Visit Patchwork Times for updates on Design Wall Monday. Thank you Judy for giving us a place to post our progress on our quilting projects. Helps keep me focused on getting some quilting accomplished.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Baskets Everywhere
Lots and lots of little 4 inch baskets. I am seeing them in my sleep, but I am enjoying the making of this quilt more than any I have made lately. Luna Notte and these little baskets are perfect for each other. This will be a large quilt of course. I can't seem to keep them small, lol.
This is as far as I have gotten this week. Not sure of the final layout. I am thinking I may put a small containment border in there somewhere to break up the pattern, and then add more baskets on around that border. That doesn't make much sense when I say it, but maybe you will understand. So far I have made 84 baskets, and I figure 84 more will probably do it.
Visit Patchwork Times for updates on Design Wall Monday. Thank you Judy for giving us a place to post our progress on our quilting projects. Helps keep me focused on getting some quilting accomplished.
Visit Patchwork Times for updates on Design Wall Monday. Thank you Judy for giving us a place to post our progress on our quilting projects. Helps keep me focused on getting some quilting accomplished.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Just a Small Quilt for Design Wall Monday
It was only going to be a small quilt. Just make a little something from the fabric that I absolutely adore and had resisted buying because I have so much already and am trying to be "oh so good" this year.
Well, that "ain't gonna happen", I guess.
First of all, I saw a picture of this little quilt on a blog from I Have a Notion. It was hanging in a booth at Houston. Looked on the web and finally stumbled upon it on PickleDish and the order was placed.
This is what I am toying with as far as layout is concerned, but I have a couple of other ideas in the back of my head, so I have to get some more of this. I just love, love, love it! It looks like it is going to be a "blended quilt", which I think is truly my favorite of all quilt types.
Thank you Judy for providing a place to share, and I am working on my stash busting, just fell off the wagon for this collection, lol.
Monday, November 8, 2010
I Think I am Just Going to Give Up
Evidently, the powers that be have decided I am not supposed to have tulips in my yard.
I have a friend that helps me works the yard coming on Wednesday to set out tulips and pansies, pull weeds and mulch the flower beds and basically get the yard buttoned down for the winter.
I am feeling a little better and today was trying to get the house "cleaned" up so the cleaning lady can come tomorrow, and I can't find the sack with the bulbs in them! 60, yes 60!, tulip bulbs, have been patiently waiting for me to plant them for 6 weeks! I had put them in a corner of the front hall besides a weight scale that sits there that nobody uses. I have no idea how long they haven't been there, but they are there no longer, and nobody else has been in the house!
I could just cry! She has broken two things I made that I cannot replace and ruined the front hall floor in a couple of places by putting rags with chemicals on them on the tiles. I have told her several times not to put things on the tile, but that goes through one ear and out the other, and of course, for some reason cleaning ladies do not understand you don't put cleaning supplies on chairs either, especially light colored ones. I live in absolute fear of a catastrophe every time she walks in the door. And she has been working for us for almost 3 years, but I think this may be the last straw, unless she chooses to replace the tulips.
We have tried Merry Maids, and that is just throwing money away. I guess we got spoiled when we lived in Texas. We had the most wonderful person who cleaned for us. Any wonderful person living out there that wants to do some cleaning for a couple of cranky old ladies, actually one is just old, the "other one" is cranky and old! :)
If you hear the earth shaking, it is only me having a "hissy fit", as my Texas friend would remind me that that is what we Texans have.
I have a friend that helps me works the yard coming on Wednesday to set out tulips and pansies, pull weeds and mulch the flower beds and basically get the yard buttoned down for the winter.
I am feeling a little better and today was trying to get the house "cleaned" up so the cleaning lady can come tomorrow, and I can't find the sack with the bulbs in them! 60, yes 60!, tulip bulbs, have been patiently waiting for me to plant them for 6 weeks! I had put them in a corner of the front hall besides a weight scale that sits there that nobody uses. I have no idea how long they haven't been there, but they are there no longer, and nobody else has been in the house!
I could just cry! She has broken two things I made that I cannot replace and ruined the front hall floor in a couple of places by putting rags with chemicals on them on the tiles. I have told her several times not to put things on the tile, but that goes through one ear and out the other, and of course, for some reason cleaning ladies do not understand you don't put cleaning supplies on chairs either, especially light colored ones. I live in absolute fear of a catastrophe every time she walks in the door. And she has been working for us for almost 3 years, but I think this may be the last straw, unless she chooses to replace the tulips.
We have tried Merry Maids, and that is just throwing money away. I guess we got spoiled when we lived in Texas. We had the most wonderful person who cleaned for us. Any wonderful person living out there that wants to do some cleaning for a couple of cranky old ladies, actually one is just old, the "other one" is cranky and old! :)
If you hear the earth shaking, it is only me having a "hissy fit", as my Texas friend would remind me that that is what we Texans have.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Nights at the Old Ladies' House
I am not even sure how we arrived at this state. It is now almost 5 o'clock Saturday morning, and both Aud and myself have laughed ourselves into hysterics, which, if you are as old as we are, leads to "problems", lol.
I started getting ill last Saturday and by Tuesday I gave up and, after voting, went to the good old doctor. Diagnosed with bronchitis and all the attending symptoms I was sent home with prescriptions and an ever "enlarging cough".
I have spent the whole week coughing my head off, taking pills, sleeping, catching up on all of the taped segments of American Chopper, Chopped, Pawn Stars, and American Pickers, and whatever else I could find to do that required no effort because I have truly been sick.
We did find a cute movie on Thursday night called How to Tame a Dragon. It was light fare and very enjoyable. We also watched Sex and The City 2 which had some eye popping scenes in it. I never watched Sex and the City when it was a regular on TV, but Aud had, and she says that was always the way things happened.
So, at 10 pm tonight, Aud and I had nothing left to watch on television. After our baths, we started trying to catch up on some movies that looked like they might be decent. We watched A Good Woman from 2004 with Scarlett Johansson and Helen Hunt that was a great little movie based on a book written by Oscar Wilde.
Ok, looked at the preview of Knocked Up (Unedited)-2007, and since Katherine Heigl was in it, it appeared to be funny, and we both like funny movies. Five minutes into this movie, yes it is funny, but f words and other instances that seem to have become a staple of today's movies, have us both wondering if we are watching a porn station by mistake. It is a little difficult to watch some of the things that go on in movies with your 94 year old mother sitting beside you and she is laughing her head off and you are coughing so much you are choking, but the plot was kind of funny, and Katherine is a good actress, so we watched it through. Wow, I now know what unedited movies look and sound like.
Oh, it is only 2 am and neither one of us is sleepy, let's see what else we can find, here's one...with Hugh Grant, we both just love him, called Love Actually - 2003. Hugh Grant, with him in it it is bound to be suitable for little old ladies, right? Hah! It didn't actually take five minutes before we were watching lots of sex going on in different scenarios, and laughing our fool head offs because we were watching this movie and actually enjoying it, it was funny, and just kind of squirming our way through the sex parts. I am still amazed at what is actually being shown in movies anymore.
Evidently little old ladies aren't supposed to watch movies unless they are the old black and white ones that were very classy and we have seen a million times, or the animated ones for children.
When we finished watching the Hugh Grant movie and decided enough was enough, we should go to bed, Aud's ending remark was:
"You can't go out of town, you have to stick around to pick out movies for us tomorrow night!"
I started getting ill last Saturday and by Tuesday I gave up and, after voting, went to the good old doctor. Diagnosed with bronchitis and all the attending symptoms I was sent home with prescriptions and an ever "enlarging cough".
I have spent the whole week coughing my head off, taking pills, sleeping, catching up on all of the taped segments of American Chopper, Chopped, Pawn Stars, and American Pickers, and whatever else I could find to do that required no effort because I have truly been sick.
