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.  

Tablet Weaving Links and a Fun Afternoon... Tablet Weaving

There's nothing quite like trying to teach something you haven't done in a long time to find out how much you have forgotten..lol  And that's what happened Saturday afternoon when Carol arrived for a tablet weaving lesson.

But stumble through it we did.  I did so much enjoy Carol's company and I hope she has as much fun with table weaving as I have had.  We may get together again soon for some real weaving fun.. :)

If you are not familiar with tablet weaving, here are a few links for you:

This link is the exact one that I used to learn to card weave (tablet weave) .  The Ancient Craft of Tablet Weaving by Shelagh Lewins was my "go to" page during my quest to learn this wonderful art.

Phiala's String Page    was another great resource that I used in my quest for knowledge.

If you would like to buy cards instead of making them, Halcyon Yarn has them at a reasonable price here.

I must say here that I am in no way affiliated with any of these sites in a business way or a personal way.  I am however very grateful that they have taken the time to share with us their knowledge.  As for Halcyon Yarn, I have ordered many things from them and have always been satisfied with both the product and the customer service.

It's cooling down into the 90's this week.. hopefully into the 80s next week.  Would love to have some rain, but guess that will have to wait.

Have a lovely day and give lots of hugs all the way round.. ;)

Cotton Yarn on My Charka

I haven't been able to spin lately due to some back problems.  I'm actually thinking of an electric spinning wheel to cut out the need for treadling, but in the mean time I thought I might give my charka a try with spinning wool.

There was cotton already spun on it, so I had to ply it to get it off. This was a naturally green cotton.  It grows green.  Imagine.  :)  Now bear in mind that I am not very proficient with my charka.. :)  This would be a new experience. 

After I took the single off I began to ply it back on itself into a 2 ply yarn.  Now I am wondering if that is a how you ply cotton!  I recently learned from Leef at Apple Leef Farm in Van Alstyne, TX that flax should never be plied back on itself.. but we didn't talk about cotton.  Anyway... this is how I plied it and I found that plying on the charka was quite easy.  I didn't think I had very much on there, but it seemed that I would never get it all done..lol  It turns out I had spun 100 yards of singles and ended with 51 yards of double ply.

 I've read that to set the twist and draw out the color of cotton it should be boiled for 10 minutes.  I looked it up and it said to also add a teaspoon or so of soda.. so I did.

Was I surprised..!  Just look at the difference!  I have some more cotton on my takhli and I'm thinking I may have to take it off and see what color it becomes..lol

It's gonna be a hot day here in North Texas.. over the 100° mark.  Gonna stay inside and  piddle around with the house getting ready for a visit from DS and DDIL  next week.  Just hoping that the sun decides to give us a break on the heat while they are here.  Going to put on some tea to boil, turn up the fan and have a wonderful day.  Hope you do to.. :)

Another Book

It seems that every time I try my hand at making a book I find another "thing" to do.. lol   Anyway, I'm happy with this one even if I had to finish it up in a bit of "around the world" fashion. (If you're from the South, you'll know what that means..lol )

First, I found a recipe for cooked white glue (actually called "book glue" ).  Turns out it's just the same flour and water paste we used as kids with a little sugar and vinegar added and then cooked until thickened.  Here's the recipe I used:

4 tbsp. white flour
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. vinegar
6 to 8 oz of water

Mix well in a small pan, then bring to a boil over medium heat.  Stir continually until the mixture reaches the thickness you desire.  I put mine into small jelly jars and stored in the refrigerator.  I haven't worked on how to do a hot water bath or something that will allow this to be stored on the shelf for a longer shelf life.

Here's how it ended up...

The pages are regular printer paper that I soaked in hot strong tea, allowed to dry and then ironed.

I have no idea how I will actually use this book.  The truth is that I just enjoy making them.  I don't want a professional looking book... I want my great grandchildren and great great grandchildren to recognize that this book was hand made by me.. :)

Well, it's now late August and coming quickly to Labor Day weekend.  Where does the time go?   This has been a relatively mild summer this year with more summer rain than we've had in the last few years.  Only one burn ban that I know of this year... and that's amazing.. :) 

Hoping your Tuesday is a good one.  Here in North Texas the sweet tea is made and the back porch is calling.. .

Today In My Life.. 02/28/2013

Today is:  February 28, 2013

I got up this morning:  around 6 or so to take the dogs outside.  What a joy they are!  I don't think I have mentioned Sam and Katie.  They love to get us up in the morning.  ;)

This is Katie.. She weighs 4 pounds and is all lady.  This is Sam.  He weighs 10 pounds of all boy!

I am hearing:  a small cacophony of sounds as Sam barks at someone walking by,  the heater is softly blowing warm air, the tinkle of glass as my sweet DH is getting his cup of coffee.....

I am thinking:  or not..lol  This is one of those mornings where my brain goes ADHD...lol  but I must get another cup of coffee.. brb...

As I look out the window:  the sun is shining at last.  The forsythia down the street is in full bloom and is absolutely lovely.  Forsythia has a wonderful meaning for me.  When I was 18 and living in Okmulgee, OK  my kitchen sink had a window over it.  Each morning doing the breakfast dishes I would look out that window.  We had a 13 month old son and a brand new baby in December.  It seemed that winter would never end and one morning in February  I looked out that window and there it was... a huge, huge spray of the most brilliant yellow blossoms looking back at me through that window.  I remember I could hear Jim playing in the living room and Phil cooing in his bed... I hear those wonderful sounds and see that window every time I see a forsythia.. 

I am thankful for:  my sweet DH who tolerates all of my hobbies... Today the dining room table is quite covered with watercolor stuff... and stuff... I think he wouldn't say a word until he found himself walking thru nothing but a tiny walkway in the house..lol  I must say that I appreciate him more and more.  I love him very much.

