Red-Work in Place

I finally put the red-work his and hers pillowcases on my bed along with the set of redwork sheets that my mother did a few years back. My stitchery really reveals my lack of talent compared to hers, but I plan to keep at it, and maybe one day mine will be comparable.

If you click on the bottom picture it will enlarge and you will see the curtains Mom red-worked too.

You can't really see them that well but you get a feel for their element here. Red's been my favorite color for a long time, ever since I out grew that Donny Osmond purple phase in my teens. I've always loved redwork too. So in between sewing, painting, reading, kayaking, collage, and all of those other hobbies I don't have time to do justice to, I hope to do more embroidery, especially in shades of red.

Trip to the Fair

One of the highlights of our year is taking the kids and grand kids to the fair. The grand kids look forward to it all year. I'm not so sure about their parents, but they are good sports anyway.

Angel Eyes always wants to make something to enter each year. So far she has won a ribbon

each year. This year she won two first place ribbons, and as soon as we got home from the fair she started trying to figure out what she can make for next year.

Belle's favorite thing about the fair is the animals.

Pooh was so sweet, even though he wasn't old enough to ride anything but the stroller.

Spidey, Scooter, and Sweet

Cheeks enjoyed it all.

Dino and Thumper were too small to ride so they didn't make it this year.

The grand sons are outnumbered by the grand daughters five to three. So I wanted to post a little, little guy love today. I had new pictures of all three grandsons, but my point and shoot camera got dropped and somehow replaced the pictures I took of Spidey with pictures from 2007! No joke. The weird thing is those pictures have been deleted from my camera for four years. Now just how can that be? I haven't a clue, myself. I'll have to take some more pictures of my little Spiderman soon and post them.

Meanwhile here are the two other little guys. Dino here trying to fish with two poles at the same time. I'm sure he's seen his Gran attempt such a stunt somewhere along the way.

Here Pooh Bear, is enjoying a visit with the horses.

Will somebody please turn off the lights?

Thank you!

Cute Little Tater Picker

Sweet Cheeks is a true little farm girl. She loves helping in the garden or with the produce in the kitchen. She really enjoyed getting to help her parents pick sweet potatoes this weekend.

There's something about sinking toes into dirt that most kids just love, and this one is no exception!

Vintage Blues

Aprons: It's been a craze for a while now, and I love it! I adore anything nostalgic that points back to a simpler time where for almost everyone home was the center from which life extended. Aprons seem to sing of that time. Just think of the emotions conjured up whenever you see an old apron. Some are instantly taken back to a moment of memory somewhere in their history that is grounded in home, if not your own at least one portrayed on tv. I know that everyone doesn't have those fond memories of childhood associated with Mom or Grand-mom in the kitchen and wonderful smells pouring forth, but at some point most have lived these moments vicariously through books or tv (Aunt Bea, from Andy Griffith, June Cleaver,... you know the list goes on and on). Aprons seem to bring those memories flooding back.

I collect vintage aprons because they speak to me like that. I don't have a proper place to display them. They hang from hooks and on cupboards around my kitchen, they are folded away, and mashed in a drawer here and there, but each time one pops into my line of vision I am once again flooded with memories.

I hope you have a wonderful Monday, and that seeing my little quartet of blue aprons has brought back to you at least one special moment of time. If it has I would love for you to share it in the comments below.

Favorite Things Friday, September 9th Edition

One of my favorite things this week has been the amazing sunsets. After several days of rain the sun was beautiful to see, but the sunsets were gorgeous!

Have you ever tried to slow a sunset down? They happen so quickly, and no matter how you try to savor it and hang on it just keeps slipping until all at once it's over. Thankfully, we only have to wait another 24 hours until the next one.

Sunsets always remind me of God's love. If He paints the sky in such amazing hues everyday just to delight our hearts, how can we question His love for us? I know bad things happen, and we tend to focus on them, but have you ever stopped to count the beautiful, each one unique, sunsets in your life?

(Hit this button to see other people's favorite things.)

A New Love

I was inspired by Amanda's post on her blog Simple and Creative Living to try my hand at making Lemon Curd. I've always wondered what it tasted like, I guess the name curd put me off. Amanda calls it Lemon Butter in her post. Doesn't that sound much more appealing? Anything with butter in the name sounds good to me!

I wanted to preserve some of the new creation so I did some research and found canning curd is a pretty controversial subject. I read loads of recipes and differing opinions on the subject and almost changed my mind. When I finally came across this post on the blog A Gardener's Table I decided I was safe and I would give it a try.

