Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Wandering Camera December

Today I am linking with my friend Soma's Wandering camera series, check out the others here...
  These pictures are mostly from my walk yesterday morning.  It snowed a bit Sunday night and provided just enough white to start thinking of wintertime.
   
 My husband finally got around to putting on a new metal roof on the bluebird houses...those honey-do lists are a treat, yes?

 Just enough snowfall to barely stick to the trees...
 The boys are enjoying the snow.  The chocolate lab, Buddy, likes to shovel snow with his nose - the lab shepherd mix, Sam, is more interested in sliding about.
 I can still enjoy the leaves peeking through.

 My favorite, no plowing the driveway yet!!

This girl was naughty and hid instead of going in the night before and I found her distraught the next morning...after a night out in the snow I bet she thinks twice next time!!  I am glad to be the one with the camera...true story:  I had to chase her a bit with help from the dog boys and when I finally grabbed her wet, slippery, scared self I slipped and landed on my behind.  No pictorial evidence, merely an embarrassing anecdote :)

Make sure to visit Soma and the others in her linky!!

Monday, December 5, 2016

Virtual Cookie Exchange Blog Hop 2016 - My Day

So when my friend Carol announced she was going to host this blog hop again this year, I quickly emailed her and said I'd love to join in!  I can't wait to see everyone's fun creations!  Thanks for a fun idea and for hosting Carol!!!
 Virtual Cookie Exchange
I am known in certain circles as the "One Who Brings Cookies"  and it is fun for me to make them for others to enjoy.  If you would like to see what I posted last year look here.

I still have been scaling back the amounts of baking I do in this last year as my husband continues to be on a very low carb diet.  

I must say I appreciate the opportunity to share with a few like-minded people who might not consider my cookies/baked goods to be a hindrance to their diet :)
 
Treat 1:

Pumpkin Bread
I know, this isn't a cookie BUT IT IS SO GOOD!!  My mom has made this bread at the holidays since I was very small.  As a teen, I would devour half a loaf in a sitting...I still could but I have discovered calories since tiptoeing into middle age so I try to make do with a slice...

Recipe:

1 cup canned pumpkin

3/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup nuts, optional
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oil
1/3 cup water

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

Measure dry ingredients, combine and set aside.  Mix eggs, pumpkin, oil, and water.  Combine wet ingredients with dry and stir well.  Fill two loaf pans half full with batter and bake at 350F for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

Treat 2:

Date Pinwheel Cookies
This is my grandma's best recipe in my opinion although she was a whiz at making her own homemade noodles - so it might be a tie. 

Recipe:

1 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Crisco butterflow shortening
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup water
splash of orange juice
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups flour 

Prepare Filling -
Combine dates, water, and sugar and cook together on low heat until thickened, add a splash of orange juice.
Cookie Dough-
Cream together shortening and brown sugar, add well beaten eggs.  In separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and chill dough in refrigerator for at least an hour.

Split dough into 3 equal pieces. Return 2 to the refrigerator and roll out the other into a rectangle and spread 1/3 of the filling mixture on top.  Roll into a jelly roll shape and chill in the refrigerator.  Repeat with 2 other pieces of dough.  After chilled slice into 1/4 inch slices and bake at 350F for around 10 minutes.

Makes around 3 dozen cookies.

A note about the appearance on these cookies: nostalgia requires me to take the dough rolls out before well chilled and bake them because I want these cookies to look how they did in my Grandma's later years...you can make them "prettier" by waiting longer for the chill but they taste the same wonderful either way.  I enjoy seeing them look like hers and I can identify with her impatience to get the first taste!!  :)

Hope you have a wonderful December and Merry Christmas!

Here is the schedule with links for today and the rest of the week, please go visit everyone on their special day!!


Friday, December 2, 2016

Shenandoah Valley Botanical Quilt December Block

Happy December!!  I had to sit out last month since the block chosen was the one I substituted my extra pineapple block for in this qal but I can't wait to show you the next block :)  I am sewing along with the Shenandoah Valley Botanical Quilt project - the pattern is provided by the Virginia Quilt Museum and all pattern sales benefit the museum. Dawn, from Collector with a Needle, and Doreen, from Aunt Reen’s Place, are hosting a quiltalong for this quilt, here.

The pattern size as provided by the museum easily makes 9 inch blocks. I am doing mine in wool so that I can make that size (8 1/2" finished), many are enlarging the pattern and all the participant's resulting blocks are well worth a look...so pretty!

