Hat for the new baby

Hat for the new baby
Originally uploaded by foodchronicles.

This is what I've been spending my time doing lately. All in all it took only about a day and a half's time. I found it easy to do and am pleased with the outcome. It's called the Baby Cupcake Hat. I wasn't sure if I should post it at Food Chronicles instead. ;-)

The pattern I used is from Carolyn Christmas' The Portable Crafter - Crochet. It is full of great little things to crochet. Next up- socks! I love my cozy winter socks to wear around the house. Carolyn has provided us with a sock pattern to crochet and I'm giving them a try.

I'll post the results.

Read More......

Thank you, Barbaro

I am a huge animal softie. I love them to death and am always touched by their loyalty. Barbaro was no exception. From my childhood days of loveing Black Beauty, to this year's preakness, I have had a love affair with these magnificent beasts.

In the late 80s I had the opportunity to go to Los Alamitos Race track for a day of racing. My favorite place was was the Walking Ring. As the horses are led from the paddocks to the track, at Santa Anita, the horses can be viewed up close. The jockeys, in their silks, lead the horses out of the paddock, along with trainers, around the walking ring to give spectators a chance to see the horses in all their racing splendor. I didn't bet on a race, but the day was wonderful. I often wish I lived closer, I think I'd spend a few mornings a week at the workout sessions.

Barbaro's owners and doctors did all they could to save him. Even with the best of care his injury was too much to overcome. He had developed laminitis in all three uninjured legs. Today he was euthanized. He was truly suffering and the time had come to say goodbye. He may be gone, but he joins a group of well loved animals. Go graze in some tall clover, eat all you want, no worries about getting colic now! See you on the rainbow bridge bud!

Read More......

Valentine's Apron

Valentine's Apron
Originally uploaded by foodchronicles.

The last item for the "box". I think Little Miss will love this. I whipped it up yeaterday morning. It was a fabric I found on sale and it was 60 inches wide. I bought a yard and probably have enough fabric to make three more of them the same size. Hmmm. I might even make one for myself!

I am also using this apron for the Jan/Feb Tie One On! Amy at Angry Chicken hosts a event every pther month called Tie One On. It's an apron appreciation group where she challenges us to make and apron and put it up for all to see. I have watched from afar for the last year and now with a bit of free time, I am participating. I look forward to the next few months of sewing some cute aprons, as the ones I currently have are very utilitarian!

So the first one's for Little MIss. I can hardly wait to see the pictures.

Read More......

Scarf for Little MIss

Scarf for Little MIss
Originally uploaded by foodchronicles.

After reading about the wonderful crocheting getting done at Bella Dia I knew I had to get going on a couple of projects.

This one was finished in a day and a half. It's for Little Miss of course. Who else needs a pink snuggly scarf? You see, she has this brand new convertible car, and it can be very cold in the winter! The scarf should help keeps things toasty while on her "drives". ;-)

Then it's on to the little cupcake hat for the new grandson. I have finished the band and am working on the body of the hat. That should be done in a day or so. Pics as soon as they make sense.

Than S'mee called and she needs a couple of crocheted flower pins. I'll whip those up for her tomorrow. I'll phtoograph the process, so it'll be a short tutorial for all of you who need to dust off your hooks and get started again.

Read More......

Glass cabs

Glass cabs
Originally uploaded by foodchronicles.

This is some of what I've been up to lately. Lots more where this came from! New items up for sale this evening at 3 hip sisters tonight.

here's another:

Read More......

The Fours Meme

MeMe from Melissa and her sister!

This came to Melissa in an email, she asks that we all keep it chugging along. So S'mee, Pea, the youngest one, and the 1st should all give it a try.

A) Four Jobs I have had in my life!

