New Year's Resolutions

 

This is the time of year where I think about what I want to accomplish in the New Year. Right now it feels like we are juggling a million possibilities, and not one of them is in our control. That is the way of the military life. Sometimes it is smooth sailing as it has been for us for the past three and a half years but you're bound to run into turbulence from time to time. Between you and me I feel like we can not be anything but grateful for have such a long run of good luck. We are ready to face the on coming storm.



Before I get into my new resolutions I would like to face the old list.

New Year Resolutions for 2013

 1. Make a granny square blanket. Oh, dear. I made about half of the squares or less. I am not good at multi tasking. I can only focus on one thing at a time. I will work on it soon. 
2. Work on paying down our debt. Well, we started out okay and then the air conditioner went out, the stove had a crazy breakdown, and well life throw a wrench in our plans. We will try again.
3. School I am going to take one eight week class at a time. Nailed It.
4. I am going to focus on exercise this year. Haha, Last minute achievement. I ran two 5k's in December. It counts!5. Lose a little weight to the tune of 12 pounds or so. Again I weigh the same. Lame!6. Finish the projects I start. I did finish several projects this year but I always have things on the burner. Nailed it.
7. Make the boys each a pair of Pajamas. I can not remember if I made the boys Pajama's. I did make other things. Maybe.
8. Sew two new dresses. Yes, I did do this one. So what if one of the dress went to a lovely little girl. It still counts. Nailed it.
9. Get an updated Family photo. Fail, Epic fail. I need to let go of my own issues and make a point to do this.
10. Get organized and get on a cleaning schedule. I need to do this badly. . . Enough said.
11. Write one page a day on my book. I wrote 40 pages in word. It is sitting there waiting for me. I can not multitask! My brain shuts down if I try to load it up. 
12. Be More productive. I did okay.
13. Finally Can more food for my family. I did this! Yes.


Well, here we are. It looks like I did okay 2013. How did you do? I bet you did better then you think you did. You know me I like a long list of goals but in 2014 I only have one. One giant one that will bring me to my knees so that I can come out the other side new. Too Big? No, it is tiny.

My New Year's Resolution for 2014 is.

I am going to work on myself so that I can become a better person.

1. Let go of grudges and forgive the people who have hurt my poor feelings.
2. Let go of my twisted body image.
3. Do more Yoga.
4. Less Gossip.
5. Finish my AA.
6. Clean more.
7. Love more.
8. Finish what I start.
9. Write more.
10. Run more.
11. Sign up and complete a half Marathon (circumstances allowing).
12. Focus on my kids more.
13. Attend Mass regularly not just holy days and youtube.
14. Finally, garden more with my husband.

Well you did know I like to make a list. But as you can see everything falls under only one category. No weight loss goals this year even though I was tempted but instead I decided on a lofty fitness goal. The Rock and Roll Marathon happens here in San Antonio in December so I have a year to get ready.

What are some of  your goals for the year?

I hope that your day, week, month, year is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well friends.

 

Granny Square Border Time

Finally it is time to add a border to our blanket. You get to choose the border. I know I have been giving you options but I really want you to enjoy your blanket. Are you ready?

Shell Border

I know she is making this flower border for a basket but we could use it for our blanket. If you like it.

Puff Stitch Border

I think this is cool.

How cool is this Interlocking Crochet border?

 

Of course you could also do a simple border of single crochet stitches or double crochet stitches. I think I will do the shell stitch because it is simple and looks crazy good. OR maybe that Interlocking one. This is it the end of our crochet along. If you are not finished yet don't worry neither am I. Take your time, it is not a race. I will update each of the squares as I finish them. I would love to see how yours turn out.

I hope your day is filled with love and laughter. Be well my friends.

Joining your squares!

So there are a few ways to join your squares together. I am going to give you a couple of options. Watch the videos and use the one that you like the look of the most.

The first tutorial is from the Crochet Crowd. I happen to enjoy Mikey's videos

I also like that his squares look like they are different sizes and he shows us that they are the same size. So take a deep breath. Ours will look wonky because we have at least ten different squares.

Now Bobwilson123 gives us a slightly different variation that will allow for the squares to lay flat. And I like that she tells us to match our corners in case we are using different granny squares.

I like this one because we did a couple of flowers.

Finally I like that this video uses different sizes.

