Another Day Closer

A bit more Christmas cheer work from last night. The grands "China" All plastic of course.

And our Christmas dishes

What a job to switch out Halloween/Fall tableware then load up Christmas. Oh well, it's DONE!

DD#2 ended up not having to work today so I was able to get in a full 8 hours of quilting time at the shop. All that is now needed is to sew on the binding then quilt #2 will be complete. I hope to have the time to get back to it on Monday.

I love the Jingle Bell backing on this quilt.

My rump is dragging, don't you know on a full day like today I would come home after dark :( to an e-mail from our bank letting us know someone had tried to hack our account. Holy Cow.

For some reason the e-mail just didn't seem right, why would the bank tell me I had 24 hours to log onto my on line banking before our account would be frozen and here was the biggy ALL FUNDS would be removed. WHAT????? After a quick call to the bank come to find out the e-mail was from a hacker. Had I logged on through the link on the e-mail our account would have been cleaned out by whatever scum bag sent the message. I am too old for all this cyber crap!!!

I am headed out to meet a GF for dinner. I am too tired and stressed by all this mess to even warm up a bowl of soup. Once I get my belly full and bring home a bite or two for AJ the beagle we are headed to bed with the covers over our head.

One Down Two to Go!!!!

Tree number one was finished last night. This one is our living room tree. My poor Angel is cockeyed for now, even with the step stool I can't reach the top. Thank goodness for SIL's who are both over 6 feet tall, one measures in at 6'5", he is a keeper for sure. No Sunday dinner for him until he gets the Angel right!

I was also able to get our Nativity arranged. How cool is this.... Last night I was checking out my favorite blogs and found that Kathryn has the same set. Check out her post, I had cool chills and tears sharing her memory. This is one of our family treasures!!!

Can you see all the little rhinestone's and jewels my hubby's parents friend added?

Happy, happy, joy, joy!!! I was able to make my way to the quilt shop today for some Christmas sewing. Backings were pieced for two Christmas quilts. Now on to the pin basting.

The BOTM triangles are all sewn together. Tonight I will get the pressing done so I can build the blocks tomorrow.

DD#1 Chevron pillows are ready to go. All I need now is the time to drop them off.

Best of all DD#2's Minky Christmas quilt is FINISHED!!!! Lots and lots of free motion meandering quilting is on this one but it doesn't show very well on the minky fabric especially after the sun has gone down. It was a longggg day.

I found the backing on sale for $10.95 a yard, beats the heck out of the normal price of $19.95

It felt sew nice to sit down at a sewing machine today even if it wasn't mine!!! Lots of projects are being knocked off the list of to do's before Christmas, DD#2's quilt was a biggy for sure. I will be on my hands and knee's tonight getting DD#1's Christmas quilt pinned so I can head back too the quilt shop to get busy on it in the morning before Kara arrives. I figure I have 3 hours of sewing I can get in before I need to be home for Mommy to drop her off. I don't think I can finish in that small amount of time but I should be able to get a good start on it. I have cleared the calender for Monday all day to spend time at the shop sewing. Maybe I will have everything complete by the end of next week. What a relief that will be!!! Maybe not having my sewing machine for the month of December won't be as bad as I was thinking it would be! Ha I have TONS of handwork I can be doing while enjoying the fire and a cup of tea.

Decorating the house will be slow but sure. I hope to take it a room at a time. I am sooo thankful the big cleaning was completed in October, it's nice to be working with a clean house. We won't be putting up all that we normally do,  having 3 little ones around this year and hubby out of town. I don't want to spend the holiday's worried about what they can get into or hurt on. A few more years of less is OK with me!!!

I think I will be doing photo Christmas cards this year. Making handmade cards this late in the game will only make me nuts (more than I already am) I am going to do the best I can to keep Christmas simple and sweet. I don't think the birth of our Lord was meant to be spent running around like a crazy lady trying to meet every ones needs and want to haves. Saying no is not a strong suite of mine, sitting still is not in my nature but I am gonna give it my best!! Why do we woman think we can do it all?

I Need Normal

Seems like I have been washing dishes since last Tuesday. As a matter of fact that is just what I have been doing.

And lets not forget the vacuuming, every day, sometimes twice a day followed by continuance mopping.

