Autumn At Last ~ Happy Fall Y'all !

It officially, finally here...Autumn ! Happy Fall Y'all. Autumn is my favorite season. This has been a busy year. I managed to finish my first term towards my MSN. Hoopy and his lovely bride will be new parents in November and my Deidel will be 3 soon. Tman finished EMT school, Roosie finished phlebotomy school and BabyGirl is typing out genius as always.Toodles (Preacher) and I took our dream trip out West. On the road for 17 days, what a blessing. I will post pics soon.
I truly do intend to blow the dust off here but time always gets away from me. I do miss blogging though. I have been sick for almost a month now. Bronchitis to pneumonia. So , sadly I don't feel as good as I wish on this first day of Fall. Our weather here doesn't feel much like Fall either. But it is coming, I know.
I thought today of the many years ago when Homeschool Blogger was our platform , that I did a Fall Poetry Party every year. I have a desire to do it again. So maybe be watching for that. Blessings ! Nikki

Almost Spring Days

Tomorrow is Spring! We have been having a few days that have been Spring like. Its been chilly but at least no rain. We are still drying out from the last rounds of rain we've had. This morning the moon was so huge and yellow. I do not think I have seen many times when it was as beautiful as today. I would much rather have chased it with my camera than go to work this morning. Good news is I am finally wrapping up my first class in my RN to MSN program.
Tomorrow is Roosie's 19th birthday also. I cannot believe how old my kids are getting to be  :) She has to work so we are having a family night to celebrate her birthday on Saturday. I hope everyone has a great week. Enjoy Spring ! ~ Blessings ! ~ Nikki

It's Me Again Margaret ( C'mon I know there's a Ray Stevens fan who gets that)

Hello again blog world. I have thought so often this past year of getting on here and writing but either my heart or my head would not allow me too. All my good intentions of returning to this blog and leaving behind written memories went by the wayside. This past week I had determined that I was coming back . I'm putting my words down , even if no one ever reads them but me. I was blessed this weekend to see that another old blogging friend has returned also. Maybe we can both be blessed by blogging again.
I first started blogging on Homeschool Blogger many, many years ago. It was never my intent to be one of the "super Mommy Bloggers", which is great if that is your calling ; but it was never mine. My blog was an outlet for me, a place to store our homeschool journey memories and collaborate with like - minded families. Now blogging, and even homeschooling are so different. Still, I like to share my thoughts and whatever moments of creativity I may have.
We ended our homeschool journey in May of 2018 when Roosie graduated highschool. I will share some pictures later. I feel I have to put them on our homeschool blog if nothing else but to give the story its ending. I shared a little on that blog, Wisdom House Homeschool, of the struggle I was facing with all the changes coming my way. It was hard, very much so. 2015 is when the changes began , with kids leaving home, weddings, a baby, my "baby" turning 18 and graduating . 3 years of transitioning into a new season of my life. I'll share a secret with you, I have battled depression in the past. It was a hard fought battle. I hate to say that with my change of season, depression came knocking again. I would sometimes find myself feeling like I was sitting in a dark hole. I lived life. Went to work, came home, did things that needed doing; but lost all desire to go beyond that. Like I said, I thought often of this blog, the happiness it has brought me over the years. I would say to myself, "Today is the day you do it. You're gonna blog, and write and make things...". Then I would just sit and stare at walls. Countless times I apologized to Roosie that things had changed so much for us, that I could no longer be a stay at home her last years of school. I carried so much guilt over that. It suffocated me at times. I cried going to work cried coming home, cried if I was home alone, cried reading emails from homeschool groups, cried ... well, you get the picture. Let me say that even though she got the short end of the stick, Roosie was so gracious to me. She was always telling me to stop apologizing, everything was fine. I love all my children , and my Deidel with all my heart, but I have to say that my girls have been such a rock for me through this change. They have encouraged, listened, cried with , laughed with and at me, helped me find faith when I could not see it within myself. Roosie and BabyGirl have been my crutches that helped me limp through. Now things are much better. I have left the shadow behind me. God is faithful as always and no desert is too dry, no night too dark. I am enjoying this new season of my life. My grand-baby Deidel has been such a blessing to me. God sent him along at just the right time. He knew my Momma arms needed something to hold and love and watch grow. I am enjoying the wonderful young men and women that Toodles and I have raised. They are good people. Even though they gave me all this grey hair. Toodles and I are now enjoying the extra couple's time we have. We try to date as often as we can and watch TV together, or just hang out. I'm going back to school again. I'm working on earning my Masters in Nursing Education. I want to be able to teach online , from home...cause home is still where my heart is. Plus, when BabyGirl has children, she said I'm going to homeschool them so I have to get back home somehow. But I still have to work til I die. Online teaching is the best of both worlds :) I hope some of you readers are still around. I appreciate all the comments and encouragement through the years. Bear with me as I get my blogging groove back, and share things , and grow to be the woman God would have me be. Y'all know I ramble , use run on sentences and terrible grammar ; but I promise I taught the kids right :) So grab a cup of something warm or cool, relax and scroll by sometime.  ~ Blessings !

