The Great Debate

Soooo...with hurricane season rearing it's ugly head beyond it's expected time, Crissy and I are thinking that our trip to New Orleans at the end of September will probably be a bust. Frankly I've poo-pooed everything else we've come up with 'cuz I really just wanna go where we originally planned. I am asking for brainstorming ideas for an alternative vacation. We'd like to keep it reasonably priced (under $1500), we don't have passports, and no matter what Crissy says, she really doesn't want to go camping. Going to Vegas is the front-runner right now, but I'm not sure what we'd do once we blew all our money. One additional factor is the fact that we like to eat. One of the reasons we were going to New Orleans was that Crissy's never had beignets, gumbo, jambalaya, or any fresh fish. Ready...set...go!

Take a look

While surfing the blog wave this morning I stumbled across this interesting blog. Don't let the name of it put you off, she talks about all kinds of things and has beautiful pictures on her site. She just reminded me all women have something in our life that we are proud of and find interesting, we just have to find what that is.www.yarnstorm.blogs.com

Hurricane Gustav

Well, here we are 1 day before the 3rd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and we have not 1, but 2 Hurricanes out there that are threatening us!! But not to worry, We are getting the hell out of dodge before it's too late this time!! And how convenient, We are evacuating to Red Dog and Candy's house for Labor Day weekend/Uncle Lyle's house warming party!! Just so y'all don't worry about us too much, rest assured that we will be in Illinois by Friday evening.

Curling Irons

It takes a lot of practice to use curling irons. I was a hair dresser for over 10 years and thank god I did not burn my clients but I continue to burn my forhead ever so often. When I went to beauty school they had taught us to use different style culing irons. One was so hard to use that I would have burned eveybody, I don't know the name of it but it was real old and very hot to even hold. I bet your grandma had one.

Complete failure

Ok, I'm going to tell on myself before Crissy gets a chance to...Hello, my name is Kathy and I have no idea what to do with a curling iron. This morning was a hair emergency and we have discovered something which I have no talent for. Did you know that hair smoked? Thankfully she let me give up before I did damage beyond repair. Apparently I'm not capable of much beyond pulling off wax strips (see my evil score). It's a good thing that I don't want to be girly, cuz I would fail miserably!

Great Deals

Ladies,
I'm not sure if this will interest any of you, but when I was younger I loved the movies "The Secret Garden" and "My Little Princess". To my pleasant surprise while wondering through Wal-Mart yesterday, I ran across these to movies packaged together for $7.50. I couldn't believe my eyes. I have great memories of snuggling on the couch with my mom during the winter and watching these movies. If your children or you have not had the opportunity to view these movies, I highly suggest the investment. Just thought I would share my great find with the porch.

Baby Dress

This is the sweater dress I made for my nephew John and his wife Liz. I sewed the buttons on the back of the dress yesterday and decided that a little hat would be cute with the dress. Last night while I was watching tv, I made the beret to go with the dress. The dress took me almost a month to knit, not because it was hard, I just kept getting interupted while I was working on it.

Sling Bag

I gave the sling bag a shot!
I used an old hand made table cloth that I got when I bought a bag of misc. items at yard sale.
I take that back, I did not buy it, they gave it to me just to get rid of it!
The inside is a remnant canvas that I bought a long time ago from JoAnn's. I bought it w/the intention of using it for lining of bags, so this is it's debut. I think it worked fairly well, as the canvas is very sturdy, so no interfacing needed.
The tute called for some ribbon and a D ring, probably to hook stuff too... Well, I had no ribbon and did not feel like cutting fabric to make a strap, so I just it out. If I ever make this again, I'd make it a few inches bigger and include the D ring. Oh, I lucked out w/making the strap cuz I used the finished edge of the table cloth as a guide.
I also added two extra pockets on the inside, cuz the whole bag was cut from one long length of fabric, so I used the squares that I had leftover as additional inside pockets.
I know that this print is a bit Dutchy, but still cute.

