Rebecca's Hearth and Home: March 2024

Monday, March 25, 2024

Master To-Do List and Menu Plan Monday - March 25, 2024

It's a gray and cloudy first Monday of Spring 2024 and Passion Week is in full swing!

Yesterday morning we celebrated Palm Sunday with scripture reading about the Triumphal Entry from all four gospels. The children had paper palm leaves to wave as they shouted "Hosanna! Hosanna!" at the appropriate times and real palm leaves were sent home with each family.

“And the multitudes that went before, and that

followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David:

Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord;..."

(Matthew 21:9)

In the evening the girls put on their "best apparel" in celebration of Purim as we, once again, heard the wonderful story of Queen Esther and the ultimate triumph over evil.

After the telling of the story we enjoyed trays of delicious homemade hamentashen...cherry, raspberry, blueberry, apricot, and chocolate! So good!

Now, here it is Monday and we've all got a full week ahead! Let's get started...shall we?

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud

voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say,

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

(Matthew 27:46)

This week's master 'to-do' list...

- Clean house

- Do laundry

- Read corresponding Passion Week scriptures daily

- Get the garden, which has been plowed and disked, tilled

- Get potatoes and peas planted

- Get together with aunts

- Shop for groceries

- Locate a new source for hormone balancing cream

- Celebrate oldest daughter's birthday

- Put together Easter goodies for the grands

- Renew my C&C permit

- Observe Good Friday

- Work

- Attend Sunrise Service and potluck breakfast on Sunday (prepare and take food)

- Celebrate Resurrection Sunday with family and friends by attending regular service and joining in fellowship

And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary

the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet

spices, that they might come and anoint him.." (Mark 16:1)

This week's menu plan...

Monday - Turkey Italian sausage with potatoes, peppers, and onions

Tuesday - Leftovers from lunch

Wednesday - Oven-roasted chicken breast, baked potato, and oven-roasted carrots

Thursday - Turkey Italian sausage, mini ravioli with homemade sauce, and garlic bread

Friday - Fish sandwich and oven fries

Saturday - Soup and crackers

Sunday - Ham, deviled eggs, fresh veggies

"And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for

the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and

came and rolled back the stone from the door and

said unto the women, He is not here for He is risen,

as he said." (Matthew 28:1-6)

Well, that's all for today! Have a nice Monday and a great week ahead! Happy Resurrection/Easter Sunday!

Until next time...

~Rebecca

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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Master To-Do List and Menu Plan Monday (The Tuesday/First Day of Spring Edition) - March 19, 2024

After a very full and fun-filled weekend (and as you can see), I am running behind! Happy Tuesday! And Happy First Day of Spring! (It snuck up on me!!!)

Tuesday night...

As much as I wanted to get a nice long, newsy post out today, it's just not happening. Am going to cut it short and get right down to business.

Wood Ducks - Male and Female

This week's master to-do list...

- Clean house

- Do laundrey

- Wash bedding

- Celebrate the First Day of Spring

- Present 'Backbone Bonanza' (vertebrates) library program

- Work

- Celebrate Palm Sunday (read the passage from the Bible and present children at church with palm leaves (real or paper) to wave during the reading)

- Celebrate Purim (read the book of Esther from the Bible, watch 'One Night With The King', and eat hamentaschen)

Falcate Orangetip Butterfly

This week's menu plan...

Monday - Leftover corned beef, cabbage, and baked potatoes made into a hash

Tuesday - Out

Wednesday - Oven-roasted chicken breast with baked potato and steamed asparagu

Thursday - Breakfast for supper

Friday - Burger with sauteed pepper, onion, and potato

Saturday - Fish sandwich and oven fries

Sunday - Leftovers

That's it for now! I hope your week is off to a great start!

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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Monday, March 11, 2024

Master To-Do List and Menu Plan Monday - March 11, 2024

It's Monday! The the birds are singing, the sun is shining, and spring is fairly bursting to make it's soon-to-arrive official appearance outside my back door!

