Canterbury Cottage

Dehydrating Vegetables

2012-02-12T19:52:00.000-06:00

This was not my bag, just a photo I found on the internet.

I have been wanting to use my dehydrator more, see this post for my last use. I had planned to try some carrots today but as I was perusing the fridge I spied the bag of broccoli slaw that I had yet to open. Sometimes I just can't eat salad stuff due to IBS, other times I'm ok as long as I don't eat iceberg lettuce. Perhaps it was a residual of the food poisoning I had but the broccoli slaw had not gotten eaten and I'm not sure how much longer it would have lasted. So I decided to dehydrate it and see what would happen.

My dehydrator has 4 trays and one package nearly filled them all. I added about a cup of chopped celery to finish filling out the tray. It worked quite nicely, about 4 cups of raw veggies gave me about a 1/2 cup of dehydrated veggies. So I added it to my dehydrated mixed veggies for soup. Sorry for no photos of the process, I promise to do better next time.

Isn't it amazing how much water content is in veggies?

TAST Week 7 ~ Chevron Stitch

2012-02-12T08:00:00.000-06:00

This week's stitch for TAST was Chevron. I found in a vintage embroidery booklet that this stitch is also known as the barred herringbone. The booklet was written by Marguerite Randell who was head of the Training School, Royal School of Needlework, in South Kensington, England.

I had to really think about how to incorporate the stitch in this week's design that I had already chosen. I opted to keep it really simple especially since I was not able to stitch for 2 evenings due to sinus headaches. I created the sky with graduated color, the center section is a mix of 2 colors.

The well known image from the Abbey Road album was my first choice as a design since February 7, 1964 was when The Beatles arrived in New York for the first time. The Beatles pretty much defined an era, especially of music during my early growing up years.

My stitching is not all that inventive this week but that's probably a good thing as I frogged out the first 3 tries on the sky before I got it right. The fabric is a cafe au lait colored even weave and the aqua colored threads really look pretty with it.

The Week Flew B y

2012-02-10T18:00:00.001-06:00

This week just flew by and I'm not sure where it went. My TAST stitching I was supposed to be doing this week is way behind schedule as I had a headache for 2 nights and just couldn't embroider. I'll try to catch up tonight. I have a full plate of housecleaning and some yard work for the weekend especially since it is not supposed to rain, fingers crossed on that one. We'll see how much me and my bad back get accomplished. Maybe I can just get the weeds to grow on some flip flops and call them art?

TAST Week 5 ~ Herringbone Stitch

2012-02-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

Here's my journal page for the Herringbone stitch. I liked this stitch once I got my spacing figured. Very like cross stitch.

As you can see January 31, 1930 is when Scotch tape was invented by the 3M engineer Richard Drew. Where would we be without Scotch tape? I don't think I could count all the rolls I've probably used in my lifetime. And who doesn't love a little plaid?

Here's the scoop on how the tape was named: In 1923, Richard Drew joined the 3M company located in St. Paul, Minnesota. At the time, 3M only made sandpaper. Drew was product testing 3M's Wetordry brand sandpaper at a local auto bodyshop, when he noticed that auto painters were having a hard time making clean dividing lines on two-color paint jobs. Richard Drew was inspired to invent the world's first masking tape in 1925, as a solution to the auto painters' dilemma. The brand name Scotch came about while Drew was testing his first masking tape to determine how much adhesive he needed to add. The bodyshop painter became frustrated with the sample masking tape and exclaimed, "Take this tape back to those Scotch bosses of yours and tell them to put more adhesive on it!" The name was soon applied to the entire line of 3M tapes.

Five years later Richard Drew invented the 1st waterproof, see-though, pressure sensitive tape, this supplying an attractive, moisture proof way to seal food wrap for bakers, grocers and meat packers. Drew sent a trial shipment to a Chicago firm specializing in package printing for bakery products. The response was put this product on the market! Shortly after, heat sealing reduced the original use of the new tape. However, Americans in a depressed economy discovered they could use the tape to mend a wide variety of things like torn pages of books and documents, broken toys, ripped window shades, even dilapidated currency.

Canning Tips

2012-02-04T12:39:00.000-06:00

I do a lot of canning whether it's leftovers or something I set out to especially can like the salsa last weekend. I thought it would be nice to pass on a few tips on the way I do things in case it would help someone else.

Most everything gets done in the pressure canner as it won't heat up the kitchen like a water bath will and because I mostly can meats, broth and vegetables. The salsa was pressure canned too even though tomatoes can be water bathed because they only process for 10 minutes under pressure and these days unless you know the tomatoes are heirloom there's no telling if there is enough acid in them to make them safe for water bath canning. Better to be safe than sorry.

I start out with running my canning jars through a rinse cycle in the dishwasher to make sure they are freshly clean. When that's done the jars go in the canner and I fill them with water and put several inches of water in the canner as well. For some reason if the canner is not at least 1/2 full with water it will go dry if I am processing for the longer periods. You don't want your canner going dry as it will warp it and they are a bit pricey to replace.

I turn the heat on under the canner and also heat up on another burner whatever food is about to be canned (unless it is a cold pack item). On a small burner I heat a saucepan on medium to heat the lids. If you have a variety of jars you may have wide and regular mouth in the same batch. If you alternate the size lids in the saucepan they won't stick together so badly. Also lay out the rings in easy reach.

Once everything is heated and the canner is boiling, remove one jar at a time using a good jar lifter like this:

The coating helps grab the jar securely around the neck and the wood handles make sure your hands don't get burned. Dump the water from the jar in the canner or a bucket (use it to water plants, etc. once it's cool.) I add a 1/4 to 1/2 a spoonful of citric acid to help preserve the color and to add that acid content, it adds no flavor.

Fruit fresh is the easiest one to find, you can also use it to keep your guacamole from turning brown. Sometimes I add a bit of salt but usually not. Using a canning funnel I add the food or broth by cupfuls. I use a teacup, some folks prefer a measuring cup or ladle but for me a ladle is an invitation to a mess. Use a wet paper towel or cloth to wipe the rim of the jar, it must be totally clean or it may not seal. One of those handy magnet sticks for canning is great for getting the lids out of the saucepan and setting it on the jar.

Then screw down the ring firmly. Sometimes using one of those grabber pads helps to hold the jar still without burning your hand.

Some folks also use kevlar gloves. Look for them in the stained glass section of the craft store as they are priced cheaper than the ones you may find in a canning section of an online store and they are the same thing. They look like knitted gloves in off white. I use some when I am soldering the saint pendants I make.

Put your jar back in the canner and repeat till all jars are filled and proceed as usual with the canning.

Once your canner is cooled down and pressure is released, take out the jars carefully with the jar lifter and set on a folded towel or even a 4 layer thick tablecloth. Leave a bit of space between them. They will probably still be boiling inside, that's normal. Then comes the best part, listening for the lids to pop or ping as they seal! If you have jars that don't seal put them in the fridge and re-can or use right away.

Once cooled, remove the rings. If you leave them on they may trap food residue or moisture and rust which could loosen your seal and make the food go bad.

Now it's time to wash the jars in warm water with a bit of dish soap. I have hard water so I add a couple glugs of white vinegar as well. Wash especially around the neck to remove any food residue that might be lurking.

Once dry I label the lid with contents and date and store in a dry, cool and dark location. Definitely make sure it is dry or the lids could rust and you would lose the food. Canned food will last pretty much indefinitely though the color and texture will degrade. Some say the nutrients will degrade over time as well but if you are hungry you will find a way to use it.

A couple other opinions on lids and rings. There are reusable lids from Tattler and I have one box I picked up at the resale shop. They do work well but read the instructions carefully as it is a bit fiddly to get it all on properly. Also, the last 2 times I had to buy new jars at Walmart, all they had in pints were the Better Homes and Gardens brand.

While the jars are pretty with their lattice pattern, they come with a gingham lid and a white painted ring. You will notice that I did not put the white rings on the gingham lids. If you do they will stick to the point you have to cut the ring off. I found out that the first time I used them. The white rings will stick no matter what and you will have to use the gripper to remove them. It's sad because I was hoping the white lids would have less chance for rusting, but I really don't like them. They can even stick with the plain lids but not as bad.

Tips on buying jars:

When possible go to garage sales and thrift shops to find jars, they are much cheaper this way. You can also safely use mayo or sauce jars as long as the lids and rings fit properly. I have never had a problem reusing these. At the worst you could get a cracked jar and just lose that jar's food and have a little mess to clean up. But I have had that happen with regular canning jars on rare occasions. Discount and dollar stores are a good source too, Big Lots carries jars nearly year round here in Texas. If buying second hand, run your finger over the rim to make sure there are no chips as that will cause the jar to not seal.

Happy Canning!

How My Garden Grows in February

2012-02-02T19:01:00.000-06:00

About 10 years ago, 1 year after having moved in to my mobile home, I got tired of looking at the blank side of the trailer as I walked up to the porch to the front door. So a trip to Lowe's brought me home with 3 marked down ivy plants called ficus pumila. It took a while but now they nicely cover the ugly metal siding along my walkway and are creeping around the front corner. A little ivy covered cottage.

Ficus pumila is also known as creeping ficus or creeping fig. I never thought too much about it, just used the weed eater held up to it to keep it trimmed.

This last year I had a lot of trouble with my back and I let the trimming go since it really did not look too bad. Now on the corner at the roof line I have this:

Apparently it is rare for the plants to create fruit but this one is happy and did. Unfortunately the fruit is not edible, but it looks cool. Guess I better trim it back soon.

The lantana thinks it's Spring with all the balmy weather and rain we've had so it's blooming its little heart out. Makes up for the past summer when it was so hot and dry it never bloomed. I really need to weed-eat the front garden as the sticker burs are pretty prolific and its best to whack them now before they make the stickers.

Please Stand By

2012-01-31T18:35:00.000-06:00

I found this image on the internet somewhere and used it as my desktop background on my computer at work. Several people thought it was funny but not surprisingly the 2 girls under the age of 30 had no idea what it was.

I explained about the old TVs and how you had to wait for them to warm up and how the picture got smaller and smaller when you turned them off. I explained how this screen might be used when the TV station was having technical difficulties and how a similar screen was used at the end of the evening. One co-worker said "You mean before the next show came on?" I explained that shows only used to air from 5 am starting with the farm reports and ended about midnight with the National Anthem, there was nothing on in middle of the night. I got a dumbfounded look. I also explained we only had 3 channels to choose from...another dumbfounded look. Guess it's a good thing I didn't go into how we didn't have all programs in color for a good while either.

If this makes you think I'm old, I know the feeling. So many changes have taken place in technology since 1958 when I was born. Not all of them for the better in my humble opinion, but at least it's entertaining to watch the younger generation try to figure out how to do things when their new gadgets don't work.

Salsa Time!

2012-01-30T13:00:00.000-06:00

No, not dancing, I'm afraid my dancing days are pretty much over. I made salsa today and canned it.

This is my big Anya pot. My dear friend Anya gave me this pot and it holds a humongous amount. It's a really nice stainless steel pot with a heavy bottom and a lid too. I actually had one batch in the pressure canner already when I remembered to take this photo, you can even see the steam rising.

I use a lot of canned tomatoes, especially Rotel tomatoes and salsa. It gets expensive even if I buy the store brand so I decided to buy the #10 cans of tomatoes and some jalapenos & onions and make my own. I roughly chopped 2 large onions and opened the #10 cans. The tomatoes were whole so they had to go in the food processor with the onions. I had gotten 3 large and 2 regular size cans of tomatoes marked down because they were dented so those went in too as well as 2 jars of marked down chopped jalapenos drained and 2 fresh jalapenos seeded and chopped. I did add some salt and some garlic powder.

