Being Cheap Is The Mother Of Invention…

July 6, 2015

Recently I’ve been very busy designing some knitwear projects.  Some are for things I need, such as a new purse and bath mitts.  I can’t believe how hard it is to find a purse that makes me happy.  The purse design I’m working on now has several requirements:  It must have a strap long enough that it crosses over my body (because I basically carry my life in my purse, I can’t bear the thought of owning a bag that must be either carried on my arm at all times or left exposed in a shopping cart).  It must have several compartments (organization is a must for me because I’m a bit of a control freak).  Finally, it must have some form of closure on it (either zippers or flaps) to keep my “stuff” easily accessible to me, but not to others.  So I’m working on that design and will post that at a future date.

I’m also refining my bath mitt pattern.  I made myself one several months back and have discovered that I absolutely love it.  Wearing the mitt while taking a shower virtually eliminates its being dropped in the shower.  It’s made of cotton yarn, so it’s soft and comfortable to use as well as easy to wash.  Since it has a pocket, it quickly soaps up when I place a small bar of my home-made soap in it.  I would have never guessed that something so ordinary would make taking a shower so quick and easy.

I’ve found that a lot of my design solutions come from having real-life problems that need to be solved.  Take my Swiffer mop/broom/whatever-it-is, for instance.  The kit that I purchased from Costco came with a small pack of dry refills as well as a few wet refills.  Although I have to admit that it pained me to throw the used Swiffer wipes in the trash because I don’t like skunking up Mother Earth with trash, I went through that pack of refills fairly quickly.  After mulling over in my mind how many wipes I could go through in a year, I resolved to find a better way.

On a trip with Charming to the Harbor Freight store, I came upon a pack of four micro fiber cloths on sale for $2.49.  Hmmmm…I thought.  Those might work well for wet or dry applications in my Swiffer mop.  So I purchased them and came up with a pattern that works as well (really better) than the refills that originally came with the mop.  See the pictures below for my pattern and loose instructions on how I make them.

While I’m mentioning the Harbor Freight store, I must tell you that I absolutely love going there.  Although it’s more of a “man’s store,” I have found many items that I have been able to use around the house…such as the sling shot I bought a few weeks ago…but that’s a topic for future blog post!  Hope you all had a wonderful 4^th of July!

A sample of the micro fiber cloths that I purchased from the Harbor Freight
store.  The sew-on Velcro is from Walmart.

My Swiffer mop head measures about 17" long x 5 1/2" wide, so I
cut the 12"x12" cloth into two pieces.  I had to use a half of another
cloth to make the pattern work for my mop.  Three cloths will give
me two re-usable cloths for my mop.  

Using my serger, I serged the short edges together to form a long strip.  

Next, I folded the fabric on one end to make a 4" pocket.  (You could
pin the pocket in place, if necessary.)  I then serged around all of the
edges to prevent raveling.

I slipped the cover onto the mop and marked the spots for two pieces of
Velcro, then I sewed them on securely using my sewing machine.

Finally, I sewed the corresponding pieces of Velcro onto the top side of
the cover and stitched them into place.  (This could be one strip, not
two as shown in my picture...but didn't think of that until I was making
my 2nd cover.)

Here's a picture of the actual dirt that I picked up with my Swiffer
re-usable mop covers.  They work great, are easy to make (after
a bit of practice) and are washable.  I just wait until I get all of mine
dirty and throw them into the washer.  (Do remember to make sure
the Velcro strips are pressed together before washing/drying as
they would otherwise get tangled together.)

This picture shows four mop covers that I made in the space of about
an hour.  The bottom one is a dirty one that I used to mop the floor.
(Easiest way to mop the floor with these is to use a medium-sized
spray bottle.  Add 1/4 cup of white vinegar and fill remainder with
water.  Spray a section of floor at a time and mop with the Swiffer.
Quick and easy!)

A bonus!  I serged two layers of left-over micro fiber
cloth together and use them to mop up spills at the coffee pot.

Squirreling Away…

June 1, 2015

Right now, most people are gearing up for summer.  Sandals, sleeveless tops, and shorts (well…more like peddle pushers in my case) are being worn everywhere.  Like that old saying, “It’s summertime and the living is good.” 

