Thursday, May 31, 2012

...New bushes...


...the north side of our house was kinda bare...

...but our neighbor (have I mentioned how awesome my neighbor is...)was changing up some of her landscaping and getting rid of some bushes...so she offered us her holly bushes...

...we promptly planted them along the bare side of our house...hoping they'll do well there...

...so...we're just continuing to make home a little more 'homey'...

~Have a lovely day!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

...WIP...Wednesday...

...two of my new neighbors have a new baby...so we made a big pot of spaghetti, with salad and bread...so that they could have a night off from cooking and just enjoy their new babe...

...we also took another little welcome gift...

...I made another Super Simple Diagonal Baby Blanket...using up all the little bits of leftover baby yarn in my stash...seriously...all of it...

...I put a couple of notes over at Ravelry too...I should have probably doubled the yarn or knit with one strand of...say...white with one of the colours...because the pattern was for a fairly chunky yarn and the baby yarn didn't give the same gauge for one thing...so at the end of the pink corners I had to decrease at both ends to make it match the center (green/white) corners...and for another...it wanted to curl at the edges...hence the crocheted border to make it lie flat...still...I'm happy with the way it turned out...and hope that the new parents and baby like it...it's the perfect size to tuck in around a carseat...and it's so soft...

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

...Anasazi Beans...

...since this is my first time trying these I thought I'd share with you...

...Scout and I were at the Capitol Market over the weekend and found these pretty burgundy and white beans...

...I did a little bit of research before I started cooking them and found this at WiseGeek.com...

"The story of Anasazi beans varies, depending on who is telling it. In popular mythology, the beans were uncovered by an anthropologist, who discovered a 1,500 year old tightly sealed jar of the beans at a dig in New Mexico. Some of the beans germinated, and the new variety of bean entered cultivation again. Since most botanists agree that most beans are unable to germinate after approximately 50 years, it is more probable that the beans remained in constant cultivation in the Southwest, probably in Native American gardens, and that they were picked up by companies looking for new 'boutique beans'."


...the water that I drained off was pink...

...then I cooked them for a couple of hours...because the article also said that they cook more quickly than regular beans...whatever 'regular' beans are...

...and we had them with some rice...they were nice...

..I'll definitely be buying more Anasazi Beans...Have you ever tried them?

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, May 28, 2012

...Lucky 13 is the Winner...


...Thanks to everyone who participated in the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway...it's always so much fun!

...my sweet little dishcloth will be going to the owner of the 13th comment...

...and the 13th comment belongs to Jessica who blogs at Narnia Mum...

Jessica said...
I need something to brighten up my dishes washing experience :) Thanks for the chance!


...I really hope it does brighten your day, Jessica!

~Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Saturday, May 26, 2012

...refurbished sun shades...

...so this is what I needed the yards of pretty grey bias tape for...

...these are my poor old dry-rotted sun shade thingies for the car...they're falling apart...but of course...I thought I could breathe some new life into them, save them from the landfill, and send them on their merry way...so...I made some bias tape...

...and I put my zipper foot on my sewing machine...and stitched close to the wire edge...wrapping the bias tape around the wire...and stitching through the center reflective fabric...

...all the way around...

...when I got to the end...I cut it off about an inch longer...

...and folded under about 1/2 and stitched to the end...

...all finished...

...and coiled up...there's a trick to this folding...and although I've tried to teach Scout and the Man...apparently I'm the only one who can fold these babies back up into the little circle that fits under the seat...HA!

...and I still have quite a bit of leftover bias tape...not sure what I'll use it for...

...and here are the pretty refurbished sun shades in use...

~Have a lovely day!

Friday, May 25, 2012

...Make your own bias tape...tutorial...

...I had a couple of yards of fabric left over from my Easter dress...I had to buy extra in case the 'experiment' with merging the two patterns didn't work out...

...so...I used some of it to make some bias tape...I'll show you how and you won't need any special gadgets - just scissors, sewing machine and an iron...

...as the name implies you'll want to cut some strips of fabric on the bias...using the formula width of desired finished bias tape X 4...

...so:

1/4 inch bias tape - your strips would be 1 inch
1/2 inch bias tape - your strips would be 2 inches
3/4 inch bias tape - your strips would be 3 inches
1 inch bias tape - your strips would be 4 inches
etc....you could make it even wider for binding a quilt or blanket...

