The Garden, The Shawl, and Lunch

I think the garden is almost finished for the year.  The okra is still going strong but is putting on very little okra.  However, I did get enough to cook up the other day...

We're only about 3 days away from Daylight Savings Time ending.  That means cold weather is near.  And look what my sweet DD knitted for me.  :)

This is the softest, warmest and most adorable shawl I've ever had.  It will stay on my office chair where I sit right under the air conditioner vent in the summer and just in front of a window in the winter.  Thank you, Paula.  It's perfect.

Had lunch with my buddy Pat B. yesterday.  I stuffed myself with 1/2 order Roast Turkey Fuji Apple Salad and  1/2 Chicken Salad Sandwich.  Oh My Goodness!  Top that off with Sweet Tea and a Cobblestone goodie.. and needless to say, I had to bring the Cobblestone home... Very nice visit and catch up time since Pat has been gone for a while visiting her sweet daughter and family with the  newborn grandson.

It evidently rained again last night.  I opened the front curtains and blinds this morning for Sam and there was a shiny sheen on the road, the drive and the grass.  We so need all this rain, but am getting a little tired of the gray days... and the fact that Sam has to be carried out to do his business since he cannot possibly get his feet wet.. :/

Looking forward to working on The Big Blue Quilt today.  The only thing I got done on it yesterday was to rip out the parts that I had sewn in wrong.. :(   Perhaps I can get the body of it finished today and decide on a border and binding..

Hope you have a wonderful day.  Sing a little, smile a lot.. :)

Freecycle Dolls and Potato Soup Recipe

Got an email from my Freecycle account the other day.  It showed some pictures of the cutest little ceramic dolls and I just had to have them.  It took a couple of days to find the person who had posted them because her posts were showing up in the the emails but not on the group site.. wonder what's up with that?   Anyway, I finally reached her and I did get the dolls.  Love them.. ♥

 I keep thinking this might be a Bye Lo Baby, but then I think not. She is a full body ceramic, anatomically correct baby girl.  There is a broken piece on the neck and the cording that holds her together is loose so I'm not sure I am educated enough in the "Doll Hospital" techniques to fix her by myself.  Guess we'll see how good my searches on the net will be as I try to find information..

I have seen these two faces before but can't remember what they are called.  These two have ceramic face and hands with full cloth bodies.  I expected them to be much dirtier than they are and they should not be too difficult to clean.

The dressing of these babies is what I am looking forward to (and yes... I do realize that I left that sentence ending in a preposition..lol )   I'm hoping I can find a baby doll clothing pattern with multi sizes since I really don't want to spend huge amounts of money on several patterns..  hmmm

My sweet DH asked me about Potato Soup last night.  He says that I used to make a potato soup that he could eat with his diabetes.  Since my mind deserted me about 5 years ago I have no idea what he is talking about, but I will definitely try to find something if he wants it.   Sooo, I got on my trusty internet steed and galloped off into the sunset on a search for the perfect potato soup.  When I found this recipe that I think will be perfect and in the bargain found myself laughing... well.. I just had to share it.

Take a look ..   The Pioneer Woman Cooks   Her writing reminds me so much of  Dear Oldest Son's writing that I was chuckling all the way thru... While you're there, click at the top of her page and see more of her delicious recipes.  Love this site... (By the way, I am only a fan of this page and not affiliated in any way. )

Messed up the Big Blue Quilt yesterday.  I guess I was just too tired to be working on it and now I have to rip out a big part of it.  But that's ok..

Fog has us blanketed in today and it looks like we're going to have cloudy and rain thru Thursday and a sunny weekend... Now is that not a change from the usual??.. lol 

Hope you have a good today..

Phew!!

I'm tired today.  Yesterday was an exciting, wonderful.. "I get to see my Dear Daughter, Dear GrandSon and his baby.. my Dear Great Grandson".. kind of day.  I just don't think babies can be any sweeter than when they are yours.. ;)

Meet Nathan.. :)

Older brother DGGS Lucas also had his picture taken, but he wasn't too happy about it. lol  Got to go to lunch with DGS and Lucas and what a joy that was.  Couldn't have been a better day.