We did find a cute movie on Thursday night called How to Tame a Dragon. It was light fare and very enjoyable. We also watched Sex and The City 2 which had some eye popping scenes in it. I never watched Sex and the City when it was a regular on TV, but Aud had, and she says that was always the way things happened.
So, at 10 pm tonight, Aud and I had nothing left to watch on television. After our baths, we started trying to catch up on some movies that looked like they might be decent. We watched A Good Woman from 2004 with Scarlett Johansson and Helen Hunt that was a great little movie based on a book written by Oscar Wilde.
Ok, looked at the preview of Knocked Up (Unedited)-2007, and since Katherine Heigl was in it, it appeared to be funny, and we both like funny movies. Five minutes into this movie, yes it is funny, but f words and other instances that seem to have become a staple of today's movies, have us both wondering if we are watching a porn station by mistake. It is a little difficult to watch some of the things that go on in movies with your 94 year old mother sitting beside you and she is laughing her head off and you are coughing so much you are choking, but the plot was kind of funny, and Katherine is a good actress, so we watched it through. Wow, I now know what unedited movies look and sound like.
Oh, it is only 2 am and neither one of us is sleepy, let's see what else we can find, here's one...with Hugh Grant, we both just love him, called Love Actually - 2003. Hugh Grant, with him in it it is bound to be suitable for little old ladies, right? Hah! It didn't actually take five minutes before we were watching lots of sex going on in different scenarios, and laughing our fool head offs because we were watching this movie and actually enjoying it, it was funny, and just kind of squirming our way through the sex parts. I am still amazed at what is actually being shown in movies anymore.
Evidently little old ladies aren't supposed to watch movies unless they are the old black and white ones that were very classy and we have seen a million times, or the animated ones for children.
When we finished watching the Hugh Grant movie and decided enough was enough, we should go to bed, Aud's ending remark was:
"You can't go out of town, you have to stick around to pick out movies for us tomorrow night!"
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Eating Out in OKC
This is what is known as a rant. DO NOT take this personally if you live in or around Oklahoma City, this is my personal opinion and I stand behind it.
The cooks in the "chain restaurants" up here evidently all went to the school of "just cook it and they will come, and it doesn't matter whether it tastes good or not". The local restaurant cooks evidently went to the same school.
When I moved to OK my daughters told me not to find fault with anything up here and I have tried very hard to not find fault with anything up here. However, I have lived here for 9 years now and I feel like I can complain if I want to.
I love the people, they are, for the most part, very nice. I actually love the weather. Having come from the Houston, TX area, you can appreciate the change of seasons, and all of the outdoor activities available, and the professional sports teams we have, and the good old Sooners and Cowboys! Great college football, and all of the amenities available for those who row and swim, etc. Also, OKC has such far-seeing people at the helm of things, it is a great place to live, EXCEPT FOR the restaurants.
I can't speak for the very expensive restaurants because I can't afford to eat there. Take that back, I did eat at The Ranch, and if I could eat there every night I would think I had died and gone to heaven. But, alas, my ship sunk way before it reached the shore, so I am doomed to the "food" found in the local chain restaurants and those that attempt to make it in the restaurant business.
I have eaten mainly in the NW part of OKC, and there is nothing within a 30 mile radius that qualifies as a decent place to eat.
Today was a prime example. A friend and myself went to a tearoom in Bethany. I have eaten there twice before. The first time, about 2 years ago, the food was very good. 3 months ago, it was edible. Today it was plain out BAD!! You know when you walk in a restaurant at noon on a weekday and only 4 tables have people seated, and the last time you were there the place was full, that you should leave immediately.
I have been known to send food back and have talked to lots of owners, managers, etc of eating establishments, and expressed my displeasure. For some reason it always embarrasses my family. As I tell them, if I am paying good money for this food, it should be edible.
Anyway, I have become more disciplined as far as sending food back, so I am trying. Today, though, we both ordered a sampler plate with tuna salad, chicken salad on croissant, green salad, and a quiche of the day. Normally I don't eat tuna out because I can't stand the smell of what is called tuna anymore. It smells dead!
I took one bite of this tuna salad, caught a waitress going past, and had her remove all traces of it from my plate. Then I tried to eat the rest. The croissant was old, crumbly and cold. The quiche was awful, as bad as the one I made last week, lol, actually I think it was worse. There was no green salad because it had been put under the inedible tuna. The chicken salad was ok, nothing special, and the little "dessert" that had been frozen had been frozen for so long there was a ring of ice around it, lol. The raspberry tea was good. The muffin served with apricot (I think) butter would have been good, but I think it was old also. And cold.
The waitress showed up eventually and I asked her about the green salad, and she said it had been on the plate, and she did not know I had sent it back. Ok, she brings me a salad, I put the dressing on it, which was good, and take a bit of it. Wrong thing to do.
Waitress stops back by, fills up my tea, and asks if all is ok. No, just take it away. Not fit to eat. And left it at that. Did not ask to speak to anyone about the food! SO, the owner shows up and asks the problem is.
And I, having lots of tact, tell her the food is awful, you need a new cook. She smiles and says , my husband is the cook, to which I reply, then he needs a refresher course.
Let me go taste the food....and she leaves.....
A few mintutes pass, the waitress comes by, picks up our tickets, and says you will not be paying for your food, hope you try us again sometimes. Thank you for coming.
The owner NEVER came back. We sat there for a while and chatted, catching up on our lives, and then we left. I did not see anyone else come in while we were there and we left at 1:30.
If this post upsets you, that is just too bad, my opinion only, and I am entitled to that, I think. Anymore, maybe not.
The cooks in the "chain restaurants" up here evidently all went to the school of "just cook it and they will come, and it doesn't matter whether it tastes good or not". The local restaurant cooks evidently went to the same school.
When I moved to OK my daughters told me not to find fault with anything up here and I have tried very hard to not find fault with anything up here. However, I have lived here for 9 years now and I feel like I can complain if I want to.
I love the people, they are, for the most part, very nice. I actually love the weather. Having come from the Houston, TX area, you can appreciate the change of seasons, and all of the outdoor activities available, and the professional sports teams we have, and the good old Sooners and Cowboys! Great college football, and all of the amenities available for those who row and swim, etc. Also, OKC has such far-seeing people at the helm of things, it is a great place to live, EXCEPT FOR the restaurants.
I can't speak for the very expensive restaurants because I can't afford to eat there. Take that back, I did eat at The Ranch, and if I could eat there every night I would think I had died and gone to heaven. But, alas, my ship sunk way before it reached the shore, so I am doomed to the "food" found in the local chain restaurants and those that attempt to make it in the restaurant business.
I have eaten mainly in the NW part of OKC, and there is nothing within a 30 mile radius that qualifies as a decent place to eat.
Today was a prime example. A friend and myself went to a tearoom in Bethany. I have eaten there twice before. The first time, about 2 years ago, the food was very good. 3 months ago, it was edible. Today it was plain out BAD!! You know when you walk in a restaurant at noon on a weekday and only 4 tables have people seated, and the last time you were there the place was full, that you should leave immediately.
I have been known to send food back and have talked to lots of owners, managers, etc of eating establishments, and expressed my displeasure. For some reason it always embarrasses my family. As I tell them, if I am paying good money for this food, it should be edible.
Anyway, I have become more disciplined as far as sending food back, so I am trying. Today, though, we both ordered a sampler plate with tuna salad, chicken salad on croissant, green salad, and a quiche of the day. Normally I don't eat tuna out because I can't stand the smell of what is called tuna anymore. It smells dead!
