Peanuts B. Oddy

ICADs on a Grid

2011-09-22T22:25:00.000-07:00

Daisy Yellow showed a bunch of ICADs today and several of them were done on those index cards with the quarter inch grid instead of lines, so I thought I would show you the ones I've done on those same cards. Well, not the same cards, but, you know, ones like them.

My mom and I ate at a Chinese restaurant and I decided to put my fortune on the above card. Then I filled each square with a different image, though some of the "differences" are only because of the orientation of the design. Of course, there is an alien in there, too.
This one is from a technique I learned here, here and here. I used the grid to lay out the starting dots, then after I had drawn the knot, I used correction tape to sort of cover the grid lines. I kind of like that they aren't covered up completely.

These were all inspired by quilts. I like the way the blue lines work in these.

I Am Not So Much a Knitter

2011-09-22T21:45:00.000-07:00

I am a crocheter, but many years ago I finally learned to knit because I saw an article on continental knitting and I was able to do that without it hurting my hands too much. Once I got used to the movements, it didn't hurt at all. Mostly what I knit are dishcloths and most of those are for Christmas presents and for a long time I only knit the classic, ubiquitous, garter stitch on the diagonal dishcloth.
Somewhere along the line I found a very similar pattern, but with only 3 stitches cast on and the yarn over increase done after just the first stitch in each row. It seemed to be a little more symmetrical for me and so I stuck with that.
Then just this last year I decided all on my own to just do a single decrease at the beginning of each row instead on the usual decrease, yarn over, decrease that I had been doing all along. It meant I didn't get that little eyelet edging on the second half, but for me it was worth it to avoid the distortion I would always get on the second, decreasing half of the dishcloth.
Well, didn't that just open a whole world of crazy, because this year I am knitting seed stitch dishcloths. Okay, it's not real-knitter-crazy, but for me this is a big step.

The two at the bottom are from a pattern by Chris Williamson, but I can't find a way to get to it on her website. I originally got it from a yahoo group I'm in called holidaymysterygifts, but the patterns there are only available for a short period of time. New ones every month, though.

Anyway, I was looking for the pattern and came across Devin's Dishcloth which is the one on the needles above. I really like the garter stitch banding around the seed stitch center, especially in the solid color I am using here. I did change the pattern a tiny bit by casting on an odd number of stitches and beginning and ending each row of the center seed stitch section with a purl stitch. I tried it as the pattern is written but ended up with the border being one stitch wider on one side.

I know this is probably the knitting equivalent of crossing the street by yourself, but to me it a big step forward.

ICAD

2011-09-16T17:22:00.000-07:00

In July I stumbled on Daisy Yellow and her index card a day challenge. By that time I had already missed the sign-up deadline for her three month summer challenge, but I thought it was such a great idea that I wanted to participate anyway. So, I started on my own that very day.

Now she has a new month at a time challenge and I managed to get myself sign-up in a timely way. Since I am official now, it seemed like a good idea to show some of the cards I have done. Since I am terrible at posting things, it took me this long to do that.

Last night I was trimming some paper and thought these skinny little strips of paper would look interesting on an index card. I was going to add some bits of red to be flowers but I liked the way the "grass" looked so much I decided to stop.

These are some other scraps that I had, and I thought I would use them, too, on another card. Yes, the rules allow making more than one card a day. Since the first one was card 58, this one is 58.1.

The first card from yesterday reminded me of this one I did about a week earlier with still more thin little bits of paper trimmings. I had had the idea as I was going to bed the night before to wrap a string around an index card and this seemed to be the right card to do that with.

The Color Of. . .

2011-09-07T16:01:00.000-07:00

Look at the beautiful things you can do here on The Color Of. . . (via daisy yellow):

These are only a few of the images I did there. Go try it yourself. Now.

Friday the 13th

2011-05-13T14:44:00.000-07:00

So how was your day?

At 7:41 this morning we heard a horrific sound that even our 12 year old (who makes the most of every possible moment of sleep before it is time to go to school) couldn't sleep through.

As you look out our front door there is an elementary school right across the street and a hill to the left. Someone coming down that hill apparently had a seizure with her foot on the accelerator sideswiped our neighbor's car, probably totaling it, jumped the curb in front of our house, tore off our mailbox, flew through a planter with -- luckily for her, I think -- three large, heavy block and concrete posts, our trash can enclosure and a fence and into the neighbors' backyard stopping several yards short of the neighbors' pool.
It is how close she came to the pool that makes me think it was good she hit those block and concrete posts. If they had not slowed her down I hate to think of what might have happened.

That is not the most amazing thing though. At that time of day parents are dropping off their children and there are usually lots of children getting out of cars, on the sidewalk and running across the street. No cars were parked in front of our house. Usually there are 3-4. Wow. No one was hurt. Even the driver and her son were walking around after the accident thought I'm sure it will be awhile before they are actually all right. How terrifying it must have been, especially for the son who was not having a seizure and so was aware of what was happening.

Paradox Fun

2011-02-27T14:25:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed that I do enjoy doing zentangles from time to time. When I first heard about them, I would try to find patterns that I could figure out how to do on my own. As I have learned more I have sometimes found that my idea of how to do a pattern was different and often harder than the correct way. There is a wonderful website, Tangle Patterns, that has links to how-to's for all sorts of patterns.
One of the things I learned from a link on that site is how to draw the pattern Paradox. It is one of my favorite patterns now that I know how to do it. It is almost ridiculously easy, but until I saw the directions I could not figure it out. Oh, I tried, but I made it much harder than it needed to be. And it didn't look anywhere as nice. It might have been possible for someone to figure out that I was trying to draw Paradox, but that is as close as I ever got on my own.
Armed with the knowledge of how to do the pattern, I came across a zentangled drawing that the artist alleged was from Paradox, but that was beyond me. I saw it or similar designs more than once and stared at it until I figured it out. They look something like this, which was my first attempt at it.I was very pleased with myself for figuring it out and thought I would show you how to do it, too.
The first step is to learn how to draw the basic Paradox. The same method can be used to fill in shapes other than triangles.
Next, divide the area you will be filling into smaller areas for the individual Paradox patterns. On the top of the first one I did (above) it happened to form an sort of star pattern that I wanted to try to duplicate so I drew this:
Then I started filling in the shapes with the Paradox pattern. Here it is with just the upper right area filled in:
Each space was then filled with the Paradox pattern working each time in a clockwise direction. That is what gives those S-column (for lack of a better word) shapes where two Paradoxes meet. If you look carefully you can see that I have kept the pictures of these three steps oriented the same way to make it easier to believe it is that simple.
Next, I tried dividing a space into six (an even-number) shapes radiating from a sort-of center point. Sorry there is no before picture. I wanted to see what would happen if I alternated the direction of the Paradoxes as I filled in the shaped. For instance, in this example the upper right shape is done clockwise while the upper left shape was done in a counter-clockwise direction.
It is the change of direction that gives the fans and points of this design.

Last, I wanted to show you this envelope I recycled using the same idea. This was done while I was watching TV with my daughter. After I had filled in a couple of shapes she looked over and asked me what had happened to the first two shapes I had drawn. The pattern overwhelms the initial shape it fills.
It is something you almost have to try to understand. Or at least that is how my brain works.

Courtney Milan

2011-02-23T19:54:00.000-08:00

Smart Bitches Trashy Books just hosted an online chat about Courtney Milan's most recent book Unveiled. I finished reading the book about 15 minutes before the chat and it is, like all her books wonderful. She is an excellent writer.
But I am not telling you this so that you will go out and buy her book -- which you should do -- but because for the last half hour of the chat Courtney Milan herself joined us and I got to ask her a question and she answered it using my name. As I told my daughter, I am now considering myself part of her body of written work. Squee.
What do you mean, that isn't how it works? Are you saying that it will be possible for scholars of the future to get PhD's in the works of Courtney Milan, without any mention of my place in her writings in their dissertations? Sorry, that disappointment is not going to overcome my happiness.

Zentangled Valentine's Bookmarks

2011-02-08T16:03:00.000-08:00

Here are two bookmarks I made for a swap on swapbot. The picture was taken before I covered the bookmarks with packing tape and strung some fibers through the hole in the top of each bookmark to fancy them up, because I didn't want to deal with glare on the bookmarks. If you click on the picture, a larger image of it should appear on your computer.

The pink bookmark is the one that actually fulfills the requirement of the swap which is for a zentangled bookmark. I adapted some patterns (unyun, finery, and paradox) to be valentine-y and then just filled in with puf, netting (bottom of the page, but check out that map of the USA just above the instructions for netting) and some tassels. On the netting I added some petals to the center to fill it in visually. The shading was done with a red colored pencil, instead of the standard no.2.

The white one is based on an ATC that I did a couple of years ago, that is based on a pattern I was trying to copy from something I saw on deviant art when I was looking for patterns to use in zentangles. I could not get the pattern right and hearts kept showing up in the pattern. Well, I gave up, outlined the hearts in red colored pencil and said I planned it that way. When I tried to do the same thing on the bookmark, I couldn't get a single heart to volunteer to show up, but had to go back and fit them in. Funny how things work out.

Nine Inchie Puzzle

2011-02-01T15:16:00.000-08:00

Here is an abstract drawing to be cut into 9 inchies to make a puzzle for a swap on swap-bot.
And here it is cut.

Scraps ATC

2011-01-27T19:40:00.001-08:00

I hate to throw something away when I think I can use it but sometimes there are just too many bits and pieces lying around. When I made the last ATC, the lazy daisy one two posts ago, I was bothered by the nest of leftover bits of thread from previous projects, so I took an ATC back that I had cut from the back of a Christmas card and started poking holes to make rectangle shapes, doing a few of the larger ones and then filling in with the smaller shapes. Then I just got to stitching and voila! the thread nest is gone.

By the way, I posted the ATC upside down. I'm sure that if you will just stand up, lean over and look at it in the correct orientation you will see what a difference it makes. Probably only because your brain will thank you for an extra little rush of blood and your body will enjoy a little stretch, but you never know.

Walking

2011-01-26T23:09:00.001-08:00

Lazy Daisy ATC

2011-01-25T22:49:00.000-08:00

This is an ATC for my partner in the Embroidery ATC Series #2 -- Lazy Daisy swap over on Swap-bot.
Oddly enough she was also my partner in the first swap of the series which was for the chain stitch.
The Lazy Daisy stitch is also known as the detached chain stitch and it is a great stitch to use for simple flowers. I also used it in this very small (2" including the tail) Dotee doll pin and in some bottle cap pincushions here and here.
If you would like to know how to do the stitch yourself you can take a look at Sharon B's stitch dictionary. While you are there you can take a look at her amazing I dropped the button box crazy quilt. Click on any of the thumbnails and see the beautiful work she does. Eye candy.

