Firefly Cottage

Let's See . . . Where Was I?

2012-01-29T15:44:00.004-06:00

Hi Everyone. It's been eons since I checked in here. I hope all is well with you. I've been out in West Texas for awhile (had a birthday while I was there -- eep!). Jess and I did lots of thrift shopping, lots of crocheting (her) and lots of knitting (me), lots of talking and cooking (Jess) and eating (me -- so long South Beach Diet) and lots of other stuff -- that girl of mine never stops!

So thrifting . . . we did good! There are several good thrift shops there, and we found lots of good little treasures in each one. Many of which we intended to put in our Etsy shop, but we're having a little trouble turning loose of some of them -- this one for instance . . . .

We found several fair isle sweaters at one spot for .99 each -- can you stand it?! Most of them, we intend to cut up to make mittens and legwarmers, etc., but this one I just love too much. It's a little big and makes me look a little poufier than normal, but I don't care. I just love it!

And then, Jess spotted this chair (she has a great eye for spotting the good stuff) . . .

she very kindly let me have it to replace the chair that used to sit here but was sadly destroyed by an invasion of hooligans when I was out of town once upon a time. Oh, and there are some more of the sweaters we found sitting in the chair.

(admiring my ancient beat up old boots aka houseshoes ^v^)

And you know how I love wearing long tops or dresses over jeans (hides a multitude of sins {and cookies}) -- we found several good linen tops and dresses -- which is always a good thing.

Oh, and look at this. . .

Isn't he cute? He's a string dispenser and the scissors are his glasses when not in use -- so clever!

As if all these little treasures weren't enough, the birthday fairy brought me a new coffee maker and milk frother . . .

I love this Senseo (which I first heard of over at the lovely Attic 24) -- it makes the best coffee ever -- no muss no fuss. And the milk frother, well . . . pure decadence, but I love it. I want to give each of these lovely things a little pat of gratitude every morning. And aside from making wonderful coffee, I can also make tea with the Senseo --- just put a tea bag (or two if you make a giant vat of tea like I do) and you've got an almost instant cup of tea -- lovely.

Good morning most excellent cup of coffee.

And I'm afraid there's more decadence ahead . . .

I've been wanting to do this for a few years but just thought it was a little over the top. It is, but I did it anyway -- it was my birthday after all. Anyway, we ordered bread and cookies from Poilane's Bakery in Paris. I know, I know. They FedEx it out to you the same day it's made. I have to say, I was a little disappointed in the bread (but I'm not that fond of sourdough bread, so what was I thinking?), but the Punitions (cookies) are very good, and we also got a loaf of yummy raisin bread that I've stashed in the freezer for making bread pudding someday soon. I doubt I'll ever do this again, but it was kind of fun, and I figured if we can't go to Paris, a little bit of Paris could come to us -- just this once.

And one more thing . . .

Just look at this beautiful birthday cake Jess made for us. Son-in-law, K's birthday is just a couple of days before mine so I ~~had to~~ got to share with him. Isn't it so pretty?! I had mentioned to Jess that I'd recently read about Alicia's birthday cake and thought it looked so good (we love chocolate cake with white icing), so she made it for us (using her own delicious cake recipe & Alicia's recipe for the frosting). It was just the best cake ever -- the piece de resistance! Thank you Little Girl!

Well, this kind of turned into the 'Look At All the Stuff I've Got' post, didn't it? But, I'll be back soon with more to share about all that's been going on out West -- such as Little Chloe learning to knit (big sister already knows how and has almost finished her first scarf!), Jess making the most gorgeous 'crochet together as you go' granny square blanket, a tree falling on the house, and more. . . . so in the meantime . . .

Have a great week!

♥ ♥ ♥

Caravaggio

2012-01-06T14:24:00.004-06:00

Yesterday, I drove over to Ft. Worth to see the current exhibit of Caravaggio's art (and that of his followers) at the Kimbell Art Museum. The exhibit is leaving Sunday, so I had to go now or never. Anyway, it was pretty amazing. When I see art like this, I'm blown away by the ability of the artist to create such stunning work, and I stand and gaze and gaze in wonder (and sometimes worry the guards b/c I get so close trying to see and figure out how it was done ^v^). And I wonder how on earth this artist achieved such detail, such intensity, such drama, how he said so very much with the strokes of his brush. And I wonder what motivated him -- was he born with an overwhelming love of art and an imperative to create that was impossible to ignore? I've known a few people like that, but very very few. I knew very little about this artist before I went, but I learned that he earned little respect from the art world's 'authorities & experts' until the 19th century. Supposedly, up until that point, his work was dismissed as vulgar & carnal -- guess it was dismissed by folks much like those who dissed the Impressionists' beautiful work (among others) over the years. I have to say that most of his work is not the sort I would personally choose to hang in my home (like I could ^v^) mostly because of the subject matter which is not very pleasant for the most part (lots of saints being martyred, etc.), but there's no denying he was a great artist and viewing his work certainly did leave me feeling very happy that I'd decided to drive over and see this exhibit before it's gone.

And speaking of art (or supernatural incomprehensible genius), have you seen this Sistine Chapel website? You can pan the entire chapel, zoom in and out -- it's incredible & well . . . words fail me. Yesterday, I viewed it on a friend's new Mac with a 27" monitor, and it's not quite the same (at all!) on the monitor of my 5 year old Dell laptop, but still . . . absolutely incredible.

Probably the best known image from the Sistine Chapel, you think? Anyway, if you have a couple of minutes (or hours), hop over and take a look - awe inspiring indeed.

Happy Weekend!

♥ ♥ ♥

ETA: As you might be able to see, I've been tinkering with my blog the last few days and accidentally lost my former layout -- quel nightmare! Anyhoo, I think I've finally gotten it to kind of where it was before (if I only had a brain ^v^), but now it looks a bit like it's shouting at you, doesn't it? Oh well . . . I'll keep trying.

Anti-Climactic News and Yarning Along

2012-01-03T22:15:00.009-06:00

Good morning everyone! Well, as I mentioned, my news is little (so I hope you didn't get too excited {hee hee}), but my Lovable Darling Daughter and I are actually pretty excited about finally getting ourselves together to open a little Etsy shop (we've been wanting to do this for an age, but life . . . you know). I'm pretty sure both of us are what you might call 'process' knitters, crocheters, and crafters, so it seems that we sometimes end up with more hand made items than we know what to do with. We've decided to indulge our little inner process knitting (crocheting, etc.) hearts and make as many little floofy things as we can and just see what happens when we put them in our new little shop (how many times have I said little ^v^?). Anyhoo, I've put a link to our shop in my sidebar. We don't have much there yet, but boy, we've got lots and lots of ideas! In fact, I'm lying awake nights (and I hear my Little is too) with all kinds of knitty things, and little woodland creatures dancing in my head., so I'm hoping the shop will be filling up with lots of things before long.

Moss Stitch Infinity Scarf (or loopy cowl or something)

And speaking of knitting, I'm joining the lovely Ginny's Yarn Along again today (thank you Ginny). Over the last couple of weeks, I've finished up a few things -- more Muggle Socks, Elf Hats, and at the moment (when I need a break from all the St St of the Tunique Aplage which I'm still working on), I'm really into making cowls (or loop scarves, or infinity scarves?). The Honey Cowl got me started thinking about all the variations I could make on this basic knit in the round cowl recipe (endless!). So anyway, I just finished the one above (which is going into the shop), and I started another last night using a different stitch. I see miles of cowls in my near future ^v^.

Another infinity cowl in progress and terrible photo of "Wildwood" cover art and yes, that is a little Christmas tree still not put away -- soon, soon.

I also got quite a bit of reading done (mostly while driving {a lot!} and knitting -- thank you Audible.com!). I finished "A Vintage Affair"(and thoroughly enjoyed it), "In the Company of Others" (I love the sweet tone of Jan Karon's books), and "Howards End"(so thoughtful, insightful, and eloquent) which I've been reading off and on for months now -- seems I'm a moody reader and tend to switch around from book to book depending on what I'm in the mood for at the moment. Do you do that too? So anyhoo, I needed a new read, and as I've been looking around at others' reads on Yarn Along (and also at Jodi's recently), I've noticed "Wildwood"has been mentioned quite a few times, so good enough. I started it the other night and haven't gotten too far, but it does seem to be a fun little fantasy adventure, and I think my 12 year old granddaughter will like it too.

There, now you can see it a little better.

Well, I'm going on over to Ginny's to see what all of you are reading and knitting.

Have a great rest of the week!

♥ ♥ ♥

G

Oh, and p.s. -- I started a diet this week (decided to give South Beach a try), and it's so depressing -- none of this kind of sugarplum wonderfulness at night ;(.

Goodbye yummy, sugary, fat filled treats . . . I could just cry. Oh well, must be strong, shouldn't I? Are any of you dieting away your holiday pudginess? Do you know of diet that lets you eat everything you want, whenever you want, as much as you want and still lose weight? Wouldn't that be loverly? Well, goodbye again. I'm going to go lick the Splenda out of the bottom of my coffee cup -- pooh!

It's a New Year!

2012-01-01T10:07:00.001-06:00

With a grateful heart for your sweet friendship, I'm wishing you happiness, prosperity, lots of fun . . .

(image via Morganton.com)

. . . and most of all . . . Much Love in this new year!

♥ ♥ ♥

P. S. I'll be back soon with a little news . . . wait for it ^v^.

Getting There & Yarn Along

2011-12-14T11:40:00.007-06:00

Good morning everyone. How are holiday preparations going at your house? From my wanders around blog world, it looks like everyone is well on the way to having everything in order and just about ready for the day. I'm happy to say my shopping is all done (I think) & the house is as decorated as it's going to be for this year . . . well, except for one more little garland I hope to finish today.

The kitchen mantle is done (and cluttered).

Aren't these little Santa clothespins cute -- found them in Fredericksburg the other day.

And it's been cold and rainy here (yay!!!), so we've had a few fires.

This tree needed an elf hat too.

I'm so glad I found this little tablecloth my mom brought back from Sweden years ago.

The tree is decorated (found these sweet little angel wing ornaments in Fredericksburg too).

And Mr. Owl has taken his place on the tree.

I decorated the kitchen tree with birds this year -- ~~inspired by~~ totally copied the idea from Susan Branch's sweet little bird tree. Hi Susan ^v^.

I made dried oranges to string with salt dough ornaments for garlands (inspired by this sweet one over at the lovely Sweet Simple Things blog) -- one last addition to the Christmas decorations. I'd never made these before -- couldn't be easier. Now, I just need to make the salt dough ornaments today.

And I'm joining Ginny again this week for Yarn Along (thanks Ginny). So, I finished the Hourglass sweater that's been in my UFO pile for months and months. It seems I've heard you're supposed to wash your swatch (ahem), but I just couldn't be bothered with that. I should have bothered with that. After washing and blocking, my sweater grew about 5 inches. Oh well, I guess it's a good thing I like loose clothing, so I'm predicting I'll wear this a lot this winter in spite of its imperfections and gorilla length sleeves. And I do love this Elsebeth Lavold Baby Llama yarn. It was a little itchy until I washed and soaked it in conditioner, but now it's soft as feathers and warm as toast.

Not flattering terrible cloudy day photo -- love the way the lighting highlights my growing bottom (not).

I did finally get the buttons on the little cardi I made for S, and it does look a little better, but I still don't love it. I don't think I'll be making this pattern again (not that there's anything wrong with it - just me).

And this is what I'm working on this week. . .

I love this pattern (Rav link) so much, and it looks like something our little Leah will like (I hope). It's not a seamless pattern, and I do not like sewing pieces together, but I like this sweater so much, I'm willing to be a big girl and do the darned seaming.

Not much to report about my read of the moment, as I'm still reading "A Vintage Affair" this week, and I'm still liking it (unusual for me lately).

So, I'm going over to Ginny's to see what you're all knitting and reading this week. And then, I'm going to hop over to the lovely Pom Pom's to catch up on the 'Childlike Christmas' event she's hostessing. You might want to visit her too as there have been many sweet & lovely posts from Pom and those who have joined in with her.

I'll be heading out West in a few days, and I won't be back until after the New Year, so I'm leaving you with my warmest wishes for a very merry Christmas and a most Happy New Year!

♥ ♥ ♥

Sweet, Cute, & Funny!

2011-12-08T11:39:00.001-06:00

I just came across this over at the lovely blog . . . A Soulful Life and had to share it with you -- just in case you haven't seen it yet (I hadn't ;).

♥ ♥ ♥

Up & Down the Road and Yarn Along

2011-12-07T00:00:00.036-06:00

Hello Everyone. Well, it's been awhile since I've dropped in to this little space. The last few weeks have been a little crazy -- lots of running up and down the road (as my Aunt Ruth used to say). The Monday before Thanksgiving, Mr. FC and I went to Beaumont (down by the Gulf) so he could take care of some business there. Then, we headed from there to Fredericksburg (loooong drive) to meet the rest of the family for Thanksgiving and repeat the Thanksgiving tradition (now it is ;) that started last year. Sweet LDD cooked everything this year, and it was amazing! She's the best cook I know -- really. We had offered to buy dinner when we got there and felt bad about her doing all that work, but she said she really wanted to cook, so Thank You LDD! It was truly delicious! The weekend was lots of fun -- not so different from yours I'd imagine - lots of eating, movie watching, shopping, wandering, eating, resting, knitting, eating, football, eating . . .

(photo taken by Lovable Darling Daughter)

K, C, and Buddy wandering and looking for leaves to wax later.

