~End of the Month~

Wow, it seems like I just put my new calendar on the fridge and tomorrow I'm already turning ahead one month.

For the past few years I've bought Susan Branch calendars. I like the artwork and I look forward to turning to a new month and reading all the little things on the calendar. I embraced "Be a Homebody" this month, I think. I haven't been out much at all, and I've been focusing on keeping my home neat and orderly. Something that is helping is The Confident Mom planner which I purchased after we got back from California.

Today I was browsing through my Pinterest "Recipes to Try" board, and came across Cardamom Lassi. I have never tried it till today. I cut the recipe in half, for one serving. I'll definitely be making this again! In looking through my board, I realized I need to create several more recipe boards by category. I have 360 recipes pinned - it takes a while to look through!

A little project I completed recently:

My sister and her new husband gave me a gift card to Hobby Lobby for Christmas. I wanted to do something fun, and something new to me. I bought a canvas, paint, and Collage Pauge (cheaper than Mod Podge but no less corny in name).

I used a hymn that is dear to my heart and added two stickers. For the hymn, I just cut it out of an old hymnal I had. I wanted to do a bird silhouette or cut-out, but I couldn't find any at Hobby Lobby (and I didn't feel like cutting one out myself!)

I brushed the Collage Pauge over the stickers, you can't really tell they are stickers unless you are looking very closely, like so:

I hung it in my kitchen by the kitchen sink, and I can reflect on the words each time I do dishes!

After reading Six Ways to Keep the "Little"in Your Girl, I've been trying to play more with my daughter. It's something I'm not very good at, but I'm working on it. Today, the princesses went to the farm:

What I'm learning is that it really doesn't take much imagination on my part to make my daughter happy. Today, I set the farm up, and she brought the princesses to visit. They were ecstatic to see the cows and horse. ;-)

Looking ahead to February - more snow, more cold, and more knitting and sewing. :-) I have several projects planned for Valentine's, now I just need to do them!

~Staples~

No, not the office store. And not the medical kind either, thank goodness!

The kitchen kind. *smiles*

Over the last year or so, I have learned to enjoy puttering about in the kitchen. I have always cooked more or less from scratch, but I am loving making even more from scratch. Like bread. With my KitchenAid Mixer, it is so easy to make up a loaf of bread! And I can ensure that the ingredients in it are so much better than the store loaves!

Today some plans fell through with a friend, and I found myself with a clean house, dinner in the crockpot, and a lot of extra time on my hands.

So...I set to making my kitchen a mess again making staples.

The first thing was to mix up a container of chocolate oatmeal. I have the recipe written right on the container. Easy peasy.
To warm up the kitchen, I made granola using my basic recipe (with coconut oil rather than butter, and honey for sweetener), added some hazelnuts toward the end, and mixed in chocolate chips while the granola was still warm.
Followed by two loaves of wheat bread (the warm kitchen helped the bread rise beautifully).
Tested out a bagel recipe (meh). I need to come up with a different recipe if I want to continue making bagels.
And then I completed my afternoon in the kitchen by making some elderberry syrup. My daughter is coming down with the sniffles so hopefully this will ward off the worst of her cold.

And lest you think every day is this marvelous for me in the kitchen, just know that the other night we had Little Caesar's pizza for dinner.
;-)

~California~

As I mentioned in a previous post, we went to California after Christmas. The primary reason we went was to attend (and be in) my sister's wedding.

We had a lovely visit in California!

One of the things we did was to make a brief trip to the coast. We visited our very favorite beach at Carmel-by-the Sea. The day was perfect for a coastal visit. It was warm and sunny. We took along my youngest sister, and she played with our daughter while we went for a little walk, and then Kevin took our daughter, and my sister and I went for a walk. All our daughter was interested in doing was getting wet. Walking? That's for the birds! LOL

The view was, as always, fantastic!

Otherwise, the rest of our trip was spent with family. My mom and I played several games of Boggle. One time we played with one of my sisters and my brother. It was hilarious because my dad found a Boggle cheater site and so he was rushing over looking at the letters, and then trying to surreptitiously give my brother a long list of words . Only thing, it wasn't very sneaky-like and instead we all ended up laughing.

