Into the woods and 'Sapphire'

Larry asked me to pick him up at the burn pile with the  *gator* this morning.  (A gator is John Deere's version of a small all-terrain utility vehicle.)  I took the scenic route through the woods.  I took my camera with me because it sure is pretty in there.  (I ate some berries along the way.  FUN!)

 I had some fun editing my photos to look like iphone/ipod touch, hipstamatic/shake it photos.  I have to admit-I am getting the *I wanties* for an ipod touch cause I love those photos.  For now, I'll just edit the photos from my camera.

This is Sapphire-named for the blue in her.  Sapphire's made with thrifted shirts and some fabric that my sister picked up for me at a yard sale.  I think she will go to my mom-she wanted *another* rug in dark colors so it wouldn't show the dirt from the pup.  I think Sapphire is quite lovely!

You all have a wonderful weekend!

A crocheted chair pad

At the suggestion of my daughter-I made a crocheted chair pad.  Just like a rug-but smaller and much quicker!  No sewing whatsoever involved.  For the ties, I just took two strips of fabric-wove each one through the pad on each side and then tied each to each side of the chair.  Easy peasy!!!

Yes-I only made one-the other chairs rarely get sat upon.  We don't eat here-we are heathens!

I tested it and though I have plenty of built-in padding these days, it did make the chair feel much more comfortable!

Awww-look at the cosmos I found between the weeds and tall grass in the garden.  I had thrown an old packet of cosmos seeds (that I had received in the mail a while ago for some reason) onto the garden when I planted my veggies.  I didn't think the seeds would be any good, so it was a nice surprise to find this lovely flower.

Happy Friday!

Iris, what's growing in my garden, and "Hi Mom"

I was a tiny bit ambitious and made a rug.  I started it last evening and finished her up this afternoon.  This is Iris.  I tried to think of a flower that could be blue or yellow and well there are blue irises and there are yellow irises.  Iris is made with thrifted sheets and shirts.

Here is what's growing in my garden.

::Row 1-Two types of watermelon.  There's something eating at the leaves though.  Grrrrr! I hope the plant doesn't die!
::Row 2-Cukes, of course, and I pulled my garlic.  I let it sit too long and the stems were too stiff to braid-so I just tied them together.  I think it's kind of pretty hanging there.
::Row 3-Looks can be deceiving-these pretty little green beans were horrible-I threw them in the garbage, sadly.  They were soooo tough.  I either didn't cook them right or let them on the plant too long.  I only had one plant-so that's good I guess.  Also, I've got quite a few canteloupes growing-I hope they taste good.  Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't.

My girlie is away this week.  She went on vacation-just her and a friend.  I hadn't heard from her in 24 hours-even after I had asked her if she was having a good time twice through text.  (I text through email, mostly.)  Finally-I texted-Send me a picture of something, anything!  A few minutes later I get this.  "Hi Mom" written in the sand.  I was quite tickled, because it's not what I expected.  And also because I knew she was alive!  She's in NYC today!  Who does these things?  Driving to New York City at age 19???  Apparently her and not me!

I hope you have a great day!

Ice cream maker



Gosh-I think she's pretty!



Starting to freeze!

Getting there!

It's done!

A creamy cone!

Here's a VERY simple recipe for homemade ice cream, one that I can have the ingredients on hand for almost all of the time.  I know myself well enough to know that if I don't keep it simple, I won't make it!

Homemade Ice Cream

For my 1 1/2 quart, electric, Cuisinart ice cream freezer I used:

1 quart of whole milk

1 can of evaporated milk (I had this in the fridge to cool it.)

1 regular sized package of instant vanilla pudding (I want to try banana, chocolate, and pistachio too, sometime.)

1/2 cup of sugar (I tried 1 cup last time and it was too sweet for me.)

Wisk all ingredients together in medium sized bowl.  Pour in ice cream maker.  Turn on ice cream maker and 20 minutes or so later you should have ice cream.

