What's ya got Cookin'

Feeling frustrated I turned off the computer and headed to the craft room for some R&R. Bought a Maya Road Calendar stand and turned it into a recipe holder. I can't take credit for the original idea, found it on the internet somewhere. 

A beautiful pack of paper was the inspiration. There are 12 cardstock pages which results in 10 recipes plus a nice front and back cover.

One of the inside pages. I prefer old recipes to the new ones and enjoy baking cookies, cakes and making po' man lobster, all from my grandmothers' and great-grandmother's recipe books.

 Another page ready for something sweet to be written.

 The back cover is almost complete. I'm looking for another embellishment to add, then write the recipes and it's a Christmas gift that is finished!

Apple Pickin' Time

We are the proud owners of a very large apple tree in our backyard. In the past this tree produced apples that only the raccoon, bear and squirrels found to be tasty (as well as the yellow jacket swarms). This year is different. It produced the best eating and cooking apples ever! I'm assuming the horrible rainy/hot/cold summer had a big influence on this fruit bearing tree. 

The DH decided to climb the extension ladder (eyeroll here) to get the biggest and best apples which are always at the top of the tree. I was in charge of holding the ladder (insert another eyeroll). His twisting around to grab the best apples resulted in the ladder twisting which only caused me to scream and shout for him to GET DOWN! Did he listen? Why of course not. Kinda reminds me when I tell his dog to GET DOWN off the furniture and does Mr. Bettis listen? Why of course not.

Like owner, like dog or however that saying goes....

After picking a bushel of apples I went right to work baking apple pie, dumplings, applesauce and freezing. YUM!

 Dug around in my grandmother's antique button box and found 10 different buttons for this knit. Love this sweater. Nice fit and look just in time for Apple Pickin'.

Bountiful Blessings

I LOVE Fall! Best time of the year in my Life. 

A request from Chem-girl was fulfilled with hand crocheted pumpkin coasters. My girls appreciate handmade items and that is a blessing.

Some dear friends have a bountiful garden and have been sharing their fresh vegetables with us. YUM!

A knitter can never have enough sock yarn so when I found this skein reduced to $2.00 I had to have it. Not certain whether to knit socks or a nice scarf with a contrast. Any suggestions?

Enjoying my fall weekend, hope you do too.

De-stash and enhance

Knitting from stash has allowed my knitting to reach a creative peak. Love how this little sweater turned out. A bit fiddly crocheting the caterpillar but it was worth it.

 This little sweater pattern is worth the purchase. Directions are simple and a great stash buster. Only took 2 days to knit it, now to find special buttons. I've cast on for another one in a girly colorway and hope to line it with a nice flannel to make a heavier jacket.

 Someone 'dropped the other shoe' and I refuse to pick it up so I 'donned a new pair of shoes' and did some therapeutic shopping...stocking the paper stash. I will be making a recipe cookbook for someone special and I can't wait to scrap.

What are you de-stashing or enhancing these days?

From here to there

A move in progress and may I just say for the record: add other 'issues' into a move? and you've got MAJOR stress. Anyway, Chem-girl has a major life changing event and it's been a whirlwind around here. Her hibiscus bush bloomed beautifully this year in a fitting good-bye tribute.

 An early departure over the weekend to head to her new destination. Dear Dad behind the wheel.

 Living in the mountains only to spend most of the day staring at flat land was an interesting (and boring) ride. Due to medical 'issues' the hubby and I must stop every 2 hours (doc's orders) so we know every rest stop from here to there...Lol.  Thankfully we (including Chem-girl) were ok with this plan and enjoyed the breaks. To be truthful taking those breaks is really not much different than when we took the kids on a trip way back when. At one point I took on 'entertaining' and broke out in song: "This is trip that never ends, it goes on and on my friend..." I was threatened to be left at roadside (certainly wasn't the first time someone  threatened to leave me roadside...lol)

We finally arrived to our destination. While impressive I must add, I despise big cities.  Man made buildings just aren't a big attraction to me (unless they're historic) and I definitely don't like masses of people and traffic.

 Another view of the big and monstrous city. Whew! I was glad to leave it behind us.

 It was an exhausting 2 weeks prior to the big change and now that we're home, we're still recuperating. The 9 hour trip ended as a 12+ hour trip due to the stops. Near the end the hubby needed to stop every 1 1/2 hours. Sadly we must admit any car road trip over 8 hours will need to be carefully planned. We can never travel with others and it will be necessary for us to either a) travel alone or b) take alternative public transportation.

After many years, I've finally concluded that I am not a traveler. Like my grandfather, the mountains are in my blood. Country roads take me home....