Overheard This Week (a small departure from my cute children)

Older man in grocery store: Honey is it okay if I pick up some hotties?
Wife (very indignant): What did you say?
Older man (somewhat confused at reaction): Is it okay if I pick up some hotties?
Little Boy (pointing to endcap shelf filled with pickles): See hotties!  The pickles are hotties!

Introducing Cookie

Cookie is the first doll I ever made.  I had checked out some books on the Waldorf philosophy of schooling and childhood, so of course the dolls were mentioned.  I drooled looking at the dolls on etsy, and knew I would not be able to afford one.  So, being the crafty lady that I am, I scoured the internet for tutorials and made my own using only things I already had in the house.  Now who knows why I had a small amount of stokinette tubing, but I did and indeed I used it!  My son loved him, and loved seeing me build him.
Today Cookie got a new pair of pants.  He's been wearing a dress that's a little too short lately and I decided maybe he'd like some pants.  I took an old knit shirt and cut the arms off and just sewed them together. The cuffs make beautiful already finished hems.  I just made a small casing and put in some elastic.  Plus, I still have plenty of material to make more doll clothes with.  I think Cookie might like having some options, and well I guess I might just want him to have some other outfits.

Fairy Gardens

These are truly delightful!  I have been thinking about making a Fairy Garden for quite some time now.  Maybe this is the inspiration I need to just do it.

Oh Fish in the Sea!

My son has completely fallen in love with the story The Magic Fish: The Fisherman and His Wife.  It is a fable about wanting too much.  I remember reading it as a child myself.  The magical part about this story is, my son doesn't just love having it read to him, he now pretends to read it himself!  His inflection and intonations mirror mine, it just warms a mama's heart you know.  Today before nap, he wanted to read it to himself.  I heard his little voice floating in from the other room "Oh fish in the sea come listen to me!".  I really hope his love and interest in reading continues.

Transitions

This past year has been nothing if not full of transitions!  At this time last year my job was winding down in Denver, as my sour disposition was winding up.  The decision had been made to uproot our family and relocate to Texas.  It was hard to make plans, it was hard to imagine what the future would bring.  Even now in our own place somewhat settled down here, I am still at a loss.

In the last few months I have become aware of online creative courses.  Which I think are a good way to start doing what I wrote about here.  I am enrolled in Emerge, a class that starts August 1st.  One of the comments that really resonated with me in the live it to the full blog is: "I would encourage people seeking community to realize that spending time getting to know yourself is an important step. Then, you can invite others to see the real you when you connect with them.".  This is a quote from Liz Lamoreux one of the instructors for the course.  It makes me excited because it seems so right for where I am now.

Overheard This Week

Are you sick?  Do you have a tempurchirp?

What to Do?

I found myself with a few days left until a week long vacation and around a pound of cherries in the fridge that were on the edge.  Well I turned to the The Tassajara Bread Book for inspiration. What I found was recipe #100 Torte with Sourcream Fruit Topping.  I did not infact have the required ingredients, but what I did was make my Grammie's shortcake recipe:
2C Flour                  1/2t Salt
2T Sugar                  1/2C Butter
3t Baking Powder     1 Egg
2/3C Milk
Mix the above together until just moistened, put in an 8x8 ungreased pan (pyrex works great!) cook for 15-18 minutes at 450 degrees.

I used the topping recipe with a substitution, there was no sourcream so I mixed ricotta with a square of cream cheese and some milk to thin it out.  Then I mixed in the cherries I had pitted and halved.

It was yummy, the cheese topping was lighter than I thought, and I would recommend crushing the fruit.  Also it was approved by both kids!

PJ Sparkles

She was a doll I wanted really badly as a kid.  My mom told me I was too old to have her.  So I watched the commercials and dreamed about her.  I guess my mom was really worried about me because later when it was just the two of us the following conversation happened:
Mom: You know I was talking to your aunt the other day and your cousin Meghan played with dolls until she was much older than you.  So it's normal, there's nothing wrong with you.
Me: Um, thanks Mom, I never thought anything was wrong with me.
Mom: (Sigh, followed by disappointed look)

I looked up PJ Sparkles on the internet just now, and you know how old I was when she came out?  Nine, just saying, nine.

Overheard This Week

Son: Daddy can we go play in the garage?
Daddy: No, it's too hot right now.
Son: It's not hot in the garage.
Daddy: Yes it is, the garage doesn't have AC.
Son:  No, the garage is fine.  The heat can't fit through the corners so it's not hot.

Heat Warning

When it's so hot outside that it's still 101 degrees at 7pm, the only way to beat it is to eat your watermelon inside.

Crafting Websites

There are 2 websites I really enjoy, and not so much because they create community, or allow me to see friends' work, which they do!  It is because they allow me to catalog my own work so I can look at it and say "See, how much I've done?  I'm making stuff one stitch at a time."  These two sites are the greatly heralded Ravelry and the lesser known My Sewing Circle.  My Sewing Circle is still growing and a bit clunkier than Ravelry, but I really like it.  If you are on either of these sites check me out:
Ravelry = Zurrr
My Sewing Circle = Zerby
I may not be the world's most prolific crafter, but hey I'm making the stuff I love.

Overheard This Week

Son: This book is from America.
Me: No, it's from Grandma and Grandpy.
Son: No, it's from America, America gave it to me.
Me: Honey who is America?
Son: America, you know it has this big round... umm Earth, this book is from the Earth.

Now, really who could argue with that?

A Little Bit Each Day

I am really trying to stick to my budget now.  As we are no longer moving in, and all the unexpected household needs are taken care of.  Where does a garbage can disappear to I ask you?  Or a spice rack?  So now it's time to stay on track and somehow pay off what has been spent.  I find the big picture to sometimes be overwhelming, so I divide it up into little chunks.  I sat down and made a menu. Then at the store only bought food that was on my shopping list.  I am also trying to make use of what I already have on hand.  I decided frozen pizza is just silly expensive and am trying an experiment to see how homemade works.  I found this recipe for an easy dough and made it one night right before serving dinner so it would be done rising after the kidlits were down for the night.  The recipe makes 3 crusts, which makes it great because you would spend the same amount of time to make one!  I used one tonight, and the kids loved it!  My son is usually very suspicious if something looks a bit different, but I guess pizza is pizza.  For toppings I used some left over tomato paste (mixed with water, salt and italian seasoning), large pepperonis, and cheese.  It was pretty cheap, and really tasty.

Two Down!

Here is the curtain I made for my room.  Were I to do it again I would change the fabric.  I absolutely love the print but the fabric is a very heavy decor weight, and not so drapey.  Had I been thinking about it I would have made the panels shorter.  Oh well, it's done, and I'm checking it off my list.  I'll live with it for a few days, let gravity do its job, see what happens.  I can always adjust later.

A Confession

Okay, here it is.  I love Christmas.  I always have, when I was little I would start watching our VHS tapes of Christmas specials as early as I could.  I have the songs memorized,  I have the commercials memorized, remember the 7-up elves?  With the advent calendar that you glued cotton balls onto Santa's beard?  Does "Peter you're home!" make you feel all gushy?  Well for me these are part of my childhood, and plus it's a day you get presents!  Who does't love presents?  My family was never one for spending a lot, but there was plenty of thought put into gifts.  So I have already started thinking about what to make/give to my family for that special time of year.  To commemorate the beginning of the season for me I made a snowflake.

Overheard This Week

Son: (holding a pokemon card) I got us a ticket!  Can we fly to Grandpy's now?