YOP Sunday

I missed last Sunday and I'm getting things done around the house but not much speed on the needles.  Here it is for what it's worth!  I'll be by later....it's too nice to be inside today!

 I'm on the last skein of 3 for the Irish Hiking Scarf...no more super bulky for me....it really hurts my hands and I can only do a few rows at a time.
I've cast on a sock...again....but that's all

I ordered new yarn.....several skeins of Noro Kureyon which I love and I'm crocheting some fall maple leaves from a pattern I purchased on Ravelry.

 

I haven't gotten too far yet......

And I'm off and running with the Christmas wash cloths!
 Grandmother's favorite, of course.

I hope you all had a good week....mine was good but tiring....trying to get outside work done and so much more!   I'll be by later....have a great week!

Nothing's shut down here!

My thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by the government shut down.  Here...the beat goes on......I haven't blogged as the work I've been doing isn't really "blog worthy"....I showed  you my power washing of the sidewalk and it is a slow job.  I've finished the sidewalk and am now moving on down the driveway.  I didn't really think you wanted to see more pictures of that! LOL!
But Fall is here and there are a few other things I've been up to such as my mirror which was gold and I refinished........
BEFORE:

AFTER:

I'm determined to "use it up, make it do, throw it out or buy it new" so I made my own chalk paint, sanded it after it was dry and then used old English scratch polish to "antique" it.  I sealed it with Johnson's Paste Wax which my parents had a big container of and I wondered what I would ever use it for.  Now I know!

I'm pleased with how it turned out as it's not really "my style" in the first place but it will look nice in the bathroom I think.  I'll show you again when I have it hung up.

I went to the Farmer's Market for the last time.  I

love my gourds each year....I used to grow them..........

 The eggplant will be for eggplant parmesan for sure..........

 banana peppers cooked in olive oil and garlic and made into a sandwich on my homemade bread....

 And this is a banana squash......HUGE!  I will cook it up and have enought pureed squash for the whole Winter! LOL!

 Of course I had to get a pumpkin......probably be for pie at Thanksgiving.

These were marked down to $3.00 at the store and I couldn't resist..........

the colors are starting to change just a bit............

I hung some candy corn lights outside...........

The girls love them too....they didn't want to come in after I strung them....

I've been crocheting more pumpkins and now squash too! LOL!

I'll be around to visit soon I hope but I have to take advantage of the nice weather to get my outside work done so please excuse me if I haven't been by.....I will be! 

 

Pie Day!!!!! Recipe included.............

I cannot take any credit for this as I got the recipe from Alicia Paulson over on her blog which if you're not familiar with her....OMG!!!!!  The cutest baby girl, the cutest house, the cutest knitting and crocheting and the BEST recipes.  Oh, and her husband Andy is darn cute too.  Alicia herself is just plain gorgeous!   But I digress.  I was going to make this  last year and never did but boy am I glad I made it this year!  YUMMO!  This is totally a wonderful way to greet Fall.

Recipe for Sour Cream Apple Pie

Topping:

3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons flour

Filling:

1 1/3 cups sour cream
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons flour
4 or 5 large apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (She calls for Granny Smith but I already had "who knows what" kind of apples on hand so that's what I used)

Pie Crust - You can make your own or use the ready-made deep dish pie dough which I used in my deep dish pie dish, no less.  Use a 9" or 10" deep dish and once you put the dough in it put it in the frig to chill.

To make the topping, blend butter, sugar, cinnamon, and flour in a bowl until mixed well then put this in the frig to chill also.

To make the filling, whisk together the sour cream, sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs, and flour until smooth.  Add the peeled, cored, and thinly sliced apples to the mixture and stir together.

Spoon the filling into the chilled pie shell and crumble the topping evenly over it.  Bake the pie on a baking sheet in the middle of a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 1 to 1 1/4 hours.  You might want to put some tin foil over the top for the last 15 minutes to prevent the top from burning (I did).  Transfer to a rack and let cool completely....well, okay....I admit it was still a bit warm when I took my slice but can you blame me???  I mean, the smell of it baking was enough to drive you nuts!  And the taste was well worth the wait!  I was in such a hurry to try it I forgot to take a picture of the slice I put on my plate.  I have to admit, later in the evening I went back for another "teeny little" slice before I put it in the frig.  This is THE best apple pie ever....I kid you not!  If you make it let me know what you thought when you had that first bite.....for me it was a memory maker!  Enjoy!  Oh, and thank you Alicia!
 