This was all heated in the Anya pot. As I filled the jars I added fresh chopped cilantro and half a spoonful of citric acid as you can never tell about tomatoes anymore having enough acid. It took pretty much all Sunday afternoon but I now have 22 pints of salsa and 3 quarts of tomato veggie juice. The juice was the nearly 2 quarts of juice from the #10 cans and 1 ice cube of beet juice, 2 ice cubes of greens juice and about a pint of carrot juice from the freezer. I froze these when I had a juicing day a while back. I added salt and garlic and onion powder to the juice.

Here's the salsa, the juice was still in the canner when I took this photo.

Counting the cost of all the ingredients I spent about $16. Rotel tomatoes come in small cans and it would take over 2 to fill a pint. Just figuring on 2 per pint this would have cost about $44 for Rotel. If you consider this is also salsa, this would have cost about $110 for the same amount of decent salsa. I like my $16 much better. And even if you figured in the extra $14 I spent on 2 dozen jars it's still cheaper. And that's not counting the 3 quarts of juice which will be pretty much like V8, have you priced that lately? I buy the store brand at Dollar General and its nearly $3 for a 2 liter bottle.

And yes, you can see my previous canning jars in the back ground, I still need to reinforce the shelves to store them. With all this it will be a priority for next weekend.

Saturday I also canned 1 pint of leftover beef roast, 4 pints of leftover beef noodle soup and 3 pints of leftover sloppy joe beef. Now I have some easy lunches or dinners.

TAST Week 4 ~ Cretan Stitch

2012-01-29T08:00:00.012-06:00

This week's stitch for TAST was the cretan stitch. I am definitely not a fan of this stitch. It's very simple and yet I had such trouble with it. I kept getting the needle on the wrong side of the thread and kept getting my spacing wrong. I think I frogged out as much as I embroidered in. But it does make for a very nice fill-in stitch on aida cloth.

My subject for this past Tuesday was the Eskimo Pie. Christian K. Nelson of Iowa patented the Eskimo Pie on January 24, 1924.

I chose this bit of history because it brings back some wonderful memories. When I was about 4 or 5 I spent a lot of time during the summer at my maternal grandparents' house and Nana always had Eskimo Pies in the freezer. I could have one whenever I wanted, not much spoiled was I? I am an only child and adopted too so go figure.

Nana was the one that taught me to cross stitch when I was about 4 and Mom taught me sewing not long after and later on how to knit.

There are a lot of neat memories from those early years, summer drives with Papa on country roads with cornfields so high on either side of the road that it was like driving between fences, listening for hours to old 78's on the record player, molding all kinds of things from a roll of aluminum foil, making new gowns for Barbie from Kleenex and tape, stringing and re-stringing buttons to make necklaces and trying to figure out how Papa could keep up with one baseball game on the radio and another on the TV and still keep them straight. Not to mention the best fried chicken dinners with creamy mashed potatoes and milk gravy on Sundays.

I think I need to buy some Eskimo Pies now.

TAST Week 3 ~ Feather Stitch

2012-01-22T08:00:00.001-06:00

January 17 was Ben Franklin's birthday in 1706 and reading some of his works kept me occupied most of one summer when I as an early teen. Thoreau was another favorite from that time.

With the feather stitch we were given this week I had to go in slightly different direction as far as design. I had found a wonderful outline of Franklin but it just did not lend itself to this stitch so I went with the story of his electricity experiment. I used feather stitch for the kite tail and the tall grass. The grass was fun since I didn't plan anything and just let it meander and sometimes overlap. Everything else is back-stitched. The threads are 2 strands of cotton DMC except for the white kite outline which is pearl cotton, the rod on the top of the kite which is silver metallic and the end of the string which is silk ribbon.

Ben's kite was made of silk because that would not conduct electricity and he attached a sharp pointed metal wire to the top to draw in the lightning. The string for the kite was hemp which does conduct electricity and to this he tied a metal key. Attached to the end of the hemp was another piece of silk so the electricity would not travel that far.

After considerable time of waiting on a stormy day in June 1752 he finally saw that some loose threads of the hempen string were standing erect. He immediately put his knuckle to the key and felt a very evident electric spark. This led to many more experiments with electricity and its harnessing.

A very interesting man was Ben Franklin, no wonder all the women adored him.

See all the other wonderful projects in our study group at Tuesday Stitchers.

Yarrow Wound Wash

2012-01-21T15:16:00.000-06:00

Its a very balmy and humid day here with temps in the mid to high 70's. And yes, it really is January. Last week we had nights down to 32...welcome to Texas.

Today I should be doing dishes and sweeping and mopping floors, but am I? Not when something more fun enters my mind.

I made decorated labels for my yarrow wound wash. Printed out on scrapbook paper and accented with pretty silver borders I bought months ago. I think it turned out quite nicely and will look ever so much prettier in my bathroom, not to mention that it now says what it is instead of what it used to be--which was Bombay Sapphire Gin. It was a bit pricey but I really liked the blue bottle which will be used for years to come.

This is a photo of what's inside, lots of yarrow flower heads in the gin. I made this 2 years ago from the yarrow that grows in the garden and you can see I've used a bit of it. I use it just like alcohol or peroxide, though I have both of those in the cupboard too--in their boring plastic bottles.

Yarrow is a wonderful antiseptic and helps woulds heal faster, I tend to think all the herbal stuff in this gin will help as well. According to the sides of the bottle it has almonds, lemon peel, liquorice, juniper berries, iris roots, angelica, coriander, cassia bark, cubeb berries and grains of paradise. The fact that its 94% proof probably helps too.

Anyway I went to use some on what may be a spider bite, I don't know as I never felt it until it swelled a bit last night, doesn't look bad but I'll keep an eye on it as we do have brown recluse spiders here. After use I decided it was time for nicer labels, one on front and back, both the same.

So what are you doing for fun today?

Coping with Food Poisoning

2012-01-18T14:14:00.000-06:00

Just a warning, this post is a bit graphic but may help you in case you need to deal with food poisoning in the future.

Something I ate Sunday night gave me food poisoning, I pretty much think it was the chip dip which was milk based but it could have been the mayo or the ham I made the sandwich with. Even though I hate wasting food, all the above items are trash now because I'm not going to chance being this sick again.

Monday I woke up feeling a bit off, got more nauseous as the day progressed and left work when the vomiting brought up nothing but bile and I positively could not get warm even though it was 75 degrees outside. Later at home the diarrhea started and dry heaves. I dozed off and on from 2:30pm til 9am the next morning with hourly trips to the bathroom.

Tuesday was spent trying to get liquids in myself as I was dehydrated, the headache told me that. I was in no shape to go the store so instead of gatorade I had pure apple juice cut half & half with water. I chose apple juice because apple pectin is supposed to help stop diarrhea. Later I boiled some home canned broth with a handful of rice as rice is also good for stopping diarrhea and rice water calms an upset stomach. I also made some coffee which I rarely drink, only to try and relieve the headache - unfortunately that didn't work as well and I eventually took some ibuprofen. Around dinner time I added onion and garlic to the broth to get some more nutrients and anti-bacterial elements into me. I drank the broth not actually eating anything solid.

Wednesday, this morning I am better with no more major symptoms but I'm feeling very weak and light headed from not having solid food and still being somewhat dehydrated. I am also hypoglycemic so that doesn't help either. I made a watery oatmeal for breakfast about 10am. I think I will go for some more broth for lunch, maybe with some noodles in it. The protein in the broth should help with the hypoglycemic light headedness.

There's not really anything doctors can do about the ordinary food poisoning like this so take note and have what you may need in your pantry. Doctors recommend the BRAT diet for kids with diarrhea, bananas, rice, applesauce and toast. Garlic and onions are anti-bacterial fighters as is vinegar but the acid in the vinegar just did not appeal to me in this instance.

I should be back to work tomorrow and much my old self again, also 10 pounds lighter. But this is not a diet plan I recommend.

TAST Week 2 ~ Buttonhole Stitch

2012-01-15T08:00:00.007-06:00

This week's embroidery stitch for TAST is the buttonhole stitch, sometimes called the blanket stitch. Traditionally this stitch was used to bind off raw edges on a blanket or set very close together to bind off the raw edges on a buttonhole.

As you can see in the photo, the event I chose for my design was the date that the oil boom started when the Lucas Gusher came in at the Spindletop oilfield near Beaumont, TX. This image is from the original photo I found online. I used to live in and still live near Humble, TX, another oil boom town. Humble Oil Company sold 50% of its stock to Standard Oil in 1919. Over the years other mergers and changes occurred and it all became Exxon. There are still pumping oil wells in Humble.

Now that the history lesson is over ... I used a buttonhole stitch with a varied length for the horizon line back-stitching for the derrick in 6 strand floss and both buttonhole and back-stitching for the oil spurting up. For the oil and the words I used 1 strand of black and one strand of brown Balger blending filament as it has a sheen and a copper color running through it. You probably can't see it in the photos as it is very subtle.

You might see some reddish lines, they were from the dressmaker's transfer paper I tried using to mark the design. It does not work on Aida cloth as its too bumpy. I ended up using the old-fashioned method of rubbing the back of the design with pencil and tracing it, using clear packing tape over the paper so it would not shred as I had to press down fairly hard. The red will wash out.

Check out what the other stitchers in our Tuesday Stitchers group have done. Thought everyone's projects are amazing and creative, I have to admit that Jen Claire's prayer flag idea has me wanting to make some too. No, no, I cannot fit any more projects into my life right now!

Why Do People Throw Away Books?

2012-01-14T17:51:00.001-06:00

I love books, all kinds of books in any condition, but especially old books with that old book smell.

I don't even want to count how many books I own or how many I need to photograph to resell on etsy.

I know the books in these photos are mostly old and ratty looking but they are still readable and have wonderful deckle edged pages. One of my neighbors put a crate full of these books and more out for the trash man to pick up the next morning.

SHOCK HORROR NO NO THAT'S JUST WRONG

Why would someone throw away perfectly good books rather than at least donating them to the charity shop that's only a 1/2 mile away?

So I stopped and scooped them up pronto. This is only half of them. There were several on wilderness survival I am keeping and even one from the author I collect that I rarely find here in Texas, Woo Hoo!

The only downside is that where-ever they were kept someone must be a chain smoker. They reeked so badly I didn't really want to bring them in the house. In fact the other half are still in the trunk of my car. I put 4 dryer sheets between pages in each book and sealed 3 each in a ziploc for a week. Seems to have worked fairly well. I will probably continue to let them air out for a while before trying to sell them.

This is right up there with the people who burned a stack of braille books simply because no one was there that read them anymore. Why do people not think about someone else anymore? Why is it so hard for some to stop, on their way to the grocery store, and donate stuff to a charity? I must be getting old, I just don't get how some folks can be so very self centered. At least I saved these books and several already have a nice home - mine. :-)

A Couple of New Lamps to Light My Path

2012-01-12T20:14:00.000-06:00

What you see above is one of two oil lamp kits I ordered from Lehmans. There are 2 parts, one is the #2 brass plated burner on the left and the other is the adapter ring on the right.

You unscrew the small 'ring' that comes attached to the bottom of the burner (it fits a regular oil lamp) and screw on the adapter ring.

Then it looks like this with the small ring to the right which I'll save in case I ever need it to fit a regular oil lamp. Now what do I do with the burner? Hah!

This! You can fit the burner to any regular mouth mason jar! I actually have a couple I picked up at the thrift shop that have handles so they could be used as mugs. But I think lamps will be ever so much handier. I will need to get some chimneys but one of my favorite thrift shops usually has them and if not Home Depot will.

I priced oil lamps and the cheapest decent ones I could find were over $30 plus shipping. The burners were 2.95 each, the adapter rings were 1.95 each and shipping for 2 of each was 7.95. I should be able to pick up the chimneys for $2 or less so I figure I paid half the cost of one fancy lamp for 2 and mine will have easy to use handles.

And since the electricity has gone out twice in the last week I think these will come in quite handy. Lamp oil is on my grocery list too.

Is that a chicken in your purse or.....

