Al and Lynn came for breakfast on Sunday (9/29) and we made pancakes and potatoes and bacon.  Al once again proclaimed that Michael makes the best potatoes (and he does!!!)  We had a wonderful time and I was glad to see them once more before they head back to Connecticut  L.  Al was here for a month, and it was very hard for me to not call all of the time and invite him over….but they were down here to work, so I respected that (even though it was hard).

Michael cleaned up the kitchen from breakfast, so I immediately got to head to the studio to work on another tote.  I worked until about 5, when we started our ‘champagne and puffy things’ dinner.  So, we snuggled on the couch and watched a bit of TV, which included the season premiere of MODERN FAMILY.  If you are not already watching this funny, funny show…you should be J.  In that episode, California approved gay marriage, and Cam and Mitchell planned how to ask each other to marry them…and it reminded me of when Michael asked me to marry him….which made me cry…not to mention ‘watching’ Michael’s proposal made many of the women in my office to cry.  And I have to say after watching that episode…I feel very sorry for all of the people in this country that refuse to recognize that love is love, no matter what the gender is of the people who are in love.

I forgot to mention that Michael and I stayed up ‘til mid-night one night this week to watch the ending of Broadchurch.  I can’t stress again how much we both enjoyed this show on BBC.  The character development, acting, scenery…everything!  Watch it if you ever get a chance!

Michael left very early for golf on Saturday (9/28) and I was up and at my sewing machine by 9 AM, continuing to work on my tote.  Beth came over around lunchtime for some help with her knitting and while she was there I got cranberry sauce made, as well as the dough for some rolls.  Michael came home right as Beth was leaving…he had a 39 on the first 9 (the harder one) and then psyched himself out and got an unmentionable score on the second 9 L (well, he said unmentionable, but it was still in the 80’s…..I guess it was just that after the first 9, he was hoping for a score in the 70’s).  I headed back to my sewing machine and by 5 PM I was within striking distance of finishing a tote.

We got cleaned up, I baked the rolls, and we headed over to Susan’s for our neighbor’s dinner.  It was wonderful…turkey, macaroni salad, broccoli casserole, rolls…and pecan pie and lemon pie for dessert!  It was a wonderful evening, and when we came home before 9 we watched a bit of TV and I started to knit a new hat.

2nd pink shawl

Friday (9/27) was a terrific day.  I got started sewing in the early morning, and by mid-afternoon I finished another shawl I have been working on:

 

This was only possible because Michael did all of our errands!  I even had time to start working on a new trendy tote, before stopping at 4:30 to get ready for our dinner guests.  Lisa and Dean got stuck in traffic, but finally made it at 6:30.  Michael did burgers on the grill and I sautéed zucchini and yellow squash for a side.  Lisa brought a wonderful bowl of fresh fruit for dessert.  We played SCREWED and GOLF and I think everyone had a wonderful time (even though Dean was coming down with a cold).  Lisa bought one of my trendy totes (the Caribbean colored one) and showed an interest in my shawls….I’m going to bring both teal colored ones to quilting in 2 weeks so that she can see both to maybe decide.  Michael and I watched just a tiny bit of TV after they left and then headed to bed.

new shawl, Cookie a duex

Michael left for golfing on Thursday (9/26) and I left for quilting.  Willa taught a class on a table runner for a large group, while I was in a smaller group with hand work, and there was another smaller group sewing on something else.  We had a good time and I DID remember to stop for gas on the way home….unfortunately I totally forgot about stopping at the grocery store.  So, I gave Jan a call and the 2 of us popped over on the golf cart.   Michael left at 5:30 for rehearsal and I continued to work until he got home at 10.  I finished a shawl:

 

and 2 more charity hats (my model looks like she is still asleep!):

 

We read a bit when Michael got home and tumbled into bed.

OK…to rephrase a quote slightly…’woman plans, God laughs’.  I had an 8 AM dentist appointment (just a cleaning) on Wednesday (9/25), after which me and the paper (sic) had a date at IHOP with some pancakes…alas it was not to be.  When I came out from the dentist, my car wouldn’t start L.  I called Triple A and got the nicest guy who came and sold and installed a battery for me.  That put me about 2 hours behind…so I didn’t get home from Joann’s, the drugstore, and the Senior Center (dropping off 2 VCR’s and about 39 tapes that they were interested in) until around 12:30.  I don’t know what was wrong with me….but I was exhausted when I got home and eventually took a long nap in the afternoon.  Otherwise, it was working on shawls far into the night until Michael got home at 10.

garage, sewing machine block, pink shawl

We are down to one bar of soap, so it is time to make more.  Our garage looked like a disaster area, so we cleaned a third of it Tuesday (9/24) morning….the side wall where I make my soap.  How stupid that I didn’t take a pic beforehand; you’ll just have to trust me that it looks about a thousand percent better than it did (and all of the cobwebs and dirt are gone too):

