Out with the old -

My new living room furniture is being delivered tomorrow - so today is out with the old so we can bring in the new. As a result, I have not done anything related to decorating for the holidays. Everything in the living room is being replaced with a totally different look and there is no reason to decorate twice. I'm so excited. We have been talking about doing this for at least a year and then we just did it. Walked in the store and said 'that's what we want.'

It is icy cold here this week. Our snow of Saturday melted overnight, but now it is even colder.

My book club gifts are all complete (except for hand stitching the binding on the final three). Now just to wrap and they are ready for the luncheon on Wednesday. I need to write a poem to go with my 'mug rugs'. I'm thinking they remind me of 'magic carpets' - that kind of goes along with reading.

I also need to put the prairie points and binding on my kitchen table runner. I pinned the prairie points in place and realized some were cut from 4" squares and some from 3 1/2" squares. I had to go back and trim all my squares to 3 1/2".

I also finished the shawl from the purple self-striping yarn. It made up very nicely. I had exactly 29" of yarn left over when I finished it. I was just a tad worried the last few rows. I am ready to start a long cowl scarf from the green/blue of the same yarn.

The question of the day is - how many napkins do I make? Big T has decided he does not want to use paper napkins anymore. Fine, but at one napkin per person per meal - realistically, how many napkins do I need to make. Say we have an average of three people for each meal and I do laundry once a week - that's 63 napkins. Hmmmmmm! I am thinking about picking a color and then lots of coordinating prints in a 12" by 12" square. I've decided, it's easier to make a quilt than this project.

(No pictures today - forgot to charge the battery on the camera).

Hugs - Marie

Mug Rugs and Placemats

I've been having fun making 'mug rugs' for Hummingbird Treasures. They take about an hour each and do a great job of cutting into the stash AND they're cute. I may keep a few for myself. The bookclub ladies are going to love them. I like the fact that no two are alike.

I also finished the trees on these placemats. I think the white and gold with the blue turned out rather nicely. I think I paid 79 cents each for the four of these and was quite pleased with myself when I got them out into the daylight. They also had a red but it was too 'brown' for me.

I think the latest attack of vertigo is somewhat better but I still have a lot of problem changing the elevation of my head. I see the Dr. on Monday - but he will just tell me it it the old 'rocks in my head' problem.

I think I'll go play in the studio until time for my next nap. (Oh yeah, the medication knocks me out.)

Hugs - Marie

Book Club Update

1. I made it to book club (didn't miss it like last month when I slept through it with a sinus headache)

2. I actually read the book (completely - some sections twice) - "The Optimist's Daughter" by Eudora Welty(?) Pulitzer Prize winner in the 1960's

3. I really liked the book (appealed to the literary snob in me - lots of symbolism and metaphor-type stuff)

4. No one else in book club liked the book (actually used words like: boring, hated it, couldn't finish it, no story line, flat unlikable characters)

5. I'm batting 1000 this season when it comes to book club (I'm afraid my membership in book club may be in serious jeopardy here)

6. I'm off to order next month's book (I love the 'used book' prices from B&N and Amazon)

7. The book for next month is "The Devil Amongst the Lawyers" by Sarah McCrumb(?)

Make Over Coming - Stay Tuned

OK - enough introspection (procrastinating) . A major make-over is on the way. I should stress this is a blogsite make-over since 'yours truly' is already perfect.

I asked for (and listened to) advice and opinions from my wonderful followers and now after letting it absorb for longer than it should have (procrastinating), I am ready to jump in the water and ready to swim. (Isn't that a cool analogy for this hot end of a very hot summer?)

I received several very good suggestions regarding how to better use and promote my etsy store as well as wonderful offers to promote my blog and store on my reader's blogs. These actually brought tears to my eyes. And one of my wonderful friends even designed a new button for me to use and share to promote my sites. (Thank you, Alyssa.)

I will be working on implementing my changes over the next few days - so stay tuned to see the next chapter.

For those of you who continue to follow this - I have the timer set to remind me that today is bookclub day. I do not dare miss it twice. By the way, I read the book "The Optimist's Daughter" by Eudora Welty and absolutely loved it. Now I know why she earned the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction with this book. I'm interested to see how my fellow book club members like the book.

After Book Club

The book club is a fait accompli AND the dessert was a success. The mulled wine went over well because it was a very cold, windy day. So now I can relax for another year before I have to host it again. This is a traumatic event for me. I have to clean AND cook.

The book was South of Broad by Pat Conroy and takes place in Charleston, SC so I wanted to make a southern dessert. I found a recipe on the 'net for "Incredibly Easy Mississippi Mud Cake" and that is an understatement. I wish I could give credit to the originator of the recipe but it is not possible.

1 box brownie mix - made according to directions for cake browniesEXCEPT substitute bourbon or whiskey for the water
2 7-oz jars marshmellow creme
1 can deep dark chocolate frosting.

