Button, Button...

... who's got the button? 

I do!

This huge jar of buttons represents three generations of button hoarders keepers collectors! I have inherited the button baskets that belonged to my grandmother as well as my mother; keep in mind that I already had a very healthy-sized, full, button tin of my own! In an effort to tidy up, organize and consolidate, these buttons now all occupy the same space! This jar itself stands well over a foot tall and is nine and half inches in diameter! Take a guess at how much that many buttons weigh*!

😲

It's become a decorative conversation piece on the desk in my sewing room now, along with the buttons it holds as much sentimental value to me as anything.

In other hot-weather happenings around here:

  One of last year's Blocks-of-the-Month is now quilted and ready for binding, this one is Lady's Scrap Basket by Bits 'n Pieces. Quilted with Daisy Swirl pantograph. 

And another one, same quilt shop different BOM from last year. Timeless with a Twist by Michelle Renee Hiatt for Studio 180. Quilted with Oh, My Feathers pantograph. 

As we've continued to clean out cabinets as is necessary with the current, ongoing, kitchen re-do project, I ran across a shelf devoted to candle shades such as this one pictured. I had collected them over the years and used them, seasonally, in decorating spaces here and there around the house. I was going to give them all away, thinking them to be just "one more thing" adding to the clutter. But, I just couldn't do it. I truly love them and each one meant something to me, connecting me with another time and place. Mr. G. reminded me to think about the Japanese Art of Tidying and Marie Kondo's mantra about sparking joy. "If you love them", he said, "keep them. After we're long gone if our children want to toss out or auction off all of our belongings they're free to do that". I took his words to heart. 💗 They're staying. 

Moving outdoors: I bare-root save my front porch geraniums over the winter in cardboard boxes in the basement. Come spring, I remove them from their dark storage containers, pot them up with fresh soil and begin watering them in. Here's a side by side for comparison. L: April 1st, R: today.  I've been doing this with the same plants for years. Honestly, I didn't think I'd removed them early enough this year (I forgot), I typically start them in March; they did struggle at first but, as you can see, they've done just fine again this year. Phew! 

And now, back to that kitchen project: Along with new cabinetry we're replacing our 22+ y.o. appliances. Here's the new dishwasher, someone decided to thoroughly check it out! I asked Mr. G what cycle he thought I should use on a load like this one. His reply "A short one!"

*So, did you hazard a guess as to how much "three-generations of buttons" jar weighs?  

21 lbs!

That's a LOT of buttons. 

 Life is Good!

That's Cool

Don't you just love it when you find that one tool that works for a myriad of tasks, and works so well! I don't know how I ever got along before the handy-dandy Folded Corner Clipper took up residence in my sewing room but I can tell you this: I'm not looking back. I use mine, literally, all the time! If you don't have this tool, you need one. (Click on the link above to check it out, there are YouTube videos as well.) Anyway, I had binding strips cut for my WonderCurve Butterflies table runner. I had a bunch of strips, too, because I was using up a matching scrap. I carefully stacked those strips one on top of each other, all right sides up,  grabbed that FCC* and placed it as shown, trimmed off the excess and placed them right sides together for joining at the perfect 1/4". No dog ears. Perfection! 

Binding is all joined, attached, basted and ready for hand finishing. What did I use for marking that perfect miter as I turned and pressed the corners while applying the binding? The FCC, of course! That is cool, but do you know what's even cooler?

This refrigerator! Yay!! Mr. G. ordered parts and worked all afternoon yesterday to get it running again!

We're back in business here in the kitchen; the milk, eggs and butter have all been reinstalled.

Finger crossed that it will last a year. 

Life is Good!

* FCC - Folded Corner Clipper

Which Came First?