YOP Sunday

 

 Happy Fall!  I have waited for this all Summer! LOL!  It's not that I don't like Summer, it's just that I don't like Summer in the South!  Too hot for this cool weather chick!  Anyway, I've been having so much fun this week working on decorating, painting and knitting and crocheting.  Here's what I've been up to.........

 Remember those rectangles of orange and white crocheting I showed you earlier in the week?  Here they are!  Easy peasy!  Single crochet, I cast on 16 for the small ones and crocheted 26 rows, then you stitch it together into a tube, gather one end, stuff it, stick a twig in it and do a running stitch around the top, tighten and stitch closed.  The leaf is just a small circle, chain 8 and then sc into the circle 8 times.  Just make sure your circle is big enough to slip over your twig. 

 This next one is going to be bigger...taller and skinnier to finish my little trio of pumpkins.......

Remember the Dixie Cups........Ta Da!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Miniature lampshades!  I saw this on Pinterest but it was in another language so I thought I could figure it out and I did... although I need to "fine tune" it.

 The only problem is you're limited to Dixie's designs and colors on their cups...but wait.....how about glueing your own scrapbook paper or any kind of paper you want on the outside....I'm thinking Halloween paper with black edging?  I have battery operated lights that I got at the dollar store and I think there are 15 lights per strand.  They also have Halloween lights right now in candy corn and black and purple but they're not battery operated. Anyway, I love lights, candles and cozy all year long and Fall has really kicked my creativity into overdrive!  The cups are removable from the lights and you can replace them depending on your mood, decorating theme or season.  I wonder if I could make sets of these and sell them on line?   What do you think?  What would I  charge?  I could use some extra cash for yarn, and things I can't make with yarn! LOL!  

 I did a blanket stitch around the edge first and then did my edging.  Next time I will go over the edge with the blanket stitch.

 Below is one strand of the lights without the shades.....

 Honeysuckle or jasmine (I always get them mixed up) is blooming all over and smells heavenly.

I'm off to make split pea soup, sour cream apple pie which I didn't get made yesterday, ironing, watching football and then I have some painting to do if I have any energy left.  Have a great day!  I'll be by later to catch up with everyone!

FO Friday? Yeah right! LOL!

Yesterday was bread baking day and I make my dough and it usually makes 2 loaves.  I only bake one and put the dough in the frig for another one when I need it.  But yesterday I baked 2 loaves because I wanted to take one to my new neighbors.  I also took a container of salt and a bottle of wine!  Do any of you remember the house blessing from the movie It's A Wonderful Life?  I googled it and here it is

               Bread - that this house may never know hunger.
               Salt - that life may always have flavor.
              Wine - that joy and prosperity may reign forever.

I wrote out the blessing on a piece of stationary, wrapped the bread in a towel and put a ribbon on the bottle of wine and off I went!  The wife, Barb, was home and welcomed me in.  I didn't stay long as they are still trying to get settled but I think she was surprised and hopefully put at ease about one of her neighbors at least! LOL!   I hope they like it here and that it is everything they hoped their retirement would be.  I've always wanted to do that for someone and especially since I got no welcome when I  moved here, I wanted to ensure that anyone else that moved here felt welcomed to their new home.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture before I took it over so you'll just have to look at the loaf I made for myself minus the wine and salt and blessing. 

 There was a beautiful moon out last night but my camera did not do it justice.  I'm asking Santa for a nicer one this year.

 This is is my leaking gutter (it's been raining all day today).  I took a picture so when it's sunny out and I go to repair it I know where it was leaking.  Great thinking huh?  There's 2 places see?

 This is a bathroom mirror that I am getting ready to paint.....this time I remembered to take "before" pictures.

 The bench is getting painted too...last time when I made my chalk paint I tried to save it but the next day it was hard as rock because of the grout in it so this time I am lining up projects so I don't waste any paint.

