A Day at the Park & a Bunting, Too!

Lots of play going on here today. First the park, then the sewing machine!

Ta-Daaaa... it's finished. A cute-as-can-be bunting for my friend's soon-to-be-born grandson. Ultrasounds are great for craftiness, aren't they? Can you guess what team his mom and dad are fans of?

Kierra was doing some climbing before she knew I had a camera in my hand!

Caressa having some slide-time fun!

Cassidy and Kaleigh on the see-saw. What happened to the real see-saws where half the fun was jumping off so your partner hit the pavement REALLY hard? Remember how funny that was, as long as you weren't the one hitting the pavement?

Weeeeeeee!

O.K., sometimes I like to play at the park, too! Just need to remember to watch my head in those tight spots, ya know?

Convertible Mittens

You can't see it too closely but this is a shot of the front and back of the mitten. If you click the pic to enlarge, then maybe you can see the ribbing on the right one (underside) and how the other mitten (top)is like a regular mitten.

Convertible Mittens... have you ever seen these? They're quite ingenious. At least I thought so until I showed them to my hubby and he said, "oh, yea, hunting gloves". Huh? Hmm... just coincidence. Then as I was showing them to my mom, my dad peered over and said, "oh, those are like hunting gloves". So, I guess they're like hunting gloves. O.K., maybe in design, but these are much cuter. And softer.
I made these for a Christmas gift out of Three Irish Girls hand-painted yarn. Everyone raved about this yarn and I got in on a co-op buy for it. It took several months to get it but, yup, it's worth the wait and the $$$. Very nice yarn! The pattern I got free from the net at http://freevintageknitting.com. The real name is called Women's Open Palm Mittens. Wonderful pattern, very well written and easy to understand. And the price... free... can't beat that!

I'm Still Here...Kinda

Caressa found great joy in running in circles, laughing all the while...

I'm still here, although haven't posted lately. I've been busy with the kiddoes schoolwork, house projects, an organization routine and Christmas gifts. I am making some headway, although a lot still needs to get done. Just the dialy day-to-day work is at times, overwhelming.
At any rate, we've had a rainy, balmy week and the kids are still recuperating from their cold virus. It's been a long three weeks! It literally went through the house, except for me, Gary and Kyle.
As you can see, the littlies are tired of being stuck inside and have decided to rake up some wet leaves. I hope some sunshine comes our way soon. I need a day of sunshine, myself!
I have a crockpot full of baked beans that I started last night. Oh, they are goood! I'll make some fresh bread this afternoon and yogurt, too. It seems I'm running low on the necessities.
I've been working on a Household Binder that should help with my home running just a bit more smoothly. I'll share that project with you very soon... maybe tomorrow.

Easy Fleece Blankets

Count 'em; five blankets! One afternoon I was beginning to panic as I have a list of Christmas gifts I want to make and time is slipping by too quickly. I looked at the pile of fleece sitting in the corner of my room and thought I'd better get going. So I did one of the pink blankets myself, then Kaleigh asked if I wanted some help. Are you kidding? Of course I wanted help~! We finished the second pink blanket just before it was time to get supper going. After we finished dinner and clean-up we headed back to my room. No time for a walk that evening. We did the next three blankets in between a consultation, picking up Casey from work, and baths for the littlies. We finished about 10:30, but hey, they're done and ready to be wrapped. I did a few of those blankets two years ago and the receivers really liked them as they're soft and warm. So between the ones I did then and the ones this year, all my kiddoes will have their own 'blankee' to cuddle with while reading a good book or watching a good movie.

Amidst Snowflakes and Sunshine

The first snow fell today, admist sunshine, clouds and more snow. The day couldn't be more bewildering. It's chilly, yet not so cold that I need the fire burning. The kiddoes and I did some schoolwork, then settled in for a lunch of crackers and peanutbutter, chocolate dipped pretzels, and cinnamon toast. The best part of our lunch, besides the company I was keeping, was home-made hot chocolate topped with fresh whipped cream. We gathered around the coffee table in the living room with a tea-pot filled with the warm chocolate. To enjoy my children like this is truly a gift... They bring joy to me always. As the enjoyment of summer is behind us, and the anticipation fall brings of the beginning of another school year wears on, this little glimpse of winter days looks just right to me: warm, cozy, and filled with the smiling faces of my beautiful children. C'mon in winter...I'm ready!