Shower Melts for Stuffy Noses

  Everyone here has been so gunked up, stuffy and generally feeling blah. Its a cruddy mix of colds and allergies . I made a small batch of shower melts to help open us up.  I used a regular size ice tray and this batch made 6. I've made these before using Vick's vapor rub but this go around I used Maty's. I had read good things about it and wanted to give it a try for our grandson. Since I had it on hand , I used it for this batch; and they smell divine! Vick's now has a lavender rub , and Maty's has a lavender and chamomile rub. I think I will try those next and make some relaxing bath melts. 

  Anyway, as you can see, I used the store brand of corn starch and food coloring. These brands are cost effective and work great.  You do not need food coloring,  but I used a mix of blue and green to get this minty shade. These are easy to make and only take a few minutes to throw together.

My handy dandy supplies are corn starch, measuring cup, cup of water, spoon, fork, food coloring vapor rub, plastic bowl and ice cube tray. . Yes, that is marker on our kitchen table. You will also find paint, crayon, glitter and glue on it if you look hard enough. This table has seen us through many homeschool years. I treasure each spot. Thanks Momma and Daddy for giving us this jewel so many years ago.

Maty's vapor rub. It is petroleum free. I love the fact it has peppermint ! Y'all know I'm crazy over peppermint! I bought it at Food City for around $5. It is also available at Walmart and Amazon. 

For this small batch I used 1 1/2 tablespoons of vapor rub.

I added the vapor rub to 1/2 cup corn starch.

Using a fork, mix the vapor rub into the corn starch until it is well combined and looks "grainy". It should resemble flour when you cut butter or shortening into it.

Add water by the spoonful , one at a time , until the mixture makes a thick paste. I got carried away with the water on this batch but no worries. I dusted the finished product with corn starch to soak up the extra wetness. This is also the time to add food coloring if you want. I used 2 drops green and 2 drops blue to get this minty shade.

Pour into an ice tray or other mold and freeze for about 20 - 30 minutes.

Remove your melts from the mold. I tossed mine with corn starch to soak up the extra wetness. You can store them in a cool , dry area in an airtight container. We keep ours in the fridge. Toss one in the shower with you to have some nice , sinus opening vapor.

I hope you enjoy this simple DIY . It is a great way to get some cold and allergy relief. Blessings ! ~ Nikki

My Writing Space

I find that I can be more faithful to writing , studying or planning when I have a dedicated spot to work.  When we first moved into this house, I had a small antique desk in this spot, but while it was a wonderful place to write; it did not meet my multi - tasking need for a sewing table also. I found this gem on a Facebook yard sale site for $20. It is large enough to sew on, and gives me plenty of space to spread out and write or whatever. 

I love having the white curtain hanging in my bedroom. Actually it is a king size sheet that I got on sale a few years ago. Our old house had two large windows in the master bedroom that let in all this amazing, natural light. I did not want to cover it up but I did want to have some privacy for our room. I found several of these flat sheets at our local thrift store. I put them on our windows and put a white and lavender bedspread on the bed. Oh my! The ambience was amazing! Every time I walked into our room I relaxed .  Our room now only has one window so we need all the natural light we can get. At night when the moon is shining through  the white curtain, it is so relaxing . Makes for a great sleep environment. When I have the curtain open I get to look out at our meandering country road . It is not as close as it looks in the photo, angles lol. 

Do you have dedicated writing space? Blessings ! Nikki

Happy New Year ! Welcome 2018 !