Hmmm

2011-01-24T09:55:00.000-08:00

These are some of the things that have caught my eye.

Very clever idea for making faux wrought iron wall decor.

A few years ago my brother and his wife were talking about a contest they were having to see which of them could read the most books that year. That got me wondering how many books I read each year so I started keeping a list of the title and author and a quote from the book.
Then I thought it would be better to write down the main characters and a summary of the plot. This has turned out to be very helpful.
Combine that with a love of bookmarks and you can see why I really like this idea from the Making Books blog.
Another great place to keep track of the books you are reading, to write reviews and to read other people's reviews and to get ideas for new books to read is Goodreads.
By the way, I read 88 books last year, including the Bible. If I was doing the contest thing I would have counted the Bible as 66 books.

And then there's this. How do people think of these things?

Randomness

2011-01-22T09:36:00.000-08:00

Every year I like to take all the letters and pictures that came with Christmas cards and put them in a special album just for that purpose. Well, if you can believe it, the people who send me pictures do not get together and coordinate their pictures so that they fit beautifully on the pages and I am left with blank spots to fill in with whatever. Luckily for them, that is one of my favorite parts.

The last few years I have tried to use what they actually sent (stickers on the envelopes, stamps,
parts of the cards) to fill in any blank spots. This is my favorite from this year -- well, last year, but I did it this year.
The image of the angels is from a return address label, and the background is from the back of a card. I thought it was a nice way to use something that might have been thrown away -- the address label -- and something that would have ended up in a pile of things I might use for something eventually -- the back of the card.

Then we have a picture of Rover guarding the vegetable patch or what is left of it after he ate most of the lettuces. He looks so serious, making sure the camera doesn't think it is going to get any of these vegetables.

Off to his right there are actually a lot of broccoli plants. My son loves broccoli, and we hope that it grows well. The leaves have gotten quite large and healthy looking, but we have not seen anything that looks like broccoli growing on them yet. This is our first year trying to grow it, so it is a learning experience for all of us. Except for our daughter who doesn't much care for vegetables and would probably prefer us to grow some nice meaty livestock.

Take the Quiz here!

+89/+11.625

Valentine's Card

2011-01-18T19:10:00.001-08:00

This is the card I made last night at our church's craft night. Most people made more than one, but I was having fun with a friend who was working on a garland that spells out L O V E.
It was so fun to see all the many styles of cards that were available to make and of course even people who were following the same sample ended up with cards that looked so different.
Kathryn Mullins is the woman who hosted this and she was so generous with her time and talent and supplies and so encouraging as we worked on our cards and as some went on to come up with their own ideas. What a talented lady.

Rover's 1st Haircut

2011-01-18T18:59:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, my husband took Rover in for a haircut. When the groomer saw that he was only 6 months old she did not want to give him a haircut because it can be pretty scary for such a young dog, but my husband assured her that he would be fine so she gave it a try. He jumped once when he first heard the clippers, but after that he was fine.
He is just as handsome as can be and he knows it.

A Thought

2011-01-17T17:07:00.000-08:00

"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it."

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Just wanted to share a thought from Dr. King.

In a few minutes I will be going to a craft night at church. We will be making valentines and working on our own projects. After valentines I will be working on a zentangle pattern zine for a swap.

And As It Always Has: Rock Crushes Scissors

2011-01-13T13:52:00.000-08:00

If you are a fan of Big Bang Theory you will enjoy this chart which explains Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock.

Walking

2011-01-12T15:22:00.001-08:00

Angela Hunt on the Devil and Demons

2011-01-10T22:56:00.000-08:00

This is part two to the article I mentioned last week that Angela Hunt wrote on angels.

A quote from the article:
Demons can do scary things, but they’re much more likely to do beautiful things in order to fool people into following false religions. Because Satan hates God, he wants to keep people from following God. So he uses every trick in his book, not to convince people to follow him, but to follow anything but God.

Very much worth reading the whole thing.

The Point

2011-01-09T14:46:00.000-08:00

"The battle is not the point. Evil is not the point. The point is the love story. We live in a love story that is set in the midst of a war. When you understand those two things, you will suddenly understand Christianity, and you will understand your own life."
-- John Eldredge

When I was adding list of books I had read in 2010 to the archives of books read, I found the above quote from the book Adam by Ted Dekker which I read in 2009. It isn't in the book itself but in an interview included with the book.

Chain Stitch ATC

2011-01-08T14:53:00.001-08:00

This is for a swap on Swap-bot for the first in a series of Embroidered ATC's. This one is for the chain stitch. My first thought when I saw this was to use some of the South African embroidery -- love the 2 Ndebele ladies pattern there -- techniques I had learned last year which often start off with a chain stitch and then embellish that stitch, but finally I decided to just go with a plain old chain stitch.
One thing I learned when I did the dragonfly ATC is that I did not want to draw on the card itself and then punch the holes, because there is always erasing to do and that doesn't always go so well on the darker background. So this time I drew on a piece of scrap paper cut to ATC size and once I was happy with that I used that as my template as I poked a pin through it and the actual card. The nice thing is I have the pattern for myself if I want to try it again with the more embellished chain stitches.
Next, I picked some shorter lengths of embroidery floss I had in my stash and that I thought looked good with the ATC card (which was cut from the back of a Christmas card) and got busy doing the chain stitch.
Hope my partner likes it.
The next swap in the series is for the lazy daisy stitch.

+91/+12.25

Two Ads I Hate and One I Like

2011-01-06T21:23:00.000-08:00

Twice today I saw the Bayer aspirin ad with the man on the plane who is suffering from back pain. He asks the stewardess for help by pointing to a page in some booklet that shows some Asian characters and the English words "back pain." She offers him Bayer aspirin.
"I'm not having a heart attack," he says.
The stewardess assures him that aspirin can also relieve pain. And it turns out she is right! Who knew stewardesses were up on the latest in medical research?
And that's right, I am saying stewardess instead of flight attendant because it reminds me of an earlier time when people knew that aspirin could relieve pain.
Here is the real question: Why is this man allowed to travel overseas all by himself? Where are his mommy and daddy?

The second ad I hate is the one that starts off saying, "Many men over 45 [insert random symptoms here]." It ends by saying, "don't blame it on aging."
Was this written as one of those party games where each person writes a different line without knowing what anyone else wrote and then hilarity ensues when you read all the lines together? Am I just missing the joke?

Then we have the Mayhem ads. I enjoy them so much. This might be my favorite:

It reminds me of this scene in Fried Green Tomatoes:

Folder Journal

2011-01-05T14:23:00.000-08:00

The most recent issue of Cloth, Paper Scissors (Jan/Feb 2011) has an article called Folder Journal about making a journal from a manila folder.
When she came over for Thanksgiving my mom gave me an almost full box of surplus legal-size manila folders from her office.
So clearly this was meant to be:

Since this was my first attempt at this project I decided to use some paper I didn't like very much which is some of the orange papers. As the project came together I found myself liking the way the orange paper looked and adding other papers and bits & pieces that I thought fit in . Eventually I will be adding some of my favorite Bible verses and maybe some other inspirational things to the back of the journal cards. Once I get that done, I will have a better idea of just how to finish the fronts of the cards.

Angela Hunt on Angels

2011-01-03T17:37:00.000-08:00

I think it has only been in the last year that I read my first Angela Hunt book, The Canopy which is about an American researcher who is dying of a particular type of brain disease and is looking for a cure in the Amazon jungle. It was fascinating to learn about the people of the Amazon and their spiritual beliefs, especially about Yai Pada (so impressed that I remembered that name).
Next I read The Debt. I had to force myself to get into that one since it is about the wife of a televangelist, but it turned out to be one of the most worthwhile books I read last year. The title is based on the story Jesus told of the the two men who each owed a debt to another man. One owed a large sum of money while the other man owed a small amount. Neither could pay so the man they owed the money to forgave both debts. Jesus asked the listeners which of the two men loved the one who forgave their debts more. I don't want to say anything else about the story because you should read it for yourself. Wonderful.
More recently I read The Novelist about a very successful author who is teaching a community college class about writing. The way Ms. Hunt tells that story is very interesting as she writes about the author/teacher and her family and students and then also shares the story she is writing as she teaches the class.
Of the three, The Debt is my favorite, but I have a few more of her books waiting in my to-be-read stack so that may change.

Anyway, the only reason I am sharing that with you is that I wanted to share the post she put up yesterday about angels. It debunks some of the popular myths about angels and I look forward to reading part two next week.

Christmas Wish

2011-01-02T18:28:00.000-08:00

Normally our church raises money in October to be sent to our missionaries as a Christmas gift above and beyond their normal support. Last year they raised about $4,000 dollars. We support about 25 missionaries.
This year nothing was said until after Thanksgiving. The elders and staff had decided they wanted to buy new mattresses for the local homeless shelter. Including our missionaries' Christmas gift, which they had already sent out on faith, they would need to raise $15,000. Now we have a pretty giving church as it is and we haven't escaped the current economic situation so that was quite a step of faith. I forgot to mention that they did not tell the homeless shelter they would do what they could. No, they promised the mattresses.
The Sunday before Christmas was the big day when they would be taking a separate offering just for this "Christmas Wish." Of course, some money had also come in the previous two Sundays since they made their announcement.
At the Christmas Eve service they told us that they had met their goal and had enough money to send the missionaries a second Christmas gift. Then, with the money leftover after the two Christmas gifts to the missionaries and after buying the mattresses they gave the head of the homeless shelter a check for $10,000 for anything else they might need.
This Sunday they said that a little more money had come in for this same project and they had used it to pay medical bills for two missionaries who have had some serious health problems this year.
Wow.
**********
I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:18-19

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T22:31:00.000-08:00

So clearly I have not been a faithful blogger, but I have been looking forward to making trying to be better at this one of my new year's resolutions. Let's see how long it takes me to break this one.
The sad part is that even though I have been looking forward to this and have been on the computer twice earlier today, it did not occur to me that I should actually post something until after my husband came back from the dog park and became involved in some British comedy series (curse you Netflix "watch now").
Now you may be asking yourself why my husband would be at the dog park. This is why:

This is Rover. Our son picked out the name since this is "his" dog. It is a classic dog name and yet I have never actually known a dog with that name, but I love it.
Anyway, Rover joined our family the week before Thanksgiving. He is a Miniature Schnauzer. Neither my husband nor I have had a Miniature Schnauzer before, but we think this one is wonderful. So far he has learned the commands sit, stand and come. If he thinks you have a treat for him he will go back and forth between sit and stand until you realize that you should have a treat for him.
He loves to go outside and being a terrier, I am sure that he would love to find a mouse or gopher in our yard, but so far he has had to content himself with pincher bugs and earthworms. My only hope is that the rabbit we had visiting last year decides to not come back again this year.

