Tommy the Material Girl

Everything Is Falling

2012-01-28T08:21:00.005-06:00

G's brother has been here for a couple weeks and except for a day jaunt a couple times, he will be with us for another two weeks. It's nice to have someone to do the daily routine with other than me. They have trips to the golf course, fishing and the day to day shopping to fill their days. All the better for me. They got the skinny on a perfect place to fish that will fulfill their expectations on a good catch. Our friend caught dozens there. So off they went and were gone for a few hours only to come home with not one little fish.

That was a couple days ago. Yesterday, while G was talking business on the phone, a local

osprey went fishing and I am guessing that the catch was too big because he dropped it right in front of our house with G looking on.
And here it is; it's a sheepshead and it was the very type of fish the G and his brother were trying to catch. It was very much alive and the discussion was whether to filet it or put it back in the water. The mutual decision was to release it to catch another day. It immediately swam away, without a second of recovery. That was some save! Can they count this as a fish caught?

This reminded me of the pictures on Facebook that my friend Millie posted, showing the inside of a sheepshead's mouth. They have regular teeth;

lots and lots of regular teeth. This one could sure use a dentist tho'!

One more thing before I go exercise - this is another thing that happened yesterday. G set his iPad on top of his car to load some other stuff and forgot it; all the while saying to himself, don't forget to get it off the car roof, like I have with dozens of cups of coffee. Well, off he went and after a block or so, so did the iPad, right into traffic. He saw it through his rear view window in the middle of the street. He pulled a u'ie and went back to retrieve it. He counted eight cars passing over it and missing it and when he was just about to get it, three cars completely ran over it. Believe it or not, it still works. There is an unfortunate part to this saga. After getting it home, it won't take a charge. He now has 37% power left and an appointment at the Apple store on Monday afternoon after my last eye surgery to swap it out, no questions asked. I love those Apple people! I think I will take this keyboard and see if I can

sweet talk them into a new one, free of charge. I have to capitalize all my letters on the right side only. It's a real pain in the butt for me to retrain.

Knit Purl

2012-01-27T07:54:00.003-06:00

I finally finished this sweater for Violet. The hold up was the neck. I didn't have a pair of circular needles the same size as the main part of the sweater that was short enough to use on the neck. Finally I purchased it and now the sweater is done. I am thinking of a hat to match.
This photo shouldn't probably even be shown. It is the other side of the love seat; I sit next to it. Yeah, I am a bit of a slob. But I just discovered a new way to count rows. The newest creation in the works is made up of a pattern of four different rows. When watching tv I tend to lose my place, forgetting to change back from purl to knit. One of the things I hate most to do is tear out so I try to avoid it. Through good and bad attempts to mark I came up with a system of counting rows.
I made a loop in the little tail that is left from casting on. Using the little padlock looking stitch markers, I place one on when just starting the first row of the pattern. Same goes for second and third. When the fourth row comes up, I take the remaining three off. The system works perfectly because if you put the marker on at the beginning of a row, you know if you have to set your knitting down (which happens all the time) you are on the row that the markers add up to; if no markers, it's the fourth row. It's working for me.

The Master Suite

2012-01-26T07:03:00.004-06:00

Tiramisu and Lasagna Cupcakes recipes are now on Tommy Cooks.

This is a very common sight at our house. I can be totally into a project that I can't walk away from and all of a sudden there's a nudge on my calf which I have grown to know is Miss Bella and her ball. Yesterday I was coming into the master bedroom to take a picture of the new duvet cover I just finished and there was Bella, in the bathroom trying to get G (who is in the shower) to play ball. And yes, the ball is that dirty.

Here is the new duvet cover I made to cover the old comforter. We needed something with a darker base.
I based it on a quilt top that my friend Anne made while visiting me last summer.
She made hers a little askew in places, which I love but I didn't want to do that for the bed. I was reminded of Anne's quilt top when I saw this
quilt on Pinterest. It would make a darling baby quilt, don't you think? My inner squares (the lighter gray ones) are 3, 7, and 11 inches square. I wanted a little more contrast for my bed. I also made new shams and pillow cases to match. The fabric came from Fabric.com and was 108" wide. That way I didn't have to seam the back!!!

Initially Fine

2012-01-25T07:28:00.003-06:00

So far, I can say that Pinterest has definitely shaped my personal habits. Considering the fact that I now have to limit my time on it to a half hour a day, I feel at least a little bit hooked on it. But that isn't all bad. I have done two things that I have on my Things I Want To Make board and gathered the necessary stuff to make a few others. One of the 'to do's' I wanted to do came together very fast.
I came across this and thought it was a darling idea and seeing as I am an avid Scrabble player, I wanted to do this in some fashion. When I see anything Scrabble related I always think of my BFF Nancy that lives in California. After emailing her as to her current color scheme of her master bedroom, I got to work. Four pillows is overkill to me so I first settled on first initials for Nancy and her hubby Frank. Two was wrong to me too so I opted for three; their first name initial and their last name.
Going with her color scheme of chocolate and sage, I printed out an outline of F, N and H on my computer in American Typewriter font and the corresponding number value in Scrabble. Then I ironed on Wonder Under on the chocolate fabric and cut out my letters and found good spacing on the fabric and ironed away.
I decided not to satin stitch around the letters and numbers but just to do a regular stitch. I always stitch any machine applique down with paper under it; it tends not to pucker at all if I do.
I am such a cheapskate that I actually figure out what to do in what order to use the underlying paper in the most economical way. I can't seem to break old habits.
Then I remove the paper (something I love to do) and sew up the pillow.
I have a smile on my face as I view just another way that Scrabble has taken over my life. Oh, and they are about eight inches square. I just filled them with fiberfill.

My left shift key still doesn't work. This is maddening!!!!!!

What's Going On

2012-01-24T07:30:00.002-06:00

I have had a couple of very busy days. I seemed like I went from morning to night without a minute to spare. Not that I am complaining but that's where I've been.

I made a new tiramisu recipe on Sunday to take to a dinner party. I liked it much more that the recipe I have used in the past.

If you are interested in trying it, I will post it soon on Tommy Cooks . You won't be sorry.

My left shift key doesn't work and being a lefty, this is taking much longer to type than I am used to. It may be time for a new keyboard.

Yesterday was gobbled up by my visit to the Surgi Center to have my left eye fixed. It was my distance eye. Next Monday is when they will tackle the right eye. My ophthamologist has told me that he doesn't think that I will have to do anything else with my eyes. We shall see.

To give myself a little treat, we stopped off at Best Buy and I got myself a white iPad. I can't wait to cuddle up and play with it. I had to leave it alone last night to charge. It's a beautiful day here in paradise.

No Yolk

2012-01-21T07:55:00.002-06:00

Need breakfast for a crowd? Or a stockpile for yourself?

Use your muffin pans to cook eggs!!! They will come out with a perfect shape too. Just grease the compartments (I use my finger to make sure I get the whole surface) or spray the teflon inserts with cooking spray. Crack your egg into it's own little bed (tanning bed, that is) and cook it for 15 to 20 minutes at 350º. A great thing to do also is to make your own egg mcmuffins and freeze them for later use. All you need are english muffins and a piece of cheese and if you want, add a sliver of canadian bacon to the breakfast sandwich. I nuke the frozen sandwiched for about a minute and a half and eat!!!

The Line Up

2012-01-20T08:57:00.002-06:00

There's pretty much nothing I like better than cooking and plating for a crowd. Last night's line up consisted of the Cheese Quinoa Bites I made last week.
All these recipes (except for the mini BLT's) was a new one for me and I found them all on my Pinterest Recipe Board.
These are lasagna cupcakes. The outer shell is a wonton. You can have a dipping sauce of marinara if you want but I liked them plain.
These were great but next time I would make the goat cheese balls much smaller. It's called Drunken Grapes with Goat cheese and pecans.
These are my old refreshing standby, mini BLT's. Another new one is the Pepperoni Pizza
Muffins. They taste just like pizza without the hassle. I used store bought pizza sauce for the dipping sauce. I used turkey pepperoni and I used skim milk and it didn't make any difference. I used my teflon mini cupcake liners. These are simple.
I served this Loaded Baked Potato Dip with waffle fries. The dip is to dense to dip so I got out a little cocktail knife to spread it on. Next time I will make it a bit less dense. It was a big hit anyway.
Last but definitely not least were my Hamburger Cupcakes. They fooled everyone. I made them in mini muffin tins and I followed the directions to the letter.
I would be lying if I didn't say this was a bit labor intensive in the actual putting together of the cupcakes. I bet it took me an hour and a half to assemble fifty of them. I am a sucker for cute food tho' and I would do it again in a heart beat.

I Gotta Go

2012-01-19T07:43:00.003-06:00

I spent half of yesterday on the way, sitting there, and coming home from my Opthamologist, I have a very difficult time reading and every thing I see is fuzzy. It started in the late fall. Unfortunately my doc is down here so I had to wait. It ended up being exactly what I thought it was; the wrinkling or clouding of the flap that's directly on the side of the implant that replaced my two cataracts. It's a thirty second zap but it of course entails much testing, waiting and two visits over two weeks to a surgi center. Nothing is easy.

I am having fourteen girls over tonight to get together to say hello to the winter season in dear old Florida. It should be great fun. I am using (except for one) all new recipes that I have acquired on Pinterest and placed on my Recipe board. I will take pictures!!

I have always liked the signs that depicted whether a restroom was for guys or gals. At my daughters wedding we put photos on the doors of the eight bathrooms showing that they were for either male or female. We had Dolly and Sylvester (Rhinestone Cowboy), Lucy and Desi, Sonny and Cher, you get the idea. This first one looks like they dressed up a guy to pose for the girl; maybe a construction person? Or maybe that's a hairnet?
I like when restaurants use a little individuality when marking their spots. I don't get the woman sign in this one at all.
I am guessing these are briefs for the men but they look suspiciously like something in my underwear drawer. Did I just say that?
When I used to work at the architectural firm, a guy in the office would always describe my old dog Mazy as standing at the window with her legs crossed when I was late leaving to take her out. My office was two minutes from our house. I always thought of that when I was late to walk her.
Sometimes simplicity is best.
Then there is the contemporary look.
The look of a welder fits the bill too.
This may be my favorite. It's just a hint.

Fashion Alert!

2012-01-18T07:50:00.003-06:00

The kids went in to check on Violet after her afternoon nap and was more than a little surprised what the little lady was up to.Whether it was a clothing malfunction like Janet Jackson's or just a need to bring back the shrug, we'll never know but somehow Violet managed to get the front of her shirt over her head.
I'm guessing it was a shirt on the large side for her to manipulate it in such a manner. She seems rather pleased with herself!!!

T Shirt Scarf

2012-01-17T07:14:00.001-06:00

Very odd; I did a blog post yesterday and when I opened up blogger it wasn't there. I looked in my list of blogs that I use to check stuff and it wasn't there either. Somehow I deleted it. Odd. Oh well, let's get on with it.

My attraction to Pinterest has not faltered in the slightest. I seem to prefer it to Scrabble and that quite something. I saw a scarf (my 87th in the last five years) that I had to try so this is my tutorial on it.

Get yourself an old t shirt. We all have them. This one in particular came from the dollar store (don't even ask) and it's never been worn. I like to think I would wear an arty t but I am physically incapable of wearing t shirts in general. Some weird gene I have.

Lay it straight down and with scissors or in my case, a rotary cutter, cut strips from the bottom up (I even used the hem as one) to the pit of about an inch wide. You will get around
15 to 17 tube stripss. Take some shorter non tube strips from the part of the t that is inbetween
the sleeves and cut them in some 1" strips and stretch them. They will turn into skinny roundish lengths.
Wrap each of the tubes three or four times into a circular shape, using your palm or just doing it free hand; it doesn't matter if the fabric twists. Lau them down in that shape. Take two of
the 'chains' and tie them together with the stretched piece. Do that to all the circles linking all the rounds until you have a large circle.

The results will amaze you. It is very simple to do and has a wonderful look to it. I chose an almost monotone t but you could use a very colorful one for a completely different look. Try it! You'll like it!!

Woes

2012-01-16T08:02:00.001-06:00

I got to go exercise but I just wanted to tell you that if you have emailed me in the last three days, I have not received them so I suggest that you resend them. I got one this morning so there maybe hope. I have a call into the beloved Comcast.

I'm In Love

2012-01-15T08:08:00.004-06:00

Pinterest is very addicting. I love to see all the wonderful stuff, whether it's to look at or to make or learn. These oranges were injected with food coloring.
I wonder when Violet will be big enough for her Granny to make her Octopus hot dogs for lunch. I used to make my kids hot dogs with a slit down the long side and thin slices of cheese inserted and melted. For some unknown reason we called them Halloweinies. Don't ask me why.
I just googled halloweenies and this is what came up. Considerably cuter than my version. Sorry kids, I wasn't very creative back in the day.
Check out these precious cupcakes with sugar wafer ears, mini chip eyes and a slice of marshmallow for the snout. I will have to surprise my neighbors daughter with these next summer. She is a pig lover like me.
Another clever way to jazz up a plain sugar cube. Just add some natural dye. Oh, and make sure your saucer and cup are placed on eighty dollars worth of coffee beans too.
So simple yet I never thought of it. I truly looks good eneough to take a bite out of the picture.
These bread pigs are awfully cute too. I am going to start a collection of fun food that I can make for Violet when she gets a little older and actually KNOWS what I am doing.
And this? Just smiled when I saw it.