We also made lots of pom poms -- who knew they were so fun and so versatile -- for hair ornaments, boot decorations, dog collar embellishments and on and on.

We went to the Friday night lighting of the town tree and pyramid.

I love the traditions of this little German town.

Of course, we had to take a few silly pictures.

(photo taken by LDD)

I hated to say goodbye to these Lovable Darlings, but we'll be together again soon for Christmas (eep!).

So anyhoo, Mr FC and I headed home (another looooong drive) for a few days of regrouping, then went to Brenham (in SE Texas) for a fun wedding weekend, and now I'm home - yay! I'm finally going to be home for more than a hectic 3 or 4 day stretch of unpacking, doing laundry, re-packing, cleaning house, & trying to finish Christmas decorations before taking off again (whew!), and I'm happy to say it pleases me to death to finally have time to breathe a bit as I was getting rather poorly, pooped, & cranky (I am old and feeble you know).

On to knitting and joining Ginny again for Yarn Along this week (thank you Ginny). One good thing about all that traveling is that I got to do a lot of car knitting. I finished my Honey Cowl, and I do love it (my man loves it too ^v^). I left my camera in Mr's car which is now back on the road traveling to far off places, so I had to use my phone for these photos (not that my photos are ever that good anyway but just sayin' . . .)

And this little sleeveless cardi is an attempt to make something similar to "In Threes" (which I love!) for big sister. I'm not (sad to say) loving it, but I'm hoping it will look better once I've blocked and added buttons. I'm thinking the yarn is not a good choice -- yet again.

So, now I'm waiting on yarn to come in for Phoebe's Sweater (late start!) and for another "In Threes" for Z, as the last one (supposed to be size 4 - 5) turned out to be too big, so I gave it to C who wears a size 6.

See -- it fits her perfectly. Oh well . . .

So, what have I got on the needles at the moment -- more Elf Hats. I made two last year and loved them so much, I decided everyone must have one this year (they might not agree, you think?). So far, I've made three more and have four to go. These are so fast and easy and cute and fun!

I'm also still knitting away on more Muggle Socks -- never seem to have too many of those.

Oh, and I finished the February Doll Sweater for Z's birthday doll. I hear Z loves Polly, so that's good! (Old Polly was mine in the olden days.)

Well, I guess this is the longest post in the world, and I haven't even mentioned what I'm reading yet. So, lots of listening to audio books in the car over the last couple of weeks. I've been listening to "A Vintage Affair" (which was recommended by someone in a past Yarn Along post, but I can't remember who -- sorry!) Anyway, I like it -- a lot. Maybe because I love clothes (used to really be a little fanatic about it - not so any more), and there's a good story or two intertwined with all the interesting stories and descriptions of the vintage designer clothes. Also, Mr. FC and I listened to "Gods and Generals" on the way home from the wedding Sunday. I didn't love it, but he liked it, so that's okay then. After all, he did have to drive 4 hours in the rain.

Oh, and just one more thing . . . I have to show you the sweetest little blanket I thrifted while on the road. I just love it!

I found this little treasure for $18.00 (Merry Christmas to me)! Isn't it sweet, and it's all wool.

Okay then, if you're still with me (and I wouldn't blame you if you're not), can I just say I hope you're all enjoying this fun, magical, & most blessed holiday season!

♥ ♥ ♥

Yarning Along

2011-11-16T00:00:00.113-06:00

Good morning everyone. I'm joining in Ginny's Yarn Along again this week (thank you Ginny).
With Christmas approaching so quickly, 2 birthdays just around the corner, and 8 grandchildren to knit for, I have dozens of potential knitting projects and lovely yarns dancing around in my head (guess I'm too old for sugarplums). I have the hardest time choosing which ones to knit. There are just too many great patterns out there, and I want to knit them all. But, of course I can't. So, I wander around Ravelry for much too long, and just when I think I've managed to choose just the right one, and actually pin it down long enough to find the right yarn and knit a swatch, then, another one comes dancing by calling out, 'pick me, pick me . . .' And sometimes (I'm embarrassed to admit) I'm thrown off track by the lure of that other 'perfect project' and take off chasing it -- hopping down a totally different bunny trail. Do you do that too? Please say yes!

Well anyway, after too much indecision and second guessing myself, I eventually did start and actually finish In Threes for youngest granddaughter Z (little blonde kitten seen here last Christmas). I love this pattern, love the yarn, and I think our little pink lover Z will like it too (fingers crossed).

I've also got this little February Doll Sweater (modified from EZ's February Lady) on the needles now -- also for Z whose birthday is coming up soon.

And I seem to always have a pair (or 9) of socks on the needles. These are more Muggle socks I'm making for the big guys in the family. I love using worsted weight wool for men's socks -- they're thick and cushy and warm (not to mention fast to knit). I've used several different blends trying to find a yarn that's durable & washable. This time, I'm using Berroco Vintage, so we'll see how it holds up.

And just one more. . . Honey Cowl. I love and adore Madelinetosh yarn, but it's a little too pricey (but worth it!) for me to use as often as I'd like. But, just two skeins for a cowl didn't seem too terribly extravagant. Maybe some day I can actually knit an entire sweater using this delicious yarn.

So, what am I reading this week? Well, I'm a little embarrassed to admit I'm reading another children's book - "Peter Pan" (actually listening to it, but that counts, right?). Much like "Winnie the Pooh", I think this is such a charming book - humorous, mischievous, sweet, and fun. The narrator is British (of course), and listening to her is like having your nanny tell you a story before you drift off to sleep to dream of Neverland. And just in case you think I don't ever read books for adults, I really have read a few over the last few months -- "The Winter Sea", "The Girl With Glass Feet", and "The Forgotten Garden", and although I did stick with them all to the bitter end, I'm sorry to say, I didn't really love any of them.

We had a lovely lovely rainy day here in Little Rabbit. My boys got a little nervous when the big thunder rolled through and almost huddled up together. This is as close as it gets with these two. Buddy's got an attitude ^v^.

Well, happy knitting and reading, and most of all . . .

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!!

♥ ♥ ♥

(Be back in a couple of weeks)

Ysolda Teague's Perfect Sweater Class (and yes, I am a Shameless Dork)

2011-11-10T12:28:00.009-06:00

Hello everyone. I've been out West for a while and so happy (as always) to spend some time with my peeps. We 'did' Halloween in an exhausted haze -- the grown ups that is -- so much of a haze that we didn't get one single solitary good photo of the littles. I know, bad granny. The rest of the time I was there was a blur of busy-ness and activity as is the case in any busy young family (how do you do it Jess?!). I'm always so glad to see my sweet family, and I love them all dearly. They are so lovable, kind, and hospitable to put up with a lame old grandmother who spends way too much time on the couch knitting. Thank you Lovable Darling Family!

Anyhoo, speaking of knitting, I did say I'd be back with news of Ysolda's Perfect Sweater class, and I am -- finally. The class was everything I expected as was the lovely, well spoken, and brilliant Miss Ysolda Teague. I learned a lot about sweater shaping that I hope I can put into practice after the holidays when I have more time to knit for myself. If you're lucky enough to have her visit your part of the world, I highly recommend attending her classes if you can. And I did take some photos I'm a little embarrassed to admit (yes, I am a shamelessly uncool dork, but you knew that), so here they are. . .

Gorgeous samples of "Little Red in the City" projects.

Isn't she cute - and so gracious to pose for photos with those of us who asked? This is all I can bear to show of my big self, as I am looking like the biggest gawkiest old Texas gal you ever saw (and I do mean big -- everywhere -- big old Texas hair & all the rest of me as well). Oh, and speaking of big things, I had to laugh when Ysolda was saying something about accommodating larger bust sizes in sweater fitting, and someone next to me said something like, '. . . got plenty of big bust sizes here - this is Dallas after all . . ' hee hee.

So, moving on . . . I have finished a couple of knits lately -- Camilla Kid and a Milo Vest. Sad to say, I didn't get photos of either one on their new owners while I was out West (exhausted haze excuse again), but they both seemed to fit -- always a relief. I was disappointed with my Milo as the frogged yarn that I expected to relax after blocking, did not. Also, the yarn wasn't quite right for the project -- the alpaca was too floppy and didn't have good stitch definition. Think I'll ever learn? Sometimes, I feel like the knitting Pinocchio and wonder if I'll ever become a real ~~boy~~ knitter. I did, however, finish a little hat for C while I was there -- Woolie Wormhead's Aurora. It turned out pretty well -- all things considered -- and I think C liked it. And I actually did get a couple of photos of her -- quickly snapped as I was leaving (kind of blurry as both of us were on the move).

Well, hope you're all enjoying your November. I am indeed. November here is probably like many people's summer -- highs in the 60's and 70's (even a few unwelcome 80's). Our grass is green and the roses are blooming. The leaves on the trees are just now beginning to turn and fall. As I was heading home from walking earlier, one of our neighbors was burning leaves and twigs -- such a lovely sight and smell, isn't it? In our garden, we have a few thriving cabbages, cauliflowers, okra, lettuce, a pepper plant and even one tomato plant -- all the things that couldn't grow during our hot summer.

Oh, and the fig tree is making more figs. I guess I didn't realize it could do that, did you? I love figs cut in half, topped with a little brown sugar and butter -- then put under the broiler for a few minutes -- serve with cream drizzled over -- heaven!

Welcome beautiful figs!

Happy autumn days to you!

♥ ♥ ♥

The Blessing of the Critters

2011-10-21T09:29:00.008-05:00

Every fall, around the time of the feast day for St. Francis, our little Episcopalian church has a Blessing of the Animals service. Last year we missed it (can't remember why), but we were there this year. The service was held outside (good idea ^v^) and we had a chili dog supper after. It was so much fun. I loved seeing all the different kinds of critters folks brought to be blessed -- lots of pretty dogs and cats mostly -- along with the odd turtle or bunny. As you can imagine, it's pretty much total chaos, but in a good way.

Our Buddy is a pretty nice dog for the most part, but for some reason, he seems to think he's been appointed Boss of All Dogs. So sometimes he can bring a little shame on the family by fussing and ordering the other dogs around a little rudely. Here he is getting his blessing -- very serious business.

Isn't it strange that Mr. FC has gray hair and I don't?

Hee hee, I love the look on Bud's face here! What is that boy thinking about us crazy humans?

And Bubba the cat was up next. Bubba is the nicest cat I've ever known -- a true gentleman in every sense. Although, he is a very private kind of fellow and a pretty independent. If he wants to sit in your lap, it has to be his idea. If you do try to pick him up, you can just tell he's thinking, 'please do not touch me . . I will come to you of my own accord when, and if, I feel the need to be petted, held, etc. . . thank you very much.' So, you can imagine how thrilled he was about being held and touched (heaven forbid) by a stranger -- even a well intentioned one.

He squiggled and squirmed the entire time, and tried very hard to climb on top of my head (maybe that explains the wild hair - mine I mean?).

But Father Morris is very determined, so Bubba got his blessing right before making a daring escape.

And this reminds me (speaking of critters) . . . the other night we looked up in the early evening sky and saw what we thought were migrating geese. But after looking a little closer, we realized they were pelicans (actually Mr. FC realized) -- hundreds of them. I don't know why, but this surprised me. I never knew pelicans migrated, did you? And they were flying north? I don't know, maybe they were lost, or maybe they were just taking a little vacation before winter comes, you think?

Looks like they're trying to fly to the moon, doesn't it?

See, they do look like geese migrating, don't they?

Still learning something every day here.

Happy weekend to you!

♥ ♥ ♥

P. S. The Ysolda class was great! Be back soon with a little news about that and a couple of photos.

P.P.S. All photos from Blessing of the Animals taken by the very nice Linda G.

Yarn Along & Ysolda Teague

2011-10-19T08:41:00.009-05:00

Good morning everyone. I have a little knitting news today. I'm finally going to get to attend Ysolda Teague's 'Perfect Sweater' class! I have wanted to take this class for a while now. In fact, last spring LDD and I registered for Squam Art Workshops, but sad to say we had to cancel for various reasons. One of the classes I had already signed up for at Squam was Ysolda's 'Perfect Sweater' class, but it just wasn't in the cards for me at that time. I read Ysolda's blog and have noticed here and there on other blogs that she has given classes in several cities around the U. S. but nothing close to me. So, I was really surprised the other day when I got an email from The Woolie Ewe in Plano announcing Ysolda's southern tour (smart girl to wait until fall to come south) of the U. S. which included two days of classes in Plano. So, I'm going -- this week. I was a little hesitant about making a commitment to go b/c I've been having some days with the 'medical condition' lately, and I never know from one day to the next if I'm up or down, but I just decided I'm going -- come hell or high water. So there, 'medical condition'!
Anyway, I haven't knitted many sweaters for myself, and those I have made haven't fit all that well (like this disaster), so I'm excited about learning how to avoid that problem in the future.

(You can click this link to see other stops on her tour if you're interested.)

So anyway, I'm joining Ginny's Yarn Along again this week (this is so much fun - thanks Ginny), and here's what I'm knitting and reading this week.

This little audio version of "Winnie the Pooh" is priceless. It totally cracks me up. The narrator is perfection, and of course, the fact that he's British makes the stories even that much more humorous and entertaining somehow.

This is just one of many funny lines in the book -- as Owl is described by the narrator,

“. . . wise though he was in many ways . . . able to read and write and spell his own name, yet somehow went all to pieces over delicate words like measles and buttered toast.”

-- makes me laugh -- out loud ^v^ -- is it just me?

