Yarn & Food, Two of My Favorite Things

This  (bread) bowl of yarn was once.....

....this sweater from Goodwill.

I know, you're thinking it can't be, as they aren't even the same color. Try as I might, I couldn't get the yarn balls to photograph right. It was a bit late in the day when I took pictures of the wound balls of yarn. The partially dismembered sweater above was actually a whole sweater when I bought it. I didn't think to photograph it bfeore I began the long and laborious job of deconstructing it.  I've recycled thrift store sweaters into yarn before, but never one as time-consuming as this. I was disappointed to find many knots in the yarn, too; hence so many varied sizes of balls.  Goodwill's sweaters are $3.49, but they were having a buy-one-get-one-free sale, so this sweater only cost me $1.75. I couldn't find another worthy of recycling, but I found a lovely chocolate brown zip-up cardi in great shape, which I think my daughter might  like.

The sweater's yarn color was much richer than it looks in the picture above. The color of it really jumped out at me in the store. I usually look for size large or extra-large sweaters, so I'll get more yarn. This was sized small, but such a pretty color. I'm thinking of knitting an infinity cowl with the yarn.   I realize winter is nearly over; but knowing me, it may not get  completed before next winter. It took me  a few days to get to this point with the yarn. I still have to wash it, then hang it to dry over the shower stall.  I'll weight the ends  to pull out the kinks in the yarn. I'll then wind it back into balls and be ready to get my knit on!

A little something to tempt your taste buds.

My son saw this dish being cooked on a morning news show earlier this week. He's not one to care about cooking or recipes, but he does know what looks good to him, and apparently this dish did.  I googled and found the recipe here. I'm not one to take someone else's recipe and pass off as my own, but I will type it out here, simply because I made some modifications, which I felt it needed. The original was the idea for it, though.

Crock Pot Soft Chicken Tacos
1)Put 3 or 4 chicken breasts (I used frozen) in your crock pot. Spellchecker reminded me crock pot is two words. I can never remember that. Yea for spellchecker!
2)Add  one can Rotel tomatoes (I use store brand equivalent).
3)You can add in a diced onion, or you can wait & use fresh chopped onion as you're making your tacos, which is what I did.
4)Add one can whole kernel corn, drained.
5)Add one can black beans, drained (I rinsed mine in a colander).

Sheesh, that was hard, huh?  Seriously, for starters, that's all there is to it. That makes the filler for your tacos.  All I did differently was to add seasonings. I did this after cooking it, when I realized it was somewhat bland.

I added about a teaspoon of cumin, and some onion  & garlic powders, all to taste.  You could probably even add a package of taco seasoning to the crock pot as you're cooking the chicken, but I'm trying to get away from using processed foods. I'm not there yet, but I leave them out when I can. Of course, you can also make your own taco seasoning, which I guess is sort of what I did.

To make the soft tacos, I buttered one side of corn tortillas, laid them buttered side down in a nonstick skillet on medium heat for a couple of minutes.
After removing from the skillet, I sprinkled mozzarella cheese on top.  You can use cheddar, but just sos' you know, it's nearly twice the saturated fat grams as the white stuff. Just sayin'.
I spooned the chicken mixture in a strip across the center of the tortilla, sprinkled a little more cheese on top of the meat, then carefully folded over the tortilla and returned it to the pan. You may have to hold it with a spatula to keep it from unfolding.
After a minute or so, gently turn it over to the other side.  This doesn't make the tortillas crispy like a store bought shell, but it gives them a slight crunch, and makes it easier to hold when eating.
Return the taco to a plate, then fill with whatever ingredients you like in a taco. Mine has diced tomatoes, diced onions, sour cream (nonfat), picante sauce, & shredded lettuce.   This meal was a big hit with Mr.Studley & my son. I used 3 chicken breasts in mine, and it made a LOT.

I celebrated a birthday last week. Well, celebrated might be stretching it a bit.  We live in a small town, with a handful or restaurants, and not a lot else. Eating out isn't a big deal since we do it through the year anyway, always at the same old places. We could've driven a couple of hours to big  D, but I just wan't feeling a road trip. Mr. Studley took me to a couple of thrift stores, waiting patiently while I looked to my heart's content, then we went out for some yummo  Chinese food.  Hardly an exciting way to commemorate my 56 years here on this earth, but a fun day for me, nonetheless.  I always have fun hanging out with Mr. Studley.

Our weather has been mild, and I'm starting to see a lot of these. They always make me smile.  Be blessed!

Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others].

~1 Peter 4:8 Amplified Bible

Garden Goodies Galore!

