Helpful Tips

I did lots of cooking yesterday until I had to get groomed for an evening out. I smelled like garlic.  Once again I got to put into use a fantastic tip I got from Pinterest.

Instead of actually pulling apart several pork tenderloins, I used the paddle on the Kitchenaid to do the work for me.  It's amazing how well it works.  If there is any silverskin or any not wanted part of the tenderloin, the paddle just ignores it and you can just remove it.  This saves tons of wear and tear on the hands.

Also, when I was at Sur La Table to get my beloved Madagascar vanilla, I happened by a

a little gadget that supposedly peels garlic .  It's this silicone tube and it really works.

I asked the sales gal if it worked and she said yeah so I went for it.  I originally chose a green one and she steered me to a sale table with the same product only it was three bucks cheaper because it was not the current seasons color.  I am not saying it gets every single peel off but it does a stand up job.  You just place the garlic cloves inside and roll the tube with the palms of your hand.  Who thinks of these things?

Drowning May Flowers

Lunch and girlfriend shopping yesterday was a bit sketchy in the rain but we managed all right, even with one broken umbrella and a shared seatbelt.  I came home with the most (gee, that's odd) because I was on a mission to get some replacement dresses for the ones in Florida.  Normally I don't carry clothing back and forth but for some reason I took some stuff down south with me, and upon arriving home I realized my stockpile on one piecers was critically low.  When I think back I had done a major Goodwill purging and that's the cause.  To the rescue came H & M, Kohls, Target and Marshalls for some seasonal disposable clothing. I need to wear daytime stuff that I don't stress about if I get a drop of dye on it.   Of course, I didn't try on because I didn't want to hold up the party so I may be retracing my steps some time in the next week.

 The biggest hit of the day was my new summer purse.  I bought this Home Dec fabric when it was 50% off and got enough to make two purses.  I got lining fabric, interfacing, grommets and cut out all the makings for two purses in Florida and brought them up north for a sister/sister craft.  I didn't care which one I made so I let my sis decide on her first choice.  On Monday when the company started dwindling away, we started our purse making.  

Mike chose the beige, turquoise and I ended up with the blue (my secret first choice!).  We had already used this pattern and made large tote bags in Florida.

and recalled that we had some problem reading the directions before and sure enough, we had the same difficulty again.  This time tho', I wrote down the correct wording so next time we won't have the same issue.  And I know we will be making them again.  They are wonderful and you can make it to fit your own purse uses.

Mike and I both customized the inside and outside.  I have outside pockets for my iPhone and another for my car key.  Inside has spots for frequently used cards (with no velcro) and rarely used cards (velcro closure).  I have a long thin pocket for pens, nail files and lipstick (I use the long two step ones).  It's a perfect purse.  After a rainy day it still brightened my spirits.  I stopped at JoAnn's and got purse feet so it wouldn't have to touch the floor.  Who said I wasn't thoughtful?

Sports Ill Ready

The weather is insane!!! It was in the high nineties last Sunday and Monday and Today it is grey and in the 40's.

I was almost too hot for Violet to go swimming and we waited until late in the day.  At first she just walks around the pool, not really knowing what it was.

She tested the water.  It was like bath water.  She would not go in without her mother.  When Mom was suitably attired she plopped in the pool and Violet soon joined her.

This is one of her poses where she looks like she's playing football or ready to pin some wrestler to the mat.

I believe in the picture she is looking at grandpa and acting like she is listening to him.  I have been teaching her this fine art.

Maria gets some of the hair out of V's eyes and considers blowing her nose, Violets that is.

Back inside, with squirt gun at the ready and her fashionable coverup on,  she scoots down two stairs we have leading from the dining room to the living room, ready to make mischief.

Great Balls

You can certainly tell that this gift I received was from a fellow blogger. My first clue?
The note on top of the package even before I knew what it was or who it was from.  My friend Kay knows me well.  So, of course, after reading this, my excitement grew.

A gift ball?  What in the world is this?  I have already received a ball in the mail in the last month and it didn't even come in a box.

Okay, the gift ball is out of packaging and this is what it looks like.  I started unraveling.

All in all, all these 'amulets' were secured inside the wound yarn with a lovely key fob in the center.  Kay actually makes these beautiful 'amulets' and has a bowl at the ready for when guests come to her house.  I haven't had the pleasure of visiting her actual home so she did me one better and gave my more than my fair share.  I was tickled pink.

Or should I say, red gold, which is what the ball of yarn looked like when I finished re rolling it.  Kay used her leftover yarn and tied the small pieces together.  I wanted to give her the full credit, but she said she saw the idea on Pinterest.  She was afraid that I had seen the idea myself.  I have been very lax in my Pinterest perusing.  I get too carried away.  It's much like watching tv in the daytime.  I never have the tv on unless I have guests because I get distracted so easily.  I would get nothing done.

Clean Sweep

I was gifted some home made pot scrubbers in Florida right before I came back north. I brought a couple with me and absolutely loved them. I showed them to my sister and sis in law and they immediately said that they had to learn how to make them.

The story of their inception is this.

