I packed up Italian Wedding Soup, Mexican Chicken Soup and Elephants Chicken Soup on Tuesday morning (10/29) and headed off to visit Becky (one of the Fiber Floozies) who had surgery on both feet about 2 weeks ago.  She lives in Monroe, which is about 45 minutes away, but I have been to the town before, so knew how long the trip would be.  I can’t believe she is walking already!!!  Very slowly, and with boots on both feet, but walking none-the-less.  We had a wonderful visit and I got to meet 2 of her sons-in-law as well as her mom, who all stopped by.  I headed home, picking up a sandwich for lunch in Waxhaw, and only got to Stitch & Chat a tiny bit late.  Everyone LOVED the baby sweater…I think because it is so small, it just looks even cuter, and I am excited to start the next one.  I got home from S&C just after 3 and spent a bit of time downstairs with the dog so that Michael could get in a quick nap (he’s still recovering from rehearsing and performing).  We had a light dinner, then he took off for the movies with Larry, while I stayed home and knit on a new baby sweater.

bread, pizza, baby sweater

I got up early on Monday morning (10/28) because I wanted Michael to have fresh bread for breakfast.  After I shaped the loaves Sunday night, I just popped them into the fridge to rise overnight.  The house smelled heavenly when they were done:

 

Barrie arrived at 9:30 and we spent a wonderful couple of hours talking and knitting before she left (with 1/2  a loaf of fresh bread) to pick up Cooper (her 4 year old) at day care.  I spent 2-1/2 hours on the internet and searching through my recipes, trying to come up with the perfect egg roll recipe, then decided I needed to be productive, so started working on another set of shawls. 

I had leftover roll dough, so we had mushroom & pepperoni pizza for dinner:

then snuggled on the couch and watched some of our shows.  I finally finished the first baby sweater:

pot stickers, bread, champagne

I did grocery shopping Sunday morning (10/27) while Michael was cooking the bacon and we both had a wonderful, late breakfast.  We were finished by 11:30 and I started to brown the pork for pot stickers.  You know, I felt guilty a few days ago when I was making ravioli, because the process for pot stickers is pretty much the same.  Michael loves them, and we haven’t had them in AGES….so, since I knew we were doing champagne and puffy things for dinner Sunday (to celebrate that Michael will have 3 days off in a row…something he hasn’t had for about 8 weeks) I spent about an hour putting together 70 potstickers and getting them in the freezer (they cook directly from freezer):

Then it was back to knitting….even though my hands are hurting, I am anxious to see my first baby sweater…I think it already looks very cute (although VERY small)!  Michael called at 5:15 to say they were on their way home, and I mixed up sandwich bread dough and Planter’s Punch before he got home:

 

We had champagne and puffy things for dinner:

  

 

We started out with some pizza rolls I am trying to clear out of the freezer, then moved on to mini-egg rolls, finally ending with the pot stickers, which were a huge success.  I got the second 1/2 of the baby sweater done…now just have to sewn in ends and sew together.

Cookie

We got a REALLY late start on Saturday (10/26), and I barely got a little paperwork done before we left for the movies.  Michael hasn’t been able to have his usual Tuesday movie nights (because he’s been rehearsing) so he really wanted to go.  We saw GRAVITY in 3-D…it was AWESOME…I would recommend this movie to anyone (and definitely see it in 3-D if you can….they should win an OSCAR for special effects)!  We were home by 3:30 PM and I decided I had to buckle down and get rid of the papers on my desk that have been piling up (the most important being the minutes of our last volunteer meeting).  Michael took a shower while I was working…while his faithful companion waited on his sweatshirt: 

We had a reprise of Friday’s dinner again on Saturday and Michael left around 6 for another performance and I spent the night knitting.  I am making good progress on the second 1/2 of the baby sweater….but my hands are really feeling the fact that I have been knitting so much.  I need to figure out what my next sewing project is…and soon J.

soup making, leaf drawing, xmas pillow cases, soup & bread

We got to sleep in a bit on Friday (10/25) after a mid-night bedtime on Thursday night and by the time I IM’ed with BG and got 2 days worth of a blog entries done, it was 10 AM.  I headed back upstairs to chop everything up for the Elephant Chicken Soup I will be making for dinner (if I wait until 3 PM I never feel like doing it J), and to mix up rolls to go with the soup.