Herbed Whipped Butter

There I was, standing in my kitchen staring at the lastest squash that I brought in the from the garden. Wondering, what he heck and I gonna do with this batch, I think we are sick of sauteed zukes and squash, not that we don't love that.... just tired of it.
So, the idea hit me... let's grill 'em. How ingenious of me :')
I could not grill the squash steaks without herbed whipped butter.
I grabbed a pound out of the freezer, nuked it to soften, put about two tablespoons of some garlic herb seasoning, whipped, and voila!!!!

Herbed Whipped Butter for my squash!
We stuck the salmon on the grill also. While were at it, we decided to roast a red pepper. We just sliced it up and ate it right off the grill... YUMMY.

I'm listening Jolene

I saw this idea on one of the blogsites. It is to put your thread in as you cut it so you don't end up with thread all over the floor. I'm not sure how well it will work since I was throwing the thread on the floor as I made it. It only took about 20 minutes to make, cause I used 2 orphan blocks from another project I had made. Cute huh?

http://www.countryliving.com/crafts/projects/make-craft-room-0306
While blogging this morning I found this site and I think it is really cool for all of us who have lots of different interests and hobbies. Variety makes the world go round

Hope I'm not stealing Brandi's thunder

Christopher took a week off from work and got rid of the blue laminate countertops in their kitchen. They put in tile and a new sink and the counter is the bar area. I think it turned out magnificent and wanted to brag a little in their honor. So next week we will be expecting Brandi back on the blog with us.

ChickenScratch

When I was seven years old my Grandma Hall was working on a gingham apron that she got the pattern for out of her Workbasket magazine a gagillion years ago. There was something about the pretty pink gingham and thick white cotton, with an embroidery hoop thrown in that just mesmerized me. She showed me the stitches and let me loose on the embroidery. I was only seven, so you know my stitching was far from perfect, but my grandma didnt care about the finished product, she was just glad to see my pleasure. Remember everything doesnt have to be perfect just fun and rewarding. Next time you are home remind me and I will dig the apron out for you

Hello, My Name is Jo and I'm a Craft Blog Addict.

We may have to create a Craft Blog Surfers Anonymous, because I can't stop surfing the blogs!!!
Too many blogs, too many tutorials, I spend more time cruising and lurking than actually getting anything done.
So, we need a 12 step program.
Step One: Find a project and DO IT!

This might just be the one to get my arse off the pc on the sewing machine:

Sling Bag Tutorial

Chicken Scratch Bookmarks Tutorial

I think I'd like to try to make these: Chicken Scratch Bookmarks Tutorial
I've never done embroidery before, so maybe I'll just sew a few up w/out any, just to try it.

Blog surfing

I have a new addiction. It is called blog surfing. You can google any kind of blog you want. And I was looking for quilt sites and while reading one I found this cute site

http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Dilly Beans

I think I got 'em all. this time!!

I really wanted to make good use of my day off today, so I picked the last of the beans this morning.
I decided to use 'em up in a batch of Dilly Beans.

So, I got out my trusty Ball Blue Book of preserving food. I bought this book from WalMart about 4 years ago, when we first moved out here.




On page 54 is the recipe for making Dilly Beans. I've had these before, store bought though, and just LOVED them. So, this is my first shot at making my own batch.



I went down to the basement and found a box of jars that I had picked up at a yard sale a few years ago. To my surprise, they were not all Ball jars. Some were Marie's dressing jars, one looked like a regular may jar, a couple other types were in there as well. So, I picked out the ones I wanted and got them right into the dishwasher.

While I was downstairs I grabbed my canning cauldron. My Dad gave me this after we moved also, he thought I'd get far more use out of it than he did. He gave it to me an a trash bag, so that is how I store it. Right there in a black trash bag. It actually is very nice, as it keeps off all the dirt and all that dry wall dust that collected when Charlie was doing the bathroom down here. So, I pulled it out and it was sparkling clean!

