Brainerd Lakes Minnesota MN Inn Accommodations Lodging Bed & And Breakfast BB

morning's yard sales

This morning, the yard sale circuit on my bike netted me a cheerful red suitcase. I carried it home by looping the handle over my bike's handlebar. After scrubbing the dirt and scuff marks, it was ready to use as storage for my embroidery supplies. It's got elasticized gathered pockets along three sides in the bottom section to tuck some little things. 

  

Over a four-year period, I have purchased every color of DMC floss so that when I am ready to start an embroidery project I have what I need. I organized them in Ziploc bags with two holes punched along the bottom edge to loop two metal rings. It works like a Rolodex address/phone number filing device. I placed 5 colors in each bag with a label identifying the enclosed floss. The bags, with holes punched in them, are available at Joanns in the embroidery supply aisle. My daughter Jessica uses an alternate method using an old metal file drawer that works great, too. While on the subject of organization, check out some of her other creative ideas for organizing craft supplies.  

When we arrived back home after pedaling our 9 1/2 mile yard sale loop, we needed a serious snack. Upon peering in the fridge and pantry, I came up with an avocado that I spread on Doctor Kracker spelt crackers that are sprinkled with sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and flax. I topped it with wild caught salmon (as opposed to farm-raised), a cucumber slice, and a cherry tomato. A sprinkle of Johnny's Seasoning Salt and some freshly ground pepper and we were good to go... along with a small juice-size glass of POM 100% pomegranate juice.

 

Note: When purchasing Johnny's Seasoning Salt, you have the option of ordering a variety with msg and one without. I order the kind without msg.

April 4, 2009

Today's mileage: 9.5-mile bike ride

Total mileage for April: 15.5 miles

Bible reading? Yes.

brother P-touch labeler

I have been wanting a label maker for a number of years so, when this model went on sale at Staples, I moved on it. It is a Brother P-touch Model PT-2700. 

After installing the computer software included with the machine and flipping through some pages in the instruction book, I was anxious to get started. My first project was to label the jars that store my seeds for sprouting. I chose to add a border with tiny blossoms.

... and here are my seeds, labeled and ready to go.

 

Mar. 3, 2009

Today's mileage: 2 mile walk

Total monthly mileage for March: 6 miles 

Bible reading? Yes. 

"4 Cs" kinda day

Before I went to bed last night, I thought about what my ideal productive day spent at home would look like. I concluded that it would need variety and consist of what I dubbed "4 Cs"... cook, clean, clerical, and craft, so I set out to plan my day. (I would not count making a bed, washing dishes, laundry, and other everyday tasks. I would count only extras so that I experienced progress.) I started my morning cooking a new recipe... a wild rice pudding sweetened with maple syrup that we ate for breakfast. It is a keeper worth sharing after I tweak it just a bit. Next, I cleaned two bathrooms and organized a corner of my craft room. Clerical came next with two hours spent on taxes. Finally, I earned my craft time... I dug out this Old Mother Hubbard teaching resource sheet ©1967 and put it in a frame. I purchased it at an outdoor antique sale that I attended with our youngest daughter Jessica in the adorable little Florida town she lives in. This nursery rhyme sheet is one of 12 that is included in the packet. I was drawn to its lovely colors. 

 

 

The light streaming in is not part of the picture. It is sunlight from my own window that I caught at just the right time of day when I took the photo. It adds a cheeriness to what could be perceived as a dismal predicament for Mrs. Hubbard to be in.

Old mother Hubbard
went to the cupboard,
to fetch her poor dog a bone,
but when she got there
the cupboard was bare
and so the poor dog had none.

My "4 Cs" strategy turned out to be a real motivator today. I'm going to plan another for tomorrow. 

Feb. 17, 2009

Today's mileage: 2 mile walk

Total monthly mileage: 46.25 miles

Bible reading? Oops. The day slipped away.

   

simplifying

I want one...

 

I grew up on a 160-acre farm ten miles southeast of Brainerd... surrounded by other large farms. We had a "party line" where several neighbors shared the same phone line. To make a call, you gingerly removed the phone off the wall hook so as not to disturb someone in case it was in use. After waiting patiently and checking intermittently to see if the line was free, you could then place a call. If you were snoopy, you remained on the line barely breathing and listened in. Think about how many phone lines, towers, and cables... not to mention phones... that we have today. Convenient... but necessary? I'm not so sure.

