A Gem Exposed... finally

One of my favorite small quilts, otherwise known as a wall hanging, has been mostly hidden in a corner behind my serger for at least a couple years.  I have almost all of my walls filled with something, and available wall space is almost non-existent.  Raggedy and her little buddies are sitting on a box, and she is tethered to the wall so the kitties cannot pull her off the table.

A couple of days ago I decided to organize things in my sewing room a little differently.  My sewing room isn't that small, I actually have 4 sewing machines set up all the time as well as a cutting table and an ironing station.  Problem is I have lots of tools, accessories, quite a quantity of thread and did I say I have some fabric.  Every nook and cranny is occupied.  In my attempt to shuffle things around I thought about this colorful quilt that is quite beautiful... what if I could only see the whole thing.

I came up with considering to hang it on the door, but the door would not be easy to nail or screw something into, besides Ron might not think it was a good plan if I was going to pound nails into it.  

I first found a pant hanger with clips, but when I tried to close the door it wasn't going to happen.  So I retreated to my big comfortable chair that sits almost in the middle of the room.  It has a swivel base and I can turn and view the whole room from one place.  As I sat there surveying the situation, I looked over and saw two over-the-door hangers sitting in the top of the mesh bag hanging on the back of the door.  It was like they were put there with the intent of being ready for just this project.

I got busy and stitched a hanging sleeve on the top backside of the quilt, retrieved a dowel from the garage, and just like that I had my magnificent quilt in total, plain view every time I enter my sewing room.

Now I do have to leave the door closed when I am not in the sewing room because my kitties are treasure hunters and when they are unsupervised they can get into some things they should not.  One never knows what might be hauled down the stairs.  As a result, not only will I see this quilt every time I go in, but the door is always open when I am in there, so I can look up and enjoy its beauty whenever I choose.  It's a quilt that makes me smile when I look at it.

Some of the details that were hidden at the bottom in its previous location.  

 

OCC & Butters get my attention

 

I've been busy making shorts for the last couple of days.  I still have 10 more to make.  These are easy shorts to make from t-shirts.  I don't use elastic in the waistbands, but instead I use a t-shirt strip for a tied waist.   I secure the tie with a couple stitches in the center back of the waistband. 

These are for Operation Christmas Child boxes and the shorts are for the little guys.  I like to use up as much of a t-shirt as possible... the drawstring bags on the right are for the little guys also.  It's a size they can handle to carry some of their little treasures, made from the sleeve of a t-shirt.  

Did I say that my serger makes the process come together very quickly and it also makes a nice finished seam.  One of the benefits of the serger for these little bags is I did not have to cut beforehand... the serger cuts as it sews.  Because it is the sleeve of a t-shirt, the hem on the sleeve is the channel for the drawstring.  I just need to make two small slits on either side of the seam.  It is on one leg of the shorts and the tiger is very cute.  It isn't often that I can find a shirt with a logo or design I can use on a pair of shorts, but the little tiger seemed perfect for this project.

Butters is keeping close watch on what is going on.  I can always count on having company while I am at work.  It's not so bad when she is on the other side of the sewing machine, but she often likes to get between the machine and my face.  Fortunately she only persists for a couple minutes before she retreats to her little basket by the window at the other end of the sewing machine.

Blood Moon - Not!

 A few days ago there was talk about a blood moon and I was all prepared to go out and see what a blood moon might look like.  Earlier in the day a friend had said she hoped the clouds would clear so she could get a good view.  

When I first went out there were lots of clouds around, but it looked like a good possibility that they would be moving on shortly.  I waited a little while and sure enough, pretty soon the moon started to come out from behind the clouds.  I could see just the slightest hint of a golden glow, but it was minimal, and definitely not close to being red.  

The more the moon came out, the bigger it appeared and it did finally escape all the clouds... but still no red. Still pretty cool to see the moon when it looks so big.  I had not actually done any research ahead of time on the times, etc., but I decided to go inside and look it up on my computer.  Turns out there was no place in all of the US that got to see any of the eclipse.  So this is my record of the blood moon that I wasn't meant to see.  

That green spot is a reflection or something in my phone camera... so no UFO.  My phone typically takes pretty good pictures, but I have not mastered night photos yet.

Mandarin Beef & Mushrooms w/zoodles

 It doesn't look too fancy, and it really isn't, but this is a good one.  Ron is on a very limited diet, and in reality, this probably should not have made it to our table based on the label of the Mandarin sauce.  The sauce is loaded with sodium and 14g of sugar per serving.  I'm not going to just ignore that info, but he has been very good about all these changes in his diet.  Almost everything he used to eat is now on his no-no list.  So now and then we grab a treat.