The wedding was beautiful. I was a bridesmaid and my daughter was the flower girl. She did a tremendous job sprinkling flower petals down the aisle, and then stood at the front for the entire wedding. I thought my shoes were comfortable but by the time the wedding was over and it was time to walk back down the aisle I was starting to worry about falling over!

We stayed with my aunt and uncle, and they were so hospitable. We were so grateful they opened their home to us - with the number of married siblings and guests, my parent's house was packed full already!

We spent some time with my grandparents as well. My grandpa (Mom's dad) is doing pretty well. We went out to lunch with him (just Kevin and me). We also visited my dad's parents. Visiting my grandpa is always so very hard for me. He has dementia and every time I see him it has progressed so much further. This time he didn't really remember me or interact with me. The one thing he can do is play the piano - it really is amazing how your brain can remember things for you even when your memory has failed you. But even though it was hard to see him, I was so glad we got to see him.

Weddings are always such a busy time to visit family, but in the end we had some great moments of quality time. Next time we visit I do hope it is less busy, but I'm so glad that we were able to go!

~Sleeping Monkeys~

As soon as I cast off my Jaywalkers, I started another sock project (Ravelry link), Sleeping Monkeys....so named because the colorway of the yarn is "Lullaby" and the pattern is "Monkey".

This pair is very promising. The yarn is a bit thicker, the needles are a size bigger, and the knitting is going very fast.

By fast, I mean, really, really fast (at least for me!). The photo above was taken Tuesday afternoon, and the one below just yesterday afternoon:

I've seen this pattern done up with all knit stitches and I love how fast it makes the pattern repeats. Here's a close up of the pattern:

Compared to the pattern worked as written:

I'm hoping to have a new pair of socks very soon!

~"Fancy" Breakfast~

Recently I saw a post over at Simple Kids titled 5 Healthier Breakfast Options, and I decided to give the parfaits a try.

As soon as my daughter saw what I was doing, it changed from "Breakfast" to "Party" and we had to eat our parfaits in the living room at the coffee table (because that's the happening party place, don't you know).

We enjoyed our parfaits (vanilla yogurt, blueberry fruit spread from last summer, and granola I had made the day before). While breakfast isn't typically a struggle, it was nice to have something fun and easy.

~FFO~

FFO = Finally Finished Object (my own acronym)

We went to California after Christmas (more on that in another post), and I took along my Oatmeal and Brown Sugar socks (Ravelry link) to work on. On one flight, Kevin was with our daughter and I sat in the row behind.  I blissfully knit while he changed DVD's, helped with the juice and snacks, and dressed her dolls. It was quite relaxing, I must say.
:-)

At the start of the trip, I had one sock finished and the second sock worked up to the heel. It was my goal to get the sock finished during our trip. It didn't quite happen, but I had it nearly completed by the time we returned.

I've been "knitting" these socks for ages - my start date was May, 2010. I didn't get SSS (Second Sock Syndrome), I got SS (Sock Syndrome - again, my own acronym! LOL).

At the start of this new year I didn't sit down and write a list of resolutions, but I did do a little thinking. I realized that I need to do more of the things that I enjoy. I love knitting but it's really been put on hold over the last few years. So this year I hope to accomplish more projects that are just for me.

These socks do not fit perfectly. Honestly I am just glad they are done! After taking nearly 3 years to finish, I was not going to rip them back so that I could take 1/4" off the length! They are what they are, and I'm moving forward with new projects!

~Merry Christmas~

A little peek into my home

Wishing my blog readers a lovely Christmas!

I know that Christmas may be hard for some this year; perhaps you are missing a loved one, in a difficult relationship, in hard financial times, or have an unfulfilled desire. Praying just now that those who read this will be filled with peace which only God can bring, and that your heart's burden will be lifted.

Love and hugs!

~Today~

This morning:

 

Enjoying a cup of Celestial Seasoning's Candy Cane Lane tea
Little Girl watching Little Bear
Wondering how it can only be four days till Christmas
Feeling like I've got it together because I have a chicken in the crockpot (there's something empowering about having dinner started at 8:30 am!)
Looking for a recipe with potatoes + fennel to go along with my chicken
Thinking about all I need to do today (that brings my feelings of all-togetherness down a few notches)
Feeling so blessed as I realize today is my parent's 38th wedding anniversary

Much to do! Have a blessed day!