 

I know that having so many videos may cause a little confusion. But there is really no wrong way. Take a deep breath pick your method and sew them together. If you did a border around each square in one color like I did with the light blue use that color to make the seam blend in together. You can do this.

I hope your day is filled with love and laughter. Be well my friends.

Eek! It our last square for our granny sqaure blanket!

So I went back and looked at all of the other squares and I decided to post two squares for the month. One is a another basic square like the January square, and the other is a flower square. You choose which one you like best or that will help create balance.

A beginners square. Nice and easy.

 

Finally the last flower square.

 

Of course you could go and scan youtube for other great ideas and tutorials. There are a ton of options from wonderful people. There are also lots of free written patterns online. Next month we will sew together the squares. So when you are ready layout all of your squares to see how might want to put them together. If the squares are slightly different sizes don't panic just organize them in a pleasing way. We will sew them together then we will add a lovely border that will clean up the edges and no one will notice the difference. Besides this is our first granny square blanket so be kind to yourself and your blanket. It will be beautiful.

I hope your day is filled with love and laughter. Be well my friends.

Ninth Granny Square

Here is September's granny square. I think this one looks fun. Remember that if you do not like the square for the month you can do eight of your favorite square so far. Obviously this not a race or else I would be tailing the at the very end. Please take your time and be kind to yourself. I am looking forward to making this square. This can be done in one color, two colors, or three like it is shown in the video. If you are planning on doing a solid color or just two colors just watch the video all the way through so that you know what to expect.

Have fun!

I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.

Eighth Granny Square

Here is another granny square. I know I am a little late posting this months granny square, I hope you will forgive me. I decided to do another semi solid square for a symmetry, and so that you will have another type of square to decorate with all of the appliques you have made so far. Only two more granny squares until we start sewing them together. I hope you will share your finished projects with me. I will update these as I get caught up with them

 

 

How about some whales applique.

And Fish appliques

And a cute little duck

 

Cherries!

 

 

I feel a little guilty for posting late so I wanted to make it up to you by giving you extra applique videos. I hope you find something you like.

I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love and laughter. Be well my friends

The Music is on

I have Pandora turned up. A lovely song came on called While my Guitar Gently Weeps by The Hot Club of San Francisco. I knew I wanted to share that song with you but it is not on Youtube. I did find some other songs with the same title that I will share but first The Hot Club of San Francisco...

At Sundown

 

The band spend a minute or two talking to the audience before they start playing. I love when I see or hear people encouraging others to follow their dreams or letting them in on theirs. Anyway the song is called All of Me

 

 

And I Love Her

 

So now for the Random Songs that have the title of

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

 

The Beatles:

I look at the world and I notice it's turning
While my guitar gently weeps
With every mistake we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps.

Santana

 

The Muppets

 

Maybe the reason why this song inspired so many artists is the original artist George Harrison.

I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping
Still my guitar gently weeps

 

The truth is this not the first time I have heard a version of this song. In fact it inspired me into writing a poem many years ago. Of course I am going to share it. You know me...

My pen gently weeps
    calling to my hand
    the words that are
    longing to be placed
    on a blank page
My pen yearns to fill
    pages with lyrics
    of the heart and
    the forbidden soul
My pen weeps
    while it sits unused
    waiting for inspiration
    to find it's way home.

I hope your day is filled with love, laughter, and inspiration. Be well my friends.

Lately. . .

Lately I have been super hard on myself. I struggle with my weight and my size. I struggle with everything I am not good at. This harsh look at myself lowers my ability to be totally content with who I am. Do you know the feeling? You know I am not good enough, I am not strong enough, I am not______ enough? This is such a destructive way of thinking and more often than not it spirals out of control. I am guilty of looking outside of myself for the positive thinking I should be doing for myself. No one but me can fill that space. So today I decided to change my outlook. What's that? Oh you've heard me say that before. That is true my friend. I am a work of art in progress. I will continue to try and chose happiness and seek to change my negatives until they become positive. What makes me happy? Well I love dresses and high heels but I do not wear them very often because I am afraid of criticism and odd looks. Standing in my closet I suddenly thought "Why Not?" Out of my bummy (okay, my PJ's which is one of Rob's old T-shirts and batman boxes. No the boxers are not his. I bought them for me.) clothes and into a pretty yellow dress and my nude high heels. Instantly I felt better. I also put a little mascara on and lipstick. I am not going out. In fact I am going to be cleaning. I feel good about myself today.  I want to feel like this more. So why not wear Sunday's clothes everyday. I deserve to feel good. Lean in close my dear friend So do you. You are worth it. Be brave and do something that you have always wanted to do. Wear that thing that you love but you feel a little silly in. Be brave enough to be who you want to be.

