Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Last Chances

As some know, I have a cup that allows me to have a free cup of coffee every day from Starbucks for the month of January.  Today being the 31st, I had me last free cup today from the Safeway Starbucks.  I savored it.  I am becoming fond of the new Blonde coffee flavor.  I have a $1.00 off coupon for a pound of coffee and I am thinking of getting that one.  I really liked the African Red coffee, but haven't seen it there for a while.  Really wish Lex still worked there.  Darn her for joining the army.  My loss.

It has been six days since my last post.  I attended my guild meeting on Thursday.  I won one of the raffles which was a cute fabric bag with material and socks.  On Saturday I went to Quilter's Corner for the first Saturday Square for 2012.  We are doing these baskets this time.  A Laundry Basket pattern.  The kit comes with a little card showing the pattern.  I am doing this in chocolate and cherries color way.  That means brown and pink.  The rest of the day was spent sewing.  Hurrah.

Sunday my husband and I went to El Dorado.  I don't mean El Dorado Hills.  At Poor Red's on Hwy 49, you make a right turn if heading east and a left turn if heading west.  A few miles later we were at Mistle Toe lane.  Isn't that just the cutest name????  My husband's friend, Dale, lives in this wonderful house that has the best view I have ever seen.  To be able to see all the way down the valley to the Rancho Seco Towers.   The house itself is very small.  There are rules up there about what you can build.  There is already a 3100 square foot house which is where the children and grand children live.  What Dale and his wife have is what we would call the mother-in-law cottage.  Quite a nice setup.  I have to admit I really loved the dogs, Cash and Nicki.  Cash is a chocolate lab and Nicki is a yellow lab.  I love the dogs.

Hope you have had a great week.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

A Blanket For The Car

My darling daughter just might be for sale.....

When it started getting cold, my darling daughter picked out a piece of blue fleece that was cheap from Joann's to put on the front window so I don't have to scrape my window.  It has worked for us for a few months now.  While I was cleaning out a corner of my kitchen, I found a big piece of very dark gray fleece.  It was bigger than the blue so it would cover everything.  So, I began putting the blue piece on my son's truck and the gray on my car.  The darling daughter didn't like that.  We bought the blue for the car and by God it must be used only for the car.

I don't really care one way or the other about either piece, except that it gets put in pretty much the same place each day so I can find it at night when I go out to put it on my car.  The darling daughter does care.  She washes the fleece when it is wet out.  I just toss it aside in the bed of the truck and all's good.

Last night I went out to put the fleece on the car and it was gone.  Okay, if the truth be known, we are having a penny drive for leukemia at the school where I work and I wanted a big bag of pennies to donate and I saw a bunch of pennies in our other truck.  I was going to switch them for a few quarters.  I thought, while I was out there I might as well do th4e car a bit early and get it over with.  I couldn't  find the fleece!!!!  I went in the house to inquire and found out it was in the dryer.  I am paying to dry the darn fleece.  Someone, the daughter had a little attitude going and I got angry.  Told her that if she didn't find my fleece she could pack her bags.  She went on and on until I told her to go away and then she still was going on in her room.  What an opportunity.  About a month ago I was speaking to my husband (her father) and from her room she says,
"I can hear you!"   I so wanted to do that to her one night.  From the kitchen I told her, "I can hear you!"

She doesn't think I'm funny.  The darling daughter found my fleece and then went to put it on the car.  I didn't go back out because it is darn cold outside!!!!  Alls well that ends well.  My car was not frosty this morning.
I changed my mind about selling her..........

Monday, January 23, 2012

A Lot of Rain

The rain stopped.  I am sad about that.  We really need the rain.

I began the squares for the embroidered Thimbleberries quilt.  There is one for each month of the year.  Did I start with January? No.  February.  It is hearts in a circle and it just caught me in a place where I wanted to do something cheerful.  I am using a variegated red, but so far it isn't turning out so variegated.

I want to visit Slovenia.  I saw it on House Hunter's International and it looks just lovely.  I would love to live in Europe with all that history right there. 

I'm off to bed. Got to be ready for a new day tomorrow.  :)

Sunday, January 22, 2012

The 49'ers Lost!

I am not much of a football fan, but my parents were big time 49er fans and so in honor of them, I am sad...

I am starting a quilt project out of the Pattern Party book by Thimbleberries.  It is the club for 2012.  I am starting the embroidery project.  I love the scrapiness of the quilt.  It uses dark fabrics perfect for a winter themed quilt.  I love the dark blues and reds.  I am using a different color for each embroidered block (12 in all). 