PS-Husband and Rocco love it!

A Tale of Two Rotties

"We wannaaaaaa see the sheep!"

 

"Pleeeeeeeaaaase, can we see the sheep?"



"Pft!  If they think they're getting in here, they're NUTS!"

"Oh, alllllllright-if we can't get in to see the sheep...I'm really thirsty-let's get a drink!"

 

"The water's fine, isn't it, Jasper?"
"It sure is, Rocco!"



"Well, since we can't see the sheep, let's blow this popsicle stand!"
"Um-can you take us to the cows??? Thanks!"

Happy spaces

This morning I took a notion to repot my aloe and snake plant.  A friend had given me some starts back in April.  I thought the aloe was a goner there for a while, but it came back full force and even had a baby already (center pot).  While I was at it, I cleaned up the sill a little and went and cut some flowers.   I don't have much variety to cut-but this works for me.  A clean windowsill and fresh flowers make me happy!

This is a tiny handmade mug that I picked up at Goodwill last year.  This makes me happy too.

A friend grabbed these wooden spools at a yardsale for me.  They had fabric glued around them, but I took it off and then picked the glue off each spool-oh, yes I did!  I preferred the natural wood.  I love notions and these make me happy.

I also cleaned up my table (again!) and put on a tablecloth.  Well-it's really just a sheet-but I hemmed it and made it a tablecloth.  It lightens up my dark table for a nice change and this makes me happy too!

Happy is good, and I hope you all have a happy weekend.

Green is good



(These little figurines come from Red Rose tea.)



Shelling peas is so FUN!

I love Betty Smith!  As far as I know, she only wrote four books.   She's gone-I wish there were more!

Hello, pretty green Pyrex!  My aunt gave these to me-thank you to Aunt Charolette!

I really love swatch portraits.  The person that came up with this idea was a genius!

This little guy says Nursery Needs on his back.  I thought he was for comforting baby with his ticking, but no-after googling, it looks like this is Tommy the time out teacher timer.  I bought him a few years ago at a yard sale-just because he was cute.  Oh, Tommy-where were you when I needed you?

John Deere colors!


I love my red, for sure, but green is good too!

Happy Thursday!  (This is Thursday, isn't it?)

Pretty colors

I finally put my camera manual cd in the computer.  I had no clue how to take close-ups, but I knew there had to be a way!  Yep-it is very helpful to read your manual, even if you have to do it on the computer.

So I ventured outside with my camera to test it and look at all the pretty colors I found.

Thought for the day:

 It pays to read your manual!

 

I hope you have a good one.  :)

Greyson and the garden

I named this rag rug Greyson for the grey t-shirts that I used.  I read on the internet somewhere that someone was obsessed with grey (gray) and yellow.  And I have to agree-they look very nice together!  Greyson is made from thrifted sheets and shirts.

As a rule, my rugs measure three feet in diameter-in other words, 36 inches.  I am telling you this to give props to my prop-my ruler trim.  Ahem.  If you have no clue what I'm talking about-don't worry, I understand.

Here I've got Queen Anne's lace, a marigold, a nasturtium, and some little green maters.  The Queen Anne's lace is a wildflower, of course, and the other three I grew from seed-it's such a great feeling to grow something from seed!

Here's this morning's harvest-yes!-the first cuke.  (I grew this from seed too.  Yay me!)  I just ate it and it was delicious.  There will be PLENTY more where that came from!

I hope you have a great day!

Pretty Pansy

This is Pansy.  Why the name, Pansy?  Well-I don't really know why.  I was just trying to think of some flower names that I haven't used yet.  I think we used to have a neighbor when I was a kid named Pansy too.

Pansy is made from thrifted shirts, thrifted sheets (the blue and green is a Toy Story toy soldier sheet), the pinkish color is thrifted homemade curtains-which is basically just fabric.

Will I keep the rug making up?  I guess you'll just have to tune in to find out.

Have a good weekend, everybody!

