HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has been a tradition with me since I was probably ten. The parade has changed over the years but I still enjoy the celebration.

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

FLY LADY - Week 4 - Office

 Good morning, friends!

The final push to get everything set up for Christmas. 

Thanksgiving was a big tradition during my teenaged years, thanks to my (step) mom. I use that term loosely and will always refer to her as Mom.  We always decorated the Christmas tree after Thanksgiving dinner... between dinner and desserts. That tradition slid downhill fast after we became empty-nesters then again when Bob took the line boat position and was gone twenty-one days at a time.

Since this is his first full year of retirement, I'm determined to pull that tradition back out. 

What tradition do you wish you still continued? Why not?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly 

FLY LADY - Week 3 - Bedroom - Bathroom

 Good morning, friends!

Where is this month going? Hard to believe we are just over a week from Thanksgiving.

Before I talk about this week, I do have to say not much progress was made on last week's projects while Bob was gone. At least not on what I wanted.

I chilled Wednesday, as I usually do the first day I have the house to myself. Thursday, I realized I was missing a couple of spices for the spice mixes. I thought I had them all. So off to the local grocery to hopefully pick them up. They only had one of the three, however, they did have the boneless hams in the brand we prefer on sale Thur/ Fri/ Sat only. I ordered two to be sliced while I went on into Cabool to Sheplers to hopefully pick up the other 2 spices. (they didn't have either one!) Back to pick up the two sliced hams as well as four boneless butterball turkey breasts. They were frozen so we'll thaw them out here at home and Bob can put them on our meat slicer. But we're set for lunch meats for the winter. 

We use a lot of the shaved ham around here. Bob makes the best grilled hot ham, egg, cheese sandwiches for breakfast. I also use it on my protein platters for lunch. Along with the ham, I like sliced turkey, a hard boiled egg, cheese sticks cut from the block and cottage cheese. Bob likes to use both meats in wraps.  

If you love ham or turkey NOW is the time to buy. They are both at their lowest price between now and Christmas. Otherwise, the next low price will come around in time for Easter. Buying the products you love seasonally will save you the most money.

I finished up the spices on Friday but realized they aren't all going to fit into the cabinet unless I use a stadium riser type of shelving. However, the ones you can buy are not made for the mason jars. I store my spices in 1/4 or 1/2 pint mason jars. So they are currently in canning boxes on the sofa until Bob comes home and we can brainstorm between one of two best solutions. 

Saturday and Sunday I wound up with pains in my right thigh. I think from all the steps I did Friday, then pushed through again on Saturday working on the living room corner. So I didn't do much of anything yesterday. 

Bob will be home this evening. And so I'm in holding pattern at least for a couple of days yet again. 

At least I can still do that living room corner with Bob home. 

While I do love naps, I'm determined to spend time cleaning this week. The sewing corner stuff MUST get moved back to their studio home. I haven't told Bob but if I can pull this off, I want a woodsy decor tree for the bedroom. I'll need remote control tree lights though so Bob can easily turn them off when he comes to bed. Oh yeah, and hope Tabby doesn't think she needs to climb the tree LOL

How many trees do you put up and are you putting one in your bedroom?

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly 

FLY LADY - Week 2 - Living/ Dining Room

 Good morning!

Week 2 into November. Bob will leave Wednesday for a wedding in Oklahoma. I'll have 5 days to deep clean ahead of Christmas decorating and working on my book. My goal is to write 1086 words per day. I didn't write the first two days of the Rough Draft Challenge so I'll have some words to make up.

I still need to get the Halloween/ Christmas craft stuff out of the living room where the tree needs to go.

I have the craft binders ready to put those items in so I'm planning Halloween one day and the Christmas stuff another day so that table can come down before Bob gets home on the 17th.

The Dining Room will have more of it's focus next month.

Accomplishing that this week will be a HUGE win for me and for the house.

What's your plan of attack this week? I'd love to hear.

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed.

~ Kelly

FLYLADY - Week 1

 Good morning, friends!

Welcome to turning back the clock when everything officially begins to feel like fall.

We are to have a couple of really warm days here in the Ozarks this week so my schedule as to what I accomplish may flip a bit. Sometimes, the weather directs what you need to be doing. For me, it's finally getting the warehouse organized. This entails going through all of the holiday decor and getting rid of a good portion. I'm at the point in my holiday decor life where I know what I'm using and where in and outside of the house. I'll be talking about that more in another post.

