Giving Thanks...

November 24, 2014

I’ve spent the largest part of this past week thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I’ve been making a list of things that I need to do in order to be somewhat prepared for the holidays.  I figure that since I’m no longer commuting two hours to a day job and then commuting the two hours home, I should be able to tackle this list easily and with gusto!

Charming and I have never been really big on decorating for the holidays, but I think that comes from not having children in the house.  However, this year I want that to be different.  At a recent church yard sale, Charming noticed a light-up Christmas village and immediately decided he wanted one piece in the set.  The people in charge of the yard sale were reluctant to break up the set, so we came home with the entire 15-building set.  We have a mantle over our wood stove, but even though it’s a long mantle there is no way it would accommodate the entire set (including the large assortment of free-standing trees, people, mailboxes, lamp posts, etc…for $25, it really was a great deal).  So we lugged those two big boxes of Christmas cheer home with us.  Luckily, we were able to convince my sister to take the entire set, minus the one piece that Charming wanted.  She will put it to good use as she’s a decorating fiend when it comes to the holidays. 

I’ve also been trying new recipes for the holiday dinners and get togethers.  (I’ve added a recipe for Gluten-Free Cranberry Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cookies to the “Gluten-Free Recipes” page of this blog.)  My sister, Edie, had a pre-Thanksgiving get together at her house this past Saturday.  It worked out really well and everyone had a good time.  She had deer chili, regular chili, and tacos.  Since the temperature outside was “chilly” as well, her menu was perfect for the day.  Six out of eleven of our brothers and sisters showed up.  Everyone brought a covered dish and took leftovers home.  The holidays are wonderful reminders that we really need to take the time and be thankful for the warmth of family, friends, and comfort food!

The Christmas Village that we got at a church yard sale looks
nice on our mantle.  (This was one of fifteen that we got for $25!)
Wouldn't you love to live in a scene like this for just a day?

My gluten-free cranberry oatmeal white chocolate chip cookies.
(They're really pretty tasty!)

Loose Ends...

November 17, 2014

Before I start today’s post, I need to let you know to be on the look out for two new “pages” on my blog.  (Those are the tabs at the top of the blog…currently I just have the “Home” page that contains the blog posts and the “Gluten-Free Recipes” page.)  I am in the process of setting up a “Things I Love” page as well as a “Knitting Patterns” page.  The Things I Love page will include reviews of items that I have purchased  and whether or not they live up to their advertisements…like kitchen appliances, small appliances, or other things that make my life easier/better.  The Knitting Patterns page is where I will post simple knitting patterns.  The patterns will be easy and the yarn readily available at Walmart, Michaels Craft Stores, or JoAnn Fabrics.  I’m gearing this page towards the novice knitter because I believe that everyone should be able to enjoy knitting, without investing a lot of money into the knitting supplies.  Although I appreciate spinning my own yarn and occasionally purchasing the really nice stuff at yarn shops; I also know that the pricey stuff can be a deterrent to many who are just learning to knit.  Along the lines of a “chicken in every pot” (as suggested in Herbert Hoover’s 1928 political campaign for President), I believe there should be knitting projects in every American household.  In my opinion, it’s much cheaper and more productive than psychotherapy!

In my October 27 post, I gave details on a shawl I was knitting.  I’m happy to report that the shawl was completed within just a few days and turned out well.  I’ve worn it a couple of times around the house and once while I was walking the dog.  I find that the shawl is comfy, cozy, and feels soft against my skin.  It’s perfect when I curl up in my armchair to knit or watch TV with Charming.  One of our cats also seems to be very fond of it as I’ve found him snuggled down in it a couple of times.  (Thank goodness he’s black…nothing worse than having to pick white cat hair out of a knitted item.)

Once the shawl was finished, I decided to make a shawl pin to wear with it.  The pin holds the shawl’s front ends together so that they’re not dangling loosely when my hands are occupied.  The shawl pin that I made is made of polymer clay.  There are many brands of polymer clay including Sculpey, Fimo, and CraftSmart.  I bought a multi-pack of CraftSmart that contained about six or eight colors. 

Polymer clay is nice because all you have to do is come up with a really cool idea for a project then you just shape the clay by hand (or use cutting tools) and bake it in your oven at about 275 degrees for 15 minutes for every quarter-inch of the project’s thickness.  If everything turns out well you end up with a really nice gift for yourself or someone close to you.  If everything doesn’t turn out well…well then you’ve got something that you can donate to your local Goodwill store.  (Remember, one girl’s trash is another girl’s treasure!)  Either way, working with polymer clay is fun and it enables you to get in touch with your creative side!

The shawl pin and stick.  I rolled several 6-inch strips of different colors
of polymer clay and pressed them together as one 6-inch log.  Then I cut the
log into half-inch slices.  I laid these slices together, with the cut sides up
so I could see the colors, and rolled the piece until it was a quarter-inch
thick.  After shaping into a circle and rolling more thin strips to form the
braided border, I baked it in a 275-degree oven for about 15 minutes.

Before baking, I pressed the shawl stick into the clay for form a dent
line that makes the pin lay flatter.  I made the stick from a small-diameter
dowel that I purchased from Lowe's.  One dowel will make about 6 shawl sticks.
Then you just plop some clay on one end of it to make it a bit prettier.  The stick can
be sharpened in a pencil sharpener, sanded with sandpaper, and stained
so that it goes smoothly through the shawl.  After baking, you'll want to
spray all sides of the pin and stick with a clear acrylic spray (get this in a spray
can in the paint section at any Walmart and do your spraying outside).