I took one bite of this tuna salad, caught a waitress going past, and had her remove all traces of it from my plate. Then I tried to eat the rest. The croissant was old, crumbly and cold. The quiche was awful, as bad as the one I made last week, lol, actually I think it was worse. There was no green salad because it had been put under the inedible tuna. The chicken salad was ok, nothing special, and the little "dessert" that had been frozen had been frozen for so long there was a ring of ice around it, lol. The raspberry tea was good. The muffin served with apricot (I think) butter would have been good, but I think it was old also. And cold.
The waitress showed up eventually and I asked her about the green salad, and she said it had been on the plate, and she did not know I had sent it back. Ok, she brings me a salad, I put the dressing on it, which was good, and take a bit of it. Wrong thing to do.
Waitress stops back by, fills up my tea, and asks if all is ok. No, just take it away. Not fit to eat. And left it at that. Did not ask to speak to anyone about the food! SO, the owner shows up and asks the problem is.
And I, having lots of tact, tell her the food is awful, you need a new cook. She smiles and says , my husband is the cook, to which I reply, then he needs a refresher course.
Let me go taste the food....and she leaves.....
A few mintutes pass, the waitress comes by, picks up our tickets, and says you will not be paying for your food, hope you try us again sometimes. Thank you for coming.
The owner NEVER came back. We sat there for a while and chatted, catching up on our lives, and then we left. I did not see anyone else come in while we were there and we left at 1:30.
If this post upsets you, that is just too bad, my opinion only, and I am entitled to that, I think. Anymore, maybe not.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Another Bernina in The House
I seem to buy a new sewing machine every few years since I started quilting in late 1999. When I started quilting, I had the original 830 Bernina that I had sewed on for 30 years and it ran like a top, but was so heavy I couldn't lug it around. I had almost every extra foot for it and about 50 bobbins (seriously), the walking foot and the whole enchilada. So, I bought a small Janome to use for classes which worked pretty good.
About a month later I could stand it no longer, so I traded in the 830 (I know, I know, and I knew it at the time, lol) and bought a Bernina 150.
That sufficed until I fell in love withe a Pfaff 2044 because of the integrated dual feed and sewed on it for a while, then traded that up for the 2056, which I upgraded to a 2058 last year.
Sold the Bernina 150 because I had stitched through my finger with it and it took me forever to get my finger out and I had to go get a tetanus shot and I was very leery of that machine after that. There was nothing wrong with it, just me.
A couple of years ago I sold the little Janome to my hairdresser for her daughter so she would have a sewing machine to learn to quilt on. She was 10 at the time and is really a good little seamstress.
Then I decided I should have kept the Janome so I bought another one to use for classes, lol. I still have that one.
Four years ago I bought a BabyLock that only sews with a straight stitch and has a large interior space and a grace sewing frame so I could quilt my own quilts. Changed my mind on that real quick but kept the machine and I still have that one too, only I have never used it. One of these days I am going to use it with the Flynn frame that I have had for a few years. Must be prepared for all possibilities you know.
Then I decided I wanted a small Bernina to use for piecing , satin stitching and blanket stitching. So last year I bought a Bernina 220.
Well, a couple of weeks ago, I got hungry for the larger Bernina because I wanted the controlled tension and that way I could have a Bernina in each of my sewing areas, so I bought a 440. I really, really llike this machine. It is wonderful to sew on.
Now I am going to bid adieu to the Pfaff as I need to get rid of at least one of these machines, and it really is too good of a sewing machine to not be used. Anybody interested?
About a month later I could stand it no longer, so I traded in the 830 (I know, I know, and I knew it at the time, lol) and bought a Bernina 150.
That sufficed until I fell in love withe a Pfaff 2044 because of the integrated dual feed and sewed on it for a while, then traded that up for the 2056, which I upgraded to a 2058 last year.
Sold the Bernina 150 because I had stitched through my finger with it and it took me forever to get my finger out and I had to go get a tetanus shot and I was very leery of that machine after that. There was nothing wrong with it, just me.
A couple of years ago I sold the little Janome to my hairdresser for her daughter so she would have a sewing machine to learn to quilt on. She was 10 at the time and is really a good little seamstress.
Then I decided I should have kept the Janome so I bought another one to use for classes, lol. I still have that one.
Four years ago I bought a BabyLock that only sews with a straight stitch and has a large interior space and a grace sewing frame so I could quilt my own quilts. Changed my mind on that real quick but kept the machine and I still have that one too, only I have never used it. One of these days I am going to use it with the Flynn frame that I have had for a few years. Must be prepared for all possibilities you know.
Then I decided I wanted a small Bernina to use for piecing , satin stitching and blanket stitching. So last year I bought a Bernina 220.
Well, a couple of weeks ago, I got hungry for the larger Bernina because I wanted the controlled tension and that way I could have a Bernina in each of my sewing areas, so I bought a 440. I really, really llike this machine. It is wonderful to sew on.
Now I am going to bid adieu to the Pfaff as I need to get rid of at least one of these machines, and it really is too good of a sewing machine to not be used. Anybody interested?
Monday, October 25, 2010
Design Wall Monday
Aud Tales
Dinner conversation:
I just hurt all over, and my back is really bothering me and and I need a brace
Ok, I will take you to the doctor. You really need to see a bone specialist
No, no bone doctors. It will be better by the time we see Dr. Berner in 3 weeks.
By then you will have forgotten what is wrong with you now.
Well, my body is shrinking...
What do you mean, your body is shrinking?
Well, my bones are falling down, and so my body is falling down and my skin is sagging. It needs something to hold it up
laugh....did it occur to you that maybe if you quit eating ice cream you might not have sagging?
No, I just need something to hold up the skin until it shrinks like my bones are doing.
laughing harder now.....ok, Aud, how about if I get the exercise stretchy thing and we tie it around your ribcage to hold up the extra skin? Then you would have a bumper pad to keep you from breaking bones when you are wobbling down the hall from side to side
both of us are now laughing hysterically.......yeah, let's try that, maybe it will knock some of it off....
are you ready for ice cream now? :)
I just hurt all over, and my back is really bothering me and and I need a brace
Ok, I will take you to the doctor. You really need to see a bone specialist
No, no bone doctors. It will be better by the time we see Dr. Berner in 3 weeks.
By then you will have forgotten what is wrong with you now.
Well, my body is shrinking...
What do you mean, your body is shrinking?
Well, my bones are falling down, and so my body is falling down and my skin is sagging. It needs something to hold it up
laugh....did it occur to you that maybe if you quit eating ice cream you might not have sagging?
No, I just need something to hold up the skin until it shrinks like my bones are doing.
laughing harder now.....ok, Aud, how about if I get the exercise stretchy thing and we tie it around your ribcage to hold up the extra skin? Then you would have a bumper pad to keep you from breaking bones when you are wobbling down the hall from side to side
both of us are now laughing hysterically.......yeah, let's try that, maybe it will knock some of it off....
are you ready for ice cream now? :)
Sunday, October 24, 2010
A Little Quilting Going On
Design Wall
I have actually gotten some quilting done this week. Dug out another quilt that I started a couple of years ago, and started putting the borders on it.
I am so pleased with the way this looks. It is from a pattern called Diamond in the Rough by Debby Caffrey (I think that is the name) and I took a class from a local teacher a couple of years ago to learn how to do this quilt. Of course I didn't do mine like everyone else did, lol.
I am going to add 4 inch squares of the patterned fabric on the long sides to make the width better. This fabric is all Thimbleberries, and I have so much of it that I am going to piece something for the backing. That will use up another 10 yards about.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Aud Tales
Background...Miss Aud and I have lived in the same house for the last 20 years except for the first year I lived in Oklahoma. Up until the middle of last year Aud did the cooking. I occasionally cooked but the way the kitchen was set up was for a right handed person who should have been left handed, if that makes sense. Plus everytime I cooked I had someone looking over my shoulder, so it was just easier to clean up the kitchen after we ate and forget about it unless she needed help, which did happen occasionally.
