Try Something Different Tuesday. Counting Calories.

Don't you just love it when products you've never tried go on sale?

Our local TOPS supermarket is simply amazing. They may be small, but they carry a good variety of products. Their sales are pretty darn good too! If their pet supply and paper products were less expensive, all our grocery shopping would be done there.

A few weeks back, TOPS had a sale on Asian cuisine supplies. What you're looking at is Sweet and Sour Chicken using bottled sauce by Asian Gourmet. (It looked better before I stirred it up.) Easy enough to make. Fresh carrots, peppers and onions were sauteed. Canned chicken and sauce added and heated through long enough to allow the flavors to meld. Served over rice. The whole process took less than half an hour.

This Sweet and Sour Chicken would be a quick (and tasty) company meal. As for us making it again - it's a possibility. More than likely a from-scratch version will make it into the monthly rotation. Less sodium, additives, and preservatives that way. 

Speaking of the monthly meal rotation...

Be advised: We're dieting here. The next few weeks, or months as the case may be, the food posts will be good tasting diet food.

Monday's Mini Project. Paloma Pony.

Monday's mini-project was completing another pony for the herd. One more to go, then they'll be three. In years past, biographies were included with each animal. Not sure if that's going to happen again.

Each pony takes a full day to craft -- for me at least. The instructions are easy to follow. The finishing touches are the most difficult to complete. Embroidering the face and eyes, stuffing each piece and sewing everything together becomes a bit tedious after you've put together ten or fifteen of these. In spite of all that, it truly is a fun, easy (mindless) project. The supplies don't cost much (about $3 a skein) and you can get two ponies per skein.

This is a perfect gift for friends who need their spirits lifted.  This silly face is enough to make the soggiest person crack a smile.

Here's a link to the pattern from Red Heart (the yarn people): Amigurumi Ponies. If you compare the original pattern picture with my version, you'll notice the eye lids have been omitted on this pony and more yarn was used for the mane and tale. 

Hope your Monday had at least one positive interaction that you can reflect upon as you fall asleep. Rest well, friends.

Sunday Fun Day.

Good morning, y'all! Happy Sunday!

For the past week, daytime temperatures have ranged from the mid-50s to 70 degrees. All sorts of high temperature records for February in Pennsylvania were broken.

Except for the mountaintops and a few shady areas, most of the snow melted. Neighbors were out and about working in their flower beds and walking the streets and trails. A few of the willows sprouted soft, grey kitty toes.

The birds came back to the feeders. Quite a bit of time throughout the week was spent at the kitchen window simply watching them feed. The feeders seemed to draw in a dozen or so black capped chickadees, a tufted titmouse and a beautiful, iridescent headed grackle (thinking the bronze race, but haven't seen it since it saw me, so can't be sure).

The transition from Winter to Spring can be devastating to our fine feathered friends. Many times they have to travel long distances with little forage. Keeping the feeders stocked and a suet cake available seems a small price to pay for all the enjoyment they provide. Waking to birdsong is on my list of favorite things in life.

Back to reality.

Yesterday the snow began anew. Tiny little pellets about the size of a glass-head pin top. This morning the flakes are the size of goose down.

The warmth was nice while it lasted. We took advantage by getting a bit of fresh air. Amazing how restorative sunshine and warmth in the great outdoors can be after a month of being cold.

Work continues on the Brown Bag Challenge quilt. All but one of the hand-quilted blocks was ripped out. Six of the twenty holly and berry blocks have been embroidered. Am hoping to complete the quilt by the end of March, but a painting project is due in two weeks and another (easier) quilt project is beckoning. (More on that later this week.)

We spent this past week running from Physical Therapy to the Doctor. Back to Physical Therapy. TOPS, Walmart, and getting the Jeep ready for inspection. Doesn't sound like much, but add crafting, chores and a physical disability...

Folks, we're just plumb worn out. Today is truly a day of rest. 

Where ever you are and whatever you choose to do: May you find something to laugh and smile about as you go about your day. Look for the good and chances are you'll find it!

Sunday: A Typical Day of Rest. It's Not Work If You Love What You Are Doing.