These started out as a pair of mittens for a little girl who likes yellow. I ended up frogging them, as they were looking more like a pair of mittens for a big girl, who may or may not like yellow. No, I didn't do a guage swatch, but when I'm knitting something that small, I figure it doesn't take me any longer to knit part way up  the pattern than it would to do the swatch. For my non-knitting friends, frogging means to rip it out. Rip it. Get it?   Okay, well, in other news, look below at the yummy goodies we got today.

Mr.Studley & I have been very blessed by friends this week. On Sunday, a man at church brought us a big bag of turnips, as well as turnip greens.  Today, a woman from church dropped us off two huge bags of yummy goodness  from her & her husband's garden.  I love...no, I LOVE turnips. The greens I can take or leave, but I'd just  as soon eat a bowl of stewed turnips as I would a bowl of ice-cream, and I do like ice-cream.  In case you're from some far away place that's never heard of turnips, or maybe you have, but thought they were some odd thing southerners eat, like fried okra, or fried green tomatoes, I'll tell you how to cook them. I'm sure there's more than one way, but this works for me.

How to prepare turnips:

Slice off the ends, like you would with an onion
Peel
Cut into 1-2 inch cubes
place in a 1 1/2 to 2 quart microwaveable bowl
Add just a little water, maybe a half cup or so
nuke on high for about 5 minutes, then check them by seeing if a fork easily penetrates the cube; this will take longer or less time, depending on the amount of turnips you're cooking
When done, drain the water, or at least most of it
Add a 'sprinkling' of sugar, but not too much. You don't want to sweeten them, you merely want to take away the bitter edge turnips sometimes have
Add butter/margerine, or whatever you use for that, and salt & pepper

That's it. You'll love 'em, or you'll hate 'em, but I'm betting you'll love 'em. If you want a simple meal, whip up a pan of cornbread and bake it in a cast iron skillet.  When you cook your cornbread in a cast iron skillet, put a little oil in the skillet (I use olive oil for just about everything), then put the pan in the oven while the oven is preheating. If you'll let your pan heat  for at leat 10 minutes before adding the cornbread batter, you'll get a nice, crisp bottom crust, and the entire round of cornbread will easily slide out of the pan onto a serving plate; and  assuming you have a well seasoned skillet, all the cleaning  it will need is a quick swipe with a paper towel.  Do all this, and  you've got yourself a nice little southern meal right there, I tell you what (sorry, I have Hank Hill on the brain right now).

I didn't take pictures of everything, but there were turnips, green onions, carrots, turnip greens, kale, collard greens,  cilantro, thyme, and dill, all freshly picked this morning from our friends' garden.  Heaven...I'm in Heaven, and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak.....and that's all I can remember from that song. ;-)

I'm still spending lots of time at Pinterest, mostly at night before I go to bed. A neighbor's birthday was yesterday, so I made her this coffee cake, then topped it with a glaze from this recipe.  The recipe for the cake is enough to make two 8 x 8 coffee cakes.  Whatever was I supposed to do with the second cake??  I could have frozen it, I suppose....but Studley and I had much more fun eating it. Sorry, I didn't think to take  a picture, but I baked one in my one-and-only 8 x 8 pan, and the other in my 9 1/2" cast iron skillet. Just as I do when cooking cornbread, I let the skillet get sizzling hot in the oven before I poured in the cake batter. After it was out of the oven and cooled a bit, I slid a spatula around it to loosen the edges of the cake from the edge of the pan, then placed a plate over the skillet and flipped it over. Of course, this put the top of the cake facing down. I then flipped it over again onto another plate, and voila',  it stayed intact. I poured the cooked glaze over it, and once the glaze had cooled a bit,  I had a very pretty  cake for sending over to my neighbors.  I let Studley take it over, since it was raining cats & dogs at the time. He's so handy at times like that. He even volunteered to do it. All I had to do was lament, "how ever will I get that cake next door in all this rain?", followed by a big sigh. Next thing I knew, he was heading out the front door, a cake in one hand, and an umbrella in the other.  I'm a blessed woman, I am.