And I guess it's some kind of a coincidence that I'm listening to stories about Owl while knitting an owl, you think?

Actually, I bought this audio book during the summer -- right before LDD, the Littles, and I took off on our yearly tubing trip. I thought it might be good to keep little people peaceful in the car and also good for bedtime stories. Little Chloe and I listened to it more than the others, and we both thought it was the funniest thing ever. So maybe you're wondering why this is my read of the week? Well, I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I'd been listening to "Defending Your Faith" on audio when I walk or ride my bike, but it's a little heavy and quite academic, and I just haven't been in the mood for that kind of thing ~~ever~~ lately. So Winnie and friends have been accompanying me on my rounds lately - much more fun (I did tell you that I think I'm suffering from arrested development or maybe second childhood?)

This is my project of the week, Milo (or 'brown blob' at this point) with the owl cable option down the front (raveled here), for our little owl lover Jordan. I made him an owl sweater last winter, but I think it's getting a little small, so maybe this little vest will be good to tide him over until I can make a bigger sweater.

I'm using Andean Treasure frogged from this legwarmer I made a couple of years ago. I couldn't make another one b/c I didn't have quite enough yarn, and I couldn't get any more -- frustrating. So anyway, this yarn has been living as a cabled legwarmer for the last couple of years and when I frogged it, it was really really curly and crimped. I'm knitting with it anyway, and I hope there's not some knitting with frogged yarn rule I don't know about that forbids such a thing. I hope it eventually uncurls and decides to become a vest instead of a legwarmer.

Oh, and I am very close to being finished with the Camilla sweater, but I've been waiting on instructions from LDD regarding sleeve length -- should have it done soon.

Well, happy knitting and reading everyone.

♥ ♥ ♥

P.S. Thank you to everyone who has left a comment in recent weeks! I just wanted to say that sometimes I try to leave comments on blogs that just don't accept my computer's cookies (or something?), and I keep getting error messages. So, I wanted you to know I'm trying to say hello back, but sometimes I just can't get through.

I Used to Sew

2011-10-17T00:00:00.041-05:00

(photo taken by LDD)

When I was about 12, my mom insisted that I learn to sew. I really wasn't interested, and actually, I didn't like it much, but I learned -- kind of. My mom and grandmother were both excellent seamstresses (maybe you remember when I talked about my grandmother making college clothes for my mom - just from drawings my mom would send home?), so learning to sew was just something you did in our family. Once I reluctantly learned to sew (mostly from getting easy to sew patterns and plowing through them with my mom's advice), I found that even though I didn't love it, I could make clothes for myself once in a while (the kinds of things that couldn't be found in local shops) and alter my jeans to make the legs tighter ^v^, so I had to admit knowing how to sew had it's uses. Even though I didn't sew a lot, I did sew. But then, when Lovable Darling daughter was born, I began to sew more and more. I made play sets for summer (remember the little criss cross back ones?), and fancy dresses for Easter and Christmas (I made the pink dress and the white one in the photo above and saved them for LDD's girls to wear some day), school clothes, stuffed toys, oodles of doll clothes, and quilts and on and on. I even sewed more for myself back then. But, as life happens, one day I found myself a single working mom, and the sewing stopped along with many other things. That was a long long time ago.

Anyway, lately I've been thinking I should start sewing again, but actually, I wasn't sure I could even remember how, so I thought I should wade in slowly. I found this easy little skirt pattern (over at Ginny's who sews the cutest things for her girls) and had enough fabric stashed away (bought for a quilt) to make one, so I did! I made it for Chloe who loves to wear dresses and skirts, and I know it's not anything to write home about (although I guess I am), but I think this is the first actual garment I've made in . . . . well, I don't remember when.

Chloe - wearing a dress of course. Photo taken by LDD.

Anyway, surprisingly, I actually kind of enjoyed it and have already cut out fabric for a little peasant top too (using this pattern). I think the part of sewing I always disliked most was the mess -- and not having a good place to sew (that is -- some place I could leave the mess if I didn't finish that day). So yesterday, I decided the 'office' will be my new sewing/studio/yarn/ironing room, and I think that's going to help my sewing juju -- guess we'll see.

Do you sew, and do you like it, or do you just do it for utilitarian/practical reasons? Just wondering ^v^.

Happy week to you!

♥ ♥ ♥

G

Oh, and p.s. -- I added the link to the source for the yellow shawl to my last post -- at the bottom.

Yarn Along 2

2011-10-12T10:11:00.015-05:00

Good morning everyone. Good news here in my patch -- its' raining -- a real steady solid downpour of earth quenching, plant nourishing, soul restoring rain! It's been months since we've had more than the rare light shower, so I am over the top with rain love today ^v^. All the doors and windows are thrown open, and there's a cool breeze blowing through the house -- ahhhh fall, finally fall. Love!

Even Tree Man and Mr. & Mrs. Corny Old Scarecrow are thrilled.

Sorry for the little digression there, but rain is important news here in Little Rabbit. So anyway, knitting & reading -- also important stuff . . .I'm joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along again this week. I'm still reading along on the same books I posted about last week, but I've also been reading and loving "Mollie Makes" magazine this week.

(yes, that is a dirty puppy foot in the top left corner, but he's careful not to step on important things)

I just got the new "Mollie Makes" yesterday and discovered that gorgeous marigold yellow shawl. I just love it, don't you? Thing is, I can't find the name of the pattern or any info about it in the magazine. The photo is on a page which advertises for Loop, a lovable looking yarn shop in London. So, I wandered around their website looking for the pattern, and I think it might be this one. It's kind of hard to tell from the photo, but it looks close, doesn't it? I love lace shawls made up with heavier weight yarn -- like maybe a dk or even worsted. Anyway, this might have to go in my queue soon. And I don't know what it is about golden yellows lately. I'm not really a yellow person, but I seem to want to make everything in earthy goldenrod colors lately. Guess I'm over my green phase ^v^.

Here's a better photo of the shawl. Isn't it pretty?

Anyway, my knitting project of the week is the Camilla Kid pattern from the so talented Carrie Bostick Hoge. I was completely inspired to make this by the lovely Ginny. I love the yellow (again) one she made for her girls. I'd seen Carrie's patterns for adults, but the children's patterns had slipped by me somehow, so Ginny, thank you so much for sharing. I found the yarn for this on sale at the Woolie Ewe in Plano last week (yes, it's a long drive but I didn't tell you the new LYS in Tyler {closer} has already closed -- sad for them). Anyway, it's Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky and it was on sale 1/2 off. I think our little Chloe will like the soft muted color, and don't you think it might look cute with a brown corduroy skirt and sweater tights?

(Linus Blanket from "Knitting for Peace")

I know I'm probably one of the last people on the planet to get "Knitting for Peace", but I finally broke down and ordered it a couple of weeks ago -- mostly for the Linus Blanket pattern (another mustard-ish) colored knit. Doesn't it look so squishy and spongey and cosy? I really want to knit this up for one of my granchildren, but just haven't quite gotten the details worked out yet -- which grandchild (of 8!), which yarn, what color, etc., but I will get there . . . eventually.

Oh, and remember the plain vest from last week? Well, I frogged it. Not only were the colors different, but I just could not make myself like that awful sheddy splitty yarn (Hobby Lobby Yarn Bee Alpaca), so that project is on hold until I can find the right yarn -- good yarn and no settling this time. Settling for 2nd best (or 3rd or 9th in this case) always seems to turn out to be what my mom called 'false economy', i.e. buying something you don't really love just because it's inexpensive and available -- and then you never wear it or use it. You know?

Happy knitting and reading everyone!

♥ ♥ ♥

G

ETA: Many thanks to helpful Ravelry girls for sending me the link to the book -- "Juju's Loops" -- (coming out in November) where the pattern for the yellow shawl can be found. And another link here where you can see more of the patterns in the book. Must have it.

♥ My Adorable Mom ♥

2011-10-10T00:00:00.014-05:00

Last time I was out West, my Lovable Darling Daughter gave me some photos she'd found out in the garage. Some of them are so cute, and I especially love this one.

This is my adorable mom -- photo taken in the 40's around Quanah, TX (lovely Texas landscape, eh?). She was a horse lover (me too -- totally goofy over horses) and good rider. She even rode barrels in the rodeo when she was in high school (I talked more about her here). Anyway, I just think this is the cutest picture -- so her -- enjoying life with a big smile and even bigger heart. I miss you Mom!

Have a great week everyone!

♥ ♥ ♥

Yarn Along

2011-10-05T10:08:00.002-05:00

I'm joining the Yarn Along over at Small Things today. I love seeing what others are reading and knitting, don't you?

So here are some of my current reads (I can not read one book at a time -- ADD?) and my knitting project (Plain Vest for a granddaughter) of the moment.

(Can you see where I changed to a new skein of yarn? Same dye lot, different color. And I didn't even notice it until I had knitted 4 or 5 inches! Looks like frogging ahead today - rats!)

Anyhoo, my reads -- I just got "Beatrix Potter's Art" the other day. It's an interesting look at her evolution as an artist (and as a person) -- from childhood until the end of her life -- fascinating woman, wasn't she?

L'Abri, I have read many many times over the years -- from the time I first discovered Edith Schaeffer when I was a young mom. This was a long long time ago -- my littles are grown and have littles of their own now. This book (and all of Edith Schaeffer's books) was (and still is) an inspiration, a guidepost, and a source of encouragement through many difficult days.

"The Scent of Water" is another book I'm re-reading. I love Elizabeth Goudge. There's something so pure and lovely and peaceful about her books.

And the book I'm listening to on Audible at the moment (when I walk or ride my bike -- which isn't nearly often enough) is "Defending Your Faith" by R. C. Sproul. I've only 'read' the first chapter so far, and it seems to be a very well written, organized, and logical approach to 'defending your faith'.

So, what are you knitting and reading at the moment?

♥ ♥ ♥

A Snug Shrug

2011-10-03T09:42:00.004-05:00

Good morning! I've been kniting, knitting, knitting lately. I finally finished my Snug Shrug (pattern Eve's Ribs raveled here), and I'm pretty happy with it. What a brilliant designer Carol Sunday is. Until the last minute, I had my doubts that this was going to come out okay, but I just knitted along hopefully, and it did -- whew! When finished, you just sew together the two side seams and you have a shrug/cardi.

(sad little 'autumn leaves' display, isn't it -- but there aren't many around here yet -- should call it 'leaves from trees that died from the wicked drought' instead -- plenty of those around -- sad to say)

I had a hard time getting a good photo of this color. And I don't know how well the leafy lacy rib pattern shows up, but it's very nice I think.

Anyhoo, must get going. I'm going to run over to Tyler today to do some Christmas shopping and maybe a tiny bit of yarn shopping for this blanket, this sweater, and this vest (and why is it, that no matter how much yarn you have in your stash, none of it is ever right for the new project you want to cast on -- is it just me?). Which reminds me, there's a new LYS in Tyler. It's called Knotty Girls Stitchery -- a very nice shop, and they have a good selection of yarn for knitting as well as all kinds of other needley crafts. So, if you're in the area, you might want to check it out.

Have a great week!

♥ ♥ ♥

A Cottage, Roses & a Cookbook

2011-09-28T11:39:00.009-05:00

I've had some very good luck rummaging around here and there lately. I found this incredibly beautiful cross stitch cottage on Esty a while back. I just got it back from being framed and thought you might like to see it. I wish you could see it in person. It's so perfectly done -- tiny little stitches -- truly a work of art. When I find treasures like this, I can't help but feel a little guilty for getting it so inexpensively knowing all the hours and care that went in to making it. And there's one kind of needlework I do not enjoy, and that is counted cross stitch, so I would never have been able to make something this wonderfully wonderful myself.

Isn't it just the sweetest thing ever? I just love it!

And now that it's finally cooled off a little here (thank you Lord!), and we've had a couple of fairly decent rains, our little roses are coming back to life. I've been so excited to look outside every morning and see one or two new blooms. I've been cutting them to bring in and admire and tell them how pretty they are and how brave they are for enduring the awful summer.

The dark pink one is called Perfume Delight, and it really does have a delightful fragrance - - so unlike the sad roses you can buy at the grocery store -- that often don't even open but just flop over (or is it just me?).

Kind of silly making such a fuss over a couple of roses, you think? But after seeing nothing but brown dead and dying things here in Little Rabbit for months, a little green and a few flowers are something to write home about.

And something else lovely arrived in the mail yesterday. My Lovable DD and I are huge Sophie Dahl fans (we watch her cooking shows on Youtube over and over -- love her house), so I had to order her newest cookbook. Most of the recipes are not up my alley (mostly because it's so hard to find unusual ingredients here), but it's a lovely little book. And I have to admit, I read cookbooks for the anecdotes as much (or maybe more sometimes) as the recipes. Which reminds me, our little Chloe loves reading cookbooks too, and sometimes asks to be read a cookbook for her bedtime story -- funny ^v^.

Isn't she cute?

I'm in love with this wallpaper!

Always looks happy, doesn't she?

Well, better step away from the computer, be productive, and do some ~~knitting~~ cleaning.

Oh, and I'm nearly finished with a cardi which I must show you soon -- fingers crossed that it turns out well. It's a rather mysterious looking thing at the moment.

Wishing you many many lovely things & a happy day,

♥ ♥ ♥

I Thought So & Leafy Glade Socks

2011-09-23T11:52:00.008-05:00

Remember this picture from one of my previous posts about North Carolina?