Dandelions dot the lawn like drops of golden sunlight and the tiniest of spring flowers bloom in a vast array of color. I saw the first butterflies of 2024 yesterday and today honey bees!

At the moment it's 62 degrees with a high of 68 expected; tomorrow and Wednesday are supposed to be even nicer with highs in the mid-70's!

Well, I need to get started, so I am going to wrap the chit-chat up and get right on into this week's post. Join me...won't you?

Friday's Class on Invertebrates

"No Backbone...Eh?"

This week's master to-do list...

- Clean house

- Do laundry

- Clean and organize fridge

- Go through a few more totes in garage - sort, organize, discard, and donate

- Shop for St. Patrick's Day

- Drop stuff off at the thrift store

- Work

- Get ready for out-of-town company

- Celebrate St. Patty's Day with family and friends

Learn the true story of St. Patrick and

watch for free by clicking HERE.

This week's menu plan...

I have several odds and ends in the fridge that need used up right away, so am going to focus on those this week Items include celery, carrots, asparagus, a small box of spring mix, feta cheese, cottage cheese, turkey pepperoni, a bagel, three Cuties, and cheese sticks.

The bagel, Cuties, asparagus, and spring mix will be incorporated into breakfasts; the cheese sticks will be taken to work and eaten as snacks. The rest of the items will be used as components in lunches and suppers.

Monday - Beef and celery stir-fry over rice

Tuesday - Homemade pizza

Wednesday - Chicken ranch salad with French bread

Thursday - Fish sandwich with oven fries

Friday - Oven roasted chicken breast with baked potato and oven-roasted carrots

Saturday - ?

Sunday - Corned beef, cabbage, baked potatoes, and Emerald Isle Cake

Well, that's it for today! I hope your Monday is going well and that your week is off to a great start!

Until next time...

~Rebecca

P.S. - As a quick follow-up to last week's post, here's what's left of the Lipscomb elevator...

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Friday, March 8, 2024

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Don't forget to set your clocks forward by one hour tomorrow night!

Have a great weekend!

Until next time...

~Rebecca

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Thursday, March 7, 2024

Thursday Things - March 7, 2024

It's a rainy Thursday here in southwest Missouri and I'm so thankful! We're in much better shape that we had been there for a while, but we still need much rain to get us back where we should be, after the extreme drought conditions of the past few years.

The bridal's wreath bush surprised me this morning. It is covered in flowers, but the rain is already knocking the tiny, white petals to the ground.

As I write this post the wrecking ball continues to pound against the sides of the old elevator. It is taking it down one tiny step at a time. The thud of the ball makes me sick and it happens every few seconds all day long. This picture was taken Monday afternoon...

I wasn't out at all yesterday, so haven't seen the elevator since. I will try to take a picture when I run out to Dollar General here in just a bit.

On Tuesday a friend and I turned a shopping trip into a full-length daytrip. We made a big, ol' loop that took us through many of the places that were near and dear to my heart growing up.

We started off with a stop at the car wash. My van gets so dirty driving the backroads to work, and this time, it was so dirty that I could see nothing out the back glass. The dirt had to go before we did!

Our trip took us out of the heart of the Osage Plains and into the edge of Central Missouri's Lake Region. It is so beautiful there! Sadly, the roads that we took were so narrow and hilly and curvy that we couldn't find a good place to pull over and take a picture.

The road that we were on took us past Rockville, Missouri. We pulled off the main drag and meandered the streets of the tiny town finding the places where my great-grandfather and great-aunt lived when I was a kid. The last time I remember being there was when Tootsie (my great-aunt, Ethel Mae) passed away in 1991.

We went past Monagaw Springs (where my dad and uncle used to go caving in the cliffs above the Osage River) and Rosco (where the famous gun battle between a couple of the Younger boys and undercover Pinkerton agents) was fought and, eventually, ended up at one of our many destinations...the Osceola Cheese Company.