Poppy

I'm on a roll-I made another rug today!  This is Poppy.  I came up with the name Poppy because one of the sheets I used had poppies on it and also I kept seeing an advertisement on TV for a new show starring Poppy Montgomery.  AND I've been reading the blog Apples with honey and the author's little girl's name is Poppy.  I think it was meant to be.

Unfortunately, I do not have poppies to use for props.  Just petunias, marigolds, and nasturtiums. 

Poppy is made from thrifted sheets and shirts.

 

After I was done taking photos of my rug, I was getting ready to pitch my flower heads into the yard, when I decided to bring them in and put them in a bowl of water.   Maybe they can be enjoyed for a little while longer.  I should have eaten the nasturtium, and I think marigolds are edible too (I'm not sure about petunias), but I just wasn't hungry for flowers today.  Nope-not craving the flowers!

Happy Thursday!

Willow's finally finished

This is Willow.  Willow is made from thrifted sheets and shirts.  (I had already named her before she was finished.) 'She' was half way finished for about 2 months.  I was out of good rag colors and when I got good rag colors, I didn't feel like finishing it, I guess because of it being summer.  Well, today I put on Leap Year (which I love) courtesy of my friend, Dawnie, and got to cutting and crocheting.  Now she's done.

Did you know Pink had a baby girl recently?  She named her baby Willow Sage.  I named one of my rugs Sage and this one is Willow.  Yeah-I'm cool like Pink.

Okay, maybe a person that names rugs isn't cool, but I can make a mean rag rug.  :)

Have a wonderful day!

Around my yard

I have two pea........plants that I started from seed.  They are doing very well.  Next year less radishes and more peas!

(The red ball is a garden ornament that I tied the peas to.)

Like seven peas in a pod. 

Aren't they gorgeous?

Here is my one basil plant that I also started from seed.  If you've never smelled fresh basil (which I never did till last year), do yourself a favor and do it!  It smells devine!

This is garlic-which I had pulled out and tried to get rid of for the last several years-and it came up yet again this year.  This year since I was planting veggies in my flower bed, I let it grow and mature and by george-I think I'll have some garlic bulbs soon.  I'm not sure when I should pull it.  Must research that!

Here are some pretty flowers from around the yard.

Finally, this is my big, big boy-Rocco the beautiful Rottweiler!  All 130 plus  pounds of him.

I really should teach him that it's not polite to stick his tongue out at people.

You have a terrific day!

Handmade pottery




Saturday, my mom and I went to my sister, Kimmie's house.  We ended up going to a few yard sales that were close by.  I haven't been to a yard sale since...I don't know when.  I'm just too lazy to stop.  I guess Goodwill is my yard sale.  Anyhow-I love finding handmade pottery-I found this handmade decanter (?) (which I'm using as a vase) for a dollar.  I couldn't pass it up, so home it came with me.  The bowl beside it is handmade too and it came from Goodwill.

Now, this bea-u-ti-ful tea cup did not come from Goodwill or a yard sale. (I'd probably fall over dead if I found one there!)  It came from fellow Pennsylvanian, Linda Johnson's Etsy shop-Little Flower Designs.  I've been admiring her work for a long time and finally I decided to treat myself to a tea cup.  (That's something I think I'll do once or twice a year now!)  I love it.  And I don't even mind the price tag.  It took a lot of time and effort to turn a piece of clay into this gorgeous cup!  Linda has a blog too-it's right here.

My good friend, Dawnie, gave me this little pitcher/creamer filled with sweet sewing notions.  It says-Made for the St. Augustine Historical Society By Moultrie Creek Studios 1990-on the bottom.  Hey, that's older than my kid.  Almost an antique!  Anyhow-I think it's cute.  Thank you, Dawnie!

My sister, Jodie, once mentioned that she wouldn't mind taking a pottery making class. Now that sounds like fun! No, Jodie, I will not run a 5K with you or ride a bike for 20 miles with you, but I will make some pottery with you!


I hope you all have a good day!