Dream of a Trip

Had to share ....  I'm on a happy, happy just outside of Houston, Texas staying with my daughter for a fun filled week of  crafting, shopping and eating.

For my quilting addiction, we visited Quilt and Sew in Katy which is always wonderful, and for my knitting and crochet addiction we drove to Sugar Land and to the Sugarland Yarn Co. which was an experience.  For a combination of both crafts we took a trip to La Grange to The Quilted Skein which is a yarn and fabric shop that was absolutely paradise to me.  Naturally, I bought wares in every store to bring home as a reminder of my trip.  Isn't that a great excuse for spending money on my addictions?

From a simple sign

you open the door and enter a world of fabric and yarn.  A fiber artists paradise.

Half fabric and half yarn

It was a totally wonderful experience and needed to share it with you all.  If you ever get to La Grange, Tx, be sure to visit the shop and the Texas Quilt Museum, which is right next door...

I am fortunate enough to have a daughter that shares my love of  fiber art crafts who loves to share her talents with me.

This trip gave me a chance to see a couple of my daughters, my grandkids and my great grandkids.  It was wonderful seeing them. I would love to put their pictures in here also, but I respect their privacy and will not.

Catch you later.......

Just a Chuckle

When I find something the tickles my funny bone or makes chuckle, it is definitely worth sharing.

As you know, quilters, knitters and crocheters are pretty good at coming up with short set of letters to explain themselves (acronyms).  Here are some good ones.

HSY - Haven't Started Yet

PHD - Project Half Done

WIVSP - Work in Very Slow Progress

TOAD - Trashed Object Abandoned in Disgust

PIG - Project in Grocery Bag

USO - Unstarted Object

UFO - Unfinished Object

STASH - Special Treasures All Secretly Hidden

SABLE - Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy

And My Favorites...

FART - Fabric Acquisition Road Trip (so can we call previous trips Old Farts???

WOMBAT -  Waste of Money Batting and Time

Had to Pass Along.....

Home Made Hand and Body Cream

It's not everyday that I can say that I've found something new to help the dry conditions of a winter skin.  Well, today's the day.  While perusing "Bellaonline" in the quilting forum I found a discussion about making hand made Hand Cream.  This discussion talked to me, believe me.  I have the dryest skin in creation, cracks around my thumb nail (so painful) and dry elbows to mention a few problems.

Off to Dollar General to buy the ingredients:

A 16 oz. bottle of Baby Lotion (Pink Bottle)
An 8 oz Jar of Vaseline
An 8 oz Jar of Vitamin E Cream.

Now, how to put it all together....simply empty all the contaianers into a medium size mixing bowl and beat with your electric mixer until smoth and creamy.  Oh it is so pretty, light and smells so good.   I am told that it will not turn and will last forever.  Time will tell!  Imagine and all for under $5.

I put some back into the vitamin E bottle and the rest into a plastic container with a lid.  Will offer small batches to my friends and neighbors. 

I waited to post this until I had tried it and I have to say it really works.  I have a small pretty jar on my bedstand, one in the kitchen by the sink and one in the living room where I settle in to relax and watch TV, knit or crochet. 

Catch you next time.  Try this you might like it!!!!!!

Christmas Flowers

Hi there, I wanted to share with you the pictures of my beautiful Christmas Flowers that are still blooming like it was Christmas.

This is a striped Poincietta that needs light to keeps its' color.  I have never seen one like this before and I just love it.

 

 

Still beautiful.  This one has not grown one extra leaf nor has it changed it's color since I received it in Mid December.  It just stays beautiful.



 

 

I have been very busy getting my Etsy Shop going.  I have added many new things and am very busy right now getting things done in a Spring and Summer theme.  I hope you will take a minute and visit me here.

 

 

 

 



 

No Pun Intended

 

Puns for Educated Minds 1. The fattest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi. 2. I thought I saw an eye-doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian . 3. She was only a whisky-maker, but he loved her still. 4. A rubber-band pistol was confiscated from an algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption. 5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery. 6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering. 7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart. 8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie. 9. A hole has been found in the nudist-camp wall. The police are looking into it. 10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. 11. Atheism is a non-prophet organization. 12. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.' 13. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me. 14. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.' 15. The midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large. 16. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran. 17. A backward poet writes inverse. 18. In a democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes. 19. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion. 20. If you jumped off the bridge in Paris , you'd be in Seine. 21. A vulture carrying two dead raccoons boards an airplane. The stewardess looks at him and says, 'I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.' 22. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says, 'Dam!' 23. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too. 24. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, 'I've lost my electron.' The other says, 'Are you sure?' The first replies, 'Yes, I'm positive.' 25. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root-canal? His goal: transcend dental medication. 26. There was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.

had to pass this along.  I laughed all the way through it. 

