Doing a Bit of Cooking

Thursday Feb. 3, 2022... Cold, cold, cold.  There is now 5 1/2 inches of snow on the ground with ice crunching underneath the feet as we try to take the dogs out.  It's a pretty useless effort since neither one of our little poodles likes the cold at all. So we are sitting in our chairs for the most part watching the fireplace and being totally glad to  have it. 

Yesterday I made a large "soup".. I'm not sure exactly what to call it.. lol  Hamburger stew and to this one I added Ranch Style Beans... Lovely!  Tastes a bit like taco soup, but much more subtle.  Yum .. 

Jerry decided he wanted a pumpkin pie so I found a recipe for a butter pie crust.. my first.  Not my first pie crust... first butter crust.  It is truly wonderful. Can't seem to find the recipe I used ..but..sigh... this one is almost just like it.   Perfect Pie Crust ... give it a try!

Feb. 4, 2022... Several years ago I found a "tip" on the internet about how to sharpen knives if you don't have a sharpener.  The original idea was to run the edge of your knife around the top of a stoneware crock while turning it over and over.  I've seen my grandmother do this many times over the years.  Since I don't have a crock sitting on my counter, I turned over one of my coffee mugs... worked perfectly.  I do this often now. 

Well, the snow is still with us. The sun is out today but the temp is barely supposed to reach freezing.. it's 11 degrees right now.  Probably not much melting happening today, but maybe a little.  Hoping for enough to allow the doggies a place to go do their business! 

Have a great day today.  Drink lots of hot whatever you drink... I would say hug all your family and friends, but with Covid everywhere that's maybe not such a good idea.. but virtual hugs are ok... 

Good Morning...January 19, 2022

 Good morning.  Up at 4:30am this morning.  Don't know what's up with early morning rising, but seems to be a new pattern for me.  I have to say that I do enjoy the quiet time.  

Found out yesterday that Covid Omicron is so prevalent here that most in our doctor's office are out with it.  Daughter who is working for one of the drs. in that clinic says we should stay home... go nowhere.  So once again there will be no beauty shop or nail appointments for a while.  This is the second year for the Covid threat and have been out to eat once in those 2 years,.  Not to say we don't order out and use the pick up window... but sometimes it's just nice to sit down in a restaurant and have dinner and conversation with someone you love.  I'm sure that most health professionals are aware of the mental health issues with this pandemic, but sometimes I wonder how much we are actually saving (as far as health is concerned) by the stay-at-home idea since the increase in depression is so markedly on the rise.  We have not seen our grandchildren for almost 2 years.  Not a good thing.

Several years ago I started this egg.  The idea was to see if I could do a Russian style icon.  It didn't turn out too badly, but then I was stymied on how to finish the back side of the egg.  Needless to say... I am still stymied.  It occurs to me that a lot of Russian art contains at least some geometrics, so I'm thinking I may get out the acrylics and do a geometric of some kind on the back.  Any ideas would be welcome.. :)

We're in for a bit of relief from the horrible cold...welcome relief.  Up in the 40s and 50s and then on Sunday and Monday it should be almost like spring with temps in the high 60s and even 70s.  That's always welcome, but the cold that comes after always seems even colder.. sigh 

When we take our dogs to be groomed, they always come home with a little triangle of cloth around their necks as a scarf.  Since our dogs are so "graceful", we always take them off to prevent them from tugging and pulling on them.  This time we cut the collar off Katie with the scarf!  We immediately ordered another one that comes with her name on it and other information, but it would take 3 weeks to get it, so enter the trust sewing machine... I really prefer this little collar for her than the new one she has now.  It is much softer and just as strong.  I'm sure it's more comfortable for her, but her new one has her name on it.  Anyway, I'll put up a tutorial to make a collar for your dog on Fabric Follies Too... very easy to do. 

