Tired, but headache-free!

Well, I had a baaad night last night, slept pretty fitfully. But I woke up headache free. Thanks be to God (and I am sure the prayers of many online friends), I was able to get up and about my day, without having to try and deal with the headache on top of everything else.

So today, we made up for lost time. We got a few chores done before school, and then we cranked out the applesauce--got 8 and a half quarts out of the 18lbs of apples. I am not sure if that is a good amount of sauce for the amount of raw apples. Does anyone know? I did figure out that it is definitely better to core, peel, and slice the apples prior to cooking. Definitely. LOL. Of course, I had already cooked a batch of apples in whole form, but hey, you have to learn someway, right? I used straight Granny Smith's, no spices, a teeennnnny bit of sugar, and while they are definitely tart, it leaves the door open to spices later on. The children like applesauce mixed in with their oatmeal (and if the sauce is cold, it serves to cool things down faster--always a bonus, first thing in the morning), and this way I can better use the cinnamon and brown sugar we'd be putting in, too.

Once we got the applesauce into the water bath, we got to work cleaning the house. This morning I'd vacuumed the back, private part of the house. But this afternoon, we got the more public side. Swept, vacuumed, and mopped the kitchen floor, cleaned off the counters, and the windowsill (which was terribly cluttered and not at all peaceful to look at), washed the cabinet fronts, cleaned underneath the microwave, scrubbed the oven, wiped down the backsplashes, scrubbed and soaked the sinks (white enamel that gets brown pretty quickly, in this house), ran a couple of loads through the dishwasher...then did some laundry, did some more laundry, and made some laundry detergent. Then I got started making pizza--since we had started the dough last night--it is that lovely, versatile artisan bread JoAnn told me/us about--it was SO easy. We've done it this way a couple of times, but it is also such a versatile dough! I'm looking forward to getting it on the grill at some point.

So, between laundry, dishes, schooling, putting up the applesauce, cleaning the kitchen top to bottom, making laundry detergent...it has been a busy day around here. Of course, just looking at that little list without thinking of the multiple things that plays into each individual item, well, it seems like one of those..."So what? I mean, really, how hard could it be?"....Humph. I daresay, anyone who says that and can do it all with five little people around to "help" (some actually help, and some are more hindrance than help), wellllllllll....lol...I'll just say "More power to them".

Dinner is done, the dishes are getting loaded, and soon to be started. The detergent continues to "gel", and soon it will be suitable for use. Yeehaw!

Now, with such a glorious fall day as we had all day today (SUNSHINE! WOOHOO! I think we stole it back from New England, considering the forecast they have right now, lol), I am *praying* it holds out, and things can be dry enough for El Husbando to work on the yard and garden big time tomorrow morning/afternoon. We've got SO much to do, before the rains come in the middle of next week.

And with that, I will give you our Blogging Diva of the Day....

Rhoda, at Southern Hospitality! Her family lives in the general area where mine does, and so sometimes she'll post about visiting them, and post pictures. I haven't been back there since March of 2008, when we moved from North Carolina to Oklahoma, after my husband retired from the Army...my parents came out here in May...it was a wonderful visit, but unfortunately, they arrived smack dab in the middle of a week and a half long rain...which kept us from really being able to do a lot of the things we had wanted to do. But I miss "home". I grew up there, I know the stores, I know the roads, I know the area..When my mom tells me about certain things happening, I know just where it is...and there are times...even though I love our new home, out here in the west...there are times when I just wish I could go back for a little while. Mostly to shop, because there are some ROCKIN' good thrift stores there. Not to mention other nifty little whole in the wall places. I am sure that there are some places like that here, but they are likely closer to the bigger cities...and I am not near a big city, unfortunately.

But seriously, folks. Go check out Rhoda's blog....she has some nifty ideas, especially if you are in Birmingham, or that general area...or even around metro Atlanta. Either one, and she's a definitely got some good ideas on stores and places to go...among other great things from her blog...

I hope your Friday was sunny and warm and productive. And that your weekend will be, as well....