Thankful Thursday

We are almost finished!

After two weeks of cleaning and painting the house my son is moving into is almost ready for occupancy. The house is a cottage style, built in the 1940's and was needing lots of TLC. The two bedrooms, dining room and living room all have hardwood floors but they were beyond cleaning. There was paint splatter and lots of stains and wear from many years of use. It would require a professional to come in and refinish completely, something the landlady felt was cost-prohibitive and as a renter, my son, is not going to incur the expense. Instead, we settled on a more cost-effective and quicker fix, paint. After painting all the walls over the last week and a half, we taped off the trim, cut in with a brush and rolled the floors with Porch and Floor Paint. They look terrific, so fresh and clean. I finished the touch-ups last night and hubby started laying floor tile in the kitchen and laundry room. That project should be completed tonight and Cody should be able to move in over the next few days.

I am so thankful we are almost done and thankful Cody found a roommate to share the expenses and thankful he is happy with how everything has turned out.

Lots of stains!

Hubby taping and then rolling my son's bedroom. Yes, that is red paint. Red is one of Cody's favorite colors.

Isn't that a huge difference?

More updates to come over the next few posts.

Tutorial Tuesday

Bow/Hair Clip Holder

Today's tutorial is a no-sew project. Do you have a little or even a big girl who has lots of bows and hair clips and you can never seem to keep them organized or find matching ones when you need them? Ashley over at Make It and Love It has an easy and stylish solution. The Bow/Hair Clip Holder can be coordinated with your decorating theme and be a handy fix for all those wandering hair bows/clips. Head over to Make It and Take It for the detailed instructions and leave Ashley a comment letting her know you found her through The Best Laid Plans blog. :)

http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/2009/04/bowhair-clip-holder.html

Recipe Monday

Peach Cobbler

One of my husband's favorite desserts is an old-fashioned Peach Cobbler Ala Mode. Our local peaches are just so sweet and juicy this year and are perfect for making a Peach Cobbler.

To make the peach filling, peel and slice 10-12 peaches. Add 1 cup of sugar and stir with a spoon until well mixed, (see picture below). Pour in to a sprayed, 2-quart casserole dish.

For crust, mix 1 cup of self-rising flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup of milk, 1 stick of butter melted and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Mix with a whisk (see picture below) until all the lumps are smooth. Pour over the peach filling. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes. My stove takes about 50 minutes. The top will be golden brown and the filling will be very bubbly. Serve warm with a couple of scoops of all-natural, vanilla ice cream. It is so delicious. By last night, the last of the cobbler was eaten. :) And yes, I know. This is not a low-fat dish but sometimes you have to splurge! I made this instead of a birthday cake for my husband.

Comfort Food

There are some foods that we think of as comfort food. Chicken and Dumplings is certainly a dish that I think of as comfort food. Growing up in the deep south, Mississippi, we ate mostly southern cuisine and Chicken and Dumplings were definitely on the list. My friend Rita, who still lives in Mississippi and hosts the blog, Blessed Be Me, has a recipe for this tasty dish. Click on over for a true southern dish recipe and it will set your mouth to watering. In fact, I am making some this weekend. Yummy. :)
http://blessedbeme-rita.blogspot.com/2009/07/chicken-and-dumplingsummm-good.html

Take a look around while you are there. Rita is a new quilter and does some incredible machine embroidery also. She is new to the blog world but has some wonderful insights to share. I hope you get a minute to visit her and tell her Pam says hi.

Christmas in July Swap Received

Yesterday the postmaster left me a wonderful package. I received my Christmas in July package. It was a secret swap and I was so fortunate to have Simone at http://simonedeklerk.blogspot.com/ from the Netherlands as my gifter. (Is gifter a real word?)

The premise of the swap was to make a bag or stocking with at least one other handmade gift and then include a few other goodies. Simone outdid her self! I love all my goodies. She made me a hand stitched bag, a little hand stitched snowman pillow, a pack of tree ornaments, a fat-quarter of Christmas fabric and a beautiful table runner. Can you believe all that? I am so excited and can't wait to be able use all my goodies in my decorating this Christmas.

Thanks Simone. All my goodies are just wonderful! :)

Tutorial Tuesday

Tea Bag Wallet

Christy's Creations has an easy-to-follow tutorial for a Tea Wallet. I put one together last week. I followed all her instructions except for the loop. She made one with the contrast fabric or said use a ribbon. Instead, I used an elastic hair pony tail holder but followed the tutorial on how to attach the loop. The wallet has three slots on each side for tea bags and/or sweetener or could even be used for credit cards, etc. Enjoy the tutorial and let me know if you make one. I would love to see your pictures.