So now I am cooking. That is one reason we have a new kitchen, couldn't stand the old one..there was no room and I spread out when I cook. Mom says I make the biggest mess in the world other than one of her older sisters when she was alive. I don't agree, but what do I know.
Our "supper/dinner" tonight was green salad and quiche. I don't particularly like the recipe she uses for quiche, so I got out the Cotton Country cookbook from Monroe LA, which is wonderful!... and found 3 quiche recipes in it. I wanted onions, bacon, and gruyere cheese in it and by combining all three recipes I figured it would work out ok.
Aud,how much bacon do you usually use in your quiche?
12 pieces
12 pieces? this recipe calls for 4
Well I use 12.
Ok, twelve it is. I cooked the bacon, and then added it, the gruyere cheese, onions I had sweated in butter, half and half, and 4 farm eggs that a friend of mine gave me a couple of days ago. The recipe also called for a pre-baked pie shell, and I knew the filling was going to be a little more than a pie shell would hold, so I got out the deep dish pie shell, unrolled the pie crust, put it in the plate, pricked some holes in it, and stuck it in the oven for 10 minutes. Well, duh! The darn thing shrank. Of course it shrank! That is what pie shells do, right? That is why you crimp them around the outside of pie shells.
Ok, so it will just seep over, this is a non stick pan, no problem. Well, actually it didn't have a lot of flavor, but was a little too salty for our taste , and I didn't add any salt.
I sure will be glad when you learn to cook again....
Well, you told me 12 piece of bacon
Well, it depends on what size, these are big pieces of bacon
Well, you didn't mention that, Aud
Would you have put 12 pieces of the size I used in your recipe?
Oh, probably
I will work on this recipe some more...or find the one I used to make when I cooked 20 years ago. I love a good quiche.
Next up was my favorite pecan pie. The recipe for it is also in the Cotton Country cookbook. It is called the Best Ever Pecan Pie, and it really is. The filling is made with browned butter, and I always get it really really brown, so the flavor is very rich.
Hmm, my pecan pies don't look like this and I have used that recipe before.
Yes, but you never brown the butter as dark as I do.
Well, it sure is greasy. Sure will be glad when you learn to cook again.
Oh, dear..... this pie is so rich you can't eat much at one time, but it is very buttery. I think I will decrease the butter by about 2 tablespoons.
A picture of my very delicious pecan pie.
In a past life I was an excellent cook, and Aud cannot understand how in the world I have forgotten how to cook... as she says, it's like riding a bicycle.....but the last time I rode a bicycle I fell off, so I guess I haven't figured out how to get on that bike again.
So now I am cooking. That is one reason we have a new kitchen, couldn't stand the old one..there was no room and I spread out when I cook. Mom says I make the biggest mess in the world other than one of her older sisters when she was alive. I don't agree, but what do I know.
Our "supper/dinner" tonight was green salad and quiche. I don't particularly like the recipe she uses for quiche, so I got out the Cotton Country cookbook from Monroe LA, which is wonderful!... and found 3 quiche recipes in it. I wanted onions, bacon, and gruyere cheese in it and by combining all three recipes I figured it would work out ok.
Aud,how much bacon do you usually use in your quiche?
12 pieces
12 pieces? this recipe calls for 4
Well I use 12.
Ok, twelve it is. I cooked the bacon, and then added it, the gruyere cheese, onions I had sweated in butter, half and half, and 4 farm eggs that a friend of mine gave me a couple of days ago. The recipe also called for a pre-baked pie shell, and I knew the filling was going to be a little more than a pie shell would hold, so I got out the deep dish pie shell, unrolled the pie crust, put it in the plate, pricked some holes in it, and stuck it in the oven for 10 minutes. Well, duh! The darn thing shrank. Of course it shrank! That is what pie shells do, right? That is why you crimp them around the outside of pie shells.
Ok, so it will just seep over, this is a non stick pan, no problem. Well, actually it didn't have a lot of flavor, but was a little too salty for our taste , and I didn't add any salt.
I sure will be glad when you learn to cook again....
Well, you told me 12 piece of bacon
Well, it depends on what size, these are big pieces of bacon
Well, you didn't mention that, Aud
Would you have put 12 pieces of the size I used in your recipe?
Oh, probably
I will work on this recipe some more...or find the one I used to make when I cooked 20 years ago. I love a good quiche.
Next up was my favorite pecan pie. The recipe for it is also in the Cotton Country cookbook. It is called the Best Ever Pecan Pie, and it really is. The filling is made with browned butter, and I always get it really really brown, so the flavor is very rich.
Hmm, my pecan pies don't look like this and I have used that recipe before.
Yes, but you never brown the butter as dark as I do.
Well, it sure is greasy. Sure will be glad when you learn to cook again.
Oh, dear..... this pie is so rich you can't eat much at one time, but it is very buttery. I think I will decrease the butter by about 2 tablespoons.
In a past life I was an excellent cook, and Aud cannot understand how in the world I have forgotten how to cook... as she says, it's like riding a bicycle.....but the last time I rode a bicycle I fell off, so I guess I haven't figured out how to get on that bike again.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Ms Aud turns 94!
Miss Aud had her 94th birthday on Monday October 11th. I asked my daughters if they wanted to drive to Dallas with us to eat seafood at Pappadeau's on the Saturday before.
On the Friday before, we went to the oxygen place to pick up some small "on demand" oxygen canisters to take with us to Dallas so there would be oxygen available if needed.
Aud wanted some fried chicken from Popeye's, so we stopped on the way home from the oxygen place and ate some. It didn't taste just right to me but food hasn't tasted right in a while, so I didn't think too much about it. Well, around midnight, I did think about it, but I was ok by around 4. Poor Aud, she wasn't, and Saturday morning she was just not able to go with Summer and I to Dallas. My younger daughter had previous commitments and was not able to join us.
Aud, do you want us to bring you something? No......
We drove to Dallas and went to Pappadeau's. We had a wonderful meal. I ate fried crab claws and crab cakes with crawfish, and Summer had scallops. And we had Greek Salad, and rolls and butter, and their wonderful fried onion rings, and it was scrumptious!!!! Both of us ate "the whole thing" and it was enormous, lol.
We left OKC at 9:30 and were back in OKC by 5:30.......
....what did you bring me to eat?
...nothing, you said you didn't want anything....
...well, I started to call you, but I figured you would bring me something
..sorry
So now we are going to go to Dallas "the first day I feel good enough to go"......
and she hasn't been feeling super good for the last week so we haven't gone yet, but I am ready.....
That is the only thing I really miss about Houston, other than my friends there.
On the Friday before, we went to the oxygen place to pick up some small "on demand" oxygen canisters to take with us to Dallas so there would be oxygen available if needed.
Aud wanted some fried chicken from Popeye's, so we stopped on the way home from the oxygen place and ate some. It didn't taste just right to me but food hasn't tasted right in a while, so I didn't think too much about it. Well, around midnight, I did think about it, but I was ok by around 4. Poor Aud, she wasn't, and Saturday morning she was just not able to go with Summer and I to Dallas. My younger daughter had previous commitments and was not able to join us.
Aud, do you want us to bring you something? No......
We drove to Dallas and went to Pappadeau's. We had a wonderful meal. I ate fried crab claws and crab cakes with crawfish, and Summer had scallops. And we had Greek Salad, and rolls and butter, and their wonderful fried onion rings, and it was scrumptious!!!! Both of us ate "the whole thing" and it was enormous, lol.
We left OKC at 9:30 and were back in OKC by 5:30.......
....what did you bring me to eat?
...nothing, you said you didn't want anything....
...well, I started to call you, but I figured you would bring me something
..sorry
So now we are going to go to Dallas "the first day I feel good enough to go"......
and she hasn't been feeling super good for the last week so we haven't gone yet, but I am ready.....
That is the only thing I really miss about Houston, other than my friends there.