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? As you well know we can go around and around on this one and not come up with an answer that everyone can agree on. One thing that we can agree on, though, is that my life has become a lot easier since the arrival of the Instant Pot at Chez Goodneedle. Our son and daughter-in-law have had one for quite some time. I heard all the great success stories of their wonderful, healthy meals prepared in a fraction of the time. Who couldn't use more time? I was intrigued but not convinced that I needed one. After all, it was an electric pressure cooker! I had never used a pressure cooker. My childhood memories of a pressure cooker were of a mysterious cast-metal locked bomb pot with a bobbing, sputtering valve on the top, sitting on the stove's front burner on Sundays; ours always contained a pot roast. I recall my mother warning us to "stay back" when the pressure was released as if this whole procedure was dangerous to the point of being life-threatening. Because of that healthy fear, I was never interested in pursuing the art of pressure cooking as an adult. I felt lucky to have survived those weekly threats. Then our daughter requested one for Christmas. Soon after she began extolling the virtues of Instant Pot cooking and I saw her dedicated Pinterest board grow with pinned recipes. She would happily report about her yogurt making and the delicious soups and meals she was turning out in the limited amount of time she has after work, to the raves of her family. Okay, I did some research. Maybe this would be something that could earn its space in our kitchen. I remember that same back-and-forth in my mind that I went through before we ever got our first microwave. Did we need this? Could we get along without one? Hadn't life been okay in our Instant Pot-free home up until now? I also remember that a week after getting that first microwave I couldn't imagine life without one! Our Instant Pot arrived last week. So, which came first, the chicken or the egg? The chicken. I cooked a whole one for dinner, start to finish, in 45 minutes; it was moist, flavorful and delicious! Next came hard boiled eggs. In the pressure cooker they were done in the same amount of time as if I had done them on the stove top-- but, the difference is, these peeled perfectly! Never again will I have a mutilated egg. And then, on Saturday afternoon, I whipped up a positively wonderful homemade Tomato Basil Parmesan soup to enjoy on a rainy, cold evening; employing both the pot's saute and pressure cooking functions, leaving only one pot to clean up afterward. Score! Stay tuned, the Instant Pot adventure continues, my own Pinterest recipe board is growing every day.

Life is Good!

 

Questions From The Kitchen

The noise wasn't one that I'm unfamiliar with; the sound of the washing machine going through its spin-cycle. That noise only becomes alarming when it's coming from the refrigerator! We've been in our home long enough now that the appliances have all decided to begin delivering their termination notices, in rapid-fire succession. First to go was the microwave; it died in stages. Initially the microwave needed a mica wave-shield and all was well... for about a month. Then it needed a new magnatron. I only know these things because I live with an engineer.  The second stage of the repair has set everything straight again... at least for now. It's nice to be able to warm items up within a few steps. Until the microwave was functional we were running up a flight of steps to our converted atttic space where we have a kitchenette equipped with a second microwave; the imposed cardio workout was a good one. Then, this morning, while I was in the kitchen baking, the refrigerator began belting out a new, loud, refrain; one that won't be ignored. Apparently it's the compressor. This repair is a costly one and requires some major decisions... is it worth the cost to replace one in a fifteen year old refrigerator? If not, can we replace our existing appliance with a matching one? If we can't, we may have to change styles and, ulitmately, finishes in our kitchen as nothing will match anymore. Groan. I don't like change; especially change that only brings about more. And so, the contents of our now unplugged refrigerator have been transferred down a flight of steps this time, to our back-up 'fridge in the basement. We're in workout mode once again! Some days, like it or not, we're simply left to play the cards we're dealt.

More questions, these prompted from the one on my apron. 
What do you think?  Does it count as a veggie? 
I hope so... I made two!
We're getting healthier by the minute.
Life is Good!