I hope your day is filled with love, laughter, and inspiration. Be well my friends.

July's Granny Square

How are you doing on your granny square blanket? Here in South Texas it is crazy hot and that makes crocheting for me a sweaty business. So here is your granny square for the month. I know I sound like a broken record but I will update these posts when I get caught up on each of them. 

 

Here is a shooting star with a rainbow tail to help celebrate the 4 of July here in the USA. I think it is adorable and hope it inspires you to keep going!

 

 

 

I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.

Sixth Granny Square

I am still behind and it is looking like it will be a little while before I catch up. I do not want to hold you back so here is June's Granny Square. I hope you enjoy it. When I have more time and am able to get back in gear I will update you with my finished square.

I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love and laughter. Be well my friends.

Choose joy

Today I am starting a little project to help my family to find a little peace in their hearts. We are doing the Joy Dare. Finding things to be thankful for and actively trying to be kinder to one another. I do not know if it will help, although I really hope that it does, I do know it can not hurt.

Here is my plan:

Joy Dare
Psalm 69:30
I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving

I am going to have the boys find the day's  gifts to be thankful for.
They will have to say one nice thing about everyone in the house.
What they can do to be nice to at least one person.
And list one thing that another person did that was nice for them.


My goal here is to change our attitudes to a positive outlook.

I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.

What makes you happy?

That is a question I have been asking myself for a long while. I keep thinking of the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. If you have not seen please go now and watch it but I warn you now that you will cry. At one point in the movie Benjamin Button says:

For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.

This has stuck with me, lodged it's way into the deep recesses of my mind. When I feel overwhelmed or discontent it bubbles up and plays like a broken record. I ask myself what it is at the root of my problem. I know that no one else can solve it but me. I can ask for advice and complain about it. The truth is I have the answer inside of me and all I have to do is be brave enough to ask the question. What makes me happy? I close my eyes and just let my mind float until I see the answers. For me my family comes first. I love them. Then I picture writing and my soul hums because even if I turn out to be horrible at it. I love it. I love creating people and lives and stories. So even if it is always just for me, it is mine. Then a cow with dark eyes with a sweet disposition chewing her cud. Colorful chickens pecking at the green grass. Creating whether is sewing, crocheting, painting, or any other thing that comes up. For the record my dogs, and the idea of sheep also make the list. What does not is school. I spend a lot of time stressed about it and most of the time I am left slightly dissatisfied with a class.

So what can I do to help my self? I  switched from an English major working towards a BA to a general AA. I do enjoy learning but I feel like the literature classes online leave the learning up to me. There is very little direction so I spend a lot of time researching topics, how to write a critical paper or what I should be gaining from reading a Shakespeare play. I have been thinking, praying, and discussing this with my husband for months.  About an hour after the decision was made I felt a great relief as if the weight was lifted. I know I made the right choice. So instead of a slow and steady pace for the next 8-10 years I will be finished with my AA next year.

Be brave friends. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again. Find what makes you happy and go for it.

I hope that your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.

Random scattered things.

If you have been with me for any amount of time you know that I am random, often scattered, flighty, and mostly content being all of these things. I have embraced my own crazy. Lately my scattered braininess has been weighing heavily on me. I am almost unable to complete projects, start projects, or even worse yet stay on task. I have decided to try to straighten up a little. That means that I am going to try and focus on managing my time, and energy. I am going to take a short break from my regular scheduled blog posts. I am just not going to put so much pressure on when I post recipes, or poems. Although I love Recipe Tuesday and Poetry Thursday, it just means that maybe I won't be posting every week on those days. On the other hand maybe I will. I am just going to take some pressure off of myself.

Also I need to make a list of projects that I want to do. Most of those projects involve the sewing machine and granny squares. The truth is I need to fit projects in around school, my school, and the boys school. School needs to be a priority.