Well, I had a feeling it might have once been the home of a Moody relative. Of course, this deduction didn't require great psychic powers b/c it is located on Moody Farm Rd. where I knew relatives had once owned a farm. But anyway, the other night, I thumbed through my mom's old family history book and found these photos.

It really was the former home of Moody folks! Nannie Plott was a Moody until she married Mr. Plott. This house is where the Moody Reunion was held annually for over 90 years - according to notes in a letter I also found in this book.

You know how sometimes a house or a place has a good feeling? Well, this house had a good feeling. As I was wandering around taking photos, I could almost picture past generations of folks who had lived there and imagine them sitting on that nice shady porch in the evening -- listening to the crickets sing, talking about the day's events while rocking away the cares of the world in the protection of that sturdy old house in the shadow of the mountains. I have daydreams about buying this house (it is for sale) and renovating it (at a mere cost of heaven only knows how many thousands of dollars). Of course, my dreams are usually very impractical, but wouldn't it be the just sweetest old house in the end? Sigh. . .

So, anyhoo, you know all those UFO's I mentioned last week. Well, I've been knitting away like a madwoman and haven't finished a single one. Nope, not one. But, I did finish a pair of socks that I love.

Leafy Glade Socks (in honor of all things green and leafy ^v^). Buddy kindly let me use his lookout for the 'photo shoot'.

Love this pattern (raveled here) and love the yarn (Risata from Knitpicks -- which I'm sad to say is discontiued). I made these as a Christmas gift to add to my ADVENTure collection (which is much too small!), but I'm going to find it hard to part with them, so I must make another pair for me.

Well toodles everyone, and have a most wonderful weekend!

♥ ♥ ♥

ETA: I forgot, I wanted to tell you that DD's littles are going to new schools. The girls are now in a school based on Charlotte Mason's philosophy of education. We're thrilled about it! Anyway, when Chloe got home from school the other day, she told her mom that one of her teachers always calls her (and all the others in the class) 'Lovable Darling'. Chloe said, even if I give the wrong answer, the teacher says, "That's okay, My Lovable Darling, you'll get it right next time." I love that, don't you? Words . . . . powerful things, arent' they?

Finish What You Start

2011-09-12T00:00:00.075-05:00

Good morning everyone. I know there has been little (or nothing?) said about knitting around here lately, but I have actually finished something -- finally.

I started this little Spring Garden Tee for sweet Leah months ago, but just finished it yesterday (too much running around this summer). Considering the fact that our weather doesn't cool off here ~~ever~~ until October or November (and even then, there are still lots of warm days), I'm thinking she will still have plenty of opportunities to wear it -- if she wants to. I'm not so sure making garments for grandchildren who aren't around to try them on is a good idea -- for me anyway. It seems there's usually some problem with size -- too big, too small, sleeves too long, or something. Do you have that problem too? Maybe I should just stick to socks, hats, scarves, mittens, and toys for my littles? Anyhoo,I hope this one fits. I love the fluttery little sleeves (Rav link).

And talking about knitting things for grandchildren and others reminds me --- the other day, as I was going in to Michael's to look for yarn (sad selection), I saw a mom & grandmother with their little girl who was wearing the scariest looking knitted tank (all kinds of wild variegated colors) with long stringy fringe hanging from the bottom. Poor little girl looked embarrassed, but you could see she was trying to be nice to her knitting granny by acting as if she really liked the crazy looking thing she was obligated (out of kindness - no doubt) to wear. So of course, this made me wonder if my littles secretly cringe when I make them something and only wear it when I'm around in order to protect my feelings. I remember years and years ago (when I was a teenager), my Aunt Ruth knitted me a hot pink poncho with fringe. It was expertly knitted, but the color was way out of my comfort zone, so I never wore it. Have you ever been given something made with so much love and high expectations by someone you love, and just couldn't bring yourself to wear it for some reason? Aww, makes me feel bad now.

Anyhoo, I also finished another pair of Muggle Socks while I was in North Carolina. I know at least one of the guys in the family likes these a lot b/c I do his laundry. He never wears anything but these, and I'm pretty sure it's not just to make me feel good ^v^. Socks are such good travel knitting, aren't they? I made the latest pair with Berocco Vintage in hopes of it being a more durable/washable yarn for making these cushy socks. We'll see.

(image via Rowan Magazine 42)

And I finally decided I could face finishing this project (Faeroe) that I started eons ago. I could not, for the life of me, figure out how to do the edge decreases and increases without messing up the pattern on the edge, so I hid it away for years. I pulled it out of hiding yesterday, and I still don't know how to keep the edge pattern right, but I'm plugging away on it anyway and will finish it -- even if it looks weird in the end. This is when I really wish I lived in a town with a knitting shop, so I could take this mysteriously constructed thing in for help from a real knitter.

I'm also dragging this cabled blanket out of hibernation in the hopes of getting it finished by Christmas.

And I guess I better get back to work on this one too.

Elf shoes {before I trimmed off the fuzz from felting} from last Christmas -- must make more of these for this Christmas.

Chloe in her Elf Hat last Christmas (and Little Red Riding Hood Cape). Everyone must have an Elf Hat this Christmas!

Now really is the time to get busy with Christmas knitting & making, isn't it (well, actually it's past time, but I can hardly make myself knit or crochet much when it's so darned hot)? Considering above comments about giving knitted gifts, I think I'll just be making a few more Elf Hats (as pictured above), Elf Shoes (also pictured above --love these!), more socks, maybe a hat (the human kind ;) or two, and blankets for this year's gifting. What are you making for Christmas gifts this year?

Angels and blessings,

♥ ♥ ♥

Just Real Quick

2011-09-07T10:28:00.000-05:00

I'm on my way out the door to run over to a neighboring town to do a little shopping, but I wanted to drop in for just a minute to show you this bumper sticker I saw in front of me as I was driving around in Asheville one day.

Makes me smile ^v^

Happy day to you!

♥ ♥ ♥

Happy Day, a 'Cold' Front! And the Biltmore Estate.

2011-09-05T12:21:00.004-05:00

Good morning and Happy Labor Day! I can't tell you how wonderful it is to finally have our weather cool off to a temp under 100 degrees! This morning, I got up and actually opened the doors and windows after many months of keeping the house closed up tight as a drum to keep out the awful heat. For months, I've kept the shades and curtains drawn in our bedroom because it's on the west side of the house, and by afternoon, the sun streaming in through the unshaded windows made it hot as an oven. I think I'll be able to open them up and let the light in today! Anyway, our weather man tells us our highs will be in the 80's for most of the week -- I suppose that would be considered pretty warm in most of world, but here we are calling it a 'cold front'. Sad to say, by the end of the week, we'll be back up around 100. Oh well, guess I'll be grateful for small favors.

These white Knockout roses (thank Goodness for those drought & heat tolerant plants), the Carolina Jasmine, and this one hibiscus are the only things still alive on the back porch. All the other more delicate plants are gone -- pooh!

All the other veggies in our little back yard garden are dead too, but this little tomato plant came up 'volunteer' (as my mom used to say) in the front of the house right by the driveway. Oddly enough, it's still growing and producing these nice little cherry tomatoes -- tough little thing.

Three tiny homegrown tomatoes are better than none at all, aren't they?

(image via Charlotte Examiner)

So, my longing for green growing things and cool weather brings me back to thoughts of beautifully green North Carolina (and yes, I wish I was still there). And of course, one of the things you have to see if you're near Asheville is the awesome Biltmore Estate, so I did. I suppose it's the nearest thing to an English castle or French chateau we have here in the U. S. My photos of the exterior of the 'house' didn't turn out too well, so I've borrowed some from the public domain and a few from old postcards.

Pretty amazing, isn't it?

We weren't allowed to take photos inside, so these photos are also from the public domain.

This winter garden is to the right as you enter the house. It's huge. I think this was my favorite 'room' in the house.

Mr. Vanderbilt's bedroom.

The library.

The tour of the house was pretty amazing, but I really loved the beautiful grounds (originally 125,000 acres!) which were designed by the same man who designed Central Park in NYC. It was truly beautiful.

I love these fairy tale fences that were on many of the walking paths.

And the walking paths led through these incredibly lush woods . . .

. . . . and past lovely meadows.

I spent the entire day there walking around and oooing and ahhing. Oh, and I forgot to mention -- there's a winery there as well. I did two wine tastings ^v^ (the regular wine & the premium). I loved wandering around from one sommelier (is that the right word?) to another sampling the many types of wine they make there, and although I'm no connoisseur (by any stretch of the imagination), I actually could taste the oak in the chardonnay that was aged in oak barrels as opposed to that which had been aged in stainless steel kegs (a new thing I was told). Who knew? Anyway, it was fun and enlightening, and I bought a case of wine (oops) to have shipped home -- I know, I know -- but it was that good - not to mention I might have been under the spell a wee bit.

Well, I suppose I've given you an overdose of photos again today. And for some reason (is it just me?), Blogger is taking a coon's age to upload photos, so I'll say goodbye for now.

Enjoy your holiday!

♥ ♥ ♥

P. S. And I really do still knit. I'm in the midst of making this pretty shrug designed by the brilliant Carol Sunday and hoping one day (literally one day), it will be cold enough to wear it. I'm also loving this sock pattern which I'm making as a gift. And yes, I'm using green yarn for both . . . hmmmm coincidence? Are you knitting now that fall is here (in some places)?

Lovely Lovely Maggie Valley

2011-08-29T15:03:00.023-05:00

Hello friends. I'm home, and I have to say my trip to North Carolina was all I'd hoped for. Being in Maggie Valley reminded me of one of my favorite Judy Collins songs, "Times Passes Slowly" -- remember this?

(click play and you can listen while you read if you'd like to)

I honestly did feel as if the passage of time had slowed down and I had a lovely sense of comfort and contentment while I was there -- as if my dear old granny had just draped a warm shawl over my shoulders and sat down with me on the porch to shell a lap full of peas while chatting softly about the simple events of the day as the sun gently floated down behind the mountains. It was so very lovely and peaceful.

And there were lots and lots of flowers everywhere.

This beautiful creek was about 50 feet from my bedroom window.

I wanted to wade in but never did -- just watched it flow.

There were soul quenching green leafy glades all around.

And beautiful meadows.

Just one of so many pretty farms in the area.

I think this once lovely old farmhouse might have been the former home of a Moody relative -- it's on Moody Farm Rd. -- right down the road from where I stayed. And there are still many Moodys in Maggie Valley. I asked a friendly woman in one of the shops if she knew any Moodys in the area, and she looked at me as if I might be a little simple and told me that half the town is Moodys (as if anyone in their right mind would know that).

My grandfather's name was Jim Moody (James actually), but this was another Jim Moody (no doubt related to my grandfather). This is the road that led up the mountain to one of the Moody cemeteries I visited.

Maybe it seems odd to think of a cemetery as beautiful, but it was. When I came up over the hill and saw this amazing view, it really took my breath away (the beauty of it, not the climb up the hill ^v^). It reminded me of some of the cemeteries I saw in Ireland and Scotland years ago. As family lore tells us, the Moodys originally came from Scotland .

I thought it was so touching that there's a broom left on the gate of this Moody cemetery (there were at least 2 Moody cemeteries). And you could tell both of them were carefully and lovingly tended.

Just outside the gates of the cemetery.

I must check my mom's book of the family history to see if I can find this ancestor. This is just one of many Moody graves I found.

I took so many pictures while I was in North Carolina that it will take me a while to plow through them all (Picasa & Blogger are running slow as molasses today). Anyhoo, I am the kind of picture taker (not a photographer - at all) who must take about 500 photos in order to get 10 decent ones. I hope I don't bore you to tears with my tales of North Carolina, but I'll be back soon with more to tell.

Wishing you a lovely peaceful week,

♥ ♥ ♥

G

Wonder how many times I said lovely in this post? I just couldn't help it -- everything just was so very lovely ^v^.

If You Can't Stand the Heat . . .

2011-08-08T00:00:00.034-05:00

I've got to admit that this awful heat and dry weather are getting the best of me. There's just something so oppressive about living with this relentlessly pounding 100+ degree heat day in and day out for 38 (?) straight days now. And there hasn't been a drop of rain in weeks -- or I guess it's months now. Our poor trees are losing leaves at an alarming rate and the poor lawn and flower beds are a sad sorry sight. I don't even like normal hot Texas summer weather, and this is way beyond normal. I've lived here most of my long life and have never experienced heat like this --- ever. Would you like to see a photo of a lake in my hometown in West Texas?

(image via AP)

Yes, this used to be a lake - a real lake you could ski on (well, not me) and fish in! Isn't this just awful?!

(image via AP)

And here's a photo of a dead alligator from the same lake. I've heard rumors of alligators in that lake for years but never believed it. Well, guess they were right.

It's not quite as bad here in East Texas, but it's close, very close. Our lake is losing water daily, and a nearby town has notified its citizens that, as of today at 3:00 p.m., they will be out of water for the next 48 hours -- at least. Scary. Very scary.

So being the wilting type, I've been searching around for someplace to escape to for a couple of weeks in the hopes that September will bring rain and cooler weather. Evidently, Colorado is full to capacity of runaway Texans and Oklahomans because I couldn't find a place there. However, as I was tootling around the internet, I happened upon a place in Maggie Valley, North Carolina. I grabbed it as fast as my little fingers would type. Here's a lovely photo of that area.

(image via Pioneer Village)

Isn't it just beautiful? Quite a contrast from the above photos, isn't it? Hmmmmm, what do you think -- stay here, or go there?

I don't know -- hard decision, isn't it?