There we were, in our favorite place on the planet (that isn't a restaurant), Joanns, looking for things to use our 40%off coupon and other things because it was 10% off the entire purchase. On our list of things to buy were blades for the Cricuit, and refills for the Xyron along with goggly eyes, itty bitty pompoms, heart shaped brads and lots and lots of marked down and then 50% off Legacy quilt fabric, all the while looking for the ball of what ever it was that the scour pads were made of. We never found them and were talking about the dilemma when the girl who was cutting the fabric said that it was net that they were made of.  She said you cut the netting in strips of two inches  and use as yarn!!!!

We gathered a bunch of netting (my choice being the darkest; why see junk on the thing after using if you don't have to?) and hustled home to make them.  We tried various sizes and ended up with this for their construction.  You would think that the stuff would be hard on your hands but it is not at all.  It good stuff to watch tv and do.  

Scour Scrunchies

One crochet hook (somewhere between H and K)

Nylon Netting:  I bought 3 yards and cut them in two inch strips the long way.  I figured I could make about nine from that.  If you buy less and have shorter strips, you will just join ends together a little more frequently.

To join the strips, take two pieces and line up one end of each on top of each other, Fold the end over about an inch and make a half inch slit in the center of the fold.  Now line the two slit ends on top of each other with the other ends going in opposite directions so  that the cut ends overlap and the slits line up.  Insert the uncut end of the bottom strip through the slits, entering from the top.  Pull both strips so that the end result is a knot.  You can also just knot the two ends.  Just try and have the ends all on one side as you crochet so it is easier to clean up.  You will need about five strips joined the way that I cut the net.  You can roll it in a ball if you want or you can add on as you need to.

Row 1: Chain 4 – then join with slipstitch to form circle

Row 2: Chain 4 – then 11 double crochet in the center

                            -then join with slipstitch

Row 3: Chain 4 – then 2 double crochet in each dc

Row 4: Chain 4 – then dc in each dc

Row 5: Single crochet in each stitch around

Row 6: Single crochet in each stitch around

Row 7: Single crochet every other stitch until there is

            no opening.  Cut a tail and pull through the last loop to knot.  Stuff all ends inside the finished scrunchie.

You Ought To Be In Pictures!!!

Check this out!! My friend Millie just sent me this picture of the blog today that

she can view on her TV!!!!  I have never heard of such a thing.  My Violet is now a tv star!!!

Livin' On The Edge

This gal likes to live on the edge.  At sixteen months old, every step she takes looks like it is gonna end in some sort of head trama but then, it seems to work for the V. We have two steps on the main floor of the house that we all congregate at and Violet manages to park herself within an inch or so of those steps, sometimes with the butt hanging over and she didn't once take a tumble.

This is the first time this year that Violet has crossed the Illinois state line and so sleeping somewhere other than her own bed has been a challenge.  She decided that she had enough sleep and so got up at five a.m. yesterday.  Parents?  Not so happy.  She didn't exhaust herself enough until almost noon and then, to try and salvage some sort of a schedule, Maria and Peter woke her up after three hours of napping.  

This is what came out of that nap.  Apparently someone decided to get her ready to be cast in a new baby version of 'Annie'.

She would make a perfect homeless waif, don't you think?  You couldn't replicate this hairdo if you tried.  And that vacant  'Why did you wake me up' stare.  I know her parents are actors but I definitely see a star in the rising.   

Roll Out The Table

We didn't have everyone for dinner last night. G had to represent us at a friend's kids wedding just over the border in Wisconsin. It was Maria and Peter's fifth wedding anniversary and Maria was preforming in a play she is currently in. So we decided to do something different for dinner.

I had seen this type of thing done on the Food Network's Michael Chiarello's show.

We did a variation of that show.   Maggie covered the porch table with kraft paper and Evan served each place setting a ladle of soft fontina polenta as our plate.

In the center of the table was a combination of various colored bell peppers, grape tomatoes, onions and jalepenos that were oven steamed with oil, fig and balsamic vinegars and s and p. I steamed sweet italian sausage and brother Bill finished them off on the grill, along with sea scallops.  

This was my first helping.  We had a bowl of pesto and more polenta on the table.  We served red wine in pint ball jars.  It was fabulous and everyone loved it. 

And talk about cleanup; just remove the dishes and roll up the mess.  My kinda cleanup. 

We started discussing when we thought G would get home.  He had said that he would see us in the morning because he predicted he would return home at about 2 a.m.   I said that I know he wouldn't stay that long, especially after everyone was drinking and he's not much of a booze lover.  So we decided to put five bucks each on it and each guessed what time he would come through the door.

It was pretty exciting.  We were all huddled together watching The Big Year and my time for his arrival came and went and it was almost out of Mike's time frame and into Bill's, when like a mirage, my sister's face lit up and with a minute to go, she greeted G at 11:46.  The money is burning a hole in her pocket.

Animal Antics

This was yesterdays post.  I don't know what happened but this morning I was telling my sister that my brother is going to be upset because he said that his dog here, Bea, would get more comments than the last post of Violet.  I said that he had none and my sis in law said that something was up because she checked the blog and the new one never showed up.  Well, here it is for what I thought was the second day.  I will be more careful in the future.



