Elementary, My Dear Watson

Friday 19 October 2012
Hello and Welcome!

Have you seen Elementary, the television show?

                                                       Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu on Elementary

I do not really watch TV. I watch Netflix (Merlin and Once Upon a Time, right now) and movies, (oh, and Downton Abby, for sure) but watching most of the TV shows out there, that I have seen in the past few years, just feel like they are wasting my time. True, I have not spent much time watching television, so I may not be a good judge. My time is spent doing other things unless I am just too tired and sit mummified in front of the TV; that is how I found Elementary. It came on after a football game my husband was watching and I sat down in the living room with him.

I saw a preview and thought, not interested. But, when it came on I realized it was Mr. Knightly (from Emma 2009) and Lucy Liu. I like Lucy Liu and Jonny Lee Miller. And I like this show. It is Sherlock Holmes brought to current day New York City, solving crimes with likable characters who each have their own regrettable pasts... layers.

This is something to look forward to on Thursday nights at ten (in my area).

Here is a link to view last night's episode:
http://www.cbs.com/shows/elementary/video/

Here is link to information and a guide to upcoming shows:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elementary_(TV_series)

If you have some time take a look and let me know what you think!

Enjoy your day today and have some fun!
Terrie

Peach Snack Cake

Saturday 6 October 2012
Hello and Welcome!
Today I would like to share a recipe with you. I had some leftover peaches and I wanted to use them up. My grandma used to say you could make a cobbler with a cup of flour, a cup of sugar, a cup of  milk and fruit. This is a variation of that, but it is not really like a cobbler, it is more like a snack cake. I should have taken a picture, but it is too late... I like recipes that use leftovers. I feel like I am being frugal.

Peach Snack Cake
1 stick of butter
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
leftover canned peaches, drained, or whatever you have on hand
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Melt the butter in an 8x8 inch square pan in a 350 degree oven.
Coat the peaches with the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
Mix together in a mixing bowl with a spoon, the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the milk and mix until smooth.
When the butter is melted pour flour mixture on top of it, then spoon the peaches on top of the batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until top is browned.
Really good served warm with ice cream.

I have finished three hats and started a pair of slippers, so I am on my way!
I would like to mention a couple of things I have learned from these patterns so far,

This pattern works up really quickly and is fun to make, but it is tight. I added two double crochets to the very beginning in Round 1, so 14 double crochet instead of 12, and I just worked them into each row afterwards. I like the size better for an adult man.

I started this hat with a skein of leftover yarn I had on hand. I ran out so I have to wait to finish it. This pattern is really fun. It is another one of those you can carry with you. It seriously has two rows; well, row 2 is repeated until it measures about 19 inches; so you can pick it up and start again without having to find your place on the pattern and count to figure out where you are. I love these types of patterns, easy-peasy.

This is the first time I have worked in the back loops only and I really like the way it looks like knitting.

I hope you had a good day today and enjoy your day tomorrow!
Terrie

Slippers and Hats, Oh My!

Tuesday 2 October 2012
Hello and Welcome!
Okay, rethinking my last post. After a good night's sleep I decided that maybe not every man (big or little) on my list would like a pair of granny square slippers, so... I will also make caps or hats... not exactly what grandma made, but a new twist on an old tradition, right?

                                      Beginner Crochet Cap, free pattern from Red Heart

I already had this one started in Redheart Super Saver Windsor Blue so I finished it today. Yay, I finished a project! http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/crochet-head-hugger-cap

My four-year-old grandson was over and I tried it on him. It fit. So, if I make it again I think I will add a few stitches right from the beginning circle. This hat was fun to make though.

This is the one I want to try next. This pattern is called Caramel Corn Hat and is from Lion Brand. The link to it is below:
http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L0512.html?noImages=

This hat seems more traditional, but maybe not as manly? Anyway, I won't know until I try, right? So, this is the next project. I will let you know how it turns out.

I hope you had a good day today!
Terrie

Monday 1 October 2012

Hello!
October first already! There are eighty-five days until Christmas. We have decided to draw names this year for the adults, so yay, that cuts down on the stress of presents for everyone, but...

I remember when I was a little girl my grandmother on my mom's side would make us slippers for Christmas and I have wanted to do this for some years now to kind of revive the tradition.

I found this great granny square slipper pattern on this web site http://www.purlbee.com/granny-square-slippers/ I am going to try to make a pair for everyone. It will take only little bits of yarn, so I should certainly have enough and this will be a great way to use it up.