On October 30th, we sent our Spirit kitty over the rainbow bridge. He was a beautiful loving black cat of 21 years/ 8 months. His main bed and where we fed him was in the laundry room. Since Week 1 is Kitchen/ Laundry, I'll be detailing the laundry room really well. The rest is going to be surface stuff for a couple of weeks as I prepare to pitch things we no longer need and prepare for the Christmas decorating. This will be Bob's first season home to see how everything goes up. Welcome to retirement!

Coffee is ready so I need to scoot but I wanted to get this post up at a decent hour.

I'll be talking about more Pantry Preparedness on a regular basis next year. For now, let's just enjoy family.

Oh, I'm no longer doing the Meal Plan Monday videos. There just wasn't any interest. Next year, I plan to post here on Saturday's what I'll be doing for my menu in the coming week. I hope you'll let me know if it's something that interests you. Also, leave a comment if there is something that is a menu staple for you we might like. 

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

FLYLADY - Week 4

 Good morning, friends!

Yay!!! My favorite room in the house...

... and the one that needs the most work!

I've been pushing to get this room finished by picking areas I think I can tackle in the shortest amount of time. On Saturday (Nov. 1) I begin a new writing challenge. The Rough Draft Challenge is the brain child of YA fantasy author, Sarra Cannon. She began the RDC a couple of years ago when things began to fall apart at National Novel Writing Month (NanoWriMo). She had a vision we were all going to need a positive place to continue our challenge month. Now she offers it a couple of times a month and you can do ANYTHING  creative and if it's writing, YOU choose your wordcount goal. I love the challenge. 

You can find out the basic information by checking out the video below. She even offers a free workbook to help you along the way. (You just need to sign up for her email then you'll have access to soooo many great printables)

While she writes under Sarra Cannon, all of her writer supportive content is under HeartBreathings:

She starts us off in October, called Preptober, where we begin to think about what we want to write during the RDC in November. This prevents opening up the computer on November 1 and staring at a blank screen. I love her process.

So, my goal for this week is to seriously find the office space to write, because the challenge begins in just five days!!  I would love to be able to sit on my sofa and use the AlphaSmart to write. Send me all your positive vibes, please.

What are you working on this week? Let me know in the comments. Remember, if you have questions, I'm here for you.

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

FLY LADY - Week 3

 Good morning, friends.

I can't tell you how great it is to know I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. Of course, I do have a big writing challenge coming up next month so I'm trying to really get things in order here so I don't have to think about them.

I really want to get stuff moved back to the office this week but don't think that is going to happen until I do the office next week to make space for the items we moved earlier this year to go back. So for this week, it's all about sprucing up my night stand and pitching anything I don't need...you know, like the pillows that just aren't poofy anymore and the throw blankets that need washed and put back in their storage place until needed.

I did manage to get the fall linens put in the bathroom. I was determined to make this house a bit festive, if only for a few weeks. 

What are you focusing on this week?

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

FLY LADY - Week 2

 Good morning, friends!

I'm home and I'm tired but I look forward to the Ozark Creative Writing conference every year. Now I can focus on deep cleaning the house in preparation for the holidays. 

Before I left last week I started working on sorting through the Fall/ Halloween/ Christmas crafting table in the living room. I hope to finish that up this week now that I know I don't have to go anywhere for awhile - a long while!

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~Kelly

FLYLADY - Week 1

Good morning, friends!

Things are going to be a little crazy again this week so there won't be a Meal Plan Menu video this week, and possibly next week. Still debating that one. I leave Thursday for the Ozark Creative Writers Conference. This will be my 29th consecutive year (minus the year my youngest granddaughter was born and the Big C when nothing was happening)

I am working on the laundry room and kitchen before I leave on Thursday. I've been creating little 'haunted houses' for a village on the top shelf in the laundry room - something to replace the bird houses and segue into the North Pole village that will go up late November.

For cleaning, that's pretty much my entire plan on the short week. I leave Thursday and won't return until late Sunday. Then I think I'm done with long-distance travel until about April 2026. Wish me luck!

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

 

PANTRY PREPAREDNESS - 1 Final Item!

 I failed to include the Freezer Clean Out video from Leisa at Sutton Daze. here it is:

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

PANTRY PREPAREDNESS - Week 5

  Good morning, friends!

Photo courtesy of Oldiefan on Pixabay

By now you should know what you have and what you still need as you play squirrel and prepare for winter. I'll link Direct Weather's updated video below so you have an idea of how your winter may shape out.