The house is starting to fill up for the weekend. Yesterday my brother Bill and Claudia arrived. They got here in record time from St. Louis, and I think I know why.


They let Bea drive!

My sister in law swears that they only let her drive on small back roads but I find that hard to believe.  

Bea does seem to take direction tho'.  When she takes her eyes off the road, she gets reprimanded and then really pays attention to the open road.

Chai is here with sis Mike and the kids will be coming in too.  It should be a great Memorial Weekend for us all.  Enjoy yours too. 

You Are My Sunshine

I took this diva to the park. She starts to howl for joy when she sees where she has ended up after a stroll.  Sixteen months old and she is ready to take on the world; teetering of course.

Gotta Go

I have one minute.  We changed to Xfinity yesterday and it took away my links to anything for the morning.  We couldn't change because of our security system at the house but we got that resolved so now we could ditch AT&T!!!!   Then once I sent two emails, the email went out.  I was gonna blog a darling gift I got from my friend Kay but I am leaving now to see my Violet and have an Apple class so I can't take the time this morning. That's it for now.

My Musings

I got an email form my sister in law saying something about arriving at my house this week and so I had a look at my calendar, and she was right. I thought Memorial weekend was a week later. Maybe because the 31st is on a Friday. I couldn't even believe it. I wanted to make some frozen food for the masses to take home and now I have little time. I have a full day already spoken for on Wednesday and the family starts arriving on Thursday. Yikes! I have three turkey breasts in the oven now and I can smell them all the way from the kitchen so I probably should check on them.

Oh well, it's only food. Every time I look at this new thread catcher that my friend Peggy gave

me, I think it's looking at me and it looks very much like a bird of some sort.  I even had a dream about it; something about a tree and Johnny Depp and this thread catcher.  I bet a shrink would have a field day with that!

I love flowers and like to have them around me all the time.  Sometimes the combination of certain flowers just hits me somehow and I can't stop looking at them.  This grouping is one of those.  There is a pure yellow calli lily that just makes it perfect.  I guess I am rambling today.  Time for a grocery list to be made.  

Anal, Yeah I Said It

You can always steal my ideas. That's one of the reasons I put them out here!!! We're all friends, right? The wedding invitation idea was not my original idea; I saw it on Pinterest.

I found myself making yet another of them yesterday.  I even have the perfect box

to wrap them in, thanks to my sister who, when she buys things she buys them by the case (most likely because it's much cheaper and free shipping, just like me).  I have enough to last me quite awhile.  While I was getting all the supplies to make the ornament I decided to cut all the ribbons for all the remaining 10 glass balls.

I had the scissors, and the four ribbons right there with the opened ball box so I took an extra two minutes and probably saved myself a half hour over the next couple years.  Is that OCD?  I wonder.

Side By Side

First off, thank you Melody Johnson for your endless help on stuff 'over Tommy's head'. I spent the good part of a day on learning how to place pictures side by side and here is the proof that sticktoitevness sometimes works.  This is the way to showcase the 'slices'.  Enjoy this; I had the pleasure of manhandling them for almost two weeks, out of love of course!!!

This first one (these are not in the order of the original photo.  That's just asking waaaaay to much of me) is Kay's and she chose to use the modern art of photo copying some of her piece, hence the car that is unquestionably better than I could have done in my wildest dreams!

Suzie did this one.  I love the detail she added to the house.  I have a feeling there was a little fabric sharing because she has the same commercial tree fabric as the slice next to hers.  That is completely fair game.  We have no rules as to how each person makes their piece.  It just has to somewhat match the placement on the original picture and not be so dense that I can't do the finish work on it.

Anne did a bang up job on her piece.  We were comparing our slices and realized that we had an almost identical stitch in our grass area.  Great minds think?  Well, she does anyway!

Mary Ann was worried that the antenna was no good so she tacked it on and left me the choice of keeping it or chucking it.  It is made with thread work on some filmy stuff and is stunning.  It's one of the best parts of her slice if I could even fathom  picking a favorite.

This is mine.

Gayle does such a wonderful job in free motion trees and things that this was the perfect block for her.  She was the perfect neighbor for my block.  And she has a Violet too so what could be better!

I can't believe how Judy captured the ground coverings here.  I is spectacular.  I am sure the statue right in front of the door was a problem for her but everything looks great.  The original photo was her DIL's.

This is Penny's slice.  She did some clever things on her piece and I particularly like the fact the she kept the selvage on her roof fabric, adding to the look of the branches behind the house.  These girls are so smart!

Irene did a wonderful job on her slice to begin with, and that's even without knowing that she was just out of a cast for her broken arm.  Ya know, if there's a will, there's a way.  Great job.

And last but definitely not least is Robbie's slice.  I hope you can click on hers and see the detail.  The car door handles are beads as well as the light on the pole.  Her bush is made with thread bundling on her sewing machine.  I would show you it in her blog but I am so scared of loosing these side by side pictures that I won't leave the computer from right where I am.

I hope you enjoy checking out the beginning to the end.  I sure did.