Rollbread? Thursday Dinner

For all intents and purposes, I was making these rolls here, but I wasn't "thinking" and set the bread machine on my normal bread setting, instead of the dough cycle.  It turned out to be a great looking and tasting fail. I also made "Mexicornicarrota" soup in the crock pot.  I made it up as I went, but I did write down the list of ingredients, in case it was yummy!  It got the family stamp of, "You can make this again".  E-mail me if you would like to have the list.

Happy Thursday!

You can find me at this Party!

Revamp Pillows

In just 5 (or so) easy steps, I updated the look of the sofa!

Those blue pillows are so dated!

Yep! Ugly!

How many times have these been recovered?

Finally, found the stuffing, re-fluffed and back in it goes!

That is soooo much better!

One afternoon and an instant improvement!  I like how much it lightened up the room.  I had just enough fabric left over to make a smaller pillow for the recliner, too.

Linked to 

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It's Alive!!!

The tiller is running!  DH worked on it for another couple hours yesterday afternoon and surprise! 

This is the outline of the garden!  I am soooo happy!  It is a muddy mess and he was a muddy mess by time he got this much done, but it is a start!  It is once again raining and supposed to continue raining until Tuesday.    So, we wait.  DH says if I need it bigger he will till in a patchwork pattern all the way to the fence for me...LOL...such a "HAM"! 

Happy Easter!  Wishing everyone a safe and loving weekend!  

Saving the Hoodie

It has rained all day.  Sprinkle or deluge, it has not stopped coming down, so we needed a task.  DD brings out her all time favorite hoodie.  It must be 6 years old and the sleeves barely come down past her elbows.  It has holes and the zipper pull is broken.  "Mom, can't you do something to save it?"  I think and think and then remember an ad I saw from the Journey's catalog.  If you have teenagers you probably know about them.

A hoodie bag! 

 It took me a bit to get the holes closed, and I couldn't sew the sleeves together smoothly because they were pretty frayed...

I just took the zipper out and pulled it a little closer together to sew it in the stronger part of the fabric.

I had to close it up a bit tight at the neck, but she is happy as pie.  She has already put her wallet, make up bag, journal and who knows what ever else she can't live without in it and took off to show her friends.

  

Outdoor Update

Well, the rain fountain idea has been ixnayed...LOL!  DH gave me the hard Marine stare when I asked him where the drill bits were in the toolbox.  He informed me that there is no way I am going to drill holes in the gutter then hang something heavy from it.  I started to open my mouth and got the eyebrow.  So, that is the end of that.  On to the next project, the garden.  We got a tiller from a friend, that forgot to tell us it had not be used in 10 years.  Thanks to DH and a couple of teenage boys from across the street it went from the truck to the garage.  After 2 runs to the auto parts store and an hour of growling it finally had the tires seated and filled with air, had started and ran for about 30 seconds.  As DH looked at the tiller and heaved a heavy sigh, I reminded him of the pork roast in the oven. That seemed to break the mood, before I had to pass out earplugs to the neighbors to shield them from Marine Mouth.  We just pushed it into the garage and he informed me, "We will leave that ...#$%&%%#@ thing...alone for a couple days.  I will have it running by the weekend."  I just smiled and put the tools away, while he and DD (who just had to help and get greasy) cleaned up.  Sometimes it is just better to say nothing and feed the bear.

Pocket Organizer

I got up at 6am, made a Thermos of coffee, packed the truck and sent DH out to teach his class.  After a run to Tim Horton's, in my jammies, for a can of coffee (the thermos took all I had), I made said coffee and relaxed for an hour before the teenager rousted herself.  After more coffee and green tea for her, we got busy with the fabric!  We got it done before DH even called to say he was on his way home...LOL!  I am soooo glad I can get back to my sewing machine!
Here is the finished project.

Purple, Green and Black...she is in heaven over this!

Sunglasses and shoestrings and the Pink Hippo notepad.

It was nice to do a one afternoon project.  I like instant gratification sometimes...LOL!

 

Insane Friday

God is showing me His sense of humor, today.  I had a plan.  I should know better.  DH is teaching a class in the morning and I am getting all his posters, easels, books, handouts, tables, chairs and supplies packed.  We will be loading the truck when he gets home this afternoon.  He has an 1 1/2 hour drive, then half an hour to set up and the class starts at 9am sharp.  There will be no sleeping in this weekend. My daughter received a phone call last night and suddenly has a job interview at 2:00pm this afternoon.  Of course, the pants she is going to wear need to be hemmed.  She can't wear the one's I already did 6 months ago, holiday feasting casualty.  My feasting resulted in a grumpy shopping trip for a new pair of jeans, but that is a whole other post...LOL!
  
