Miscellaneous stuff

A fun thing I have done a couple times is to post a cross stitch project in progress on Facebook and ask my friends to guess what I am stitching.   I usually get quite a few guesses and always amazes me what others see in the stitching.  Recently I posted this series.

 Believe it or not, someone actually guessed correctly from these few stitches.

Added a few more stitches.  Lots of random guesses.  Even knowing what it is, I have trouble 'seeing' the picture here. 

And a few more on the other side.

Taking shape here.  

Pretty obvious now.

The finished piece.  I actually stitched two of the same design for some lap quilts.  These are for a couple gentlemen that are roommates through a charity, Quilts for Older Children and Adults.

 This is another project - a baby blanket.  Loves the colors in the "Sundae Stripes" yarn.  I'm making two of these also - twin girls.   How fun!

And I have to post some sort of food picture :-)  This was a weight watchers recipe - Salsa Stuffed Green Peppers.

Cooking, cards, and cross-stitch

Need to update on some recent recipes and cards.

Added some new recipes to my Recipes blog.  Check them out.   The bacon wrapped chicken breasts were a big hit.  Tom said I can make it any time I want.  It is a freezer meal and really pretty simple but looks like you slaved away in the kitchen :-)
Some others I added -
Slow Cooker Stroganoff
Skinny Southwestern Goulash
Sauteed Zucchini and Carrots
Greek Yogurt Pancakes

I've also been playing in the craft room.  Here are some of my favorite cards that I've made recently.

 I call this one "Rob Peter to Pay Paul"  It reminds me of that quilt pattern.  I tried to find an image of the pattern my mom did by that name.  The photo below is pretty close.

This card uses my new stitched shapes framelits.  The framelit cuts the circle and also makes the little stitching design around the edge.  

Another stitched shape framelit.  The sets has various sizes of circles, ovals and squares.  I think I'll be using them a lot!

Here I used some paper piecing.  I stamped the dress on the Very Vanilla and also on the piece of DSP.  I cut out the dress from the DSP and glued it to the design on the Very Vanilla card stock.  It is one of my favorite techniques.

I've also completed a couple cross stitch quilt squares recently. I have to limit my cross stitch time because of tendonitis in my elbow.  Gripping the fabric with my left hand aggravates the tendonitis. I think I'll be looking into some sort of frame to hold my stitching so I don't have to use my left hand :-)

 This Bassett Hound is for a Dogs theme stitch-a-long.  

This is a piece I found in the drawer that was half done.  I finished it up and it can go in the Dogs theme stitch-a-long too.

Easter weekend

I spent Easter weekend in Minnesota with my sister Jane and family.  My daughters, grandkids, and I took a road trip - stopping off at my niece Jill's in Iowa on the way there.   Such a good time - the kids did very well.  It was so much fun to see them get better acquainted with these family members.


A few pictures from the weekend -

 Story time with Cousin Jill.  Derek sat there for about 2 seconds :-) 

 Saturday donuts at the local bakery.  

Dying eggs

Sidewalk art

Chasing bubbles

Red Leaf breakfast - Chef Josh is peeping out from the kitchen.

Easter Sunday

Cooking and Pearls

I'll gotten serious about cooking again.  I have been pretty lazy this winter and not really planned my menus, just grabbed something from the freezer.  And at least once (usually twice) a each week we have picked up something.  And my clothes are telling me it is time to stop that nonsense and plans some healthy meals.  So I've been browsing Pinterest and Wildtree and have a plan for this week at least. 

 Last night was Pork Medallions and Mushrooms.  Sliced pork tenderloin is browned in a skillet while mushrooms are roasting in the oven.  Both are combined in a the oven with some Wildtree Piccata Sauce.   Served over rice and I make some quick and easy frozen broccoli for our side.
It was a big hit!

Another Wildtree meal tonight - Sweet Onion Chicken and Spinach Salad.   This is from the Easy Breezy freezer meal workshop.  The chicken cooked in the crockpot with sliced onions and the Wildtree Sweet Onion Dressing.  Served it on a bed of spinach with diced apples, yellow pepper, scallions and bacon.  Top with a little more of the Sweet Onion dressing and had a couple Cheese Twists on the side (my daughter helped make those using canned pizza crust). 

I've also developed a fondness for an online pearl harvesting show - Shuck It is the name of the company.  People order the pearls - sight unseen - and the ladies shuck the oysters on a live feed.  It is really fun to watch.  There are several but Shuck It is my favorite. You prepay for the number of oysters you want - discounts on larger orders.  They let you know what evening they will be opening your oyster.  I never realized there were so many natural oyster colors. These are not dyed like some are.   

 This is a screen print from my phone of some one person had purchased.  The lower right is a dark lavendar - not very common.   These were all for the same person.  In the center column, the two side by side were from the same oyster - twins!   If you happen to get twins in your oyster, it's a bonus.   And if the oyster is empty, they pull another one for you.  I have watched several times and have never seen an empty one.  There are a good number of twins though.

The bottom one here is called a 'gold nugget'.  It was such a dark gold and it very rare.  The gal that was shucking just kept saying "Oh my malanta!".  She couldn't get over how dark it was.  

It's really fun to see what each person gets.