This little gal has been hanging out most days, leaving no time to do anything other than washing dishes, vacuuming and mopping.

At least she has learned how to share, most of the time anyway.

And she is pretty sweet for the most part! Ha

Where did my normal life go? Thanksgiving has gotten me so out of whack I can't seem to get back on track. After sweet Kara left today I could have gotten busy and maybe accomplished something but instead AJ and I curled up on the couch with a quilt and took a three hour nap. My mind says go, go, go but my body says forget it!! Ha

Tonight will be a new night. I have no where that I have to go, nothing that must be done, no huge meals to cook and NO more dirty dishes as I have enough leftovers for the beagle and I for supper. Here is my plan....

I would love to get the living room Christmas tree fluffed and decorated. I need to pack up what I think I can get done at the quilt shop tomorrow so I can move along on the Christmas quilts. A good clean up in the sewing room would be a nice change of pace and checking our Christmas list would be a good idea.

Tomorrow I have a free day. I will be waiting at the quilt store as soon as they open the doors to begin quilting the quilts along with some little things that need to be done. I have high hopes once I get a good start on the DD's quilts my mood and mind will improve. I don't expect to get back to the shop until the first of next week as I have Kara Thursday-Sunday. My game plan with her is to get her out each morning to run like a crazy girl so she will nap and I can begin wrapping Christmas gifts before the grands figure out my hiding place. The evenings will be devoted to decorating for Christmas.

Is anyone else feeling a little overwhelmed with all that needs to be accomplished in the next month? I am sooo off my game. Vacation, flea's, broken sewing machine, blog problems, and Thanksgiving have taken their toll. Tomorrow is a new day and what I hope is a new beginning!!!!

Thanksgiving Happenings

I wanted to make the grands a desert of their own for Thanksgiving

Little turkey cupcakes were a hit. Truth be told cupcakes of any sort would have worked just fine.

Hubby's sister lives in FL so she never gets to experience fall any more. She was fascinated by all the leaves in our yard and they just keep coming down. Hubby used the leaf blower to pile up a bunch for she and the grands to play in after Thanksgiving dinner. The grands had such a good time throwing leaves at Auntie Jo

Hubby's Niece marked riding a Harley off her bucket list. Now her hubby might be in trouble as she seems to be hooked and wants one all her own! Ha

We ended the day at DD#1 home for desert and a Christmas movie. We never got around to watching the movie as the little ones put on such a great LIVE show. Who needs a silly old movie when you have the real thing in action. SIL figured out how to set his camera for delay (I think that's what its called) so we could get a photo of the whole gang. Needless to say we were looking like raga muffins by the end of such a long day but who the heck cares we haven't all been together for 4 LONG years.

Thanks to all of you ladies for helping me figure out how to continue to download photo's on this blog for free!!!!! It has taken all afternoon to figure it out and lots more e-mail to Cindy to complete the task. In time I sure hope it won't take as long! Ha

The leftovers are gone, wish I could say the same for all of the dirty dishes. Hubby made an executive decision this morning that I would not be doing any more cooking for the gang so we all went out for breakfast then everyone headed back to their respective homes. We had such a great time with Hubby's family and all of our girls but it's time for some football and rest!!!!

After breakfast hubby and I ventured out on errands and a little Birthday/Christmas shopping. SIL#1's BD is December 23, SIL#2 BD is November 23, followed by Mason mans 1st BD on November 30. Can my girls pick them or what!! Ha Hubby will be heading back North next week, I wanted him to get to help out with some of the Christmas shopping as it is one of the highlights of the year for him (costly I might add) We knocked out lots on the Christmas list and of course a few things that were not on the list. Then back home for the last of the leftovers, a nap, followed by some good Bama football. ROLL TIDE All around a wonderful day until.....