The Barter System

2012-01-14T07:54:00.006-06:00

G and I stopped in on our friends, Melody and Dave, in their beautiful home in Tennessee, on our way to sunny Florida. I was surprised how high on a mountain they live. I actually had to look away instead of dwelling on the lack of shoulders on the road and the drastic drop from road to oblivion. You can't have a cocktail and do that trip. Anyway, I got a tour of the house and saw all the changes that I have heard of but never got to see up close and personal. It was a dismal rainy day so roaming the acreage was not in the cards but we still got to see the koi pond and lots of lush gardens and decks.

The visit to her newly redone studio was exciting. I got to see her latest quilt and fell in love with it. It has already been sold but is on the lawaway plan.

It is called Radiant Orb and is 48 x 45. It looks good enough to eat.

I tried to talk Mel into a quilt exchange. I have a favorite of hers that she didn't even finish and doesn't even know where it is. I suggested that I finish this last quilt the Melody took a fancy to

and she could find and quilt the last in the series of cruciform quilts that I covet and we do the switch a roony. I would offer to quilt hers but it is fused and I am unfamiliar to quilting that form of construction. She is thinking about it. Trouble is, I can't seem to find a picture of her quilt I have dreamed about. She forgot all about it. We huddled over the laptop, trying to find it but had no success.
Forget that last passage. Mel just found the link to the quilt but not the quilt itself.

Then we started perusing Pinterest. You have to check it out. It is addicting.

Tall Order

2012-01-13T07:41:00.003-06:00

I spent the majority of yesterday away from home, which isn't like me. I went with Millie and got a new sewing machine and a sewing table too. Somehow we got it in my car and got it all set up at her house.
I had a couple hours between dog park and dinner with the girls to work on my latest baby sweater. I am proud of myself for tackling this in a timely fashion. I am the one that can knit forever and have a million parts but never seem to sew them together. Is this a new trend I am starting? Nah. This one is a size two. I only have the neck cowl to finish.
I was very happy to come home to a UPS box on my front stoop. It was sent from my sis and was filled with these Artbins, which are our current fave for storing and carting around projects that are in the works or just a light in the back of our brain. I can't wait to fill them up. That may mean that organization will be the theme for my day. Or maybe tomorrow. Yeah, that sounds better.

Get Your Whole Grain Somehow

2012-01-12T07:11:00.002-06:00

My friend that doesn't live close is going to be in my neck of the woods for many mornings because she signed up for a lecture series. That sounds very boring to be but as I say, to each his own. I have set up a sewing nook for her in my studio and she has already sewn together enough cut scraps to make a baby quilt. After my morning exercise, I am going to meet up with her and we are going to buy her a new sewing machine. Milly has decided on a Janome. I should get a commission on all the people that have Janomes because of me.

I have an unhealthy love of my new found Pinterest. I have no idea what I am doing with my boards and the repinning but I can't seem to ruin anything so that's a good thing. I saw this recipe on the site for Cheesy Quinoa Bites and thought I would give them a shot.
The first time I made them they didn't hold together as well as I would have liked so I started over and changed the egg count in the recipe from 2 to 4 and that was all it needed. They freeze really well and are good with just about any dipping sauce.

Very Graphic

2012-01-11T07:46:00.003-06:00

The first day on the road coming back to Florida was catchup with magazines day. I had four People and Us magazines each and I refuse to read them out of order. By the time I read them, I usually have heard the news via the grapevine but it's still nice to read a rag every now and then. I was two months behind in my Food Network magazine and had a couple other random mags to check out.

Day two was designated to finish up the sweater that I was supposed to finish on the way home in November. I ran into a couple snags and the biggest one was not being able to read the graph

because it was so tiny and I am having a bit of trouble with my eyesight (which will be rectified shortly). I decided to make a copy of the graph
in a big granny size. It worked much better and when Bella decided not to sit on what I was working on

I managed to finish the giraffe. Now I have to finish the armholes and neck and put it together. I need another road trip!!!

Happy Feet

2012-01-10T07:54:00.003-06:00

Violet's first birthday party found her just a little laid back. She was on her best behavior (except maybe for the foot on her high chair tray) with her sixty guests but wasn't the least bit interested in her
birthday cake. Any part of the cake that was removed was not done by her. And there is that foot again. We think she may take after her father and not care for cake.
On the other hand, she takes after me in the gift opening love. She went quickly from one wonderful gift to another
preferring to crawl on top of them before actually opening them. I can't believe she is already been on this planet for a year!!!

Yeah!!!!

2012-01-06T09:44:00.002-06:00

Itty bitty cupcakes are ready to go to Violet's party along with some other stuff that is in the works. Last night was the last class for the season for my superior pupil Anna. I got her a pattern that she was to do from beginning to end.
She has a toddler godson and I thought this would be a perfect last project. No, there is nothing wrong with your eyes. I took the picture of the finished
"creature" but somehow I pressed a wrong button on the new camera and when I went to download, it would not let me so I took a picture of the picture with another camera (my hated purse camera; touch screen - a nightmare) and it didn't turn out so good. You get the idea though. Anna did a great job and I typed up some homework for her to do over the winter and spring. She was very positive about continuing to work and progress.
I managed to get these blocks sewn together. I will take it to Florida and do the quilting there.

While we are gone, we will be replacing the black and white tile floor of the studio with a fake particle wood looking substance. I was going for laminate wood but it is so noisy I knew I would grow to hate it. I need something that is easy to spot pins on and I can roll around with my wheeled chairs on. We are also changing the carpeting throughout the house from taupe to eggplant. It is long overdue. I have been thinking of new carpeting for a couple years but it is such a big deal, moving furniture, taking up old carpeting and removing it, I just couldn't get my head around it. This is the best possible scenario. I won't be here for the mess!!! We have used the purple color in three past houses and it is by far my favorite. It's hard to imagine but it goes with every color there is. It makes me giddy with excitement!!!

Finish Already

2012-01-05T07:45:00.002-06:00

I finished up the blocks for the quilt I started last weekend. I would like to get it put together today so that I can quilt it in Florida. I have a very busy day. The house sitters are coming this morning to check stuff out, I have a mani/pedi and a haircut and it's the last class with Anna.
My sister brought me the instructions and a ball of yarn for the curly scarf and I made it this past weekend. It is pretty easy to do except the yarn is already in a mesh form but it doesn't look like it. You have to spread it out to knit it. The yarn turned and that was the biggest flaw in the whole process.
I solved it but taping down the yarn on a sturdy piece of plastic and stretching it out and rolling it up. It took almost an hour but after that all was smooth sailing.
Here is a closeup of the scarf and Mike got it on line.
and it's called Traina by Katia.

What, No Violets?

2012-01-04T11:59:00.001-06:00

It appears that little Violet took a minute from playing XBox to admire

her birthday flowers. That's my girl!

The Big Red One

2012-01-04T09:14:00.002-06:00

The time went so fast I can't even believe it. Our little Violet is one year old today. I will not see her today but we are having a birthday dinner on Friday in the city and the big birthday party will be held on the next day, to make it easier for everyone to attend. Half of the pictures of this little princess look like someone took a doll and propped it up. Violet has taken three steps on her own but as yet hasn't mastered the walk. Now I don't want her too until I see her again. When I saw her on Monday, she looked like she was ready to take off but she is holding out for a bigger audience. Happy Birthday dear Patchy.

Let's Wrap It Up

2012-01-03T08:40:00.002-06:00

This is so very cool; you will love it. As some of you know, this time of year is slow at many work places. My friend Micky's son's work place is no exception. While the cubby master of this cubicle
was away on holiday from work, Micky's son was very busy, making this home away from home very festive indeed. Check out the wheels on the chair. Not one item was left unadorned.
You may want to put your curser on this picture to make it bigger. You can see the detail of the masterful wrapping. Each item, pencils included, got the wrapping job, fit for a Santa's helper. I think that if times get tough at work, a job in Macy's gift wrapping department may be the next rung up!!!! Fine job, indeed!!!

We went to the Blackhawk's game last night (they lost) but I wanted to show you

how technically fine the new iPhones are in the picture taking department. I didn't take any purse or anything (I hate the thought of putting them on a sticky beer floor) so I had to relie
on Mick taking a few memorable (not!) snaps for me. I remember back in the day that you could hardly make out what was on the phone, picture wise and now the pixels are
very refined. If they can get the phones to zoom in and lock in so the blur is less, they will probably replace carrying a camera at all. That would certainly lighten my load!

Watch It Grow

2012-01-02T09:26:00.002-06:00

Even with all the partying that we have been doing, my sis Mike managed to put this whole pieced quilt together. I think it is adorable and after the green last border is attached, it will be perfect.

The other day, after I made that example of an art quilt for my student Anna, I left it on the design wall and after awhile it got me to thinking of making more blocks that are similar and seeing if it grows into something. Well, so far it has grown into 12 blocks and if I wasn't so lazy I would go into the studio and take a picture of it for you. Tomorrow is soon enough. I won't be leaving for Florida until after the baby's 1st birthday next Saturday. I will have enough time to finish up this new project and a few more I have started.

Ring In The New

2012-01-01T09:09:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year!
This is cousin Chai who is visiting with her mom for the holiday. She loves to sit high and watch all the comings and goings. I hope you have a joyful 2012!!!

A Proud Teacher

2011-12-31T08:33:00.003-06:00

Even with all this holiday stuff going on and all the dinners I am still committed to my solo sewing student. She was here yesterday afternoon and met my sister and explained that when she started with me back in November she didn't even know what a bobbin was! We get together in the afternoons around 3:30 and our 'class' lasts between two and two and a half hours. It's the perfect time for me because I have gotten the bulk of what I want to get done for the day well on it's way and before G gets home and we go work out. I even do other things now while she is learning because she is a very quick study and doesn't need a lot of hand holding. She asks a question, she gets the answer and she retains it.

This log cabin block was homework a couple weeks ago. She made it to be 16" square so that is
what our tote size ended up being. It is a sixteen inch square, lined and interfaced with heavyweight iron on . It has a flat bottom. I think she did an amazing job. A couple days later
she made these matching zippered pouches. She was a little intimidated by the zipper work but she took to it very easily.
We then tackled pajama bottoms. It was a lesson in reading the pattern, cutting it out and sewing it together with a casing and elastic and ribbon. Another job well done.
Here is my prized student Anna, modeling the apron she made yesterday. We started this project on our second visit and got as far as reading the pattern and my giving instruction as to how to go about the cutting, and marking. We started with the first thing that was on the directions and that was the right sides together curved pockets and had to put a kibosh on it because it was way too advanced. Here it is, just a month or so later and she did the pockets, added lace, and put on a curved lined yoke. I am very proud of her.

We will probably get together a couple more times before we head south. I gave her a simple block pattern and the directions to make a lap quilt as homework that we will discuss on Monday. I have given her several other projects to do while she is looking for something to do in her spare time. She can only get better with practice. I have even assigned her an art quilt to make out of sewn together pieces of scrap that I save in a big tub. I took a zip lock and filled it to the brim with the scraps and as we were gabbing with my sis and in between instructions

I sewed together a little example of what I was talking about as far as doing a abstract piece.

Happy New Year's Eve!!!

Packing in Up

2011-12-30T09:42:00.003-06:00

I woke up this morning to a call that my housekeeper is not coming today. Yikes! I have Stanley Steamer coming and I have to remove all the small stuff. That means Christmas stuff so I had to buckle down and do it. Right now, I am taking a break.

I thought I would show you the beautiful cake my daughter made for Christmas.
It was very detailed, befitting her love for all things food.

My son in law is by far the best turkey carver I have ever happened upon. It was a lovely sight.
The layered salad they made was another striking addition to our traditionally themed Christmas feast. We ended up having to transfer it to a larger bowl to toss but it still looked good.

Back to the packing away of all things Christmas. It is another warm day. We don't even have to wear winter coats!

Nothing Compares

2011-12-28T08:58:00.003-06:00

I am typing this directly from the Chicago Tribune. It needs to be exactly as the article reads for you to get the picture of this. I had to read through it twice. I got the picture of her from Google Images.

Irish singer Sinead O'Connor has ended her fourth marriage after a little more than two weeks, blaming pressure and disapproval from the family and friends of her new husband Barry Herridge.

O'Connor, 46, said on her blog that the marriage went wrong three hours after the Dec. 8 ceremony in Las Vegas and that the pair had lived together for only seven days before splitting on Christmas Eve. "Within 3 hours of the ceremony being over the marriage was kyboshed by the behavior of certain people in my husband's life. And also by a bit of a wild ride I took us on looking for a bit of a smoke of weed for me wedding night as I don't drink," the controversial singer wrote.

O'Conner, who found fame in the late 1980's with her shaved head and songs like "Nothing Compares 2 U," said that Herridge was "enormously wounded and very badly affected by that experience and also by the attitude of those close to him toward our marriage."

What? Is everyone crazy?

Christmas Morning Candid

2011-12-28T08:25:00.003-06:00

How is it that a twenty pounder takes up all my camera space? She can't talk, that is anything that we can decipher.
She can't walk and she can only take her clothes off but not help to put them on.
She can't even open her own presents. She has called for assistance that is no help at all.
She can't put ornaments on the tree, but only pull them off. Now, I am asking again, why does her image hog my camera space?

What I Got For Christmas

2011-12-27T08:38:00.003-06:00

I have a ton of pictures to go through so I will only touch on a bit of what I got for Christmas.

Long before it was time to open presents my daughter Maggie comes up to me with a massive box

and says that I need to open this gift RIGHT NOW,
She was right, as always!
My sister made me this scarf that I loved so much that I didn't take it off all day and night!
Peter and Maria gave me this. Yeah, it's at Christmas dinner. Notice the foot. Now, if I did that there would be some griping but Violet, she can do anything she wants!

Christmas Kids

2011-12-25T08:22:00.001-06:00

Merry Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T08:52:00.002-06:00

As the family sat down to a simple dinner of fish and broccoli and caesar salad, our Christmas
excitement was a little too much for Bella. She chose another table and caught some ZZZ's.
If you are like me, you know exactly how many of the gifts under the tree are for you and what shape they are and their exact location. Well, truthfully, I did do that when I was a child, along with the shaking and listening for any sound or movement. At least I have grown out of that!

We travel to the suburbs for the annual (it will be my 41st) Christmas Eve with the Fitz's. I am taking the regular suspects; fennel gratin, chicken pesto pasta, three appetizers consisting of my Blue Cheese Tartlets, Mini Pizza's with lagustinos, goat cheese and duck crostini, mini cupcakes for the little ones and Sticky Toffee Date Cake. Hips, hips, hurray!!!!!

Merry Merry Christmas!!!!

Quack

2011-12-23T09:03:00.002-06:00

I cooked my first duck. I haven't a clue why but I was a little intimidated by it. Gordon was pretty funny when he was at the checkout registers after doing a little shopping for me and said to the clerk when he saw the price of the 8 oz. of pine nuts and the duck, 'do you supply security out to the car?' He's so funny. In the end,
I was far away into the studio when the timer went off two hours after the duck went in. I haven't a clue how long I overcooked it. Oh well, it's edible and it's only for an appetizer for Christmas eve. Actually a whole duck doesn't have a lot of meat on it. And compared to the duck we used at culinary school, this particular duck was a bit anorexic. I seem to recall much more fat. I will mix the chopped duck meat with mango chutney and goat cheese and top it on a toasted baguette slice and have a nice holiday crostini.
My sewing student, Anna, brought over a little something yesterday afternoon and it seemed to make an impression on Bella. I was going to the kitchen from the studio at about 10 p.m. last night and there she was, up on the dining room table looking very guilty and squinty. Thankfully she hasn't mastered opening containers yet!

I don't know what the next couple days will be like. My family starts coming today and that will be the start of family, friends, food and fun. I wish you all the best of the holidays !!

Girls Visit

2011-12-22T08:44:00.003-06:00

Could a girl look any better in her Jeggings than this? Maria and Violet came for a visit.
I guess it's a no brainer what she was attracted to. I just love to watch her little body in motion.
She can bend down and almost touch her butt to the floor and get back upright but
she will not walk. She can just pop up out of a sit and stand forever but taking a step without her little walker?
She's having nothing to do with that. Maria guesses that she is like her father and if she can't do it perfectly,
she will wait until she can. Oh, and there is a very bare section of the tree, thanks to my gal.

What A Prick

2011-12-21T09:29:00.003-06:00

For the last couple of days I have taken over G's morning ritual with Bella. Normally I get up first and do Scrabble, Blog and read email and when the other two roommates get up they tend to recline while having coffee and reading the paper. G has had to leave at the crack to go to bank meetings so I have done the reclining with Bella. Yesterday it was to the extent that I didn't get out of the chair until I had to leave for an appointment and this morning it was almost the same except that the book I was reading on G's old Kindle concluded and here I am. I finished the last of the three books by Stieg Larsson, 'The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest. I have heard mixed reviews on them but I liked them all.

We had a lovely dinner with friends in the city last night. I can't believe this weather. It's been in the 40's. What's up with that?

My daughter and her high school chums have lots of annual get togethers. They go on a long weekend trip each year that they take turns planning They have a booklet of rules which are followed so that there is harmony for all. They also have a holiday get together each year that is a little different that the normal cookie or ornament exchange. It is an ornament exchange with a twist. It's a PORNament exchange which I find delightful. This year, while the girls in the family were playing around with the felted wool I started to formulate something that I thought would be the perfect touch.
My nimble fingers made a perfect pornament that measured only 3 1/2 inches long. It is pretty

cute and I feel it's a unique way of using that old wool. I feel quite confident that it had all the necessary parts.

I even named it. It was a big hit and was one that was passed around and fought for. It makes a mother proud.

Oh My Man

2011-12-19T08:07:00.001-06:00

My friend Peggy has been saving selvages from fabric for a few months now and I was pleasantly surprised to open a package from her with a pillow

made from selvages. On top of the pillow was a 'sleeve' of fabric which I assumed was a band to put
around the pillow to change it up. I felt a little silly when Peggy told me it was a cowl scarf to
go around your neck. She likes them because they are made out of cotton fabric and aren't itchy or hot. Good idea! When G took this picture he asked me why I told him not to put my head in the picture. I told him that I just got up and haven't brushed my teeth or combed my hair. He said that no one would be able to tell. MEN!!!!!!

Random Pictures

2011-12-18T10:06:00.002-06:00

Check out this virtual Christmas card I received from my friend Rosario that lives
in Spain. It looks like she had a great idea while she was dying a bunch of fabric. I love the novelty of it!!!
I received my weekly flowers ( a gift I give myself) and had to share with you how adorable Jane made this vase. There is a 'bow' made out of easily movable thick wire with balls formed at the ends that is around the top of the vase and there individual loose balls in the water at the base. Clever girl!!
I know I have had the discussion that you can't find Roka Blue in the jars anymore. Well, I was in the store and on my list was English Cheddar in the jars for my Maggie's favorite appetizer and there was tons of Roka Blue right there. My guess is that they only put it out at holiday time. I got eight jars. I have to email Anne for her dip recipe that uses the stuff. I don't know where the recipe I had is. Since I wrote this, Anne sent me the recipe.

I made up a big batch of butter, cheese and garlic powder a couple days ago to make my Garlic

Cheese Puffs. I don't know what I was thinking of but I bought twice as much bread as I needed. My thinking brain went on and I decided to experiment. I made a big batch of Roka Cheese Puffs and they turned out wonderful. I substituted Roka for English and kept the butter the same and added a little crumbled blue instead of the garlic powder. I am going to serve them together to get the majority opinion on which one is better. Yippee! A contest!

Nuking Brittle

2011-12-17T08:07:00.002-06:00

I take back everything I said about making brittle. And that is all thanks to Carol who, after reading my tragic intro to brittle, sent me her sure fire recipe she has been making for twenty years that she got out of Bon Appetit. The brittle is made in the microwave. No mess, no burning myself!!!
You take 1 1/2 c. of nuts (usually unsalted dry roasted peanuts but I used pinenuts and rosemary) and with a cup of sugar, 1/2 c. light corn syrup and a pinch of salt into a cooking spray coated microwavable glass bowl. I used my 2 qt. pyrex measuring cup. You need extra room because the last step foams and increases a bit in volume of the hot candy.
With these combined you nuke them for six minutes (I did 4 minutes because the pinenuts are less dense and smaller). Cooking times will vary with each microwave so just watch it and you want it to be bubbling vigorously. Remove from microwave and stir in 1 T. butter and 1 t. vanilla (I eliminated the vanilla because of my savory elements).

Spray sheet pan liberally with cooking spray. Return to the microwave and cook on high until candy turns light gold color, about 3 minutes. Remove bowl from microwave. Working quickly add 1 1/4 t. backing soda and stir briskly. It will foam up a bit.
Sift the baking soda to eliminate any lumps because they will show their evil head and not dissolve in the brittle. Just use a fine sieve.
This is what it looks like when adding the soda. Immediately pour the brittle on the prepared
pan, trying to get it as thin as possible. It sets up very quickly. Let it get hard and then crack
it up. It is simple and the cleanup is non existent. The pyrex needs very hot water to clean so you may want to have boiling water handy if you don't get real hot tap water. The only thing that I didn't like which is a quick fix is that the bottom of the brittle is a little slick from the cooking spray so when it was cold and before cracking I wiped the bottom off with a paper towel. Problem solved. It took 6 minutes of cooking and 2 minutes of prep. Yeah, you can do that!!

Something Big

2011-12-16T08:15:00.004-06:00

It comes around every year and here it is again. The thirty ninth anniversary of G and me posing in front of a very tacky fireplace. Back in the day it must have been in style to wear your clothes big because I could fit two of me in this dress. And then there is G's tie. Oh dear.

But that isn't the big thing today. Something is happening that is much bigger than a multiple decade union. And it's something that we can all honor. Free Fries Friday.

I guess BK changed their fries yet again to go up against the big boys. Hey, I'm going. Let me know if you go and what you think. French fries are VERY important to me and they should be to you also.

Thanks!!!

2011-12-15T08:13:00.002-06:00

Thanks for all the great ideas for my student projects. I have a couple questions on them. What's the mitten making fleece thingy. Never heard of it. Also, do I need to buy a pattern to make the pajama bottoms? I love this idea. What's the 20 minute pillowcase pattern? She's way to green for a zipper. I so love the idea of using left over batting to make the pillow form bigger. What is wrong with my brain that I couldn't think of that on my own? I have so much left over batting from quilts that I never know what to do with and now I do!!!! You guys are genius!!!!

What I did last evening (she actually comes after work at 3:30 to 6 at the latest) was open up Quilters Cache and have her pick out some block. I don't do any homework or prep for her arrival; I know me and if I did that, I would grow to hate that it was imposing on my own time. I have given her a time frame to come (my down time when I start to prepare for dinner) and before we go and work out so I do everything once the doorbell rings. It's only fair.

She chose this braid that I have never seen before. I am constantly amazed at how she thinks. She spent the whole time cutting out 7 1/2 x 2 1/2 rectangles out of my

hand dyed scrap drawer and this picture was taken five minutes ago, 15 hours after Anna left my house and so you can see that she didn't even make a dint in it. This is a big drawer; 30 wide and about 10 inches high and another 24 deep. It holds a lot and yet you would never know anyone

was even in it, yet here are rectangles. I felt a little bad that she spent the whole time cutting but hey, if you can't learn to use a rotary cutter without cutting yourself and use a rotary mat to measure, you aren't gonna get very far in sewing in this day and age. Plus, I wanted her to have a project that she could work on at home. This may be the project that she works on when I am south. Wouldn't it be something if I came back in the spring and she was ready to quilt? I can only dream.

My Single Student

2011-12-14T08:45:00.003-06:00

When I got back from Florida I started to mentor a young girl,

Anna, who wanted to learn how to sew. Here she is, although she doesn't like to have her picture taken, she has relented to my insistence. She is bright and picks up everything like a sponge.

We started out with learning the sewing machine, how to iron seams and using the rotary cutter. That was a first for her. She has almost mastered that and the quarter inch, although quilting isn't all she wants to learn. I have to teach what I know though, right? Can new quilters be in their early twenties? This one will be if I have my way.

The apron we started with was a little overwhelming with curves and ruffles so we put it off to the side and started with the Thread Catcher
and she put up with my lack of teaching skills and made one of these. We then looked around the room and decided the next project would be
the chick pin cushion. She picked out this darling fabric out of my stash and made it in less than two hours. We filled it with these crushed walnut shells that I was gifted from my quilting
slut dear friend, Peggy. Last night we started and finished this log cabin block that we made into
a pillow. The block ended up being bigger than the pillow form so it's not the greatest fit but she was thrilled. Her machine only got unthreaded twice, and that was at the end of the lesson when she was tired, but still, she did an amazing job. In just a couple weeks she has made amazing strides. I am very proud of her.

If you sewers out there can assist me, give me some ideas for other lessons for Anna. I probably have eight to ten more class meetings with Anna before I leave to go south and I have already gone through most of what I can think of for lesson plans. Any help would be appreciated. I am actually enjoying this!

It's Got Me Thinking

2011-12-13T07:18:00.000-06:00

This woman is 52..........born in Sept. 1959

She is TV health guru Gillian McKeith, advocating a holistic approach to nutrition and health, promoting exercise, a vegetarian diet high in organic fruits and vegetables. She recommends detox diets, colonic irrigation and supplements.

This woman is 51 (3 1/2 months younger) ........born Jan.1960
She is Nigllea Lawson a TV cook, who eats meat, butter and desserts.

It gives you pause, doesn't it?

Those Hugus's!!!!

2011-12-12T06:37:00.000-06:00

I watched the whole second season of Breaking Bad yesterday and ate salami, cheddar cheese and yellow mustard little sandwiches all day. It was a great day.

This is pretty cute. I normally wait to find out that everyone got their Christmas pillows but as in the past, I blew it. I gave it over a week for USPS to deliver and thinking that I hadn't heard of delivery (pillow receiving isn't always a priority) and figured it was enough time to receive the parcel before I blogged it but again, I was wrong. I found this out when I received this touching photo and caption under it from California.

I don't see any box here. I had to see it on your blog or was that a decoy?!

I was contrite. Then I got this photo of Frank taking a picture of his pillows

without this years addition. Will I ever learn?

Lazy Day

2011-12-11T08:56:00.005-06:00

I am looking for a knitting pattern for a hat for my Violet that fits 18" head that has ear flaps and ties. Does anyone have one that can easily be accessed to give me? I went online and there are thousands but it takes forever to find just what I want. I don't have the patience on the computer if you can't just type in what you want and up it comes.

Here are two of my quilts that are hanging in Indianapolis, Indiana at the SAQA/SDA Show. The show goes until the end of the year. It is in the Indiana Humanities building downtown Indianapolis if you have nothing to do at this rather slow time of year.

It is cold buy sunny and I intend to sit on my studio loveseat today and knit and watch season two of Breaking Bad. Heaven.

Bark and Brittle

2011-12-10T08:45:00.006-06:00

Here's some sheets of Black and White Bark that I brought in from the porch where they set up in frigid conditions. I have just added it to the Tommy Cooks blog. You won't be sorry if you make it.
It's fast and easy and a real crowd pleaser!

Now on to a weary story of my cooking malfunction yesterday. Let me start by saying that I have never made brittle before. I am quite sure I will not do it again. Here's why. A friend of mine gave me some Pine Nut Brittle to try and I LOVED it. Really, it was wonderful. So I decided to add it to my repertory of holiday fares. I got the ingredients that include sugar, pine nuts, butter, salt, and the rosemary out of the garden (by a hair before the snow killed it). Well, the recipe called for lining a sheet pan with parchment to spread the finished brittle on. My parchment is a tad smaller than the inner area of the half sheet pan I use so I opted for wax paper instead. I made two double batches and had them setting up when I went to check on them and found that I couldn't separate the brittle from the paper. I always assumed that the two types of paper were pretty interchangeable but not so for brittle! I had to scrap brittle that contained four sticks of butter, eight cups of sugar and worst of all, 3 # of pine nuts. I was just sick.

I used gallons of hot water to the pot to get the hardened sugar off which I felt guilty about. I burnt myself twice and good enough for a hefty blister. I made two more double batches and this time I used parchment paper. It turned out fine but my spirit was a bit dampened
and my burnt hand was killing me with the ten minutes of stirring it calls for. The stuff tastes great and if you happen to be around my house, come on in and share it with me. It will be a one time offer. I will post it later on the food blog.

Taco Soup Update

2011-12-09T09:43:00.002-06:00

Pam, who is going to make the Taco Soup pointed out to me that it said to add water but I never said how much. I have changed the recipe.

It is one cup water per batch. Don't drain the tomatoes but
as usual with canned beans, rinse before adding. I have made a batch twice this week and
the second one (on the stove right now) has black beans instead of kidney beans. I prefer this.
Thanks so much. It is not watery. You may want to add salt but I don't.
After putting on tortilla chips, sour cream and scallions, it's got enough of everything for me.

You can make the whole thing in less than ten minutes!

Happenings

2011-12-09T09:08:00.003-06:00

The guys that do all my additions and fixing up around the house have chosen to come this week and do some of the 28 things on the list we sent them to do when we are in Florida. Anyway, they are here for the third day and I just went up to one of them, Jason, and handed him WD40 because his paint roller is very, very noisy. He said he couldn't apply it now because the paint was on. And then he said that he was sorry it was so noisy and he hoped it didn't bother me too much. I said that it didn't bother me at all; I knew by hearing it where he was and the fact that he was working!!! He laughed.

I was quite surprised when I woke up to this.
We had s dusting of snow a couple weeks ago that melted before it hit the ground. After I just typed the last line I realized that the snow was compromising my herbs in the garden that I still had holiday plans for.
The flat leaf parsley and rosemary look fine. I didn't bother with the sage and thyme; they are so very hearty that they reappear every year. The chives, mint and oregano are done for the year.
I have started my bark making and love when it is cold enough on the three season porch to use as a refrig. I run out of places to put things without looking like I am in a thrift shop!
My favorite guy, G, gifted me with a new iPhone. I have never updated my phone since the first iPhone 3 and when I saw that you could just talk to it without having to go through Dragon Dictation, I wanted it. I haven't had time to play with it yet. Merry Christmas to me!!!

A Little Humor

2011-12-08T10:54:00.001-06:00

My old buddy & I were sitting at a bar having a drink.

I pointed to two old drunks sitting across the bar from us

And told my friend, "That's us in 10 years".

He said "My friend that's a mirror.”

Can You Believe This?

2011-12-08T08:23:00.002-06:00

If I didn't know any different

I would say that this was staged and not a real baby or the REAL Santa.
I am pretty speechless when it comes to Violet. Check out her little hand in his.

Breaking News!

2011-12-07T14:43:00.000-06:00

BREAKING NEWS: The Supreme Court has ruled that there cannot be a Nativity
Scene in the United States Capital this Christmas season. This isn't for any
religious reason. They simply have NOT been able to find Three Wise Men in
the Nation's Capitol. The search for a Virgin continues. There was no
problem, however, finding enough asses to fill the stable...

My Kinda Fun

2011-12-07T08:24:00.002-06:00

I definitely have a problem with food. I was watching the second to the last episode of Biggest Loser last night and John, one of the finalists kept saying that over and over. Well, I got up today almost giddy about going to Costco today for food. Big amounts of food. My cooking ritual is in full gear. Once I get to cooking, there is no stopping me (oh, except space to put it).I have the biggest containers (bowls, pots) that they make, but I still have to make stuff in batches because usually splitting in half of thirds the ingredients. When you are making something like stew and it takes three good hours to cook, you have a lot of time in between batches to do something else.

Last night I tackled the Taco Soup my sister discovered. It's on Tommy Cooks
and is very simple. It's pretty much opening cans up and mixing and simmering. Yeah, I can do that.
These are about 5 cup containers. I think I will have that short one in front for some fortification before heading to the big box store with my shopping list!!

Pillow Talk

2011-12-06T09:13:00.002-06:00

I got my gifts that I have purchased and or made wrapped before noon yesterday. I was very proud of myself. I then made several servings of one of my new favorite go to dishes; enchilada verdes. I am posting the recipe, which is so simple you won't believe it, today.

It's that time of year again. The annual pillow has been delivered to the post office and
hopefully delivered to all. This year I had a little help from my sister in the knitting. I seem to get sidetracked in the shaping of the tree and when I had finished up all thirty, some looked sketchy. She took over and replicated the ones that I had to toss. If you will notice, the year tag is on the right, in the seam.
This is the silly looking card that I sent with them. I try to make the card like the pillow but it doesn't always work.

Speaking of Babies

2011-12-05T08:24:00.002-06:00

This is what awaits me when I get off the computer. I have put it off as long as I canand now I am tired of walking by the dining room and looking at the mess. In the past I would love to wrap presents but that is definitely a thing of the past.

Check out beautiful Adriana resting on the quilt that Aunt Tommy sent her.
She's already a couple months old. The time goes so fast. Speaking of babies, our little Violet was eleven months old yesterday. I can't even believe how fast it goes, especially when you aren't the one wiping butts and runny noses! It's good to be grandma. Oh, yeah, that is what I am calling myself. I will leave and deviation of that famous name up to the offspring of my offspring.

And again, speaking of babies,
I am hoping against hope that there isn't one in this stroller! I turned around from checking out of Kohl's and saw this. It was definitely a Kodak moment!!!

'Bamba'

2011-12-04T09:16:00.004-06:00

This quilt has been on my design wall for a couple months and I forgot to share it with you. This was the one that took me years to hand applique and after I started to hand quilt it

I realized that I have a limited number of years left in my life and i wasn't gonna spend it on this. So off to my hand quilter Marie, with written directions on the quilting style and some matching thread, it went. It was back in my hands in less than a month.
This is accurate in color but the next one shows the quilting better but is
not accurate in color. She did exactly what I wanted. It measures 33 1/2 x 25 and is called 'Bamba'. It is yet to be faced to it may shrink a little when the edges are tended. I have the perfect place for this to end up, but it's a secret.

Food Stuffs

2011-12-03T08:40:00.002-06:00

I have just now had another request for the Piñón recipe of my friend Millie.
I made it for Thanksgiving and it was wonderful. I have decided to post it on Tommy Cooks.

I got a great deal on 95% ground beef so was like a whirling dervish yesterday making Shepherd's Pie and Cottage Pie (the favorite of Prince William and his Katherine) and hands down G and I like the former best. I think the addition of cheese in the Cottage Pie can't hold a candle to the corn, peas and carrots in the Shepherd's Pie. I peeled 20# of potatoes and still I have to go out today and get more.

My young protegee Anna and I went to the sewing machine shop on Thursday, early evening. I took in a Featherweight that was frozen and my Designer I from Florida for a tune up. We left the place with Anna's purchase of a Janome Magnolia, with extra needles and bobbins and a carrying case for under $200. I picked up my two machines yesterday afternoon (yeah, the guy is that fast) and spent $111. There's something wrong with that. Anyway, I found out that I have been sewing in Florida with the wrong single hole throat plate. The guy says the feed dogs hit it every time the pedal is pushed. I guess I am not that observant because I have had it for more than ten years!!! I like the single hole plate when piecing because the throat plate doesn't 'eat' any of my fabric.

Oily Business

2011-12-01T08:14:00.002-06:00

I have spent the last two days running errands and going to long made appointments. Today is no exception. I am off to far away places to hook up once again with my skin doctor. It's time to get out a book on CD.

Two days ago my camera quit working. I gave it the once over and after taking off the lens, realized that it had a part inside that had giggled lose. Wolf camera wasn't much help. The lens is discontinued (of course) and it's replacement has more bells and whistles all for a mere $499. I think my whole camera back in the day was only seven something.
So. not being able to live without a 35mm SLR, I swung for the extra $100 and bought this smaller and lighter D3100 with an 18-55 lens. I haven't had time to play with it yet, but I did get the strap on which is quite a feat for me.

I started mentoring a young woman yesterday. I met Anna at my solo show and got to talking about how I started out sewing and one thing led to another and six months later we had our first one on one in my studio to learn to sew. She entered carrying a dinosaur of a Singer that she said was in the sisters basement forever. Well, I couldn't agree more after getting a better look at it. No amount of oil in the world was going to reclaim the machine; at least in my hands. Then we thought to start her out on the Janome 6600 but I couldn't get the walking foot and a normal foot on it in a timely fashion. The Viking was out of the question because I didn't want her to learn on a machine that had no presser foot lever, only to go back to one later. I went in the basement and got out the Featherweight Singer that I taught Micky to sew with a few years ago but it too failed me because even after I oiled it, the wheel would not go around except in the bobbin threader mode.

We decided jointly that this was a bad start and we headed to the computer to look at Janome's. I suggested that because the guy that services my machine sells them and so she would have an expert close by. I know that all my sewing machine toting friends have the Janome Gem Gold and so maybe that would be sufficient or maybe one up from that. We are going to the sewing machine shop after I get back from the dr. I will be taking in the Featherweight to get serviced along with my Florida Viking that is still in the trunk of the car because it is easier to service it here than there. I just wonder if Anna will be toting the basement Singer when she comes to go with me. Let's see, what do I need from the store?

Add Ons

2011-11-30T08:44:00.002-06:00

Here are some cool embellishments you could make quite easily.
You could exchange the boring cami strap with another or multiples. You could even keep the original and just add to it.
You asked me what to do with those random yoyo's you have from your grandmother or a garage sale or you are one of those freaks that still make them and need a place for them to end up? Well here is your answer.
Add the yoyo's to the shoulder of a tee and jazz it up. You can add beading like this one or just leave them on their own for a cute little ruffle.
Got a plain jane coat you want to give new life to? Here ya go; machine embroider some flowers and get some matching wool or felt
and cut out and string some three dimensional flowers. I love the idea of reglamming old clothes. I never do it, but I like to think that one day I will.

Dog Anxiety

2011-11-29T08:21:00.002-06:00

I ran Bella over to the groomer yesterday morning to get a head trim. Her couf was a bit of a
melon head. While I was waiting for her I chanced to see this new product that was all the talk

at dog park this fall. It's called ThunderShirt ( get it? like undershirt?). It a lightweight flexible
'jacket' that Velcro's tightly around the dog. It relieves anxiety and all sorts of things. I of course had to try it on Bella. She just stood there at attention. She really didn't move. I am sure it's just the oddness of having anything on her. I think I may get it and try it out for when we leave her for any length of time. Normally her breath is perfectly fine; but when we leave her we return to a dog with bad breath. It dissipates quickly but still, it means that she is tense and her acid in her stomach is reeling. My friend Kathy, who normally sedates her dog DeeDee for long car rides, got the ThunderShirt and used it to go to a trip to Atlanta, and DeeDee was perfect. There ya go.

Wee Ones

2011-11-28T08:39:00.002-06:00

I have about a hundred pictures of Thanksgiving. I think that I take too many pictures and don't have the ambition to sort through them and crop, delete, etc. I am going to make a concerted effort to limit my picture taking in the future. Yeah, right. Anyway, here's a couple of the kids .
Ella is six (the oldest of the kids) and she has more personality than ten of my friends (and you know who you are). She has chosen to wear her pilgrim hat that she made in school. I love the boots!
Page and Gracie are helping grandma with the crescent rolls. They were both a quick study and will make excellent chefs.
Violet is in the midst of her first cold and therefore didn't take her afternoon nap and was quite quiet. You would never know anything was wrong with her, that's how good she is. The four older girls kept taking turns holding her and she was always looking up at them admiringly.
She showed off her standing abilities to her cousin Jack.
Why Aunt Claudia was framing Violet's head with her hands is anybodies guess. Violet is having her Thanksgiving feast and because she has mastered jerking off velcro bibs and the ones that go over her head, I tried out this prototype of what I now refer to the body bib.
Here is the revised final version of the body bib. It has ribbing on the neck and sleeves and the
fabric is waterproof. This is the back view. She could get it off her head if the cuffs weren't there but it is even more than she can tackle. The fabric is something that is very new to me. It has it's own spot at the fabric store, along with all the snaps and binding to make bloomer type covers for diapers. You can cut it and it doesn't ravel. As I said, it is waterproof and along with that, it is stretchy and washable.
The color choice is very limited, both ribbing anymore and the fabric itself. I have made her a bundle and will look for more interesting fabrics. I could use a body bib!!!!

Let The Holiday Season Begin!

2011-11-27T11:10:00.003-06:00

I just finished the hat that matches Violet's little snow suit. It looks big here but it's only about five inches wide. I hope she likes it.
My sis Mike and sis in law Claud helped with the setup for the gingerbread house decorating party we had last night. Bea got up on the chair and claimed her spot to work in. We had to politely tell her that it was for the 'big girls' and she was too young and anyway, she can't hold the royal icing and sit upright at the same time.
This is just the beginning of the stash of things we could use to decorate with. Lots of the girls later brought even more stuff.
Here we have Kate, Linda, Molly, Laurel, Ellie Susie, Micky and Mike, with Claudia and me up front. We had a really fun time and because it was on a holiday weekend, we lost some regulars but frankly, it was so much less hectic for me, running to make more icing and getting this and that, that I gabbed to my hearts content.
This is the lineup of the finished creations and I will be taking them to the nursing home today.

I didn't take a picture of the dessert but it was really good. I made gingerbread cake and cut it up in bite sized squares. I sauteed some bite sized red pears and topped the gingerbread with it and carmel sauce and little french vanilla ice cream balls. Yum!

Twin Carcasses

2011-11-25T08:49:00.001-06:00

This is the remains of the two turkeys. I guess we were hungry.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2011-11-24T09:06:00.004-06:00

Bella loves to have her cousins visit. She doesn't mind that she can't eat because if her food goes on her placemat, it gets gobbled up by either Bea (pictured with Bella) or more likely Chai (who is right now scouring the kitchen for fallout.

We are all having lots of fun. We have just about every minute planned until Sunday departure.

Now I will tell you about the caesar salad I had at a restaurant last week. The description on the menu didn't warn me for the difference in it and most other caesar salads. It starts with a ring of bread that is cut with the biggest circular cutter that can be cut out of the bread. Then I cut the middle out with a cutter a couple sizes down. I then put it in an oven to toast.
With the largest circle cutter I drew a circle on parchment paper and filled it with grated parmesan and put that in the oven to melt and maintain the circular shape.
After making the dressing I cut the romaine in about 1 1/2" slice across the head of lettuce. I put it in this foil pan and drizzled the dressing down in the fissures of lettuce.
The construction

us simple. Place the toasted ring on the salad plate and arrange the round of romaine in the center. Top it off with the parmesan circle. I put a little scallion on the top for color but the restaurant topped theirs with a grape tomato cut in half with a tiny micro greens. The presentation was very well received.

Thanksgiving Prep

2011-11-23T09:32:00.002-06:00

My company is on it's way and I have my menu planned. Tonight for dinner we will have caesar salad (a very unique version I had at a restaurant last Saturday nite) that I will blog, my green beans and red peppers, linguini with chicken scallopini and date cake. Tomorrow for the family gathering at my sister in law's I am taking shrimp puffs, fried cheese curds (first time making them; I am crossing my fingers that they work), asiago bites, chicken pesto pasta (they insist I bring it each year), pinion (a puerto rican dish I have never made before) and pineapple upside down cake. I have to hit the supermarket big time!

The new way to put the gingerbread houses together, taught to me yesterday by my friend Barb worked out wonderful.

You just take a large shallow pot and put about an 1/2 inch to an inch of plain granulated sugar in it and put it over a medium high flame and cook it until it melts. Then you just dip the sides of the house in it and voila! It sets up immediately. They don't look so good and there are gaps but you cover all that with the royal frosting anyway so it really doesn't matter. You can put together 15 houses in no time at all.
The house kits came with a bag of royal frosting that needed a little help so I took it out of the package
and put it in my kitchenaid and added about a tablespoon of water gradually, beating it constantly until it returned to it's proper consistency.
I bagged them in ziplocks and they are ready to use, with just a snip in the corner to use as a piping bag. The decorating party is this Saturday.

I am off to the store!

Ginger-Ly

2011-11-22T07:59:00.002-06:00

Our little Violet is all decked out in her new fall attire, which includes a sweater made by her grandma. She likes the park and watching trees move and kids move. She does not like bibs and can no longer safely wear one that is attached together with velcro. She has figured the product out.
It's almost that time of year again. I have decided to have my gingerbread house decorating party early this year (this coming Saturday) so that my sister in law Claudia can partake as she is coming to visit tomorrow for the Thanksgiving season. I knew I would lose some girlfriends because of holiday festivities but I still will have a nice crowd and for once in my life I do not have to fill up every chair I can find!!

I have the stuff out because my friend Barb is coming over to show me how to assemble them better and stronger. Gingerbread houses were a big thing for her family while her kids were growing up. She would spend days on big elaborate houses and the kids would demolish the house on New Years Eve. That's a lot of work for the wrecking ball.

I'm thinking about serving Ginger Roger's.

Home Sweet

2011-11-21T16:45:00.003-06:00

I just got home and connected. I am too lazy to do the blogging while traveling home. It's too rushed and a hassle. The weather went from 85º to 46º just like that!!! You can tell the difference in the outside temperature while in the car. It stayed warm until Tennessee, were it dropped into the 50's.
I noticed tons of unpicked cotton in Georgia which I never noticed before.
and I have no idea why. G and I had lots of googling going on, mostly about bands and the songs and singers on satellite radio.
When back in Indiana we got to see the giant wind fans. I am always amazed by them. Here is one of the blades
on it's way to somewhere in the state of Michigan. This goes to show you how massive these puppies are. We see the blades sitting on large semi's close to the expressway very often.

As for Bella, she likes to come and she likes to go; she is a very good traveler!

Staging

2011-11-19T06:52:00.000-06:00

I have eleven projects almost done. Literally, they each have an hour or two at the most to finish up. I chose to not do that stuff but rather de-clutter my house. We are planning on moving eventually and I need to get rid of some stuff that means nothing to me but I still have hanging around. I have watched a couple of shows about 'staging' your house before putting it on the market and although I don't need design ideas (as that was my prior life's work) but I do think that less is more. Having Micky here spurred me on too. Actually it's kind of fun to do. It makes your house look weird, like after Christmas when you take down your decorations and for the first day, when you walk into the room, it seems wrong. That's easy to overcome. I'll just give it a day!!!

When my weary bones got tired and it was time to hunker down, I did manage to finish one of

the projects.
I finished the rolled collar on this little (I think I made a size two) duck sweater. It was a fast and fun project. Now, what will I do with it?

We are heading back north tomorrow for the holidays. I have lots of stuff I want to do today but I think I will concentrate on what NEEDS to get done. It's a problem I have.

What's A Dollar?

2011-11-18T11:39:00.001-06:00

My friend Frank wrote this on his Facebook page and I decided to steal it because it is so true. You loose perspective when the words are bouncing around.

I'm sorry but I just can't get over this fact especially when hearing our politicians toss around words like "millionaires and billionaires". If you look at a dollar like it was a second, one million seconds would equal 11.5 days. One billion seconds would be 32 years! Wait, it gets better...one Trillion seconds is over 30,000 years! Try to keep this in mind when mulling over how your tax dollars are being spent. Just a thought.

Stain Away

2011-11-18T07:17:00.002-06:00

Check this out.

This is my sink. It is made of Corian. I burnt it. Yep, I have had this product off and on for 30 years and never burnt it before. Stained? Yes. Scratched? Yes. Never burnt. The hand model I am using for this visualization is Millie. My hands are laden with noseeum bites that are doing a little festering.
With a little Corian cleaner, a little patience (we had to apply and then wait five minutes) and a little elbow grease (that would be Kathy) and a couple of tries and the sink
was as good as new. Even Elizabeth the housekeeper didn't notice. Yeah!!! Thanks gals.

Bookworm

2011-11-16T19:12:00.005-06:00

There was a commercial on last night that I had to replay. It said that if you find a better sale price someplace other than Walmart they would give you the difference on a Walmart gift card. Instead of their old match any price, now they get the difference spent in their store. Very very clever. It made me take a second look.
My friend Micky is here visiting and I dragged her to a local private library for the book sale, which I never miss. I normally don't get there when all the good books are still there but this time I saw the sign announcing the sale earlier in the week than I used to. I first hit the cookbook section and we spent so much time at the section that we never hit any other spot.

This is what I walked away with. Micky got two or three others. I am into the old cookbooks so the top one was from the 1940's. I once had the second to the last cookbook named Star Desserts and I no longer have it so I remember liking it and so got it for a steal. At the end of the week you can get a whole bag of books for $5. I am sure I will be back at the end of the week.

Falling Leaves

2011-11-16T06:48:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was a nice day, even if it was a little hot for me. But by evening the humidity was so high (the computer said 97%) that I almost fell when I walked into my studio bathroom. The slate floor was wet and I looked everywhere for a leak and so did G but it was nothing more than humidity. The windows are no longer open. The air is on. It's like up north; I try and not turn on the heat until in October. Down in Florida, I never want the air on in the winter. Sometimes I have to do what I don't want to.
I forgot that I had this picture that Regina sent to me that she took with her phone from a party we went to in September. This is a cabbage made out of chocolate that is filled with chocolate that our mutual friend Barb made. FROM SCRATCH!!!!! I know that I sometimes exhaust people but Barb exhausts me!!!!

Barb is a good segue because yesterday I had a couple friends over to make the almond leaf cookies
that I made last month with Barb.

I got my own set of leaf spatulas (they call them stencils) and I got them and a few other things from ChefTools.com. I probably wouldn't have gotten the 'other things' if shipping wasn't free if you bought so much. We're always needing stuff, right?

My favorite shopper, G, got the supplies and came home with almond paste in a form I have never seen. Usually it is in the little 8 oz can. This tube paste is seven oz. making it a pain in the neck to alter the recipe. I ended up adding a little Wondra.
Kathy
and Millie got the hang of it real fast. I was in charge of the dipping chocolate over the water baths.
I thought about tempering the chocolate, and then thought naaaaaaaa.

Blade Runner

2011-11-15T07:41:00.002-06:00

I was just emailing my friend Melody when I got to thinking about roller blading. She was the only person that ever roller bladed with me. No, I take it back, there were a couple, including my daughter and G but they never really liked it like I did. Well, I have hung up my blades for good; in fact, they are at the resale shop (two pair of mine and one of G's) along with all the pads and helmets (which I hadn't used after the first year; more than 20 years ago). It's too hot in Florida for me to wear all the gear needed to keep my bones fracture free and being over 60 with the arthritis trifecta, I think it was time to hang it up. But, even after a year, I still miss it.
I guess it doesn't matter what this child has on to enjoy looking at her. But, come on, what's with the sweater fitting and the matching hat that should be on a newborn!!! Who makes stuff like that? Violet is enjoying looking at herself by the smiles her reflection is giving her!!!
Maria sent me this picture of the two of them trick or treating. Violet in her cat cape protecting her from the cold and her Tinkerbell outfit, and Maria looking splendid in her Captain Hook chapeau. Oh, and an update: Violet is now walking, with the aid of her walker (laundry basket). My guess is by next week when I see her she will be walking on her own. I can't wait!!

A Welcome Change

2011-11-14T07:57:00.003-06:00

When I am gone from the house for any length of time, I always check on various ingredients I have before I head to the grocery store, because first I forget what I have and second, because the grocery store is far away. Yesterday I was heading out to get the missing ingredients for a dinner party I was having. I decided that I was going to make my malted milk chocolate creme brulee. I get back home and am well into the brulee prep when I get the

malted milk out of the cupboard. It's a staple I always have.
For some reason, I knew something was wrong with it the minute I had it in my hand. Rather than being lightweight, it was kinda heavy.
Actually it was quite heavy. I don't know how, but all the moisture or whatever was sucked out of the once granulated powder and left it a hard 3/4 inch rock at the bottom of the container. I know the lid was on tight because in Florida by water that's pretty much a given; that and bugs. Needless to say, I decided that milk chocolate creme brulee would be just fine; and it was.
Check out these corner walls that are in the nursery of my friend Peggy's, soon to appear grandson. It's really something isn't it? They are stickers that you can take off when you decide to change the room. Like Peg said, it's not about pink and blue anymore!!! (As I sit her sneakily knitting up a pink storm!)

Whether Or Not

2011-11-13T07:19:00.003-06:00

I was just opening up Safari to blog and saw the home page where I have my dictionary, quote for the day and all the various places that I want to know the temperature of the air at any given moment. I had to do a double take this morning. It is colder in southwest florida (51º) this very moment than it is in Chicago (54º) and warmer still in northwest Indiana where my main house is (55º). Okay, I can see the lake effect where Lake Michigan is now warm and therefore warms up the surrounding air but where does 44º in Atlanta come into the picture? Is that wacky or what?

Now I forgot what I was gonna blog.

Oh, one thing was this silverware. It's my friend Barb's and I love it. I think I need to buy it. What do you think? Make sure you click on this picture to make it bigger so you can see the detail, especially the tip of the spoon and the little dorsal fin on all of them.

Is it just me or are you also tired of opening up anything on line and seeing the two words 'belly fat' on the page? And do I care if Rachael Ray lost 32 pounds of it? Okay, Tommy, settle.

Lilly

2011-11-12T07:10:00.003-06:00

Well, with out doing the math (which has been my downfall in the past) I figure I can

get four quilts made with the background I have cut out. I will cut up the big background pieces of the other four then change the background fabric for the other four. I will have wasted squares but I will stick them on the back of the other ones and make it a signature block. I got this idea by reading a comment by Beth. Thanks!

It wasn't that long ago that my sis and I were roaming through a store and I happened on some sweatshirts and desperately needed some. I have this habit of giving them to my guests to wear and then I end up with none. I had picked out a couple that day and in particular saw a pristine white one that I thought would be great on a cool day with jeans in sunny Florida. Well,
maybe not so much. I should have taken into account my morning coffee habits. And, this is only the first of many spots before ten a.m. There was no doorbell answering for me yesterday. So much for me and white.

Croak!

2011-11-11T07:49:00.003-06:00

Every time I want to get mad at Apple/MacBook I remember when I lost EVERYTHING on my computer and that was when I was an idiot and didn't backup on line. All of my pictures from 2008 (except the weddings; they were on disk) are gone forever, except for those on the blog. I just found this frog quilt by putting in' frog quilt' in the little search rectangle on the top of the blog. Sometimes I can download my own pictures (and others for that matter) and sometimes I can't. I just figured out why. You have to get the photo to it's last size. I know I didn't say that correctly
but they need to be at the last stage of their processing. Again, don't quote me but that's what I just found out.

I was looking for the quilt to show you this finished quilt which was one of four I made all at the same time. There is a reason for that. The quilt is very difficult for my pea brain. The legs are much more technical than I normally take on, with the changing backgrounds, so after the first time I did the quilt
I said to myself, ' Self, do more than one at a time; it takes you so long to get IT that you need not waste that brain power each and every time you tackle this quilt'. And the only reason why I am making it anyway is because I have a shower for a soon to be born baby boy and the first thing I got for him was a sleeper with frogs on it and frog feet and I thought the quilt would be fitting to go along with the sleeper. Phew!!! Long sentence. Anyway, instead of four I thought why not cut out eight. And so I did.
The problem isn't the frog cut out parts; no not at all. It's the lack of correct counting for the background parts that I failed miserably at.
Unfortunately I was going ramming speed at constructing the first group of eight blocks and well into my second group (doing 16 different color groupings for each quilt) When I realized that I was stealing parts of Peter to pay Paul. I didn' t cut anywhere near enough of the much needed 1 1/2 inch squares. I cut 64 for each frog and I realized well into my wasted work that I actually need 96 for each. This is why God made calculators and why there should be a class in don't do dumb things. So,
bottom line is that I have definitely made blocks that I can't use but now I have to do each block one at a time and see how far I can get with the background that I have already cut. (Oh, did I mention that I don't have any fabric left and I can't find it anywhere anyway?) I will have lots of the big blocks that I can cut into 1 1/2" blocks but I have made so much more work for myself than I could have ever imagined. It's one of those times when you want to just accidentally throw all the parts in the garbage can. Believe me, if it didn't take me two days of my life to cut out the original parts, they would be on their way to a landfill as I type.

Hey

2011-11-10T07:56:00.006-06:00

You know you have been away from the blog when blogger asks you for your password to get back in. Hey, it's not my fault. Needless to say, staying in communication isn't always easy. Here is a picture of my MacBook in it's dock, looking like it should.
I use a separate larger monitor so I can keep the MacBook closed. This is how
it's been looking for awhile. Notice the piece on the bottom that seems to be growing? Well, it's been a pain in the butt. Long story cut very short, I wasn't going to do anything until I got back to Chicago with it because the closest Apple Store was very far; that is, until G did the looking up and found a couple newer stores that have cropped up since I was wanting to go to one. So, it was settled. I would take my non functioning laptop (the built in mouse or keyboard no longer worked) and see what they said, all the while thinking that I would buy a new Mac. The store was little and the line wasn't and there was a Five Guys right around the corner, just calling my name. They took my name and gave me a ball park half hour wait. It ended up being less than fifteen minutes. The problem was the laptop battery. It's three years old and when they get old they swell and the swelling is pressing on the inside functions, hence the non working keys and mouse. $99.99 for a new battery and I was good to go. Oh, alas, they didn't have any of the $99.99 refurbished batteries but they did have the new ones for $139 but it was their fault, the guy said so he would just give me the new battery but he wanted to save the original packaging. It ended up being free and I was confused but happy non the less.

I took in my iPod (the big one with books on it) because it couldn't hold a charge for more than an hour or more and he suggested updating and restoring. I started doing that at seven fifteen this morning and pretty much, give or take a pee break, just concluded all the jobs he instructed me to do. There were over 200 updates since I got the iPod. I always ignore those updates when they pop up and in the future (if I remember) I may pay more attention. I will give it a test run to see how long the battery stays charged today.

Oh, and all going on at the same time was a worm that G picked up in an email and it infected his whole computer. He contacted his IT from work and Jim said that it was a russian virus and not gonna go away unless you buy a program from the very same russians. What a rip. After several days, (leaving out all the crap involved) he is now up and running. When it rains at Casa Fitzsimmons, it's a downpour.

So, what have I been doing with myself? Starting lots of things to decide what I want to complete. I completed the green sweater but it has to be sewn together and that is the bane of my existence. I have lots of parts of stuff. I guess that's not so good.

Falling Leaves

2011-11-06T07:01:00.002-06:00

My email is out and has been for two days now. If you need to contact me, you can do it through the old fashioned way (phone) or through facebook. The internet is still working (knock on wood; that would be my head) but not email for some reason. I cease to try and figure it out.

Check these out. They are very thin aluminum spatulas with leaf patterns cut out of them. The one on the left is one large leaf and the one next to it is of two smaller leaves.
I was introduced to this process of making tuille thin almond paste cookies with my friend and fellow bowling partner, Barb. She uses a recipe for almond cookies out of a Wilton cookbook that has to be thirty years old. You make the batter and then lay the stencil down, fill in the cutout with the batter using an offset spatula and quickly remove the stencil, . It's a very quick process. I just ordered the stencil spatulas on line and they were less than four dollars each. You need to put them on a silpat or some other non stick sheet for your sheet pans. They cook really fast. When they are cool you dip them in bittersweet chocolate (or really anything you like).
Barb has a tempering machine (who knew?) so the chocolate would be beautifully shiny. When I make my own, I will not temper it; way too lazy for that. And, it's such a small amount of chocolate, who would ever suspect that I took the lazy and cheaper way out? Don/t tell!!!
The picture in the cookbook shows half of the cookie coated in chocolate but Barb prefers just a smidgin on the end. Also, like the round tuilles that I have made in the past by wrapping them around some curved shape, Barb just takes the pan out of the oven and immediately removes the non stick liner and rolls it up in a tube. The leaves have dimension with the curves and look very cool.

I love to learn new stuff.

You Ought To Be In Pictures!

2011-11-05T08:21:00.003-05:00

Check out Miss Violet. Having a mom as an actor doesn't hurt when a gal needs to be noticed. A photographer that shot some stills of Maria for an ad asked if she could take some pictures of the babe. Maria assembled her favorite outfits, including something from Violets Halloween

inventory, and of course, her skinny jeans. Maria even put on a disposable diaper (she normally wears the real thing) because the skinny jeans look better without that bulky look we have all been cursed with from time to time.

All that clothing assembling was for naught. She wanted Violet as close to naked as she was willing to go. When the photographer first put Violet on the white background and ground she started to howl. She is used to lots of color and movement and it threw her; but just for a minute. After the initial non stimulation shock she was back to her old self, showing off like nobodies business. You can even see her cute little bottom teeth. Violet was ten months old yesterday. Next Gerber baby, ya think?

All Sorts of Fruits and Vegetables

2011-11-04T09:31:00.004-05:00

I just found out that the lady that lives next door to us had a stroke and is struggling with the left half of her body. She went in for a hip replacement and the next day had the stroke. I feel so bad for here because she has always been a very active lady. In fact, we bought our house from them and they built their house on the tennis court that she used to use daily. Needless to say, it's tough to sell a property with a tennis court (unless you are Chris Evert) on it so they split it up. Anyway, I have always given them dinners and desserts when I make a bunch and now I feel obligated to do it much more often.

I just got back from the store with the ingredients for Chicken Piccata and Grasshopper Bars. I chose Chicken Piccata because this is the view of my meyer lemon
tree in the back yard. I can't wait to go and pick some beautiful lemons.

My friend Anne (along with Pam and Carol) are at the International Quilt Festival in Houston. I don't go every year and it seems as tho' when I am not there it's the year that I enter something.
Anne sent me this picture of the group quilt, 'To Market, To Market' as it hangs at the show. My contribution to the quilt is the the third rectangle from the left top. I have had this quilt in my possession since it was finished but after I sent it off to Houston, it is going directly to the happy recipient, Gayle, who won it with the drawing of her name in a raffle. I plan on organizing another one of these and learned a lot about the organizing, and what not to do. All stuff like that is definitely a lesson learned. I feel much more qualified now than I did last year when this group was put together. I am only waiting for a photograph that will not blur out when enlarged. I need to think about that (Again!)

The Following

2011-11-03T08:10:00.002-05:00

Okay, I am done complaining about the computers, phones, keys not working, and all but there is one thing that I didn’t mention that was close to catastrophic. I went to take pictures of Violet at our Halloween dinner when the camera wouldn’t work. It was perfectly charged but I tried it with Maria’s camera battery because it’s the same as mine. It still didn’t work. There was a CHR flashing on the outside screen of the camera and the inside when you look into the view finder. I didn’t ever figure out what was wrong with it and took pictures with Maria’s camera.

While we were on the road G and I discussed what was wrong. We had no clue. I had the camera manual and so we went through that and G found mention of CHR. It said that the card needed to be formatted or that it wasn’t compatable with the camera.
Then it dawned on me; I had a new card because I gave Maria a little camera and card when she went on her commercial shoot. So when I went to get one and was surprised how big they were getting. They were higher gb than 8! I chose a four because I have never even used all of a 1gb in the past.

We figured out how to format the card through the camera and spent most of dinner Saturday night formatting it over and over and it still wouldn’t work.

We went to Best Buy and after many many ‘let’s try this’ we realized that the camera won’t take that big of a card load. Two gig was it’s top limit. I don’t think I would have ever figured that out on my own. I went to the Nikon site and see if I can download something that will let the camera acknowledge the higher capacity but there are no firmware updates for a D50.. It must be older than I think.

I have to take it all back; at least the complaining part as far as Comcast is concerned. I didn't even know until I took the dog for a walk the full extent of the Comcast masterpiece. Just travel a little with me in my yard.
This time, instead of following the yellow brick road, we will be following the orange cable.
Laa dee da dee;
Keep in mind that I have a pretty large lot and I am not even
showing you the path this puppy takes when it goes into the shrubbery
or any other place in the yard that I fear
bugs or other things that seem to creep around Florida at an alarming rate.

The last time Comcast did this (was that only last year? Yeah!) it took five weeks and lots of badgering on our part (G's) to get them to bury the cable.

Okay, I have vented. I am done now.

Spooky

2011-11-02T14:21:00.003-05:00

(The following was written a couple days ago. I have more than my share of free time when the computer is down so I did some typing in Word and saved it to copy to the blog as soon as the Comcast guy left; he just left after 3 1/2 hours. We got to know each other so well that I am invited to his wedding!)

I feel quite helpless without a computer or phone. I have my cell but because it doesn’t work at home, I forget about it’s existence. My brain is so warped that I actually went into the man cave and said that I would like to use G’s computer. He looked at me as if I were insane and said that it doesn’t work anymore than mine. Duh…I have decided to type a couple of blog entries that are on my mind so that I will be ready to post when the computer goes back up.

I have collected a few Halloween related pictures for you. It the real world Halloween was last night. I saw a guy with a cape on at Best Buy, a tiara on a girl at
Lowes and some little kids in costumes at lunch at Panera. That was the extent of the Halloween day. Or night; we didn’t have one trick or treat-er. When we were buying candy I suggested something that G doesn’t like, (the skittles packs) because he pronounced on the drive down that he was gonna tow the line while we were down in Florida these three weeks with a strictly healthy diet. He really has a sweet tooth and I was trying to help him by eliminating temptation. He settled on Kit Kats. At around ten p.m. I went by the man cave and there he was, surrounded by empty wrappers. Oh well.

Here is our little tinkerbell.

She also has a cat cape to keep her warm.

And the best surprise of all? Her teeth.

She has a bunch now and when they came it they brought down the first two teeth so much that they really have character now.

Here is Zoey in her total Raggedy Ann costume along with a matching doll her mom made.

How cute is that?

I made these frozen bananas, experimenting on what tasty treats I can make for Violet when she gets older.

You just cut a banana in half lengthwise and then cut in half through the middle. Stick a popsicle stick in the bottom (I did it about half way up) and freeze. Ease the stick in but if the banana makes a little furrow, it’s okay; it still works fine. When the bananas are frozen you take white chocolate

and chop it up.
You can melt it in a double boiler or melt it gradually in the microwave,
and when still warm and smooth, dunk the banana sticks in and put little mini chocolate
chips for eyes. If you want completely smooth ghosts you could add a little vegetable shortening to smooth it up but the way mine turned out was just fine with me. They are yummy!!!
Last but not least? This is my friend Millie’s Halloween costume.

You can wear it anywhere.

Whats Going On?

2011-10-31T12:00:00.002-05:00

I am at Panera using their free WiFi. We left for Florida and have been jinxed ever since. Due to the placement of our motel room we had no internet at all. We get to our house and the phones don't work, I could not get the key to work to open the studio and we have no internet at all. Comcast can't make it for three days and this restaurant is 40 minutes from the house so this is probably the last time I will post until hopefully, Thursday. I just wanted to give you a heads up.

I have wonderful halloween pictures of Violet and as soon as my desk in the studio is set up for cropping and downloading, I will share them with you. We had dinner with her Friday night before we left for parts south and she now has four or more new teeth since I saw her the week before. And, her first two teeth, the ones on top center front are much larger and give her a totally different look. She is such a hoot.

Hope to be back in full gear soon. Until then.....

An Unexpected Visit

2011-10-28T08:07:00.003-05:00

I am sure you are like me and often times you can know someone quite well and other than wait on the front stoop or hand off something in the foyer, you never get in their kitchen. Well, that is just what happened yesterday when I went over to my bud and fellow team bowler (the bond is there; we both stink) Barb's house. We are always trading secrets about gadgets and stuff to cook and bake and that lead her to ask me over to make cookies with her. Barb has an outdoor room complete with bar, kitchen, rec room (with tv) so most of the get togethers she has are outside.

Without being a complete jerk and just taking pictures of every thing I saw, I just limited myself to taking pictures of things when Barb wasn't looking! Her kitchen is one I could only dream of. She has a pantry I would kill for and a baking station with everything right there within arm's reach. She even has a counter top that she can take things right out of the oven (one of those big commercial numbers) and set them down without any worry of ruining the finish. I didn't even know that existed. I have tried marble, granite and an finally settled on corian for the last few counters. Not any more. I'll be checking in with Barb for her opinion.
She has a framed picture of different kinds of cold cereal shapes and colors. I don't.
She has amazing groupings of cool containers with all sorts of stuff in them. I love the bird with the mouse on top.
Little pastries adorn the corner of the counter.

I would have never seen this bathroom if I hadn't drank so much coffee. Wow, who knew?
The Chicago skyline is painted all around the bathroom and as a matter of fact, you can see
this very same skyline out Barb's front deck on many a night. This bathroom comes complete
with a Chicago reference library. All these things on this hutch are Chicago related. I seem to recall that sitting on the pot for any extended reading isn't necessarily a good thing. I am not going to mention it to Barb.
Coming out of the bathroom, I came across the dining room complete with the fall themed settings. I would have spent the bulk of September and October just looking to see where I stored all the stuff. I even asked Barb if she had a key or ledger of what gets stored where. Nope she says, pointing to her noggin.
I am gonna insist on a real fancy meal here. There is so much to see.
Even the flatware is in keeping with all the fall stuff. I went home and shined my Corelle.
Lastly, I wondered where they watched tv because the main great room appeared to not have a tv. I was wrong. Here it is coming out of it's hiding place. She even cleverly has a book with frogs on the top
that flips up and like everyone who has been there to witness the opening, I wanted to rush and pick up the book and figurine before it toppled to the ground. Such a sneaky gal Barb is, She glued them down!!!!!!

Puss and Boots

2011-10-27T08:00:00.005-05:00

I can't for the life of me remember what this commercial was about but it is one of the best

I have seen in a long time.
It's a cat running to perform CPR on another cat. I took these pictures with the regular
35 mm and just kept snapping frames, taking many many more pictures than I have here. I was
thinking that somehow I could hook the pics together and make a movie, that is without printing
them all and putting them in order and flipping through the bunch (like I did in grade school)
but I couldn't figure it out. I even went so far as to go on line to try and find this commercial
but no luck. Or rather, no luck in the 15 seconds I am willing to put into any search.
Any way, it's a grand commercial. It looks very real.

After all that Here is the commercial thanks to my very busy sister at work.

Post Production

2011-10-26T08:41:00.002-05:00

Have you heard of a soup exchange? It's basically an excuse to get together with your palsa nd I love the premise. The hostess makes some soup and whatever else she wants to serve and the guests get dinner and if they choose, they can bring containers of soup to swap. It's pretty much like a cookie exchange without the sugar coma. I think I am gonna host one of these in Fl.
Speaking of soup, this is my sib's Taco Soup that is simple and wonderful. For a guy you may want to add more meat but for us gal's it's perfect. I ate on it for several meals. When dinner time came around on Monday night there was only a smidgin left so I added a can of shoepeg white corn, another can of chopped green chilies and some frozen turkey left over from the tetrazzini coma I was involved in last week. G added some hot sauce and loved it. Check out the recipe on Tommy Cooks.

Yeah, Tommy cooks. On my to do list was to get a few recipes to my Maria and

one thing lead to another and the porch table was filled to capacity with goodies. I know, I need some

professional help.

And it's not even the food preparation that's so bad; it's also the clean up. The dishwasher can only do so much.

The Production

2011-10-25T07:58:00.003-05:00

I have just completed my last to do list before I head south. I have typed it in bold letters and have the completion of fixing Tommy Cooks front and center. I think I have retrieved about two thirds of the recipe titles. It's just that it is so damn boring. A little at a time is how I have decided to tackle it.

Wanna see just some of the stuff that was worked on here this past weekend? The girls were in rare form and got a lot accomplished.
Peggy pieced together this quilt of appliqued turtles and the snail's tail block for her first grandchild (boy) that will be born in January. The babies name is being withheld for now. The young couple have two choices but they want to see the little man before committing to one name or the other. Frankly, that's a pretty good idea. I have a couple friends that actually changed their baby's name after realizing that the one they picked out for them just didn't fit their personality.
Mike finished up the machine quilting on this pieced baby doll heads and nine patch quilt for a friend who will soon have a baby. It was her first quilting attempt after taking a machine quilting class and we were very impressed with the outcome.
Anne pieced this quilt top for her daughter's college graduation that will take place at the end of this year. The pattern and the colors were chosen by her daughter. It's a very fun quilt.
This is a very large quilt that Mike quilted a swirl pattern on the long arm. She is mastering the machine, little by little. This quilt was already pieced and ready for quilting when it came. It is earmarked for a girlfriend.

There was lots of other things started, or picked up and worked on a bit, here and there. I did a lot of bumbling around but did accomplish some productive stuff. Unfortunately,
for now, that will remain within these four (or six or eight or ten) walls.

Grazers

2011-10-24T08:13:00.004-05:00

I haven't made grazers in a very long time and I don't know why. They are an excellent snack to have frozen on hand that you can whip out at a moments notice because you serve them frozen. I made a big batch with the help of my sister for my friends pre dinner snack. Here is the skinny on them.

Get yourself a loaf of wheat bread, and a jar of peanut butter. Put the bread in the freezer because you are going to cut off the crusts and it's easier when it's cold and firm. After the crusts are off (save them) cut the bread in half and cut each half into four rectangles. I usually do three or four pieces of bread at a time.
Set your oven for 250º and pop the bread and crusts in for about 40 minutes. You can stir them up a couple times if you want.
When the crusts are done, put them in your food processor and pulverize.
I don't think you can over process it. Basically it's bread crumbs (yes, I am a genius) and

I have actually filled in with some other bread crumbs when I was getting low.

Mix the jar of peanut butter (around 13 to 16 ozs.) with 1/4 c. vegetable oil and 2 T. sugar (I use splenda) in your double boiler (or my method of a metal bowl over a pot). Heat it through until it is completely mixed together.
Toss a few rectangles of toasted wheat bread in the peanut butter and take out after they are coated with a large slotted spoon (I use that asian wok thingy)
I let all the excess liquid drain off and then add them to the bread crumbs. When they are all coated, I place them on a sheet pan
and freeze them. When they are all frozen I bag them for future use. I like to look at the face of someone who doesn't know what they are made of. It's sometimes hard to tell. Make 'em; you'll like 'em.

Get Crackin'

2011-10-23T08:03:00.003-05:00

So far this morning, all's quiet in the sweat shop. I think I worked the girls too hard yesterday.
For a fact, I have proof that this gal worked too hard and
her cousin was looking for some yule comfort. But there is no rest around here. They will be up and at 'em before you know it.

Another Redhead!

2011-10-22T17:29:00.002-05:00

Check out Zoey, trying out her Raggedy Anne headgear. Her grandma Anne is visiting us.

Star Struck

2011-10-21T09:02:00.003-05:00

This is Maria and her commercial daughter. The commercial is for a food chain and the basic premise, if I have it correct, is the little daughter is having a dream fantasy in the
store. By the looks of the cart and the attire, it is a winter holiday commercial and it centers around the seafood section.
These pics are behind the scenes so there is lots of cool equipment along with a fantasy igloo right in the grocery store. Oh, and that green thing? It's the new blue screen that they use (like the weathermen). I guess the green screen works better. Who knew?
Here is Maria with her actor fake husband and the actor fake seafood specialist.
The glass case for the seafood section is surrounded by ice sculptures of various aquatic species.
It looks like a very crazy fish department. I will be watching for the commercial around the time we get back from Florida for the holidays. It's not local but we get all sorts of cable stations so I am gonna be on the lookout.

I have to run to the store for some last minute stuff I need to finish the prep for the dinner I am helping with for Micky and her fellow civic group. My quilters are coming for the weekend so I need to finish one thing in order to clear my slate. I'm off!

Happenings

2011-10-20T10:14:00.002-05:00

Weather wise, we are are having crap. We have had mercilessness winds for three days. Everything is either tied down, or airborne. Our house phone is sparadic and because it doesn't work, I can't find my cell phone (not that it ever works here anyway). I can't even believe the internet works.
The waves are comparable to Hawaii and we have no beach; the water is up to the sea wall.
I am in the process of finishing up gutting five turkey breasts to make tetrazzini for thirty for tomorrow night. I used to buy the breasts already cooked in the deli because all the cleaning of fat and bone were done for me but when the price went from $6.99 each for one breast half to $9.99 in the course of one month, I decided to buy the much bigger frozen turkey breasts at a fraction of the cost. I can get a six pounder for just under $12. I just hate the thawing. I never plan ahead far enough for the thawing not to be a pain. I have had bobbing turkeys in the sinks full of ice cold water. The were thawed by the morning and cooked through. I better get back to the harvesting of the meat!!!

Our Gal

2011-10-19T11:41:00.004-05:00

It is eerily quite here at home because Violet left for home a little while ago. Her mom had a very successful commercial shoot and she even gave me some still shots she took on the set. I am vicariously living the actress life through her!!! I have to go through the pictures and so will probably blog them tomorrow.

It was great fun having Violet. Our house is not childproofed and with the stairs and everything, it takes a mountain to watch over her. I did not want to return her to her parents with a cut or scrape or bruise.
Her hair is starting to lose it's red (just as her dad did back in the day)
and it is starting to curl in the back. It's weird how their hair grows so little when everything about a nine month old changes every day.

Violet is a most perfect child and rarely cries but for some reason every time she came around the corner into the kitchen she started crying. The first day, before her mother left I said that it was this throw rug she didn't like and both her mom and G kinda gave me the look like, yeah, right. Well here is rug. For one day and night she wouldn't come into the kitchen without crying so G suggested that I may be right after all and turned the rug over. I swear to you, that was it. For two more days she was happy to come into the kitchen with the rug turned over. It only took me two days to figure I should document this so last night I was at the ready for
every time she came in.
These are all different trips in to the kitchen and every time (maybe thirty in an hour) she would go over to the rug and check out the underside.
Every time. She had no fear as long as she could be the one that chose to look at the top

side. G suggested that she was over the rug fear and turned it around, and the tears came back. What a hoot she is.

I made a containment for Violet in the studio. She is in her booster seat that she is strapped into

and it is strapped onto the kitchen chair that just happens to have wheels. I put her between two arms of the studio chairs and laid a quilt over the two arms for a table. Bella was a very good sitter. If I could only teach the dog to pickup the dropped toys, I would give her an allowance!!!

Shucking Corn--Clean Ears Everytime

2011-10-17T09:53:00.001-05:00

When Peggy sent this to me I thought it was gonna be some joke. This is no joke. I love it and you will too!!!

Perfection

2011-10-17T09:28:00.003-05:00

Here we have the baby monitoring the baby monitor. She is clearly a control freak. This is the first time since she was born that she woke up to someone other than her mom or dad. So far so good, but I know she is always looking to see or hear her mom. We are poor substitutes for the real thing. Oh well, we'll just get more toys!!!

Oh, and G actually asked, before he left for work, 'What's she gonna wear today?' Can you believe it?

Before And After

2011-10-16T09:22:00.003-05:00

My daughter in law Maria is an actor. She did a print add when she was pregnant

and these many months later, she finally got to see some of the shots. Kind of interesting that she has on a violet color, wouldn't you say?

Speaking of the devil, look at
our girl last weekend playing in the pool at Aunt Maggie's house. I just love this stalking, menacing look Violet has on her face. That will probably be the last time that she will get
to put on this tankini for an outside dunk for the season. Back to Maria; she is doing a three day shoot for a grocery store commercial which isn't far from our house so we will have the honor of hosting Violet for a few days. Maria will be able to spend some time with us, probably coming and going depending on her schedule of playing, of all things, a MOM!!!

May I Help You?

2011-10-15T08:38:00.002-05:00

There is a town that I know very well in Illinois, very close to where we raised the kids. It is Oak Park, Ilinois (known mostly for Frank Lloyd Wright), and they are itching to be the first town in the country to ban eating

in the car. When G first told me this, I started to laugh. It was a joke right? I have been eating while driving since I got my license. In fact, when I feel the first tinge of being tired, I pull over and get something to munch on to keep we alert. Half of the enjoyment of a road trip is deciding where to stop and then stopping for something that you wouldn't normally indulge in ( fries, big macs, double cheeseburgers, ya know). I have never thought of it as a distraction.

When we are on the road and someone was driving slow to the point of irritation or erratic, you would think they were under the influence, back in the day. Now, nine out of ten times it is someone on the phone or someone looking down (most likely texting). Yes that bothers me. Especially the texting part. Maybe it's because I don't text. The phone, if you are holding it up to your ear, bothers me. I don't do that either because I have hands free (which is the law in Chicago).

I see a pattern emerging here. I am bothered by the distractions while driving that I don't do. Hummm. Interesting. I get it. Distractions are distractions. Large flashing overhead signs are a distraction. Billboards are distracting. Even some cars and drivers can take away your attention. Plackards on windows (baby on board, etc) are distracting. The advertisement on the sides and back of trucks and cars are distracting. I personally don't care if Oak Park passes the ban. I can refrain from having something in my mouth for the short cut through time I will spend in the town. I think all of the things that contribute to not paying attention to the road ahead should be seriously addressed. After all, my little Violet could be in the next car over.

The Dirty Trail

2011-10-14T08:07:00.002-05:00

I got to thinking that I take the laundry shoots for granted and I guess it's because I have done lots of renovation and building and often found the ability to put in a shoot. Nowadays tho', lots of houses have the laundry facilities on the floor where they spend the most time or by their bedrooms where most of the clothing ends up anyway. The last house (right in the heart of Chicago) we did had both. The house we bought was one of those very skinny three levels and a basement so that half of the finished product already had shoots and the laundry was in the basement. We built an addition to the house that ended up being two story with a great room off the kitchen and the master and studio upstairs. We installed those washer dryer combos in the closet off the bathroom and that was very convenient.Anyway, just so that you can get to know me a little better, here is a peek into the master bath and it's hidden shoot. This is on the second floor.
Here is the shoot on the main level of the house. It is smack in between the refrig and the ovens.
This is where it ends up on the lower level. It falls out as you open the door onto a counter. Sometimes, depending on towels and sheets, this can be a very large tower of dirty clothes.
As I am scurrying around after dinner to get caught up with the laundry, my two house mates are taking a snooze after a little too big of a dinner. Aren't they cute?

You Can Keep Your Bells And Whistles!

2011-10-13T09:56:00.003-05:00

The fantastic delivery guys just left with money for lunch. I love when I get nice guys to bring me a purchase. My delivery today was a new washer. I had a Fisher and Paykel washer with all the bells and whistles and it didn't even last five years. And that is in a household that is used only half the year and with two people inhabiting it for most of that time. I had a repair man out and after two minutes, with computer in hand, notified me that I could have him order parts and my washer (not counting his visit) would only set me back $468 and change. Oh, please.

Within five minutes of his departure (without lunch money) I put Bella in the car and off we went to buy a new washer. This one
doesn't have all the extra stuff that I never use anyway. The guy at the store said to get the one that is the least zoomy. That is just what I got. And for $544 I got a new Whirpool, delivered, installed, and had the other one taken away. The guys even had the courtesy not to bang up my walls bringing the new one downstairs and the old one up, and giving me the time to get all the dust and debris vacuumed up before the new one took it's place.

All in all, it was a successful morning. Now, I just have to get the nerve up to open the laundry shoot door and see what I have in store for the rest of the day!!

Click

2011-10-12T09:00:00.002-05:00

I must be out of my mind. At around 5:30 a.m. I woke up and looked out the open door and saw the full moon. I was so enamored with it that I left the bed and went downstairs and got my camera
and took

this picture. G heard the click and asked me what I was doing. I told him. This picture is taken with a flash; the room was dark.
An hour later I took this picture of the same full moon. I took it without a flash, hoping I wouldn't get noticed by G again. There was still a click and he asked the same thing and I responded the same. What an odd couple.

After I was fully awake I wondered to myself (and now to you) why I did take these pictures. I haven't a clue.

Squish

2011-10-11T09:17:00.001-05:00

First up on the squash fest was Butternut Squash Lasagna. This is a picture of the squash as it was preparing to roast before it was pureed along with ricotta, eggs and parm. Then it was just like regular lasagna, layered with a bechamel and the pureed mix and topped with mozzarella and more parm. I loved it and so did everyone else except Gordon. He doesn't understand the lack of meat. It certainly can bee a side rather than an entree (I explained to him) but he had a comment about the nutmeg and so, the dish was not for him. I gave his portion to Micky to take home because she loved it. Maybe it's a girl thing.
The second squash recipe needed thin sliced butternut that was sprinkled with chili powder and maple syrup before it was roasted until soft and golden.
This picture looks weird, like the sandwich was top heavy but in reality it wasn't at all. It must be the angle I took the picture at.
It made it's way into a sandwich, which was highlighted in last months issue of The Food Network Magazine by the Sandwich King. It's basically a grilled cheese that layers manchego cheese with the squash, toasted sliced almonds and a mix of balsamic glaze and caramelized sweet onions. I gotta say, it may be the best sandwich I have ever eaten. The onion mix is the star. G liked it so well (yeah, hard to believe) he ate two at one sitting. You won't be sorry if you make this while cheap squash is still abundant.
I halved a spaghetti squash, removed the seeds and baked it as is for about 45 minutes and it came out of the oven
and all I had to do was take a fork and make 'spaghetti'. This is an actual substitute for pasta for low carb watchers but I like it warm with salt and pepper, parmesan and maybe a little bacon and that's it. You can have a tomato base to a sauce or just use your imagination. It is very versatile
You can clean and dry the seeds and sprinkle with salt and toast them in the oven. It was G's snack while watching Sunday football.

The Latest List

2011-10-10T08:42:00.004-05:00

Boy, did I ever screw up yesterday. I was looking for my crab cake recipe to make them and when I went to the list of recipes on Tommy Cooks and clicked on it, it wouldn't come up. One thing led to another and I ended up deleting the whole list of recipes. I spent a couple hours going through multiple steps to redo the list. It was mind numbing and I am still not done. So bear with me.

Yesterday was all squash all day. It all started with last weeks list of things to do. Oh, what the heck, here's the list.
First off, unpack and put away. That refers to the week I was gone and besides all my personal stuff and clothing, I had tons of stuff required for my Carol class.

Next is do upstairs quilts. I had about 30 quilts laying on a murphy bed in a quasi storage room that I needed to hang and put away in their closet.

5 quilt tops; as you can see, I have all the checklist crossed off and although I did all the piecing for the tops, the borders did not all get on. I cut borders and backing for all five in a assembly manner and two of the borders and backs were sewn together but the other three are waiting for me to finish today. I felt justified in crossing it off the list because in my minds eye, what I finished was what I had envisioned. Did I really need to explain that? Something is seriously wrong with me.

Finish up class stuff was to put my True Colors dye book together which I did but I am still waiting for the email with the form to mount my gradations on. That's on this weeks list!!!

Fix dress. I did and will blog it soon. I am running out of time this morning.

Figure out DLR dress; what does that mean, you ask yourself? It's a store where I bought a dress that I needed to tweak because it had a hideous bow on the belt that had to go. It's gone.

Repair flag. That should have said flags but I understood that. There was grueling wind here while I was gone and it damaged some of my flags. Three took off, right from their flagpoles and G retrieved two in neighbors yards but the other one is still in sight, high on telephone wires and twisted vigorously. It's not going anywhere. The two retrieved ones needed a little mending. The three flags I have on the lake side of the house always need to be cable tied to their base because they always wanted to take off. They remained in place during the wind storm but were so heavily damaged that they said their goodbyes and are out in the garbage can.

I made cookies for the kids. I knew I would be seeing them all at the weeks end and like to take them a treat when we meet up. I made Chocolate Raspberry Crumble Bars and will blog those soon.

Library list refers to a running list of books that I have read. Often times I go and check out the same book I read last year or so and to eliminate this somewhat, I now type an ongoing list of things that I have read. It is now all caught up.

Cookbook is short for my taking a bunch of recipes I have collected over the years, either rushing to the printer when I see something on food network that catches my eye or saving something out of a magazine, and organizing them somehow. Here is where I got completely carried away. I organized various notebooks into categories of food and put ones I have made and liked into one notebook and put the other stuff in categories so they would be easier to find of things I want to make. All the other stuff, either I have no more interest in the recipe or I have made it and wouldn't make it again, went into the circular file. That is where I saw tons of squash recipes that I never have tried. Hence, all squash all day.

I have run out of time so squash will have to wait until tomorrow. I will close with the last thing on last weeks to do list.

When I attend a class I jot down various artists we have mentioned in class that I'm not familiar with, places to purchase (much needed!!!!) stuff I don't have, ya know, stuff like that. I then check when I get home to see if there needs to be any follow up. I was almost gonna order a Rex Ray book but decided that although his stuff is interesting, it's pretty much all the same and so I ended up taking a pass.

Now I am on to this weeks list.