 

an action shot, just getting ready to smash my garlic

you can see my bag of veggie trimmings that I keep in the
freezer until I have 3 or 4, then I make veggie stock.  and the
bowl of already chopped onions & celery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of you may know that I started making soap about 10 years ago.  At that time, I lived in Connecticut and BG and I drove to an oil distribution center in Massachusetts to pick up 150 pounds of palm kernel, olive, coconut and castor oil to make soap.  (Yes, that’s how real soap is made, with some kind or kinds of oil/fat and lye.  Most (all?) commercial soaps today are not made that way, instead they are some sort of detergent formula).  Anyway, I have finally exhausted most of my supply of oils (and soap) and it is time to make more.  I have tried to find oil near me to no avail, and having oil shipped to you is prohibitively expensive due to the weight.  BG and I were talking one day and she was trying to find me some oil (because when she came for a visit, she remembered how much she likes my soap (I have a bar in the guest room shower) and I told her if she found me oil at a good price, I would make her some J), and she said ‘too bad you don’t have a way to get oil from CT to SC because I would definitely drive back to MA and pick it up for you’.  On a whim I wrote to 2 ladies that I know go to CT a lot and said ‘is there any chance you ever drive when you go to CT, and if yes, would you ever have room to bring back several large packages, and if yes, would you be willing’?  Carol immediately wrote back to tell me that she would be in CT on October 24^th and would be happy to bring stuff back for me…SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!  So, BG drove to MA last Friday and picked it all up, and BG and Carol are meeting today for the trade off.  Anyway, palm kernel oil is hard as a rock at room temperature (I still have a lot of that), and I want to make soap as soon as I get the other oils, so the whole time I was downstairs, Michael had the fire on, with the large plastic container of palm kernel oil sitting in front of it.  When I went upstairs, I measured out 4 portions of that oil (that took almost 1/2 an hour…it was still that hard) so that I can hit the ground running when Carol delivers everything else.  By the time that was done (and the soup fixin’s and the roll dough), it was 12:30 and I was STARVING, having never had breakfast OR lunch (except for my habitual morning tea).  I stopped and made a couple of diet pizzas (an old, old Weight Watchers recipe that I still love), then headed downstairs to work on an art project with Michael.  This is the first time we are trying something new and I can’t wait to debut it in the future if it works out….it involves leaves…and I just love leaves  J.  This pen and ink drawing, that Michael completed years ago, remains one of my favorite pieces of art in our house:

I finally got to hit my sewing machine around 1:30 and polished off 2 Christmas pillow cases for Jan to give as gifts to her grandkids:

  

 

She bought the fabric about a week ago, and since my serger was already set up, it was easy to run them up for her.  At 3:30 I headed upstairs to actually make the soup (and bake the rolls) and Michael and I watched a bit of TV while eating:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and he headed off to OPENING NIGHT of ARSENIC & OLD LACE at 6 PM.  Jan and Walt swung by on their way home from a volleyball game to take home a quart of soup.  I have 2 other quarts frozen for woodworker Bob and Donna & Lee and we still have a quart left for dinner on Saturday.  I’m hoping to visit Becky next week (she had surgery on her feet) and take the last quart to her.  It’s a good thing I doubled the recipe we got dinner out of it, and then 5 additional quarts J.  I knit for the rest of the evening and am about 1/2 way through my first baby sweater.  Michael didn’t get home until mid-night, and we didn’t make it to bed until 1 AM!!

