Sunday, November 30, 2014

Thanksgiving

Thank goodness...Thanksgiving is over :) We made it through another year. This year was very simple. We stayed home and though I just said it was very simple....I did all the cooking and baking. Yep. Everything...and a lot of everything, for only 4 people. Oddly enough I wasn't really stressed until just at the end when I was trying to make sure every thing was done at the same time. And even then it wasn't really bad at all. I really enjoyed it. I'm not really all that fond of cooking either.


This was my turkey this year. I read somewhere that if you put bacon over the breast it would help keep it moist. I didn't really notice a difference but it sure made the drippings taste better.

So while I was cooking the family was watching the parade. Well two of them were, the other was asleep. S stayed up way to late that night. I've been disappointed with the parade the last couple of years. All it seems to be is more and more broadway skits and some current singer lip syncing on a float. I want a parade to be a parade...floats and balloons....and yes, it can do without all the clowns :)

I spent most of the week crocheting and small crafting. 


These are my crochets. The second picture is the reverse of the two on top. With both sides of the family we will be doing an ornament/decoration swap instead of presents. I've been fiddling around and seeing what I can come up with. Enough to give away anyway. ( Shhh. Don't tell anyone but I messed up on the granny hotpad/tree thingy. I forgot the trunk part...may add it later...but shhh)


 Ive put together a make shift Advent Wreath. I may add some greenery to it when I pull down my Christmas stuff. I am kind of liking the simplicity of it.



 
 I spray painted these candlesticks I got at Goodwill for about $4. I think they were less than $2 apiece. Love, love, love the candy cane candles( say that 5 times fast) from Walmart. I have some little candy cane trees that I think I'll group with them on my piano. 

I'm finally getting a bit excited about decorating for Christmas. I mean, I have been digging in my heals ever since they started putting Christmas stuff out in October. I have flat refused to have anything to do with Christmas until Thanksgiving was over. I used to wait til at least Dec. to put things up. But I've had kids and they like the tradition of pulling the stuff out Thanksgiving weekend (though they are still waiting patiently...Mama hasn't got in the attic yet). 
I'm guessing I may get up in the attic in a little bit and at least pull out a few boxes. No tree yet. Maybe by Wednesday :)

So I hope you all had a very wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope time spent with family was time well spent. And here's to having a fantastic Advent and Christmas season.

Monday, November 24, 2014

Texana Park

So I read several blogs where the ladies take pictures of their wonderful walks. Past canals, beautiful old buildings, quaint little towns, wonderful fall foliage, babbling brooks. You name it and there is a beautiful pictures of fabulous walks. I look around me...and I see cement, old houses, empty lots. Not a lot that is pretty. Now, I do have the bay and it is beautiful and I love being this close to it. But it doesn't change. It pretty much looks the same and I have to go through the boring neighborhood to get to it. I have longed to have a little wooded area to wander in. Or a quaint town to take a stroll through. I thought I was doomed to just walk the cement walking path by the bay. But wait....the other day I remembered the place where we used to go camping. It has walking trails...yes, even through a woodsy area. Even with some wildlife. I thought YES that's where I'll go. I even had a fleeting thought that the family would like to come with me. Do I dare ask them? Nay. I will Tell them. And that is just what I did. I told them on Friday that we would be going to Texana Park to walk the nature trails. And guess what? I didn't hear a grumble one. Well, maybe a teeny-tiny one from my husband. So off we went today just after lunch. And oh. my. goodness. I had such a great time. We all had a great time. The weather was perfect. Sunny and in the 60's. And, and we got to see some wildlife. I am one happy Momma.




Right of the bat we saw this little guy. So I knew possums were pretty stupid but this guy ran around in circles just trying to find the bushes to get away from us. Poor little thing. Of course H wanted to bring it home. NO.

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There were gobs and gobs of Yaupon trees with the beautiful berries. I just learned that it is a holly and that you can make tea from the leaves but DON'T eat the berries....they will make you sick. The scientific name is actually Ilex vomitoria. Says it right in the name.



There were these two interesting trees. The top one was just kind of cool looking with the leaves growing out of the cut top. The second one? I haven't a clue what was going on. My husband said that it was probably damaged in some way and grew like that or it was some kind of fungus. Don't know but it was really cool looking.


  

And look. there is actually some fall foliage here in South Texas. There wasn't much of it but it sure was pretty. I just loved it surrounding the little bridge.




We saw some lovely bugs and the beautiful McCartney(Chicasaw) Rose. There were just a handful of of flowers for pops of white here and there. I remember picking these fuzzy black caterpillars up as a kid...it wasn't until recently did I learn that the can sting you. Not once was I ever stung by one. I guess I was special...bahahaha. And this little green guy was awesome. I wanted to pick him up but knew I would never reach him before he hopped off. Makes me think of Disney/Pixar's A Bug's Life.