Another category to consider is our pets. Just like us, they want all the comforts during hard times. If you take them to the vet, now is the perfect time for a check-up, teeth cleaning and a pedicure. From there, it's off to where ever you shop for their food, treats and litter (where applicable, of course) For some pets, you might want to dehydrate fruit so they can have their favorite snack right along with you. 

If you are a bird lover, inside or out, make sure you have plenty of seed, nuts & dried fruit on hand for them. Winters can be especially hard on the outside ones. We keep big metal trash cans on the back deck full of wild bird seed as well as a smaller one for fruit & nut mix. I hope to dehydrate more of the fruits just for them next year.

Speaking of 'next year', here's a video from Direct Weather about the potential winter we could face in the 2025 - 2026 winter season:

That's it for Pantry Preparedness Month. Now's the time to make a pass through to make sure you're preapred. In the mean time...

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

FLY LADY - Week 5 - Basement & Meal Plan Monday

 Good morning!

We've come to the end of another month. How are you doing with your tasks?

I was gone all last week celebrating my birthday and doing some crafting with friends and family. So, unless I got something in the office done ahead of time, nothing got done last week. 

As I've been working on the basement little by little during the Pantry Preparedness Challenge (See my Tuesday Posts), I've been trying to get the shower room as well as the pantry room more organized. I swear the shower room is my 'catch all drawer' of the basement. Time to make it more workable. I really need more shelves for the canned (both store & home) goods but there just is no room.  

Do you have a 'catch all' room? What changes do you need to make to make the space more functional?

Remember, you'll find the #MealPlanMonday video HERE.

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

PANTRY PREPAREDNESS - Part 4

Good morning, friends!

I almost wrote a couple of posts out of order as I try to get everything scheduled before I leave Sunday. I'm starting with a three-day crafting retreat with friends in Independence Kansas. From there I'm back to Springfield for 5 days to finish the first draft of Book 2 in my Planned To Perfection contemporary romance. Days of no other duties except to write. I'm so excited. 

Thankfully, I've prepared meals, leftovers and simple things Bob can put together while I'm gone. The 1950s housewife in me always makes sure Bob has what he needs while I'm gone.

The next category on our list is general household supplies and personal items.

Now is the perfect time to clean out the bathroom cabinets. Pitch old medications, restock cold & flu meds, analgesics, beauty products such as shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc. 

Cleaning products are also a necessity. Regardless of what types you prefer, have them on hand. Especially disinfecting type items to wipe away all those cold germs.

Lastly, lets not forget this paper product. You do remember when this was a thing, right?

Also nose tissues, paper plates (for when the power goes out but you still want to put your sandwich on something), and personal hygiene items. If you have pre-teen girls, make sure you have items on hand for them. You don't want to be unprepared and a blizzard or ice storm prevents you from making her comfortable.

Next week wraps up our Pantry Preparedness series. Are you ready for whatever lies ahead? Remember, at any time you have questions, please leave them in the comments section. I check them every week. 

I will only be posting the Fly Lady posts for October as I'll be doing 31 videos on my creative channel the whole month. 

November, I'll be back to start that retirement series. In the mean time...

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

PANTRY PREPAREDNESS - Part 3

 Good morning, friends.

How is your pantry coming along? Have you noticed lean spots and made a plan to fill them in? Remember, we're going into holiday season so some things will come up on sale. Holiday sales usually mean baking supplies, ham, turkey, bread, eggs... things you'll use as families gather. If you can make room in your budget, now is the time to stock up on those items. 

I eat a lot of ham lunch meat, but the packaged stuff is so expensive and full of stuff I'd rather not eat. Instead, I watch for Kretschmar. For lunchmeat, I get this on sale and sliced usually on a #1 or shaved. I love shaved for grilled ham/ egg/ cheese sandwiches for breakfast. An I can eat either of those settings without my dentures (which I don't wear much when I'm home - I like comfort LOL) I also look for sale on the bone-in, such as COOK's, and have it sliced about a finger's width for breakfast ham steaks.

Okay, with that in your thinking cap, I wanted to talk about Dehydrating and Canning foods for your pantry. If you've never done either one, don't be afraid to jump in. I will link you to people I deem qualified to walk you through the process of all three; water bath canning, pressure canning, and dehydrating. Freeze drying is a topic all on it's own and not as inexpensive as the others I've mentioned. 

When it comes to water bath or pressure canning, you absolute best two sources are the Ball Canning Book (I'm still using the one I learned with at 12) and your County Extension or Home Economist office.  If you can read and follow directions, you'll be fine. Yes, there's also Youtube but not all of them are as knowledgeable as they pretend. For canning/ pressure canning my go-to Youtubers are, Linda's Pantry and, you guessed it, Leisa at Sutton Daze. 