+91/+12.375

African Folklore Embroidery and an ATC Challenge

2010-06-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

In May my mom treated me to a lecture about African Folklore Embroidery. The lecturer was Leora Raikin, who is such an interesting speaker. She spent the morning taking us on a bit of a safari, sharing lots of information about animals, people groups and, of course, about the embroidery itself. She passed around so many beautiful examples of the work done by the various people groups and explained how they expressed something important in their culture or in the world around them. She also shared many examples of the work she and her cousin had done.
For the afternoon session we each chose a square of black fabric with whatever design took our fancy and some thread and then the fun began as Leora taught us some of the basic stitches used in the embroidery. What we learned was based on the chain stitch, so simple, and yet . . .

A few weeks later I saw an ATC challenge swap that would allow me to use the embroidery techniques on one of the three cards I would make for my partner. Couldn't resist signing up.
Here is the ATC that used the African embroidery using black card stock instead of black fabric:
One of the things that makes the embroidery so lovely is that the threads used are multi-colored, with the color changing very quickly. I didn't want to use the beautiful threads I had for my kit because I don't want to run out before I am done with that piece, so I used crochet cotton that I had on hand, some colored, but mostly white, and colored it myself with Sharpies. I don't know how well the Sharpie color would do in a situation where it was being washed frequently, but in this application that shouldn't be a problem.

Real Life Harlequin Romance

2010-06-08T21:06:00.000-07:00

One of the websites I enjoy visiting is Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. Truthfully, I don't understand a lot of what goes on there, since they seem to love electronic books and I prefer paper. My two favorite features are their reviews, especially when a book gets a bad review, and HaBO.
I needed my daughter's help to figure out that HaBO means Help a Body Out (Not really, that's just how I like to say it in my mind. You should be able to figure out which word I changed from the name of the site.). What happens is that someone remembers a romance they read many years ago and wants to re-read it but can't remember the name or author. It is interesting to see what part of the story stuck in their mind. Then other people try to help them out.
A recent edition of HaBO seeking help finding a book about a rancher and a vegetarian, had a comment with a link to this true story about an actual rancher and a vegetarian. It is quite long, but I have been enjoying it so much and thought you might, too. Does it give the ending away to tell you that the story is posted in installments on her blog The Pioneer Woman?

Something Not About Birds

2010-04-27T20:06:00.001-07:00

This is the card I sent my partner for the Lots of Dots ATC swap on swap bot. I also sent her the orange background, circles design ATC below as an extra.
These were inspired by the ATC I received for the swap, a very aboriginal image of hands. I thought it would be fun to try making some dotted cards using some of the remnants of puff paint I have on hand. I am not sure what sort of paint the creator of the aboriginal hands ATC used, except that they weren't puff paints.
I usually get my swaps out early, if I can, but this time I received the one from the person sending to me before I even got started on mine and it turned out to be fun for me and something the person I sent to also benefited from. At least they said they liked it.

Bird Pictures Again

2010-04-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

Here is what they looked like Saturday. Look at all those feathers. This was taken with the flash and as soon as I took the picture the one on the far left lunged up with his mouth open. It made me think of a shark coming up out of the water. Turns out their eyes are open now so I guess the flash of light disturbed him and why should he be disturbed by anything, but a tasty bug from his mama's beak?
I will try to take pictures only with good enough light now.
Before I could get out mama bird flew in and startled me, almost as much as I startled her I am sure. She has caught all of us, but Nick in there at one time or another. She sure keeps busy with all of them. Heather says there is a daddy bird helping too, but I don't think I have seen him.

Here they are today. I am relieved every time I can still count five of them. They all seem to be doing well, though they go completely still whenever one of us goes in to take a look or just to get something out of the tool shed. As if we ever just go in to get something without taking a look at them.

More Bird Pictures

2010-04-22T22:26:00.000-07:00

This is Monday's picture. I didn't want to put it up because I wasn't sure what bird parts I was even looking at here. In fact, I went back out after I opened this to see if they were all right and they were all breathing like they had just run a mile. So, hurray! Still alive.

This is from yesterday, Wednesday. I wasn't able to take a look at this one then, but look at how well they seem to be doing. Fortunately, they seem to be asleep when I go in, since it is so gloomy with the rain that with my limited photography skills, I have to use a flash and I don't want to disturb them.

Here they are today, snug as bugs. Today was the first day I have been able to count five beaks. I was afraid one of them hadn't made it.

Day Three: Fuzzier

2010-04-18T20:16:00.001-07:00

You can see they are getting even fuzzier and cuter. I don't take time to get a good look at them live, since I don't want to bother them or the mama, so I don't really see them until I look at the picture.

I just peek inside to see if mama is there and if she isn't I go in, take a quick picture and leave.

Our Fuzzy Little Babies

2010-04-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

Here is today's update on the baby birds. They are getting fuzzy. So cute.
It is amazing to see everything the mother bird has done to build this nest. First she filled the crate this is all in with leaves and twigs, the stuff we stored in there clearly not being a suitable base for her babies' first home. Then she lines the hole in the center with soft fluff and stuff including that tissue in the top left. Then she built the nest itself.
I think she is a winter wren.

Also, today, I am making a batch of Pecan Sandies. This recipe is wonderful.

Look What's in Our Toolshed

2010-04-16T11:48:00.001-07:00

This is a picture taken in the last hour. All five are hatched now.
This was taken yesterday late afternoon or evening. It is a bit blurry, but you can see there are still two eggs unhatched. There are three little hatchlings in the pile.

Did The Earth Rejoice To Feel You Again?

2010-04-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite Easter songs is "Was It a Morning Like This?" which has the line "Did the Earth rejoice to feel you again?" and while I certainly didn't plan it, we got to feel the Earth "rejoicing" today just as we were moving on to the dessert portion of our Easter dinner. Or at least that is what I am calling the leaping and carrying-on that the Earth was indulging in this afternoon.

On the news people were saying the quake did not last very long, but we moved into an older home last year and some of the windows are pretty loose and we started hearing it a good 30 seconds before we felt it. It was long enough for us to realize that it wasn't the wind or a big truck going by and for everyone to get out of the house. Everyone but me. I stood in a doorway because I have lived in California since I was a baby and that is what I was told to do the whole time I was growing up, and so that is what I always do. Well, it is what I do when I feel an earthquake which truthfully isn't very often.

Most people don't know that we actually have dozens of earthquakes everyday, but they are so small that you don't feel them, but even the stronger ones that other people feel go by me unnoticed. Of course, there are the stronger ones that usually make the national news or are at least big news on the local stations for a day or two that I do feel. It can be a little bit scary, but nothing bad has ever happened in the areas I have lived. In fact this is the first earthquake I remember having pictures on the wall knocked askew or having things fall over. The water in our pool was also still sloshing quite a bit by the time everything was over and we thought to look and see.

About half an hour later it occurred to me that it would have been cool to have looked at the little Easter tree and see if the ornaments were moving, so I looked at it and the ornaments were swinging a bit. Then I looked at the beautiful orchids my sweet little cousin Ethan brought over for us and they were shaking too! Because we were having an aftershock and I didn't even feel it and wouldn't have known about it if I hadn't looked at the ornaments and the orchid.

I hope the folks in Mexico, where the quake was centered are fine physically and emotionally.

Anyway, before the quake the plan was to tell you about this wonderful recipe I tried for the first time today and that we all thought was delicious: Green Bean and Mushroom Medley. The only thing I did differently than the recipe was that I didn't quite double the butter when I doubled everything else and I substituted Emeril's Essence for the seasoned salt because I didn't have the seasoned salt. Oh, I didn't double that because I wasn't sure how well it would work so I wanted to err on the side of caution. It was so good.

Know This

2010-03-18T08:47:00.000-07:00

If you asked me about hip-hop, I would say I am not a fan, but this song has enchanted me. There is even a Jane Austen quote in here. Who knew?

Bunnies for Easter

2010-02-25T21:10:00.001-08:00

A few years ago, my Aunt Kathleen sent a bunch of her craft magazines and papers to me by way of my mom. Included in those things was a handwritten pattern for a bunny pin.

I made a couple of changes: crocheting the tail, instead of adding a pompom, lengthening the ears and making them different lengths. Anyway, I have no idea of the patterns origins, but here is my version if you want to make one yourself.

By the way, the two bunnies on the right are wrong side up, just because I thought the picture looked better that way rather than having them all face the same way.
It takes about 3 yards of worsted weight yarn to make one. With lighter weight yarn you can make one with shorter lengths.

Crocheted Bunny Pin

any weight yarn or thread
hook appropriate to the yarn or thread being used
pin back or safety pin

gauge: not important, as long as this ends up looking like a bunny

chain 4, slip stitch in 1st chain to form ring

chain 2, 5 double crochet in ring, chain 3, slip stitch in top of 5th double crochet (tail formed), 7 double crochet in ring, join with slip stitch to the top of the chain 2
(body formed)

chain 3, 3 double crochet in next double crochet, turn (head formed)

chain 10, slip stitch in double crochet, chain 9, slip stitch in double crochet (ears formed). Fasten off.

weave in ends. attach pin back of safety pin.

Bee Sting

2010-02-25T19:02:00.000-08:00

I got my first bee sting today, which is pretty good considering my age, which is older than most people are when they get their first bee sting, if they are the sort to get bee stings.
The thing is, the bee did not sting me. I managed to impale myself on the poor thing while I was cleaning up some pruning my husband had done. I was felt the sting as I was moving my arm back and brushed into some of the branches. I looked at my arm and could see the stinger and part of the poor thing's butt sticking out. When I looked down I could see her (bees are mostly 'her's, aren't they?) writhing on the ground.
I am sure her last thought was "Mom always said 'They're just as afraid of you as you are of them. Just don't bother them and they won't bother you.'Yeah, right."
In honor of the poor bee:

A Line is Fine ATC

2010-02-23T12:05:00.001-08:00

A Line is Fine ATC
Originally uploaded by joanieponytail57

It has been a while since I have done a zentangly sort of thing only because there are just so many things that can be done that it is hard to stay on one thing for a long time, but when I do do this I enjoy it and I know it will stay in the rotation for the foreseeable future.
This was clearly done by me -- it has my lines and patterns -- but it is also a bit different in ways that I like so I think it has worked out well that it was set aside for other things for a time.
I shouldn't say I haven't done any tangledoodling. A while ago we were doing some organizing at work and we ended up only using the middle parts of the some labels leaving strips of about half an inch of labels on each end. Being the creative (or crazy -- I've heard it both ways) type I saved those. Last month I drew various zentangle patterns on them and have been using them as stickers on envelopes. The best part is I can be sloppy around the edges but when I peel the label remnant off the sloppy edges stay behind and it looks so clean, like I was much more careful than I actually was.
Anyway, this went out to my swap-bot partner today. Hope she likes it.