2012-01-10T23:07:00.000-06:00

For those that like a little something different in the purse line, from this Hungarian site: Varbak

Rainy Day Sinus Headache Issues

2012-01-09T14:51:00.000-06:00

I called in sick to work today. Woke up with a sinus headache the kind of which I refer to as 'the invisible elephant is sitting on my face'. We had thunderstorms all night and its still raining. Those cats at the top of the blog will need those umbrellas today.

I went back to bed after calling my co-worker and slept til nearly noon when she called for some help. It was time to get up or I won't sleep tonight. I hate not being there on Mondays as it is our busiest shipping day.

I should be ok now as the weather has stabilized. Its the changing of the weather that does it for me and thunderstorms make it worse, probably because they tend to move so swiftly. Once the rain sets in the headaches abate, so while I'm not relishing the dreariness at least there is no bright light to make the headache come back.

I ate some lunch and cleaned up the kitchen. I think a nice hot cup of herbal tea is in order. If the headache even dreams of coming back it will be strong coffee with hot chocolate mix thrown in. So there.

TAST Week 1 ~ Fly Stitch

2012-01-08T11:11:00.000-06:00

This past week was week one of 52 for TAST, Take A Stitch Tuesday. This is my project for the week and I barely finished it in time for my Sunday morning blog spot at Tuesday Stitchers. 2:20 am to be exact.

The design was pretty detailed and the fly stitch worked well as a filling stitch, especially in the headdress of King Tut. I used gold metallic thread in outline stitch and some fly stitch. Metallic thread is definitely not my favorite to work with as it does not lay the same as other threads, it pretty much does what it wants. I also used a small amount of satin stitch.

I really like how the beard turned out as well. With a long horizontal and a short vertical it gave me the appearance I was looking for. The original death mask is gold with inlaid gemstones, a truly master work.

At the top of the image is the stitch for the week and at the bottom is the date and description. The collar would have been more true to the actual look of the mask had I done the stitching more in the style of the headdress, but I wanted to branch out and try something different. Hopefully it doesn't look too much like a Mexican folk dress. The only part I'm not happy with is the 2 snakes on the headdress, you can't actually tell what they are.

Tomorrow night we'll get our stitch for next week!

Contented Alone

2012-01-07T14:10:00.000-06:00

I was just reading one of my favorite blogs, Cozy Little House and she has a wonderful post on living alone and being contented. She has come out of a not so good marriage and started life afresh.

She shared a great video of happily married friends and also a wonderful article on how men and women see living alone. It was very insightful. If you are living alone, especially after the the end of a relationship, I highly recommend the article.

Even though I prefer not to be totally alone, it is freeing. I think what I would like sometime in the future is just companionship. Someone to share conversation and dinner with. Someone to do fun things with. It is hard to find someone to do that with especially when you are 53 as most others are married with children or grandchildren. It was hard at 30 and all the years in between for the same reason. I went to a church sponsored singles group for those in their 30's years back. After about 4 or 5 times I quit because all could see were women grasping to find a man. The men were way out numbered and I felt sorry for them, it was like dogs fighting over a bone. No one wanted to be friends first, they were looking for mates, someone to take care of them I guess. And the women didn't care to become friends with other women. If they were stuck with only women to talk to all they talked about was their kids, something I could not share in as I have none. Plus I am pretty reticent about joining in with a company of strangers, better at it now but it is certainly outside my comfort zone.

Living alone is better than living with someone you can't deal with anymore, or in my case someone who keeps leaving of his own accord. I think the article is right, men need someone to take care of them, someone they can tell what to do and how to do it. But men need to understand that not all women want to be smothered, we can take care of ourselves just fine and we have a voice that rings loudly through the universe. We may on occasion want a man but we don't need one, therein lies the difference.

Happy 12th Day of Christmas

2012-01-05T02:06:00.000-06:00

I almost missed the 11th Day of Christmas

2012-01-04T19:06:00.000-06:00

Now those are my kind of pipers!

Happy 10th day of Christmas!

2012-01-03T18:40:00.002-06:00

Present to Myself

2012-01-02T15:36:00.000-06:00

As most of you know I live near the Gulf Coast of Texas just north of Houston. We get hurricanes. We seem to have bypassed one this year but you just never know. Katrina and Ike were near enough that I lost electricity for a week or more each time. So I decided to buy myself a Christmas present that will come in very handy.

This radio gets AM, FM Short Wave 1 & 2 and NOAA the weather service. It can run on batteries, by the handy hand crank on the side or the solar panel on the back.

It has a handy little light on one side and attachments to connect and charge a cell phone or ipad should I ever decide I need one of those items.

It works quite well and I got it for a good price at just under $55 with free shipping on Ebay. And in a color that looks nice in my kitchen! Decor is very important when you are stuck with no electricity which means no internet. LOL.

I've also been saving up my 2 liter juice bottles and now have 10 filled with water. I decided to use the bottom cabinet of the linen closet in the hall. It is narrow, just 14" wide with 3 sections, each 2 feet tall. Very un-useful as there are no shelves in those sections. The center one holds towels and extra soap for the bathroom at that end of the house, the top one is half full of toilet paper. The bottom just held junk. The junk is gone and I re-inforced the floor and made a second shelf half way up with 1x6 shelving. The way they built the storage spaces in this mobile home is with fiber board covered with paper to look like wood, most of it is less than 1/4" thick. I already had one shelf in the pantry to go south, literally. That's the next project to take care of...I bought lots of wood shelving.

The bottom shelf is not bowing, its the angle of the camera. On the top shelf is a box of powdered milk, 2 canisters of seasoned salt behind which are 2 canisters of dried onions, and a pint jar of dried green peppers. I will be adding more dried items to the top shelf and fill the bottom with water bottles.

In case you would like to store water safely for emergencies, use only plastic containers made for drinks such as juice or soda bottles. Do not use milk bottles as it is near impossible to get all the milk protein cleaned out and that type of plastic will break down quickly causing leaks in your storage area. Clean out your bottles well. I squirt in some dish soap and fill with hot water, swishing it around. dump that water into the next bottle and fill the first with more hot water to rinse. I rinse about 3 times, using the water to go from one bottle to another, rinsing in fresh hot water for the last rinse. Then I add 1 teaspoon of bleach and more hot water and let them stand at least 30 minutes. Rinse well with hot water again. Scrub the lids and fill with bleach water too, rinse well.

Some folks say to let the bottles air dry but I can't figure out why if you are going to add water anyway. Add 1/8 teaspoon of bleach to each half gallon or 2 liter bottle then fill with cold tap water nearly to the top as you don't want much air trapped in there. Let sit uncapped for 30 minutes. Cap and label with the date. You will need to redo these after 6 months to make sure the water is fresh. If not used for drinking within the 6 months then use to water plants, flush toilets, as mop water, etc. When you need to use them as drinking water pour the water back and forth from one container to another before use to oxygenate it as it will taste better.

9 Ladies Dancing

2012-01-02T09:39:00.000-06:00

Happy 9th Day of Christmas!

Happy 8th Day of Christmas!

2012-01-01T17:56:00.000-06:00

These are the cutest milkmaids I've ever seen.

I'm part of a group that is learning and using embroidery stitches, its called TAST, short for Take A Stitch Tuesday. There is a small study group of us with our own blog called Tuesday Stitchers. Each week we will be given an embroidery stitch to practice with and use in a project, anything from a simple simpler to crazy quilts. It all depends on what the stitcher wants to do and what group projects they may be signed up for. This runs for the entire year.

I am doing a fabric journal and each Tuesday's date will help me decide the design I will use. It will be an anniversary or birthday of someone or something that means something to me personally. On the Sunday following Tuesday we all have our allotted time slots to post our project or progress that week. This is a huge commitment so please visit and cheer us on!

This is my fabric cut and ready for the pages. Each piece will be folded in half creating 2 pages. Another piece will go on the back, like a pillow case is made only sewn on all 4 sides. When completed each leaf will be 4 pages. I hope I have not totally confused you, but just in case I will post pictures as I go.

This is the design I am using for the 1st week, January 3rd. I love all things archaeological and it was on Jan. 3, 1924 that Howard Carter discovered the un-plundered tomb of King Tutankhamen.

Out with the Old, In with the New ~ Years That Is

2011-12-31T14:13:00.000-06:00

May 2012 be the best year ever in your life and may God grant us all many more.

My Days of Christmas are Off Kilter

2011-12-30T18:34:00.000-06:00

I started out ok, but my days of Christmas got off kilter. LOL!

I think it happened because I posted 2 in one day, one of them to show the next day. So I will wait for Sunday to post the 8th day picture on the correct day.

7 Swans a Swimming

2011-12-29T21:47:00.000-06:00

Seven swans a swimming! Somehow I think they knew it was the 7th day of Christmas.

6th Day of Christmas & Those Christmas Geese

2011-12-29T00:39:00.001-06:00

Yup, must be Texas geese!

5th Day of Christmas Greetings

2011-12-28T18:08:00.000-06:00

I'm running a little behind but better late than never...

It's the 4th Day of Christmas!

2011-12-27T19:20:00.000-06:00

I know a lot of folks are taking down the decorations already but I like celebrating the old fashioned way. The 12 days of Christmas begin on Christmas Day.

This is my favorite 4th day of Christmas picture, ever!

Merry 3rd Day of Christmas

2011-12-27T08:16:00.000-06:00

Happy 2nd Day of Christmas

2011-12-26T22:37:00.002-06:00

A Christmas Greeting to All

2011-12-25T00:17:00.000-06:00

May you all have the happiest Christmas ever!

Dried Veggies

2011-12-24T10:57:00.000-06:00

This is my dehydrator, only 4 trays but it does a good job. Plug it in and hot air blows through drying whatever you put in the tray. How long does it take? Depends on the food, how large the pieces area and how much water content they have.

I used to use it for drying herbs but found the microwave to be much faster and energy efficient. But now I am drying vegetables for long term storage for those just in case times. I already dried 2 large packages of mixed veggies so they are ready to use in soups.

I had gotten some green bell peppers on sale for 4 for $1. I scooped up 8 of them, nice big ones in a lovely green and in excellent condition. Cut in half, seeds & stem removed then sliced into strips and chopped into roughly 1/2" pieces.

6 peppers filled my four trays. As they dried I rotated trays every couple of hours. I think they took about 8 hours, I didn't keep track as I was doing other stuff.

I unplugged the unit when I went to bed. I checked them this morning and they looked like this. I promise you the tray was completely full and covered when they were put in fresh.

Now they are perfectly dry so I packed them into one of my vintage blue jars.

This is a pint jar and when I dry the other 2 peppers it will be full. They can be rehydrated for use in anything, I'm thinking meatloaf. I can also add some to soups. I have a great recipe for stuffed bell pepper soup, basically chop up all the same ingredients, add beef broth and you have a wonderful soup!

Think I'll go chop up the other bell peppers and maybe some carrots to dry today.

Everyone have a safe and happy Christmas!

New Slices on Fresh Fruit

2011-12-23T14:25:00.000-06:00

I'm off work today and doing some odd jobs around the house but I wanted to share this tip with you. You may already know this but if not then I think you will appreciate it.

When slicing apples or pears for snacking, slice them horizontally as in the photo above. Not only is it easier to eat without getting the skin stuck in your teeth and juice dribbling down your chin, you actually get to eat more fruit. The amount of core bits I have left is at least half of what a non-sliced core would leave. And the slices are much easier to pick up and hold onto. Also easier to spread peanut butter on if you are into that.

Now if I could only find a less sloppy way to eat a juicy peach or plum!

Do Dogs Go to Heaven?

2011-12-19T18:10:00.000-06:00

Do dogs got to heaven? Do any animals? There are theological differences between every denomination.

Somewhere there is a Catholic church across the street from a Presbyterian church. I had to share this series of church signs.......

source

Origins of the Date of Christmas

2011-12-17T12:32:00.000-06:00

I just read a wonderful and well researched account on how December 25th (or January 6 for old calendarists) came to be celebrated as the day of Christ's birth. It's well worth the read and instead of getting permission to reprint it, here's the link to it from BAR Magazine, Biblical Archaeological Review. Looks like they have lots of interesting articles and even some free e-books.

