Happy Halloweenies!!!

Have a safe and goulish time tonight!!!

remember me?

Well did you think I was never coming back? I haven't really been on the computer a whole lot these last few weeks and no worries...it's perfectly fine by me! Life ebbs and flows and sometimes you just take breaks from things. 3 1/2 years of blogging is a long time with no break, so maybe I was due. Honestly, I'm just great... happy as a clam! I'm focusing on some other things at the moment and enjoying other pursuits. I'm sure I'll get back to quilting one of these days. Computer time has almost been nil since typing is the worst thing for the forearm tendons and they are still quite vocal about getting used at all!

So what have I been doing? Well every night I try my hand at a little stitching.
Sometimes I can go for a couple hours and sometimes a couple STITCHES. But it's not a race, I love doing these blocks. I'll be sorry to see this quilt finished. With 2 of these quilts I doubt I'll sign up for another one, although I do love them! But I have more than enough bom's to keep me busy for a while. I've gotten behind in just a few of mine! *grin*

Had to pop out yesterday to the Fresh Market to pick up some stuff and a big 'ole piece of salmon. Does anyone else have one of these stores? I love Trader Joe's but that fresh meat counter is just fabulous. I mean anything you want they have! Shame we don't eat any other meat but salmon.

I know lots of people don't like salmon but man o man...is there anything prettier than that beautiful colored jewel getting all lovely on the pan? Honestly..a hot pad and a fork and I could eat right off the pan until I was sick! But I don't. I'm a good girl. I cut it into pieces and store the whole thing in the fridge. That way we grab a slice or two and pop them in the microwave whenever we want some all week. Plus do you know how good this is for your cholesterol? V-e-r-y very good!

I found a new FREE bom the other day that I thought I would share in case you missed it over at Sentimental Stitches. It's called Beyond the Cherry Trees. A fabulous antique quilt that she is drafting. Note that the first block is supposed to be all red flowers. If you look closely you'll see that the red disintegrated as old quilt reds often did from that era. I'm not starting this quilt at the moment, but I'm saving those patterns. They won't be free forever too, so if you want them go now.

Before I head out again, I'll leave you with my little goober-head! He can get as comtfy as possible with ease, can't he? I almost got his picture with both hands above his head but the shutter sound pulled that top arm in and he woke up. He's still cute as a bug. Oh and see that hoop? I've plugging away at that too! Every so often I take a few rows here and there and one day it will be finished too!

I'm sorry that I haven't gotten around to too many blogs in the last few weeks. I do try to read your posts in blogger every week, but haven't really spent the time to comment. Typing is the one thing that sends the muscles reeling. So I avoid it if I can. Have a great Halloween if I don't see you before then!

does it change with age?...

I'm amazed at how quickly time seems to slip by these days, aren't you? It never went this fast when I was younger. Where the heck did September go? Now it's October 5th! Now don't fall over, but I have done some SEWING!! Real sewing, yes I have!

I finally got inspired to start Cheri's Trick or Treat Halloween quilt that I said I'd have done before October...better late than never. I have 4 of the pumpkin backs done and hope to get the last 5 done today as they take almost no time at all to do. Especially with the FPP technique...flip, sew, flip, sew, peel off!

Now, I want to share a...*recipe* with you. See, I am a salad snob! I can eat them at restaurants, Sonic, even the grocery store salad bar...but never at home! I hate salads made at home. I've tried but something is different and I can't figure it out. But this technique... It's not so much a recipe as it is a technique..... really enabled me to eat salads at home for the first time in years!! I read this on some body's blog and if ANYONE knows who, please share so I can give her ALL the credit. Here's what you do.

Take any lettuce at all...this happens to be from a head of iceberg, but it's even better to just open a bag of washed iceberg with carrots and purple cabbage already done for you....


Now CHOP the heck out of it! I don't go as small as the recipe maker, she makes it tiny. I stay about here...

Put in your bowl and get the carrots. I save myself the steps and go for the shoestring carrots. Do a few more chops and they end up in little pieces.

Then move to the tomatoes. I use Roma tomatoes and scoop out all the seeds and wet stuff. It just makes a mess and the meaty part stays firm better. I chop it to about the same size as the carrotts...1/4 inch size or so.

I'm done at this point! It has all I need. But you can add green peppers, mushrooms, cucumbers. Anything you want, just chop it into tiny pieces. I'd watch the liquidy stuff if you expect it to last for a few days though.

Mix it all up and I am one happy camper! I can spoon some into a bowl and have salad at home! At home!! Never before have I liked it, but this is great. It's also super easy to go with less salad dressing this way too. Just toss and toss and it gets covered well. I make this full bowl and it last me 4 meals.
**I will warn you that the next time you open the lid, you might think the lettuce has turned brown...it hasn't. All that carrot makes the cut lettuce edges turn orange, but it's perfectly fresh. Heck carrots turn everything orange.

I don't remember where I read this, but I really thank this person who wrote it on her blog! She is a doll and please let me know who she is, if you recognize her recipe! Now I'm gonna go back to sewing! Hope to have something to actually show soon that deals with quilting!!

Sorry ladies...here's the link! It's working below too now. Sometimes if it's off you can look at the address in the little line on the top of the screen and see what the problem is. I just had one too many http// 's at the beginning!

hey, how ya doing?

Now come on, who could distrub this to make the bed? He was already there when I got up and made my half, so I left him. Came back to finish after eating and reading the paper to find this...

Yea, right. You wouldn't move him either! How does their fur know how long to be? It is so weird that one row can be an inch and the next part 6 inches!!

