Cookie Cutters Found

Yesterday I saw a fancy pie on FB that inspired me to look for yet another hidden treasure.  I knew I had many cookie cutters, so not a problem... just didn't know it was going to be another treasure hunt.

These surely are not your typical cookie cutters.  Of course cookie cutters can come in a vast variety of shapes and sizes.  I bought these particular ones several years ago at IKEA. Until today, the tape had never been taken off the cover so I could take one out.  Things like these don't have very much purpose most of the time, until you remember you had these... somewhere, and you don't know where that somewhere is cause you have moved a couple times and nothing is in the place you remember you put them.  Now I don't make very many cookies that require using a cookie cutter, and especially not a moose... but this pack of cutters was with all the other cutters... but I could not remember where.

Persistence does pay off. I knew there was a possibility I might not have these anymore, but I did know I would still have cookie cutters... somewhere. I not only found these after many trips in and out of the garage and up and down the stairs, but I found a whole drawer full of cookie cutters. Of course, when you are on a treasure hunt you can find lots of things you didn't even know were lost.

I decided today would be a good day to make quiche and my cast iron biscuit pan was the perfect pan for little mini-quiche delights. I sauteed some mushrooms and onions, then added some mixed veggies.
Topped it off with some shredded cheese before adding my egg/milk finish.

I did use two of my cookie cutters to try out the pie crust critter thing, but I am not sure this technique works too well on top of a mini-quiche.  Besides the squirrel and snail were a little big for this biscuit pan. In order to have them show up, I think I needed to brush them with an egg wash so they would brown up a little.

Oh well, these tasted wonderful and a mini-quiche with a little salad on the side made a perfect lunch.

Heffalump

 She is known as Shorty, but she is often referenced by a few other names. This morning Heffalump came to mind as she positioned herself on my lap.  She knows how to get quite comfortable. 

Shorty is an old kitty, well semi-old anyhow... 13.  Since we left Wildflower, she has become an indoor kitty and has lost her youthful physique as a result of a "less active" lifestyle. She does not like to be picked up, but has no problem invading your space... if she is in the mood. Very lovey at times.

One of the hazards of kitties in the house is the occasional mishap that can occur.  I think it was likely Boston, who loves our bed, who put a hole in one of my prized quilts.  The hole was towards the edge, so I just think she grabbed ahold when she was jumping up on the bed.  The resulting hole was only about the size of a quarter, but if left unattended would certainly have grown larger.

Once the hole was discovered, I removed the quilt from the bed to keep it safe while I hunted for a scrap of fabric.  I was sure it could takes months to locate the scraps I knew were hiding someplace. 

I had made a few expeditions into my stash to explore all the nooks and crannies that fabric can hide in, without success. When I finally found this little stack of triangles, it was kind of like when you stop looking for something and it just shows up.  Totally not on my agenda to search for this scrap yesterday.  I was in my quilt room and decided I should do some reorganizing when I discovered this little plastic container with random stacks of little cut scraps.  This little stack of triangles are the only scraps I found from this quilt.

I thought it was amazing that I made this discovery, but even more pleased at how well fabric glue can work on little holes. I know where the hole was, but even I have to search for where the hole was.

First Saturday in September

Morning glories are one of my favorite flowers, and that would be mostly related to its germination reliability. I planted these last year along the two front sections of our side fence and it totally covered those sections of the fence, including the roof of the shed on the inside of the fence.  They are annual flowers, so saving the seeds is essential to keeping them going year after year.  This is only the second year for these, but they did an amazing job of covering the fence again.  Next spring I will have to prep the ground the full length of the fence and add in some more colors... I am thinking red, white and blue would look awesome. Did I forget to mention that prepping the ground for any planting around the house is a major task as the soil is like digging through hard packed clay. You almost need a jack hammer. Nothing like our previous house that was in the middle of the sand dunes... or so it seemed. So I still have to haul in my planting soil even though sand is not an issue.

I don't have lots of space for a garden here at our current location, which probably is not a bad thing as I can get a little overwhelmed with all the tasks involved with staying ahead of a garden here in South Texas where rain is a precious commodity. The good thing about gardening here is you can have a garden going almost year round.  I have scaled back and focus mainly on trying to keep some herbs growing along with my flower beds.  Most of the herbs I planted in the spring have succumbed to the torture of the sun and lack of rain.  I am not nearly as vigilant with my watering as I should be. Now that we are on the other end of the hot summer, it will still be "hot" for a while, but I can start thinking about some new herbs.  I am actually a little late at the start, but not finding any plants at the nurseries yet,  this is my attempt at sprouting some seeds before putting them in some soil . Hopefully I can get some plants started to put outside soon.