I do lots of searching for recipes I can make that would be appealing for him, and especially that he might actually enjoy.  It is sometimes hard to know what is going to be okay.  Yesterday he had a good quality hamburger.  Salt is not one of his restrictions, but no one should use too much salt.  I had put some steak seasoning on the burger and a little salt.  He said the burger was good, but it was a little dry.  Well, I told him if he would have just put a big juicy slice of tomato on top with some mayo, it would have been awesome... of course he does not, even on a good day, ever choose to eat a raw tomato.  Then I had bought some frozen green beans that had garlic and butter on them.  It was a good name brand, so I expected it would be a good side.  He took a bite and asked what are these... when I said string beans he tells me they were more like chew sticks and pushed them aside.  I will give him that they were a little on the tough side, but I ate all of my beans.

Anyhow the picture is Mandarin Beef & Mushrooms.  Outside of needing to have a spiralizer for the zucchini, which I do have, this was a super easy recipe, 5 ingredients (6 if you count the oil you start with), that turned out extra good... and extra extra good because Ron gave it a thumbs up.

You sauté the minced garlic first, then add the thinly sliced steak till brown, then chopped mushrooms, and last the zucchini.  When all is done to your preference, you remove it from the heat and add the Mandarin sauce.  If you want the actual recipe, let me know and I will send it to you.

Freshness Rings

 I am sure there are many, if not most, that have not heard about Freshness Rings.  This is one of my newest additions to my kitchen supplies.  These rings are awesome.  I use half a lemon every morning and I used to get a piece of plastic wrap to put on the other half.  This ring keeps the cut edge moist and almost as good as the first morning.  The membrane that the fruit sits on is quite flexible and the size of the lemon makes no difference, including when there is a pointy stem end.  They are like little drums.  

The apple in this picture has been in the fridge for a couple days without rubbing any lemon on it to stop it from browning.  My avocados do start to turn a little brown after a couple of days, but none of the fruit appears to dry out.  Of course I don't usually leave an avocado in there more than the next day.  

This is the 4th ring... it is orange and it currently has an onion in it that I forgot was in the fridge.  The onion looks like I just put it in there yesterday.

I bought my Freshness Rings on Amazon

This is Butters

This is Butters, she is my shadow, especially if I go upstairs to my sewing room where there are many treasures to be found.  The sewing room is the place where she can literally get in my face.  I have to keep the sewing room door shut when I am not up there because there is no telling what treasure she might want to bring downstairs to me.  She is a very happy kitty most of the time, and her buddy is Sugar.  Butters and Sugar came to live with us a little more than two years ago when they were fairly young kitties.  I think Sugar was about 4 months old and Butters was probably 2 months.  They were together in the foster home they came from and it seemed a good idea to get two kitties that already had bonded.   Since they have been here the only time they have seen other animals, especially kitties, is through the windows.

Well, a phenomena occurred the other day.  Z stopped by and she had her kitty with her... in a carrier, they had just come from the vet. Butters sat next to the carrier and sniffed and appeared to be very interested in what was in that cage.  It was only when Z was leaving that Butters growled at Cabbage.  Sugar observed from a distance and seemed unphased by it all.  After they were gone is when the crazy Butters appeared.  She went ballistic with hissing and growling if Sugar came anywhere close to her.  Sugar kind of backed off and looked at us as if to say, I don't know what is wrong with her.  Sugar and Butters are best buddies and they roll and tussle and chase each other, then they stop and start grooming each other before they lay down next to each other.  This second picture is back when they were first here, but it is still not uncommon to see them cuddled together.  Butters continued the whole rest of the day to hiss and growl at Sugar.  Then during the night when I woke briefly, they were both down by my ankles, so I assumed they had resolved their differences.

Turns out I was wrong, once we got up in the morning Butters was right at her growling and hissing again.  Sugar just tried to ignore her.  It wasn't until late evening on the second day that Butters finally settled down and started playing with Sugar again, and the hissing and growling ceased.

Something stirred up a memory... although she was so young, it is hard to know just what would have stuck in the background for so long.  

 

Pathway blocks in place

My pathway is now complete, well I destroyed any grass that was there, but maybe in a couple weeks I will go buy some more sod from the roadside guy.  The sod I picked up a couple of weeks ago seems to be taking hold pretty good.

Hardest part was getting those blocks in place.  I would have preferred using all red blocks, but they are not easy to find in the 12 x12 size right now.  I'm going to let everyone think it was intentional to alternate the colors. 