So, I filled her up and got her right onto the stove, cuz that is the longest task, heating up that pot. Then I got to cleaning and snipping my beans. Boiled my water, vinegar and salts and added a some pickling spices I had in the spice basket. I packed four jars, sprinkled in some cayenne pepper. I did not have cloves as called for, so I dropped in a teaspoon of minced garlic. No dill heads at my house, so I just used the dry dill I had. I know that this will make them a bit messy when we finally pull them out, but I'm pretty messy anyway.

After 10 minutes of processing, here they are on the counter to cool.

Hello and about me

Hi, I am Tiffany George and Candy's friend. Thanks for inviting me to the blog. I guess I will start by telling you about me. I got married about a year ago. I have a stepdaughter Kaylie, whom Candy taught how to sew and do all kinds of neat stuff this summer. I guess I will hit on some facts about me since I missed out on that yesterday. I am not very interesting so here it goes.

1. Currently I have no time for anything because I am working 2 jobs and getting geared up to go back to school for my Master's degree. I think I am crazy!

2. I like to hunt even though I can't seem to kill anything but deer. I think I have six or so of them under my belt with a gun. Two with a car!

3. I can blow air through my eye, I think it is a defect.

4. My birthday is the biggest holiday of the year, even bigger than Christmas. My husband laughs that every 22nd of the month, I sound off on how many months it is till my birthday. Men have to be reminded, don't they? Ha

5. I am trying to take up the sport of golf. I have never been athletic at all and I still have a problem using a club when I can throw a golf ball farther than I can hit it.

6. I have a dog I decided to name Einstein just in case he wasn't very smart. I thought it would be a good joke. (Turns out he is smart so that works too).

7. I get major pleasure out of cussing at telemarkers!

8. I am in the process of building on to my new house for the second time before the rest of it is complete. I long for carpet in my living room and panelling in every room. I have lived here two years.

9. I like lots of things but really don't love anything. I have a hard time answering what is my favorite food, where I would like to go or what I would like to do because I have a passion for nothing. I have no hobbies or nothing that I get excited about or throughly love doing.

10. My husband and I talked about getting "Married" every year but this year our wedding site is booked for Catfish Days. We called it a wedding site everyone else calls it a boat ramp! How country is that?

Thanks again for allowing me to post to your site. I have met some of you and I think Candy has told me a little bit about all of you so I feel like I already know everyone.

Oh and P.S. Jolene, you didn't come down for my wedding so I didn't wear any makeup!

Forgot

Raw evil score: 24.44% sorry I forgot to list my score.

Boring

I need to take lessons from Kathy about being evil, I must be so boring... Just a note I had a blast yesterday with you all..

Crispy Cook

Ok.. another blog lead

The Crispy Cook is showing off her pickle relish!!!
I came across this site because I was googling alternative recipes for dilly beans.
I have the blue book, but thought I'd check to see what else is out there.
What I found is most people are using the Ball recipes, so I think I'm go to go!!!

I've got my beans prepped, my vinegar, water and salt are on the stove.
So, I'm waiting for my cauldron to heat as well as for the dish washer to quit, so I can get my jars out.

Happy Friday!

Hey Ya'll!! It's Friday and I'm OFF today!!!
I had a long work week last week, and instead of asking for overtime pay, I decided to give myself a day off. So, here I am!!
I was so sleepy last night, and ended up in bed by 9:30. Which is nice, because I like waking up early. (and not hungover, LOL)
I SO desparately miss my four day work week.
I hope to make some dilly beans, blanch and freeze some tomatoes, and sew up a chapstick thingy. I got D rings at JoAnn's yesterday:')
I'll let ya'll know how that goes.

I also want to share my appreciation for the blogfest that happened yesterday, much fun!!!
Although, I do believe that between Candy and Kath, there have been several bloggable items in existence over the last few days. Remember, our blog is also about giving unsolicited advice, so let's hear it!!!

My advice for myself today is... NEVER not take my acidophilus. Cuz then I get gas! NOT GOOD. ...and then I get a belly ache.