 

 

 

and now my table and all of my soap supplies are washed and I can schedule a soap making session.  Becky wants to come by and watch when I make it, but I told her she has to come the next day as well, to see if it turned out  J.  Michael wanted to clean the garage this summer, but I said #1 – we have to wait until it gets cooler and #2 – we would do it in 3 stages: one side wall, the other side wall and then the back wall.  It took about 3 hours and was TOTALLY worth it.  We do have to wait for a ‘hazardous waste pick-up’ to get rid of our paint cans, so those are all in a bag.

I forgot to mention that Monday night, I finished the second in the Mindy Starns Clark series DON”T TAKE ANY WOODEN NICKELS and loved it, so I have put the next 3 on hold at the library.

I had time to take a quick shower after cleaning before Joanne picked me up for Stitch ‘n’ Chat.  I had a wonderful time and got a teeny-tiny bit done on the hated baby blanket before coming home.  I had barely gotten downstairs when Joanne and Larry rang the doorbell.  Joanne’s sweet, sweet hubby Larry made me a stand so that I can sew my totes without the precarious balancing on the book stack!!  I LOVE it:

 

It may seem like nothing to you…but those books were an accident waiting to happen to my very expensive machine and the stand is MUCH more secure than the books.  It is longer and more importantly WIDER than my machine.  I can’t wait to start more totes J.

Michael had a quick dinner and left for rehearsal at 5:30 PM, and I continued to work on shawls until he came home at 10.  He headed for bed as he had an early tee time on Wednesday, but I was on a mission and finally by 11:30 PM I had this:

it's much more pink than it looks in this pic!

Michael left for golf on Monday and I finally got back to some paperwork and got the minutes from the Volunteer meeting sent out (I happily ignored all of that stuff while BG was here J)!  Barrie came over to talk and bond for a couple of hours, and Nancy stopped by to give me a present (I LOVE presents!!!)  It was a set of those bake-your-own-tortilla-things into a fluted shape….I don’t know why I wanted them…but I have wanted them for a L-O-N-G time…..I was very surprised and happy!  They both left around lunch and I worked on a new shawl in the afternoon and evening.  Michael came home from golf and said the less said about his game, the better….and we both had leftovers for dinner and he left at 5:30 for rehearsal (Arsenic and Old Lace) and I sewed for just a bit in the evening, then came upstairs and read my book until he got home at 10.

BG and I were both moving rather slowly Saturday (9/21) morning.  Michael left early for golf, and I think the 2 of us didn’t get up until around 8.  She packed up all of her stuff….we talked through tons more…and finally at 12:15 we left for the airport L.  I dropped her off and hit Joann’s on the way home.  I worked in the studio in the afternoon, and Michael came home with an 88 from golf.  We had a quick dinner and picked Jan and Walt up at 6:30 PM for the symphony.  We saw CHICAGO (the band not the musical) and it was TOTALLY the music of my youth.  I took 2 of my newest shawls to show Diane (someone who noticed something I was working on a couple of years ago and we got to talking and became friends).  She LOVED the brand new green ribbon shawl and asked me to set it aside for her.  I would LOVE it if she came to our art crawl in November and got a chance to see our house. 

I loved the concert….but wasn’t so crazy about driving home at 11 PM in the pouring rain.  I was VERY grateful to get home safe and sound by 11:30.  Michael poured me a glass of Amaretto and I polished it off, as well as my latest book A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS by Minday Starns Clark.   This was a murder mystery and I enjoyed it a lot.  I finally fell into bed at 1:30 AM!

 ****************************************

We had breakfast on the deck on Sunday (9/22) after a bike ride and dog walk.  For some reason, both of us were very tired and ended up taking a couple of naps during the day!  I finally got a chance to work on another shawl in the late afternoon, before Al and Lynn picked us up for dinner.  We went to BRIO’s, a wonderful Italian restaurant in South Park.  Our dinners were FABULOUS!!!  I got the pasta alla vodka….yum…I wanted to pick up the bowl and lick all of the sauce up.  Michael and Lynn both got a shrimp dish and Al got lasagna.  We sat and talked at the table for hours…and didn’t get home until 9 PM.  We managed to stay awake long enough to watch the next-to-the-last episode of BRAODCHURCH.  This has been a mini-series on BBC….if it ever comes back (or if  you have Time Warner on demand, you can get it all) I would urge ALL of you to watch it….it has been FABULOUS.

pool table, 2 shawls, BG scarf, ham & cheese crescents

With BG here and both of us sewing at the same time….the pool table kind of got taken over with……STUFF!!!  Looks like it exploded, doesn’t it?

