all about fall

Happy Fall Y'all!!!
It's my favorite time of the year! All of my stitching this past month has been centered around fall or Halloween, and I'm kinda on a roll, lol! In truth, I haven't felt very well for a while (dental problems), and being a hermit has helped my stitching life somewhat.

So with apologies for the craptastic photos and pug hairs, here are my finishes....

This one is Halloween Fun, by Birds of a Feather (the linen came with the chart)

I loved this little spider :-)



this is Autumn Song, one of the Loose Feathers from Blackbird Designs



It will be finished into a box someday, as shown on the cover of the chart....
the colors on this one really made me happy...



this is part of the pincushion that goes with it....



a tiny ornament from the Lizzie Kate Fall Crazy chart...



Trick or Treat from La D Da (I think this was in the 2008 JCS Halloween issue)
(I really love designs featuring Witches shoes ;-) )



and this is Boo, from Lilybet Designs....those pumpkins crack me up, I'd be scared of that spider too!




This is not stitching related, but so cute, I wanted to share. It's from the Oct. 2009 issue of Southern Living magazine (if you click that link, you'll get a better picture than mine, and better directions too, lol)




These are MOON PIES on a stick! You just use some melted candy coating (almond bark) to "glue" the stick in (push it into the marshmallow center) and secure the goodies to make the faces. The ones with "eyes" is made with open faced Oreo cookies with M&M's, candy corn nose and sprinkles for the hair. You can find the dowels or sticks at Michael's or Hobby Lobby where the candy making stuff is. Aren't these adorable? These would be a fun project for kids and I love that they're totally edible :-)

yes, there are still cupcakes here

It's been overcast and raining here, so the picture is the best I could get, just a little peek of our strawberry cupcakes with strawberry frosting....

when the weather is like this, all I want to do is cook, bake, and make stuff!
Today for dinner I made oven baked cornflake chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, cheddar bay biscuits, and green beans. And of course, the cupcakes for dessert :-)
I had some leftover strawberry frosting (the recipe was enough to frost a three layer cake!)so that will go on some fluffy sugar cookies and with me to work later in the week...too much sugar for one household!

Speaking of sugar, did you know you can make your very own brown sugar? I was kinda skeptical, but tried it and DUH, it works! (I may be 45, but I can learn new tricks ;-) !
All you do is add one tablespoon molasses to one cup white sugar and stir it around with a fork until it's blended together. If you want dark brown sugar, add 2 tablespoons molasses for each cup of sugar. Store it in a ziplock bag and TADA!! No more $2 bags of brown sugar for me! Hah, take that Imperial, lol!

Stitching wise, a little more progress on my SB Sail Away SAL...



it seems very appropriate to be finishing up this SAL up as we head into fall....the best time of year to me!

greetings (with a little help from my friend)

A dear, sweet friend of mine that likes to stitch and talk about stitching (Patti, I'm talking about you)asked me if I'd seen this book by BBD. Of course I had seen it, and not only that, but I owned it! So I found it and took it to her so she could look at it (I'm pretty sure she ended up ordering it). Anyhoo...it was buried in my stash along with a project I'd started from it several years ago. Like 2004. For whatever reason, (well, honestly, because I have stitching related ADD) I'd become disgusted with it at the midway point and tossed it to the side.
But when it saw the light of day again after so many years stuck away, it sang a pretty song to me and that song was "I'm so beautiful, you know you want to finish me"...so thanks to Patti, for inquiring about the book, Greetings is now finished!



It's supposed to have some snowflakes, which are made from Queen stitches, scattered about, but I'd rather dance with the devil than do queen stitches, so yeah, no snowflakes!



The fabric is actually much darker than it's showing here, I just can't get a good picture with this camera....anyway, it's 32 ct. Autumn Gold from Lakeside and stitched with GAST and WDW threads.




This is totally random, but after hearing it the other day, I haven't been able to get it out of my head....

From back in early 1986, when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter....



Ah hey ma ma ma! Take it easy on yourself....

sailing along...

A little more progress on my Sail Away SAL piece....



still need to put some initials and the heart charm in that flower wreath, but will save that for last.

Also finished up my Finch Song....



which was a joy to stitch!










On a non-stitchy note, we had a little, well, big actually, health scare with my hubby, but after visiting the cardiologist and then the family physician today, we got news that it wasn't anything serious. Still have some blood work results to look at, but so far, so good! Hubby's health is always an issue around here, guess when you have heart problems, that's to be expected, but sometimes even small things get magnified out of fear it could be something serious. At least now he goes in when I force the subject. Back in the 80's when he was sick with his thyroid (to the point of being hospitalized), I'd told him then, for months before the hospital trip, that something was seriously wrong. I just knew it! He wouldn't go. Turns out he had Graves disease, with all sorts of complications, you can't imagine. Then again in '97 when he had the heart attack, he didn't listen again and wouldn't go to the doctor, kept saying it was just indigestion, etc. Didn't go until three days later! The serious damage from that one he lives with EVERY DAY! But, ever since then, when I say "you're going", he doesn't argue! MEN! Gosh, it takes soooooo long to train them!

if only...

....I could be near a cool ocean breeze right now....that would be Heaven! Instead, I'm just pretending to be... as I stitch along with my fellow Sail Away pals...



I am actually further along right now than these pics show, but just haven't busted out the camera yet to get pics...