A Little History
Aud turned 94 a couple of weeks ago, which makes me 71 now. The reason I say this is because I am watching a lot of tv with her and our choice of programs is a little strange, to say the least. It got me to thinking about how much time I was wasting watching tv.
The first tv I ever saw was when I was 12 years old (1951 ?) and was staying with my "grandma" for the summer. She lived in Texas a little west of Fort Worth, and it was hotter than you know what, and she did not have an air conditioner. We went to visit her brother (he was the town banker then) and they had a tv and ac. lol. The screen was about 12 inches square, the picture was black and white, the program was Kukla, Fran and Ollie, and the tv cabinet was enormous! I didn't care for that program then, I thought it was silly. Maybe that is why tv was never very important to me growing up.
I think I was a junior in high school, which would have been 1956, when we first got a tv. It was only a black and white and I don't think it was bigger than 12 inches either, and Aud and I would sit about 2 feet in front of the screen and watch the Steve Allan show, and I Love Lucy. That was the era of live tv and those were the funniest shows I have ever seen. It was wonderful comedy and you had to see it to believe it because you wouldn't see it again for a long, long time. I don't remember watching anything else during those years, and certainly didn't have a tv for several years after I got out of school. That was also the time of the "don't sit too close to the tv, it isn't good for you, yada yada yada".
Don't remember watching tv after that. I didn't seem to have time to watch a program all the way through, therefore didn't ever start watching one to begin with. I do remember having one when the girls were 2 and 5, and they watched cartoons on tv, and Kookla, Fran and Ollie were still on and I still didn't like them, lol.
We took a tv to Europe when my husband was deployed to Germany after serving in Vietnam. Not sure why, because we never had it hooked up until the winter olympics the year they were held somewhere in France, don't remember the town, but we watched them in German, lol. The only other time we watched any tv while in Europe was sitting in a bar in Barcelona watching a bullfight while we were on vacation and it was raining and the weather was awful. And it was in Spanish. :)
After that, things were always too busy and I still didn't watch tv because I couldn't watch any program from beginning to end for one reason or another. The girls watched Saturday Night Live and to this day still talk about how funny that program was "back then". I tried watching it not too long ago, and I guess I am just not into that type of humor.
Forward to the year 2000, still not watching tv, but big life changes happened. My husband passed away after a long and difficult battle with diabetes and heart problems, I got laid off from work, took a job in OKC, and moved from the Houston area. Ms Aud stayed behind to sell the house.
When I moved to OKC, I packed my car for what I thought was going to be 2 months at most that I would need clothes etc, before the rest of my belongings would be here. Must have known that was going to be wrong, because I packed my "stash" and sent it ahead via the mail to one of my daughter's I packed some of my clothes, my sewing machine, an iron, a small tv, a small ironing board, some quilting equipment (rulers, etc) and I think I bought one box with the minimum cooking stuff. All I could carry anyway.
I moved into a one bedroom apartment that was pretty large, and was furnished with a lounge chair, a long narrow tv table, and a bed that my daughter let me use. The next day I went to the local Bernina dealer and bought a table for my Bernina, and a cutting table. They were kind enough to deliver them, probably because I told them I couldn't buy them otherwise. And then I started my new job.
The people that I was around at work were watching ER every week and were always talking about it, and since I was living by myself and really didn't have anything to do I started watching that show on my little tv. And I could watch the whole show from beginning to end because there was nothing to disturb me. But wait! I didn't know what had happened to the characters before I started watching it.
So, I went to Ultimate Electronics, bought a 23" (I think that was the size) and a Tivo! Wow! I found the old ER shows on TNT and there were 3 hours of them a day! So I sat that Tivo to taping them and it took me several months, but I finally got caught up on the characters. I would rush home, grab something to eat, plop myself in front of the tv and watch George Clooney and Margolis, don't remember her first name, for 3 hours and it was fascinating! After I finally got caught up on the characters and the old shows, I think that was about the time Clooney quit. I lost interest, thank heavens, and got some quilting done for a while.
It took a year for our house to sell and then Ms Aud moved up here, and we moved to this house, and I am forwarding this tale to now.
Aud watches a lot of tv and one day not too long ago I wandered into her room and she was watching Orange County Choppers. I was horrified at the language and all of the drama, but watched a couple of the shows with her, and I was hooked. I had gotten rid of the Tivo several years ago and had a DVR on the tv in my room. We couldn't watch these dramas in there, so I got us another DVR for the living room, and started taping the older shows so I could catch up on the characters again. Deja vu. For the last 3 or 4 weeks now I have been taping 4 hours of OCC a day, Monday thru Friday, lol. And now there is one hour on Thursday nights. These all have to be watched, of course, so I am spending a lot of time in front of the tv one more time. I will be glad when this is caught up so I can get back to some serious quilting.
Think I have an "addiction" problem? Yes, I think I must. It's a good thing I am retired, huh.
The first tv I ever saw was when I was 12 years old (1951 ?) and was staying with my "grandma" for the summer. She lived in Texas a little west of Fort Worth, and it was hotter than you know what, and she did not have an air conditioner. We went to visit her brother (he was the town banker then) and they had a tv and ac. lol. The screen was about 12 inches square, the picture was black and white, the program was Kukla, Fran and Ollie, and the tv cabinet was enormous! I didn't care for that program then, I thought it was silly. Maybe that is why tv was never very important to me growing up.
I think I was a junior in high school, which would have been 1956, when we first got a tv. It was only a black and white and I don't think it was bigger than 12 inches either, and Aud and I would sit about 2 feet in front of the screen and watch the Steve Allan show, and I Love Lucy. That was the era of live tv and those were the funniest shows I have ever seen. It was wonderful comedy and you had to see it to believe it because you wouldn't see it again for a long, long time. I don't remember watching anything else during those years, and certainly didn't have a tv for several years after I got out of school. That was also the time of the "don't sit too close to the tv, it isn't good for you, yada yada yada".
Don't remember watching tv after that. I didn't seem to have time to watch a program all the way through, therefore didn't ever start watching one to begin with. I do remember having one when the girls were 2 and 5, and they watched cartoons on tv, and Kookla, Fran and Ollie were still on and I still didn't like them, lol.
We took a tv to Europe when my husband was deployed to Germany after serving in Vietnam. Not sure why, because we never had it hooked up until the winter olympics the year they were held somewhere in France, don't remember the town, but we watched them in German, lol. The only other time we watched any tv while in Europe was sitting in a bar in Barcelona watching a bullfight while we were on vacation and it was raining and the weather was awful. And it was in Spanish. :)
After that, things were always too busy and I still didn't watch tv because I couldn't watch any program from beginning to end for one reason or another. The girls watched Saturday Night Live and to this day still talk about how funny that program was "back then". I tried watching it not too long ago, and I guess I am just not into that type of humor.
Forward to the year 2000, still not watching tv, but big life changes happened. My husband passed away after a long and difficult battle with diabetes and heart problems, I got laid off from work, took a job in OKC, and moved from the Houston area. Ms Aud stayed behind to sell the house.
When I moved to OKC, I packed my car for what I thought was going to be 2 months at most that I would need clothes etc, before the rest of my belongings would be here. Must have known that was going to be wrong, because I packed my "stash" and sent it ahead via the mail to one of my daughter's I packed some of my clothes, my sewing machine, an iron, a small tv, a small ironing board, some quilting equipment (rulers, etc) and I think I bought one box with the minimum cooking stuff. All I could carry anyway.
I moved into a one bedroom apartment that was pretty large, and was furnished with a lounge chair, a long narrow tv table, and a bed that my daughter let me use. The next day I went to the local Bernina dealer and bought a table for my Bernina, and a cutting table. They were kind enough to deliver them, probably because I told them I couldn't buy them otherwise. And then I started my new job.