This only required a 4 hour drive..2 ways.. lol  So 13 hours after I left,  I got back home last night.  But it was so worth it.

DGSons back surgery seems to be going well.  Of course he wasn't totally comfortable and still has to take pain meds, but the incision looks clean, dry and in good shape.  Hopefully after a few more days it will ease up even more for him.

Had terrible rain on the way home last night.  Downpour so heavy that if there had not been a big 18 wheeler in front of me with all those lights I would have had to pull over because I could hardly see the road.  This lasted for about 30 or 40 minutes, but finally slowed down as I got closer to home.  Whoever you are, kind sir, that was in that truck.. Thank you for being there and for not being one of those cowboy truck drivers who think they can manage that truck at 80 mph in any kind of weather.. :)

Gonna go rest and maybe nap the day away.. :)  Gonna give my honey a big hug and kiss because when I walked in the door last night at 7pm  he had supper ready.  And no.. you cannot have him. :)

Have a good Sunday.

Today in My Life.. October 25, 2013 (Making Brown Sugar tute)

Today is:  Friday, October 25, 2013

I got up this morning:  with thoughts of the Big Blue Quilt clanging around in my head.  I still haven't decided on an edging color or a binding fabric. Sam was walking all over my feet and had decided he didn't want to wait any longer to get up.. :)  Baby Girl, (this would be Katie)  on the other hand, never wants to get up.  Her whole idea of a great day would be for Sweet DH to stay in bed all day with her right beside him.. :)

I am hearing:  not much... just the whirring of his computer and the ringing in my ears.. :(  I seem to be the only person in world awake this morning.

Out the window:  I see only the reflections of life as we know it in this room.  :)  The darkness turns the window into a mirror.  I can only imagine how it was before the invention of the mirror... everyone standing around waiting for darkness so they could fix their hair.. hahaha  (not really)

I will be wearing:   hmmm ... Today is a stay at  home day (I think), so the choice of the clothes I will wear breaks down to jersey pants and polyester top.. of some form or fashion.

I am thinking: that it's almost Halloween and another year has been slipping by right before our eyes.
I will be getting ready to go to Dear Daughter's tomorrow see our newest great grandson Nathan.  I cannot wait!

I am thankful: for the feel of my DH's hand as he reaches across the bed to touch me in the middle of the night... the smell of tiny apple turnovers cooking... the okra plant that fell over and still decided to produce a few okra... the lovely green of the spearmint plants that are slowly taking over the back flowerbed... my crocs that have the nubs that drive me crazy digging into the bottom of my feet...and more. 

From the kitchen:  comes a test to see how much molasses it takes to make light or dark brown sugar.  I did this yesterday when I realized that I didn't have any brown sugar to make the Tiny Apple Turnovers.  This first photo shows:

1 cup of sugar placed in my small nut chopper
1 tbsp. molasses added
Pulsed for about 20 seconds. 










I could see that this would not be dark enough for the brown sugar I wanted. 









So I added another tablespoon of molasses.  This made a much softer brown sugar and I found that I had to use my spatula to wipe down the walls of the nut grinder bowl and stir the sugar around
between pulses to get a good mix of the molasses and sugar.  The additional pulsing and wiping down took another minute or so.  But I did wind up with just the brown sugar I needed.   And now I know how much of each to add..no more guessing!


Creatively:  I have been hunting for the business sized envelope that I have stashed "somewhere" containing the chamois that I made my leather thimble from.. arghhhh  I know where it is.. the same place as the crazy quilt wall hanging that I have been looking for for the past 3 or 4 months.. I hate that.

Thought for the day:  I once told my mother how down in the dumps I was.. my house was just not pretty anymore.. I hated housework... I didn't want to get up and clean it.. blah blah.. I'm sure we've all been there.  She said.. "Go to town. Buy some little something. A new dishtowel.  A tiny picture to hang in the kitchen or hallway.  New wooden spoons.  New pillow cases.  Go home and use it immediately.  You'll be surprised what a lift that one little thing will bring."  I know she didn't mean that I had to "buy" to make me happy.  She was just saying that a new "something" whether made, gifted to me, found or bought would bring a lift to the job of "same old, same old" at hand.  And she was right.. :)

Have a good Friday and on into the weekend.  :)

emusic.com ... hmmmm

I've been downloading books and music from emusic.com for the last couple of years.  For the most part, I've loved it.  Lately there seems to be some kind of "conspiracy" to make things as hard as possible for me..lol   I've had to use customer support at least 3 times to make things work and I have to say that every time they have been wonderful.  But.. it sure gets tiresome. 

