Watch Out for that Hawk!

December 28, 2009 at 5:15 pm | In Chickens | 1 Comment

On Boxing Day morning we had a wonderful surprise–perched on top of our bluebird feeder was a hawk! We couldn’t believe it. We watched it and then it flew over to our garden fence and perched there a bit.  I couldn’t get a good picture because the windows were coated with rain.  Still, we could see it quite well.

The next morning he was back! I’m conflicted about this because on the one hand to get to see such a magnificent creature up close was incredible.  He was beautiful and I’ve never seen one in the wild so close before.  On the other hand….I wasn’t real comfortable when he perched on the swingset slide and stared at the chicken coop.  Fortunately both times the chickens were still locked up.  Later in the day we returned from being out and while standing outside the hawk flew very low, over our heads, across the yard. We were worried because we didn’t see any of the hens, but they all did come back.

Speaking of the hens…we sold our first eggs! A nice lady who lives in town stopped by. She remarked that she wasn’t sure if our eggs were for sale (so Joanna was right–we do need to add “for sale” to our sign!), but stopped to ask. She was very happy with her dozen.

Merry Christmas!

December 27, 2009 at 2:59 pm | In Christmas, Crafty, Family, Sewing | 1 Comment
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Merry Christmas! We had an absolutely wonderful day, filled with excitement and many thoughtful presents.  I couldn’t wait to write about them, but did because who wants to get online on Christmas Day or the day after? Before I tell about the vast variety of things I have planned for this post, let me jump right to the most awesome present.  Paul used Blurb to have this blog made into a book.  I had read about it a couple months ago (their blog slurper software) and hoped Paul would do it for me.  Because although when I started this blog I didn’t think of it as a journal, it has in fact very definitely become a record of our family’s days together.  Seeing all the entries and photos compiled into a book was very touching and made me a little teary.  And, Paul saved it for the last present, so it was quite spectacular.  Also spectacular? A dress form!!!! I guess it isn’t really a true dressmaker’s form, and she is very very slim, but I love the way it looks and it will be awesome for modeling aprons and such.

We had a lovely Christmas Eve at my cousin’s house and I gave the new baby her patchwork ball.  They were very pleased with it and her big sister immediately started playing with it.  I was especially pleased with this one because I used fabric that had been my grandmother’s for some of the patches, so it has a little piece of her great-grandmother in it.

Tabby wore her snowflake dress and looked very fetching:

In the morning we woke up at a very reasonable time, the same as we do every day. Clark was so excited that I feared an extra early wake up.  The level of excitement on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning was pretty super high-this is the year that Clark is a firm believer in Santa and that he had an actual wish list.  He loved his gifts (Legos! Pirates!), and so did Tabby.

I can reveal now the sewing caddy I made for my mom, as well as the apron.  She was delighted with both.

I was really thrilled with the fabrics I used for this and even though the center squished to a triangle shape, rather then the perfect tube I’d envisioned, I’m still really pleased with it.  The apron is the pattern “Deep Pockets”, from A is for Apron.

I received lots of inspirational gifts this year: fabric, notions, One Yard Wonders, Ruth Singer’s Sewing Bible, Craft Challenge: Dozens of Ways to Repurpose a Pillowcase, two big packages of patterned craft paper (I had always wanted some of these but have never bought it for myself, so what a wonderful surprise!), a Croc-a-Dile and Corner Chomper (which I had read about here, and without even knowing exactly what they did was pretty sure I needed to add it to my list), and…..tags to put into the things I make!! I will be retroactively adding these to Tabby’s dresses.

Here’s what I made with the paper, hole punch (because so far that’s all I can figure out on the Croc-a-Dile, apparently I need to buy some eyelets and grommets to use the other function), and corner chomper (which I adore.):

The two without a hanging ribbon have magnets on the back. I thought Paul could stick the one with the two pictures on his filing cabinet at work! The little baby is a friend’s baby and I’ll be tucking that into her gift this morning. Speaking of which, I have to go get ready for that gift exchange so I’d best post this and leave all I have to say about chickens, hawks, and my stove until later!