Among the greens we received, there was a batch of one kind that I didn't recognize. They looked similar to the turnip greens, but one side of the leaves were green, and the other sides were a sort of burgundy color.  Plus, I think they were a bit more oblong shaped than the turnip greens which were slightly more rounded.   Come to think of it, the leaves were more pointed and narrower than the turnip greens.  While some types of  kale have a purplish color, I do know these aren't kale.  Anyone have a clue what they are?  I forgot to take a picture of them, and have already cleaned them and packed them away. I'll send out two of my handknit dishcloths to the first one to comment (with a continental US address, please) who can correctly identify them for me.  In the unlikely event that two of you comment at the same time on the clock, I'll send you each two dishcloths.  You'll have to give me a day or two to get more knit in the event of their being two winners; and yes, I realize that constitutes about 98% of my readers. ;-)  Meanwhile, I'll give my friend a call this week to see what the greens are, so I'll know who got it right.

You guys have a great week, and remember, try and do something to bless someone today!

I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.
~Psalm 13:6 Amplified Bible

"We are born helpless....
We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually;

We need them if we are to know anything, even ourselves."

~C.S. Lewis

A Cherished Gift

The above creation is a primitive cat named Putty Tat, after our very own cat named Putty Tat (as in, I tot I taw one)  How about that!  The primitive Putty Tat  was gifted to me by Kat, from Scaredy Kat & Her Own Crow.  Kat is one of the neatest people I've met via blogland. She is a walking, breathing, talking testimony of what God can do in, and for a person when they submit to him.  Her past life was a mess, bound by addictions.  Today, she is cleaned up and  living each day to the fullest. She's got a heart as big as Texas. If you go to her blog, you'll see some of  her divine creations,  most of which seem to be gifts of appreciation bestowed  on those to whom she's grateful.  She shares some of her testimony here, if you'd like to read it and be uplifted. Kat is a hoot, and I consider her one of God's blessings to me that I got to meet her (cyberly speaking).

My son bought me these cookbooks for Christmas. Actually, the one on the left was given to me last Christmas. I love all of them (I should, as they were all on my wish list which I shared with family), but the one I'm most excited about is the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I'm going to have fun with it!

John also overwhelmed me with a new dinette set for my kitchen. I casually mentioned how much I liked this particular style when we were in a store over a year ago. I never dreamed he was even listening to me, as he tends not to, or at least seems not to much of the time.  He was not only listening, he was filing that tidbit away for future use.  I am absolutely loving the gift, and shake my head everytime I think about how thoughtful he was. He & Nikki are both extremely thoughtful gift-givers, always giving both Mr.Studley & I gifts that we  love. I'll snap a pic of the table & chairs one day soon and show it here.

This is a little hat I knit for a gift last year.  I wish I could've gotten a picture of it on the baby, as it doesn't do it justice on this too-small doll's head. It's a darling pattern which was an easy knit. The pattern was not free, but was worth the purchase price. It's raveled here.

I've got to get cracking this weekend. I still have Christmas stuff to be packed away, and I've been dragging my feet about it.  The tree is down, but the rolled up lights are still sitting on a chair in the living room where they've been for nearly a week, and that's not the half of it.  I also have plastic tubs of Christmas decor stacked in the sun room.  What I really wish I'd gotten for Christmas is a maid!

"You do not have to live with secrets that allow negative emotions to control you.  Our feelings are real and they are powerful, but they are not more powerful than God and truth."
~Excerpt from Living Beyond Your Feelings, by Joyce Meyer
"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."~John 8:32 Amplified Bible

Another Post-I'm On A Roll!

I knit this Harry Potter scarf for my niece for Christmas a year ago, along with a slouch hat & fingerless mitts to match. Those who know me on Ravelry have already seen these knitting pictures. The scarf is raveled here, the mitts are raveled here, and the slouch hat, which I have blogged about is raveled here.

This scarf was also knit for my niece, and it's raveled here.  I loved how it turned out.  It was soft & squishy, and super long so she could wrap it around her neck a couple of times, and still have it hang down long on her tall self.

Nikki & John, Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs, CO March 2011
If at all possible, on the years Nikki's living in the states, my son, John,  takes a week's vacation and visits her the week of her birthday. These are two kids (to me) who did more than their fair share of fighting in their years of living at home together. When Nikki was first born, John, who was 8 1/2 years older adored her. He called her his little babycakes.  Anytime we went anywhere, he and their daddy would race each other to the door by Nikki's carseat, each trying to be the one to get to carry her (little princess, she was!).
As I've mentioned here before, my late husband, Nikki's biological daddy, died in an accident when she was 13 months old.  Bubba, as we call John here at home (yes, we're from the south, and we have a bubba) helped me immensely in taking care of his baby sissy.  I remarried when Nikki was 5, and suddenly she had a big sister around John's age.  The newness and novelty of having a sister caused her to shift her affections from Bubba to her new sis; who, being a teenager at the time introduced Nikki to the use of sarcasm, something our family hadn't really dealt with prior to that point. I'm not blaming her. Lots of teens are sarcastic. John could deal out sarcasm with the best of them...it's just that, being a small close-knit family who'd lost one of it's members to death, we'd never gone down that road with each other. At least not before then.

