beaded wall hanging - another block

Wednesday was another relaxing day…I spent some time making birthday cards, and a bit of time knitting (actually ripping and THEN re-knitting) and a lot of time reading a new book.  Michael and I had leftovers for dinner and watched a bit of TV before bed. 

I forgot to include a picture last week of the next-to-the-last block on my beaded wall handing (Joanne - please notice that it's NOT blurry :-):

Beth and I were back to our usual morning walk on Tuesday (5/29) and Nancy and I were back to our usual Tuesday morning visit.  I got a tiny bit more done on my knitted sweater while she was here…and a tiny bit more done at Stitch ‘n’ Chat in the afternoon.  Michael picked me up at the Lake House after knitting and we hit the chiro, the liquor store (we were out of champagne) and Aldi’s (for eggs) on the way home.  Jan and Walt came over at 6:30 and the guys went to the movies and the gals stayed home and talked.

puzzle rope tote, alcohol inks, bedroom shelves

Sunday morning (5/27) we had breakfast out on the deck, and we were both artsy-crafty for the rest of the day.  I finished up another rope tote:

but now am really sad because I am out of all of my 100% cotton rope and have not presently been able to locate anymore  L.  Michael spent time in his art room, creating more alcohol ink paintings: 

We had yummy ham salad for dinner and I worked on finishing the sleeves of my striped sweater.  They are all knit, but the ends of all of the striped yarn are not yet sewn in (that’s the truly yucky part!)

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MEMORIAL DAY/OUR 7 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!! – This was a truly relaxing day.  Michael left for golf (came home with an 86) and I read a book and helped one of my students with her knitting and just relaxed the entire day.  Michael had told me in the morning that he had 2 presents for me (and we don’t usually exchange anything but cards) so I decided he needed a treat as well.  We have a set of 5 shelves in our bedroom that have been a disaster for a long time:

After I finished cleaning and de-cluttering them…we have 2 TOTALLY EMPTY shelves and another one that is only 1/4 full. 

I was very happy to see it when I was done…and Michael was SHOCKED at the change when he got home.  When Michael came home we popped open champagne to celebrate our anniversary and watched YOU”VE GOT MAIL (a present) in the evening!

neighborhood dinner at our house

Saturday morning (5/26) Michael left early for golf (and eventually came home with an 83!!!) and I managed to get a chocolate cake baked before my knitting students came.  We had a really great 2 hour session, and when they left I got back to cleaning.  Once I was done, it was time to layer and frost the cake.  This was a new recipe for a chocolate cake and the minute it came out of the oven, I already liked it better than any others I have.  I am tired of making layer cakes that when you stack them, look no higher than a sheet cake!!!  This completely filled 2 of my 9” pans, and rose beautifully.  When Inez was visiting, I made a vanilla frosting that was supposedly ‘the best frosting ever’….it was terrible.  I’m sure part of the problem was that I didn’t constantly stir the milk…but that’s neither here nor there….Inez was totally not impressed with it.  She said she needed to send me her ‘mock whipped cream frosting’ recipe that she used the entire time she was making and selling cakes.  She sent it; I saved it and promptly forgot I had it.  So….I’ve got another one of those ‘the best frosting I ever ate recipes, and I’m formatting it in WORD and getting ready to make it….when I remember Inez’s recipe.  I decide that I am an idiot if I try another recipe from the internet before trying hers….so I run downstairs to print it off.  I decided to make a double batch to make sure I have enough frosting….OMG!!!!  I couldn’t believe I had to wait until the guests arrived to TASTE the cake…the frosting was SO GOOD!!!!!  Anyway, I got the cake stacked and frosted:

and continued on to make rolls and deviled eggs.  A bunch of our neighbors came over at 5:30 for a Memorial weekend kick-off dinner!  The eleven of us managed to fit around the table with our plates frull of sweet potato casserole, spinach/strawberry salad, potato salad, rolls, deviled eggs (notice the hand made pottery deviled egg holder):

ham and a fruit platter.  Everything was so incredibly good!  After dinner most of the guests ended up out on the deck, checking out our garden:

Walt, Ken and Bryce

a very pretty trio of Ginny, Ann Mary and Anne



And finally we have Judith checking out the ever clowning around Jim!

