the entryway was our two scarecrows, fake leaves someone gave us, and wooden canisters from a yard sale. (Real leaves are nice too, but they get crumbly.)

Today I changed it around for an end-of-October mood. We still have the scarecrows, but I added an oil lamp and the pinecone decorations in a flat basket, along with a (real) green and orange gourd.  What do you think?

(The rust-coloured doily was made by an awesome thread-crocheter that some of you know. You should consider this a hint.)

Thanksgiving weekend (photos)

Pre-Thanksgiving in Canada (food photos)

 Bread for Turkey Stuffing, made from Burnt My Fingers' recipe. This is getting cut into smaller pieces to dry out a bit (because we're not using it until Monday).

Super Sweet Potato Hummus (I left out the extra sweeteners, and it's still okay)

Sorry that one's blurry, but that's how it looked on the table (with crackers, I mean, not blurry).

Bean Salad, from a recipe we've had forever

Vegan Gingerbread, one of the first recipes I posted here. I am cutting this into hearts with a cookie cutter, and arranging them around a bowl of dried cranberries.

From the archives: When we learned about Turkey (and what that had to do with popcorn)

First posted October 2007. Ponytails had just turned ten, and Lydia (Crayons) was six.

Popcorn recipes (and photo) found here

Last year one of our Squirrelings' favourite school days (the one they still talk about) was our Hundredth Day of School, when they were kept busy ALL DAY with a long list of things to do that related to the number one hundred. (The snack, as I recall, was something like a carrot stick and two round crackers or cookies on a plate to form 1 0 0.)

So this year we're having something similar about once a month, and I'm calling it Activity Fridays (one time it's going to be on a Thursday, but that doesn't matter). Each one will have a theme--or two themes mixed up, and each one will give us a chance to incorporate some of the fun or messy extras that just don't fit into a regular school day. This month's was a windup to our study of Turkey, and also a preparation day for Canadian Thanksgiving. So--Turkey and turkey.

These are my notes, with some comments afterwards in brackets.

A Day of Turkish Delights (and getting ready for Thanksgiving Monday)

9-9:30 Bible reading (Acts 20-13-38, Paul visits his friends from Ephesus and says farewell for the last time)
Prayer needs for Turkey (from A Child's Geography)
Turkish folk song

[This all went pretty smoothly. We ended up putting in some of our own words (in English) to the Turkish song which had a lot of "ay ay ay's" in it. Our version went something like this: "Ooh, I ate too much turkey, I ate too much stuffing, ay ay ay my stomach hu-u-urts." Apologies to those who do speak Turkish.]

Rakkas geldi meydane
(Rakkas came to the dance square)
Al bastý ak gerdane
(The white throat became red) [Our library book translates this differently]
Ay ay ay ay ay ay canlar
(Ay ay ay ay ay ay friends)
Böyle dilber gördün mü
(Have you ever seen this kind of beauty)
Ey meclis-i þahane
(Ey people)
Ay ay ay ay ay ay canlar

9:30-10 Look at weaving website
Draw designs and start weaving activity (yarn and fabric on foam-tray looms)

10-10:20 Make and eat Fruit Kebabs (short break)

[Cheese, pear cubes, and dried apricots on toothpicks]

10:20-10:50 Turkish Concentration Game

[This went over pretty well. I made up twelve pairs of index cards with things we had learned like "Ankara," "the capital city of Turkey," "kilim," "a Turkish carpet" and so on, and we played Concentration with them. Ponytails is VERY good at this game.]

10:50-11 Mix up popcorn (popped earlier) with molasses-spice syrup and put in to bake (a recipe we found in a fall newsletter)

Continue weaving (and stirring the popcorn mixture)

11:30-12—Outdoor Games: Hopscotch with Turkish numbers; Whirling Hula Hoops.

[They played hopscotch in the driveway (not sure what the neighbour lady thought of them yelling "Beer!" (what the Turkish number one sounds like), but anyway...)]

