Carrying On...

How does that saying go: "Keep Calm and Carry On"? I believe that to be good advice and wouldn't it be even better if it involved a cookie? You know it would! I have another recipe to share from the Pioneer Woman. As I mentioned in the previous post I've been watching a LOT of cooking shows while sewing in the past few weeks. If I'm not stitching it seems that I'm either at the grocery store or in the kitchen anymore- it's hard to keep up! So, these aren't just any old cookies- they're Breakfast Cookies and they are simply WONDERFUL! 

I baked a batch, have wrapped them up individually and frozen them. You cannot believe how handy these are to have ready and available on a busy morning! Grab one (or two) to eat with your favorite morning beverage and you're good to go, they're full of good, nutritious grains, nuts and fruit. This will definitely be a staple around here from now on. My husband can be a little skeptical when it comes to trying new things. Think of that old Life cereal commercial with Mikey: "What's this stuff? Some cereal... it's supposed to be good for you... he likes it!!" 

Sew, what have I been stitching? This is block #6 in the 'Aspiring Stars' BOM. The blocks all measure 15"; I'm using a wide assortment of Lori Holt fabrics from different collections. I have absolutely no idea how I am going to set them together yet. 

 

I finally managed to get the borders on my Scrappy, Strippy Diamonds. It's currently loaded on the longarm. I found a low volume backing fabric with an allover tea bag print on the shelf, I had to do some finagling to make it work, size-wise, but I persevered; it's going to be a really a cute quilt.

More oversize blocks for the Cream and Sugar BOM. These took a LOT of time. Whew. This class is a challenge to to stay current with as far as the homework goes but I love it!

 One more thing...speaking of homework... this one will start Basic Obedience classes next week, I sure hope he's ready! 😉 Augie is 25 weeks old today; what joy he has brought into our lives! He's growing fast, just over seven pounds now. He's all about keeping calm (well maybe not), carrying on, and is definitely all about some cookies! 

What's capturing your time and attention, how are you carrying on these days?

Life is Good!

   

Cookies, Cocoa and Christmas Cheer

There will be a return to posts that aren't necessarily puppy-dominated; but, in all honesty, I don't know when that might be! To clarify, though, there's been lots of other things going on around here sprinkled with liberal amounts of precious puppy moments in between!    

The grands were all here to spend the night last weekend following an afternoon of cookie decorating, ornament making and movie watching! They're all growing up so TOO fast!

These are the ornaments that they made. See the close up and the link below.

Wooden Star Ornament directions with video if you'd like to make your own.

A breakfast highlight the next morning was Hot Chocolate Snowballs before French Toast.

A few of their finished cookies, they each took half a dozen home with them.

After they were all delivered back to their homes I finished decorating the remaining cookies using up what was left over of the royal icing and candies. These were a hit this week at our midweek Advent dinner at church. 

I finished up another Chrismon, this one is a gift for a special couple who were married this past year. Entitled "Jesus' First Miracle" it symbolizes just that from the wedding feast at Cana. 

The weather's turned very cold all of a sudden; we're spending more time in front of the fire these last few days. Augie is settling in nicely, it's been almost three weeks since his arrival; he has us pretty well trained now. He wants for nothing and we're really enjoying each and every moment with our new family member! Just as with the grandchildren, they grow up much too fast! 

Warmest wishes from our home to  yours!

Life is Good!

It's A Wrap!

And just like that, it would seem, another Christmas has come and gone... or has it? We're still in the Christmas season and these days following Christmas Day can be just as much of a gift as the day itself! In my "rush, rush, hurry, hurry" frame of mind during those days leading up to the 25th I had to back-burner a few things that I had really wanted, and fully intended, to get done before the big day. I was disappointed in myself instead of granting some self-permission to recognize the fact that I had totally over-planned. Christmas came anyway; it didn't matter that I hadn't completed the table runner, baked all of the cookies, or finished the book that I had planned to get read so that I could start on new ones. Yes, Christmas came and went and it was just as wonderful! Mr. G and I decided to grant ourselves a "grace week"; here we are today, smack-dab in the middle of it. Our grace week has consisted of a total reprieve from schedules and deadlines. It's amazing what can occur when breathing space is freely granted. 

Reading time becomes unhurried and meaningful.

The cookies baked from that long-chilling dough taste all the sweeter. 

That deconstructed table runner became a whole...

...which is now quilted, trimmed and, maybe, could even get binding attached today, we'll see. 

If not, it will wait. What gift can you give to yourself this Christmas? It's not too late; no, not at all.

Merry Christmas!

Life is Good!

Beauty Shots, Life Here at Home and a Prayer Request

I've got a new spot for quilt beauty shots, the porch; it's perfect, I can set up the stand without dealing with wind, weather and other outdoor hazards. If you've ever tried to set up a quilt for outside photography you know that even the slightest breeze will turn your quilt into a giant sail!

The location is perfect but the time of day wasn't-- I'll need to be careful in the future to make sure the sun is directly overhead and not back-lighting the subject (but, I have to admit that the stained-glass effect with the sun coming in from behind is pretty!). 

This might be one of my very favorite scrappy quilts of all time. The porch was a beehive of activity over the weekend. 

Not only was it the site for meals but for another another Chinese Checkers challenge (with yet another grandson!)...

...but it was also a bedroom for the night! Ever since the porch construction began, Gregory has been begging for a chance to sleep out there! Saturday night was his first chance, he told us that the birds were his alarm clock! So sweet. 

We watched this movie together on Friday night, I was unaware of the Brandon Burlsworth story until seeing this; what an inspiring story! I can recommend it, just know that you'll need Kleenex nearby. 

Sweet Sixteen ~ completely finished at last, measuring 65" X 80". 