Even though it’s been in the mid-80’s in our neck of the woods, Charming and I are already thinking ahead to the coming winter.  We’ve made several trips to get pick-up loads of wood, with one more trip planned on the next cool-ish day.  A friend of his has a lot of downed trees on his property and a couple of members of my family have also given us wood that they had down as well.  My beloved husband, who knows the importance of keeping his Lovely Wife warm in winter, has already split all of the wood that we’ve gotten so far and stacked it against the shed so it can dry out over the summer and be ready for use this winter.  He has spent hours getting this accomplished.  Luckily, we were able to purchase a log splitter last year which makes the job much easier and faster.  What does he get for his efforts…a grateful wife, no fuel oil bills, and three tick bites.  He’s not too happy about the tick bites, but otherwise I think he’s happy with the pay back.

We also made our yearly trek last week to the grocery store that sells bulk foods so I could stock up on gluten-free flour and rolled oats.  (The sweet little lady that orders the flour for me gave me a hug when I handed her two plates of gluten-free cookies…Awwwwww.)  I buy 25-pound bags of the flour because it’s much cheaper than buying smaller, pre-packaged bags and the bigger bags will last me a year.  For someone who bakes as much as I do, it’s important not to get low on flour.  This afternoon I bagged the oats and flour so it’s ready to go into the freezer.  

I’m also planning to make some jewelweed soap in the next month or so.  Last year I transplanted some of the jewelweed that I had pulled up by the roots from a local river bank.  After I had made all the soap I could use for the year, I folded the leftover jewelweed into its flower pot.  That allowed some of the seeds to fall into the dirt and come up this year.  I make sure that the jewelweed pot stays in the shade most of the time (its current location provides only early morning sun) and is always damp.  That makes for the perfect growing condition for jewelweed.  I have given most of last year’s batch of soap away to family and friends.  However, I do have a small stash that I’ve kept for my own use.  After trips with Charming to cut wood, I immediately come home and take a shower using the jewelweed soap.  I’m happy to report that I have not gotten a case of poison ivy, even though I’ve come into contact with it several times this year.  YAY! 

Here's side #1 of our shed.  Doesn't my Charming stack neatly?

Side #2...the final load of wood will go right in the middle where
the chimney is located.

Side #3.  The wood is stacked as high as Charming could reach
(and he's a 6-foot guy).  The only opening will be at the window
to allow for sunlight to get into the shed while he's working
(and to not accidentally break a window).

My work surface for dividing the flour into manageable bags.
(Our handy, dandy hand-held Shark vacuum is absolutely
wonderful for cleaning up any spilled flour...love it, love it, love it!)

Gluten-free rolled oats, millet flour, and sweet white sorghum flour.
It does my heart (and stomach!) good to know that I have enough
on hand to last me a whole year.

An early morning picture of my pot of jewelweed.  Although I saved
some seeds from last year's plants, all of this came up voluntarily
after I had folded the plants into the pot when I had finished
making soap last year.

Some Beach…

May 11, 2015

Charming and I have just gotten back from a “look see” trip to the panhandle area of Florida.  Our purpose in going there was to check out the area to see if there was a possibility of us ever moving to the Sunshine State.  Charming had heard that the cost of real estate was reasonable in that area of Florida and he would love to own a piece of property near the water.  His desire to live near the water is centered on his dream of some day owning a sail boat and spending a few of his retirement years sailing to different parts of the world.  (I tell him that he needs to wait until I kick the bucket to do this because this ol’ girl can’t swim and has an intense fear of the water…thanks to “the baptizing incident,” when I was very young, and Brother Andy tried to fast track me to Heaven by holding me under the holy waters in our local swimming hole…but I’m getting off track here.)

Charming and I visited the areas of Panama City, Mexico Beach, St. Joe, Destin and a few other places along the way.  We weren’t thrilled with Panama City due to the pulp/paper mills in the area.  However, Mexico Beach is a lovely place with a really nice stretch of beach.  This would be my first choice of places to spend a winter.  Destin is also a nice area, bustling with all of the normal shopping centers, but also really nice beach areas.  Quite a bit of the beach area in Destin is public, but there didn’t seem to be many tourists on the beaches.  I guess vacation season hasn’t really started yet, so we got to see the beaches at the best possible time.  Florida is a really nice place to visit, and I could see myself lolling around in the sun during the winter months, but we really didn’t find a place that we felt we absolutely “had” to have.  Perhaps we’ll go back later in the year to investigate further. 