The people that I was around at work were watching ER every week and were always talking about it, and since I was living by myself and really didn't have anything to do I started watching that show on my little tv. And I could watch the whole show from beginning to end because there was nothing to disturb me. But wait! I didn't know what had happened to the characters before I started watching it.
So, I went to Ultimate Electronics, bought a 23" (I think that was the size) and a Tivo! Wow! I found the old ER shows on TNT and there were 3 hours of them a day! So I sat that Tivo to taping them and it took me several months, but I finally got caught up on the characters. I would rush home, grab something to eat, plop myself in front of the tv and watch George Clooney and Margolis, don't remember her first name, for 3 hours and it was fascinating! After I finally got caught up on the characters and the old shows, I think that was about the time Clooney quit. I lost interest, thank heavens, and got some quilting done for a while.
It took a year for our house to sell and then Ms Aud moved up here, and we moved to this house, and I am forwarding this tale to now.
Aud watches a lot of tv and one day not too long ago I wandered into her room and she was watching Orange County Choppers. I was horrified at the language and all of the drama, but watched a couple of the shows with her, and I was hooked. I had gotten rid of the Tivo several years ago and had a DVR on the tv in my room. We couldn't watch these dramas in there, so I got us another DVR for the living room, and started taping the older shows so I could catch up on the characters again. Deja vu. For the last 3 or 4 weeks now I have been taping 4 hours of OCC a day, Monday thru Friday, lol. And now there is one hour on Thursday nights. These all have to be watched, of course, so I am spending a lot of time in front of the tv one more time. I will be glad when this is caught up so I can get back to some serious quilting.
Think I have an "addiction" problem? Yes, I think I must. It's a good thing I am retired, huh.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Aud Tales
Some days around here are really good and some days are complete bummers.
Mother (Aud) is trying desperately to get off of oxygen. She will go about 3 days only using it at night and then she will have a day that she is almost completely out of it as far as knowing what is going on. We were at the doctor's last week and her pulsox is up to 94 which is great for her.
So, it was decided she could go to concentrated oxygen, commonly called "air on demand". An appointment was made with the oxygen providers to see if she was "eligible" to do this. Not sure what constitutes eligibility. Another bunch of paperwork for sure.
Here she is discussing how to use this device, and working with the method you use to get oxygen.
There are lots of choices to be made and we were there for 2 hours. She still has to use the main oxygen
machine at night because it pumps oxygen continuously.
The machine used to fill these small bottles sits on top of the big machine. I posted a picture of this setup when we first got it; it hasn't changed at all, sorry to say.
We get it all home, I try to fill up the little guys and finally call the company because I can't get them filled. A very nice man comes to the house, and of course, the damn bottle was not closed and that is why it wouldn't fill. Never dawned on me to check that. I felt like an idiot. Plus, the machine was making lots of racket and I was going crazy.
I ended up moving the oxygen setup to the spare bedroom we created when I repurposed some rooms during the remodel . Of course the room still isn't straight, but at least the oxygen is in a place where I can close the door and I don't hear it all the time.
Mother still has trouble trying to figure out which button to press to turn off the big machine, and half the time, if I don't check on her, she doesn't turn it on or off at the right time. I remember when my husband got to the point where it was hard for him to breathe, and he was doing silly things like mother is now. It is really worrying and you have to be vigilant all the time.
That is why some days are good and some are bad. I was so hoping she would be getting better and really wouldn't need the oxygen except at night. I guess that is not going to happen, at least as soon as we were both hoping. And her legs are bothering her bunches, and she fell again and is very sore all over.
Took her to the doctor to be sure there wasn't a blood clot in her leg from her fall. She has an enormous bruise now. He said just to put wet heat on it a couple of times a day, and bathing in our "spa tub" would help. Of course she hasn't done any of that yet.
Helped me carry in some groceries last night and promptll had a nose bleed about an hour later. Not sure how I am going to handle getting groceries into the house. I am having so much trouble with my left arm...I think my rotator whatever it is called is really screwed up for some reason and I have difficulty carrying anything that weighs anything also.
Hmm, think I will scream a couple of times, and go get some of Cornwell's books from the library and continue my education of the 7th century England.
Mother (Aud) is trying desperately to get off of oxygen. She will go about 3 days only using it at night and then she will have a day that she is almost completely out of it as far as knowing what is going on. We were at the doctor's last week and her pulsox is up to 94 which is great for her.
Here she is discussing how to use this device, and working with the method you use to get oxygen.
There are lots of choices to be made and we were there for 2 hours. She still has to use the main oxygen
machine at night because it pumps oxygen continuously.
The machine used to fill these small bottles sits on top of the big machine. I posted a picture of this setup when we first got it; it hasn't changed at all, sorry to say.
We get it all home, I try to fill up the little guys and finally call the company because I can't get them filled. A very nice man comes to the house, and of course, the damn bottle was not closed and that is why it wouldn't fill. Never dawned on me to check that. I felt like an idiot. Plus, the machine was making lots of racket and I was going crazy.
I ended up moving the oxygen setup to the spare bedroom we created when I repurposed some rooms during the remodel . Of course the room still isn't straight, but at least the oxygen is in a place where I can close the door and I don't hear it all the time.
Mother still has trouble trying to figure out which button to press to turn off the big machine, and half the time, if I don't check on her, she doesn't turn it on or off at the right time. I remember when my husband got to the point where it was hard for him to breathe, and he was doing silly things like mother is now. It is really worrying and you have to be vigilant all the time.
That is why some days are good and some are bad. I was so hoping she would be getting better and really wouldn't need the oxygen except at night. I guess that is not going to happen, at least as soon as we were both hoping. And her legs are bothering her bunches, and she fell again and is very sore all over.
Took her to the doctor to be sure there wasn't a blood clot in her leg from her fall. She has an enormous bruise now. He said just to put wet heat on it a couple of times a day, and bathing in our "spa tub" would help. Of course she hasn't done any of that yet.
Helped me carry in some groceries last night and promptll had a nose bleed about an hour later. Not sure how I am going to handle getting groceries into the house. I am having so much trouble with my left arm...I think my rotator whatever it is called is really screwed up for some reason and I have difficulty carrying anything that weighs anything also.
Hmm, think I will scream a couple of times, and go get some of Cornwell's books from the library and continue my education of the 7th century England.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
September Flora
The yard has looked pretty good the past week since we have finally had something besides high 90s temperature wise.
Some of the azaleas have started their autumn blooming.
Aud felt good enough to wash off the back porch. I won't ever do that and she keeps hinting and finally
does it herself. :)
Here is the view that I see when I am at my sewing machine. So very peaceful and I just love it. I have wanted to use this area to sew in ever since we moved into this house 9 years ago.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Design Wall Monday
It is finished !!! Too big for the design wall, so I am using bed to show it finished. Not going to put any borders on it, it will be too big for the bed, lol. Think I will bind it with strips of all the blues used in the quilt. As for the backing, I am thinking pieced...not sure if I will use only the beiges in the quilt or if i will use all the colors. Probably only beiges. I guess it will depend on what I decide to do when I cut the strips.
I am really excited to get this quilt done! And it even looks better than I thought it would, which is a pleasant surprise, lol.
Thanks to Judy for providing encouragement to at least do some quilting every week!
Hope everyone is off to a great start this week.
Thanks to Judy for providing encouragement to at least do some quilting every week!
Hope everyone is off to a great start this week.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Design Wall Monday
Updated photos of Road to Oklahoma
quilt.
Thank you Judy, for providing a place to for this every week.
One of these days I will be through with this quilt I hope. My piecing sure isn't looking real good these days.
Finally broke down and bought a new iron. My expensive Rowenta bit the dust, (those irons are not worth the money), so I found a good old Black and Decker on Amazon, and it is great. Not super heavy, but enough so, and automatic settings for steaming, and I am very happy with it.
