My Homestead

cooking, vegan, recipes, family, gardening at Lita’s house

Feeling Blessed

First, I apologize for being a bit off this past week or so. My mom is here visiting from Florida and I feel it’s more appropriate to be present for her while she visits than on the internet having my usual fun. I’m working on a bunch of posts including one from our trip up […] Read more…

I Love Theme Parks!!

Have I already said this somewhere?? I simply love, love, love amusement parks!! I have ever since we moved to Florida when I started High School. My parents bought all of us season passes to Disney World (we lived 15 minutes away) and we all went there every Sunday afternoon after church. It was the […] Read more…

iPad – Help, I want one!

Have I already mentioned how very much I LOVE techie gadgets??? I know that this particular desire doesn’t fit too well with being eco-friendly and loving the simple, handmade things in life. My only excuse is I’m human. AND well, I really, really, really love them and use them and want to know every single […] Read more…

Savings Sites of the Week

I’m back with more websites to help you save. To see a complete list of what I’ve posted in the past check out my Stuff-to-Share page. I’d like to feature this site this week because not only do they provide valuable coupons, but they also pass along 60 percent of the profit they earn to […] Read more…

Master Gardener Plant Sale

Have you ever been to a Master Gardener Spring Garden Market? Until this year, I hadn’t been. I went this past Saturday with my friends Don and Kathy. It was wild!! So many types of heirloom tomatoes (79 varieties) – it was heavenly because all you could think about is what you would make with […] Read more…

Hunter & Taylor Swift

My little Grandson, Hunter is turning 5 this week. It’s truly unbelievable that we’ve been blessed with him for 5 years already! I know this is cliche, but how time flies!! Hunter is a huge fan of Taylor Swift. He has been for a while now. When tickets for her “Fearless” concert went on sale […] Read more…

Spring Giveaway Fun from Tip Junkie

I just came across this great site and wanted to make sure to share it with you. They’re having a giveaway every hour on all 4 of their blogs on April 13th from 5:00 am to 8:00 pm (CST). Which will total over $6,000 worth of products given away in one day! Click the link […] Read more…

Morning Mantra

Early morning, Pops is out of town for a week of surfing fun. Bubba, Lucy and I are up early enjoying the quiet. The birds have started their morning song. I have the coffee maker heating up and the sun is just beginning to peak through the trees. Aaaahhh the first breath of a new […] Read more…

Mimi becomes a Catholic

A few years ago, my youngest daughter Mimi decided to become a Christian. Little did we know then that this was only the beginning of her religious journey. Our girls (along with Libby’s husband and our two Grandsons) lived in Grass Valley, California at that time (about 3 hours from our home) and Mimi became […] Read more…

Homemade Hair Care

Just saw this online and wanted to share. I share the link at the bottom of the post if you’d like to read more…enjoy! Basic Shampoo This is a great basic shampoo for all hair types. If you hair is oily, omit the optional vegetable oil, but if your hair is dry or damaged, you […] Read more…

One Man’s Junk…another Garden’s Treasure

This is what one of the outside walls of my studio looks like: Just a bunch of random junk stuff I’ve accumulated throughout the years. In fact, a lot of this “stuff” has been given to me. I truly have a hard time turning down anything free – anything at all. I always try to […] Read more…

Early Holiday Fun

Head over to Holiday with Matthew Mead to find out how you can win the opportunity to have your blog or online shop mentioned in the magazine. Holiday with Matthew Mead is a  “book-azine” celebrating and offering inspiration for the Christmas holiday season. To be released in October 2010, Holiday is offered via online orders […] Read more…

It’s Monday so go Meatless – Recipe

Here’s a simple, fresh and tasty recipe for you to try on this Meatless Monday. Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce Ingredients: 1/3 cup (organic) extra-virgin olive oil 20 ripe (organic) plum tomatoes (peel them, halve them and remove the seeds) salt and fresh ground pepper to taste pinch of red pepper flakes 1 tbsp unsalted […] Read more…

Magazines and Eco-Friendly Beauty

I have a magazine addiction…..seriously. I know that sounds terribly eco-unfriendly. Truly, though, I share my magazines and pass them on to my daughters and friends. I would say I never recycle a magazine that hasn’t been read by at least 2 other people. You may ask, where do they all come from? Well, by […] Read more…

Let them Eat CAKE!

In the supposed words of Marie Antoinette “Let them eat cake” (actually, she never uttered the words even though they’re attributed to her), I say enjoy your meatless Monday by consuming vegan desserts – all day if possible. And since there’s no actual claims as to who made this statement, I declare: “Let them eat […] Read more…

Catch UP

Yesterday was my first full day around the homestead in weeks. It felt so nice to get the house clean and in order, get laundry done, the refrigerator cleaned out and at least take a look around the garden to see all the blooming I’ve been missing while we’ve been away. It’s really starting to […] Read more…

Friday Fun

Ok, I’m at work, so really how much fun is being had….Well, as I don’t believe anyone I work with (who would care) is reading my blog, I’ll admit this: it can be lots of fun!! Especially today – I have time to catch up on all my favorite blogs, play with some of my […] Read more…

90th Birthdays Texas Style

Pops and I have been traveling a lot these past couple of months. Our latest trip took us to Fort Worth, Texas where his mother, Mimi, turned 90 years old. One of the family’s good friends, Tex Rankin, also turned 90 and invited us to his extravagant costume party at their neighborhood country club. The […] Read more…

Everything’s Bigger in Texas

I’m here in Texas visiting Pop’s mother who just turned 90. I’ve been visiting the Ft. Worth area for over 16 years now. While I’ve noticed in the past how things are “bigger” in Texas – bigger houses, bigger cars, bigger hair-this trip I noticed something “bigger” that is incredibly important to me- and I […] Read more…

Photos on Flickr

I’ve been uploading some of my favorite photos to Flickr lately. Check them out by clicking the Bubba picture below. Read more…

My Boys – Round 1

There are so many incredible people in my life, and I just happen to have hundreds of photos of them. Here are some of the boys that I love, love, love with all my heart. This first one was taken at Stinson Beach last year. They look cold, but oh so handsome! Pops and his […] Read more…

Inspiration

I may be a new blogger myself, but I read many blogs – and have many favorites. One of them is This is Reverb. It’s written by a man named Ryan – he’s a minister in Cincinnati. He’s inspiring, spiritual, talented (a wonderful photographer) and so very giving. Right now he, and a few other […] Read more…

Winter 2010 Trip to the Snow

Pops and I just got back from a week long trip up to Lake Tahoe. It’s my second year as a beginner skier (yes, it’s possible for a skier like me to be a “beginner” two years in a row) and truly, I feel like I just can’t get enough. First thing I asked Pop’s […] Read more…

Mimi

Here is my lovely, youngest step-daughter Mimi. I can’t believe I was blessed enough to come into her and her sister’s  lives over 16 years ago. They were so much younger then! Mimi was 9 when I met her and the cutest, snuggliest bug you’ve ever seen. She has incredibly curly hair, perfect skin and […] Read more…

Libby

My oldest stepdaughter Libby is, well, she’s just amazing. I met her when she was 12 and I can promise you that even at that age she had more self-confidence and maturity than I have, even now, in my 40s. You can tell she’s someone who had to grow up so quickly and she’s handled […] Read more…