Satisfaction Saturday

Hello friends!

We had some storms roll in 

the other day.

I left work early to beat them.

Sure glad I did.

The rain and wind was so bad,

we could not even see our neighbors

house across the street.

Am glad my boss allows me to do this.

She knows it takes me an hour to get there

 each way, so she is very accommodating.

Plus I am her number one.

Being there 28 years, I earned it. 

I had two more items framed recently.

The first is Love Always.

This was my go to stitch at lunch each day.

Again I chose museum glass for this piece.

Not sure yet if I will put it out somewhere

or just bring it out for Valentine's Day.

Instead of adding the date as 20 and 24,

I chose to do 24 and my initials.

I id not change anything else with this one.

I also chose another black frame with leaves.

Thought it would mimic those in the piece.

I have my next Valentine stitch on deck to do.

Just waiting for the floss and fabric arrive.

This next piece you have already seen finished.

Now it is also framed.

Again I chose a black frame.

This one will remain in our keeping room

as part of my heritage wall.

This one had all of mine and Bob's initials,

birthday months, month/year we were married and state.

Currently it is being displayed with my other

cross stitch piece and one of my stoneware jugs.

Cannot wait to get Little Quakeresque completed.

Once that one is framed, I can start hanging 

my samplers on the wall here.

For now we will just enjoy looking at them on top

of the cabinet.

When I was paying for these, the manager

of Hobby Lobby came over to me and asked me

is she could look at these.

She told me what a wonderful job I did and that

this is becoming a lost art.

It made me think...yes it is an art.

Hopefully it is not a lost one.

I do love starting a piece and watching the 

motifs and design come alive.

I know many of you who do rug hooking,

quilting and fiber art feel the same way.

It is why we create.

In other news,

please say a wee prayer for my SIL.

She went for a test to start the kidney transplant

requirement and almost died.

She is currently in the ICU and still 

on a ventilator. She does have muscle movement

and has opened her eyes, but remains in 

critical care.

I hope this setback does not remove her from the list.

She so needs a kidney.  

They moved my daughter into a rental house now.

They started painting her house, so hopefully

soon she will be back into her own house.

Someone has been stealing her mail though.

She had been getting it every day, but lately

someone has been taking it.

She know, because she gets notified when

mail is delivered.

Really sucks that there are those out there who do this.

She went to the Post Office to stop her mail now.

Well my friends,

hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Satisfaction Saturday Blessings To All!

Janice 

 

April CupboardScape

 With April fading away fast,

I need to hurry up and post my

April CupboardScape.

April showers

Bring May flowers.

I decided to keep up my Spring quilt.

So love the muted colors in this one.

Purchased these child's rubber boots a few years ago.

Perfect for this time of the year display.

The umbrella is from the 1800's.

I dont dare open it it up as it is so fragile

it may break.

Hope you liked this simple display.

sometimes keeping it more simple makes

for a better statement.

In other news.

Thank you all for the well wishes on getting 

my wisdom teeth pulled.

I dont feel any less wiser. LOL

Friday evening was the worst, but by Saturday

I was almost up to par.

I do believe the surgeon messed up the crown

next to one he took out.

He did say it might happen.

Well I think it did and has 

 been aching ever since. UGH

Now I have to call my regular dentist back.   

No spicy foods for a week.

No straws or soda (pop) for 2 weeks.

I talked with mom on Sunday just to check in.

She had been to our house for a couple of days 

last week but did not want to call me cause

of my surgery... so I called her.

She told me her one neighbor was out on

the back porch one early evening and saw

a walking by far enough away from her

that it did not see her.

She knew it was a mama skunk because strolling

behind her were three little stinking baby skunks. 

Now I would have liked to have seen that.

Well have to get ready for work.

Last week was my 28th work anniversary.

I work for a major bank but cannot say which one.

Prior to that I worked for a different bank for 

almost 20 years before we were sold out to 

Old Kent Bank which is now Fifth Third Bank. 

We all lost our jobs with that bank merger.

At least the bank I had worked for which was

First National Bank had put me through college.

All I had to pay for was my books.

Once I retire I can say who this current bank is...

whenever that will be.

With all of the monies we had to shell out thus far

in April (my teeth, quarterly sales tax for the business, 

Shadow's vet bills and prescription food,

and paying uncle Sam on April 15th)

 it may be a few more years until I retire.

Let's just say it all could have paid for a new

foundation we were thinking of putting in

as an addition to our house.

Hope you all are have a wonderful start to your week!

April Blessings To All!

Janice

This And That

 Hello friends.

Today is a bit of this and that.

Well the other day we were able to see

the partial eclipse of the sun.

It was at 99%.

To the normal eye the sun looked like this

through my phone.

They predicted cloudy weather for us,

so we were not sure if we would see it at all.

At around 3:00pm the sky started to get hazy.

By 3:10 the sky looked like it was raining without the rain.

The sky just to the Southeast looked like bad

storm clouds it was that dark.

Overhead it was just like it was raining,

without the rain.

By 3:15 the sky started to go back to normal

and the clouds moved in.

Thank goodness they waited.

That's how I would describe it.

It was cool, awesome, mystic, eerie

all at the same time.

A once in a lifetime experience I actually got to see.

Even my mom saw it while she was here.

We were told 8 things might happen during the eclipse.

1. Beads around the moon. Did not happen.

2. Animals would act abnormal and the birds 

would stop chirping. 

Birds kept chirping all of the time.

Tundra could have cared less. 

3. Strange shadows. 

None that I could see.

4. The temperature would drop.

If it did, I did not feel it. It was a nice 65 day.

5. Wind would pick up. 

Not here.

6. Radio interference. 

Did not have any on, so dont know.

7. Solar flares of the sun. 

Did not see any.

8.May see other planets around.

Did not check for those as I was enthralled

 at seeing the eclipse itself.

Now through the lens I was looking at 

the sun was green while the moon was black.

This last pic was me taking a picture of the eclipse

through my lens.

It totally looked green here.

I know Lauren  from Rugs and Pugs 

had the best view being in the center.

That was the this portion of my post.

Now for the that.

 Gramma O's Rolls

2 cups milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp salt

1/2 cup margarine

1 cup water

2 packages quick rising yeast

(Fleischmann's or Red Star yeast)

1 egg

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

8 to 10 cups flour

Place milk, water and margarine 

in a pot and heat until lukewarm.

You can test using your finger.

If it feels warm take off stove.

Add the following to a large mixing bowl.

2 cups of flour, sugar, baking powder,

baking soda and salt.

Mix together with a beater.

Add milk mixture.

Mix together again with beater.

Add yeast and mix together with beater.

Place a bit of flour on a breadboard.

Knead dough.

Add more flour by cupful until it does not

stick to your hands.

Place dough back into the bowl.

Cover on stove with a kitchen towel.

Let rise until dough doubles in size.

(usually a half hour to an hour)

Take out of bowl and place back on breadboard.

Take approximately 2 ounces of the dough

and roll into a ball.

Place your balls on a cookie sheet lined

with wax paper sprayed with Pam.

(In the early days they used melted butter)

Place 2 dozen on a cookie sheet.

Bake 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Take out and brush rolls with melted butter.

For the remainder of the dough,

you can either another dozen rolls or make 

cinnamon sugar strips.

Mix two parts of sugar to 1 part cinnamon

into a bowl.

Melt another 1/4 cup butter in a pan.

Take the dough and roll into strips.

Dip the strips into the butter and then the 

cinnamon sugar mixture.

Place each strip into a cake pan,

and make a circle of strips starting

 in the middle of the pan.

Go around to the edge of pan with your strips.

Bake at 400 for 15 minutes and you will have

homemade cinnamon and sugar bread strips

you can then pull apart and eat.

Now my mom asked me to put out a disclaimer.

She said that anyone other than a girl in 

our family will probably not be able to make

these rolls.

She thinks her gramma put a hex on this,

as she has given it to quite a few friends...

no one has been able to make them.

I just found this out.

If you try to make these, please let me know 

if it works out for you.

I have not made these although both my

sister and daughter have.

In other news,

later today I have to get my wisdom teeth out.

Will be out of commission for a bit.

All of these years, my dentists had said 

they did not need to come out.

Now one has a cavity, 

so my dentist said its time.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Mine will probably be laying on the couch,

looking like a chipmunk,

trying to eat either applesauce, pudding or jello. 

This And That Blessings To All!

Janice

To Market

 To Market, To Market,

To buy a fat pig.

Home again, home again,

Jiggety-jig.

Hello friends.

Well I could not resist purchasing a few

cross stitch patterns from the March cross stitch market.

I was constantly getting emails almost daily

on new releases.

I did end up purchasing these.

This one reminded me of my gramma H's 

wallpaper in one of her rooms....

so this will be a fitting sampler tribute for her.

(I actually already have this one kitted up)

{ linen and floss purchased}

George Washington's horse named Nelson.

Had to have him.

My parents were married in a church on a hill.

When I get to this sampler, 

I will add their names and wedding date.

Since I love both snowman and hearts....

well this one I had to have.

I dont have anything for St Patrick's Day.

I thought this was so sweet.

Along with this one with the clover.

I may try to add in a bunny in here,

since they love eating clover.

Finally a Fall one.

I dont like the red, so will chose a different color

for this one.

Who knows, maybe a few colors.

We do have gray squirrels here...so maybe

I might make him gray.

Where the heck am I going to find all of the time

to stitch all of these?

Not to mention the ones I have already purchased.

Are you mad woman? EGAD

For all you cross stitcher's out there.

Did you purchase any new patterns at market?

I heard that if you went in person to Tennessee,

it was overwhelming and you would have not

been able to see everything.

I truly have caught the cross stitch bug.

Have not really cross stitched since the 80's.

Now I am gung ho on every season it seems.

Once I have Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow

finished, I will be able to do more of

my other stitching.

Hopefully it will be finished by Halloween...

finished but probably not framed.

In other news,

Mary I started to write the recipe for my mom's rolls,

then there was a part that had me stumped.