Like Macaroni and Cheese

2010-02-15T13:49:00.001-08:00

Cheesy grits
Originally uploaded by StellaTex

In our house lunch is almost always a fend for yourself affair. As I was thinking about what I wanted for lunch today I thought I might have a bowl of cereal. (I know. You can't believe my family doesn't beg me everyday to please, please, PLEASE include them in my lunch plans.) Then I remembered that I had some Cream of Wheat that I usually forget about until after breakfast. I really should use that up before the use by date (10/2010) which given how often I think to eat it is not that far away.
The thing is, it's lunch time and I really want something cheesy. That's when it hit me: instead of adding my usual butter, brown sugar and milk to the Cream of Wheat I could add some grated cheese. It's not like the Cream of Wheat police have a camera in my kitchen. (It's not like I do either, which is why I borrowed this picture of cheesy grits from Stella Tex on flickr.)
I should say at this point that the two things my Mom (hi, Mom) taught me about cooking were "350 degrees for 1 hour" and "a little more cheese couldn't hurt," so it isn't a giant leap for me to think to add cheese to something, but I hadn't thought of it before today in connection to Cream of Wheat and I have to say it was so good. Like a warm, gooey, stringy bowl of macaroni and cheese without the bother of chewing.

Another Year Older

2010-02-01T21:14:00.000-08:00

Today is my birthday. I like having my birthday on February first. That way January is just practice for my new year. It gives me time to think about what I want to do and what I might actually do during the year while I have time to come off that holiday high.

During the last month I read a blog from a 25 year old woman who was lamenting her wasted youth and the fact that she was too old to do some of the things she has wanted to do but hasn't had a chance to do yet, like getting her belly button pierced. She did not want to end up like the man she had seen driving some hot sports car while wearing a leather jacket and cool sunglasses with the wind blowing through the few strands of hair he had left. I guess when you get to be a certain age you no longer feel joy or excitement or the thrill of driving with the top down.

My grandma lived in a retirement home for many years and I remember her telling me how it would always surprise her that there were so many old folks around and then she would get a look at herself in the mirror and remember that she was supposed to be old, too.

I hope I am one of those people who has to be reminded by my mirror that I am getting older. I don't want to lose the thrill and joy of life. I certainly don't want to embrace my inner crotchety old lady. And if this is the year I finally lose weight I may even get my belly button pierced.

While I was surfing the web yesterday I found this hilarious story that started with the drawings on one man's birthday cake. I hope you enjoy it. Read all three parts.

Conquer (a.k.a. the best card game ever)

2010-01-17T14:21:00.000-08:00

A few months ago our son decided we should make Saturday a family game night. I am sorry to say that we haven't been entirely faithful about this, but when we have we have had a good time. Ds would like us all to play Pokemon or some other such game, but I insist that we play something that we can all enjoy, that we know how to play or that has simple instructions.

Last night, I taught my son and daughter how to play Seven-Up, which was a success, but then my son said he had a game he wanted to teach us. It was clear that he was making up the rules as he went. The usual result is a game more convoluted than Fizzbin (original Star Trek: A Piece of the Action). This time it resulted in a simple, fun game that had us laughing out loud, and even lured my husband away from football long enough to give it a try.

If you would like to try it here are the rules (I would advise playing on an empty bladder):

Conquest
The Object of the Game: To be the first to get rid of all your cards.
Dealing: The game is played with a standard 52 card deck plus the two jokers. All cards are dealt out. It doesn't matter if some players have one more card than other players.
Play: Once all cards are dealt, one player lays down any ace. Aces are low (they are counted as ones). There is no waiting for everyone to get their cards in order.
Any other player may lay down any card of an equal or higher value or one of the same suit.
Other players continue to lay down cards of equal or higher value or of the same suit as the top card on the discard pile.
When a player lays down a card of the same suit, it may be of a lower value.
A joker may be played on any card and any card may be placed on top of a joker. This also makes it possible to bring the value of the top card back down so more cards may be played.
There is no order of play, except that a player may not make two plays in a row, unless all other players are unable to play.
In the event that no one is able to make another play, the game ends and the person with the fewest cards wins.

Gawk Like an Egyptian

2009-11-24T16:08:00.000-08:00

I loved this look at what a Pharaoh might have thought if he encountered the wonders found in a simple 7-11. Something for us to think about with Thanksgiving in a couple of days. We are blessed.

100th Post

2009-11-22T21:39:00.000-08:00

So I noticed when I put up my last post that it was my 99th, which makes this one my 100th. Woo-hoo! My brilliant idea for this post was to do one of those 100 Things About Me lists. Much harder than I had hoped. So here is the first half.

100 Things About Me part 1
1. I love going to church. I think it is a trailer for heaven.
2. I read somewhere that you can only read 3000 (or is it 5000?) books in your lifetime. Either way, it makes me sad.
3. It is very hard for me to be outside in daylight without sunglasses.
4. My parents used to have a rug with a sun on it hanging over their fireplace. One night my brother and I cut eyes and a mouth out of a magazine to put over the facial features on the sun to see if anyone would notice, but after we were done it was so creepy we had to take them off.
5. I don't like coffee or tea.
6. I love coffee ice cream.
7. I like soda even less than coffee and tea.
8. I sometimes take weather personally. It would probably be wrong to take it personally all the time.
9. My favorite genre of book is romances. Because life is a love story.
10. I like to do number and logic puzzles. Also word mine and spellathon.
11. When I was about 7 years old my parents were learning to play poker and they needed another person to make it interesting, so they got me out of bed and taught me to play, too.
12. Another night about that same time my dad came home from his night school art class and woke me up to teach me how to draw a cube.
13. Strangely enough, my parents were normally very strict about bed time.
14. Hearing birds sing in the morning always reminds me of when I would spend the weekend with my grandma who lived in an apartment in Los Angeles.
15. My grandma used to take me to the Museum of Science and Industry. They had a large egg-shaped incubator where you could watch chicks hatching. Downstairs they had Shirley Temple's doll collection. Those were my two favorite exhibits.
16. Even though it was out of print them, my mom got me a copy of Mara, Daughter of the Nile because I had checked it out of the library so many times. Loved that book.
17. Other books I remember liking a lot as I was growing up were The Forgotten Daughter, Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard, Journey for a Princess, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower by Rumer Godden, The Swing in the Summerhouse, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle and almost anything by Gladys Malvern.
18. My dad would read me Ray Bradbury stories and Winnie the Pooh when I was little. What a wonderful combination.
19. I didn't read the House at Pooh Corner until I had a little boy and then I cried at the end.
20. When I would spend the weekend at my grandma's she would read me Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling.
21. My husband read our daughter The Wonderful Wizard of Oz when she was about 3 or 4. She would ask me to read the part where the wizard says "I am Oz, the great and powerful," because she liked the way I did the voice and then she would get scared and tell me not to do that. A few days later she would ask me to read that part again.
22. I loved reading out loud to my children and doing different voices.
23. I couldn't see the man in the moon until I was grown up, but I could see the rabbit in the moon.
24. My favorite color is light.
25. My husband and I owned a BBQ restaurant for 13 years.
26. I have not made a pecan pie since it closed.
27. I do not like fish.
28. I love to wear earrings.
29. I fidget too much with other jewelry.
30. I am introverted but I am not shy.
31. I had my appendix out when I was 2. I remember being in the hospital and seeing my grandma walking across the parking lot. I remember the stitches. I loved to rub them, but my parents would get upset when I did. Parents. Sheesh.
32. I had my tonsils out when I was 5. Before the surgery I had to be in an oxygen tent and there were grouchy ladies in the other beds in my room who would tell on me when I tried to poke my head out.
33. When I was in first grade the principal of our school, Mr. Storm (great name for a principal) came on the P.A. and said the next voice we heard would be the sheriff of Dallas, Texas. The sheriff told us the president had been shot. Then we were all dismissed from school. Can you imagine them doing that now?
34. I was surprised to find out we had a president. I knew Washington had been the first president and Lincoln had been the sixteenth, but I sort of thought it was an honorary title for people who had been very honest (Washington -- cherry tree; Lincoln -- walking miles to return a few pennies). I didn't know it had anything to do with the actual running of the country.
35. Even though I was mad about it then, I am very glad that all of the 7 TV channels we got then covered the assasination and the funeral. It was important, and I got to share in that experience.
36. I can write backwards in cursive.
37. When my parents first got a microwave oven, way back in the 70's, my mom learned how to make fudge and for a while my mom and I would make a plate of fudge every Friday night and then eat it while we worked a jigsaw puzzle. We would only eat a few pieces after the chocolate headaches set in.
38. We moved into a new house last April and my husband has gone color crazy. I love it.
39. I just finished reading my 65th book this year.
40. I think the world is beautiful because God is wooing us. Because life is a love story.
41. I thought calculus was fun. But don't ask me how to do it now.
42. I crochet.
43. I make ATC's and inchies.
44. I embroider, even on ATC's and inchies.
45. I love marzipan.
46. At restaurants, I usually narrow my choices down to two things and am not sure which I will get until I actually order.
47. I hate dusting.
48. My favorite chore is washing dishes.
49. I don't have a cell phone.
50. I once grew an avocado tree from a pit.

Oh, my goodness, I did not have to fix the spelling on any of that.

Covered

2009-11-15T21:50:00.000-08:00

Pastor Stuart, who normally works with the junior high group gave the sermon today. It should be the last one from the Flipside, Seeing Life From God's Perspective series on Philippians. Today we looked at Philippians 4:14-19.

14Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.
15You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; 16for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. 17Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to you account. 18But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. 19And my God will supply all you needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

God wants us to be generous people who meet the needs of those around us. This wasn't the official key thought of the sermon, but I think it was a good summary, so that's the one I'm sharing.