I finished a quilt yesterday. The duck blocks have been sitting in my stash for at least 20 years.  I thought it was about time to do something with them.  These were passed down to me and had previously been trimmed to size, which made it very difficult to keep the corner reed bunches intact.  Not sure what the original intention was for these blocks, but they are beautiful, and required fusing the edges to a border.  I contained the raw edges with a machine applique stitch, which hopefully will not fray in the washing process.  Not sure where this quilt will end up, but I am hoping to find a home for it where its history can be appreciated.

Just a little note here... comments help with inspiration. Occasionally someone tells me they really like my little tidbits of info I share, but not many comments are posted here.  I guess I am used to Facebook and all the comments that appear. I tried to make it easier to acknowledge a post was enjoyed by the check boxes at the end of the posts, but even those don't get a check. Granted, not all posts are interesting to you, but even a constructive comment...  A word here and there would be appreciated, and it could inspire more fun and interesting posts.

Quilts are in the queue

I have been focusing on some of my completed tops that have been waiting to be quilted.  Some have been in the queue for a long time.  I gathered them all in one place and proceeded to measure them. It was then that I found out there were no appropriate backings to be found in my stash.  The backings for five quilts have now been ordered and should be here soon.

First on the list is my Star for a New Day quilt that has been waiting for more than ten years to be quilted.  It was featured as a block of the month project and it used paper piecing. This project gave me the incentive to hone my skills with my paper piecing.  It was quite a challenge to take on.... the center medallion star does not show in this picture, but some of the pieces were quite small, which would have been next to impossible without the aid of the paper piecing technique.

These are a couple more small references for the other quilts.  I have accumulated quite a stack of quilts and decided it might be time to let some of them go. If any quilt I post happens to catch your eye, there is a possibility that it could be for sale. Make your inquiry and I can let you know what I think is a reasonable price... that is if it is one that I don't have a special attachment to.  This also includes many quilts I have posted previously.

 

Now back to the kitchen... the new kitchen, or so it seems.  We removed the Over the Range Microwave and put a new range hood and a shelf for some racks to display my favorite plates... they are red.  Of course the strip lighting creates a nice glow to enhance the new look.

The new microwave moved to the other side of the kitchen.  Did I say that my kitchen is not very big.  The addition of the new island finished off the ambiance of my great little kitchen.  The stainless steel top has already proved to be a quite awesome work surface, and the additional drawers are great.  Even though we added an additional, semi-large piece of furniture to the middle of the kitchen, the whole area feels more roomy and organized.

I smile when I walk into the kitchen... it makes me happy.

July begins

My plants on the front porch have had their appearance upgraded with the help of my resurrected macrame talent.  They are not complex or fancy, but they are much prettier than the plastic hangers the plant pots came with.  Then on the other hand, those plastic hangers are not able to handle the extended exposure to the sun, nor the weight of a pot full of soil swinging around in the breeze. These new macrame plant hangers are made using paracord which should sustain the weight and sun exposure with ease.





A couple weeks ago I thought I only had two babies in the nest, but later found out that there were actually four. Last week they flew the coop... or so I thought.  All were gone in the afternoon, but later in the evening I looked up to see all four crowding in for their place in the nest.  They are gone when I check in the morning, and continue to return in the evening.  Not sure how long this will continue.





In case you are not familiar with the term Clafoutis, it is a French dessert that works really well baked in a cast iron skillet.  A Clafoutis is a close cousin to a Dutch Baby. This is supposed to be a "Clafoutis for two".  Recipe says to use an 8" pan, but I feel much safer using a 10". The heat retention capability of the cast iron helps to make this an almost foolproof breakfast delight.  This one is made with fresh blackberries.  Even though it is considered a French dessert, it is extremely easy, and can be made with any fresh fruit you happen to have on hand.  I use my Vitamix for the batter part, but a wire whisk would work just as nicely. Definitely a winner... even if you decide it doesn't necessarily need any whipped cream.

I really did not need another set of placemats. It turns out that Ron is quite pleased because they are a wee bit bigger than the average placemat, and he has often praised MaryEllen's larger placemats  It was with this in mind I decided to try my hand at bargello when I saw this pattern. The fabric is all from my stash.