In the mean time, I’m trying to catch up on planting the garden and working on other projects.  The dandelion wine has been “working” and doing its thing quietly while sitting in a dark corner on the kitchen counter for the past two weeks.  I have already frozen a few batches of rhubarb.  Our pear tree seems to be loaded with jelly bean sized pears this year, but I’m expecting a “fruit drop” which will lighten the tree’s load by quite a bit.  Our peach tree also appears to have a decent crop on it.  Since this tree is only in its second year, I’m not expecting much, but I am hopeful that it will provide us with at least a few mature peaches to brag about.  Blueberry bushes have grown to about two feet tall and are blooming and our blackberry bushes are growing by leaps and bounds.  My wonderful niece, Kelly, gave me two raspberry bushes this spring; one is growing like gangbusters, but the other one seems to be struggling a bit.  I’m hoping I can nurse it along and keep it growing.  Will post some pictures, once I get everything in order.  

Palm trees line the coastal highway at Mexico Beach.

More palm trees on the coastal highway to Destin.

Lovely stretches of beach with emerald green water near the
beach that fades to blue, further out in the Gulf of Mexico.

Charming doesn't care for the pastel colors of beach houses,
but I kinda like them...probably because they remind me of
sherbet.  YUM!

"Hey, Dad, there's a really cute poodle over there on the beach!
Can we go?"

"Ahhh...there she is...my dream girl!"

"I know I can reach her, if I make a break for it."

"Doggone leash!"

(It may look like our Jax is taking a potty break, but he's not...for
some reason that we don't understand, he will never let his
butt touch the ground when he sits.  Guess we all have our
little quirks.)

Renovation Reveal Re-Do…

April 19, 2015

This past Friday, I had an “open kitchen” (as opposed to an “open house”) of sorts.  A couple of my sisters (Joyce and Sis), two neighbors, three aunts, one cousin…and a partridge in a pear tree…all came to see the results of the renovation.  (Just kidding about the partridge in a pear tree bit.)  I thank all of them for the gifts and for taking time out of their busy day to attend the big shebang.

There was enough space to accommodate everyone easily and I only had to use half of the counter space for refreshments.  I think everyone had a good time and many comments were made about the difference in the size and appearance of the kitchen before renovation, compared to now. 

So, now I’m going to bore you with more pictures of the kitchen.  This time, though, I have all of my stuff in place, along with curtains, a lovely table cloth (a present from Sis), my prep table, and my buffet/sideboard.  In case you haven’t guessed yet, I’m thrilled with the results and I must thank my wonderful husband, Charming, for all the long hours, hard work, and injuries that he suffered while getting this kitchen renovation accomplished.  Gosh, I do love that man!

This is the kitchen, entering from the living room.  The vinyl
flooring has proven to be a winner.  It is a breeze to keep clean.
I just use a Swiffer dust mop with a dry cloth to "sweep" and
switch to a clean cloth along with a bottle of water & vinegar
to damp mop.  That is all that's needed.  (I make my own cloths
from microfiber cloths and Velcro that I purchase from
Walmart...but that's a subject for another blog post.)  

This is the part of the kitchen that used to be a closed-in porch.
It now houses our table, antique buffet/side board, TV, and radio
as well as cabinets that are along the wall to the right of the table.

Here is the wall of cabinets that houses my baking center (on the
right).  It is amazingly quick and easy to whip up a batch of
cookies, muffins, or blackberry cobbler at the baking center and
pop it into the oven.  It's not good for our waistlines, but it is good!

A better view of the buffet/sideboard, along with
the TV that Charming suggested we add.  As you
might imagine, this room gets used more than just about
any room in the house...food, TV, a mountain view
outside our window...could anyone ask for more?

From the middle of the room, looking towards the living room.
I am planning to put two 24-inch shelves on the wall above the
little black and white table, at a later date, but I promise not to
make you read about it when it happens.

From the middle of the room, looking at the sink.  To keep the
renovation costs as low as possible, we kept our old appliances
and will replace them as they die off.  I chose cabinets and counter
space over a dishwasher, partly because I actually like washing
dishes...weirdo that I am.

The curtains are made from "Homespun" black & tan fabric
that I purchased from Joann Fabrics.  The apple tie
backs were made with CraftSmart polymer clay that I purchased
from Michael's craft store.  I made most of the decorative items
myself, including the braided rug, curtains, tie backs,
quilted table runner, and prep table (with a bit of help
from my man, Charming).