rice krispy treats, ravioli, charity pillow cases

Michael left super early for golf on Wednesday (10/23) and I got a little paperwork done before settling down for my 40 minute phone call from Janice.  We talked about a lot of good things….but she waited until the last 30 seconds of the call to tell me about an insurance claim where someone’s car was BLOWN UP!!!!  I was all excited to hear about it…..but she had to go L.  Oh well, it was an exciting ending to the phone call.  I worked for most of the rest of the day putting my sewing room back in order.  When you do craft fairs, you end up packing up a bunch of stuff, that you then have to unpack and put away when you get home.  Plus I have a stack of fabric that I haven’t yet catalogued, so I worked on that a bit.  I was VERY surprised when Cookie started whining at 11:30, and I went to the door and Michael was home already!  He said he only played 10 holes and that his arms and legs felt like they weighed 500 pounds apiece.  These long, late night rehearsals 5 nights a week are really taking a toll (not to mention this week will be 7 days straight of rehearsing and performing).  I put him to bed for a nap, and he said he felt much better after that.  I made Rice Crispy Treats with chocolate topping for him to take to rehearsal:

these were the very few I left home for him, which was
good because everyone SNARFED the rest down!

 and I spent the night knitting and watching TV.

Thank goodness Michael packed all of my stuff into the car for quilting on Thursday (10/24) or I never would have made it.  I had 5 large bags of plastic bags and 2 paper bags of food for Loree to take to the local food bank, my serger and a box of fabric to make charity pillow cases, my knitting bag, a bowl I needed to return to someone and a quilt that someone wants repaired.  I made a good start on the pillow cases, but wasn’t able to finish them before heading for home around 1.  I worked on them in the afternoon, stopping to make ravioli for dinner (that Michael said was great!):

 

and finally finished the pillow cases around 7 PM:

I got 10 of these done for little boys...

and 2 more of the princess ones for little girls
(I already finished a bunch of princess ones
previously)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spent the rest of the evening working on my first baby sweater. 

 

One of the women at Thursday quilting (Linda) convinced her hubby to loan me his FITBOT for 2 weeks while he wasn’t using it.  You probably know that we’re all supposed to be getting 10,000 steps a day for optimal health.  I checked it when I went to bed and found out I am doing a dismal 4,000 steps L.  I’m going to try to improve over the next 2 weeks….we’ll see.

charity hat(s), animal print shawl, Elsie & Cookie a trois

I feel like I got a lot done on Tuesday (10/22) but don’t really have a lot to show for it yet.  I finished my last charity hat (so I’m glad I met my goal for this year…I wanted a box of hats by the time it started to get cold):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I just have to finalize where they will be donated.  My next goal is a box of baby sweaters for the Pregnancy Care Center, by the end of 2014.  So, I spent quite a bit of time setting up my knitting basket for sweater production, and getting a bunch of yarn wound.  Then I looked around my studio, and it is OVERFULL!!!  I spent many hours ironing and cutting (previously washed) fabric so that I can hopefully serge 10 charity pillow cases at quilting on Thursday.  Michael and I had a big lunch, and he packed a sandwich for rehearsal and left at 5 PM.  I spent the evening putting fringe on the second animal print shawl:

 

and I had company while I was doing it:

Michael arrived home at 10:40.  We talked for a bit and finally had lights out by 11:30 PM.  We both said we’re getting too old for this J.