There's part of the fam in the back ground. I just loved the arbor affect of the trees. I should have made them stop and taken a whole bunch of pretty pictures there. And of course here is the ubiquitous photo of the shoes and leaves :)



And then we saw these. I got so excited. I was hoping we would catch a glimpse of a deer. Just a glimpse would be nice. Just a teeny-weeny glimpse and I would have been happy. But no.....we didn't get a glimpse. We got this.......







This silly little thing. When we first saw her we must have stood still for about 15 minutes thinking we would scare her if we made a noise. Nope. She came right up to us. Followed us for nearly the whole time we were on the trail. She would wander into the bushes and we would think she was gone and then here she would come trotting up behind us. So sweet. And a little cheeky too. Seems like she was giving us raspberries with her tongue.That's H in the white and S in the red. They would both die if the new I put their pictures on here. Actually they would both die if I told them I had a blog. Yea, my little secret. They don't know about this blog. They would most probably make fun of me...good naturedly of course. H kept saying that she really was a Disney Princess because the got the deer to follow us :)


And this was the final shot not long before the trail ended on the campground road. So beautiful. I just love Texas!

I made the family make a promise that we would do this at least once a month...weather permitting. It will become known as the Texana Pact of 2014. Hmmm, maybe I should write something up and have them all sign it. Yeah, I just might do that...



Thursday, November 20, 2014

Jelly








Today I made jelly. As you can see by the recipe, it is SO easy!! You don't even need to hot water bath it. But apparently it doesn't make very much because I doubled the recipe and this is all I made. Guess I'll be making another batch tomorrow. Maybe I'll try something other than just plain grape juice. I bet white grape would be good. As well as the grape/cranberry. Maybe even just plain cranberry. Whatever I can find with 100% juice I'll give it a shot :)



Sunday, November 16, 2014

My Surprise




This little guy came in the mail yesterday. I wasn't expecting him. My sister and Mom had been to Hobby Lobby and saw him and thought I should have him. You see, he looks an awful lot like my Dad. The piercing blue eyes. The wrinkles. Even the nose shape. And, AND he has a cardinal. That was his favorite bird. And they say that if you see a cardinal its a loved one looking out for you. Also it was on Christmas when we found out his cancer had spread to his brain. So now we have a sweet reminder of my Dad  for Christmas. We call him Poppy Clause. Poppy is what all his granddaughters called him. I just love him...Dad and Poppy Clause :)


They also sent this little ornament. My sister said that it reminded them of all the family get togethers at the Cabin when I would come rolling in with lots of chips and dip. My favorite snack in the world. Ever!! Give me a good tortilla chip and salsa..or quacamole...or queso and I'm a happy camper!!!

So it was a lovely surprise yesterday to see this smiling Poppy Clause.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

This Week


This week....this week has been spent bundled up. Yikes, it's been cold for this Texas girl. It has been fun but I am a warm weather girl.

This week....not only me but my Bunny has been all snugglied up.

She's on an old,old blanket keeping her little nosy warm. The sweetest cat ever....ever!

This week.....as well as being bundled up I have been living on hot chocolate.


Yes, I know, I have traded my beloved tea for hot chocolate....oh the betrayal.

This week.....I have been spending gobs of time with yarn. Scrummy(cross between scrumptious and yummy) yarn. Ok, so maybe I need a better word?

Lots of ear warmers to pass out :)

Next week? More yarn, less hot chocolate, more snuggly cats, hopefully a little less time being bundled up. It should be a bit warmer. Fingers crossed.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Happy Veterans Day and BRRRRRRR

First off I'd like to wish all the Veterans out there an extremely heartfelt THANK YOU!! And to the spouses and children too. They serve as well. It takes a strong person to hold down the fort when your spouse is gone for who knows how long! You make this country great!

Second...BRRRRRRRRRR. It's getting a bit chilly down here in South Texas. Ok, Ok, I know all you northerners are shaking your heads and tut tutting at me. I am a Southerner and I am conditioned for the warmer weather. You may keep your cold weather(except at Christmas...I like it at Christmas).

Since I don't like it cold I popped these babies out in about an hour. I got the pattern here. easy! Ok, so my pic isn't downloading. Just picture a pretty red/tweed( I Love This Yarn) pair on not so pretty hands :) Wow, I'm wearing these as I type and they puppies are warm. I think I'm going to like these. I think I'll make me some more :)

edit: Ha! the pic has finally downloaded so here it is

Sunday, November 9, 2014

A Few of My Projects

Ok, so yesterday I said I would show some of the projects I have been working on. I think I will do it in list form. We'll see how that works.