This is what I wanted to do today...

It is going to be an over-the-door organizer for my daughter.

Her new color combo is purple, green and black.  I think she has watched "The Dark Knight" one to many times...LOL.  She painted her room a purplish-blue and has been trying out different color combos for accessories as the mood hits her.  So, now it is green I will be covering her lampshade in and green I will be making shams in and green with which I will be recovering her pillows.  I believe this will be the year I make her sit down and learn how to use the machine.  She loves to hand sew, but has always been intimidated by the machine.  I think it is a backfired result of telling her it would "bite her fingers" when she was little.

So, now I am off to stand her on the chair and get going on those pants.  I wish a fun and fabulous weekend for everyone! 

Steps Have Begun

My daughter and I have been working on the "Crazy Room".  I cleaned up the fish tank a little each day and the filters are now completely unclogged.

I spun the roll-away around and made a new design wall with a dollar store tablecloth we found in a pile.

My sewing machine box now holds current projects.

I managed an entire shelf just for myself.

The most "important" project (according to my daughter) reminder board.

I can't show any pictures of the closet corner, because we went shopping and three more bags got added.  I put the bags of fabric behind the sofa, which has turned into a storage area for easels, paints, comforters, throw pillows, blankets, DDR dance pads, more fabric and the monitor, keyboard and printer to my PC. (I am using my daughter's hand-me-down laptop these days.)

I covered it all with a throw that matches the sofa and you can't even tell it is all back there.

We had fun finding things we haven't seen in a while and that made the clean  up easier.  I can open my sewing cabinet now, which definitely means I will be getting some in-progress projects that have been bagged for a year, finished and posted.  I will have my chair cushions done in no time, now!    

One Step at a Time

This room is my spring cleaning and organizing project.

My sewing cabinet with random hoodies without a home, fabric stuffed in bags, and guitar cases...

the roll-away, fish tank, random laundry...

the closet no one knows what is actually in it...

This is my mission, I have no choice but to accept it!  This room makes me want to cry every time I even walk by it.  One step at a time is the only way it is going to improve, but what step first?  I think I will start with getting a clear path to the fish tank.  If I can get it cleaned, the fish will be happier and I will have accomplished a task I can see when I am in the room.  15 minutes...I can do anything for 15 minutes!  These are the words that got the rest of the house organized in less than a year, when we combined 2 houses and 1 basement full of stuff together.  I haven't done any sewing, other than quick mending, in the last year.  I miss it terribly. My ultimate goal is to have new chair cushions sewn for the deck furniture by the middle of May.  Your prayers will be greatly appreciated.

Unpredictable Spring

This is what has made the long wait for winter to end worth it.  
They opened this morning!

Yesterday we got two of the limb piles burned and all the trash pick up in the back.  After roasting a package of hot dogs over the fire pit and some laughter over my over zealous plans for the garden, we came to a compromise on the planting ideas.  We are not going to grow corn as the local raccoons (forgot about them) will feast on it.  No carrots, either, because the soil isn't sandy enough.  I suppose no cantaloupe for the lack of room and no cucumbers because I am the only one on the block that likes them.


Today has been nothing but rain, then wind, then more rain, then very gusty wind, then torrential downpours, then a sliver of sunlight, then rain again.  I have watched more trash blow into the yard as I listen to the quiet groaning of the child that had it all clean.  I smile as I say sweetly, "This is how we learn to be humble to God's sense of humor!", and get a raised eyebrow for my effort.  Sarcasm runs deep in this family. 

I think my next little project will be to make a rain fountain...

I am sure I will be able to find lots of interesting containers and chains and who knows what else in the garage and shed.  I think I can put it together by this weekend, when our next heavy spring rain should be showing up.  I will post a picture as  soon as I create and install it.

Before

The high area between the tree and the picnic table is where we are going to till our garden.  As you can see, we should have plenty of runoff to keep everything well watered.  I am very excited to try my hand at some new  veggies this year.  Last season, I  grew green beans, wax beans and basil in buckets out on the picnic table.  I had fairly good luck with the yield.  I just have enough basil in the freezer to get  me  through another few batches of tomato sauce or chicken soup.  I am praying for help in growing beans, zucchini, radishes, peppers, beets, carrots, celery, broccoli, brussels sprouts, tomatoes, cantaloupe, corn, cucumbers, and about ten different herbs.  Yes, I know I haven't the room for all of these, but it would be nice to just have a little of everything.  I am always overly enthusiastic when I start a  new project and I am sure when the ground is tilled my list will shorten up quite a bit.  Just a few more days and the work will begin. I can't wait to post an "in progress" picture.