WIshing You A

Halloween!

Wicked a free chart from Primitive Betty. Quick stitch--it's not finished into anything yet because I couldn't find any trim I liked at JoAnn's. Was searching for a beaded trim and just found tiny pom-poms. Not what I had in mind.

May all your pumpkin patches be sincere and may the Great Pumpkin bless you all with lots of toys(a.k.a. floss, fabric, and charts-STASH!) and candy!

Head over to Missy Ann's for the grand finale to her 13 Days of Halloween Extravaganza!

A Package

In today's mail I received a package from Beth Twist of Heartstring Primitives(you can find a link to her Etsy shop at her blog). I won her pin pillow giveaway on Facebook. If you are on Facebook, become a fan of Heartstring Primitives. Beth's designs are very nice, I have With One Accord, Rachel Holmes 1842 and Ann Taylor and I don't know which I'm going to start first but back to the package:

See that strawberry? How sweet is that? I have a jar of these that my Mamaw made. Yep, the ones she made by hand in a Mason jar like a jar of strawberry preserves.
Here's the front of the pin pillow. I think it's a Williamsburg print, is that what those fabrics are, my mind is blanking at the moment. It'll come to me as soon as I hit publish.

Here's the back.

And here's a close up of the strawberry. Sweet! Thank you so much Beth!

And because it's the day before Halloween I thought I'd share my progress on HAED A Night in the Pumpkin Patch based on the art of C.C. Kuik. My goal had been to have her finished by tomorrow but as you can see that ain't happening. I'm glad I pulled her out because I had forgotten how pretty she is and now I want to stitch on her all night. Sorry the picture isn't any better it was cloudy when I did her photo shoot.

Don't forget to check out Missy Ann's 13 Days of Halloween......

Migas for Brunch

Or the episode where I pretend I'm sitting in a cafe in Austin having brunch with Missy Ann and Michelle. Music, food and friends, Austin is one of my dream of moving to cities and it's in Texas which I think is extra cool because it just is.


I discovered migas via Homesick Texan and whenever I want something extra tasty for breakfast other than oatmeal or skillet potatoes and onions which is then turned into a breakfast burrito, I make a pan of wannabe Migas. Cause I'm not from Texas, never been to Austin and never had the real thing. My Migas are a lot like Homesick Texan's(type in Migas in her search field). Her recipes are my guide for all things TexMex.

First you cut a few corn tortillas in strips and pan fry them in a bit of oil:




I drain my pan, growing up with heart disease in the family you learn the importance of draining off as much grease as you can. I then put the corn tortilla strips back in the pan with a smidge of butter and a bit of chopped onion and fresh jalapeno:




I let the onions and peppers soften up a bit and then pour in my eggs, this is three eggs with a splash of half & half. I let the bottom cook a minute or two then give it a stir, then when the eggs are almost done I top with some cheese, I used four cheese Mexican this morning because it was what was already opened.

Is there any way to make eggs look pretty in a skillet? They really are just a slimy, yellow blob.

I was out of salsa because we had tacos and enchiladas for supper last night so I topped my migas with some Rotel. When we moved from Memphis to Lima, OH back in 1986 I had a meltdown because the grocery store didn't carry Rotel and not only did they not stock Rotel they didn't know what it was. Did these people not know the joy of Rotel cheese dip made with a can of Rotel and a pound of Velveeta? How did they get through Friday nights? The horror!

My mom sent me a case and when anyone would come to visit they would bring a few cans of Rotel and some Pancho's Cheese Dip.

This is an easy filling breakfast and would be really good with refried beans on the side. I wish I had some this morning, actually I just made them so it's practically lunch. I learned to love beans for breakfast when I read Tassajara Cooking years ago. They are an all day food, ok, maybe that's a stretch.

Clutter report:

We can see the top of the coffee table, the three top shelves in one of my bookcases is pretty well organized, the dining table in the family room, great room, space that no one has a clue what it's for since my kitchen is an eat in kitchen, is decluttered enough to see the wood. My sewing machine is still out and will be until I get a fold out table for the bedroom and we paint. No, we haven't painted yet but the room still feels good even with disgusting walls.

I've started putting the granny square afghan together but putting together isn't near as much fun as making the squares, baby steps, baby steps.

I'm really in no hurry to make the two ugliest ripple afghans in the world and I'm not starting them until the granny afghan is complete. Yes, it's a plot to put them off but it's like 80 degrees here so the boy will not freeze in the next few weeks.

I haven't crossed a stitch since Sunday so I plan to stitch this afternoon and watch horror movies on AMC.

Don't forget to head over to Missy Ann's and enter her 13 Days of Halloween giveaway!

It's Wednesday Already?