Chop, Chop…

April 15, 2015

I wanted to share with you the photos of my finished prep table.  I think it’s adorable and pretty crafty (if I do say so myself).  Charming still thinks it’s a bit weird, but he did say, “It’s not as ugly as I thought it’d be.”  So that’s fairly good praise, I think, considering he has been threatening to tote my beloved wash tub to the landfill for almost a decade now.  I think he’s finally realized that wash tub ain’t goin’ anywhere and, since he participated in helping me put it together, he seems to be OK with it residing permanently in our kitchen.

The prep table is thirty-nine inches tall.  The table top is twenty-four inches across.  We came upon the top in Home Depot while we were shopping for some other things.  They sold two sizes.  The eighteen-inch top was too small as the top opening of the tub was eighteen-and-a-half inches across.  So I decided to go with the twenty-four-inch top and be happy with a little overhang.  As it turned out, this works much better as it offers plenty of space for even my largest cutting board and can also function as a table if I add tall bar stools for seating.  (The fact that the Home Depot ready-made table top cost only $6.99 was also a bonus…and much less work for us as well.)

I think I’m actually more in love with the family heirloom wash tub now than when I first laid eyes on it, half-buried by fallen leaves in the wooded mountains where my ancestors resided.  To my way of thinking it just goes to show that no matter how bad an object appears, it can always be improved upon and turned into something wonderful.  I hope this inspires some of you to find a piece of trash and turn it you’re your very own treasure!

This is the "before" photo of my beloved wash tub.

...And this is the "after" photo.  The writing at the
bottom of the tub is Psalms 17:8, which says,
"Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the
shadow of thy wings."  I just love that verse and
it seemed to fit the application perfectly.

A little creative thinking can lead to a fun and
functional design.  (I never even throw a
gum wrapper away without giving some thought
to how I might turn it into something useful.)

Lucky me...my prep table came with built in
towel holders!  (Actually, the tub's handles were
what tipped the odds in favor of turning it
into a prep table.)

As you can tell from most of my recent posts, I've become
quite fond of black and white enamel paint.  (Not because of the fumes,
but because of the high sheen that enamel gives to any object.)
Five coats of the paint and just look at the high gloss on that table top!
It mimics the baking center's vintage enamel top very closely.  

Spring Renewal…

April 7, 2015

Several of my readers have been asking why I haven’t posted anything recently.  I haven’t gotten lazy.  In fact, I’ve been really busy.  I’ve been working on curtains for the kitchen and they’re turning out really well.  I’ve also been working on the prep table.  Charming (bless his little perfectionist heart) has provided advice on the painting of the table legs and top by saying, “Another coat of paint won’t hurt a thing.”  So, several coats of paint later, I have finished the painting.  I’m hoping we can put it all together this coming weekend.  I still need to get Charming to cut the cornice boards that will go above each window, but he’s been working every day except weekends helping my carpenter brother with a construction project.  Like the good wife, I try not to give him too much to do on the weekends as he’s been a bit tired lately.

I have painted my old paper towel holder.  I probably mentioned that I bought it a long time ago at a yard sale for ten cents.  From the shape it was in I figure it once lived in a garage or a wood shop.  It was very dirty, even after I had done my best to clean it up.  After painting, it may not look better, but it certainly is a lot cleaner looking.

I have also been “designing” some other stuff.  I designed a bath mitt that has a pocket for soap.  I’ve tried this out and I just love it.  The pocket on it holds the leftover bits of soap from the regular soap bars or a full-size bar of ivory or homemade soap.  It’s great not having to chase the soap around in the shower!

Since spring is finally rolling around, I’m also piddling around in the garden a bit.  We have lettuce, onions, kale, and Napa cabbage growing in the garden and I’m planting potatoes today.  To me, the greatest thing about spring is the feel of warm dirt in my hands.  Happy spring!

The old paper towel holder that I got at a yard sale.  It was badly
stained and was warped.  The glass also had years of grime on it.
This is just the kind of treasure that I live for!

I took the thing apart (for the most part) then sanded, re-glued,
and painted it and...

Like magic it turned into something much better.  I'm always
amazed at the change a coat of paint (or sometimes coats of paint)
will make in an item.

Here's the bath mitt I designed and knitted.  It's made out of
cotton yarn and it works really well...no dropping the wash cloth
or soap in the shower!