We looked at Exodus 25:2 which talks about those giving whose hearts have been moved to do so; and at Deuteronomy 16:17 where every man is told to give according to the blessing of the Lord. In 2 Corinthians 9:7-8 we are told that God loves a cheerful giver. At this point Stuart made it clear that they, the staff of our church would rather we didn't give until we could do it cheerfully and at God's prompting. The sermon wasn't about increasing our giving to the church, but about encouraging us embrace the opportunities God gives us to be generous.

When we give we honor the source of what it is we have to give.

When we give we are set free to be the generous people He desires us to be.

Mystery Crochet Link

2009-11-12T21:29:00.000-08:00

Have you ever tried a mystery crochet project? The few that I've tried were fun and I like to keep my eyes open for new ones that might be fun to try. Most of them don't show any pictures until the end, if then, but here is one that is posting pictures of each step along the way. I have an idea of what it will be, but I can't guess just how they will be assembling it to make it work if I am right so maybe I'm wrong. Either way it looks fun to me.

Recipe Box

2009-11-11T22:16:00.000-08:00

In the last year I have been in a few recipe swaps on swap-bot and the recipes I have received have all been on 4x6 cards, which, it turns out, I think is a terrific size for recipe cards. Problem is, I don't have a recipe box for that size card and the ones at the store are ugly and cost more than I want to spend.
Once again plastic canvas comes to my rescue.

So far only the bottom has been done. I had an idea for how I was going to make the top and realized after I cut out the pieces that is wouldn't work so I will have to rethink that and cut out some new pieces preferably out of the pieces for the wrongly designed top.

The pattern itself was made up as I went along. It is made up of randomly sized log cabin squares/rectangles. Can you see the red centers? Unlike in a patchwork log cabin where you start with the center square and keep adding strips as you go, each of these "squares" were started by stitching a vertical bar on the far left of each motif and then working my way around and in until I only had room for red center.

The box itself is lined with felt and the dividers were cut from card stock I have on hand.

Shhh...

2009-11-10T15:46:00.000-08:00

I am at my mom's today and tomorrow. She had cataract surgery this morning and is now sleeping. When they called me in to see her after the surgery (less than half an hour after they wheeled her in) I was surprised to see that she wasn't wearing anything over her eye and was able to see quite well. That was very encouraging for her to be able to experience such quick results and now she is looking forward to getting the other eye done in a few weeks. She asked for the book I was reading and was able to read a line without glasses.

Meanwhile, dh took our son to the doctor today and he is now on antibiotics and allergy medicine. Poor thing.

A Practical Application

2009-11-09T09:35:00.000-08:00

First of all, Pastor Dale really needs to preach a sermon on how you can be joyful even though you have won the lottery.
A couple of hours after I posted my last entry about contentment, our son started vomiting blood. Once we got past the initial yuckiness we could see that the source was actually a nose bleed.
Without going into all the lovely detail, I will just say we could not get the bleeding to stop or even lessen even after applying pressure for more than thirty minutes. He was a real trooper, but it looked like an awful lot of blood for someone his size, and so we headed to the emergency room per the instructions we found on medical sites.
On the way there I reminded myself -- several times -- that God is in control and I can learn to be content and that I trust His love and power. Because I was listening to the sermon.
Of course, as soon as we actually walked into the hospital, the bleeding slowed to a trickle and the whole thing was much less impressive than it had been when we set out. That's okay, I'm sure the bill will be impressive. Sigh.
After two hours the bleeding had completely stopped and our son had some color back in his cheeks.
My last thought as I fell into bed was "It's a good thing God is in control, 'cause I can't handle this."
See, Dale, I was listening.

Lifesaver

2009-11-08T21:04:00.000-08:00

Today's sermon was from Philippians 4:10-13 and was about contentment.

10But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. 11Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:10-13 NASB

Pastor Dale said the number one killer in the U.S. is heart disease and that if you went to your doctor and asked him what to do to cut your risk he would say eat right, get plenty of exercise and stop worrying.
Eating right and exercising are things that you can do, you can measure your progress and mark it off on a chart, but how do you stop worrying? By learning contentment.
The opposite of worry is contentment, not happiness. Contentment is not being numb to every situation and it is not based on your situation. Worry is based on our situation. Normally we worry about situations we can't control, but verse 13 means we can be content in any situation because we know Who is in control.

Three things we can do to be content:
1. Stay connected to Jesus Christ. Don't wait for an emergency. Pray and stay in the Word in good times and in bad. God isn't a 'get out of jail free' card.
2. Trust His resources. It is an insult to God to worry. It says we don't quite believe God loves us enough or has the power to meet our needs in the best way possible.
3. Share your story. Others can be strengthened and encouraged by hearing how God has worked in your life.

If you want to hear the actual sermon and not just rely on my summary of my rambling notes you can go here. Who knows, it might just add a few years to your life.

Crocheted Candy Bowls

2009-11-07T21:24:00.000-08:00

I belong to a Yahoo group called Holiday Mystery Gifts. They mostly have knitting patterns, but that's okay since I can't keep up with the fewer crochet patterns they have. One of the patterns they put up a few weeks ago is for a crocheted candy dish and I have to say I just love making them. Here are a few.

It is worked with two strands of worsted weight yarn and I like combining a solid colored yarn with a variegated yarn. I think it would also be interesting to try it in thread or to do it all in white but add little bobbles to the sides to look a bit like milk glass. My favorite part is watching the curve form in the sides.

Tuna Sandwich

2009-11-06T22:45:00.000-08:00

When we have extra hamburger or hot dog buns or rolls, my daughter starts hinting that she would like me to make those tuna sandwiches with the cheese and green peppers. The funny part is that she always takes every last piece of green pepper out no matter how small I try to make the pieces.
Once, when dh was out of town she asked if we could have the sandwiches and even though we didn't have green peppers we decided to make them anyway. Mistake. Of course, I missed the green pepper but so did dd, because even though she takes them all out they do leave some of their taste in the sandwich.
Anyway, this is not one of those exact recipes, just something you throw together and adjust based on what you have on hand -- just don't forget the green pepper.
Mix together 1 can of tuna, drained; about 1/3 of a green pepper, chopped; 1/3 - 1/2 lb. of cheddar cheese, cut in small chunks; and enough mayonnaise to bind it together. Use the mixture to fill buns or rolls. Put on baking sheet and put in oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Once the oven gets to that temperature the cheese should be melted and they are ready to eat.

************

On another night this week I made breakfast for dinner and once again I made biscuits. I am not the world's best biscuit maker but this time I tried J.P.'s Big Daddy Biscuits and I have to say, those were some tasty biscuits. I will definitely be using that recipe again. I did use butter instead of shortening and I was very careful not to over mix or knead the dough. If you are looking for a good biscuit recipe, do give this one a try.

Finished Angel Ornament

2009-11-05T11:17:00.000-08:00

Last month my mom invited me to go with her to a meeting of the Needle Arts Guild. Many years ago I was a member, but had to give it up when we moved to our current neck of the woods. This is where I learned to do counted cross stitch, pulled thread work, trapunto, blackwork, sashiko, Brazilian embroidery and even tatting.
Anyway, it was so good to see some faces I had not seen in more than 20 years, to visit and to see what they were working on these days. One of the best parts is that they have a table where everyone can share their current WIP's and finished projects.
The October meeting featured a stitched and beaded angel. It turns out it was supposed to be a two part lesson, but I will not be able to be there in November, so I just winged the beading part and this is what I came up with:

Two Favorite Quotes

2009-11-04T21:48:00.000-08:00

The world is fairly studded and strewn with unwrapped gifts and free surprises . . . cast broadside from a generous hand.
-- Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and an corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare . . . There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.
-- C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

How to Crochet

2009-11-03T22:00:00.000-08:00

So now you want to make crocheted potholders, too, but alas, you do not know how to crochet and as much as I would be willing to teach you (in which case you would learn to make a bunny pin, because that is what I teach people when I teach them to crochet), it is possible that you want to learn right now, and you don't know me and you don't want to make a bunny pin, you want to make a potholder, for crying out loud!

In case you don't know, You Tube is a wonderful resource for how-to videos. Just type in what you are looking for in the search bar on the page and it will give lots of videos to choose from. If you sign up (it's free), you can keep a list of favorite videos. A word of warning: this site has all sorts of videos.

Anyway, I chose this video from a host of how to crochet videos there, because it is the only one I could find where the person demonstrating holds their yarn the way I do. It always feels awkward when you are first learning something, but the trick is to find the way that works for you.

If videos don't work for you, you can also learn to crochet here, here and here.

Once you learn you can make more than just potholders. You can make dolls simple and complex and just plain cute, bookmarks and book thongs, cute little birdies, and fortune cookies to name a few things.

Crocheted Potholders

2009-11-02T15:35:00.001-08:00

Originally uploaded by janberckmans

Ever since I saw this picture on flickr I have been wanting to crochet some round potholders. Go ahead and click on the picture and it will take you to this pictures page on flickr. Just above the picture it will list some options available to you. If you click "all sizes" you will be able to choose a larger image to view, so you can see more of the detail. It appears to be part of an art exhibit.

Anyway, you can see some of the patterns I have been looking at here, here, here, and here.

I want to do them in multiple colors, maybe even changing color with each round. It makes me nervous though to think of trusting something like crochet with all of its holes with protecting my hands so I think I will have to put some sort of filling between the layers.

I don't think I will be making enough for an art installation, and I am very sure that my husband would not be impressed me covering up all the beautiful tile work he has done in our kitchen with crocheted potholders, but it is nice when the necessary things are also bright and cheerful.

Inevitable

2009-11-01T21:16:00.000-08:00

The pastor of the church I go to has been preaching a series of sermons on Philippians that he has titled "Flipside -- Seeing Life From God's Perspective." Today's sermon was titled "Inevitable" and it was about conflict.
The specific text he used is Philippians 4:2-8, which is really interesting to me because the famous part of that passage is verses 4-8, but when you add 2 and 3 to the mix it adds more to those more famous and oft quoted verses. Here is the whole passage for those of you who want to know but don't have your Bibles handy:

2"I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. 3Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
4"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." Philippians 4:2-8 NAS

The key thought of the sermon is that conflict is inevitable, but combat is optional. There is nothing you can do to avoid conflict, but you can choose how you deal with it and what the result of it will be as far as it rests on you.

1. Pause. Do not just react. Take time to decide how you will handle the situation. Is this really about getting the other person to do it your way or is this about you learning something, working on an underdeveloped character trait. In verse 5, the word translated in the New American Standard as gentle spirit could more accurately be translated as forbearance, the abstaining of the enforcement of a right, mercy.

