She's Making A List

A little late to the party perhaps, but I've decided to join the Crazy January Challenge 2011. It didn't take me long to find fifteen projects to work on. I stuck with smallish projects that I know I can finish during the year, and since this is so last minute, I chose ones that were already kitted up or I knew I had thread and fabric for. So, without further ado, here is my list:

1. A Winter's Tale (Shepherd's Bush)
2. Better Not Pout (Shepherd's Bush)
3. Green Snowman (Shepherd's Bush)
4. The Big Blizzard (Heart in Hand)
5. Christmas is Forever (Lizzie Kate)
6. Woodland Sampling (Little House Needleworks)
7. Season of Growth (Little House Needleworks)
8. Happy Bunny Bunny Day (The Trilogy)
9. Joyful Summer (Country Cottage Needleworks)
10. Sweet Treats (Country Cottage Needleworks)
11. Cupcake (Country Cottage Needleworks)
12. Tart (Country Cottage Needleworks)
13. Ice Cream (Country Cottage Needleworks)
14. Pie (Country Cottage Needleworks)
15. Cake (Country Cottage Needleworks)

These have all been in my To Do basket for a couple of years, so I'm really looking forward to finally getting them done. I am commited! Or is that I should be commited??

Everyone be safe this New Year's Eve!

Merry Christmas!

However you are spending the holidays, I hope it is with those you love!

Birthdays are good for you...

Statistics show that people who have the most live the longest!



Have a cupcake!

Today is my 50th birthday!

(But remember, that's only 10 Celsius!)

Woohoo!

Congratulations to all the NaBloPoMo survivors out there!

Acorn Hill Cont.

Here's a quick pic to show my progress on Acorn Hill. As you can see, I've been working on the house. The roof was done by blending two different colors and I think it turned out pretty nifty.

Discombobulated

That about sums up how I'm feeling right now. I've been going through my various boxes of stash and I can't find a single thing I'm looking for. I know I have a bunch of charts from Homespun Elegance somewhere, including the annual Christmas ornaments Sandra does every year. I had the charms and fabric and even the fuzzy stuff for Santa's beard and now it's nowhere to be found. And what about the All Dolled Up series of ornaments from Little House Needleworks? Nope. Those are missing too.

I've also managed to misplace a 7.5 foot prelit Christmas tree. Either that or we gave it away because we didn't want to move it which makes me want to cry because have you seen the prices of these things?!?!?

I know 'tis the season to be stressed out, but I think some serious re-combobulating needs to be done around this house!

Acorn Hill Progress

Finally had a chance to sit down and work on Acorn Hill a little tonight, but all I kept thinking about was how I need to start working on some Christmas projects. It's been pretty cold here lately so it may just be time to pack up the fall stitching and pull out my winter projects.

Crazy January Challenge

Have you heard about the Crazy January Challenge 2011?? The idea is to start stitching a new project every day from January 1st to January 15th, and then finish each of those 15 new projects before the end of the year. I'll need to go through my stash and see what I can come up with before committing, but it does sound like my kind of fun.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The First Thanksgiving
Jean Leon Gerome Ferris

P is for...

Pizza, Puzzles, Pictionary and Plenty of laughter with People I love.

Hope everyone is staying warm on this Thanksgiving Eve.

I Found My Thrill...

...on Acorn Hill!

Good to Go!

Hooray! My thread and fabric arrived for Acorn Hill! I can't wait to get started!

The Village

Thought I should share a picture of my VoHRH since I mentioned yesterday that I'd be working on it while I oh so patiently (not!) await the thread and fabric for my next project. It's not much of a village yet with only a church (missing it's windows!) and a city hall, but I have plans for a blacksmith's shop and a gristmill, and I hope to start on a boarding house soon.

We have beef and barley soup simmering in the crock pot (I finally found it!) and Chex Mix toasting in the oven so it's smelling very fall-y here in our little home. Nice to have such a cozy feeling on an overcast day. We've been working on our menu and grocery list for Thanksgiving, and I can't wait for the turkey and stuffing!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday as much as I am! Thanks for stopping by!

Next Up

I've decided my next project will be another from Little House Needleworks. This time it's Acorn Hill. I've ordered the thread and fabric I need and with any luck they'll be here before Thanksgiving. In the meantime I think I'll resurrect my Village of Hawk Run Hollow and see if I can't finish up the block I started so long ago.

A Friday Night Finish

Season of Plenty

Little House Needleworks

stitched on 28 count Antique Ivory linen with DMC

And here is a group shot of the three seasons I have completed so far.

One House Short of a Finish

Still plugging away on Season of Plenty. It'll almost be a shame to finish this one, I'm enjoying it so much. I'll have to go through my stash and see what other Little House Needleworks fall-ish patterns I might have.

