Cookie & Elsie a deux, coral purses, candy embroidery

I found a new website when I was on the web Wednesday morning (1/30)….so you know what that means….several hours collecting new recipes.  You know that’s my hobby right?  Not ever really cooking anything new….but collecting recipes I’ll someday try (NOT!) I’m ALL over that  J.  Got lots and lots of good ones…was mostly picking ones that had ‘light’ or ‘healthy’ in the title.  Finally, I had so many open documents on my computer that I had to stop and get some work done.  You know those little purses I have been making?  Well, I thought I was done making those….I’ve been making for 2 years, with great success, but we get the same people through the craft fairs, so have to find something new.  Anyway, Beth is going on a cruise for her wedding anniversary and wanted a more spring-like purse.  I had some coral with a bit of lavender in it that she just loved…so I cut the strips on Tuesday and started sewing after I got off the computer.  I had company while I was sewing:

 

 

You know…my little lady Cookie, her legs crossed at the ankles ‘just so’, patiently waiting for dad.

 

 

 

Or this one which seems to say “gosh, the paparazzi are just everywhere”:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, I discovered that if you just work on ONE thing….and don’t let yourself get distracted (I think I really have the attention span of a gnat!) you can get things accomplished….by dinnertime I had this:

 

 and also finished those embroideries I started earlier: 

 

You’ll have to wait til closer to Christmas to see how I use them…I have a lot more to do!

 

 

 

 

 

Michael and I had leftovers for dinner and just vegged for the rest of the evening.

Jan's dragonfly table runner

Tuesday (1/29) was a fabulous day!  I spent the morning with Nancy, talking about everything under the sun and also getting her opinion on my entrelac sweater.  I got home at 12:30 and the inside temp was 63 degrees but the outside temp was 69.  I heated up soup for lunch and opened all of the windows.  By the time I finished my soup 1/2 an hour later…the house was at 65 and I headed off to knitting.  I took lots of show and tell and I think everyone really liked what I brought.  By the time I got home, the house had warmed up to a terrific 71 degrees….WHOO HOO!!!  Michael came home at 4:30 from a bad day at golf  L and after a quick shower we had dinner and headed over to Jan and Walt’s.  And then…..and then…..my terrific day just got better and better….the mystery I have been working on was for Jan.  Jan is crazy about dragonflies.  She had some dragonfly fabric…and I think she has had it for awhile.  When I went to her house several weeks ago, to help put her fabric back on the shelves (remember, she is moving sewing room from upstairs to downstairs) her granddaughter Rachel was visiting.  I spotted the dragonfly fabric and immediately asked Jan to go upstairs and get me a glass of ice water.   Once she left, I grabbed my car keys and the fabric and asked Rachel to smuggle it out to my car…along with the measurements of Jan’s dining room table (really, how any of my friends trust me alone in their homes I do not know  J).  Anyway….a few weeks later there was this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and this:

 

 So, when we get to their house, I make up some excuse so that Jan and I go downstairs to check out some of her fabric…meanwhile, upstairs, Michael is putting the table runner on the dining room table.   He comes over to the top of the stairs and says ‘honey, we’re leaving…come and give me a kiss’…that’s my cue to know that he is all set.  We got upstairs and start to walk towards the table and Jan looks and says ‘that’s my fabric’…..then she says ‘it’s a table runner’….then she says ‘it’s beautiful’!  The guys leave for the movies and I tell her how the whole thing came about….I am VASTLY relieved when she tells me that she bought the fabric to make some curtains for the kitchen, but that Walt wasn’t sure he liked that…..so since then, the fabric has just been sitting…whew…it would have to awful to use up something and totally screw up a project for her  J.  We spent the rest of the evening knitting and watching TV…but several times when Jan went out to the kitchen, she would detour over to the table, touch the runner and say ‘it’s beautiful'…SCORE!!!  It was a very nice evening!

I spent several hours Monday morning (1/28) doing paperwork.  About an hour on setting up the chart for our Volunteer Drives next year…and another hour working on letters I send to Dorothy (friend in assisted living) 2 – 3 times a week.  And a bit of cleaning of my desk….I had much more to do…but was tired of doing it, so proceeded to work on a Christmas embroidery project (hopefully for this year) while organizing sewing closet a bit.  Last year in the weeks leading up to the craft fair in December…and then leading up to Christmas…I had just started chucking stuff into my sewing closet.  A few weeks ago, Beth told me that she was going on a cruise on February 2, and wanted me to make her a spring purse.  She had picked out the main fabric…and I knew I had a piece of lavender batik somewhere to go with it…but hadn’t been able to find it.  So, I spent most of Monday looking for it while re-organizing my closet, and at 3:30 PM I was finally successful!!  I got my strips cut out and then had dinner and watched TV with my honey.