We were busy as bees on Friday (9/20)…it seemed we really hit our stride.  We finished another shawl:

 

 

 

Does this look familiar?  It should…when Michael’s niece Emily got married, I made a shawl out of this material, and a dress to go with it.  Many people commented on how beautiful the shawl was.  I never got the fringe on my shawl in time for the wedding….but it is done now, as well as this second one.  BG will be taking it back to CT because even though it is beautiful and I am anxious to sell it….I don’t want someone else in Sun City to have exactly the same shawl I have J.  If I could find someone outside of SCCL to buy it…I would sell it….but I don’t exhibit anywhere else. 

BG also finished a scarf:

 

 

As you can see it can be worn 2 ways, and the construction was really slick.  We took a long break in the late afternoon to pull our dinner together.  We did the ham ‘n’ cheese crescents…and this time we actually rolled them out as crescents and not sticky buns….follow along with the pictures:

1/2 of dough rolled out and spread with 'sauce'.  BG and I are still
revising this recipe...we think we will spit the dough into
3 sections instead of 2 to make the crescents a bit smaller

we were using up what I had in the freezer...but we decided next time shaved ham
and much thinner cut cheese will work better

here it is cut into 8 sections

ready to be popped into the oven

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



just one word needed....YUMMMMM - O!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner we weren’t quite exhausted yet, so we completed one more shawl: 

the colors on this are not strictly true...in person it really
looks like water in the Carribean

 After that we both fell into bed!

label, Elsie & Cookie a duex, BG's coasters

We were up early on Thursday (9/19) to pull together everything we wanted to take to quilting.  I got a quick label stitched out for the patriotic/charity quilt, and took it all to quilting (Willa has graciously offered to bind it and I took her up on her offer):

and off we went.  BG took her door apron for show and tell and I think everyone liked it and several people seemed interested in making one.  We hit Joann’s afterwards and with one thing and another, we didn’t get home until 3 PM!  I worked on hemming a new shawl and BG worked on coasters.  We had a little bit of company while we were working:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made BLT’s for dinner and BG finished her coasters:

 

 and I finished hemming the new shawl.  Tomorrow we hope to get the fringe put on it.  After that, it was TV, knitting, and bed.

 

 

BG, Cookie, shawl, Donna's large platter, BG door apron

Michael left VERY early for golf on Wednesday 9/18 (and the less said about his eventual score…the better L) and work commenced early for the rest of us:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

well….at least for some of us:

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did take a break to head to the famer’s market for some tomaatoes and some fudge.  Then it was back to the grindstone.  By lunch, the first shawl was finished:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know it make not look like much, but putting the fringe on alone took 2-1/2 hours!!  That doesn’t include cutting it or stitching it down.  But I didn’t care because I think it is absolutely perfect for the shawl…very lightweight and float-y.  Donna stopped by in the afternoon to give me an absolutely SPECTACULAR platter she has been working on just for me.  The color is GORGEOUS and the platter is HUGE…it’s from an elephant leaf.  Donna uses real leaves to create her artwork:

 

I have to plan a very special occasion so that I can use it.  Just before we went to dinner…..TA DA….BG’s door apron was finished:

 

It is very beautiful, can’t wait to see it hanging on her wall.  We had dinner at 521 BBQ and BG relaxed with a ‘friend’ in the evening (who seemed fascinated by her granddaughter’s acting in THE LITTLE MERMAID):

while I got the patriotic quilt quilted (Willa offered to do the binding)….YAY!!

 

After that, it was time to collapse into bed.

BG...BG...BG!!!!!!!

On Tuesday (9/17) I woke up with a big smile on my face….BG was arriving!!!!  I picked her up at the airport at 10:30 and after a quick stop at the library, we zoomed home.  She got settled in her bedroom and I immediately made a sale of one of my trendy totes:

 

She said when she saw the picture in the blog, she immediately fell in love with it….so she bought it.  Within an hour she was hard at work:

 

closely watched by a fan:

 

We made for pizza for dinner (the other 1/2 of the pizza dough from Sunday night):

and then picked up Jan and headed to Chick Filet for a dessert of cookies and cream milk shakes.  We got home around 8:30 and BG had been up since 4 AM, so she decided to settle in for a bit and get re-acquainted:

She went to bed around 9:30 and I read for a bit and then hit the bed myself.

