garden flowers, banana bread & cookies

Michael took Cookie for a walk Thursday (8/30) morning, while I got the yoghurt out of the crockpot (I make yoghurt overnight) and spooned into individual servings with strawberries and pears.  I got in a quick shower and tried to pull my stuff together for quilting.  Everyone was working on charity projects at quilting and we all got quite a bit done.  When I got home, I had fresh flowers everywhere in the house:

 

 

 

And I was glad to see that even though I have neglected my roses fiercely this year…they are still giving us the occasional bloom!.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made banana bread and cookies (Inez, these are the giant M&M chip cookies) when I got home:

 

 

and we ran a bread and 1/2 of the cookies over to Jimmy and Sally while they were still warm (but as you can see, not before we had a couple of slices out of our own loaf).  It took all of our self control not to stuff the cookies in our mouths on the way over because they smelled SO GOOD!!!  I continued to work on the breast cancer purses until about 8, when I went upstairs and joined my honey on the couch.  We were supposed to be watching TV together…but I think I slept during the last hour of it  J.

honey cookies

Michael left early for golf (coming in later with an 84!) and after walking with Beth I read the paper and then headed up to the farmer’s market for tomatoes, peaches and a cantaloupe.  I worked most of the day on getting more breast cancer purses cut out, but in the afternoon I paused to make these honey cookies:

 

 

Michael only gave them a B-, but Susan (a neighbor) really liked them (and they were quick and easy to put together).  I’ll have to wait until Thursday to see what the quilters say.  Michael had rehearsal in the evening, and I watched TV and knit on a variety of things

After Beth and I walked on Tuesday (8/28) morning, I headed up to Harris Teeter for some groceries.  Between store specials and my coupons….I saved more than I spent, so I did the happy dance  J.  Michael left for errands and I did paperwork for over an hour.  As I mentioned, our friends are still reeling from a diagnosis of an aggressive and cancerous brain tumor.  They are wonderful people and of course, everyone is calling them to ask questions about the diagnosis and to ask what they can do.  The family is exhausted and is still trying to grasp how much their life is going to change.  I stepped up and offered to send out a regular newsletter about what is going on and also to organize people for meals and driving to doctor’s appointments and such.  Since I’m just getting started, I’m getting a lot email and it took me awhile to get it all organized.  I stopped around 11:30 to get showered and dressed for Stitch ‘n’ Chat in the afternoon, and worked a bit more on the breast cancer purses before dinner.  I am all done with 3 more….at least as far as I can go without embroidering them.  I will set them aside and work on something else. 

 

Michael & Larry went to the movies in the evening and Cookie and I watched TV, had popcorn and I actually got a bit of knitting done too!

 

aqua snowflakes, breast cancer purses

Michael left early for golf on Monday (8/27) (coming home later with an 88….he said the course conditions were great, but he had 3 bad holes  L) and after I walked with Beth, I headed right down to the studio.  I finished up the new snowflakes:

 

and they are definitely my favorite so far!  I love how the lame picks up the silver flecks in the light aqua fabric.

I spent the rest of the day working on small purses out of breast cancer fabric.  There is a fund raiser in Connecticut and Michael’s student (who sent all of the bandanas for Cookie) is donating stuff and I wanted to send her some purses to help.  Someone down here is also doing a window at the Lake House in October with all breast cancer stuff, so I will have a purse in there.  I’m going to make a few more down here…but am not going to finish them…I’m going to offer to embroider the person’s name on them, and I have to do that before they are put together.

By 5 PM I had these done:

 

 

We both got cleaned up and had dinner before heading out to square dancing.  We had a lot of new people and it was a really fun night….we got home after 9, watched a bit of TV and then it was off to bed.

pizza

We left the house at 8 AM Sunday (8/26) morning and didn’t get home until after NOON!  First up was WALMART for some poster board, hangers and fuses…no luck on the fuses  L.  Then we headed to THE BIG VIEW for breakfast and the paper…YUM!!!  After that it was off to Joann’s (where Michael dropped me off as he continued his search for fuses) for some breast cancer fabric to make purses for a fund raiser.  Michael came back just as I was heading to the register, so that was perfect timing.  We headed home and got to craft for a bit (snowflakes and starting to work on purses) until he left around 2:30 for play rehearsal and I headed upstairs to make pizza dough.

