Hello Again!

With our extra time at home for who knows how long, we have decided to dive into some home projects that would have otherwise been left on the back burner while we cavort across the country.  Inside the house, outside the house, and in the trailer, there is an assortment of things to be done so we have some flexibility with the weather. ​

Here's just a quick look at the before and after of our out front flower beds.  We created 3 long flower beds about 20 years ago from rocks that we hauled in from other places.  The picture on the left shows how the short rock walls had deteriorated over the years, and many of the plants (all perennials) had either died off from cold winters or had outgrown their spaces.  So we (mostly Bob) dug out all the rocks, then started over with the walls.  We were surprised at the amount of rocks that had been completely buried, I guess by erosion.  We actually ended up with some extra rocks after building up the new walls.  The photo on the right is one of the renovated walls.  And now I get to buy some new plants!  The nurseries around here are open, with changes made for safety of the public.  So I've been able to pick up a few things, and will add more as time allows.

I thoroughly cleaned the inside of the trailer, so now it looks like new again, almost!  The interior of a lot of the cabinets are white, and they get marks from pans, bowls, canned goods, etc., during the rattling around that occurs while flying down the road, no matter how much I pad or cushion them.  Luckily, it mostly comes off easily with those scrubbing eraser pads.  And I needed to hang a few things on the walls, in the shower, at my bedside and in the kitchen.  The outside of the trailer really needs a good wash, but we'll wait for a warmer day for that.  I put a new quilt on the bed, and we'll be camping in the driveway for now.

​Inside the house, I've been cleaning in places that I've never cleaned before!  Even Bob cleaned and reorganized his workbench in the basement!  I cleaned out my entire food pantry/cabinet, which is the only way I can really clean and sort and reorganize the shelves in there.  A few new containers to help fit the spaces helped a lot, too.  I would love to have gone to the Container Store for a chance to browse their wonderful ideas and devices.  That store is heavenly for someone like myself who likes to organize things, or at least try to organize and stay that way!

Another new-to-us recipe to share, a regular pot roast with a deliciously seasoned coating added.  Another recipe that we will do again in the future.
Melt-In-Your-Mouth Pot Roast from Taste Of Home.
Cooking time about 6 hours in crockpot on low.
1 boneless beef chuck roast, about 3-4 pounds, cut into 2 pieces
1 pound medium red potatoes, quartered, peeled if desired
1 cup baby carrots
¼ cup Dijon mustard (or less according to my husband but I liked it as is)
2 teaspoons dried rosemary, crushed
1 teaspoon garlic salt
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon pepper
⅓ cup chopped onion
1 ½ cups low salt beef broth (sub burgandy wine or brandy plus water for the broth if you like)

Put the carrots and potatoes in the bottom of the crockpot and then the roast on top.  Mix together the mustard, rosemary, garlic salt, thyme and pepper; rub over roast.  Top the roast with the chopped onion and pour in the broth.  Cook on low until meat and vegetables are tender, for 6-8 hours.  There's even a video for this recipe.  
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