Well, it seems our local weather people got the forecast a bit wrong.  You know that big snowstorm headed into the midwest (Kansas, MO) - well we were only supposed to get a light dusting here in the metro area of Iowa - maybe 2 tenths of an inch.  Then on the morning news at 5:00 AM I hear now we could get an inch.  Next thing you know Keith and I are up and getting ready for our day and the snow starts falling - I mean really coming down.  Before you know it Keith and I are out standing in the snow waiting for his bus in snow up to our ankles.  I've heard so far we've had 5 inches.  Then I see on the noon news that we are having a little "break" and we are to expect another 3 to 4 inches.  Well it has started in snowing here again and I'm praying my guys get home safely.  Snowblower is still broke so I spent a good part of my morning out shoveling and can see I will have to do same tonight.  Thank goodness Bill bought me own set of Carhartt bibs a few years back.  They certainly do keep me warm while clearing snow.

My cold has improved a bit since last I wrote.  I no longer feel like I have concrete in my sinuses which is a good thing.  Now if I could get rid of this non-stop coughing.  I have muscles I didn't know I had sore from coughing so much.

On a good note yesterday I received this little heart shaped pottery bowl I ordered from Etsy.  It is only 3 1/2 inches total in diameter.  Is the cutest little thing and is perfect for putting rings in when working in the kitchen.  Would also make an adorable "snippets bowl" for those thread tails.

As hoped, I managed to put a few stitches in something last night.  I started this new little freebie pattern that I got on Pinterest.  I love that when turned sideways the tree spells Boo.  Just didn't trust myself not to make a mistake on one of my large more labor intensive pieces.  I'm looking forward to working on this piece again tonight as it is turning into a very quick stitch.

Cooties - A Good Word For It!

I wish I had some great photos to show of all I have accomplished over the weekend but trust me wadded up kleenex is not that exciting.  I have decided, however, to put in photos of making my homemade egg noodles.  Teresa (At Willow Tree Pond) asked how I made them and I'm afraid I've been a bit slow in putting up the recipe.

The word chosen by a new visitor to my blog (quiltin cntrygrl) best describes what I have COOTIES!  I'm afraid my little irritating sinus drainage cough turned into a full blown my head is ready to explode cold overnight Saturday to Sunday.  I can't remember the last time my head was so "stuffy" that it feels more like concrete in my sinuses.  I've spent the last 3 nights sitting on my couch instead of sleeping trying to keep my passages a little clear and the cough at bay.  It is like all the times I've nursed my son and husband through the viral stuff this flu season and not gotten sick was so I could save it all up for one miserable cold.  I'm hoping the guys don't get it again from me which will be a miracle as I do the cooking, cleaning, etc.  To that end I spent my day yesterday laundering all the sheets, pillowcases, blankets, etc.  Once I got both guys out of the house for the day I've turned the heat way down and opened windows in every room of the house and sprayed the Lysol.  If the cold doesn't kill the germs, maybe they will blow out of the house.  Whatever it takes to keep from passing it on to the guys as they have suffered enough already this flu season.

Homemade Egg Noodles

You will need eggs, flour, salt.  Mixing bowl, fork, rolling pin, waxed paper, newspaper.

The first thing I do is getting my rolling surface ready to go.  I spread newspaper out on my island and then top with waxed paper.

I crack 2 eggs and put in my bowl.   Add 1/4 tsp. of salt and then beat the eggs with a fork.  DON'T SKIP THE PINCH OF SALT!  I then add enough flour to make the dough a good consistency for rolling (I would say 2 cups).   Once the dough is mixed flour your waxed paper surface and then put your dough on surface and knead until elastic and ready for rolling - you don't want a sticky dough so add flour until a good consistency for rolling during this kneading process.  Very important to keep flouring your surface so your dough doesn't stick as you would for pastry dough.  Roll out your dough to the desired thickness you want 1/8" to 1/4".  Let your dough dry slightly at this point.  Once your dough has dried you can choose one of two methods for cutting your noodles.  Method one is to roll up dough into a long tube (like when you roll up dough for cinnamon rolls) and starting cutting 1/4 inch strips.  This method will give you long noodles.  The other method is to cut into rectangular strips about 1/2 inch wide by whatever length and stack them on top of one another.  You will again cut 1/4 inch strips but will have a much shorter noodle.  I again let dry until ready to cook.  To cook I drop by the handful into boiling broth of your choice and then turn heat down to simmer for 20-30 minutes.  Adding cooked diced chicken, turkey, beef just makes it better.

