Winter walk

I usually go outside for lunch when I'm at work. Below is our picnic table. I haven't eaten there in a while! The snow plow drivers are running out of places to put the snow. Big piles surround parking lots and roads.

It was a pretty day for a walk (once I had on all my winter gear - you know, the boots, the sweatshirt, the coat, the hat, scarf, and mittens.)

I hope you have a lovely weekend. Larry's birthday is tomorrow - who-whoo, he'll be 60 years old! We don't know where the time has gone, and we don't feel old, so how did this happen??

I am thankful for my sweetheart, and give him tons of credit. Every morning we get up early and exercise, and he is such a good sport about doing all these healthful things. I hope I'm still doing it when I'm 60!

Amplifier cover

This is a guitar amplifier. A naked amplifier. It needs a raincoat for all those times it has to go out in the rain or snow. Larry went to the fabric store all by himself and bought one yard of a lovely piece of dark red naugahyde. The rest was up to me! I made a raincoat for the amp, but after cutting a hole for the handle I could see that rain and snow could get in, so. . .

I added a little cape.

Now it's all ready to go help Larry make beautiful music. www.jerrycoleband.com

Something a little different

I've had an uncommonly productive day! Three wall hangings and a sweatshirt transformation. Now I'm going to go cook (ahem, Ginny are you listening?) dinner for my family. No, I didn't cook breakfast, we had cereal and grapefruit again. We did put walnuts on our cereal - yummy! I took three pictures of this one, and the butterflies didn't look focused in any of them. I think they look kind of like they're fluttering, so I'll be happy with what I've got. This is for a gal at work who is having a birthday on Friday. It was fun trying out different color combinations than I usually use.

Familiar look

Does this look familiar? I used the same colors for the "Because nice matters" wall hanging a few months ago. I liked the colors so well I decided to use them again.

And again.

Maybe I'll try something new next time!

Sunshine and carrot cake

What a difference the sunshine makes! We've had two days of sun and yesterday the temperature rose above the freezing mark. Nice! Larry and I went for our first walk in a week, and it was a delight. The three gentlemen in our household all have January birthdays. Two of them requested carrot cake. Since their birthdays are only nine days apart, I made a double recipe yesterday, and put one cake in the freezer for the next birthday. The other batch I made into cupcakes.
While I was putting the ingredients together I was thinking that it's practically health food, :>} (well. . . except for all that sugar, and I guess white flour is no longer in favor) so I thought I'd share the recipe with you.

This recipe makes one 9 x 13 inch cake, or 24 cupcakes, or a good sized bundt cake. It's delicious!

Carrot Cake

2 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

3 cups grated carrots

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Mix above together. Then combine dry ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Add dry ingredients to carrot mixture. Blend thoroughly. Grease baking pan or use cupcake papers. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until inserted toothpick comes out clean. (About 19 minutes for cupcakes, 25 minutes for 9 x 13 cake, or 40 minutes for bundt cake.)

If you remember to save out some grated carrots it looks pretty sprinkled on the top. I forgot to do that this time. Oh, and if you want frosting:

Cream cheese frosting:

8 oz pkg of low fat cream cheese

4 tablespoons butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Spread on cooled cake or cupcakes.

Hail to the Chief!

I was fortunate to have the day off today, and got to watch the inaugeration on television with my mom. Watching history being made is awe-inspiring. Below is the button she asked me to make for her last November. We watched for two hours, from 11:00 - 1:00. One of the things I liked best was seeing Yo yo Ma playing the cello in the quartet. He looked so happy, and never even glanced at his music. What an outstanding musician he is!

I almost feel like I know him, having been introduced via Public Television by Fred Rogers. Larry and I have always admired, respected, and enjoyed Mr. Rogers and his television program for children. Yo yo Ma has been on several times, performing and sharing how he got started in music when he was only four years old. I wish Mr. Rogers was still alive to see his friend performing so beautifully at such an occasion.

I'm one of those fidgity people who can't just sit and watch tv, so I stitched. Later I realized I should have been stitching something patriotic, but this is what I did. It is actually for two different little wall hangings.

Did you see President Obama's daughter with her camera? How darling to remember to keep up the family photo album! She'll be able to see photos of this event in history books all of her life.

sewing, cooking, and snow

I'm thinking black for the border. This is just a tiny project for fun. I promised Ginny I would serve my family actual cooked food for breakfast today.

