Friday, July 31, 2009

The Friday 56 - 31 July 2009

The Rules:

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime With Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Tailspin by Catherine Coulter

“…He needs traffic to get lost in, and he’s not going to find it on this road.”

This is the latest of Catherine Coulter’s FBI thrillers out in paperback. I saw it last week and snatched it up – I’ve liked all of them so far.

Other news – I’ve stitched two of three identical ornaments. This was a little freebie some time ago – I believe by Midnight Stitching. I love the lime green on the dark blue aida – how about you?
It's amazing to me that I can tell that I stitched one in horizontal rows and the other in vertical rows - hopefully pressing and finishing will fix that.
These will be Christmas presents for my co-workers – I haven’t quite decided how I’ll finish them yet.

We bought 50 pounds of new potatoes at the Farmer’s Market, so I’ve been busy canning them. No pic – I didn’t think of it while they were sitting out on the counter cooling, and I’m too stinkin’ lazy to go dig them out of the cupboard right now. I don’t peel the potatoes – just wash and scrub well, cut out any bad looking areas, and cube them (about 1-inch cubes). Besides the fact that I’ve trained my family to like potato with the peel, most of the nutrients are in or just under the skin. Because the canning process cooks them, I devised a variation on twice-baked potatoes that my family loves:

Twice Baked Canned Potatoes

1 quart canned potatoes (or four cups cubed potatoes, cooked)
¼ cup butter (margarine isn’t as good, tho you may use it to save calories)
½ cup sour cream (I do use reduced fat sour cream – hey, save a calorie where you can, right?)
Ground pepper to taste
1 – ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (again, reduced fat – I use 2% cheese)
9 x 13-inch baking dish

Melt the butter in the baking dish. Add the sour cream and stir well. Drain potatoes and toss in dish with the butter/sour cream mixture. Pepper to taste (generously for my family). Salt is used in the canning process, so no need to add more. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (should be bubbly). Top with shredded cheese and return to oven until cheese is melted, 5-10 minutes.

This serves 3 adults and 2 growing boys, with a few pieces left over to treat the puppies.

Not something we eat every day – too calorie dense – but boy, are they good! And a side tossed salad rounds out the meal nicely.

Thanks for visiting today.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Late TUSAL - With an Excellent Excuse


OK, I know I'm a week late with my TUSAL update - but I have a really excellent excuse: July 22, when it was due - I was at the birth of my fifth grandchild! He is my fourth grandson and weighed in at 7 lbs 14 oz and was 21 inches long. Can anyone say gorgeous grandbaby? Don't you just love how babies sleep in the "I surrender" position? I could just eat him up!

Mom, babe and big sister (my only granddaughter!) are all doing well.

OK, without further ado, here is my TUSAL update:I had to do a fair amount of frogging on my little Snowman Love, which was very frustrating because it's my own creation!

Sharon asked "Are you a skimpy stitcher, using every scrap and bit. Or are you a floozy and spread wasted inches far and wide?" I'm a floozy, beyond doubt. As if you couldn't tell from the state of my orts!

I've officially started my Christmas stitching - maybe I can actually get at least a third of what I want to stitch done this year. I'm planning lots of homemade gifts this year - how about you?

Friday, July 24, 2009

Friday 56 24 July 2009

The Rules:

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime With Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Making it in just under the deadline, but I have a great excuse: New books arrived today – yum!

By Heresies Distressed by David Weber

Just as I fully realize that you would lie Shan-wei out of Hell if that was what it took to protect Sharleyan or me.

I think I will just leave it at that.

Friday, July 17, 2009

The Friday 56 17 July 2009

Since I can't sleep, I decided to go ahead and get this out of the way (oh my, that makes it sound like a *chore*, when what I mean is so that I won't forget later - lol!)

The Rules:

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime With Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

As it happens, the book closest to me is Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson.

Still others include census reports, research reports, industry studies and more.

Pretty dry stuff, eh?