For dessert we had a fabulous fruit trifle:

and the afore mentioned cake (wich was also a prototype for my birthday cake....it passed!!!!):

It was a great party and we’re really glad we decided to invite people over for the beginning of the holiday weekend.

spice cookies, scrap quilt, Cookie

I have a mish-mash of pictures before I get into Friday…..here’s the middle of cookie production (I was supposed to post this one yesterday): 

 Sharp eyed Mary Jo saw the quilt beneath the dog/cat pictures earlier this week and ask for a picture of it.  I told her it was a very old quilt….scrappy….from CT days…and threw it out on the bed to take a pic (Inez, do you recoginize the fabric from your chairs on the lanai??):

Well – of course you can’t throw anything on the bed without someone wanting to jump on it:

Anyway, Michael went on errands Friday (5/26) morning and I picked up the house and dusted while he was gone.  I got to spent the afternoon in the studio, working on a new rope tote and had a band gig Friday night.  It was outside, and VERY hot and humid, but the audience (Walking for the Cure) really seemed to appreciate us.

by the way....I totally boobed the name of the flowers...I KNOW they're hydrangea's, but with my increasing OLD brain....I just lost it (thanks to my readers correction!!).  Also, incase you didn't get the Kitty Wells reference...have you never heard the song : sugar in the mornin', sugar in the evenen' sugar at suppertime......

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Thursday morning (5/24) I left for quilting just after 9, and Michael headed up to the new Italian restaurant for breakfast.  I finished beading a new square, and started beading another….my NEXT-TO-THE-LAST!!!!!!!  I am so excited…..I really am sure now that I’m on track for finishing it by the end of June.  Some of the quilting ladies want me to have an unveiling party at my house…and I just might do that!  When I got home around 2, I did a bit of paperwork, then made more cookie dough.  Our local theatre (where Michael and I did HARVEY) has a fund raiser every year and I bake cookies for it.  I got 150 cookies baked and bagged up (with some ending up in Michael’s cookie jar) by 6 PM and spent the rest of the night in the studio.

garden flowers, MPD hole in one!

Hyancinths in the morning,

hyacinths in the evening,

hyacinths at suppertime  (with a nod to writer Kitty Wells)!

I’ve heard it is a record year for hyacinths and our bushes are certainly proving that to be true.  I gaze at them while I eat breakfast….again while I am doing the dishes….and while I am sitting in the living room reading!  Not to mention our LOADED bushes in the front flower bed that I see every time I take the dog out!

Oh….and another happy happenstance….on the FRONT PAGE of the Fort Mill Times:

that was pretty thrilling as well! 

Michael golfed on Wednesday (5/23) and I worked in the studio (mostly cleaning), but by 6:30 I was dressed and taking a plate of spice cookies over to my neighbor’s for a Pampered Chef party.  There were at least 20 women there and we all had a great time…with lots of good food and laughs.  I was home by 9 and just relaxed for a bit before bed.

Tuesday morning (5/22) I took a walk with Beth (and Cookie) and then had a quick shower and headed off to visit with Nancy.  It’s been AGES since we’ve been together…but her daughter’s wedding finally happened this past Sunday, so she once again has some free time.  I got to see a few pictures from the wedding….AND Nancy’s mother of the bride dress…everyone looked beautiful!!!  I’m hoping she will send me a couple of pictures of the bride to post on the blog.

I took along a sweater I’ve been working on.  I am struggling with the cuffs on the sleeves, and have ripped them out 3 times.  I think part of the problem is that I am working with black yarn, and I pick them up at 9:30 at night when I’m already tired and try to figure out what I’m doing.  I thought taking them in the light of day might make it just a bit easier.  I got a little bit done on one cuff…but mostly what we did was re-connect and have a wonderful time.  I stopped for a 10 minute visit with Jan on the way home, and was ready by 1 for Beth to pick me up for Stitch and Chat.  I spent most of the time picking up stitches on Beth’s vest, but at least she can continue the finishing on it now. 

Michael and I had a quick dinner, then he headed out to the movies with Walt and Larry and Cookie and I headed over to Jan’s.  We had a nice evening talking and eating and doing a tiny bit of knitting…and I made it home just ahead of Michael (but unfortunately not ahead of the rain!!!)

caribbean rope tote

Monday morning (5/21) Michael left early for golf and I got in a bike ride and a bit of paperwork before heading up to the Volunteer meeting at 10:30.  I got the minutes typed up as soon as I got home, and worked in the studio the rest of the day and night.  Remember the old ‘hen-er-ree the eighth’ song?  Well….’second verse, same as the first’: 

Second rope tote finished…I have enough fabric to bake a 3^rd (I think???), but no more handle material  L, and since you have to attach the handles right at the bottom, I’ll have to move on to something else for awhile.