I'm really working to switch my frame of mine from every blog post being about "here's what I did" and "here's the next step!" to more of a "hey how ya doing, this is what I have to talk about today"...subject based posts. Jan just made a post exactly stating how I felt and what I'm trying to get accustomed to doing. I used to do it but it will take some time to revert, but I'll get there. Plus I'm lacking a few things others have.

I can't walk outside and photgraph the backyard and outdoors...don't have one.Condo, remember. I also have to admit we are homebodys. We like it! We don't go out too many places....fairs, shows, stuff like that. We love being here together.
But I'll get it!

alternatives to sewing...

I used to be a voracious reader. I would lay on the sofa until the wee hours of the morning reading if the book was that good! When I developed fibro, the muscles in my arms would ache and spasm from just holding a book open and upright. It slowed down and threatened to stop my reading all together. Suddenly one day my sweet hubby surprised me with a cardboard book holder improvised in the garage and I was back in business. It was crude, full of duct tape, and used a thin wire across the bottom to hold the book open. I LOVED it! But it had flaws. The books slid out at the bottom and the wire required the whole book be lifted up to turn the page. So I gave him some gold elastic string and some foam core and back he came with this version above. My hero....swoon! We even developed 3 or 4 better versions together finally ending up with this one here. Duct tape works for everything, right? It holds 2 sizes and works like a charm. I sit it on a tv tray with the top lifted open and resting on the sofa arm. I never had to hold a thing and I was off again reading everything in sight.

Then I found quilting. I was instantly consumed. I found Bonnie Hunters Quiltville site and stumbled onto her blog and wow have things changed from that point. Other than Harry Potter, I haven't read in what?...5 years or so except for very occasionally. You can't hold a book when you are hand stitching. If my rump was in front of the tv, I was stitching. Then I found more and more blogs.I started a blog and soon my blog got more popular. So more comments and more comments to leave, emails, thank yous for comments and so much goodness to read. You guys are truly talent prolific ladies.

I think I can pinpoint the overuse of my arm to about the time I started doing the paper pieced Civil War Bride blocks and spending 3 or so hours on the computer reading 120 some blogs. Clicking and typing for hours each day. I know my quilting time has suffered because of it. I don't want to stop blogging, and I don't want to stop reading all your lovely posts but commenting is going to have to get even far and few between, as will my own posts. I'm desperately trying to learn to be less wordy. More pictures and very few words...ha!

In that frame of mind, I realized I better find something to occupy my mind and hands while I try to be good and attempt once again to heal my arm. That's where the story about the book holders started from...I decided to finally go back to reading. I got a big book the other day from Amazon with lots of loveliness. Just had to order the newest Kaffe book. Don't let the different cover confuse you, it did me! It must be the US version, but inside are all the same wonderful quilts.

I also stocked up on my favorite mystery writer, Joanne Fluke. I've missed quite a few of her latest books. I'm still reading the Cherry Cheesecake Murder but I'll have plenty to keep me busy.So I can read until my arm gets better. I'll still be around, but I'd rather do fewer posts than stop all together. I'll still be reading, but I might not leave as many comments. It will be hard to do...I think I'm addicted to seeing what you all have to say and what you've finished! Hopefully I'll be able to get more handwork done soon to show too.

jelly glasses...

Thanks so much for all the wonderful comments you left me. I still miss that lady more than I can say. Not knowing my father's mother, she was all I had. When I wrote that post...which by the way took over a week because I had to stop every 10 minutes to blubber and then dry my tears...I remembered the days making her grape jelly topped with paraffin wax. In a make-do world she didn't have real canning jars for things like jelly and jam so that's what they did.

When Anna wrote a lovely comment and remembered the paraffin wax, I wrote back asking her if she ever had the old Flintstones jars that came filled with pimento cheese spread and the flat little metal top that just snapped onto the glass? Yes! Seems a lot of you remember those glasses. That's what Nama used for jams and jelly. The half inch of paraffin was carefully poured on top to seal the jelly. No top needed. We had tons of these glasses we used for juice in the mornings at our house.

Well here they are! Having none of my grandmothers glasses left, I wandered onto eBay after thinking about those glasses just to see if any were still around. Just a few were there and once I saw these two I knew I had to have them...HAD to. Today they came! I feel like I have two little pieces of my grandmother in my hands. No matter to me that they were never hers or that they came from eBay...it's the memories. That and a few really weird coincidences once I started looking closer at them.

The white glass is Pebbles First Birthday party.The teal is the Bedrock Pet Show...it's very hard to photograph these glasses, so I couldn't see everything on the eBay pics. I'm looking over them this morning and what do I see??? What is the elephants name?

JUDY??!! She's on her perch and ain't she pretty! Com'on how freaky is that? Judy? Then I get Wilma and Betty!! Not one of the guys or kids or animals...but the 2 gals! Two lovely ladies!Wilma and Betty.None of these were in the eBay pictures. These glasses were meant to be here in my house!! poor Betty has been thru a lot with all those scratches! It's a silly thing really, but just having these this month makes me feel better!

Now onto the other things...new books!! I'm still reading, but these stitchery books are fabulous!

The postman brought these to me yesterday and I have to say wow! Some good tips and so far lots of lovely patterns...especially the Sublime Stitchery book...loads of patterns in that one. I will say they don't mention the back enough, but I think that's just a pet peeve with me. If everyone says don't worry about it, I guess I won't.
Now I'm off to do some more sewing on the ABC Quilt Sampler!