The picture above is an Orthodox icon for the Nativity of Christ. It is a more modern one. The one below is the more ancient one.

And remember, the 12 Days of Christmas begin on Christmas Day.

Survivor Woman?

2011-12-14T20:55:00.000-06:00

A comment was left asking where I learned all my survival skills. There is no one answer.

Canning food I learned as a child as Mom & Nana both canned and I helped. We froze a lot of fruit back then too. I fondly remember the dark cherries in blue glass jars just waiting to be made into pies or cobblers. Cherry pie is my favorite still.

As a teen I learned on my own to dry flowers and as an adult I dried herbs I grew, still do, anyone need some rosemary? I've tried drying some fruit with little success in the past, I may try again. I read about it in a magazine I'm sure. I read a lot, all kinds of things, and a friend gave me a subscription to Mother Earth News once when I was a teen in the 70's. I learned a lot from reading those magazines. I have a stack of about 2 years worth here now and ones I don't want to buy I can read at the library. Their online website is informative too.

Another friend and her husband grow a pretty good sized garden every year and they encourage me to put up food and such just in case. I have to admit that in the world we now live in there are a lot of us who are a bit scared by what is happening and the security of having some essentials saved up helps me to feel less fear and less stress.

Another way I've learned about 'survival skills' was camping a lot in years past. I know how to build a fire and cook over it in several different ways. I've always been interested in wild foods that could be gathered and eaten and have several books with good pictures...that's essential if you want to eat wild food. There's a lot of greens in my own front yard only my neighbors would see them as weeds.

I started collecting the Foxfire book series as a teen. Since my family was from the Appalachians they helped me understand how my forbears lived and since I'm a history nut I thoroughly enjoy those books that are filled with stories of how to live a self sustaining lifestyle.

I have a lot of books on many subjects in my home including an antique cookbook collection, vintage and newer gardening books, herbal remedy books and so on. I prefer to do things in the old fashioned way and that includes my medicine. Though doctors have their place and I have gone to one when needed.

Websites and blogs on slow living, sustainability, survival skills, etc. can help a person out with more info. Some blogs I read are a little out there but I refuse to become part of the panicked crowd, I just want to have a little insurance in case of an emergency of some sort. If all the doomsayers are right and the electricity grid shuts down because of solar flares or nuclear attack, it's good to know you can at least have food & water to get you through for a while. I also can and store food because it saves money. I no longer have an area with enough sun to grow veggies so I buy things on sale and can them, like chicken breast on sale for 89¢ a pound, veggies & fruits in season when they are cheap, produce friends might give me that is more than I can eat or frozen veggies on sale. I don't want to lose it if the power goes out and the freezer no longer works so canning and drying will do quite nicely.

For more info I would recommend Backwoods Home Magazine and specifically Jackie Clay's blog. They have some great books available and reading back issues on line will give you a world of knowledge. Homesteading is not for everyone but there is great information to be gleaned her for everyone.

So am I a 'Survivor Woman'? Maybe. I just think I'm being wise. Besides that, the most satisfying sound I know of is the pop of a lid sealing down on a jar of food you just canned yourself.

Mom's Sloppy Joes

2011-12-11T15:26:00.000-06:00

There's probably as many sloppy joe recipes as there are people who make them. Most of us are familiar with Manwich, the sloppy joe sauce in a can, and most recipes have a tomato base like the one in the photo above. Mom's are a little different.

Saute a chopped onion, bell pepper if you like and a pound of ground beef. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste, but don't over salt. Drain the grease. Then open a can of cream of chicken soup and add to the burger, thoroughly mixing it and getting it warm all the way through. Do not add water.

Spoon it onto your favorite bun or even a piece of bread for a foldover sandwich. Quick, easy, comfort food. Potato chips are excellent with it.

Dried Mixed Vegetables

2011-12-10T21:13:00.000-06:00

Some people like mixed vegetables and some don't. I buy the frozen packages because I like them cooked with a bit of butter or to fill out soup made with leftovers. One year a dear friend who hates them made the recipe her mother used to make which caused her to hate them and brought it to our Christmas party. Mixed vegetables suspended in lime jello. Uh...I don't recommend it to anyone. This was a recipe that came into being during depression times or possibly during war years when some things were hard to get or you had to stretch your meals. Either way I probably wouldn't like mixed veggies if it had been served to me this way either, especially in lime jello as I really dislike that.

Back to what I recently did with some mixed vegetables. I opened the frozen bag and dumped the veggies onto a clean towel to thaw and drain. Then I covered the trays of my dehydrator and let it work its magic. With my dehydrator I have to rotate trays every so often so things dry evenly. If I do much of this I will probably invest in a better dehydrator. They were pretty much dry and shriveled after about 4 hours. I left them there until the next morning as it was bed time. Next day I plugged the thing in for another 2 hours to be sure everything was good and dry. I didn't want any moisture from those green beans or lima beans destroying my batch. Once everything was cool I used a funnel and poured them into a cleaned out juice jug. A little big but I intend to make more. I also added a couple packs of these little silica packets that come in vitamins. So far so good after 2 weeks. Everything is dry and colorful and should work well for soup making. Lightweight and easy to store it helps fill out the pantry with yet another option just in case.

In case of what? Natural disaster, economic collapse, further drought or anything else that causes food to be hard to get or too expensive to buy. I'm not a doomsayer but I do believe in being prepared, it just makes sense. And I have enough camping skills to get me through. Living on the Texas Gulf Coast, when a hurricane comes through I lose power for at least a week, thankfully I have not lost water. I have a fire pit I can cook over if need be, and I have done it during those times.

I do need to buy some screen to cover the trays in the dehydrator as the veggies shrunk to fall through the slots...LOL!

Why Women Aren't Crazy

2011-12-07T11:22:00.000-06:00

A most excellent article, I highly encourage everyone to read it.

Why Women Aren't Crazy

St. Nicholas Day December 6

2011-12-05T20:24:00.000-06:00

St. Nicholas was a real person. Here is a short story of his life:

Nicholas was born in Asia Minor into a wealthy family, but he chose poverty. He did not spend his inheritance of three bags of gold coins, but considered how he might use it to serve the poor. There lived in his town a man who was poor and could not afford dowries for his three daughters so the man had determined to sell his girls into slavery when they came of age. As each one came of age, St. Nicholas dropped one of the bags of gold coins through the window of the mans's house in the middle of the night, (possibly landing in the stocking the girl had put out to dry) providing a dowry and redeeming each of them from slavery. This is why he is considered the patron saint of pawnbrokers and his symbol of three coins joined by a form of a cross is one of their symbols as is three bags of gold. On at least two occasions he interceded with proof of the innocence of the accused and saved them from death. He was considered a saint during his lifetime and his face would sometimes glow like Moses'. His presence brought solace and peace. He is famous for his love for children and his name and reputation have been transformed by modern folklore into "Santa Claus."

He is also credited with several miraculous rescues of sailors at sea, both during his earthly life and since.

He participated in the Council of Nicea in 325, until he was ejected for slapping Arius on the face. The Theotokos and Jesus Christ appeared to some of the hierarchs to instruct them to restore the godly saint to office.

This is the church of St. Nicholas in Myra, Turkey today.

He reposed (died) in the Lord at an old age, on December 6, 343.

This is St. Nicholas' original tomb in Myra.

In 1087 sailors from the Italian city of Bari took advantage of the chaos from invading Seljuk Turks to abscond with St. Nicholas' bones over the vociferous objections of the Orthodox monks caring for the bones. The sailors claimed they had a vision from the saint himself to preserve his remains from the Muslim invaders. The bones were re-interred in a church in Bari where they have been ever since.

St. Nicholas' bones are kept here in Bari, Italy.

The photo below is a reconstruction of the saint's head based on measurements of his skull.

In the Orthodox church we have special songs to sing on saint's days, this one is for St. Nicholas.

Troparion (Tone 4)Your works of justice showed you to your congregation a canon of faith,

the likeness of humility, a teacher of abstinence,

O Father, Bishop Nicholas. Wherefore, by humility you achieved exaltation, and by meekness, richness. Intercede, therefore, with Christ to save our souls.

Encrusted Crazy Quilt Piece

2011-12-03T09:10:00.000-06:00

This is how it started after a week of dithering over fabrics and placement.

After 6 weeks of very informative encrusted crazy quilt classes given online by Sharon B at Pin Tangle, it looks like this:

My frame is not wonky, that's the camera doing its tricks. This piece is 13 x 17 inches, much larger than most folks' 8 inch squares. But then I never do things the way others do. I'm pretty well pleased with it.

Here's a closer view of the top portion. The gold round piece is a vintage brooch I picked up that is labeled Guinevere. Some of the flowers in the curve here are pre-made ones I had in my stash, it was nice to find a home for them, the rest I embroidered with silk ribbon that I had picked up on closeout ages ago.

This unicorn is the piece I started with in the beginning. It is an applique lace motif that started out beige. I painted it with 2 colors of gold metallic craft paint. The fern stitch fronds around him are done with vintage silk tread I scored at the thrift shop one day. I did have some trouble with it since being vintage meant it did have some weak spots and several lengths had to be picked out and trashed.

This heart was also a lace motif I painted gold but this corner needed something light so I added the gathered pink silk ribbon and beads. There are lots of beads scattered everywhere on this piece. Click on the photos to enlarge them.

I spent the most time on the flower curve with its myriad of blossoms. There's even a few buttons in there. All my favorite colors and textures brought together in one piece. If you are interested in learning more about encrusted crazy quilting I highly recommend Sharon's class. You get to download and keep the instructions so I feel it is well worth the price of $60 for 6 weeks. There is also a forum for those in the class so you can help each other and bounce off ideas. Sharon also gives you the link to an online stitch index and her blog is wonderful for inspiration.
I was able to take skills I already had and put them all together in a new way.
*

Just a reminder that today is the last day to attend the Virtual Craft Show and do some commenting in order to win some fabulous items!

Virtual Craft Fair Now Going On

2011-11-28T22:30:00.000-06:00

Every day from November 26 to December 3 you can enter to win wonderful things like handmade jewelry, handmade beads, instruction books and more.

You can enter multiple days and multiple ways. You can possibly win items from different days if you enter those days.

So what are you waiting for?

Go now to Pretty Things and find out more!

Day 2 of the Virtual Craft Fair!

2011-11-27T09:47:00.000-06:00

Day 2 of the Virtual Craft Fair!

Check out these wonderful offerings you can win! at Pretty Things!

Here's my offering up today!

What wonderful items, from things to make your own designs, book to tell you how, to finished pieces ready to wear!

GO NOW! to PRETTY THINGS!

Day 1 in the Virtual Craft Fair

2011-11-26T22:01:00.000-06:00

Go on over to Pretty Things!

The Virtual Craft Fair is in progress now! Enter to win wonderful things!

Thanksgiving Greetings

2011-11-23T22:26:00.002-06:00

First Annual Virtual Craft Show

2011-11-22T18:32:00.002-06:00

I'm participating in this fabulous Virtual Craft Show! You can have the opportunity to win one of my saint pendants or a myriad of other wonderful items from one of the other artisans.

Please mark this on your calendar and visit

November 26th to December 3rd

at Pretty Things blog.

7 Days, 70 Artists, GIVING AWAY 70 things.

Can you believe it????

I hope you'll take the time to visit the artisans' shops and blogs, too,

during the show (and afterward!).
Here's how you can win:

For each of the 7 days of the show, you get a point for each of the following (you don't have to do all four)....

Commenting

Facebooking

Twittering

Blogging

You can do any of these things on every day of the show!

Drawing will be held a couple of days after the show.

Remember the craft show is at Pretty Things and not here. Hope to see you there!

This is the pendant I am offering. St. Michael and the Theotokos with Christ. It will come with a plain or a beaded necklace, your choice.