Spent the weekend watching football games with Aud and reading.
The Girl Who Played with Fire was read Saturday evening until 6 am on Sunday.
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest was read Sunday evening until 4 am on Monday.
I really enjoyed these. I know everyone else has probably read them, but I can't read like most people, when I start a book I want to finish it. So, that is done.
I have downloaded a book called The Last Kingdom by Bernard Caldwell from Amazon for my Ipad. It is the first book of the Saxon Chronicles Series. I guess I will tackle it soon.
I love historical novels, especially those dealing with King Arthur. He was real, right? lol
There is a story there, but not now. This is already too long.
Hope everyone's week is going well. I am going to watch Dancing with the Stars, :)
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Second Tuesday
I finally got to go to quilting group I belong to called Second Tuesday. A small group of quilters that belong to the Central Oklahoma Quilter's Guild and meet once a month. There are some fine quilters in this group. These are some of the quilts and projects that were shown the past two months. 
Monday, September 13, 2010
It's Monday Again!
Well, as I write this Monday is almost over, but I have to show my Design Wall, such as it is. I didn't get a lot done, but this will have to do for now. I have two more rows finished, but the are not sewn together yet, and then I have two more rows of blocks to sew together plus the bottom row to finish out the stars. Thank you JudyL for always encouraging us to at least quilt a little bit every week.
We did have a busy weekend, full of football games, and I tried to get a little quilting done. Mostly it was football games though. OU won, OSU won, YEA!!!! and then we watched Sam Bradford almost win for the St. Louis Rams on Sunday.
For those of you who don't follow football, this means nothing, but I love to watch Mr Sam throw that football. He has a great arm and since he played for OU (he also won the Heisman Trophy last year) I have to watch him. And the Rams also picked up another good player named Mark Clayton who played for OU several years ago, don't remember which NFL team he was playing for before now.
And see this? Guess who got to wash sheets for Aud on Sunday? Me! lol....evidently I became a little older this week so therefore I have a new responsibility, :) Didn't I do a good job? Just need to fold them, but I haven't graduated to that yet, thank goodness!
I forgot to take pictures, but I also made up a batch of "chili" and we had homemade chili with hotdogs. They were so good. Every once in a while we get hungry for hotdogs and now that we have chili frozen maybe we will have those more often and maybe some frito chili pie, yum!!! I used two pounds of chopped sirloin and that will last us a good while. I quit using "chili meat" because it has too much gristle in it anymore. Haven't found any good in OKC, but probably I am not shopping at the best place for that.
One of my grandsons loves frito pie. He used to stay with me some when he was younger. His mother worked late and I would pick him up from daycare and bring him home and she would pick him up after she got off work. He always wanted frito pie, but not with canned chili. It had to be "homemade", lol.
I don't get to see him too often anymore, he lives in Dallas now. But everytime I make chili I think of him.
I hope this is a great week for all of us!
For those of you who don't follow football, this means nothing, but I love to watch Mr Sam throw that football. He has a great arm and since he played for OU (he also won the Heisman Trophy last year) I have to watch him. And the Rams also picked up another good player named Mark Clayton who played for OU several years ago, don't remember which NFL team he was playing for before now.
And see this? Guess who got to wash sheets for Aud on Sunday? Me! lol....evidently I became a little older this week so therefore I have a new responsibility, :) Didn't I do a good job? Just need to fold them, but I haven't graduated to that yet, thank goodness!
One of my grandsons loves frito pie. He used to stay with me some when he was younger. His mother worked late and I would pick him up from daycare and bring him home and she would pick him up after she got off work. He always wanted frito pie, but not with canned chili. It had to be "homemade", lol.
I don't get to see him too often anymore, he lives in Dallas now. But everytime I make chili I think of him.
I hope this is a great week for all of us!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Aud Tales
Thursday afternoon. I have been to exercise class. I go to Pacer's and I take classes that are designed for senior citizens. They are called Silver Sneakers and are comprised of people younger and older than I and are always full of wonderful ladies and a few gentlemen. Here are some pictures to show you some of the class area.I hurried home from my class, after first stopping to get us a Starbucks, so I could take Aud to get some pants hemmed up before our hair appointments. They have needed to be hemmed up for a few months, but for some reason or another we never get there. Every time I plan to take her, something happens.
This time we got as far as getting the pants in the car, getting the oxygen in the car, getting her Starbucks coffee transferred from the store container to her acrylic Starbucks container, and getting her in the car. Then she tells me, I shouldn't have these taken up today, I am bloated and they won't fit. We can all relate to that, right?
So, we have 30 mintues to kill before our hair appointment. Here we both sit, drinking our Starbucks, and she is looking at mail and I am writing this.
Supposedly we are going to Dillard's after hair appointments. I will close this for now, but more later on the rest of this day.
Thursday continued.....as usual change happens, lol
This is Aud waiting for me to get through at Hair Salon. She looks younger than I do, she takes very good care of herself, lol.
This is Shelva, the sassy youngster that keeps us in hair cuts and purple and pink. Would you believe she has an 18 year old son?
Ooops, change of plan....
Aud decides we need to go to the shoe store. Notice there is no oxygen attached. It has been several weeks since she has been able to go without oxygen for very long, and we are both loving the freedom. She is in need of shoes that fit her better than what she has been wearing, and by better I mean not quite as high or wobbly, and they cannot be "old" looking, lol. So, we call and get an appointment and off we go.
How about these for houseshoes. I forgot to take a picture of the others she bought, but she wore one pair out, and looked pretty snazzy. It took her a few minutes to realize these were really one pair. At first she thought they were two, and thought the one on the left fit better, lol. That was pretty funny.
We love to go to this store. It is called Foot Solutions and we have been going there since they opened and they always treat us very well. A couple of years ago I locked my keys in the car and the owner was gracious enough to take me home, about 5 miles away, to get my other set, lol.
Aud has a very skinny foot and it is hard to find shoes that fit. When her ankles started swelling so much she had to quit wearing Ferragamos, which just about broke her heart. (I don't think that is spelled right) So we come here about once a year or so to buy shoes. I bought some houseshoes and some clogs that are made in Germany out of boiled wool. I just love them, and wear them in the winter with socks when I am bumming around. No pictures of these either.
So Dillard's will be put off for another day. Aud is getting a little short of breath and I think she needs to get home. It has been a long day. I have a portable tank of oxygen in the car but she says she will be ok until we get home.
We watched New Orleans beat Minnesota and now Ms Aud is off to bed and I am heading that way shortly. It has been a very pleasant day and Aud is not fretting over her shingles or any other thing and is beating that deveil all over the place in Slingo.
Hope eveyone had a pleasant day also, and that tomorrow will be good for all of us!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
It's Everywhere!
When we remodeled I decided at that time to repurpose some rooms. Think I might have mentioned that, come to think of it.
As a result my quilting stuff seems to be everywhere. When I started hauling it out of the closet it was in, it just seemed to grow, lol. I have shown a pic of my main sewing area off of the kitchen, but thought someone might get a smile from knowing they aren't the only ones with a "fabric stash", lol. And every time I look at this wall of boxes, I say to myself, "what was I thinking!"
Each one of these containers contains a "quilt", except for the big tubs, and they are full of batiks and Kaffe Fassett fabrics. I don't think I will need any new fabric for a while, but it sure is hard to resist it. The book shelves contain some of my quilting books and some stuff I haven't decided where to put yet, lol. Recipes and recipe books are part of the stuff on the bottom shelves, but that's another story.
A friend of mine helped me organize my quilting books and magazines a couple of months ago. These have made the final cut and are in "order". There are 3 piles of quilting magazines in the garage I need to go through, and, I hate to say it, there are 3 piles of newer quilting books and magazines in my bedroom that need to be sorted out, lol. I guess they will slowly make their way to the garage or the bookshelves. Do you see a pattern here? First the living room or my bedroom, then shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, lol.