From Martha Stewart's Blueprint Magazine, I acquired a list of "100 Reasons to Get Rid of It". Now and again, I will share some web sites from that list that I think stand out... ones that will assist us all in simplifying our lives by reducing the stuff that clutters it up because... "People burn 55 minutes a day looking for things, 80% of what we own we never use", and this one hurts... "1.4 million Americans suffer from chronic hoarding and clutter"... I do love a good yard sale, thrift shop, and antique store. Well, I say let's commit ourselves to decluttering to "reduce housework by 40%", because...  "Less is more." -Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." -Leonardo da Vinci     

kitchen cupboard organization

Inevitably, I choose the wrong checkout line in the grocery store and end up waiting for a bagger to run after a product that a customer mistakenly picked up other than the one she intended... or a price check causes a delay. I know you've been there. To pass the time, I begin to browse the headlines on the covers of magazines. Sometimes I'm even enticed to buy one. When you've stood in those lines and gazed at magazine covers often enough, you begin to notice the same topics turning up from one year to the next. January magazine covers always highlight getting your life organized... "End Closet Clutter"... "21 Ways to Get Organized"... "Organizing Solutions"... and on and on. Is it because it's the start of a new year and we are determined to turn over a new leaf... make a New Year's Resolution? I think it has more to do with it being wintertime. We spend more time indoors, so we feel an urge to put things in order around us because that is our world and we want it to be cozy and efficient. Therefore, I set out this morning to make a difference in a corner of my kitchen where I store my baking supplies. Here is what my cupboard looked like before I began.

   

Here is what my baking supply cupboard looked like afterwards. I moved everything across the room because I read in one of my organizational books that it's most efficient to set up your baking area between the stove and the sink because you use them frequently... not next to the refrigerator as is commonly thought. The reasoning is that you can get whatever supplies you need from the fridge in one trip and carry them over to your baking area Rachael Ray-style. Not every kitchen has appliances that are installed so as to be conducive to this arrangement, but if you do... it makes purely good sense to me. 

 

I now have one cupboard devoted to ingredients used in making soups, casseroles, etc. with herbs and seasonings, dry beans, pasta... things like that. Another cabinet section stores supplies including spices, sweeteners, dried fruits and nuts... anything for baking. Dick installed a two-tiered rack on the door's interior that holds my spices. I alphabetized my herbs and spices in both cupboards to prevent duplication. To fit my plates, bowls, and beverage glasses into one cupboard section, I weeded out the excess which I placed in a Goodwill box. The shelf allowed me to stack salad plates above the dinner plates for more efficient use of space. I used a similar shelf in my baking cupboard. 

     

My daughter, Jessica (fortandfield.blogspot.com), knows how much I like to organize so she shared an idea from the February 2008 issue of Country Home Magazine featuring an apron draped around a door. I used a full apron, but the article suggested hanging a half-apron by "tying the apron strings around a cupboard or pantry door and securing with double-sided tape." The pockets can be used "to store grocery lists, coupons, and other shopping necessities." I used my pockets to hold the week's menu and coordinating recipes. Besides being useful, the apron adds a pretty burst of color.

sprouting jar drainage rack

I needed a better method to drain the water from my canning jars when I rinse my grains, seeds, and nuts during their sprouting process, so Dick helped me turn my vision into a working end-product. He made this sprouting jar drainage rack from heavy-duty paint stir sticks and sign stakes secured at a 45 degree angle.

   

We could have attached a piece of wood for the jars to rest upon, but that would have been way too boring. Instead, I rummaged through my stash of yard sales finds and discovered this metal drainage or seive apparatus attached to a plastic handle. I don't have a clue what it's original use was. Any ideas? I adhered plastic mixing spoons at each end just because they are so lovely.

       

Three wide-mouth canning jars will rest side-by-side, across the width of the sprouting rack, allowing grains, seeds, and nuts to be started at varying increments so that fresh sprouts are continually available. Squares of 100% unbleached cotton cheesecloth can be used to cover the jar's opening and held in place with a canning jar ring. Screened jar lids, which do not require a layer of open-weave fabric, can be used solo as long as the openings are not so large that the presprouted seeds will fall through.  They are sold in sets of three varying size screen openings at food co-ops and health food stores. It was formerly recommended to sprout seeds in dark-colored jars or in a cupboard, but it has been determined that as long as they are not placed in direct sunlight the sprouting process will be equally successful. Mung beans, or so I have read, are the only exception. Apparently, they can become bitter if exposed to light during the sprouting process. Can anyone confirm this?