Adapting in an upside-down🙃 world: I got my hair cut; (that was cause for celebration!) my dear stylist had advised me to wait in my car when I arrived, I sent her a text and she texted back when it was okay to enter. She met me at the salon door to take my temperature before I was granted entry! Life goes on~ one step at a time; and it's good, it's all good. I've seen plenty of blog posts and social media entries commenting on the state of the world, political and racial unrest, so many that I cannot even count them. You're not going to find that here; I do truly believe that there is good in the world, love and grace exist in abundance and that we have a faithful and loving God who's in control. This blog will continue to chronicle what goes on here, from our little corner of the world, a day at a time; without judgement, bias or political opinion from me-- not now, not ever. Now, a personal favor from me: would you please remember my mother in prayer as she recovers, in the hospital, from pneumonia? Her name is Harriett. She's doing well, praise God, but this is such a difficult time to be hospitalized and to be separated from loved ones, especially from my Dad. Thank you! In the meantime... 

...I'm working on a sundress for Lynnleigh from some super-cute Riley Blake Girl Scout fabric that her Mom  had sent to me; I'm using this pattern. I have made this for her before, this year I've had to go up a size, to a 7-- she's growing (they all are-- much too quickly!).

 I've found a wonderful chocolate chip cookie recipe! Here's the link, it's from Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Table cookbook; it meets my desire for a cookie that doesn't spread too much while baking. It just so happens to be delicious, too; pass the milk! 

  "...so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless." Titus 3:7-9

Life is Good!

.  

Getting Out

Being that it was Earth Day 🌎and everything, Mr. Goodneedle and I loaded up the bikes and took a bike ride on one of the local greenways yesterday afternoon, it was so good to get outside and enjoy nature. There were a few joggers, a few dog walkers and a few exasperated Moms with children but they really were few and far between; everyone that we encountered, without exception, was observing proper social distancing. It was a beautiful day, almost seventy degrees; we rode the trail seven miles. I stopped at several grocery stores on the way home and found it impossible to find any yeast. I have a home-baking project in mind and this is thwarting my efforts! I guess everyone is at home baking and they've beat me to it! Running into a store takes so much more effort than ever before: masking up, taking my hand sanitizing wipes, following the arrows marked on the floor in the aisles, making as little contact as possible; it's one more adaptation as we mark day after day of an upside down world. I was talking with our daughter on the phone yesterday and we wondered together if the social world that we knew before will ever look the same again.

I have a question for all of you; if you have trouble remembering something do you look it up or wrack your brain and try to recall that missing information on your own? Here's an example: yesterday (don't ask why!) I was quoting the nursery rhyme "Georgie Porgie..." and couldn't remember what Georgie did after kissing the girls and making them cry. I thought and thought and all I could come up with was "when he saw what he had done..." and realized I was confusing it with the rhyme about Lizzie Borden. Clearly, my mind was running amok and I couldn't recall, so I Googled it. Ah, that's right, "when the boys came out to play, Georgie Porgie ran away!" Easy- peasy. Problem solved. But, this bothered me the more I thought about it. Is all of the information that's out there too easily accessible, to the detriment of our brains? I think that maybe it is. Although I appreciate what's at my fingertips I'm going to give my own gray matter more of a chance going forward, that muscle needs exercise too. What do you think?

And maybe I can't find yeast, but I can still bake. Peanut Butter cookies fresh out of the oven.

Stay safe my friends, take good care and wash your hands! 🧼

Life is Good!

Behind the Scenes

Hi, I'm Gene the Gingerbread Man, I wanted to give you a quick glimpse into where Mrs. Goodneedle has been and what she's been doing for the past week. She and Mr. Goodneedle stay busy! With a porch ceiling to work on and shopping and baking to be done, all in preparation for an Open House on Saturday evening.

With all of that baking going on the kitchen looked like a bomb had gone off!

Sugar cookie dough is rolled out on an antique pastry cloth that Mrs. Goodneedle inherited. 

These are her MIL's wafer-thin sugar cookies (the pastry cloth is imperative). The recipe is an old one, instead of a numeric oven temperature listed it calls for a "moderate" oven and uses powdered sugar in the dough in place of granulated sugar. These cookies have stood the test (and taste) of time for generations.

Chocolate Crinkles

Almond Cookies, Mrs. Goodneedle's specialty cookie.

This place has been hopping; lucky for me, I've been able to avoid greedy hands and hungry mouths just in the nick of time. (Sadly, that's not the case for some of my friends!) Slowly, but surely, the tree was decorated and the flour, butter, eggs, spices and sugar were put away and the kitchen resembled that of one in a home and not a commercial bakery once again. We all longed for calm to settle back in. Here we all are, below, after being given our final touches of buttons and bows, making us all the more delectable!

Of course, there were grandchildren to visit and performances to attend at their respective schools.

And a new (to her) grocery-mecca to check out in the Capital City for Mrs. Goodneedle. She wasn't disappointed in what she found there. Even the shopping was conducted at an escalated pace! 

She saw this at WalMart and thought that she and her stitchy friends might like to wear them, but it was vetoed when she contacted them (they're no fun, it even lights up!) There was not much sewing happening behind the scenes, there simply wasn't  time. (Except for some super-secret Christmas gift-giving stitching I saw her doing! Shhhhh!!) Ho! Ho!! Ho!!!

All too soon the week had whizzed by and it was time for the Open House!

Hungry hoardes arrived and devoured the food. They all seemed to enjoy themselves.

Sigh. There's my friends, there's very few of us remaining today. 😢 RIP

Today she's recovering from her busy week by the fireplace while she sips a cup of tea. If I know what's good for me I'll exit at this point before she looks for something to nibble on during her "break". I'm outta here~

Wishing you a peaceful and calm week before Christmas!

Life is Good!

Up next: Removing Stitches

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