I hope everyone has had a blessed beginning to the new year. 2018 ! How did we get here so fast? Time sure is flying by! We had a great holiday season. We got to spend the holidays with our family and our grandson Deidel got to stay for Christmas Eve and spend 4 days this weekend to celebrate the New Year. Of course our blessings started a new Christmas tradition a few years ago as the boys married and started their own homes. They all come home to stay on Christmas Eve so we can have Christmas Day together. I hope this is one tradition that keeps going. It is always a blessing to have our children home.
I have definitely been slacking on my blogs. So many excuses to give but really, I'm trying to let God carry me through these transitions in life and just try to get back to doing things that I love, and enjoy Blogging is one of those things. I have to prioritize my days. I have to find time for these little things. Even if no one ever comes back to read these blogs, I will someday. I want to look back and enjoy the memories. On that note, I enjoy going to the Way Back Machine site and looking at our old Homeschool Blogger blogs. Such fun !!You should try it if you ever had a web page or old blog.
Its been a cold start to the new year here in the Smokies. We had some snow and ice last night and bitterly cold temps. It was a light snow, but rumor has it that more is coming. We shall see. For now the goal is staying warm .
Stay tuned to the blog, if you're still there at all. My goals are being planned and I'm trusting God in helping me to carry them out. Pray for me ! Blessings to all ! ~ Nikki

Goodbye October

October leaves today. I hate seeing this lovely month end. No costumed shenanigans at our house this year. My kids are working or at their own home. Reidel Deidel Pumpkin Sneidel is with his mom. It's just a quiet and lonely evening for Toodles and I. I spent some time sitting on the porch with Gryph just enjoying the cool evening air. We had snow Sunday. The quickly arriving cooler air this week seems to be saying more snow is coming. Winter isn't far away. For now I must say goodbye to October. I will see you next year. Blessings! Nikki

Beautiful October

I'm sure I have probably mentioned before that October is my favorite month of the year. To me, October epitomizes Autumn/Fall, with its colorful leaves and cool days. This October has been quite strange for us here in East Tennessee. Our temps have mostly been in the 80s , with dry, sunny days. As a result, there is not as much color as usual on the mountains.
 My favorite October days are cloudy and overcast with cool winds blowing the leaves like confetti. Today has been a perfect example of that. A cool October Eve is quickly coming as the sun is painting the sky pink. Today would have been absolutely perfect if I could have spent it with my family enjoying the outdoors. Work was a must though.
I was very blessed to spend Friday night with family as we celebrated my sweet grandson Deidel's FIRST birthday . We had an amazing night by the fire-pit, roasting hot dogs, sausages and making smores.  I still can't believe my sweet boy is 1.
I hate that October is passing so quickly . I love to wander and meander through this month. It is surely one of the most beautiful times of the year. The harvest days call to my farm girl heart and make me wistful. I think fondly of Anne Shirley at this time :

Blessings ! Nikki

Solar Eclipse 2017

We are blessed to live in Tennessee , which was a prime viewing spot for the Great American Eclipse. Unfortunately we were outside the path of totality by a few miles. We had a wonderful show though. BabyGirl, Roosie , Toodles and I were able to have our own little viewing party. Tman and Hoopy had to work. We made viewers with boxes and they worked well. We also had a welding helmet that we shared to gaze at it. It was amazing to watch God's work in the sky today. As I said earlier, we were not in path of totality so we did not have complete darkness, but we did have some wonderfully weird lighting. Also the crickets cut loose at  full volume for 2 minutes then stopped. The drop in temperature was noticeable for us also. The show didn't last long but it was worth the wait. I'm just very thankful today for the goodness of God and His masterful works. Blessings ~ Nikki

Friday obviously the 13th

Today is just another day but for poor Toodles it was a rough one. He had to have surgery today to remove infection and metal fragments from his finger. Now its a long night in the hospital for IV antibiotics. At least he is feeling much better than yesterday. Nasty nail =1 Toodles =0 Prayers appreciated for a quick recovery. ~ Blessings !