I really do know how to cook!

See, I wear an apron and everything.

A little more snow for Suzanne, because she keeps telling me she likes it. You know what? I used to. I really did. We used to take our children sledding when they were little, and as a child I LOVED to play in the snow. Somehow as I've gotten older it's lost some of its appeal.

It might have something to do with the time Larry broke his ankle while we were sled riding.

Or maybe all the times David has gotten into snow related car mishaps, the most recent being last week.

Winter Wonderland

Brrr. . . Our thermometer registered at 8 below this morning. On the Celcius thermometer that's about 22 below. When I went to visit Mom, her thermometer was encased in ice.

She always taught us that on cold, snowy days you stay home and bake bread.

It was good to see sunshine and blue sky!

The road crews are wonderful about clearing the snow off the roads. Thank goodness!

Hallie loves to play chase the gold cord with Larry.

Aren't they cute??

I hope you are warm and well wherever you are!

Decision made

I was able to make a decision about the border. Yay! I did change my mind about the quilting thing. I mentioned that a newly opened quilt shop rents time on their very cool (and very expensive) quilting machines. But how silly would that be? Baby quilts are a manageable size to quilt at home. I should save that option for the next time I make a big quilt. I was in Marc's buying Bran Buds, and look what I found! Beautiful gift boxes, the perfect size for baby quilts. I bought a few, but am at a loss for where to store them.

Larry is one of those people who has eight pairs of $1 reading glasses, but never where he can find them. This questionable looking object is a glasses holder! Please please do not zoom in on this photo, or you will see the sloppy workmanship. AAK!

Black and white world?

Did the world turn black and white? Is this supposed to be a swiming pool?

Oh! I think I see some color, once I get the car brushed off. The world isn't black and white after all.

I started over with the baby quilt. I have five more rows to sew on, then need to decide on a border. For someone as decision challenged as I seem to be, it could pose a problem.

It's kind of fun to be snowed in. (We're only snowed in by choice. We could get out if we ran out of chocolate or something. :>}) I hope you're having fun in your part of the world.

I am not whining - really.

Did you read about Jodie's blogfest? www.vintagericrac.blogspot.com
It is happening as we speak! I got out the globe to determine what time 11:00 on Saturday morning in Ballarat would be here, and 8:00 Friday evening is what I came up with. It sounds like lots of fun, and I'm looking forward to seeing photos. It would have taken major planning and way more money than I have to go there, so it's lucky I like staying home! And I am really not whining about the alterations I have to do. Really, I'm not. In fact I'm thankful that I can do them because . . . I have two arms. The person they are for only has one arm. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to sew with just one arm? Not just sewing, but tying shoes, baking cookies, peeling potatoes, putting toothpaste on your toothbrush, giving someone a hug, shoveling snow, planting a garden; all those things would be so difficult with only one arm.

We are in the midst of a major snowstorm, expected to have a foot by morning. I have to be at work at 7:30 a.m., unless Nordonia Hills Clinic closes for the first time in history due to snow. Not likely!

I saved the last cookie for you!

When my sewing project was driving me crazy over the weekend I decided to bake cookies instead. There's one left, and I saved it for you. I'm including the recipe in case you like it and want to make some yourself. Cowboy Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups uncooked oatmeal
1 cup walnuts, chopped after measuring
1 cup dried cranberries, or raisins, or chocolate chips

Blend first five ingredients until smooth. Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl, then add to first mixture. Stir until well mixed, shape into walnut sized balls, place on greased baking sheets, bake at 350 degrees F until lightly browned, about 10-12 minutes. Makes 2-3 dozen.

For this batch I used dried cranberries, and they are simply delicious. Raisins are good, too, and of course you can never have too many chocolate chip cookies. Sometimes I add coconut if I want even more fat and calories in my cookies!

I'm stuck!

My brother and sister-in-law gave me a JoAnn Fabrics gift card for Christmas - what fun! I needed some baby quilt pink, so I took my pink card to the store and found such pretty things. But then I couldn't make up my mind. I tried all different things, and then thought maybe too much pink is - well - too much. I've wasted a lot of time this weekend, and didn't really accomplish much. (Except I did bake some really good cookies!)

I made a temporary design wall in the hall, to get a better perspective. Still thinking. Brain hurts.

I'm sorry the weekend is nearly over. I hope you accomplished more than I did.