As Nikki learned to be sarcastic with her brother, giddy with the knowledge that she now had a big sister, a rift developed in my children's relationship. It saddened me, but there it was. As Nikki entered her teen years, being of a strong choleric temperament, she and John had some doozies of fights, which even became physical a couple of times.  Our trusty Chow, Yogi, was always there to shut those down in a hurry, though. Good old Yogi Bear, how we miss him still.

After Nikki left home and moved to Germany at the age of 20, by the time she was able to return for a visit nearly 3 years later, though still always the little sis, she and John were now both adults, and able to interact as such....well, to a degree.  They can both resort to childish behavior in the blink of an eye now, but it's the fun part of childishness.  Bubba is always there for his sissy, a fact which brings me great comfort.

My little movie star. When I was a kid in the '60's, I remember that anytime we kids put on a pair of sunglasses, we'd always say something like "look at me, I'm a movie star"; or an adult would say "look at that little movie star". I can only surmise that movie stars must've been the only ones who wore sunglasses. Maybe sunglasses were very expensive, or maybe it was a bold fashion statement not made by the masses. I really don't know. I need to remember to ask my mom about that sometime.  Of course we all wear sunglasses now. You can even buy them on the cheap at dollar stores. Yet I still think to myself when I see pics like this of Nikki, "ooh, look at that little movie star".

John at Seven Falls, outside Colorado Springs, CO March 2011

John never smiles for pictures, and Nikki is never not smiling for them (or any other time). It does no good to encourage him to do so; he'll just get all the more serious looking. Must be a firstborn thing.  That's okay, I love him to bits despite his gruff exterior, and I know he loves me, too.


"If you feel unusually sad or as if you are carrying a heavy burden you don't understand, ask God what is wrong before you start assuming things.  It is amazing what we can learn by simply asking God for an answer and being willing to face any truth He might reveal about us or our behavior.  Sometimes we feel emotional because of something someone has done to us or an unpleasant circumstance in our lives. But at other times we feel that way because of something we did wrong and ignored."
~excerpted from Living Beyond Your Feelings by Joyce Meyer

"When I kept silence [before I confessed], my bones wasted away through my groaning all the day long."
~Psalm 32:3 Amplified Bible

Autumn, Season of My Heart

Pumpkin Butter
Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.
~Emily Bronte

Two words describe how I feel about our summer of 2011. We survived.  That word 'survived' says a lot, doesn't it? An online dictionary definition says: to remain or continue in existence or use.  Well, we're here (remaining), we're continuing to exist, and we're still somewhat useful.  I could go on and on about how horrific it was, but truthfully, I think that subject's gone into overkill in most circles in recent weeks, so just suffice it to say, we survived.

Today feels like the first day of fall to me. I know it technically isn't, and we've even had cool days before now (off and on), but it's October 1st, the weather is oh-so-pleasant, the sky is bluer than I've seen it in months, and I am actually wearing capris around the house rather than the cooler shorts I've worn all summer.

 

No-Knead Bread

Now that I can use my oven without causing the house to feel like an inferno, I'm in a baking mood.  I've been meaning to try the above bread recipe for quite some time. Ever the procrastinator, I'm just now getting around to it.  I guess you would call this a ciabatta?  I don't know. I just know it's super simple, and that's my kind of recipe. Flour, yeast, salt, water, and no kneading. The biggest ingredient is time. You let it sit for 12 hours or more.  What could be simpler?  We had this for lunch alongside leftover tortilla soup from last night's dinner. 

We slathered the bread with pumpkin butter I made from a recipe I found at Bev Gibson's blog, Numbering the Days .  I love, love her blog. It's not a cooking blog, but she does share recipes along the way. I find myself to have so much in common with her, having newly retired husbands, grown children, and time to pursue answering the callings on our lives that we didn't have time for when raising children.  She gives great book recommendations for scripturally based 'bettering yourself' literature (my words, not hers). She's a truly lovely person. I really didn't plan on extolling her merits, but mentioning her pumpkin butter, the rest just had to be said.

The recipe is no longer available on her blog, but the following recipe (which I found on one of her boards at Pinterest) appears to be the same one I used.