A Closer Look at the Snowflake Dress

December 22, 2009 at 3:05 pm | In Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Here it is.  When I first saw this fabric I wondered if it would be too glitzy since there are sequins, but it is decidedly sweet and festive, not glitzy-tacky.  And the corduroy is very soft.

Christmas Crafting

December 22, 2009 at 1:33 am | In Christmas, Cookery, Crafty, Sewing | 3 Comments
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There is no end to the number of cool crafts you can do at Christmas time and of course the more blogs I look at, the more I see.  I saw this the other day on Little Birdie Secrets and thought oh what a good idea,and who knew you could get flour sack dishtowels at Wal-mart? I am not often there so thought this idea would have to wait until after Christmas.  However, an evening out, we happened to be near one, the big snow was coming, and we needed to buy snow boots for the boy. I picked up the five pack and last night commenced decorating.

I’m delighted with these. I copied the idea of the simple triangle tree, and then just zig zag appliqued them on. I happened to have some homemade bias tape that matched one of the greens I used, so I added that as a trim.  (I would have use some rickrack as well, but I am hoarding my red and green rickrack for an apron for myself., and believe it or not it is not the easiest thing for me to get ahold of.) I now have either cute towels for myself or easy gifts to give anyone (I made Aunt Debbie Candy for Clark’s teachers, otherwise I would probably give them to them.  Whoa-just looked up that link and see that on the same exact date-December 21, two years ago-I also made Aunt Debbie Candy!!)

Also yesterday I whipped up another pincushion.  I didn’t have any egg cups to use, but I picked up this nice ramekin at the store and thought it was a pleasing shape.  I was even more pleased when I saw how nice the fabric I chose looked with it.

And finally (yes, this was all yesterday afternoon/evening, and then a little bit today-thank you snow!) I made Tabby her snowflake Christmas dress.  Same pattern as the Thanksgiving dress (a really practical jumper), though I swear the armholes are bigger this time.  I will consider next time making the facing a different fabric-having it be two layers of embellished corduroy made it a little bit bulky. No close up pics yet, but here she is immediately wearing it.  Could there be a higher compliment than me showing it to her and having her say “ON!” and start taking off her other clothes? (Obviously she will wear this with a shirt under it and some tights on.)

And finally,  a picture of the first apron I made.  I made this a few years ago, from a pattern, for my friend Mary Lynn.  Looking at it now (she brought it by for some repairs) I see that I did a terrible job! Holy cow, is it awful.  However, the fabrics are beautiful, the orange piping is a nice touch, and I love the applique flower that I hand appliqued using wool needlepoint thread.

This spirograph fabric is awesome. If I ever see it again I will definitely get some more.

And what of the Christmas baking? Well, my stove died a week ago. It is not going to be fixed until Wednesday afternoon (aka Christmas Eve Eve).  Good thing we have loads of cookies in the freezer, but it’s definitely cutting it close in terms of making things for Christmas Eve, as well as making sticky buns for Christmas breakfast (I prefer to make them ahead of time and freeze them.) Surprisingly, though, we haven’t been too inconvenienced.  The first thing I did was go out and buy a fabulous electric tea kettle so that we could keep having proper tea.  Then I realized just how many other cooking appliances we have beyond the microwave and toaster oven: crock pot, waffle iron, George Foreman grill, rice cooker, deep fryer, and steamer.  I had forgotten about the steamer until last night, which was too bad because I would have liked steaming my vegetables instead of just microwaving or having salads.  And we have not deep fried, or had waffles, or even used the crock pot yet.  I swear, we practically don’t need a stove! (Not really, I’d like to make a roast for Christmas and a tiny toaster oven is not big enough to bake anything bigger than a mini loaf pan.)  It’s become a little creative adventure seeing what we can make without it! (Disclaimer: we went out to dinner once and lunch twice. :)

Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

December 22, 2009 at 1:13 am | In Chickens, Christmas, Family | 1 Comment

The story of the weekend was the big snow.  Here in New Jersey we got enough to be wonderful, beautiful, a reason to stay home, but not crippling.  The kids were wildly excited to play in it, though Tabby’s enthusiasm ran more toward the theoretical.  Couldn’t wait to go out, endured the endless bundling and gear putting on, got outside and just wanted to be held and cried as soon as her hand lost a mitten and went into the cold, wet snow.  It wasn’t very good for sledding or snowmen, but we did manage to have fun. And of course the rest of the time was spent inside by the fire, drinking hot chocolate and listening to Christmas music.