One more week until Thanksgiving! Can you believe it? And I'm so happy I'll be able to celebrate it in my own home!

Thanks for visiting! I'll be back tomorrow with a finish!

Quick Progress Post

Whew! Cutting it close tonight to get my post in before midnight, so here's a quick pic of my progress on Season of Plenty. Shouldn't be too long before this one goes in the Fuppie Box!

Roti

I had a request from Staci for our flatbread recipe so today's blog post is brought to you by my son, Evan. Enjoy!

This is a recipe for Indian-style flat-bread called roti. roti is a lot like naan, however roti is chemically leavened and naan is leavened with yeast. This makes roti much quicker to get on the table, however some time should still be set aside and work out your schedule before starting your meal.

Ingredients:


12 & 3/4 ounces (3 cups) unbleached, all-purpose flour (if you have a kitchen scale USE IT! it's much more accurate and efficient than measuring flour by volume)

1 & 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

6 to 8 ounces (3/4 to 1 cup) water (start at 6 ounces and work your way up to achieve a proper dough consistency)


-In a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add oil and water. mix on low using dough hook, or by hand with a wooden spoon or your bare hands to create a soft, but not sticky dough, adding water as needed (your dough will feel dry and be crumbly if you need more water.)

Crumbly:

Good:

-Let dough rest for 30 minutes, then cut into 8 equal pieces (scale helps again here too) and cover with a clean towel and let rest again for 5 minutes (don't skip this part, it allows the dough to relax so it rolls out easier)


-Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile, roll the dough balls out into 6-8 inch circles (helps to have a helper do this while you cook the roti... but that's just me)


Brush or spray griddle or skillet with oil (brush dough with oil too if desired) then place roti on the griddle or skillet and cook until the top begins to blister.


Flip and cook roughly one minute more, then remove to plate. Repeat with remaining dough.


(Don't take these instructions at face value, you may need to play with the heat or cook the roti a little shorter. It doesn't take long, and may be better to just go by sight. nice dark spots and a bumpy blistered texture are what you're going for.)


I like to have my roti with curry, but they're also very good for sandwiches too. The roti will stay warm if stacked on a plate and tented with foil for about 30 minutes, but they can be kept in a warm oven too, and re-heat in the microwave nicely. You're lucky if they make it to the table at all though, I'm always catching myself tearing off bits and snacking as the remaining ones cook.

And that's lunch!


Thank you, Evan, for being my very first guest blogger! I hope you all enjoyed his recipe and give it a try sometime soon!

Dryer DIY

We haven't been working on many projects around the house since we moved in, mainly just unpacking boxes and clearing a trailer full of brush out of the yard while the weather held out. But there was one Miss Fix-It project I wanted to share with you that I'm particularly proud of.

Meet Frank (short for Frankenstein):

He is an electric dryer we bought off Craigslist because the one we had was gas, and I've done the whole clothes line thing before and didn't want to go that route again. (First gravy and chili dogs, and now this non-green behavior! Whatever are you gonna do with me!)

Frank used to be known as the Mean Green Machine, but Frank had issues. You know what it sounds like when you're drying tennis shoes? Well, that's how Frank sounded all the time. A quick examination with a flashlight revealed the problem to be a busted drum roller. Now luckily our old dryer is also a vintage Kenmore, so it has become our Donor Dryer. The part we needed was extracted from our donor (may he rest) and skillfully transplanted into Frank. I am happy to report that after a short period of recuperation Frank is back to work and operating at 100%.

Here's a photo of the offending drum roller (center). The real problem turned out to be a broken tri clip (that triangle thing) which allowed the roller to slip and wobble and eventually wear down. Bonus: I found exactly $1 in change when I cleaned out the dryer's insides, plus a guitar pick. Woohoo! The two washers and nut were what was leftover once we had the machine put back together, but we're not going to talk about that!

(Doesn't everyone have leftover parts after putting something back together??)

The Sigh Heard 'Round the World

I thought I'd made some decent progress on Season Of Plenty tonight. And then I realized I'd used the wrong color green for the top part. Siiiiigggghhh! I sat there for a good 15 minutes contemplating ripping it all out and re-stitching it, but ultimately decided no one would ever know. Until I posted it on my blog of course, but then I know you guys will never tell, right? Mum's the word!

Daughter Sarah came for dinner and a movie tonight, so son Evan whipped up a delicious chicken curry. I'm glad he has the patience to follow one of those multi-stage recipes, otherwise we'd be eating one dish casseroles every night. He even made flatbread which I had to eat hot out of pan to the point where I was burning my fingers, but I swear that's when it's best!