I have to comment, too

I had to get back on this morning and check out what everyone wrote again and to my surprise there was more added, hurrah! I have a feeling our post on interesting will become a classic.
I took the test on evil, but my score was not as good as yours.
Congratulations, You Are Accidently Evil!
Raw evil score: 28.89%

Wrap up

I feel the need to get back on and just tell everyone how great it was to interact with ya'll today. Some of the things I knew, some of the stuff was totally new to me and I'm just glad to have the opportunity to get to know everyone better. Plus it's nice to think of yourself in a new way. Tina, it's about time you stopped lurkin' and started talkin'! Crissy and I both feel like the blog set the tone for the whole day. Jo, thanks for responding so quickly and motivating the rest of us; Mom, thanks for the topic. We totally think that we should do this at least once a month. I don't know about ya'll, but I just had a great day today!

Interesting!

I loved everyone's posts today!!

My Evilness Score

Raw evil score: 40%

My turn for Interesting

To start I am so impressed how interesting you all are. I am at a loss for words, I am not even close to being able to write like you gals but here it goes.1. As a kid I was very athletic and played all the sports that I could. (Very Tomboy) In High School I only had time for volleyball, that is the time that I started hanging with my friends and getting in to mischief, just the normal kind parties and smoking and sneaking out.2. I love to plant things and watch them grow. If I could I would have a big vegetable and flower garden.3. I like to get up and boogie, but it seems to have got up and gone with age. I still attempt it though.4. Spontaneity is my middle name, If I find that I am in a routine over and over and over I am bored.5. Laughter is the key to lifes pleasures love to do it. I have a plaque that reads Live Love and Lauph. I would change it to Lauph Live and then Love, because after being married 3 times I think I better stick with the first 2.6. I have started up a hobby of quilting thanks to Candy and Jennie, I love it and it relaxes me. When I start one I can't wait to see it finished. There is a down side of this hobby (money) it's damn expensive..7. I love to fish but I am not much of fisherman because I just can't seem to put the worm on my hook or kill the fish. I do love to eat them. I would say seafood is a favorite. I have lots of favorites, food seems to be my passion now. I guess I better get back to loving before I can't walk through the door.8. I am not like a lot of people I don't care to sit down and cuddle up with a book. I don't even find time to read magazines that I get. I love movies especially drama, I hate commercials so I record on my tevo so I can fast forward, don't you just love technolgy.That's all folks.

Learning about yourself

It was interesting to see what color I was, Jo, but I think it's much cooler to know what kind of evil I am! (at the same website).


Raw evil score: 62.22%

Inte restin

Well beautiful women I think we are cookin now. As we speak Kathy and I are racing to see who can respond to the profound words of Queen Jolene and Crispy Peaches.
1. I am double jointed and can still do the splits at 54 years old. I just need help getting up now.
2. I consider myself an artist. When I sew, knit, crochet, cook and sing and sometimes when I fall short of the mark I get down.
3. I love to talk, but I live to listen.
4. My best friend is Red Dog. When I was twelve, I announced to my family I was going to marry and red headed man when I grew up, just not the one I was crazy about at that time.
5. I love to drink beer, smoke cigs, sing and laugh. Occasionally I do clean, but that is not what defines me.
6. I have a wonderful group of women in my life that are smart(ass), funny, loving, intelligent, and beautiful and I think if we decided to we could conquer the world or at least adjust it a lot.
7. My favorite song will always be "Your cheating heart" by Hank Williams, but I love all music. When I visited Kath and Crissy they were listening to the Rekkers, not spelled right, and I liked their music. When Kathy was little we had two sheep named Lacey and Jacey and I would sing "Up from the grave he arose" every morning when I hit the porch for feeding. I swear they starting baaing in time to the music.
8. I love living on the farm and being somewhat of a hermit. To look out any window in my house is a treat.
9. It makes me sad not to be the grandma that lives down the road, oh yeah we arent in a Cleaver episode. I have beautiful, talented, smart grandchildren and I am thankful and proud of them.
10. Someone told me once that I could worry for the FBI, cause I am that good at it. Come on now we all have to be good at something.