For dehydrating I keep The Purposeful Pantry at the top of my playlist. I've learned so much from her. I also use The Ultimate Dehydrator Cookbook by Tammy Ganglogg. 

As the temps (hopefully) begin to cool down, I'll be using the dehydrator a lot. Bob will be gone the first weekend in October and I plan to give the pressure canner a work out as well. I want to can potatoes and the turkey stock I have in the freezer. 

That's another thing... 

Have you taken a good look in your freezer? Maybe that's a discussion for next week and I'll share a video from Leisa at Sutton Daze. 

In the mean time, think about what you still need to get you through the winter. Make a shopping list, watch for sales and decide what you can do TODAY... tomorrow's prices may be higher or product inaccessible. 

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

FLY LADY - Week 4 - Office

 Good morning!

The office is a continuing project. During part of Week 2, I did get the paint shelf put back in order. All of my mixed media mediums, paints, sprays are all nicely displayed and reachable. I just have to rework my Tim Holtz area and that project will be DONE! But there's  still more to work through.

What is the biggest project you are still working on? I'd love to hear.

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

PANTRY PREPAREDNESS - Part 2

 Good morning!

How did you do with your pantry inventory? Are you more aware of what you have, or more importantly what you're missing? 

Today is a bit more of that. While cleaning stuff up in my office this week I came across a couple of printouts and a magazine article. I can't reprint them here but I can share the information from them. At some point I'd like to create my own based on their recommendations. When I do, I'll share them. At the end of this post, I'll share a pantry preparedness book by Leisa from Sutton Daze. But first, 

Have you ever watched Guy's Grocery Games on FoodNetwork? Here's a short video below from one of the episodes:

While the contestant chefs are given specific items they must use in their dish, they also have a BASIC PANTRY to work from. Staple items in most every kitchen items at the ready. Usually, you can pull together a quick meal from these staples, even if it's just pancakes and eggs. 

One article I found was from several years ago. May have come from a Taste of Home magazine by the looks of the picture on the back page of this border article. The article was titled Save Yourself Time... With A Shortcut Pantry.

The list includes things that while might not have been in your grandmother's pantry, they are staples for the cooks of today. Here's a brief list:

Bouillon cubes or granuales

Bread crumbs

Cake mixes

Canned vegetables

Canned pie filling or fruits

Canned meats

Tortillas

Grated & shredded cheeses

Condiments such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, tarter or bbq sauce

Refrigerated pastry dough

Pizza crusts or mix

Taco and other basic seasonings

Think of all the quick dishes & desserts you could put together by only adding a couple of things for a particular dish.

The other item I found was from Digital-Women.com back in 2005. I checked the link and it doesn't seem to have the same content as before. the complimentary printable was called EveryDay Pantry.

The sub-paragraph says:

"Think you have it? check first - you'll need not only the freshest meats, fish, fruits, and veggies, but also these standbys and staples to fill your recipes with flavor." 

The printable goes on to list foods by the following categories:

BREADS/ CEREALS

DAIRY

FRESH FRUITS & VEGETABLES

DESSEERTS

BEVERAGES

CONDIMENTS

BAKING GOODS

FROZEN FOODS & MEAT

NON-PERISHABLES

HOUSEHOLD NECESSITIES

If you want something you can hold in your hands, I recommend Leisa Sutton's Pantry Preparedness. You'll find it by clicking the link ----> AMAZON

That's it for me this week. I'll have another Pantry Preparedness next week when we'll talk about how to stretch your money and still have a workable pantry.

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed

~ Kelly

FLY LADY - Week 3 - Bedroom/ Bathroom

 Good morning!

I think temps are settling in and I hope to start working in the garden more. Just like the house, I'll be taking things one area at a time as I prep the garden beds for a more productive Spring '26

In the mean time,

My goal this week is to get the sewing room items moved back to the craft room, deep clean that area and get my roll top desk and vintage office chair moved back in. 

I did start a project two weeks ago to begin reading my way through over 300 books on a 5-shelf book case unit. I'm not sure what I'll use that book case for when it's empty but I'm sure I can find something to put on there LOL

Here's this week's #MealPlanMonday video:

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

PANTRY PREPAREDNESS - Part 1

 Good afternoon!

Coming in late this morning as I wanted to take advantage of another beautiful day in the Ozarks. Was even getting a bit sticky in the house so I conceded to turning on the AC after breakfast. I remember when Bob would be gone for twenty-one days and I seldom turned on the AC this late in the year unless I were cleaning and the house would be too sticky. Hopefully, this will be the final week of this. 

