The Pool Deck

Since we got a new pool last month, the need for a deck around it has been overwhelming. Hubby was going to hire someone to do it but that was just too much money so he decided we would do it ourselves. Kinda like how we do everything. It is a blessing and a curse to be married to someone who knows how to build ANYTHING. He can build it and WE are his work crew (whether willing or not)! We have done quite well if I do say so myself. Here are some photos of our progress.

Here is the pool right after it was finished and filled. It sits about 8 feet from our existing porch.

This is the extension deck that is currently underway.

We had 2 steps made out of brick that had been crumbling so we thought they would be easy to take out so we could put in a support beam. WRONG! It took 4 people, 3 hours and 2 sledge hammers to get those stupid bricks and concrete blocks out!

This picture shows the floor joists all the way to the pool. We're cooking now!

This is where we are right now. We have enough decking done so that we can walk outside and get to the backyard and pool without having to act like an Olympic hurdler! We are about 1/4 of the way done with the decking and 3/4 of the way done with all the support beams. We had to stop building those because we ran out of boards. Hubs forgot to double a number or he added wrong when he was figuring up his materials list. The work has gone pretty well considering one of the days was so hot that we only worked for about 4 hours and another rained off and on all day. What is in these pictures is about 3 days worth of work. Not too shabby.
We will be doing some more remodeling to the back of the house once the deck is done. Can't wait to share those plans with you!

Sharing at The Prairie Homestead

Stuffed Meatball Subs

Something weird has been happening to my taste buds lately. They're changing. Why? I don't know but they are definitely different. I know this because my son has been eating a lot of my sandwiches lately. What does that have to do with my taste buds? I'll tell you. For some reason, every time I make a sandwich that I really think I want, I take one bite and it is NOT something I want. The whole taste makes me sick. Really. One day I made 3 different sandwiches, thinking I just didn't like that particular sandwich. Nope, I couldn't stomach any of them. So the boy ate them. ALL of them. He's 12, eats anything that isn't nailed down and still only weighs 155 lbs. I really dislike his ability to do that. But I digress. The point is that previously loved sandwiches make me ill now so I have to find something else to fill that midday meal requirement.

Enter...The stuffed sub. Oh yeah, baby. This sandwich rocks! But it is not for the faint of heart. Nor is it for those who only eat like birds. No, this is a MAN sandwich. Except us girls loved it too!

Okay, this first thing I did was mix up a batch of my french bread dough. I let it do its first rise. While it was rising, I took Pioneer Woman's Comfort Meatballs out of the fridge (I had defrosted them the other day and needed to use them up). I stuck them in a large ziplock with a little flour, shook em up and dumped them into a hot skillet to cook em up a bit. I cooked them a little more through for this recipe than I do when I follow Pioneer Woman's recipe because these won't cook in the oven as long. So once I got the meatballs all done, I took my bread dough, punched it down and divided it into 4 pieces simply because I was feeding 4 people. Each piece made about a foot long sub. I took a piece of dough and rolled it out into a flat rectangle. I then took some sauce (a can of tomato sauce, a small can of tomato paste and a can of diced tomatoes simmered for a little while with whatever spices you have handy)and spooned it on to the dough right down the center. I didn't use a ton, probably a bit less than 1/4 cup. Then I took a 4th of the meatballs and put them over the sauce and put a hardy sprinkling of shredded mozzarella over that. Then I pulled the dough up over the cheese and pinched the seams together and put it on a  parchment lined baking sheet, seam side down. I baked them at 350 for about 25 minutes, just until the dough was nice and browned. I served them with the left over sauce so we could do some dippin' and, man o man, they were sensational!

I'm getting hungry just looking at this picture!

Sharing at The Praire Homestead

This Morning...

I was coming off the high of yesterday's first day back at homeschooling going off without a hitch when the universe decided to conspire against my family. It all started about 4:30 this morning. I got up to...ya know...relieve myself and when I got back into bed, I thought I heard a car horn. So I drug my half asleep self to the door to see if anything was going on outside. Nothing, but something felt a little off. Couldn't put my finger on what so I went back to bed but didn't fall back asleep until after 5:30. When the alarm went off at 6, I was not a happy person so I stayed in bed until hubby got showered and dressed. In one of those moods, I went about getting myself ready. Hubby's office is on the property so he doesn't have a very long commute to work so I was wondering why he was already calling me from the office. Our conversation went something like this: Me: Hello? Him: Flood, bring towels and anything to soak up water! Me: crap! I am not in a talkative mood when I'm sleepy.
So I get the kids and all the towels I can find and head next door to the office which is also my laundry room. The significance of that little fact will be revealed now. Remember when I said that something didn't feel right when I got up to check on that horn? Well, last night I set the washer on delay so that it would have the towels washed before I got up so I could start them drying first thing this morning. It would have been washing about 4:30 this morning. Apparently, the valve that connects the hoses to the water line got a pinhole in it and was spraying water all.over.the.office! Well, not all over the whole office. Just all over my dad's desk, phone books, maps, computer, phone, notes, paper. I might add that his desk is made of plywood that hubby built and backs up to my washer. The walls are covered in pine boards that we got locally and the floor has laminate wood flooring where the desks are and carpet where the washer and dryer are. This was NOT what I wanted to wake up to. I didn't even get a cup of coffee until after the bulk of the clean up was done. We moved everything out that could be moved and cut out the carpet that was ruined. Fortunately, dad's desk was ok because hubby sealed it when he built it and I hung up his books and papers in front of a fan to help dry them. The wood floor will have to be pulled up. It was already buckling when hubby walked in. He was so cute (pathetic) when he told me that he was walking up to the door when he saw all this water in front of the door. He thought we got some rain last night until he realized that the water was coming from under the door ON THE INSIDE! So, we got all of that cleaned up so they could work and about an hour later, hubby comes to the kitchen and gets a bottle of whiskey out of the pantry. That can only mean one thing. What ELSE happened??? He was sitting in his office chair and heard a pop. The thing always makes weird noises so he didn't think too much of it until the chair threw him out onto the floor. He had just finished telling the boys "I don't know how else today could get much worse". You know God was sitting there giggling as He showed him how it could get worse! Needless to say, today did not get off to a great start. But you know what? I finally did get that coffee. That ugly carpet in the office will finally get replaced and now we have some motivation to move stuff around in there so we can fit the new guy hubby is hiring. So, I guess things aren't quite as bad as they seem before coffee. I am certainly NOT going to ask how they could get worse! Thank you Lord for helping me see the positive instead of focusing so much on the negative.