My mother and I had talked of going to Maggie Valley for years, but sadly, we didn't make it before she passed away. She had many relatives who still lived in the area, and they held a family reunion there every September for a consecutive 90+ years (last I heard), and the family has a 200+ year history of life in this lovely place. My mother's paternal great grandfather was born there. I just have to wonder, 'why oh why?' would someone leave such a beautiful place to move to Texas. As is usually the answer, I suppose economic opportunity was the motive (just as it is now), but gosh, I bet he regretted leaving his lovely home.

I just checked the weather forecast there, and the highs will be in the 70's for the next 10 days (wonderfully cool 50's at night) -- oh perfect heaven! I can't wait -- what shall I pack -- jeans, long skirts, a couple of cardis, cosy socks and moccasins?

(from Polyvore)
These would be a good start for cool evening walks, don't you think?

And maybe something like this for daytime strolling and wandering?

I'm getting all giddy with thoughts of listening to rain falling on rooftops, cool breezes blowing through the many lush, green, leafy trees, lovely blowzy flowers, and maybe even a meadow and a shady country lane to meander along? Shhhhh, I think I can hear ancestral voices calling ^v^.

♥ ♥ ♥

G

P. S. If I don't come back, you'll know where to look for me.

Hello There

2011-08-02T10:47:00.001-05:00

Well, I'll spare you the details of our trip to the river, but I'll just say there were fun days, harrowing days, hot days, & confused frustrating days of getting lost on highways and back roads we thought we knew by heart but didn't.

Anyhoo, we're home and happy to be here -- well, kind of. Of course, I'd be much happier if it wasn't the Mojave desert here at the moment, but that goes with the territory -- as you know.

We didn't do much cooking when we got back to Jessie's house (too pooped), but we did manage to throw this strawberry pie together, and it's a new favorite. It's Nigella's Strawberry Almond Crumble recipe. I've never gone wrong with one of her recipes. The only thing we did differently was to put the strawberries in a pie crust rather than just straight into a pie dish. We like pie crust. A lot.

The fairy helped ^v^.

And we found that our somewhat frazzled nerves were in need of little toddy ~~some~~ every evening, so Jess made us this really nice, cool, refreshing drink.

I don't remember what it's called, but it's made with cranberry juice, apple juice, ginger ale, and vodka. We used Grey Goose Poire vodka because that's what we had, and I think that made it even better. This is a new favorite summer adult beverage for me -- right up there with Moscow Mules and Mojitos. What's your favorite thing to drink on a hot day?

Well better go do chores.

Stay cool!

♥ ♥ ♥

Gone to the River

2011-07-21T00:00:00.006-05:00

Be back soon.

The beautiful Guadalupe River

Get wet ^v^!

♥ ♥ ♥

Good Morning

2011-07-18T13:21:00.005-05:00

(Austin skyline. Image courtesy of Sean McConnel.)

We had a nice but fast little trip to Austin (always have fun in my old stomping grounds), but I was worried about staying away for more than a couple of days because I didn't want our yard and few little struggling flowers to shrivel up and die in this awful heat. I'm happy to say it looks as though everything survived, but we've been watering our little heads off ever since we got home last night.

Happily, these little Mexican Petunias are doing very well -- bless their brave little hearts. I'd never tried growing these pretty flowers until this year, and I'm really liking them. They're evergreen perennials and seem to be very hardy drought tolerant little things, and heaven knows you need to be hardy & drought tolerant to live in this rough old place. And, as you can see, we've even got a few gardenias blooming at the moment. The poor little roses are trying to bloom too, but the rain deprived little blossoms are sad looking little things. According to the weather forecast, we might get some rain today -- praying and dancing here!

Poor things are dying of thirst, and we water them -- we really do.

And can you believe it? I haven't had one single peach this year! I haven't had a chance to go to Parker County or Gillespie County yet (where the very best peaches live), but I'm going next week. And you know me (peach glutton), I intend to stock up the freezer for the coming year. I'm so looking forward my first taste of a fresh juicy peach!

Oh, and speaking of peaches -- when we left for Austin, there were quite a few little ripening peaches on our tree. When we got home, they were all gone. Every one! Guess that snake didn't work out so well after all -- rats!

Beautiful Gillespie County peaches -- the best ever. Must go soon!

Anyhoo, I have a small collection of dog figurines I add to every now and then when I find one I love. I stumbled across this little guy the other day -- couldn't resist him. I'm afraid I have a weakness for teapots and aprons too. Do you collect something you love?

Remind you of anyone?

We love this boy -- have I mentioned that before? And it goes without saying (but I will anyway) that we love those littles too!

And I found this pretty Collie on Ebay not long ago. We used to have a Collie named Heather, but sad to say, she passed away about a year before we found our little Bud. They would have been friends -- I think.

Well, better go water the poor roses (and do a little dancing - come on rain!).

Wishing you a great week!

♥ ♥ ♥

Gone Fishing

2011-07-12T18:28:00.002-05:00

Be back in a little while.

Wishing you happy lazy summer days and someone you love to share them with,

♥ ♥ ♥

Fun on the 4th

2011-07-05T12:38:00.002-05:00

This photo of our little tea cosy wearing girl was featured in our hometown newspaper yesterday. The family was down at the river for the annual 4th of July concert & picnic when someone from the newspaper snapped this photo of our girl having a rather large time running free with pigtails flying - love it! I am such a typical granny, aren't I -- always pulling out pics of the grandkids, but I just can't help it!

In a Colorful Mood

2011-07-03T16:57:00.009-05:00

Seems like I gravitate to bright colors in the summer. Do you do that too? I went to Anthropolgie's sale the other day (uh oh) and found some yellow/gold sailor pants, a bright emerald green top, and an orange and white flowy top -- so not my usual neutral color choices -- at all.

(photo via Anthropologie)

What do you think -- too much?

Anyhoo, I watched a movie the other day called "A Shine of Rainbows" (recommended by my little girl), and the sweet pretty mom in the movie loves bright colors and wears the cutest/most fun/colorful outfits. Maybe that's part of the reason for my bright color mood, you think? I love what the actress (Connie Nielsen) who plays this part says about the use of color in the story -- that is 'represents love and happiness'. I like that, don't you? This is a lovely little movie set in Ireland with the most handsome Aidan Quinn playing the part of the dad ( I ♥ him!). Have you seen it?

There's some sadness, but a happy ending. And there is knitting and crochet, a sweet cosy cottage and a beautiful rural setting -- all the things I love in a movie.

Isn't Connie Nielsen pretty? I wasn't familiar with her until seeing this movie, but she was wonderful.

So anyway, I've not only been wanting to wear brighter colors lately, but wanting see more around the house as well. So, I started this granny stripe blanket the other day -- using the lovely Lucy's pattern. I haven't crocheted in while, but I'm really enjoying this. I need to tear myself away from it to finish some knitting UFO's, but it's addictive!

I'm still a dedicated fan of Cath Kidston and love her bright color combinations -- which I've completely copied here (yet again).

Well, better go boil eggs so I can make deviled eggs for tomorrow's picnic.

Have a great 4th everyone!

♥ ♥

ETA: I forgot one thing I wanted to share --- look here for the world's cutest little gnome embroidery pattern. I love him!

End of Camp Gigi & Things I'm Making

2011-06-28T20:42:00.005-05:00

Awwww, Camp Gigi is over and my sweet little people and my sweet big people have gone home. What a wonderful week it was and such a treat for me to have them here with me for an entire week!

There was a lot of silliness . . . .

.. . . . a lot of sweetness. . .

(the cute tees were my darling daughters idea -- love them!)

. . . . and most of all, LOTS of LOVE!

(some people don't want to be blogged ;)

So, anyhoo, it's quiet here today, so I made a pie (it's been a while, huh?).

I've been finding good sweet cherries lately, so I thought I'd try making a Cherry Custard Pie using the Peach Custard Pie recipe of old (just covered the bottom of the crust with cherries -- about 2 -3 cups). Kind of like a cherry clafouti but with crust, so how could that be bad? Actually, it's very very good (in fact, I just want to eat this pie -- nothing else -- for the rest of my life), and I'm sure you could make with canned or frozen cherries as well.

Oh, and can you see that glimpse of the first one and only rose in the yard? It's not much, but we're so proud ;).

Here it is again. Poor little thing has survived a lot.

And there has been knitting here lately -- just no FO's to speak of. I am loving this yarn from String Theory Colorworks which was kindly recommended by some of the lovely knitters over at Sock Knitters Anonymous group on Ravelry. The skinny stripe isn't a flaw in the yarn dying, but I had to cut out a chunk of yarn that I got into a hopeless tangle -- totally my fault.

I noticed Queenie wearing some socks like these on "Lark Rise to Candleford' the other night, so of course, I had to make some.

I did finish a little embroidery though.

I made this little pillowcase for our Jordan, and I think he was very pleased. He did sleep with it while he was here and looked stricken when he thought he was going to have to leave it here, but of course he didn't (little misunderstanding). This is one of the lovely Nicole's patterns (from Follow the White Bunny). As I've mentioned before, I love her charming patterns. I made a couple of small changes to the pattern. I made the little boy look a little more like Jordan, and I changed the stuffed bear to look like his very own Barry. I'm looking forward to using more of Nicole's sweet patterns to make pillowcases for the girls as well.

Hope you're having many happy summer days!

(and eat pie ;)

♥ ♥ ♥

News from Camp Gigi

2011-06-24T14:54:00.012-05:00

What a fun week it's been (for me at least ;)! I haven't had my littles here for a whole week in . . . . well, ever I think. It seems there are always jobs and responsibilities to rush home to, but we finally had an entire week to do what we wanted -- swim, and swim some more. . . and then swim some more, lots watching of favorite old movies (this {thank you Gumbo Lily}, this, & this {among others}), going to see a funny new movie ("Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer" {but enough already with the barfing and poop -- again please Hollywood moguls?}) driving of the golf cart all over the place, visiting with friends, drinking of tea, crocheting & knitting (for Mom & Granny), & creating and drawing. . . .

. . such as this cutest ever kitty drawn by the famous artiste, Jordan. . . .

(I love this kitty so much, I want to embroider it on t-shirts!)

. . . who is also now an accomplished pitter of cherries (and will soon be featured on Jimmy Fallon's late show).

One of us has developed the unusual habit of wearing a tea cosy on one's head while eating breakfast (I won't say who).

And one amazing daughter has delighted us all with her fabulous cooking! Just look at this incredible Pavlova she made for us -- it's utterly over the top delicious! It was supposed to have raspberries on top, but we couldn't find any here in Little Rabbit ;(. Oh well, it was soooooo good anyway.

Granny tried to do fairy toes (inspired by these), but it didn't work out very well -- maybe b/c Granny can hardly see her toes anymore, you think? And my right big toe is still fat and weird(er) looking from being broken a couple of months ago -- oh well. I wanted to do mermaid nails on someone (I won't say who, but she wears a tea cosy on her head), but she wanted plain polish -- no glitter -- what is that all about?!

Oh, and that's the new bathroom floor -- finally -- yay!

And we couldn't have made it without the always good natured help from Big Sister! She's my late night movie watching buddy and go to girl. She had to drink lots of coffee (mostly hot milk) to keep up her energy ;).

I'll be back later with more pics and updates from Camp Gigi.

Have a great weekend everyone.

♥ ♥ ♥

Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk Cake

2011-06-21T00:00:00.001-05:00

I saw a mention of Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk cake on Cristina's lovely blog a while back, and I thought it sounded so good. But, she didn't post a recipe (or if she did, I couldn't find it?), so the other day I googled around and found one here. This morning I whipped it up, put in the oven, and anxiously awaited the ringing of bell (so I could have some for 2nd breakfast). Unfortunately, I thought it was done (even toothpick tested clean), so I took it out to cool and it sank in the middle -- not done. Don't you hate when that happens? So, I put it back in for another 5 - 10 minutes -- which helped a little. It was still a little mooshy in the middle, and you can see it stuck to the cake dish a little when I turned it out. But, in spite of all that, I love this cake! It's so good --- just the right amount of lemony to the right amount of sweet and just the right amount of nice blueberry squishiness.

Oops, a sink hole ;(. Oh well . . .

. . . as my cute little mom used to often say, "It might not look good, but it tastes good.", and it does. And, powdered sugar covers a multitude of sins, right?

I would change a couple of things in this recipe:

1) I'd use 1/8 t. salt (rather than 1/4), and

2) I'd lower the cooking temp. to 350 degrees (rather than 400), and just cook a little longer,

so that it doesn't get too brown before it's done all the way through.

Eat more cake ;)

♥ ♥ ♥

I Didn't Know

2011-06-15T20:51:00.013-05:00

I had to go to Lowe's early this morning to pick up grout for the tile man (does that seem wrong somehow?) We're having tile put in the guest bath, and it's been a loooong (weeks long) process -- wrong tiles, wrong tiles again, wrong tiles yet again, take up all the wrong tile and finally, today, put in the right tile -- we hope! Anyway, so they needed a different color grout, and being the little girl scout I am, I went to get some. Beating around the bush here, but when I was at Lowes', I saw these amazing little butterfly in a jar things. I didn't know about these, did you? They're so fun, and you know I love butterflies, but then doesn't everyone?

I swear, if you didn't know they were fake, well, you'd think they weren't fake. But, they are. Of course, I had to get one as my littles are coming soon, and I think they will love it (and I know I love it ;).

You just tap on the lid and it flutters around just like a real butterfly. I wish someone would make fireflies in a jar. Wouldn't that be magic?