She will be here later today, so I will ask

her to clarify and I will then post the recipe.

I want to make sure it is right.

I have never made them.

Not sure if we will be able to see the partial eclipse

here in Michigan.

For all of my friends in the zone,

I sure hope the weather cooperates for you.

This is an amazing sight to view if you can.

My mom will be here for 2 days,

so I look forward to her visit.

We will go out to our favorite Mexican restaurant

which is 45 minutes away.

Its been a long time since we have been there.

Well have to get to work.

Hope everyone has a magical day today!

Market Blessings To All!

Janice

Re-Visiting With Old Friends

 Hello friends!

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

Today is an update on our keeping room.

I think I showed this old rug before.

I purchased it right off the floor 

from an antique store.

I knew the owner and asked her if it was for sale.

Guess it was since I bought it. LOL

When I brought it home I had it on a table.

Then one day the light bulb went off.

Janice I think it would look good in front of the fireplace.

Well it did and I think it looks really good here now.

You can see my big Halloween project to the right.

This is where I stitch at night while watching tv.

I had purchased this leather shot bag

last year and just decided it would look good here.

It now resides on the mantle.

Bob finished the wood trim around the ceiling now.

He had a nice day a few weeks back,

Decided it was time to finish this.

So glad he did.

The wall where my light is will become

the heritage sampler wall.

I need to at least finish one more,

before I decide where to start hanging these...

so stay tuned.

At the rate I am going with 

Little Quakeresque it may be at the end of the year.

Finally one more old friend.

Our happy dog Tundra.

He is here on our couch with daddy 

laying next to him.

In other news,

I will post my mom's roll recipe next time.

I did not have to post for this one.

Bob and I went out to our favorite 

Italian restaurant last evening.

It is a half hour drive up the river,

but well worth it.

Bob had Eggplant Parmigiana.

I had Cajun Chicken  with artichokes,

fresh tomatoes and capers

in a rich cream sauce with angel hair noodles.

They have the best bread with dipping oil too.

I could not eat all of mine so will have the rest 

for lunch today.

Well have to get to work.

Old Friend Blessings To All!

Janice

Sunday Starts

Hello all of my dear friends!

This latest project

started back on February 4th.

This one is called Patriotic Pinwheel Parade.

A perfect stitch for July 4th decor.

Perfect also for a bunny lover like me!

I plan on doing this one the 4th of each month.

Hopefully it will be completed by July 4th.

My first day progress.

February 4th.

Almost completed a quarter of the flag banner

at the top.

March 4th flag progress.

Its gonna be a long one...

Once I get to the bunnies it will be 

fun stitching on this one,

since I so love bunnies.

Stitching this one on 36 ct Cream & Sugar

from Fiber on a Whim.

Using most of the called for colors.

Swapped out the orangey red for Red Licorice.

Who wants orange for July 4th?

Not me.

Also changed the white to White Lighting.

Both Weeks Dye Works.

The other colors are DMC.

My next attempt is this one.

This is my next sampler for my heritage wall.

It's called 

"A Little Quakeresque"

but for me it has been nothing but

"A Big Headache"

I think I told Lauren there were 4 motifs stitched.

I lied. Only 3.

I thought this would be a fun pattern.

A no brainer with only one color floss.

These little motifs seem easy, but are a pain to me.

Every one thus far I have had to frog. Grrr

I really have to count these motifs.

There are 81 of them....this is going to be a long stitch.

Even though I love blue, may get bored with one color.

I will not be stitching the four corner border.

When finished this will have all four

of my great grand fathers names/ dates.

Hopefully it will look as nice once completed

as my other family sampler.

Using only one color of floss.

Classic Colorworks Blue Corn.

Again this should be easy because there are 

no color changes to deal with.

Again GRRR.

In other news,

my mom loved the tribute sampler I stitched

in memory of her parents & grandparents.

Her eyes lit up when she looked at it.

I was so glad my first one was for her family. 

She even wondered what glass it was.

She also told me she now found out her

paternal grandfathers birth year.

All we had was his death year.

We now know he passed 

when he was just 34 years old.

Other than he died from pneumonia,

we know nothing else about him.

I will include his birth date

in this current sampler.

Larry's 100th birthday party was a success,

even though it was a rainy day.

He told us the story of him going into the army

at 18 years old in World War II.

He was wounded in the leg and spent 4 months

in a Paris hospital before returning back to his

regiment in Germany.

In the final days of the war, many gathered

in the arena that Hitler used for his speeches.

There remained a Nazi swastika hanging.

At the beginning of the celebration,

they covered the swastika with the American flag,

amid heavy cheers from the crowd.

It was here that Audie Murphy (the actor)

was honored for his bravery.

At this time we thanked Larry for his service

with a round of applause by all.

He spent 27 months fighting for our country.

Thank you again Larry for your service.

Thank you again to those who sent in cards.

Well I best get ready for Easter Brunch.

We always have our dinner at noon.

Ham and fixins.

Cannoli and strawberry rhubarb pies for dessert.

Hope everyone enjoys their Easter who celebrate.

Sunday Start Blessings To All!

Janice