A pillow for Aiden

Isn’t this precious…..baby Aiden (I work with his mom, Ashley)being held by his proud big sister Addison.

I spent my first real day of stay-cation working on finishing up this pillow for baby Aiden.  As I sat outside, I thought about how pulling loops of wool and then pulling stitches to attach the piping to the pillow was rhythmic and soothing……like rocking a baby.  Handwork really is like therapy…..I’ve really missed it and hope to have time to hook more while I’m off this week.

I still have to get the back stitched on, but I thought I would share my progress from today.

This is not meant to be a tutorial, just a “how a person who doesn’t sew that much does things.  I hand stitched on the piping….which you can’t see all that much in this picture, but it’s a little bigger reveal than what I’ve shown so far.

As I was looking for a backing, I ran across this wool paisley shawl that I bought on ebay a few years back….it’s not an antique, but I was drawn to the colors and I thought it went great with the horse pillow…..plus it had all that fringe that I just HAD to leave on….reminds me of a horse’s mane.

My original plan was to have a few buttons, so that I could make a pillow insert that could be taken out.  However, with my house in such upheaval, I was unable to find my buttonhole attachment for my sewing machine, so I just sewed the two pieces together, and will just stuff the pillow without making an insert.

I’m just going to tuck the raw edges in and hand stitch the fabric to the back, I’ve used t-pins to keep everything in place until it’s sewn together.  I hope to get this stitched and stuffed tonight and have a FINISHED picture for you tomorrow. I stitch “in the ditch” of the piping with really small stitches…..think of it as slow, soothing and rhythmic….each stitch a stitch of love and caring and wishes for this new precious life.

Stay-Ca

In a few hours I’ll have the house to myself for my Stay-Cation……watch out for lots of creative posts coming your way!

Mish Mash

Just checking in with my blog friends.

Today is day 28 since I started trying to knock off some pounds using the Jillian Michaels website and I’m happy to say that I’ve lost 8 pounds, 2 1/2 inches from my waist and 1 1/2 inches from my hips.  The food is really great….all whole foods, no preservatives, no processed foods, but LOTS of taste!  (and lots of dad-gum cooking!) The workouts are a bit grueling, (Jillian really does kick your ass, um butt) but I feel myself getting stronger every day.

 

I’m working my way from girlie push-ups to the real thing.

As well as shedding pounds and inches I’ve also been shedding “belongings”.  (Cleopatra on the  “fancy” loveseat…..Kenny thinks she will be traumatized because this is where she always likes to sleep….see all the cookie jars in the case behind the loveseat….yeah, those are ALL in my hooking room now!)

Gave our “fancy room” sofa, loveseat and wingback chair to a friend and sold our green entertainment armoire and another wingback chair on craigslist.org .

Last night Kenny moved most of the heavy furniture like the dining room trestle table & 6 chairs  (now residing in the den) and his huge mother-in-laws tongue (now residing on the front porch) to other rooms because Wednesday we are starting the process of getting our front rooms hardwood floors refinished. A 4-day process.

So, right now our home is a mish-mash…..I still have smaller things to move out of the rooms, but those I can do on Tuesday night.

Here is what the 2 rooms look like at the moment….a mish-mash!

(Lonnie is wondering where the sofa is….. “it used to be RIGHT THERE!”)

We’ve put a dog bed in that room, but he seems to prefer the rug……oh well.

Cleopatra now likes lying on the gel mat in the kitchen. (See her breast cancer awareness collar….Kenny bought that for her in honor of Sheri of Shabby Sheep)

We’re also going to have the tile replaced around the fireplace….it is currently burgundy/wine…..I’m going tile shopping today to find something more neutral.

The cookie jar case has been unloaded, we just have to move it into the hallway tonight while Kenny is around to help.

Dining room is almost empty

I’ll post more photos when it is empty and hopefully soon I’ll have BEFORE and AFTER photos to share with you.

Remodeling our home….one room at a time….sometimes it’s tedious, but I’m a pay-as-you-go kind of person.

Taking a back seat

I really feel like my hooking has been taking a back seat…..have you noticed?

I guess I’ve just hooked and hooked and hooked so much the past few years, that now I’m just needing a break to do other things that obviously are more important to me now.

This weekend I WILL finish the pillow for the baby and maybe once I get my house in order I will feel like I can really sit down and make some wonderful rugs. 

I have a lot of ideas swimming around in my head for rug designs….really wonderful ideas….I’m thinking of this time as one does when they make a really good soup…..some things are just better when they simmer.

Sneezing, birthdays and a drive by barking

Trying to get my “blog mojo” back…..have felt a little run down the past couple of days….at first I thought I was getting a cold, but now I’ve decided it’s allergies…. will run by Mama Jean’s after work tomorrow and pick up some quercetin.  I tried it last year with good luck, so I’ll give it another try this year. I’ve been pretty lucky that my allergies don’t really bother me all that much, but they always bother ME when they are not bothering anyone else. Go figure.

Today, I had a list of things that I wanted to get accomplished….

• bind and make the little horse rug into a pillow
• get the laundry caught up
• paint a door with black chalkboard paint
• clean out my car

Well, I didn’t get any of those things accomplished, but, Kenny and I did get up early and go over to his parent’s house for his brother’s birthday party…..it was a breakfast party.  (biscuits and gravy, sausage, breakfast casserole, tomatoes, cantaloupe, muffins and cheesecake!) (all I had was tomato, cantaloupe, 1 mini muffin, and a tiny, I mean TINY piece of breakfast casserole…..all so I could have a SMALL piece of cheesecake) We all sat outside under the carport and it was unusually cool……so nice, after all this wicked heat we’ve been having.

Last night I wrapped Shawn’s gifts…..lots of little gifts all wrapped up and then put inside of a BIG box that was also wrapped.  One thing about Shawn….he loves a party!

Here is Shawn with a few of his gifts before the unwrapping began.

 

He turned the big 4-0 this year! Can you see how excited he is?

Shawn LOVES cheesecake, so his mom made him a pumpkin cheesecake instead of a traditional birthday cake.

I’m pretty fast with the camera, but TOTALLY missed him blowing out the candles…..all I got was the smoke….

Now on to Shawn’s favorite part……the gifts…..I think this one was from his dad…..see how fast his hands work when he gets a gift….they are like a blur!

This is the gift from us, big and sparkly, with a sports magazine tied to the top.

Then once it was opened, it had MORE wrapped gifts on the inside…..he was excited!

“Eeny-Meeny-Miney-Mo!” said Shawn….

He picked an orange package….

…..and then onto the cards…..a lot of them had gift cards, which he LOVES!

Nothing quite like dreaming of what you are going to buy!

After the party, we ran by a new antiques store called Relics….lots of pretty things to look at, but nothing we needed at the moment….still trying hard to liquidate rather than accumulate, but it’s still fun to look.

Then, back to the ranch, I mean home :) Took a 2 hour nap, it was so nice, but once again….not helping me get anything done. Did one load of laundry and then sat outside by the pool with Kenny and read magazines, then Kenny picked up supper from The Purple Burrito (no we don’t have snow on the ground….just trying to show the purple building)

We all ( David (our friend) and I) told Kenny we wanted carne asada burritos, but of course Kenny ordered what he wanted, so he brought home a pork burrito, a carne asada burrito and a fish burrito…..we each got 1/3 of each kind……okay, so now I know that I LOVE the fish burrito, 2nd runner up was the pork burrito and the carne asada came in last place….never would have known that if he didn’t order 3 different kinds and we got to sample them.  If you live here in Springfield, you really need to give this place a try….they have one close to Glenstone and Sunshine and then there is another one on S. Campbell near Mama Jean’s.

Also, since it was WAY cooler than it has been the dogs got an extra long walk around the neighborhood near the art museum…. they found 1 rabbit tonight, which went and hid underneath a big bush, much to their dismay. Lonnie had to be content with chasing squirrels, and he didn’t see any cats until we were in the truck, so for that he just got to do what we call a “drive by barking”.

The list will still be there in the morning, after all, tomorrow is another day.

Weekend Breakfast

As usual, as of late, I’ve been a bit absent on my blog.  I guess I’ve just been busy and haven’t had that much going on that I feel is “blog worthy”.

However, this morning I got up and made this recipe for the first time and it’s definitely “blog worthy” AND it’s healthy and SUPER TASTY…..one of the recipes I get to eat while I’m doing the Jillian Michaels plan.

Mix together 1 cup fat free half-and-half with one egg white

Add 1 tablespoon of honey Add 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1 tsp orange or lemon extract…..I used lemon….that’s what I had in the cabinet. Add 3 drops of vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp. salt and stir like the devil! It takes a lot of stirring to get it to all come together and keep the cinnamon from floating on the top. Now here comes the fun part…..take your bread and dunk it one piece at a time into the cream mixture. WAIT! Don’t be shy….DUNK it, and keep it under for 1 minute… After it’s been soaking for 1 minute, put it in a skillet coated with cooking spray…..believe me, you need the spray….I tried it without and it was a sticky MESS! I had my electric skillet set on 350 and it took about 2 minutes per side for the toast to brown.  Put two pieces of toast on a plate, top with blueberries or strawberries and 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup……YUM! (if you don’t have 3 people to serve this to, you can always freeze the rest and then get it out and reheat it in the microwave or toaster)Jillian's French Toast (serves 3)

Ingredients

• 1 egg(s), whites only

• 1 cup(s) half-and-half, fat-free
• 3 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon, ground
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
• 1 teaspoon orange extract, or lemon extract
• 3 drop(s) vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 slice(s) bread, sprouted wheat, whole grain, low-sodium, such as Ezekial
• 6 tablespoon maple syrup

Preparation

In a wide bowl, beat the egg white with the half-and-half. Add honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange or lemon extract, vanilla extract, and salt. Dip each slice of bread in the mixture for a minute. Spray skillet with nonstick cooking spray and heat on medium. Cook French toast on both sides until brown. Dust with cinnamon one last time and top with remaining honey.

Serving Size: 2 pieces of French toast with 2 tbsp syrup

For Kelly (girl, you gotta try this!)

Calories: 295

Total fat: 1 gram

Saturated fat: 0

Cholesterol: 0

Sodium: 281 mg

Total Carbs: 58 grams

Dietary Fiber: 7 grams

Protein: 12 grams

212

I saw this today in one of my e-mails and had to share it with you.

At 211 degrees, water is hot.
At 212 degrees, it boils.
And with boiling water, comes steam.
And with steam, you can power a train.
Just one degree more can make all the difference.
Where can you turn up the heat?

• 2 extra acts of kindness weekly plant 104 more seeds of generosity each year.
• 15 extra minutes a day creates over 90 hours each year for what’s most important to you.
• 1 extra contact daily sparks 180 more personal connections every 6 months.
• 1 extra risk each week leads to 52 more opportunities every year for excitement and possibility.

It's your life. You are responsible for your results.
Be Two-Twelve.

A ways to go

Even though I worked on this smaller mat for quite a while yesterday, I still have a ways to go before it is finished…..AND I’d like to have it made and ready to give on Monday!  I’m SUCH a procrastinator, but I usually end up meeting my deadlines.

Today all of my hooking book auctions are ending. There are still some “deals” to be had.

There are two books in particular that I’m surprised at how low the bids still are.

“Modern Hooked Rugs” is still at a STEAL of a price.  I guess there are just lots of people out there who are more into primitive, but if you take a look inside, you might decide that you need this in your hooking library.

Here are a few teaser shots from the inside……

Most every page has about this many rugs…..

Here are a few close ups…..sorry for the bright spots…..I was in kind of a hurry….

The other book is “Contemporary Hooked Rugs”……

…..again….CHOCK full of color photos!

The one thing that this book has that I forgot to mention on my eBay ad is that is has most all of the rugs from the extremely hard to find “Alphabet of Sheep”

as well as rugs from Louisa Creed….if you love cats you’ll love her work!

I’m just saying……..

Click HERE to go to my auctions that are ending today.