With any luck I can get some Fall plants going pretty soon.  Still pretty hot out there.

Time for another change

 I have made numerous changes in my side yard garden in the past couple of months.  I started this phase of my garden when I removed the wooden gate, or half of it anyhow, and replaced it with an arbor gate.  My raised beds are having a hard time with plants at the moment with the heat, but I'm expecting to make some new additions in another couple of weeks, possibly when it isn't so persistently hot out there. 

Meanwhile I am finding my pathway blocks are too close to the raised beds under the gazebo type awning we put up last year... I keep hitting my head on the protruding cross members at the top.  As a result I am not using the blocks to walk on, and what little grass I did have is slowly disappearing.  My next project will be to move the blocks more towards the middle.  I have a problem right now with the window of opportunity, which is very narrow before it gets too hot to work outside.  I have about 2 hours in the morning, if I start at 7.  I'm thinking this is a job that will definitely not get done in 2 hours... after 9 forget being out there.  I know that will change a little if the temps start to come down some, but I really don't like hitting my head, but I really do like being out there puttering around.

I added a new plant to my front porch, it's called a Purple Flash Pepper... I do not think they are edible.  I have never seen one before, so not sure if it is really suited to reside in its current location.  It is in a big clay pot, so it is moveable.

Meet Frankie

Who would have thought we would find a monkey at a garden center. I discovered a new garden center yesterday, well new to me anyhow.  It's not one you are just going to happen to drive by... you need to know it's there as it's about a mile off the main road, on the way to LaVernia.  I had the address in my phone, which I used to confirm I was heading in the right direction.

The Front Porch Garden Center I discovered through a post on Facebook.  Samantha the owner of the garden center posted some plants I thought I needed to check out.  I got Zoé to go with me this morning, and boy were we impressed.  There was a good variety of plants and trees and succulents too.  She also is a dealer for FoxFarm soils.  It was so much more than I expected, and I was very pleased that I thought of Zoé  to go with me.

Besides being a really neat garden center it was almost like a mini-zoo.  Well not really, but there was a fabulous monkey named Frankie. She was on a leash, but that was only to keep her from wandering off I think as she was super friendly and loved being picked up and cuddled.  You can see her long tail wrapped around me.  Behind us there was a hen house with several chickens.  Across the pathway there was another big cage... it had some birds, maybe doves.  There were a couple small poodles and another terrier type dog. 

Samantha is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to all the plants she has available as well as answers to questions about amending soil, etc.  Overall it was an awesome discovery.

Sewing Machines & a Kitty

 My sewing room is home to several sewing machines, but they all have a special purpose.  My current layout allows me to have 4 of my machines setup and ready to sew.  A couple have covers as I don't use them quite as often, but I would not want to part with any of them.  My kitty Butters can usually be found somewhere close by.  If I go up the stairs she is right behind me.  She wants to be on top of everything I do.  When not in use I have to keep the door closed to my sewing room because somehow she always seems to find another ball of yarn, or a multitude of other treasures she drags down the stairs to show me her new found prize.  Sometimes it is amazing the size of the treasures she can pull down the stairs, you can usually hear that she has something bigger coming down the stairs because she can make lots of noises.

My workhorse is my Juki TL2000.  It only does straight stitches, but it does them beautifully, and very quickly. I can usually find several tasks that I can compete better/faster using my serger, on the left.  In front of the other window, covered, is my Juki DX5 that does fancy stitches.  To the far right is my Juki Coverstitch... I forgot the # on that one.  I am still learning all its capabilities... I haven't had it too long.  It is a really cool machine with lots of possibilities, but sometimes I get too distracted with other things going on to take the time to really find this machine's full potential.

I have a couple antique sewing machines that still work.  Those are not typically setup all the time, but my Singer Featherweight gets pulled into service now and then when I want to use a ruffler because it has a really nice ruffler attachment.  I think that machine is older than I am.

Now I have a few other machines, but these are the ones I utilize most often.

Salmon is awesome

 I have skirted around salmon for a very long time.  I don't remember eating it before, but I never ventured into buying some to cook... because I also did not know how.  I didn't have the incentive to take a stab at it because Ron really did not want to eat fish.  He had an episode when he was young with a fish bone getting stuck in his throat, and he vowed to not eat fish again.

Recent events have required a new look at Ron's diet.  The doctor told him fish was good for him.  Now he would eat things like fish sticks or a fish sandwich at a fast food place... it was like eating hamburgers instead of a steak.  The fish was ground up and made into patties or whatever.  He thought those were pretty safe.  Well it probably doesn't have any fish bones, but I would not consider the process of getting them to your plate was all done safely from a health perspective.  I asked him if it was okay to give salmon a try for his new diet and he gave me the go-ahead.