Vintage Find

Saturday is Egg Day at our house. Both Mr. Goodneedle and I try to limit our cholesterol intake and decided a few years ago that we would celebrate breakfast with an egg only once a week (bacon only makes an appearance a few times a year); it's cereal the other six days. After the recent pantry clean-out and reorganization success I was spurred on to tackle more cabinets in the kitchen. You know how that happens... one thing leads to another, and another, and another. It's the If You Give A Mouse A Cookie syndrome; read it if you're unfamiliar, you'll understand. Anyway, during the height of this clean, purge and reorganizing frenzy I ran across this vintage egg cooker. I believe that we've owned it all of our married life (closing in on 40 years), leading me to think it was a wedding gift. I haven't used it in decades and decided to put it to use for poached eggs a few Saturdays ago, for old times' sake. I filled the receptacle with water, broke the eggs into the egg cups and pressed in the button. Uh-oh! I couldn't release my finger from the button without the appliance shutting off. I had already committed the eggs so I called quickly to Mr. Goodneedle to start the English muffins in the toaster while I kept the button depressed manually. The eggs cooked up perfectly, just like I had remembered; but I figured that the faulty on/off button had rendered the appliance defunct. Nope, not at all. After breakfast he took the egg cooker down to his "fix-it" shop and repaired the switch; it was a simple fix, he reported. We were back in business. This vintage find has been pressed back into service, at least on Saturday mornings. It will also hard boil eggs, with dyeing day coming up it'll see double duty this Easter weekend.

What treasures are hiding behind closed doors at your house?

Life is Good!

A Breeding Ground

Think of this as a PSA, and not one for the squeamish. I love my front loading washer, but it's been a love-hate relationship through the years, one that's required an enormous amount of attention. The latest wrinkle in our otherwise happy life together has been my battle against the disgusting black mold that accumulates inside the gray rubber gasket seal lining the front opening, it's a breeding ground in there! My daughter pointed out to me the places where this mold can hide, she has a similar model to mine, yet (lucky for her) her model is newer and she isn't plagued by the same dilemma. In a crazed an enthusiastic cleaning frenzy last week I found myself peeling back the gasket after each and every load and wiping down all the hidden surfaces with a cloth dampened in a mild bleach solution. On Saturday my husband frantically informed me that water was leaking everywhere while I was washing a load of bed sheets! We cut off the water flow and a quick inspection revealed that my overzealous gasket-peeling had resulted in the water supply hose becoming dislodged from the fill valve. Ooops. All is well again, and all is uber-clean... inside and out! I am now tempering my cleaning fervor somewhat and simply leaving the door and detergent fill drawer open between loads; a GENTLE wipe down from time to time won't hurt either!

Here's an updated photo (after my last blog post!) from a quick trip

(and birthday visit with our daughter) to the Capital City last Friday.

Life is Good!

Letting Off Steam

I use a steam generator iron while sewing. Saying that it's in constant use would not be an over-exaggeration. The reason that I love this kind of iron is three-fold:
1. The iron itself is lightweight and easy to handle
2. The tank holds a LOT of water and it doesn't need to be frequently refilled.
3. It steams really, really well; I like steam!
Under normal circumstances the steam should stay in the tank, under pressure; not leaking out as shown in the photo. The best thing about this type of iron is that it makes small work of even the toughest of ironing tasks. The worst thing is that I will flat-out burn one of these babies up after only a few years, they don't seem to be built for long term service. My husband changed out the rubber O-ring at the pressure valve but that just didn't repair the problem. My iron decided, on it's own, to become a vaporizer. I like it when an appliance, or any tool for that matter, will do double duty; but not this one, and not when I have pressing matters to accomplish! If I want a facial, or a humidifier, I'll take care of that myself. The iron has been replaced with a new one, one that keeps it's steam inside until I decide to let it out!

Life is Good!

Where's The Heat?

Can a dryer bite the dust, or would it be biting lint instead? It took me a while to figure out that the heating element on this appliance was toast, after I hit the repeat button on a load of towels a few times I finally stuck my hand in there to check. No heat, none. Then I realized what was going on, I'm quick that way. Luckily, my resident handy-man came to the rescue. He suspects that too much lint got through the screen, clogged the vent hose and burned out the element. I don't know how to avoid that happening again, I carefully clean the screen every load. The needed part was in stock and we're operating at full heat again; the dryer is doing what it's supposed to, not coolly tossing around wet clothes anymore. There's only two adults living in this house, and piles of laundry to catch up on after two day's time. How does that happen? We don't own that many clothes, do we? And if we do, how come it seems that I never have anything to wear?

Life is Good!