My Next Project

I got started on Season of Plenty from Little House Needleworks tonight. I've already stitched Season of Hope (Spring) and Season of Rest (Winter) so after this one is finished I'll only have one more to go. I'm stitching with DMC on 28-count Antique Ivory linen and it's such a nice change from the 35-count Weeks linen I'd used for my last project. I tell you, I'm loving every stitch!

Pumpkin Patch Finish

Pumpkin Patch
by Knotted Tree Needle Art
stitched on 35-count Weeks Straw linen with WDW fibers

Down By the Riverside

We've been enjoying some unseasonably warm weather here this week. It's been great for getting the last of the yard work done, but everyone knows all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. So we put away our tools, grabbed the camera and took a walk down to the river. During the summer it's too overgrown with grass and bullrushes for it to be a happy little ramble, but this time of year it's easy to just follow the critter trails on down. Unfortunately, it doesn't make for very pretty pictures.

Speaking of critters, we found this chewed up tree close to the river. It looks like the work of beavers but I don't think there are any in this area. Groundhogs or squirrels maybe?

Once the weather gets cold and snowy here I'll take another excursion down to the river for some winter pictures to share. And if I wimp out I'll at least take some from the bridge or down at the park.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a couple hundred burrs to pick out of my shoelaces.

Dinner Time

We pulled out our copy of America's Best Lost Recipes and made runsas for dinner tonight. It's a slightly sweet bun stuffed with a filling made of beef, cabbage, and onions. Not much to 'em but, boy, are they delicious. I doused mine with brown gravy because I do find them to be a little on the dry side and, hey, any excuse for gravy is a good one!

Pumpkin Progress

I've made some decent progress on Pumpkin Patch. There will be a third pumpkin on the left so I'm hoping it helps to make the one in the middle look less like a blob.

I grabbed a picture of the finished piece from the Silver Needle site:
I must confess to losing my initial enthusiasm for this piece. The fabric is a 35 count linen from Weeks and I'm not finding it to be very stitcher friendly. I know I should have started over on another fabric but, doggone it, I paid too much for the kit to be tossing it's bits and pieces. Silly me, pulled in by those pretty fall colors and gosh! I love pumpkins, but I swear I will never buy another overpriced kit!

Hot Diggity Dog

I've been obsessing about the Tex-Mex foot longs they have at Sonic, but that monster weighs in with a little more fat, calories, and sodium than I feel I should consume in one sitting. So I did the next best thing and made my own abbreviated version. It was quite delicious, and I didn't end up in the emergency room.

I've been busy working on Pumpkin Patch so I'll have a progress picture to share tomorrow.

Goodnight!

Fall Back

Just a friendly reminder to set your clocks back if you haven't already! What are you going to do with your extra hour?

Pumpkin Patch Start

I bought this kit from the Silver Needle in Tulsa, OK a couple of years ago. They did a conversion for the chart using Weeks Dye Works and I'm a sucker for those fall colors. I don't have a good picture of what the completed project looks like so you'll just have to stay tuned here, haha!

It's a Finish!

Witch Hazel

from Tis Hallowe'en by Blackbird Designs

I Must Be Crazy

But I really want one of these...

It's the Tex-Mex Footlong Quarter Pound Coney from Sonic. A foot long hot dog with chili, cheese, Fritos, onions, and jalapenos.

And 1130 calories!

Witch Hazel

As proof that I still stitch...
I was hoping to finish this little stocking tonight but as usual I overestimated the speed at which I stitch. I am a pokey little puppy. With way too many distractions. But I did finish my leafy labor today so that's one big job I can cross off my to do list. Our weather is supposed to be cold and rainy the next couple of days so I'm happy we got it done while it was still relatively nice outside. Tomorrow we'll be back to unpacking boxes and looking for things like the remote for the DVD player and my crock pot. Cold rainy weather demands that something be cooked in a crock pot!

I'm off to Bedfordshire! Good night and may God bless!

All the Leaves Are Brown

One benefit of last week's windstorm was that it blew most of the leaves out of the trees in our yard. We spent today raking and hauling and piling them along the curb for the city to come by and pick up. Definitely not my favorite part of fall!

NaBloPoMo

It's that time of year again! Time for the daily extravaganza that is National Blog Posting Month! The last time I participated was two years ago when I was foiled by an internet outage. This year I have Comcast on speed dial and I won't sit around until 11:00 at night going, "Gee whiz! The internet's still out?"

Not much has been happening around the ole homestead this past week. I spent a couple of days in bed with a perfectly lovely sinus infection, had one semi-good day of unpacking boxes, then back in bed for two more days with one of my brain crushing migraines.

Despite feeling like crud, we did manage to have a fun and festive Halloween. Sarah came over and we carved Texas Rangers pumpkins and made a 'Yankees Graveyard' to set up in the front yard. (I think we were a little premature in adding a few Giants to the headstones.)