I should have posted last week but I was looking for a starting point. There is so much to consider when planning for winter. Before I continue, I'm going to leave Leisa's video on Pantry Preparedness where she talks about having one month to a winter-ready pantry. Some points for you to consider as you go through my posts. They will run for the next four Wednesdays, with the fourth one posting on October 1st.

Assessing the pantry.

The first thing you need to do is clean everything in your pantry. Check for loose seals on jars, bulging tin canned food, and bugs invading your dry goods. Dust the shelves and wipe down everything with a damp cloth. Sanitation really is a thing, folks. 

My #1 TIP for dry good storage: 

Never ever store dry goods in their packaging. Unless it came in a jar. I also don't recommend plastic - unless you're storing in Gamma Lid buckets. Glass jars. When properly sealed, NOTHING is getting into your food. Regardless of where you live, critters can potentially be a problem. Even the common house fly. There are some good videos on YouTube for proper storage of pastas and grains. For me, I run almost everything in those categories through my oven for dry canning/ sealing. That includes my oats. I buy a year's supply from the overstock market then spend the next few days getting them sealed into sanitized jars.

Once everything is clean, make sure to pull everything to the front of the shelf. Next, think about how much of each item you need to get your family through the winter then start your shopping list. Think about the types of meals you regularly prepare. Do you have favorites you rotate through? Shop for those first. If you can't get everything right away, that's okay. This is to give you a list of what you need to acquire preferably over the next two months, to get you through the winter. From there you can add to the shelf until you are where you want to be. 

Watch for sales! This is the time to be stocking up. 

When I began planning for Bob's retirement last year, I kept a close eye on sales and always slid money back when I could so I'd be ready. One week, our local small town market had pasta 10/$10, Italian sausage 2/$5 and my preference of spaghetti sauce on sale for $2.50 a jar (normally almost $4 a jar!!)

I buy a particular brand because I reuse their jars to store baking supplies that don't have to be sealed, per say. Did it crimp the budget a little bit that week, but I was more focused on what we needed, as opposed to stuff we DIDN'T need right at that moment. We had plenty of groceries in the house. We weren't going to starve.

I'll be talking about Preparing for Retirement in another series.

Now that your pantry is clean and tidy. You have a list of where you want to go. Remember, ONLY stock the foods your family will eat. Think in terms of meals. Here's an example from our pantry:

To make a batch of Chili, 1 each of the following

15 oz. can tomato sauce

14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes

28 oz. can Keystone ground beef

6 oz. can tomato paste

28 oz. can Bush's Baked Beans

30.5 oz. can Brooks Chili Mix

Everything is stacked together on the shelf so when I send Bob to the pantry for Chili fixin's, everything is stacked together. He doesn't have to hunt the pantry over and possibly coming back upstairs without something. I do the same thing for my Chicken Pot Pie

1 each of:

12.5 oz. can Chunk Chicken

15 oz. can mixed vegetables

10.5 oz. can cream of chicken soup.

I learned this method from Tiffany Spaulding - craft organizer extraordinaire. Her concept is to "Keep Things Together You Will Use Together".  The system really works. Once you put your pantry in 'meal' order, you could send the seven-year-old down to grocery shop from the pantry and know they'll come back with everything you need.

That's it for this week. Next Wednesday we'll talk about other areas of your pantry. Dehydrating, Canning, Freeze Drying and additional purchases.

In the meantime,

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

FLY LADY - Week 2 - Living room/ Dining Room & Meal Plan Monday

 Good morning!

Just when I was getting used to the fall temperatures, they say we'll be back in the 90s this week. Well, I guess we need the Indian Summer to finish clearing the gardens and outside chores before things go back to fall.  How's the weather where you are?

Sadly, I'm still on the same tasks as last month.

The sofa WILL get cleared this week and the floor a good cleaning. 

I'm determined to be on full cleaning routine by the end of the month and not just on catch-up.

I keep forgetting to post the link to my Monday YouTube video - #MealPlanMonday.  You'll find it by clicking HERE.

How's your cleaning coming? Anything you would like to change, or improve?

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly 

FLY LADY - Week 1

 Good morning, friends.

Fall is definitely in the air and I'm so ready to start decorating. But first, the rooms must be clean!

I'm ready for this week. My replacement Black & Decker Steam Mop arrived Friday!

I also purchased fall-colored throw rugs from Menards to go under the litter box in the laundry room.

