LIBRARY VISIT

I made a visit to the library yesterday. It was also my book club meeting. So did two important things yesterday. Had to get some more books. I had read all the others I had. So here's what I got.

The Devil Wears Plaid - Teresa Medeiros

In My Hands - Irene Gut Opdyke

Black Duck - Janet Taylor Lisle

Sixteen Brides - Stephanie Grace Whitson

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake - Aimee Bender

The True Adventures of Charley Darwin - Carolyn Meyer

And what book am I reading for book club this month?
The Widower's Tale - Julia Glass

VINTAGE RECIPE THURSDAY

This is a favorite at our house. I've posted it here before. I think it needs posted again. I got this recipe a long time ago when I went to Weight Watchers. It's been 30+ years ago. I make it a lot during the holidays. It's fast and easy to make ahead of time. Pop on some raw veggies or chips and your ready.

VEGGIE/CHIP DIP
1 16oz. container of Plain Yogurt
1 original pkg. Hidden Valley Dressing Mix(powdered form)
1 tablespoon Parsley Flakes
Mix all ingredients well. Let sit, covered, overnight in the fridge
Veggies you can use:

Carotts
Cucumbers
Bell Peppers
Celery
Cherry Tomatoes
Green Onions

WIP WEDNESDAY

Tami over at Tami's Amis and Other Creations is the host for WIP Wednesday. What exactly is this? Exactly what the name implies. Work in Progress. Do you have one or two laying around? Hop over and join in.

I was over at Tami's snooping around. Found this project she's working on. It's called A Year of Projects. It's taking place over at Ravelry.

Ravelry is a place for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, weavers and dyers to keep track of their yarn, tools, project and pattern information, and look to others for ideas and inspiration. The content here is all user- driven; we as a community make the site what it is. Ravelry is a great place for you to keep notes about your projects, see what other people are making, find the perfect pattern and connect with people who love to play with yarn from all over the world in our forums.

I joined Ravelry a couple years ago, and I'm sorry to say, I haven't done much with it since then. I get side tracked a lot. Anyway, went and checked out A Year of Projects. Here's a little info.

Last year the owners of my favourite LYS, The Purple Purl, decided to knit through a book. Being the owners of a store, they had lots of books to pick from and an unlimited supply of materials. Their journey has inspired me, and I thought why not give it a go too.
But, let’s be honest, things are always more fun with your friends, so I posted about it on Ravelry. And a little to my surprise, there are other knitters/crocheters who seem to think this is a good idea!

So I've decided to join this project. I have until the end of June 2012 to finish this project. I have a booklet put out my Leisure Arts called A Year of Doilies. I want to do the whole book of doilies. There is one for each month. I also want to finish my green stripe ripple afghan and start a granny square blanket.

I am working on April now. I haven't worked on it for a couple of weeks now. I got frustrated with it and put it aside. I had to rip out 3 rnds because I missed a rnd.

Plus I'm not real fond of the pattern. It has popcorn stitches and I hate doing those stitches. So it is sitting in the drawer for now. I'll pick it back up soon. It's over half way done, so I want to finish it so I can get to the May pattern. Which is beautiful yellow pineapple design. It's in the upper right hand corner of the book.

This is my list of projects.
A Year of Doilies-12 doilies, 3 done
Green Stripe Ripple Afghan(done)
Granny Square Blanket(done)
Hexagon Blanket(done)
Granny Got Color Blanket

TUESDAY GARDEN PARTY

Our tomatoes are ripening. We've picked our first tomatoes this week. Don't know the names of them but they are beautiful. Regular tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. But our Beef Steak tomatoes have a problem.

As you can see there is a big hole in this tomato. Some critter or insect has been eating it. Here are the good ones.

MACRO MONDAY

Lisa over at Lisa's Chaos is the host for Macro Monday. Hop over and check out all the folks sharing their Macro's (Close Ups).

This little guy sits in my garden. Someone threw him in the trash. Hi arms are broken off. But I think he looks marvelous sitting there.

FOGGY

Last nigh we had some rain. This morning it's kind of misty and foggy. Looking to east you can see the fog hanging in the air.

PROJECT 365

We had a little break in the weather. It was still humid but the temps were down a little. So got some outside shots this week.


Queen Ann's Lace, even though it's a weed, I think it's beautiful.

A lantern in my garden.

A shady spot to sit in the garden, if the bugs weren't so bad this year.

Bella has discovered going under things. She gets under the saucer and sits. Here she's after the bag of wipes.

Tommy takes the twins out in the morning and sits on the deck. This time he has Luke with him.