beaded wall hanging - another block

Sunday morning (5/20) we took a walk with Cookie (her first since getting spayed) and then had a lovely breakfast on the deck.  I headed down to the studio to do some beading.  We had a class at quilting last Thursday that I participated in (that was the wagon wheel topper I had pictures of) so I didn’t do my regular beading on the new wall hanging.  I spent several hours on it and finished beading another circle (I don't know why the bead pictures are always blurry, but you get the idea):

Then I went back to a new rope tote.  I had enough of the same fabric and handles to do a second teal one, so that’s what I’ll be working on for the next couple of days.

pasta dish, caribbean rope tote, Cookie/Elsie

Michael and I took a bike ride Friday morning (5/18) and stopped at the grocery store on the way home.  The milk crate on the back of my bike sure does hold a lot of groceries J.  I spent a bit of time making a pasta dish in the morning…I put together a 9” by 13” pan for our dinner guests, as well as 3 more smaller dishes to have in reserve when I need them for donations:

I spent the afternoon in the studio and came upstairs at 3 to make rolls and a salad for the rest of dessert.  Sally and Jimmy and Gale and Phil came at 6 and we had a wonderful time eating and talking.  We haven’t seen them in far too long and it was a really nice visit.  Everyone left around 10 and I got to read a bit before heading to bed.

On Saturday the 19^th, Michael left early for golf, and Barrie came over to knit for a couple of hours.  We haven’t seen each other in about 4 weeks, so it was nice to get caught up.  After she left, I headed to the studio and before dinner had finished another rope basket to sell eventually: 

Michael and I got take-out Chinese for dinner and watched TV and knit and relaxed the rest of the night!  He got a couple of cute pictures in the afternoon I thought you might like to see:

Dad!  Leave us alone will you?  I'm tryin' to make friends here.

Come on....I'm really friendly...you'd have a good time if we played together  :-)

Floy's quilted table topper class

Thursday morning (5/17) I dropped Michael off at the doctor’s office, then took off for quilting.  We had a class on a wagon wheel table topper and I wanted to make sure I was set up by the time class started.  It was wonderful!  Almost everyone finished their top and with only 2 fabrics in most of them, it was amazing how different they all looked:

Mine is in the top right position.  It's striped peppermint candy fabric with
black leaf fabric for contrast.  I changed my mind about 12 times trying
to decide what to do.  Finally Thursday morng I said 'you HAVE to cut
now!!!'  The funny thing is....that red fabric wasn't even in contention until
Thursday morning!!!

Michael left to play golf in the afternoon at 3, and I continued to work in studio.  Michael made grilled sandwiches for both of us for dinner, and I continued to work on a new rope basket until it was time for bed.

Speaking of golfing….the other nice thing that happened Tuesday morning was reading the sports section of the Charlotte Observer.  Word for word it said : ‘HOLE_IN_ONE   Michael Devokaitis aced 120 yard number 4 at Carolina Lakes Golf Club using an 8 iron.  It was his third. ‘  This happened after 4 days of trouble with his back, and going to the chiropractor and finally the doctor released him to play  and ZOWIE!!!  he gets the hole-in-one!!!

Wednesday morning Michael left for golf and I headed up to the farmer’s market.  I got strawberries, lettuce, squash and tomatoes.  Cookie and I worked in the studio all day…some knitting and some de-cluttering and finally headed out to the square dance just as Michael came home.  I was collecting money for the dance, and we only had 14 people, so I called Michael and he came up so that we could have 2 complete squares.  We had leftover pizza for dinner and watched TV and knit the rest of the night.

As you know, Tuesday (5/15) started off with those luscious sticky buns, and continued with Michael going up to the our own golf course to get in a few holes, and me finishing up a book and then heading down to the studio.  When Michael got home we did a de-cluttering project.  There are about a trillion wires and cords that come off the back of the computer…and they were all on the floor, covered with dust.  It’s such a hassle to try to vacuum it…I just don’t  J.  Anyway, I REALLY wish I had taken a before and after picture, because it is just beautiful nice…all clean and much easier to keep clean too.  I headed to knitting club in the afternoon and Jan and Walt came over after dinner….Walt and Michael went to the movies, and Jan and I stayed home and solved the problems of the world (over knitting of course!)

killer pecan sticky buns

Michael’s golf got cancelled Monday(5/14) due to it being a rainy, gloomy day, and Jan picked me up at 8:30 for a trip to Hobby Lobby.  We found lots of wonderful things there, and when I got home around 11 I got to work on some of them.  My honey made us an incredible grilled ham and cheese sandwich, which we split for lunch, and I worked in the studio the rest of the afternoon.  We had a late dinner of  pizza from our local grocery store (surprisingly excellent) and I put together 2 pans of KILLER PECAN STICKY BUNS after dinner.  Our neighbors have been really great about taking care of our dog when both Michael and I have been away, so Michael took a pan over to them in the evening.  They rise overnight in the fridge and are baked in the morning.  I don’t make them very often because in addition to being about 500 calories apiece, they make a lot of dishes and take a lot of time….thought you might like to see part of the process:

Here's the topping of pecans, honey and brown sugar, just waiting for the rolls!