I'd love to use throw rungs in the kitchen, particularly in front of the sink and the stove but Bob can not pick up his feet and is always either tripping on the edges or turning them up into a bunch. 

Picture this in pumpkin orange and browns and no fringe.

This week, I'm going to focus on giving the laminate floor across the two rooms with the steam mop. We didn't think about the groove textures in the floor when we bought it, just the 'wood' grain texture. But the grain catches everything! So, I'm pulling everything I can out of the laundry room one day then doing the kitchen area another day. 

By the end of the month, I want to have cleaned the fan blades, wiped down all the shelves/ top of the freezer and brought in the fall decor. 

What is your cleaning task for this week?

September is Pantry Preparedness Month so I'll be posting pantry things on Tuesdays, beginning tomorrow.  I hope you'll come back.

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

FLY LADY - Week 4 - Office

 Good morning, friends!

I'd love to say I'm diving hard into the office this week, but there's a slight change. The weather is finally cooling down here in the southern Ozarks and I can work on the 'warehouse' where the overflow of craft supplies as well as holiday decor is stored. I am sooo ready to dive in to see what can go to the thrift store, trashed or reorganized. Primarily the Christmas decor.

We've been in this house twenty years and have figured out the decor for each holiday in the various rooms that I am happy with. Everything else can get donated so maybe someone else can use the items.

Reorganizing the Christmas decor will also make room for the four big village tubs I have in the basement in our 'safe' corner. I'd love for Bob to be able to build a storage bench where they are now that we can put stuff to be protected in case of a tornado and that we can sit on. 

Over the course of forty-one years of marriage we've developed an amazing working relationship. Either I design something and he builds, we design and he builds, or we design and build together. This office desk I'm working on was an 8' kitchen island with storage I designed and he built over 35 years ago. Nothing fancy but served as a kitchen island initially that could seat 12 people if needed as well as store all of my baking pans. Then it served as an island against one wall in our first purchased home turning our narrow kitchen into a galley kitchen. In this house it was a crafting/ sewing table downstairs before we built the office/ studio almost 11 years ago. Here it remained a craft table until about 3 years ago when the cat took over my writing desk and I moved my 'office' space to this huge work table. I can move stuff easily enough if I need the 4'x8' space to cut fabric and one side still functions as space for my die-cutting machines when necessary. 

That's me for the week. Next week, I'll be back in the kitchen/ laundry with a bit more of a detailed list of what I do there.

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

FLY LADY - Week 3 - Bedroom/ Bathroom

 Good morning!

After getting the bedroom temperature down to between 65*-67* (optimal sleeping temperature for diabetics) I finally got a really good night's sleep - the first in weeks! Poor Bob, I'm pretty sure he thinks he sleeps in an igloo. hehe

Speaking of the bedroom...

While I love naps, I don't think I'll need one today. Doesn't mean I won't WANT one. LOL Too much to do.

I'm still in sorting mode in the office. 

Last all, we had a split unit (heating ac) put in my office. That required moving everything out of my sewing corner. Guess where to. Yep.

I did the bedding on Saturday so that's done. We also did my shoe shelves last month to make room for Bob's shoes/ boots. I think I mentioned last month all of his were on five bake rack shelves in the closet. now that baker's rack holds all of the last three orders from Thrive Life. (I'll have freeze dried info coming Friday) 

So, my gal this week is goal this week is to get the sewing stuff out of the bedroom, back into the office, and my night stand tidied up. This whole sorting thing has been a process. Getting those two things done will be a major accomplishment. Getting my small roll top desk into the bedroom where my clay cart sits now will be a major improvement. 

I have a bonus item for you this week. 

I invite you to check out Clutterbug.com. Take their quiz to find out which friendly 'clutter' bug you are. Don't over-think the questions. Just go with your first instinctive answer. You may (or may not) be surprised but the results either way may help you on your journey to a 'company's coming and the house is suitable for visitors'  home.

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

FLYLADY - Week 2 Living Room/ Dining Room

Good morning, friends.

Trying to get the day started when a nap sounds really good. LOL I had a long three days of late nights.

Friday night, I saw the Bellamy Brothers in concert at the Mountain Grove Heritage Festival. Not often you see these guys in a free show (though I always did as an entertainment journalist) The weather was 100* until about 7 p.m. when they took the stage. Then it was only in the 70s. LOL I got home after 10 p. m. (I normally find my pillow by 7:30)

Saturday Bob and I went to Poplar Bluff to Ollie's in search of some of the amazing craft deals people are finding. Me, not so much. That location didn't have hardly any of the stuff the East coast stores have. Apparently American Crafts is closing their doors and Ollie's bought ballets of everything from the AC warehouse. We went to dinner and got home after 9 p.m.