Right now I am unorganized and all of my random scattered things are affecting everything. So first thing is schedule cleaning up (ok so I need to make a schedule and follow it). The second thing is I need to stay away from Youtube. Third thing I need to stop watching so much TV. Fourth thing Make quiet time project time (this way instead of becoming one with the couch I can say spend an hour a day working on a project). Fifth thing I must schedule exercise! Six thing a load of laundry a day keeps the monsters away. Seventh thing schedule cleaning (assign chores to all members of the household, So that I am not the only one doing the cleaning.) These are my new goals. I am sure that I will become regular on the old blog no later than next month.

 

I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.

Poetry Thursday

Today I knew what poem I wanted to post for you but Youtube only had a couple of poorly read versions. It is a short poem so I am just going to post the poem itself.


Eternity
William Blake

He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sun rise.      


I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter.

Crochet square for May?

I know that today is the day I would normally post the granny square for the month but I am behind. I hope that you will forgive me.

Here is a nice and easy square that should help me get back on schedule. If you are ready to move to May's square you will be able to. I will do a proper post as soon as I am caught up.

I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.

Song of the day

Today Pandora is the DJ while I clean the house, cough, cough. Okay I am not killing myself but I did mop the floors. I think maybe I want to play more than one song for you today. I can offer you a cup of tea, a glass of wine, or whatever you have on hand that you really like. We will listen to music together and have a lovely chat. Ready or not.

There is a little game we like to play called worst case scenario (I have a feeling that most military family's play this game at one time or another.) It is not a fun game. What happens if my husband gets deployed for a year, and then gets hit with a short tour to Korea. It would be two years of separation from my favorite person. I say don't worry we own this house. We have friends. We will be okay. It would be the hardest two years ever but we will make it to the other side. He looks at me with those beautiful eyes and my heart hurts a little at the idea but I try not to show it. Because as hard as it is for me to be left waiting I know it is harder for him to be the one who leaves. Although we don't play this game very often it does come up from time to time. It is a way for both of us to reassure each other that we are okay through thick and thin. It the way it is in this life.

 

Frankly sometimes Pandora plays all the right songs sometimes  she cuts like a knife. Have I told you that I love Bon Jovi? Oh I do.  I do. I'll be there for you these five words I swear to you.

 

Tom Petty is here too. Sing along, I know you know the words. Now I am free, free fallin.

 

You see Pandora knows when she has gone too far. Then she plays me The Planets, Suite for Large Orchestra, Op. 32: IV. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity. I love this song. More wine, tea, coffee, anything? So how are you doing? I am already feeling the Jollity.

I think this is a wonderful song. It is starting to lighten up the mood. See we are laughing already. Maybe we we talk about the craziest thing we ever did. For me it was getting married. You see I never really wanted to be married until I did and a month later I was. Then you know I moved across land and sea to be with him.

Now I have to warn you not only am I singing this song because I know it by heart I am dancing. So come one on your feet dance with me friend.

We dancing now! Can you mash potato. Tell me, tell me! I wanna Know.

Well now that I am all out of breath. Thanks for stopping by and visiting with me. I feel so much better.

 

 

I hope you day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well friends.

Poetry Thursday

Today is the last day of Emily Dickinson.. Thank you for following along with me. Today's poem is I'm Nobody! Who are You?

I'm Nobody! Who are you? (260)
by Emily Dickinson
I'm Nobody! Who are you? Are you – Nobody – too? Then there's a pair of us! Don't tell! they'd advertise – you know! How dreary – to be – Somebody! How public – like a Frog – To tell one's name – the livelong June – To an admiring Bog!

I hope that your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.

Recipe Tuesday Squash

Today I am feeling a little under the weather today so I am going to do an easy recipe. Sauteed squash.

Yellow squash (I used 6 but I feed four people and everyone loves squash around here.)
Butter about 2-3 tablespoons or a two inch chuck out of a stick.
3 cloves of garlic (more or less to taste)
Onions are good too
salt and pepper

Slice the squash and onions. Mean while melt the butter in a pan. When the butter is melted throw all of the ingredients into the butter. Cook the squash to desired tenderness. 5-15 minutes. This makes a great side dish for chicken or if you are a vegetarian you can toss the squash with your favorite pasta and Parmesan cheese. It makes a great meal.


So I forgot to take a picture of my squash. So I borrowed this one from here. Also it has a recipe for sauteed squash minus garlic. Google any recipe and you are bound to find a million of mostly the same recipes. I have spent lots of time comparing recipes before I decide on which one to use. Even the squash I have never used a recipe for sauteed squash but still there it is waiting to be found. I hope you try the squash because it is wonderful.

