Back From Holidays

WOW, I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted.

My husband and I went on a 5 week long road trip to Arizona. Did lots of sightseeing & exploring in the desert.

Glen bought a used metal detector in Parker, Arizona and tried his luck at finding gold in the hills of Arizona and California. No luck with gold but found lots of old bullets and other stuff.

North of Quartzsite, Arizona

I knitted 15 dish cloths along the way. Made them out of doubled #10 crochet cotton. I had a bunch of partial balls and just wound them all up, used 3.5mm (3 U.S.) (10 Canadian) knitting needles. They seem to have more scrubbing power than worsted weight cotton.

Saw a herd of antelope south of Great Falls, Montana on our way home. Picture shows about 1/3 of them.

Visited with friends, Larry & Dianne who live in Palm Desert California.They used to be neighbours 28 years ago. I sure envied their lemon and orange tree. You can't believe the smell of fresh oranges while peeling them.

Beauty in the desert

West of Quartzsite, Arizona

 

Someone's lost butterfly, North of Quartzsite, Arizona

Bright red and green hills north of Barstow, California

Our car from the top of a hill we were exploring north of Barstow, California

1000 Palms Oasis, California

Geode found north of Yuma, Arizona

 

Weird rock found north of Yuma, Arizona

Strange cloud over street festival, Palm Springs, California

And the not so beautiful

West of Quartzsite, Arizona

Not much for wildlife, but what we found was interesting.

Black Phoebe

Northern Mockingbird

 Back home, now some sewing time for my next post.

One Flower Wednesdays

I didn't get any new flowers made this week, but sewed 8 to my quilt top. Total is now 152. I've run out of green squares for the leaves, will have to cut more, luckily I bought enough fabric.

Mac and I went for a walk the other day and I found this interesting heart shaped rock, I only now realized I should have brought it home instead of just taking a picture. Maybe I will find it again.

Over the years cows have rubbed on this old willow so much it has a wonderful smooth surface and beautiful red colour.

 

I am excited to say I sold my last 8 mug rugs, all to the same person. Now I have an excuse to make more. I have one in the works for a friend turning 60 next week, but for some reason I had a hard time coming up with a design. Now that I am working on it, it seems to be coming together.

One Flower Wednesdays

I made 2 hexies this week, one with new fabric and a repeat, I still need more flowers for my garden and some repeats are fine.

Added 43 more flowers to total 144. I am finding it easy to add a row while watching TV at night. Didn't post last week because of an appointment in the city so they really added up.

I did stand on a chair this week, so my picture is kind of wonky. Hard to hold my arms out and lean over without shaking and not falling off the chair.

I've found this interesting site called Pinterest on a recommendation from a friend.

Great source of ideas and interests. I've just joined and am trying to figure out how it works.

Frying Pans Etc.

I counted the different varieties of frying pans I have recently when I added a red cast iron enamel grill to my hanging rack. I've got 17, that's not counting the 2 or 3 I have in the trailer for camping.

Although most aren't technically frying pans that's what I call them.

There are 4 cast iron ones - an 8 incher with a wooden handle, another 8 inch one, a 10 inch my husband had when he was single 40 years ago, and a nice big 12 inch Ware from my parents, oh and an old 8 inch Wagner Ware round griddle I bought at a garage sale. 

The 11 inch red enamel grill has a panini press that I've used for steak. Cooks really fast.

I was super excited when I found the green 10 inch Le Creuset enamel  braiser for $1.00 at another garage sale. Came with a glass lid.

8 inch turquoise Le Creuset at another garage sale.

There's a cast aluminum Danish Ebelskiver pan with 7 round indents for apple pancake balls. Haven't used that one yet, but it looks interesting. I think I found it at the re-cycle take it or leave it in town. Guess I should look up a recipe online.

3 different sized nice deep ones for those really big one pot meals that seem to get bigger as they cook.

An 11 inch square light weight grill that works perfectly for frying bacon. Have to watch the heat though. Got that with points a few years ago at Co-op. 

2 copper bottomed stainless steel ones that came with my Martha Stewart pot set, 8 and 10 inches.

A 4 inch steel one that's so old it is blackened and crusty. Never used it but I like the looks of it too, can't remember where I got it, probably a garage sale. I'm curious to know why it has an 8 stamped on the handle.

And lastly an 8 inch steel Comal tortilla pan I bought in Yuma Arizona last year, and yes I have used it a few times to make corn tortillas.

The stainless stand with holes is for cooking stuffed jalapenos on the BBQ. Used it a few times, works good. My sister-in-law gave it to me for Christmas, thanks Judy B.