New Year New Hello

Let me start off by saying how much I truly, always, enjoyed blogging. Many years ago I joined Homeschool Blogger and Homestead Blogger to find socialization among fellow homeschoolers, homesteaders and Christians. I loved the outlet that blogging gave me. I loved the many people I “met” in cyberspace who shared so many common dreams and goals as my own family. When those sites went down I was so lost. I started these blogs here on blogger but still lost touch with so many from the other sites. Still, I had a place to come and document our lives, share things I had made for our homeschool and things I had made to use in our ministries at church. Then as our life needs began to change and I headed back to school and into the work force, these blogs got lost in the shuffle. I had big dreams and goals of coming back and dusting off the blogs but again, no follow through.  Now don’t get me wrong, I had no dream to be one of the super mommy bloggers. Still don’t. I believe my super mommy power is in the home not the web. But I do miss the outlet blogging has been for me; especially as I battled through some issues with depression and anxiety. I should have come here to put words to page…it has always been a comfort to me to write. I may not do it well but I love it. Anyway, my lovely daughters have convinced me to get back to my happy place, to say something, even if I’m the only one who reads it. So here I go again. Read, share, enjoy if you can. And hey, maybe say hello to let me know you have been by. Encourage me when you see me lagging.  Blessing everyone! Nikki , TnMtnRose

Sleepy Days and Baby to Be

It's such a beautiful day! Spring decided to spring on us last week; and it has been marvelous I must say. Of course the doors and windows are open and the fans are running. All that lovely breeze, sunshine and white noise makes me want to nap. It looks like winter may visit again for a day or two next week but for now I'm enjoying the warmth. I'm planning out what I want to do with the yard and house this spring. I have it all in my head I just need to get it to paper so I don't forget it. Forgetfulness comes with the territory I hear. What territory you ask? Well, the Mamaw territory! See, I'm gonna be a Mamaw in October! I'm, we all, are super excited. Tman and his lovely wife are expecting :)  Time to get into baby mode :) it's been so many years since a little one was in our home. I am a blessed woman for sure. Blessings ~ Nikki

One of 2016's Goals

So one of my many goals this year is to walk\run 14 miles a week. This may not seem like much but it is for me. I have arthritis and a hip that doesn't often want to cooperate. It's just a small fitness goal that makes me feel better . My girls are my exercise buddies. We have a lovely route taking us through rolling hills of beautiful farmland. We have been having summer like temps since before Christmas but this week Winter has come to town. It makes for chilly but invigorating walks :) What are some of your goals for 2016? Blessings ~ Nikki

Our frosty morning view on our route.

Happy New Year

I hope the new year finds everyone well. It seems Winter has decided to finally show up after having 70 degree weather through Christmas. Winter also brought his buddy the flu with him. Poor Toodles has been sick for this past week but is finally on the mend. I'm trying to stay well myself plus keep the kiddos from getting sick. I have been making my favorite tea and trying to get everyone to drink it. Those who have are doing well at fighting the sickness off. Of course these wonderful herbs have some antiviral properties :)

Its a simple tea if you would like to try it. I use dried peppermint but prepackaged herbal peppermint tea is great too. I use tea bags from Adagio ( Tea Filters ) to hold my ingredients.  In a 1/2 gallon jar I use 1/2 tsp of dried peppermint, 1/4 tsp powdered ginger, 1/4 tsp dried thyme, 1/4 tsp dried rosemary, 1-2 tbs honey, 2tsp lemon juice. I hang the filter off the side of the jar ( they are really long filters) and screw the ring on it. I then pour boiling water in the jar and steep for 3 - 5 minuets. It all depends on how strong you want it. Sometimes I add more honey in my cup for a sweeter flavor.
I have set several goals for this year and blogging at least weekly is one of them. So often I say I'm going to be an active blogger again but life gets so busy and its always the things we enjoy that seem to drop off the list of must do's. There have been some great changes though and hopefully this is a goal I can keep . I miss the bloggy world :/ We still don't have internet at our place. Mainly because only thing available is a mobile hotspot or satellite internet and I am overly cautious of that 2 year contract . So for now its reading and blogging by my phone or at the library; which is where I am today. By the way, I think they forgot to turn off the AC in here...it is FREEZING! Anyway, be well and blessings til we meet again!

First Day!