 I also ran some errands yesterday and one was to get a new battery for my pedometer.  The weather is cooling and the girls and I will be out walking/hiking before long!  I can't handle the heat and humidity in the summer and neither can they.

 Along those same lines of health and maintenance.......did you know they now have gummy vitamins for adults?  YES!  Yippee!  I love gummy bears and I hate taking those big horse pills as much as anyone so look what I got..............it's not just for kids anymore!

My shamrock plant is blooming.  I think it's confusing St. Patrick's Day with Halloween or is it?  Didn't the celts invent Halloween?

 And yet another mystery crochet.....this time orange.....are you getting warm with your guessing?  Soon, I promise, I will share it with you!   Have a great Friday and a great weekend!

WIP's of all kinds!

Fall officially begins this coming Sunday but who can wait?  Not I!
I'm dragging out the decorations.........

I made this little arrangement myself...I know!  I can't believe it either....MOI?  It's hanging on my freshly painted front door.  I got a package of loose Fall decorations from BH&G last year at Wally World and my daughter gave me that little basket.

The flowers are "perking" back up after the heat of the Summer.......

 

These are the lilies and Russian Sage that I planted this Summer and they've taken well and even thrived and grown

I just planted these  mums this week.....they'll get bigger and spread out I hope.  They're the hardy ones that can withstand the Winter and come back every year...hopefully!

These are my leftover green onions from the store that I planted.  They'll come inside before it frosts and I'll have green onions whenever I need them. 

I forgot to take before and after pictures but I'm not finished so there's plenty of dirty sidewalk to show you and I forgot a patch on the steps too.  I am power washing my cement as here in the South it gets moldy and dark looking.  It looks like I poured new cement where I've power washed!  LOVE!!!!

  It takes a long time to do it as I have a small and not very powerful washer but it gets the job done eventually.  I was afraid it might tear up my caulking that I did last year (and need to finish) but it didn't hurt it.  I'm actually glad it's not super powerful as they can do real damage on some things.  See where I forgot the face of that bottom step?
I also made THE best quiche of my life last night!  I kid you not....you have got to make this recipe as it is fantastic.  It smelled great during the prep, while it cooked and it tasted better than any quiche I have EVER had and I've had a lot....my own and others and even fancy restaurants but none as good as this!  I got the recipe from All Recipes   my favorite place to get recipes as they are rated and reviewed by users.  You can also change the number of servings and it automatically changes the amount throughout the recipe.  It also has all the caloric and nutritional information you might need.  It's a great site and I've used it for years.  Recently, people have been sending me recipes on Facebook and Pinterest and they look great and sound great but some are absolutely awful!  I don't have the time or the money to waste on bad recipes and I'm sure you don't either.  So, when I give you a recipe it has to be 5 star in my book and of course, I have to have made it and eaten it myself!  So, without further ado....here's the recipe and make it A.S.A.P.......you will not regret it!  To give proper credit this recipe was devised by Bailey and I thank you!
The original recipe makes 1  9 inch quiche but I used a deep pie dish and it was to the top but I also happened to use a 16 oz package of frozen spinach instead of the 10 oz the recipe called for.

Spinach Quiche   (prep 20 minutes,  cook 40 minutes,  ready in 1 hour)  

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small onion chopped
1 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained ( I used a whole 16 oz bag and it worked)
1 (4.5 oz) can mushrooms, drained
1 (6 oz) package herb and garlic feta, crumbled (I used plain feta as it was what I had on hand)
1 (8 oz) package shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)
2.  In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Saute onion and garlic in butter until lightly browned, about 7 minutes.  Stir in spinach, mushrooms, feta and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese.  Season with salt and pepper.  Spoon mixture into pie crust.
3.  In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and milk.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour into the pastry shell, allowing egg mixture to combine with spinach. (I just lifted the spinach up in places...I did not stir it)
4.  Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.  Sprinkle the remainder of the cheddar cheese on top  and bake an additional 35 - 40 minutes, until set in center.  Allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.

My last WIP is this little bit of crochet but you'll have to tune in later to find out what it will be....actually it's almost done.....you'll never guess! LOL!

Have a great rest of your day!