Monday . . .

It is a very dreary Monday here in the Buckeye State. We are expecting rain. AND much cooler temperatures. There's even snow forecast. I'm sure if it does, it will only be flurries.

Mondays never get me down. In fact, I love Mondays. And it was a productive morning.

We finished picking what was available in the garden. If the forecast is correct, then things will freeze and we'll loose them.

Rocky and I went on an early walk in anticipation of the rain. If it doesn't, or if it's done by evening time, we'll take a second walk. By noon the rain hadn't yet arrived, but the winds did.

I worked on laundry and the basement during the morning hours that were left. Spent some time talking to BF. She claims those conversations get her and keep her motivated. I worked on stitchery so that I too was getting something accomplished. My cell phone doesn't work in my basement.

Making good progress on the first wall hanging.

My afternoon will be spent finishing the first wall hanging's stitching . . . hopefully :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity and productivity.

Goal Report October 15, 2017

Here were my goals for the week of October 15, 2017

1. Pam's quilt

- baste - DONE

- quilt - DONE

-bind - DONE

2. Growing Up QAL

- copy pattern - DONE

- assemble block - DONE

- post - DONE

3. Snowman stitchery

- finish stitching - DONE

- assemble as a pillow

4. Santa Hats Wall Hangings (x3)

- begin embroidery - progress made :)

5. I LOVE Home

- cut out pieces for three blocks - DONE, also drew off the designs to be embroidered on all three

Goals for the week of October 22, 2017

1. Snowman Crazy Quilt

- assemble pillow

2. I LOVE HOME

- begin embroidering first block

3. Santa Hats Wall Hangings (x3)

- continue embroidery

4. Joe's Quilt

- pull fabric

This handsome fella was just over in the next yard. My dogs, of course, tried to bully him. He wasn't having any of that and I was afraid he'd jump the fence and charge them. There is a distance of about 4 or 5 feet between us. He was very cooperative with me and my phone camera.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity and productivity.

What a productive weekend . . .

It was a beautiful weekend here in my piece of heaven on earth.

I didn't actually get to sit down at the quilt until about noon. But that wasn't going to keep me from getting something done.

Not sure if Rocky is helping or hindering :)

After a couple of hours I had the entire quilt tied.

I also caught up on downloading some patterns I ordered in the last few weeks. 

Christmas Elves from Karen Lee at Stitching with Two Strings. Isn't this just too cute? 

I LOVE the pick up trucks with the Christmas trees in them. Podunk Pretties has an adorable pattern I just had to have.

I've linked you to both blogs so that you can check out these patterns for yourself. Both ladies are just too kind and sweet.

Honey Do went hunting Sunday afternoon, so I didn't have to cook and was able to finally stitch the last bead on the snowman and begin working on the Santa Hats wall hangings for my nieces.

I'll have photos of everything on this week goal report.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity and productivity.

Friday Night Sew-In

I rarely remember this event monthly any more. Mostly because I keep myself so busy that by the time I get around to reading my favorite blogs I've missed it.

But I caught it this month.

I'm finally getting to the finishing stages of the Crazy Quilted Snowman.

 

 

I have a few more places that I want to add beads for embellishments. And hopefully, by the time I'm done with that I've decided what I want his banner to say.

This was fun because it allowed me to use stitches that I don't usually use in my embroidery. I would like to do a crazy quilted quilt some day. Just not sure when that's going to happen.

Hope you all enjoyed your Friday Night Sew-in. I can't wait to see what everyone got up to.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity and productivity.

Friday Play Day and Sew-in with Friends

It has been quite a while since BF and I could get together and have a nice long visit and chat and Play Day. We have a non-stop gab fest over breakfast, and today's included lunch as well !!! Her birthday was last weekend and I anxiously wanted to get her the gifts I've been making and collecting. She was thrilled.

I was blessed with a new teapot from her mother's collection.

Yes that's Nina's nose . . . LOL

Isn't that little bee adorable?  I couldn't wait to get it in the china cabinet, prominently displayed.

And the mailman brought some much anticipated goodies to my box today while I was gone.

Michelle Ridgway does some of the most adorable designs I've ever seen. Susan was working on this one when she came to visit in August and seeing it in person really convinced me that I had to have it. Now to find time to work on it. . . 

I found this beauty on Moira's blog. And here's the link where to purchase. I'm so excited. I also purchased the "stained glass" batiks to finish the project. This one should get done before Christmas.

My Friday evening will be spent with Friends sewing-in :)

Hostess is Wendy at Sugarlane. Hope you are joining us. I'll be working on Ms. Pam's quilt :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity and productivity.

Rise and Shine

Thursday dawned early and busy. After sending Honey Do off to work I went through a few books on homesteading. Trying to decide how much I want to do and where to start if I go that route. My interest in it started from researching Pinterest on emergency preparedness and just went in several directions from there. I also want to put in a bigger vegetable garden, or a second one, and I've been finding some really good tips.

From there, I put up 14 cups of the vegetable stock I told you about yesterday.

We were gifted a bag of vegetables. There was kale, which we don't care for and that started the stock. I included scraps I'd collected from the freezer, along with celery leaves from the celery that was also gifted. I let it simmer all evening and cool over night so I could put it in the freezer Thursday morning.

Honey Do and I visited the garden after dinner Wednesday. Things have really slowed down and he doesn't want to loose the ghost peppers we are leaving on the plant. It has gotten much cooler, but no frost yet. It will happen in the next two to four weeks so we are keeping a very close watch on weather reports. 

I did pull out the cabbages that were left. They are starting to rot and split, which means their growing season has ended.

I spent time the rest of the day purging/organizing my overflow pantry, laundry and working on Ms. Pam's quilt. It's coming along beautifully :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity and productivity.

Heritage - LOVE it

Tuesday ended up being much more productive than I could have hoped.

After Bible study, I stopped at JoAnn's for a piece of white Kona cotton. I've decided to embroider the centers of my I LOVE HOME BOM from Jacquelynne Steves. I cut out the centers after Rocky and I returned from our walk, I started laundry and did some more sorting/purging in the basement :)

Not only that, I got all three drawn off and threads pulled. My second goal of the week is finished.

I've been telling you that Honey Do was busy with international visitors the last couple of days - the visit went very well. Sunday I cut up a beef roast and put it in the crockpot to make goulash. The house smelled wonderful and the meat slow cooked tender and tasty.

While I was playing on Pinterest I found a bunch of German recipes, dishes I grew up from Mom's kitchen. They especially caught my attention because the blog had "Oma" in the title. "Oma" is German, maybe European, for grandmother. We called my Hungarian grandmother (Dad's mom) "Oma". I never knew my German grandmother (Mom's mom). My Oma passed away almost 40 years ago and my grandmother passed when I was just a toddler. My nieces call Mom "Oma".

Since I don't remember my German Oma, Mom is my inspiration for all things home-y and especially German and is responsible for my appreciation of my heritage. We all have things in our heritage that makes us ansious and not proud of where we come from. Grace and maturity help us to see beyond the history. My parents are/were honest, hard-working, respectable people and responsible in large part for the person I've become.

Anyway, a while I was playing on Pinterest I found a recipe for spaetzle with goulash :) 

I made my very first batch of spaetzle !!!

They are a little on the brown side because I incorporate wheat flour with the all purpose white flour, but they were very tasty. I feel like I do my heritage proud when I make something that tastes like it came from Mom's kitchen :)

And because Mom doesn't cook as much any more, she gift me with her spaetzle mill :) I'm a lucky girl :)

Wednesday after an appointment and finally going grocery shopping, I spent some time at church working on Pam's quilt.

Laying it out on a couple of long conference tables made it really easy to sandwich and pin baste. I can spend the rest of the week tying it and getting the binding on.

Wednesday afternoon was spent putting groceries away while I made dinner, reorganized my overflow pantry in the basement and did more laundry. I have a tendency when I'm overwhelmed or short on time to just put things where ever there is an empty space. Very quickly, clutter takes over. It's difficult to see what I have when I'm that disorganized. I'm also getting rid of things I know I'll never use again. Most things are going in a box for donations and not in the trash.

After dinner, I put on a pot of vegetable scraps for make stock. Again the house smelled really good. Honey Do kept going in the kitchen :) Using up scraps from fresh vegetables makes a really tasty stock from things that either end up in the compost bin or trash. It's also a way of using things up before they go bad. I have a container that I keep in my freezer just for scraps. I keep things like the ends of onions, parsley stems, celery leaves, etc. When it's full, I make stock. Then I bag it in quart freezer bags because they will lay nice and flat, in two cup increments and I have them whenever I need stock.

I spent the evening make my menu for next week. I won't see Mom this week, so I'll be in the kitchen on Thursday making more zucchini bread :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity and productivity.

Friday Goals - the weekend

This week has gone incredibly fast. Making a goal list daily has helped keep me focused and productive.

Honey Do is expecting visitors from Taiwan Sunday, so he'll be preoccupied for a few days. That actually gives me a bit of free time because I don't have to spend much time preparing a few dinners. Newton and I will just eat quick and easy.

Here's how things went for my Friday goals:

1. Mending - jeans DONE

Three pairs actually became two. And two of the three were supposed to be re-hemmed but when I tried them on, one of the pairs were actually perfect so I didn't have to do anything to them.

2. Growing Up QAL - construct block

I didn't get to this because I keep forgetting to go to the library and make a copy of the actual pattern. Hopefully some time on Saturday.

3. PJ's - sew together DONE

It took the afternoon to do both of them, but I got them done in between laundry and cleaning the kitchen ceiling fan and playing with Rocky.

4. Snowman embroidery - more stitching

I did get a little more stitching done. Both arms are finished. All that's left is the rest of the banner and head.

5. Next week's menu DONE

including the grocery list

See you Monday for a new goal list :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity and productivity.

Autumnal Monday

You read that correctly :)

Isn't this an absolutely gorgeous morning? !!

Rain came in late Sunday afternoon and with it a cold front that has drastically dropped the temperatures. There is a chilly breeze coming through my window - I LOVE IT and I'm not complaining. Autumn and spring are my two favorite seasons. Autumn gets me excited about taking a break from all the yard responsibilities and move on to some other things for a bit. Doesn't mean I'm not still thinking about gardens and being outside. Pinterest has a ton of ideas and tutorials posts on planting, harvesting, things to make the chores easier and more productive.

I ran a couple of errands this morning while I supposed to be grocery shopping. After the first two stops, I decided I didn't want to and didn't really need to - at least for another couple of days. So I didn't. We won't starve and with Honey Do busy with international visitors for a couple of days, I don't really have to cook. I already have Tuesday's dinner well underway when I will need a meal for the family. Newton and I will just pick at whatever is in the fridge for now.

Rocky makes friends wherever he goes. The squirrels are in great numbers and very busy right now. So we see them everywhere we walk. We decided on a morning walk because I left this morning and it was good for both of us.

The first errand I ran was a discount store in our neighborhood. I didn't get what I went for specifically, but I did find several new cookbooks that caught my attention. Can't wait to peruse them this evening.

My second stop was to the library to make copies for the Growing Up QAL. It's on the agenda to cut out today.

The library also afforded me a couple of great finds. Speaking of gardening :) And John Besh cooks Louisiana which means lots of seafood which Honey Do loves. Another great resource.

Both books are soft cover. Used/discontinued books from the library are $1.00 for hardcover and 50 cents for soft covers. And best of all, there is no postal fees to have them shipped like Amazon and Ebay.

Once Rocky and I got home from our walk, I started the laundry and finished putting up my Halloween decorations.

  

The mailman brought "squishy" mail :)

Always a good thing. Thank you KTJ, this just moved to the top of my reading list. Cup of tea and finishing the book I'm reading now (Broken Road by Richard Paul Evans) so I can get to it. 

I also managed to spend a little time in the basement. There is so much stuff that needs to be sorted through and purged out of my home. I really need to just make the time and do it, even if it's just a little everyday.

Then I made time to put together the Growing Up QAL paper piecing pattern and sew it together.

Paper piecing is not my favorite and I discovered this afternoon mostly because I get confident and then in a hurry and then I make mistakes. I just have to force myself to slow down and I'm good.

Not  only is the block assembled, but I sandwiched and quilted it. One goal done :)

I also managed to find a bit of time to cut out all three of the I LOVE HOME blocks. Now I have to decide if I want a pretty center block, appliqued houses or embroidered centers. Decisions, decisions, decisions . . . 

Monday proved to be a very nice, productive day.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity and productivity.

Goals for October 9, 2017

Goals for the week of October 9, 2017

1. Pam's Quilt
- sandwich DONE

- quilt

- bind

- label

2. I Love Home BOM - No progress here
- assemble Block 1

- assemble Block 2

- assemble Block 3

3. Crazy Quilt Snowman - Making progress, almost done

- finishing stitching

4. Santa Hats Wall Hangings (x3) - LOTS of progress here.

- review project, determine next steps

5. Christmas PJ's (x2) DONE

- cut out patterns

- assemble

Along with this, I got three pairs of jeans, two tops and a sheet mended and put away.

I was invited and participated in my first blog hop called Art with Fabric.

Got to spend a wonderful day with Mom. 

And even found some time in the garden :)

Here are my goals for the week of October 15, 2017

1. Pam's quilt

- baste

- quilt

-bind

2. Growing Up QAL

- copy pattern

- assemble block

- post

3. Snowman stitchery

- finish stitching

- assemble as a pillow

4. Santa Hats Wall Hangings (x3)

- begin embroidery

5. I LOVE Home

- cut out pieces for three blocks

This is an ambitious list with the quilt being the priority since it has a deadline for the end of the month.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity and productivity.