Sunshine and Happiness

No more nastiness and bickering and insults around here.  I took all that crap down.  Who wants to read that kind of stuff? Not me.  Moving on...

Now isn't this more fun?

OMG, too cute!

Find more cuteness HERE.

Talk at y'all later!

XOXOXO

Obsessions

I love this afghan pattern from the new issue of Crochet World Magazine (October).  The colors are gorgeous.  I may incorporate some of this pattern into my sampler.  Speaking of which, Little Woollie showed an update of hers today, and it's so pretty.  I like hers better than mine.  I hope she gives instructions for what she's done.  I think I'm obsessed with this blanket, although I didn't crochet one stitch today.  I watched Hurricane Isaac coverage all day on the special hurricane coverage channel on DirecTV.  I'm obsessed with that too.  I don't know why I'm so fascinated by it.  Probably because the alternative was the Republican National Convention.  Ugh.  No thank you.

What else?  Nothing.  Zilch.  Zero.  I was either sleeping, eating copious amounts of Animal Crackers (obsessed), or watching TV today.  That's it.  Aren't you jealous of my exciting life, gourmet eating habits, and high energy levels?

I just this second realized that I have a sore throat.  DAMMIT, no!  I have to slow down and take care of myself.  Hahaha! WHAT?

Night-night.

The Sampler Blanket

I went nuts crocheting on my sampler yesterday and doubled it's size.  I guess I crocheted about 4 hours on it.  I started writing down what I'm doing so I'll have it if anyone wants it.  Here are the first 31 rows...

Pammy Sue’s Sampler

Worsted Weight Yarn & H Hook

Ch 150

Rows 1-5:  Hdc in each stitch.

Rows 6-8:  Granny Stripes

Rows 9 & 10:  Hdc in each stitch.

Row 11:  Double Crochet Cross Stitch across.

Row 12:  Hdc in each stitch.

Row 13:  Double Crochet Cross Stitch across.

Row 14:  Hdc in each stitch.

Row 15-17:  Dc across.  Ch 1, turn.

Row 16:  Sc in first sc (same st as turning ch-1), (trc in next st, sc in next) repeat ending with sc in last st.  Ch 3, turn.

Row 17: Using same color as Row 16, work one sc into the top of trc in the prior row, into the next sc, work one trc. (Sc in next st, trc in next st) across. You will work a trc into the final sc of the prior row and then a dc into what was the turning ch in the prior row.  Change colors, ch 1, turn.

Note:  Rows 16 & 17 create 2 rows of bobbles, one row on each side.  Credit and a big thank you goes to Petunia Pill for this fun bobble pattern:  http://petuniapill.blogspot.com/2012/03/pattern-for-rainbow-blanket.html

Row 18-21:  Repeat Rows 16 & 17 two more times, changing colors every two rows.

Row 22:  Hdc across.

Row 23 & 24:  Dc across.

Row 25-27:  Repeat Rows 22-24.

Row 28:  Hdc across.  Ch 1, turn.

Row 29:  Sc in same st as turning and in each st across.  Ch 3, turn.

Row 30:  (V-Stitch row)  Skip first st, (dc in next, ch 1, dc in same st, skip next two st) across, ending with a dc in last st.  Ch 3, turn.

Row 31:  (Another V-Stitch row)  V-stitch in ch sp of v-stitch in previous row, repeat across.

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Here's a picture of my new favorite IKEA chair.  It's the most comfortable chair for my back.  I love it.  The chair itself was $140.  I paid way more than that for the gray lamb's wool cover.  Bastards.  That's how they get you.  "This chair is ONLY $140!  And, by the way, you'll have to spend way more than that to use it!"

But I love it anyway.  You see all my junk around my chair.  I always have to have all my "stuff."  Laptop, drink, crochet stuff, house phone, iPhone, crochet light, and on and on.

This is Little Woollie's last Sampler blanket she made.  Isn't it great?  I love it.

