Hey y'all!

Seeing as how I've been a month behind real time for so long, it's now time to give you a current picture of how I've been progressing.

Especially, since it is now June JULY AUGUST and the goal was to finish this project by this LAST TWO months ago.

So when I last left you was during the Carpet Installation back in April. And then the project got paused until I got off of nursing duty.

I finally finished my long stint at my aunt's house on the first weekend of June. During my absence, the carpet was installed, the furniture and 75% of my stuff was moved back into my room. Nothing was unpacked, as the furniture needed to be cleaned.

So once I got home, I set to work breaking out the Lysol wipes....

That is, after I played treasure hunt.

Yes, you read that right. You see, this furniture was was originally my great-grandparents'. When they moved to the nursing home before they died, their furniture was put into storage.

Apparently, my grandmother had never checked the drawers before that happened.

In my great-grandfather underwear drawer, I found the following: a broken window cling, a small light bulb, a playing card, wooden blocks, a denture container (lucky that was empty *shudders*), screws, a name tag, a small card commemorating a wedding (or anniversary? IDK), a foam shape, and other smallish things.

Some of the trash haul that I recovered from the drawers

In my great-grandmother's drawers, I found: 2 small fake cherries, a teeny-tiny food stamp, a fragile note containing partial addresses of dead family members, and a really old 20 cent coupon for Lysol.

I'm half tempted to use it, however the product is totally different now....

Once the dust and trash was cleared away, the first thing that I unpacked was my clothes. Most of them had been packed in three huge black footlockers, but there were other suitcases and garment bags that they had been stuffed in too.

Before OVM, my clothes were spread between 7 different places. Besides my one dresser and closet, some were stored in a cabinet, others were held in a plastic storage bin, and still others were stored in boxes around my room.

After OVM, my clothes now are stuffed in two large dressers, the closet and two plastic storage bins. I had hoped to stuff most of it in the dressers, but it was just not working. The plastic bins, however, eliminated the two boxes, which I was rather relieved at.

My closet is really stuffed though, and I really need to get some hangers that hang multiple items. I may go through more of my clothes and eliminate more to see if I can get it down further. But this could wait until later on.



Anyway, once that was accomplished, the next major thing that got sorted out was my bookshelf.

This took two days. A few books that I didn't want were eliminated, and then the rest were divided between fiction and non-fiction.

The non-fiction shelf

I was hoping that with two shelves that I would avoid double-stacking. However, that turned out to be wishful thinking. There were so many non-fiction books that double-stacking was absolutely necessary. Which made me mad.

The fiction shelf also looks rather pitiful, for another reason entirely. You see, for some odd reason, many people stopped buying me books after middle school. And so, there are not many books in my collection that are not middle grade.

The fiction shelf - as of June 2019

The next step was to go through the remaining boxes that I had stuck all the loose stuff. Gradually over the weeks, in the midst of all the stuff that happened in the life, the boxes were tackled. Those items that didn't have a home were piled onto any spare surface.

Things that were lying around my carpet after being shoved in willy-nilly also starting to be shifted. My crate of cookbooks, a file box, change jars, a huge photo painting, and other smallish things were stuffed into my closet. I also switched out some work clothes from a plastic bin to one of the drawers of my dressers - that plastic bin becoming a catch-all for all those other extra clothes and stuff that I didn't need right away. I plan on stuffing that down in the basement....if I can get it there.... 

In the meantime, my TV is now close to being put in it's proper place, and I hope to get my DVD player back really soon. I lent mine to my parents when theirs crapped out and now that they have a replacement, they have to be switched out. I'm really excited for that - I can then watch what I wish in the privacy of my own bedroom!

The next step (besides getting all that loose stuff away) is to get out all the art and a mirror or two up on the walls! Hopefully this will be done by the end of August, so stay tuned for that!

Old-fashionably yours,

Catherine

oh dear...guess I should have taken the picture before we cut it....

Hey y'all!

I seem to have developed this knack for creating desserts from limited ingredients.

So during the beginning of July, I and two of my brothers were helping my grandparents move into their new apartment. The only comment I have is that moving in the heat and humidity of July, up and down flights of stairs, really really stinks.

Anyway, we spent a few days unpacking dishes, books and decorating the apartment. And then what comes, but 4th of July!

Holidays always are celebrated with desserts in my family, and so it was no surprise when my grandmother suggested that we make a traditional apple sort of dessert.

But because this particular truck we unloaded was the first load, there wasn't that much foodstuffs that made it down (that came in the second truck later that week). Meaning, I had the apples, some flour, some brown sugar, butter....but no cinnamon, no spices, no white sugar...

So, it was time to dig into my grandmother's recipe books to see what I could find. I'll be frank, I wasn't very hopeful - after all, an apple dessert without cinnamon almost spells disaster.

I got drawn to one recipe called Apple Scallop. Basically, it was thinly sliced apples that were placed in a dish with sugar and some other simple things. But it seemed too simple to me. Or maybe it had to do with the fact that I was craving apple pie at the time.

But again...the cinnamon issue. Ugh!

Now, I don't know why...but my eyes were drawn to a glass jar to my left. It was the apple butter that I had used as part of...something. I think breakfast?

Then a light bulb went off. Apple butter has....cinnamon! Spices! Apple flavoring! Problem solved!

The brain then went into development overdrive. I first decided to make half of a piecrust so that the apples wouldn't stick to the pan. Then taking the recipe for Apple Scallop and treating it similar to scalloped potatoes, I created a sort of pie filling. And then, because of ingredient scarity, I decided to go with an apple crisp sort of topping instead of more crust.

So my dessert turned into a mashup of apple pie, apple crisp, and Apple Scallop.

Now how to name that conglomeration?

In the midst of my brothers and I bouncing ridiculous names at each other, my grandmother raised her fork and said "I call it good."

And it was.


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1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. 
2. Prepare the homemade pie crust. Place in bottom and sides of a 2 qt casserole dish (if doubling, use a bigger dish!). Chill in refrigerator while the rest of the dish is being prepared. 
3. Combine brown sugar, butter, and ¼ cup of flour to make crumble mixture. Set aside. 
4. Thinly slice apples. Peeling is optional, but may be recommended. 
5. In crust-lined dish, place two layers of apples, alternating directions. Sprinkle some flour (around a 1tsp), over apples. 
6. Spoon apple butter liberally over apples as desired. 
7. Repeat Steps 5 & 6 until all the apples are used. 
8. Top with crumble mixture and place in the oven for at least 35 minutes (apples should be tender). 
9. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!  

Old-fashionably yours,

Catherine