These are the closets in the above room. A lot of kits, Thimbleberries, Kansas Troubles, Fossil Ferns, and some "stash", and lots of backings live there, plus other "have to haves" for quilting.
These are pictures of another closet that contains "projects" and some wonderful fabrics that I just can't part with. I also have wips hanging on hangers on the door. You can see some of them.
Knowing I needed something to spruce up my sewing area off the kitchen, a very dear friend of mine gave me this for my birthday.
It makes me smile.
I don't think you can read the verse but maybe if you turn it sideways. I can't seem to get this imported with it turned. At this point I guess I am doing good to get it in period, lol.
Looking at these pictures make me tired. :)
Aud Tales
I think I will just title these little bits and pieces Aud Tales, because that is exactly what they are...things that happened, mostly every day, of life with my wonderful mother. If you are reading this blog, you may find them boring, but I need to journal them for myself, if for no other reason.
"I need some eye drops.....
I got you some eye drops a week ago when you said you needed them.
No you did not, I never saw any.
Yes I did. From Walgreeen's when I got your prescriptions last week. They were in the sack with the candy I got you. Remember, you wanted Baush and Lomb(sp) and I called you from there to tell you they didn't have any of that brand and you said just get some? ...so I got Walgreen's brand....
Well, I know you didn't, I don't have any.
Mother, I did get you some eyedrops, I have no idea where you put them, but I did. I will get you some more today......."
I got her some eyedrops today while at the health food store getting her glucosamine and psyllium husks.
When I got home with them, I made sure she saw them, opened the box, squeezed the bottle to be sure she could since she can't squeeze things easily, and life was good. Oh, I also picked up two more prescriptions that she forgot to order yesterday when I had picked up four for her. Walgreen's knows me by sight.
Later on, while watching TV, Ms Aud informs me she owes me an apology. She found the eyedrops I bought her a week ago. They were on the table by her chair, but in the middle of some other things, and she did not see them. Her excuse was the cleaning lady always takes everything off of this table, dusts each item and puts it back, and the bottle had ended up in the middle of everything and she couldn't see it. Sounds like a great excuse to me, lol.
"Is tomorrow trash day? No, today is only Wednesday."
"I need some eye drops.....
I got you some eye drops a week ago when you said you needed them.
No you did not, I never saw any.
Yes I did. From Walgreeen's when I got your prescriptions last week. They were in the sack with the candy I got you. Remember, you wanted Baush and Lomb(sp) and I called you from there to tell you they didn't have any of that brand and you said just get some? ...so I got Walgreen's brand....
Well, I know you didn't, I don't have any.
Mother, I did get you some eyedrops, I have no idea where you put them, but I did. I will get you some more today......."
I got her some eyedrops today while at the health food store getting her glucosamine and psyllium husks.
When I got home with them, I made sure she saw them, opened the box, squeezed the bottle to be sure she could since she can't squeeze things easily, and life was good. Oh, I also picked up two more prescriptions that she forgot to order yesterday when I had picked up four for her. Walgreen's knows me by sight.
Later on, while watching TV, Ms Aud informs me she owes me an apology. She found the eyedrops I bought her a week ago. They were on the table by her chair, but in the middle of some other things, and she did not see them. Her excuse was the cleaning lady always takes everything off of this table, dusts each item and puts it back, and the bottle had ended up in the middle of everything and she couldn't see it. Sounds like a great excuse to me, lol.
"Is tomorrow trash day? No, today is only Wednesday."
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
This and That
Living with anyone is an adventure. Living with your mother should count as 2 adventures at the
same time I have decided. You live with them when you don't have any sense and then you live with them when you do have sense and they still don't think you have any sense, and you know THEY don't have any sense, they did at one time, but surely it is your time to have some, right? Well, not in this house, lol.
Sheets, waiting for Aud to wash them.
Sometimes I think she waits until I decide to wash and then she has to wash. This morning when I finally got up, which wasn't early because I am really having a difficult time with arthritis the last several days, I put a load of clothes in to wash. Then I put on a pot of steel cut oatmeal to cook and read the paper while I waited for it to cook. When Aud came to eat, she had these sheets with her.
....oh, you are washing....yes....why didn't you let me wash these yesterday.....well, you were busy...I asked you if you needed anything washed, and you said no...well I didn't want to bother you...oh, give me a break, Aud, how would that bother me? Ahhh, I remember now, you don't like the way I wash your sheets, do you? (very coy grin and small laugh) No, I don't. Fine, wash your own sheets.
And so it goes.
I did try to get some sewing done. I am determined to get this Road to OK, aka Road to Texas I have been told, finished. I have others I need to be working on. This is all I accomplished in about 4 hours. Sure doesn't seem like much. Of course since I am sewing on a different machine than I was 4 years ago, the seams aren't the same, and I am having to resew some areas in order to keep the silly thing half way even as far as seams meeting. I can sure tell I don't sew as straight as I used to. So I have 6 rows sewn together, just 4 more to go, and the bottom half row to make the stars even out, and then I can put them all together. Isn't there something out there about "steady wins the race"? :)
I cooked tonight and made something called BLT pasta. It is absolutely delicious!
I made it with pancetta, grape tomatoes, leeks and spinach.
I served it with fetticini, but the recipe calls for bucatini. See the homemade bread crumbs behind it? That is part of the recipe.
I found this recipe in Cuisine at Home, Issue 63. It is a part of Volume 11, as is this wonderful cake called Autumn Spice Cake in Issue 65. If you like to cook, this whole volume has scrumptious recipes in it.
Looks like we are going to get some of the rain from Hermine tomorrow, so I went to Walgreens to pick up Aud's prescriptions and some tylenol for me (having to supplement the mobic), and some Cherry Garcia. They actually had 3 cartons! wow! Would sure like to know who is buying all of it. It is getting harder to find.
I have gotten hooked on America's Got Talent because of the youngster that sings so well. Of course, I don't remember her hame. So, here I sit, doing nothing. Think I will work on my embroidery.
same time I have decided. You live with them when you don't have any sense and then you live with them when you do have sense and they still don't think you have any sense, and you know THEY don't have any sense, they did at one time, but surely it is your time to have some, right? Well, not in this house, lol.
Sometimes I think she waits until I decide to wash and then she has to wash. This morning when I finally got up, which wasn't early because I am really having a difficult time with arthritis the last several days, I put a load of clothes in to wash. Then I put on a pot of steel cut oatmeal to cook and read the paper while I waited for it to cook. When Aud came to eat, she had these sheets with her.
....oh, you are washing....yes....why didn't you let me wash these yesterday.....well, you were busy...I asked you if you needed anything washed, and you said no...well I didn't want to bother you...oh, give me a break, Aud, how would that bother me? Ahhh, I remember now, you don't like the way I wash your sheets, do you? (very coy grin and small laugh) No, I don't. Fine, wash your own sheets.
And so it goes.
I cooked tonight and made something called BLT pasta. It is absolutely delicious!
 |
I served it with fetticini, but the recipe calls for bucatini. See the homemade bread crumbs behind it? That is part of the recipe.I found this recipe in Cuisine at Home, Issue 63. It is a part of Volume 11, as is this wonderful cake called Autumn Spice Cake in Issue 65. If you like to cook, this whole volume has scrumptious recipes in it.
Looks like we are going to get some of the rain from Hermine tomorrow, so I went to Walgreens to pick up Aud's prescriptions and some tylenol for me (having to supplement the mobic), and some Cherry Garcia. They actually had 3 cartons! wow! Would sure like to know who is buying all of it. It is getting harder to find.
I have gotten hooked on America's Got Talent because of the youngster that sings so well. Of course, I don't remember her hame. So, here I sit, doing nothing. Think I will work on my embroidery.
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