I've always dreamed of being a "Big Girl Model" so here I am in all my glory!
I asked Charming what he thought of my new accessories.  He said, "They're
fine if you like that Flintstone look."  Gotta love the man who gives you
honest and useful feedback.

A bonus...the hole that you cut in the middle of the shawl pin leaves a piece that can be
stretched into an oval to form a hair barrette.  Just use the shawl stick to poke two holes
close to the (opposite) edges of the oval.  This can be baked at the same time you
bake the shawl pin and stick. 

Growing Pains…

November 10, 2014

As I explained last week, in my attempt to grow tomatoes inside our house this winter, I snipped the tops out of a couple of our tomato plants a few weeks ago and planted them in 5-gallon buckets.  Well, this week I noticed an itty-bitty, teensy-weensy tomato on one of the plants.  That little girl was definitely not on the tomato plant when I planted it.  So, although the plants are looking a little worse for being indoors, I’m considering the appearance of the pencil eraser sized baby tomato a resounding success!

I’m so optimistic about the success of the tomato plants that I’ve decided to experiment even further.  (Waaahaaahaaahaaa…I’m thinking that this might be how Dr. Frankenstein got started with his experiments!)  A week or so ago I noticed some volunteer lettuce growing in our garden.  This was the result of our spring crop of lettuce going to seed.  After I had saved some of the lettuce seed for next year’s crop, I just pulled up the remaining plants and laid them down where they had grown.  I did not expect it to produce a thick carpet of lettuce, but that’s exactly what happened.  The plants are only about an inch tall right now. 

I dug up a clump of the lettuce and then replanted it in clear containers that I had saved when I purchased lettuce from the grocery store last winter.  I put these containers under grow lights in Charming’s office (which is rapidly becoming my winter green house).  I’m fairly optimistic about the lettuce and tomatoes.  I’m hoping that growing my own lettuce “in house” (pun intended) will cut down on my fussin’ and cussin’ about the poor quality of the often-wilted-before-you-get-it-home-lettuce that I have to buy from the grocery store during the winter months.  I can envision it now…Charming and I chomping on home-grown lettuce and tomatoes in January as the snow blows outside…Wow, it’s great that I was blessed with a very vivid imagination!

It's a girl!  (Tomato, that is.)

Volunteer lettuce that was growing thickly in our garden.

Transplanted lettuce seedlings under the grow lights in Charming's office.
I will thin them out, if needed, when they get a bit bigger.

A Farewell To Summer…

November 3, 2014

As I say farewell to summer, I’m mourning the loss of my beautiful tomato plants.  When I got out of bed this morning, the temperature here was 29 degrees.  I took Jax out for a quick walk around the yard and I saw what I knew had to come…my tomato plants are officially dead.  I mourn their loss as if they had been good friends.  They provided me with enough fresh tomatoes to last through the summer and enough canned tomatoes, tomato juice, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce and salsa to last until the next growing season.  My home grown tomatoes will truly be missed.

However, this year, I am trying something that I had read about in Mother Earth News magazine last year.  The article made me think that it may actually be possible to grow tomato plants indoors during the winter.  A month or so ago, while it was still warm, I purchased two white plastic 5-gallon buckets from Walmart for under three dollars each.  I put a layer of gravel in the bottom of the bucket and then added a few alternating layers of dirt from my garden and leaves from the neighbor’s maple tree.  I then snipped about five good-sized stems from my then-healthy and vigorous tomato plants and put them in a vase of water to jump-start root formation.  (If this is successful, tiny little roots should grow out from the sides of the plant stems…this actually worked for me.)

I then planted the tomato plants in the bucket of dirt.  They are now sitting beside the window in Charming’s office, where the temperature stays fairly warm.  (As noted before in a previous post, Charming keeps the house warm and toasty with our wood stove…usually around 72 – 76 degrees.)  Since the tomato plants already had blooms on them and are self-pollinating, I’m optimistic about the possibility of having at least one “home grown” tomato this winter. 

Tending and watching these tomato plants will allow me the anticipation of getting that first lovely, red fruit off the vines…almost like the anticipation of that first bloom on a Christmas Amaryllis, which will be here before we know it!

I cut off a branch of an already mature tomato plant,
then re-planted that branch into a 5-gallon bucket of dirt from our
garden, along with dried maple leaves from our neighbor's yard.

A closer-up picture of the tomato branch that I planted for winter.
Note that I chose branches that had already flowered.  These plants
are now sitting in Charming's office for the winter.

Update on the new pup, Jax...He has already bitten through these
rubber rings.  Much to his dismay, they are not nearly as much fun to
flail through the air once the rings are separated.  (He's a lab/pit bull
mix and they are known for their bite strength.  This is our second
lab/pit bull mix dog and we have found them to be extremely smart,
loyal, comical, and lovable.  And I will pine forever for my wonderful boy, Max.
He was the ultimate "good dog".  We firmly believe you get out of a dog exactly
what you put into it...but, Lord, I'll be glad when Jax gets out of the
"puppy stage".)

This is Jax zipping around and playing with his new toy..a big rubber ball
with a thick rope that runs through a hole in the middle of the ball.  As you
can see, he's a playful little fella so we'll see how long this toy lasts.