Happy New Year

Just from Me to You.  Happy New Year!

My New Years' Resolution is to try and blog more often.  I'll see what I can do.

My thought for this first month of 2013 is.......

"I've seen better days,

but I've also seen worse.

I don't have everything that I want,

but I do have all I need.

I woke up with some aches and pains,

but I woke up.

My life may not be perfect, but I am blessed.

Catch you later.....

Fabric Alert

the Lighter Side Chemical Warning

 A recent study indicated that fabric gives off certain Pheromones that actually hypnotize women and cause them to purchase unreasonable amounts. When stored in large quantities in enclosed spaces, the Pheromones (in the fabric) causes memory loss and induces the nesting syndrome (similar to the one squirrels have before the onset of winter i.e. storing food). Therefore perpetuating their species and not having a population loss due to their kind being cut into pieces and mixed with others.

 Sound tests have also revealed that these fabrics emit a very high pitched sound, heard only by a select few, a breed of women know as “quilters”. When played backwards on an LP, the sounds are heard as chants, “buy me, cut me and sew me”. In order to overcome the so called “feeding frenzy effect” that these fabrics cause, one must wear a face mask when entering a storage facility and use ear plugs to avoid being pulled into their grip. One must laugh, however, at the sight of customers in a quilt fabric store, with WWII army gas masks and headphones!

Studies have also indicated that aliens have inhabited the earth, helping to spread the effects that these fabrics have on the human population. They are called QUILT FABRIC STORE CLERKS.

It’s also been experienced that these same Pheromones cause a pathological need to hide these fabric purchases when taken home (or at least blend them into the existing stash), and when asked by significant other if the fabric is new, the reply is “I’ve had it for awhile".

  ~ Author unknown.    I wish this was an original thought, but, alas, I found it on a web site somewhere.

Honey Mustard Kielbasa with Potatoes

Oh, this looks so good.  If you try it before I do, please leave a comment!!!!




For this recipe, please look here.

I also prefer a split length of Kielbasa cooked on the grill instead of a hotdog.  Wonderful taste.  Try it sometime when you want something different.  It is really good.

Recipe for Left Over Mashed Potatoes (we all have them)

Now, this looks delicious.  For the recipe, click here.



If any of you readers try these, I would appreciate hearing your comments.  I loved them, but we all do things a big different.  Share them please!!

Thanks for visiting.  Come back again.

Carolyn

Surviving the Holidays as a Widow

***Thoughts from a new widow and getting through the holidays without them. I am writing this in the first person as I am the one going through the ordeal!***

How to spend a holiday after your loved one has passed. Interesting thought, right?  But it happens to all of us eventually and unfortunately.

You will find yourself out in left field, feeling like the world's worst third wheel.  BUT, after the third holiday, I found that the answer lies with yourself.  You will overcome!!!!  You have to in order to survive the years of holidays ahead of you.

You will get used to the fact that folks find it hard to mention the missing link in your life.  Bring him into the conversation whenever you can and they will realize that he is still an integral part of your life and always will be.  He needs to be remembered for what he was, the light of your life, your reason for being even if sometimes the road to paradise was indeed rocky.

You are probably spending these holidays with the folks you love most and who loved you both.  Keep that feeling alive as long as you need to.  They as well as you have many happy memories to share.  Don't hide those memories.  Keep them alive.

I am writing this on a lazy Thanksgiving afternoon and remembering how much my hubs loved his turkey dinner. We had one for this holiday as well as Christmas and most likely Easter, for 57 years. Do you realize how many memories you can accumulate in that many years?

For some reason folks find it very hard to verbalize the thoughts of a deceased member of the family, especially on a holiday.  So help them out, bring their names into the conversations.  They will appreciate it as they do not know how you will handle talking about him of her.

So, start enjoying those holidays with the spirit of your loved one right beside you as long as you need them to being you comfort and enjoyment.

Signing off and wishing you many happy holidays.

Carolyn