• PUMPKIN BUTTER
• 1 can (15 ounces) 100% Pure Pumpkin
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions

Combine:

 pumpkin, sugar, honey, lemon juice, cinnamon and cloves in medium, heavy-dutysaucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring frequently, for 20 to 25 minutes or until thickened. Serve with biscuits, breads and corn muffins. Store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 2 months.

Recipe makes 2 cups. 

I have lots of Christmas knitting to be done, but I seem to have lost my knitting mojo.  I haven't done anything industrious in quite some time. I did knit a bunch of dishcloths, which are always nice to give as gifts.  I can't remember if I've already shown these on here or not. If I have, then we'll blame it on the missing wrinkles from my brain.

Waffle Knit Dishcloth (free pattern)

To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven
~Ecclesiastes 3:1 Amplified Bible

Christmas-check! New Years-check! Spring....

Proof that it does occasionally snow in northeast Texas!

I never grow weary of the reason for Christmas, the celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I do, however, grow weary of the season. Before Thanksgiving has even arrived, Santa and all the other Christmas decorations pop up in the stores and neighbors' yards. All the planning of gifts and meals and kitchen goodies, the extra cleaning and shopping and wrapping....it all gets to be a bit much. By New Year's day, I'm glad to put it all behind me and concentrate on the new year.

I don't really sit down and make a list of resolutions, but I do have thoughts, ideas, and goals in my head of what I'd like to achieve in the coming year. It's funny how those goals change as we get older. When I was in my 20's, I don't recall thinking "my goal this year is to get healthier". I do remember thinking I'd like to lose weight so I'd 'look' better. You really take your health for granted when you're young. When you've passed the 50 mark like me, you can't afford to take that attitude any longer. In my 20's, looking good was my goal, and if I felt better too, that was a fringe benefit. Now, feeling good is my goal, and if I look better too, well glory hallelujah, but that's not my motive.

Christmas cactus, blooming right on time!

Every year, I declare I'm going to quit procratinating. Obviously that hasn't yet happened (made evident by my just now posting a draft I wrote weeks ago), hence my need to keep declaring it each year. Last year for Christmas, I knit my niece a scarf. It's very long to accommodate her height. It's warm and wooly to combat the cold of the DC area. How much good she'd be getting out of it if it weren't still in my house. All I lacked to finish it was putting on the fringe (which I did recently). I also knit her matching fingerless mitts, as well as a neck gator (gater? or gator?) and fingerless mitts for her boyfriend. He's blind and uses a cane. Mandi, who also uses a cane to teach cane travel to the sight impaired, has told me fingerless mitts work really well for cane travel. She's loved the ones I've knit her in the past, and requested I knit them in dark colors as her palms get quite dirty using the cane. I also knit her a pair of them to match her scarf. All of it, the scarf, the gaitor, the mitts, they are all here at my house. What am I going to do with me??

That brings me to my next goal, or resolution if you must call it that. I guess I should call it a resolution after all, as I have resolved to finish all partially knitted projects this year. They are many. Another more short term goal I've set is to go on a food-diet. No, I don't mean denying myself food (though goodness knows I should!), but I'm forcing myself to cook more at home, and therefore not buy more food until I've used up what we have. My pantry and freezers are full. There's plenty here to eat, but it doesn't usually get eaten because it's not cooked. I wish I was one of those who loves to cook. I'm not, but I'm forcing myself to do more of it. It's healthier than eating out, and it's cheaper. There's been no eating out since before the holidays. Yea me!

John & Nikki, Christmas 2010

My daughter, Nikki, flew in from Colorado Springs for three days at Christmas. Since she left home 6 years ago, this past Christmas, and a couple or so years ago (when she and her boyfriend drove from Minneapolis, all day and night through terrible snowstorms, to surprise us on Christmas even morning) are the only ones she's been able to spend at home with us. We loved having her here. For some reason, all the inside pictures I took were bad. I was using my son's camera, which takes great pictures, but I guess I had the settings wrong. Picture me sad faced.

I have done some knitting, and will post pictures of it in my next post, which hopefully will be before next Christmas.

PS-Don't hate me, but we've had 70'ish weather with lots of sunshine the past couple of days.

Be blessed!

Proof that I do occasionally knit! Boho Beret, ravelled here

UPdate-Mandi's package of assorted knitwear has been shipped!

But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).
~Galations 5:15 Amplified Bible

Issues of the Heart

Baby Moccasins by Whitney Van Nes raveled here
I know it seems I've given up on my blog. I hope I haven't. I don't want to give it up, but I can't seem to make myself sit down and write anymore. Could I have run out of anything to say? I talk to myself all the time, but even I haven't found myself all that interesting lately.