2011 Goodreads Choice Awards

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One Flower Wednesdays

One flower from some happy fabric.

Managed to get 11 more flowers attached, total is now 101. The trouble is that my arms can't get any longer, so I will have to find a new way to photograph my growing garden. Maybe I'll have to stand on a chair next time.

Not too much new, the garden is almost cleaned up, most of the lawn furniture is put away, now just waiting for snow. We had a tiny bit the other day, but melted almost as soon as it hit the ground. The colder weather is a good excuse to do some sewing anyway.
The other day I made 12 crumb squares.They are 6.5 inches but I see by the picture I did not trim the side of one yet. Good way to use up small scraps, but my scrap box never seems to get any emptier.

If you want a good tutorial go here.

I do mine the same way.
 http://quiltville.com/crumbs.shtml

One Flower Wednesdays

Only one new flower this week, but it is an interesting colour combination. 

Also got 15 hexies added to make my total 90.

With shorter days, the sun is rising later and has made for some beautiful sun rises. Although sometimes it is difficult to capture. I see it, have to get on a coat, shoes, grab my camera and get to the edge of the yard so I have a clear shot. I headed outside before the sun was up, missed my planned shot but caught the sun just behind the neighbour's farm.

One Flower Wednesdays

Well I'm back from our annual trip to the Okanagan in BC. Traveled to Salmon Arm, where we spent the night. Bought some cheese at Gort's Gouda and visited a new winery called Ovino, very good white wine. To Kelowna, for another night and lunch at Freddy's Brew Pub.Then off to Penticton for 3 nights, my favourite place out there. My brother and his wife drove out and met us in Penticton. We spent the next couple of days doing wine tastings at some of the many wineries there now. Found good deals on fruit and vegetables also and brought back a couple boxes of goodies.

I remember the first time we went to the wine festival in Penticton over 20 years ago, there were little wineries selling wine out of their garages, now most of them have built fancy tasting rooms. The wines aren't much better but the prices are getting ridiculous. We pick and choose our favourites who haven't inflated their prices too much.

I got 5 hexies done on the road, and 8 added to the top when we got home. The total is 75 now.

Just north of Keremeos there was a bear along the side of the road eating chokecherries. Lots of cars were stopped and people wee taking pictures. We got out and took some too, but there was one woman who walked right up to tree, before we told her to be careful, she was too close.

Also stopped at Hardy Falls just south of Peachland to watch the Kokanee spawning. We were earlier then usual this year and didn't see as many dead ones. We also saw a black bear on the other side of the stream but he went into the bush and I didn't get a good uicture.

One Flower Wednesdays

Added 13 more flowers to total 67, slowly getting bigger.

We have a road trip coming up, might be a good opportunity to sew more hexies on the road. Will have to get some petals cut out. I bought a fat quarter yesterday I really like, can't wait to see what it looks like all sewn up into flowers.

Crazy Quilting Friday

I've been working on this quilt block for quite awhile. Realized I didn't put any lace or tatting on it, but did lots of embroidery. Tried ribbon embroidery with some I had on hand, liked it so much I got some real silk ribbon on E-Bay. It is so light it should be much easier to work with. 
Found  the flowers to embroider in Diana Lampe's book Embroider A Garden.
It's not as wonky as it looks, I laid it on the grass to photograph and it isn't laying flat.

I made  banana muffins Wednesday. Boy are they good, still a few left. I used a recipe I found online at catcancook. I altered the recipe by using half whole wheat flour, and added 1/2 c chocolate chips, 1/2 c chopped walnuts & 1/2 tsp cinnamon. As the recipe says not too sweet.

http://www.catcancook.com/awesome-banana-muffin-recipe/

Banana Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

3 or 4 Large bananas, mashed (the more bananas the moister, so I use 4)
1/2 cup white sugar (original recipe calls for 1 cup, but I don’t like them too sweet)
1 slightly beaten egg
1/3 cup melted margarine or butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups flour
Mix the mashed banana, sugar, egg and margarine together. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour. Mix wet and dry ingredients all together! Pour into greased muffin tins, and bake in 350 degrees F oven for approximately 20 minutes. Enjoy!
*These are much more flavourful the next day, and they freeze very nicely too!
*Also, if you like walnuts, you can throw a handful of those in there as well for some added flavour and texture, or try adding chocolate chips, or better yet, BOTH! Yum

Isn't this a pretty little plate. I found it in my china cabinet while looking for a plate to photograph my muffin on.  Forgot I even had it, must have bought it at a garage sale.