Here is what we woke up to Sunday morning:

And the front yard view, where I was charmed by the snowy tree with the shiny balls. It all looked very Christmas card-like.

Pippin loves the snow:

The chickens do not. This was as far as they got on Sunday.

My mom has pointed out that Clark loves to immerse himself in things-water, mud, snow.  It’s true.  He just jumps right in, rolls around, has a blast.

Paul had fun making a snow dinosaur:

We also made a weird bug-eyed snoman:

And our newest holiday decoration is this adorable penguin Paul made. Didn’t he do a nice job? The lights around the garden stretch to the penguin’s beak so that at night it appears he is either helping, or being naughty and pulling them off the fence.

And indoors we had fun with….static.

Hooray for snowy days!! I’m keeping my fingers crossed it lasts through Christmas…

Chicken Casserole

December 19, 2009 at 2:24 am | In Cookery | 1 Comment

Recently I got it in my head that I would make this countertop recipe book as a way of preserving the recipes that I recall from growing up.  Actually, I knew I was not in danger of not having them, but thought it would be nice to put this together for my brothers.  I don’t know if they’d ever use it, but I’m all about preserving family history, so there you go.  I gathered up the recipes I wanted and they are a buttery walk down memory lane.  Because there will be pictures in the book I obviously need to go ahead and make most of these and photograph the results before  I can make the book.  First up, a chicken casserole I loved. White rice, crunchy celery, chicken, and a buttery cornflake topping.  When I read the recipe I was surprised to find that it only called for 2 cups of cooked rice.  Really? We were a family of five and I doubt 2 c of rice would be enough.  I immediately added more rice.  Also, sadly, celery was inadvertently not purchased at the store, so I had to omit it.  Although I am not a celery lover, I do feel it belongs in this recipe.  And I couldn’t bear to use the full amount of melted butter on top.

So did it live up to the memory? Yes. A hearty, somewhat bland comfort food.  I had kind of forgotten that it was pretty bland (though I remembered it being much whiter than my version turned out to be), but when eating it didn’t mind.  You definitely need to salt it, though. (So, salt, butter, cream of chicken soup….ahhh 1960s? 70s?)

She’s Crafty

December 18, 2009 at 2:11 am | In Christmas, Crafty, Decoupage | 4 Comments

Last night I had a little craft party for a few of my girlfriends.  I thought it would be fun to get together and make ornaments (or really, whatever anyone wanted to work on.) I put all my supplies out on the table, they brought things too, and we had some nice grown up time being crafty and creative together.  People probably do this all the time, but as much as I love making things, this is the first time we’ve done this (well, Jen and I have sewed together, and ML and I have decoupaged together, but we made this an event, complete with wine and hors d’ouvres for dinner.)

Everyone’s projects came out great!!

Mary Lynn made her wreath by glittering tiny pine cones and wrapping wide ribbon around it.  She had the most magnificent Martha Stewart glitter set.  We all agreed that just seeing the little vials all lined up in the box was satisfying, even if one never even opened them!

Jen decoupaged blown eggs (our own hens’ eggs, I might add!) with pictures cut from Christmas napkins.  I think these look quite spectacular.

I also decoupaged on a clear glass ball.

And painted a ball as well, but it was really too delicate a design and is not showing up on the tree very well.

Still working on my felt trees.

And finished a sequined foam ball.  It’s like a big gaudy disco ball. But I love it.

Melissa, on the other hand, made the most elegant sequined item by gluing rows of same colored sequins on a clear glass ball.

Christmas is 9 days away.  I still have Tabby’s snowflake dress to make, as well as two gift sewing projects to make. (Plus a batch of candy for Clark’s teachers.)  I’m confident I can do it!!