This is the salmon I used.  I bought it at Walmart and the 2# pack was just under $20.  There were 6 fillets in the pack and each fillet was vacuum sealed individually.  I used a recipe that called for 2# of salmon, but there are only 2 of us here and neither of us like our portions too big... so that means if I only use 2 per meal, I will have a total of 3 meals for 2 at about $6.75 each meal... at least for the actual salmon.  There were a few spices, a lemon, garlic and olive oil to make the sauce.  I served asparagus on the side, so that would be probably a bit less than $10 for a totally awesome meal.

Getting into some of the details on the process.  I took the salmon out to thaw about 1 1/2 hour before I was to begin.  These are not terribly thick, so that was just about the right amount of time.  I first cut the recipe in half because I was using less than half the amount of salmon.  I zested my lemon, then juiced it.  I didn't want to waste another lemon to get a couple slices for presentation when it was done, so I straightened the lemon shell and got 4 slices... it was just for looks. 

The list of ingredients here is the recipe halved and I did not have any fresh parsley, so I just left it out.

The instructions said use foil to wrap the fillets in while baking to keep the steam in to enhance the cooking.  Well, I don't use foil in my cooking... I try to be sure aluminum does not come in contact with any of my food.  I used parchment paper that I painted all one side with olive oil before loading with the salmon. With the salmon in the parchment lined pan, I poured the sauce over the 2 fillets, and there seemed to be way more than needed, so I put half in a little jar to save for next time.  Meanwhile I folded the parchment paper over the salmon and tucked the ends under and put it in the over for 13 minutes.  I also opened it and put it on a flat pan to go under the broiler for the final 3 minutes.  A note here is parchment paper can catch on fire if it is too close under the broiler, so should you go this route, be sure to flatten the parchment good before putting it back under the heat... and watch it close.

I steamed the asparagus, and put the 4 slices of lemon in the bowl before I put the asparagus in and added a couple tablespoons of butter.  After that was all melted, I plated the salmon and spooned the asparagus on the side and put 2 slices on each fillet for an awesome presentation.  

If anyone wants the link to the whole recipe, let me know in the comments and I will get it to you.

Filling in the blank spots

I found a roadside vendor with sod for sale when I was on my way home from San Antonio yesterday.  I really should have waited until mid-September when it was maybe a little cooler, but our neighbor was putting some in last week, so why shouldn't I?  He mentioned that the guy with the sod was going to be there again this Thursday, and I just happened to be going into town and spotted him on the way home. There was a bare spot under my olive tree and there was only dirt in front of the garden shed.  These two areas get lots of shade as the afternoons progress, but I think they should get enough sun in the morning.  

I got all of them in place this morning early before it got too hot out there.  I think I got them watered in pretty good.  I don't know a whole lot about grass, but this one should spread as it gets itself established and all those spaces around them will fill in..  This is next to where I park my car and in the rare moments that it does rain, no grass means we could have mud.  Of course I back my car in, so I get out on the other side, but in the event I have a passenger it would be nice to have grass instead of dirt.  

Watering seems to be the key factor for success when you put new sod down.  I think I should be able to keep up with that.   

Two Geese & a Duck

 

These guys were here to greet me this morning when I went out to water.  I know two are Egyptian Geese, these type of geese have been around the neighborhood for years. The duck, which I cannot identify, is a more recent new visitor.  There is a pond up front that is the likely draw for these guys.  The duck is usually hanging out with these guys, but he/she waddles much slower and she's always quacking to the beat of her waddles.  We are not really close to the pond, but these guys are looking for treats.  I can almost walk up and touch them.

CW Moment, again?

This is a revival of a post from back in 2016.  I was exploring and pulled it up to remind myself what a CW Moment was.  This post explains it fairly well, but I have not done this... probably since 2016. No, I do not do Bullet Journals anymore, that also probably ended in 2016.  I have been trying to figure out if it is worth trying at least the CW part again.  It's a good read, if nothing else.

OK, CW can be a variety of tasks or accomplishments.  Clean What, Cook What or better... Culinary Wonder, Create What, Call Who, Charity (help) Who.  I know there are other Cs that could go with Who, What, When, Where, and Why, but I will come up with them as they are encountered.