And then, the nice man who sometimes helps me in the yard came by today. We planted rose bushes and white plumbago. I didn't even know there was white plumbago (I see a theme here), but there is, and it's so pretty and lacy and cool looking. I've been a big fan of blue plumbago for a long time -- ever since my BFF, B, introduced it to me years ago. I love that cool lavender/blue in the summer garden. Anyway, we also planted okra, replaced some dead herbs, and moved the asparagus around. I had to put a bandana with ice cubes wrapped up in it around my neck just to keep from flopping over from heat stroke (dramatic?), it was so hot. I do hope the roses do well. The only roses we have now are Knockout roses, and they're great for color (and they're heat, drought & disease resistant), but they have no fragrance and are not the kind of rose you can cut to take inside and enjoy -- and I miss that.

(image courtesy R. Lyons nursery)

I just love this white plumbago. Isn't it pretty?

And then, the back porch heard the front porch had new bunting, so I had to be fair and put some new bunting up out there as well. It's sweet, isn't it? Don't know how well it will hold up to the elements, but I hope it lasts through the summer -- at least.

(sad photo -- will try to do better later when I'm not so pooped from manual labor)

Bud and I are tired, so we're going to bed and watch "The Railway Children" (again --- I love this movie, don't you?) and dream about living in the cool beautiful English countryside.

Sleep tight,

♥ ♥ ♥

G

P. S. I see the LinkWithin still isn't working? Oh well, guess I'll try one more time.

Summer in Little Rabbit

2011-06-13T11:55:00.005-05:00

It's definitely summer here in our world! Sun, sun and more sun. Heat, heat, and more heat. Oh well, c'est la vie here in Gene Autrey Country, so might as well make the best of it, right? Thank goodness the pool is just a short bike ride away (or cart ride when I'm lazy - most of the time).

Bunny will keep wearing that flower on her head even though I've told her it's not very becoming.

Summer does bring peaches though -- yay! Do you think it's mean to put a fake snake in the peach tree to keep the birds from eating all the peaches (like last year)? Oh well, you know I'm greedy when it comes to peaches. I even have an entire 'Peach' category on this blog -- guess I really do love peaches.

Reading Jody's post about yummy apricot jam (and many other good things) reminded me of this apricot candle I found at Anthropologie a while back -- smells just like apricot jam. My mom used to make apricot 'preserves' -- and oh how wonderful the house smelled when those were cooking!

And the flowers are kind of pretty, aren't they? As much as I do complain about having nowhere to shop but Walmart here in Little Rabbit, they do have some good things now and then -- like cheap flowers ;).

And I found this flag bunting there the other day too -- made my day (don't laugh). I love the Union Jack buntings I see on our lovely British friends' blogs (and even put one up in my kitchen a while back), but I hadn't been able to find an American flag bunting until I stumbled across this one at Walmart the other day. I'd even scoured Ebay for one with no luck, and there it was in my own back yard --- again -- just like the green pillowcases.

Well, must go drag the water hose around the yard and try to keep things from drying up. At least we have water -- thank Goodness!

Hope you're enjoying your summer & getting wet!

♥ ♥ ♥

G

P. S. I don't know why my LinkWithin images aren't showing up -- hopefully they will soon?

Green Smoothies & Green Pillowcases

2011-06-06T00:00:00.053-05:00

Sometime last year, I began to see a lot of posts here and there around blog land about green smoothies and the many ways they're good for you. At first, I thought nope, don't think I can choke down a smoothie with kale or spinach or even worse, broccoli in it. But, I was wrong. Last summer, I began to experiment with making green smoothies and I quickly became totally addicted. They're good, really good (I think ;), and the truth is, if you put all these things in a bowl and told me I had to eat them, I couldn't do it. But for some reason, when it's all blended together like this, I love it. Anyway, I'm sure there are more variations of green smoothies out there than Carter's got pills, but here's my favorite concoction:

My Favorite Green Smoothie

1 c. soy or almond milk
about 1/3 - 1/2 cup Stonyfield Organic Greek yogurt (plain)
big handful frozen blueberries
big handful frozen dark cherries
1/2 fresh banana or big handful of frozen (I slice mine up, dip in lemon and put in the freezer)
two big handfuls organic baby spinach
1/2 scoop of Spirutein
1 t. vanilla
1 heaping t. organic almond butter (I love Maranatha brand -- no stir)
a little agave nectar if you need it
handful of ice cubes

(note: I use organic fruit when/if I can find it, but you knew that.)

That's all there is to it. Just blend it up, and I usually have enough for breakfast and lunch. And I can not taste the spinach -- really. I haven't had the nerve to try broccoli yet, but I'll let you know how that goes -- if it goes ;).

(Actually, mine is more of a purple smoothie, isn't it?)

Now, just take it to your back porch and enjoy while you watch the birds play in the sprinkler and the dog chase the cats around the yard (our Buddy thinks he's the sheriff ;).

And I did finish another pair of pillowcases (free pattern here). This is another project I've been wanting to make for a long time and finally got them done. One thing that held me back was finding the right color of pillowcases, and after looking all over h__l and half of Georgia (sorry, one of my dad's expressions ;), I found some in my own back yard -- at Walmart of all places. And they're actually very nice. I found these little sprigged Laura Ashley sheets on clearance at Tuesday Morning a while back (I know, I know, I talk about that place all the time, but I just can't help it), and I think these new pillowcases look kind of sweet with them.

(almost forgot, I enlarged the pattern to 150% before transferring to my pillowcases)

I need to get back to knitting as I've got this on the needles for my Leah, and I need to get it to her before summer is over.

Have a great week!

♥ ♥ ♥

G

Oh, almost forgot. . . just wanted to say that I've been having trouble leaving comments on some of your blogs - don't know what the problem is. But, I just wanted you nice friends out there to know I'm trying to say hidy, but I can't always get through. Hopefully, I'll figure out the problem soon!

Hot Milk Cake

2011-06-03T00:00:00.048-05:00

I had a really puny day recently - one of the worst in a while. You know, one of those days when doing the least little thing takes herculean effort, and the smallest little bump in the road can practically reduce you to tears? So, for some reason, I've had this cake recipe of my mom's on my mind lately, and I thought I'd spend some of my puny time looking through her old recipe books and file cards to see if I could find it. So, I drug them all out, and sat down in the living room floor and searched through every one, but I could not find it, and yes, this was one of those ridiculously small bumps in the road that reduced me to tears -- well -- let's just say it made my eyes leak -- silly, huh? Anyway, it's kind of interesting to me how still having the recipes for all the good things made by our moms and grandmothers somehow keeps us connected to them, don't you think? And, I guess, not finding this recipe was a little like not being able to find part of a memory of my mother (hence, the leaking eyes?).

Well, anyway, since I couldn't find it in my mother's recipe stash, I looked for it online (what did we ever do without the internet?), and I was so happy to find what I think is the same recipe she used. It's called 'Hot Milk Cake', and I found the recipe here. Do any of you remember your mother or grandmother making this? My mom wasn't one who liked really gloopy overly sweet desserts and neither am I (in fact, I always begged for a piece of cake before it was frosted, and my little grandson, Jordan, is the same way -- no icing thank you very much ;), so I remember her making this plain cake with no icing, and we loved it. Sometimes, we would just put butter on our cake - imagine that ;).

Anyhoo, a couple of days ago, I made it, and it is truly as good as I remembered. I thought the 2 cups of sugar called for in the recipe sounded like too much, so I reduced it to 1 2/3 cups, and it was still plenty sweet. In fact, I think I'll try 1 1/2 cups next time (or maybe less). And, as I mentioned above, I'm not a big fan of icing, so I made a boiled custard (as my mom called it) to pour over it instead. We love this stuff, and I could eat it on everything (except maybe steak) - or just drink it right out of the jug.

Mr. FC & I polished this off way too fast, but OMGosh, it was good. There seems to something about using the hot milk that makes the texture of this cake different -- hard to explain but a little more dense I guess you could say -- not heavy but just - oh, I don't know --- just good! I have to say this is the recipe I will use from now on for shortcakes, for trifle, instead of pound cake, and for just plain eating. I'm fighting the urge to go make another one right now ;).

Here's the custard recipe I used -- just the way it was given to me years ago.

Boiled Custard Sauce

1/2 (or less) c. sugar
2 T. flour
1/8 t. salt
2 c. milk
4 beaten egg yolks
2 T. butter
1 or 2 t. vanilla (I use 2)

In double boiler, mix sugar, flour, salt, then gradually add the 2 c. milk.

Cook covered over simmering water for 8 minutes without stirring.

Uncover, stir and cook about 10 more minutes.

Add the egg yolks and 2 T. butter, continue to cook and stir until thickened -- about 2 - 5 more minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Cool quickly (if desired) by placing pan in bowl of ice water and stirring occasionally.

My daughter and I use this recipe for the custard when making trifle too --- another family favorite. Hmmmm, now I'm feeling the need to make one of those too ;). Soon -- maybe when the peaches are ready.

Have a great weekend and eat cake ;).

♥ ♥ ♥

Pillows & Things (and More Pink & Green)

2011-05-30T00:00:00.056-05:00

I finished the pillowcases I showed you the other day, and I actually like them (yay ;). This is my first attempt at ribbon embroidery, and the results are far from perfect -- very far. But, if you look at them with your eyes kind of squinty in the soft light of the bedroom, they don't look too bad. These are inspired by some I saw at the lovely Alicia's blog quite a while ago. I have gotten so many good ideas and so much inspiration from her beautiful blog. In fact, the first thing I made after a very very (years) long hiatus from crafting was a ripple afghan I found there. I/we still love it and use it all the time. So anyway, thanks Alicia for all the inspiration you've put out here in blog land for those of us who need a little (big?) push when it comes to creating.

You might remember the green duvet cover I found last summer? I got lucky and found these sage-y green pillowcases at Tuesday Morning the other day, and they're almost exactly the same color. And, I found those little rosebud pillowcases and sheets on Ebay a while back -- a discontinued Ralph Lauren pattern. Don't you think his floral patterns are some of the best ever? Oh, and that reminds me, did you see him and his family interviewed by Oprah at their beautiful Colorado ranch a couple of weeks ago -- interesting man and beautiful family.
(Aren't you going to miss Oprah? I am ;( )

Anyway, there's something so cool and summery about the combination of pink and green, don't you think? Seems I've kind of subconsciously scattered it around the house -- now that it's warming up here (understatement!).

Cooler and somewhat crumpley pink & green summery bed (and crooked pictures ;).

Some pretty pink perennial hibiscus from our nice neighbor.

Our friend, St. Francis, watching over the pink begonias (and bugs ;) on the front porch.

And of course, I can't ever resist showing you these pretty hydrangeas --- yet again ;). I was a little worried about this big healthy plant after the unusually hard freeze we had this winter, and it did lose some stems, but it's almost back to normal - happy!

Have a wonderful week, and stay cool!

♥ ♥ ♥

G

There's pink theme over at the lovely "House in the Roses" blog this week. You might want to drop by and see all the pink prettiness.

Tomato & Tomato

2011-05-27T00:00:00.011-05:00

As you might remember, on the 25th of each month, those of us who joined in the lovely Kristyn's ADVENTure for 2011 are posting the recently finished project that will be going into our Christmas gift stash. So here's my FO for the month (ahem, where are the rest of you girls? ;).

(Is it just me, or is red hard to photograph?)

Right after I finished sewing the buttons on this, I went out to the 'garden' and picked our first tomato of the year, so I had to call this my Homegrown Tomato Cardigan -- you know, being the same color and same day and all that ;). No? Okay, never mind. Anyway, you might remember I started it a while ago (Rav link here) and have kind of dawdled a bit on the finishing, but it's done now and going into my Christmas stash, and boy, do I feel all smart and virtuous and organized.

So, I made this with one granddaughter in mind, but I think it's going to be too big (even by December?), so it might be going to another granddaughter instead. That's one of the very very many nice thing about having 4 granddaughters, the things I knit are bound to fit one of them eventually ;).

And just look at this. All that waiting, watching, and anticipation, and our first tomato of the season is holey! Oh well, I'll cut off the bad part and eat it anyway -- tonight -- and probably sing the homegrown tomato song (thank you Gumbo Lily for reminding me of this funny song!).

You should see our tomato plants -- they're huge! I mean like about 4 1/2 feet tall -- really -- so tall they're falling over the tomato cages. I don't think that's normal, do you? Maybe they're some kind of weird mutant giant tomato plants. I'll keep you informed ;).

Happy Weekend!

♥ ♥ ♥

Lately, I'm Loving . . .

2011-05-20T10:42:00.011-05:00

(image via Jeweler's Place)

Well actually, I've been loving friendship bracelets for a long time,-- but only in summer for some reason. Anyway, I feel the time coming to dig through my jewelry box to see if I can find a couple or 20 (I have a gaudy streak ;). Mine are pretty plain Jane, but look at these -- tres fancy, eh? I bet we could make our own -- you think? Must look into that asap.

Ta da! -- the first veggie harvested from our 'garden' (aka haphazard patch of mystery veggies) this year. I actually wanted to plant these so I could fry the blossoms, but just haven't gotten around to it, so we have squash, or a squash .. . so far ;). Anyway, I just love being able to actually grow food in our back yard and know that it's clean and fresh and ours -- kind of makes me feel all virtuous and earthy somehow ;).

I threw the one lonesome squash in with some carrots and Panko breaded chicken (all in one pan) and had dinner. I love one pan cooking!

