Cooking up a storm!

Not a real storm...just a bunch of food to eat off of for the next week.  I made all the fixings for tacos tonight and the black-eyed peas are soaking for tomorrow.  The cream cheese is softening for the bacon dip and the bacon is cooked and everything is ready to just throw together.  Tomorrow morning I will put the black-eyed peas in the crockpot and maybe make the pecan pie bars but we'll see.  Mostly what I want to do is sew and specifically a journal cover for my new journal.  This is a free pattern on the Janome website (actually last year but it should still be there) and it covers a composition book which is exactly what I use for my bullet journal.
Here's the fabric I auditioned today...........

 This is the pattern...........

 I received this lovely card and note from my cousin today.............so precious...........and appreciated

Tonight I'll be crocheting and watching a movie on YouTube called Angel Dog.....Farside... the dog looks just like Chance...not sure if it's good or not but I'm going to watch it!   What are you all up to tonight? 
Here are your New Year's Eve "tidbits"...........

 I won't stay up late enough to bring in the New Year so this is for you too if you can't stay up until midnight! LOL!

 Here's a reading challenge that I fail every year but it's still very interesting and gets you out of your usual genre of books....

Happy New Year my friends and stay safe!  Remember...it's amateur night out there!
Happy Trails!!!

Groceries for luck!

After this past year, I am pulling out all the stops for getting Lady Luck on my side in 2020!  I went to the store and got all the "good luck" food.  To be honest I have never done this before but I think maybe I should have.  My whole life might have turned out differently!  I went to the local grocery store and looked for fresh greens and there were none so I asked why since it is New Year's good luck food.  They told me in Arkansas it is black-eyed peas, hog jowls, and cabbage with cornbread.  What?  Hog jowls?  I have never heard of that before and I am not going there!  So I had to buy canned mustard greens and I got black-eyed peas and a ham slice and bacon.  I am making Kickin' Collard greens or just the mustard greens heated up, Slow Cooker Spicy Black-eyed Peas, cornbread, and the World's Best Bacon Cheese Dip.  Plus some Pecan Pie Bars.....all recipes are on All Recipes! LOL!  Okay, so the bacon cheese dip and the pecan pie bars are not for good luck they're just for good eatin'!       

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Here are your "tidbits" for today...............this cracked me up!

here's a little craft that would be easy to make for Christmas or anytime.  I think I would add battery operated lights too!  There were no directions but it's pretty self-explanatory........

For those of you who don't want to pay big bucks for an espresso machine to make lattes at home or other coffee drinks, this might be a solution for a lot less money...... I'm thinking about it..... here's the link

That's all for today...the sun was shining here today and in the 50's but a bit breezy.
Happy Trails!!!

YOP Week #26

 I frogged the baby blanket and started over as it was "widening" on one side.  I have had this problem before and it's in the turn.  I have to really look at the stitches so I go into the proper one at the beginning of the row.  So far so good!  I have 5 rows and I calculated roughly that if I do 6 rows a day, not counting the border at the end, I will be done about the 18th of January.  I am also using a bigger hook this time (I), and I chained 121 and will be making it 32" X 32" or thereabouts.  She called for worsted weight but I am using a sport weight. I'm really glad I upped the hook size as the pattern looks better and it is easier on my hands.

 I  started my new Christmas socks on Christmas Eve and I have finished the cuff and I'm on round 8 of 61 for the leg of sock #1.  I am using a vanilla pattern with no design.

 I also started my Chicken Joy cross stitch on Christmas Day............that is part of the tree.......

I'm on Instagram now but I haven't figured out how to get the logo to take you to my IG page......if anyone knows how let me know else I will figure it out eventually.
Over the New Year holiday, I will be re-organizing and re-prioritizing my YOP projects.  I will post about it next Sunday.  This is going to be the year of finishes and final finishes....I hope! LOL!
I did have one acquisition this week.............a new quilt pattern on its way from Kathleen Tracy.....

 That's all the progress for this week and I hope to get back to some of my other projects.
Here are some "tidbits" I found interesting..........

Here are some more "good luck" recipes but these are guaranteed to be good as they are from Real Simple magazine and I have never had a bad recipe from them...........here's the link

Here is a free printable calendar for 2020.........here's the link

Now, this sounds good and it is by Good Housekeeping.  If they don't know who does?  Here's the link

That's a wrap for this week!  Have a great one and Happy New Year!  Stay safe!
Happy Trails!!!

Foggy, rainy and dark today!

A good day to stay in and lounge around or try and get some work done around here!  I spent a good deal of time on Instagram this morning mainly looking at posts from lauramattox89.  If you like quilts, especially little ones, you will love her IG posts!  She has darling quilts, accessories, and decorating inspiration.  I always get inspired after viewing her IG account.
 Speaking of,  I posted my first photo on IG!!!  I used my camera on my tablet and it was easy peasy!  IG is actually much easier to post to and stay up to date with others and it doesn't take nearly the time that blogging does but I do like my blog and my friend's blogs so I'll probably end up doing both.  I have people following me on IG and I never post! LOL!  So, now I have posted and

we'll see if I get any feedback.
Remember this blanket?  Well, it's been frogged but it has also been restarted.  one of the sides was increasing and this has happened before to me.  I evidently get messed up when I turn the corners.  So, I have made it wider....121 chains to start to make the blanket 32" by 32"....hopefully.

I have the first row done and please wish me luck!  Speaking of luck, here are some recipes designed to bring you some............I always forget to make them but maybe this year I won't!

