you ask who cares...well I do!

Elizabeth gave me a nifty little book (well, she may have loaned me the book) about blogging. 

Its a good little book, so this is not a criticism at all.  However....

I made the most delicious meal yesterday!   I told you I'm in the 12 Days of Christmas swap.  Well, in one of the packages I opened she included a page of her favorite recipes.  I tried her roast recipe, and it was so good.     Note:  proper credit will be given to her at the end of the swap...I'll come in to edit this.  Editing to add:  Swapper LanaR was the cook! 

"Using a chuck roast, use A1 sauce to marinade in (I do mine for several hours), put into a dish and cover with a package of Lipton onion soup mix and a can of mushroom soup.  Cover and cook for 2 hours at 350.  When I do it mine always takes longer and I uncover it.  It is so tender and good!"

Now I modified it to the extent that I put it in the crock pot (and I always use Pam spray on the crock to make clean up easier), and added maybe 1/2 soup can of water.  Oh, I also am not a fan of mushrooms so I used cream of celery soup. 

When I bought my chuck roast, the store didn't have any small packages, so my $11 package was cut into 3 sections and I have 2 in the freezer.  I still used the full can of soup and the full package of onion soup mix (store brand) for the gravy.   Since I cook for one, I didn't bother with sides.  Instead I had an open-face sandwich on toast.  I'm sorry there's not a picture to share, but I was ready to jump in and start eating!

So there you have it.  Even though the book says no one cares what I had for lunch, I'm taking a chance and telling you what I had for dinner. 

a tisket, a tasket...a basket!

One of the ladies over on the HGTV quilting and sewing board posted directions for a little gift basket.  Way cute.  One of the other ladies then posted a picture showing about 20-something of them she made to give as little gifts.  Of course that triggered a "hmmmm" response!

I made my initial basket according to directions, but it was a bit big to suit me.  So then I took the other lady's suggestion about making them smaller, and used 6.5" squares instead of 10.5" squares.  I'm really pleased with the results.  I think my 3 little neighbor girls might be the recipients of these with some Hershey kisses as the treat inside.

Oh!  I think I mentioned that I made some items for the Twelve Days of Christmas swap.  Several of us each made 12 things and sent them to a coordinator to swap out and return.  I got my package the other day, and today I got to open the first one!   Actually, Elise helped me open it.  :)   I can't post pictures of the opened packages until everyone has opened, so that will be about Christmas Eve.  In the meantime, here's what I have tempting me. 

Also over on the HGTV board, they recently had a PJ party class on journal covers.  I really like her method of making them.  I made this one and I actually got it a tad small, but I'll continue to use it until I get another one made now that I know what I'm doing.  We did a journal cover 2 or 3 years ago, but this was a much simpler method.

So what are you working on these days?

peace of mind

I've learned over the years that peace of mind matters.  This past week I've been trying to put that into practice.

First, I was cleaning out the lint trap on my dryer, and a little piece of paper fluttered in.  Naturally, it was not something I could get to easily.  Having heard  in recent months of fires that have been caused  by dryer and lint related problems, I knew it needed to be taken care of.  Knowing I don't have the physical agility to climb over the dryer and maneuver around enough to disconnect the hose, I called in some assistance.  Don was here the next day, and in short order he had removed the hose and pulled out the little piece of paper.  We talked about cleaning out the vent pipe, but he's not equipped to do that.  The hose itself was really quite clean he said, so for now I'm comfortable with it the way it is.  He did give me the name of a service person that can do the vent cleaning, so that's a good thing.  I didn't know how it would be done, but Don explained that generally its done externally, with a vacuum being inserted through the vent up on the roof. 

While I was in the service mode, I also called my heating and air conditioning guy.  Lately when I turn on the heat, I'd hear a gurgling in the drain pipe.  Looking it up on the internet, I saw that's a common occurence, so I wasn't unduly alarmed.  I went ahead and had Jason service it, and now I'm set for the Winter.