I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.

Poetry Thursday

Alright I normally like to mix up the poetry but it looks like this month is all Emily Dickinson. I hope you don't mind. This video starts by telling the viewer a little about Emily Dickinson. I swear to you the more I discover about the Poet the more I wonder how I got my previous assumption. This just proves that I need to be more open to things and not judge so quickly.  Today's poem is I Started Early, Took My Dog by Emily Dickinson.

I started Early – Took my Dog – (656)

By Emily Dickinson 1830–1886 Emily Dickinson

I started Early Took my Dog

And visited the Sea

The Mermaids in the BasementBasement i.e., the bottom of the ocean

Came out to look at me 

And FrigatesFrigates fast and highly maneuverable warships of the 18th and 19th centuries, used to escort other larger ships, or to patrol the coast and blockade harbors  in the Upper Floor

Extended Hempen HandsHempen Hands strong, thick ropes made of hemp, used on ships 

Presuming Me to be a Mouse

Aground oponopon upon the Sands

But no Man moved Me till the Tide

Went past my simple Shoe

And past my Apron and my Belt

And past my BoddiceBoddice bodice; an upper part of a woman’s dress, or a rigid, laced corset worn underneath clothing, covering the upper part of a woman’s body too

And made as He would eat me up

As wholly as a Dew

Opon a Dandelion's Sleeve

And then  I started  too   

 I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.

Recipe Tuesday Spaghetti Sauce take one

As promised today is the first spaghetti sauce post. Why say the first you ask? Good question because I want to give you more than one way to make sauce to help prove how easy it is to make and to encourage you to make up your sauce as you go. If you search google for spaghetti sauce recipes there are bond to be a billion different ways to do it. Maybe there are better ways than my way but we like it around here. In my opinion the only two things you need for spaghetti sauce are tomatoes and wine and even the wine is debatable. This is how I made the sauce tonight.


Trisha's (You name should go here) not so world famous spaghetti sauce.

Ingredients

Olive oil (but any vegetable oil works)
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 small onion
3-5 cloves of garlic
3 small carrots
Herbs (oregano, thyme, basil, or that Italian herb mix you can get at the store)
mushrooms (I don't know. Erin maybe 8 - or a package of sliced how much do you like mushrooms?)
Red wine (I like Cabernet Sauvignon but I used Pinot, sometimes I use Merlot tonight. So any red you have on hand will do)
salt and pepper
red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp sugar

Water
Pasta
Are you new to wine? I like Barefoot wines $5, Simply Naked $8, Cupcake $8, confession I also like Trader Joe's $3 wine.  The trick is to use wine that you enjoy drinking. It really does add something extra to it

Directions

If you are in a hurry you can put your water on to boil. Give yourself a little window and turn the heat on to medium heat. Pour some olive oil into your pan and turn on the heat to about medium. Dice your onion, mince your garlic, and roughly chop your carrot and throw it in your pan.

While your vegetables are cooking now is a good time to chop up your mushrooms. If you have slice mushrooms get them ready to go into the pot.

I got these mushrooms from a local farm yum! Okay so I went to the Farmers Market and bought 2 pounds. It still counts.

Get ready to open your cans. Okay so I was going to use sauce but changed my mind. Do what I say not what I take pictures of. 1 can crushed tomatoes and 2 cans diced.

This is what your sauce will look like.

Now is a good time to add your herbs.

Today I used oregano, and thyme. Also add your salt and pepper and your red pepper flakes just a shake or two. and your sugar. Stir it all up.

Now comes the wine. One for the sauce and one for you.

This is how the sauce looks after the wine.  By now your water should be boiling so you can either cook your pasta now or let the sauce cook down a little for ten or so minutes. You will know the thickness you like. But if you cook the noodles now dinner will be ready when they are. The sauce might be a touch runny but no big deal it will still be thicker than store bought sauce. If you don't like chunky sauce run it through the blender. This means spaghetti sauce is a great way to hide vegetables such as eggplant, and squash. You can also brown some grass fed beef before you through in the onions if you like meat in your sauce. I like it with out the meat.

 

Here is my finished sauce

So I had a hard time getting a picture with out steam in it. But I kind of like the steam in this one.

 

 I recommend you put cheese on top of your spaghetti and sing while you eat. I prefer cheddar or Parmesan but use the kind you have to shred yourself. Or your favorite kind.