12-1 Lunch Break; Visit the "Library at Ephesus" (in the dining room)

[This meant all the library books we'd taken out about Turkey, including the books of folk tales, arranged on the dining room table.]

1-1:20 Put out Thanksgiving decorations

[We got out the box of little pumpkins and scarecrows to decorate the front hall]

1:20-1:40 Turkish Folk Tales [A library book]

1:40-2:10 Make paper cones from scrapbook paper and fill with popcorn and candy corn in sandwich bags

[We're going to use these as Thanksgiving favours]

2:10-2:40 Turkish Checkers and/or colouring tile printouts (a link from A Child's Geography)

[Ponytails and I had already been experimenting with Turkish Checkers; I figured Crayons would probably settle for colouring. Actually we never did get time for this--making and filling eleven paper cones took us most of the rest of the afternoon, especially when we decided to teach Crayons how to braid yarn handles.]

2:40-3 House cleanups for the weekend

3-3:20 Teatime—sitting on the floor with cushions.

Wednesday Hodgepodge: Fly Me to the Hodgepodge

1. What's something that has recently 'tried your patience'?

Too many road closures because of construction. Too bad we can't fly over them (see, I worked it in).

2. Do you think patience comes to us naturally or is it something you have to learn as you grow? On a scale of 1-10 generally how patient are you? (1=I blow up at the drop of a hat and 10=I've got all the time in the world).

I am not very patient about the middles of things. I like to see ends, so I sometimes hurry the middles. I have had to learn to slow down and do whatever it takes so that the end doesn't fall apart. This is one reason I liked to make doll clothes for Lydia, when she was still enjoying her doll family: they got done a lot faster than people clothes.

People always think homeschooling parents must be extra-patient; I think it varies about as much as with the rest of the population. Sometimes you're patient, sometimes you're not; sometimes you need to be, sometimes you don't. With some kids, it's more about keeping up with them than about being patient.

There are some things I am definitely not patient about. Like baking that has to be rolled out and cut, or decorated one at a time: hardly ever.

3. Share about a time when you felt like you could fly. Or a time you wished you could fly. Or a time you felt like you were flying.

I flew to Chicago this summer. I don't mind being in the air or high up somewhere as long as it's not something I can fall out of! Ferris wheels and ski lifts, no thank you.

4. Your favorite song with the word fly in the title or lyrics, or your favorite song that relates to flying in some way?

Well, there's the gospel hymn "I"ll Fly Away." But how about this one? (The 2 minute mark. Apparently there were some things you weren't supposed to see on TV in 1968!)



5. What's in your fall picnic basket and where are we picnicking in your neck of the woods this time of year?

We didn't take a picnic, but we had a walk through the park grounds in Stratford this past weekend, before this week's chillier weather set in. Lots of oak trees dropping acorns, black walnut trees dropping walnuts, ducks flying into the Avon river. (These are Mr. Fixit's photos.)

6.  Carpentry, electrical, plumbing, landscaping...which skill would you most like to possess and how would you put that skill to use today?

I would fix our back deck, because the wood's rotting away and we've been having trouble getting someone to come out and replace the flooring. Time's getting short, weather's getting colder, and if I had the skills and the muscles I'd go out and hammer some boards on myself.

7. What's something you think is too expensive to justify buying lately?

Magazines. I read them in waiting rooms instead.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Last night we had an "international buffet." We had already eaten Monday's turkey leftovers in sandwiches, so for supper we had (freezer meal) curried chicken, Vietnamese-style frozen spring rolls, a few Ukrainian pork dumplings, turkey dressing, and leftover Caesar salad. I still have leftover cranberry sauce, but I can usually figure out something to do with that. (Apple-cranberry pie might be nice.)

Linked from Fly Me to the Hodgepodge at This Side of the Pond.

Thanksgiving at the Treehouse

 

Thanksgiving, Ten Years Ago

First posted October 2005.