And my last project is in the works.  You may remember I posted about a problem with my smoke detectors going off in the middle of the night awhile back.  My neighbor James is an electrician, and he's going to get everything back to proper working order.

Yep, peace of mind.  Can't beat it.

Thanksgiving

Ah, another Thanksgiving comes to an end.  Its always nice to gather together those nearest and dearest to my heart.  We of course ate plenty, and then everyone just relaxed a bit...the modern way.  :)

We ate our meal at lunchtime, and for those wanting to watch football games, they weren't on until a bit later.  Not only was this group tuned to their various technological games, Elizabeth took the picture, edited it to include Albert Einstein, and sent it to Facebook...all while I sat with my feet up, looking on.  I think Angela, Elise and I were the only ones without a gadget in our hands.  That's okay, we make up for it during the week.  :)   Oops, I have to take back that part about me not having a gadget in my hands...I took a couple of pictures too.

On a different note, I tried my hand at making a little coin purse this week.  I had bought the purse frame, 2 of them actually, because I saw the coin purses over on Thearica's blog.   I had to come up with a pattern, and this one is a bit longer than I want, so I'll probably re-do it to more closely resemble the smaller purses that Thearica has.   I also want to work on it to make it feel more firmly attached, it feels like a good tug could separate the fabric from the clasp.  All that's holding it is the little bit of hand stitching you can see on the clasp.  It was a good use of my crazy quilting fabric though, with a shiny brocade on the outside, and a satin-like lining on the inside.

Let me close by saying I'm so thankful for the life I have with my family and friends.  Each day I wake up with a "thank you" in my heart.  Don't let Thanksgiving be a once-a-year event...make it continuous.

a bug got me

All I can think of is that a cleaning bug must have bitten me.  It was a small one though, because I've not tackled anything major. 

Earlier this week for some reason I decided to clean my dining room windows.  Is this something I do regularly?  No, far from it.  But awhile back I had to spray at a wasp that managed to get in the house, and he was on the window, so you now have a visual of the dried wasp spray that had dripped down the window.  I could have just taken the windex and squirt the one area and been done with it, but no, I took off the screens so I could clean down in the "gutter" part of the window, as well as getting the inside and out.   I was fortunate this week that I had a helper, which made the job much more enjoyable.

I can well remember years ago that window washing was one of our chores assigned by Mom.  And I'm talking all around the house.  Fortunately those windows had a little mechanism that opened them out away from the house, and it was easy enough to clean both sides while standing outside.  And you know, I actually kind of enjoyed it.  Instant gratification in being able to see a job well done, one that made a difference.

This morning the bug either bit again or the virus was reactivated.  As I was looking at my spices to see if I needed more of one particular item, I noticed an out-of-date container.  Then another one.  Then another one.  You get the idea.  I don't cook a whole lot, and it's not unusual to pick up a spice when I need it, especially with holiday cooking.  Well...as I started pulling things off the turntable, I was dismayed at how much needed to be tossed.  But I was ruthless, and jars started flying.  Well actually the contents started flying into the trash, the containers themselves will be rinsed off and into the recycling tub.

In other news, I recently went bowling with Robert and the kids while Angela had a  Bunco night with some friends.   We went to an older bowling alley in Cleburne, and had a great time.  I even dragged out and dusted off my bowling ball and shoes that have been sitting in their bag patiently waiting for me the last ten years or so.  I did realize my body ain't what she used to be as I tried to be graceful in my swing.  Oh well, I didn't want to outshine everyone too bad, so it worked out fine.   As we were getting set up, we noticed a plastic dinosaur off to the side.  We took a closer look, and they're for the kids to set the ball on top and push it down, rather than trying to swing or heft the ball.  Between that and the gutter rails, we all did pretty good!

I don't know why their pictures came out in different sizes, I still haven't figured out getting pictures from my phone onto the blog in a really good format.

Okay, better get around.  Have a good week!

let the sewing begin!

Such an exciting day!  Emma and I had our first sewing session together!