Embroidery Stitches

2011-11-20T18:07:00.000-06:00

Take A Stitch Tuesday begins soon!

pin tangle

Would you like to learn how to embroider? How about learning new stitches? How about learning to use stitches in a new way? How about if all this information if FREE!?

Go here to learn about sharon b's TAST (Take A Stitch Tuesday) on her blog
Pin Tangle.

There's also a forum where you can show off your pieces and connect with like minded people about all forms of sewing and needlework.

Each Tuesday of the entire new year you will be given a stitch to work with and explore. One stitch a week, not too much, not too hard. I have decided to make an art journal with one page for each week's stitch, combining 2 projects into one. Another person is planning to make a crazy quilt. What will you do with your stitches?

Embroidery for me is a connection to the past. A gentler and slower time, and at least in my mind, one with more grace.

Canning and a Few Tips

2011-11-13T09:58:00.000-06:00

Yes I have been canning again.

This is what I worked on yesterday. 8 pints of chili and 16 quarts of vegetable stock.

I put up the chili in pints as then I can easily take one to work for lunch. I usually empty a jar into a glass Pyrex bowl with a rubbery lid, those are wonderful to use with no plastic heated in the microwave. This chili does have some beef in it but I also bulked it out with some oatmeal, that's why it is more orange than red. If you need to thicken or stretch a soup then just add a handful of regular oatmeal. It takes on the flavor of what you put it in and can make a thin soup into a hearty stew that is even more healthy for you.

The vegetable stock I made with the leavings from juicing veggies. My juicer sorts the fiber into a container out the back side, it is very dry and pretty much macerated. I froze it in quart size Ziploc bags and this batch is from 2 bags boiled in water in a huge stock pot. You see varying amounts of sediment in the jars as I was scooping up more as I got to the bottom of the pot. This has beets, carrots, parsley, kale, spinach, onions and tomatoes in it. I added some garlic to the stock pot too. Now I can just open a jar and add whatever other veggies and/or meat I want and have soup ready to go. All while saving whatever it costs to buy it in the store and I know what is in it, like nothing I can't pronounce.

You may have noticed I said I canned 16 quarts of stock but you only see 15 in the photo. One jar did not seal so it is in the fridge. It was an older jar and may have had a nick in the edge I missed seeing. I collect jars from all over, mostly thrift shops. Some of these were my Mom's or Nana's. The pints I actually had to buy at Walmart last week as I have used all mine and could not find any more. The only jars I have left not being used are 3 quarts, 5 pints and a good supply of half pints (don't use those too much).

I love seeing the different labels in the glass, Kerr, Ball, Presto, Golden Harvest. And the different glass designs you sometimes get. There are some really pretty ones new in the store but it is fun to find them in the thrift stores. I have a nice assortment of blue jars and older odd jars I use to store dry items like beans & rice in the pantry. Either they have nicks in the rim or I just don't want to take a chance on them breaking during canning. Some of the old ones may not be able to take the pressure in the pressure canner since in generations past everything was canned in a water bath. These days it goes in a pressure canner unless it is high acid like fruits and tomatoes (which are technically a fruit).

I always remove the bands from the jars before storing to make sure there is no rusting or trapping of anything that might cause the jar to unseal. It is always good to wash your jars before storing to remove any particles that could compromise the seal. And if you have hard water as I do and your jars look a bit mucky as they come out of the canner, wash them with soapy water with a glug or two of vinegar. I wash the rings as well so they are ready for the next time.

All that's left is to mark the date and what's in the jar and store. But I still need to make some more wood shelves so these may sit on the counter for a few days.

11/11/11

2011-11-11T07:50:00.000-06:00

and

Holiday Gingerbread Rum Muffins

2011-11-06T22:35:00.000-06:00

Okay, it's not really a holiday recipe but it is definitely sounding like one. Please visit my dear friend Sherry at her blog in which she shares wonderful recipes and her opinions on local eateries in Atlanta, GA.

Her newest recipe is for GINGERBREAD RUM MUFFINS. They sound fabulous and I can see them being served for maybe a Christmas brunch or a Thanksgiving dessert with coffee.

She's got some other great recipes for family pleasing meals too! As a wife and a mother to two grown sons, she has learned her way around the kitchen.

New Charts on my Food Page

2011-11-05T19:03:00.000-05:00

I added 3 charts to my Good Food Journey page which you can get to by clicking the link at the top. And they are colorful too!

Last week I juiced a lot of vegetables and fruits and froze them in small containers and made ice cubes of some that are strong tasting like beets. This way I can mix & match and try new flavors. Carrot & Peach juice is absolutely wonderful! A little beet in a grape pomegranate blend adds a nice kick too.

Canning the Abundance

2011-10-29T17:00:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I juiced a lot of vegetables and froze it for future use. Some Like the beet juice and the various greens juices I froze in ice cube trays so I can control the amount that goes into a mixture. Trust me you only want so much of beet, kale, spinach or parsley juice in your glass. After I froze the cubes I transferred them to Ziploc baggies so I could use the trays again. The carrot and apple juice I froze in larger containers like I did the fruit a few weeks back. And in case you've never had it carrot and apple juice together are superb!

With my juicer (Jack LaLaane) all the pulp is sent into a container out the back and it pretty dry. I stuffed it into Ziplocs and froze it for future soup bases and used nearly a gallon of it for a big pot of vegetable soup.

There was a generous amount of carrot and greens, a bit of beet and some apple and onion. I added water and chicken stock. Then added some leftover brown & wild rice that had been cooked with lentils, more diced onion, 5 tomatoes and about 10 small potatoes starting to make eyes. Various spices including some dried red pepper for a kick. I ate some and canned 1 quart and 6 pints.

I still had some more left over so I added some more pulp, a big can of tomatoes some sliced left over bratwurst and some barley...along with more water. I canned up 4 quarts and 3 pints of this. Ate some more and still have a bowl full in the fridge.

As a side note and a warning: The fresh tomatoes I added to the first batch, I had planned to eat as is or in a salad. Humph. You don't want to know what I paid for these organic, beautiful tomatoes. I was so disappointed. They were nearly tasteless and mealy, kind of like an old apple. Hopefully there were some vitamins in them for the soup because they made a lousy salad.

So now I have lots more soup for the pantry but I'll be out of space for storage after this. Need to get some wood for shelves to repair the shelf on top that collapsed and I think I will take over the bottom linen closet shelf in the master bath and make it into 2 shelves. I know food in the bathroom sounds really odd but it is a storage closet built in and everything will be sealed..no ookies. I have a linen closet in the hall at the other end of the trailer too but that end of the house gets way too hot in the summer.

Went thrifting today...no great treasures but I did get 3 more canning jars, $1.25 for all. They are so hard to find now. Late winter and spring are better to find them. I also picked up a nice 3 yard piece of ecru cotton fabric with a little fleck in it, good for a curtain or maybe a nice winter nightgown, for $1. And a mostly complete book of marbled paper that I'm sure I will find some fun use for, 25¢.

The weather has turned cold here, it dipped to 45 last night and I stayed nice & cozy under my flower garden quilt last night now that I finally have the binding done.

Encrusted Crazy Quilting part 1

2011-10-23T14:53:00.000-05:00

I am taking sharon b's Encrusted Crazy Quilt class online. Here's a link to her wonderful blog if you would like to see how an expert does it.

Most everyone is doing a square as you would in a real quilt but I decided to frame mine and hang it in my bedroom. Therefore mine is rectangular and I am using an existing frame I have which is a a fairly narrow antiqued gold leaf with curlicues. I constructed it way back when I was managing a frame shop/gallery.

After looking at it with the focal piece I intend to add, it will be vertical, about 14 x 18. Mostly purples with lots of glitzy gold pieces, a little turquoise and royal blue and a bit of red. I have actually added a couple more fancy ribbons to the mix and need to start on the embroidery part. I am going to try and work on it every night this week.

One piece I cut out of an old project I never finished, and it already has beading on it, is to the left of the gold braid.

Some of the purples are showing as blue. The triangle with the gold rose outline is a royal purple as is the corrugated fabric in the top left.

The bottom right piece is an almost black indigo blue with a gold metallic floral pattern.

Love the dragonscale netting, I just added it to the top of the tiny stripe which was a silk tie I picked up at the resale shop.

Next post should have some embroidery done on it. It will be rather fantasy themed as my focal is a bust of a unicorn. I'm probably going to paint it golden as the white looks a bit odd with all these dark colors.

After I had lunch with my quilting buddy Debra yesterday, I stopped at one thrift store on the way home, all the others were closed already. I scored this wonderful pile of crocheted edging...all for $1!

Not sure why they added the rickrack to the one but it can easily be removed.

Oh yeah, and this gorgeous Victorian type crocheted collar was part of the lot. Looks like it was never finished or used...all I need is a button and I think I probably have several thousand to choose from. It fits too, so I may wear it this winter with some of my new long sleeved cotton tees that need dressing up. Maybe I need to add some beads to the bottom edge? ;-)

Hope your weekend has been as fun as mine!

Beadwork for Mummies

2011-10-06T23:48:00.000-05:00

Are you possibly like me and interested in archaeology and mummies and things? If so, have you ever seen beadwork done for mummies? I hadn't.

Check this out! Click on the picture to make it larger.

This is Nemenkhetamon (attributed to the Ancient Egyptian period of 1069-525 BC. He's part on an exhibit in Venice, Italy right now. Sure wish I could go there.

source

This one is about 2600 years old.

source

This one is available if you want to purchase it and is similar is style to the one above. A fine restrung Egyptian bead mummy mask, the face made up largely of blue beads, with the nose and eyes in white, and the pupils and eye-brows in black, the whole composition bordered by a band of white beads. Mask measures 127 mm/5 ins. across. One bead missing from the cheek but an attractive example, Late Period, c. 600-300 B.C.

The 2 photos above are from the Rijksmuseum. Are these not fabulous?

According to the museum info these two beaded mummies are from the 26th Dynasty (664-525 BC). The beadwork on both includes a winged scarab (a symbol of the Sun God) and the four sons of Horus (who protected the internal organs).

Such beadwork was not custom-made for a mummy. Beaded nets began to be used in the 25th Dynasty.

Love the colors in this one that is from the Art Institute of Chicago.

I could not find where this photo came from originally. This one and some of the others are featured today on Needleprint, a blog I read every day as you never know what treasures she will share. These are glazed faience beads in that wonderful Egyptian blue color.

Here is another news article on the new discovery of the mummy in the second photo.

And in case you are interested in the faience beads, this article is quite good.

I still can't believe that of all the documentaries I have watched and books I have looked at about Egypt and archaeology and mummies, that I have never seen anything on the beadwork coverings before.

And if you are near Houston, there is a special exhibition about to start of King Tutankhamun with over 100 treasures to view. This was the only beaded item in the little slideshow.

But the other pieces look pretty fabulous too.

Vacation Time

2011-10-02T18:19:00.000-05:00

I finally took a real vacation, the first in 2 years. It was my parents' 60th wedding anniversary this past week, a wonderful thing to celebrate. And to top it off, very dear friends came for a visit all the way from MI to TX. So between all the hugs and visiting with family and friends that are really family, the week flew by.

It's a 7-8 hour drive from where I live, but it's mostly 2 lane roads that go through small towns.

A lovely house in Glade Valley across the street from where I stopped for lunch. Olga makes the best burritos ever and was kind enough to stay open long enough for me to eat it. Most places in these tiny towns close early on Saturdays.

The drive is a nice one with pretty farm and ranch country. Lots of hay baling going on right now.

It has been a rough year, most of Texas is in a drought and we have had terrible wildfires across the state. Happily the areas that had the fires this spring have green things growing again, slowly but they are there.

You will think I am nuts but that photo above is the only one I took in the entire 9 days. But it is kind of hard to take pictures while you are driving by at 70 mph. If you want to see more of the small town my folks live in and the photos of the wind farm go here to a previous post. I will say it looks pretty much the same except not as green as the previous visit was in the spring. The recently burned areas were eerie to drive through, the live oak trees, now dead, were black with white dead wood showing where the blackened bark had fallen off. The mesquite trees were all black as well and there was nothing green in those areas. It would make for a great Halloween site.