Yesterday I went over to St. Mark's and attended the first Rudy club meeting for my guild (Golden Valley).  The Rudy club is an opportunity to get together with other guild members (and anyone we bring with us) and make projects we intend to use as gifts for next Christmas.  Each month one of the guild members will host a project we can use to give as a gift.  Next month it is a pin--hosted by my friend, Cordelia.  So, the question is, did I make anything to give away???  Of course not.  I started my star quilt.  Notice the use of the word 'MY".

Friday I was at a funeral.  John Metz was obviously well loved and liked.  Large family and lots of friends.
The family is Catholic as am I.  I sat with Monica and Simona who had never been to a Catholic mass.  It was really well done, but they didn't get the full effect.  The church, Our Lady of Assumption, is being remodeled and the funeral mass was held in the parish hall.  I told Simona that she would be getting her exercise.  We stand, sit, kneel, stand, sit, etc.....  Afterward we went to the Arden Hills Country Club and Spa Resort.  I was so disappointed.  They didn't have enough food for the amount of people who came to pay their respects.  It is incredibly cold here and the coffee was in a dark corner where it was nearly impossible to decipher which was regular and which was decaf.   I stayed for an hour and then went on home. 

Have a great week!

Friday, January 20, 2012

Good and Sad

Good news.  I saw a red and blue star quilt hanging at Quilter's Corner here in Sacramento.  If you are there, go to the 1800 reproduction fabric section to check it out.  I won't be back there until the 28th and I hope to remember my camera to take a picture.  I found a background fabric that is similar to the one used (some one's stash, and therefore unavailable to me or you) that is a cream with red flowers and a blue dot.  That will bring in the reds and the blues.  I didn't like the instructions and have some better ways (okay, according to me) to make the star points behave.  The pattern calls for 3 1/2 yards of fabric and I bought the entire bolt of 4 yards and 3 inches.  You always have to count on mistakes.....

Sad news is that I will be at a funeral this afternoon.  A friend's father died and I will be sitting at Our Lady of Assumption at 1pm.

With the rain came restless children, but I am happy to report that the students weren't too restless to be borne

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Pop Up Books

I had planned to make this day count.  While I didn't do exactly what I had planned, I did do something for someone else.  I moved and picked up a bit in my messy dining room and then I made a pop up book about the life of Muhammad and the rise of Islam.  Our 7th graders are studying the impact of Islam in world history.  All the other classes made books that were the usual thing.  The teacher I work with thought a pop up book would be fun.  Three hours later......okay, my book is done.  The cover title is Muhammad in Arabic.  I made the 16 words the kids have pop up.  I think there is not enough time and I am concerned that the ability to use scissors and tape won't be enough.  I began by using a glue stick and it didn't work at all.  White glue is really messy.  Maybe it is me who doesn't like a mess.  I used double sided tape.  Kind of expensive to get that much double sided tape. 

I did some more work on my farm stand quilt, looked up stuff on the Internet and made my husband breakfast.  He is a big breakfast fan.  I wanted to start a quilt with 12 embroidered pieces in my Thimbleberries book.  I had a fabric to use, but I really liked the background for this years kits.  It is a very pale yellow with a cream dot.  I am thinking I won't be able to get that fabric until April or later.  Darn.

Have a great week.  I am having coffee at Maribel's tomorrow, lunch at Mimi's on Thursday, stopping in at Fabric Garden after lunch and meeting friends for some serious stitching time.  Saturday I will be meeting other guild members to work on future Christmas gifts at St. Mark's Lutheran Church.  I know I will sneak in a trip or two to JoAnn's taking the darling daughter to and from work.

Quilt, quilt, quilt!!!!!

Monday, January 16, 2012

Such a wonderful day

I had a great day with a group of friends.  I go and laugh, talk and have such a wonderful time.  I made a crock pot Beef Bourguignon for the family.  It was so delicious that I have to share the recipe with you.

Beef Bourguignon

6 strips of bacon
3 pounds rump roast, cut into 1-inch cubes
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 onion sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups beef broth
2 cups red wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon whole thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cup pearl onions
1 pound fresh mushrooms

Saute' bacon in large skillet until crisp.  Set aside and crumble when cooled.  Add beef cubes to the skillet and brown. Remove and transfer to crock pot with bacon.  Brown carrots and sliced onions.  Season with salt and pepper.  Transfer to crock pot. Stir in flour and broth, mixing well.  Add in tomato paste, garlic, bay leaf, onions and mushrooms.  Transfer all to crock pot with thyme and pour wine over all.  Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours or high for 5-6 hours.

Serve with white rice or noodles.

This was loved by EVERYONE in my family!  So unusual.  99% of the time, I have one child tell me that he doesn't like this or that.  He likes to tell me that he already ate; he is full.  Then I have the one who says "I am limiting my carbs.  Do you really need garlic bread with the noodles?" Yes!  I need the garlic bread.  What else is there in life??????

