So we are half way through January and we have had no more snow! I am so envious of Molly as she has had some more snow. In fact it has been just very wet and yucky here and everytime I go outside when I come in I have to have my paws washed and wiped!
I did forget to show you my Christmas presents from Tara and her Mom, Susan, our friends in the US. They are super yummy but Mom will only let me have a bit each day or else she says I will be like a little barrel if I eat too much.
Here they are. I have never had Jerky before but it is lovely.
Mom I think I would like the Duck Jerky today please.
Sorry Treacle you had some Duck yesterday, it’s chicken today.
Well whatever I love them both so thank you Tara and Susan for my yummy Christmas snacks.
We were supposed to get snow last night and today but it turned into rain so bah humbug. At least my basket and where I sleep is nice and warm so I am going to snuggle down for an extra long snooze. I hope you are having a happy woofy Wednesday.
I don’t know about you but I start looking for something on the web, quilting wise, and then that leads me to look at other quiltings things and before I know it an hour has gone by and I have completely got sidetracked from what I was doing originally.
It usually starts with me reading my favourite Blogs and I find something on there that I want to check out and then that leads to another blog or to You Tube for a tutorial and that’s the hour gone!
One of my favourite sites on the web and You Tube is Missouri Star Quilt Company. I love Jenny’s Tutorials and can find quite a few projects on there that I want to try and have made quite a few already.
This was a Tutorial from Jenny for a bag which I made for Jayne for her Birthday.
One of my favourite Blogs, Thelma at Cupcakes ‘n Daisies (http://www.cupcakesndaisies.com) has a list of Life Time Quilts she has made and wants to make, which I think is a great idea (Thelma very kindly said I could copy her quilt that she made for her dog Cooper, for Treacle) so I am going to make a list of what I would like to do.
Another You Tube channel I like is Shabby Fabrics and some of the tutorials on there for various projects. I am definitely a visual learner and like to see how things are made rather than reading a pattern. I can follow a pattern, but it does take a while and I have to read the pattern several times to make sure I have understood what they want and definitely how to do it correctly.
So here is the start of my list of quilts and projects I want to make (in no particular order), which I will also put as a new page on my Blog and will add to it as I find things on my trips around the web!
(All pictures off of Pinterest from various blogs of talented ladies who made the quilts)
* A Scrap Quilt
* A Bookcase Quilt
* A Log Cabin Quilt
* A Market Tote
* A Quilt which I will hand quilt instead of machine quilting it (thinking of one of the small quilts from my new book, instead of starting with a full size quilt!)
* An Airedale Quilt
* A Red and White Quilt
I am sure I will keep adding to this list as I find things on the web or from my favourite blogs, where inspiration can be found in bucket loads.
Happy Tuesday everyone.
Hugs, Susie xx
Treacle today! They have forecast snow, ice and high winds for us today and tomorrow so Treacle is hibernating!
Well I am happy after the weekend, not so much all the paperwork there is to do at my desk and the call from our Accountants, but we can’t have it all!
Anyway ignorning business I quilted all weekend with the occasional interruption of DH and Youngest coming back to change clothes and get food before going out again! I managed to get Evalyn’s quilt finished and the binding sewn on and now just have to hand sew it to the back of the quilt and it is done. I haven’t taken any pictures of that yet until it is completely done and washed.
I did get one job done from my UFO’s. The cushion covers for our hallway.
I change them every season, so have just taken the Christmas ones off and I needed some Winter ones and I have always loved the red and white quilts so thought this would be a great idea for this time of year, especially with my previous post of red pops around our home to make it feel less wintry. I loved the way they turned out.
So I have not got a set for Spring so dug in my stash and found this yellow little flower material and some yellow gingham and a little white and made these. I already have a set for Summer which have pink sweet peas on and for Autumn I have material with pumpkins on, so now have a set for the whole year.
I then started to work on Treacle’s bag so she can take her things with her on holiday but only got the material out when DH and Youngest arrived back for dinner.
We had a problem with the radiator in Youngest’s room so had to switch the heating off. Fortunately it was not too cold but cold enough for Treacle to not be happy and settle, so I dug out her old t-shirt, which was DH’s, and put that on her to keep her warm and she was then settled.
It wasn’t too warm in Eldest’s room either so this was Saturday when she was keeping me company.