I am excited about this! This will be fun. I love making things for people I love. It is so personal, picking the right colors, the right patterns, the right size, and thinking about them all the while you are making their present.

Oh, and I did get the bathroom painted. The color is called Apple Orchard. It makes you think red, but it is apple green and cream is the ceiling and accent color. Maybe I will take a picture when I finish decorating it. I want to put as many sweet regency and Victorian pictures on the main wall as will fit. So, I am still working on it. And, I have started working in the kitchen. I am not painting in there, but I am going through the cupboards and drawers. So, I have still been busy.

I am off to the yarn box now! I hope you enjoyed your day today and had some fun of your own.
Terrie

Double-sided Crocheted Potholder Tutorial

Thursday 6 September 2012
Hello and Welcome! Bienvenue!

I used to work with a lady who always had with her a little bag and a crochet project. She inspired me to do the same. I carry a sandwich size zippy bag with a crochet project in it, usually a dish cloth or a potholder. You would be surprised how much you can get done just riding in the car or waiting anywhere. I am not a good passenger in the car so I am much better with a project to divert my attention.

Anyway, this pattern came from the same lady who always carried a project with her. The original pattern was designed by Marion Roggow from Athens, Michigan. This pattern is nice because it folds over onto itself making it double layered and once you get past the first round the pattern basically makes itself, so after you have made one it does not take too much thought.

I used Lily Sugar'n Cream Stripes in Lime Stripes for the sample in the pictures. It does not take a full skein, but if you want to make two you will need two skeins. You will have leftovers (the beginnings of another project! yah!). You can use your multiple leftovers to make another potholder also.

You will need:
Worsted weight cotton yarn
Size H crochet hook
A yarn needle

Ch=chain
Sc=single crochet

Ch 38.
Sc in second stitch from the hook. Sc in each stitch across. Okay, here is the only tricky part, you do not turn it and stitch back on the last row you made.

Instead, you go around the corner and stitch on the other side of the original chain. Don't add any stitches at the corners.

Keep Sc around the stitches. The pattern takes over from here. You can see (slightly, sorry) it is already beginning to curve up after just one round.

Just keep going, Sc around and around.

Soon it will start to look like a banana boat. Keep going.

Almost done.

When the sides meet in the middle Sc to the next natural corner and Ch 8, slip stitch in the same corner stitch to form a loop. Measure the yarn three times the length of the potholder and cut it. Take a stitch as if you were going to tie it off.

Thread the yarn onto the yarn needle and slip-stitch the opening closed. Tie off the yarn and thread it into the center.

And there you have it. This is the back side and the first picture is the front. If you try it let me know how it turns out. They are really quick and fun to make.

I hope you had a good day today! Plan something fun for tomorrow. I am planning to get our bathroom ready to paint. It will be a lot of work, but the finished results should be worth it. I am still deciding on a color.

Thank you for stopping by and good night,
Terrie

I am still here!

Tuesday 4 September 2012
Welcome! Bienvenue!
I have been busy. It is week two of the Holiday Grand Plan and I am still following it! yah!! This is a first for me. I have always had good intentions, but that is as far as my intentions went.

I worked in our bedroom this week getting it ready to paint and I painted it Friday evening and Saturday! I still need to go through the drawers and de-clutter, but it is so much better. The de-cluttering part is the hardest for me. I like my stuff. You would think I was someone who went through the Great Depression and had to use everything they had or came across. And, I know the frustration of knowing I have something, but I cannot find it, so I have to buy another one anyway; kind of defeats the purpose of having stuff doesn't it? But... I like my stuff... I know, I'll put it in storage, but some of it is vintage and it is still too hot here to store anything vintage in a storage unit, so, I will move it from one room, to the hallway, to the previously mentioned room that is not likely to be salvaged anytime soon. Well, this is better than a hundred dollar psychiatric visit. I feel better! but, it is getting so that I cannot get into that aforementioned room. hummm.

Oh well, on to the bathroom this week. I am still deciding what color to paint. Our bathroom is small. The floor space is 3' x 5' and there is really only one full wall to decorate. It is going to take a few days to get the room ready to paint, so I can play with a few ideas until then.

I hope you enjoy your day today and have fun!
Terrie

To quote U2, "I will begin again" - New Year's Day

Sunday 26 August 2012

Hello Again,
Bienvenue! I just like saying it. Welcome!
(This post is not about U2, but I have been listening to U2 a lot while painting; songs get stuck in your head and I am beginning again, so...)