Now this CW thing came about when I was trying to figure a new way to inspire my daily journal.  This journal has become more important as a reference to know when I last did something.  Age does have a way of getting in the way of a good memory.  A written journal is good, but things can get buried and hard to find when I am looking back to see when I had my last haircut, or took the cat to the vet, among so many other things.  This led me to look into what a bullet journal is... lots of info out there. There are good things that can be accomplished using a bullet journal... way over the top for what I was looking for, but I have started my own version of a bullet journal.  I have adapted some of the techniques, but mainly I have included ways to focus on the highlights of each day to make it easier to spot when something has been accomplished.

My version of a "bullet journal" includes what time I got up, my weight, what bible verses I read, the weather and temp high and low, what I ate and then the list of tasks I know I have to do, and I add new ones as they occur. Appointments and events too. I have not come up with any hard and fast rules... I am still in the creation stage... coming up with new ideas as I go.  My latest add-on is to be sure that I have at least one CW moment every day. I can envision a day having several CW moments, but I want to be sure I can include at least one.

So my challenge to you is... How many CW moments can you come up with today? What new CWs can you add to my list?  Now I am not asking you to share what the task or accomplishment actually was... unless you want to, but rather if you came up with any new Cs to go with the 5 Ws.

Diet Modifications

I am wandering down a new path regarding my time in the kitchen.  Not that I don't try to make all of my culinary creations healthy and nutritious, but I now have a new focus.  My husband is now on a restricted diet and I have to learn a whole new way of cooking and baking.  Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Dairy Free, No Processed Meat, No Peanuts or Cashews.  I have to find a way to make things tasty.

I found this really easy recipe in one of my searches for Low Sodium Chicken Bake with cubes of chicken, bell peppers, zucchini, red onion and garlic.  The secret to its tastiness is the spices.  After everything is chopped up, toss them in a bowl with a couple tablespoons of olive oil and then sprinkle & toss with the seasoning.  

It is baked on a parchment lined baking sheet with sides at 400º for 20-25 minutes.  Be sure to squeeze half a lemon over the finished pan before serving.

It has been a challenge to ramp up the tastiness of my new creations, and I know this recipe is supposed to be low sodium...  but so far I have not been told he cannot have any salt... that is one of the add-ons that I have been allowing him to use, and in this case Soy Sauce was his finishing touch.

I got a thumbs up👍 on this one from Ron.  It is hard for me to judge sometimes because I typically use very little salt, and rarely salt food on my plate.  Things that taste good to me he often brushes off and tells me, it is okay, but please don't do that again.  This past week I made one of those.  I thought it was a very good and tasty Chickpea Soup.  His comment when done with lunch was, "who would want to eat chickpeas???"  I had no idea that he did not like chickpeas.  Goes to show, no matter how long you have been married, you can always learn something new about your significant other.

The original recipe says it serves 4.  Of course our normal portions may not be as much as many others, but after lunch was done, I had used probably only 1/4 of the sheet pan.  So even if I put a little more on our plates, it could easily serve 6 or maybe even 8, definitely 8 if you were to add quinoa or rice on the side.  I will be finding out how this freezes, because I have 3 meals left.

Thanks for taking the time to scroll through my post.

Gardening in August

It's already mid-August... time does seem to fly when you get past a certain point when some might call you... well, old.  This is what keeps me somewhat active, and feeling young.  I can always find something in my garden to keep me busy.

I found lots of empty pots that needed to be filled.  I think I have a good start.  I even got our A/C guy to help me move a big molasses tub that was filled with dirt from the other side to sit in the back.  It now has a Pride of Barbados in it... it could get to be quite big.  

I replaced the big wooden gate at the entrance with an ornate arbor a couple weeks ago, and I have been tinkering with the rest of the garden to get it to be just right, a quiet place to just sit and listen to something on my phone or computer, and sip a cup of tea... or I can just sit and plan out what I am going to do next.  Best part is I don't have to be careful when I open the gate that I got splinters in my hand so often from the 2x4 that kept the gate closed and secure from the wind.  When we first moved here we needed a gate that would conceal the boat we had inside... we no longer have a boat.

Now this tomato plant has a history.  I planted it in the big bin between two of my raised beds before I started any of the other new changes, and this Sweet 100 has just taken off.  It is way higher than the fence.  Of course I put a tomato support at its base, and I guided and tied it up as it grew, but it just seems to keep on giving me awesome little cherry tomatoes, which has made many batches of sauce for pasta.  This Sweet 100's history part is... a year ago my dear friend Louise left a Sweet 100 on my back patio and instructed me to get it in the ground... now! It also grew to be quite massive and gave me lots of little tomatoes.  Well, in honor of Louise this year, when I saw a Sweet 100 at HEB I knew Louise would have wanted me to buy it and put it in my garden.  Everything else is succumbing to the heat, but this one just keeps giving me little gems.