Weekend Happenings

We spent the weekend down at the beach house, working on the next room to be remodeled. It is a large bedroom, we had to scrap one layer of paint and 2 layers of ancient wallpaper (at least 50 years old!) It took the 4 of us a whole weekend to get the walls cleaned up (this is the family bonding that we do on our kids' Spring Break- they really appreciate that....). Hubby and eldest daughter then painted on the primer, so we are now ready to paint. I just have to decide on a color- blue or green?

While we were scraping, younger daughter thought that the area that she was working on looked like South America. I'm not sure what happened next, but I think that eldest daughter then challenged her to create something more, how shall we say, intriguing? Next thing we knew, we had this on the wall:

Holy appearance? No. Unique artistry on the part of a 15 year old girl? Yes, I think so.

Younger daughter and I drove home Sunday night so she could go to school on Monday, while hubby and eldest daughter stayed behind. We got home to find out that we had run out of oil- no heat, no hot water. I tried to restart the furnace, but it groaned and smoked, so I hit the kill switch. Thank goodness for electric blankets. Then tonight, right before dinner, we heard a strange noise coming from the basement- apparently the freezer is dying a slow miserable death. I moved everything upstairs and crammed it into the kitchen freezer, then pulled the plug and put it out of its misery. I guess we will be shopping for a new one this week (which is nothing compared to trying to get the old one out of the basement- maybe we will just leave it there- a nice "gift" for the new owners 20 or 30 years from now).

How was your weekend?

So It's Not a Baby Hedgehog....

It is still C-U-T-E!!

(I don't know if they are stinkers yet at this tender age- my guess is that if they're anything like human babies, they become stinkers as teenagers.)

(Original photo found here.)

Original photo and cute story here.

And a HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HUBBY TODAY! (I won't tell you how old he is, but you can sneak over to his blog to find out.)

In the Studio Today

A few things I'm working on-
I just love this block- it is my new favorite. The quilt is coming along. Remember last week I said I hoped to have it done by Monday (yesterday) to take to the quilter? HA! Sometimes I just make MYSELF laugh!

Working on wool flowers for pins-

And THIS is taunting me every time I walk past it-

BTW, stop by my friend Brenda's blog and wish her a happy birthday today!

The Cutest Thing EVER EVER.......

OK prepare yourselves.... this is without a doubt.....

THE CUTEST THING YOU HAVE OR WILL EVER SEE.....
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BABY HEDGEHOG

Told ya so...........

Cutting Up

This is what I have been "cutting into" lately- wool (working on making some new pins), and this fabric line called "Oz" by Sanae for Moda Fabrics.

I am also working on some painting, and YIKES- my block of the month arrived in the mail a week ago and I haven't touched it yet- this may be the month that I fall behind! All in all, I have no less than 5 projects going right now.... have a quilt top ready to go to the quilter.... I am going to try to get another quilt done this weekend so I can take that one to the quilter, too (don't know how far I'll really get on that, but it's good to have big goals!)

I've added a couple of kits to the website-

Pattern and fabrics for "Tickled Pink" quilt- regularly $45.00, now $39.00 (only 1 in stock.) SOLD

I also have 2 kits in stock to make wool pins- each kit makes 2 pins, and includes the pattern, wool, fabric, buttons, pin backs and thread.

Hopefully, I will have 1 or 2 new patterns to show you by next week. Is it really Wednesday already- time to get back to work!!!

NYC

Last week I went up to New York City for a business meeting. Some of the sights.......

As you can see, a really busy place, but what you can't tell from the photos is how loud it is.

While walking back to the train station I saw this sign, and since I had plenty of time before my train, I just had to stop in.....

World's Largest Store- who could resist???

There are 9 floors of shopping- I had to see what was on every floor. I rode this "dinosaur" to the 9th floor.

I also made time to stop at a local bakery and pick up some dessert (Tiramisu and chocolate cake) to take home to the family, but I forgot to photograph it before we ate it... believe me when I tell you it was yummy.
Have a great Monday.

Smile, It's Friday

Some cuteness to get your weekend off to a great start! These are short- watch and laugh...

Makin' Do in the Kitchen- "Almost" Homemade Applesauce

Here is something I like to make when I have ripe fruit I want to use up, like pears, plums or bananas. It also works great with frozen fruit like blueberries, raspberries, peaches, or cranberries, if you just want to jazz up plain old applesauce. And it is a lot easier than baking when that fresh fruit is ready to go bad any second.... (And you don't need a lot of fruit, because we will be adding jar applesauce later on.)

Start with some apples, if you have them. Add some pears or plums if you have them. Here I just had a Gala apple and a Granny Smith apple, so I chopped them up and threw them in the pot (I leave the skins on. Extra fiber, and extra easy.)

I added some frozen cranberries, and just a little water. Start to cook them down. If you are using very soft berries, like blueberries or raspberries, cook the apples a little first before you add the berries. If you are using bananas, wait till the very end to add them..

Add as much sugar as you want. You can also use brown sugar, honey, or Splenda, or any combination of those. Cranberries will obviously will need a little more sugar than other fruits. Cinnamon and nutmeg are good, and ginger is delicious. Cook until the fruit is soft.

Now add some applesauce from a jar. I like to use plain unsweetened applesauce, so I can control the sweetness.

Now continue to cook until everything is cooked down. I like to leave the applesauce chunky. If you want smaller chunks, use a potato masher, or if you want it super smooth use a blender or food processor.

Don't you just love the color of this? Gorgeous!