Michael was up at 6 AM for golf on Monday (10/21), while I lazed in bed until 7:30.  I got a bunch of paperwork done before heading up to the Lake House for my volunteer meeting.  It was in the 40’s when I left the house, and I took the golf cart, so I once again got to wear my entrelac sweater.  After the meeting, I hit the library and the bank on the way home.  While I was in the bank, another customer asked me if I had knit my sweater….when I said yes, she told me how beautiful it was and asked if it was a Kaffe Fassett design.  Kaffe Fassett is a big time designer in the knitting and needlework world, and I also believe he has a line of fabrics out and quilt designs.  I told her ‘no, it’s a Debbie Devokaitis design….and that’s me’!  She has had to give up knitting due to carpal tunnel, and I told her that I sympathized ….I can’t imagine if I had to give it up.  I can’t knit for long periods of time anymore…but as long as I’m careful my carpel tunnel doesn’t bother me too much.  Jan picked me up about an hour after I got home and we headed off to Joann’s.  I bought 6 things, and got to use all 6 of my 40% - 50% off coupons…..SCORE!  We also stopped at WALMART on the way home (groceries) and I finally got home close to 4 PM.  Michael and I had 1/2 an hour to connect, then Willa picked me up to go to the YORK COUNTY QUILT GUILD auction.  It was lots of fun…and I saved Michael a ton of money by not buying anything J.  We were home by 8:30 and I gave Laure Dickson a call and we proceeded to talk for 1-1/2 hours!  That was terrific, we haven’t connected in a long time.  She was in Columbia, SC recently, and I told her when she gets down there again, please give me a call and I will drive down and see her.  Michael was finally home by 10:45 and we watched a FRAZIER before collapsing into bed.

craft fair

Michael was up at 6:30 AM on Saturday (10/19) for an early tee time and I hopped up as well to gather everything I needed for the fair and load the car.  I was at the Lake House by 8 AM and was all set up by 9:30.  The fair officially opened at 10, but people were already shopping by the time I was set up.  I couldn’t believe how many people told me how beautiful my display was (which I really appreciated since I know presentation is not my strong suit, so I try to work hard at it), and several women went so far as to tell me that my merchandise was also the nicest they saw…but it didn’t seem to matter, I didn’t do nearly as well as I have in previous years L. Check out the display, and be sure to notice the 2 beautiful ‘smurf ladders’ that my friend built for me:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jan and Beth both helped me with the booth, and Michael arrived at 2 to help pack up….feeling very pleased with the 82 he shot on the golf course.  We were home by 3 Pm and I was so exhausted I just sat and read my book while Michael took everything out of the car.  At 5:30 we headed over to pick up Sue and Dennis and then went to the dinner theatre at Fort Mill Community Playhouse.  Dinner was wonderful and the play was absolutely terrific!  We knew several members in the cast, and stayed to congratulate them before heading home.  We read for a bit before bed, but by 11:30 we were both very beat and finally collapsed.

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

On Sunday (10/20) Michael and I had a nice breakfast in the living room, while reading the paper.  He left at 11:30 AM for rehearsal…..and got home at 10:30 PM!!!  Yes, an 11 hour day for him…this is the beginning of h-ll week and he will be out every night, with the play opening on Friday.  While he was gone, I kept trying to tell myself to get up and be productive, but instead sat in the living room and read 2 of my library books!  I’ve now finished the next 3 murder mystery books by Mindy Starns Clark (The Trouble with Tulip (2005),  Blind Dates Can Be Murder (2006), Elementary, My Dear Watkins (2007)) and I loved them.  I think I’d better not request a hold on any more books until I get something done around the house.  Michael was exhausted when he came home and we headed for bed.

Elsie & Cookie, paisley humbug, leopard shawl

Michael left to run errands on Friday (10/18) morning and I headed downstairs to start pricing and pulling my stuff  together for the craft fair.  I did have company while I was working:

 

I had to add fringe to one more side of one of my leopard shawls first, so I did that, but when I went to stitch it on, I had teal thread on my machine…so I said ‘just finish the last humbug bag’ so I did that first:

 

then stitched down the fringe on my new shawl:

 

I got Mexican chicken soup in the crockpot (in the morning) and spent the rest of the day in the studio, pricing stuff and generally trying to get organized.  At dinnertime I sent soup off with Sally (with a loaf of cornbread) and soup off with Donna, and Michael ran some soup and the last of the cornbread up to Bob to thank him for building my beautiful display racks.

