KARNA, THE MINIMALIST!

Sometimes you get nice gifts for your birthday or Christmas and other
special days or from a friend "just because. It's always nice to receive a gift!

I'm pretty old and over the years have recieved quite a few gifts. Now gifts are not something you can just toss out -- over time they become even more sentimental, whether attached to memories of a person, a season in your life, or other significant events.


I continue to sort and pack...I have even gone through all the boxes I packed a year ago trying to find my Mary Engelbreit Collection so I could sell it on Ebay to make some money.

I am happy to say I only have four more boxes to go through and all of the Mary E has sold or is being sold on Ebay. I have not had any luck with china or vases or other types of things at all. But Mary E lovers LOVE Mary stuff. .I've had to snap out of it! regarding my collection of Mary E. It only tore my heart a little bit.

At any rate, over these many years and though I've moved and gotten rid of at least half of my 'stuff' each time I do so, I still have so much to pack. I have gone to the Goodwill every week for many weeks now and still have another big pile by my front door to take this week. The more I go through my 'things' the less I care about paying to move them or have them for the long haul ... well at my age it would be the short haul!

I don't really need 50 cookbooks..cute as they are and darling as they looked in my kitchens..you all know I rarely cook or bake! I am finding it less important to keep certain books, so off they go into the pile to give away. These are the cookbooks I will keep. The I Hate To Cook Book was one I received in 1964 when I was married. I guess I have always had issues with cooking. There is one recipe from Peg Bracken's cookbook though that I have used for a company dish over 44 years now. It's EASY and YUMO! (long before that word was invented by Rachel)

-o0o-

Braised-Chicken-and-Artichoke Casserole

Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
3 pounds cut-up chicken or chicken pieces
6 tablespoons butter
4 ounces mushrooms, quartered
2 tablespoons flour
2/3 cup chicken broth or bouillon
3 tablespoons sherry
1 (12-to-15-ounce) can artichoke hearts
2 to 4 medium baking potatoes (optional).
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix together 1 ½ teaspoons of salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper and the paprika and sprinkle on all sides of the chicken.
2. Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over high heat. Brown the chicken prettily on all sides, in batches, adjusting the heat as needed. Transfer the chicken to a large Dutch oven or casserole.
3. Pour off the butter from the skillet, wipe it clean and return it to the heat. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. When the butter starts to foam, add the mushrooms and sauté for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over them, stir in the chicken broth and the sherry and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Halve artichoke hearts and arrange them between the chicken pieces. Pour mushroom-sherry sauce over them and cook in the oven, covered, for 40 minutes. If you choose, put your baking potatoes in the oven 20 minutes before the casserole, and things will come out even. Serves 4. Enjoy That!

Well I have more packing to do, this little picture only depicts a small number of boxes on my shelves in the garage, and many sitting waiting in my bedroom,but i'm paring down, down, down. So that's what I've been doing and why I haven't blogged lately...Ebay and Packing! Soon I'll be known as Karna, The Minimalist!

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I AM A WOMAN IN TRANSITION!

Feel free to send gifts, I don't toss or give those away!!!

Material Girl!

Did you think this was going to be about Madonna? HA!

Quilting is quite popular these days, perhaps you thought I'd be writing about quilting. Not the case! I don't even have any CDs of Madonna's, nor do I have any quilting material. If you must know, had to cry to get a D- in high school in my mandatory sewing class. That class came in handy though, I had to sew a button on my blouse today and it only took me 5 minutes to thread the needle and I only poked myself 3 times while doing so!!!!

I'm going to move one of these days when the house sells. Toward that end, I've packed over the past two years. I really thought I didn't have much left to pack. Surprise! It seems like it never ends. So this week I have had a few things going on. I started pulling out more items from cupboards, drawers and every cranny in the house.

I realize over the years I have acquired a lot of STUFF. In the past ten years I have moved long distances 2 times. This year should be my third and hopefully my last. Each time I have moved I have gotten rid of nearly half of my belongings. Who wants to pay to transport STUFF?

I never thot of myself as a material girl. Sure I like nice things all right; thank you to my Mother. I really don't hold a candle to her though; however, that's all relative! I have had and still do have too much STUFF!

Because money is an issue right now, I decided to sell some STUFF. I started off placing my beloved Mary Engelbreit collection on Ebay. My auctions end today and tomorrow. It's not my entire collection because MOST of it was already packed in 2006. It's up on shelving in the garage. I have leftover product from when I sold Mary Kay and that's on Ebay also. I only kept back what I use regularly.

I went through my jewelry...I really don't wear much jewelry, earrings mostly, a few rings..but it seems I have a lot of jewelry after all. Some of it is on Ebay. Some of it is going to be appraised and then sold. I came across an old-fashioned pin, with silver and enamel and handpainted front of iris's. I thot well who knows where this came from; it's not even my style. It had some markings on the back so I put them on the Ebay site and within 10 minutes I had someone watching the item, and writing to me. From what the research showed me and what this person mentioned, I jacked up my low bid from $19.99 to $44.95. Once I knew it was from Norway, I realized it was something of my mother's that she had picked up as a souvenier on her trip there in the 60s.

I took a big bag of clothes to the Goodwill this morning. Just last month I gave about three bags of clothing to my friend who volunteers at a thrift shop. Pretty sure I will have even more to give away before this process is finished.

I have many treasures of a material type. I have tried to sell my favorite antique. My heart is getting a sorting while all of this is occurring. I have been wasteful, not careful of the resources God has blessed me with in the past. I never had to pay attention to how much milk might cost or finding a bargain on meat, bread or eggs. If I found an outfit that cost $400, I bought it. I love shoes and but never kept up with Imelda Marcos!! Even though I didn't have to pay attention to these things, it was wrong of me to not be a good steward.

Had I been more frugal, I wouldn't be in the pickle I am now. Until my home sells, pickles even cost too much to consider! I have been blessed this month with my Social Security being kicked up due to a provision for parents who were dependent upon their children for support. I happen to fit into that category because when I came to care for my Son, Jeff, I had to quit my job in Idaho. But because of his good stewardship and frugality and long-term planning, it was he who was able to pay for and provide everything we needed. So Social Security enables me to pick up on his benefit rather than my measly own.

I have been blessed this month by four friends who supplied my need. I am so grateful and humbled by this. I do not deserve it.

So even at my ripe old age God continues to refine me. It is not easy, refining fire is difficult and painful. You endure things you never considered. But my heart is soft and I am glad that the work He began in me He is finishing.

I don't want to be a material girl.
I want all my treasures to be ones in heaven.
I want to be His girl completely!

- - 0O0 - -

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys,and where thieves do not break in and steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" Matthew 6:19-21