I finally got up the nerve to call on my sewing machine that has been in the shop since last Monday. The verdict was not good. She has a cracked bobbin shaft. The good news is it is covered by the warranty, the bad news is she will have to be shipped off to Chicago IL, if they can't fix it then she is headed to Switzerland. I will be out of a machine for 4 to 8 weeks.  Holy Cow!!!! I had a great start on all my Christmas gift sewing but there are still lots of things waiting in the wings. My local shop has been nice enough to offer to let me come in and use their machines in the classroom so I can finish everything up. It's an hour drive down each morning then an additional hour back at the end of the day. The shop doesn't open until 10:00AM, no more early morning or late night sewing for me. Tomorrow I will be getting my ducks in a row so I can head out Monday morning to get started. Three quilts are a MUST finish for our girls. The rest will more than likely be added to the UFO pile until my machine has finished it's world tour. Other than quilts for our girls I only had 2 additional gifts I needed to make, of course lots of hope I can do things but they won't be happening.

Hubby is a doll baby, he suggested we go ahead and purchase a new upgraded machine. No wayNo how, we are talking thousands of dollars. Patience is not a virtue of mine, this will be a good time to develop that skill! Ha

Sunday dinner tomorrow will be SIL#2's Birthday dinner. Thank goodness he pick a simple menu that everyone likes. Along with getting dinner on the table hubby will be helping me drag in Christmas tubs of decorations before he heads back north. Decorating for Christmas is like eating an elephant, all you can do is take a bite at a time and hope for the best. The evenings will be spent working on the grands Christmas stockings that have been a work in progress for the last two years. Maybe the Christmas stocking will get done this year now that my machine has decided to act out. I still have the embroidery machine that has worked backed up that needs to be completed for gifts so that should all keep be busy. I have HIGH hopes that cybr Monday will have be bragging that our Christmas shopping is complete. A girl can dream right?

Happy Late Thanksgiving

No photo's for now as blogger say's I have reached my limit until I start paying a monthly fee to download pictures. Hummmm. I need to think about that. The cost is just under $3.00 a month but I hate giving one more company acsess to our checking account. Has anyone else run into this problem. What was your fix?

A MUST Have for Christmas!!!

 AJ the beagle was very put out with me yesterday as I was gone from home way too long Christmas shopping.

 Lots and lots of Christmas shopping!!

 Am I the only one who gets ugly cracks in chocolate pies? Not matter it will be covered in whip cream when its served.

 The foil stuck to one side of the pumpkin pie, nothing a little more whip cream can't cover up.

 Pecan pie, no whip cream needed.

 Carmel apple cheese cake by Paula Deen. This is a really good desert, a little goes a long way. Store bought ghram cracker pie shells work great!

 I think the pies look so nice all lined up. I will be headed to DD#1 home in a bit to deliver the pies for Thanksgiving night desert at her house, followed by a  first of the season family Christmas movie in our PJ's. LOVE this new tradition from a few years back. I just wish the DD's would learn how to cook the food.

Here is my VERY favorite thing I found while Christmas shopping yesterday!!!!! I was picking up gifts yesterday at Barnes and Noble when I saw one of the clerks unpacking a case of theses WONDERFUL book sets. Sometimes the Christmas list is over rated!! Of course I couldn't leave the store without one for the grands. OK, so more than one, I bought 3. One for each DD's family. DD#2 that is still single set has been put back until she marries and begins her family. This really is a MUST have for the kiddo's this year!!!
Here is a write up I found someplace in cyber land to give you and idea of what it is all about.

My Secret Angel and Me: How the gift of Christmas came to be, is a vividly illustrated picture book and doll set created to teach children the real meaning of Christmas with a touch of magic! The journey begins as soon as the Heavenly angel doll receives her earthly name. She watches over children by day and flies back to Heaven each night. She reports to God – Santa’s boss! Her playful rhymes tell the Scriptural story of Christmas in a magical way that children understand. She teaches children that God loves them unconditionally, whether they are naughty or nice! She hides in secret spots, and her enchanting games of hide-and-seek continue until her mission ends on Christmas Eve. Each $29.95 (40 page) hardcover book is packaged inside a fully illustrated hardcover box with a Secret Angel Doll.

Now turn off the PC, smart phone or whatever it is you follow blogs on and get to the store to pick up this gift set!!

BTW, I am in NO way affiliated with this book. I just LOVE IT

Kitchen Magic

 Today was a new day!!  Rhonda inspired me to get ahead of he game on some baking and snack making today. 5 Pounds of chocolate covered peanuts completed.

 My hope is this will be enough to last us until after Christmas. Might be wishful thinking as I will be enjoying a few when I hit the sack tonight with AJ the beagle.