The Renovation Reveal…

February 23, 2015

I am happy to report that the kitchen renovation is complete…at least 99.9% of it is complete.  Charming finished with the renovation last week and I have been a busy bee trying to get the place cleaned (except for window washing) and decorated.  Below are pictures of the kitchen.  This post is short because there are quite a few pictures to show you. The weather here has been so frigid recently that I have not been able to complete my wash tub prep table, which will go in front of the counter near the sink when finished. I need the outside temperature to be at least fifty degrees for the enamel paint on the legs and top to dry, so that will happen when the weather warms up.  I promise to share pictures whenever it's finished.

My posts may be sporadic from here on out as I need to get the kitchen curtains made and put two more rows on my braided rug.  (I decided that an extra four inches from two additional rows of black would make it look better.)  I’m also going to try to pump up interest in my classes and start a shop on etsy.com to sell some of my hand made items, as it does stack up in my studio after a while.  Somewhere in between these things I have to find time to do our income tax returns and straighten up the mess that our house has been in since the kitchen renovation started a year and a half ago.

I looked everywhere on our computer’s server to try to locate pictures of the main part of the kitchen prior to the renovation, but all I could find was a picture of what used to be the back porch. This porch, with new windows, is now the area where the kitchen table sits.  Believe me, the old kitchen was very small and not much fun to work in.  Charming's renovation (with my input on choices of materials and design) is a definite improvement.  I hope you enjoy our pictures!

Our estimate is that this porch was probably added to the house
sometime during the 1970's.  It measured about 8'x 16', which we
decided would add quite a bit of space to our cramped kitchen.

Voila!  A year-and-a-half later, Charming turned our small kitchen into
a much nicer place to be.  (You may notice the small space between
the stove and the "baking center" where the enamel top counter is...
This is where the original kitchen stopped and the outside wall of the
original kitchen used to be.)

Our kitchen table with my braided rug, chairs that I re-seated using fabric
webbing, and the quilted table runner that I finished a few days ago.  We
have a nice view of the Blue Ridge Mountains from the window.  This
past week, we slid the shade completely to the side and
ate our meals while watching the falling snow.

This is the area that used to be the old porch (see the first picture above).
The buffet/sideboard shown by the window has a top part with a mirror
that we haven't attached yet.  It will provide extra space for desserts
during family get-togethers.  Note that my dear Charming, who loves his
electronic gadgets put in a TV so we could watch the morning news at the
table.  He also got a music playing thing-a-ma-jig so I can listen to my
favorite radio station or use an accessory thingy where he loads my
favorite CDs.

My "baking center" has an enamel top that I had convinced
Charming to pull off of an old cabinet that was in the basement
of our house when we purchased it years ago.  I held on to it,
knowing that some day it would come in handy...and it did!
The cabinets over the baking center hold all of my baking supplies.
The cabinet below holds my mixer, mixing bowls, rolling pins,
glass pie pans, and a couple of baking dishes.  On the right of
the counter top is a silicone sheet from "The Pampered Chef"
that has measurements for pie crusts.  It also helps to protect
the counter top from scratches.

The cabinet for the baking center includes all of the ingredients
for the things that I bake regularly including gluten-free flour,
sugar, oatmeal, cocoa, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips,
liquid flavorings like vanilla and peppermint oil, baking spray,
yeast, salt, milk powder, baking soda, etc.  I have two lazy
Susans on the top shelf and a Spicey Shelf on the bottom left.
I used to dread having to gather up all the ingredients for
baking, now almost everything is within arm's reach.  The
drawers below the enamel counter top hold measuring spoons,
measuring cups, biscuit cutters and other baking-related items.

This is the original part of the kitchen.  We kept our original
stove and refrigerator because they work fine and it saved us
a lot of money.  We will replace these with black appliances as
they stop working.  I didn't want a dishwasher because I
actually like washing dishes (I'm nutty that way) and I would
rather have usable cabinet space rather than a dishwasher.

Another shot of the counter/cabinets that house the baking
center on the right and the coffee prep area on the left.  This
part of the kitchen was the old porch.  Note the old enamel
container that sits under the window.  I believe these came
with refrigerators, years ago, to be used as a "vegetable
crisper" of sorts.  I nabbed this one at a yard sale about five
years ago for a dollar.  (I do love my cheap junk!)

Another shot of the kitchen counters. Tried to get the entire
counter top/cabinets into the shot, but couldn't quite get them
all in the picture.