The other day on her blog Anna suggested we show what's in our stitching bag. Here's mine:






From left to right: ever present old school iPod(iPhoto, I thought I was so cool at the time, LOL), gum from my trip in July (I only chew gum when I fly, it aggravates my TMJ, TMI?), lipstick, my Moleskine-my constant companion, highlighters, pens, A House by the Sea/Midsummer Night Designs, Monkey Sampler/Midsummer Night Designs, Strawberry Blonde a.k.a. Tomato Blonde. What I didn't show, the overnight Kotex, again TMI?




My question of the day, how do you organize your spices? This is my spice cabinet next to the stove. Spices are just kind of flung in there hit or miss. I tried putting my baking spices on the second shelf with the baking soda and powder but it all gets mixed in together. A spice rack seems a waste of space and I have no where to hang one near where I cook, this is a perfect spot I can stand at the stove and just reach up for what I might need, if I could only find it.

I've thought about getting some of those small plastic baskets, you know like baby doll laundry baskets, I think they are really drawer organizers or something like that, and organize them that way at least they'd be a bit contained, or maybe if they make small wire baskets like that, I don't think a clutz like me needs wicker/bamboo near the stove-I am trying to get away from plastic in the kitchen but I don't think BPAs can leach from the basket through the bottom of the spice bottle and unfortunately many of my spices are in plastic I'm starting to buy the spicesin the glass bottles but seriously the price on spices at Dollar Tree and Dollar General are too good to pass up and I've had no problem with the freshness or quality of them.

I've been looking at spice racks that come with the glass bottles that you fill but seriously wouldn't any BPAs already be in the spice from the previous packaging? Maybe I'm over stressing over this BPA stuff because the damage was probably done with the first microwaveable plastics that my parents brought into the house back in the day.

But any organizational ideas would be appreciated. The basket idea is the best I can come up with at the moment and I'm not even sure how I'd organize them in the baskets.

Don't forget to enter Missy Ann's 13 Days of Halloween extravaganza.

Pretty Sure I'm Not Me

The Pod People have taken over my body because first a finished project, then a cleaning frenzy, and now yet another finished project. But the comforting news is that all cleaning ceased as I finished this piece:

There are errors galore in this little piece of needlework, all the fault of the stitcher not Blackbird Designs. I would tell you exactly where they are but since I'm the only one that knows where they are, maybe you won't notice them.

This cross stitch chart appeared in one of the BBD quilt books, Summer Weekend. The quote really moved me when I saw it originally in KwiltyKim's webshot's album.

I can't wait to find the perfect frame and hang it in my soon to be painted bedroom right over my work area because the words are true. If you don't begin you can't succeed or fail. Powerful words they are, at least to me.

Don't forget to check out Missy Ann's 13 Days of Halloween giveaway. She's giving away some pretty awesome prizes.

Quickie!

Cleaning is kind of awesome. I can't believe I just wrote those words but under a pile of papers and catalogs and magazines on a shelf I found this:

It's my missing Carolina Handley by CHS. I can't remember when I framed her but it was months and months ago and then I got distracted, must have laid her on the shelf and poof, she disappeared until a pile of crap. I'm working hard to change my evil ways of paper piling, stacking, hoarding. I'm getting better about tossing junkmail the minute it enters the house, but the catalogs and magazines, they are my Achille's heel. I've cut way back on the magazines I buy, and stopped all my subscriptions, except Everyday Food but that was a fundraiser for a friend's son, I mean I had to subscribe to something, and I love me some Everyday Food. Best cooking magazine ever. JMHO of course.

Also while cleaning I found a much beloved yet forgotten WIP. Picture tomorrow, it's yucky here at the moment so no good light.

Don't forget to head over to Missy Ann's and check out the 13 Days of Halloween.

Oh No She Didn't

I was so excited, I thought I finished Simply Live on my birthday but yesterday morning while patting myself on the back I noticed that I missed two of these little four diamond thingies that are scattered around the words. So in fact I was 8 stitches shy of a finish but that's ok.

And so that Lisa does not have to take responsibility for my color choices--I'm not thrilled with the blue I chose for the words- here are the colors I used in my conversion:

P8-CC Plum Paisley

P11-CC River Rocks

P10-DMC 316

P2-GAST Dried Thyme

P7-DMC 4240

P5-WDW Schneckley

P6-DMC 433

P12-WDW Chestnutt

P1-CC Just Rust

I really struggled with the DMC 4240. I think if I did it again I would cut away the purple parts of the thread and go with just the blues I just didn't think about it at the time and I really wasn't in the mood to frog and honestly I love this particular DMC Colour Variations thread.

I'm so excited to have a finish, it's been forever!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes.

Don't forget to head over to Missy Ann's for her 13 Days of Halloween giveaway!