2. Pray. Okay, so now you have shown that person you have a conflict with some mercy. Keep it to yourself. Don't go blabbing to everyone else about how wrong that person is and how good you are at turning the other cheek. Go to God (verse 6). You want to talk? Talk to Him.

3. Reflect. Don't reflect on the conflict, reflect using the filter of verse 8. Reflect on the true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy things about the other person. The issue isn't the thing you are having conflict about, it is will you choose peace in the midst of conflict?

Finally, Pastor Dale gave us a challenge, which he, being a guy, calls 1st and 10. Today is the first of the month, so today, or at least before next Sunday, write down ten things about someone you are having conflict about that that meet the verse 8 test.

This is just based on my notes from the sermon, if you want to hear the whole thing, you can go here to listen to it and other sermons from the series.

How's About a Sweet Romance or Two?

2009-10-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

Harlequin is 60 years old and to celebrate they are making 17 of their books (a $60 value -- get it?) available for free download. They have a variety of types of romances, from inspirational to historical to suspense to hot and steamy. I don't know how long this offer will last so go, go now. You know you want to.

My daughter told me about it last night and we both downloaded a few. Today at lunch, I asked her if she wanted to watch an episode of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency with me (thank you Netflix). She said no, she wanted to finish the first chapter of one of the books she had downloaded. A couples hours later she came out and said she had to stop reading because it isn't good for you to look at a computer uninterrupted for an extended period of time. I suspect she read more than the first chapter. Because she is enjoying it and you should, too.

Leftover Sauerkraut

2009-10-16T13:14:00.000-07:00

Whenever we have hot dogs I like to have some sauerkraut. Sauerkraut and mustard is may favorite hot dog topping. My husband will take a small portion of sauerkraut and my kids will tolerate the smell but do not eat it. Since I have loved sauerkraut since I was a small child I do not understand this behavior. Who raised these kids? Just weird.

Anyway, I always end up with at least half a can of sauerkraut left over. Sometimes I eat it in the next few days, sometimes it ends up being pushed to the back of the fridge where it sits becoming cute and fuzzy.

So, I was looking through recipes that used sauerkraut over on allrecipes and that inspired me to create a wonderful dish that uses apples, onions and smoked sausage.

Sauerkraut Skillet

Heat skillet over medium heat and add one slice smoked sausage.
When the sausage has had a chance to brown a bit add a tablespoon or two of butter and one chopped onion.
Cook until the onion becomes translucent and add two sliced apples (unpeeled).
Cook until the apple begins to soften and the onion is getting a bit of color, then add your leftover sauerkraut (or a whole can, if you'd like) and about two tablespoons of brown sugar.
Heat through and serve.

Delicious, IMHO.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2009-10-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

My goodness. Over a month since I posted anything here, but today is my mom's birthday.
I love you, mom. Happy birthday.

Here is a video that isn't really birthdayish, but at least it lets my mom know that she raised me right.

Hole Punch ATC's

2009-09-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

Here are two ATC's I sent out for the Hole Punch ATC swap. My plan was to make the flower one

but as I was punching out the circles for the it I was enchanted by the pile of different colors so I wanted to make an ATC that captured that, too.

It's Like I Knew

2009-09-03T15:08:00.000-07:00

About a week and a half ago I let Nikki over at Wardrobe Refashion know that I wanted to re-pledge, this time for 4 months (see new button on sidebar). I wanted to do it more for the creative challenge than the money-saving aspect. Turns out the money-saving part is going to come in handy since I found out Friday that I am being down graded from part-time to on-call at work. I started this job as full-time, so I was already down one step. It is so slow right now that I am not at all surprised, but *sigh*.
Anyway, even though there is a part of the situation that is scary, especially with the economy where it is, it is also exciting. Sunday, our pastor spoke about the roadblocks God puts in our lives and how this is His way of moving us from a place we shouldn't be to the better place He has for us. I just hope this better place He has in mind has some financial benefit and isn't entirely about shaping my character.

Chicago Farmer's Market

2009-08-17T17:22:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures I took during my recent trip to Chicago with my Mom and my aunt. We stayed in the Rosemont area and would take the blue line into Chicago usually getting off around Jackson give or take a stop or two. We came across this farmer's market as we were wandering around getting our bearings. It seems to be one of many around Chicago during the season.

I love the color in this one. Don't you just want a bite?

So happy looking.

Some lovely flowers. As much as I enjoyed Chicago, it is so nice to see these bits of nature as you wander through the canyons of glass and steel and stone.

Last, but not least, beets. I love fresh beets. Boil to doneness, slip the skin off, roughly slice and garnish with butter and a little salt. If I had a way to cook these in my room, one of these lovely bunches would have been mine.

Back Home

2009-08-13T20:09:00.001-07:00

I have been gone on a trip to Chicago and to Amish country in northern Indiana and only just got home today. It is so good to see my husband and children and my very own bed which is, unfortunately, covered with a partially unpacked suitcase and no clear idea of just where I want to put things. This is the problem with leaving on a trip shortly after moving into a new house where improvements are still being made and so you don't have the organizational system worked out yet, because you don't have full access to all rooms yet.
Nevertheless, I will be sleeping in that bed tonight even if I have to just set some things on the floor. I organize better after a good night's sleep anyway.

Colander of Fruit

2009-08-02T13:39:00.000-07:00

I have never liked the color of this colander, but when I was rinsing this particular combination of fruits it turned out to be a wonderful color after all. IMHO.

Not-So-Plain Brown Wrapper

2009-08-02T13:20:00.000-07:00

I finished reading a book just a couple of days before I was going to be going on a trip and I didn't want to start one of the books that have already been packed to take with me, but I did want to read something that I could finish before I left. So I looked for a skinny book in my bedside stack and found one that I was too embarrassed to have my co-workers see the cover of. You know the kind. They have titles about the billionaire and his virgin secretary and their love child. So bad and yet so good, like that secret stash of Hershey's miniatures you put in the back of highest shelf so your family won't eat them all.
Anyway, I grabbed a lunch bag and a scrap of some striped contact paper on my way out the door to work. Using the same technique I had used in high school to cover textbooks, I made a cover for this book out of the paper lunch bag. Of course, a plain brown wrapper is like a beacon saying "look, there is something of an embarrassing nature under here," so I cut strips from the contact paper and then applied them in a woven pattern to the cover to make it look more like a craft project and less like an attempt to protect my co-workers eyes.

I like it.

First Refashion

2009-07-16T15:51:00.000-07:00

About a year and a half, maybe two years ago, I was losing weight and needed some clothes to get from where I had been to where I thought I was going to end up (hope springs eternal, and all that). Included in that set of clothes were two shirts that I got for $4 each on a clearance rack. They were a little too short for me (I am very tall) and I didn't like the collar, but I would only be wearing them for a few months and then planned to refashion them.
Well, it seems that my svelte body is on back order, and these shirts have not outgrown me yet. Sigh. They were identical except for color. I didn't take a before picture of the blue one but here is the pink one:

I added about two inches of crochet to the bottom edge. Just several rows of double crochet and then an edging I got from the March/April 2009 issue of Crochet Today.

I cut off the neckline and folded it over and did a row of single crochet and then the beginning row of the pattern for the edging which is really just a simple picot stitch. The sleeves were edged the same way the neckline was but without any other modifications.
In order to have something to crochet into I first did an overhand stitch along the edges I wanted to crochet. I read about the technique on Crochet Me and wasn't sure how easy it would be to actually do the crocheting into the stitches, but it was, in fact, very easy. The only hard part of all of this was the overhand stitching. Also, I'm not real crazy about the way the thread cuts into my lead finger as I work, but I do like the results and I have now either built up a bit of a callous on that finger or have done enough nerve damage to that finger that it isn't so bad now.
Next time I think I might add some beads to the edge of the bottom band of crochet. Also, I will be trying other edging patterns. It is amazing, to me at least, how quickly this uses up no.10 thread.

Did You Hear That?

2009-07-11T18:07:00.000-07:00

Last night we all heard a loud bang around 9 o'clock. We commented to each other about it, "Did you just hear that?" We all heard it, but couldn't identify it. Didn't sound like a gunshot or an accident, so we didn't worry.
This morning when I came out to water (before 10 a.m. -- water rationing), I noticed a car across the street with it's blinkers flashing. Two women were talking on the corner.
One called out to me to ask if I had heard a loud bang last night. Turns out she had found the remnants of a bottle bomb on the corner, by the elementary school.

This is the main part. Back by the tree you can see the bottom of the bottle that had been blown off. It had some odd colored liquid in it. All around, including on the other side of the elementary school fence were these balls of burned foil.

The police officer who came to check it out was not too concerned because they had had other small explosions on the other side of the school in the last few weeks, but when he actually went over to the remains and saw what was there you could see that this was a bit worrisome because it is apparently a step up from what the neighborhood bomber had been doing.
When he found out we had heard it -- the woman who found it had not -- he asked if we came out to investigate. No. And now that I know what it was, I don't feel so bad about that. But now that we know what a small bomb sounds like we will call the police next time. Sigh.
The hope is that the person will be caught before they hurt themselves or someone else.

I've Taken the Pledge

2009-07-03T17:25:00.000-07:00

I have been a lurker at Wardrobe Refashion for some time and have finally decided to take the plunge and take the pledge. I am only going for a two month pledge to start, but hopefully this will be the start of a more lasting relationship .

The Pledge

I joanieponytail, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 months. I pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoted, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed, joanieponytail.

Well, Hmm. . .

2009-06-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

Today we had an air conditioner installed. They also did some duct work and found that the heater was not connected to the master bedroom. We've only lived here a couple of months so it hasn't been an issue yet, but it is good to find out before we are freezing our you-know-whats off. If we could freeze that little (ha!) pooch in front off that might be another story, but I digress.
Anyway, my daughter called me into her room to see the curtains she had just hung there and I noticed that there was a little frayed rope hanging down from the duct in the craft room as I was passing through. Well, I figured they would take care of that before they left.
Later, while they were still working, I was working on the computer which is in the craft room and my son came in to ask me something. As he was leaving, my husband yells "Just stop. Don't step on that." I thought some insulation had fallen on the floor, so I told my son to come back to me while dad swept it up.
What he swept up was a rat (?) skeleton. That rope I had seen hanging from the duct was it's spine and when they moved the duct to adjust things the skull that was holding it in place came loose.
I wonder what else is up there? Well, at least there is one less rat skeleton.
Home, sweet home.

That Pink Stuff

2009-06-30T20:38:00.000-07:00

This recipe recently came my way courtesy of a fruit recipe swap on swap-bot. I made it yesterday and it is yummy.