Michael called when he was leaving rehearsal and I got moving on the pizza in earnest…..he got home and it was almost ready to  go into the oven…we added the sautéed mushrooms and onions, baked…and here’s what we got:

 

it was scrumptious!  We spent the evening watching TV, with a little knitting right before bed.

pasta attachments

We were both up super early on Saturday (8/25), Michael for golf, and me to walk early with Beth, then get cleaned up to take breakfast over to my friend’s house.  They are still reeling over this health crisis and are going to need some emotional support for awhile.  We had a nice breakfast visit and I came home to get a bit of paperwork and a bit of crafting done.  Got the next step in the new snowflakes done and got another row on the charity quilt done and a tiny bit of knitting on some ruffle scarves.  I got pasta dough put together and resting while Michael took a shower after golf…then we made pasta for the first time using my new attachment for the Kitchen Aid mixer:

 

 

 

 

WOW – I cannot believe how quickly we got it done!!!  Mixing up the dough only takes about 10 minutes (if that) and then it rests for 30 minutes.  Rolling it out and cutting it by myself, on the old hand crank took anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half.  Michael and I worked together, and thanks to automation, it only took 20 minutes!!!  I was shocked!  I’m sure I’ll be making more fresh pasta in the future.  We had one funny moment…the front end of  the mixer has to come off to put on the attachment…I’ve had this mixer since 1976 and that part has NEVER been taken off…but Michael got a small screw driver for a prying tool, and it popped right off into his hands.  We packed up our drying rack of pasta, a bunch of sage, a stick of butter, knitting stuff and a couple of drinks and headed on over to our neighbors.  The guys watched golf downstairs while the ladies sat upstairs and talked and knit.  Dinner took literally 10 minutes to put together…I got the sage butter sauce going….garlic bread went in the oven, salad on the table…and the pasta took 2-1/2 minutes to cook.  It was TOTALLY yummy…everyone agreed!  We stayed for just a bit after dinner, then headed on home to take care of Cookie.  Good thing we did….Michael had trouble with his TV and it was picked up on Friday for repair.  They fixed it and said they would call Saturday when they were on their way to deliver…so we took our cell phone.  No call…we got home around 7:30, and they pulled into the driveway literally 5 minutes later….guess they forgot to call…but Michael was THRILLED to get his TV back so quickly….now if he can only find the correct fuses for one of his speakers….all will be perfect  J.

Cookie

Friday morning (8/24) it was cool out so we decided to eat breakfast on the deck.  After that, Michael left on a bunch of errands, and I headed downstairs for paperwork, and then started another set of snowflakes.  I am having a LOT of trouble with the lame….I wish I didn’t have to use it, but I think it makes them so beautiful that I am loathe to give it up.  I sewed another row on the charity quilt, then knit for awhile while re-watching Jurassic Park (a GREAT classic).  In the afternoon, I raided my neighbors freezer (where I keep all of the food I make for people who need it) and took 2 casseroles and 2 quarts of soup over to some friends who received some devastating health news.  Michael and I had Chinese for dinner and settled down to watch old movies and knit in the evening.

You know Michael has been painting with alcohol inks, and one of his former students, who is also on FACEBOOK, saw his paintings and wanted to buy one.  Of course he wouldn’t let her…he asked her to pick out her favorite, and he mailed it to her in CT.  Well…..she wanted to reciprocate, so now our baby is stylin’ in 8 different purple bandanas:

how can anyone resist those big, brown eyes?

Monday morning (8/20) it was raining, so no walking with Beth….YAY!!!!  That’s because of the walking and NOT because of Beth.  We talk the whole time and that part of it is TOTALLY enjoyable!  Anyway, I worked just a bit in the studio before heading off to my volunteer meeting.  I headed to Joann’s after the meeting and was TOTALLY DISAPPOINTED to find out that they are no longer carrying the fusible stuff I have been using for the snowflakes  L.  So, guess I’ll have to go with plan “B”, just as soon as I figure one out.  Michael took all of the blocks I have been working on at quilting and put them up on the design wall, so I spent the afternoon starting to sew those together.

