My Best Wishes to all of you

Getting ready to host our Family get-together so no time to post but want to send my wishes to you.

Till next year.....       

Busy busy busy time of year........

 Hello Friends! I'm back and with some finished projects.......that's right some of my crafts that I mentioned in my last post are now complete. Here are some of them. As you can see I'm now into doing some embroidery. That seems to be really relaxing for me and also something I can do while watching tv at night. I don't fall asleep that way.

 

 

 

And this little pillow is done as well but realized that I have not taken a picture of the finished one....oh well, you get the drift.

Today I hosted the Ladies Lunch.....we haven't gotten together in a while so we were overdue. We decided that salad and sandwiches would be just fine. A few apps as well and p-l-e-n-t-y of wine. Of course knowing that I would blog soon I decided to take pictures for you. Here we go..........

 My table setting. And my version of the Carol Shilber Designs. carolshilberdesign.com. She makes the most beautiful napkin cuffs and place mats. Mine are no way as beautiful as hers but I'm pretty happy with them.

 My centerpiece was a grouping of glass candle sticks with handpainted glass xmas balls (by Moi of course) and plain silver ones. I can't take the credit for the idea as I think I found it on Pinterest.

My salad was a mixture of greens as well as purple onions, chopped apples, cucumbers, small tomatoes, grated carrots, craisins, candied pecans, goat cheese and a few herbed croutons. The dressing was Good Seasons mixed per directions with apple cider vinegar a tablespoon of brown sugar, a couple dashes of Soy sauce and a few drops of toasted sesame oil. mmmmm!

Chicken Salad made on focaccia bread and contains raisins, celery, curry powder, rosemary and mayo. I spread the bread with Stonewall Kitchen's Cranberry Horseradish sauce and place on lettuce.
That was it.. but we had some great deserts also
Thank you Ladies--Donna, Joyce, Jayne-Dottie-Helen & Cheryl for sharing the day with me and enjoying my food.Great company and better friends.

That's it for now and hope that I can get into the "spirit" to get some shopping done tomorrow.

                 Bon Soire and till the next time.....Be safe.....and enjoy each day.


ps.
Yesterday was my oldest granddaughter's 5th birthday. My, my my...I can't believe she's growing so fast. Here she is with her little sister. How I love these 2 little girls.

Crafts, crafts and mor e crafts......

How the heck do I get myself into these things. It's not enough that I have incomplete

 

projects but then I go and start more.....I guess I'm just not happy unless I have a dozen or so going at a time. Last year I bought this really cute kit that I wanted for Christmas. Got it @keepsakequilting in Center Harbor. I thought it was so darn cute. However when I got home I realized it was way too small so I had my trusty "partner" enlarge it up for me. Ok...so not only was it too small but it was NOT a kit! That's right..it was only the pattern and it had NO fabric.....so now off I go to get wool. So after all the rigmarole I just set it down and there it stayed. But it's now another year and and going to work on it. I will get it done for Christmas and I think it will make a cute little pillow.

 

 

So did you see the snow last week! What was that about! So glad that it did not stick around....not quite ready for it yet. But now I do have to admit that I love the first snowfall. So pretty. I decided to take out my painted slate that I painted a few years ago.

 

 



After I took this out it made me think I'd really like to do more painting. I enjoy finding cute Christmas gift bags and copying it on slate tiles. But.......not sure that I'm ready to take out all that paint and stuff. Maybe if I get things done in time I could do a few items later......who knows.

So now for the other things I'm onto is a couple of gifts for one of my little "munchkins"....I think she'll love these for her baby dolls. Her "Bitty Baby" is her pride and joy. Carries her around all the time. Of course they will be painted white with some little flowers and scrolls. I have some fabric left over from her curtains and spread so I'll also add some bedding for the crib. I'm anxious to see them completed.