John & Nikki, waiting for her flight at DFW, to fly home to England

Thinking back to when I first began writing this blog, I didn't have much to say then, either. In fact, when I read my earlier posts, I cringe with embarrassment at the things I rambled on about. Stupid stuff, really, really dumb stuff, like my dog's favorite toy. Did I seriously think anyone would find that of interest? Not likely, but I think I had to find my voice. It took me awhile, but I was getting there about the time I stopped writing. Now, I'm out of the practice of blogging and it seems I am once again in search of my voice. Don't worry, there'll be no more posts about my dog's favorite toys. Dog pictures are a different story.

Since I last wrote, we've had more than our share of heart issues in our household. Leyna, my beloved little Min Pin contracted heart worms. The reason? I didn't have her on regular heartworm meds. I honestly wasn't aware of how serious the risk was. The vet said she likely got them last fall. It was a rough and painful experience. One week at the vet's, five more weeks of being crated, six weeks of not getting walked or being allowed to play, and $550 in expense kind of rough. Heart worms are a serious threat to your dog's health, and according to my vet, all states now face that threat. I'm happy to say that Leyna seems to be fully recovered, and will now always receive her regular heartworm preventive meds.

The other heart issue was in the form of Mr.Studley's mitral valve needing to be repaired. When he went in for the surgery, we knew there was a chance it would have to be replaced. Being repaired is a much better option for the patient, but not always possible. Fortunately for us, his surgeon has a 95% success rate at being able to repair damaged valves. We know God directed us to him. Mr. S came through the procedure with flying colors. Other than a smallish sideways V scar on his right breast, there's little evidence that he went through such a surgery. And might I just say that the Baylor Heart Hospital in Plano, Texas is AWESOME! Seriously, if a person must have a heart procedure done, then that's the place to do it. The hospital is designed like a hotel, a 5 star hotel at that. Patients are considered guests, and their 'rooms' are 'suites'. Patients go directly from recovery to their suite, where family members are allowed to join them shortly after. No limited visits in an ICU room, like in most hospitals. Their room, or I should say suite is their ICU. The suite includes a comfortable area for family members to be there with them, around the clock if they desire. I could go on for paragraphs about that hospital, it was that impressive.

Mike & Nikki, as we were leaving the hospital
So, as you can see, we've had a bit of out-of-the-ordinary going on around here in the past few months. My daughter, Nikki, did fly home from England for the week of her dad's surgery. We rented a hotel adjacent to the hospital. My son also took off work that week and joined us. We had a lot of fun, and they kept me laughing almost nonstop. I had complete peace about Mr.Studley. I knew He was in God's protective hands.

I'll be back. Really, I will.

Nikki and Leyna, summer 2010

For by the grace (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him.

~Romans 12:3 Amplified Bible

You Might Be A Redneck If...

You might be a redneck if your idea of a Neighborhood Watch program is to park your fanny in a recliner on the front lawn and watch the 'goings on' of your neighbors.


This is Mr.Studley, appearing to do just that. In reality, he's checking one last time to make sure he wants to give away this favored chair before loading it onto his nephew's truck. Mr. Studley really liked this leather chair, but we have another one very similar to it, and it seemed a shame to have our living room overcrowded with too much furniture when Nephew has nothing but broken down furniture (a harsh side-effect of a divorce). So Studley, bless his heart, opted to give the chair to his nephew. Granted, we did have to threaten him with the water hose to get him out of it before loading it onto the back of the truck.

























This is the now felted Hobo bag I showed you last week in it's unfelted stage. As I said before, I really like this pattern. It was an easy and fun knit. I purchased it from Pipp's Purses etsy shop. It's knit on 10.5 circular needles in a worsted weight yarn. I used my Denise Interchangeables for knitting, and Lion Wool for the yarn.

When I am knitting something to felt, I don't generally worry too much about the softness of the yarn. My experience has been that once something is felted, most felted wools feel pretty much the same; and besides, I'm not going to be wearing it next to my body. I have to tell you, though, I was pleasantly surprised by how soft this bag did feel prior to felting. I would be very comfortable wearing a sweater knit from this yarn.

Speaking of rednecks, this is my sun with his recent haul of bass. The boy does love to fish, which makes his mamma happy, as I does do love to eat fish. He doesn't bring them home all smelly with their dead eyes staring up at me, either. When he presents them to me, they've been cleaned, gutted, and filleted. They're neatly packaged in a freezer Zip-Loc bag, and ready for the freezer until I'm in the mood to fry up a mess of 'em, as we say around here. We eat very few fried foods, but fish and green tomatoes are the two exceptions to that rule.