I was exhausted in the evening and basically just sat and watched TV until bedtime.

Christmas table runners, paisley humbug bags

I spent Thursday (10/17) at Scrap Happy Quilters!  Michael and I packed up most of my stuff Wednesday night, so that in the morning I only had to grab my egg salad and cheese and cream cheese and jam.  I left the house after 8, picked up Debra, and we headed off to Osceola Methodist.  I didn’t get home until 8 PM (by which time Michael had already left for rehearsal) and I was beat.  I didn’t even unpack the car (except for the leftover food).  I got 2 table runners quilted and bound:

 

 (Do they look familiar to the Fiber Floozies?  They should, I made the tops at retreat this year J). and I got 3 new humbug bags done:

When I got home, I poured a glass of Amaretto over ice and read my book until Michael got home at 10:30…that about sums up the day.

Cookie

Michael left at 7 AM for golf (I never even heard him get up) on Wednesday (10/16) and even though he crabbed about double bogeying 17 & 18, he still came home as low man with an 83.  I hopped up before 7:30 and immediately headed downstairs to get a bunch of work done before Janice called me at 9.  When I came back upstairs to shower, change and get ready for my phone call, someone was snuggled up in bed:

 

Janice and I talked for about 40 minutes, and then Jan swung by and picked me up and we headed for the DMV.  Jan got her license renewed, we stopped and split a nice lunch at a local café and then headed to a quilt shop.  It was our first time there and we managed to find several things we liked before heading home around 2.  I spent the rest of the day and evening getting ready for our one-day retreat at Scrap Happy Quilters.  When Michael got home from rehearsal at 11, we packed up the car and fell into bed.

chocolate pound cake, pizza, chocolate truffle cookies

Michael got to sleep in on Tuesday morning (10/15) and I spent the morning working on shawls.  I had a quick lunch and was ready for Joanne at 1 PM for Stitch & Chat.  We had a good time, but left just a tiny bit early so that I could get all of my cooking/baking done before Michael left at 5:30 for rehearsal.  I made a chocolate pound cake:

 

for him to take to rehearsal, and a pizza:

before cheese (broccoli on one side, spinach mushroom on other

Adafter cheese

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

after baking

 

for us for dinner and some cookies:

mocha chocolate truffle

for his cookie jar.

I headed back to studio after he left to work on shawl….got 2 shawls all sewn, worked on fringe for a bit, then started to go through old pictures.  Someone is retiring at TIC and I have some pictures to send for retirement party.  That took me until 10:40 when Michael got home.

Michael left early for golf on Monday (10/14) and I got a bit of work in on a new set of shawls before Jan picked me up at 10:30.  We went out to lunch at CITY TAVERN, then headed to Michael’s.  I picked up some artist’s canvas for a new craft I hope to try.  We wanted to stop at WALMART on the way home, but didn’t realize it was a holiday (Columbus Day) and the parking lot was PACKED!!!  So we just turned around and headed for home.  I spent the afternoon and all evening (except for an hour visit to the vet for Cookie’s ears) in the studio, working on new shawls.  Michael came home from golf with an 87, and after a nap, a shower and a fast dinner, left for rehearsal at 5:30 and got home at 11.

hydrangeas, cruise purses

Michael got a few late blooming hydrangeas picked on Sunday (10/13):

 

before we headed out on our bike ride.  We stopped at the grocery store on the way home and my ‘milk carton’ basket was packed to the top with groceries.  We got hit with a misty rain on the way home, and were finally made it for breakfast around 10:30.  I worked on my purses in the afternoon and finally, by 5 PM, I had 8 purses done:

 

I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but the light part
of the purse is silver lame.  I'm trying a few 'evening'
purses this year,

 

After my dinner of soup, I got 2 pairs of pants mended for Michael, and worked for a bit on pulling together some things to do at our quilting retreat this Thursday.