Bake brownies - immediately on removing from oven spread the marshmellow creme over the hot brownies. Melt the frosting in the microwave until liquid (about 45 seconds) and pour over the marshmellow creme. Allow to cool completely before serving.

It can't get any easier than that. If I can do it, anyone can!!! Needless to say, I have had enough sugar for the day (or week).

Tomorrow is back to the sewing studio. I am playing with black and white with a red showing through every once in awhile. I can see what I want but seem to be worrying one part of it. Maybe if I back into it, I can make it work. That works for me when I get writer's block - go around the block and approach it from a different angle.

I still have not been to civilization for my white thread. Actually, I have not been anywhere. It would probably be faster it I ordered it on-line. Meanwhile my wall hanging is hanging on my quilt wall staring at me. One book club member wanted to know if the sewing machine dust protector could be sized to cover her large counter top mixer. Interesting, I think it would work without much resizing at all. They also liked the 'chick and chic' bag with the bright greens and yellow - called it a happy bag.

I am still working on my strip blocks. I've been working them in color groupings and then will see how they fit together or what jumps out at me.

Hugs to all of you who care to read my ramblings as I discover a completely different side of me.

Marie

Prep for Book Club - Major Event at my house

The snow is almost gone and the cool rain today will finish the rest of it. The picture is an igloo/castle that was an icy driveway chopped in sections and then carefully stacked. No, we didn't do it, but the neighbors directly across did and they aren't home to enjoy it, so I thought we would share. The second picture is our backyard on a snowy day through laser enhancing glasses. Kind of a neat but strange view on the world.

The house is clean and ready for book club. The dessert ingredients are assembled waiting for tomorrow morning. The wine is ready for mulling. After book club, I'll share my super easy dessert recipe if it's good. If you don't hear anything about it from me, you can assume Marie was in the kitchen again. (Not always a good thing. After all that's why I have M - she's a great cook AND actually likes it.) I figure if I serve enough mulled wine, they won't remember what we had for dessert. Big T may have to be on stand-by as the designated driver. I almost forgot - I still need to finish the book.

I think I'm ready to dust off my attempt at a young adult novel again. I've probably procrastinated long enough after the last round of edits. I think it needs a major 'start again' effort.

I finished a very simple recycled bluejean pocket 'grab 'n go' bag. Small but cute. I'll post it out on Hummingbird Treasures this afternoon and see what kind of response I'll get.

Oh, I almost forgot - I won $25 in the pool at the Super Bowl Party. I'm still not sure just who won but I'm $25 richer today. Big T keeps telling me the money for the original bet came from his pocket, not mine - he was just being nice putting my name in the little square.

Marie

12 Hours Later . . .

Twelve hours later and still no water. The entire neighborhood is out so we are all suffering equally. Big T did bring in a couple of buckets of snow to melt so we do have the luxury of using the facilities - but no shower I'm afraid. Oh well, at least it didn't happen last weekend during the big snowfall.

So it has been a relatively quiet day with not much going on. I have been busy in my studio most of the day (except for a very long luxurious nap). Why is it that I am always out of white thread? I cannot believe how often I have to stop a project because I am out of white thread. I think the thread gremlins play tricks on me. I swear I just bought some a couple of weeks back. Hmmmmm! I cannot finish my latest wall hanging until I go back to the store. And while I love living in a very small rural community, it means a trip of 30 miles or so one way to get a spool of thread. The love of my life doesn't understand why I can't just use one of those other hundred spools or so.

We are going to a super bowl party tomorrow night. I hope I don't embarass Big T when I ask 'who is playing' and 'which color is which team'. Maybe I should study it just a tiny bit before we go. Although no water tomorrow may mean no party. I can just sit and drink wine and look sportsy all night.

The Dude called after his eye appointment to say he needs glasses. He is an avid reader but surprisingly enough, he doesn't need them for reading but for seeing across the room or board work at school. Maybe this well help the headaches although he inherits the tendancy toward migraines I'm afraid.

Book club meets this week and I still have not started the book. I did get a copy but haven't opened it yet. It's a good thing that I'm a fast reader or I might not make it. The name of our local book club is "The You Don't Have to Read The Book, Book Club". We formed the book club as we all moved into our new development to get to know one another and we became fast friends. The meeting next week is at our house - I guess this means I have to clean. Yuck, that's almost worse than cooking. Maybe I'll serve wine and cheese and crackers. That'll be different from our traditional desserts.

The Little Miss walked into a wall the other day and the Nanny (who believes that something sweet makes everything feel better) rubbed pancake syrup on her little forehead. K said when she came home after work, the house (and baby) smelled like pancakes.

From me to you, lots of hugs and thanks for joining me in my new adventures of learning to be creative and artistic.

Marie