We made one trip to Abilene for the anniversary dinner and there are tons more wind turbines on the wind farm. And gratefully it rained some on our way back to my parents home. Not much but you take what you get and be grateful for it. The lake they live near is about 15 feet lower, at least it looks it to me. They even found a truck that was stolen several years ago that had been dumped in the lake.

If you read my old post you'll notice that I obviously have not moved there. I have a great job here near Houston and will stay for now. I'll be working on figuring out how to make a living out there though. After 3 days my arthritis practically goes away and I feel 15 years younger, not to mention my chronic sinus issues disappear. The dryness really does make a difference.

I think I can safely say that a great time was had by all...except perhaps my cat Chaucer who was definitely miffed I had been gone away so long. I had someone come feed him every day but it's not the same in his mind.

Have to find some dinner now and psych up for work tomorrow.

Heart's Progression

2011-09-19T22:07:00.001-05:00

I'm getting quite a few comments that you really like this necklace I created for the Bead Soup Blog Party. So I thought I would let you in on a little more of the story behind it.

First, this piece is reversible because all my glass pendants have an image on both sides. Compare this photo with the one of it in the previous post. The pendant images are similar, they are both from a mosaic of the wise virgins. What changes when you wear it is the progression of color in the glass hearts.

Depending on how you look at it the colors of the hearts can progress from the dark to the light or from the light to the dark.

There's a lot of me in this piece, a lot of my emotion is poured into it. I have recently been through a great change in a long time relationship, things are no longer what they were. Losing something important is like having a door closed and locked behind you. From that comes the finding of new experiences beyond the new door that opens in front of you.

So from a deeply colored heart with streaks of red coursing through it like life's blood, the progression moves to a different shade of green with only little blots of life still in it, then to a heart totally see-through, the things that filled it gone. It progresses to a yet lighter color, more transparent than ever, more fragile, empty, waiting. Then one day some wholeness returns, not much color but not so fragile either. Finally the heart progresses to a lovely pure color with a strand of red beating through it once again.

The virgins knew the truth, they held the wisdom of the ages and they were ready when the time came.

Bead Soup Blog Party Now Going On!

2011-09-16T23:57:00.001-05:00

This will be a fairly long post as the bead soup my partner Emanda sent me was a really lovely sampling of lots of beads and I made several things with them.

This wing which Emanda sells in her Etsy store in any color you choose was a trade for something I had that she wanted. I chose my favorite colors of purple, royal blue and turquoise. I thought I was going to use those dark blue aurora faceted beads with it........but plans change.

When you get to browsing through a bead stash you find all kinds of things that go together and I had gotten these iridescent big beads a few months ago with no idea what I would use them for until now. They are perfect.

Those twisted bugle beads I had bought just before the bead soup started because I loved the greenish and aqua color combination in them, I think they work perfectly with the feathery wing. And this piece looks like it was made to go with a new blouse I just bought!

So what did I do with the faceted aurora beads? Glad you asked.

I strung them up on 3 strands with some moonstone colored lamp glass beads and some iridescent pale purple seed beads and made a bracelet. I've only made one bracelet before and I've never done multiple strands before so this was a bit of an experiment for me. I call this one 'Midnight & Moonstone'.

Here's the main project from the soup 'Butterfly Dreams'. I found that some vintage beads I had worked nicely with the green/brown large beads from the soup. They are a little dark in the photo but they are the same green background with a floral pattern. This design took me a while and went through about 5 changes until I liked it. I added a fancy bail to the focal to tie it in with the butterfly wing beads.

I really like how the large round beads mimic the pattern of a butterfly's wing and the pale blue/green glass beads match the focal so well. My vintage tubes looked odd by themselves but I remembered I had a few bead caps stashed. They were copper and didn't work but I got out some silver rub & buff and changed their color to match. I had never used bead caps much but it really finishes off those tubes.

I had left over beads so I made some earrings to match.

The little cloisonne beads were crying out for some special treatment so here they are as earrings. I did have some gold caps but I only had silver ear-wires, so silver caps it is. I may wear them for Christmas as they look so festive!

This is 'Heart's Progression' and is a really soulful piece to me. The focal is one of my glass pendants I make and sell in my Etsy store and has similar images on each side, one of the wise virgins from the story in the bible. The beaded chains are some I picked up on sale because I liked the colors and the glass hearts Emanda sent were just the right accompaniment. I used a simple heart toggle on this to keep with the theme.

Again I tried something new by using 2 beaded strands instead of just a simple single strand and I quite like it.

Finally we come to the flat turquoise cross focal. I had thought I would do a bead embroidered cuff bracelet but realized I would not have the time for it since I do work full time. But my stash to the rescue! I had these turquoise disks that I picked up at Walmart of all places and the color was a match. I don't think these are actual turquoise, but rather another stone with similar colorations. Never mind that, I love them anyway. This one was a challenge as I decided to hand-knot the beads on silk cord. I used 3 strands of brown silk as it was a bit thin and after 3 false starts finally got going.

First I didn't make my silk strands long enough, I saw the knots were eating up a lot of length. Then I had trouble getting the knots close enough to the beads. Finally I got the hang of it and the last time round it took about 3-4 hours to get it totally knotted.

I'm pretty happy with it and it will go with about half my wardrobe so it's a win win.

That leaves me with the left overs...there's another stray pale green one somewhere that the cat has been playing with, but these are what's left. I just ran out of time to come up with anything else though I love the warm colors of the pearls and the oval beads that look like butterscotch. Maybe I can come up with something after my vacation when I'm more rested.

So there's my bead soup all cooked up, hope you enjoyed it, I know I did!

Please visit my partner Emanda and see what she created. And if you want even more then please see the list on Lori's Page where there are 360 more bloggers that participated!

Thanks so much Lori, for all your hard work!

Follow the Bead Soup Blog Party

2011-09-13T18:07:00.000-05:00

the bead soup I received from Emanda

This is the largest Bead Soup Blog Party to date and is worldwide. Visit here to see the map and the list of countries involved. 362 jewelry makers in the list. We will be posting the things we made on Saturday, September 17th. So check in to see what I created as well as what others came up with. Should be fun!

We Will Remember

2011-09-10T23:59:00.001-05:00

More Jewelry Made

2011-09-05T16:20:00.000-05:00

I've gotten more jewelry pieces completed this weekend from the bead soup package. 2 necklaces and a bracelet. This has pushed me to try some new types of designs and some elements I have not used before. And I've worked with my new favorite TV show playing in the background. Monarch of the Glen.

Most of my friends know I gave up regular TV 2 years ago, Directv was just too expensive. I had never watched this show on BBC America. I'm glad they have it available on Netflix. I have found several wonderful shows on Netflix and it is great being able to watch episode after episode with no commercials just when I want to.

I've always loved photos of Scotland and this show really has made me want to go see the highlands in real life. Doubtful I will ever get there but you just never know.

Hope you are all having a wonderful Labor Day.

Bead Soup Coming Along

2011-08-29T22:07:00.000-05:00

I can't show any photos because the reveal for Bead Soup Blog Party is Sept. 17th. However I can tell you I have one necklace and 2 pair of earrings made already. Another necklace is planned out and I have the ideas working for a bracelet. I may still have more beads to use up so stay tuned!

Gifts & Favors

2011-08-27T14:21:00.000-05:00

I peruse craftgossip.com and pinterest.com pretty much daily. It seems to be mostly a younger than me crowd on both sites so both have a lot of wedding, baby and child stuff on them. One of the things I see a lot of is creative favors to be used at children's parties or weddings and showers.

I've been to a decent amount of weddings but I don't really remember favors except at the last one I attended a couple years back. That one had tiny paper bags with a couple of chocolates in it. Others had little bowls of pastel colored mints on the tables. So I got to wondering where did the whole idea of favors come from. Wikipedia to the rescue!

"The tradition of distributing wedding favors is a very old one. It is believed that the first wedding favor, common amongst European aristocrats, was known as a bonbonniere. A bonbonniere is a small trinket box made of crystal, porcelain, and/or precious stones. The contents of these precious boxes were generally sugar cubes or delicate confections, which symbolize wealth and royalty. In this era, sugar was an expensive commodity and was treasured only among the wealthy. It was believed that sugar contained medical benefits. As the price of sugar decreased throughout centuries, the tradition of providing gifts to guests reached the general populace and was embraced by couples of modest means.

As sugar became more affordable, bonbonnieres were replaced with almonds. For centuries, almonds were commonly distributed to wedding guests to signify well wishes on the bridegroom’s new life. In the thirteenth century, almonds coated with sugar, known as confetti, were introduced. Confetti soon transformed to sugared almonds, which later evolved into the wedding favor for modern day weddings. Traditionally, five Jordan almonds are presented in a confection box or wrapped in elegant fabric to represent fertility, longevity, wealth, health and happiness. The bitterness of the almond and the sweetness of the coated candy exemplify the bitter sweetness of a marriage.

Today, gifts to guests are commonly known as wedding favors and are shared in cultures worldwide. Wedding favors are diverse and usually complement the theme or season of the event. Favors can range from the classic sugared almonds or individual chocolates to candles and scented soaps. Modern gift trends include: CDs with the favorite music of the bride and groom, shot glasses filled with colored candy or silver picture frames with a photo of the couple. Gifts may also be personalized with the couple's names, initials or wedding date."

How about that? Did you know anything about the tradition?

One option I saw probably falls more into the category of an alternative to rice. We've all seen confetti or birdseed used instead, and soap bubbles too (I like that one). But a new one is sparklers! How very fun!

Bead Soup Has Arrived

2011-08-20T17:16:00.000-05:00

I returned home today from having a fabulous lunch with my friend Debra, bringing a gift home with me... and I found my bead soup package from Emanda in my mailbox. A great day all around!

Emanda thinks we're telepathic, I definitely think she has ESP. How on earth would she know that I collect boxes? I know the photo above is technically a purse, but since I can't possibly fit all my stuff into it I am declaring it a box for my collection. Isn't is gorgeous? Very Pre-Raphaelite which I adore.

Inside was a lovely note and my bead soup.

Such pretty colors and cool beads, I will have to cogitate (love that word) a while to come up with a design worthy of these. The butterfly focal is a ceramic pendant from Nan Emmett called Spirit Rattles. Now that brings several ideas to mind. The leaf toggle is pewter and so pretty, pale blue-green oval glass beads, 2 green cloisonne beads (how did she know I liked cloisonne?), lamp-work hearts in lovely greens, red aventurine ovals and and some butterscotch colored pearls (I love pearls too) and some beautiful lamp-work beads in earthy colors. There's a turquoise howlite cross bead I have plans for as well.

We did a bit of a trade, I had some brass chain I was de-stashing on Etsy and Emanda wanted it, so I traded it for one of her angel wings which she custom colors. Really, you need to visit her Etsy shop. I asked for one in my favorite colors and it is perfect! I believe she sent the aurora borealis Czech glass beads to go with it, again, how did she know I love aurora borealis beads? Emanda has to have ESP, I'm convinced.

As I mentioned earlier, Debra gave me a gift also...

Aren't these cool? I am wanting to do some pieces with Buddhas and these will be perfect. I have such wonderful friends and today has certainly been the highlight of my week.

Check out the list of participants in the Bead Soup Blog Party for more inspiration and definitely check back in on September 17th for everyone's reveal of what they made.

Travel Channel vs Food Network

2011-08-19T19:59:00.000-05:00

Apparently Anthony Bourdain has opened his mouth a bit wider. If you are not familiar with him, he is a chef that does a travel show where he samples the food & drink and culture of places around the world. He has a very dry wit and I have found his show fairly enjoyable, overlooking his sometimes snide comments when things are not up to his standards or don't go his way. I have also heard and read his scathing comments about some of the Food Network personalities, particularly Rachel Ray.