At least my Cooties had the decency to wait until date night was over to attack me.  Enjoyed a lovely evening out with Bill.  We had a nice dinner at Johnny's Italian Steakhouse.  We had time for a quick trip through the book store and to buy Starbucks drinks before heading into the movie Silver Linings Playbook.  I really wasn't sure what to expect of the movie as I've had not heard much about it but found it to be a very good movie.  Bill and I find we tend to enjoy the movies more if we've not heard much about them.  On the times we've heard how awesome they are we end up being disappointed as they never live up to the "hype" we've heard.  We were both very surprised at how packed it was at the theater.  Honestly the movie has been out for quite some time and thought there would only be a handful of people there.  By the time the movie started people were taking seats in the front row as that was all that was left.  Unfortunately for me, I again got to sit next to the couple who talked through the entire movie.  Grrrrr!

I have decided that I'm not leaving the house today in hopes of just resting.  I do think, however, I will listen to the audiobook for the book I must lead the discussion on in less than 2 weeks and pick up needle to put thread to fabric.  Hopefully I will have some progress to show very soon!

Have a great day!

How Exciting!

I'm just going to say right off that as hard as I fought I've finally succumbed to one of the viruses brought into the house this Season by the guys. It was bound to happen and I have Keith to thank for this. I don't have a stuffy head but my sinuses re sure draining down my throat and coughing is the activity of the day. Can't say which I would rather have the cough or stuffy head as they re both awful. Right now it feels like cough is the worse evil as I've been up since midnight doing just that.

We lucked out with less snow than forecasted Thursday to Friday. Still 6" is a lot of shoveling on a 3 car driveway when your snowblower won't run. It was an early 5:30 AM start to this big job as I need to at least clear a path to the road for Keith to get on his bus and I have only until 6:15 before I have to wake him and get him ready to go. Managed to get 3/4 of it done encore I had to take a break. Finished it up after Keith was on his way. Gotta say it sure wakes you up in a hurry that early in the morning. Kind of felt like I had done a days work by 8:30 AM.

A little later in the morning I slipped out to my LNS to pick up a couple of threads I need for The Primitive Hare's Red Riding Hood I started the other day. It is coming along quite nicely. I've stitched the top rows across the top. I know it doesn't look like much yet but those rows are 155 stitches each so a good amount of stitching has been done. I'm looking forward to getting to Red Riding Hood's cape. I purchased a piece of Isabella's Old Massachusetts linen (40 count) to stitch it on. It is a dream to stitch on so if you have considered buying a fat quarter of it I would. I did decide to use the Gentle Arts colors for the red and brown rather than the DMC. I though the movement in colors would be more realistic.

Keith and I have already been out on this sunny Saturday to my hair appointment and then the coffee shop. After emptying the dishwasher and setting a load of laundry to wash decided to see if there was an app to be able to update my blog on my iPad. Was thrilled to see Google does have a free app to use so I downloaded and decided to give it a try. I have a feeling I will still want to use my computer for picture heavy posts but think this will be a great option for short updates.

Tonight is date night and our plans are to see Silver Linings Playbook. I'm surprised it is still playing in the theater as it has been out for quite awhile. Looking forward to seeing it.

Well, of to get the "must be dones" accomplished to I can enjoy my night out.

I Wished For It!

Everybody keeps telling me to be careful for what I wish for -- well I wished for snow and we are expecting to get it tomorrow but good.  The picture on the left is out my back window today and I expect the picture on the right will be my view tomorrow after 8+ inches of snow.  In all honesty the amount doesn't seem quite so bad when you consider SW of us will be getting 16 to 20 inches!  I think the worst part of this storm will be the blinding snow when it comes down 1-2 inches in an hour.  It will make for terrible driving conditions.   We have made the decision to keep Keith home tomorrow.    I'm sure he won't mind a day home with mom.