For those interested, I used Mary Engelbreit fabric.

http://blog.christyscreations.com/?cat=11

Recipe Monday

Not Your Typical

Baked Beans

A great pot-luck recipe that I am always asked to bring to a dinner is my Baked Beans. They aren't your typical beans. They have 2 meats and a sweet and savory flavor. I made these for a dinner we went to on Saturday evening and are shown in my casserole with insulated carrier.

Baked Beans

1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cans pork and beans
1/2 brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
3/4 cup ketchup
3-4 strips of bacon

Brown ground beef with onion. I boil it and pour off fat with water to help with the fat content. In large mixing bowl, mix ground beef, onion, sugar and garlic powder. Add ketchup; this should loosen the consistency. Add more ketchup, if needed. Pour in to a sprayed casserole dish. Place bacon strips on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes, until bacon is done and beans are bubbly.

Baked Beans are great with grilled meat, burgers and hotdogs or pulled pork.

Needle Turn Applique Tutorial

Cathy over at Cabbage Quilts blog is doing a three part tutorial for needle turn applique. I am so excited about this. I have been wanting to learn and it is on my to do list for the year but my only friend who does it has been busily getting her home ready to put on the market. Alas, she is too busy to teach me. If interested, just click over to Cathy's site. Today she shares all the supplies you need to get you started with your own needle turn applique. Also, take time to look around her site. She has some of the most beautiful quilts I have ever seen. They will definitely inspire you. :)http://cabbagequilts.blogspot.com/

Favorite Friday

All Things Heart and Home is one of my favorite blogs. Robin has wonderful posts, sometimes sharing about leaving a legacy, terrific recipes and her decorating skills are just incredible. If you get an opportunity, click over and visit. I think you will enjoy your stay. :) http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com/

Thankful Thursday

It has been a busy week. My son is moving next weekend into a rental house. We have been busy painting and cleaning and getting it ready. We have had family, my mom, and friend, Adonia, come help Cody and me paint. We are not done but we are a lot closer than we were. I am thankful for all the help and encouragement Cody is getting. My husband does not paint, AT ALL, but he is helping with yard work, which it sorely needs.

I am thankful that my daughter's flight from Charleston, SC to San Diego, CA arrived safely this morning. I am thankful she is getting to have this wonderful vacation.

I am thankful I was able to spend yesterday with my friend, LouCinda. We celebrated her birthday with lunch and an afternoon at the pool. Ahhhhhh, it was so relaxing and wonderful to float around the pool chatting the entire 4 hours without once having even a moment of silence. Okay, a few moments when one of us had to visit the bathroom. :) Aren't friends wonderful?

Tomorrow Cody and I will try and finish up a lot of the painting. We are to the place of doing trim and touching up. I have been chosen to use the angled shader artist brush to do the touch ups. My son informed me he did not have near the patience to try and accomplish that!

I am thankful that we made our last payment to Carnival Cruise line this week. We are cruising in September!!! Woohoo! It will be my first cruise and I am thrilled to go with two of our couple friends to the Bahamas and the Keys. We will be gone 5 days and I can't wait. It could be dangerous with the six of us! ;)

What are you thankful for today? Has someone or something been a blessing in your life this week? Please share so we can be excited together.

Tutorial Tuesday

MUG COZY

Anna over at Thimbleanna made a mug cozy a little while back. I have been wanting to try my hand at one. She didn't have a specific tutorial but did give enough info for me to make my own.

http://thimbleanna.com/index.php?s=mug+cozy

I measured around the mug, stopping at the handle. The base fabric, lining fabric and the thermal lite all were cut at 11" x 3". I cut the border fabric at 1" wide strips.

Place lining fabric wrong side up. On top of the lining fabric, lay the thermal lite or other batting on top of lining. Last, place the outer fabric facing up, pin in place and machine quilt. I used the checker board pattern as my guide. You can also do this by hand. Next sew on the binding like you would any quilt. Sew two buttons on each side of the quilt. Attach small hair elastics to put around each button to hold in place. you will be able to see that in the mug picture. Now you have a mug cozy to keep your coffee, tea or hot chocolate warm.

Mug Cozy laying flat.

Mug Cozy back. Don't you just love those little cups?