 

It’s Friday morning now (8/24) and we had a wonderful trip to Waynesville.   Friends of ours saw this great deal for 2 days of golf and invited us and 2 other couples to go along.   One couple had to drop out due to minor surgery, so we said we could certainly find someone else.  We had a wonderful time….the guys played 18 holes the first day and 27 holes the second.  On the first day, the women all explored Waynesville, an obviously tourist-y town with lots of neat little shops full of lots of neat little things!  On the second day Sue found us a quilt store and we had a wonderful time exploring and shopping.   In the afternoon, we sat by the fountain, drinking and talking until the men came back.  The food was fabulous….I am only sorry I never got a picture of the 8 of us together….I kept thinking about it, but never quite got the camera pulled out  L.  Anyway, it was a great time and we got home yesterday just before lunch.  We unpacked, I got in a visit with Nancy (since we missed our regular Tuesday get-together), and I got some knitting done as well as a few more blocks on the charity quilt done.  We were really beat, so we headed to bed early.

pink snowflakes, cookies, scones

Michael decided he wanted waffles Sunday morning (8/19), unfortunately I didn’t have any yoghurt made for our quick waffles.  He asked if we could make pancake batter and just use the waffle iron, so we tried it.  They were a big hit, so now we have yet another waffle recipe that can be whipped up in a snap.

We spent a bit of time cleaning (company coming) but in the afternoon I got to spend time in the studio and finished another set of snowflakes (same as the last set):

I cut out new fabric for another set and can’t wait to see them…I think I might like them even better than the pink ones  J.  At 4 PM I went upstairs and baked 3 kinds of cookies (frudge truffle, lemon logs & spice):

some apricot/cranberry scones for Monday breakfast from my friend Paula (they were yummy...since I HAD to try them....right?): 

and another peach cobbler for Sue & Dennis, Phil & Gale and Nancy & Jim.  We are all leaving for a short golfing vacation on Tuesday morning, and we needed to get together to iron out all of the details.  They all arrived around 7 and were gone by just after 8!  The rest of the evening was spent knitting and watching TV.

rope tote - nyc

Saturday morning (8/18) Michael left early for golf (coming home later with an 84!!) and I walked with Beth, then showered and got ready for a visit from Barrie.  We had a wonderful time talking (and even doing a tiny bit of knitting) and I was inspired to craft after she left!  I hit the studio and finished this:

 and also worked on my snowflakes.  I am having a lot of trouble with this batch, the fabric is not staying suck to the stabilizer  L, but I am persevering.  Michael and I had leftover pizza for dinner, and it was knitting and TV in the evening.

pizza

On Wednesday I bought 1/2 a bushel of tomatoes at the farmer’s market, and Friday morning (8/17) I was up early to make roasted tomato sauce.  I got 5 quarts done by 9:30 and then had breakfast on the deck with my honey  J.  I spent the afternoon in the studio, working on snowflakes and starting a new rope tote, while Michael was painting again with his alcohol inks.  We wanted to taste the sauce right away, so I made pizza for dinner, using 2 cups of the sauce:

I haven’t made a thick crust pizza in quite awhile and Michael really liked it. We spent the evening vegging on the couch and watching TV.

garden flowers

Thursday morning (8/15) Jan picked me up for quilting just after 9. I finished sewing all of the blocks for a new charity quilt (WHOO HOO 80 blocks done!)  By the time I got home, my house was once again filled with flowers.  The hydrangeas are still going strong:

 as are the zinnias:

I worked a bit on the new snowflakes, did a bit of weaving, a bit of knitting, took a nap, and spent the evening watching TV.

new purses, Cookie, labels

Michael left early for golf Wednesday (8/15) and after my walk with Beth, I headed up to the farmer’s market.  I got 1/2 a bushel of tomatoes (to make more roasted sauce), 1/2 a melon (split with a friend of mine) and 5 large peaches (for peach cobbler on Sunday).  I headed downstairs once I got back home, and by 1 PM I had finished these:

