It's TUSAL time, the new moon when we take pictures of our saved yarn and thread ends (called orts) and post them. This is being hosted by It's Daffycat. Why do I do this? It shows progress; if I don't have any finishes for the month, it shows I'm still plugging away at projects.
Here are my orts for the month:
The thread orts are mostly from my new starts each day for the Super Duper Ultimate Crazy Challenge, but there are a lot in there from my Turtle Trot projects (finally found a good rotation for those), my Smalls SAL project, and any other WIPs I'm working on. The yarn orts are mostly from my 2015 blanket. I'm up to row 4. Here it is stretched out on my bed:
I'm very happy with it so far. It's made entirely of scrap yarn, and I'm trying to be random with the color placement.
Hope and I made chocolate chip banana bread today. We used this recipe. It's a little overbaked; I should have checked it sooner than it called for. But no matter; it still tastes good.
Starts #48 and #49 are freebies found online; if you click on the title, it'll take you to the page.
It was on the cold side today; the thermometer didn't get above 30. It was the perfect day for some hot cocoa. I make my own mix using this recipe from Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.
I tried a new recipe yesterday for the church fellowship. It was Italian theme, so I made baked ziti.
On a scale of 1 to 10: 6
What I liked: It had a good flavor. It was relatively easy to make, very similar to a lasagna recipe I use.
What I'll change for next time: I'll add some spices or use a spaghetti sauce with seasoning.
I started this castle chart for the New Stitchy Start SAL blog. And now, because it's always more fun to stitch with friends than alone, I'm working it with Linda as our own SAL. We work on it every Sunday, so I'll start posting progress pics on Mondays.
This is where I was three Sundays ago:
And where I am now:
I'm not sure if I'll continue with the same blue this Sunday (I still have a lot of that color to do) or start filling in all those holes with the other two blues.
Today was start #46 for the SDUCJFC:
This is a freebie chart called Whoo-hoo? Me too? from Kincavel Krosses. You can click on the link to see the finished chart. The rest of my starts for this month are all freebies; I'll include the link each day.
We're having a great time with Tim being home this week. He's been able to do some projects around the house, we've had a lot of good family time, and he's spent some one on one time with the girls. Today's his birthday so he and Hope went out to breakfast and are then going down to Waxahachie to go fishing. Tonight, he and I are going to dinner and a movie. Fun times!
I finally did something with my hair; it's been driving me crazy. I like long straight hair, but not on me. So, last Thursday, I went from this
to this.
It's actually still a little long. I wasn't sure how much it would shorten after I washed it, and I'm debating if I want to have another inch taken off now or just wait a few weeks. But I'm much happier with it.
We tried a new recipe last night, Stuffing Topped Chicken Bake. I forgot to take a picture of the finished dish, but I have one of the ingredients.
Prepare the stuffing according to the directions on the box. Mix one can of cream of mushroom soup with half a cup of sour cream. Pour the soup and sour cream over four boneless skinless chicken breasts. Top with the stuffing. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.
On a scale of 1-10: 6
What I liked: Ease of preparation (can you tell this a big deal to me?). Good flavor.
What I'll change for next time: I'll stick to the recipe when it calls for only half a cup of sour cream. The sauce was a little too thick for me, but that's because I thought half a cup didn't sound like enough, especially when I was cooking 6 pieces of chicken. Trust me when I say it makes plenty.
Starts #32-34 (I haven't done today's yet):
#32: Love Yourself
Source: A 2nd Helping of Cross Stitch for the Soul by Stoney Creek
#33: Chocolate Sundae
Source: for Chocolate Lovers by Dale Burdett
I may change the color of the bowl; I don't think the gray will show up well on the lavender fabric.
#34: Giraffe
Source: Animals in a Word by True Colors Cross Stitch
Can you see the word GIRAFFE in the finished design?
I've been doing some decluttering in preparation for the church yard sale in a few weeks. Before I take some things over, I wanted to give my wonderful blog readers first dibs.
Giveaway #1: Fun Fur
Some new and still packaged, some new without the package, some scraps.
Giveaway #2: Eyelash Yarn
Same deal. There are also two skeins of yarn with little ribbon bits (that's the only way I can think to describe it).