The pillows on the back of the couch are fair game for the twins. They love taking them all down and throwing them.

My favorite window in the house, the kitchen. It has some of my favorite chickens sitting there and my flower my mom gave me.

FIBERS ON FRIDAY

Beth over at Visions of Sugar Plums is the host for Fibers on Fridays. Have something fiber related to show off? Head over to Beth's place and see all the pictures that everyone is sharing.

I didn't get one stitch done on the doily I'm working on. Been a kind of busy week. But I was cleaning out a drawer in a dresser and found a few doily's I made years ago. So thought I'd show those off.

Blue Doily

Orange Doily

Green Doily

That's it for this week. Hopefully next week will be better in the stitching department. Have a great weekend.

VINTAGE RECIPE THURSDAY

I got this recipe from my Great Aunt Evelyn. It's a really easy recipe and the cake is so moist. I've got another recipe that is similar to this one that I got from a good friend. It's called a Pineapple Cake.

Good Cake

Ingredients
2 Eggs-beaten
2 C. Sugar
2 C. Flour
2 teaspoon Baking Soda
Pinch of Salt
20 oz. can of crushed pineapple(reserve juice)
1 C. Nuts-chopped(Optional)

In large large bowl beat eggs, add sugar, flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Add pineapple with juice and chopped nuts. Continue mixing until all is combined. Pour batter into a well greased and floured 9 X 11 cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

ICING

1 stick Butter
2 C. Confectioners Sugar
2 3oz. pkg. Cream Cheese
1 teaspoon Vanilla

In a mixing bowl combine all ingredients. Beat until creamy. Spread over cooled cake.

PIECES OF MY GARDEN

Took some shots of my garden the other day. Thought I would share them with you.

Bird House, ooops that one didn't turn out to well.

Lets try this one again.

A shady spot to sit.

Another bird house hiding in the Trumpet Vine.

MACRO MONDAY

I'm joining Lisa over at Lisa's Chaos for Macro Monday. Got a macro or close up to share? Head over to Lisa's and check out all the pictures everyone is sharing.

This is a lantern in my garden. My hubby found this at a rummage sale. Brought it home and I put it in my garden.

QUEEN ANN'S LACE

Is it a weed or a flower? I went searching on the internet for some info. I found an interesting article at Wikipedia. I love Queen Ann's Lace. It's beautiful. The shape and the color go so well together.

We have some growing in a wood pile out back. It looks so pretty there.

PROJECT 365

My hubby went to a rummage sale and brought these pretty bowls home. They are Pyrex, Homestead collection.

The front of our house. No one ever uses the front door entrance, we use the garage as our main entrance.

The pear tree is loaded this year. Paitiently waiting for fall when we can pick them.

A wind chime that hangs on the deck. It's kind of weather beaten but still works.

Bella and Luke, budding artists, if they can keep the crayons out of their mouths long enough.

This is the bell that hangs outside in our backyard. And yes, it really works.

It's not very often I catch the twins motionless to take a picture. This lasted about 5 seconds and off they went.

FIBERS ON FRIDAY

Beth over at Visions of Sugar Plums is the host for Fibers on Friday. Head over and check out what everyone is sharing.

The green striped ripple afghan I've been working on is on hold. Way tooooo hot to work on an afghan.

As for the doily I've been working on. Well, I noticed it was starting to pucker a little. So went back and checked my rnds. I had completely missed a rnd. So had to rip out 3 rnds and do it over. I am just starting the pineapple design. It made with the popcorn stitch. I'm not really fond of that stitch, but I'll get it done.

VINTAGE RECEIPE THURSDAY

This is a recipe from my mother's cook book. We had these when I was a little girl. Don't know the actual name of them, only know them as Candy Cookies. That's what we called them. They are so yummy!

Candy Cookies

Ingredients

1 stick butter
2 C. sugar
1/2 C. milk
2 tablespoons cocoa
3 C. uncooked oat meal(not quick oats)
Wax Paper

In a good size pan, melt butter, add sugar, milk, and coca. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Add oatmeal and stir until blended. Remove from heat.

Drop by the spoonful onto wax paper. They will spread out. Let them cool. You can also put them in the fridge to cool. This recipe makes about a dozen cookies.

On a hot summer day they are the best treat coming out of the fridge. I don't have a picture of these. I went looking on the internet but couldn't find one there either.

PATIENTLY WAITING

Our pear tree is loaded with pears this year. We won't get to pick them until the after the first frost. But they are so sweet and tender. Love eating a fresh pear off the tree.