Oh, that reminds me of a story:
On a pond near our house this last fall, I saw a gaggle of visiting geese as well as the swans that live there all the time. When I came home, I told my family about the flock of Canadian Geese I had seen on the pond.
"How did you know they were Canadian Geese?"
"Because they were saying, 'Eh, eh, eh....' "

Thanks for visiting today.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Quaker Hedgehog Pyn Pillow

I know you've seen the free chart for a Hedgehog Quaker on The Workbasket. When I first saw it, I immediately conceived the idea for this Pyn Pyllow:

I stitched it with some beautiful floss I received from Iza with the floss tag she stitched for me for the Tiny Treasures Floss Tag Exchange. I've emailed both Candy and Mary at The Workbasket to ask their permission to post the directions for finishing this little treasure on my other blog, but I haven't heard from either one yet. Keep your fingers crossed!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Fun Giveaways

Clare is having a fun giveaway in honor of her 100th post - hop on over and take a look.

But hurry - she plans to draw 3 names Sunday, 11 July!

She has a First, Second and Third prize - what fun!









Patti is also having a great BIG giveaway celebrating 2000 visitors to her blog! What a fantastic statistic. Congrats Patti! Hurry on this one too - it ends 14 July 2009
Bye for now!

The Friday 56 10 July 2009

I saw where Tonya posted a day early, and here I am a day late. Is that some kind of harmonic synchronicity?

The Rules:

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime With Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

It seems I’m always waiting for a new book to arrive from Amazon, and while I wait, I re-read books in my library.

Almost Adam by Petru Popescu

They took reality apart, with a precision that was developed in an earlier habitat, far darker and more confusing.

Whatcher reading?

Monday, July 06, 2009

Canning

While it's lots of work, we do enjoy our home-canned vegetables, Here are the fruits of our weekend of work:



Speckled butterbeans ready to go in the pressure canner.









Nineteen pints of butterbeans and 25 pints of purple hull peas:












All of these we purchased at the Farmers Market Friday morning and shelled on Friday and Saturday. I only had one pint of peas that failed to seal, so guess what we are having for dinner tonight?

Sunday, July 05, 2009

The Friday 56 3 July 2009

Yes, I know it’s actually the wee hours of Sunday morning – I’ve been busy – more about that later.

The Rules:

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
*Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Something a little different this week – the book closest to me is the one I was reading a few minutes ago – and it happens to be on the hard drive of my computer.

WITH THE LIGHTNINGS by David Drake

Adele nodded curt assent. She was angry and frustrated, but it would be wrong to take it out on the aide. To prod the woman verbally would be pointless cruelty—safe enough because the aide was a flunky and unable to respond, just as a big carnivore behind bars can be teased. The aide was as much a victim of Markos, and of life, as Adele herself was.

It’s one of several I downloaded this past week from the Baen Free Library. This is a fantastic resource, and one I highly recommend. Take a moment to read Eric Flint’s introduction to the library. It explains the concept far more entertainingly than I ever could.

And since a Kindle is one of the things on my wish list, I’m pleased to note that all the free books are available in that format, as well.

BTW, I finished all four books by John Scalzi that I ordered from Amazon last week - good reads all, and I'll be looking for more by this author. (Old Man's War, The Ghost Brigades, The Last Colony and Zoe's Tale)

And how, you may ask, have I been so busy that I’m two days late with this posting? One trip to the Farmers Market of Alabama, three huge bags of vegetables and two days of shelling beans and getting ready to can same, that’s how. I will snap some pics of the finished product later this afternoon and share them later. Right now, it’s time to get some sleep so, Good Night!

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Happy Fourth of July

Wishing you a Safe and Happy Independence Day!

Butterflies_fireworks7.gif


This image is from Peachy Profiles

Thursday, July 02, 2009

I Won!

I never win contests. That is an axiom.
Which is now proven untrue.
I WON!
Belinda drew my name, and I won!
Wow!
What will I do with a heart shaped yo-yo maker? Make heart shaped yo-yos, of course. But what to do with a heart shaped yo-yo? I'm open to suggestions. Anyone?