...I need 1/2 inch bias tape so my strips are 2 inches wide...


...the first step is to sew your bias strips into one long strip...

...then iron those seams flat...

...next...fold your strips in half lengthwise and iron...

...you'll have one long strip half as wide as your strip...

...now...open the folded strip back up and fold the two outer edges in to meet the center crease...iron...

...then fold it back along the original crease and iron again...

...and you're done...

...I know you can buy bias tape...but your choices of colour and fabric will be pretty limited...but this way you'll have a nice long strip of bias tape in exactly the colour and fabric that you love...

...I'll show you tomorrow what I wanted this grey bias tape for...

~Have a lovely day!

*****************************************************************************

...don't forget to enter the Sew Mama Sew Giveaways...

Click on the image to enter to win a dutiful little dishcloth...

*****************************************************************************

Thursday, May 24, 2012

...Company Banana Bread...

...y'all know we had company last weekend...

...so I had to make us some banana bread for a quick breakfast on Sunday before Scout's Confirmation...

...so I turned to the tried and true Lower Fat Banana Bread from Veganomicon...I've made it before (lots of times)...

...here's a link to the recipe...except I only used 1/4 cup of sugar...

...a neat trick is listed with this recipe...you may already know to spray your measuring spoon with a little mist of oil...

...so that your molasses will slide right off...

...all of it and you're not left with a sticky mess...

...I used the mixer to mash up the bananas and mix all of the liquid ingredients...

...oh...and I added about a tablespoon of ground flax seed...I add it to almost all baked goods just for the added Omega-3s...

...then when it's time to add the dry ingredients...you'll want to switch to a wooden spoon so that you don't overmix and wind up with gummy bread...this part is really important...

...then you bake it for about an hour...and your house smells heavenly...

~Have a lovely day!

*****************************************************************************

...don't forget to enter the Sew Mama Sew Giveaways...

Click on the image to enter to win a dutiful little dishcloth...

*****************************************************************************

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

...Winner...


...a few weeks ago I won a giveaway over at Kate's lovely blog Play with Purpose...for an 11 x 16 rolled canvas print...I was so thrilled...but you know when you have like 10,000 photos...it's hard to choose just the right one to have printed on canvas...

...but the other day when I was picking the photos for my Mom's little Our Daughter's Wedding album...I came across one that I liked a lot...and it's not even one of those posed pictures that they do at weddings...it's just a candid shot taken while we were opening some gifts...

...so I ordered it right up...and it came in the mail yesterday...

Have a lovely day!

*****************************************************************************

...don't forget to enter the Sew Mama Sew Giveaways...

Click on the image to enter to win a dutiful little dishcloth...

*****************************************************************************

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

...Blessed...and Confirmed...


...we were all blessed to have our family come and visit for Scout's Confirmation over the weekend...there was so much love...and cards and presents...I think Scout was a little bit overwhelmed...

...the service was just so perfect...

...that's Scout kneeling for the blessing...

...and with his candle...

...we had a lovely day...and I hope you do too!...

Monday, May 21, 2012

...Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!!!...


...it's time once again for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!...we've been so busy that I just barely got my post up in time...

...my humble offering in the "For the Home" section...is this sweet ribbed cotton dishcloth...I hope you like it...


...To enter just:

1) Leave a comment below:

- you can say anything really - the winner will be chosen by Random.org...

or for a couple of extra entries - I know you're busy visiting a bunch of giveaways today - you can also:

2) Become a follower...or leave another comment saying you're already a follower...
3) Post about the giveaway on your blog...
4) Tweet or Facebook...

I will ship internationally and I'll choose the winner randomly!

Very best wishes to you all!

~Have a lovely day!

Friday, May 18, 2012

...Our Daughter's Wedding...

...one of my Mom's Mother's Day gifties this year was a little photo album...

...I'd never seen one of these before...but thought it was such a cute idea...I found this one at the Goodwill...when I was dropping off some of our unneeded items - of course...and now I'm going to be on the lookout for one for my sister's wedding too...that will be fun!...

...knowing what an important part of their lives a daughter's wedding is...it just makes sense that they'd have a little keepsake album of it right?...

...it was a lot of fun looking through all of our wedding photos and choosing the 20 or so that would fill up this little album...

...and even though my wedding was (many) years ago...it was nice to see all of the familiar faces again too...

...so how often do you get your wedding album out?...

...Have a lovely day!...