That Pink Stuff
1 small container cool whip
1 small can sweetened condensed milk
1 large can drained crushed pineapple
1 can cherry pie filling
1 cup chopped pecans
Dump it all in a large bowl and stir until well combined.
Chill at least 7 hours.

I only had chunk pineapple at home, so when I went to the store to get some of the other ingredients I did not have on hand, I knew I wanted to get crushed pineapple. I even saw the crushed pineapple on the shelf. I reached for the crushed pineapple. By the time I unpacked my groceries, it had metamorphosed into chunk pineapple. How does this happen? And it isn't the first time. Oh, maybe with pineapple it is the first time, but how does the cream of mushroom soup I reached for become vegetable beef (also a lovely soup, but not so good in tuna casserole) or the pistachio pudding become butterscotch. How?
Some may say that I am the common denominator and that when it comes to shopping I do not have good eye-hand coordination, but no, I believe it is some sort of early teleportation experiment being conducted by scientists in area 51 trying to reverse-engineer some alien device they have acquired.
I sure hope they work out the bugs soon. This is getting annoying.
Anyway, if you have been subjected to their experiments, just cut up the chunks into smaller pieces.

Maybe Aliens Look Like Cows

2009-06-28T15:15:00.000-07:00

Have you seen this lamp? It is so clever.

Giddiness

2009-06-20T18:13:00.000-07:00

I just got a thrill when I peeked in at Whip Up. They have a post about granny squares complete with pictures of granny squares to inspire you and one of the pictures is of my granny spirals (form this pattern on Crochet Me)!
I am reminded of the line in "The Jerk" when Steve Martin's character (a.k.a. the jerk) gets a copy of the new phone book and finds his name list there: "This is the kind of spontaneous publicity that makes people." O.K. maybe it isn't quite that kind of publicity, but still. . . I am tickled.

New Kitchen Rug

2009-06-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

A new kitchen needs a new kitchen rug and this is ours:

The best part is that I used a lot of yarn up. It is mostly double strands of worsted weight yarn, thought there is some rug yarn and even a sport weight in there, too. It is so comfortable to stand on.
I just chained a length that seemed right to me and did each row in single crochet. The beginning and ending tails of yarn were left hanging and tied together in three row groups. Trim the ends to make a short fringe.Easy-peasy.

zentangle quilt

2009-06-15T20:54:00.001-07:00

zentangle quilt
Originally uploaded by jdphoenix

Look at what my daughter did with my zentangle sampler. She colored it and gave it to me for my birthday. Yes, that was back in February, but she only just posted it now. I think it is beautiful. If you click on the picture it will take you to where she posted it on Flickr. You should be able to hit the "all sizes" button above the picture and get a larger image to see the detail.

Needlebook Swap

2009-06-10T19:49:00.000-07:00

There was a swap on Swapbot to send a needlebook to one partner. My partner said in her profile that she was getting married soon and that she is using pink and white and cherry blossoms in her wedding to this is the needlebook I came up with for her:

The battery on my camera gave out as I was taking pictures and since we moved recently, it took some time to find the recharger. Sigh. The inside pages have white flower trim appliqued on them. Very cute, but no pictures. The inside pages are a darker shade of pink.
I am also in a bottlecap pincushion swap so since that was on my mind, too, and I already had the felt out, my partner got one of those, too. Then, while looking for something to tie the package up with, I came across some pink cotton yarn. So, of course, she got a dishcloth, too. I think it is a sweet little package for a soon-to-be bride and she was happy with it, too. That is what counts.
Here is another picture of the pincushion:

I really like how that picture came out.

Rosa's Tuna Salad

2009-06-05T21:09:00.001-07:00

Shortly after I began my current job (about 4 years ago) one of my co-workers, Rosa, came in the break room and made the most wonderful tuna salad.

There is no hard and fast recipe for it but this is the basic formula:

1 can of tuna, drained and broken up
juice of half a lemon or 1 lime -- sprinkle on the tuna and mix

You will have to decide the amounts/proportions of the following vegetables based on your own tastes and on what you have on hand:

tomato
cucumber (I like to partially peel in and to seed it)
bell pepper (any color)
onion (red, white, yellow, or like this time green)
avocado
jalapeno pepper (try to add at least a bit, it adds a sparkle)

Chop up the veggies and toss them in.
Salt and pepper to taste.

This is very healthy and is delicious on crackers or just at is.

Pincushions and Needlecases Mosaic

2009-06-01T15:29:00.000-07:00

1. Floral Buttons Needlecase, 2. Needlecase Rotkaeppchen, 3. biscornu 12, 4. Bottle Cap Pincushion #208, 5. Pin Cushions, 6. Ocean Scene Needlebook, 7. linen pincushions, 8. Periwinkle Flower Pincushion, 9. Three freshly made needlecases!

Catching Up

2009-05-31T18:35:00.000-07:00

Of course there has been crafting going on:

This was inspired by this post on Laughing Purple Goldfish. Just a warning to those who get dishcloths from me: you may be getting ones like this this year. I am also working on a rug for the craft room and/or kitchen based on this design, too. This on is all in cotton yarns, the rug will be in double strands of acrylic yarns.

I have also been working on the Crochet a Granny Square a Day 'til the End of May project. These are some more I have done:

and

and

There are more but I am not so good about taking the pictures in a timely way, and I will have to sort out which are still waiting for their close-ups.
I have decided that I will border them in an off-white yarn before I join them together. Perhaps they will be a poncho, or a shrug or a bag or two. Their final destiny is still up in the air. They are getting quicker to make as I have learned the pattern and overcome my own difficulties with it. For instance, I now know that the center should not be tightened until I have finished row 2. The first two stitches of row 2 are much easier that way.

I have also been working on some swaps for swap-bot. These are for the Striped ATC swap:

and these are for a handmade zentangle postcard swap:

We were allowed to do something beyond a plain black and white tangle, if we wanted. I tried coloring these according to the recipients' color preferences in their profiles. It makes me nervous to send these out. Did I get the size and weight right? I back them with plain paper after I'm done to write the address on. Will that stay stuck on? Always happy when I get the ratings for handmade postcards. Well, for anything, but especially those.
The picture is a bit fuzzy. Sigh.

The Thing About Musicals

2009-05-31T18:26:00.000-07:00

The thing about musicals is that that never happens in real life.

Thank You

2009-05-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

Mom Mosaic and Mother's Day

2009-05-11T22:36:00.000-07:00

For some reason I am thinking about Moms and Motherhood today.

1. The Mother & Child Union, 2. A Massachusetts Mother And Her Four Children, Including The Newest One, 3. mom and grandma in 1953, 4. kiss your mom today, 5. Off to visit mom...back soon!, 6. ~~~FLICKR MOMS, FLOWERS FOR YOU, TAKE ONE AND ENJOY IT ON THIS MOTHER'S DAY~~~ WE HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A WONDERFUL MOTHER'S DAY.

I also wanted to share this beautiful bouquet of flowers I received for Mother's Day from my son:

Two Hershey's kisses bottom to bottom and wrapped in cellophane. Aren't they pretty?

My daughter gave me the Tim Hawkin's DVD "I'm No Rockstar." We had to stop it a few times so our sides could rest from all the laughing.Here's a little preview:

Heather loves the Fire Ants song which you really have to see in it's entirety to appreciate.

Chocolate Chip Goodness

2009-05-11T11:14:00.000-07:00

We love the kitchen in our new house. For the first week after we moved in we didn't have a stove and the microwave had a hole/burn mark in the screen on the door so we weren't comfortable using it. Once we got the new stove and microwave we have been doing more cooking than usual.
The first thing Heather made in the oven were these cookies she had recently discovered. They are the best chocolate chip cookies I have had.
The guard where I work sometimes brings in his wife's banana bread which is the best I have ever tasted. So when I saw our bananas getting seriously spotty (btw, why is it that you can buy a bunch of bananas and be lucky if you even get one because your family practically inhales them and then after a few weeks of that, they won't even touch the next bunch of bananas? In my family there is no middle ground.), I went to allrecipes and searched for banana bread thinking I would find something that looked like Maria's. Instead, I found this (Maria's has no chocolate). Delicious. I did use butter instead of the shortening and since I was out of walnuts I used pecans. The pecans were very good, but I will try walnuts in the future.
Hope you enjoy these recipes or that you find something else you enjoy at allrecipes. The reviews are really helpful in finding just what you are looking for.

It's Another Mosaic Monday

2009-05-04T21:31:00.000-07:00

I've got granny squares on my mind.

1. Crochet Pillows, 2. Mamy Bag, 3. crochet scarf, 4. 14 :: 30, 5. Granny Squares - #7 & 8, 6. A Granny A Day 11, 7. babette blanket - finished!, 8. Granny Square Tote Bag, 9. Granny Square blankets 2

Yummy Leftovers

2009-05-03T21:18:00.000-07:00

Several nights ago I made spaghetti for dinner and ate the leftovers for lunch the next two days. The sauce out-lasted the pasta.
Meanwhile, I had sauteed some sliced summer squashes (zucchini, yellow and a small speckled pale green squash) with some chopped onion (first in the pan) and chopped roma tomatoes (added at the very end to just warm them). This was all cooked in olive oil. After dinner there was still some left so I put it in a plastic container with the leftover sliced green onions from the baked potatoes.
Two days later I thought, why don't I mix that with the extra spaghetti sauce and have that for lunch. I just mixed it together in a bowl, heated it in the microwave and threw on a little grated cheese at the end.
This was so good, I may end up making it deliberately for dinner soon.

By the way, I don't really have a recipe for spaghetti sauce but this is my formula:
Heat up a large fry pan on the stove. If you are using meat (I usually use plain old ground beef, if I am) start cooking it breaking it up into small pieces as you brown it. Meanwhile, chop about half an onion and fresh mushrooms, if they are on hand. Saute with olive oil or in the fat from the meat in the same pan. Add a spoonful of garlic from that jar in the refrigerator or a clove or two of fresh garlic, chopped, just as the onions are getting translucent.
Add a can or two of diced tomatoes, some tomato sauce and/or paste. What you add here depends on what you have and how much you are making. Add some oregano and basil. A dash of red wine is nice, if you have it. We usually don't. Sometimes I add a little (1 tablespoon?) sugar. Taste it first.
Let this all simmer while the spaghetti cooks. Stir occasionally.
Nothing fancy or authentic but it is a tasty sauce that everyone likes and it can be adjusted to fit what is on hand and what your personal tastes are.