I've just finished sanding them all down and filling the holes so I'll be ready to put the first coat of paint on them......hum...maybe tomorrow AFTER I do the painting in one of the bedroom of the "teeny tiny house"

Oh yeah....I also made another Nap Mat for my little "Buddy". It has cars and trucks on it.....he's gonna love it. I didn't take a picture of it but maybe if I get a chance I'll do it later.

Well.....what the heck am I doing here on this computer when I should be doing some of my embroidering?....see, that's how I get side-tracked.
Gotta get back to my floss...............if I don't get back here before Thursday have yourselves a great Thanksgiving. I have so so much to be thankful for and hope you do as well......

            Till we meet again.......Bon Soire.

Home made Granola

I have a few minutes here so I'd like to share my recipe for granola. Have fun with it. I do. It seems that I never really make it the same. I sometimes add more pecans and keep the almonds out.....or the walnuts. It's also really good with maple syrup or even molasses in place of the honey. After it's cooked and cooled I store it in a large glass jar so we can grab some to add to our yogurt or cereal.

GIFTS
I keep mine pretty simple but if I'm giving it as a gift...which I have done for Christmas. I put it in a mason jar and add a fabric top with ribbon around it and I tag with the ingredients., then I will add some chocolate or white chips...M&M's, dried fruit or whatever you think your family or friends would enjoy. Now I don't cook these, I add them after it's cooked and dried. It makes great gift. Another idea I had one year was to place about a cup full in a cellophane bag and then also add an envelope of hot chocolate mix to the bag along with mini marshmallows....I called it "Breakfast on the Go" . Decorated it with a cute handmade tag and ribbon. Now I wish I had taken a picture of one. Oh well....maybe next time. So give it a try and I hope to get some feed back from you. Let me know if you like this and if so how did you change it up. Or if you have other ideas.....................
oooops..I guess I'd better post the recipe eh?!...hehehehe
                                                         Home Made Granola

4 C. Old Fashion Quaker Oats
1 C. shredded coconut
2 C. chopped nuts ( I use a combination of chopped walnuts, chopped pecans and halved almonds) you can use as much or as little as you'd like.
1/3 cup of canola oil in glass measuring cup and add enough Honey to make a full cup. By adding the oil first it allows you to mix and pour this easier.
Pour over all above ingredients and mix thoroughly till completely covered.
Spread on a half-sheet cake pan on parchment paper. I hate cleaning sticky pans.!
Shake on some cinnamon and bake at 325* for 30-40 min. Check occasionally as the top tends to burn.
Let cool then place in a covered jar or Tupperware. Makes a lot!
Enjoy......

*** If I've left anything out please let me know.

Granola and Circle skirt...........................

Now that's quite the title. It's been a bit since I last posted but I can assure you that I've done a lot more that make granola and sew a circle skirt.

As far as cooking goes I've made some "sticky buns"

from a recipe on Pinterest made

with Pillsbury's Grands
biscuits.
MMMMMM! They were so good. Then Hubby decided
that they would be even better if I added
apples to the recipe. So......................
I checked out more recipes and
found some that looked great.
That will be tomorrow's breakfast. There's a method to my madness however.
I figure that if I he has those for breakfast he won't be
too disappointed when I go off tomorrow morning a check out
the craft fairs in the area. aha..it might work.
Ok so I also made his favorite
Granola

We go through so much of it...I make a huge batch once a month.
But it's yummy....if anyone want the recipe I'd be happy to type it up and have it here.
Just send me a note.
Well, we survived Hurricane Sandy.

The tide came up quite high and stayed that high for about 2 hours
past high tide. But no flooding and no power loss. We were so lucky.
Those living on the beach had a mess with the wind as strong as it was.
A friend of ours had their house literally covered with sand. Couldn't even see
out of the windows. It was awful. But we not ravaged like NY or NJ..
My heart aches for those people.
Sewing sewing sewing.
Now if I could just sit and sew I'd be in my glory.