My mom and her husband are visiting during the week of Mother's Day. We're going to surprise her with a fried fish dinner. Nothing says I love you, Mom, like a plate of fried fish, hushpuppies, and bowl of fresh cole slaw. It's a meal that'll make you want to slap your mamma. I'll refrain, considering it will be Mother's Day and all.

I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.

~Psalm 13:6

Contest Link, Exercising, & Missing Candy

As I was reading through some favorite blogs this evening, I stopped in at Randi's, "i have to say...". I found myself gazing at the most darling piece of artwork. I'll admit it, I was on the verge of coveting it. Seriously, I really want it. Fortunately for me, the artist has other copies of it on her etsy store, so it's going on my wishlist.

The artist's blog is Tollipop, and her whimsical style speaks to my heart. Not only is she a very talented artist, but she also writes. I read one of her stories while there, and am now anxiously awaiting what I hope will be another installment.

Tollipop is holding a contest on her blog. Some very blessed person will win some of her artwork. The pictures above, as well as the darling locket at the top, will be among the prizes she's awarding. I would love to win something from her, wouldn't you? If so, go to her blog and leave a comment. If you blog about it or Twitter it, you increase your odds of winning. I did both, 'cause I really want to win. She's also offering bonus entries to anyone who can get Martha Stewart to come sign up for the contest. I'll have to pass on that one. Ever since she learned I set my Thanksgiving table with styrofoam plates, Martha and I haven't exactly been on speaking terms.

That Linda, the sadistic hilarious blogger at 2nd Cup of Coffee, is at it again. Seems she wasn't satisfied that she got our lazy behinds off the couch, or out of the computer chair in my case, and moving for 30 minutes a day, five days a week, two weeks in a row. Neeeeeewwww, now she wants us to do it again for two weeks, only this time we get to cut 100 calories out of our day, too. And we're supposed to be happy about that. Oh, sure, I could just not participate, but then I'd feel left out, and I wouldn't get my name in lights..or at least not in her sidebar as a participant. Having my name in her sidebar makes me feel all important and such. And the truth of the matter is, I tend to be more disciplined in my exercise when I'm accountable to someone.

Giving up that 100 calories, though...that's a tough one. I wonder if all my vitamins and supplements would add up to a hundred calories? Or better yet, I could hurry and gobble up all the leftover Easter candy in one day. After that, I couldn't eat it anymore, and I could count that as my eliminated one hundred calories each day, right?

The flaw in that plan is that Mr. Studley would wonder what happened to all the jelly beans and peach rings. He doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, but he does love peach rings and jelly beans. I guess I'll just bite the bullet and find 100 legitimate calories to eliminate from my daily diet. That would be better than denying Mr. Studley his extra calories. Of course it goes without saying that it would benefit me!

I've already posted this in Ravelry, but realized I've not yet posted about it here. The is a pre-felted picture of my Hobo Handbag I knit from Pipp's Purses. I knit it in Lion Wool, which felted great, though it took awhile.

I've since felted it, but still need to attach a decorative button, and am contemplating lining it. I'm still undecided about the lining. I'll show a picture of post-felting on my next post. I didn't have enough space today. Picasa will only let me send four pictures over to Blogger at one time. Besides, maybe this will pique your curiosity to return again to see the felted picture.

So do not make any hasty or premature judgments before the time when the Lord comes [again], for He will both bring to light the secret things that are [now hidden] in darkness and disclose and expose the [secret] aims (motives and purposes) of hearts. Then every man will receive his [due] commendation from God.

~1 Corinthians 4:5 Amplified Bible

Gettin' Things Done

I sometimes have to trick myself into doing what needs doing. For instance, I NEVER plan on cleaning out my fridge. The times it gets cleaned (and yes, I do clean it on occasion) is when I start looking for something in there and can't find it. By the time I've spent 30 minutes digging through umpteen butter bowls with magic marker scribbled words on them, words like "carrots", "mushroom soup", or "dog chicken" (don't ask) I start hurling things out of there faster than my dog can inhale her chicken.

Two hours later, my fridge is sparkling. The shelves are washed clean, the sticky residue has been wiped from all the jam jars, the unidentified blobs with green fur have been tossed, and decomposing veggies have been relegated to the compost bucket. The drawers have been washed, dried, and put back in their places. I can stand back proudly and announce, in the voice of Zelda Rubenstein aka Tangina Barrows, "this fridge is clean".