So, I spent the entire day at Shirley's house and had a fabulous time of course.  Later I went for my free cup of coffee from Starbucks.  I bought this great cup for $19.00 that gets me a grande coffee for free every day in the month of January.  I am loving this so much. 

Finished one more square for the farmstand quilt.  Finished the snowman embroidery and will be making the pillow part tomorrow.  Spent the day with Sandy and helped her get her top done for Thimbleberries.  Talked to my friend Tricia who spent Saturday learning how to make toffee and peanut brittle.  She is going to share with me.  What a friend!!!!!  Allowed the lovely daughter to bring home In&Out Burger for dinner.
A good day.

If you have a good crock pot recipe that you would like to share with me, here I am!  Send it along.
Have a wonderful day tomorrow.......

Friday, January 13, 2012

My new obsession

I am a bad girl.  I have a new obsession.  A fabric obsession!  There is a pattern made with the Cocheco Mills Collection by Judie Rothermel.  It isn't something complicated.  Just an 8-pointed star.  I saw it made up and that is what got me--a cream background with alternating red and blue stars.  Here is the bad part.  I want to buy a piece of fabric for it.  I have so much fabric that I have no business buying even more until I use some of what I have.  What to do, what to do????

Monday, January 9, 2012

So many quilts.....

I spent the weekend working hard on what should have been so simple.  If you read the post just before this one, I made a comment about making up one of the Thimbleberries quilts in time to bring to my Thimbleberries meeting on Wednesday, Jan 11th.  The idea stuck in my head and I started the project--as if I didn't have enough projects started.....  I don't know exactly where I went wrong or if the instructions are not good, but my middle piece did not fit with my borders.  I had to rip and cut down and rip out some more.  It has been a nightmare all weekend.  I did this quilt in red and pink.  I was thinking that if my pregnant friend finds out she is having a girl, then it would be a darling quilt to give her.  If it is a boy, then I have something almost finished.  Never hurts to have the "future grandchildren" quilt tops around.  I had to stop at the heart border and give thought.  Since I don't have the kit, I have to come up with appropriate fabric.  I want to look for a good last border fabric that would go well with the colors I have already chosen.

Yesterday I took my in-laws and the aunt and uncle to the airport.  Off to Las Vegas for four days.  It was pretty deserted there at 9am in the morning on a Sunday.  Pretty easy to drop off.  I haven't yet had to pick anyone up, so it could be the nightmare I have heard about.  The airport here was recently remodeled.  Small hick town with an international airport....hmmmm.   On the way to the airport my father-in-law suggested I stop at our favorite Denny's for breakfast.  He was sure our favorite waitress (and friend) Katherine would be lonely with them away.  It was such an excellent suggestion.  I had my usual--biscuits and gravy with an egg and hash browns and coffee.  Got to have that coffee.  At one point I was sitting in my booth and reading while another woman was also doing the same.  Katherine said they should run a library.  The guy in the next booth was reading off his I-phone.  Not many libraries serve food....

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Good Morning

Back at work and missing my sewing machine.

I spent yesterday with my scrapbooks.  Tonight I am going to either begin my Garden quilt or make a Thimbleberries quilt before next Wednesday.  I am so competitive.  I declined to purchase the kits because you had to take all four or none.  I have the book and am considering making  the one easy one I did want, only in reds and pinks.  Wouldn't it be great if I could get it totally done and quilted by the 11th???  The Garden quilt is looking better and better by the minute.

Do we always get what we wish for?  I was just wishing that I knew someone who was having a baby.  I have a cute yellow blanket and I wanted to give it away.   Brand new of course.  Then today, my friend said she was pregnant.  I was so happy for her.  I adore her.  I am bringing the yellow blanket as a surprise on Thursday.  I was a tiny bit concerned since she was pregnant last year and she miscarried, but no problems since she is 5 months along.   Such happy news.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

The First Day of 2012

I wrote a post about something that happened to me today.  As I was spell checking, the connection to the Internet was lost.  I tried again.  I got lost again.  I am giving up and leaving the story in my drafts to try tomorrow.  Nothing will  have changed and we shall see if there is some strange thing with the Internet going on.

I brought out my scrapbooks and am making a serious effort to catch up.  I was almost caught up, but then I let it slide.  Now I am literally six years behind.  Gosh my kids looked darn cute six years ago......still are cute.  I am planning on giving at least one day a month to get myself up to date and then keeping up.  Now that the children are not children anymore, I take less pictures.  That should help quite a bit.  Wish me luck.

This months quote:
      Taking joy in life is a woman's best cosmetic.
                          --Rosalind Russell

Goals for 2012:
      work on applique--it is new to me and I want to be able to do a decent job
      walk more
      keep up my date book
      be a good friend
      to catch up and keep up with my scrapbooks
      to organize more (me, my house, but not others)

Be safe and happy this year.