What makes me interesting..or at least unique - Kathy

1. I've been to 34 of the 50 states...my secret goal is to have sex in all 50 and I'm up to 23.
2. I wanted to have a unique experience at the Grand Canyon, so I masturbated in a port-a-potty. How many people can say that?!
3. I have gotten tattoos in Illinois, New York, Michigan, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida (twice).
4. I've read The Witching Hour by Anne Rice enough time to be equivilent to 10,000 pages.
5. I'm able to pretend that I know more things at work than I do because I can read the labels on packages faster than the customers can.
6. My psuedonym for writing is Kai (a combination of my first and middle names) and I've published two erotica stories under this name. Even though I secretly write porn, I blush every time my girlfriend talks about our sex life, and I don't like to read porn.
7. When I sleep alone I have to turn a pillow sideways to simulate someone sleeping next to me.
8. My memory is very spotty...I can remember what color a paint customer picked for their living room last year, but I can't remember to bring home the basket I took to work yesterday. Mom always has to remind me of things that happened in my own life.
9. When I was little I had two imaginary friends who were twins named Tanner and Bob.
10. In high school I kept a "pet" sourdough starter in my locker and called him Herman. When he "died" I made all my friends wear black to school and I had a funeral for Herman in the bathroom.
11. I've helped enough people get through college that I should have honorary degrees in Teaching, English (masters), Speech, and Psych.
12. At the age of 33 I took the ACT at home for fun (geek, nerd, etc.) and scored a 28 without studying...probably would've done better if it hadn't been for that pesky math.
13. My favorite ice cream toppings are peanut butter and jelly...don't laugh until you try it. You'd drink a glass of milk with PB & J, so why not just skip the bread!
14. I randomly quit biting my nails one day after 30 years, but I replaced it with chewing on the inside of my cheek... now I'm getting really bad wrinkles around my mouth from it and I wish I could just go back to biting my nails.
15. I found a set of silverware that I loved, so I bought it and told myself that I wouldn't open it until I had my own house. The package is sitting unopened in a kitchen cabinet...it's been six years since I bought it.

What makes me...me!

Here's a little information about me

1. I only started drinking coffee two years ago... How did I live without it before?
2. My ultimate dream is to be in a broadway show.
3. I haven't found a beer that I can stand- and believe me I've tried.
4. When I teach I forget everything else in the world and live in that moment.
5. I once played a nun with amnesia in a play. The costume was very uncomfortable!
6. I used to ask new people at work to tell me somthing intersting about themselves so I could remember their name... I stopped when one guy lifted up his shirt and showed me his nipple piercing. Ouch! I still remember his name.
7. I make it a point to notice changes in people ie new glasses, haircut, or shoes. I feel that complimenting someone and being aware of people boost their confidence and shows that I take a geniune interst in them. (Side story) yesterday I went to the Home Depot and noticed that one of the guys got new glasses, he replied "I've had these for two months and your the first one to notice?" Thanks" I haven't worked with him in over six months.
8. When I was little I would hold my legs together in the bathtub and try and swim like Arial while singing.
9. I brought a teddy bear with me to college.
10. The one accomplishment I am most proud stems from being the only child of five to graduate high school and then I went on to graduate from college.
11. I get excited to see my birthday numbers anywhere and I have to tell someone.
12. My nickname growing up was Crispy Peaches- given to me in sixth grade by Shawn who I couldn't stand and later that year died of a brain tumor. I kept the name to remind myself that even enemies can change your life.
13. My biggest pet pieve is that my full name Christina is spelled with an "h" but Crissy is not. I could never find anything with my name on it!
14. I named my dog after a character on a tv show I thought was hot - Jared, from the Pretender. Five years later my brother had twin boys and named one Jared and the other Noah. I tease him about getting another dog and naming him Noah because it would bother him.
15. Kathy and I wrote a children's book together called "Daddy's little girl" that I would like to get published.

I started this list thinking it would be difficult to think of 10 things and then I ended up with 15.

What Makes Me Interesting? jo

This is a hard question to answer.
So, I'll list 10 random things, not in any particular order...


