daily yarns 'n more

i'll be back

I just wanted to touch base here and let you all know that things are going very well.  Actually, it's going great.  I'm all packed and ready to go and plan to take tons of photos.  I heard that where we're going I'll be able to take LOTS of photos.

Have a wonderful week and I'll see you when I get back.

life

I'm planning on taking a break from this blog.  I do plan on posting at my photo blog...but that will be photos only. 

Life sure can be difficult sometimes. 

A very dear friend e-mailed me and said this, "Perhaps the blessing is not what we see, but what we don't see."

So, Jim and I are heading to Florida on Sunday, and we'll be there a week...Hoping to clear the fog out of our heads and think about the blessings we see and hopefully find the blessings we can't see.

I hope to be back here posting again.

Take Care!

Judy

talking to dad

a haphazard post

I blogged about these in color over at my photo blog "through my lens".

A very delicious dessert I made and brought out last Sunday when we went visiting.  The very last piece from the pan.  I'll share the recipe.

Raspberry Cheesecake

Crust:

1/2 c. butter, melted

4 T. sugar

2 c. graham cracker crumbs

Filling:

1c. powdered sugar

2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese

1 (16 oz.) container of Cool Whip

2 tsp. vanilla

Topping:

3 T. red jello

3 T. cornstarch

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. water

4 c. raspberries

Combine crust ingredients together and pat into 9x10 pan.  Beat filling ingredients until fluffy.  Spread over crust.  Cook topping ingredients until thickened: spread over filling.  Refrigerate.

Enjoy!

 

Knitting in the car.  I love to knit in the car, I get so much done that way.

There are 9 days until we are out of here.  Florida here we come.  I hope I can take my knitting on the plane, otherwise I'll have to pack it in my check on bag.  I plan to knit, read, take walks on the long beach, hunt for shells and just chill.

Not too much else happening around the homestead here.

You all have a wonderful day!

you just can't sneak up on these two

If you get anywhere near them they think you're going to feed them.

and so, my project begins

Last night was my weaving class and I have to tell you I did not want to go.  After a long day at work I just wanted to stay home and veg-out.  But, I went and I'm so glad I did, because we started our projects.  We used a warping board to measure out our warp ends.  I had to wrap my warp threads around the pegs so that I had a total of 224 warp threads.  Some had to do way more than that.  I was pretty happy to have picked a smaller project for my first time weaving.  Some of the ladies were sorry they picked the projects that they did.

When I was all done I had to tie on some "choke ties", and that is exactly what you want to do is "choke" the threads so that they stay tied and can't get tangled.

After all the choke ties are in place you start taking the warp off the warping board....Very carefully tho...Once it's all off the warping board you make a chain with the warp.  It reminded me of macrame.

 

This is my warp chain.  I picked the colors pink and raisin for my project.  I am making a cover or runner to go on the top of our piano.  I was happy to have finished last night because the instructor was there to help, but a bit sorry because I would have been able to take the warping board home to finish.  Then I could have shown you exactly what it looked like instead of pictures from my weaving book. 

 

I'm going to take my camera to class from now on and hopefully the instructor won't mind me taking pictures of my progress.

how we spent valentines day

We spent the day taking a trip to see our son, dil and granddaughter.

I'll take you on a photo journey of some of the things we passed along the way.  The sun was shinning but there was a bit of a haze in the air.  Some of the photos I got out of the car and some are drive-bys.

This cow used to sit in the center of the intersection which is a 5-way stop.  It has been moved and now sits off to the side at the intersection.

Illinois is a pretty flat state.  This next photo you can see for quite a ways away and at least 4 farms are in sight.

We went off the beaten path and just drove down the road.

We came upon this beautiful church with a cemetery along side it.

Illinois hasn't upgraded their telephone poles much.

They look like dead trees.

What???  Is that an airport windsock we see?

By golly it's an airport.

But, not a very big airport.

We passed many old barns along the way.

Our destination.

Someone was very excited to see us and wanted to play.

After a wonderful lunch and visit we headed home. 

One last picture taken on our way home. 

The sun was going down as you can see.

A beautiful Valentines Day we had.

How was your day?

i'm happy

I love my blind hemmer.  I'm don't know what I would do if I didn't have one.  I hate hand sewing hems.

 

I am really pleased with how the curtains turned out.  I didn't go really fancy on the casing at the top, I went with easy and simple.  I didn't even realize until I put them up that the fabric pattern matches our bedside laps with leaves on them.  You can tell by the sun shining that we need to have something on this window.  Especially in the summer months facing west our bedroom just bakes.

I probably should have removed the books and made this picture a bit more pretty.  My hubby is a big reader.

I have a confession to make....I have been coveting these sewing rooms.

The Big Yellow Farmhouse

Sew With Me

Sew Many Ways

Sigh....Someday.

random chit~chat

Good morning everyone.  Today is Saturday, what's on the agenda for you today?  I plan to start making some curtains for my bedroom.  The ones I have now just have to go.  I can't wait to start cutting and sewing.

 

Renee over at Sewn With Grace honored me with the Sunshine Award.  Thank you Renee!

Now, I know I'm supposed to pass this on but I can never pick, so to all the blogs I read this is for you.  Plus I'm going to do something different. I give this Sunshine Award to all who read my blog.  Whether you comment or not you all bring sunshine to my life.  Thank You!

Renee also asked a question on the post Menu Plan Monday, which was this:

Hi Judy! Ok, I'm curious what you will do with the pork neck bones...

This is what I did. 

I took the frozen neck bones and thawed them out.

 

I browned them in a cast iron dutch oven.

 

Don't you just love green onions?  I do, and was too pumped when this recipe called for them.

After adding the onions and seasonings, you simmer it.

 

So, I simmered it and simmered it.

I know you're not supposed to take the meat off the bone but I did to stretch it out.  I also thickened the juices and added rice to it.  I have to say I wasn't overly fond of this dish.  Maybe next time I won't add the rice but just have it as a side dish or maybe serve the neck bones over the rice.  Or better yet I'll just find another way to prepare neck bones.

 

Jim's been having a hard time getting used to his new grain mill.  His other two mills ground the flour so differently.  They almost heated the flour up so the rising process was very short.  This mill grinds the wheat in a much different way.  So right now it's trial and error with each batch. 

This last batch the breads split on top,

and also developed a funny looking top.  But I have to say, despite how the tops looked this had to have been the best bread so far.

It's Valentines Day tomorrow.

Happy Valentines Day!

I titled this post "random chit~chat" because that's what this ended up being.  Just random stuff all put down.

You all have a wonderful weekend.

we knew him when

After dinner last Friday night with some friends, we stayed to visit and had the honors of having our own private concert given to us by their son Jake.  Jake plays the violin beautifully.  He has been playing the violin for 8 years.  I got chills just listening to the selections.  He played classical as well as folk for us.  At first he was a bit shy getting going but once he did the music started to flow.

I'm not sure how far he plans to take his music.

But...

We knew him when.