The current book is:  one that I got for my Kindle.  It's a freebie from Amazon and I'm finding it quite good..    Sacred Treason by James Forrester.  This is the first book of a trilogy, and I'm reasonably sure the other 2 won't be free..lol 

The family:  is growing..

And may I introduce (drum roll please!)  my first great granddaughter Elaina.... She is such a little beauty.  I only wish that we lived closer so we could cuddle her more often.. ;)

We are looking forward to welcoming another great grandchild  in May.  This one will be a grandson and I cannot wait.. :)  I had best get started on his christening gift.. ;)

Creatively:  there hasn't been much happening this week.  I have started  naalbinding  a simple scarf using the Oslo stitch.

I wanted a soft flowing scarf this time so I used a wool/silk yarn that I bought from a friend of mine.  It is hand spun and I love it.  Using the small needle instead of my naalbinding needle seems to let me hold my stitches smaller.. I don't know why that is since my thumb doesn't change sized regardless the size of the needle...lol 

Plans for the rest of the week:  had best hurry since this is Thursday..lol  I will continue naalbinding on the scarf in the evenings and I will try to get the other view of the old rusted delivery truck done.  Every time I decide I will paint something always comes up.. what's up with that? 

Free pattern for the week:  Over at Fabric Follies Two there is the cutest baby hat pattern.  Very easy and warm for the little one.  I'm sure I will be making several of these.. ;)

Hopefully the weather here in North Texas will warm up a bit during the day.  The nights for the next few days will be very cold, but eventually Spring will be here.. ;) 

Have a wonderful day.. :) 

Watercolors...Inspired by Rose Ann Hayes

 I guess seeing all the wonderful art that Aunt Betty brought to the Ingram Arts Show kinda made me want to try my hand at it.  So I began to look at some of the YouTube tutorials on watercolor and decided to give it a go.. ;)  These are definitely beginner's work, but I find it fun to do.  Since my back and hip make it difficult to spin sometimes, this is the perfect substitute.

 

 These three pics are efforts to try to paint glass container and water.. as well as the flowers.  They were inspired by the beautiful work of Rose Ann Hayes and if you click Here you can go to her galleries and see the beauty that she can capture on paper. 

These three florals will be hung above our guest room bed. 







This little miniature and the poppies below are 2x3 inches in size and were done for my daughter who is building her own miniature house. 









The sun has shown it's face this morning..for the first time in a couple of days.  It's going to be a warm day and possibly a little rain. I noticed that my forsythia has tiny leaves and many buds on it.. ask me if that makes me happy!!  This will be the first year for it and I'm so looking forward to it blooming...

I hope you have a wonderful day!!

Whole Wheat Peasant Bread.. yum yum

I was wandering around the web the other day and found the coolest recipe for the easiest yeast bread I have ever seen.  The web site is a recipe blog called Alexandra's Kitchen.  The recipe is HERE for her wonderful Peasant Bread.  I used her recipe almost exactly to make the first batch..

Oh my... was it wonderful.  Of course I had to eat all of it myself.  While I love the look after cooking them in bowls, the slices were not the right size for my toaster, so I had to toast whatever I wanted in a skillet.. Can't say I minded that either.. ;)

Since my DH is diabetic,  I set about trying to make it using whole wheat flour.  I used 3 cups of whole wheat flour to 1 cup of all purpose flour.  Amazing.. not a problem at all.  It rose up so light and fluffy I was surprised.

I decided to use mini loaves so I could freeze what we were not going to eat right away.  It turns out that he can eat them when I slice the mini loaves into 10 slices.  The slices are just big enough for a lunch sandwich and make wonderful toast..

For the sandwiches, I sliced the loaves lengthwise... perfect....

The weather is just on the coolish side this morning with lots of fog and mist.  It's one of those days you read about in your favorite English novel.. ;) 

Hope all is well with you and yours.. ;)
Hugs...

Wonderful Surprise!

Our phone rang yesterday afternoon... What a wonderful surprise!

Grandson Jeff has just finished basic training in the Air Force and I am so proud of him.  Had a lovely visit and was just wishing it could have been longer.. ;)

Handmade Journal Handy..

Back in 2006 I decided to try my hand at making my own book.  I have since learned that this is not the "exact" way to do it, but I love my little book just the same.

 As I was gathering things to take to the Ingram Art Show I came across this little book and decided to take it with me.  What a wonderful thing that turned out to be!

It occurred to me that several of my relatives that I had not seen in a while were there and this was the perfect time to have them write in my book.

 Signing the poems that they wrote.. ;)  The bird is taken from a photo of Squirt that Aunt Edna sent me..  Didn't quite get it, but the gist is there...lol
 (You may have noticed that the poem is scrambled.  This is to protect their intellectual property.. )

 When I put this book together I wanted to put things that were special to me into it... like this poem written by my Aunt Betty.  I thought I wanted things to be perfect and then somehow they didn't come out as perfect as I thought I wanted them to be.  Now as I look back thru the pages, they are exactly as I wanted them to be.  I would encourage everyone to make their own little book and put in it whatever they find special to themselves in it..

Now I realize it doesn't have to be perfect or perfectly thought out... it just has to be you.  Mine is just a collection of little ditties that I thought were good.  There's a notation that my first great grand daughter was expected.. another for the day that she was born.  Now there will be another notation about my first great grandson that will be born in May.  Another about my oldest son making the Dean's Honor Roll in college.  So many things...

And the opportunity to have my family write in my book was just too good to be true. 

Another good thing from the Ingram Arts and Crafts Show... ;)

Have a wonderful day....