  

Flag Day

It is standard procedure for our household to display our flag on the appropriate days. Since we have been in our new house Ron has taken down my hanging plants and hooked our flag on the two rings that held the plants. We have a nest with two baby Purple Martins in the corner, right next to where he usually hangs the flag. Also to avoid having to remove the plants each time, we made the decision to put up a bracket for our flag... then Flag Day arrived and we had not taken care of that project. At 7:30 this morning we made a quick trip to Walmart and found a flag pole, complete with bracket and a new flag in one package.  Took about 5 minutes to get the bracket attached to the house and the new flag was blowing in the breeze before we headed off to church.

This is my latest project which started out as a panel.  I know, it doesn't look like much more than a panel at this point. 
The outer border was not part of the original panel and the star sashing and inside mini border were 3" strips running on both sides. I should have taken a photo before I started cutting.  I needed to change-up the panel before I started the quilting.
The intent was to use material I already had on hand. I will have to post a picture once this is done and hanging in our "smallest" room.

My attic window quilt has been complete for a while already.  This one has not found a new home yet, but is neatly folded in a stack of my completed treasures.



Below my Springtime Critters was assessed by Cabbage, my resident inspector... this one got her stamp of approval.
The back was almost as nice as the quilt top.

One day in June...

First, since it has been a while since I last stopped by here to update... the geese have flown the coop.  They did not all leave together.  Original family was seven, then there were only four, and finally one.  It has been a couple weeks since we last saw that lone goose.

This picture was not one of my originals, but I saved it when I ran across it online... because it made me smile.
.
Someone made the comment the other day that I should have a GoPro hanging around my neck so I could catch on camera when I get into some of the situations that seem to follow me around. Made me think how easy it is to snap a shot of what is going on cause my phone is usually not too far away. Most are not picture worthy, but could add a smile the next day or week when I look back.

It was not the first thing I did today,  but I remember when we were having breakfast that I mentioned it might be good to mow the lawn this morning before it got too hot outside.  A little later when I heard the lawn mower, I thought it would also be good to get some weeding done... my flower beds out front were looking pretty crowded.


My flower beds are looking better than they did yesterday, but they still need to have some sprucing up.  I have tried to be good about watering, which is very important if you want anything to survive here in the summer.  With the empty spaces more defined after my work this morning, maybe I can get inspired to find some new plants to add some new color.

The hummingbirds actually like the purple one on the left... but I don't even remember what the plant is.



A couple weeks ago I got Ron to help me put up some lattice work on one end of the porch.  It is basically to create a frame for the Queen's Tears plant in the macrame plant hanger I made. First macrame in a while and I was very impressed with the end result. Soon I hope to have a couple more made for the other Queen's Tears that still only have a chain and hook.


I actually got into another project after lunch today, but there is another whole story that goes along with that, and I am likely to be less busy tomorrow... besides this is long enough for today.

Egyptian Geese

We have been watching this family for a while already.  The "babies" are almost as big as Mommy and Daddy now. Really cool to see them on the days they get water time. They dive under and pop back up, sometimes several feet away.  Mom and Dad are very protective and they actually are not in the water as often as I would have expected. Without a good lens on my camera, this shot would not have been possible as they keep their distance from human interaction. Of course there are neighborhood cars driving by fairly close sometimes, and they seem to be okay with that... until you slow down to get a closer look.  That is when you hear the warning quacks and the babies start scurrying away.  So respecting their "safe distance" is a must. Meanwhile I think the whole neighborhood is enjoying as this winged family grows.  Mom and Dad have been around for a while and it will be interesting to see if any, or all of the young ones stick around.

Cast Iron is amazing

Cast Iron comes in many shapes and sizes.  This John Wayne pie pan is one of my latest additions to my growing collection.

I started accumulating more pans than I could find a place to store, which inspired my husband to build me a mini gridwall in an otherwise unusable space. I have pans stored in other places, but this new gridwall does a great job of making the more frequently used pans easy to access.
It is quite amazing to see what a cast iron pan can do for a recipe.  I have several recipes that I have made for years and found cast iron typically takes the end result up a notch or two.
Cast Iron has been in my kitchen for a long time, but somehow it seems like I just discovered an amazing new friend.  In the past couple of months there has not been many days that I have not used at least one of my cast iron pans. 

My quilting is not quite as active in recent months as I have often been, but I still get a little quilting squeezed in here and there. It is hard to get the full effect of this work of art without seeing it in person, but this quilt hangs on a wall 18 feet off the floor, and previously the lighting, (bright overhead fan/light) was not the best to accent the quilt's true beauty.  My husband decided to install a small bar track light to help illuminate it. We don't have the new light on that often, but especially in the evening visitors can now experience this quilt, should they notice.