I fell in love with this cute little skirt on Pinterest.
And then found the tutorial on refugeecrafter.com
and she also linked it to danamadeit.com
She gives a great tutorial. She I did as she did and combine
all 3 patterns and came up with this one.
I didn't get to see my little Miss "A"
but sure hope to soon. I think she'll
still like wearing it. She loves to twirl around so this will suit her well.
Gosh, my heart aches..I sure miss those little girls..I hope to see
them soon.

Now construction is still going on but the carpenter is done. We'll be going
in and getting it ready to prime before the painting. The bathroom should be
complete soon. Looking forward to seeing this whole project come to an end!!

Can hardly keep my eyes open tonight so I'll close for now.
Sure would love to see more of you join my list of followers
and love getting comments.

So... till the next time......Adieu! Bon Soire.


ps.....yes, we have gone over budget! Dam.

 

Construction up-date and more felt flowers......

Well, here I am again. Things have been real busy around here and a little bit crazy. An emotional roller-coaster is what I've been on but now it's slowed down and things couldn't be better. A life changing situation has come upon me and it turned out to be fantastic. I couldn't be happier.....sorry to sound so vague but trust me that it's all good.

Now for the constuction....it's going great. We had a couple of snags but we seem to be back in the swing of things. The carpenters have completed the outside and the siding is all complete. They will start on framing the windows on the inside as well as doing some sheetrocking and then start on the bathroom. The plumber came today and now we can start on the bathroom....can't wait to see that complete. The roofer also plans on starting tomorrow. Wow! Lot's of traffic around here.

I've been working on a few craft projects. Making one of the "Twinkies" a nap mat. Really cute fabric. It's got cars and trucks on it. Got it at Mardens and he's going to love it. Also made them both some pj bottoms. Felt flowers have become addicting. I've made a bunch of them and decided to add them to my wool felted purse that I knit last winter.

Hope you like my creations and if you do please drop me a line and let me know. I love getting your thoughts and also I just plain like "mail".

So..............................hope to hear from you. Till then..........
                                     
                                                    Bon Soire.!

Felt flower wreaths.................

Happy Sunday! Hope your weekend is going well. The weather has sure been in our favor here in Maine. I know they predicted rain but can't really complain about this.
Hubby got to finish up his "grunt" work over at the construction site...you know the stuff that the carpenters really don't like to do...like tape all the insulation together round the windows and the rest of the house, and go under the cottage  and cut out all the old pipes and old PVC parts. Yup, he just loves going under there....yuk! that's a crappy job. Yesterday we had a chance to take the boat out of the water....looks like the end of boating season till next summer. I'm not really ready to put the kayak away yet so I think I'll wait a little longer. I know they'll be a few more warm days that I can get out there.

As I mentioned in the last post...that "C" had some new inspiration for me, well I was right. Got right into making some felt flowers. Wow! That was fun. So here's a couple of my finished projects. My version of a felt flower wreath.

Then I wanted more flowers so added some to the rope bowl that I was making as a b-day gift. See what you think.

Let me tell you a little about this gift. The basket (or bowl) is a coiled rope bowl and I've included an oval placemat and a set of 8 coasters. You can see 2 of the coasters under the candle sticks. The felt wool flowers are actually on a felt base so if the recipient want the bowl to be plain she can  remove it. Also 8 napkins & rings. I wrapped the napkins like Carole Shiber does when she matches hers with her "napkin cuffs". Check her out @
www.caroleshiberdesigns.com.. She really has some cool stuff.

On Saturday we went to the local craft show.....didn't buy anything but did get a little more inspiration. Looks like I'll  be making a couple of Nap Mats for American Girl Dolls......! They were so cute and I think the little ones will love them for their babies. I'll be sure to post pictures when they are complete.

That's all for today and so till we meet again.....Bon Jour.
Be sure to give me your input on anything on this blog. I look forward to any suggestions or ideas you may have. Love hearing from you.


Yesterday we