 Here's the link

I am already thinking of gifts to make for this coming year!  I have all those birthdays in July and one the end of January too.  I saw this and thought it would be great for the grands for "hauling all their cash".  Here are the directions and tutorial

and to end on a funny note...........there's this.............I should have seen it coming but I didn't..........

That's all for today!
 Happy Trails!!!

My Mother's 104th birthday!

No, she's not alive but if she was it would be her 104th birthday.  She died in 1999 at the age of 83.  Our birthdays are exactly a week apart and my son's birthday is exactly 2 weeks apart from mine.

Yesterday was another really nice day so I got out and did some errands and got my Prevnar 13 shot which my doctor recommended.  I had my pneumonia shot in 2015 and my pharmacist said once I get this I won't need another one.  Really?  Does he know something I don't know? 

I did some cleaning but not too much.  I wouldn't want to overdo it! LOL!  I paid some bills, cleaned the girl's litter boxes and took a walk.  Oh, I got my blood pressure checked and it was 150 at the doc's office (the top number) and yesterday it was 138....down but not by much.  My bottom number was 58 so no problem there. I'm taking the new medicine for it.  It's really not new just doubled. It was cloudy and cooler today but still nice to work outside so I raked and burned leaves and took a walk.
I worked on my sock today and got 8 rounds done on the leg..........

I also did some stitching on Chicken Joy........that's green but it doesn't look like it..............

I needed to plan a meal and get what it called for as "the rains" are coming............I decided on tacos for tomorrow

It is almost the New Year so I thought I would add some more "holiday hoopla" to my blog posts........and some humor too.............I love to laugh more than anything in the world and these are some of my favs........first though.........we can't forget the food for New Years!
This is on my list for sure.......I am a baconista!           Here's the recipe

I thought this was a good thought........

This is a 'little crafty' project and I want to make it!  I have all the postits that's for sure!  This way I won't forget those wishes!

and now for a bit of humor to make you smile..................so true!!! LOL!

Have a happy night and some good food!
Happy Trails!!!

The day after the celebration.........

It was an absolutely gorgeous day here...70 some degrees F and sunny....if I couldn't have a white Christmas this was a nice stand-in! 
 This was Christmas Eve...........

 There was no fire in the fireplace with the temps in the 70's! LOL!

 On Christmas Day I made my favorite Christmas cookie....Mexican Wedding Cakes or Snowballs as I like to call them............ the Zuppa Toscana soup was excellent.....I also had Shrimp cocktail, some Italian ham and salami and cheese and crackers for snacking throughout the day....my compliments to the chef! LOL!

 I took a walk as it was too nice to stay inside.............

 there' s the lake through the trees............

 I found a red heart on my walk..............a sign of love from above..........

 It was still too nice to go in so I sat outside in my Christmas socks and Santa sweats........

 and knit on my new Christmas socks.........

 As for the last Advent gift...Amy received Bacon Jam.....we are serious bacon lovers...........and there was no hint on my last package but it was this...........

Lovely travel-sized items from Burt's Bees and they came in this beautiful bag..........

I also opened the gift that Grayson wrapped and sent to me.  I accidentally left it there this past summer after he gifted it to me.  He told me that there is a tear in one of the legs but he knew I knew how to sew so he figured it wouldn't be a problem!  I swear that kid always tickles my funny bone! 

I finished the cuff on my new sock yesterday and I'm starting to get into some new colors.....oh yeah!

 I started my Chicken Joy.........the material is a pale green sparkly Aida cloth but you can barely see the white snow I stitched.  I think once I get some of the green tree on there it will show up better....or not....lol!

.

I've been working steadily on the baby blanket........I still have a ways to go!  I really like the material it creates but it is a little hard on my hands after a while and I have to give it a rest.

 I hope you had a wonderful Christmas holiday and now to the New Year!
Happy Trails!!!

Merry Christmas.........

My gift to you is to share this beautiful song....especially for those of you who are missing a loved one at this special time of year............ 

Blogmas Day #24 - Christmas Eve!!!

I got going this morning!  I made bread dough last night and baked it off this morning........

I did some laundry and then ran out to the highway and filled up the tank...just in case I need to make a fast getaway!
I started my Christmas Eve socks...............

It's sparkly yarn but you can't tell in these pictures...........its in the 60's F today so I went outside and sat in the sun and knit.  I'll be doing that tomorrow too along with a nice walk in the sunshine!  I defrosted the shrimp and made cocktail sauce and prepped the other snacks.  I'm making the soup now.
Last night Amy received body butter in her favorite fragrance and my hint was "Dirtie Birdie" and it was a travel hand sanitizer in the First Snow Fall fragrance and a little ceramic bird.............

Here's the joke for the day although I think it's brilliant!  I wish I would have thought of this when my kids were little! LOL!

When I was little I always wondered why no one made Jesus a birthday cake to celebrate his birthday?  Well, evidently I wasn't the only one that wondered about it...............Here's the link to them

Just in case you're in need of a "fast and furious" gift for someone....these ideas might fit the bill.....here's the link

Well, I'm off to check on the Santa Tracker and see how close the big guy is to the U.S.  This morning when I checked he was in Russia heading to Pakistan and he had already delivered like a zillion presents!  How he does it I'll never know but oh so glad he does!  I plan on having some eggnog, soup and homemade bread and Christmas cookies for dessert.  I'll be watching Christmas Eve services on t.v. later.  I wish you all the merriest and happiest of Christmas's!  Remember!  "He knows when you are sleeping and he knows when you're awake".....so I'll be hitting the hay early! LOL!  Or should I say "Ho Ho Ho"!
Happy Trails!!!