~Crackers, and a New Cookbook~

I made crackers to go with dinner last night (pea soup). I made them in the afternoon so I wouldn't be scrambling to get them on the table. Funny thing, my soup which had been in the crockpot all day long was not done. *sigh* So I had to cook it on the stovetop...

Anyhow, my crackers turned out oh-so-lovely.

They're crispy and crunchy and slightly flaky and perfectly olive-oily. The recipe came from this book:

 The Homemade Pantry

My new favorite cookbook! I put it on hold at the library and it took forever to get it and then of course I couldn't renew it since there were holds on it. I wanted to make every single recipe (well, almost every single recipe) and three weeks at a time just wasn't enough for me! So I bought it with birthday money!

(Link above is my affiliate link through Amazon.)

~Sewing~

Tis the season for low light all day long...and blurry pictures from my camera! However, I have several pictures of sewing projects to share...hope you don't mind the slightly blurry pictures! :)

A few months ago, I won a giveaway on a sewing blog to a sewing-supply site. I don't remember the site, and honestly it wasn't very well organized and nearly every pattern I was interested in was out of stock! I finally found one that I wanted, Figgy's "Tee for Two". I decided to make the dress version out of one of Kevin's old t-shirts, just to test the fit and see how it sews together. A "wearable muslin" if you will.

I made it in size 3 with a size 4 length, which worked well for my daughter. I would like to buy some sparkly pink fabric to make another version, and I think she'd like that much better. :-) At first she told me she didn't like it but she will wear it now so she was probably just being contrary, which she is well capable of. ;-)

Yesterday, I made her a nightie, to be worn with leggings so her legs stay warm. After her summer nighties she's loathe to wear pajamas to bed, even though they're cozily warm. The pattern is Butterick 4910, which I've used for pajamas for her several times. The flannel was from my sister, and I had the elastic, lace, and ribbon in my supplies. Fuh-ree is a nice price for a sewing project! :D It's knee length, which is a nice length, I think.

And, totally unrelated, but seriously annoying: I've used up my allotment of photo storage space on Picasa/Google. So that means I have to pay to upgrade my storage space or host the pictures elsewhere. Like I said, annoying. :-/

~Happy Thanksgiving!~

I'm reposting this poem, that I posted in November, 2008. It's just a silly poem, but it reminds me of my grandma, who has been in heaven these past two Thanksgivings. After I posted this to my blog in 2008, my mom read it to my grandma. She thought it was a "hoot" (I'm pretty sure that was her description! :) ) and asked my mom to print it for her so she could read it to her Sunday school class. She read it to her Sunday school class and shared a laugh with her friends. Remembering my grandma this morning, and ever so thankful for her!

How not to roast a turkey...

The Turkey Shot out of the Oven

Jack Prelutsky

The turkey shot out of the oven
and rocketed into the air,
it knocked every plate off the table
and partly demolished a chair.

It ricocheted into a corner
and burst with deafening boom,
then splattered all over the kitchen,
completely obscuring the room.

It stuck to the walls and the windows,
it totally coated the floor,
there was turkey attached to the ceiling,
where there'd never been turkey before.

It blanketed every appliance,
it smeared every saucer and bowl,
there wasn't a way I could stop it,
that turkey was out of control.

I scraped and I scrubbed with displeasure,
and thought with chagrin as I mopped,
that I'd never again stuff a turkey
with popcorn that hadn't been popped.

~Scarf~

Checking in from sick-land to say "hello" and hope that my readers are keeping healthy! I myself have been sick almost the entire month of November. So not fun. I am slowly getting better but any time I do anything "normal" like run to the store for something essential like more cough drops (not literally run...you know: drive, get out, walk into the store...that kind of "run") I end up coughing and wheezing all evening long. *sigh* I will get better soon...