Recipe Monday

Green and White Salad

16 oz. frozen baby sweet green peas

16 oz. frozen shoe peg corn (white corn)

6 oz. Parmesan cheese, shredded

Mayonnaise

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Thaw peas and corn. You may do this by running cool water over peas and corn while using a colander or allow to thaw in refrigerator in bags. Important: Do not cook the peas and corn! Mix thawed peas and corn, cheese, salt, pepper and enough mayonnaise to bind mixture together. Serve chilled.

This is great for summer grilling. I serve Green and White Salad with grilled, chicken, pork or beef.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful today for the time I have had with friends this week. I have been able to go swimming, have a friend over for dinner and then breakfast with another this morning. What a wonderful week! :)

What are you thankful for?

Lazy Wednesday

I have not accomplished much in the way of creativity in a couple of weeks. I have instead been spending time with friends at the pool and tonight we had one of my best friends and her daughter and two grands, that are visiting for dinner. It was so wonderful to sit and relax and enjoy one another. We had a leisurely dinner of Low Country Boil, crusty French bread, homemade cole slaw and finished it off with a Lemon Cheese Pie. Easy and yummy.

Over the next few days I am going to be working on the following:
1. Most important, I have to finish my Christmas in July swap gifts and get them in the mail next week.
2. I have several birthday gifts this month and I am sewing some of those gifts.
3. My son has two pair of jeans he wants cut off and hemmed in to long shorts. I keep putting him off but he is getting a bit impatient with his mom so I better finish those up this week.
4. I have an Amy Butler Birdie Sling bag to make.
5. Over the next month I could sew and still have projects I want to finish but it will all get done in it's own time. Thankfully I am not one who frets.

What does your schedule look like? Do you have any crafty days planned?

Tuesday Tutorial

Button Bracelet Tutorial

Hope Studios has a terrific and fun tutorial today. It is a button bracelet. It looks easy and you choose the colors and style. This would make a fun activity for a girlfriend night or even with a teen group or just make one for yourself. The tutorial can be found by following the link below. Be sure and check her blog for other fun crafty ideas.

*photo is from Hope Studio blog.

http://hopestudios.blogspot.com/2009/07/tutorial-tuesday-button-bracelets.html

Recipe Monday

One of my all-time favorite summer sides is potato salad. It goes with any meat entree, especially grilled, and it is delicious with a sandwich. My daughter recently asked for my Potato Salad recipe and she said it was a big hit with all her roommates. Maybe your family would also enjoy it.

Potato Salad

5 large potatoes
3 boiled eggs, peeled and cut up
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1/2-3/4 cup sweet pickles cubed or sweet pickle relish
1/4 - 1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoon sweet pickle juice
salt and pepper to taste

Cut up potatoes in small pieces. You may peel the potatoes prior to cutting up or leave peel on, your choice. Cover with cold water and 2 teaspoons salt. Boil for 15-20 minutes. Drain. Let potatoes cool. I run cool water over them to stop any further softening and drain in the colander. Add onion, pickles, eggs, mayonnaise, pickle juice, salt and pepper. Mix gently with the potatoes. Cool in refrigerator 1-2 hours before serving. Before serving I sprinkle Paprika on top to just "pretty it up". :)

Thankful Thursday

Do you have anyone in your family or a friend, that is serving in the military? I have several, a wonderful friend, two first cousins, one of my best friend's daughters, and on it goes. Or how about the ones who served before us, a father, grandfather, uncle or aunt?

Whether you agree with the war or not, we all owe a debt of gratitude to the ones in uniform keeping us safe. That is my thankful Thursday. I am thankful we have young men and women who love our country and are willing to fight a battle to keep our nation safe. May God bless each of them and their families and may God bless America.

Lee Greenwood's video link for God Bless The USA,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RssIN3ustUw

*graphic available from http://www.manateeworld.net/veterans/docpics.htm

I DID IT!

Very early (6:30! AM) Saturday morning I awoke, threw on some comfy shorts and tee, my walking shoes and was out the door by 7:30! My husband and I participated in a 5K Run/walk. He ran, I walked. This was his third race and he placed 5th in his age group, 40-49 year olds. This was my first and I finished. That was my goal, to walk across that finish line and not be one of the people that gets picked up by the golf cart and I did it! I didn't do it quickly or gracefully but I finished! I can't believe it but we forgot our camera so I do not even have proof in a photo. However, I did have the tight muscles. It was a great feeling of accomplishment.