Pageants and Parties

December 17, 2009 at 2:11 am | In Christmas, Family | 3 Comments

Clark had his school Christmas program this morning.  Just like last year he chose not to wear the costume, so he really stands out amongst the other children.  He did a great job singing and participating and we were ever so proud of him.

Then this afternoon Clark and Tabby had a tea party.  Yes, I gave them real tea in the tiny teapot and teacups.  Yes, they spilled a little. But they had a lovely time and here are some lovely pictures.

What could be sweeter than a tea party?

Annual Christmas Cookie Party

December 17, 2009 at 1:59 am | In Christmas, Cookery, Entertaining | Leave a Comment

I think is the 4th year we’ve had our Christmas party and I hope it is a tradition we keep up, because it is loads of fun.  Everyone brings a batch of homemade cookies, we all hang out and eat and drink, and then everyone votes for their favorite cookie.  I was excited about the prizes this year because they were things I sewed.  All the cookies were delicious and first and second place were actually a tie.  I contributed pinwheels, chocolate mosaics, ginger squares, jam thumbprints, and cinnamon sugar sticks.  (Another thing that made the party so nice was that the day of I did no baking as I’d done it all ahead of time. It was “just” cleaning up the house and doing party primping.)  The other cookies brought were:

iced pumpkin cookies, pistachio cherry cookies, chocolate peppermint sandwich cookies, snickerdoodles, chocolate cherry cookies, ginger chocolate chip bars, a cranberry-pecan-chocolate rice krispie balls.

It is a little shocking I don’t have more close ups of every individual cookie. But bear in mind I was also being a hostess, eating the cookies myself, and having issues with indoor lighting.  And ultimately, more fun to have a glass of prosecco, a handful of cookies, and catch up with friends, than to get just the right shot.

First prize goes to…the chocolate cherry cookies.  A very rich, chocolatey cookie.  Here is ML modeling the Christmas apron:

Second prize (it was really a tie but she was angling for this prize so it all worked out)goes to…the cranberry-pecan-chocolate rice krispie balls, made by Jen! Here she is with the lovely Christmas potholders.  She made up the recipe for these treats, which were delightful.  One could easily gobble up a half a dozen without thinking.

These are the first potholders I have ever made and I’m quite pleased with them.  I wasn’t sure how to do the little loop (and frankly, had I bothered to walk into the kitchen and take a look at my potholders I could have figured it out, but I was lazy, and there you have it), so that’s the only part I’m not so pleased with.  I had fun stitching the layers together just freeform  with the machine, and also doing the tree applique.

So far this year my favorite treat has been the Ginger Squares.  I made them for a party a few weeks ago, then again for my own party. They are absolutely fantastic.  A thin layer of spicy gingerbread with a streusel topping that is literally twice as thick as the bottom.  And lots of crystallized ginger.  The recipe is from King Arthur Flour and can be found here.

And good thing the party was this past weekend because guess what? My stove died in the midst of dinner prep on Monday night! And the repairman isn’t coming until Friday!

Decking those halls

December 10, 2009 at 2:13 am | In Chickens, Christmas, Cookery, Crafty | 2 Comments

I’ve been remiss in writing here, but not remiss in my Christmas preparations.  The house has been decorated inside and out, the tree has been gotten and decorated, and new cookies are made almost every day. And, of course, music, music, music!   I love pulling out decorations I haven’t seen in almost a year.  Each one is a happy “OH! Remember this!”  I’m working on a few new things this year-some felt trees, and maybe another photo wreath.  I actually don’t have a ton of photos, but will once projects are finished and surely once we have our Christmas party (because then I’ll take pictures of all my cookies.) For now, here are chocolate mosaics:

We had our first snow, which was beautiful and even though there was really not very much, it ended up being loads of fun. The kids sledded down our tiny hill (each time Clark yelled “Heeeeeeeeeeeeelp” as he wooshed into the brush.) The chickens were surprisingly fussy about it and wouldn’t come out of their coop.

Speaking of chickens, we bid an adieu to Pecky, who got taken by a hawk (presumably) last week. This brings us to 8 hens (only 7 of whom are laying at the moment.)

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