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Review-Homestead Blessings-The Art of Crafting

*sniff* This is the last dvd in the series that I have to review. Yes, sad day :(
However, I do have to say that this video got my creative juices flowing. That is really saying something because I am not all that creative!
My favorite part of this dvd was the potpourri tutorial. Now, I do not have potpourri in my house, nor do I buy it but I'll be doggoned if their "recipe" wasn't so extrememly simple and gorgeous that I may just have to make this and use it for our homemade Christmas this year! They take everyday things that you would find on a walk in the woods or even your own garden and turn it in to something beautiful and useful. I love projects like that.
There are so many good ideas in this dvd. Hand printed napkins, bird feeders, dipped pine cones, and so much more. Like I said, I am NOT creative but, if I see something, I can replicate it. I just can't come up with it on my own. This video gave me PLENTY of ideas of things to make for myself and others. I will be watching this one several times!

So, I hope you have enjoyed the reviews for the Homestead Blessings series. I know I have enjoyed watching (and yes rewatching) these dvd's and they have been a 'blessing' to me. I hope they will be a blessing to you as well. Thanks for reading!

Review-Homestead Blessings-The Art of Soapmaking

In the blogging world, soapmaking is a HUGE topic. Everyone is making their own hand soap, dish soap, body wash, etc. This dvd shows you several different soaps from everyday soaps to decorative soaps to soap balls and hand milled soaps. The only thing about the soaps that keeps nagging at me is the fact that they use lye in their basic soap recipe. Now, I know years ago, lye was used in just about all the soap. However, I have seen some articles about the dangers of lye and it makes me think twice about wanting to use it in my soap. I will have to do more research on that before I make these soaps. Now I do have to say that Vicki's decorative soaps are adorable. They would make fine gifts for friends and family or you could make them to sell at craft fairs or farmers markets for a little extra cash.  Ka-ching!!!
This was a very informative video and they show you every step you need to know to make this yourself. If it wasn't for the lye aspect, I would be making all these soaps pronto! Christmas is coming and homemade is the theme this year!

Review-Homestead Blessings-The Art of Quilting

This is one of my favorites! I have been wanting to learn to quilt for ages now. This dvd gives so many tips, ideas and encouragement that I don't know where to begin. They take you from planning your design (with lots of tips and shortcuts!) to cutting your blocks (again, lots of helpful hints) to piecing them together and assembling them to the quilting, backing and binding part. By the time you follow all the steps, you will have a beautiful, useful, HOMEMADE quilt! They show you everything you need to know to make your very own quilt. There are also segments on making comforters and pot holders, too. Plus, a little bonus project. This is a VERY informative dvd that I am sure I will watch dozens of times to glean everything I can. In one of the bonus features, you even get a peek into an old fashioned quilting bee. I am starting to get the idea that there isn't anything that these ladies cannot do!

Review-Homestead Blessings-The Art of Candle Making

I have yet to come across anyone who doesn't like candles. The glow they give off is so relaxing and, if they are scented, they smell sooooo good. I am a major candle freak. I love to have one burning in the house throughout the day to make things smell nice and who doesn't love candlelit dinners????
This dvd shows you the basics of candle making. They make beautiful tapers among other shapes. One thing I just didn't realize about candle making was just how much wax you need. They have a very large can (maybe a gallon can) filled with melted beeswax and more in another pan heating for replenishing the larger can. The steps for making tapered candles seem very simple. Heat the very large container of beeswax, cut your wick and weight it with a small washer or something then dip in wax. Hang for 30 seconds. Dip again. Hang for 30 seconds. Dip again....See a pattern developing. They couldn't agree on exactly how many dips it took to get the tapers at the right thickness but they all agreed it was a bunch. Once they got them to the right thickness, they twisted some together to make beautiful double candles. Now, I am not sure that you will save any money making these candles but it is a useful skill to have. Later in the video, Vicki shows you how to make ornaments using the wax. This is something you could do and sell or give away as gifts. At the end, Vicki and Jasmine show you a way to make a wax globe that is utterly gorgeous. They use a balloon filled with water and dip it in the wax SEVERAL times. The water in the balloon keeps the balloon from exploding when you dip it in the hot wax. After it is dipped enough, they pop the balloon and you have a beautiful globe that you can either fill with more wax and put a wick in to make a candle or you can leave it hollow and use a tea light in it. Either way, they are fantastic.
If you are a crafty person or just someone who likes to make things yourself, this is a great dvd for you.