I dropped Belinda's birthday gift off yesterday and am so disappointed that I did not remember to snap a photo of the scissor fob I made for her.  I did not get a photo of the fabric bowl I made either.  I will say the fob looks just like mine only I stitched the letter "B" in the center.  Her fabric bowl looks like the small one on the right in the picture.  I used 2 fat quarters and made 3 bowls.  They are reversible so she can display it with whichever fabric she wants on the outside.  The fob on the right is one I made for someone else to give as a gift.  You will notice on this one I thought to put a heart charm between the clasp and the chain.  I really like the look of this and think I will add one to mine.

I had a nice laugh when my son came home after I made the fabric bowls.  I had the larger one sitting on the dining room table and he immediately looked at it and thought "hat".  It did fit perfectly on him for a hat.  My son really does "think out of the box" just like his mother.  How many times I've seen an item and thought I would use it for other than its' intended use.  

Last night I finished this little freebie by Isabella at The Primitive Hare.  I was a very quick stitch once I sat down for some serious stitching.  I've decided to start Isabella's latest design called Red Riding Hood.  I have my fabric and threads all set to go.  I know I should be working on Birds of a Feather by With Thy Needle but the colored pattern is seriously driving me crazy and I can only take working on it in short bursts.  

I'm afraid last night before going to bed I noticed myself with a bit of a sore throat.  It is still with me today but am praying it doesn't get any worse than a wee sore throat.  I don't know what it is about feeling like I'm coming down with something but I get a sudden burst of "have to get everything done and right now" when I probably should be resting.  I've planned meals for the next several days and shopped for them, gone out purchasing things on the list "of when you get a chance could you get" and I've gotten every piece of laundry in the house caught up.  I've also started tidying things up around the house and putting things in their proper places.  I even topped off the gas tank in the Jeep as I like a full tank at the start of any storm or illness.  Believe me I've had a few emergency trips to the hospitals in the middle of the night over the years and there is nothing worse than having a tank with less than a 1/4 of gas in it.

I'm a bit proud of myself this week as I managed some success on another of my 2013 goals.  I've managed to grow my nails out long enough that I splurged and bought nail polish to polish them.  You guessed it when nervous/stressed I tend to be a nail biter.

It All Started With One Gift!

My newest project to try started with this one little gift I received from my friend, Allison for Christmas.   While on a business trip she happened upon a shop where someone made bowls out of vintage hankies.  Well, me being me I figured there had to be a way to recreate this for myself.  I will tell you I was not brave enough to use one of my vintage hankies just yet.

First attempt on left - second on right

Instead I found some unclear instructions for making a round bowl so pulled out some fabric to give it a go.  My first hurdle - figuring out how to adhere the double sided fusible to the "left" side.  I will admit to being a bit slow when I started this project and then the light bulb went off that "left" side was the same as "wrong" side. It seemed like it could only go up from there.  I managed to make all my markings, cut outs and started my zigzag sewing.  It really was going pretty well right up until I started zigzagging my cut outs together.  It was a little tricky there but by the last seam up the side of the bowl (there were 8) I had figured out how to manhandle maneuver the fabric to get a nicer seam.  Whew!

As always, my first attempt is my test project and I make adjustments based on my disasters difficulties. I did go ahead and make a second bowl and am so much happier with the results.  I cut the size down a bit and my cut outs came together so much nicer.  The cool thing is the bowl is reversible.

  

Onward to vintage hankies!

I'm Curious!

I've been pondering this question for awhile now and finally just have to put it out there.  How much time on the average day do you spend stitching?  I ask this question as it seems everyone has much more time available for stitching that I do.  Every time I take a minute to check into favorite blogs they have pictures of 3 or more finishes.  Really do you women just not sleep?!  I will admit that I enjoyed a couple of hours of glorious stitching on Friday but here it is Sunday afternoon and have yet to put needle to thread.  If all goes according to my plan, which it rarely does, I expect a relaxing Sunday evening of stitching for 3 hours - laughing in my head as I type that one.  Three hours really what am I thinking!  Mama also told me if I was going to dream - dream BIG!


Date night did not turn out as anticipated.  It has been awhile since one of our evenings went astray but thankfully not as astray as the movie "Date Night".  We did get to see Identity Thief and it was just as funny as we anticipated.  The only bad thing was the family sitting next to us who decided to bring 3 small children.  I'm talking 1 baby and 2 under 4.  The adults were interacting with the baby and small children talking as if they were sitting in their own living room.  Grrrrrr!