This is my version of the block chosen for December, Peony:


I hope I did this block justice as it is a favorite in my garden and I love to see these blooms show up in early summer!!



 This is from a plant my Grandma gave me from her flowerbed.

The following are two of my newer plants.
 

 

 Fun to show these pictures from summer as it is supposed to snow today  :)









Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Let it Snow...ummm...I Guess!

I have been happily making Buttermilk Basin's mystery QAL with Japanese fabrics and wool all year but it is starting to get scary to say it out loud now as we have had our first snowfall of the season on Saturday.  Really big flakes but nothing stuck to the ground as the day before it was 70 degrees.

 It is icy raining now so I had to make do with indoor pictures...it is prettier than this in person.  I will try for an outdoor picture this weekend.

There are finishing directions posted now and I am going to, as usual do my own thing but I am using part of the pattern.  I am picking fabrics for the trees now.

Happy Thanksgiving!!


Thursday, November 10, 2016

The Last Photos of Fall

A little vignette from my walk yesterday, predictions are for 20s at night by the weekend so I believe this might be the  last gasp for Autumn...
 Oddly enough, this is my favorite time of fall, right before winter...ya, not much of a fan of winter weather but I love it when the golds start taking over.
 Leaves make THE best sounds crunching through the woods!  :)
I am a success at bird watching, I saw the most magnificent bald eagle !!!!! in these woods yesterday - but I am a dismal failure at bird photography as I just stood with my mouth wide open and no camera in hand...I am keeping an eye out in case it returns...wow! what a sight!




Be well, my friends.

Monday, November 7, 2016

How About You Share Your Best Cookie Recipe with all your close bloggy friends, Like me?



Come join in the blog hop virtual cookie exchange fun this year and go visit my friend Carol to sign up...
 

I played along last year and it was great fun!  You can find my post from last year here...




Friday, November 4, 2016

Wandering Camera - November

Today I am linking with my friend Soma's Wandering camera series, check out the others here...
  

These pictures are mostly from my walk this morning:
 The trees are on fire in red this morning.

 A picture of our flag what with the election happening next week.
 My poor zinnias think it is still summer...

So do the daisies, they look like they may try for another bloom but I don't think they will get it in before another hard frost.  Anybody up for a game of frisbee golf?
 This pumpkin...hmmm, really? blossoms in November?  See the wee grasshopper?
 
 I will leave you with this picture my son took of our cat wearing her Halloween hat...I shared it last post, but really...do you mind a second look?  :)

Please be sure to visit Soma and the others in her linky!!

Have a great day!


Sunday, October 30, 2016

Hodgepodge of Things and Halloween

I can't resist sharing our Kitty Kitty and her Halloween costume...

Of course she is an octopus...

Here is where I am at with the stitching of her portrait - 

 And I am working on the Let it Snow free wool BOM from Buttermilk Basin again...

Here is the "T" in Let -

 I love the stitching details in these blocks!!  And I hope by the time I finish it I will be ready for snow - not feeling quite ready yet!

 Look at the lettuce bed, I am still feeling like spring!
 
Of course, the trees say fall...



Hope your weekend has been wonderful!!






Friday, October 14, 2016

Nose and Fur Stitching

I am following along with Nicole of Follow the White Bunny and her newest stichalong project for a Cat Portrait.  This is where I am at right now...


 I am a bit worried that the fur stitches may be a bit blocky but I like the raised texture and subtle orange as my Kittykitty is an orange cat but not an in your face orange coloring.
This is the photo I am working from.

 And, just because...here is a frog photo bomb...he was hanging out on my kitchen door and I couldn't resist - pretty little guy :)

Monday, October 10, 2016

Wandering Camera - October

Today I am linking with my friend Soma's Wandering camera series, check out the others here...
  These pictures are mostly from my walk this morning:
 Soybeans are about ready to harvest...

 The leaves are just beginning to show some color...

 The garden has lost most of it's vigor but the green peppers are still thriving...
Happily, the fall greens are starting to look pretty good.

In stitching news, I added the "eye twinkle" to this project...

 And Miss Kittykitty approves.
 The sunflower is ready to harvest, and take to the hens.
 These are some photos from the Labor Day weekend in Auburn, I thought I would share since not everyone is so lucky to see these beautiful cars.  We are fortunate to see them every year.
 This is my hands-down favorite....big beautiful boat tail speedster  :)




 


 Make sure to visit Soma and the others in her linky!!

Have a great day!