I have been busy today. This is my first time actually starting the Holiday Grand Plan on organizedchristmas.com the actual day it started! Yah! Things are already looking up. I dug out my old tickler file with the s.h.e. cards in it and am in the process of re-organizing it, I made out the menu's for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day (It was easy, we have traditions for all of those holidays and I think everyone would be disappointed if we strayed from them.), I made a preliminary list of people to give gifts to, and yesterday I painted the dining room and hallway. Last weekend my daughter helped me paint the living room. They still need to be decluttered and re-decorated, but, at least they look cleaner. I love painting; it makes such a difference right away.

So, like I said in post number two, I re-arranged the weeks of the Holiday Grand Plan into an order that may fit my needs better. I hope I am not setting myself up for disappointment, but... we will see... Anyway, I am starting week one in our bedroom. How did I collect sooo much stuff? yard sales, estate sales, and I like all my stuff. I do not want to get rid of it. In fact, we went to an estate sale yesterday and I bought two completely organized containers of DMC floss, a stack of cross stitch magazines, two finished-but unframed- projects and two unfinished projects. What a find! I am currently enjoying cross stitch so much. It's like painting with thread. I think the possibilities are endless. (Oh no, distraction!) - No, I will not give in. There is a time and a place, I just have to schedule it. - And, by the way, the lady they belonged to just moved to assisted living. I feel better about that.

                                                    Boxes of floss. What a pretty palate!

                                                    A finished project. This is beautiful work, is it not?

Well, it is getting late and I am for bed.

I hope you enjoyed your day today and did something fun. I actually enjoyed all the planning I did today. Tomorrow starts the work on our bedroom. Yah!

Good night,
Terrie

                                               

Bienvenue! Welcome!

Thursday 23 August 2012
Bienvenue! Welcome!

I am not French and I do not really speak French, but I would like to. I own a copy of French for Dummy's - it did not help! What does that say about me? I need a real live class with a person whom I can speak to and ask questions of.

During the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Canada the Prime Minister walked out and called BIENVENUE! and the crowd cheered. It was great! So this is kind of like the opening games to the winter Olympics-

BIENVENUE!

WELCOME!

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

On Sunday, August 26th, the Holiday Grand Plan begins at Organized Christmas, http://christmas.organizedhome.com/

There are fifteen weeks until the first week of December and one of those is Thanksgiving week, (November 22nd this year) so fourteen weeks, really. My house is small, only seven rooms, and one of those... well, there is no way it will be cleaned before Christmas. Really, I cannot see it cleaned before next spring - that is just the reality of it. So, my house is small, only six rooms...

On the Holiday Grand Plan Calendar they allow for eight rooms, so that gives me two extra weeks, right? And I am re-arranging my weeks to better fix my location. They start at the entryway/foyer. It is still way too hot here to start in the front yard.

When I was raising my kids I used a tickler file to stay organized. I bought a book at a yard sale by The Sidetracked Home Executives and it inspired me.

Here is the link to their site:  http://www.shesintouch.com/

I had tried various other organizing plans, but this one worked for me and I used it until my kids got older and I started working mostly afternoons and nights. I have decided to set that file up again as I clean. Here is a link to help you set up a file or just check it out.
http://organizedhome.com/shes-organized

Since it is almost one in the morning, I hope you enjoy your day today! Do something fun!!

Good night,
Terrie

No Capes Dahling! - Edna, The Incredibles

Monday 20 August 2012
Hello and Welcome,

It happens to me every year in August. It is like I have an internal clock telling me the holidays are coming, the holidays are coming! So, I go to organizedchristmas.com and the Flylady and make extreme plans to clean my house, hand make most of the gifts, put extra meals in the freezer, bake, and be ready for Christmas by December 1st.

I know it is possible--it has to be, right? People do it. So, why not me? I am always so hopeful. And then, disappointed and guilty on December 23rd. My family does not put the disappointment and guilt on me, I do. But, I think not this year. December 25th will come and go whether I am ready or not.

Oh, I have already been to organizedchristmas.com and I can tell you there are 126 days until Christmas, but this year I think I will make plans and keep them reasonable. I am not a naturally organized person (I am coming to grips with that). I will take my time and enjoy it. Sort of like it's the journey, not the destination.

So, here, at August 53, I will keep myself accountable and organized.

No Capes Dahling. I am not superwoman! and capes will only take you down!

I hope you enjoyed your day today and had some fun. My daughter and I went to Target and shopped the dollar section. You just never know what you might find. I found a small sixteen month calendar that goes until December 2013. Now, that is something I can use!

Terrie