In the mean time, I finished up a little project for my daughter:

a scarf! She's been wanting one and while I don't think it is very practical for a three year old, I just couldn't say no! :) This project was so simple, just double crochet back and forth till I felt it was long enough. I love the yarn - it is so soft! My mother-in-law gave it to me a while back. I started a sweater for my daughter, frogged that, made several ear warmers (one for me and two which I sold), and then had bits and bobs of it all throughout my yarn bin. So it felt good to dig all those out and finish up the yarn with a project for my daughter. I have a little bit leftover, just enough to redo fringe (just in case she discovers how fun it is to undo!).

~Cake~

I wouldn't be such a great food blogger, because:
1) my house doesn't have any great natural light
2) and it always seems like it is dark outside when I make Awesome Food That Would Make a Good Blog Post
3) and I don't like to wait to eat - must.eat.food.now.
4) and I'm not going to make something specifically for a blog post
5) and also, see #3, I'd probably make something specifically for a blog post and then have to eat it stat. Oopsie, that's a do-over!
6) oh yeah, and I don't have 50-gazillion cool dishes (where do people keep all their odd-shaped dishes? I feel like my kitchen is a nice size but I don't have storage for so many random dishes)
7) and there's already a lot of food bloggers, so....what's really the point?

BUT I want to tell you all about this awesome cake I made!

For my birthday, Kevin got me a KitchenAid slicer/shredder attachment for my mixer. I had been contemplating buying it for myself with my Swagbucks Amazon gift cards, and I had no idea that Kevin had gotten it for me. Total suprise on my birthday!

So of course I had to make something with my new attachment! Let's see...what can I slice or shred? Carrots! What can I do with carrots? Carrot cake! Yeah!

So I made CHOCOLATE CARROT CAKE.

AWESOME!

Yes, I'm yelling. ;-) It was so good and moist, and it didn't even need 3/4"-thick sickly-sweet cream cheese frosting. LOL

I followed this recipe, subbing in carrots for the zucchini. I've made it before, with the zucchini. Both versions are seriously yum. This time around I used 1 cup coconut oil in place of the margarine and oil. And it took about 20 minutes longer than the recipe stated to bake. Not sure why!

~Today~

Happy November! I can't believe how fast this year has gone. November already?

Things I'm contemplating this morning:

Should I get my fall decorations out? I've been busy with canning projects and it just dawned on me that fall is almost over. I'm thinking I'll get a few things out. Maybe. Hmmm.

Searching for a good kimchi recipe. I found this one but I don't know. Have you ever made kimchi? Or eaten it? I had it for the first time at a potluck. First taste: this is the grossest thing I've ever eaten. Second taste: well, it's not so bad. Third taste: hmmm, this might be good after all. Fourth taste: let me dish up some more!

Should I get more apples? Due to unseasonably warm weather last March, most of the apple crop in western Michigan was ruined. There are still apples to be had - just more expensive than usual. So far I have made 17 pints of applesauce. That's slightly less than last year's applesauce making adventure of 46 pints....

And, lastly: books I want to read or reread: Hidden Art, by Edith Schaeffer. I need a new copy - my thrift store copy is falling apart. Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches by Rachel Jankovic (great book - I should do a review of it sometime!), Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, and The Bridesmaid by Beverly Lewis (she sucked me into a series again! Gah!). (Please note: links are through my Amazon affilitate account.)

Playtime: my daughter is anxiously waiting for me to play with her. I just heard that a tea party has been set up! So...off to sip pretend tea and eat plastic food! :D Have a lovely fall day!

~The End of October~

So I thought it would be fun to go through my blog and see what the end of October looked like each year since I've been blogging.

 

  

 

 

October, 2005: I shared 20 Things About Me. One thing I mentioned was that people think I look 13. Actually, I haven't gotten that one in...a while. Must be the gray hair. ;-) And there I am, so grown up at 13!

 

 

October, 2006: Sock progress! I still have these socks. They're more for wearing around the house than for wearing with shoes.

 

(Ooh, that picture was taken before we refinished our wood floors. They look so much nicer now!)

October, 2007: Another pair of socks! I gave these to my mom. :)



October, 2008: Continuing on with another pair of socks! The end of October was a popular time for me to work on socks, I guess! This pair brings a happy smile to my face, booties for my daughter, made in gender neutral yellow because I didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl:

October, 2009: Some sewing for my daughter:

 

October, 2010: Some memories of my grandma, who had just passed away.