Michael hopped up at 6 AM for golf on Monday (9/16), and luckily he was VERY quiet so that Cookie and I could sleep in J.  I got up and got a few things done around the house before Barrie arrived at 9:30.  We only had a short while to talk, as I had a Volunteer meeting, but it was so good to see her again and we talked as fast as we could  J.  I went to the Volunteer meeting, and the bopped over to Jan’s to pick her up.  We headed off to Michael’s, with a stop for lunch along the way (a yummy burger and fries which we split).  Jan got some greenery for her bathroom and I got some gift boxes for Christmas food treats, and we were home by around 2.  Michael came home with a smokin’ 79 on the course…and that included a penalty shot!  He was pretty happy.  I worked a bit in the studio and read a bit on my book before dinner.  After dinner we both tried to watch a lot of TV…they are coming to replace our DVR’s tomorrow, so we will lose everything we had recorded.  We were up until 11 trying to get it all in.

pizza

I was up early Sunday morning (9/15) to put together the Spanish coffee cake to take over to Sally and Jimmy.  They invited everyone they knew to a breakfast to thank them for visiting/praying/cooking/whatever for the family over this past year.    So many people asked me for the recipe for the coffee cake that I sent it out to the entire distribution list!  When we got home, Michael headed over to Gale & Phil’s to hopefully get our vacuum cleaner fixed.  Some of the prongs on the hose plug got bent and we ordered a new top, which was supposed to come with directions, but didn’t  L.  I spent over an hour on the internet with Sears on Saturday and finally got directions.  But the time Michael came home, they got the vacuum cleaner to work, but just barely.  Anyway, Ann Mary came over for a quick lesson on dough (she really didn’t understand how I weigh all of my baking ingredients now and I told her I had to make pizza dough…so to come over when she got home), and I spent the rest of the afternoon in the studio, working on the new shawls.  Paula stopped by to borrow some turmeric (I guessed that she was making pickles, ‘cause I don’t know what else you would use it for J) and I warned her that it would stain all of her towels if she got it on them.  We had pizza for dinner (with mushrooms on 1/2 for Michael) :

 

and Michael left at 6 for a rehearsal that kept him out until 11!!  We were both beat and went immediately to bed.

Cookie & Elsie a duex

Michael left early for golf on Saturday (9/14) and I worked in my studio (where I had company):

 

 

 

 

 

 

until about NOON when I went over to Sally & Jimmy’s.  They had a small gathering at lunchtime to celebrate Jimmy’s one year anniversary of being diagnosed.  I took over the ham/cheese sandwiches and they were very well received.  Michael got there around 2, in time to have a bite to eat and socialize before heading home.  At 4:30 we had a driveway party…the first time it has been cool enough in a LONG time…and Al (financial planner)and Lynn (his right hand gal) and Jim (her hubby) came by at 5 PM.  They all wanted a tour of the house, then visited with the neighbors for a bit before the 5 of us headed off to RUTH CRHIS’s for dinner….and what a fabulous dinner it was.  Lynn and I had salmon & crab (respectively) while then men had fillets and shrimp.  Dessert ran the gamut from key lime pie, to crème brulee, to chocolate explosion.  We all rolled out to our cars and were home by 9.  Michael and I read for a bit before bed.

ham & cheese poppyseed rolls

Michael left for an ear appointment Friday morning (9/13) and after I cleaned up the kitchen I headed over to Al’s condo to get the tour.  It is just beautiful and I can’t wait until his assistant Lynn and her hubby get in today.  They will be coming to see our house tomorrow and I’m sure Lynn and I will have 100 things to talk about.  After a quick visit to the bank and the grocery store on the way home, I headed to the kitchen for a bit of work.  My friend who has a malignant brain tumor is throwing a little luncheon to thank all of the people that have brought them dinner over the past year…and I wanted to make those ham & cheese & poppy seed rolls as a contribution.  I made the dough before I left in the morning and it took me so long to run all of my errands that it was spilling out of the proofing bowl by the time I got home.  I got it punched down and shaped and finished reading my newest book while they rose and baked. 

 

The book was THE PERFECT GHOST by Linda Barnes.  I had a little trouble getting into the book…but once I did, it was very different and very interesting and very hard to put down…not to mention it had a several twists at the end that I in NO WAY saw coming J.  By the time Michael got home, the rolls were baked and cooled and I proceeded to finish the recipe.

first split into 10 rolls and 10 rolls (to make it easier), then split in 1/2 horizontally

 

 

spread top and bottom with the butter/poppyseed/mustard/onion/Worcestershire
'sauce'
 

then the ham layer

the swiss cheese layer

and finally we put them back together and popped them back into the baking pan
they'll be re-heated on Saturday for just a few minutes to get the cheese to melt

We had Chinese for dinner and Michael wanted to watch a movie in the evening, so I stayed in the studio working on a new project I hope to have done for the craft fair in October.  I want to make a series of beautiful, lightweight shawls, with some interesting fringe….so working on that took me the rest of the evening.