Sunday Sermon: Eat Cake!

The holidays are pushing themselves into my life. I have spreadsheets and database forms filling my desktop and a line of Canada Dry Ginger Ale cans on my desk. I'm ready, I think.

However hectic, my mother always reminded me that the holidays were about doing, not stressing. There are things to see, things to buy, things to decorate, and most importantly, she taught me there were always things to clean for the holidays. More focus is going into my schedule, like it or not. I'm sorting my stack of notes tomorrow morning for sure.

Yet, today is a crisp Sunday and lazy. The Fall is here and winter draws near. The streets are lined with the fleeing overflow of leaves that were still present on the trees for Halloween.

This Sunday, I am not worried about the pending invasion of family, friends, chores, and Etsy orders.

No, today I eat Chocolate Cake from Heidelberghaus German Bakery.  http://www.heidelberghaus.com/

Give Me Free with Love 2 Upcycle blog & W.O.M.B. Lifestyle!

Upcyclers Team from Etsy have a great Blog had a contest for a designer and lifestyle website. You can view the winner blog post here:

Love 2 Upcycle: Thank You~ W.O.M.B. Lifestyle!: We are very excited to announce the winners of our latest Giveaway from W.O.M.B. Lifestyle~ two of their most popular t-shirt designs, Human Race.

I was the first picked Winner and picked up this great Tshirt!

When it arrives, I will let you know more. In the meantime, visit

WOMB Lifestyle and read about there mission. 

When I first signed up for the give-a-way, I had a great conversation about how many forms I have to fill out for my children's schools to ensure them that English is their first language despite their ethnic background. We are all human, and we all deserve a fair and just world.

The eBay: Unusual Activity!

Quite to my surprise, I found another sale this morning and an email from eBay.

They had frozen my ability to list anything else on the website and asked me to call their customer support due to:

"Unusual Seller Activity"

 Oh really? I wondered to myself and called my husband to complain. "What could I have done? I have 100% positive feedback and good prices."

He had no idea either. "Ugh." I complained, "Maybe it's unusual that I am doing well and my customers are happy." He laughed and said he'd make the call to Customer Service when he got home.

Sure enough, after waiting 6 minutes with a xylophone wait music blaring, we get a nice young American man who is also clueless about why we'd get a warning. He politely put us on hold for a moment and returned congratulating us on how well our account has done in so little time. He went on about how they had very good feedback about the account, and that was the reason they wanted us to "Check In." eBay Seller Management had flagged our account as an outstanding seller and wanted to know if we wanted to have the next seller limit lifted early.

Good to know I'm succeeding somewhere. Even if they think it's "Unusual."

Adventure Around: Magic Mushrooms and Geocaching

This may never be the first nor the last time I make a title like that. At least I hope so.

Polyporus squamosus?

or Chicken of the Woods?

My only sibling came down for a two day visit this weekend. We spent most of it wandering around Indianapolis together looking for caches and talking. We were stopped by police near the high school for a "Park and Grab" in what we would come to find out was an abandoned strip mall plagued with "Rif raff."

The poor officer was barely my sister's age and completely uncomfortable with the idea that two adult women were playing a "GPS hide and seek game" in this, of all locations.

We had a good laugh and took the Interstate to the Capitol Building for a photo shoot with a travel bug and a cache along the White River. It was a great day out thankfully.

We roamed around the grape vine and wild rose filled area in the Catholic Cemetery for 3 caches. Really beautiful grounds and really great mushrooms!

Hericium erinaceus (also called Lion's Mane Mushroom, Bearded Tooth Mushroom, Hedgehog Mushroom, Satyr's Beard, Bearded Hedgehog Mushroom, pom pom mushroom, or Bearded Tooth Fungus)  Edible and medical.




Chinese cooks, like myself, use it with pork.

Kitchen Garden: Used Green Onions - Scallions

Or shallots.

Whatever you can them, Louisiana cooking requires them as a staple ingredient.

Since its always better to buy produce in a living state, take them home, cut down to the white stalk, and add water.

These were cut 3 days ago and sit in my kitchen window sill. ($1.00 free to me!)

Free food is glorious.

My Other Mother: Halloween Newsletter Arrived!

Martha Stewart has sent out another Halloween Subscription email.

How cute are these pumpkins?!  

Pumpkin Carving 101

Check it out at http://shar.es/b7mJy

Subscriptions through Martha's companies: http://bit.ly/oJDH7l

My mother has dropped off a WHOLE slew of mini pumpkins and gourds. I'll show some in a post later.

On a related note, I just added this item to the shop:

www.artCain.Etsy.com

Air Plant Pumpkin wine cork desk garden 

soil less culture

Brown glazed pottery pumpkin is recycled from a baking ramekin to grow a living Tillandsia fuchsii anywhere! Decoration for Halloween, Samhain, Thanksgiving, or a gift for the Fall nature lover in your life!

Air Plants do not need soil to grow. They have a single long stem flowers of purple. Roots may be trimmed.


Find this item here.

Frugal Finds: Costco has my Pop on sale - Hansens Natural

What a soggy day out today here in Indianapolis. It was cold and rainy, even a spot of hail while I pumped my gas.

I had been putting off Costco to do other things but I had another run to the Post Office for a sale. My coupons were in need of spending and now was the time.

I found some great deals and even some extended price reductions!

Oh, and if you didn't know, I grew up in Chicago. I don't know what Soda is, I call it Pop!

SKIM Milk is *still* $2.29 a gallon! 

Hansens All  Natural Sugar Cane 24 case is only $5.97!!

This is a clear pop except for the Root Beer 6 pack. Also comes with Orange-Lime (my favourite), Cherry Vanilla, and Strawberry Kiwi

Free Samples!

Finish Dish washer tablet - Box of 200 *NOW* for the same price as the old 100 box- $14.99! (Save $2.00 over Cascade)

Eat-In

Angus Burgers - $4.00 Coupon off a box of 8
Pot stickers (Chinese dumpling) - Coupon available
Fiber One bars!
Pretzel Crisps- LOVE THESE!

Investments

If you haven't heard the news, peanut crop failure in China and the Southern US states is causing a rise in the price of peanut related products. 

$7.99 Two-Pack of Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter

or $7.69 for Chunky

Huge 32 ouces Jars (two) of Smuckers Starwberry Preserves or Kirkland Organic 45 oz $6.97

Healthy White Wheat bread (for the kiddos) currently 2 Loaves for $2.99!