Found Dolls

2009-05-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

It feels a little bit like Christmas to keep finding things I had put in the back of my mind as I keep unpacking and organizing things. All of these dolls were made some time ago from library books. Sorry, I don't remember which ones. I do remember I had trouble with the pattern for this one:

I am no great sewer (that looks so wrong), so it seemed like a big deal to me, but I am sure to most it would be an easy adjustment. She was made as a gift for my mom, and has since come back to me as she tries to cope with allergies and has been eliminating things that might collect or hold dust. I do not know her name.
The second two are Henry and Marie Yvette.

He is from Kansas and was a doughboy during the Great War. While in France he met Marie Yvette, who likes to be called Yvette. Even with her bobbed hair and that entirely too enticing beauty mark, he could tell she was a sweet thing and language proved to be no barrier to love. They were married in France and now live and work on his parents' farm in Kansas. They are very happy.

Two More Spirals

2009-05-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

Here are the spiral granny squares for yesterday and today. I am not catching up but at least I am not falling farther behind.

I really like these colors, but I don't have much of the dark red so this -- the one on the right -- may be the only one with that color.

Found Crocheted Things

2009-05-02T20:29:00.000-07:00

Where did all this stuff come from? Anyway, I am still in the unpacking/organizing stage here and I found a few things I thought I would share since I haven't made my granny square for today. It is on the list and I still have more than three hours in the day, but the sun is not shining so I won't be taking a picture of it until tomorrow even once I make it.
But I do have granny squares:

These were an experiment with two strands of baby yarn. The idea was to use one strand that stayed the same for all rounds and to change the other with each round. Together they also demonstrate that just because a yarn is labeled with a certain name (baby, sport, worsted, etc.) does not mean it is the same thickness as another yarn with that descriptor. I would still like to do something with this idea, but it would have to be something other than an afghan.
I also found some random granny square bits:

The tension on these is so much looser than the way I crochet nowadays that I will probably just use them as starting points for scrumbling.
Speaking of scrumbling:

These will definitely be used for scrumbling. They were made several years ago when I had first heard of freeform crochet. Our library used to have a wonderful book by James Walters that had wonderful information about crochet and how it works. It has been lost. Sigh. If you are interested in crochet and you ever see a book by him, do yourself a favor and get it.

Four More Today

2009-05-01T21:34:00.000-07:00

So, now I am four closer to catching up and slowing down to "a granny square a day 'til the end of May" as the challenge says. Maybe when I get to that point I will start adding the border since I am pretty sure I will go that way. If I can decide on a color. And if I have enough in my stash since one of the reasons I am doing this is to use up yarn not have an excuse to buy more yarn. In this picture you can see the difference between the red yarn in the one square (lower left) and the deep orange in the other three.
All of the squares are sitting in a stack on the edge of my dresser with the ends hanging over the side. Their shape reminds me of a jellyfish though I don't think I have ever seen this colorful a jellyfish. Unfortunately, it is in a tight space and I couldn't get a picture of the uneven ends which really give it that jellyfish-look.

Aren't the colors pretty though? I like them. Usually I like to weave in all ends as I go, but since I'm still not completely sure about the border, I am letting myself enjoy the build up of colors as I finish each square.

Three More Yesterday

2009-05-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

Here are three more granny spirals that I made for yesterday. Just didn't have time to get them up here then. These are also following the one color change at a time formula. The one on the right actually has a deep orange rather than red band in it. Couldn't get the color to come out right in the photo. There has been a good response to them on flickr.
I crocheted a couple more yesterday after taking this picture, so let's see if I can get them up today. It feels good to be working on a project.

A Granny Square a Day 'Til the End of May

2009-04-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

Over at Meet Me At Mike's a challenge was issued a few weeks ago to make a Granny Square a Day 'Til the End of May. I only just found out about it yesterday, what with moving and all, but decided this was a perfect chance to use up some of my yarn which seems to have been breeding while I had it packed away in those dark, cozy boxes. Who knew?
Anyway, I had recently seen this pattern over at Crochet Me and when I saw the challenge and all that yarn I just had to join in the fun. Of course, I am playing catch-up so here are my first four:

I started with the one in the upper left and then changed just one color as a did each one after that (they go clockwise). I will see how far I can go using up bits and pieces of yarn before I have to change more than one color at a time. It isn't meant to be a hard and fast rule, just something I made up.
I left the ends long because I am not sure if I want to sew them together as is, which would require a lot of different colors of yarn, conveniently already attached, of if I want to add a neutral border and then attach them. We'll see.

Unpacking

2009-04-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

When you unpack after a move you have to look at the things you have had around you for a while and rethink what you are going to do with them and where they will go if you do decide to keep them. Sometimes it just takes that new setting to see something that has been there for a while.
I found a little margarine tub (how long has it been since I even bought margarine in a little tub like this?) in with all my beads. This is what was inside:

I remember making them about 5 or 6 years ago. The goldish colored ones were varnished with something that gave them a bit of an yellow tone which looks lovely on those beads, but I decided not to try it on most of the colors. Here are a few of the strands of beads:

I also found these pins that I made a while ago. My mom had given me a kit for the yellow one. She had gotten it from a group she belongs to. I used leftovers from that kit and some of my own supplies to make the rest. Basically, you just keep going in and out of the holes on a four hole button, picking up various combinations of beads whenever you are on the front side. Fasten off and glue a pin back to the back.

We're Getting Settled

2009-04-28T15:53:00.000-07:00

We moved into our house last week, because that is when escrow finally closed. We had been expecting it to close about a week and a half before that and so things were getting quite tense for a while there.
Now we are starting to get rooms into the shape and there are less and less boxes lying around the house. Ken has done so much work. He is amazing.
Yes, I should have pictures to share with you, though I am sure you do not want to see the dead mouse I found floating in the pool yesterday. No one told me that was part of owning a pool. All I know now is that we need more chlorine, no matter what the actual chemical balance of the water may suggest. We need more chlorine.
I also will not put up a picture of the lady who keeps parking in front of our driveway and saying she didn't know that someone was living here now, no matter how often we tell her. Sheesh.
So, because I don't want to go through a month without posting something and because I like posts that have pictures, let me share this with you:

This is a pin I made from a pattern in the book Doodle Stitching. I used beads instead of the french knots the pattern called for. My version is also stitched on felt so I didn't have to turn under the edges.
Doodle Stitching is also the inspiration for this pin also stitched on felt.

Hope you enjoy them.

Woman at the Well

2009-03-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

Tangle tells me that I have already favorited this video so I can't re-favorite it. I also cannot find it on my list of favorites. Hmm, makes it hard to find that video you favorited so you could easily find it again if favoriting it doesn't add it to your list of favorites. This is why you should have a blog, so you can embed it there. Then you can easily find it and let other people see it, too.

Pyglet Whispers Zine

2009-03-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

This is the front and back covers of the wonderful zine Pyglet Whispers sent me for a swap on swap-bot. It is only sixteen pages but it is filled with delightful things and so much extra work is put into it. There is even an envelope stuffed with goodies inside. I am so delighted with it.
She has more available at her etsy store.

Paisley Brooches and Picture Frames

2009-03-10T17:05:00.000-07:00

These are some of the things I made for February's felt themed contribution to the beat-the-Christmas-rush year long project. First there are a couple of paisley shaped felt brooches.

I didn't really like paisley when I was a girl, but as I am seeing it more and more of it this time around I do see some that I like very much and others that have design elements that I like even if I don't like the piece as a whole. It was so enjoyable to do the embroidery and to pick out the colors and beads and buttons for these. I would definitely do this again.

I also made some frames for wallet sized photos.

These are intended to be hung on a Christmas tree. They were so easy to do and I have some ideas for some more, so these shouldn't be the last of them. The lighter blue one reminds me of those flowers Mary Engelbreit does. So cheerful.
The funny thing was that I was trying to think of something a on the masculine side that I would not totally mess up with my girl-brain way of thinking I see clearly what a thing looks like while totally missing the most important part. (Sheesh, mom.) Anyway, my son saw these and said they looked nice. I asked him which one he liked best and he looked very sad and asked if picking one meant they wouldn't both have his picture in them. So I guess it'll be okay if I don't get any "boy" ones done.

Black and White Matchbox

2009-03-04T17:31:00.000-08:00

For my birthday my husband gave me two pounds of marzipan covered in dark chocolate from See's candy. My favorite. It came wrapped in a nice black and white wrapping paper that I knew I could use for something else. That was the inspiration for joining the Black and White Matchbox swap over at swap-bot.
My partner likes to read so I included a book thong. I don't have a lot of beads in black and white that would work for a book thong and fit in a matchbox so I decided to use black buttons and to leave off the tassel. I think it worked well.
She also likes ghosts and vampires and other such creatures so since I was making things with felt I also added a bat pin made with said felt.

Stickers, sea shells, buttons, a bead and some safety pin fill up the rest of the matchbox.

Postcard Swap

2009-02-25T14:59:00.000-08:00

This is a postcard I drew for a swap on swap-bot. It is a companion swap to one they did a couple of weeks ago with a Valentine's day theme. I forgot to take a picture, but it included a large heart and it called for using pink and/or red in addition to the traditional black and white.

The rules for this postcard said that it had to use only black and white and that it was for March. Since I had just finished the Valentine's one it seemed reasonable to make this one with a shamrock for St. Patrick's day. As a rule I really like the plain black and white, but after adding pink to the other I had an urge to use green for this one, but I followed the rules.
The funny thing is that just by random chance in assigning partners, this one is going to the same person who got the other one. Hope she likes it.

Mosaic Monday

2009-02-16T18:20:00.000-08:00

I have noticed that several blogs participate in something called Mosaic Monday. I have no idea if this is something formal, but I thought I would try it. Since the February theme for my year-long attempt to get ahead of Christmas is felt, I thought I would share some of my favorite felt images from flickr.

1. Leaf Felt Barrette 2. An Army of Hearts 3. Emily 4. Miniature Felt Dollhouse 5. Magical Red and Orange Felt Mushroom 6. Chocolate and Banana Felt Tart 7. Felt Flower Brooch 8. Treasure Reef 9. Bunnies Everywhere 10. Felt Village 11. Pink Scotty 12. feltybracelet 13. Felt Drops Necklace 14. Anabolas luziernagosas 15. Little Mushroom (necklace for kids) 16. Regenbogen

Now some of these are things that people make by forming the item as they felt the fibers. I have no plan of doing this at this time, but isn't it wonderful what they are making. The felt I am using is pre-made sheets. Craft felt. The cheap, non-wool type. But I am happy with how things are coming out and will share them with you soon.