If you haven't guessed by now, this is Sail Away, a kit from Shepherd's Bush. To say I'm lovin' it would be an understatement!



Something else we've loved recently is a tomato pie recipe I found here, it is truly yummy, and just like she says, it's better served cold, so after I made this one and it cooled off, it went straight to the fridge and we ate it the next day...



Once again (this is our second pie), it was consumed before a picture could be taken of the baked pie, so you'll just have to look at the vanilla sugar blog to check out what the final product looks like! It's so awesome! Fresh Texas grown tomatoes, bacon, cheddar cheese, how could you go wrong?! Make it! (My pie crust looks so pitiful in this picture, it's a homemade one and doesn't look perfect, but it's the best!You can find the recipe to it in my sidebar.)

Thanks for visiting! Stay cool y'all!

whatever

Long time, no blog!
It's not really that I have nothing to say. Or anything to show (see below), it's just that I haven't really felt like saying it or showing it. Anyone know what I mean? So, there are few words for this post, just mostly pictures, it's the best I can do for now...




Design by Shakespeare's Peddler
"I Love the Birds"
NPI and Belle Soie silks
over two on 35 ct. Daily Grind linen







and a recent package from the finisher. You can click on this picture to see all of these better....



Designs by Birds of a Feather
WDW, GAST threads over 2 on
36 ct. Meadowlark linen




and a design from Twisted Threads


"America" (kit)
one over one, with threads and linen from kit

one benefit of aging...

...is that although you might have to wear reading glasses to see your linen while stitching...

when you take them off, you don't see the pug hair or the twisty stitches!

The America Pillow
by Handwork Primitives
32 ct. unknown linen (calls for Sparrow by BOAF)
Gentle Art Sampler Threads

Here's my patriotic finish for the 4th, just a wee bit late! Started in June, this one took me forever it seemed, all of that border! I decided before starting on it, that I would not railroad my stitches, (something I usually do when stitching with two threads because I tend to twist my thread a lot while stitching), as that takes a lot more time for me. And since this will be a pillow that the dogs will just shed on, who's ever going to know that my stitches aren't flat? And I certainly can't tell without my glasses!

Here's another benefit of my getting older....I DON'T EVEN CARE ANYMORE! Life is just too short to fuss over such things. At least for me anyway! I have doggies to kiss, people to hug, pies to make...you get the picture!

Gotta run, Muttley is whining because his tennis ball is under the coffee table!
Have a Happy Weekend!

no stitching. just pie.

Oh, I have been stitching, and something patriotic to boot, but since it's the "lazy, hazy days of summer", I am trying my best to live up to the lazy part by refusing to iron it and take photos of it until it's complete!

So instead, may I present....

The Easiest and Best Key Lime Pie EVER



I thought twice about making this since it involves turning the oven on for a few minutes, but the fact that there are no eggs in the recipe made me forge ahead.
My family was glad about that ;-)

Here's the recipe (please note that I had a typo on this recipe when it was first posted, but it's correct now)

1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
2 cans sweetened condensed milk (I used Eagle Brand)
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup key lime juice
1 tablespoon grated lime zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice, and lime zest. Mix well and pour into graham cracker crust.

Bake in preheated oven for 5 to 8 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles burst on the surface of pie. DO NOT BROWN! (mine never did get the little pinholes and I baked it ten minutes then took it out and it was perfect!)

Chill pie thoroughly before serving. Garnish with lime slices and whipped cream if desired.

If you would like to be lazy like me, you can use this stuff, instead of squeezing all those tiny limes....



We happen to go through a LOT of limes in this house, so I had some zest already, but I think this pie would be fine without it. You can also use the fat free Eagle Brand milk to reduce calories but whatever!
One piece ain't gonna kill ya.


Last week was my birthday and here's one of the bestest things I received, just had to share....



Isn't it adorable?! (thank you sweet Nancy if you're reading this, I love you!)
I was truly spoiled by my family, friends and coworkers and felt completely undeserving of everything!

Life is good. Pie is good. Enjoy it.

the winner

is Tricia!
(no blog)

There were 35 stitchers names that I entered into the random generator thingy, in the order the comments were received, and this is what it came up with....


There were 35 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1.Tricia
2.Meghann
3.Tanya
4.Sharon
5.Joanie
6.Autumn
7.Patti
8.Rosa
9.Siobhan
10.Terri(TerriBoog)
11.Jan P.
12.Nancy
13.Marjorie
14.Kristen
15.Barbeeque4(Edgar)
16.Jan
17.Sadie
18.Lynn
19.Deb
20.Dee L
21.TammyK
22.Violet
23.Sandra
24.Melissa
25.Rebekka
26.John (Pam)
27.Natalie
28.Tammy
29.Heather
30.Jolene
31.Leslie
32.Kathy N.
33.Judy
34.Missy
35.Staci
Timestamp: 2009-06-27 17:20:45 UTC

Congratulations Tricia! I'm off to email you now!
Thanks everyone for playing along and letting me know you're on the dark side too ;-)

link for the angel ornament

Several of you have asked where I got the tombstone angel ornament, so I wanted to let y'all know...(in case you don't win the drawing on Sat.), that I got them from the Bay of Evil (as I've heard it called...I for one, love ebay!)...anyhoo...this seller, stitchinthedayaway was lovely to deal with! I don't know her personally, but thought these were very reasonably priced, and her shipping charges were good as well! Not to mention, these are adorable in person :-)