After another scrumptious breakfast (whole wheat blueberry waffles) on Sunday (1/27), I headed to the studio and by 4 PM…my mystery was DONE!!!  YIPPEE!!!!  Pictures as soon as the recipient sees it!  It seems as though instead of being motivated by finishing something…I just sat and did nothing!  Michael and I had leftovers for dinner, then snuggled and watched TV.  We watched the first episode of THE FOLLOWING (WAY too violent and bloody for me…I won’t be watching that anymore) and then Michael said he wanted to watch our HARVEY video…that was delightful and brought back wonderful memories.  By the end of that…it was time for bed.

celery

Michael made me a scrumptious breakfast Saturday morning (1/26) after which I bundled up and headed down to the studio.  It was 59 degrees down there (the furnace people said they would be by between 3 PM and 7 PM) but I plowed ahead with my mystery.  In the afternoon, as I was trimming a section, I discovered that my next to the next to the last strip was too short L….so I proceeded to rip out 3 strips (black thread on black fabric…what fun….NOT!)  Once I got that done, I headed upstairs to get a start on the bread we needed for dinner.  I paused for a moment to take a picture of my new celery…..here’s the progression:

 

A week ago Friday to Saturday to Sunday afternoon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I finally got it planted a week ago Sunday, and it looked like this until Saturday (yesterday)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look on the right....that teeny, tiny yellowish spot...that's new celery...in less than a week!

 

 

I finally got back to making the challah bread.  Michael and I left at 6 PM for our neighborhood dinner.  We had meatloaf, potatoes, broccoli casserole, a salad, the bread and a fabulous cake for dessert.  It was a wonderful evening, the only downside was that it seemed to break up very early.  I came home to watch TV and knit, while Michael leaded to the open house at Fort Mill Community Playhouse.  He signed us up for season tickets, got to visit with a lot of people and was home by 11.

sleet, Elsie & Cookie a deux

Friday morning (1/25) dawned very gray….it is supposed to rain/sleet/maybe snow today…shades of being in CT!!  If I had wanted this kind of weather, I never had to move.  Luckily, the only plan on our agenda was a 10 am conference call to learn about long term care insurance (I know…what a drag…we must be getting REALLY old).

 So…..I don’t know if this is sleet or snow,

 

but either way I don’t need to see it on my deck!  This is what the deck looked like by 3 PM.  I spent the afternoon and 1/2 of the evening working on my new mystery project and it is coming along nicely.  My 2 babies were doing their usual thing, only this time Elsie decided she wanted to be on top: 

After awhile they shifted and Elsie almost got pushed off of the stool:

 

 Michael worked on his pen and ink drawings for awhile, played on the computer for awhile, and took care of the dog for awhile.  Our furnace for the studio went out around 6:30, but it stayed kind of warm until 8:30 when I headed upstairs to join my hubby on the couch, watching TV.

sandwich bread

Wednesday morning (1/23) seemed very busy.  Janice called at 9 and we got to have a nice long talk…then I had to run to the bank to turn over my treasurer duties for Square Dancing.  I stopped at the doctor’s office on the way home to drop off the baby quilt…and once I was back home, Sally came over for tea and cookies and conversation.  Michael left around 11 for a shot gun start at golf (it was still VERY cold) and Sally and I continued to visit.  I got bread baked just after lunchtime (we needed sandwich bread):

 

and finally hit my studio around 2 PM.   I spent the rest of the afternoon working on cutting some of the strips for the mystery project…and the evening watching TV with my honey and knitting.

Thursday morning (1/24) I was up early to pick up Jan and head for WALMART.  I had 5 things on my list….didn’t find any of them L…but Jan scored everything she needed.  After that we headed to my doctor’s appointment (sleep doctor) at 10 AM.  We headed back home after that, stopping in at the Viking store, only to find out that Jan’s Christmas present (a new Viking portable machine) had to be re-ordered because the one she got had a bad circuit board  L.  The good outcome of the visit was the recommendation of a new Mexican restaurant, and our lunch was OUTSTANDING!!!  I can hardly wait to go back.  We made a few other stops on the way home, finally getting home around 2.  I read in the afternoon, and Michael wanted to watch one of his shoot-em-up-big-explosion movies in the evening, so I headed downstairs to sew.  Somehow I just couldn’t get myself going, so sat on the couch all night watching TV.