Back in 2013 I began this wall hanging as part of a Brown Bag Challenge at a local fabric shop (Little Fabric Garden).

The blocks themselves went together rather easily. I was rather proud of how crisp the points came out.

The holly leaf pattern is an original pattern. You can read more about it here.

The project was put on hold because my hand quilting of the leaves looked horrible on both sides. Because I'm working on finishing up projects, it was put back on the active work-in-progress pile.

After speaking with one of the ladies at the fabric shop and learning that to have someone with a long arm complete the quilting would cost more than budgeted, I decided to attempt machine quilting on my own.

That bright idea only got this far:

What a pain in the butt trying to quilt this small detail using a conventional sewing machine. Too much like work.

So...

Set aside for a little while until a solution could be found.

After weighing options, I decided to rip out the leaves already hand quilted and embroider them instead.

Rip. . . Rip. . . Rip. . .

It took about a half hour to rip out and then embroider the two leaves on this triangle. Although ripping is time consuming, it's the best solution because the embroidery really accentuates the leaves, as you can see from the first picture in this post.

After the leaves and berries are all embroidered, I will stitch-in-the-ditch using a similar green.

This is going to take a while. *sigh*

Good thing I find embroidery relaxing.

Here's hoping you have a wonderful Sunday!

Wednesday Worktable. The Little Stinker.

I came across this pattern book while looking for something else.

Even though I have several projects waiting completion (as always), I decided to take a break and make something different.

I purchased this book several years ago for the hedgehog pattern and made a few of them before becoming bored with the pattern.

All of the patterns in this book are very easy. Single crochet in rounds for the most part. Increase and decreases as well. Nothing more complicated than counting.

This week I chose to make the skunk. It's just very cute.

Being an experienced crocheter, when the pattern increased for the nose I placed some crochet thread across the stitches to mark where the nose should be embroidered.

This is how he turned out.

I'm undecided on whether to make another, but if I do I'll make the arms and legs bigger.

Other than that, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

What do you think?

Happy Valentine's Day!

This Valentine's Day I have decided to practice kindness. Today I've done my best to have a pleasant word and a smile for everyone I met as I went about my bi-weekly errands.

But I've taken it a step further. I've adopted one of the stray cats in the community. Not that I'm bringing it into my home. I don't really want another indoor cat. Especially a cat I know nothing about.

I have made a shelter for him out of an old tote in a place that provides shelter from the elements, but allows an almost 360 degree view without compromising security from predators. An old fleece blanket big enough to act as a nest is inside the shelter.

With all the streams that feed Tunungwant Creek, water isn't a problem for any animal in the wild. Food is a different story. I will be feeding him both dry and wet food once a day - right before sunset. It won't be enough to completely sustain him, but it will be enough that he won't starve. He'll still have to hunt for some of his food.

Speaking of food...

Time for Valentine's Day dinner. I hope you have had a wonderful day full of smiles and laughter.

Blessed be.

Monday Mini-project.

A while back I purchased some felt from a friend at an insanely low bargain price. A few weeks later, I purchased this little, green and white felt bird from her as well.

The felt was automatically relegated to the official craft room in a small shopping bag with the rest of the felt stash. The little bird has been sitting above the computer staring at me with its beady little eyes... Inspiring me to try to make a little birdie like it.

I rose to the challenge.

None of the patterns I have printed matched this type of bird, so a Google search led me to this pattern. Not exactly the same thing, but close enough.

Now, in with the felt was some lovely baby blue flannel. That's what I chose to work with. Unfortunately, flannel frays bad enough that the seam depth needed to be about 1/4 an inch.

This is the result:

Not good.

Rather than waste the time spent embroidering another top and more wings, the trusty old seam ripper came out.

Seams were removed and sewn again from the inside.




This is the result:

Again, not good.

Some day I'll make another birdie again using this pattern. But flannel definitely won't be used.

Live and learn, right?!

Friday Farewell. A Story about Reggie the Cat.

WARNING: This post is likely to be a downer. It's the story of a cat who crossed the rainbow bridge yesterday afternoon.