I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.

Poetry Thursday

As promised today's poem is also an Emily Dickinson poem. This video is not the one I set out looking for but I kept coming back to it. The woman reading the poem I'll tell you how the sun rose helps to bring it to life. So here is today's poem  I'll Tell You How The Sun Rose by Emily Dickinson.

I'll Tell You How the Sun Rose
By Emily Dickinson

 I’ll tell you how the sun rose,
A ribbon at a time.
The steeples swam in amethyst,
The news like squirrels ran.

The hills untied their bonnets,
The bobolinks begun.
Then I said softly to myself,
"That must have been the sun!"

But how he set, I know not.
There seemed a purple stile.
Which little yellow boys and girls
Were climbing all the while

Till when they reached the other side,
A dominie in gray
Put gently up the evening bars,
And led the flock away.      


I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.

Recipe Tueday Caramel Apple Jelly

Did you try to make the apple butter? Sorry I made you wait so long for the Caramel Apple Jelly recipe, but it is worth the wait. For this I used this recipe: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/caramel-apple-jam.

Caramel Apple Jelly

Ingredients

• 6 cups diced peeled apples (just roughly chop them. Also I used a four pound bag of apples and then four more apples.)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon butter
• 1 package (1-3/4 ounces) powdered fruit pectin
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I ran out of nutmeg so I used a little allspice and a dash of cloves. Can I call them a secret ingredients? No, but you can.)

 

Directions

• In a Dutch oven, combine the apples, water and butter. Cook and stir
• over low heat until apples are tender. Stir in pectin and bring to a
• rolling boil, stirring constantly. Add the sugars, cinnamon and
• nutmeg and return to a rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring
• constantly.  If you like super smooth jelly you can run it though a blender, or potato masher or any other contraption that will make it smooth. I used a blender. I still left some lovely apple bits because rustic is cool.
•   

 

• Remove from the heat; skim off foam. Carefully ladle hot mixture into
• hot half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace. Remove air bubbles(The truth is I do not know what this means. So I have never removed bubbles);
• wipe rims and adjust lids. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water
• canner.

This jelly is insane and wonderful. Just as a reminder you do not have to can this jelly just put it in the refrigerator.

I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.

Poetry Thursday

A friend of mine was telling me about this poem a couple of weeks ago so I could not wait to find it for you. I have a confession when I was younger I was turned off by Emily Dickinson's sonnets and I never gave her poetry a fair chance. I am sorry now after finding her shorter poems. I can now see that I was very wrong. I am going to post a few of her poems this month because I am discovering her with new eyes and ears. I sincerely hope that you will enjoy her poetry with me. Today's poem is Hope is the thing with feathers.

 

“Hope” is the thing with feathers - (314)

By Emily Dickinson 1830–1886 Emily Dickinson

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.

Recipe Tuesday Apple Butter

Hello friends, this last weekend I was so lucky to have one of my oldest friends S over for a few days. She was telling me how much she just wanted some apple butter so I made some for her and some caramel apple jelly for the road. I sent a dozen jars of jelly home with her. Today I am going to share the recipes with you. So can jar them if you want too, or you can just put it in the refrigerator for safe keeping. I will post the recipes and the directions for canning them. I recommend you check your extension service website to find out your elevation for me I am 699 feet above sea level which means that I would do a water bath for 10 minutes, but if you are over 6000 feet you would need to do a water bath for 35 minutes. So please check. Here is a general website http://www.simplycanning.com/altitude-adjustments.html. This website will only tell you how much time to add to your water bath. Jelly is one of the easiest things to start canning. So there is nothing to be afraid of. I just want to give you the best information that I can. The times that I put on here are for my elevation.

Okay now for the fun part! Recipes!

For both of these recipes I used Granny Smith apples, mostly because I like the tart taste. But if you do not like them for some reason feel free to use a different kind of apple. Also I bought 3 four pound bags of apples and split them between these recipes.

 

Apple Butter
from Ball Blue Book guide to preserving

4 pounds of apples or about 16 medium (again I used one 4 pound bag of apples plus four additional apples to make it extra thick.)
2 cups water
4 cups of sugar (I used half white sugar and half brown sugar)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves

To prepare pulp: wash and dry apples. Core, peel, and quarter apples. Combine apples and two cups of water in a large sauce pan. Simmer until the apples are soft. Puree using a food processor (or an old fashioned potato masher which is what I used. I like to have chunky bits. It is rustic. Rustic is cool) or food mill, being careful not to liquefy.