Obviously the ‘marlene’ one is already sold, I embroidered 2 others with ‘mah jongg’ and the other 5 are plain.  Here’s what my ‘audience’ was doing while I was sewing J:

After I finished with the purses, I started working on another set of snowflakes.  I’m going to make the same pink/silver ones; I think they are gorgeous and I still have fabric left.  Here’s the beginning, 84 pieces with fabric on either side:

 I also got 2 labels made for a friend: 

Michael came home with an 86 for his efforts, and sat down to work once again on the wall hanging for the living room.  We decided to drastically reduce the number of colors we were using, and although I will hate to do it, I think I HAVE to make one more small sample before forging ahead.

I quit working on stuff at dinner, and went upstairs to bake 4 different kinds of cookies (I just kept finding baggies of frozen dough!) to send to the kids to keep up their strength while unpacking in their new apartment in Ithaca.  I wanted to weave in the evening, but I kind of lost my momentum, so I just knitted 10 rows on a charity blanket for breast cancer and it is now ready to go on to the next person.

Tuesday morning (8/14) was again a bit cooler and Beth and I had a nice walk.  Michael left close to 10 for a day full of errands and Nancy arrived for knitting and talking.  We were both very productive during our visit (for a change!)  I picked up Joanne for Stitch ‘n’ Chat, after which we headed over to a friend’s house to drop off some cards.  She has been having a rough time physically lately and we thought the cards might cheer her up.  I worked on the purses until 4:30, when we left to pick up Jan and Walt to head out for dinner.  We had a wonderful time at THE FISH HOUSE….Jan and I had tournedos of beef (yummy!), Michael had salmon and Walt had the porkchops.  They served gigantic brownies for dessert.  We got home around 8:30 and I just sat for 1/2 an hour, but then roused myself and finished sewing the straps for my purses.

pink/silver snowflakes

Monday morning (8/13) Michael left super early for golf (coming home later with an 87…he said the course was a mess!) and Beth and I had a very pleasant walk in the 64 degree temps!  It was such a delightful surprise to wake up to that coolness!  I had breakfast and got sucked back into the book that I found last night when I had insomnia….it was really good and I read until 2 PM when I finally went downstairs and finished the new snowflakes:

I LOVE them…I may have to keep ALL of them  J.

I worked on purses for a bit and Michael had dinner then left to try out for ‘the senator wore pantyhose’.  I was supposed to leave at 7 for our anniversary square dance, but at 6:10 I got a hankering for peanut brittle.  Someone keeps bringing it as a snack for the dances, and I don’t like to eat it because lately I have just been collecting $$$ (I’m the treasurer) and then going home.  So…I decided to whip up a quick batch for myself before leaving….it was AWESOME!!!  I went to the dance for an hour, then came home and found the car at home, but my honey and Cookie gone….so I went tooling around in the golf cart until I found them, at one of the newly-being-built housing sites.  We all came home and I knit while we watched TV.

Elsie

Sunday morning (8/12) we made our usual bike ride, but stopped at a restaurant on the way home for breakfast with Nancy and Paul, whom we haven’t seen in ages.  We had a wonderful time with them and at the end of breakfast, we all decided we needed to do it on a somewhat more regular basis.  We hit the grocery store on the way home, then settled in the living room for a bit to read the paper.  I got to have a long phone conversation with Mary Jo, and right afterwards, another long conversation with Janice.  I finally got to work on the snowflakes and purses until dinnertime, when we had the last of our corn L and I made another peach cobbler (which we shared with our neighbors).  I had company the entire time I was working downstairs:

Elsie in repose

After dinner, I worked a bit more on the purses, then headed upstairs for TV watching and I finished knitting a hat, which needs to be felted.

Cookie

Saturday morning (8/11) Michael left for golf and after walking with Beth, I settled into the studio.  I got another step done on the new snowflakes (I think there are 6 different steps AFTER you get the fabric all fused and cut, and I let each one ‘cure’ for a day) and started to cut interfacing for the purses.  Beth and Barrie stopped by for a bit of knitting help, and Jan stopped in for a bit of chatting.  I got everything fused by dinnertime, and spent the evening knitting and watching ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’…the old one with Pat Boone and James Mason.

I thought I’d show you Cookie’s new favorite resting place…..yes…it’s my sewing chair:

mini wall hanging and rope tote fabric

Friday morning 8/10) I took a walk with Beth and Cookie, then Michael decided to take a walk with Cookie as well.  We had blueberry pancakes when he got back and then both of us retired to the studio.  I am working on snowflakes and another set of purses, and Michael is working on deciding where fabrics will go in the new wall hanging.

 Michael finished deciding where all of the fabric should go, and went upstairs to watch golf.  I decided to make a miniature of the wall hanging to make sure we liked it….we didn’t  L:

It took me a couple of hours to get it all together, but it was worth it because neither one of us liked the layout.  I think I need more contrast of light and dark, and a better definition between my green fabrics and my blue fabrics.  Anyway, it was worth figuring out before I made the big one.  In the afternoon I put together these no bake peanut butter and chocolate cookies.  I started to make them and ran out of peanut butter….Michael mentioned that there was some almond butter up in the cupboard, so I used that.  It still wasn’t enough, so I used this stuff called NUTSO, which is a kind of nut butter with lots of seeds in it.  The cookies were fabulous  J.  We had leftovers for dinner and spent the evening reading and watching TV.

Several people have asked what the fabric looked like for the latest tope so I’m including a picture.  I thought the fabric was really ugly, but thought the colors would look pretty in the a tote and I think I was right:

Cookie & alcohol ink prints

Thursday morning (8/9) I left for quilting and Michael took off for a bit of golf (only 11 holes).  I got quite a few blocks made for my new scrap quilt, and went out to lunch with the ladies around 12:30 and then headed for home.  In the afternoon I worked a bit on the snowflakes, and pulled fabric for a new set of Mah Jongg purses.  Michael gave Cookie a new bone in the afternoon, which she promptly tried to hide:

We met up with Jan and Walt for dinner at the Blue Heron (our on site golf course restaurant) and did a few errands on the way home.  We watched a bit of TV in the evening before going to bed.

Michael had continued to work on his alcohol ink pictures, here are 2 recent ones:

alien world #2

seascape #7

Michael left early for golf on Wednesday (8/8) and Beth and I got in our morning walk.  I had some cantaloupe when I got home, then hopped on my bike for errands: the library, CVS, the Vet (picking up heartworm pill) and finally the farmer’s market for more cantaloupe, peaches and a dozen ears of corn.  I got sucked into a book when I got home and didn’t make it to the studio until 2:30  L.  Michael and worked a bit on organizing the fabrics for the wall hanging, and then I got to work a bit on the new snowflakes…I love them already!!!  I managed to score some butter and sugar corn from the farmer’s market….and we had EIGHT ears of corn for dinner!  The rest of the evening was spent knitting and watching TV.

I took off to walk with Beth Tuesday (8/7) morning, but it started to rain hard when I was 2 houses away, so that ended that!  I had breakfast and left for my visit with Nancy.  She was working on a variety of things and had 2 beautiful blocks up on her design wall as part of a Block of the Month she is doing.  I decided not to go to Stitch ‘n’ Chat in the afternoon, instead opting to pull together all of the fabric needed for a new wall hanging in the living room.  This one will be a stained glass effect and I am really looking forward to it.  Michael helped me to pull out all of the right fabrics from my inventory cards, then I spent a good bit of time retrieving the actual fabric from all of their boxes.  After I was done, I started to pull out fabric for a new set of snowflakes.  I showed Michael what I wanted to use….and he said ‘oh my, that’s gorgeous…it’s too bad you have to cut it into little pieces’….and I SCREAM at him and say ‘DON”T SAY THAT TO A QUILTER….don’t you know that’s what we say about ALL of our fabric…and that’s why we keep buying more, because everything we have is too beautiful to cut into!!!”

After pizza for dinner, we picked up Jan and Walt and headed out to see Moonrise Kingdom, a really good movie…I would urge anyone to go and see it.

new snowflakes

Monday morning (8/5) Michael left for golf (coming home later with TWO birdies and a total of 83…..low man yet again  J) and I spent the day cleaning for a good bit and working on my snowflakes in the studio…another set is done:

People keep asking me how big they are, so I thought I’d take a pic on the cutting board so that you can see the measurements…they’re between 5-1/2 and 6 inches square.

I read a bit in the afternoon…spent 2-1/2  hours at the Lake House for various square dance endeavors and spent the evening snuggling with my honey.

new rope totes

When I got up Sunday morning (8/5), my hands definitely knew that I had cut out all of the strips, for 2 rope totes, in one day…they were aching, so I took an Aleve and Michael and I took our usual Sunday morning bike ride, picking up a few boxes of crackers at the grocery store before heading home.  We saw Paul and Nancy by the store and we both agreed that we haven’t seen each other in AGES, so we are going to meet for breakfast next Sunday!

After a quick breakfast, I headed to the studio for about an hour of paperwork, while Michael made crab salad, which we’ll have for dinner.  I got back to working on the second rope tote around NOON.  And by 4 PM….TA DA:

I am glad to have them done!!  You know that I love to do these, but the bad news is...almost no one is making 100% cotton rope anymore.  If you are making smaller items, you can use the rope with poly/synthetic stuff in it....but it is not sturday enough for my bags.  I used to be able to buy the rope for $3 - $4, but now, the only stuff I can find is ELEVEN BUCKS!!!  I'm going to go up on my basket price by $5, but I think I'm going to have to get making them out of my system....I just don't make enough $$ on them for) the amount of time they take (as you retreat people well know  J.)

I spent the rest of the day weaving on 2 scarves that have been on my loom for MONTHS!  I’m hoping to work on them a bit each evening to get them done in a week or 2.  Then I want to warp up with the new yarn I bought in February, and my friends brought to me at retreat in March.

full day in studio

Michael left VERY early for golf  on Saturday (8/4) (since it is still incredibly hot and muggy here) and came home around 1:30.  His foursome start on the back 9, which is the easier one and he scored a 40….but he came SCREAMING back on the front 9 with a 38  for another 78!!!!  That’s 4 – 5 78’s that he’s gotten in the past year and a half and he is psyched!

I hit the studio at 8 AM and didn’t leave until 10 PM!!!  That included 2 hours where a couple of knitting students came for some help, and I helped a bit, but continued working.  I got a rope tote about 90% of the way done, and started on a second one.  I just felt so productive after everything I got done on Friday that I was motivated to work-work-work!  I actually tried to start a NEW secret project, but it literally blew up in my face….so I turned to doing new rope totes instead.  Jan and Amy stopped by at 9 PM for a bit of help with Amy’s knitting and to bring me some supplies for my secret project…which I hope to get back to on Monday, after both rope totes are finished.  I went upstairs at 10, collapsed into a chair and read for 1/2 an hour before collapsing in bed.

lots of food and Jan's grankids

Friday (8/3) was a very productive day for me…I wish they could all be like that!  I harvested a bunch of basil and made pesto before heading down to the studio to continue working on my purses.  I got this one done (I guess I just shouldn’t try to take pictures on the close-up setting of the camera…they are ALWAYS fuzzy):

then headed upstairs to made bread dough.  While it was rising, I made a quick trip over to Jan’s to re-thread the serger so that she could continue making the duvet cover for her daughter.  In the afternoon I continued to sew on the 7 other purses, stopping around 4 to bake the bread (Paula finally got some.  I felt bad that when she came home from vacation, she had not 1 but 2 messages from me saying ‘I have hot bread…you want some’?  She’s finally home and came down for 1/2 a loaf): 

 a peach cobbler:

 and 2 individual pizzas with a new crust recipe:

It was a case of ‘as long as the oven is on….I’m baking a lot’!  After dinner, several people showed up to spirit Cookie away:

Jan, Amy (grandaughter), Dana (grandaughter), Ethan (granson)



I aked Dana to move in so I got a better picture of her!

Dana, Ethan (in back) and Amy driving away with my baby!

 And in the evening, I finally finished the other purses (some embroidered, some not):

 Jan and the kids brought Cookie back around 10, and we went to bed shortly afterwards.