We took a few minutes to get familiar with her sewing machine.  She had sewn a bit on it before this, but was glad for a refresher course.  We adjusted the tension to get a nice stitch on both sides of her fabric, and then she sewed several rows of stitching to get comfortable with guiding the fabric through.  For an 8-year old girl, sewing can be an intimidating process, but she was so willing to get right at it.  

She happened to have a UFO (unfinished object) in the form of a doll quilt she had started previously, but was not able to finish.  This worked out really well, because she already had the squares cut for the one remaining row.  Emma laid them out in an order she liked, and stitched them together.  Once the row was completed and ironed, she attached it to the other two rows.

I helped her with another pressing to keep it nice and neat, then we added a backing to it.  I cut the backing, and she did the stitching and pulled it right side out.  Another pressing, and I helped her stitch the opening closed.   She and her mom liked the idea of a tie quilt, so I showed her how to tie it off with embroidery floss, though we could have used yarn.  I left her with the homework assignment of finishing  the tying off and making the bed for her doll!

Great job Emma.  I enjoyed our lesson.  I see great things ahead.  :)

In other news, Halloween has now come and gone.  Here are three of my favorite little trick-or-treaters.

the making of Flying High

Well, the Scraps to Treasure challenge for 2012 has officially come to an end, so I'm free to post about my entry, Flying High.   As you recall, everyone was given the same sets of 6" squares, and we were allowed to add a certain number of squares and fat quarters from our stash, with the challenge to create a quilt.

It all started last winter as I was trying to come up with ideas for the 2012 challenge.  I thought about a few options, and this one evolved from thinking about things that fly.  Flags, birds, planes...those were the obvious.  I wanted to take a bit of a whimsical turn, and came up with flying turtles, getting a chance to look down on their surroundings.  I thought, even if they could only be 12" off the ground, it would be high for them.  :)    Here's the first sketch.

Its important to have an idea in mind because when you send in your initial squares for the exchange, you're allowed extra of that fabric to use.  Knowing I'm looking at sky, even without a totally firm idea in mind, I went with three blues.  We were only required to send 2 squares for each, but by sending in an extra square, I gained an extra bit of blue to use.  I took a couple of pics of my fabrics, but they didn't come out the best.  Instead, here are the fabrics each of us started out with, and I'll try to put an arrow on mine...though it's rather obvious when you look at the final quilt.  :)

So I received my squares somewhere around the end of April.  Plenty of time to finalize my thoughts, put it together, and be totally at ease in the process.  Yeah well, that is unless you procrastinate like I did.  By mid-August I had about decided to forget about it, my muse wasn't speaking to me about quilting.  Then Labor Day weekend rolled around and I decided to jump on it and see what I could do. I gathered together my sketches, laid out the squares, and just started pulling them together and sewing.  First were the turtles and their parachutes.  One turtle or two?  Same size or different?  High or low?  Greens worked well for the landscape the turtles were flying over, with a couple of teal blues thrown in for a lake.  Browns and tans across the bottom gave an interpretation of the road of life.  Not always smooth, a few bumpy spots and unexpected pot holes.  I also decided some mountains might be a nice touch, so I pieced them together.  Going with the Flying High title, some flying geese were an obvious choice, and the pinwheels were fun. 

Since we were able to add a designated number of extra squares from our own stash (only 1 6" square of any given print), I pulled out an eagle and fussy cut him for the corner.  As it was coming together, I thought it still needed something.  My bathroom rug caught my eye, and in an aha moment, the idea for a row of houses came together.

A square of dragonflies made its way into the bottom left corner.  Those dragonflies eventually were used for the backing and binding.

Of course there was a bit of frog stitching going on (rip it, rip it), but by the end of the weekend the top was pretty well stitched together, and by the next weekend I had it sandwiched and ready to quilt.

Flying High didn't come out in the top ten this year, there was some pretty strong competition.  Yes, I admit I'm a tad disappointed, but in the end its all about enjoying the process and being happy with the result.  So in that regard, yes, it's a winner.  :)