When Dad died of cancer back in 2006 Mom was inconsolable. He meant so very much to her. Her house felt so empty without him. Too quiet by far. So she wouldn't feel so all alone, she began to search for a cat to be her companion. Now, you'd think you could just go to a shelter and pick one up, but because Mom had the lymph nodes in her arm removed (cancer) the cat needed to be de-clawed.

She worked with the local shelter and, sure enough, a few months later she received a phone call and Reggie came into our lives. He was smaller than my two tom cats. His fur was a little longer than short-hair cats; the feel of the fur under your hand was simply luxurious.

He was good company for her. He was a talky-cat and filled up some of the silence. She named him Reggie after Dad. Raymond Eugene Gross; R. E. G. Similar to how she signed her hand-crafted greeting cards (GiGi). She was very creative.

Reggie loved his toys. He would toss his mice or birds up in the air and catch them. He'd bat them around and chase them across the floor.

One of his talents was as a mouser. Time after time he'd catch mice. Better than any trap! The downside to him catching mice was when he "gifted" them to Mom while she slept. Then she'd discover them when she woke up. Ewwwww...

Mom fed him Fancy Feast canned cat food. She gave him cat treats from time to time. He ate Purina Naturals dry cat food. Loving Momma that she was, Reggie also got special food on holidays (the good food with real shrimp!). She loved him very, very much.

Throwback Thursday. My Sewing Box.

Last Thursday I showed y'all my Great-Grandmother’s sewing box and talked a bit about it's contents. Today, I want to show you one of my most prized possessions: a wooden sewing box painted and customized for me by my loving daughter. She gave it to me in April of 2011 as a going away present when I moved back to Pennsylvania.

It doesn't have as many things inside as Great-Grandmother's, but it does have the basics. It has needles, pins, buttons, both metal and leather thimbles, a working needle holder (the little dollie) and a threaded needle holder.

Usually there are scissors and more spools of thread there as well, but they're are currently being used for a different project. (surprise, surprise).

Wednesday Worktable. Forest Reflections Shawl.

This shawl was crocheted using two strands of lace weight Harmony by Jojoland in a color named Lavender Fields. The pattern is called "Forest Reflections" and was included in the Summer 2010 issue of Interweave Crochet magazine.

Naturally, because a lighter weight yarn than recommended was used, #0 vs. #1, the finished project was smaller. Even after hand-washing and blocking, it measured 53" by 27" (with the 5" fringe) rather than 59" by 31".

It took some time to decide how to make the shawl bigger. To options came to mind: add more pattern rows or add fringe. Ripping back such a lightweight yarn would more than likely damage the piece, so the fringe option won.

Little did I know the fringe would take so long to make. After the first few, I grabbed a piece of cardboard and made an assembly line out of it. Ten fringes at a time rather than one. Then on to attaching the fringe to the sides of the shawl. The tricky part, because the yarn has a subtle color gradation, was to make sure the fringe on both sides matched. So, the fringe was added left then right then left then right.... Can you believe there are 99 fringes on there? 49 on each side with the 1 at the bottom.

Note to self:  Another life lesson learned. Fringe takes a tediously long amount of time to make and attach.

It turned out quite nice, tho. If I do say so myself.

Back to the grindstone for me. There are more almost finished projects waiting to be worked on.

Y'all have a great day.

Thankful Tuesday.

It's raining this morning and local meteorologists are predicting the temperature will rise to the upper 40's or lower 50's as the day progresses. That might not sound very warm to those of you who live in more temperate climates, but to those of us in Northwestern Pennsylvania the upper 40's in early February is a blessing. Especially after two weeks of snow, snow and more snow with a side of colder than 7734.

There was a fine sheet of ice on the porch landing and stairs when Bandit and I stepped outside to gather the morning paper. A light sprinkling of pet safe snow melt made short work of that hazard.

Today we're headed to the veterinarian to get Bandit's ears checked. It seems he has an ear infection (poor puppy).

Here's hoping y'all have a blessed day.

Things to be thankful for:
Flavored Coffee
4-Wheel Drive Jeeps
A Break in the Weather
Pet-Safe Snow Melt
Public Libraries
Freedom of Speech 

Super Sunday.