Today was my first day on the job as an RN. I have a long week because of orientation and training but soon I will have my 3 day work week. I will have longer work days but at least I will be home at night and for most of the week. Spring has sprung here which makes us long to do more things outside for school. Everything is finally blooming, including some surprise tulips in our new yard. We have been doing some garden planning and outside clean up. We dug a firepit the other day. We have to get some pavers to line it but at least the hard part is done. We have gotten to spend the past two weekends helping my parents build a shed. Hoopy and Tman learned some valuable work skills from their Dad and Papaw during the construction. There is still some work to be done but Hoopy statred back working weekends at his summer job and Tman got a new job at a local ranch. BabyGirl is continuing at her job without me ( I miss working with her) and Roosie just celebrated her 15th birthday Friday. So many changes are happening ! Seasons *sigh* But as always God is good :)

Another Winter Storm

For the second time in little over a week we have more snow! After battling freezing rain, ice and snow last week; we woke up to more snow today. We have about 4" here and other places have less or more. I had 3 interviews scheduled today but had to reschedule 2. I'm sure I'll have to change the last one also. The goal is to stay warm :) Blessings!

Praise the Lord I Did It!

Its official! I passed NCLEX and received my license on February 11 :) I am now officially Nurse Nikki . Now that studying is over and done for me I can have time to enjoy the little things in life... like blogging!

Nurse Nikki

Tonight I officially became a nurse, not registered yet but soon :) The pinning ceremony was tonight and graduation is tomorrow. Its been a long road but we made it. So thankful for my family who stuck by me and bore the hardships and for God giving me the strength and courage to do it. Now I can have time to blog again :) Blessings! - Nikki

A little while back the Weather Channel posted a graphic that said the Southeast would be seeing a cooler than normal summer. I'm not sure the weather has seen that graphic because it is absolutely not conforming to it. *sigh* We have been floating in the 90's with high humidity for weeks and there does not seem to be any change coming soon. Maybe we will have an early Fall this year. Right now everything is drying up in this heat. My pretty spring flowers are a long gone memory. 
With the heat outside, we have been working on de-cluttering our house inside. Today we are finishing up our "desk switch a roo". BabyGirl bought a new to her desk at a local thrift store yesterday. She needed more space for her editing. She gave her old desk to Roosie who needed more space for her drawing. Roosie gave me her old desk for me to use in the kitchen since I needed less space than the big table I was using to study on. Now I think we are all content. 
Last week I worked in the kitchen trying to rearrange things so that it felt more open. I got rid of one of my storage shelves and moved some others around. I think I have it just about perfect. The kitchen seems bigger and brighter. I still have to switch around some things in the cabinets but I will work on that Monday. 
Toodles used my shelving unit I took from the kitchen to organize his stuff on the carport. By recycling items this week we have managed to meet a lot of needs for each other. 
My favorite part of this de-clutter and rearranging is that now my Mamaw's antique metal cabinet is used solely in housing our baking ingredients and pans. I used mason jars and post-it labels to create storage bins for things like chocolate chips, coconut and baking powder. It looks so nice and neat and it is easy to find things in a hurry now. Is anyone else doing any de-c;uttering this summer? Blessing!

Homemade Doughnut Holes

Happy Friday! Because it is Friday and stormy and well, it is just a "gimme somethin' sweet" kind of day ... (play fanfare)... I'm gonna share my easy peasy doughnut recipe. Ok , in reality they look more like doughnut holes but they are fried dough dipped in sugar so really, what does it matter? You are gonna love me for the simplicity of this recipe. At the very least you will like me a little more :)

Sorry for the fuzzy photo but my tablet would not cooperate today.  I have on my plate a pumpkin pie spice , chocolate , and plain doughnut hole.

Homemade Doughnut Holes
2 cups self- rising flour
1/8 cup white granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla (use less if you don't like the flavor. :0 WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?)
1/2 cup milk
** To make chocolate ones, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup cocoa. Adjust that measurement to your preference. Adding this dry ingredient means you will need to adjust your milk measurement.**
Mix together until you have a wet sticky dough. You do not want it to be runny. You can make it a drier dough and roll into balls but I just prefer to drop mine into the oil from a spoon so the wet dough works best for that.
Drop into hot oil and deep fry until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel for a minute and then drop into a paper bag filled with your mixture of choice. Mine is cinnamon, sugar and pumpkin pie spice. Shake the bag until the doughnut holes are covered ( do about 2 at at time). That's it :) Except for eating... which you will do. Do it fast though or your kids will beat you to it. This recipe is by no means healthy (it's fried dough so ...) but it is yummy and quick. Enjoy , let me know if you like it! Blessings!