 

If you don't want to fuss with constructing your own sprouting jar drainage rack, or you want to have more than three jars of sprouts growing at a time, just order a wooden dish rack like this one from Planet Natural for $12.50, or look for a castoff at a yard sale.

 

Either way, you can't get more locally-grown than sprouts from your own kitchen... a perfect solution to wintertime's fresh produce dilemma. 

after-Christmas sales

 

This is me, now that Christmas is but a happy memory. I am enjoying the solitude of my own living room as the maddening crowds in the stores scramble for the remaining items of drastically-reduced gotta-have sale items. (Drawing is from my collection of vintage cookbooks titled "The Casserole Book" illustrated by Kay Lovelace and published by Culinary Arts Institute Copyright 1956.)

autumnal equinox

 

This morning, upon checking out, a guest gave me this gift of a dishcloth she made for me. On this first day of autumn, I am struggling with letting go of summer, so I am happily washing my dishes with this dishcloth bursting with summer colors.

 

Tucked away in the corner of a kitchen cupboard under boxes of brightly colored drinking straws and napkins sporting roosters and blooming geraniums, I chose some pink and lime green yard sale paper plates for Dick and I to eat our lunch on today... one final summer celebration. 

 

O.K., I'm now ready to greet all of the Indian Summer Days that this season has to offer. To welcome the first day of autumn, I placed this candle in the middle of my kitchen table. The bird proudly perched atop the candle's lid reminds me that this new season, like summer, is awash with color... just different hues. 

housework card file system

We have had a stretch of chilly rainy days, so I dove into some deep cleaning with a vengeance that came from the depths of... I really don't know where. I guess I just knew that the warm sunny temps were going to return one day soon and I wanted to be ready to head outside once again to my gardens. Quite a number of years ago, I ran across a "Dear Heloise" submission in the Brainerd Daily Dispatch regarding a file card system for tackling housework in an organized purposeful manner. Actually, it was 15 years ago when I set it up because I discovered a teeny tiny 1993 calendar tucked into the back of the card file. The system takes a little time initially to set up, but it is an effective method that provides a new approach to what can potentially be mundane tasks. I remember my mother writing cleaning jobs on little slips of paper that my sisters and I would draw out of a bowl. After completing that task, we would draw another. We actually hurried to complete our job so we could see what was written on the next scrap of paper. Silly excitement but the creative twist made it fun. This index card method puts a little different spin on tackling housekeeping tasks... just as the slips of paper as a child. 

To set up the system, you'll need monthly (Jan-Dec) and days of the month (1-31) index file dividers, as well as lined 3X5 index cards. First, decide what tasks need to be completed to keep a home orderly and running efficiently. (You can always add more tasks at anytime as they come to mind.) Now place each task in one of four categories: 1) Daily tasks - list all of these on one card. When jobs are completed, move card ahead to next day. 2) Weekly tasks - List one job per card. When job is completed, move card a week ahead. 3) Monthly - list each job on a separate card. When job is completed, move card ahead one month. 4) Seasonal (1X, 2X, or 4X per year) - List one job per card. When completed, move card ahead one year, six months or three months. A random sampling of jobs that I came up with... 1) Daily- dishes, wash counters, stovetop, and table. Sweep/vacuum. Make beds, etc. 2) Weekly - Mow lawn, wipe off kitchen cabinet doors, dust furniture, facial mask, trash pickup, plan week's menu and grocery shopping list, etc. 3) Monthly - Wipe off telephones, balance checkbook, file paperwork, etc. 4) Seasonal - Clean range hood, remove leaves from rain gutters, etc. To give my cards a special place to reside when they are not in use, I tuck them in one unit of this birdhouse triple file drawer.