I went yesterday to audible.com and spoke to one of their representatives online for a bit.  They offered a month free trial.  They only do books... no music.  Not too thrilled about that part.  Since audible is an  Apple site whatever I download will not be compatible with my Coby... that's two strikes against.  But I thought.. Oh well, I'll try it anyway since I'm having so much trouble with emusic right now.  Well.. hmmmph   The free trial offer was for one book.  I downloaded the one book.. and the Audible Downloader.  As of today.. 7:34 am... I still cannot find the book I "think" I downloaded.. :( 

Oh well.. I did get Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell put on my cds at last.  Even put them in a book binding.  That's what getting up at 3am and not having Facebook does..lol   

Have much to do today, so will get up and at least put forth some effort... Have a safe and happy day. ♥

Mmmmm... Paul Anka

I'm on my second cup of coffee this morning.  Woke up around 4 or so and couldn't go back to sleep so I got up, emptied the dishwasher, took Sam out for his early morning wander around the back yard and banished Katie from the top of my desk. (Once again the speaker wires are chewed!)  :( 

I found the most wonderful Paul Anka album over on emusic.com a couple of days ago.  Just on a lark I decided to see what kind of new music he has recorded . (I had already downloaded Puppy Love, Diana and most of his early recordings)  Wow.. was I surprised.  The You Tube video posted just below this post.. It took me about 10 minutes to find it on emusic.com and download it.

The weather is cool enough now that I have dug out my plush robe to wear when I take Sam and Katie out.  Haven't looked to see if it is supposed to get warmer, but I think I heard my sweet DH talk about a little rain coming.  I'm sewing on the Big Blue Quilt and it's coming along.  I guess if I decide to hand quilt it my winter will be a very warm one.. ;)

Have a good day..

Do I Love You - Paul Anka & Anthea Anka

Today in My Life.. Oct. 18, 2013

Today is:  Friday, October 18, 2013

I got up this morning:  around 5am.  I stopped taking my sleep meds about a week ago and found that I don't sleep past around 4 each morning.  But... I am not so tired and sleepy during the day.  If I need a nap I can doze right off to sleep and awake refreshed instead of the constant tired and sleepy and unable to doze that was happening with the meds.  Also.. another plus.. I find that the heavy heart beats and arrythmias that I was feeling every night when I went to bed don't happen when I don't take that med.  This is a good thing.. :)

I am hearing:  the ticking of the clock hanging in the hall.  It is the first clock that Jerry made.  I had just learned to paint roses so that was the motif it got.. :)

Out the window:   it is still dark.  I don't know why I am so surprised at this... it is, after all,  mid October.  Daylight Savings Time will end soon.. November 3... and then it will stay dark even longer in the mornings.

I am wearing:  my blue gown.  At 6:59 am it is almost time to dress, but not quite.. ;)  I have finished one cup of coffee and at the end of cup two I might consider putting on the blue jeans and t shirt for the day.. and then again... maybe not ...lol

I am thinking:  sometimes that a move to England might be a really wonderful thing.. ;)  I grow so weary of our government acting like the idiots they are... sigh   Anyway.. perhaps I am just tired of our president haranguing on ... if it's not "Bush's fault" then it's "the Republicans"... and the bad thing is that our media leads everyone to believe that he's right.. sigh  How sad for our country...

I am thankful:  for Mariella of Knitting Nonni whose knitting inspired me to learn to knit.  :)

From the kitchen:  in a "round about way".. :)   I spent a few hours with my friend Pat B.  of Confessions of a Fiber Enthusiast some time ago.  She prepared a light lunch for us that centered around her home made pimiento cheese ..  Wow..

It was great.  So, since my sweet DH loves pimiento cheese, I decided to try to make some myself.  Turned out really good!  I was surprised at how really easy it is to make..

Here is an "almost" recipe since I never measure anything.

