Recently The weather was warm and dry enough last week to get outside and start some yard work . So, I wanted to drop in with some pictures of my early progress.  Our crepe Myrtle bush has progressively accumulated quite a bit of this fungus on the bark over the last few years. I thought that the fungus, along with the mowers weed eating all of its new branches at the ground level, and its roots being exposed where they weed eat so deeply and form a "bowl" in the dirt was making it difficult to get new growth. So, I brushed off all the fungus and filled the "bowl" area with new dirt. Silly me forgot to show the new dirt in this picture. You can see the new dirt in this picture though. I also put up a small protective fence around the bush to remind the mowers to not weed eat around my crepe Myrtle! I may try to find some trim that will hold in some rocks or other mulch to better protect it later on. The rose bushes are already putting out new leaves! We had quite a ...

My son and I have spent the last month designing t-shirts and uploading them to our Etsy stores. So, if you're interested in a birth year t-shirt, hop on over to take a look at what we have.  HHC2019  is selling 200 vintage styles for the ladies, and SoAppalachianVintage is selling 100 classic styles for all genders. These t-shirts range from XS to 5XL and from the years 1950 to 1999. Feel free to message us on Etsy if you want to customize any of these designs or if you need another birth year designed for earlier than 1950 or later than 1999. We're happy to show you the designs and get your approval before you commit to payment. Once payment is made, our printing partner gets right to work on your t-shirt(s). Since each t-shirt is made specifically for you (made to order), we cannot accept returns or give refunds. However, we can send you another shirt of the same size, color, and design if there is a default. Just send us a picture of the default so we can show our ...

After dabbling with Canva and Adobe Express designing for a while, I have finally taken a deeper plunge into the Canva realm. Both platforms are extremely similar with only a few exceptions. I need more designing options, and Canva seems to be the most popular, so that's the one I have decided to pay for. And so far, I have only used it to create coloring book pages. But it can be used for so much more! So, I'm looking forward to finding out all the cool secrets to creating not only coloring books for adults and kids but also eBook covers, printable art, and t-shirt designs. Below is my first design, which I'm offering as a free download. Happy Valentines Day Coloring Book Thumbnails from my Digital Potpourri  Creations As I mentioned in my previous post, passive income comes in many forms, so I do plan to share information as I go along. My information will come either in a post such as this one or via YouTube videos. I will post links to videos that I create for both Sim...

My original work-from-home journey began when I started creating sewing and craft patterns/tutorials in 2006 and selling them as digital files. I did that for about 8 years, but I stopped when life became more demanding as a homeschool mom in our younger son's middle school years. Selling self-published digital files has escalated tremendously in the last few years as passive income has become highly popularized. So, I am getting back on that path now that both of our sons are grown and have graduated.  But creating and selling digital files is only a small portion of how one can earn passive income. So, before we move on, let's discuss the meaning of passive income. It's very simple really. All it means is that a digital product is created once and it will continue to earn money with very little to no effort as long as it remains online for purchase. With that said, though, some work and marketing efforts are required to create and sell the items. It isn't lazy work by...

My hearty potato soup is very simple to make. This recipe produces about 6 servings. And it's filling enough to eat for dinner! Only 5 ingredients - 2 of which are salt and pepper. It really doesn't get any simpler than that. My family enjoys this on a cold winter's day. But if you aren't feeling well and just need something simple and filling to eat then this should satisfy your needs. The potatoes are the "meat" of this soup . The cream of celery makes it creamy, while the evaporated milk makes the soup. You can use the print button at the bottom of this post to save or print the recipe. I hope you enjoy this as much as my family and I do. Ingredients     4 cups of washed, peeled, diced potatoes     (2) 10.5 cans cream of celery soup     12 oz. can evaporated milk       salt and pepper Garnishment or Side     Cornbread if desired Directions        Boil washed, peeled, diced potatoes until soft...

It has been several years since the last time we bought bird food for our backyard cuties. Mainly because when the squirrels, pigeons, grackles and other blackbirds discovered the food, they would wipe out the feeders in a days' time - or less. The songbirds we were trying to attract worked well until the bullies and gluttons showed up. At that point, it became quite an expensive hobby to feed animals we didn't want to attract. So, we would take the feeders down for a week or 2 hoping the other animals would lose interest. But it would take only a day or 2 for them to discover the feeders once more when we would hang them again. So, we finally threw the feeders away. We don't have all the nuisance birds in our backyard anymore, but also, our songbird population has dropped off. Very sad trade off. Since this winter has been a bit colder than the last few winters, though, we decided to buy some bird food that had a good variety of sunflower seeds and other seeds as well as ...

Homemade Ground Beef and Bean Chili Chili is another one of my favorite cold, winter's day dump dishes. This dish also serves up to 8 people and can be used as leftovers for a family of 3 to 4.  It's very filling and tasty with just enough heat so it is pleasing and not overpowering to the tastebuds. image courtesy of  Campbell's Kitchen via All Recipes.com Ingredients 1 lb. ground beef, browned and placed in paper towel to remove excess oil 1 large green pepper, chopped 1 small onion, chopped 2 teaspoons chili powder ¼ teaspoon black pepper 3-4 cups tomato juice (from 46 oz. bottle or can) 16 oz. can kidney beans, rinsed and drained 16 oz. can great Northern beans, rinsed and drained 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes Garnishments Sour cream Shredded cheddar cheese Optional Side Cornbread  Directions After cooking the ground beef and rinsing the beans, put all ingredients into a stock pot Cook on high and stir frequently until contents begin to ...