Trick or Treating was on Saturday here. I've never lived somewhere where the city decides when you can take your kids door to door, but from 5:30-7:30 it was an absolute mob scene on our street. We ran out of candy twice, and I was on the verge of handing out cough drops and marshmallows on toothpicks before we finally called it quits. We hauled in the pumpkins, unplugged the lights, and hid in the dark for the last 15 minutes (along with half our neighbors, I'm sure!).

We're still root root rooting for the Rangers in the World Series. They're down three games to one, and it's not looking very good for our team. Tonight is Game 5, and potentially the last game of the series. I'm not quite the ball of nerves I was when they were playing the Yankees, but that may be due to the Cherry NyQuil I sip from a cordial glass every evening. I tell ya, we're livin' large here!

I don't have much to share of the stitchy nature. I've worked on one of the little BBD stockings here and there but not enough to warrant posting a picture. In the midst of my migraine delirium I kept muttering that I was missing Fall, so today's agenda must include some stash diving! What a tragedy it would be to miss an entire season of stitching!

Have a great Monday, y'all! (And say a little prayer for the Rangers!)

Happy Halloween!

(A little chuckle courtesy of Bizarro.)

The Wind Doth Blow

A good day to stay inside, dontcha think? Hope everyone who is under this gusty mess is safe!

Sweet Victory!

ALCS Champs!
World Series Bound!

Baseball and Boxes

He says he didn't touch Nelson Cruz's glove.
He says he didn't reach over the wall.

He also denies making obscene gestures towards Cruz afterwards but I won't post that picture.

Rangers went on to wallop the Yankees, 10-3, but I'm still livid about this call and will probably need a Valium to get through today's game. We lead the series, 3-1, so this could potentially be the last game and Texas will be heading to the World Series.

So my life has been taken over by baseball and boxes since we unloaded the big truck last week. Every day I unpack more stuff and find that I've grossly overestimated the size of this house. I also underestimated the size of my furniture and my armoire now sits outside my bedroom instead of inside where its supposed to be. There's no room for my desk and we can't sit at the dining room table to eat because the china cabinet is in the way. We've managed to redefine 'cozy'.

I haven't picked up any stitching since we've been back unless you count pawing through boxes of stash I haven't seen in over a year. It's quite a distraction when I should be doing more productive things. Like looking for the silverware. And hangers. And something to drink out of other than a coffee mug.

Eventually I will have everything sorted through and things will get back to normal, or as close to normal as we can muster in this household. In the meantime I'll keep tearing open boxes and unwrapping the contents like it's Christmas and shouting things like "Woohoo! A stapler!"

Have a great day, y'all, and LET'S GO RANGERS!

My Hero

Cliff Lee pitched a great game tonight, leading the Rangers to a 5-1 lead over the Tampa Bay Rays! This is the first playoff series victory in the history of the franchise! What an exciting night!

PSA

Gonna be out of pocket for several days. Heading down south to visit my brother and then it'll be time for The Big Move! Woohoo!

Watching the Texas Rangers right now with fingers and toes crossed. All they need is one more win against Tampa Bay and they'll be heading to the American League Championship Series! Woohoo again!

Happy Dancing on a Pumpkin

Perched on a Pumpkin
Blue Ribbon Designs
Stitched with DMC on 36-count Summer Khaki linen
I finished the border the other night while watching The Shawshank Redemption (which is easily one of my top ten favorite movies), so this guy now resides in the Fuppie Box. I'll have my sewing machine back in my possession in a couple of weeks so I'm hoping to get a couple of projects finished finished before Halloween.

I've had the Halloween stocking booklet from Blackbird Designs in my stash for a while so I think it's about time to pick one to stitch. I've looked through it a few times already and out of the 13 designs there's probably 12 I want to do. Suffice to say, it's going to be a hard choice!


House projects continue. We got the shelves cut and installed in the bathroom. At last! That was one of those projects which kept getting put off so it feels really good to finally have it done. All it lacks now is some trim work and that room will be complete. Oh, and a toilet paper holder that I like and is what I would call 'reasonably priced'. It's really hard to justify spending $21 for this particular item.

Here they are in all their glory:


And this is what lurks behind the wall:


We built this little cubby so we could conveniently pull electric lines and duct work to the second floor. The only heat up there was from it rising through grates in the floor which apparently was how it was done back in the day. I'm sure it kept it acceptably warm for most people but I can just imagine how hard it would be to crawl out from under the covers on cold mornings. This Southerner likes it warm and cozy so when we replaced the furnace we went ahead and installed duct work and vents upstairs. (And that, dear readers, is a horror story for another day!)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a happy Monday!