Superbowl, that is. While most of America will be watching the Superbowl (Atlanta Falcons vs. New England Patriots), I'll probably be watching a movie. Mostly because my favorite team - Steelers - aren't playing. Chances are there will be a bit of flipping back-and-forth to catch the score and perhaps watch a few commercials. Lady Gaga is performing at half-time, so I'll try to catch that show.

In the meantime, I'll be working on the almost-finished pile again. These two cosmetic bags have been put in the box of finished goods. I really like how they turned out.

Have a great day, folks. If you drink, please be responsible and have a designated driver or take a cab. Be safe out there.

Great-Grandmother's Sewing Basket.

I was getting ready to sew one of the cosmetic bags in the "almost finished" pile of crafts and needed navy or black thread, so I pulled out Great-Grandmother's sewing basket. Upon opening it, I realized that it told a story of sorts and decided to share.

Now, Great-Grandmother, better known to the family as "Bummie", was born in 1894. When the Great Depression hit in 1929, she had two small children - my Grandmother, Evelyn, (who raised me) and Great Uncle Bill.

To keep her small family fed and clothed, she watched what she spent and wasted nothing. She saved thing like string and rubber bands and aluminium foil. In fact, if you look up "recycle" in the dictionary, you'll see her picture (just kidding). Her sewing kit reflects the values she learned during those times.

Shall we take a look inside?

Of course, there is the traditional tomato pincushion with the little strawberry attached. As children we were taught that the strawberry contained sand, but it's actually emery powder (think emery board for filing fingernails). Sometimes when needles are well-used they pick up fibers and what-not from the fabric they're drawn through and start to drag during use. Poking the needle several times into the powder removes most of the residue and the needle is usable again.

Here's a closer look at some of her stash.

Scissors. Check. If you look closely, you'll see the country of origin is Germany.

Tape measure. Check.

Seam ripper. Check... Look at the size of that seam ripper. It's HUGE compared to the ones I use. And dull to boot!

Thimbles. Check.

Take a close look at the thimble on the left. It's been so well-used it has conformed to the oval shape of a fingertip.

They are both stamped with "II" - I'm guessing that's how they're sized.

These are too big for my fingers, but I'll hold onto them because they were hers.

There's more in there too!

What sewing box would be complete without thread? Here shown are Coats, Clark, and Coats & Clark thread. All on wooden spools. The prices are shown on some of the label. Can you imagine paying $0.15 for a spool of thread?!! Talk about inflation. By the way, that's not thread wrapped around the cardboard tube - it's elastic! What do you suppose you'd use it for?

Buttons anyone? Some of these are so tiny! They must have been for or from baby clothes. Or perhaps from doll clothes. 

Some of these will probably make it into my button box. The big white one looks vaguely familiar. Perhaps from a childhood sweater.

Another item that's a little unusual is the inclusion of a steel crochet hook. They're great for fixing runs in sweaters or other knit/crochet items.

Those little pompoms look about the same size as the pompoms that used to be on the heels of tennis socks.

Ace bandage closures... For emergencies?

Here's something funny peculiar. She used old bra closures as needle holders. With the number of hook and eyes in there, I'm thinking that bras have always had "issues". 

Try Something Different Tuesday. BBQ Chicken Breast.

Do you ever get tired of eating the same old thing? I know I do!

Now, those who know me know that I'm not the greatest cook in the world. I can bake up a storm when it comes to bread or pastry or cookies and such. But regular meals are definitely not my forte and I get bored making the same old thing all the time.

The other day a friend posted a recipe on Facebook for a weekday make-ahead meal of Baked Chicken with Peppers and Onions (and salsa and tomato paste, etc.). While that recipe didn't strike my fancy, it did inspire me to roast some chicken breast and peppers.

Rather than use traditional, wet BBQ sauce, I used McCormick Grill Mates Barbecue spice that I picked up at TOPS. It has a slight, smoky flavor that goes well with the sweetness of the roasted peppers. A make-ahead meal that will be made again and again.

p.s. (Yes. I know it's Wednesday. Note to self: Push the "publish" button.)