If you like, you can buy a variety pack of colored 3X5 index cards then you can write daily tasks on yellow cards, weekly tasks on green, monthly tasks on pink, and seasonal tasks on blue. This is what I did. It adds a spark of color and it's easier, when setting up the system, to scatter weekly, monthly, and seasonal jobs more equitably thoughout so you're not overloading yourself on any one day. If you are unable to complete a task on a certain day, for whatever reason... "the brown bird sang in the apple tree", raspberries are ripe in the neighbor's patch, or the perfect summer day is beckoning a day trip to Itasca State Park. Load up the bikes and forget the work. Move that day's cards ahead to the next day, week, or month and forget it until those cards eventually show up again. The system is not meant to cause stress but to break tasks up and spread them out so that each day you pick away at something. That way you prevent feeling overwhelmed and you can come to closure on what you have set out to accomplish for the day. Anything you choose to do beyond that is up to you, but it allows you to feel a sense of completion each day. 

To assist you in getting started, here a some basic housecleaning tasks from http://www.thecleaningauthority.com, which is a company that provides a housecleaning service. 

Every Time We Clean Bathrooms Tile walls, bathtubs, and showers cleaned and disinfected Shower doors cleaned and disinfected Vanity and sink cleaned and disinfected Mirrors and chrome fixtures cleaned and shined Floors washed and disinfected/carpets vacuumed Toilets cleaned and disinfected Mildew chemically treated Cobwebs removed General dusting Kitchen and Eating Areas Countertops cleaned Outside of range hood cleaned Top and front of range cleaned Drip pans cleaned Sinks cleaned and disinfected, chrome shined Fronts of other appliances cleaned Floors vacuumed and mopped Cobwebs removed Microwave wiped out General dusting Sleeping and Living Areas Flat areas damp cloth dusted Stairs vacuumed Empty closet floors vacuumed All readily accessible floors vacuumed Wood floors vacuumed and dust mopped Cobwebs removed Picture frames dusted Window sills and ledges dusted Louvered doors dusted Mini blinds dusted Ceiling fans dusted Lampshades dusted Intricate items dusted Heavy knick-knack areas dusted

Detail Clean: Rotating Basis Bathrooms Tile grouting scrubbed Shower door given extra attention Spot clean doors and door frames for fingerprints Knick-knacks individually cleaned Fronts of cabinets wiped Baseboards wiped Extra attention to floors Kitchen and Eating Areas Inside of range hood cleaned Grease filter cleaned Doors and frames spot cleaned for fingerprints Appliances cleaned and shined Knick-knack areas cleaned Outside of cabinets cleaned Baseboards wiped All kitchen furniture hand wiped Sleeping and Living Areas Doors and frames spot cleaned for fingerprints Window sills and ledges damp wiped Knick-knacks individually cleaned Furniture hand wiped Baseboards wiped Furniture and upholstery vacuumed Carpet edges vacuumed Areas under accessible furniture vacuumed

Sunday-To Church and Mine Pit Lakes

On a warm afternoon, Dick and I like to drive through the backroads that wind through the Cuyuna Range Mine Pits near Crosby, Minnesota located twelve miles northeast of Whiteley Creek Homestead Bed and Breakfast. Today, on this early spring Sunday afternoon bright with sunshine, we did just that.

The dirt roads, which were spread with iron ore when they were originally constructed as an access to the mines, are no longer colored as dark a red as in years past. However, their hue is still unique enough to imagine the former activity that took place on these roads for 80 years. More than 106 million tons of ore were mined and shipped from the Cuyuna Range between its discovery in 1904, and 1984, when mining ceased. Dick's father was employed there for many years and his Grandma Olive Dullum ran a boarding house for the miners in her home in the nearby town of Woodrow.

The open-pit iron ore mining in this area, and the little towns that once thrived from serving the miners needs, has long ago become a meer skeleton of former booming activity. Remnants of building foundations can still be found in the dense undisturbed overgrowth. Tremendous beauty, however, abounds in these former pits that are now lakes stocked with trout to fish, canoe, kayak, and scuba dive.

The Cuyuna Lakes Trail for hiking, rollerblading, and biking weaves in between the mine pit lakes. The trail, which was built in 2005, is lesser known than the Paul Bunyan Trail in Brainerd but is as, if not more, beautiful. Cycle Path & Paddle in Crosby, a source for "silent sport" adventures, offers canoe, kayak, in-line skate, and bike rental. They offer drop-off service to a mine lake where you can paddle from that lake into four additional mine lakes. The area, owned and managed by the DNR, is very much a wilderness without human inhabitation... a hidden gem.