 

October, 2011: Considering which cake to make for my birthday.

That was fun! :) I am glad that I have blogged so long! Lots of memories on my little space here! :)

~Giveaway Results~

The winner of the Sharp Crochet Hook is Sarah, who said:

Oh, yes please! What a genius idea! I would definitely love one of these sharp crochet hooks.

Sarah, I've sent you an email with further instructions!

I loved the comment that Deb submitted:

There was a lady in our church many years ago who always crocheted edgings around baby blankets. Her name was Grace Daley...but we all called her our Daily Grace. :) This post definitely reminded me of her, and I'd love to be entered so I can practice making some of her beautiful projects.

What a special memory!

~Review + Giveaway~

At the beginning of this month, Jessica at Sharp Crochet Hook contacted me to ask if I would be willing to review her crochet hook. I was very happy to say yes! She sent me a hook and a small pattern booklet of crochet edges, which she sells for $10.99.

The hook has a pointed end, which makes it easy to use to crochet borders on fabric edges. When I make a crochet-edged receiving blanket, I have always used my regular crochet hook. It takes time and patience to wiggle the crochet hook through.

The hook and pattern booklet I received:

Since I don't have a need for baby gifts right now, I decided to go a different way and crochet a border on towels.

My towels and crochet thread:

Note: the crochet thread is lovely, nice and soft, BUT it wasn't the best match for this project, as it had a bad habit of splitting.

I washed and dried the towels to allow for shrinkage. Then I used a water soluble marker and marked where I would be crocheting (after I took the picture I noticed the ruler was upside down!):

Oh look, the towel got some handprints on it! Oh well... :)

I could have gone the easy route and crocheted above the hem. But I decided to test the hook out to see how well it really goes through fabric. ;-) It goes through so nicely! Note: if you have thicker thread or you're having trouble pulling the loop through the fabric, push the hook into the fabric deeper to create a larger hole.

My finished project:

I did have to use an awl to get through the fabric bands on the cream towel. Those were a bear to crochet through, and if you notice my pattern you will see that I had to go through each hole four times per pattern repeat. Otherwise, the Sharp Crochet Hook worked so nicely! I am thinking of more things I'd like to edge!

Now...would you like to win one? Jessica has generously offered to send a hook and pattern booklet to one of my readers. Just leave a comment to be placed in the drawing. The drawing will be open through Saturday, October 27, 8 PM EST. Please make sure that you either leave an email address in your comment or that your email address is in your profile so that I have a way to contact you.

~Squirrel Snack~

Our resident squirrel made our pumpkin into more than a snack. I think it is his breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

 

Kevin took these pictures this morning. The pumpkin got thrown on the mulch pile later on. I'm sure the squirrel can enjoy it just the same back there!

~Fall Color~

Right outside our front door, our neighbor's maple tree (which my daughter calls a "syrup tree"), leaves in such beautiful hues:

My pumpkin on the porch:

AKA, "Squirrel Snack":

~Hedgies in the Post~

I opened my mailbox one day to discover a package. Upon opening it, I discovered these:



Letterpress Notecards

I squealed with delight, and then called my mom to thank her for the lovely gift. It was an early birthday present. She wanted to make sure she got me something from my little list before someone else did. Well, I wasn't expecting anyone to give me anything in the first place, so it was quite a surprise!

And then a few days later, the second part of her present arrived:

Hedgie Labels
 

(Only of course, with my name and address on them. ;-) )

And then, when a friend asked me for my address, I didn't suspect anything hedgehog-related, buuut, I once again found myself opening a package to find:

Yes, that's right! A second set of hedgehog notecards! I am thrilled! I had the hugest grin on my face when I was opening them! I have been slightly fretting at the thought of using those sweet little cards, as I can sometimes be a stationery hoarder! I think I will enjoy using these even more, knowing I have a few more in my stationery box! :)

So...lovely thank yous to my mom and my friend! I shall enjoy my little prezzies very much (and I'm on strict orders by my friend to not use one of the cards on her! *grin*) :)

For buying information (you know you want these for yourself!) click the links under the pictures. Images used with permission from the respective Etsy sellers.