Elsie & Cookie, pot pie supper

Brrr-r-r-r, 27 degrees again when we got up on Monday (1/21), but by the time Rose picked me up for our volunteer meeting it was in the 40’s and very warm in the sun.  Michael went golfing at a chi-chi place in Ballentyne, and came home around 3:30 with an 85 (he was very pleased).  I got home from volunteers around 12:30 and spent several hours cutting new strips for my flip and sew Christmas runner…while another 2 snuggled up on the couch again:

I think I’ve settled on what pattern I’m doing for the mystery project also….but am waiting to start until I get Nancy’s opinion on Tuesday morning.  I made a new recipe…kind of a chicken pot pie thing with a cheesy biscuit crust for dinner:

and Michael and I spent 2 hours Monday night up at square dancing.

Tuesday (1/22) was a busy, but fun day from beginning to end.  Nancy came in the morning for a visit and we talked non-stop for 2-1/2 hours!  She has started some new things in her life and I had a million questions.  Plus, she looked at my mystery quilt fabric and using my ruby beholder helped me to determine that my medium tone fabric is really the same tone as my light fabric  L.  She also looked at my new mystery project and totally approved what I had finally settled on doing…I feel much better with her input.  Once she left I went into a whirlwind of activity to get Italian Wedding soup in the crockpot, and dough into buns and into pans for rising.  Michael took me up to knitting just 1/2 an hour late, and after a nice 1-1/2 hours of conversation and knitting, Joanne brought me home.  I put together cookie dough and was ready to meet our guests (Jan and Walt and Nancy and Larry) by 6.  Everyone enjoyed the soup and rolls and cookies and the men headed downstairs for pool while the women stayed upstairs, talking and knitting.

red pinwheels, Cookie & Elsie

Sunday (1/20) was another cold morning , so we hunkered down with buckwheat pancakes and fried potatoes for breakfast.  I got to head down to the studio while Michael cleaned up from breakfast.  I finished up 8 simple blocks for my Christmas quilt (I did these samples at home to make sure I was cutting the correctly sized strips):

and cut a bunch more strips and squares to sew on when we do small groups next month at quilting.  Once that was put away, I got out fabric to start a secret project…..no moans….this one should be done within a month….so you won’t have that long to wait.  I worked on creating a pattern for several hours, then went for a walk with Michael and Cookie.  When we got home, it was time to get cleaned up while our ‘babies’ snuggled in the bedroom:

 Joanne and Larry picked us up at 4:30 for dinner out a MICKEY & MOOCH’s.  What a FABULOUS dinner it was…..for appetizers, there were 3 she crab soups, and one crab fritters.  Dinner was 3 filet mignons and one grouper (on a bed of spinach and sun dried tomatoes, with a lemon/butter/wine/caper sauce…..outstanding!)  For our sides, there were 3 pasta alfredos and 1 mashed potatoes.  Dessert was 3 pieces of SEVEN layer chocolate cake and 1 piece of carrot cake.  Joanne and Larry stopped in on the way home to try some dessert wine we had picked up at the Biltmore; and we just sat around and talked for a bit.  The dinner and company were truly heavenly.

new candy cane blocks

Temp outside when we woke up…..27 degrees…..brr_r_r_r!  Looks like my resident celery is still alive and kicking (I try to remember to pull it back into a corner of the porch, against the house, every night).  I have a third celery bottom ready to be planted….I’m going to try to take pics of the process to show how really fast some green leaves show up!

Michael left for a tee off time of 10:30  (coming home at 3:30 with  a smokin’ 80) while I spent my day re-creating my candy cane blocks :-(.  I made 12 blocks previously, but my background fabric had a pattern that crossed at a 45 degree angle.  So, I crossed the candy canes at a 45 degree angle, never realizing that part of the canes would end up in the seam :-(.  But…they are all done now and look fabulous:

 

At 4:30 a friend of mine came home from the hospital, so I ran the last of the ham/bean/barley soup over to her and her hubby, along with cornbread and the last 2 brownies.  Michael made mac ‘n’ cheese for dinner, and I continued to sew and watch TV in the evening.