If I KNEW I was going to do it, I'd find some excuse to get out of it, but I trick myself into doing it. I am so clever that way.

What, you might ask, does that have to do with pictures of sock yarn? Absolutely nothing. I went for a snack while the pictures were loading, and told myself "you really need to clean out the fridge".

I love this yarn. I think I already mentioned it in a previous blog, but it bears repeating. It is so soft, just like buttuh! The colors are so pretty and springy...like spring, the season, not bouncy springy. I think I may have to trick myself into finishing these socks, though. I have too many projects going at once, and nothing finished to show.

This was an error in judgement. It's my Amanda's Squatty Sidekick, or rather, not so squatty; I cast on extra stitches to make the base a little larger than the one in the pattern. I knit it with some wool yarn I picked up for a song in a thrift store in Little Rock (received a standing ovation-no, not really). It was really old. The label was yellowed and crinkly. It had probably been sitting in some little granny's knitting basket since the '60's.

I thought there was enough of the yarn to knit this bag. I was wrong. I could kick myself. I still have the strap and the flap left to knit, and no more wool. I'll have to either knit the straps and flap with a contrasting yarn, or rip back to the base and re-knit it, alternating stripes of the green wool with stripes of a contrasting color, so the original green will go farther. I'm not really of a mind to go to that much trouble, though. As you've likely determined by the fridge story, I am somewhat lazy.

I saw the furry novelty yarn at Big Lots, and noticed it was the exact same shade of green as the wool, so I bought it to add a little pizazz to the top of the bag. It was really cheap. It doesn't help with my shortage of yarn, though. What to do, what to do?

Pepper Saga Update:

Pepper's still with us, and it's looking likely he'll stay that way. I bet you all knew that, though.

Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

~Psalm 37:4 NKJV

This 'n' That

I've been doing some knitting, but I'll have to wait until my son gets back from a business trip before I can take pictures. He had the audacity to take his camera with him to New Orleans. Harumph!

I don't think a post is complete without pictures, so I'm resurrecting some old ones. Since we didn't get our annual ONE snowfall per year this winter, the above picture is obviously an old one. I either took it last year or the year before. I love the way Redbirds (Cardinals) stand out so brightly against the white of snow. I don't know if more of them come around when it snows, or if they're just more obvious then.

I haven't bored you with a pic of my four legged baby in awhile. This is Leyna, sleeping with her head rested on the crook of Mr. Studley's arm. Daddy, to her. This was last fall when we were camping in Arkansas. He was actually eating his dinner. She was so worn out from our hiking excursion that day that she didn't even bother begging for people food.

This is an earflap hat, fingerless mitts, and scarf set I knit for my niece a couple of years ago. Now I prefer to use the Maine Morning Mitts pattern for fingerless mitts.

Right now I'm working on a felted Hobo bag, by Pipp's Purses. I love this pattern! I've shared before how much I struggle with interpreting patterns. I am such a visual learner. Jennifer, the pattern writer, writes her patterns in such a way that even I can easily understand them. I'm on the very last step of the pattern. All I have left is a few inches of the i-cord handle, then kitchener stitching the two sides of the handle together, and that baby is ready to felt! I decided to wait to felt it until after my son returns with his camera, as I want to photograph it in it's prefelted stage. It's huge!

I'm also knitting a pair of sport socks for myself. I am loving the yarn. I bought it at JoAnn's Fabrics when I was in Ft. Worth a few weeks ago. It's the sock weight yarn from the Deborah Norville Serenity line, by Premier Yarns. It's a combination of superwash Merino wool, nylon and soft bamboo. Who knew Deborah Norville had a yarn line? The colors are so very pretty, and it's incredibly soft. I'm really enjoying knitting with it. The next test will be to see how it holds up to wear.

I'm torn between finishing my socks and starting another Hobo bag. I picked up several skeins of Lion Wool at our NEW HOBBY LOBBY recently. I live in a small town. We don't have an LYS (non-knitter readers, that's knitterese for Local Yarn Shop), so getting a Hobby Lobby was a really big deal for us. Anyway, the Lion Wool was marked on clearance for $1.99 per skein. That's $3 off their regular price per skein. I grabbed several skeins, as I'm planning on making felted handbags for Christmas gifts next year. I've now got enough yarn to do me for awhile, so I have no excuse for going back to Hobby Lobby anytime soon. Right? Rooooiiiiggghht. ;-)

But in your hearts set Christ apart as holy [and acknowledge Him] as Lord. Always be ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope that is in you, but do it courteously and respectfully.

~I Peter 3:15 Amplified Bible