Have you been seeing a few folks around blog world talking about baked oatmeal lately too? Well, last night (about midnight), I was reading a yummy sounding description of how to make it and just had to get up then and there and go to the kitchen to make some. I used this recipe (but subbed frozen blueberries for peaches). I mixed it all up and put it in the fridge, then this morning when I got up, I put it the oven and 45 minutes later (gave me time to wake up with some coffee), I had this yummy stuff. You must try it! It's so good -- waaaay better than the traditional way of cooking oatmeal -- at least I think so ;).

Of course, it didn't hurt it one bit to add a little butter and half & half, mmmmmm!

(image via Arbor Teas)

And I recently discovered a new favorite tea online. The company is called Arbor Teas and they have a really nice selection of organic teas -- reasonable prices and reasonable shipping too (yay from this country girl!). I've been loving their organic Vanilla Bean Black Tea -- in fact, I think it's better than Kusmi's Vanilla Bourbon (sorry Kusmi!). I'm nearly out, so I'm going to order some more of the vanilla and I'd like to try the apricot as well.

Also, I mentioned finding some treasures in my wandering around Texas a few weeks ago, and I think this is the best one of all.

Isn't this just the sweetest thing?! And I got it for a song (well not really b/c I can't sing ;), but really, I got it for so little that felt guilty -- well almost. I just love it!

So, let's see . . . what else am I loving at the moment . . . Oh, rain! It just started to rain on our newly planted grass -- yay!

. . . grow, grow, grow little grass!

And you know how I adore gardenias, but doesn't everyone? Well, they've been blooming for a couple of weeks now - that fragrance - so lovely! Anyway, I keep a little posy of them on the bedside table, so I can have sweetly fragrant dreams.

That's my sweet mom and dad in the front photo, and my cute little mommy in the one in back -- what a sweetie she was! Oh, and Kate Spade perfume -- gardenia of course. I don't wear it anymore, but I like to spray it on the pillows. Do they still make that? I don't know -- must check -- it's so good.

Oh, and just one more thing before I go.

I have been in love with this (well, not exactly this one) Cath Kidston wallpaper for years -- ever since I first saw it in the home of Sam McKechnie in the lovely book, "Home" by Anita Kaushal. But, although I've loved it for so long, actually getting around to putting in the guest bedroom had been put on the back burner b/c, well . . . as Mr. FC likes to say, "it's all about money, G" ;). So anyway, I finally got around to ordering it, and found out they don't make it anymore -- well at least they don't make the exact one I fell in love with years ago. But, happy to say, they've come out with a new one that's very similar (only difference is that this one has a few blue flowers thrown in with the formerly all pink original version). Anyway, the very kind young lady I emailed about ordering this sent me this sample of the new version. What do think? I think I'm going for it. I'm thinking if you've loved something for this long, there's a pretty good chance you'll continue to love it, right? So, I've got to get the guest bath tiled (has carpet now --- yuck) and then the wallpaper is next on the list -- can't wait!

So, I guess that's it for my list of things I'm loving this week. What about you -- what are you loving at the moment?

Happy Weekend!

♥ ♥ ♥

P. S. I can't ever decide -- large pics or x-large pics. What do you think? These are x-large -- too big? Idk, I love when other bloggers post big pictures, so . . .

On My Back Porch

2011-05-17T11:51:00.007-05:00

When we built this house, I had romantic visions of spending a lot of time on this back porch, but in reality, I've spent very little time here. Truth is, it faces west, so late afternoons are generally hot as blue blazes, and then, there are the annoying lake bugs (some kind of gnatty things that descend upon us in swarms many evenings), and of course, in summer, it's so hot and humid that you just want to run back in to the air conditioned living room about 25 seconds after you step out the back door -- if you step out the back door. But, Sunday was the most lovely mild day here - high temp around 71, low humidity, no bugs -- it was wonderful. So, I gathered up my tea and sewing and spent a very lovely couple of hours out on the porch listening to the Van Morrison station on Pandora (thanks for the suggestion Jess!) and just thoroughly enjoying the slow afternoon -- where I was joined by a curious kitty . . .

or two ;) . . .

as I thumbed through embroidery books, dreamed about new projects, and admired the newly planted agapanthus.

I noticed there seemed to be a pink and green color theme to the day . . .

and I finished the second of my embroidered pillowcases --- well, at least the monogram part (pattern found in this lovely book).

Something in recent years seems to be calling me to a simpler life. Do you feel that too? Maybe it's my age, or maybe it's the 'medical condition' telling me to slow down and simplify. I don't know, but I seem to feel a longing for a different life -- one less cluttered with the complications of our modern world.

I've read recently about some folks choosing one day of the week to unplug --- just one day - maybe Sunday. Could we do it? I don't know. That would mean no golf channel for Mr. FC, no Masterpiece Theater for me ;). Oh well, it's all in the balance I suppose, isn't it? And I'll continue to try to find it. So, maybe now is a good time to step away from the computer, you think?

Wishing you slower days and simpler lives and lovely cool days on your back porch,

♥ ♥ ♥

p.s. Those pink socks I'm wearing above are the first pair I ever made ;)!

Wandering Around Texas

2011-05-11T11:54:00.002-05:00

Hello there! I've West to see my littles for Easter and then went on to Austin for a golf tournament which benefits spinal cord injury research (and is hosted by Bill and Gayle Engvall -- lovely folks!) Actually, we got back home last week, and I would have stopped in to say hello sooner, but my computer died. And sheez, what a convoluted and nightmarish process it was to get the poor old thing back in order. Will try not to bother you with details, but I'll just say this -- if you have a broken Dell, and you're thinking about using their tech support, forget it and take your computer to your local computer repair shop!

Love the way Jess decorated the table!

So anyway, Easter was great. The littles had a good time, and Jess made the most delicious Easter dinner (as always -- she's a wonderful cook!) and there were many eggs to be found (some shared by ants ;), and lots of other fun treats for the kiddos.

This girl of mine is always moving at the speed of light!

Discovering baskets full of treats (& Peeps of course)with happy faces.

Followed by the frantic race to see who can find the most eggs. . .

. . . as Tree Man watches over.

One more!

And later, a little quiet time for a tea party with the 'Teddies'.

Thank you Peeps for your kind hospitality -- once again!

So then on to Austin for the golf tournament (for Mr. FC) and a little shopping for me ;). When my Aunt Ruth was still with us and living in Austin, I went to see her as often as I could. We had a routine during those visits that involved lots of lolling around in our robes over coffee in the morning, followed by lunch out and shopping -- lots of shopping. But, we didn't really do the kind of shopping you might expect -- no malls or fancy shops (well once in while -- maybe), but we loved to go to second hand stores -- our favorite was "Next to New" -- a consignment shop operated by the Episcopalian church. We always found the best things there, and years later, I still go there when I'm in town, and I still find the best little treasures there. This time, I found a framed print by Carl Larsen, a lovely little milk jug and a pretty Ralph Lauren silk scarf -- lucky me! And I do believe Austin has the biggest Tuesday Morning I've ever seen -- even bigger than the ones in Dallas -- goes without saying I found a few little things I didn't know I needed (as my good friend B would say ;) there as well. And the yarn shops -- oh my, the yarn shops! Of course I had to make the rounds to Hill Country Weavers (which I remember as a granola girl weaving shop from the 70's!) and a newer shop, Gauge Knits. I found the most gorgeous Madelinetosh Pashmina yarn at Hill Country and some lovely hand woven yarn at Gauge Knits - called Seacreatures -- made of 70% wool and 30% seacell -- who knew? Anyway, I expect you'll be seeing these lovely yarns show up here before long -- just have to decide what to make with them -- not easy considering the long list of faves I have on Ravelry -- all waiting to be knit.

The golf tournament is based at the Four Seasons, so we always stay there when we go (oh darn!). It's so lovely, and such a special treat! The first night, I was there alone as Mr. FC hadn't been able to get away from work in time to come. Can I just say, I could live in this hotel! I was so tired from my drive and had had a pretty full day out West before I even got on the road, so I felt like I'd arrived at a haven of rest and relaxation when I got to the hotel. I do believe I slept better that night than I had in weeks. There's just something so safe and comfortable and cossetted about that place -- as if your nanny is in the next room watching over things and anticipating your every need. And Bud loves it too ;). He had a special friend to walk him in the mornings and was welcome to dine in the outdoor patio dining area -- so French ;)!

Oh, and one morning, as I was having breakfast, I heard this rather unusual music. I looked out the window and saw this . . .

. . . evidently an Indian wedding. Someone later told Mr. that they would have had an elephant but couldn't find one so had to settle for a horse ;).

So anyway, back home . . .

. . . saw some pretty wildflowers along the way. . .

Aren't these pretty? I don't even know what they are -- do you? They almost look like English Bluebells, don't they?

Well, I didn't mean for the this to be the world's longest post, but I guess I'm trying to make up for lost time. I'll be back soon with photos of my found treasures and a little knitting.

Wishing you ♥ ♥ ♥ & flowers,

Happy Easter

2011-04-18T11:42:00.006-05:00

Hello everyone -- just wanted to drop in to wish you all a blessed Holy Week, with much love, and many good times spent with family and friends in the coming days.

With a thankful heart,

p.s. I'll be taking off for a while - must go see my littles -- been much too long ;)!

Nupps? Nope.

2011-04-07T11:54:00.001-05:00

(image via Knit Picks)

I have had these pretty socks in my queue for quite a while. I just love them, and of course, you know I love lilies of the valley on everything from wallpaper to dishcloths. So anyway, now that I'm such an accomplished knitter (ha!), I thought I could just whip these socks right out - no problem, right? I had read here and there around knitting blogland that nupps could be a little troublesome, but hey, I can overcome and power on and man up (and all those things ;), and those nupps weren't going to get the best of me, nope. Well, I was wrong -- very wrong. I watched umpteen 'easy nupp' videos, and read umpteen 'easy nupp' tutorials, but I could not make the ~~stupid~~ silly things come out right. I even broke a dpn trying to knit through all 5 stitches through the back loop (or whatever it said). I felt like I was back in my Bella Bunny days (when I was first learning how to knit) struggling with unyielding cotton yarn (on #2 needles - which got all gnarled and bent out of shape in the process) and trying to do intarsia for the first time. So, after about 6 attempts, I gave in, cried 'uncle', and frogged the poor thing -- not that there was much to frog. I still want to make them, but I think I'll rest a while before I make another run at nupps. Have you ever made nupps? Do you know an easier way to make them -- that maybe doesn't involve standing on your head and/or breaking needles?

So, anyhoo, I moved on to this little project. I had some yarn left over from Little Red, and have been wanting to make this cute sweater for one of my granddaughters. I could not get the color to photograph well. It's not orangey, as it looks here, but more of a true red. Anyway, I love this pattern -- so clearly written, and I love the lattice stitch detail (much easier than nupps ;). And, it's available in sizes from 3 months to 10 years - love that too! I'm making it to go into my Christmas ADVENTure stash and hoping it will be the right size for little Z 9 months from now. At the moment, I'm thinking it looks too big, but I guess that's better than too small, right?

Wishing you happy stress free knitting & lovely Spring days,

♥ ♥ ♥

ADVENTure FO and a Quick Hello

2011-03-31T11:46:00.003-05:00

Just a quick drive by post here to link up with Krystin's ADVENTure. All I've managed to complete for Christmas gifts this month is one more pair of Muggle socks. I know I've said this before, but the 5 big guys in my family really like these (unless they're just being kind, you think?), so the more I can knit, the better.

This yarn is Tahki Tara Tweed which is worsted weight in 80% wool, 20% nylon, so they should wear well and they're machine washable - which is important. Really, who wants to fiddle with hand washing socks?

And the Johnny Jump Ups wanted to say a quick hello ^v^.

I love these sweet old fashioned flowers.

There's something so happy about them, isn't there?

Hope you're having a great week!

♥ ♥ ♥

The Road to Walmart

2011-03-29T00:00:00.015-05:00

Almost every time I go to Walmart (our only store here in Little Rabbit), I think about what a pretty drive it is (in places), so the other day, I made myself take time to stop and take a couple of photos. I think it was seeing the first Bluebonnets of the year that really made me stop to 'gaze and gaze' ;). As you know, I live in Texas, and this road is so Texas-ish. Really, how could you get more Texas-ish than a field of Bluebonnets, a herd of Black Angus cattle, and an old dilapidated cabin that must have been built at least 100 years ago? Well, okay, I guess I could have gotten some photos of a few jackrabbits and armadillos, but sorry, didn't see any. So anyway, here they are (p.s. only had my phone for taking photos):

First Bluebonnets

This old cabin just fascinates me. Every time I see an old place like this, I wonder who built it, what happened to them, and in this case, why oh why are there cow skulls on the fence -- kinda creepy, but then I'm not an appreciator (is that a word?) of that kind of Southwestern-ish thing (sorry Georgia O'Keeffe fans ;).

Friendly cows (who thought I was bringing lunch).

This picture made me think of a photo I have of my grandfather (who died before I was born) standing out on his property with, of course, his Black Angus cattle. He was a hospital administrator but always had some land and livestock -- as did my uncle and my dad (George Jr.) later in life. My grandfather and his mother and sisters came to Texas from Tennessee around the turn of the 20th century. According to family lore, his father (my great grandfather) had gambling and drinking problems, lost the family farm and died, leaving my grandfather (who was still in his teens!) to find a way to take care of the family. He moved them all to Texas and somehow managed to thrive. From stories I've heard, he was a force to be reckoned with, and I think you can see that in this photo.