Kitchen Talk

I wanted to try to freeze pumpkins this year as I've never done it before and have heard how yummy they are. Last week I found pumpkins at a local farm and bought 13 at .75 cents each. Seemed like a good deal. So the other night I employed my husband (read heavily coaxed) to help me do the pumpkins. All truth be told, I had a consultion and left my hubby high and dry for a little over an hour and he got stuck with the brunt of the work. Well, here's what "we" did:
washed and dried the pumpkins. You can see that in the photo.
Cut pumpkins in half and scooped out the center yucky stuff (saved the seeds).
Cut the pumpkins in large pieces.
Cooked the pumpkins on the stove in a veggie basket for about 25 minutes. Here's where it took a looooong time. We had to do it over and over again. Really, a pressure cooker would have been much faster and we will do it that way next year. I hate to say, "I told ya so", but I did tell the 'boss' and he didn't listen! So it was a long night...
Next, we put them in the mixer and gave it a few whirls and packed the finished pumpkin into quart jars. I didn't even take a photo as it was nearly midnight and my hubby already put them in the freezer. At this point, I was VERY hesitant to ask him to bring them back for a pic. No... that wouldn't have been a good idea...

Here's a pic of a few of my favorite kitchen helpers: my mixer, grain mill, and yogurt maker. The two latter are pretty new but I've used them both quite a bit. I love being able to grind my own fresh flour, and I really like the yogurt maker. The yogurt is delicious and so much cheaper. It will pay for itself very soon.
Can you see the pretty Singer sewing machine table? I bought that at a tag sale a few weeks ago and it houses these things perfectly and it looks pretty, too. The tatted cloth underneath was worked by my grandma, whom I miss very much; but she's still with me everyday as I look and admire her handiwork scattered around my home.

Here is an old juice maker that my parents used when I was a kid. I don't know why they didn't want it anymore, but I was happy to take it. I've been making cordial out of it lately and we all have been enjoying it very much. I got the recipe from the Down to Earth blogspot (see side-bar) but I think it's O.K. if I share it here.
You take fresh lemons or limes, wash and cut in half. (I use 5, 6, 7, whatever is on the 'rack of shame'. (I'll explain that in a minute) Juice. On stovetop, make a syrup of one part water and one part sugar. I did 2 cups water and 2 cups sugar. Add the sugar at boiling and stir to dissolve. Remove from heat. Add in juice. I put my cordial in a mason canning jar. When ready to use, use 1/4 cordial to 4 parts water and pour over ice. This is just delicious! And frugal!
The rack of shame is what my kids have nick-named the produce rack in the back of the produce department. You know, where the 'old' stuff is... the reduced produce. That's where I buy apples for pies, bananas for the freezer for smoothies, and the lemons and limes. Now the 'shelf of shame' is where I sometimes buy donuts or rolls or other goodies that I normally wouldn't buy. That's located at the end of one of the aisles in the store on a shelf with reduced bakery items; hence the name 'shelf of shame'. We all laugh about it, but I'm having the last laugh, as now that my 16 year old son, Casey, is working part time at Stop & Shop, he sometimes visits the 'shelf' to buy himself and his sisters treats on pay day!

Here is the finished products of the yogurt (half gone) and the cordial.

Just had to share our afternoon picnic with you. The weather is just delightful with a brilliant blue sky, sunshine and crisp temperatures, but nice and warm in the sun. We set out a blanket and enjoyed hot tea, crackers and cheese for lunch. Ahhh... savoring the last bit of nice weather before winter sets in!

A Few Christmas Gifts Done

I get so stressed thinking about how much I'd like to make for Christmas gifts. I really would love to do so much more than time allows, but of course, you can only do what you can. This year, a few special people on my gift-giving list will receive one of these totes. Each have a linen bottom and cotton top. I used high-quality material and the finished product shows that. The pattern is from Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter. I really love that book. The directions are clear and simple and whatever I've made from the book comes out just beautifully. You may remember from a previous post I already made one of these for my friend's birthday and it has been shipped to CA. Her birthday is on the 27th and I asked her not to open the package until then. I sure hope the receivers of these totes like them and use them.

This one is a gift but...

not this one. I originally bought this 1/2 yd cut from Australia and it was supposed to be a small wall quilt. Instead I decided to make myself a tote instead. That little spot on there is just water from the iron. That should dry up by the time I'm done with this post. Yup, I'm gonna keep this one. But the next one is....

going to go to a new home.
On to more Christmas gift-making!