Giveaway #3: Bulky Yarn
Five skeins of Lion Brand Jiffy bulky acrylic yarn. The color is Fisherman.
The next three are all cross stitch books. Each group has 14 booklets; if you really need the titles, I can email them to you.
Giveaway #4: Cross Stitch Books Group 1
Family (3), kitchen (2), music, friendship, cats, towels (2), Christmas, Noah's Ark, calendar, fantasy
Giveaway #5: Cross Stitch Books Group 2
Mickey and Minnie, Woody and Buzz, Precious Moments (plastic canvas), pets, nursery rhymes, friends, babies (2), food, special occasions, prayers, kids (3)
Winners will be announced Monday, February 9. You have until then to leave a comment on this post telling me what number giveaway you would like to win (1-5).
You can enter more than one giveaway.
I will do my best to get all prizes mailed by Saturday, February 14.
Any questions can be emailed to me at bookworm187@earthlink.net.
The delightful Zana of Zana's Homemade has nominated me for an award. Thank you, Zana :-) I've always thought blog awards were fun. And I'm such a dork; I don't speak Spanish, so I used Google Translate to find out it means the Best Friends Blogger Award.
According to the rules, I need to be a follower of the blog who nominated me (check), answer five questions (see below), and nominate ten blogs (see below the questions).
The questions:
1. What would you change in your current situation?
I would have my own car. We've been a one car family since moving to Texas, and since Tim needs it for work (it's a 40 mile round trip commute, so taking him is out of the question), I'm home with the kids all day every day.
2. What do you not forgive?
Judgmental attitudes. I try to be tolerant of other people, and people do have a right to their opinions, but it boils my blood when people judge others.
3. What would be your perfect disguise?
A blonde wig and dark sunglasses.
4. Do you believe in eternal love or is it a fairytale?
I do believe; I'm a hopeless, romantic sap.
5.An important song in your life.
Right now, it's "Born For This" by Mandisa. It reminds me God's plans for my life are always perfect, even when I don't understand them. And sometimes, in order to fulfill them, you have to do things that are outside your comfort zone.
We tried another new recipe the other night: Savory Chicken and Potatoes. Sliced onion, peeled and diced potatoes, and boneless skinless chicken breasts were layered in the crockpot. A can of golden mushroom soup was poured on top and basil, oregano, and parsley were sprinkled on last (it actually called for marjoram, but I didn't have any).
On a scale of 1-10: 4
What I Liked: Ease of preparation, very tender
What I'll Change for Next Time: We're still deciding if there will be a next time for this one. The chicken was very dry; if I make it again, I may put the chicken on the bottom and add some water or chicken broth. There wasn't much flavor to it.
Two more starts for the SDUCJFC:
#21: Life Without Cats
Source: Garfield ... at his best! by Millcraft
Stitched some of the blanket
#22: Quilt Sampler
Source: Crazy About Quilts by Cross My Heart
Stitched a little of a quilt block border
I was originally going to stitch this on black like in the model,
but I couldn't find a big enough piece of 16 count Aida in black in time for the challenge.
We tried a new recipe last night: Sausage and Veggie Stew. A can of beef broth, a can of stewed tomatoes and a cup and a half of water were brought to a boil on the stove. I added two cups of frozen diced potatoes, a package of cocktail sausages, and a bag of mixed vegetables. Once it started boiling again, I put a lid on the pan and let it simmer for ten minutes. It was delicious!
On a scale of 1-10: 8
What I liked: Ease of preparation, good flavor
What I'll change for next time: Cut the cocktail sausages in half before adding them, use diced tomatoes instead of stewed (that was Hope's recommendation because she didn't like the big tomato chunks.)
I have another new recipe in the crockpot for tonight's dinner. I hadn't planned on two new recipes in one week, but we had to rearrange our dinner menu because of schedules. I'll let you know how tonight's experiment is.
It's TUSAL time, hosted by It's Daffycat. On or about the new moon, I take a picture of my collected orts (leftover threads and yarn scraps from WIPs and FOs) and post it. Why? Because it shows progress, especially if you're slow like me and take a long time to finish things.
My thread ort jar is off to an impressive start thanks to all my starts for the SDUCJFC.
My yarn ort jar isn't too bad either; no crochet finishes yet this month, but I've been doing a lot of piecework. Working every day on my 2015 blanket helps fill the jar.