Thanksgiving! We had planned to go to the Oktoberfest parade in the morning, but drizzly weather and sniffles decided against it. So we made some maple-leaf turkeys for a centerpiece (we put them in a big bowl with a bunch of chestnuts and paper leaves--the real outside leaves were abundant but too wet), and watched the parade on T.V. Mr. Fixit put the bird (not a turkey this year, he bought a DUCK, which got some stares from the squirrelings) and a giant sweet potato on the barbecue. Grandpa Squirrel is bringing pies, and Mama Squirrel is filling in the corners (making crockpot stuffing, vegetables, homemade cranberry sauce, and doing all the odds and ends). Mama Squirrel makes a mean pumpkin pie, but this year she's going to make it for Reformation Day instead. (Virtual cranberry sauce if you know when that is.)

Here are our recipes. In the Treehouse tradition, they're not fancy. But they're better than the packaged kind.

Cranberry Sauce (from Food that Really Schmecks, but it's a standard recipe)

In a pot, combine 2 parts cranberries to 1 part water and 1 part sugar. We used 2 cups cranberries, about 3/4 cup water (because I don't like it thin) and 1 cup sugar. Some might find it too sweet; you could experiment. Stir to dissolve the sugar, but after that don't stir it. You're supposed to boil it for about 5 minutes, until all the berries have popped; but mine don't always pop, and it still turns out. So I'd say just cook it for about 5 to 10 minutes until it looks pretty much done. It should thicken a bit in the fridge (so I make it a day ahead).


Bread Stuffing (adapted from Betty Crocker's Cookbook, 1986)

The main ingredient in this--really--is the bread, right? So don't try to make this with your average store bread--it's not worth it, and it's too hard to cube anyway. If you don't use homemade bread, then try something like Texas Toast or another thick-sliced commercial bread (white or whole wheat).

1 1/2 cups chopped celery, with leaves if possible
3/4 finely chopped onion
3/4 cup margarine or butter
9 cups soft bread cubes (or less if you know you won't eat that much)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. each ground sage and thyme
1/4 tsp. pepper (or a good grinding from the pepper mill)
Some chopped dried apricots (my addition)

You can chop the celery and onion together in the food processor, if that makes it easier. Cook them in the margarine, in a large pot, until they are soft; remove from heat; stir in the remaining ingredients.

At this point, Betty Crocker gives several variations, including what to do if you're not using this to stuff anything: put in an ungreased 2-quart casserole, cover and bake in 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes (the book says "until hot and bubbly", but I've never had bubbly stuffing and I'm not sure I want to). What I do (since we always eat it separately, not in the bird) is make the stuffing around 10 or 11 in the morning and then put it in a slow cooker, on low, for the rest of the day.

Thanksgiving Day Meal plans

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! The sky is at its best October blue, the parade has probably started, and we are hosting a not-too-big dinner.

Menu plans:

Turkey pieces, gravy, slow cooker stuffing, cranberry sauce
Pasta and butternut squash casserole (adapting it to be vegan)
Mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy (vegan)
Broccoli (I wanted frozen green beans but the store was out of them)
Caesar salad
Rolls, carrot sticks and things like that

Desserts made by two of the Squirrelings
Date-coconut bars
Dare Ultimate Maple Leaf Cookies
Grapes, kiwi fruit

Things to drink.

A nice freebie: Joyous Home Fall Issue

Downloaded through Homeschool Freebie of the Day: the fall 2011 issue of Joyous Home, free this week. If you like teatimes and embroidery and other fall / Thanksgiving pretty stuff, don't miss this one.

I made up some of the the "snickerdoodle coffee" mix under "Mixes to Make," because I had all the ingredients and thought it sounded interesting.  I dumped everything into a bowl and then ran it through the food processor to powder it up a bit more (a blender would also work).  You taste the cocoa more than you do the coffee, and there's just a hint of spice from the allspice; so I would maybe call it more "mocha-spice" than "snickerdoodle," but either way it's quite nice.

Thanksgiving Sunday, Come for Dinner (photo post)

Front hall

The last of the garden flowers

Roast Chicken

Perogy Casserole

Veggies

Chocolate Tofu Pie

Squash Loaf and apricots

And then we do the dishes.