Wall hanging

I started a sampler of the basic stitch Tunisian crochet, in the photo, it's the square look on the lower 2 inches.  Then, I tried out the Gobelin stitch & loved it...and decided this was going to be a wall hanging.

I started using my crochet hook and made the blue dimensional section as you would with latch hook for a rug.  Beach wood.  Next I want to find bulky yellow ochre yarn & fringe...

My husband bought me this bag from an Etsy shop, Portland Leather, it was on sale for $96 and I think that's a lot, but you pay more for quality (thick leather, no plastic parts, made by a person, not a machine in a factory, fair wages and made in USA).

Carlee at the vet this afternoon...she has hookworms!  She's got the 1st dose of meds in her...

Pretty plates...made in the USA.  We can let Paul take them outside, drop them, and they don't break...and made of recycled materials!

We celebrated my father-in-laws birthday Sunday, he had surgery in Tues.  All went well, thank God.  Hopefully recovery will go just as well.

I wish I could take this class:

Inspiration in this book I got at our library:

The back, I really love the dimensions of this piece:

And another piece I'm inspired by, these are the colors I want to use, more muted, natural colors:

It's been a good first week of Great Lent.  We went to extra church services & are trying to make our life quiet and simple.

Rainy days

It was a balmy 68 yesterday.  That was high.  The low was 58, still too warm for winter.  I wish we had colder weather and all this rain were snow.

And mud!  With a dog, muddy footprints through the house...

Grilled cheese and tomato soup kind of day.

After church yesterday...these boys hanging out.

Chocolate lips!

We went out for pizza.

 Storytime at the library ends in music...

My husband bought me this bag, made in USA.

 On Valentine's day...

We got an Italian cream soda, made with 2 oz. caramel syrup, Perrier and half & half.  So good!

Life is good!!

Crepes or cake?

Crepes or cake?
Both, please.

I put cream cheese and some leftover baked salmon in this one.  I love our re-play plates, made in the USA.

These 2 girls took a pottery class 2 weeks ago and when they got their finished vessels, they got a gift certificate for a half pound of chocolate from this shop:

This morning, I made crepes.  I used the recipe from Sweet Serendipity.  Their recipe calls for chocolate syrup, but I used sweetened condensed milk instead:

• 5  large eggs
• 1  c water
• 1  tablespoon rum or 1  tablespoon vanilla extract
• 4  tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
• ^{1/4  c sweet condensed milk}
• 1/2  c flouor

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, whisk eggs. Add water, sweetened condensed milk, rum or vanilla, melted butter, and stir. Whisk in flour slowly, so no lumps form. Do not overmix; stop as soon as the flour is completely incorporated.
2. In a crepe pan or large nonstick skillet, melt 1 teaspoon of butter over medium-high heat. Have two clean plates ready. When butter bubbles, quickly pour in one ladle (about 2 tablespoons) of crepe batter and roll the pan around so the entire bottom is covered in a very thin layer. Cook the crepe, shaking once or twice to prevent sticking, until most but not all of the batter on top has set, or the bottom is golden brown, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Slide the crepe onto a plate, cooked side down. Quickly invert the plate into the pan, flipping the crepe. (If you're feeling brave, you can use a thin bladed spatula or palette knife to flip the crepe over.) Cook another 1-2 minutes, until golden brown. Slide onto the second to cool.
4. Continue with remaining batter, adding more butter as necessary, stacking crepes on top of each other on second plate.
5. There are so many different ways to serve these, savory like I made or sweet. Spread a crepe with cream cheese (plain or flavored), sprinkle with fresh cut fruit, roll up, and serve with whipped cream.

I put an old photo on one of our tables and Paul knew right away it was his Peepaw, who passed away 3 months before he was born.  We talk about him a lot.  And look at old photos.  It makes me happy that he knows him, after all, he was named after him.

I hope to make this cake, to be perfectly honest, I have orange marmalade that we're trying to use up:
http://www.azgrabaplate.com/orange-marmalade-pistachio-bundt-cake/

P.S. I have a sweet tooth just like my dad did...oh, my mom is feeling better!

73 and 37

Today is my sister's 37th birthday and a couple of days ago it was my mom's 73rd birthday!  My mom, Barbara, has been sick for over a week now, please pray she's better soon.

I made both of them beeswax candles with lavender essential oils in them.  I also drew this:

It's still definitely winter.  Probably the coldest winter in 10 years.

We got ice and snow...so pretty!

Eating some fresh snow!!

Changing the guitar strings...she is auditioning for a talent show on Tues.  She's been practicing "Blackbird" by the Beatles.

Typewriters are history, everything is done on computers and printers now...and SO fun!

Snow tubing

I love sledding, but tubing is just as fun, I'm sure.  The sun is out and blue skies, just a few clouds.

I milked the cows today at the farm.  While  I was there, Paul got to try the violin at a friend's house.  It was just too cold to bring him.  It's 24 degrees now.  Brrr!