Progress, but not quite by leaps and bounds

As you can see from this photo, the landscape is progressing.  I still have a couple small areas that I'm not sure how to proceed with but overall it's starting to look like what I have in my mind.

My New Year wish for you:  "Choose to live by choice, not chance; to be motivated, not manipulated; to be useful, not used.  Choose to make changes, not excuses; to excel, not compete.  Choose self-esteem, not self-pity.  Choose to listen to your inner voice, not to the random opinions of others"

There's been progress

 Over the past few days I've been working on the latest landscape and as you can see from the photo, I've accomplished quite a bit.  There are a couple areas I'm struggling with and I'm not quite sure how I'll finish them.  Once I finish quilting the sky area I'll start adding the foreground.  

Sorry about the photo quality - it's
a dull day here and the lighting is
terrible

Today's quote..."Whatever is coming up in your life right now is not here to stay.  It will pass, but you have to let it.  Sometimes that takes getting out of your own way and accepting that things are the way they are.  You can't change what happens to you, but you can choose what happens next"

The best of plans

 The best of plans sometimes don't come to pass and such was the case for our Christmas plan.  #1 son (the chef) finally managed to finangle Christmas day off, something he hasn't been able to do for at least ten years, and we had planned to travel about an hour and a half north to spend time with them.  Unfortunately Mother Nature had another idea so it was decided that we would hold our celebration at a later date.  We did, however, have a fun video chat with #2 son and his family and were able to watch our grandies opening their presents.  Our gift from them was a beautiful charcuterie board and it's now enjoying a place hanging on our living room wall....

Handmade by #2 son

Today's quote..."If only our eyes saw souls instead of bodies, how different our ideals of beauty would be"

Christmas wishes

I expect most of us have a favourite piece of Christmas music that is filled with meaning, and this one is mine.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh_sCCrkUcw

Today, on the eve of the Christmas weekend, I leave you with a collection of quotes that I hope you enjoy...

"My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others" (Bob Hope)

- "The way you spend Christmas is far more important than how much" (Henry David Thoreau)

- "Christmas is most truly Christmas when we celebrate it by giving the light of love to those who need it most" (Ruth Carter Stapleton)

- "What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.  What if Christmas...perhaps....means a little bit more" (Dr. Seuss - How The Grinch Stole Christmas)

This is Resident Chef and I's Christmas wish for you:

Comfort on difficult days, 

smiles when sadness intrudes,

rainbows to follow the clouds,

laughter to kiss your lips.

Sunsets to warm your heart,

hugs when spirits sag,

beauty for your eyes to see,

friendships to brighten your being,

faith so that you can believe,

confidence for when you doubt,

courage to know yourself,

patience to accept the truth,

and

love to complete your life

(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

A landscape update

 There have been several additions to the landscape as you can see...

Today's quote is from Steve Maraboli..."Want to keep Christ in Christmas?  Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill, love your enemies, and do unto others as you would have done unto you"

A finish!

 Some of you might remember me showing you THIS link to a crocheted vest that I rather liked and that Resident Chef insisted I order the yarn.  This is the result...

Made with Jeans yarn from Lion Brand

The quote is from Oren Arnold..."Christmas gift suggestions:  To your enemy, forgiveness.  To an opponent, tolerance.  To a friend, your heart.  To a customer, service.  To all, charity.  To every child, a good example.  To yourself, respect"

Ka- boom!!!

 Yes, my sewing room looked like a massive explosion happened just shortly after these photos were taken...

Do you see all those totes?  They're full of fabric which shortly after these pictures were taken was dumped out on the floor for me to paw through searching for fodder for the latest landscape. 

Trust me - you don't want to see what THAT mess looked like!!!

This is the result....

It's at the stage where I seriously wonder why I think
I have any business working on these at all.
It will get better.  
I hope.

Will it...or won't it...that is the question

 Now that Christmas prep is pretty much done and dusted I'm ready to embark on a new landscape adventure.  I suspect this one WILL be an adventure because it's more ambitious than any I've tackled before.  This is the inspiration photo...

Photo is by Barbara Stanbro and used
with her kind permission

Update on the rant from Monday about the computer keyboard...Resident Chef has evidently gotten tired of listening to me swear discussing the merits of said keyboard and is insisting that I get a proper one.  

And, not quite the promised finish, but I did finish making this bowl 

Pattern is THIS one and yarn
was some Lion Brand Hometown 
I had lurking in my stash

Today's quote is from Tom Selleck..."Few of us are as good as we think we are; none of us are as good as we can be"

Mini rant - and mumblings

 First of all, the rant.....my computer keyboard bit the dust and I was happy to know that I had one on hand.  Unfortunately the new one is way smaller than my old one and is a complete lesson in frustration.  The 'enter' key isn't where the old one was (why????)...the Caps Lock key is in a different place too.  All I can say is that I'm glad I already did the links for this post or there wouldn't be any.  Every single time I attempt to hit the letter 'a' I get either the caps lock or the letter q.  For a person who is a typist it's totally maddening.  ARGH!!!!

Rant over - soapbox dusted

I have a project that is almost completed which I hope to show you on Wednesday.

Today's quote (one which I need to take to heart)....

Nothing but mumblings

 

Sorry folks - I have nothing to show you because I've been living the life of sloth for a couple of days.  Christmas 'stuff' is done, wrapping is pretty much done, and I've been taking it easy.  Puttering is happening, but it's hard to take pictures of puttering.