Must get around.  Coffee cup empty and it's 6:10am.  Have plans for the day, just not sure what they are yet..lol  Have a wonderful day... 😊

 

Home Made Bread and Things

 I finally decided to get the food processor out that we bought last year and try to learn to use it.. :)  I found a recipe for whole wheat bread and decided to cut it in half since I didn't think the processor could hold the entire thing at once.  After about an hour watching YouTube videos of how to use it, I gave it a try... and felt entirely silly for putting it off so long.  :)  The results were wonderful..

Went out to check on our Bradford Pear tree in the front yard that was planted last year and stopped to see the pansies.  I don't know how we did it, but it seems that one of them was a different color from all the rest.  And I love it!  I'll wait until it has some more blooms and you can bet at least one or two will be picked to be pressed and kept!  This photo may also become a watercolor painting.  :)





We've had such beautiful weather for almost all winter that I have to pinch myself to remember that Spring is so near.  The temps will be in the 70s for the next couple of days and then possible rain.  :)  I didn't think I would ever welcome rain again after the flooding of last spring.  I'm still not sure about my peach tree in the back yard... Flooded and sat in standing water for a month... May not live but I'm not giving up yet.. :)

Have a wonderful day..

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.. .

Creating A Home... Free Thread Holder Tutorial

One of the most popular posts on this blog concerns a thread holder that my sweet DH made for me a few years ago.  It's made of wood and is really good for use with a side table.... However, if there is no side table and you have to either hold the thread/yarn in your lap or on the floor, this may not work too well.

 Jim, from Creating A Home , has posted a wonderful tute using the most basic thing on the kitchen shelf... a coffee container.    I had to make me one.  I use it not only for crocheting, but also for needle tatting, holding the thread/yarn when I am warping my Kromski Harp, when I'm measuring thread/yarn for my tablet weaving loom..and any other time I need to pull a continuous length of thread/yarn.  Love it...

I think the heat has finally pushed my bad mood buttons.  Been a little funky for the last few days... my poor sweetie..sigh  So I think in response to the cold wave pushing through that will bring the temps down to 97° (we can only hope) today, I will be looking around and appreciating all that I have... my sweet DH, those warm snuggles in bed in the mornings, even the gray in my hair.. ;o)  Soooo.... for a few days we will be playing Pollyanna around here... it never fails to make me realize that bad moods are just that... not even a reality... just a passing fancy...

Have a really good day.. ;o)

Hello, Again

I can't imagine where the month went.


My tiny antique spinning wheel arrived 3 days ago. It was found in an online marketplace for a reasonable price and after emailing back and forth with the owners (who we found were exceptionally nice folks), we bought it. I put pictures up on the Kromski yahoo group and found out that it was most likely made in the early 1800s and is possibly older than that.



There is a small amount of work (besides the careful cleaning and oiling) that needs to be done to it for me to use it, but that will have to wait for a few days.

The new banjo clock kit is my DHs new project. It's cherry wood and is turning out really nice. I had no idea that many of the parts on clocks are now glued. It's some seriously good glue..lol Once you put that piece down, don't expect to move it around after about 3 seconds! ;o)

He usually comes up with his own design and builds his own clocks, but decided this time to warm up with a couple of wall clock kits and then go to the big time with a grandfather clock!

Follow Up on "Lotion Soap"

I have used the Lotion Soap for a couple of days now and it is really helping my poor dry hands... but I have found that the soap I mixed up for the kitchen sink area has become very thin and a little watery. I continue to use it and it still "sudses" (this is not a real word..I'm fairly sure..grin ) pretty well... and it continues to leave my hands soft...

I suppose this is one of the drawbacks to the mix, but not enough of one for me to stop using it...lol

Pincushions

I bought 4 or 5 little American Girls Short Stories books in an antique shop a couple of years ago and several were given to a granddaughter for Christmas that year. But a couple of them had been in a moist environment and had some mold on a few of the pages. These I kept and when Chuck was home I set about reading them to Allie. I had no idea they were such a gold mine of information!

In the 1700's pincushions were given as gifts. Is this one not lovely...and such lovely needlework... but... it's not needlework. I was shocked! The design is put on the pincushion using pins! Here's a little more information toward the bottom of the page. And here's another historical page saying that the pins were used for diapering the baby and as a result very few of these can be found today.