This was Sunday. She was very happy with the blanket over her and spent both days with me in the sewing room asleep. She only stirred for snacks and a quick trip outside into the garden. The weather all weekend was really yucky so it was a great for quilting. Next weekend DH is busy again on Saturday so I intend on spending the day quilting again. So far I am keeping up with my goal of doing some quilting each week!
I am often asked, because I love books so much, why I am not a member of a Book Club. In fact there is a Book Club in our village but my answer is always because they choose books which they feel are meaningful and should be read rather than reading a book for pleasure.
For example Waterstones (a popular book retailer in the UK) have a Book of the Month and this month their fiction selection is “Midwinter Break” by Bernard MacLaverty. The synopsis is:
“A retired couple, Gerry and Stella Gilmore, fly to Amsterdam for a midwinter break. A holiday to refresh the senses, to see the sights and to generally take stock of what remains of their lives.
But amongst the wintry streets and icy canals we see their relationship fracturing beneath the surface. And when memories re-emerge of a troubled time in their native Ireland things begin to fall apart. As their midwinter break comes to an end, we understand how far apart they are – and can only watch as they struggle to save themselves.”
Now I am sure that there are lots of you out there who would love to read this book and find it fascinating and that’s great, however to me this sounds like there is too much angst in it and I hate to say it there is too much of that in the World today already! To me I want a book which takes me away from any issues and lets me escape into a World which is exciting or scary or into the past, to somewhere I can be a part of for a few hours which is why I always pick books which have great stories.
DH and I had some book tokens given to us for Christmas and this was my pick. Stephen King is one of my favourite authors and I have all of his books. Here is the synopsis for this:
“All around the world, something is happening to women when they fall asleep; they become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze. If awakened, if the gauze wrapping their bodies is disturbed, the women become feral and spectacularly violent…
In the small town of Dooling, West Virginia, the virus is spreading through a women’s prison, affecting all the inmates except one. Soon, word spreads about the mysterious Evie, who seems able to sleep – and wake. Is she a medical anomaly or a demon to be slain?
The abandoned men, left to their increasingly primal devices, are fighting each other, while Dooling’s Sheriff, Lila Norcross, is just fighting to stay awake.
And the sleeping women are about to open their eyes to a new world altogether…”
Now I know that this is not everyone’s cup of tea but for me it is and it will take me into a scary World for a while and let’s face it, it is always worse in a Stephen King novel than real life!!! It is also 713 pages long so I can’t wait to start it.
I also bought this. I love Kathleen’s small quilts and always think it is a great way to practice new blocks, so this will be on my shelf for when I have finished Evalyn’s Quilt and my UFO’s and also another good use for my scraps.
Hopefully, depending upon how quickly I read this new book, I am hoping to do a Friday Book Club once a month so look out for that the second Friday of each month.
Whatever you are doing, have a wonderful weekend. Me I will be quilting the weekend away.
This was twelve years ago and at the National History Museum in London. DH had to go to London on business and so I took the Boys down as well and we did some of the museums. In fact we probably did all the museums several times over the years as they grew and as their interests changed and related to work they were doing at school. They loved this visit, despite Eldest’s face, it was the Friday at the end of a very long week of early mornings and being on the go all day.
Eldest was 10 and Youngest was six. I loved them at this age (I love them now of course!) as they still wanted you to help them with things and were happy to hold your hand and be with you. Of course as soon as they hit teenage it all changes but this was a great time.
Eldest and Girlfriend came for dinner last night and it was great to spend time with them, Youngest was with us for a while but he had to go coaching for an hour. This morning DH left at early o’clock (5.00am) to get to a customer and avoid all the traffic. Treacle and I did not get up that early but not long after.
I am on track to get all my jobs done today and tomorrow so that I can spend the weekend quilting. In fact I am going to have my own quilt retreat, only appearing for tea or lunch breaks and of course to feed and sort Treacle out! My quilting room is very tidy at the moment as well and just need to tidy up some more of the “sewing repairs” and it will be quilting only!!!!
I hope you are having a Thrilling Thursday and have some fun things happening at the weekend. I hope everyone who has a bad cold or flu at the moment feel better soon. Several people I have met over the last week have not been well and I am trying hard to stay out of their way and stay healthy.