Today's quote...."When you choose joy you feel good and when you feel good, you do good and when you do good it reminds others of what joy feels like and it might just inspire them to do the same"

In which I discuss the fact that I'm losin' it

 Some of you might remember that I made advent calendars for our grandies...two were mailed in time for the boys to enjoy last Christmas but of course our wee granddaughter wasn't quite born yet.  I, however, knew she was coming and made her an advent in preparation for THIS Christmas and tucked it away.  Last month I put it in with a box of goodies heading out their way and felt quite smug knowing that I was on top of things.  Well.  You can pretty much guess that wasn't the END of the story!  Over the weekend we received a call from our mystified son wondering just how they were supposed to attach the cross stitched ornaments TO the advent.  Turns out I had totally overlooked sewing the buttons onto it...so there went my feeling of smugness.  Good thing she's not quite a year old yet and doesn't know what an advent even is!  It will be returned to me and I will do what I should have in the first place.  Serves me right for not checking it over before I sent it!  And why, I ask you, didn't I put the buttons on when I was making it??  One of the great mysteries of life. 

For lack of any better pictures to share with you, thought I'd show you how I packaged the snowflake soaps I showed you earlier.  Pretty simple packaging - wrapped in Saran, a little bit of curling ribbon, and a sprig of holly berries 'harvested' from a cheap dollar store wreath.

The quote of the day..."If an egg is broken by an outside force, life ends.  If broken by an inside force, life begins.  Great things always begin from the inside"

Something from the Resident Chef

 

BROCCOLI AND CHEDDAR CHEESE SOUP

3 onions, chopped

2 leeks, white & green sections, chopped

12 cloves garlic, minced

3 T. olive oil

1 T. Italian dressing

6 c. chicken broth

1 c. chopped broccoli

1 c. instant white rice, uncooked

1 c. skim milk

1 can evaporated milk

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Salt

  Saute onions & leeks til tender.  Add broth, water &

broccoli.  Bring to boil & cook 8-10 mins.  til broccoli is

tender.  Add milk & rice. Reduce heat to medium & cook

5 mins.  Blend in blender til smooth.  Reheat on low. 

Top each serving with cheese.

And, just to prove that I haven't been slacking, there's this...

The final knitted gift for this Christmas!  Made from stash yarn, using up bits leftover from the sweaters.

Today's quote is from one of my favourites - Ralph Waldo Emerson...

The final toy

 This is the last toy I'm making for this year.  I'm not overly thrilled with it, but I guess it looks a little like a cat if you REALLY use your imagination.  

Today's quote... (disclaimer:  This is not my artwork, nor is it my poem...sadly!)

Bubble, bubble (literally!)

 Last night I turned my attention to soap making and these are the result. I now have to figure out how I'm going to package them for gifting.  Before you get too excited and think that I'm a soap maker I'm really not - these are the melt and pour type and SO easy!!  Measuring scary things like lye isn't on my radar and I far prefer all that technical stuff be done for me leaving me to play with colour and scent instead.

Today your quote is from Hans Christian Andersen..."The whole world is a series of miracles, but we're so used to them we call them ordinary things"

The efforts of the Resident Chef

 The weekend, at least on my part, involved uninspiring things like gift wrapping and writing Christmas cards and all sorts of busy work that really isn't worth photographing.  So, I thought I'd show you a couple of things Resident Chef was working on...

He is pretty happy with his new Kitchenaid as is evidenced by what's in his hand....both are sourdough buns, but the left version was kneaded using his new toy.  Much higher and fluffier than those kneaded by hand!

Heaven help the world if he didn't make his yearly allotment of butter tarts....

UPDATED TO ADD:
Recipe for his butter tarts can be found HERE.

And chocolate cookies whipped up in...you guessed it...the new toy...

Here's your quote for today..."On particularly rough days when I'm sure I can't possibly endure, I like to remind myself that my track record for getting through bad days so far is 100%"

From the Resident Chef

 I've been busy working on more cross stitched bookmarks (shhhh....I DO remember assuring you that there wouldn't be any more cross stitch for awhile....so I lied).  They're not photo ready as yet though.  

Because I have nada to show you, how about a really good potato soup recipe from Resident Chef's kitchen instead...

SLOW COOKER HAM and POTATO SOUP

8 c. potatoes, diced

2 onions, diced

3 large carrots, diced

1/2 c. chopped celery

16 oz. cubed cooked ham

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 c. chicken broth

1/4 c. flour

1 1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. sour cream

Add all but flour, milk and sour cream to slow cooker.  Cook on low 7-8 hours or on high 4 - 5 hours.  Add flour, milk & sour cream and cook on high for 15-20 minutes.

Today's quote..."If you love something, love it completely, cherish it, say it, but most importantly, show it.  Life is finite and fragile, and just because something is there one day, it might not be the next.  Never take that for granted.  Say what you need to say, then say a little more.  Say too much.  Show too much.  Love too much.  Everything is temporary but love"

Completed set

 I had leftover yarn from making this hat that I showed you previously so thought I might as well use it up and made another of the scarves to go along with it...

If you want the scarf pattern, I posted it HERE.

And the latest thing to come out of Resident Chef's kitchen (he and his new Kitchenaid are very busy!)...

These are called Martha Washington candies and the recipe can be found HERE.

Today the quote is by Leo Buscaglia..."Don't spend your precious time asking "Why isn't the world a better place?"  It will only be time wasted.  The question to ask is "How can I make it better?".  To that there is an answer.

Hive of industriousness-sssss

 Over the weekend both Resident Chef and I were busy creating and baking.  He, of course, absolutely NEEDED to test out his new Kitchenaid and this loaf of bread was the result...

My efforts yielded two different jar gifts that are all ready for gifting...

Hot Cocoa Mix (recipe can be found HERE - but we found that using half the amount of powder per cup of liquid was ample)

Bean Soup Mix - (recipe can be found HERE).  I changed it 

Today the quote is paraphrased from Louise Hay...."Choose to make the rest of your life the best of your life"