1. H's Houston Texans ear warmer/head band. I started it last season...just finished it about two weeks ago. What took me so long was trying to find a big flower pattern that I liked. I just couldn't find one that I wanted to use....so I just stopped working on it. Well, a light bulb moment hit when I realized H loves bows. So a bow it was. And it turned out great!! All I did was half double crochet around till it was the size I wanted. Same with the bow. I made a small flower and hot glued the Texans button(that I got of etsy) on. Simple.
Say hello to Bunny :)

2. My sister, brother-in-law, niece and Mom will be going to Disney next month....yes, I want to stow away and go with them. She wanted a Mickey Mouse scarf. Well, then my Mom said she wanted one too. And then my niece( the sister of the Harry Potter recipient ) had to have one too. I couldn't then leave my brother-in-law out so I made him one too. Not all  Mickeys. Mom got a Pooh, my niece got an Eeyore and my brother-in-law a Goofy. They aren't the best but they have them :)



Disclaimer...These are not my own patterns. Nor are they really the patterns others. I did look at some on Pinterest and just kind of followed them visually. So if any of these are your patterns. Thank You!



3.These are the head bands/ear warmers and slouchy hat for my friend. I really need to find a better yarn. I'll just keep plugging along until I find what I really like and works well. I need to hurry. I only have about a month left to get them done .
I do have specific patterns for these. And as I finish them I will try and find the original site I got them from. I just printed them off without really paying attention where they were from.


4. H's first block of her Texans blanket. Not sure if I really like how I did the numbers. I got the pattern from here. I'm just not very good at the numbers yet. Lots more practice I think. I still have to work on the letters for the names too. Do I crochet the letters or just embroider the letters on ? AARRGGHHh I dont know! Can you guess the Texans player from the number?


5. And finally this little blanket. It isn't for anybody. I sometimes just need a simple project that I don't have to think about. This will be a baby/doll blanket. I don't know if I want to make it Cinderella inspired or Frozen inspired. It was originally supposed to be Cinderella but with all the hoopla over Frozen, I now am not sure. What do you think? I'm thinking a coach for Cinderella(in one of the squares) or snowflakes for Frozen. We shall see.

Well that's it so far....well, honestly, I have a gazillion more little projects floating around but this would be a giant post if I uploaded all the pics of those :)

But now, now I have a new project that I need to start. Remember back when I did a blanket for my first niece to get married? Then I did the Harry Potter for my next niece to get marred? Well, I have a new wedding blanket to make. And this time it isn't for one of my nieces( only have one of those left :) ). This one if for my daughter. Yes, I'm happy to announce that my oldest, R, is getting married. We don't know when or where yet but with in the year. I am so happy for her. I just finished talking to her and her blanket theme will be Texas. Not to be confused with H's Texans blanket. This one will have the Texas flag in the center and other Texas symbols...and possibly other symbols from their lives... surrounding it. Once I mock up a drawing I'll post it. I just hope I'm up to the task. I'm SO excited.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Yes, Its Been Awhile

I know, shame on me for being gone for so long. This seems to me my modus operandi :) Geez I need to look back to see when my last post was to see where I need to start. Ahhh, it was the morning glories.

Let see. I posted my Harry Potter blanket. I am pleased to say that she LOVED it. It makes my heart happy to know it will be loved. Every time I crochet something and give it away it's like sending one of my children out to make their way in the world. It's kind of bittersweet. I love giving them away but at the same time I miss it. Though with this one it gave me an ulcer....why, you ask? Because it took it nearly two weeks to get to my niece. For some reason it had a different zip code on it. Can't for the life of me think of who could have put the wrong zip on it....she says as she inconspicuously looks around for someone to blame :) The thought of it being lost out there in no man's land was giving me an upset stomach...really. But I called on St. Anthony and he found it and sent it on its way.
For those of you who are not Catholic here is a snippet about him.I always seem to be calling on him to help me find things...this is the prayer "Dear St. Anthony please come around something's lost and can't be found if you find it bring it to me dear St Anthony I love thee." And every time you ask St. Anthony for help..and you get it, you are supposed to give some money to the poor. St. Anthony loved helping the poor.

So my niece finally got the blanket and I must brag just a weeny bit. She said it was the best wedding present ever!! I'm just happy she got it :)

I have several other projects I am working on at the moment. I've started on H's Houston Texans blanket...it's going to be a toughy. I have a friend that wants a chunky slouchy hat/or ear cover. And I am having a difficult time finding a pattern that I'm good with and works with chunky yarn. I'm just not very good at figuring out the different hooks with the different yarn when the pattern calls for something else. I also need to start a slouchy hat for S as well as a Dr. Who scarf. AND my niece ( the same as above) wants cat butt coasters. Yes, I said cat but. Here is an example.
I got the pattern from here. They are so cute!!! Kind of gross but still so cute :)

I've also finished a few other projects that I'll add to another post. Hopefully I'll get to it tomorrow.