To make butter: Combine apple pulp, sugar, and spices in the same large pot you used to cook the apples in. Cook slowly until thick enough to round up on a spoon. As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking. Ladle hot butter into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space (really there is no need to measure if you are using a canning funnel do not fill past the bottom of the funnel and you will be fine.) If you are not canning feel free to use any kind of container that has a lid and put in into the refrigerator. It will thicken up more as it cools off. If you are canning Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.

Finished apple butter

Apple butter on a spoon.

Hello Apple butter.

Apple butter by it self on a cracker is delicious.  If you want to try a little piece of heaven cream cheese and apple butter. You are welcome!

 

I will do another post for Caramel apple jelly so that they are easier to find.

 

I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.

Birthday confessions

It is nap time at my house and it is my birthday so what is a girl going to do?

YouTube Supernatural panels. Friends I am a fangirl (cooler name for a girl geek which I am). Between you and me if Doctor Who did more panels I would watch those too.

An afternoon snack, homemade cream cheese and apple butter. Yum!

I am having a really lovely Birthday. Believe or not this is perfect. I am happy. And Calories don't count today. They don't count for you either. It is my gift to you. One day only. Be happy and have a wonderful day.

I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.

Fourth Granny Square

It's April! How are you doing so far? If you are a little behind don't worry there is still time to catch up. Besides it is not a race to the finish. Take your time all of these posts will be here when you are ready to move on to the next square. As you may already know my Birthday is in April. I decided that I wanted flowers. This is my favorite square so far. I love how it looks in one solid color and in multi-colors. I hope you like it as much as I do. It is easier than it looks. I promise.

You can find the written pattern here

http://rosehip.typepad.com/rose_hip_blog/2008/11/index.html

Sometimes I find it helpful just to read the pattern after I have made a couple of these squares with the video.

 

My squares look a little wonky this month. I am not worried. If your squares look a little wonky from time to time just go with it. Everything will work out in the end.

 

The lady who makes this video is very soft spoken so be prepared to turn up the volume. Also she tells you the instructions as she is doing it so you may want to watch the video all the way through first. I am going to type out the instructions so that it might help follow along.

 

1. Start with a magic ring

 (here is a video if you're not quite sure how to do a magic loop)

5 single crochets into the magic ring close the ring with a slip stitch.

2. Chain 1. two single crochets in every stitch. slip stitch to first single crochet 

3.Chain 1, two single crochets in every stitch then slip stitch to first single crochet

4.You can change color here or stay with a single color. Chain 1, *single crochet in 3, two single crochets in the next stitch* repeat *-* Slip stitch to first single crochet

5. In the next stitch half double crochet, double crochet, triple crochet chain two in next single crochet triple crochet, double crochet, half double crochet (your first ear). skip next stitch, Single crochet in next four stitches skip a stitch. half double crochet, double crochet, triple crochet, chain two and in next stitch triple crochet, double crochet, half double crochet (The second ear!)slip stitch into next stitch. The lady says you can stop here or finish the round with single crochets until you reach the first ear then end with a slip stitch.. That is what I did.

 

6. Now for the eyes. Start with a magic ring than three single crochets into the ring, slip stitch into first single crochet.

7. two single crochets into every stitch slip stitch to finish

8. Repeat rows 6 and seven to make two eyes

For the record I find it hard to work with dark colors like black and brown. For some reason the stitches are hard to see so I recommend using a light color for the eyes. If you struggle making the eyes you can always sew on little buttons instead.

For the beak I chained three and then one single crochet in the middle and then chained one.

Also I used a G/4mm hook. Use a bigger hook to make it easier.

Good luck!

I think it looks better when you change the color. That is up to you.

 

 

 I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.



Poetry Thursday

Today I found the poem I wanted to share with you and then I searched youtube. This means you get two poems today read by Langston Hughes. I hope you enjoy them.

 

 

 

 

The Dream Keeper

by Langston Hughes

Bring me all of your dreams,
You dreamer,
Bring me all your
Heart melodies
That I may wrap them
In a blue cloud-cloth
Away from the too-rough fingers
Of the world.

Dreams
by Langston Hughes
Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly.     Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow.

I hope that your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.