I'm so glad I did! My husband and I both fell in love with Lemon Curd aka Lemon Butter instantly! There was a little left over after that wouldn't fit in the last jar so I poured it in a goblet and placed it in the refrigerator. About three in the morning I heard a rumbling in the kitchen, rather than investigate I turned over and went back to sleep. The next morning the midnight prowler confessed. "I woke up in the middle of the night and all I could think about was that lemon stuff! Where did you put it?"

I told him and his reply was, "Oh, I couldn't find it and so I figured you ate it all. Will you show me where it is? That's all I' can't get it out of my mind until I taste it again!"

I gave him the rest of the left-overs and he devoured it.

A couple of nights later while watching t.v. he said, "I've got an idea! Let's open up one of your little lemon jars and have a snack!"

My guess is I didn't make enough of this. I'm thinking of planting a lemon tree!

Here is the recipe I finally decided on, found at Cheery Observations.

She adapted this recipe from the book Put ‘em Up!

Lemon Curd

Makes 3 cups

Ingredients

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 cup lemon juice (from about 5 lemons)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 sticks of butter, cut into pieces

4 eggs

1/2 teaspoon of salt

Directions

1. Combine all of the ingredients in the top of a double boiler.

2. Bring the water in the bottom pan to a low boil and whisk the mixture constantly until it thickens. This can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 25 minutes.

3. Strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve.

4. Ladle into jars and let cool. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Experimenting with Okra

The okra is producing like gangbusters. I guess that old technique really did the trick! I've pickled some, frozen some, cooked some, and when I picked a bucket full the other day again I set it aside until I got caught up on a few other things. (Actually, I never get caught up, but I was attempting to get caught up.) I was bustling about trying to get the kitchen back in order after a late breakfast. There was still some pancake batter left. I hate wasting food, but I was about to throw it out and turned around to see that bucket full of okra staring at me.

Suddenly I was struck with an idea. What if I washed the okra and dipped it whole in the pancake batter and fried it? I washed several pods, got out the iron skillet and some oil and tried it.

I called to my husband who was in the other room to come and try this new concoction. At first he turned up his nose. "Pancake batter? Really?" was his comment, but when I assured him the batter wasn't sweet he consented to be the tester. "Hey, that's really good." He proclaimed as he reached for a bowl to fill for a snack.

So now I have a new way to cook okra. Do any of you have an okra recipe you'd like to share? I love it in gumbo, soups, fried, boiled with peas, but I'm always open to different ideas. Please, share if you will.

Finishing an Old Project

I finished a simple project I started several years ago, at least 10, but it could be as many as 20 I'm not sure just when I laid them down. I found them recently when I cleaned out a back cabinet in my laundry room. I am so excited to have these little embroidered his and hers redwork pillowcases complete. The his pillowcase has been just lacking a few little stitches, and the hers has been untouched all of these many years.

When my mother had to have surgery and I knew I would be spending lots of time at the hospital, I decided to grab a hand project to take with me. I saw the pillowcase laying on top of a pile of unfinished projects so I grabbed it and a couple of skeins of red thread and stuffed them in my bag. I finished the pillowcase and came home to compare them. I

knew that there was a good possibility that the threads wouldn't match, and they probably don't exactly, but they are close enough for me as far as color goes. I laid them side by side and realized that I had done the his case with three strands and the hers with two. Oh, well, we are going to sleep on them I guess it's no big deal.

I'm planning to keep a simple embroidery project near for times when I just need a little something to keep my hands busy. It is such a soothing craft, and I enjoy having handmade things. My mother does beautiful embroidery. Maybe one day I'll do work as nicely as she does.

Gratitude

I have been so negligent of my gratitude list. It's okay to remind me. I sometimes need that. Here is my list for today:

33 Mercy, oh how I’m thankful for mercy!

34 Memories

35 Wind, Isn’t wind refreshing sometimes?

36 Really good books

37 Beautiful music

38 Acceptance that comes with age

39 Freedom

40 Choices

41 Bread

42 Sweet unexpected words of appreciation

43 Sunsets

43 That changes can be made

Favorite Things Friday

I'm joining Shay from Quilting in My Pajymas again this week for Favorite Things Friday.

Flowers are always a favorite of mine, especially the kinds that bloom all through out the summer.

Fall will soon be here and these pretty blooms will soon be history for this year, but they sure have been pretty while they lasted.








Have a great weekend and take a little time to linger a little while among the flowers.

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