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Back update:

Doc says for me to quit panicking.  It's not unusual for the side that was not affected prior to surgery to begin symptoms afterwards due to favoring that leg for four or five weeks after surgery.  The swimming has also probably aggravated it.  He said no swimming, but I can just get in the pool and walk in the water.  He also gave me some stretching exercises to do daily, which I will do religiously, and started back on the prescription-strength anti-inflammatories.  He said he will keep prescribing the pain med too so I can stop hoarding them.  Ha-ha.  I've been only taking it when I absolutely can't stand it, usually late in the day or evening, because I was afraid he'd quit refilling them for me.

Okay, enough about that.  I'm sick of it.

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I will enjoy watching Shepard Smith on Fox News the next few days doing the hurricane coverage.  I don't even care if anything happens.  I just like watching it.  I hope all of you in the affected areas are all safe.

Later.

Purple Unicorn

I wish this was my unicorn and I had made it, but it belongs to Cotton Candee on Crochetville.  I saw it a few weeks ago and immediately contacted her to see where I could get the pattern.  Of course, she said she just made it up and there was no pattern!  I think it is so cute, and I love the purples.  I have seen some similar horses, but none of them have the mouth and face shape done as well as this one.

Go check out that link.  She also made a matching round ripple blanket.  So CUTE!

The cake turned out great.

White Cake Mix + Homemade Chocolate Frosting =

YUMMY

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More info on the Crochet-Along Sampler:

Crochet-Along Leader is HERE.  (Scroll down to find beginning)

My Yarn:  Various Blues/Greens, ILTY from Hobby Lobby and Vanna's

My Hook:  Size H

My Starting Chain:  150 = width of 46 inches

She's going slowly so you still have plenty of time to join in!  I won't be following her stitches exactly, but she says that's fine.  Do whatever you want.  I think I'm doing a few more rows of DC & HDC and then some Bobble stitches next.  I'm flying by the seat of my pants!

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The Captain is home today.  We took a tour of the Senior Center on his last days off.  He informs me we are going to go join today.  I'm SO SURE!  I am not old enough to join a Senior Anything, am I?  I'm afraid so.  The qualifying age is 50.  I never thought I'd make it this far.  They do have a nice workout room with fancy equipment, and they take day trips all the time.  They were gone to Winstar Casino when we were there for our tour.  WHAT?!  SOLD!

I'm going for my final follow-up with the doc since the back surgery tomorrow.  I'm still having pain requiring prescription pain meds, but this may be as good as it gets.  I'll just have to see what he says.  I'm usually pretty good until later in the day.  I'll wait for the go-ahead from him before I jump on any exercise equipment.

Time for another cup of coffee.  See ya.

Some Old Favs From Flickr

The thunder is rumbling outside and it's dark today.  I love it.  It makes my soul happy and cozy.  I took these two pics in my backyard today and thought they were worth sharing...

A half-assed bloom on the crepe myrtles...

I may get in the kitchen after posting this and make a white cake with chocolate frosting to surprise The Captain when he gets home at 3:30.  He'll be off the next two days.  We need a Three O'Clock Coffee treat for those days.  White cake mixes are so good and very underrated in my opinion.  Make one and you'll see.  They're really good with a buttercream frosting with a little bit of Almond extract -- not to much.  But since he likes chocolate so well, I guess that's what I'll do.

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Here are some of my old favorites from Flickr.  Maybe they will inspire you and get those creative juices flowing...

Go to my Flickr Favorites and click on these pics to see the info for them.

I'm off to the kitchen to make that cake.

Busy Bee; Bad Blogger

I've been a bad blogger lately, but I have not been idle...well, not totally anyway. The proof is in the pictures...

I made a few flower headbands earlier in the week.  These are the two I have pictures of.  I love how they are crocheted onto those stretchy ponytail holders in the back - genius!  I used a combination of patterns.  The stretchy ponytail part I found HERE, and then I just did rows of DC until it was as wide and long as I wanted it (measure your head first, or whomever's head you are making the headband for).  I start the headband a little differently by just attaching my yarn to the bands with sc stitches made around the band.  The rose is from the Rose Booties pattern.  I use that rose pattern for everything now!  Love it.

I worked on this Granny Rose Blanket for about 6 hours this week.  I made more flowers for more squares, and crocheted three rows of squares together that I've had finished FOREVER.  I looked in my little crochet journal, and I started this blanket in March of 2011.  About time she got done, don't you think?