I have three more cross stitch starts under my belt:
#18: Women Are Like Tea Leaves
Stitched a little of the teapot
#19: Horse of a Different Color
Started stitching the belly
#20: Last Minute
Stitched some of the hourglass sand.
This one is interesting because it calls for half stitches for the sand.
We've given away three bags of peaches. Eaten peaches as snacks. Made 12 jars of jam. Thrown away peaches that rotted or got eaten by bugs or snatched by the dogs.
And that 8-quart bowl of peaches in the first pic is what I picked today! There are at least that many still on the trees waiting to ripen a little more.
I'm not complaining; I think it's very exciting. I'm just getting tired of seeing peaches!
With our convention last week and playing catch up this week, I haven't hardly picked up a crochet hook. And my cross stitching is starting to gather dust. I need to start scheduling craft time into my day.
I'm relearning how to type with one hand. Funny how once you learn to type, you forget how to hunt and peck. At least I have. Why am I typing with one hand? Because my Bean has entered The Super Cling Stage. As long as I'm holding her, she's happy. This is new to me. Hope was not a cuddly baby; she didn't like to be held for long periods of time. And when she was 7 weeks old, I was back to work full time. I don't mind holding her all the time, but eventually I have to do those necessary things like cook, clean and go to the bathroom. Then I incur the wrath of Pterodactyl Baby.
Speaking of stages, we had a milestone this week: sleeping through the night! Woo hoo! (trumpets blowing, cymbals clashing, confetti flying) Monday night, Alex slept all night. Only one wake-up Tuesday night, then all night sleep last night. Ah, sleep. How I've missed you :-)
Over at Daisy Cottage Designs today, you can print out a cute sign that says Home is Where the Yarn Is. I printed one and taped it to my yarn cabinet.
Our peaches are ripe. I found a peach jam recipe that I'd like to try. I've only made freezer jam before so this will be an interesting experiment.
I'm making Mini Chicken Pot Pies for dinner tonight. The only things I do different are I cook the chicken all the way through before adding it to the mix but I throw the peas in frozen.
We finally got some rain yesterday. Lack of rain was never a problem in Florida, but I've discovered how important it is here.
As the rain was pouring down, we look out the back patio door and see the dog (who's supposed to be going to the bathroom) playing with something by the fence. And this is what we discovered.
A fledgeling baby mockingbird! We were afraid to disturb it in case mama bird wanted to come back, so we brought the dog inside and watched through the glass. The bird hopped around the yard and took refuge from the rain under this tree. I ran out to get the picture and saw mama and daddy mockingbird in the peach trees.
After some research on the internet, we found out it's customary for mockingbird parents to push the babies out of the nest at about 12 days old. They can't fly for several days yet, but they take shelter in bushes and rely on mom and dad to bring food to them. This means we have to keep the dogs in the house except for bathroom breaks for the next few days. That should be fun; they both prefer the outdoors.
I made Crockpot Lasagna Friday night. It was good, but I didn't like how soft the noodles were. Next time I make it I might only boil them a few minutes before adding them to the crockpot. I got the recipe from this book.
Tim and I have been taking our evening walks around the neighborhood again. We managed to get a picture of this bunny before he hopped away. It's not the best shot because I didn't get too close for fear of scaring him; the zoom is all the way out but it didn't focus very well.
Hope finished her mosaic. This was the piece before she did the grout.
And here's the finished mosaic. I love the contrast it has with the black grout.
I've made three more preemie cocoons this last week.
The top left one in Red Heart Melonberry is the Sunshine and Shells pattern from Beatrice Ryan Designs, The pattern is for a newborn so I modified it a little to make it for a preemie. I used an I hook and worked the pattern through round 5, then skipped to round 8. I repeated round 8 until there were 18 rounds total before doing one round of single crochet and one round of single crochet with picots.
The bottom one in Red Heart Monet is the Preemie Ripple Cocoon from Suzie's Stuff. This one worked up the fastest but it's really tiny. Babies come in all sizes so hopefully it'll be OK, but I think I'll go up a hook size the next time I make this pattern.
I made another four preemie hats, too. All four are the same pattern from The Dainty Daisy. The top two have pattern option B, and the bottom two have pattern option A.