 Double batch of M&M cookies are stored safely in the freezer.

 Along with peanut butter butterscotch cookies.

 While at it I finished up the day with 4 batches of chex mix.

All that's left to do is deliver these plates of goodies to a few friends tonight.

I just about have the house back in order after the flea escapades of yesterday. In the morning I will give the exterminator a call to see if he can get to the house lickity split this week. We have a yearly contract with them, any time we run into a problem they will come out at no extra charge. This is the first ever call I will have to make. Also on the to do list tomorrow is see if I can get AJ the beagle into the vet as so many of you suggested. The bath I gave her yesterday worked like magic for the time being but I need to get ahead of the nasty buggers.

After bringing up two wheel barrel loads of firewood to the deck for the week I got busy in the kitchen. I love having a nice slow paced day in the kitchen with no distractions. Hubby will have to return back North after Thanksgiving until close to Christmas. I want him to go back with a nice box of holiday goodies to enjoy when he is watching some of the TV Christmas specials by himself :( I figure since he can't be home for the next few weeks I will send a little taste of home with him when he leaves after Thanksgivng.

Tomorrow will be some running around to catch up on errands then back home for more holiday baking. I think I have arranged enough room in the small frezzer to hold a few more batches of cookies. Hubby and the kiddo's also like granola, I should be able to work that in as well.

I forgot to post a veggie recipe yesterday, old man Murphy had my head spinning. This is a great soup to use up some leftover beef, the family will never know they are eating leftovers. We like it with just the veggies but to each their own. I use mostly dehydrated or home canned veggies from the garden in this but store bought works just fine. If you have some leftover veggies from the week throw them in as well, no one will know the difference.

Vegetable Soup

3/4 can of tomato juice

4 cups water

1/3 cup chopped onions

2 cups crushed tomatoes

1 can kidney beans drained

1 can corn&peas drained

1 can Lima beans drained

1 can green beans drained

1 can carrots drained

4 to 5 large potatoes cubed

3 beef bullion cubes

4 tsp of salt

1 tsp chili powder

2 TBLS Worcestershire sauce

Throw it all in the stock pot, bring to a boil then cover and simmer on low for a few hours. This soup is good on the day you make it but WAY better the second day!! Home made yeast rools are a must with this soup.

Old Man Murphy has Arrived

 Sew happy to finally have a quilt to hang today.

 I love the backing, cute and hip.

 After digging around in my stash I found enough fabric from the Sweetwater line to complete the border. Sew far sew good.

 Next on the list for today was our fall quilt. After getting it pin basted I was ready for quilting. I was sew excited to be moving along so quickly. However my machine stopped working :( I finally got the power back on but there is a big problem DOUBLE :(. It's pack up and in my car ready to hit the sewing machine ER first thing Monday morning. Mr Murphy, you I do not need

 OK, on to plan B. After reading Rhonda's blog this morning I was feeling very behind in our Thanksgiving preparations. Check out her post to see all the things she has finished to make her holiday organized and OH so yummy. I got my meal plan finished, grabbed the coupons and checked the on line flyer to see if I could score some deals on the few things we needed.

See all that butter? It's 8 pounds to be exact and all free!!! Our grocery is running a special this week on gift cards. For every $75.00 worth of gift cards purchased at the store you receive $10.00 off your grocery bill. I purchased $150.00 worth of GC that I knew I needed for gifts this Christmas. The butter was on sale 2 pounds for $5.00 a savings of 50% off. SCORE!!! Also if you spent $35.00 turkeys were $.89 cents a pound. I was super excited to get the Thanksgiving shopping out of the way, save money and get a little farther ahead on our Christmas list. Then the day turned bad again :(

AJ the beagle has been scratching like there is no tomorrow since we returned home, she is driving me nuts. I figured like me, she was having some dry skin problems now that the heat and wood stove are in use. NOT!!!  AJ's surrogate mommy called to let me know her Dexter dog had fleas. Want to guess where he got them? From AJ the Beagle, grrrr I had taken AJ in on Wednesday before we went on vacation for a shampoo and pedi. I didn't want to send her off on her holiday smelling like a hound dog. For the tidy sum of $28.00 she not only had her bath and pedi they sent her home with flea's!!!!!! Panic time.

I ran to the store to pick up flea powder for the house, flea shampoo, and a flea collar all for the tidy sum of $32.00 CRAP. Once I returned home I striped our bed and began washing everything in hot water, detergent and a little bleach. The flea powder was sprinkled on our mattress and carpet of the bedroom. Then on to the living room sofa, more sprinkling of flea powder in a frantic mood. I have to get the suckers killed before our company arrives on Wednesday. Note to self. READ ALL of the directions, skimming is not a good idea.

After leaving the powder sit for 7 hours I started vacuuming the powder from the couch, cushions and all. What the heck!!! The powder is not coming up. We have a black floral sofa, this ain't good, you can see where the powder has been. After further review of the directions you should test all upholstery surfaces for color fast. There is the possibility a new sofa will be on my Christmas list. OLD MAN MURPHY your killing me today.  If I can't rid this place of fleas before Wednesday when our family arrives I will be purchasing flea collars as little favors to put at each place setting for Thanksgiving dinner. Pintrest has nothing on me ladies!!!!

Time for a late dinner and more vacuuming I need to save the sofa!!!

Time to Make Do

The quilting is finished, on to the binding!! I will have to dig around in my stash to come up with the binding for this quilt as it grew a whole lot bigger than I first thought it's a whopping 65x95.

The day is done an so am I. I was thinking when Kara went home today I would get busy on this quilt to finish it up but the couch was feeling so good I decided to stay put for the night. Now it's on to the bed with a book and a good nights sleep. Tomorrow I will be fresh and ready to rock once more. This gal will be ready to hang on the line before the day is done.

Here is another of our DD's favorite soup recipe's. I found this recipe on the Internet a few years back, it is based on the black bean soup from "Panara Bread" Our girls like it served in a bread bowl, me not so much I like my bread on the side. I'm not much into soggy bread. Hubby likes it with nacho chips, each to their own!!

Black Bean Soup

4 - 6 slices of bacon fried crisp - reserve the bacon drippings

1/2 cup chopped onion

4 garlic cloves pressed

4 (15) ounce cans black beans rinsed and drained or one pound of dry black beans pre cooked and drained

3 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups tomato's

2 TBLS ketchup

1 bunch cilantro

1 TBLS chili powder

1 TBLS worcestershire sauce

Saute the onions and garlic in the bacon drippings until translucent.

You can omit the bacon and saute the onions and garlic in a little olive oil if you want to keep this soup meatless.

Throw it all in a pot, bring to a boil then cover and simmer on low for a couple of hours to incorporate all the flavors

salt and pepper to taste

Catch Up Quilting

 Before I move on to quilting the Christmas gift quilts I need to knock out 2 waitng in the wings quilts.

I am doing a very simple meandering FMQ on this quilt. The quilt has no home as of now. I am thinking a charity or gift quilt in the future.

Today is the perfect day to sit and quilt. It's cold, rainy (a little sleet), and my feet need some rest after all the walking last night!! I figure it will take two days to finish this one off as I have Kara this afternoon and all day tomorrow. Next up will be our fall quilt. I found a little of this and that for the backing. I patched it all together this morning thinking I might have the energy to pin baste it over the next two days so it can move right on to the quilting. Having those two quilts finished clears the decks (sorta) for the sewing Christmas blitz.

We had a great time at the Christmas show last night. We have never been at night before as we usually go first thing in the mornings staying most of the day due to the HUGE crowds. Nerve again!!! There was lots of room for walking, checking the little booths, time to speak to many of the owners, I could go on and on. We were even able to park at the venue rather than the overflow parking sometimes a mile away. Even the tour bus parking lots had cleared out The DD's each picked out a few Christmas gifts they would like. Yepee more gifts to add to the ever growing pile in the spare room that are sure to be the gifts they really want! Ha

Today's meatless recipe is......Soup, surprise! Ha

This recipe is another family favorite except for the SIL's they are meat eaters all the way. When I make this soup I have a pot of man chili (lots of meat, no beans) on the stove for the SIL's. We always had meals without meat as I was brought up Seventh Day Adventist. I had never even seen meat in the store until we went to live with our Dad when I was in my early teens. I took me years to acquire a taste for meat. I could give it up tomorrow if need be. Our girls were close to school age before I introduced meat into their diet, maybe that's why they too could care less if we have meat on the table.

I use frozen broccoli from the garden in this recipe, dehydrated would also work or fresh as well.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

1 pound butter (we use butter, margarine is nasty)

2 cups flour (more of less)

2  quarts chicken broth

2 chicken bullion cubes

2  quarts 1/2 and 1/2

1 tsp white pepper

salt to taste

2 pounds of broccoli chopped (more of less to taste)

Use butter and flour to make a roux

Slowly add 1/2 and 1/2 and chicken broth, add a little at a time and keep stirring to keep it from separating

Keep in mind this is a cream soup so watch for scorching!!

Add the spices and broccoli, cover and simmer on low until broccoli is tender.

 As with most soups the longer you can simmer it or leave it sit to incorporate the flavors the better it will be

DON"T store the leftovers in the stock pot as there is sure to be some scorching on the bottom that will soften and come to the top overnight. Yuck!!

Christmas Cheer

 I finished two Christmas quilt tops this morning for DD#1 and #3, since DD#2 isn't married yet she will be getting a minky quilt for Christmas. DD#2 loves the ones her sisters received for their BD this year so it should be a hit if I picked out the right fabric!! Ha

 Each DD's family members names are embroidered on the Christmas quilts, lots of room for more names if their families grow in the future!! Fingers crossed.

 The embroidery machine is working it's magic making quilt labels for all the quilts that will be given as gifts this year. Three done 2 more to go.

 On today's To Do list is working up this fabric for two Christmas gifts.

I can't share the finished project as I know the ladies who will receive this sometimes follow this blog but here is a sneak peek. The goal is to give them something to use after the holiday's for the long winter ahead.

Busy as a beaver today trying to get more of our Christmas handmade gifts ready to wrap. Once I finish some sewing work it will be on to lots of quilting. I have 2 quilts waiting in the wings to be quilted. Now that the DD's Christmas tops are complete they will be next in line. Hope to have many quilts hanging on the line in the next week. I thought about making DD#2 minky quilt this week but decided to hold off until after Thanksgiving. With family coming in next week I don't want to spend days cleaning up after all that fuzz!!!

Tonight the DD's and I will be spending the evening at the Southern Christmas show. This will be the first year we will not be taking the grands along but I have to agree with the DD's that having the little ones in the HUGE crowds is a real pain. Times they are a changing. Lots and lots of walking on concrete floors seeing all the sights tonight but smelling all that strudel, spiced nuts and Christmas cheer should be worth it. Hope my feet will agree!! Ha

On to the meatless recipe for today but before that I am sure you have noticed all the meals are thus far soups. There is a reason for that madness. First off with the cool or in some cases cold weather here to stay soup is a wonderful way to end the day. With the busy season in full swing for the head of the household (Mom) throwing everything in a pot free's up time we all need for other things on the to d list. Just dress it up with your favorite bread or desert and your family won't realize they are going meatless. The other reason is we try really hard to eat in season. That means I try and buy produce that is in season locally, much of what we grow ourself or buy from local farmers. Once you get use to eating fresh tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and such the store bought stuff is just nasty to us.  I make the soup below from dehydrated or canned foods preserved from the summer. The only thing I have to buy is Pasta, olive oil, and bullion cubes, can't get much cheaper than that!! Ha

Minestrone Soup

2 TBS olive oil

2 Garlic cloves chopped

1 Onion diced

2 Cups potatoes diced

1/2 Cup celery diced

1 Cup zucchini sliced

1 Cup summer squash sliced

1 Cup carrots sliced

1 Can green beans

1 Can white beans

2 Cups shredded cabbage

1 Large can crushed tomato's

5 cups chicken broth

2 Chicken bullion cubes

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp basil

1 tsp pepper

salt to taste

Add 1/2 to 1 pound of small shell pasta the last 20 minutes of cook time

I have to add polish sausage to 1/2 the pot for the big boys, we girls love the veggies and pasta only

This is a really technical recipe so pay attention!!

Throw everything into a stock pot

Bring to a boil, then simmer for a couple of hours covered until all veggies are tender. The longer it sets the better it is

Add the pasta at the end, if you don't have enough liquid add a cup or so more of chicken stock/broth.

This makes a BIG old pot!