I put one more row on my Baby Ripple Blanket.  I'm afraid she needs many more.  I thought I was closer to finishing, but when I took a good look at it all laid out, it's only about 3/4 of the way done.  We can't rush these things, ya know.  Do it right.

And totally out of place in this entry is a new light quilt I bought on clearance.  It's kind of a minty greenish-aqua, brown, and white.

Let's see...what else?

Oh, yeah...

I decided to join the Crochet-Along going on over at Little Woollie.  She's making another of her sampler blankets.  I'm not following her stitches exactly.  I didn't do the last shells she introduced because I thought they might mess up the row count and make it all bunchy.  That's just my thought, so I'm doing it randomly.  When she updates and introduces her next stitch, I'll decide whether I want to follow her new stitch or make one of my own.

You can see little Ollie in the above picture.  I'd say his back leg (patella) is about 30 percent better.  The tendon is staying in place more often so I think we're making progress.  I researched the Web about this injury/condition, and I've decided his best chance for recovery at his age and size is to give him a supplement of a combination of glucosamine and chondroitin along with keeping him from running and playing rough with the other dogs.  It seems these supplements really do work, especially if you have a younger dog.  The brand name of it is Cosaquin (also for humans), but I found a knock-off brand, Nutra Vet, at Petco that has the same amounts of those supplements in it.  It was still over $30, but that's better than $55 for the brand name.  Ollie is so small, that amount will last him a long time.

So you see I've been a busy little bee.  I've just not been sharing as I normally do.  I do have a couple of other smaller things in the works, but I don't want to show you those until they're finished.  Oh, the suspense!

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Guess what else???  I COOKED DINNER last night!  Yes, I actually did, and it was so freakin' good!  So, being the sweet friend that I am, I'm sharing the recipe with you here.  I got it off the Internet somewhere, but I don't remember where.  If anybody knows, I'll be happy to provide a link if you clue me in.  I think it was one of those link parties on one of the food blogs I read, but I can't find it now.

Anywho...here you go, girlies...

Creamy Chicken Broccoli Casserole

4-5 chicken breast (I used cans!)

1 bag frozen broccoli flowerettes

2 (8-oz) boxes of cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat)

2 cups milk (I used 1%)

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Ritz cracker crumbs for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Cook the chicken, then slice or break it into bite-size pieces; set aside.  Cook broccoli in salted water and drain.  Place the broccoli in a 9 x 13" greased casserole dish.  Heat the milk, cream cheese, salt, garlic powder, and Parmesan cheese over medium heat, stirring until mixture is smooth.  Pour 1 cup of sauce over the broccoli.  Add the chicken to the pan and pour the rest of the sauce over it.  Sprinkle the top with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and the Ritz crumbs.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes.  (Watch the sauce while baking as it can get too hot and burn on top.)

My notes:  I halved this recipe, used 2 large cans of drained white chicken chunks, 1 whole bag of broccoli, and halved the rest of the ingredients.  I used the pizza kind of Parmesan, not fresh.  Next time I will add about a Tbsp of flour to the sauce mixture so it will thicken up.  Mine was too thin.  I used a 9 x 9" casserole dish sprayed with Pam.  I also dotted some butter on top of the cracker crumbs before baking for 30 min.  I didn't have any problem with my sauce burning.

I will make this again.  It really was delicious, quick, and easy, especially using the canned chicken.  I think it would be good served over some angel hair pasta, which I will try next time.

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See ya!

Are You Kidding Me?

I got the coolest gift from a bloggie friend!  I had won a Pay-It-Forward prize a while back from LoveStitch  over at Stitch of Love.  She told me she had mailed it and it was "something small."

So when I received it today (all the way from Vietnam!), I was not expecting this beautiful knitted cowl!

Isn't it gorgeous?  I love it, Love Stitch!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Now if it would only get cool enough to wear it.  I can't wait!

By the way, I have sent out two of my three Pay-It Forward gifts to the people that won them from me.  I have one to go, and it's very late, but it's still coming.  I have not forgotten, Spider Lady!  Are you even still out there reading?