Here's an up-close shot of the cabinet over the coffee pot.
It also holds all my spices.  Since the kitchen is so long now,
I just use a tray to go around the kitchen and gather what I need
to cook a meal.  I shuttle the tray from the spice cabinet to the
refrigerator and any other necessary cabinets to get everything
I need at once.  (An interesting note is that I purchased a
"Spicey Shelf" set for this cabinet and for the cabinet over
the baking center.  There were two shelves in the set so it
worked out perfectly.  The set costs $20 at our local Dollar
General.  It's made out of plastic so I don't know how long it
will last, but it does let you get a lot of spice jars into a
small space.)

This shows the greatest feature of my new kitchen...pull-out
drawers!  It's why I think my new kitchen is the greatest!  Since
my knees are over fifty years old and I have a big butt, I no
longer find it easy to get down on the floor to search in the
cabinets for pots, pans, and appliances.  Now I just lean over
and pull the drawers out to get whatever I need.  I'm telling you...
if anyone EVER asks you what you'd like for your birthday,
Christmas, or anniversary, tell them you'd like one (or more)
of these pull out drawers.  Mine are made by Rev-A-Shelf.
They're not cheap, but I'm telling you...they are PRICELESS!
Mine house all of my small appliances, except my grain mill.
On the extreme left:  4-slice toaster and pressure cooker on the
bottom tray with plates, bowls, and cups on the top tray.
Next cabinet pull-out was custom made by My Dear Charming
for the Ronco rotisserie that I got at a yard sale down the street
for $25.00 (I love that thing and use a lot...the rotisserie, I mean.)
The third cabinet holds my blender, tea maker, and slow cooker
on the bottom tray and my George Foreman grill, stick blender,
and electric knife on the top tray.  I've already listed the items
that are stored in the pull out drawers under the baking center (above).
The cabinet to the right of the stove holds all of my cooking pots
on the bottom pull out while the tops for those pots are stored
on the top pull out drawer (plus a few lids for my baking dishes).

My bread machine fits snugly under the cabinets
at the end of the counter (next to the refrigerator).
My dried beans are contained in canning jars that
are neatly labeled and easily reached by turning the
lazy Susan.  The bottom cabinet also has a lazy Susan.
I store all of my Christmas dishes and other party
plates here.  (My sister gave me the old-timey art
work on the right side of the picture.  Thanks, Sis!)

When we moved into this house, the counter tops were black
and had matching laminate on the wall behind the stove.  At
first, I thought it was a very strange idea, but it worked out so
well that we decided to carry it over into our renovation.  Grease
spots simply wipe off with no smears and no special cleaners.

This floor is actually vinyl.  The big box building material
stores (like Lowe's and Home Depot) call it LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tile).
I love it!  After reading all the reviews on all the different types of
floors, we decided to go with this.  It was inexpensive (we have
puppy paws with sharp claws) so we didn't want to put a ton of
money into the floors.  Charming followed the manufacturer's
instructions to the letter and took his time installing the "planks"
(about 3-foot long strips of vinyl).  It came out perfectly.  I use
a dry Swiffer mop to push the dust/dirt into a pile in the center of
the room and then pick the pile up with a hand-held vacuum cleaner.
To wipe up the floor, I use a large spray bottle with a half-cup of
vinegar and fill the rest of the way with water.  I spray a section of
the floor with the vinegar solution and quickly wipe it up with a
dry Swiffer.  It takes me about ten minutes to clean the floor.

A close-up of the cabinets.  I chose an off-white cabinet color
that reminds me of evaporated milk.  (When I was little, my Granny
used to give me coffee that was half coffee mixed with
half evaporated milk and plenty of sugar...Lordy, that
was some great stuff!)  I also chose this style of cabinet hardware
because my Daddy was a carpenter and almost every cabinet
he ever made had this exact hardware on it.  It was what he liked
and I (having many of the same personality traits as he did)
like it as well.  Great memories, all woven into my daily life!

I had this little table in my living room with some plants on it.
The top used to be bare pine wood and got stained by an over-
watered plant.  So I painted the top with white enamel paint
and used black enamel paint around the edge of it to mimic
the enamel top of my baking center.  If you look closely,
you can see the enamel shine in the center of the black edge
of the table top.  (The crocks are not old family heirlooms.
I bought them at yard sales for a few dollars each.  I'm
constantly amazed at the history that people throw away.)

Here's my finished quilted table runner.  I didn't really think the
apples looked like apples until I added the leaves and stems,
but it looks pretty nice on the table.

My niece, Tammy, gave me this picture a long time ago.  It hung on the
wall in my old kitchen and I like it so much that I'm going to re-hang it
in the renovated kitchen on the wall between the big window and
the cabinet where my spices are kept.