Then yesterday, I just spent all day on one project, not realizing until I started supper how time had flown by. I found my pillow at 8:30.

Today, I'm trying to get work done here in the office and just want a nap.

I'm on Living Room/ Dining room detail this week. I didn't get everything done in the kitchen last week but made a little progress. I managed to get some laundry done and unpacked eight boxes of Thrive Life and organized on the pantry shelf. I'm really going to miss Thrive Life Freeze Dried Foods. Sad that they are closing their doors in a couple of weeks.

With those boxes out of the way, my focus this week is to get the sofa cleared. I have boxes of spice mix bases to do up and get in jars and jar meal (think hamburger helper but healthier) to get made up and put in the cabinet. Neither of those will take long. 

For the dining room, it's time to clean out one side of the game cabinet. That side also has candles galore that need gone through. We'll see what I decide to keep to turn into wax melts and which ones go in the thrift store box. I'm trying to fill those boxes so I can take them with me on errands Friday.

That's it for me this week. What are you working on? Remember... even if you only spend fifteen minutes on an area, that's progress - Progress is all that is Required. Baby steps.  We got this!

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

 

FLYLADY - Week 1

 Good morning, everyone!

Looks like I have one more 'cool' day to accomplish something. The cooler weather sure has made a difference in my energy level. I got a lot done in the office yesterday, prepping for my work week.

Temperatures are to start going back up this week after a very fall-like feel the past four days. I am so not ready. I have an outdoor concert on Friday to meet up with friends, The Bellamy Brothers. We're to be back in the 90s. Those temperatures and hot pavement are not a good pairing. Hoping most everyone crowds under the trees. LOL

As usual, I start the month out with the kitchen and laundry room.

Laundry room:

sweep/ mop floor

wipe down appliances

put away anything that's not been put away properly over the past few weeks.

The laundry room is pretty easy for the most part. I really go deep on the weeks I switch out the holiday decor, which comes up next month when the task list grows a bit.

Normally, this room would include taking recyclables in but Bob took care of that last week. I just need to temporarily move them out to the deck so I can do the floor. 

The kitchen is another matter. 

My main focus is to get the spice mixes done up so I can revamp that cabinet.

I also need to pull everything off the counters, give them a good clean then back again.

I can get the card table down this week, I think. I used it for sorting/ cleaning a couple of months ago. I wanted to leave it until I get the last of the Meals In A Jar put together. My second-to-last ThriveLife order should be here Wednesday. 

I had the last order still in their boxes sitting on the card table, waiting for this order so I could rotate the stock only one time. Bob got antsy and moved them to the bedroom closet where the ThriveLife pantry baker's rack is located. Cook, dry, dark.

The only non- kitchen thing I want to get done today (not later in the week) is to take HoneyB's kennel apart, wash/ air out his bedding and clean the floor good around there. 

What's on your cleaning agenda for this week? Are you following along? What is your main focus?

Until next time...

Be safe, Be prepared, Be blessed!

~ Kelly

FLYLADY - Week 4 - The Office

 Good morning, friends!

I can't believe we are going in to week four of the month already! Where is the time going so quickly? The only bright spot is that we are moving closer to fall. I am sooo ready for the cooler temperatures.

While I've been doing a gradual pitch of things in the office, this week I'm diving in deep and doing a serious declutter of some areas. There are only three days left until the New Moon. The time between Full Moon and New Moon is the time to 'get rid of stuff', both physically and emotionally.  From the Full Moon to the New Moon, you work on things like want to attract or bring in to your life. So let the final four days of pitching begin!

I did get the work table cleared off to a large degree. Mostly what is on here now are the things I'm sorting through or using. 

My focus in the office this week is all about pitching junk journal items I've accumulated that I no longer need.  My thought process is in the following lists:

* Pitch things I might want to use but come in to the house on a regular basis or easy to acquire

* Keep only things that I can move to themed kits, such as pets, coffee, chocolate, etc. 

Following these two categories is going to help me get rid of a lot of items I thought might be good in a junk journal but I've since found either I'll never use them or I can replace them easily when the time comes.

The other project I hope to complete this week is the paint cabinet. At some point I pulled all the paints off, was going to add in more shelves & lay my paints on their sides, giving me more room for shelves. Then we couldn't find the glass shelves that went with the unit. Someone moved them from where I knew they were (could have been me lol) Then we couldn't find the shelf clips so I had to wait until I could purchase more. Basically, a 1-day project became a multi-month project. In the mean time, all of my paints are sitting in boxes/ bins on the floor in the studio. Time to get them put away!