* Grocery Store everything, started as a box girl and worked my way to carrying keys, counting the money and setting prices (chain wide)
* Baker this was by far the very hardest job ever, it takes precision and stamina
* Stock Broker, yes I was one, I love the financial markets, hated the job
* Cook, line chef so to speak


B) Four Movies I watch over and over (and over)

* Empire of the Sun
* Regarding Henry
* About a Boy
* Joe versus the Valcano

Unfair to list only four. I love movies. I watch movies everyday, from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The State of the Union oldies to War of the Worlds and Braveheart. It serves an injustice to choose only four.

C) Four Places I have Lived

* Port Huron, Michigan
* San Diego, California
* Long Beach, CA
* Provo, UT

This was the hardest of all to decide, you see, I have lived so many other places too! I could have had a list of probably 20 more.

D) Four TV Shows I Love to Watch

* Heroes
* Monk
* No Reservations
* Amazing Race

This one was pretty easy. TV isn't all it's supposed to be, anymore. I have a myriad of tv to choose from and keep the channel on the HGTV and Discovery network most of the time.

Four Places I have been on vacation

* Punta Chivato, MX
* Cabo San Lucas, MX
* Utah, Idaho roadtrips
* San Francisco, CA and the pacific coast

Four Websites I Visit Daily

* My Blog Roll, some of you more than twice a day just to see if you're ever going to write again.
* Little Cotton Rabbits
* eGullet
* Ethicurean

Four of My Favorite Foods

* Hot Chocolate, yes, it is a food
* Chili Verde, in a burrito with melted cheese and lots of green sauce
* Kalamata Olive bread from Con Pane with thin sliced roast beef, goat cheese
* Turkey, gravy and rice

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now

* Anywhere warm!
* Lexington, Virginia
* Provo, Utah
* Rexburg, Idaho

What I've learned so far is that I could probably eat with Lisa any day of the week and Melissa and I could watch TV or go to the movies together, a lot.

Read More......

What to do?

That isn't a phrase that gets spoken around here ever. There is always something to do. I have been in the kitchen experimenting a bit lately. I have also spent a bit of time in the garage with the kiln. The shop will have some new items in it shortly.

This morning the fabric that I showed you earlier in the week finally got its turn. I whipped this up. It's not finished completely, but almost. I have to go purchase a couple of buttons for the back and get it hemmed. Then I can mail it off to little miss. It will make a nice Valentine I think.



Now to warm some pizza for lunch!

Read More......

Important site to visit before taking any road trip

I stumbled upon this site while surfing away a couple of days ago and find it to be one of the most important sites on the net. I see blog awards all the time for blogs that are funny, witty, informative, well written, all those good things. But this site, this site, is the mother of all blogs. Yes, it deserves a special place on the net. I believe because of the information it provides, it should be automatically be the home page for anyone purchasing a computer and planning to use the internet!

Yes. That. Important. This man deserves every award available, at least a link from all of us!

So what is it you ask? Well it has something to do with these:



Hmmm. How does this become the focal point of our lives? Well, you tell me. How many times have you gone on a roadtrip and needed to pull off the road to take care of "business" and had to pick at random a place to "go". Most times you end up in a germ infested creepy substitute of a bathroom. The floor moves from out of the corner of your eye, the "paper" is provided in a roll size that would take care of a travelling football team, yet, is empty. And, of course, the water is never hot, the soap dispenser is empty and forget about seat covers completely. To the rescue comes The Bathroom Diaries. Yes, nirvana on the net! You can now map your course via the best bathrooms in the world! The world! Yes, they have commentary on worldwide public bathrooms! You go to the site, choose your cities, countries, locations and check the reviews. You'll know whether or not to carry a bucket with you, with rubber gloves, Lysol and TP. You'll know if you can easily navigate yourself through the myriad of rest stops along the way and find that perfect location.

Yes, finally a place you can check and prepare for Elivs leaving the building!

Read More......

Around the corner and back again

This weekend has brought a few extra moments to go looking around the net for new people and things. These are some of the new people I've found:

Claudia has illustrations that speak to me. Her art is done in what appears to me as pen and ink. The reason I say appears, is that Claudia is from Madrid and her site is in Spanish. The art is gorgeous, I'll have to get my son-in-law to translate.