Here's the roll dough (I got that made before dinner) with its coating of
butter and brown sugar and cinnamon)

Now I've spinkled on the diced dried apricots, which have been
re-hydrated with apricot brandy)

I've rolled up the dough, pinched it closed, and cut into 9
semi-equal pieces, which are then placed in the pan and
covered with plastic and placed in the fridge to rise overnight.

YUM, YUM!!!!  Breakfast Tuesday morning!

leftovers from craft fair

Sunday morning (5/13) we had breakfast out on the deck…and I spent the rest of the day doing a hundred little things that had to get done…but don’t really make you feel like you’ve accomplished anything!  I got roll dough and 2 quiches (spinach/ham/cheese and broccoli/ham/cheese) put together in the afternoon, and Michael made a fruit salad to share with Jan and Walt who came for dinner.

You know, it’s not just the time you spend sitting at the craft fair (in this case 4 hours), it’s the 2 hours ahead of time you spent arranging and pricing everything…and the 45 minutes it took to load the car and then set up at the Lake House.  And the 30 minutes (because you’ve sold a bunch of stuff!) to pack up the car again and drive home and unload….and then the 3 hours it takes to get everything put away again.  Here’s what the house looks like when you come home from a craft fair (and remember, this was a small one..I didn’t have much stuff!)

Hope Michael doesn't want to play pool any time soon!!!

Scarf rack still in upstairs hall.

The dry bar always gets loaded up.

Michael left early for golf on Saturday (5/12) after helping me load the car.  I got set up at the craft fair and 4 hours (and more than $300) later, he showed up to help me repack the car for the ride home.  I was supposed to be alone for the craft fair, but a super nice woman from knitting came and sat with me!!!  We got a lot of talking done, so that was really nice.  And Joanne (friend and neighbor) stopped by to give me a potty break…and ended up staying and talking for awhile.  Michael got an 82 at golf, so he was really happy, and I spent the afternoon starting to unpack and put away everything before leaving at 7 for CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF down in Lancaster.  Since we knew 5 of the 11 people in the cast, that made it even more enjoyable.  Although it was a very long play (2 hours and 15 minutes) it never seemed to drage…everyone did an excellent job.  We picked up Cookie at grammy Jan’s on the way home…had a nightcap and fell into bed.

retreat pics 2012

Friday morning (5/11) Michael had blood work at 8:30, then it was on to breakfast at IHOP.  Afterwards we hit Joann’s, Michael’s, Target and the chiropractor before finally coming home at NOON.  Two of my knitting students (Jackie and Judy) came over for some help, and I spent the rest of the afternoon pulling together and pricing stuff for the craft fair.  At 5:45 Bob picked me up for band practice and we had a great time there.  I got home around 10 and just collapsed.

BG (a Connecticut friend) told me on the way to retreat that her whole car discussed it and that they are tired of 'secret projects' in the blog.  She DID say that Leila (another CT friend) defended me...as she has been the recipient of some of the secret projects in the past.  Now that retreat is over....I can reveal a bunch that I was working on prior to retreat.

I made a rope tote for Mary Jo from fabric she picked out:

and embroidered aprons which said '4th annual Fiber Floozie retreat - 2012) for everyone who attended:

Becky wanted flowers for her challenge quilt, with pastel around the flower print, so I thought this would be good for her.













These colors will match Janice's kitchen.



Leila is a NUT about Halloween!

 I knew BG would love this print....we bought this fabric together!

Mary Jo liked oriental prints, so I thought this would be good for her.

mini-purses

Thursday morning (5/10) Jan picked me up after 9 for quilting.  I continued to work on beading my wall hanging and I am very excited about the next circle I started beading….I will be putting in a yin/yang beading shape…it already looks awesome, but I have to go to Joann’s and get more aqua beads…it’s a sacrifice to go  J  but I’ll do it!  I got to sew in the afternoon and finished another 4 purses for the craft fair.  I now have 24 purses in 4 different fabrics….oh no…only 22 because Leila bought 2 of my golf purses:

Michael and I had champagne and puffy things for dinner….it was the first time we actually had to celebrate my return home.  We just watched TV in the evening and I got to braid a bit….a new craft that I am dying to finish and show in the blog….stay tuned!!!