What project are you hoping to tackle this week? Let me know in the comments below. If you have storage/ organization questions, post those as well and I'll try to help.

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

#FREEZEDRIEDFRIDAY - Burritos & Thrive Life News

 Good morning, everyone.

I wanted to pop in here and post the recipe for today's video. Once the video is available in the morning, I'll link it here for all the details, tips.

Because the following products are on special this month, I used them to make my homemade burritos.

I used 1 serving give on each of the can directions. This was enough to make 4 Large tortilla burritos

Pulled Pork - 1 C of pork to 1/2 C of hot water. Stir every 5 minutes for about 20 minutes.

Instant Refried Beans - 1-1/3 C refried beans to 1-1/3 C of water... Simmer 4-6 min on low.

Tomato Dices - 1 C. tomato dices to 1/3 C. of water. Stir to moisten

Cheddar Cheese - 1 C. cheddar cheese to 3-1/2 Tablespoons water. Mix then refrigerate 35 minutes.

Now, for the Thrive Life news.

Thrive Live will be closing their doors Augusts 31, 2025.

This news saddens me. They are a great company, providing a much-needed service. We can all afford a freeze-dryer but they made it possible for the consumer to stock their pantry with quality products.

I had to miss the meeting as HoneyB had a vet appointment so I don't have all the details yet, but since hearing the news, I've assessed my pantry and placed an order to fill in gaps for WHAT WE EAT on a regular basis. 

If I can help you navigate what you might need in your pantry, please reach out. 

My direct email is: kellyscountry (at) missouri (dot) usa (dot) com

As always...

Be safe Be prepared Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

FLY LADY - Week 3 - Bedroom and Bathroom

 Good morning, everyone!

Well, I knew last week would be busy and it was. I'll update you about Honey B at the end of this post. 

Let's talk about the rooms we'll be working on this week.

While I do love my naps, the bedroom needs a serious deep clean!

One thing is to clear off a 5-shelf book case unit. Currently holds more clutter than needs to be there. Have I mentioned I've been in a pitching mode lately? Seriously! I'm so tired of the clutter. I'll be talking more about that next week.

For now, it's all about the bedroom/ bathroom.  

The bathroom just needs a basic clean for now. At some point I want to go through all the stuff in the cabinets - particularly my side - and pitch a lot of stuff! For now, just make sure it's sanitary and ready for use.

The bedroom is where I want to work on first. I mentioned the cluttered book case. We are clearing it all off, keeping just what we need on there.

Currently, all of Bob's shoes are on a bakers rack in the closet he purchased for the purpose. If you have a male in your house that wears a size 13EEE then you understand. One pair takes up as much room as three of mine. 

The GOAL is to clear off everything on those shelves, put his shoes/ boots on the bottom two, mine on the next two then the top shelf for my jewelry boxes.  That will clear off the bakers rack in the closet. 

We have a plan.

I've already given my side of the closet a good purge. I'm hoping I can encourage Bob to do the same this week. He has a lot of shirts that he doesn't/ or can't wear any more. 

When I began the stock up pantry process prior to Bob's retirement, I began looking for places in the house to store food in an organized fashion. I purged most of the top shelf on my side of the closet to store toilet paper. The pantry cabinet in the kitchen used hold baking supplies, now holds paper towels. the top shelf in the food cabinet holds napkins/ paper plates. 

The key is to find ways to store things in your home you truly NEED and pitch what you really don't. Make room for what's IMPORTANT.

Our basement is full of the pantry supplies - except all of my Thrive Life foods are still in boxes in the pantry room. I hate digging through the boxes to get what I want.

Freeze Dried Foods need to be stored in a Cool/ Dry place. Trust me, our bedroom qualifies. I can't make it cold enough to sleep comfortably for me. With the bakers rack in the closet, it's cool/ dark/ dry. So, since we use the foods on the main level of the house, we're going to stock the Thrive Life in the closet. Easy to access when we need to.  I've already rearranged the kitchen cabinets with one shelf holding the open cans we use regularly like the eggs, sausage, beef, chicken, onions, broccoli... etc. 

So that, and building my author website are on the board for this week. 

One quick thing. 

At some point I want to create google doc lists of what I do to deep clean each of these rooms on their weekly rotation. You'll be able to move it to your own google docs and modify, OR you can get a PDF from my etsy shop. 

That's it for me this week. Remember....

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly