Perennial Passion

I Added a Few Items to My Valentine Decorating

2012-01-31T17:33:00.000-05:00

Whenever I think of something for my Valentine dinner party, I put it out to see how it will work. It's much better to find out what flops well before the night of the dinner!

I think Valentine's day is perfect to use the chocolate wine I received at Christmas. Since it's a red wine mixed with chocolate, these red wine glasses would be perfect to serve it. I set them out in a heart-shaped serving platter on the sled table that I filled with vintage valentines.

The table is only a few feet from the dining room, so I think it will work nicely.

I also put the vintage valentines all around two pictures that are on the dining room walls.

There is a large picture hanging on the wall on each side of the table, so as you sit eating your dinner you will see these every time you look up. I don't really like seeing the artwork in the center, so if I get really ambitious, I may cover the artwork with fabric or wrapping paper. At the moment I am not thinking I will get that ambitious. :)

I made a "hugs & kisses" bunting (that's the proper name for those heart-shaped words) that I thought I would use on the table with the chalkboard over it, but it does not work there. So I put it on top of the china cabinet in the dining room.

On the other side of the dining room, I have the curio cabinet that I showed you last week. I added the pink fabric and a boutonniere from our wedding almost a quarter century ago.

I can't think of a better decoration for the LOVE holiday. :)

At the moment I am pretty happy with everything. I am going to make a blackberry/raspberry mousse for dessert that I have never made before. Yes, I admit, I planned it to match my pink/purple table. I just hope it turns out!

Finished the Top of the Storage Cabinets

2012-01-30T17:53:00.000-05:00

When I got home from work today, I spent two hours in the kitchen. I cleaned the top of the big storage cabinets, washed the fronts with Murphy's Oil soap, scrubbed the floor and rearranged the top of the cabinets.

I decided to use only white items on the top with the freshly-painted green crate in the center. I shopped the basement and found the two identical pitchers that I put in front of the crate.

Here is the nighttime view with only the lights on that are on the cabinet tops.

Here it is with a flash:

At the moment I am happy with it. I know it's super clean up there and I have something different to look at for a few months.

Now I only have a small section above the kitchen desk to do. It can wait for another time.

I Had No Idea that I would be so Busy on Sunday

2012-01-29T17:58:00.001-05:00

I woke up before 5:00 a.m. and read a few blogs. Then I started a new sewing project--turning a small portion of the big heavy jean quilt I made a few years ago (actually seven years ago--time flies) into a table runner and a pot holder.

My long-term readers may remember that I spent months hand quilting a denim quilt and then it was way too heavy to sleep under. I finally decided to cut it up last year

and make something useful from it. I frayed the edges of the runner and pot holder and I am fairly happy with how they turned out. Of course, this is just a tiny portion of the king-sized quilt. There will be many more projects to make from this quilt.

The only day I cook breakfast is on Sunday. Right after doing so today, I started putzing about in the dining room. I wanted to get all of my dishes, etc. out for the dinner I will have in two weeks.

Here is the color scheme I plan to use:

I may change the glasses to red. I will show you the full table when I have the party.

After determining the table colors, I have no idea what happened.

Somehow I ended up on a ladder removing my chickens and cookie jar collection from the top of my kitchen cabinets and

washing them

(yes, I do use a toothbrush to get the dust from all the indented areas).

I did some rearranging of my advertising cookie jar collection and removed all of the faux greenery that I used to love. I wanted a more streamlined look atop the cupboards.

I love this Mr.Peanut cookie jar, so I put him center stage above the stove fan:

Above the cupboards I had some fruit crates that were a dark green & sponge-painted. Yeah, like how outdated is that? I asked DH to repaint them green and he did. What a wonderful man!

He did the painting right on top of the family room carpet. Of course he put some paint blankets down before he started.

Here is where one of the crates ended up:

It gives a nice pop of green in back of the chicken casserole. The second one will go on top of the big section of dish storage cabinets.

While he painted the crates, I painted the mat of a dark nautical oil painting I have in the family room.

Last year I painted it that gold color you see, but now I think it should be white as most of the other artwork mats in the family room are white. Here it is done and rehung:

I like it. Thank goodness as there were about a dozen screws to remove from the inner frame before painting and it was not all that easy to get both frames and the mat back on. Thanks DH for your help putting it back together!

So Saturday was rather relaxing and Sunday was a ton of unplanned work. I did not get all of the kitchen done, but after five hours, I decided to quit and do more after work this week. It is a big job to get all of the kitchen grease and grime off the top of all the cabinets. Even though I had no plans to do so much work today, I feel good about my weekend accomplishments.

I hope you all feel good about your weekend, too.

I Had a Quiet Saturday

2012-01-28T18:34:00.000-05:00

This dinner of steak and oven-roasted french fries was the highpoint of the day.
DH did the grilling while I made the fries.

They were so good and easy to make. Just slice up fresh potatoes into a stick shape, sprinkle with olive oil (or vegetable oil) and seasoning. I used a french fry seasoning, which was basically salt, pepper and paprika. Then bake in a 425 degree oven until almost tender. Mine took about 20 minutes. I then put them under the broiler for a few minutes to get them nicely browned.

Freshly-baked M&M cookies served as a sweet after dinner treat.

I spent some time today sewing counter mats from quilt blocks that I had no other use for.

They are a nice big size. As you can see the red ones easily accommodate a 9 x 13-inch cake pan.

Right now I am watching the Florida Republican Presidential Debate. I expect the remainder of my day to be quiet and relaxing. I hope yours is, too.

Seed Order

2012-01-27T17:05:00.001-05:00

Early this morning (5:00 a.m.) I was reading Sue's blog post about ordering seeds. She mentioned a site that had free postage and just for kicks and grins, I copy and pasted it into my URL bar.
The site is http://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/annualsA-Z.html.

I was thrilled to find these exciting seeds (not enough to get free shipping, but the prices were quite reasonable even with shipping).

You all know how I love the unusual in flowers and how I have been trying for years (with no luck) to find something that would grow up my arbors. When I saw this vine, I immediately added it to my cart.

JUNGLE QUEEN
Firecracker Vine Seeds (aka Spanish Flag)

Ipomoea lobata (aka Mina lobata)

This member of the morning glory family produces masses of dazzling 1.5 inch tubular flowers that mature from soft lemon yellow, through orange and deep rusty red. A plant in full bloom will never be forgotten! Incredibly showy, it deserves to be the focal point of your flower garden. Grows to 10 feet or more tall. Annual

I thought this vine was interesting. The flowers turn into beans, which I find almost as interesting as the lilacl-like flowers.

VN00031 RUBY MOON
Hyacinth Vine Seeds

Dolichos lablab

A showy climber with green and wine-colored foliage, lilac-rose blooms and shiny magenta 2-3 inch pods. Blooms and pods can used for cutting. Twining growth to 10-20 feet tall. Perfect for trellises, arbors, walls or fences. Perennial in zones 9 and 10, it can be grown as an annual everywhere.

Years ago I grew Love-lies-bleeding (red) and ever since I have been trying to find more seeds of this amazing flower. I have never seen them again in the local stores so I was thrilled to find a variety of amaranthus seeds!

All I can say about this one is GORGEOUS!

AN00006 HOT BISCUITS
Amaranthus Seeds

Amaranthus cruentus

Fast-growing, 4-5 foot tall plants produce gorgeous, 2 foot cinnamon-orange. plumes over a long summer and fall season. An outstanding cut flower, Hot Biscuits adds spice to autumn bouquets. Easy to grow.

I love the dark foliage on this one:

AN00022 OPOPEO
Amaranthus Seeds

Amaranthus hybridus

Showy spikes of rich red flowers for cutting or garden color. Dramatic bronze foliage on tall, 6-6.5 foot plants. Packet is 1/4 gram, about 325 seeds.

I only ordered the chartreuse color on this variety. I find it weirdly interesting.

AN00378 TOWER GREEN
Amaranthus Seeds

Amaranthus cruentus

Bright chartreuse, this color is delightfully easy to blend into the garden, or flower arrangements.

I googled and found this:

The seeds are eaten as a cereal grain. They are black in the wild plant, and white in the domesticated form. They are ground into flour, popped like popcorn, cooked into a porridge, and made into a confectionery called alegría. The leaves can be cooked like spinach, and the seeds can be germinated into nutritious sprouts. While A. cruentus is no longer a staple food, it is still grown and sold as a health food.

Who knew you could eat this stuff? I don't think I will be eating any of it, but I am eager to use them in flower arrangements.

AN05652 GREEN TAILS
Amaranthus Seeds

Amaranthus caudatus 'Viridis'

Very similar to Love-Lies-Bleeding, but with drooping lime-green tassels which are superb cut or dried. Grows 3-5 feet tall.

I now need to find a sunny spot to grow the amaranthus. When I grew them before, I planted them against the back of the house. It was sunny against white siding and they did well. I think I may try that same spot again.
Thanks, Sue for your post that led me to finally find these seeds!

I am now excited for my 2012 garden. If you have had any experience with these flowers, please comment and let me know how they grew for you.

I Did Almost No Work This Past Weekend

2012-01-26T18:20:00.000-05:00

because I was not home for most of the weekend. It felt good to get away and concentrate on fun instead of work!

We picked up my mom and dad at 8:00 a.m.Saturday morning to attend a dinner/Motown music show, featuring these ladies:

They put on a great show featuring the Motown hits we all remembered. The dinner was quite good, too. It was raining Sunday morning, so we met a friend for an early breakfast and left by 9:00 a.m. to beat the icy roads. We were home by noon Sunday.

It was raining here all day Sunday and Monday. The schools were closed Monday due to hazardous road conditions. When I was getting ready for work Monday morning, we had thunder and lightening. This is very unusual for late January.

This week I have not done much other than work, come home, reheat some of my frozen meals and go to bed.

My missing curtains are still missing and the family room window remains bare. The bare windows do offer a nice view after a snow storm.

I still have not made dining room chair covers, but I found this fabric that I bought last year.

It is a nice neutral color. I may make two floor length covers this weekend for the arm chairs. I think I have enough fabric for that.

I received my Coldwater Creek jewelry order last week and was very disappointed to open the metal-fringed necklace to find it broken.

I have tried twice this week to fix it, using all of these tools. So far, no luck. I dropped the first tiny round metal link on the bathroom floor and never found it. So the next day I had to remove another link to try to hook it back together. I only had about 10 minutes to try before leaving for work. I had to give up again and wear a different necklace. I hope I can eventually get this fixed as I really like the necklace!

Gifts from Blog Friends

2012-01-23T17:55:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I was surprised to find a package in my mailbox from Dianne. I opened it to find these items:

I had been talking about slipcovers for my living room sofa for awhile and Dianne sent me a pattern she had purchased and never used. Even though I just purchased slip covers, I would still like to make another set. She also sent a floral applique pattern that I hope to use later this year.

Dianne is one of my first blog readers, so she knows me well. She thought of my love of setting tables with vintage dishes and also sent a magazine/book called, "Flower Arrangements and Table Settings" that she found in York, PA and thought of me. It appears to be from the 50's/60's. I was touched that she thought of me and took the time and expense to mail these items.

I own a similar set of milk glass dishes. I did not realize the grape-shaped serving piece I have came in a set of four as shown here.

I own these dishes in yellow.

I find it fun to see how ladies from a half century ago set their tables with the same dishes I use today.

Thanks again, Dianne. I really enjoyed reading this.

Today I was totally surprised to receive this package from Patti in Missouri.

She sent me some of her husband's grandmother's rain lilies! His grandmother! Patti received them in the 70's. Three generations of Missouri women have grown these flowers and now they have found their way to my Michigan garden. I was born in Missouri, so I am thrilled to have flowers from my birth state!

I cannot tell you all how honored I am to receive these. I just hope they will survive the next few months, so I can plant them early this spring. Patti, you can be sure that I will treasure these bulbs. I remember seeing them bloom on your blog and they are beautiful.

I wish Dianne and Patti lived closer to me. I would love to invite them both to a garden luncheon when the rain lilies were in bloom.

I am Beginning to Plan my Valentine's Dinner Party

2012-01-20T18:49:00.000-05:00

I love vintage valentines. I wonder how the school girls felt when they got one of these sweet valentines from a half century ago.

Imagining a young girl giving this one to her boy of choice makes me chuckle:

I have been doing a little Valentine's day decorating as I find the items I already own.

I found a bag of these never-used lettered blocks in the basement last week. I was thrilled to find four blocks with the letters I needed for the upcoming holiday. I combined them with a bag of glittered items I bought last year and made a couple of decorations for the top of the two dining room china/curio cabinets.

I will only be home one weekend from now until Valentine's Day, so I need to make my plans for my dinner party with DH's two brothers and their wives.
I searched my tablescaping blog to see previous tables I have set for Valentine's day. I found a few, which gave me some idea of what I have to work with. Because, honestly, I forget at least half of the dishes and dining accessories I own!

I think I will use the red goblets for sure. I would also like to use some vintage Valentines on the table. At the moment I am planning on a purple tablecloth. Now that I see the lace overlay on pink, I may use that on the purple. Then again, half of the dinner guests will be men, so I don't want to get to prissy. We shall see. It is great to have years of blog posts to look back and see what I have. Without the blogs, I would never have remembered all of this stuff!

I would love to use the red fabric rosettes that say "love",

but I can't remember where I put them! If strawberries look good in February, I may dip some in chocolate and nuts because I remember that these were very delicious last year.

I am planning on stuffed chicken breasts and these Parmesan-crusted potatoes for dinner: I will throw a bit of pimento in the chicken filling for that splash of red color.

I think a healthy fruit dessert would be nice, but I am not sure if that is what I will do. If the pears and strawberries look good a few days prior to my dinner, I may do both. Then again, chocolate is always nice.............I am also planning on shrimp cocktails and a veggie--probably carrots to give some color. I think I will skip the salad ...or I could do just two shrimp in a heart shape and a small salad .... the planning is such fun, don't you think?

I really do love the planning of dinner parties. I just hope it all turns out as I envision it!

I Love Shopping During January Close Out Prices

2012-01-18T15:57:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I placed a small accessory order at my favorite online retailer (C***old***water
C**r***eek).

I show you these orders to illustrate how watching a site daily can save you a LOT of hard-earned cash.

I agree with the majority of people when they say CC is way overpriced. Yet it is the place where I buy almost all of my clothing and accessories. If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know I like a bargain. I would NEVER EVER pay regular CC prices for most of their items. They used to have good quality clothing, etc. but in the past year, I have found them to be going downhill in that department and stated so on the recent survey they sent me.

I still find that most of their costume jewelry is quite nice--big quality lobster claw clasps on necklaces, etc. I recently bought a necklace at JC Penney and it was way inferior to CC jewelry, yet I paid more for it than I normally do at CC. Let me illustrate:

Here are the three items I recently ordered:

The prices you see are today's prices. I ordered mine two days ago, when it was 50% off. I searched the net for a free shipping code and found one!

So I bought all three of these items for $36.01 and that included tax! I don't think it gets much less expensive than that.

I have not received them yet, but I will probably be happy with all of them. I mean, really, who does not NEED a reversile reptile belt? LOL. I certainly do. I have a lot of jackets that will go will this belt.

My only regret is that I did not order the zebra belt.

Grocery Store Shock & Bracing for More Snow

2012-01-17T15:32:00.000-05:00

I had a moment of grocery store shock Sunday--when did Miracle Whip go over $5 for a jar? Wow! I told DH I didn't need it, so wait for a sale.

Am I the only person who hates those little stems they leave on fresh spinach?

The stems are always there when I order a salad in a restaurant. When I buy spinach, I cut them off before I make my salad. I wish the chefs would also do that. This time I was not making salad. I gave the spinach a quick saute and ended up with this:

Can you believe that's $4 worth of spinach? It's about three good forkfuls!

We are in the midst of another big snow storm. I have not checked the weather forecast, but it's pretty bad out there right now.

Wait.

I will peek out the front door into the blustery winter weather to see what's it's like.

It's a winter wonderland. The driveway was just cleared 1.5 hours ago, so it's been falling pretty hard all afternoon. My mom just called to make sure I made it home from work OK. Isn't that sweet? I guess mothers never stop worrying.

While cleaning this weekend, I finally found my Mikasa crystal wine bottle coaster. I have been looking for it since last summer.

Evidently I needed to add some height to the butter dish and stuck the coaster under it, then put both on top of the china cabinet. It is so pretty. What a waste to hide it up there where it can't be seen unless I stand on a chair. I cleaned the silver dish and put a piece of wood under it instead of the crystal.

Last night I felt like sewing, but did not want to start a big project, so I decided to see what I could make from my few small remaining bags of fabric scraps. ( I threw away a full garbage bag full over the weekend.) I decided I would use this pattern because it only takes small skinny pieces of fabric.

I made four of them.

Then sewed the four blocks together:

It will make an interesting 9-inch square pot holder.

I also tried a second pattern with a less scrappy look.

I like this one much better. It may work its way into something more special than a potholder. :)

Another Working Weekend

2012-01-15T17:14:00.002-05:00

I intended to have a working weekend at home and I certainly did! I was totally pooped Saturday evening, but I went to bed early and felt much better this morning.

I spent most of Saturday cleaning my sewing/computer room. I hauled 4 bins of fabric from my sewing room back down to the basement. Once I got to the basement I decided to throw out a lot of items....you know how that goes...before long most of the day was gone. I was looking for the second set of curtains for the family room windows. I searched a lot of boxes and bins and never found them. Now I wonder if I threw them into the donation box in the fall and they are gone. The good news is I did find the second set of glass coasters in the sewing room.

I did do a number of projects that were more stimulating than cleaning and scrubbing floors. One of them was to iron the new dining room chair covers I bought two weeks ago and get them on the chairs.

What a pain! I did two on Saturday and planned to do the other 4 today. So far I have 4 done. I opened the 5th and what a surprise.....it's a short little thing that probably fits a folding chair! Even though the picture on the front shows the same to-the-floor dining chair cover as the other 5 I ordered.

It really does not matter that much because when I ordered the six chair covers, I forgot to take into account that two of my dining room chairs are arm chairs. So #5 and #6 would not fit anyway. I will have to make my own in a different color. Since the arm chairs are the "special" chairs, I think it will be OK to have them in a different fabric.

I am not thrilled with these Surefit dining chair covers. They are too thin and the wrinkles are hard to get out. I am just happy that I got them for about a quarter of their original price. I would NEVER pay full price for them. I expect them to rip after a few uses. Here is a pic of the color that I was happy to note goes quite nicely with the table runner I brought up from the basement yesterday:

I need to figure out what to do with the two end chairs soon as I have already invited my BIL's and their wives for a Valentine's dinner on Feb. 12. I can't have 4 chairs covered and the two end chairs not covered. I need to find a coordinating fabric soon!

Once I get everything done for that dinner, I will show you the full table, which will be in pink, purple and red.

The colors will go with this table that I am already working on:

Yes, it's the burlap-covered Christmas "Sweet Treats" table revamped for Valentines Day. I moved the chalkboard in this room, but have not yet written anything on it. I spent $3 at Dollar Tree last weekend and bought the big hearts, the assorted scattered hearts on the table and some matching boxes to fill with a gift for each person at the dinner party to take home.

Speaking of burlap, I finally made a trim to cover the seams of the burlap shades I made last month. I was planning to buy a trim, but I could not find a thing that would work, so when I removed the burlap "ribbon" from the hydrangea living room Christmas tree, I re-purposed it to use on the lamps:

I am quite happy with how that strip covers the raw edges.

Did you notice the colorful flowers on the coffee table? My sweet husband came home from the grocery store Saturday with them. Thank goodness that man is so helpful with the household chores. I would never get so much done without him. Back to the flowers....Since my paperwhites are duds, I decided to stick the flowers he bought in their container.

I love how it turned out!

Speaking of love, while rummaging through boxes in the basement, I found my "LOVE" candles. I brought them out for Valentine's day.

I have had a very busy weekend--full of pure WORK and a few fun chores. I did get out for about an hour today to go to Walmart. I bought 4 big clear plastic bins so I can go back down to the basement and get rid of some cardboard boxes full of stuff that I will put in the clear bins so I can find what I need.

Don't you just love those clear plastic bins????

Friday the 13th Brings a Lot of Snow

2012-01-13T15:48:00.000-05:00

Way more than the two to four inches we expected.

I plan to stay home all weekend and enjoy it from within my cozy, comfy little home. DH is out snowblowing right now and I have hot coffee all set for when he comes in.

I am hoping to bake some English muffin bread tomorrow, do a bit of cleaning and some sewing. Maybe I will get that apron done. This will be a cocooning weekend for sure.

How about you?

Question for Pinterest Addicts

2012-01-09T16:40:00.000-05:00

A few months ago Dianne from Collages and Creative Goodness turned me on to Pinterest. I did not join, but I go there almost every morning to be inspired. I have been thinking of starting my own page, BUT this is what stops me:

See the "Pinterest.com is not responding" message under the arrow? I get that everytime I go to Pinterest. Why? My computer is not that old...it's fast............???

Is there something I need to do to stop these freezes? They are very annoying.

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.

The Sled that Held the Christmas Tree is now a Coffee Table

2012-01-08T15:18:00.000-05:00

I worked from 6:00 a.m. until precisely 2:03 p.m. -- 8 solid hours of packing boxes and hauling items down to the basement, rearranging the basement storage shelves and then hauling furniture items back upstairs. I thought it would take about 4 hours at the most---boy was I wrong! It's a good thing I scaled back this year.

Forgive me if I sound like I am whining. I am not. I enjoyed the decorations this year and it was worth every sore muscle I am sure to have tomorrow.

While I was taking down the tree in the sled, I had a light bulb moment--why not use the sled for a coffee table? Now that I have the green/garnet color scheme, the rusty old green sled might just work with the glass top from the current coffee table (that I moved into the family room for the holidays). I was excited by this idea, so before 7am, I had already made this coffee table:

The inside is filled with all the pinecones I used for Christmas decorating. Later (in spring) I will change the pinecones to seashells....unless I get tired of it by then and change back.

I am really loving having a new color scheme to play with. After all the Christmas items were gone, I changed out the corner hutch items--put the green boxes inside and on top then removed a number of book jackets from some hardcovers to make a color-coordinated stacked book vignette.

It was fun doing the hutch. While rearranging the basement shelves, I found a box of eagle sculptures that my son briefly collected. I decided to use them in the living room. It's nice to have different accessories to look at.

Yesterday we switched out valances and put up a green one that I made a few years ago. I am not quite done with the living room redecorating. I could use a few more rusty metal items. But here is where I am at the moment:

It is such a pleasure to look at something other than pink floral -- don't get me wrong--I loved the pink floral, but I have looked at it for 18 years. I was overdue for a change!

I have another large cabinet at the opposite end of this room:

I brought up my cardinal table runner which works nicely with the new color scheme:

Yesterday I changed out the chalkboard in the family room. It used to say 'the night before Christmas and that just wouldn't do for a Jan. 7 dinner party, so I did a quick change to this:

Today I took it all done. The greenery needles were falling all over the carpet, so it was time. Right now the wall is blank as I was too tired to think about what to put up next. I think it will be "Love is in the air" as I am planning to have a Valentine dinner for six and I may as well get started with setting the theme.

I hope you are all having a great weekend.

Now I have to go shower and get ready to go to my BIL's for his birthday dinner tonight. It is nice not to have to cook. I sure hope I was not supposed to bring anything. Normally it's a potluck affair when we go there, but DH said this time it's not. I had too much to do today to call and check for sure. I will be pretty embarrassed if everyone but me brings a dish!

Making Lemon Curd

2012-01-07T20:59:00.002-05:00

Before you even start, wash your lemons with hot water and soap.

Why?

warning: if you love restaurant water with lemon, don't read further; if you ignore this advice, don't blame me if you are never able to drink it again (thinking of you, Aunt Mary). :)

read this article and watch the short video from a 2007 project. You will then understand why I never use a lemon before thoroughly washing it. I love lemon in my drinking water,

but I never order water with lemon in a restaurant. My personal opinion is that it's a rare restaurant where employees are made to wash lemons before serving. Dozens of different people stick their hands in the cut lemons to drop them in the water glass--the lemons sit out unrefrigerated all day. Airborne sneeze, cough particles, and who knows what other bacteria fall onto them before they are dropped into your drinking glass.

Believe me, you don't want to be having lemon in your restaurant water! The same goes for bar garnishes--limes, olives, etc. I always order my drinks with no garnish.

In my kitchen the lemons are thoroughly washed so no need to fear the lemon curd. :)

The recipe I ended up using for my dinner party is loosely based on Alton Brown's recipe from the FoodTV site.

Lemon Curd

(a velvety combination of tart and sweet lemon lusciousness)

3/4 cup sugar

5 egg yolks

1/3 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (I only needed one large lemon, but it may take more, depending on the size you have) Zest the lemon--no sense wasting all that flavor

6 Tbls butter

Lemon curd is very delicate and requires a double boiler. I use my big soup pot filled half full of water and this double boiler top. The water just touched the stainless pot's bottom. Alton's recipe said to make sure the water did not touch, but I felt it would cook faster my way.

1. Use medium high heat and bring the water to a gentle boil. My burner goes up to a 10 and I kept it at 6.

2. Mix the egg yolks and the sugar in the the stainless pot before putting it on top of the dbl boiler. Whisk until well combined. Add the lemon juice and the lemon zest.

3. Whisk continuously

(yes, you will get an upper arm workout!) until the mixture thickens. It took mine about 15 minutes. You will know when it's thick enough if you can coat the back of a spoon, like this:

It will get much thicker when it's cool.

4. Remove from heat. Cut the butter into smaller pieces and drop one at a time into the hot mixture.

Whisk until it's melted, then add the next piece.

5. After all the butter is incorporated, put the lemon curd in another container and cover with plastic.

The recipe made just a tad short of two cups. Lemon curd is usually used as a spread on biscuits, between cake layers, etc.

I used it to make a lemon/raspberry parfait dessert for tonight's dinner.I whipped up some fresh heavy cream (no Cool Whip for this one--although I am sure it would work if you happen to like it) and folded it lightly into the lemon curd. Then I layered it with raspberry sauce made from my MIL's berries that I froze in August. Everyone seemed to enjoy the dessert and it looked so nice served in clear martini glasses.

We also had ricotta-filled manicotti and beef-stuffed jumbo pasta shells. I made tons extra so I can freeze at least four more dinners. Since I was already in the kitchen for the day, I made 5 individual turkey pot pies--2 for Monday night and 3 to freeze. I still had turkey left so I made a big pot of turkey noodle soup.

Right in the middle of my cooking spree, we got a call inviting us to dinner tomorrow night. So I won't be cooking tomorrow. I am probably done cooking now for the rest of the week.

This is Why I Insist that Santa NOT Bring me Anything

2012-01-05T17:20:00.000-05:00

I know much better what I like than he does and I am very good at finding my own gifts. I don't feel the least bit guilty ordering them at whim when I find them less than 50% off with no shipping charge.

That is how I recently picked up this 20-inch textured metal necklace on a leather cord.

I love this necklace. I wore it on Monday and again today. It goes perfectly with at least three jackets in my closet.

I have just recenlty started wearing watches. I love cuff watches because they feel more like bracelets to me. Last night this bezel-faced leather cuff watch caught my eye. I think it will be great for casual weekend wear. I love big numbers because it is so easy to read the time.

I also wear a lot of gold jewelry, so I was not surprised when this scalloped-edged golden wave cuff bracelet caught my eye.

I just hope it does not turn out to be a garrish gold tone.

Most mornings when I get ready for work I have about 20 minutes extra before I have to leave. Last week I used the time to make the tulip blocks. This morning I cut out the top of my apron and inserted the tulips.

Then I tossed some fabrics on top that I thought would work for the rest of the apron.

I am liking it! I hope to be able to work on it Sunday.

Tonight I am dining alone so I made one of my favorite dinners............

microwave popcorn with cheese--YUM!

Glass Photo Coasters

2012-01-04T15:52:00.000-05:00

I bought 2 sets of these coasters over a year ago. I stuck them on a shelf and forgot about them. I found them last Sunday while looking for something else.

They are different colors and made of glass. There is a spot on the backside to insert your own pictures. So I spent a little time resizing & printing pictures I had on my computer.

I filled them with tables I have done in the past. I am hoping it will inspire me to do more tables this year. I can change the pics whenever I get bored as I already printed out quilts, garden pics, food and Christmas trees.

They are quite heavy and flat so the glass rests nicely on them.

I still need to fill the second set of 4 coasters, but at the moment I can't find them.

Maybe they are under this mess in my sewing room. It's the pattern I am going to use to make an apron.

This mess is why I rarely sew with patterns. What a headache cutting them apart, etc. It's 2012 pattern companies--how about selling patterns that are already cut?

Look What I Found Under the Tree When I got Home from Work

2012-01-03T17:47:00.000-05:00

My Surefit slipcovers have arrived! I love Internet ordering--less than a week during a holiday and they are sitting in my family room.

I was almost afraid to open these as I spent a tad over $200 and if they don't fit I can't return them. Even though I got a great deal for all the items I ordered, $200 is more than I want to throw away if they turn out to be pure junk.

Finally I grabbed the scissors and ripped into the box.

My first impression was that the color was a bit more burgundy than I expected. I was hoping for a more red hue, but I can work with the color. I have burgundy chairs in the family room, so that color will actually work better for an overall flow from room to room. I just hope they fit!

I was not really in the mood to play around with them, so I decided to just try the loveseat and leave the biggger sofa for later. Hmmmmm.... I am energized by the fact that the loveseat fits quite nicely. I now want to see if the sofa cover fits as well. Yeah! I am so happy that they both fit!

I bought these thingies that you stick down inside the arms and sofa cushions to hold the slipcover in place. I think they were around $50 for both sets. I watched a video on the Surefit site that claimed they were the secret to keeping the covers fitting snugly. I think that is true and I am happy I ordered them.

My covers are very snug and I am very pleased with the purchase. Here is a pic of both the sofa and the loveseat with the pillows I also purchased:

Please forgive the poor quality--the late afternoon lighting was not enough to get a good pic, but I think you can see enough to know the fit is very good.

Do you see my blooming Paperwhites? Since only two of the bulbs have bloomed the scent is not unpleasant at all. I am hoping the other bulbs will still shoot up and bloom.

Back to the slipcovers..........you may remember that I also ordered six dining room chairs. After spending about one hour on these sofas, I was not in the mood to play with the dining room chairs. I opened one package to test and it appears that they will work out, BUT they are very wrinkled and a tad short. It will take much more effort to get them to look decent. I will have to iron them and I may have to add a ruffle on the bottom. Once I get them done, I will certainly show you what they look like. I think they ended up costing me less than $10 each, so I am overall happy with everything I received. I just LOVE when I order something blindly and I am happy with what I receive!

On to the New Year

2012-01-02T17:20:00.000-05:00

We had a great time on our New Year's Eve weekend dinner/dance party. The dinner was steak and a skewer of scallops and bacon, with a baked potato bar. It was good. Dessert was a raspberry ice cream ball encased in hard white chocolate and drizzled with dark chocolate. Once you cracked the white chocolate shell the ice cream oozed out......Ci są pyszne, vi sono deliziosi, vous sont délicieux, que son deliciosas.... no matter what language you use, it was delicious!

We really loved the band. As you might guess by their picture, they played 50's & 60's R&R. DH wore that black hat at the top.

The hat added another 4 inches to his already tall (6.3” ) fame . I must say he looked quite dapper twisting to the song made famous by Chubby Checker. He was doing the twist with a widowed friend so I was sitting at the table watching. I had no idea the man could contort his upper body like that!

We left very early Sunday morning so we could beat the big blizzard predicted to hit the U.P. about noon. The roads were snow covered, but not too slippery as the temp was slightly above freezing. We made it home by 11:00 a.m. and after unpacking, I spent the rest of New Year's Day cooking, relaxing, and watching a movie.

I had to work today. I just got home and it is really snowing here. Someone at work told me we are supposed to get over 8 inches and I think we have. This is our first official snowstorm. I plan to stay inside the rest of the day and work on whatever it is I end up making with these little 4-inch tulip blocks:

I felt like making some paper-pieced blocks last week. Now that they are finished, I have been thinking of what to make.........I am leaning toward incorporating them in some kind of apron.

I still have my Christmas trees up. I decided to leave them until Jan. 7. Yes, me, who almost always starts removing on Dec. 26. This year I am in no hurry to take it all down.

I hope you are all having a wonderful new year!

A Decorating Change for 2012

2011-12-28T17:21:00.000-05:00

A while ago I posted this picture of a red/green living room and told you all how much I like the color scheme.

I have since painted my walls a similar green color.

Today I order these slipcovers for my pink floral sofa and love seat:

I also ordered 4 sage green pillows:

I am crossing my fingers that the sofa covers will fit! I think it will be fun to cover my pink floral living room in red and green for the five winter months and then change back to pink for the spring/ summer.

I ordered from Surefit.com and they had a great clearance sale. I cannot make slipcovers for the price I am paying. The prices were so good that I also ordered six of these chair covers for my dining room table.

I was planning to make floor length covers for my dining room chairs, but these neutral-colored covers are going to work just fine and I don't have to do any work!

I am so excited about the possible color combos I can use in the dining room with these slipcovers.

DH just called me to come outside to see the colors in the sky. Have you ever seen anything like this?

It is 5 p.m. and there is a pink strip across the sky. Do you see the moon in the pink strip? We have never seen anything like this before!

The Shortbread Caramel Cookie Flop was Better as a Trifle

2011-12-25T17:54:00.000-05:00

I made it today for our early in the afternoon Christmas dinner. It is layered chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, whipped cream, Snickers candy bars, pulverized shortbread cookies,

melted caramel from the cookies, and Hershey chocolate syrup, with a sprinkling of toffee bits. I only used half a pan of the flopped caramel shortbread cookies. I froze the rest for some other concoction.

We ate early today so my son could make the 4.5 hr. drive home without traveling too long in the dark. He should be calling any time now to let me know he got home safely.

I am happy to report that I am done cooking for the next 12 days...well, except for very easy things like leftover turkey, soup, etc. I have already invited people to dinner on Saturday, Jan. 6. So until then I am taking it easy in the kitchen. I have cooked more in the past five days than I have in years. It was fun, but I am glad to be done.

I did not take many pics on Christmas Eve. I did take this one of my Mom with one of her gifts.

Can you tell she has a sweet tooth? LOL. That's a restaurant gift certificate attached to the huge box.

One niece always brings me a hostess gift of wine. This year she brought a chocolate/red wine combo.

Thanks, Christine. I must admit I have never tried this, but it looks interesting. Chris says it reminds her of Bailey's Irish Creme. I like that so I expect to enjoy this just as much as the varieties she has given me in past years. It is fun to try the wines she gets from vineyards near Lansing, MI where she lives.

DH and I are about to feast on a big turkey/dressing/cranberry sauce sandwich..........We have been waiting a long time to have turkey leftovers!

Salted Caramel Shortbread Cookie -- big FLOP!

2011-12-24T14:56:00.000-05:00

I was so excited when I saw this recipe on Pinterest. I don't remember exactly who posted it, but it's easy to find if you just google. Here are my caramel bites:

Don't they look delicious? They taste good, too. BUT about 10 minutes after I took this picture, they looked like this:

Yes, at room temp for just a short time, they MELT! I made a double batch thinking they would be great for my Sweet Treats table. That was before I went back to read the reviews and many people mentioned this same problem. I wish I had read the reviews before I made them. Needless to say I won't be using them on my table. I will try to think of another way to use them so as not to waste. I am thinking along the lines of using them in a chocolate trifle dessert for Christmas day. I think I can warm the caramel and pulverize the shortbread and layer it with chocolate cake. I will let you know how that works out.

I have been puttering all morning getting things ready for today's party. I have hidden all the treasure hunt items. This is one of them - a real chicken egg with a chicken inside. :) It is in plain sight on the big tree, but it blends in with all the other bronze items on that tree, so it is not as easy to find as you might think.

Since the caramels flopped, I had to buy sweet items for the Sweet Treats table.

After putting out the candies, I lit the candles and tested my Christmas Golden Glow Slushtini...

not bad...I think it will work just fine. As I was holding the 'tini with one hand and trying to take a picture, DH walked by. "That reminds me of a movie," he said.

"What movie?" asked I.

"One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest," he replied.

"Ha, ha."

My feet are beginning to burn from standing on them all morning, so I took this little blog post break. They feel better now. I have a little over an hour before people begin to arrive. So I had better get the meatballs going.

I hope you, too, are having a good Christmas Eve.

Rudolph's Nose Treats

2011-12-22T14:41:00.001-05:00

I have been looking for round pretzels for the past three years to make these easy holiday treats. I finally found one bag last weekend.

In addition to the pretzels, you need Hershey Kisses and M&M's. Unwrap the kisses (the toughest part of the entire process).

Use a silpat or aluminum foil to line a cookie sheet. Then put the pretzels on with a kiss in the center.

Put in a preheated 275 degree oven for about 2 minutes. Remove and immediatley put one M&M in the center,pressing to flatten the chocolate. When you get the whole sheet done, put it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to harden the chocolate.

That's it!

You now have Rudolph's Nose Treats (the red ones). Some people call them Santa's belly button. No matter what the name, they are tasty little sweet/salty treats for your Christmas gathering. I still need to make a couple more sweet treats for my table.

This morning I made some shortbread/caramel bites. I will show you those later.

I took today and tomorrow off as vacation days to get organized for my C.Eve party. Today I found all the treasure hunt items and made sure they were all listed on the check off sheet. I hide these same items every year.

All the guests have a list and they check off each item as they find it.

Last year my sister hosted the party and I took these items to her. She hid them and I got to play the game for the first time. I had so much fun trying to find them all. When they find them all, they get to pick a small gift. I wrapped 24 little gifts today

and my sister, Dee will bring at least that many more. She is such a big help with the party, always willing to bring gifts, extra appetizers, etc. We play a number of different games and everyone goes home with at least one of these mini gifts--usually 4 or 5. This year I made up a family trivia crossword puzzle. I think they will enjoy that one.

I am expecting my son to arrive any moment. He has not been here for Christmas in a few years so everyone is looking forward to seeing him on Christmas Eve.

I think I am pretty set now for the big night. I am not one to wait until the last minute to get things done. I already have all the ingredients set out for the appetizers I will make. Tomorrow I will wash the Martini glasses I got for Christmas last year (and never used yet). Two week ago I made my Christmas Vodka/Peach Schnapps Slushtinis and those glasses will be perfect! The glass makes the drink--don't you think? I would never think of serving my Slushtinis in a tumbler...a stemmed glass is a must! LOL. :)

I hope your plans are coming along nicely, too.

Magazine Cover Christmas Present Bow

2011-12-21T16:17:00.000-05:00

Are you about to run out the door to your holiday party with a naked gift? Did you wait until the final hour before wrapping and then discover that you had no bow and no ribbon to make one? Did you frantically google "last minute gift bow" and arrive here? If you did, I hope this post will be helpful.

Last night I was in the same situation. On Sunday I was leafing through a box of old Christmas magazines. I thumbed through them and ripped out anything I thought I might use (like a recipe) and threw the rest of the mag in the garbage. I hated to part with some of the beautiful covers, so I ripped them off before tossing the magazine.

Last night when I needed a bow, my eyes landed on the three covers still lying on the coffee table.

Inspiration struck!

A glue gun and 15 minutes turned the magazine covers into a nice full bow for my gift.

I think it's fine just the way it is. But since I had a real greenery centerpiece nearby, I cut off a few sprigs of soft greens and stuck them in to cover some of the lettering.
My gift is naked no more. If you cannot figure out how this bow was made, just click on my gift wrapping label on the right side of my blog and you will find the directions I gave a few days ago to make this type of bow.

Who Can Identify this Plant?

2011-12-20T17:58:00.000-05:00

I acquired this plant from the funeral and I don't know what it is.

I can't believe florists don't put an identification tag in the plants they send. I think it may be some sort of interestingly-colored rubber tree as the leaves are heavy and rubbery.

I am not good with indoor plants. This past summer I tossed two Christmas cactus plants that were a gift about 7 years ago. They never quite died, but they never really took off. They looked pretty sad in August, so I threw them out. This plant fits quite nicely in this spot and I would like to find out what it is so I can try to give it proper care. So if you know anything about how to care for it, please leave a comment.

Paperwhites

2011-12-19T05:17:00.001-05:00

Jim would like to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

To die completely, a person must not only forget but be forgotten, and he who is not forgotten is not dead.Samuel Butler
Though he is gone from this earth, his father will live on in the hearts of many.

Last Saturday I changed the paperwhites container to a large round one with higher sides. I also taped some white ribbon across the top to help the leaves from drooping when they finally get tall.

Then I gathered some white lace and glued it around the top to cover the ribbon edges. I added a white flower swag on one side.

one week later, the first paperwhite peeks through

I think the ribbon should hold them up. I just hope I will be able to tolerate the smell once they bloom!

It is With a Heavy Heart that I Make this Post

2011-12-15T17:00:00.000-05:00

on December 14th, my father-in-law passed away.

About mid-morning today this rainbow appeared directly over the cross at this church next to my office at work. I don't think I have ever seen a rainbow in December. We like to think it is a sign that he made it to a better place.

His funeral will be Saturday morning. May he rest in peace.

Green, Gold & Silver Grey Dining Room Christmas Table

2011-12-13T06:46:00.000-05:00

I set a fairly simple table with a very easy centerpiece of pinecones and green glass & silver mesh balls. I nestled six votive candles among the greens.

These amber glasses are circa 1974.

I like this table. I like the simplicity and how it blends so nicely with the bronze/green Christmas tree.

The second table is also set. I don't have enough of the same dishes, etc., so I did it differently, yet not glaringly so. I still used pine cones in the centerpiece and green plates.

I reversed the glassware/napkins colors. The pink tablecloth goes with the pink hydrangea tree as this table sits right next to that tree. It is a bit crowded with this table in the living room, but I guess being "cozy" is just part of the holiday season.

Sweet Treats Table

2011-12-11T06:31:00.001-05:00

Now what in the world am I doing with a staple gun at 5:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning?

I have wanted to do a decorated dessert table for quite some time and I decided this would be the perfect opportunity. I used a small desk I had and covered it in sheer frilly fabric and guess what else---burlap. Yes, more burlap. Actually I had used all the burlap, so I took this piece out of the sled (you could barley see it in the sled anyway). I stapled a sheer fabric in layers across the desk drawer.

The piece of burlap I had was just long enough to go over the top and sides of the desk. Remember those letters I showed you last week? While this is what they were for (Sorry Chris J. they were not for a Christmas Eve game--Chris J is my niece and she has been reading the blog to see if she can get a heads up on some of the games we will play at party #2).

I added a bow on each side with a Shiny Brite ornament in the middle. Underneath the table I put a can light.

I used every tiny piece of burlap I could find It worked nicely to spiff up plain white candles with an added twine bow and a pink ball.

This table will hold whatever little sweet treats I decide to make.

The color is off in this picture as the light is not good at 5:00 a.m.

Here is a pic during the daylight which has correct coloring.

This table was such fun to do. Now I need to decide what goodies to make to put on the table.

You may notice the dining room table to the right. I have it all set and will show that tomorrow.

Chris J. because you are such a loyal reader, I will give you some inside info....brush up on family trivia as there might just be a little game requiring that knowledge. :)

Christmas Chalkboard & Real Greens Arrangement

2011-12-10T15:08:00.001-05:00

Last week I mentioned that I was making a Christmas chalkboard display with real greens. Yesterday I went out and cut some greens from my shrubs and let them sit overnight to absorb water. Every year I do at least one big arrangement of real greens just so I can get that wonderful Christmas aroma.

Today I made my display using floral foam soaked in water. This arrangement should last at least three weeks as long as I add water as needed.

I used a faux evergreen swag on the edge of the chalkboard. It's trimmed in the same ornaments I used on the tree.

I added a strand of battery-operated lights to the swag, which I turned on for this pic:

The battery-operated lights don't seem to last long, so I will not turn them on again until party #1. The real evergreen arrangement is very simple--just greens, dried hydrangeas from my Limelight bush, sprigs of gold balls, and pine cones.

I went for simple decorating this year and used a ton of pine cones.

I put a couple of wreaths around candles in the family room and used pine cones & silver mesh balls to decorate the wreath.

The dining room centerpiece is a simple faux greenery/pine cone/silver ball arrangement. Normally I would have a 2ft tree on top of all my china/curio cabinets, but this year I cut way back on my decorating. I usually have six 2ft trees atop various china cabinets.

Right now I am regretting not doing those trees. I really need a tree with white lights on top of that curio cabinet. I would not be surprised if I change my mind and add more trees later this weekend.

I have been putzing all day with table centerpieces, the real greens arrangement, wreaths for end tables, etc. It's been a lot of fun today. There is no pressure as I still have a week before the first party and I have the meal planned, most of the decorating done, 2 tables ready to set, and I have prepared my grocery list. DH bought some items while grocery shopping today and will get the rest next Thursday. He wants to do shrimp cocktails with fresh shrimp, so that needs to be purchased just before serving.

Oh, by the way, I have changed my dinner menu. After talking with DH, we have decided to do a plated dinner of stuffed chicken breasts for next Saturday's dinner. As long as I am doing 100% of the cooking, I may as well cook what I like, which is a plated meal. I was looking on my blog for past entrees that I liked and came across a post about chicken Florentine and potatoes Anna. I stated that it was too bad I had no guests as that dinner was definitely guest-worthy. That got me to thinking maybe I should do it for my party. I will also do Chicken Cordon Bleu since I don't know if everyone likes spinach. Instead of salad, we will serve shrimp cocktails as the first course. I happen to have the coolest shrimp cocktails dishes....there are two glass pieces and the crushed ice goes in the first bowl with the shrimp and cocktail in the bowl that sits atop the ice. I have never used them for a dinner party...only for our own dinners for two.

DH will don an apron and be the server as I plate the dishes.

So far I have had a very busy, but pleasant day. I am now taking a break to blog. Blogging is what I do to relax.

I hope you are all having an equally wonderful Saturday!

My Indoor Flowers are Starting to Grow/ Santa Ornament pattern

2011-12-08T06:31:00.000-05:00

I think it's been a little over two weeks since I planted them.

The amaryllis has greened up but the leaves have been the same size since week. The paperwhites are just beginning to straighten up.

I wanted to transfer them to a taller sided glass container, but I can't find the one I had in mind. I think I sent it off to the good will store a few months ago, thinking I would never use it again. That always happens to me. . . whatever I get rid of I need shortly thereafter. I am going to rummage through the ~~nearest flower vase store~~ my basement to see if I can find something else. They will flop like crazy in this bowl. Besides I may need that bowl for my dinner party. I love clear pedestal bowls, don't you? They look so elegant when filled with food.

Patti, from Osage Bluff, recently sent me an email with this link from a site called Pinwheelponders. (pattern is the fifth row, last one). And sure enough I liked it so much that I have already made it. It's super cute and super duper easy. I think it took about 15 minutes to make.

Isn't he adorable? A big thank you to Pinwheelponders for giving us this pattern and to Patti for passing along the link.

It also makes a very cute bag ornament for those who like to add a personal touch to their gift bags.

Hostess with the Mostess--I hope

2011-12-06T17:52:00.001-05:00

I just finished calling all of my inlaws and inviting them to a holiday dinner on Dec. 17. DH and I are way overdue in reciprocating as we have attended parties at all of their homes this past year. I keep planning on having them all over, but time escapes me and then it's too late to plan anything. I spur-of-the-moment picked up the telephone and called them all tonight.

So now I have about 10 days to plan for this dinner party for 11 adults. On Dec. 24 I am hosting my family Christmas party -- about 15 people.

O.K. take a deep breath Zoey! I really love to do this, but I am always so nervous at first. There is sooooooo much to do! I usually take a week's vacation around Christmas, but this year I decided not to. So I need to get all of this done while working almost every day ( I have scheduled a day's vacation here and there this month).

It's been ages since I have set a nice dinner table. Now I will be forced to do so on Dec. 17. On one hand it will be fun to plan; on the other a bit intimidating as they are all wonderful cooks and hostesses. I will have to bring up a second dinner table from my basement so we can all sit together. Yes, I do have an extra round table in my basement. Doesn't everybody? LOL. Sometimes it pays to hoard. I can put the round table right next to my big rectangle table and seat 12. Perfect!

I already brought up a small green table to use for the desserts for my Christmas Eve party. Tonight I made some letters on my computer, printed them out and punched holes in them.

they will be used to decorate the dessert table. I will show you exactly what I am doing with them later--after the party.

DH is not home so he does not even know I just planned this party. He is easy going and will be thrilled that we are having his family over and will do all he can to help me.

Now I need to plan a menu. I am going to do two or three pasta dishes ---stuffed shells, homemade ravioli and...??? I have to come up with another dish. It will be way too much food, but I will freeze the leftovers as my son and his significant other are coming for 4 days during Christmas and it would be great to have a dinner or two already prepared.

I told them all not to bring anything other than their white elephant gifts for the fun gift exchange. So I have to do sides, dessert, etc....everything..........Oh, dear, I really have a ton of work to do this holiday season!!

Grocery Bag Gift Wrap with Denim Bow

2011-12-05T18:35:00.001-05:00

Who would guess that an old grocery bag and a few strips cut from a leg of jeans

would turn into this cute gift wrap?

I used the bag handle for the to/from tag. The center gold ball is one that broke off some sprigs I used elsewhere.

The bow making method is the same as the one I showed a couple of days ago, except I did not use a round circle base. I wrapped a piece of denim around the package

and just hot glued the bow pieces to it.

I think it would be a cute wrap for a piece of jewelry for a teenager or for any small gift for a crafty friend.

No need to purchase expensive wrapping paper if you still have a grocery store that gives you brown bags.

I Found the Most Delicious Soup

2011-12-04T17:19:00.000-05:00

Last week I found this soup at B**ig L**ots. I bought one can to try it and it was delicious!

Today I went back and bought four more cans. It will make a wonderful light winter meal with a hot grilled cheese sandwich.

This is probably not the nicest comment, but whenever I see W**olfgang P**uck on TV, the first thing I notice is his ultra white false teeth. Even on the can they are too white. Why do people think their teeth need to be unnaturally white?

Today I did a bit more decorating....I was in the basement and came across a dark green bin that I had not looked in.

Jackpot!

That bin had my gold metal bows and birds that I was missing on my tree.

Somehow I found space to add them to the tree. :)

I no longer buy storage bins unless they are clear. I need to be able to see what's in them.

I also worked on Chrismasfying (yes, I made that word up) the chalkboard I made a few months ago. from the ugly blue ocean oil painting. If you are wondering what I am talking about you can read that post by clicking here. I still need to make a fresh greenery arrangement to place underneath it. Once I get that done I will show it to you.

I also worked on a centerpiece for the dining room table. I can't show you that either as it is not quite done.

Friday morning we cleaned the carpets. Everything was nice, clean and neat until I brought up the bins, sacks, etc. to do more decorating. Now it's a mess again. I am never finished decorating for the holidays. I keep adding more right up until Dec. 24th. I think it's a sickness.

Wrapping Paper Bow How To

2011-12-02T05:11:00.003-05:00

Have you ever needed a matching bow for your gift or just wanted to make your own wrapping paper bow? I make them almost every year. Tonight I wrapped my first gift and made my first bow.
I could have just used a purchased bow like this:

But I think my homemade wrapping paper bow is much more interesting and it is super easy to make from wrapping paper. I had a small section of the base paper left that I cut off the sides of my gift package.

Then I cut a few strips of green foil paper. Don't worry about being exact. My strips were all different widths. You can adjust the size later.

You need a circle to begin the bow. I just ripped off the top of a cardboard ribbon holder, but you can draw and cut one out of a cardboard box to whatever size you need if your gift is bigger.

Cut the strips as long as you want them to be when folded over. Then take out your trusty glue gun and glue the bottom shut, then glue the piece on the circle as above.

Mine ended up like this. Then I did a second slightly shorter layer of the base paper and stuck them between the open spaces. I did 4 layers total, alternating the paper color.

The fun part is finding something of interest to finish off the top. I used a walnut (painted silver)

Then I glued on a gold star to finish off the bow.

Turn it over and put a good amount of hot glue on the bottom circle and position it where you would like it on the package.

Ta da!

Now don't you think that is a more interesting package than the one with the little purchased bow? It's also a great way to use up leftover wrapping paper.

I have blogged about a few other bows I've made. If you want another idea or two look under my "Gift Wrapping" label.

20 Minutes -- $135

2011-11-30T05:26:00.000-05:00

Why didn't my mother tell me to marry a plumber? We just paid $135 for 20 minutes of work. That's $405/hr. if the plumber can find 3 other easy jobs like ours.

It is a lot of money, but we are actually very happy that our drain clog was nothing more than gunk build up and it was easy to fix. An electric snake thingie, 20 minutes and it drains faster than my checkbook on the C*old*water C*reek site.

$135 for 19 years of build up. We thought it was a reasonable charge if broken down to $7.10 per year. There is an optimistic way to look at almost everything. :)

While the plumber did his thing, I was coloring quilt mystery block pieces to see if I could figure out what it was before I made it.

I still have no idea what this is.

With these mysteries you have to figure out how to put the pieces together and I gave up because I just couldn't get it to work. Do you see anything in this mess?

I am not going to sew it until the mystery is revealed and I can see if it's something I like.

Bronze, Gold & Green Christmas Tree Additions

2011-11-28T05:04:00.002-05:00

I was missing my gold pears and gold smiling stars when I did the tree. I found them when I brought up the box of gold reindeer.

Here is one of the stars:

and one of my shiny gold man-in-the-moons:

and some of the sparkly bronze pears I painted a few years ago:

I am still missing gold birds and gold metal bows, but I don't think I have anyplace to put them now! DH was right. Once I got done this tree has few big empty gaps between branches. One way I hide the big holes is to use large shiny balls deep inside the tree, rather than on the branch tips. Like this shiny green ball which hides a view of the metal pole (hate that!).

I also stuck one of my whimsical elves on the side to cover a big hole. I have about a dozen of these that I made quite a few years ago. I just love the little guys and wanted to use a least one of them this year, even though I am cutting way back on the decorating.

I think decorating under the tree is just as important as the tree itself.
To fill the space, I put a few gold reindeer under the tree with some packages wrapped to match the tree colors.

I then scattered a bunch of my gold and silver-painted pine cones around the deer. Again I have had these for at least 15 years.

I think I am now done decorating this tree. Today I removed the greenery I had twisted around the drapery rod. I did not feel like decorating that. I decided two wreaths would be easier. They were because I was tired and just stuck some stuff on them and hung them up to cover the curtain brackets. Works for me.

This tree is in a spot where I can really enjoy it for the next month. To the left is the kitchen where I can see it as I cook, etc.

Just for kicks, I looked up last year's tree. What totally different look it was with a gingerbread man/sunflower scheme:

I did use the same big green glittery orbs, but just about everything else is different.

Unfortunately we have a little kitchen problem. Just before we left for our Thanksgiving get-a-way weekend, we discovered that the sink is clogged. Nothing DH does has helped, so tomorrow we will have to find a plumber. If that isn't enough, our washing machine is also about to die. One day last week I heard a loud noise (like the load was out of balance) while doing a big load. When I went to the basement, I saw a little bit of water on the floor (coming from underneath the machine). It's happened a couple of times since, but only when we do a large load. Right now we are only doing smallish loads and it's working fine. No idea what the problem is, but I am quite sure we will be having to buy a new one soon.

I am not planning to do any more decorating. It feels good to have it all done and the room cleaned up.

Is anyone else having a problem with the Blogger preview? I have not been able to use it for the past week.

Bronze Green Christmas Tree

2011-11-25T11:50:00.105-05:00

Wednesday, November 23, 2011:

I don't know if I should call it a bronze and green or chartreuse and copper Christmas tree.

I have a lot of copper/bronze/gold/green/chartreuse items from previous years.

I have used the bronze color scheme before. Here is a pic of my entertainment center from 2008:

I am going for this effect on my tree, but adding a big dose of what I believe to be chartreuse green. Most of the items you see here will end up on the tree this year.

I should have plenty of decorations to do a full tree and not spend any more than the $3 I already spent for the Dollar Tree icicles above. It really helps to have a fully-stocked basement!

As you can see I have a long way to go!

I need to get off the computer, climb up this ladder and start fluffing this tree (the top still needs to be put on) that has been sitting in my family room for a week!
It should be fun to see a new trendy color combo take shape.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

And it was....

I brought up four or five big tubs of bronze/green/gold ornies from the basement and decorated the tree this afternoon.

I was pretty skeptical as there were big empty gaps between the branches and I could not "fluff" them out. DH was more confident as he says that every year I say that I will never be able to fill the gaps, but I always do.

The first thing I did was the tree top. I know it's usually the last thing one does, but this tree is over 9.5 feet tall (I don't know why I keep saying 7.5 ft) and even on a ladder it's hard for me to do the top. So I did the top while it was sitting in a bucket and then had DH put it on. I took two silver wreaths ---do any of you remember when I painted two of these twig wreaths that I had on my deck

silver for Halloween 2010?

Well, as I was in the basement looking for tubs of ornaments, I saw the two silver twig wreaths and suddenly thought they may work for a tree top. So I brought them up and I put one on each side of the tree top to balance the weight. I added some gold ball sprigs and some green picks. Then I put a big copper/bronze poinsettia in the center.

Then I just started opening tubs and adding whatever I found that fit the color scheme to the tree.

I ended up with this:

Those Dollar Tree bronze icicles are not very well made. Two of them came apart as I removed them from the cardboard. I just hot-glued the top back on and they were good to go. What do you expect for $3 for 18 ornaments? They are not top quality, but they worked quite nicely on this tree.

I bought the little green sequined balls from the Coldwater Creek outlet about three years ago.

I think I have 24 of them. They are quite small, but also pretty unique and the color fit well with this tree.

Here is the top with the lights on:

Every year I add a real bird's nest somewhere on my tree. It symbolizes good luck for the new year.

A few years ago a robin made a nest in my heart-shaped wreath beside my garage and then she abandoned the nest. I don't know if the mother robin died or what, but she left the nest with three eggs. At the end of the season, I removed the nest and have used it each year on my tree. Over the years two of the three eggs have been dropped and destroyed. I have been taking extra special care of the last egg.

All in all I am happy with how the tree turned out. Now I am going to watch a Lifetime Christmas movie.

Allium sativum

2011-11-23T15:21:00.000-05:00

I was thrilled today to get this gift from my mother-in-law. It's a terracotta jug full of her home-grown Allium sativum, a member of the onion genus, known to most of us as garlic.

I was hoping she had some for me this year. I don't get it every year (depends on the success of her planting), so I was thrilled to have some again this winter for cold-weather culinary concoctions. Almost all meat dishes taste better with my MIL's home-grown garlic! This amount will last me all winter.

I bet most of you are busy in the kitchen preparing for the big feast. This year we are going out for Thanksgiving so I don't have to cook a single thing--and---there is no cleanup. Zero! Zilch!Nada!

Hey, stop throwing those raw giblets at me!! This is the first year we have done this and we are really looking forward to it.

I actually like to cook the turkey, etc. and I plan to do so later. I already have a turkey in the freezer. I may just save it for Christmas day.

Here's wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving!

I Found Some Paperwhites!

2011-11-22T17:23:00.005-05:00

After reading Eileen's blog post about paperwhites, I remembered that I had wanted to buy some this year. Since I rarely shop in brick & mortar buildings, I did not have the chance to see any to remind me that I wanted to buy them.

Today I ran to Home Depot to see if they had any left. Lucky for me, they did--in a big bin just as I entered the store. I grabbed a bag and went right to the register. "$2.49 cents," she said.

Holy smokes, I thought they were $4.99 a package. I did not even know they were 50% off. So I did what any sane woman would do--I ran back and grabbed another package.

So for five bucks I got 12 paperwhite bulbs. As soon as I got home, I planted them in this glass footed bowl filled with clear glass and green glass vase thingies--are they called marbles??

I do hope the fact that they have already sprouted is not a bad sign in regards to their odds of producing gobs of lovely white blooms.

I saved one bulb to drop in this glass vase hugged by a holiday snowman.

How darn cute will this be with the tall green leaves topped with a cluster of white flowers? It would be perfect if they decided to bloom for Christmas.

Oh, dear, I just went to Eileen's blog to do the link and I noticed that she was not going to water hers until 3 weeks before Chistmas as they bloom quickly. I already watered mine. I guess I will have flowers before Christmas. I trust Eileen. She knows so much about flowers!

Big Sale at CC

2011-11-21T16:41:00.002-05:00

Since next week is my birthday, I took advantage of the big C*o*ldwater C*r*eek sale - buy one discounted item, get second 1/2 off AND free shipping.

I like to post this stuff to my blog so that I can remember what items I ordered. So here goes:

Loving this lace V neckline. I find V-necks hard to find lately.

I am also loving these "waterfall" draping cardigans. I enlarged this, so you can see that they, too, spell this color "grey". :)

I ordered two of these crinkly sateen tanks. The pink one to go with the cardigan above and a white one to go with the navy cardigan below.

This one is navy blue with small stripes. I don't have much in navy.

Another white staple. I never seem to have enough white tees to wear under jackets. It just hit me that I may already have this one! Shoot! Now I guess I will two of them.

So these are my birthday gifts. My sweet husband always knows just what to buy me. LOL. Every few days, he visits my blog to find out what I have ordered. He has not had much to read, since I have not ordered anything for about two months. We really don't even buy birthday gifts anymore because we have most of the things we need and neither of us can think of a gift the other would want. In actuality, he would never ever think to buy me clothes and I prefer it that way. Instead of gifts, we usually go away for weekend trip. I am not sure if we will this year, but if we do, I will have some new duds to wear.

So if you like CC, head over there and check out the sale. I watch them like a hawk with 20/20 and this sale is one of the best this year. Usually you have to spend $100 to get free shipping, but with this sale you can get it on any order, even if it's just one item.

Hydrangea, Burlap & Pearls Christmas Tree

2011-11-20T17:03:00.003-05:00

I finished off the last of the burlap roll on this Christmas tree.

I originally had only flowers on the top of the tree -- hydrangeas & faux liatris (hard to find--I bought them about 10 years ago). While pawing through a box looking for the muted pink glass balls, I came across this pink Hallmark Father Christmas that I bought about twenty years ago and I decided to use him on the top. I surrounded him with the faux liatris and some other faux flowers.

I do love my felt mice that I made over twenty years ago so I added quite a few of them.

They add a bit of whimsy to the tree.

I made dozens of them in red, green, pink and white. I only used the pink and white on this tree.

I have had these mice longer than I have had my husband and we will be celebrating 23 years in May. We both wish we aged as well as they have. :)

In the sled I added some old Christmas toys. This is my son's first teddy bear circa 1977. I use this cute bear almost every Christmas. Some years he tops the Christmas tree and some years he sits under the tree.

I have a heart-framed pic of my son at 4 months old opening this bear hung near the teddy bear, as well as a pic from each of his first few Christmases hung in different areas of the tree.

This lady bear was a gift from my son to me when he was just a little boy.

These white bears are the Kmart bears from about 20 years ago. I removed the red/green hats & scarves and added my own hats. The male bear has a Russian grey fur hat.

The lady bear has this lovely vintage Christmas hat, probably from the 1940's.

She also sports a lace collar that I removed from a blouse of my late former (very fashionable) MIL.

I do love a Christmas tree that evokes memories of years gone by. This tree does exactly that which makes me quite fond of it.

The big main tree is still sitting exactly where DH put it a week ago. It is much bigger (7.5 ft tall) and takes a lot more work, so I have not done a thing to it yet. I may begin to work on it this week.........then again maybe not until next weekend. I am in no hurry.

Amaryllis 'apple blossom'

2011-11-16T15:59:00.001-05:00

Every winter I go to blogs and see their beautiful amaryllis in bloom and I am always sorry that I did not buy a bulb in the fall.

So last Saturday when I saw this pink amaryllis, I bought it.

I was surprised to find this little round disk. The directions said to put it in 3 cups of water and let it sit for 15 minutes.

It poofed right up.

Then I stirred it and stuffed it around the flower bulb.

I hate ugly plastic pots, so I wrapped a piece of ....................guess what..........Burlap ...... around it!

I secured the burlap with two rubber bands and then tied a piece of pink fabric to hide the rubber bands (though I see I was not all that successful hiding them). Now all I have to do wait 4 to 8 weeks for beautiful blooms.

Here is what I hate about daylight savings time:

5:30 p.m. and poor DH is grilling in the dark.

Book Bargains, Saving Cordayline & a Peek at the Hydrangea Christmas Tree

2011-11-15T17:48:00.001-05:00

I bought a bunch of books at Saturday's VFW bazaar. Can you believe I bought "The Help" for just 50 cents? I did not see the movie, so it will all be new to me. The other books were just a quarter each. Once I get my decorating done, I can sit beside the burlap lamp (which gives off a lot more light) and read some Christmas stories.

It was quite the day for bargains. At various sources, I also got all that fabric in back of the books.

Saturday I removed the last three big containers from the garage sides and the front porch. They still looked good, but I wanted to have it all done before the snow flies. I could not bring myself to yank this big cordayline out. A couple of you told me it would survive down to 10 degrees, so I thought perhaps I could overwinter it in the garage beside this window where it will get a bit of light.

The garage never gets below 30 degrees. Do you think it will live through the winter? It's worth a try as I would sure love to be able to start this container with it as the centerpiece next spring.

Here is a sneak peek of the hydrangea Christmas tree :

I find the muted colors very hard to work with. I spent two hours after work (not my high energy time!) on this little tree. Yesterday I had put some pink balls on. Today I felt they were too pink. I had to haul out at least a dozen boxes before I found these muted pink glass balls which work nicely. I originally had white pearls hanging from the branches, but they were way too pure white. So back down to my very own Christmas ornament store (the basement) I went in search of something else. I found one strand of light blue beads.

I thought the color worked, so I just cut them off and laid them over the branches. I cut up some light pink beads and did the same. Then I quit for the night. I thought this little tree would be easy peasy, but with all the changes I have already made, it is beginning to take more time than I want to give it. Most of the time involves lugging up boxes from the basement and then hauling them back down. Hate that part!!

The Trees are Ready When I am--Which Won't be Today

2011-11-14T16:16:00.007-05:00

Yesterday afternoon as I was scrubbing floors (on hands/knees - I will spare you that picture) & cooking this pork roast with sauerkraut and carrots,

DH brought up two Christmas trees. He put the big pre-lit tree together (except for the top, which I asked him to leave off and put in a plastic bucket so I could decorate it on the floor rather than on the ladder--at 7.5 feet tall the tree top is always very difficult for me - even on a ladder--the stand adds another foot or so). I was too pooped to do anything with the trees on Sunday.
I am planning to do the main tree in bronze/gold/lime green. Saturday I bought these bronze icicles at our local dollar store. What a deal -- 3 bronze icicle ornies for 50 cents.

I bought all they had, which was six packs. So I have 18 glittered bronze icicles for $3.00.

The window behind the tree is the family room window that I can't find the curtains for. Because I don't want to see the bare curtain brackets, I always leave the rod up and twist greenery around the it, then decorate it to match the tree. Once I get the tree decorated, I will move it right smack in the center of that window--that is why it does not matter if I don't find the curtains until after Christmas.

I decided this year to do this little skinny 4ft. tree for the living room. It's the perfect size for the edge of the dining room/living room. I am planning to decorate it with faux hydrangeas this year. This tree is very old and the branches tend to fall out of those little holes that you stick them into. It used to be very frustrating to put it together every year & I detest putting strings of lights on a tree. Now I store this tree in the basement all assembled with the lights on and an old sheet tossed over to keep the dust off. It is very lightweight, so it is easy to carry it up. Once upstairs it's all ready to begin the fun decorating.

The small tree sits inside a sled that I used to put outside on the deck. The sled is a great container for a small tree--it gives the tree more "presence", adding to the height and girth. It's related to the holiday and it 's also pretty darn cute once I put gifts, etc. inside it. You can't see the runners in this pic, but I will take a better picture when it's completed.

So far I have not done a thing with either tree, but I like that they are upstairs and ready when I decide to start decorating. I will probably putter about with them after work each day this week.

I just looked at what people where googling when they landed on my blog and it's almost all Christmas related---pink tree, bronze tree, gingerbread man tree, sunflower tree, aqua tree.........etc. I have done so many different trees that they find my blog for almost any theme they search for. So I don't think I am the only one with Christmas decorating on my mind.

I had such a busy weekend and Monday is always a busy day at work, so I have no energy left to cook. Luckily last month, when we went to one of those tribute concerts, we bought two meat-lover's pizzas (from a bar where we enjoyed a midnight snack) just to bring home and put in the freezer. So tonight I will just pop one in the oven and reheat it. Love that small upright freezer we bought a few months ago! We should have purchased a larger one as we have this one filled already. DH had to rearrange things to fit a 14 lb. turkey that he got on Saturday. I have always felt that the freezer is a working woman's best friend.

Burlap Lamp Shade Remake - part 2

2011-11-13T13:07:00.000-05:00

(see yesterday's post for part 1)
I was happy to see that the shade dried completely overnight and looks good.

I am always amazed how Mod Podge dries and never looks blotchy.

No, I am not leaving it like that. The finishing details is where the fun begins. I made a long piece of ruffled burlap (just like I made for the Ace shopping bag redo, but much longer). Then I used hot glue to attach it across the bottom.

Of course, I won't leave that raw edge exposed.

Luckily I had just enough of the black wooden beads left from the animal handbag I made last month.

I just hot glued them on. I was very careful not to use too much hot glue because I didn't want a messy trim with hot glue gobs dried on the front side. I bought those beads a few years ago with a lamp shade redo in mind. Yeah, it took awhile for me to get started. :)

I could not find anything new to use on the top edge, so I just reglued the original black trim back on.

I finished both lamps early this morning, but that was just the beginning.

I decided the table needed to be covered in something complementary. I spent until noon redoing things.

When that was done, I felt I needed to add some burlap to the curtains. I ended up taking down the blue curtains and replacing them with an old set of tab-topped rusty maroon curtains. I cut them apart and added a 10-inch block of burlap near the top.

This is where I am at now. I have a major problem because I can't find the second set of rusty maroon curtains! I have searched two floors and they are nowhere to be found. I am too pooped to do much more today. It's nearly 1:00 p.m. and I still have to get some major cleaning done.

So one window will remain curtainless for a while. We always remove the curtains from that window anyway during the Christmas season as the tree goes in front of it. Hopefully I will find the curtains before I take the tree down!

Burlap Lampshade Project & Halloween Bargains

2011-11-12T15:54:00.001-05:00

You may be wondering what happened with that Christmas tree I mentioned putting up today. Well, it's not happening today for sure.

Why?

Because at 6:00 a.m. I saw these Pottery Barn lamp shades...burlap shades...

$39 to $69 per shade....hmmmm...
I happen to have a whole roll of burlap on the floor right beside my computer. I had the sudden impulse to recover two lampshades.
So right then and there, I ran to the family room and took the shades off two lamps. I have been wanting to replace these black shades because you can't see anything with them. I have to take the shade off the lamp if I want to read.

So I pulled the black fabric off. It was very easy to do...just yanked it and it came right off.

I used the old shade for a pattern.

My first mission was to get the burlap on. I decided to use Mod Podge, but I could not find any. So I had to go shopping with DH at 8:30 a.m. We first stopped at our VFW chapter's Fall Craft/Treasures sale. We donated a bunch of items to this sale. Of course I found a few treasures to buy. After that I went to Joanne's for my glue while DH grocery-shopped. I found so many treasures there, that I almost forgot the glue I came for. Then we both went to Kmart and the dollar store....I found treasures at both. LOL. I don't shop often, but when I do, I stock up. We finally made it back home about 11:30 a.m.

Right after lunch I went back to working on the shade. The black fabric is stretchy and I think that distorted the pattern, because I found it pretty difficult to get the burlap on nice and tight. I had a lot of extra burlap at the top and eventually ended up cutting it out, which meant a second seam. I don't how that will turn out.

I used my thinly-gloved hand to rub the glue over and under the entire shade.

Yikes, it doesn't look too good here, does it?

Poor DH took one look and just shook his head and walked away. I must admit that at the moment I am not feeling the burlap love....

I am not giving up yet. The Mod Podge is going to dry clear. I still have a few finishing ideas, but I have to wait until it dries so I can see where I am at. I probably won't be able to do anything until tomorrow morning. So you will have to stayed tuned to see if the project is a success of if it will be put to the curb for Thursday's garbage pick up.

In the meantime, look what I bought at Kmart:

Halloween decorations! I could not resist. The black/green pumpkin was regularly $8.99. Just what I paid? 89 cents!! Everything was 90% off. I payed less than $3 for all of this. Now, that's my kind of bargain shopping. One bag is full of bloodshot eyes. How cool would they be dropped into a Halloween cocktail glass? I really must have a Halloween dinner party next year so I can use this stuff.

Veterans Day 11-11-11

2011-11-11T16:36:00.002-05:00

I took a lunch hour today and went to the Veterans Day ceremony in our city. ( I just learned today that the official spelling is Veterans - no apostrophe.) It's very hard for me not to add that possessive apostrophe!

I was amazed at the number of people there. I expected perhaps a dozen or two, but there were many more people than that.

Cars were parked up and down both sides of two long driveways that lead to the field of white crosses.

On this very cold fall day we all paid tribute to our fallen heroes with prayers, speeches, songs and salutes, including this nine second video of the three volleys of rifle shots fired in honor of the deceased veterans .

(just click the first arrow to hear the guns)

As they do most years, my mom and dad carried the wreath for the Korean soldiers.

It was a nice service and I am glad I went.

Last week I bought a new necklace on a black rope. I loved the bronze/black color.

It goes with quite a few of my fall/winter jackets. Today I wore it with this one:

I am planning to stay home this weekend and get some much needed cleaning done. I may even bring up a Christmas tree and began to play around with this year's color scheme of gold/bronze/green. I know it's too early, but after this weekend, my weekends are all tied up until mid December. So it's now or 4 weeks from now. My feeling is if you don't do it until two weeks before, why bother? LOL. It's too much work for just two weeks. I promise I won't light it up until after Thanksgiving.

Ace is the Place

2011-11-07T17:06:00.001-05:00

to get one of these shopping bags.

You may be asking yourself why anybody would want one of these.

Yes, it's just a cheap reusable shopping bag that nearly every store sells for a buck or two.

Here is more information than anyone (but me) wants to know about this bag:

100% recyclable polypropylene
12.5"W x 14"H x 8"D
Handle: 19"L x 1/8"W
24 lb. capacity
Each bag is designed to replace 2 paper bags or up to 4 plastic bags

Used weekly for 2 years replaces 416 plastic bags

I find it has some admirable qualities, though it's pretty plain--certainly not fashionable. I also hate to carry a bag with a logo. They are not paying me to advertise for them, so why would I tote around their logo?

Right after putting the Ace bag aside, I wandered out to my garden shed and saw this roll of burlap.

I wonder when and why I bought this? It must have been during a streak of ambitious shopping. Truth be told, I am way too lazy to cover shrubs with burlap. So the burlap sat for multiple years in the corner of the shed.

Hmmmmmm.....maybe I could do something with the burlap to transform the useful, but bland shopping bag...my mind soared into overdrive as I happily toted the coarsely-woven fabric into my sewing room.

I immediately took a measurement and began the restructuring of the Ace bag.

When I get done with this bag, nobody will know that it began its life in this somewhat dull/boring form.

Well, that is nobody but all of you, because I am about to blab all the details right now.
The burlap just happened to be the perfect width after finger pleating to fit across the bag front. I cut an approximately 4-inch strip, raveled the bottom, sewed a zigzag stitch at the top of the ravels to prevent more ravelling, then pleated it to this size.

I just eyeballed the pleat size. It does not matter one iota if one pleat is wider than the next.

I wanted to use two fabrics, so I picked out a complementary fabric to alternate with the burlap. I chose a fabric with a black background so it would blend in with the handles and side of the bag, which won't be covered in new fabric.

Layer #1 is on. Notice I put a hem in this fabric instead of fraying it. All I am going to do is alternate this with the burlap and sew five strips on top of each other across the front & back...simple, simple, simple!

It was quite easy to turn the Ace bag into this handy little carrier:

It can be used for lightweight food shopping, with an heavy stress on the "lightweight". I think the
24-lb. capacity stated above is on the optimistic side.

Oh, but does it not look prettier than one of those awful plastic grocery bags?

It almost makes me want to take over the grocery shopping just so I can use this bag.

Whoa--Zo--Get a handle on it--just listen to yourself--are you ill?

Whew--I was a bit lightheaded for a moment! Now that I have come to my senses, I think I will just use it for my library books.

I would normally post this on my sewing/quilting blog, but since my garden is done, I have little to post here, so I decided to post it on both. My apologizes if you follow both of them.

Burning Bushes and Other Late Fall Color

2011-11-04T18:50:00.000-04:00

I just came in from a little walk through the back gardens.

Who knew that this Johnson's Blue geranium's foliage turned bright red in late autumn?

I must have cut it down early in previous years because I don't remember this lovely fall color. Sometimes it pays to procrastinate on your garden chores! :)

When we had the porch put on this summer, we had to move a huge Burning Bush. We decided to plant it in the rockwall garden. I was not sure if it would survive.

It did and it is now bright red. Below you can see it through the arbor:

When I stand in my kitchen and look out, I see this:

From the Kitchen angle the cherry tree blocks the bush! Darn. I will have to decide whether to move it again next spring.

On my walk around the garden, I was happy to spot these three pastel-colored Oriental poppies. This will be their third year and they look a lot bigger than they were last year.

I will be looking forward to a lot of blooms this spring!

On the deck the only planter still going is this little perennial herb pot:

I might get to use some of that fresh sage in my dressing this Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Hopefully all of you out East won't get any snow.

How Many Times a Day can HGTV Air the Same Program?

2011-11-01T17:12:00.001-04:00

I used to love to watch HGTV. Now every time I turn it on, I see House Hunters. WHO CARES ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE BUYING HOMES????? I can barely stand it! I ask myself how many times a day can this show possibly be on? I wondered if it just seemed like I was finding this show every time I turn on that channel. So I decided to check it out. I get home from work around 3:30 p.m. By the time I am ready to turn on the TV, it's about 4 p.m.

OMG-- starting at 4pm, it's on 7 times in one 24-hr period! I am not going nuts. .. . it really is on every time I switch to that channel. Why? Why? Why? Do people really care about this show?

Rather than watch HGTV's boring repeats, I suggest you all try to find a R*od S*tewart tribute concert. I went to one last Saturday and it was great. This guy looked and sounded just like the real thing. Just to prove it to you, I found a few videos on Youtube.

He even came right up to my chair, knelt down, looked directly in my eyes and sang. I got a hug before he went back on stage. I wonder if it was the animal outfit I wore? LOL. Wouldn't you know I did not bring my camera this time so I could not document the big moment.

Last night we did not get one trick-or-treater. I guess all the neighbor's grandkids went to larger subdivisions. We have no young kids on our dead-end road. Now I have to eat all those peanut butter cups. Darn!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T15:42:00.000-04:00

No time for a long post as I have to get over to Pea's for the Halloween party tonight.

Don't you love my costume?

I just wish I had worn my purple glasses with the black and green sides! :)

Hope you are all having fun with the trick-or-treaters.

If you can't Decorate with it, Wear it.

2011-10-29T07:23:00.000-04:00

Grey or Gray?

I have been having quite the dilemma over the spelling of this color. I have always thought it to be "grey". But most often when I see it on other blogs, they spell it "gray". I tried to spell it with the "a", but it just does not feel right. So I am now going back to "grey".

So................some of you may remember this orange/grey color scheme I showed awhile back.

I was considering it for DH's tiny office space. So far we have not painted that room. We are so overwhelmed with changing everything , that we have just left it as is. I am getting more and more like that. Everything seems to be such a big hassle, that I do nothing instead. It's so much easier that way.

I still love this color scheme...........so much so, that I recently wore it!

Grey and orange--it's a great combo -- whether on the walls or on the bod--I love it!

I need to finish this turkey project that I started in February.

I made two of these and intended for them to be table drapes for a buffet or dessert table for Thanksgiving. Now I don't think I will be cooking for Thanksgiving, but I may finish them off just in case. There is always next year and it would be nice to be ready if I do need them.

Apple Oatmeal Cookies w/Browned Butter Glaze

2011-10-27T17:47:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I also baked some cookies. I was not kidding, when I said I spent most of the weekend cooking/baking!

I made an oatmeal/apple cookie that I have not made in a long time. With the oatmeal and fresh apple, this cookie is so full of fiber that it almost seems healthy.

On the recipe I noted that DH likes these. He can be a little picky regarding cookies, so I always note if the recipe appealed to him.

He has quite a sweet tooth and I know he loves frosting, so I added some browned butter glaze to the recipe. He must have loved them because I made a double batch and when I went to get one four days later, they were gone! A quick mental calculation says he ate a dozen a day!

Apple Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup diced apple without peel
1 cup chopped walnuts
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt & nutmeg; set aside. Using a mixer, mix the shortening and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time. Slowly pour the dry mixture into the wet mixture until combined. Fold in the oats, apples and walnuts. Use a 1/8 cup measuring cup and drop dough about 3 inches apart onto parchment- lined cookie sheets. If you don’t have parchment paper, just grease the cookie sheets.
3. Bake until lightly browned (15 –20 minutes, depending on the size of your cookie). Let cool on wire racks. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

For the glaze:

Brown 1/2 cup of butter over a medium heat. Keep stirring the butter until it is a light golden color:

Add 1.25 cups powdered sugar. If too thick, add enough water to make a glaze. Then spoon the glaze over a warm cookie so it spreads and turns transparent.

If you make these, I hope you enjoy them as much as DH did.

Mixed Animal Print Outfit & Banana Coconut Cupcakes w/Cooked Caramel Frosting Recipe

2011-10-25T05:42:00.001-04:00

Today I am wearing this outfit while toting the mixed animal print handbag I made Saturday.

I just wish I had some animal print sides for my glasses! I plan to get a set, but they were out of them the last time I was there.

Since it's only 36 degrees outside, I will have to wear my animal jacket, too. :)

Every now and then you need to dress for fun!

DH knows that I use spotted bananas for baking, so when he came across this bunch at the grocery store, he could not resist bringing them home to me.

Instead of throwing them in the freezer, I decided to make some banana cupcakes and freeze half of those.

I used this recipe (I added toasted coconut to 1/2 of the batter) for the cupcakes. I like that the recipe uses 4 bananas (most use 2) so there is a lot of banana flavor.

A-Number-1 Banana Cake
Rated: 5 stars
Submitted By: Kevin Ryan
Photo By: Angie
Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour

"This is a very versatile and fast cake recipe. Not only is it moist and delicious, the same batter can be used to make banana bread and muffins. Delicious frosted with chocolate or cream cheese frosting."

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup white sugar 3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
4 ripe bananas, mashed
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 2 - 8 inch round pans. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream butter, white sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in the bananas. Add flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk to the creamed mixture. Stir in chopped walnuts. Pour batter into the prepared pans.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and place on a damp tea towel to cool.

Cooked Caramel Frosting

1/2 cup of butter
2 cups brown sugar (I used light brown)
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Combine the cream and brown sugar in a heavy pan with high sides. Bring to boil. Stir continulusly for one minute. Add the 1/2 tsp. baking soda and boil one minute more. (This is why you need a high sided pot; it will foam up). Remove from high. Cut the butter into pices and drop on top of the mixture. DON'T STIR it in. Put the pan in the refrigerator until it's cold (I left mine in for about three hours)
It will look like this when you take it out:

I transferred mine to my big mixer.
See all that sticky caramel?

Get it all out.
Then beat on high until it looks like this:

I think it took about 5 minutes. I also added a touch more cream as mine seemed a bit thick.

The plain caramel frosted ones have no coconut inside.

Myrtle's Quite Fertile & the Kale Keeps Flowering

2011-10-24T15:53:00.000-04:00

After cooking/baking all morning, I went out about noon to begin the big potted plant clean up. It feels so good to have all the deck containers (over 40 of them) put away for the winter. It was a sunny autumn afternoon yesterday--just perfect for that job. I even cut down some of the front gardens so I won't have to do that this spring.

I dug up the tubers from Myrtle's Folly--

Whoa! I was surprised how they multiplied. I just hope Myrtle survives the winter.

I had intended to remove the big porch planter, but after taking the dead coleus out, the purple kale looked so nice that I decided to bring 3 white kale from one of the dismantled deck containers to replace the coleus. I think it should last until Thanksgiving now.

Does anyone know how long the cordyline will last? It still looks fine and we have had a lot of nights in the low 30's, so I am hopeful that it will survive another few weeks.

Just take a look at how small the kale was when I planted it in late May:

Isn't it amazing how huge it got? And no worm holes either! I am pleased as punch and intend to plant more next year. The best thing about the kale is that it looks its best when everything else dies--after it gets hit with frost. The cold temps bring out the rich purple color.
I knew after all that work, I would not feel like making dinner, so I had prepared a bunch of spinach/cream cheese stuffed chicken breasts before I went outside. Then all I had to do was pop them in the oven.

I had made the carrots and fresh cranberry sauce on Saturday. It was a good thing because I was too pooped to even think of doing it after the outside chores.

I froze enough chicken for two more meals. You all know by now how I like to cook once and eat at least three times!

Last week I gave my my mother-in-law a bunch of canning jars that have been in my basement for years. I once intended to grow veggies and learn to can, but that never happened, so I decided it was time to get rid of the jars. In return she sent over some canned goodies--tomatoes, sauerkraut, grape jelly and grape juice. Yes, she even makes her own grape juice from vines in her yard.

I told her I would trade empty jars for these goodies any day!

Good Eats--Corned Beef and Chardonnay Caramel Baked Pears

2011-10-22T18:22:00.006-04:00

DH came home from the grocery store today with deli corned beef and the instructions from the sales lady behind the counter to make a Reuben sandwich at home. The lady told him she was a cook in a restaurant for 20 years and this is how they made Reuben's:

Instruction #1: Toast the bread in a skillet as though you were making a grilled cheese.
So I put 4 buttered-side-down pieces of bread in a skillet with a slice of baby Swiss cheese atop each.

Instruction #2. As the bread toasts, warm up the corned beef in a second skillet.
I did that.

In a matter of a few minutes everything in the skillet was done.

Instruction #3: Top with cole slaw and then the second slice of bread.

As instructed, I put the corned beef atop a slice of Swiss cheese bread, added cole slaw and topped it with the second slice of bread.

Need I say more? YUM!!! That sales lady did not steer DH wrong! She did get him to buy baby Swiss and cole slaw in addition to the corned beef he came to buy. She was a great deli sales lady! She made two additional sales and we LOVED the sandwich she suggested!

It is the time of year when I like to make Caramelized Pears for dessert. I asked DH to buy some pears and he brought home 4 of them. We had two for tonight's dessert and saved two for tomorrow.
Did you notice the dried Limelight hydrangeas in the background?

These were so easy to make and so good. I just cored them from the bottom, used a veggie peeler to remove half of the skin, added about 2 TBLS brown sugar, 1 oz. of Chardonnay and then baked them at 350 degrees until soft (a little over an hour). I removed them from the oven three times to spoon the liquid over the pear, so they did not dry out. Here is a pic to show the amount of liquid during one of the spoonings.

When the pear is soft and the caramel liquid is thickened, they are ready to remove from the oven. If cooked too long the liquid will harden as it cools--hard like rock candy...you don't want to cook it that long. These are best served warm. They were swoon-over delicious! Even DH thought so and he is not usually that crazy over a fruit dessert. If you don't have or like wine, you can use another liquid. Last year I used diet 7-up. You could use fruit juice or even water, if that is all you have on hand.

Earlier today I made a new leather/animal handbag. I won't repost it here, but you can see it on my quilting/sewing blog. Just clik here.

A Few of My Favorite Halloween Tables

2011-10-21T17:36:00.000-04:00

Since it's the time of year when it's tough to find blog material, I thought I would post a few of my past Halloween tablescapes for my new readers.

I used to collect dishes and I loved to set tables. I have stopped buying dishes because I have run out of storage space.

Now that tablesetting has been discovered by the rest of the world, my interest has died off. I was really turned off by seeing so many tablescapes in blogland that were so over the top and never intended to be used--like the day I saw a stack of 12 different plates at each setting-- can you get any more outrageous!

Seeing certain bloggers trying to profit from others tablesetting talents also turned me off. It has been a few months since I set a creative table.
Right now I am not even interested in setting a Halloween table. These are pics from previous years:

I think this table was my favorite...

This one is very similar. I used a different table runner, added some pumpkins and cookies.

This one uses the same purple tablecloth, but everything else is different.

These skulls are the same ones I showed you yesterday. After I used them on this table, I spray painted them silver for the following year.

Most of you know that quilting is my favorite winter hobby. I make a lot of table runners. You may have noticed all the different runners I have for Halloween. I made them all.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the way I used to celebrate Halloween. This year I plan to do nothing--boring, but much less work! :)

What a Wet Mess!

2011-10-20T16:31:00.000-04:00

It's been cold and rainy for a few days. Since the deck plants have not been hit by a hard frost, I have had to wait to cut them all down and put them in their winter storage home. It is still raining, so I just snapped these pics from my family room door.

Major mess!! I was hoping to get all the containers in the storage space this weekend, but if they don't dry out a bit, I won't be able to. They will just rot if I store them too wet.

I went to the bedroom window and snapped a few photos of the Arbor gardens. I cut a lot down a few weeks ago, but there is still a lot more to do.

It will probably have to wait until spring now.

The sedum outside the living room window:

All the leaves are falling off. The heads will look nice with the first snowfall, so I will leave these until spring, too.
I was thinking that I am very late in putting my containers to bed this year, so I looked up my October posts from 2010. It seems that I put the plants to bed the weekend of October 22, so I am not late at all! I now feel so much better. :)

Last year on Oct. 19 I posted about my Halloween decorating. This year I am not planning to do any Halloween decorating, so I will repost some pics from last year:

I really enjoyed this vignette last year and I had planned to redo it this year. Somehow time & my energy escaped, and I never got around to doing it.

I am hoping to do some sort of Thanksgiving decorating this weekend. We have already made reservations to attend some concerts for the last Saturday in Oct. and the first Saturday in November, so if I don't get it done this weekend, it probably won't get done at all. I need to find more time in my weekends!

Bundles of Autumn Love

2011-10-17T16:15:00.000-04:00

I've been cooking again. As this head of cabbage softened in the microwave, I made a tomato sauce. I bet you know what I made just by looking at these two pictures.

After stuffing the cabbage leaves with a beef/rice mixture, and baking them for nearly two hours, I ended up with a lot of stuffed cabbage,or Golabki as my Polish/French husband calls them. Whatever the name you know them by, they are little nuggets of lusciousness.

I can't give you the recipe, because I don't use one. I did google and I found dozens of recipes that sounded very similar to how I make them. I like the tomato sauce version that has vinegar and sugar added to tomatoes and tomato soup. It has a sweet and sour type taste. I used some of my basil-infused vinegar.

Of course, when I spend half a day cooking, I like to have multiple meals for the freezer.

So I made vegetable/beef soup in onion broth for lunch and will have it again on Tuesday for a light dinner. I froze half of the spaghetti squash and 4 meals of the stuffed cabbage. I did all this cooking today and we are not even eating home tonight! It's my mother-in-laws 82nd birthday, so we are going there. The golabki will be for tomorrow night.

I can't forget DH's sweet tooth. Yesterday I baked a banana bundt cake and an apple pie.

I am now done cooking for awhile. I really do not cook that often. During the work week, we have meals that I have in the freezer or just something quick to whip up (tacos with previously frozen seasoned beef, for instance). I have no desire to clean up a big cooking mess when I get home from work.

As I was cleaning up the kitchen today, I heard a strange noise in the driveway. What?

It was the snowblower! DH was testing it out before the first big snowfall. Hopefully, that won't be for a while!

We Had only a Few Hours of Sunshine this Weekend

2011-10-16T15:34:00.000-04:00

and I enjoyed them to their fullest!

I expect this to be the last day I will use the hammock this year. It's only 55 degrees today, but with the sun shining and a quilt tossed over, it was fairly warm.

For two days it rained and was very windy. My poor urn almost met its demise yesterday afternoon when it blew over for the second time this year. The thing is so heavy I can't pick it up, yet it fell over twice! When DH came in and told me one side was all cracked, I expected much worse than this.

It is still usable. Next year I will just turn this side toward the garage wall.

I am disappointed in the 4 grasses I planted in the rockwall garden. None of them have bloomed.
This is blue oat grass.

I don't think it grew much at all. Do any of you know how long it takes for this grass to grow? I think it is supposed to get very tall. The other grasses have not grown much either--Maiden Grass Gracillimus & Maiden Grass Morning Light. I always thought grasses grew 4 feet or more in a year. Hopefully they will take off next year.

Here is something that I am happier with. The kale has finally turned nice and purple. I didn't think it was ever going to!

Christmas Tree Inspiration

2011-10-13T18:31:00.001-04:00

I got a catalog in the mail this week with the most gorgeous Christmas trees. I just had to post these for my own inspiration when I began to decorate my tree in November. I thought maybe some of you would also be inspired.

Love this gold tree!

Love this blue/bronze tree!

Love this red/gold tree!

Love this green/bronze tree!

I just love them all!
Which one is your favorite?

I am Glad I don't have 20/20 Vision

2011-10-11T16:58:00.000-04:00

Because if I did, I would not have these new eyeglasses. I think they are going to be my favorite pair ever. These are truly a fashion accessory. Just take a look:

These are all the same pair of eyeglasses. The sides just switch out. Genius! I had no problem quickly finding five items from my closet to pair with each insert. Of course there a dozens more that you can buy for $10/set. Fun, fun, fun!

These glasses remind of the Miche handbag. I don't own a Miche bag, because I already have quite a few handbags in different colors and I love to make one-of-a-kind bags for myself.

Last night I went out and cut off the dahlias in flower. For lack of want to find an appropriate vase, I stuck them in a plastic coffee container thinking I would arrange them later.

I kind of like the jumble of colors, so I think I will leave them as is.

What Not to Wear

2011-10-10T19:22:00.000-04:00

This is what NOT to wear

when climbing these:

Even with good shoes, these steps are difficult to climb. They are very narrow and winding. This the top

You have to go backwards and duck to begin the climb down. You really need to hold on tight to that handrail! I removed the shoes on the way down (DH carried them for me).

We had no plans to check out a new lighthouse when we left Friday night. If we had, I would have worn sensible shoes.
Saturday night we sat with one of our concert-going friends who told us she had stopped at a place near Mackinaw City to see a huge rock. We could not hear her very well across the dinner table over the loud music so we did not get the exact directions.

We have been to this city a zillion times, but have never heard of this huge rock, said to be at least five times larger than Plymouth rock. As we were driving home and crossing the Big Mac bridge, we, decided spur-of-the-moment, to drive along the shore of Lake Michigan and search for the big rock.
It did not take us long to find this:

We were not sure if the rock was here, but she did mention this lighthouse, so we turned in to explore.

The steps lead to that tower on the top, which had a nice view.

Here it is zoomed in:

While talking to a lady inside the lighthouse, she told us where to find the big rock. We had to walk about a 1/4 mile down this path:

I love this mossy vignette:

At the end of the path, we found the giant rock.

It is known as the McGulpin Rock and it was discovered about 400 years ago. Just like Plymouth Rock, this one was used as an aid to navigation by French explorers and native Americans. At one time this whole rock was under water. It is 9 feet tall and weighs 54 tons.

Here is a pic of Plymouth rock to compare.

This whole shoreline is loaded with rocks.

It was a fun excursion on a gorgeous 80-degree autumn day!

Breathtaking Autumn Color

2011-10-09T20:06:00.001-04:00

I cannot think of the words to do justice to the spectacular colors we saw this weekend in Chippewa county in Michigan's upper peninsula. I will leave you with few words and these awesome scenes --I think it's the best color I have seen in years.

In the car below the lady is sticking her camera out the window to get pictures.

I had DH stop the car and I walked over to the sand path so I could be closer to the color.

In upper Michigan even the rest stops have lookout towers for scenic views!

Tomorrow I will show you a little side trip we took on the way home from a Fleetwood Mac tribute concert, which I did not enjoy at all. But the great weather, the color tours and the freshly-caught & broiled whitefish we had for dinner more than made up for the music. Overall, we had a great weekend.

Autumn Colors in my own Yard

2011-10-07T05:19:00.000-04:00

The burning bushes are just beginning to burn. If you look through the arbor, you can see another one beginning.

The Sedum had darkened and all the bees have left. Have you noticed that as soon as the light pink color fades, the bees are gone?

At my place the bees just moved to the asters. I have removed most of the weedy asters from my gardens. I do plan to keep this patch behind the small rockwall, where their scraggly legs are hidden.

In the backyard, I have one maple among the pines.

The yew hedge is loaded with red berries.

I can't believe how long this cardinal flower has been blooming. It's been in flower almost four months!

'Myrtle's Folly' is also still putting out flowers. She was the first dahlia to bloom and is still going strong.

We have had a gorgeous week with temperatures around 70 degrees. The weekend is supposed to be just as beautiful. I hope you are all as lucky!

Fall Containers

2011-10-05T15:42:00.000-04:00

While storing garden items I came across three wooden Halloween ground stakes and decided to stick them in the plants out front.

I had forgotten that I had this cute ghost

and two pumpkins

With hardly any effort at all, they gave my container plantings the seasonal change they needed. I did remove the sweet potato vines in the two flanking the garage. The cold weather from last week did them in. This is all the fall decorating I plan to do outside.

I still have not planted a single fall bulb. I will probably regret that next spring.

Rustic Frames

2011-10-04T16:49:00.000-04:00

Love these twig/bark frames!

Not really feeling the love for this..

Really, must we be subjected to these ads on blogs?

I kid you not, this popped up while I was surfing some decorating linky party blogs. I took a screen shot just so I could prove it.

This blog was overloaded with advertising, enough to cause my computer to bog down and stop before it all loaded. As I was X'ing out (as I tend to do immediately on ad-filled blogs), this pop up got through. I will never know what sucks more than bridesmaid shoes because I refuse to click on a blog advertisement. I will not return to that blog or any other that invites me in and then inundates me with advertising--especially the universally hated pop-ups.

Fall Harvest Days

2011-10-03T18:34:00.000-04:00

We spent a hour or so at our local museum this weekend. This cute hay bale bear welcomed everyone to Fall Harvest Days.

They had a nice quilt display.

I was very interested in the underground railroad quilt display telling the story of how quilts were used to help runaway slaves...

The homeowner would hang a quilt of a certain pattern on the clothesline and the runaway would know that they could seek shelter in that home. There is still debate as to whether this is folklore or truth.
Many years ago the museum recreated some of the old shops that used to line the street of our town.

You walk through it as though you were walking downtown.

I bet the millinery was quite the popular store for the well-dressed ladies of the era.

Outside they have moved actual buildings and reconstructed them. We enjoyed this one-room school house that was in use until 1961.

DH enjoyed the old bank.

This man was whittling corn stalks into dolls and fiddles.

.
I thought of Patti from Missouri when I saw this blacksmith display. Patti's husband is a very talented blacksmith.

This blacksmith's wife showed us a snake that her husband made from two of the files she is holding.

We were amazed how that file turned into the snake! Who would look at the file and see a snake? Such talent!
After explaining it all to us, she looked up at me and said how familiar I looked. Then asked when I graduated...two years before she did. When I told her my maiden name, she figured it out. She went to school with my sister, Delynn.

The museum has an new quarry exhibit where you can search for fossils. DH found the fossil in the last picture.

We are always attending festivals, etc. in other places. It was fun to attend a little event in our own town for a change.

Breaking the Mold....

2011-10-02T16:59:00.001-04:00

and going for gold!

For the past few years I have purchased only white sheets. I like the crisp clean look and feel of white sheets. When I decided it was time for a new set, they did not have white so I chose "honey". The picture looked more like a light tan, so I was pretty shocked to see that the color was really gold when I opened the box.

I washed them and put them on the bed today with a heavier green/gold quilt.

It's not the clean, crisp look, but they do go with this quilt. The darker color feels more like autumn.

We will sleep on them tonight for the first time. I think they will be just fine.

DH and I have been busy all weekend bringing the outside tables/chairs/garden birdhouses, milkcans, watering cans and other assorted objects inside. It is so much work!

We wash them all and then let them dry before hauling them to their various winter homes.

I have not yet cut down the deck plants because even though we have had a lot of frost, they have not been hit. They are quite sheltered by the house and big trees overhanging the deck. The plants also need to dry out before they get stored away. Last week we had a lot of rain and they are still very wet. That actually worked out well because DH and I are not as young as we used to be and we were quite pooped after two days of just removing these items and hauling them to the basement or to the under-the- house crawl space. The tables/chairs, etc. are now all stored away so it will be much easier just to do the plants in a couple of weeks. We have always done it all in one weekend--what happened to the days when we could work eight to ten hours straight with just a break or two in between? Those days are gone for sure.

While we were making room in the basement for the glass deck table, I came across a partridge (? some kind of bird) flower vase and decided to bring it upstairs. I went to the deck and cut down 3 dahlias and some sage............yes, sage! The sage still looks great in my herb pot. Sadly I did not even use it once this year. I intended to make chicken saltimbocca with it, but that never happened.

So instead of eating the sage, I used it to make an aromatic flower arrangement.

So easy and so cute....I will enjoy these flowers every time I am in the kitchen. I rub the sage between my fingers to release its fragrance. Too bad our Thanksgiving is not until late November. The sage would be great in the dressing.

I did not accomplish any major tasks on my blog break. I did a little bit of a lot of things.....a little garden work, a little cleaning, a little organizing, a little cooking (lasagna soup and stuffed chicken florentine),

and a little sewing.

I now have three quilt fairy godmothers...

I do love making these ladies. I have no idea yet what I will end up doing with them. I love the scissors necklace on the newest one.

I also bought a new pair of shoes this weekend.

I needed (at least that is what I told DH when he rolled his eyes as I dropped these in the shopping cart) a pair of brown shoes and I really love these backless slip-on styles.

I have been reading blogs all week and I am really having a problem commenting on many of them. I keep getting this error...

It causes my comment to disappear. Is anyone else getting this all of a sudden? I am trying to remember if I changed any of my settings recently to cause this. If you know what causes it, please leave me a comment. It is very frustrating!! I have tried 3 or 4 times on some blogs and I just can't leave a comment....on other blogs, I have no problem.

Taking a Short Blog Break

2011-09-28T17:30:00.001-04:00

After an email from a concerned blog friend, I wanted to pop back in to say that all of my lab tests came back pretty good. I am not sick.

I am just in a blog funk and hope to regain my enthusiasm in a few days. When you have been blogging as long as I have, you need a little break every few months. :)

Poked,Prodded, Squeezed and Forced to Get on a Scale

2011-09-22T18:35:00.000-04:00

What an unpleasant week it's been!
It's my once a year physical, mamo, flu shot, blood-sucking week.
I have not owned a scale for the past 20 years--I detest stepping on one. I only know what I weigh when I have my yearly physical and am forced to do so. I am a firm believer that one should not allow the scale to rule one's life.

I was happy to find out that my weight was exactly the same as it was last September...that's not to say that I don't need to lose some weight; but at least I did not gain. I expected this to be the case since my clothes fit the same as they did last year.
It's been two days and my left arm is still red and sore from the flu shot. I always react that way, so I am not concerned. Though I am still awaiting some lab results, I am happy to have this week behind me.

Recently DH bought a bag of beautiful colored peppers on sale for $3.99.

I had no use for them at the time, so I cut them up

and froze them in individual bags.

I got five colorful bags that will be wonderful this winter when one common green pepper will probably be selling for $3.99. I see some colorful sweet & sour chicken in my near future.

My favorite clothing retailer had a sale I could not resist. I bought this jacket. I plan to wear it to a Billy Joel tribute concert Saturday night.

I hope your first autumn weekend is a good one.

When to Collect Nasturtium Seeds

2011-09-20T16:54:00.001-04:00

I keep going out to the deck to see if my nasturtium seeds are ready to collect. I have been checking for at least the past two weeks. I have noticed that when I bump the plant, the seeds fall, but they are still very green. Like this:

Since it's getting pretty late in the season for me, I googled it and found that nasturtium seeds should be collected when green. So I went out and shook a few plants and took whatever fell off inside.

From what I understand, these green seeds will turn brown in a week or so and be ready to save for next year. Do any of you have any experience saving these seeds?

I also removed some of the orange Cosmo seeds to save for next year. These seeds were brown, like I expect seeds that are ready to save, to be.

Last weekend I bought these three new shrubs: 2 'goldmound' spirea and 1 'Wine & Roses' Weigela.

I plan to plant them together in the rockwall garden as I like the contrast in foliage color. I buy for foliage color, the blooms (if they happen) will just be a plus. I have been googling the spirea and I really like what I see. The foliage color changes from a limey green to red in the fall. I would like to get about 5 more of these. Home D. had them on sale for $14.99...great price! They were $24.99. If you have these, I would love to have a comment telling me how you like them.

I just went out and cut down 4 of the flowers on my new 'Limelight' hydrangea.

I thought I would enjoy them more inside as I can only see them in the garden if I look out my bedroom window. The pink color goes very nicely with my living room sofa & love seat.

Update 6:45p.m.

While I was making dinner, DH went out and bought me 5 more of the 'goldmound'. What a guy!

I know you can only see 4 here. The 5th one is behind the one on the right.

Autumn Love in an Oven-Proof Bowl

2011-09-19T05:44:00.000-04:00

Earlier in the week, my neighbor called DH and asked him if he would go to her bathroom to see if she had left her curling iron on. She was travelling out of town. DH did as she asked. All was well -- no curling iron left in the bathroom.

Nonetheless, Mrs. Neighbor was so grateful that he went to check that she has been over twice since bearing gifts -- tomatoes from her garden. YUM! We do love garden tomatoes.
I made a big pot of chili and I used some of her fresh tomatoes. First I put the tomatoes in boiling water for a couple of minutes to remove the skin.

then I chopped them up

and added them to the chili right at the end of cooking (to keep them fresh tasting). I cooked the chili early in the morning so I could go outside to work in the garden all day.

When it was time for dinner, I put two bowls of chili in the microwave until hot. I added some croutons.

Then covered all of it with Muenster cheese

Just like you would do with French Onion soup.
I put both bowls under the broiler until melted and browned.

I garnished it with chives from my garden and red onion.

OMG, to a cheese lover, this is beautiful!

Here is my first spoonful with one of the fresh tomatoes from my neighbor:

Autumn love in a bowl

It was a foodie love weekend at my house. In the cold early morning, I cooked until it was warm enough to go outside and work.

The rest of my Gala apples became this wonderful applesauce (I just tossed in 1/4 cup of butter and maybe a 3/4 cup of brown sugar & slowly cooked it down)

I need to get more of these Gala Red apples. This was so good with the pork roast I had for dinner last night. I only got about two cups to freeze for later (kept some out for the leftover meal of pork this week).

Here is a colorful collage of my weekend cooking/baking.

The Big Cut Down has Begun

2011-09-18T15:42:00.000-04:00

I snapped this from my bedroom window at 7:30 a.m.

The light was hitting just right and everything looked pretty even though it was only 32 degrees outside.
Still I was ruthless and as soon as the temperature was in the 50's , I grabbed the Felcos, garden gloves and a huge wheelbarrow and set about chopping it all down.

I worked for an hour or so, took a little break, then went back to cutting. I probably worked three hours and got all of this down - 4 wheelbarrow loads.

The section above was almost all daylily foliage--the worst to cut back. As you can see, three hours barely made a dent in the total amount I have to do just in this garden. That is why I have to start early.

DH was also outside getting a ton of work done--painting basement window trim, cutting grass, removing the arbor planters, etc . He raked up apples and hauled them to the compost area (which never really turns to compost because there is little sunlight).

Back in the rockwall garden this Obedient plant is blooming. You may remember that I have spent the past two years removing this plant from the Arbor gardens as it's very invasive. I will eventually get rid of this, too; I am way too tired to do it today. Some people, like Barb at Barb and Dell Designs, have a very pretty Obedient plant--nice fat flowers. I don't. The flowers on mine are skinny, whimpy things, so they must go.

I also cut down the dead dahlias on the deck and rearranged this area. The cannas have big fat buds and I just could not cut them down yet. It is supposed to be warmer this week, so I think they will have time to open into beautiful flowers. I really can't believe they are still looking pretty good after 4 nights of mid to low 30-degree weather.

One of my side gardens is just now coming into its best bloom with a double perennial false sunflower that I call "Annette's flower" because my SIL, Annette gave them to me. When happy, this flower forms a 4-ft. tall thick hedge. I used to have it planted in this garden, then got bored and moved it to other gardens. It never did well in the other gardens (needs a lot of sun), so last year I moved it back here and it is really starting to take off again. You are getting the view from up on the deck because after all that cutting down work, I am too tired to walk down the steps. :)

I think "Annette's Flower" may be Helianthus Multiflorus Flore Pleno. I just realized that at this time of year the blooms in my Deck Garden are almost exactly the same colors as the blooms in the Messy Neighbor Garden. I call it that because it borders their property--it may even be an inch or two on their property.
It could not match better if I had planned it! Sometimes things just work out....

Here is a close up of the flower when it was planted in one of my other gardens.

I am so glad I did not poke holes in the washtub I bought at the farmer's market in August. It was perfect to fill with water and bleach to disinfect the arbor wall planters that DH removed while I was cutting down plants.

I save the coconut fiber inserts to use year after year.

I will let these set out to dry completely and store them for the winter.

I am feeling good tonight because last year I did not get any of this area cut down, so I am way ahead already this year! I think it's time to sit on the front porch with a glass of good white wine and admire the big coleus planter before it's gone.

I can't believe this Sedona coleus is still looking this good after that cold weather. Coleus is usually the first to turn black at the slightest bit of freezing temperatures. I have not even covered it. I guess being so close to the house has protected all of my containers in the front. I was thinking of buying a big orange mum (like Eileen did here) and redoing this planter. I have since decided not to bother, but Eileen did inspire me to stick a pumpkin face in, just for something different to look at.

This post is already too long, so I can't even tell you about the wonderful food I cooked or the 3 new shrubs I bought and planted. I will save that for another post. Suffice it to say that although I may be almost dead from exhaustion, I have had a very, very, very productive weekend!

Just Like Gilligan, We Took a 3-Hour Tour

2011-09-17T15:58:00.000-04:00

Unlike Gilligan we make it back safely!

We went on a three-hour boat ride on Lady Michigan to view shipwrecks through glass windows on the bottom of the boat.

Only a few minutes after we left, we came to a bridge on one of our main city streets. All the cars have to stop to wait for us to go through this bridge. I have been one of the cars waiting before and it's a big pain. It was much more fun to be on the boat going through. :)

Prior to Lady Michigan coming to town, this bridge was almost never lifted...maybe once a year, just to make sure it worked. Now it's lifted 4 times a day and townspeople are not really thrilled to have to sit and wait! I think we will all just have to get used to it. We happen to live in an area with a rich maritime heritage. We have over 200 sunken ships in our area and have become the only protected fresh water nature preserve in the country. I think over the next decade our little town will be experiencing many changes due to this distinction.

It's a gorgeous morning as we head out to the shipwrecks. The waters are calm at 11:00 a.m. and it is 58 degrees.

Before long we come to our first sunken ship.
There are three windows on each side where you can see the wrecks.

The green color is caused from all the algae this time of the year. The ships who have met their demise in this area have been underwater for over a 100 years.

On our way back from the shipwrecks we came across our one and only local commercial fishing boat . We passed her just as she is being unloaded with the daily whitefish catch that will be served to diners at local restaurants this evening. The captain of our boat, toots the horn (I am sure there is a better nautical phrase) and tells us all to yell out, "hey Mr. fisherman show us a fish." The guy on top obliges by holding up a huge whitefish that flops right out of his hands on to the floor. We give him a big round of applause and continue on.

That big covered pile behind the boat is salt for the roads this winter.

The tour included pulling up close to our local cement plant and the captain talked about its history, etc.

When I was 17 years old, I worked at the restaurant in this plant (one summer). All the men would come in to buy coffee, doughnuts in the morning, sandwiches at lunch and cigarettes. I used to ride my mother's motorcycle to work every morning. I wonder if the old "Canteen" is still there.

This factory provided a good living for my family (and hundreds of others) as my father worked here for over 30 years. It is still providing him with a nice pension retirement and health insurance.

This big ship is waiting to load up with cement.

I don't often see my town from the water. I am amazed how beautiful it looks viewed from the bay.

I even caught a glimpse of my brother (who works for the city) as we passed by the senior citizen complex he works for.

Here we are back where we started--another lovely view.

All in all it was an interesting boat trip, but not the best day to view the shipwrecks. Because of high winds the past week, there was a lot of dredged up silt and we could not even see many of them.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed seeing the town from a different perspective.

Now I am busy cooking & cutting down my gardens. I will tell you about that tomorrow.

I hope you are all having a great weekend.

I've Got the Frost, but No Pumpkin!

2011-09-16T18:20:00.000-04:00

For the past two mornings, I have pulled out of the garage at 6:30 a.m. and seen this on DH's truck:

Today, I stopped, got out of the car, and ran back inside to get my camera. I had to use a flash because it was dark outside, but I think you can still see the icy crystals. All the rooftops were also white.
I thought for sure my tender dahlias, cannas, and sweet potato vines would be toast. A few were. But my big garage urns are just 10 feet from the truck and they looked fine when I got home from work and took this picture just one hour ago. This sweet potato vine looks great!

My purple fountain grass is a perennial in slightly warmer climates, so I knew it would not be harmed. I just took this pic to show you the wonderful plumes it has been shooting out lately. I really wish this would survive Northeast Michigan winters. I love this grass!

I did lose a few dahlias. These Rembrandts on the deck look pretty sad.

I will cut them down tomorrow. These are the purple/white ones that I don't like much anyway, so I am happy that they are finished for the year.

These sweet potato vines on the arbor also look bad.

These planters never did do much, so I am not sad to get rid of them.

Out in the garden, these blue salvia are just coming into their prime time.

Unfortunately it's too late to shine for my garden. I am ready to cut everything down and these are just beginning to look good.

We are predicted to be in the high 60's tomorrow. I am planning to cut down a lot of stuff this weekend.

I don't want to wait and end up not getting it done, like I did last year.

I bet a lot of you will also be out cleaning up for fall.

Perennial Passion

I Added a Few Items to My Valentine Decorating

Finished the Top of the Storage Cabinets

I Had No Idea that I would be so Busy on Sunday

I Had a Quiet Saturday

Seed Order

Ipomoea lobata (aka Mina lobata)

VN00031 RUBY MOONHyacinth Vine Seeds

Dolichos lablab

AN00006 HOT BISCUITSAmaranthus Seeds

Amaranthus cruentus

AN00022 OPOPEOAmaranthus Seeds

Amaranthus hybridus

AN00378 TOWER GREENAmaranthus Seeds

Amaranthus cruentus

AN05652 GREEN TAILSAmaranthus Seeds

Amaranthus caudatus 'Viridis'

I Did Almost No Work This Past Weekend

Gifts from Blog Friends

I am Beginning to Plan my Valentine's Dinner Party

I Love Shopping During January Close Out Prices

Grocery Store Shock & Bracing for More Snow

Another Working Weekend

Friday the 13th Brings a Lot of Snow

Question for Pinterest Addicts

The Sled that Held the Christmas Tree is now a Coffee Table

Making Lemon Curd

This is Why I Insist that Santa NOT Bring me Anything

Glass Photo Coasters

Look What I Found Under the Tree When I got Home from Work

On to the New Year

A Decorating Change for 2012

The Shortbread Caramel Cookie Flop was Better as a Trifle

Salted Caramel Shortbread Cookie -- big FLOP!

Rudolph's Nose Treats

Magazine Cover Christmas Present Bow

Who Can Identify this Plant?

Paperwhites

It is With a Heavy Heart that I Make this Post

Green, Gold & Silver Grey Dining Room Christmas Table

Sweet Treats Table

Christmas Chalkboard & Real Greens Arrangement

My Indoor Flowers are Starting to Grow/ Santa Ornament pattern

Hostess with the Mostess--I hope

Grocery Bag Gift Wrap with Denim Bow

I Found the Most Delicious Soup

Wrapping Paper Bow How To

20 Minutes -- $135

Bronze, Gold & Green Christmas Tree Additions

Bronze Green Christmas Tree

Allium sativum

I Found Some Paperwhites!

Big Sale at CC

Hydrangea, Burlap & Pearls Christmas Tree

Amaryllis 'apple blossom'

Book Bargains, Saving Cordayline & a Peek at the Hydrangea Christmas Tree

The Trees are Ready When I am--Which Won't be Today

Burlap Lamp Shade Remake - part 2

Burlap Lampshade Project & Halloween Bargains

Veterans Day 11-11-11

Ace is the Place

Burning Bushes and Other Late Fall Color

How Many Times a Day can HGTV Air the Same Program?

Happy Halloween

If you can't Decorate with it, Wear it.

Apple Oatmeal Cookies w/Browned Butter Glaze

Mixed Animal Print Outfit & Banana Coconut Cupcakes w/Cooked Caramel Frosting Recipe

Myrtle's Quite Fertile & the Kale Keeps Flowering

Good Eats--Corned Beef and Chardonnay Caramel Baked Pears

A Few of My Favorite Halloween Tables

What a Wet Mess!

Bundles of Autumn Love

We Had only a Few Hours of Sunshine this Weekend

Christmas Tree Inspiration

I am Glad I don't have 20/20 Vision

What Not to Wear

Breathtaking Autumn Color

Autumn Colors in my own Yard

Fall Containers

Rustic Frames

VN00031 RUBY MOON
Hyacinth Vine Seeds

AN00006 HOT BISCUITS
Amaranthus Seeds

AN00022 OPOPEO
Amaranthus Seeds

AN00378 TOWER GREEN
Amaranthus Seeds

AN05652 GREEN TAILS
Amaranthus Seeds