Finally, I have no idea why I'm posting this picture.  I guess I just thought it was colorful and healthy.  I wish I ate this healthy all the time, but I don't.  This was a really good combination though...Ranch dressing, sliced cucumber, grape tomatoes, and extra-sharp cheddar cheese.  So good.

Have a great week!

Harper, Harper, and Harper...

I'm posting some of the pictures I took last night of my grandbaby, Harper, when we went over to my son's for dinner last night.  I made the little pink dress for her before she was born.  It fits her perfectly now and looks so cute.  Of course, I think she's the prettiest baby on the face of the Earth...

 

With her daddy (my youngest son).

She was getting sleepy and was in her jammies.

With The Captain...He is totally smitten with her.

Look at that "bow hair."  Hee-hee.

With her momma.

This is the only one of them that wasn't blurry.

Have I mentioned I'm a suckie photographer?

Yep, I think she's sleepy!

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Harper's momma & daddy made us the best dinner of roast with carrots & onions, mashed potatoes, and some really great fresh green beans.  I'll get y'all the recipe for those green beans because they were fantastic.  I took that Chocolate Caramel Heath Bar Cake.  I already gave y'all the recipe for that in an earlier entry a few months ago.  We had a really good time and a nice visit with "the kids" and Harper.

That's it!

Y'all have a nice Sunday.

Easy Peach Pie

I made this Peach Pie this morning and thought I'd share.  This is an easy and quick method.  You can make it quicker by using two cans of pie filling, but I only had one and wanted a thicker pie, so I used a can of sliced peaches I had in the pantry.  Here we go!

All of the ingredients I used are pictured...

Flour

1 or 2 cans peach pie filling

1 can peach slices, optional

Cinnamon, to taste

Sugar, to taste

Pillsbury Pie Crusts

You can find this pie crust in the refrigerated canned biscuit aisle of your grocery store in the U.S.  Not sure about other countries though.  

Take the pie crusts out of the box and let sit for 15 minutes. Then roll it out as  pictured above: Sprinkle some flour on your surface first, unroll your pie crust on top, add another sprinkle of flour on top of the crust, flour your rolling pin, and roll the dough out, stretching it another inch or so on all sides. It won't be big enough if you don't roll it out like this. Trust me.  Transfer the pie crust to your pie plate by rolling it loosely around your rolling pin.  See picture demonstrating this two pictures below.  This will keep your crust from tearing while transferring it over.  It nearly always tears if you do it by hand.

Pour your pie filling into a bowl.  Drain the canned peaches and add to the bowl.  (I cut mine into small chunks.)  Taste it and see if it's sweet enough for your liking.  I didn't add sugar to mine, but you can add 2 Tbsp at a time and stir until it's a sweet as you like it.  Pour it into your pie crust.  Sprinkle with Cinnamon, if using.  We like a lot of cinnamon.

 

Roll out your second pie crust as before and place it over the top of the filling as demonstrated above. 

You now have two layers of crust on the edges of your pie.  Tuck them under as shown above.  This will give you a nice thick crust which makes it easier to flute.

I am not the world's best pie fluter, but at least I try.  You can just go around the edges pressing the dough with a fork instead of making a ruffled edge like I did above.  (Do a search on YouTube for "how to flute a pie" if you don't know how to do this.  They have great instructions.)  Make tiny slices in your top pie crust by sticking a knife into the crust all over the pie.

Sprinkle a Tablespoon or so of sugar on top of the pie...

Sprinkle on some cinnamon, if you desire.  I desire.  Bake at 425 degrees F for 40-45 minutes.  After 15 minutes in the oven, I added foil around the edges to keep it from burning.

Voila!  Peach Pie!

The whole process took 15 minutes, at most, before baking.

It definitely looks a little "rustic" and home-made, and the smell of a pie baking in the oven is so homey. You will get lots of "oohs" and "ahs" from your family when they see it sitting on the counter waiting for them to dig in.

It's good warm with vanilla ice cream, but I like room-temperature, straight-up peach pie best.  Cover and store at room temperature (if you have any left).

Guess what I'm having with my Three O'Clock Coffee today?