Our family has made pilgrimages to Osceola Cheese my whole life. As an adult, I still manage to make it there once a year or so (last year it was on the way home from a work trip) to stock up on favorite cheeses and other goodies that are long-time family favorites.

After Osceola we took a differnt route back across country and visited the old home places at Appleton City where my aunt and uncle and cousins lived when I was young. My parents gardened with my aunt and uncle there and my cousins and I spent many a happy day running, playing, and chasing cloud shadows across the farm fields. This house reminds me of the one they used to live in at the farm...

Photo Credit

I showed my friend where the hidden grave is that my cousins and I used to dare each other to touch and, yes, I climbed under the overgrown, and many-branched. cedar tree, to touch it once it again. It's tradition!

After that we went to the Appleton City Cemetery to visit the graves of my great-grandparents, grandfather, great-aunt, aunt, uncle, girl cousin, and my parents.

After that we finished up our day in Butler. We had a late-lunch, shopped for dry goods at the Amish store, and, of course, finished up with the bulk of our shopping at Walmart.

While out and about I dumped off a load of stuff at the thrift store. I had gone out Monday to get started on cleaning out the garage and the first thing I saw was five big totes full of old Christmas stuff. It was such a nice day that I dragged them all to the porch to sort though them. By the time I was done I had saved one tote full of stuff, threw away two big trash bags full of stuff, had a big box of items and a Christmas tree to donate, and four empty totes. I was quite happy!

Anyway, the big box of Christmas stuff and the Christmas tree were dropped off at the thrift store while we were out and about. It feels so good to finally be getting rid of some of this stuff that serves no purpose whatsoever other than to rob me of peace and joy.

Well, it's after noon and I better get started. I hope you've had a good week and that your Thursday is going well. Have a great weekend!

Until next time...

~Rebecca

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Tackling The Bathroom

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Welcome March!

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Tackling The Bathroom

I straighten daily and do a general cleaning weekly, but it's been a long time since I really tackled the bathroom like I did today.

Before starting I took down the shower curtain and curtain-liner and gathered them together with towels, washrags, and rugs to be laundered.

Next, I made a thick paste out of baking soda and water and coated the shower walls and tub with it and let it set for a while before wiping and rinsing.

(I had forgotten what a joy it is to clean with baking soda and what a great job it does of whitening and cleaning without bleach and other harsh chemicals.)

While I was working with the tub, I unscrewed the drain strainer, and using one of those drain cleaner tools, removed several big globs of hair that was trapped there. Yuck!!! 😝

I cleaned the sink with a baking soda paste and cleaned the toilet bowl with Clorox Clinging Bleach Gel.

I finished up by spritzing the sink and toilet with Mrs. Meyers Peppermint Scented Multisurface Cleaner and wiping them down with paper towels.

That's what I used today in cleaning my bathroom. What are some of the products that you use when cleaning yours?

Until next time...

~Rebecca

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Monday, March 4, 2024

Master To-Do List and Menu Plan Monday - March 4, 2024

It's a warm and wildly windy morning here on the tallgrass prairie of southwest Missouri. We're sitting at 70 degrees right now with a high of 80 expected. I like it!!!

This past week was a week of great blessing! The weather was nice, spring flowers are bursting forth after their long winter's sleep, there were little unexpected surprises at every turn, and much was accomplished on several fronts...including being able to get the propane tank filled.

On Tuesday part of the garage roof blew off, but within a short time of it happening a work crew made up of children, grandchildren, and a cousin had it back in place and secured. I really need to get out there and get things ready for major repairs though. I've virtually done nothing (including cleaning it out) since moving in after my dad passed away nearly eight years ago. I think it's time to get on it!

A sad note for our little community. Today starts the demolition process on a long-time icon and landmark...the Lipscomb elevator. I can hear the wrecking ball pounding against it now, even as I write this post.