GOING IN LOTS OF DIRECTIONS

We have a fellowship meal after church today and while cooking isn't my favorite way to spend and hour, I did make something I have been hankering for!  It is called Zippy Copper Pennies.  I did have to buy the  carrots but it has diced green pepper and banana peppers from my garden in it!  (I also made a large meat loaf but that was a boring photo-you know what it looks like!)

It was also time to change the rocks yesterday-they are finally done! 

These are the ones from my granddaughters when I went to Washington in April.

And these are my rocks from their creek--I am going to begin their 6 weeks of tumbling now!

I also finished piecing the courthouse steps blocks with the 'fancy' shoes in the center of each block.  I did have just the right color green for the solid blocks but I didn't have the orange or blue so this will be on hold until I get to the quilt shop this week.

I finally bit the bullet and ripped out all of the stitching and then loaded it on the frame, even though it was trimmed already, and it lined up and stitched beautifully!  Phew!

Many years ago, my daughter gave me a very long piece of fabric to make one 'everyday' size tablecloth and one very long one for when I have the whole gang here!

The everyday one is completed and instantly cat approved!  The stinker had wet feet, too, from the rain storm tonight!  Gotta remember how much I love her!

 

KITCHEN WORK

Since I was in the kitchen all day--really, all day!--I had this pretty bloom in the window to enjoy!

I made two batches of Muscadine Jelly which meant that I had to make a wash a batch of grapes, cook it down, drain it out for the juice, wash the pan, back to the pan to then make the jelly and then into the washed jars!  I did this twice!  I did put an old movie on and tried to enjoy the process!

I did have every jar seal but the pint in the back will go into the fridge to eat now because I didn't have enough jelly to fill it all the way!  I did sample some and it is delicious!

Once I finished the jelly, I ate lunch and then began peeling the Sand pears and slice them up.  This goes into a pan the same way that I make applesauce-with a bit of water and sugar and then cook it down.  The big difference is that the pears take hours to cook down-with a lot of stirring in every little bit to be sure all is well!  

After putting it through the strainer, I have a large bowl of pear sauce.    I have another 5lbs of grapes to cook for jelly but I didn't have any more jar lids!  I hope to find some more today.  I also want to try to make some pear jam-thanks for the idea, Dee.  Of course, I will have to wing it for the recipe but I'm pretty sure I can do it!

Oh, and I even put a casserole together so I could have it for dinner;  a pretty painless way to provide sustenance!  

Tired of and Tired from Doing Nothing....

I had no energy to do anything yesterday.
Well, almost nothing.
I did do a little cleaning, a load of laundry
and then two zoom meetings--one with my knitting group and one with my church ladies.
Both did much for my mental health!
I made my own pizza-dough and all.
It tasted wonderful even if it was a bit misshapen! lol
I hope you have a wonderful day today.
I'm finally nearing the end of that cone of yellow variegated yarn!!!!!

Saturday Starts

 This is how I will wear the Geology Shawl when it is not so warm out.......soon I will be able to bring out my shawls again!

 I puttered on the Disappearing Pinwheel I learned to make at Mom's.  I have a pile of the 10" co-ordinating fabric blocks to turn into a quilt!  I have the bugs worked out of my system now so I will be able to make a block or two each day and will have the top pieced in a reasonable time!

 My neighbor brought over a quilt for the frame!  She is enjoying sewing time again.  Life does get in the way sometimes but she has been loving her sewing room time again and it shows-

 In fact, she brought over two quilts for quilting!  These are blocks that were started in her sister's stash and she is figuring out what to do to give them life!  I like that idea!  Isn't it great to tackle a conundrum and then solve it!

 I did get a dress done for Aria-I have had it cut out for a while now, it went together like a charm this morning!  I will send this off in the mail so it will get to her in time for her birthday!

Bruce and Marsel shared their Artisan Bread recipe and I have been using it to make dough for pizzas for Bill and I.  We are enthralled with the taste!  Delicious.

I make us supremes , deluxe-whatever you call it, hmmmm, it is wonderful!  Dinner is ready!

Steps Ahead and Backwards........

 I have a pair of bfl hand spun socks!  Soft and silky!

 On Wednesday, I was feeling good and began doing some work in the hall-building out the two by fours so they will be flush with the existing wall (used to be garage space) so it can be sheetrocked.

 Bill got the inside work done and placed the plywood over the hole so he could work outside.

 He has a cement saw to cut through the stucco.

 The reciprocating saw did the fine tuning for the cut.

 Bill got the base built on the outside, too!  The sunset is shining on the fireplace hole so that it looks like there is a blaze going already!

 I woke up with another terrific headcold!  I feel miserable again!  This is getting to be a vicious cycle!  I didn't feel up to hammering on the sheet rock project so I peeled these sand pears.  They are not a variety that you can eat fresh off the tree-they have to be cooked to be edible-they are hard as a rock and stay that way until cooked!

 I have found my favorite way to eat them is to cook them down into a sauce-like applesauce-delicious!

I have a new project on the needles, the second fingerless mitt of this pattern found on KnitPicks called Belladonna.  The cuff is worked around, seamed and then you pick up stitches for the hand.  I made some changes (don't I always?!) but it is a nice pattern.  The yarn is the last of the hand spun BFL.

Here We Go 'Round the.....

 mulberry tree !

 I walked around with my old ice cream bucket and picked until it was full!

Most of the berries are as big as my thumb!  (Those are not worms, they are stems!)

After a few hours work, I have 8 jars of mulberry jelly!

Weaving Smells Good!

I was gifted some beautiful lavender from Marsel's garden.

I used 10/2 cotton in pastels for the warp (120 ends).

No shuttle used -just lay the dried stalks in place and change your treadle (simple plain weave.)

I wove it into a lovely mat for the table...........it smells so good!

I swept up the droppings and leftover blooms/leaves and made a little sachet.
And speaking of smelling good........our neighbor gave us some of her Sand Pears. They are not only ugly to look at but the skin and flesh are too hard for consumption fresh but when you simmer the fruit (skinned) for a few hours it yields a delicious and aromatic pear sauce!