I am not impressed by his rude comments. Everyone is entitled to their opinions but that does not mean you should make them public. Didn't Mom always say "If you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all?" But to be honest I am breaking that rule here too.

Today's news is covered with his latest remarks about the beloved Paula Deen. He has a point that her recipes are not the healthiest but is it really his mission in life to so harshly condemn others? Here's one report I read.

I happen to enjoy Paula Deen and Rachel Ray and Sandra Lee. Why? Because they cook real food that real everyday people eat. Unlike Tony who seems to only enjoy extremely upscale meals that only the wealthy can afford. And I probably shouldn't go into how much alcohol the man can put away.

Tony Bourdain seems snobbish to me. After all, Paula, Rachel and Sandra are not 'chefs' that went to fancy cooking schools but regular people who love to cook. Not that all chefs are snobs by any means, I know several who are as regular as you or I. I find it sad that Tony seems so unhappy with life that he feels he must let the world know how much he detests certain others that don't come up to his standards.

Pardon me now while I fry up some chicken in butter and make some gravy to go with those mashed potatoes.

The Bead Soup Party is Coming to My House

2011-08-18T21:35:00.000-05:00

Twice a year Lori Anderson at Pretty Things hosts a Bead Soup Party. She pairs up beading bloggers and we we each send some bead soup ( a focal bead, some complimenting beads and a clasp) to our partner and when we get ours we create something beautiful with it! Then we all share the results on a big blog party.

This is my first Bead Soup Party and my partner is Emanda and her blog is Artemisia's Studio. She is a woman with many of the same interests as me. She's fascinated with the middle ages, she loves art, is an artist and art historian and even lives in Texas as I do. I don't think I could have a better partner! I love the name of her blog too as Artemisia Gentileschi was a fabulous artist in the 1600's and a woman as well. There was a movie about her made in 1997 and I enjoyed it even though it may not be totally true to the real story of her life.

Anyway, we have sent each other's soup off in the mail with no dry ice needed to keep it fresh and soon I'll have some new beads to play with and inspire me. We'll all post our creations on September 17th. This time Lori has 362 participants! Wow. Follow Lori's blog if you would like to participate next time.

After A While

2011-08-13T14:03:00.000-05:00

A blogger I admire much posted this poem today. I felt it deserved to be shared here as well.

After A While

After a while you learn

the subtle difference between

holding a hand and chaining a soul

and you learn

that love doesn't mean leaning

and company doesn't always mean security.

And you begin to learn

that kisses aren't contracts

and presents aren't promises

and you begin to accept your defeats

with your head up and your eyes ahead

with the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child

and you learn

to build all your roads on today

because tomorrow's ground is

too uncertain for plans

and futures have a way of falling down

in mid-flight.

After a while you learn

that even sunshine burns

if you get too much

so you plant your own garden

and decorate your own soul

instead of waiting for someone

to bring you flowers.

And you learn that you really can endure

you really are strong

you really do have worth

and you learn...

and learn...

With every goodbye, you learn...

- Veronica A. Shoffstall

I am learning.

Inspiring

2011-08-08T23:27:00.000-05:00

pinterest.com

Seems as time goes on the more I am inspired by and drawn to the Theotokos. The word means God-bearer. Some call her Mother Mary, the Virgin, Mother of God. She is all that. She is also an ever listening friend, an intermediary we can appeal to in times of need. Sometimes God seems too big but Mary seems close and personal.

For a wonderful article on Mary check out this Mystagogy blog post.

Wise Words

2011-08-06T11:23:00.002-05:00

More Doodle Art

2011-08-03T20:30:00.001-05:00

A couple more doodle art pieces. This one is Nautilus Mandala.

I love mandalas, I think I should do more of them.

This one I called Earth Hug.

These are ACEO's, Art Cards Editions & Originals and are always 2½" x 3½".

Heartbreak & Hope

2011-07-31T12:23:00.002-05:00

This piece is titled "Arrows of Heartbreak".

But I don't wish to leave you with sadness so here's a wonderful quote from Emily Dickinson:

"Hope" is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all...

Doodles

2011-07-30T08:34:00.000-05:00

I was watching, well mostly listening, to a documentary recently and needed something to keep my hands busy. I pulled out one of the ACEO papers I had cut and started doodling with some glitter pens. Here we are, now for sale in my Etsy shop.

ACEO means "Art Cards, Editions & Originals" and they are always 2½" by 3½".

This one is titled Summer Flower Power and is like the pop art I loved when I was a child in the 60's. I think I will do some more of these, they are quite fun!

Some folks call these kinds of drawings zentangles and YouTube has a whole lot of videos on making them.

Mixed Media Pendants

2011-07-23T16:36:00.000-05:00

I'm branching in a new direction with my saintly images pendants. Using mixed media in a controlled collage. OK, in plain English I am using several different layers of papers, foils, etc. to achieve the look I want for my pendants. The one above of St Faustina uses a metallic gold paint chip for the background, a large gold metallic sequin for the halo and the carefully cut out paper icon of the saint. I then added the red permanent marker around the halo. The dangle is a vintage medal of St. Faustina and the vision she had of Christ, with a glass bead attached below.

I'm enjoying the mix of textures and the effect of the layering. This piece of St. Martin de Porres has a glittery blue background which is scrapbook paper. I have to peel the layer off that I want to use otherwise it is too thick. This particular paper is coated so the halo is a red permanent marker circle and then a golden yellow permanent marker for the fill. I draw lines from the red edge to the center and it creates a lovely shaded effect. I'm playing with different bails, I like the look of this thicker one but they are much harder to attach.

This icon of the Theotokos (God-bearer) is just as it comes except I found some incredibly tiny rhinestones and attached them to her halo. The trick with these is to add thickness in the center of the pendant layers so the paper of the icon does not wrinkle. It's not an exact science so I play with each one to get it right.

St. Isadore the Farmer, a wonderful saint in a simple layering. I love the glittery backgrounds, the glitter is so very tiny.

St. Ignatius of Loyola has a silver metallic paint chip background. I think it shows off his lovely green vestments nicely. His halo is part of the original paper icon but I used a glitter pen to create the striae effect.

I also picked up a very out of date art student's book and it is a treasure of images for me to use. This 8th century image of St John is a beautiful Celtic style icon from the British Isles.

This one is a 1 x 3 inch pendant with images of a medieval book of hours on each side.

And my love of Egyptian art surfaces again with this image of King Tutankamun's gold funeral mask.

Needless to say my etsy ship will quickly have a lot a new items in it. This is much more fun than cleaning house. Wonder if I can just open the door and sweep everything out.......?

Beauty

2011-07-21T20:45:00.002-05:00

'nuff said.

Easiest Ever Breakfast Bars

2011-07-17T18:35:00.000-05:00

I am not a breakfast person, never have been. I don't like or can't eat most 'breakfast food'. I appear to be slightly allergic to eggs, can't drink milk and don't like dry cereal, I'm hypoglycemic so waffles and pancakes are out, love bacon, sausage & ham but I really don't need all the salt and preservatives.

I used to skip breakfast all together but as I got older and the hypoglycemia got worse I really needed to eat breakfast. I will admit I have been very bad at doing Mickey D drive thrus for sausage biscuits, but I am making some changes and I have found the easiest and best breakfast for myself and I wanted to share it with you.

It's a homemade breakfast bar that beats the store bought ones by a mile as they are moist, chewy and flavorful, not dried out cardboard that has who knows what in it. You can change up the ingredients depending on your taste.

Mash up 2 bananas, I use a potato masher but a fork would work.

Add in 2 cups of oatmeal and 1/4 or 1/8 cups of whatever else you like. I don't really measure, it is not an exact science.

I used pecans but it could be any nuts you like.

I used raisins but it could easily have been craisins or chopped up dried fruit of any kind.

I added flax seed for the omega 3s, you could add wheat germ or whatever.

I added a few semi sweet chocolate chips for the anti oxidants and flavor and some peanut butter chips because I had them left over.

Coconut would be good too but I didn't have any.

One batch that I made I had added cinnamon and it was good too.

Mix it all up with a big spoon until it is well mixed. It won't look like it will hold together but should be somewhat stuck in clumps.

Grease a 9x9 inch pan, I used a spray olive oil, and dump everything in the pan. With the back of the spoon smooth it out evenly and press it into the pan. Make sure you level the side edges. Bake at 350 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.

Let cool and cut into pieces, I found cutting mine into 4 pieces was just the right amount, it is a meal after all.

Then I wrap them individually and pop in the freezer. You can keep them in the fridge for several days with no problem, but I was making these for the week ahead as I had bananas going brown.

These are so easy to grab & go, quite filling and good for you. I eat mine at work while I am checking emails and printing orders, with a glass of water or homemade juice.

Judge Not

2011-07-11T21:01:00.001-05:00

Hello, this is me about 10 years ago

and with the poet in 2007. This one is the most recent photo of me as I don't like having my picture taken and really have no need to have it done. I am not a small person, never have been, having been overweight since I was 4 years old. I have been on so many different diets, starting with Weight Watchers at age 11. Do you have any idea how much flack you get at 11 when you are eating green beans instead of a sandwich for lunch? Yeah, not fun. Beats the amphetamines the Dr. gave me when I was about 13 on yet another diet...that didn't work.

Pretty much I have decided folks are right when they say diets don't work. So I am trying to just be more healthy in my food choices and even bought a super deluxo juicer and lots of fruits and veggies. I love it, if I don't like eating a vegetable I'll just put some in the juice and then I can't taste it for all the other stuff I do like!

But this post is not really about diets, its about our attitudes toward other people based on what they look like.

I was reading a blog I have come to enjoy quite a bit as the writer's style reminded me of the poet's father who has passed on. But I was sadly offended by his comments of someone he saw on the news. Now I didn't see the actual news program, I can only say that it was an overweight woman talking about how all she had to rely on was food stamps since she lost her job. I know nothing further than that, that's all he said about the actual interview.

The blogger's comments were very strong and judgmental and it had nothing to do with who she was or her circumstances, but everything to do with her size.

"She ain't missed any meals for dammed sure. That woman had a butt, two barn doors wide and was so fat she wobbles when she walked. Some one needs to bitch slap her and teach her how to eat right.. Discussing , absolutely discussing."

I assume he meant disgusting in the last line.

I am somewhat sensitive when it comes to comments about weight issues, I had to endure quite a bit of that crap as a child and teen and still get it occasionally now that I'm 52. It still makes me angry and makes me cry....it hurts. Like anyone wants to be fat?

I don't know if she may have had a medical issue for being overweight or not. Even if she didn't, we are not to be anyone else's judge in this or any other matter. Concerned, yes, but not judgmental. Unless your name is GOD you don't know why someone is the way they are and have no right to judge them like this.

I am no saint for certain but I hope I am kinder than this person was. Thank goodness she doesn't see his hurtful words.

Phobias!

2011-07-07T19:26:00.000-05:00

I have a few phobias as most people do. I really really hate spiders. I really, really, really hate heights. And I have a love/hate relationship with water.

3rd grade summer camp...they attempted to teach me to swim...they did not succeed in even getting me to float. I am that deathly afraid of water deeper than my knees. I like being near water and wading but that's it. I preferred sprinklers to swimming pools as a kid. Wading pools are ok though :-)

Part of hating heights is also hating bridges and overpasses. Both of which I have had to deal with, some on a daily basis. My way to do it is to look at the road and only at the road, if I look anywhere else my stomach does flips and my knees become jello.

So here's what happened the other day when I decided to go out for dinner. A storm was brewing and I knew I would not get done eating before the rain came so I tried to park in the area behind the restaurant. Sadly it was all filled. So I had to use the parking area to the side which means I had to cross a wooden bridge like the one in the photo above. Its about 20 feet long and about 6 feet above the bottom of the ditch, or as they call it here, gully. Normally this is no problem as it is a grassy ditch and the bridge is sturdy.

