A warmer Friday ....

Finally a break from the extreme cold weather it is 41° right now at 3 o'clock. Cloudy too.

We went to the store this morning. Then at 11 am took our cat Pancho to the vet for his rabies shot. The vet really liked him said he was unusual because he has extra toes on his back feet not just his front feet. I never noticed this before but his front paws are so cute he has thumbs really. I have seen him pick up a piece of cat food with them. He said Panchy is lucky to have someone who cares for him so much. That made me feel good.

I am making chili for supper.

I use 1 lb. ground chuck, half of a large onion chopped - fry this together and then drain well. Add 1 can tomato soup plus 1 soup can of water. Stir in 1 can Brooks Hot Chili beans and sprinkle over entire pot, Mexene chili powder or any chili powder you have. Cook about 1 hour and 15 minutes over medium heat. We add cooked spaghetti to this which I break in half before boiling. This is the way my Mom cooked it. We sprinkle shredded Cheddar over this after its ladled up. Enjoy.

I couldn't find Mexene chili powder around here anymore so I emailed the company and ordered 3 -2 oz. bottles I keep the extra in the freezer to keep it fresh.

Cold, cold Friday brrrr...

It is only about 11°right now way too cold for me. Have stayed home today, cleaned my bathroom, DH cleans his own. Also ran the sweeper in the whole upstairs.

I also made some great bean soup. I took ½ pound of Navy beans and soaked them in about a quart of water after boiling about 2 minutes. These soaked for about 6-7 hours. Drained all of the water and re- filled with fresh water. Chopped up 1 large carrot in small pieces, a stalk of celery and about 2-3 tablespoons of onion.

I bought some Ham Flavoring in the soup aisle (we used this in food service) and I put about a teaspoon full of this in the water along with small pieces of ham I had frozen. Do not add salt but pepper is okay. I cooked this on medium for two hours and it was so good. Oh and I chopped up a small potato and put it in after an hour of cooking for DH. This is sort of my take on Senate Bean Soup which is an old

recipe. My parents loved bean soup even though my dad couldn't eat many of the beans he loved the flavor of the broth. I also made Jiffy cornbread to go with this.

I am reading a good book called The First Patient it is a mystery about the White House.

Thanks for reading...

It is snowing...

It is snowing pretty hard right now 4-6" by tomorrow morning they say. Yuk!

Well it has been a long time since I was here and a lot has happened. Christmas was quiet and New Year's was too. LOL. My DH and I didn't exchange gifts since we really didn't need anything so we can get things when we really need them. Our DD liked our gifts to her which were mainly clothes.

I have been busy making a challenge quilt for Small Quilts group and it turned out pretty good. It is the Bear Paw one from Kathy's book Prairie Children and Their Quilts. This is a photo I took.

Now I am working on a St. Patrick's candle mat for a swap at Quilted Table. This is a new group for me and I am excited to do this. I think I have figured out what to make. I haven't received my secret partner's name yet but should have it soon.

I am also going to be in a pillow case swap at Block Central sometime in February. I made a practice pillow case and it turned out great I didn't get a photo of it before I gave it to my DD. We will get our partners sometime next week. Betty is running it and we may have one every 3 - 4 months. I wish you could buy single sheets instead of sets all the time. I really need to get some fabric for this one.

I had lunch with my friend Karol at Cracker Barrel on New Year's Day and saw some really pretty quilts there at reasonable prices. They were all embroidered and machine quilted.

Thanks for reading

Baking Day...

I was busy today - first of all I baked my cut out cookies and then went shopping. I think we are finished. I found some XL Twin size sheets for my daughter's bed, they are very hard to find. Kohl's came thru for me once again. She rents a hospital bed and the sheets she has are wearing out fast. I iced the cookies when we got back.

We also went out for supper at Cracker Barrel and we both had turkey and dressing. I am not much for cornbread dressing so I hardly touched it. They had the best cranberry sauce though & I loved it.

So far I have made old fashioned chocolate fudge (which is nearly gone) and Mexican wedding cakes. The cutouts are my favorite but they only make about 3 dozen or so. The recipe is in my Betty Crocker Cookie Book. I will be making cinnamon stars sometime too. Oh and peanut butter fudge DH's favorite. I bake cookies all year long but these things just at Christmas.

Wind and more wind....

It has been a very windy day here. It started out with sun and wind and now it is completely cloudy with heavier winds. Gusts to 50 MPH they say.

We went to supper and I had a quesadilla and it was good. I haven't had one in a long time.

My DH brought up the tree and decorations and put up the tree. So now I have to decorate tomorrow. I always dread it but once I get going I don't mind. We bought this tree several years ago and I still like it - not too big or tall.

At the Board my swappee received the doll quilt I made her. I really liked doing it because it was scrappy. Here's a pic of it. It was a Nov-Dec swap and a new one is in the works for Jan.

I hope my lady liked it you never can tell about the receivers.

I am now working on a doll quilt for Small Quilts forum from the book Prairie Children's Quilts. I picked the Bear Claw to make and I think I have enough fabric to start with.

I went to the big sale at JoAnn's today where you got 15% off total order and did really well. I saved about $14 there.

Thanks for reading

DARLENE

Happy Thanksgiving...

I have my pie made, the veggies cut up for the dressing and will start the bread tonight. I used to make the dressing the night before the big day but switched to morning instead. I am going to cook it outside the turkey too. I like it in the turkey but sometimes it is kind of soupy and yuk.

I have been working on the doll quilt for the Nov-Dec doll quilt swap at the board and am ready to put it together. I also have to buy some things for a Christmas swap at Scrappyquilters. I don't know if we have partners or if it's round robin style.

I received my book Prairie Children and Their Doll Quilts by Kathleen Tracy this week from Ebay and it is so nice I can't wait to try some of them; I have her other book American Doll Quilts also and I love it too. She gives a lot of history in them and I enjoy reading it.

I was working on a crocheted doily and was on the 20th round when I felt like I didn't like it so I ripped it all out and will start a different one soon, I do that a lot and it just isn't worth it to keep going on something I don't like.

Have a great day tomorrow and thanks for reading

Darlene

Another great day....

I can't believe the weather another pretty and fairly warm day. Wow!

I finally have finished my November challenge table topper for Quilted Table. I really enjoyed making it.

I have been working on my doll quilt for the Nov/Dec doll quilt swap at the Board. I am trying to make it extra special since it is for two months. A lot of the girls are doing a Christmas theme but I am not. And it will be pretty small around 20 inches square.

I went to visit an old friend today. She lost her husband last spring but I hadn't seen her much since then. She is pretty lonely. She has friends she goes to eat with every day so that helps her a lot.

She is going to sell her house next year and buy a smaller one as she has a dog.

Our daughters went to school together although they weren't really friends she and I met at an exercise class. We both failed that. LOL. When I went back to work we remained friends and talked on the phone.

I have never had a lot of close friends and really have always been a loner. I don't need a lot of people to see all the time but the friends I do have I really like.

Thanks for reading