Pimiento Cheese

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 jar chopped pimientos
2 to 3 tbsp. salad dressing ( I just taste it.. if it's enough I don't put any more in!)  :)

Mix well and place in covered bowl.  It tastes better if you let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours or so... gives the flavors enough time to meld.   The next batch that I make will have cream cheese added to give it a creamier texture.  Will let you know how that works out.. :)

Creatively:  speaking there isn't much getting done these days.  I find myself in a slump.  In all honesty though, the house has been a bit of an uproar.  New desks in the the office that didn't work got moved into the "guest" room that has become my work room.  And a lot of time has been spent with Katie keeping her from damaging her broken front legs... soooo Things are settling down now and yesterday I got out the fabric that I bought last week for a king size quilt for our bed.

I'm thinking about a Split Rail pattern and then I get to thinking about a Log Cabin with the red centers... can't really make up my mind.  Guess there really isn't any great thing about the choice here.. can always make another quilt using the other pattern!  :)

I am going: to the Health Dept. today to get a flu shot.  I went to Target Pharmacy last week and was told that they did not have the vaccine that was recommended for persons 65 and older.  It seems that there is a vaccine that protects against 4 kinds of flu and the one they had only protects against 3 kinds.  Now I wonder why that is?  It seems the 4 kinds of flu vaccine has a shortage.. :/

Thought for the day:  I found myself quite down in the dumps last week.  Suddenly I remembered something that my dad used to say.. "Sing!"... so I did.  It was really bad singing.. I just wasn't really in the mood, but the strangest thing happened.  Suddenly, immediately .. my mood changed.  I can't tell you how amazed I was!  You can bet that I won't forget that word of advice again.. :)

The weather is cooling down here in North Texas and what a relief it is.  We've had rain for several days now... a slow and invigorating rain.  Makes everything feel clean and refreshed.

Hope your days are good.. :)

A Gift of Robert Frost

About a decade ago my sons gave me a book of poetry written by Robert Frost.  As I read through it, I came across several poems that squeezed at my heart a bit.  One of those poems was called "The Exposed Nest".  As I read along I found that my first mental visions were of two adults reminiscing about their childhood... one older than the other and perhaps acting as the care giver for that afternoon's play.  The second thought was that of a parent speaking to his/her child of a time past.

Here is that poem..

The Exposed Nest

You were forever finding some new play.
So when I saw you down on hands and knees
In the meadow, busy with the new-cut hay.
Trying, I thought, to set it up on end,
I went to show you how to make it stay,
If that was your idea, against the breeze,
And, if you asked me, even help pretend
To make it root again and grow afresh.
But 'twas no make-believe with you today,
Nor was the grass itself your real concern,
Though I found your hand full of wilted fern,
Steel-bright June-grass, and blackening heads of clovers.
'Twas a nest full of young birds on the ground
The cutter-bar had just gone champing over
(Miraculously without tasking flesh)
And left defenseless to the heat and light.
You wanted to restore them to their right
Of something interposed between their sight
And too much world at once--could means be found.
The way the nest-full every time we stirred
Stood up to us as to a mother-bird
Whose coming home has been too long deferred,
Made me ask would the mother-bird return
And care for them in such a change of scene
And might out meddling make her more afraid.
That was a thing we could not wait to learn.
We saw the risk we took in doing good,
But dared not spare to do the best we could
Though harm should come of it; so built the screen
You had begun, and gave them back their shade.
All this to prove we cared. Why is there then
No more to tell? We turned to other things.
I haven't any memory--have you?--
Of ever coming to the place again
To see if the birds lived the first night through,
And so at last to learn to use their wings.

Robert Frost

 

Today I found myself thinking of this poem and did a search to find it since I could not recall the name.  I was pleasantly surprised to find this short dissertation about this very poem .. 

Plain Jane: Thoughts on "The Exposed Nest" 

 

I have no idea what made this poem pop into my head this morning... :)  Perhaps it's the cooling of days and the realization that the childhood holiday of Halloween is coming upon us soon.  But it's a lovely cool morning here with temperatures in the upper 60s and there's much to do today.  

 

I hope you have a good day and have an opportunity to get out and enjoy some of this early fall weather.