But then the rains came. And thunder. And lightening. I love a good thunderstorm. But not so much when I went to leave after the rain let up. That gully is for water runoff. And it was now full...2 to 4 inches below the bridge full, meaning 6 feet deep full.

As if that was not bad enough, the water was not just sitting there. Oh, no...it looked like this...

Thank goodness the spaces between the boards were too small to see anything. But on a bridge that is only 4 feet wide it is hard not to see the water rushing from one side to the other. I made it, but boy was my heart pounding!

I've had my quota of bridges and deep water this year.

Happy Independence Day!

2011-07-04T11:08:00.000-05:00

Freedom's natal day is here.
Fire the guns and shout for freedom,
See the flag above unfurled!
Hail the stars and stripes forever,
Dearest flag in all the world.
~Florence A. Jones

Thought I would give you some creative images of Old Glory today. This one is painted on a sliding barn door.

License plates.

Legos.

Baseball Bats from the all-american game.

Rocks on the beach at Cyprus.

An old time bunting.

Handmade installation.

Made by 1st graders.

Safety pins and beads.

Converse sneakers in NY.

You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. ~Erma Bombeck

2½ Minute Patriotic Painting

2011-07-03T10:47:00.000-05:00

This video is an old friend of mine, Dan Dunn. He is a wonderful artist and cartoonist. Enjoy!

3 Day Weekend

2011-07-02T17:18:00.000-05:00

So far it's a quiet holiday weekend here. We are in a drought and there is a burn ban on as well as a prohibition of fireworks. That actually does not bother me, though I like watching fireworks I really don't like the firecrackers for hours on end and that seems to be what the kids here mostly get.

So with 3 days off I didn't really plan anything. I have spent today canning and working on some genealogy.

I had a turkey in the freezer from December so I cooked it this week in the pressure cooker (my oven does not work) and today I have canned the meat and broth. I also had some tomatoes I picked up from a fellow down the road.

7 pints of turkey to be used in casseroles or turkey salad, 2 quarts & 1 pint of turkey broth with onions, celery & carrot and 1 quart & 1 pint of tomatoes.

I need to see what else in the freezer needs to be canned. It is hurricane season and they say this looks to be a year when we have one or more. If so I lose power, usually for a week at a time. I also loose all food in the freezer and fridge. It's just the freezer above the fridge so it doesn't hold a lot, but I buy meat when it is on sale and would hate to lose it. I'll fill the freezer with bags of ice since my ice-maker is so prolific unless I raise the bar thing to turn it off. At least that will make it more energy efficient.

Think I'll take myself out for dinner somewhere since I don't want to do any more dishes.

We'll see what I decide to do tomorrow........

Too Tired to Even Nap

2011-06-28T20:24:00.000-05:00

I feel like Miss Moochie in the picture above this evening. Too tired to care about anything. That's Chaucer keeping an eye on things.

Today at work it was requested that Melissa and I try to get a jump start on the inventory of the jewelry for which we are way over due. Jump start? Nah, we finished the whole thing in one day! At least the physical part of reading off each inventory tag number and marking it on the sheets I printed off from excel.

Tomorrow I will work on updating the excel spreadsheet with correct locations and straighten out anything else that is wonky, looks like I had a couple of misprinted tags and some items that sold not taken off the spreadsheet. That happens when I get really busy sometimes, most likely some happened on the days I took off for a short vacation and was playing catch-up when I came back. And some locations were never right in my spreadsheet. We had a change of personnel and finally the inventory has come under my control. Since I am the one tagging it and listing it on eBay and shipping it, it only makes sense, but until recently it went through 2 other hands before it got to me and they chose the inventory numbers and categories which sometimes did not make sense....they still don't but I am not about to change inventory numbers now.

Lest you wonder why it took us all day, we have 6 cases in the front of the store filled with jewelry that gets pulled every night to go into safes. We have almost 1400 listings on eBay and not all the jewelry is listed, so we probably have 1600 or more items and they had to be picked up one at a time, numbers read off the tag and marked on the spreadsheets. I think we did pretty good for 6 hours of work. Sure beats everyone showing up 6 am one morning to do it before opening. I am not a morning person, especially when I have to get up in the dark. Boo Hiss.

By the end of the day both Melissa and I had headaches and aching backs. I decided to take myself out for dinner, too tired to cook too. Spent a lovely hour in good air-conditioning in a comfy booth with the best iced tea and chicken wings to gnaw on while I read a good book. One of my favorite kind of novels, a medieval time travel story. Just an escape from the work day world. Still too tired to do much, will probably just poke around the internet and go to bed early.

So how was your day?

Quiet Sunday

2011-06-19T13:02:00.000-05:00

source

Medieval Rosaries

2011-06-11T15:58:00.000-05:00

I've been working on something new this week. I have made 3 medieval rosaries so far. This one above is made of pink coral carved into flowers with gold plated paternosters, connector and cross.

Medieval rosaries are not made with beads on wires, instead they are beads strung on cord with space enough to freely move the beads while in prayer.

Rosaries have 5 sections called decades ( of 10 beads each) separated by larger beads called gauds or paternosters. These beads are connected to a center with a drop of 2 gauds and 3 of the smaller beads in between (called aves) and ending in a cross, a medal or in true medieval fashion, a tassel.

I didn't have any tassels so I have used the larger crosses in my stash.

This one above is strung on red silk cord, the others use black, and the silver metal beads are shaped as roses. The gauds are red coral and the cross is vintage sterling silver.

Coral was the bead of choice for those that could afford it in medieval times. It was not only pretty, it was also lightweight so easy to carry. Some wore their rosaries like a necklace though I read where that is offensive today. I think in a society where most people owned and used rosaries as an aid to prayer, how you wore it was not a problem. Sometimes it was pinned to the garment or kept in a pocket or looped around the wrist. Many medieval portraits will show these differences. Another popular bead used was the pearl as well as glass and various stones. Poorer folks made do with wood.

I went a bit beyond the norm with this one though beads were not always round in the medieval era. This one has Celtic knotwork on the aves which are not round and I used a wonderful Celtic cross I had. The gauds are blue sodalite, a type of granite. I felt the blue worked nicely with the silver colored pewter of the cross and beads.

I have seen many beautiful rosaries on Etsy but none in the medieval style. Since there seem to be a lot of re-enactors that shop at Etsy, I hope to do well selling these.

For more info on rosaries and medieval rosaries go here .

Taking a poll

2011-06-08T22:56:00.001-05:00

I'm taking a poll today.

I've been seeing a lot of these types of photos lately posted on Facebook, blogs, pinterest and other sites.

While motherhood and the whole family thing is great. I'm just not a fan of pregnancy pictures. If you want to take them and share with family, I think that's fine. Do they need to be posted all over the web? My personal opinion is no. When did someone's swollen naked tummy become considered beauty to share with the whole world?

I know I'm old fashioned and others are not. To each his own I suppose. The newest photos I am seeing go even farther in exposing body parts that are normally meant to be covered in public, and this was the most subtle one I found.

Breastfeeding pictures. I know its natural, its wonderful for the baby and great for bonding. But do we really need to see it all over the internet. Again, I think not.

These 2 photography subjects seem to me to be private family memories. But like I said, I'm old-fashioned, I'm 52 and was raised with a different mentality than today's young people, so maybe its just me.

So how about you? How do you feel about them, like them or not and should they be public or private?

Post script: I removed the photos as I didn't like looking at them.

I Got My Quilt!

2011-06-04T23:25:00.001-05:00

This is a photo of my quilt. I started making the top when I was a young teen. It is all hand stitched. It took years to get all the hexagon flowers done and then putting them together with yet more hexagons. The top was finally finished a few years back but has been sitting in the closet since. Too much to do and it was always on the bottom of the list.

Then I came across Debra's blog and she was offering to quilt tops for people so she could practice with her new long arm quilting machine. In exchange we were to trade fabrics and such. I took her up on her offer especially since I was needing to clear out my fabric stash anyway. The cool thing is she lives fairly close to me and we have met twice now, once to drop off the quilt and once to pick it up..today.

The link to her blog actually will take you to the post she made about my quilt, but do check out her other posts and projects. She's a very talented and giving lady. And visit her Etsy Store for some beautiful quilts and wall hangings for sale.

Thanks so much Debra!

Morning Adventures

2011-06-03T21:35:00.001-05:00

This is not a photo of my car, but it pretty much looked like that this morning.

I got in the car to go to work, something felt wrong, sounded wrong. Got out on the street and yup, a flat tire.

Now I have a bad back, really bad and I just don't have the strength I used to in my hands and arms, so changing it to the donut was out of the question. Since the poet is hundreds of miles away there is no one on whom I can rely to help me out and AAA is not in my budget, neither is a tow truck...but don't get me started on the exorbitant fees they charge.

So I drove slowly and carefully about a quarter mile to the nearest tire repair place. He aired it up then took the wheel off to check for leaks or nails. Could not find anything wrong with it...and its only a year old.

Then I remembered as I was sitting in the living room with the window open last night that I heard kids outside laughing and talking and a noise that I assumed to be a water hose. This was past dark, about 10:30 pm. You guessed it, the hoodlums let the air out of one of my tires, on the passenger side rear so I didn't see it when I went out this morning.

Guess what's going to happen next time I hear anything like this? I will be out there like a shot with the camera and calling the cops on them. School is not even out yet and the kids are that bored already? They are very lucky that driving on it did no damage and it only cost me being 15 minutes late for work.

You could say that at least they didn't slash the tire or let the air out of more than one. And I know kids do dumb things because they think its funny or on a dare and because they don't think about the end result and how it may affect them or someone else. But this was not a harmless prank. This caused me to be upset, worried and late for work. It could have caused me to spend money I can ill afford. And the bottom line is that it is not their property and they need to keep their dirty little hands off. Apparently parents do not teach these kinds of morals anymore.

I did let the manager of the park know what happened and suggested she send out her yearly letter to let folks know what will not be tolerated by kids or adults. Seems they need a reminder every summer and she said she would do so.

Maybe its because I live in a trailer park, I thought, you know, poor folks, and all, kids don't know better, etc.. But my boss who lives in an upscale neighborhood in a house I could never dream of owning says his prized vintage Bentley had a flat one morning. It had a 6" drill bit inside it where kids had been malicious in his neighborhood too.
POSTSCRIPT:
Had to buy a new tire anyway, driving on the flat ruined it and it would not hold air. At least it was only 1 tire.

Memory Eternal

2011-05-30T09:17:00.001-05:00

source

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. Service Members who died while in the military service. First enacted by formerly enslaved African-Americans to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War – it was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars.

Memorial Day honors the fallen soldiers while Veteran's Day honors the living soldiers.

And why does the VFW give out red poppies on this day? Due to the extent of ground disturbance in warfare during WWI, corn poppies bloomed in between the trench lines and no man's land on the Western Front. They were immortalized in the poem In Flanders Fields by Canadian poet and soldier Lt. Col. John McRae.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.

May their memory be eternal.

Not Enough Vacation Days

2011-05-29T23:30:00.000-05:00

I have discovered that my vacation is going by way too fast and I have hardly made a dent in my project. Of course I haven't actually been moving very fast either.

I have gotten a good deal of items photographed, photos edited, items inventoried in the spreadsheet and listed on etsy. 37 items to be exact and more to come tomorrow. That reminds me I better put the camera battery in to charge.

I've listed a bunch more icon pendants and loads of vintage jewelry.

Also some crafty supplies I want to clear out and a few more books.

This book is gorgeous with full page color photos throughout.

Oh, well, doesn't matter much if I get my project all done or not. Like Scarlett said "Tomorrow is another day."

And I have thoroughly enjoyed sleeping in and staying up late since I'm really a night owl anyway. My cat Chaucer has been happy to have me home to love on him whenever he wants it. And I've even been crafting a couple pieces of jewelry to sell on etsy like these:

This one is a hematite cross and beads.

And I already sold 2 things I listed today!