It has been a very busy few weeks with Christmas and New Year. I have had lots of people at home to play ball with. Eldest and Girlfriend came round a lot so I tackled them as soon as they came in the front door and they bought me some awsome toys for Christmas.
Obviously my biggest playmate, Youngest, was here for three weeks and I loved having him home, especially as he did not get up early in the morning so I was able to have my breakfast and go back to bed and snuggle with him.
Mom did some quilting in the sewing room, so I was able to settle down on Eldest’s bed for a quick forty winks!
We have had no more snow, just lots of rain and grey days so I end up getting my paws all muddy and wet and I hate having them washed and dried!!!! Now if it was snow it would be no problem.
Mom and Dad bought me a new interactive toy. It is the blue ball at the front of my toys and it is rubber with teeth in and you fit biscuits in between the teeth and then it goes solid so I have to spend time trying to get them out. It kept me quiet for about half an hour!!! I still have all my toys, although the duck has a hole in now, but the rest are still squeeking, honking and rattling.
Today the weather is not too bad and the sun has come out, we haven’t seen it for quite a few days, so it feels a little better. Yesterday it was dark all day and I did not move from my basket.
I hope you all had a wondeful Woofy Christmas & New Year.
Why does the phone keep ringing when you are trying to get something important done?
Why when you have an appointment and you leave an hour before hand but you still can’t find a parking space?
Why when you are feeling like you are coming down with a cold is it absolutely freezing outside and horribly dull and grey and you have to go out in it?
Why are people so grumpy with you when you greet them with a smile and a hello?
As you can probably tell I have not had the best of days today! Anyway tomorrow is Wednesday but I have now found out that DH is going to be out all weekend at swimming things, including Sunday. Youngest is busy with coaching as usual and then busy with an assignment for his college course so he will be out most of the weekend too so it is going to be just Treacle and I. However that means that I can spend most of my time quilting. So Friday I am determined to get all my house jobs done, grocery shopping done and washing and ironing done so I am able to spend the whole of Saturday and Sunday quilting! There is an upside to not seeing my husband all weekend although I will miss him.
This morning I spent it at my desk and Madam was snuggled in her bed. As I said the weather has been really yucky here so she has not been inclined to go out a lot and any chance she has been in her bed. I have kept the blind closed today and just had the lamps on so it has been really cosy and I lit a winter candle and as you can see Treacle loved it. Although she has to keep her tennis ball near her in case she feels like playing!
Everyone has that after Christmas lull, the decorations are down, you’re back at work, its cold and dark and you feel the same. Well there are a few things you can do to help make you feel a little less yuck.
Although red and green are very much associated with Christmas it is a colour which can be used all year. Our dining room is painted deep red, I always wanted a red dining room and apparently it is a great colour in this room as it aids digestion!!! Anyway I digress, with low energy light bulbs now, lights can be left on longer so having small lamps lit in rooms makes the day feel less drab especially if it is very dark outside.
Using red items around the home also brightens it. This cloth for the table I got on sale and I love the look (Treacle had to get in on the action!).
Our sitting room with all the decorations down, but still with pops of red colour around and the table lamps on to give it a warmer feel.
I have kept a string of warm white lights up in our den, where I work all day, sorry it is a blurry picture but it is very dark outside today so low light but you get the idea.
I also have pops of red colour in the kitchen and I also open the curtains only a little bit to obviously keep it warmer and if it is dark outside then do you really want to open the curtains anyway?
I love these red and white spot mugs and they do brighten up the kitchen dresser.
My red mixing bowl with oranges in and red fruit.
DH and I were watching Home Alone over the holidays and I pointed out to him how the set designers made the film feel even more Christmassy by using lots and lots of red and green in the house and Christmas lights everywhere. The next time you watch it look how the kitchen is a very deep red with pops of green and all the other rooms have lots of red in. Also if you look at most scenes there is always some red in each scene, including the lady on the plane with the baby who is wearing a very red jumper! When you actually look you won’t believe how much there is, but it makes the viewer completely associate this film with Christmas and also why I think people sometimes think they fail at Christmas, when their homes don’t look like the movies. Let’s face it no one would have that much red and green in their home all year round.
I hope you like my suggestions to help the transition from Christmas to the New Year and hopefully it will soon be Spring!
Anyway we had a very long and tiring day yesterday at the swimming Open. Here is the pool before the storm!!!