After that we decided we didn't have enough time to eat at the Food Court and then see a second movie so thought we would go somewhere to have a nice sit down supper.  BIG OLD WRONG!!  Every place we tried had people waiting out the door for a table.  Ended up at a small south side Mexican Restaurant with immediate seating.  It was an early evening as we were home by 8:30 PM.  Oh well it was just nice for me to  have a break from nursing the sick.  BTW Keith is doing much better.  Still has a bit of a cough and drippy nose but let me tell you his activity is certainly back to normal.

I spent this morning getting all the information together for our appointment this week with our accountant to do taxes.  Ugggh!  It is one of the tasks I detest but unfortunately must be done.  Now that I have removed that big old weight from my shoulders I can now move on to laundry - yippee!  I'm saying that sarcastically in case you are wondering.

The picture is from Fons and Porter.  It was a huge double sized wooden cubby where they store fat quarters.  I would settle for a one sided one of my very own.  One of these days I will be at the lumber yard picking up the wood to make one of these.  I wonder where Bill keeps the saws?

This morning I also gathered my supplies together to roll out a batch of egg noodles.  My local grocery store has started selling a Turkey Roast that is just perfect for making delicious homemade turkey and noodles.  I'm afraid I'm a bit of a noodle snob.  My mom always made her own homemade noodles and there is no worthy store bought substitute as far as I'm concerned.  See I told you I was a noodle snob.  Just like previous generations of women in my family I received my rolling pin from my mom when I got married and have been using it every since - 31 years to be exact.  I learned the "art" of making noodles from my mom while still in elementary school.  I think it is another one of those home skills like needlework being lost as the younger generations just are not interested/don't have time.  Some of my fondest memories with my mom were in the kitchen "helping" her cook/bake.  I don't know if the women today know what special memories they are missing a chance to create!

I also got to remove LHN - Sarah Street from my WishList as my friend, Harriet, stitched it already and has loaned me her copy.  THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!

I Heard The Gasp!

Okay, let me just say I have been taking care of my son sick with a miserable cold since Wednesday and maybe you'll forgive what I did last night.  I decided to pick up some stitching last night after Keith finally settled down into bed.  It was probably a mistake (at least picking up this particular piece of stitching) but I needed a little "me" time so pick it up I did.  I was having trouble getting comfortable to stitch....pattern kept falling off the arm of the chair.  I kept losing my place where I was stitching on the pattern.  Can I just say .... I HATE COLORED PATTERNS!!!!!!!  If I would have known the pattern was in color, never would have bought it - NEVER!  EVER!  Frustration got the better of me and so I did the only thing I could do to save my sanity.....took my scissors to it.  I heard the GASP with the first snip...but cut the darned thing up anyway.  The pattern is now in small manageable pieces that will not keep falling off the arm of my chair.  In fact my magnetic needle minder (thank you Teresa) will hold it in place so it GOES NOWHERE!  I heaved a great sigh of relief once the cutting was done and managed to enjoy stitching an entire flower fairly quickly.

I also started stitching this little freebie by Primitive Hare (Valentine).  It will be a fast little stitch and am thinking to just make it up into a little pillow to display in my wooden dough bowl.  I've also finished a couple more of the monogramed scissor fobs and a couple of crocheted items but as these were made for others to give as gifts I can't share pictures until gifted - sigh!

I am currently listening to the audiobook Blackout by Connie Willis. For those who are thinking didn't you already read this - the answer is yes.  Unfortunately, I recommended to my book club and it was chosen for March's read which means I have to lead the discussion.  Thought it would be faster to listen to the audiobook.  I'm finding it so very enjoyable to listen to.  Takes place in England during the Blitz and it is nice to know the correction pronunciation of the names and places.  Sometimes have to laugh at how I thought it was pronounced and then to hear the correct pronunciation.  I'm disappointed that I've been unable to find a Reading Group Guide for this book but will do my best without it.

Tonight is date night and as Keith is doing much better we get to go out.  After several days of nursing the sick I'm ready for a supper I didn't cook as well as sitting through an entire movie without interruption.  Since last week was cancelled will be seeing Identity Thief this weekend and if the times work out a second movie.  Will have to get back to you on that one.