Grandfather, George Sr. (c. 1920) Chilicothe, Texas.

I love this photo. It just looks like Texas to me and tells a small part of the story of the life of a man I never knew.

♥ ♥ ♥

. . .

Good Morning!

2011-03-25T12:09:00.007-05:00

Happy Friday everyone. This has been the most gorgeous week here. The very patient man who sometimes helps us with our yard has been here. He's helped put a new edging around the flower bed out front, plant veggies and more herbs in the back, and planted some daylilies back by the 'Old Married Couple' trees. Although the lawn looks awful (lots of dead patches and weeds), I'm beginning to feel hopeful about our yard shaping up a little bit. Last night, I made a salad from things foraged from the back yard -- a few spinach leaves, lettuce, parsley, & mint --I know, sounds weird, but it's good -- really. I added an avocado (didn't grow that), croutons, & dressed it with some of the last drops of olive oil I brought from St. Remy a couple of years ago (I told Mr. FC that I must go back for more soon - he scoffed ;) and a little fresh lemon juice & a sprinkle of sea salt -- so good & simple.

Lovely stock with their fancy new edging. They smell so good!

Eeeenyway, I finished my Andrea's Shawl, and I like it - yay! It's a little smaller than I expected, but that's okay. I'm not so fond of big drapey scarves and shawls anyway. And I've been making dishcoths for gifts. So, here are my FO's of the week:

Oh, and yes, that is a streak of gray in my hair -- oops -- guess I missed that spot last time I touched up;).

And yes, I am thinking about going on "The Martini Diet."

I love Lilies of the Valley, dont you? They're so sweet and homey and smell so heavenly.

So, I thought this was kind of a sweet dishcloth pattern -- nice and Springy. I bought some Lily of the Valley pips (I think they're called?) the other day, but when we got ready to plant them, we found dead dried up sticks in the bag -- oh well -- will try again soon.

Wishing you lots of flowers and a happy weekend!

♥ ♥ ♥

"Earth laughs in flowers."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

This Weekend . . .

2011-03-21T00:00:00.015-05:00

. . . . there was a full moon (but you know that ;) . . .

. . . more flowers blooming. . .

(remember this little squirrel covered in snow -- not long ago?)

. . . and lettuce growing on the back porch (not pretty newspaper mulch -- but it works ;) . . .

. . . and beignet cooking . . .

. . . and beignet eating (ummmm ;).

. . . while listening to a little of this . . .

and this . . .

(must have been the beignets ;)

. . . and more knitting on this (great pattern!).

Hope you had a lovely restful weekend and wishing you a most excellent week to come.

♥ ♥ ♥

ETA: Thank you so much for the toe concern! It's much better, and I'm getting around quite well in my funny shoe ;).

The Mockingbird

2011-03-19T11:37:00.015-05:00

(image via Audobon Society)

Last night, we slept with the windows open and were serenaded by the lovely singing of a Mockingbird all through the night. I think (but of course could be mistaken ;) the Mockingbird is the only bird who sings at night -- here in our part of the world. The lovely Mockingbird is our state bird -- a good choice I think. He might not be the most beautiful bird around (our bluebirds might win that competion), but he can surely sing.

Most lovely Bluebird

(image via Art.com)

"To Kill a Mockingbird" is one of my all time favorite books, and the movie is just perfection too, don't you think? I remember when I was about 13, I'd been in Austin staying with my Aunt Ruth (miss you so much Ruth!), and as I was getting ready to fly home, she handed me "To Kill a Mockingbird" to read while I was traveling. I remember reading it and being overcome with awe and immense appreciation -- something like your first sight of the powerful Pacific ocean or the breathtaking grandeur of the Rocky Mountains -- it was life changing and my first experience with truly great literature. I give this eloquent book much of the credit for cementing my hatred of racism and also my love of literature, as well as helping me begin to understand the vast power of the written word.

Scout & Atticus (I adore Atticus . . . sigh. . .)

So anyway, ever wonder why did Harper Lee call her book "To Kill a Mockingbird"? Well I did, so I looked it up. Remember when Atticus gave the children new air rifles for Christmas and told them they could shoot other birds, but not to shoot a Mockingbird because 'it's a sin to kill a Mockingbird'? Scout doesn't understand, so she asks their neighbor, Miss Maudie, about this. Miss Maudie tells her it's a sin to kill a Mockingbird because, "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Of course, students of this great book have been discussing the symbolism of the Mockingbird for years, and as writer, Edwin Bruell, so simply states, "To kill a mockingbird is to kill that which is innocent and harmless—like Tom Robinson."

So, what's your favorite book? Do you remember reading something at a young age that changed your world view in some way?

Wishing you birdies to sing you to sleep and wake you in the morning ^v^.

♥ ♥ ♥

"It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived."

from "To Kill a Mockingbird"

by Harper Lee

The View From Here

2011-03-13T16:17:00.008-05:00

I broke my big toe yesterday. Isn't that silly? And the medicine they gave me made me sick. So, this has been my view this weekend.

My bedside table.

I'm so glad I bought these beautiful & sweetly fragrant stocks at the grocery store Friday. They've been good company ^v^. And there has been the sweetest sound of singing birdies (lots of them) drifting in through the open bedroom door all day -- such lovely little tweety melodies to listen to as I drifted in out of sleep.

I have managed to work a little on Andrea's Shawl -- when I wasn't too woozy.
Nadia's version is my favorite. She is such a talented knitter, and I always love her color choices.

Hoping you've had a lovely (accident free ^v^) weekend.

♥ ♥ ♥

G

"Sometimes, the most urgent thing you can possibly do is take a complete rest."

Ashleigh Brilliant

Oh! Hello.

2011-03-10T11:20:00.007-06:00

Gosh, it's been forever since I've dropped in to this little place to say hello, so 'Hello'. How are you all? Spring is here in our neck of the woods -- mostly lovely mild sunny days & cool evenings. The hydrangea is peeking out, the peach tree is covered in blooms, and the yard is covered in weeds -- oh well -- the bad with good, right ;)?

Hello peaches & blue skies!

As usual, there's nothing terribly interesting going on around here, but I have been doing some knitting -- as always. A couple of years ago, when I was just learning to knit, I tried to make a lace scarf -- quel nightmare! So anyway, now that I'm such an experienced knitter (scoff!), I thought I'd try again, and I actually did make it through this time. This is what I made.

Buddy said, "Qu'est que c'est?" (he's part French you know). It does look like a lumpy mess, doesn't it? But, don't you just love blocking? It can work miracles. Here it is after . . .

Much better. Even my man doesn't seem to mind wearing it. I did have to use a lifeline about every 10 rows at first, but then I just decided to count after every pattern row which was a pain, but it kept me from missing a YO or something and not catching it until later. Anyhoo, lace knitting is still not my favorite thing, but at least, I'm no longer scared of it -- much.

And then, I saw the lovely Haven on Ravelry, and it was an immediate coup de coeur (sorry, more French -- it's Buddy's fault) -- you know how that happens? I love this yarn (not cheap but see above ^v^) -- so very soft and appropriately named Cocoon. But then, I love everything Rowan, and would like to live in one of their pattern books -- so romantic and moorish and lovely. So, I guess this is lace too, isn't it, but much simpler pattern. I know I won't have any opportunity to wear it until next winter, but I just couldn't resist it and want to lie on it and rub it against my face all the time (should I admit that?) -- it's that soft and cosy.

(sorry, another terrible bathroom mirror photo)

The other day, Mr. FC & I both got bad reports on our cholesterol levels, so we're trying to make better food choices (what no butter?!). We made this salmon the other night - a long time fave around here. The original recipe is from an old Silver Palate cookbook, but we've made a few changes over the years, and here's what we do now -- very simple but so good . . .

Our Favorite Grilled Salmon

Marinade:

Juice of 1 lemon

1 T. honey

1/2 t. cayenne pepper

2 t. liquid smoke

Marinate salmon filet about 1 hour and grill (sprinkle with a little sea salt right before grilling).

And we found some good asparagus at the store, so we made risotto with asparagus too -- so good. And I love eating with the doors open and the sweet spring breezes drifting through the kitchen -- lovely evening.

And thank you all so much for the 'get well' wishes for little Bubba! He is now back to normal and jumping around like his old self.

Happy Spring to you all!

♥ ♥ ♥

Embroidery

2011-02-23T00:00:00.014-06:00

As much as I love and admire the look of hand embroidered things (and still have some of the lovely cutwork, drawn threadwork, and embroidered pieces made my grandmothers and great-grandmothers), I'm sorry to say I don't enjoy doing embroidery so very much (you know, it's knit, knit, knit around here). But, once in a blue moon, I run across such a lovely design that I take a break from knitting and try to recreate whatever pretty little thing that has inspired me. One such source of inspiration is Alicia Paulson's beautiful book on embroidery, "Embroidery Companion" which is full of wonderful embroidered lovelies I'd like to make --- someday. And if you've seen "Bright Star", do you remember the beautifully fine embroidery that Fanny Brawne was working on from time to time throughout the movie - in particular the delicate pillow slip (pictured below) made for Keats's deceased brother, Tom? This amazing work was done by the incredibly talented Susie Cowie. Take a look at more of her stunning work here -- amazing & beautiful things, and there's an interesting post about her at 'This is Naive'. Talk about inspiring! But, I don't see myself attempting to recreate these delicate treasures any time soon (or ever).

(image via "Bright Star")

Anyhoo, last year (as I mentioned), I did take a little knitting break and started to work on my Hibernating Bear pillowcases - design from the lovely Nicole at Follow the White Bunny. I love her sweet charming designs. But, can I just say, if you're going to embroider a design mostly made up of hundreds of french knots onto a pillowcase, don't buy 800 (or some such ridiculous number) count pillowcases and then, don't decide to embroider the design on the double thickness of fabric at the hem! I don't care what kind of needle I tried, every knot was made with just about enough tugging to pull a horse & wagon out of the mud. Anyway, I got it done, and I love the little bears all cosied up for the winter in their little woodsy homes. But then, I though it would look kind of sweet if there were little stars and moons shining down on the little bears, so I ironed on some star & moon motifs and bought some silvery metallic thread and began to stitch away -- or not. Have you ever embroidered with metallic thread? I had not, and don't imagine I ever will again. It shreds and tangles and breaks and makes you say bad words - not good. So anyway, I just ended up using a pale goldy yellow thread with a bit of a sheen and finally finished the stars and moons (thanks to a lovely snow day) . . . a year later.

Not very good photos, are they? It must have been the light. Yes, I'm sure that was it -- the light was bad ;). Anyway, I'm still not crazy about the way the moon and stars look, but I have plenty of experience accepting imperfection in the things I make, so I'll love them as they are.

Do you like to do embroidery? Have you made something you love lately?

♥ ♥ ♥

G

ETA: Forgot to mention that I also did the crocheted edging (inspired by the lovely Beata at Rose Hip) -- that was the easy part -- relatively speaking ;).

ETA (again): I just realized some of the links weren't working, but they should be now -- sorry!

I Am Lucky!

2011-02-22T12:39:00.009-06:00

I mentioned a while ago that I was the very lucky winner of Kristyn's Christmas Planner giveaway. I'm sorry I've been so slow (been a little poorly due to the evil 'medical condition' lately) in getting around to showing you what a wonderful treasure I received from the lovely, caring, sweet, & and oh so talented Kristyn, but here it is -- at last.

Isnt' it just perfect (although, I retied the bow rather imperfectly ;)? It's even personalized and everything. And wait until you see what's inside.

Just look --- personalized tissues, note cards and can you see that sweet little card in the pocket on the left? The care and thought that Kristyn puts into everything she does is just amazing.

And, a category for everything! Thank you so much K -- you're awesome! If I'm not perfectly organized and ready for next Christmas, I've got no one to blame but myself. Oh wait, that's always the way it is, isn't it ;)?

Anyway, you might remember that I joined Kristyn's Christmas ADVENTure last month, but I was a very bad team player and didn't get one single thing finished by January 25th (the 25th of each month is the target date for completing a Christmas gift). However, this month, I've done better. I did manage to finish another pair of Muggle Socks (above), and also made a Romney Kerchief (below) with the very generous and kind help of Jen over at 'Nutty Irishman Knits' (thank you so much!) who helped me figure out how to make this using Jared Flood's 'recipe' before the pattern was released a couple of weeks ago. And, as you can see, I totally copied her sophisticated choice of colors as well. I'm terrible at choosing color combinations and would never have thought to use these two colors together.

So, I was planning to go out West this week, but our little kitty, Bubba, had an accident and partially tore out one of his claws. I know, ouch!!! It makes me cringe just typing that. Anyway, he had a little surgery on his poor foot yesterday and is all bandaged up and can barely walk, so I'm not about to leave him here to fend for himself all alone. He (and the other cats) have a very nice little home in our laundry room and a doggie door to accomodate their wandering in and out, but Bubba wouldn't be able to run or fight if a raccoon or some other unfriendly critter decided to crash our little territory, so I'm staying home and keeping the little guy in the house until he's well. He's presently under our bed and doesn't seem to want to venture far. I might join him there later ;). In the meantime, I just started this. Knitting lace scares me, so I'm using a lifeline about every 20 rows -- just in case. Wish me luck ;).

♥ ♥ ♥ & angels to you,

P. S. I ran across this quote the other day, and it made me think of Kristyn and so many of the other kind friends I've met here in our lovely Land of Blog ^v^.

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."

~Leo Buscaglia

Isn't that good?