DH, Youngest and I got there at 6.30am to check all was okay with the sound system and to get ready. Warm up started at 8.00am and the event started at 9.00am and even with all the checks we had some problems with the timing system which seemd to plague us all day. The pool and centre had its own problems as the heating was on the fritz so we had told all the swimmers to bring extra clothes, jogging bottoms and tops to wear between races to keep them warm and we had a heater in the control room to keep us warm. After a while we switched it off as it was nice and warm but it soon started to get very cold so we had to switch it back on. Because we had so many swimmers it was a long day and the event did not end until 6.45pm and we were all ready to go home.
The blocks ready for the swimmers.
DH and Youngest before everyone arrived. The picture is a bit blurry as it was taken through the control room window where I spent the whole day!
I got home at 8.00pm and then DH and Youngest got in at 9.45pm. Everyone seemed to enjoy the day and there were some great swims, but I am glad it is only once a year!!!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. No quilting got done unfortunately but I am hoping to do some later this week. Next weekend Youngest and DH on Saturday are visiting one of the University’s he has applied to and in the evening it is another swimming event (!) and on Friday night DH has to be at a hearing which he previous chaired when he was President of Derbyshire ASA last year. The protagonists were not happy with the outcome so have complained to the ASA who now have to interview everyone including the panel which DH chaired. If you told all our parents at the swimming club, who are potential volunteers to help at our club, that this sort of thing happens, we would never get anyone to volunteer ever again! Saying that a lot of our parents think we are paid to do the jobs we do for the Club even when we tell them that no we do it for the love the of the sport (!!!!!!!!!!).
Epiphany when the three Kings arrived to visit the Baby Jesus although as with everything these days there seems to be a bit of confusion as to the date when it should be celebrated. Some say it should be on January 5th and some January 6th, our Church are celebrating it today!
Whatever date it is when the three Kings arrived, even if it is a little late as we always seem to represent the Kings being there when Jesus was born. It is also the date when we take all the decorations down which is the bit I hate about Christmas, I always think that this house looks so dull without all the pretty decorations and especially the lights. In fact I have been keeping a few of the white lights out to brighten the place up.
We are at the swimming pool all day today with our swimming club’s Open so it is going to be a very long and tiring day, hey ho.
I have called these Christmas cookies but of course you can make them all year and use a different cutter for them! The recipe is very simple and you can change the flavour of them too. It makes approximately 30 depending upon the size.
Recipe
90g of soft butter, 100g caster sugar, 1 large egg, 200g plain flour, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of fine salt.
Flavouring : I used zest of a large orange and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. However this is where you can change the flavours to your liking. I would have used more cinnamon but DH and the Boys don’t like it very much. You could use vanilla extract (1 teaspoon) or the zest of a lemon or, if you like ginger a teaspoon of that.
*****************
* Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4 and line a baking sheet or two with baking parchment.
* Cream the butter and sugar together until whipped soft and pale, then eat in the egg, followed by the flavouring, the flour (and any zest if using) baking powder and salt and continue mixing until it all comes together to make a soft dough.
* Form into two discs, wrap each one in clingfilm and let it rest in the fridge for 20 – 30 minutes.
* Sprinkle a suitable surface with flour, place a disco of dough on it and sprinkle a little more flour on top. Then roll it out to a thickness of about 5mm.
* Cutinto shapes, dipping the cutter into flour as you go and place the cookies a little apart on the line baking sheets. Kepp the scraps of the first disc, to mix with the scraps of the second and roll and cut, re-roll and cut until you have used up the mixture. This is a pliable dough, which makes it very easy to work with.
* Bake in the oven for 8 – 12 minutes depending upon the shape, how maby sheets are in the over at the same time and whether they are on an upper or lower shelf although you can swap them around and turn them to get an even bake. When they are ready they will be pale gold around the eges and softish still in the middle but will harden on cooling.
* Take the sheets out of the over, remove the cookies with a flat spatula to a wire rack and leave to cool.
* Decorate as you like. I used some gold edible glitter which I brushed on with a clean un-used small paint brush or you could cover in some icing or sprinkles. Or if you are feeling adventurous you could dip them in some melted chocolate!
I hope you enjoy these and the recipe will be on my Favourite Receipes page.
Have a Happy Saturday everyone
Hugs, Susie x
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