1. I do awesome impressions of people at work. I have gotten excellent reviews in this area. What I do find fascinating it that I can really only do it well when I'm in the midst of telling a story. So, not much on demand impressions... I generally get the amazed look and a chuckle, which makes me happy to make people laugh.
2. I'm a damn hard worker when I need to be... and lazy as hell every chance I get!!!!
3. I love beer!
4. I have made more friends of my own in the last two years than I've had my whole life and I'm soooo appreciative of them all.
5. I took a pottery class this year, and would love to do that again!!!
6. I just signed up for tap and hip hop classes, I start in September. I'll let ya'll know how that goes.
7. I have two classes to go and I'll have a masters degree, which I never had dreamed of achieving.
8. I dream of owning a flower and herb farm and secretly LOVE broom skirts.
9. My family and friends come above all else; but you already knew that:')
10. I get super excited when I see a license plate with any form of my initials, JPK, JP, JK, JEP, etc.. .

Ok.. who is next?

Jo - Color Test

you are deeppink #FF1493

Your dominant hues are red and magenta. You love doing your own thing and going on your own adventures, but there are close friends you know you just can't leave behind. You can influence others on days when you're patient, but most times you just want to go out, have fun, and do your own thing. Your saturation level is high - you get into life and have a strong personality. Everyone you meet will either love you or hate you - either way, your goal is to get them to change the world with you. You are very hard working and don't have much patience for people without your initiative. Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Madge

This is another blog lead:
This one is neat because the crafter in this one creates tutorial videos that she 'stars' in, and they are a total hoot. So, if you have a good internet connection you have to check out the videos on The Impatient Blogger Blog.

Sunflower Doily

Hello everyone!! It's been a while since I've been on here. I have both the kids in school now and I have a little extra time to play on the computer now. Anyway, Here is my latest project. I just finally got it starched and ironed yesterday, even though I've had it done for over a month. I really like this doily and I would like to make a bigger one for my coffee table, but I don't know how to convert my pattern. Maybe that's something I can find on the Internet now that I have some extra time on my hands.

Billy will be home tomorrow night!!!! We are all SOOOOOO excited!!

Asian Food Grocer

http://www.asianfoodgrocer.com/
I came across this site today, I wonder if they carry the curry paste that we loved so much while in Japan...

Quote of the Day

It can be very difficult to make a comeback if you haven't been anywhere.
~sounds like the story of my life....

Lip Balm Tute

The lip balm tute is on her just tutes site..
http://indietutes.blogspot.com/2007/05/lip-balm-cozy.html
I'd like to give it a shot, but where do you get the hardware, JoAnns?

my new "HAVE TO HAVE" item

So, there I am cruising my google reader again. I like to check in on this blog called Just Tutes, which is lots of fun in of itself.
Well, she mentioned something that could be found on her other blog, Peripheral Vision and I was crusiing around that blog and came across something that I simply HAVE TO HAVE!!!
Lip Balm Cozies, OMG.. want, need, have to have. I wonder if she has a pattern for these?? I need like 12 of these so I stop leaving them in my pants pockets destined to ruin all of Charlie's clothes.

No Practice Tonight

Isolated T-Storms
77°F

What a week. We got home on Sunday afternoon, Charlie headed out to BWI shortly thereafter.
I've gone to work everyday, and have taken Brett to football practice at six.  Speaking of football, it seems to be going very well this year.  Tonight we sat at the field in our cars due to lightning.  Finally, after 20 minutes they called practice so Brett and I came home!!!  I'm exhausted.  One more day of work and I can rest.   

15 Year Class Reunion

We got back today from Pa. The reunion went very well. We did a bar crawl friday night, it was a blast. I did not have my camera with me, so no pics...

Newby

Hi eveyone, glad to be a part of your blog. Ever since Candy told me about this site I have been looking almost eveyday to see whats been added. I have enjoyed reading what you gals have to say. I get disappointed when days go by and nobody has added anything. Oh and Candy sorry I couldn't come this weekend, but next time we will have more time to spend together.. Your projects for the baby are precious.. Bye for now