Hey it's Saturday---

Well it has been a pretty good day. DD arrived after missing last weekend, because of a broken windshield in their van, which is fixed now. She is having surgery Wednesday morning to have a pump put in for the Baclovan to help her walk and move around a lot better. She has been like a lump now for over a year and that's not like her. She has walked on a walker since she was 5 years old and even walked in all the schools she went to. But with age and stuff she has really slowed down and it frustrates her. We will get up there before she goes into surgery and when she comes out. The staff will be there too around the clock.


I have been making pillow cases for my partner at BC, Jean, and they are fun to make. I have also finished the St Pat candle mat and it is ready to mail.


I am not in the doll quilt swap for February because I guess I am burned out and want to do something else. I have been in every one since last April.


I made an apple pie-like dish for supper. And next time I will use a firmer apple. The granny smith's turned to mush. It also called for brown sugar besides the white and it was too much for my taste. So I will change that too. This dish only has a top crust so that was interesting.

This is a sunflower block I made for the BOM on the Board.


Have a great weekend
Darlene

Another cloudy Friday in OHIO...

I don't know why I am writing on a Friday again just a coincidence I guess.

We went to the store again like always and then DH had a dr.'s appt. I have been working on a candle mat for a St. Patrick's swap and I have trouble with the flying geese points being cut off. I may do them over. I want to put a ruffle around the block too. But I may not too just do borders.

We went to a new Bog Lots yesterday to just look around and I spent over $30 LOL. They did have sweatshirts Jerzees no less for $5 so I got two of them. They don't carry clothes anymore so the store is a lot neater than I remember.

I am in a Valentine's swap too so I picked up a box of candy and a card but now I have to come up with some other things to send. I have a hearts doily I made awhile back and may send it to her too. This is the doll quilt I sent to my partner in Oklahoma. We had to send something about our home state. So I sent the whole state. LOL There are so many things about Ohio I couldn't figure out what to make.

She should receive it by Monday and I hope she likes it.

Darlene

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