Spray Starch for Ironing.

 A nice frugal idea for saving on spray starch. Instead of buying cans of starch that don't last long, are expensive, and are an aerosol that is bad for the environment, you can make your own. Buy or repurpose a large spray bottle and add 1/8 to 1/4 (depending on how stiff you want your clothes) of liquid starch. Fill it with water and then add about a 1/2 teaspoon of your favorite perfume or cologne to it. Make sure the perfume is alcohol based and not oil based (sorry, not essential oil) as the oil will stain your clothes. You can find 1/2 gallon bottles of liquid start in most supermarkets in the laundry section. 

Knitted Doily Dishcloth

Knitted Doily Dishcloth

materials: worsted weight cotton yarn, 4 size US8 double point needles, stitch savers

cast on 8 st.
divide stitches on three needles
place marker on first needle

1st and alt rnds: knit

2nd round: (yo, k1) 8 times
4th round: (yo, k2) 8 times
6th through 16th round: repeat, adding one more knit stitch on each pattern repeat
18th round: (yo, k1, yo, k2 tog)k6 8 times
20th round: (yo, k1, yo, ((k2 tog twice))), k5
22nd through 30, continue to increase the k2 togethers one time each repeat, while decreasing the k at the same time unil on round 30 you do all decrease and no straight k
31st round: purl
32nd (increase one stitch in each section knit wise)

bind off purlwise loosely

Sugar & Cream pattern

My Rant about Memes About Homelessness

I hate it when I see a meme that over simplifies homelessness. It isn't just a drug issue. It isn't just a mental illness issue. It is a poverty issue in almost every case. 

If I didn't have the support I have from family, I would be homeless right now. Social security disability benefits do not pay enough for housing and the cost of living. Every time the government puts out a cost of living increase for social security, they deduct if from food stamps so there is no help for the rent after all. 

Yes, there are people who have drug problems who are on the streets. They have an illness that takes getting on a waiting list to get help. Some become homeless first and then self-medicate by using drugs and then get hooked. 

Some have mental health issues that keep them from seeking help to begin with. Some are on social security and are elderly and frail. They live in cars and on people's couches if they can, if not, they live in camps, and yes, they crap on the ground if there isn't a place nearby that has a bathroom they can use. Some people end up that way because they are unable to afford housing after having a medical emergency. Some because they don't have decent enough credit to get into a place. Some don't have deposit money and can't get a break. 

When you reduce it down to "They must want to be there or they would stop using" you are ignoring the issues that got them there. It's more complex than that. Please stop...

Why I do what I do

People sometimes seem incredulous about the time and effort I put into working with the homeless every week. The reason I do it is because I believe that it's up to those of us who are sane and have the time to do so, to pick up the people who are rolled over by a heartless president and government. Until we can get someone in office who picks up the slack and helps the poor, the homeless, the disenfranchised.  I think that we need to be the people who come along and give other people a hand up. 
I understand that it's easy for me to say since I am disabled and collecting disability, and I know that most people in our country are struggling like crazy just to keep from being one of the folks that are being rolled over by the rich, but I feel that we can all do a little something to help. 
I hate when programs are cut so that the wealthy can have tax breaks and not ruin what little stability our economy has. It breaks my heart sometimes when I'm out feeding breakfast to the poor and the homeless and I see just how desperate their situation is. I feel like I would be on the other side of the table if it weren't for my family giving me help. If they didn't help me, I would also not have enough to pay rent and have a decent diet. 
Maybe with a decent president and congress we would be able to fix some of this and the crowds at our Saturday breakfasts would dwindle and eventually not be there. I can hope and dream.

A Day For Celebration...sort of

Today Trump ended the partial shut-down! He stopped it until mid February and then will decide if he wants to start it up again to force his wall down the nation's throat. I'm really hoping that our legislators can come up with something to make it so that a politician can't shut down the government any time he gets a wild hair up his ass.

In the mean time, I am keeping busy with my baking for homeless and my knitting and crocheting. I went to a meeting yesterday with the republican PCO for the district to hear what he wants to offer our group. He discussed how the Republican party can contribute and we, even though I don't think any of us were republican and some of us are pretty much resisters to the president's term right now, listened without being too militant. It got a little weird at times, with him telling us how he tried to donate toys to the "Wear it Out" clothing closet and the Pastor of the church that runs it threw them back at him and told him to leave. He told us that he had received death threats that had kept him up at night. He is alarmed at the way people are treating him, even though he realizes that most people blame the president for the Shut-down that has sent 800,000 workers in the US home without pay for over a month. We commiserated with him, but didn't know much of what to tell him. We did let him know that we would except his help as long as it didn't advertise for any political party. 

As we left, they gave me food because they know that our family is one of the families that are scooped up in the shut-down frenzy.

I was sick last night, dealing with my diabetes problems, and didn't get up at a timely fashion this morning. So biscuits didn't get done until late today and I was slow and tired all day. I spent a lot of time on Twitter and my knitting today. I'm still working on wash cloths so I can get enough made up to sell.

Because I started so late, and because we were in the mind to celebrate that Michelle will be heading back to work on Monday, we ordered pizza and relaxed tonight. We drove John to work and then came back and just lounged about being lazy. I'm really relieved and pleased to get back to our regular routine and I look forward to giving out my baking tomorrow.

Berry Crisp Recipe

This recipe uses 2lbs of frozen mixed berries. It is baked in a 9x9 pan and if you use a 4-6lb bag, you would use a 9x13 pan.

Mixed Berry Cobbler

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

Ingredients:

filling:

1 2-pound bag of mixed frozen berries, thawed.

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp ginger or nutmeg

Topping:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup butter or margarine

put all of the dried ingredients for the filling in a small bowl and mix them together, then add them to the fruit in a bowl and mix. Pour filling into a 9x9 pan that you have sprayed with cooking oil.

In a separate bowl, cut the butter or margarine into the dry topping ingredients until it is blended and crumbly. Sprinkle those evenly over the top of the fruit filling. 

Bake for 45 minutes. Let sit until cool, then refrigerate if not to be eaten right away. (best when hot with ice cream topping)

Baking Soda Biscuits

This is the recipe for my baking soda biscuits I make every week. They are super easy and yummy, especially with gravy. These are drop biscuits, but you can roll them out at about 1" thickness and cut out circles using a common water glass from your kitchen.

Baking Soda Biscuits

preheat oven to 450 degrees

Ingredients:

2 cups of flour

2 1/2 tsp. of baking soda

1 tsp. of salt

1/4 cup of shorting

3/4 cup of milk

Mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Cut in the shortening until the mixture looks like pea sized granules. Mix in milk with a fork until the dough is sticking together well and all of the flour is mixed in. Knead it about 10 times. 

On a foil covered cookie sheet, tear the dough into 10 equal sized mounds 

Bake for about 12 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.