Dub and Sam is a crafty blog that caught my interest. It seems Jessica is a lot like me. She's a crafter that loves to experiment in the kitchen and is interested in lots of things. She has a great link list too!

Bemused and I could be fast friends. She loves to quilt. Her quilts are so nice. The poatage stamp quilt she's working on is gorgeous. She also has an interest in other crafty goodness too so don't count her out if you're not a fan of quilting!

If you have yet to discover Superbuzzy! you're missing out. I have been a fan of Mariko and Kelly for about six months now. They has some very cute sewing and crafting items from Japan for sale at great prices.

Anja Boretzki has stolen my heart! She has some wonderful crafts to share with all of us. I am dying to make the angels for Little Miss next year! And that Nativity! Is that too cute?

I envy all of you who are illustrators. And I have added Natasha to my list. All of you do such inspiring things. My love for illustrators began with Danny got me started, I quickly added Kim who has brought inspiration untold to me. Each of you I respect and admire for your abilities to share life through your illustrations. They are wonderful. There are so many others. Please include yourself in that admiration.

So where have you been lately? And who is inspiring you right now?

Read More......

Cute fabrics

I am a sucker for cute fabric. I learned to sew when I was about twelve years old and have sewn ever since. Embroidery, pattern adjustment, culottes(should tell you how old I am) were my first projects. All in one item, aaack!

One thing I gained from being taught as a yound girl, was the opportunity to fall in love with fabric. I cannot walk by a fabric store without wondering what wonderful things are inside. I keep myself from dropping in, because I also have the other disease called "stash filling". Yes, I suffer from that dreaded condition. I have a dresser full of fabric that has yet to be cut. Eeeck!

While the granddaughter was here she opened a drawer and found this cute stuff. She said dress?
I told her I would see what I could do about making her a dress or two out of it. I have a pattern picked out but I am not aure it will work with the pattern. I may go with a summer jumper instead. Any suggestions?

Read More......

Organize everything!

I have been spending the last few days writing a priority list. There are so many things to get done that I have discovered the need to begin blocking out my time as if I were at work. I received a couple of great items for Christmas from the big guy with help from the daughters that will take me to the next level on several items I am persuing.

This for example:and this:
I cannot believe what support I get from the family. They really do work hard to help me in my quest to learn and grow and become. So with these new tools come the opportunities to learn and stretch the old brain a bit.

Two more blocks of time please!

Read More......

At the risk of offending everyone....

Oh I thought I did that with the new year's post. Nah.

What in the heck is on the HGTV channel at 7 a.m. PST? Craft Lab? My husband has left the house two days in a row, asking how did they get a group of grown women, and sometimes guys, to play like they're in first grade for tv? I kind of have to agree with him.

They make the most inane projects. Today it was melting crayons on paper and add embellishments and glitter. Then once it dries you can use it for a frame or a journal cover or wall art. If someone gives me a glitter covered journal, I'll get the message. Stop journaling. I get it. You know the glitter would drive me out of my mind being all over my fingers and I'd never touch the thing. Yep, journaling would end then and there. How about a nice moleskin instead?

Don't get me wrong. These are the first few shows. I am sure it'll get better, they just have to find their groove.

Read More......

Super Organizer Girl Is on Board

Well, it is the 2nd of January and all...

I have been waiting for some quiet time around the house to begin. AS seen before by all of you (well, maybe not all) I have a office/craft/photography room to work in. It has been a bedroom, but now since the girlie girls all got married, I changed it out to my creating room!



This is my idea shelf. I have articles from magazines since about 1979 in those notebooks. Problem: how to find the article I want without fishing through a ton of notebooks? I finally figured it out. Scan! That's right scan. I am going to scan every article and put it in a folder according to category with an index. Yes! Then I'll have what I need when I need it all with a few keystrokes.

Most of these articles are from past Martha Stewart magazines, Better Homes and Gardens and House Beautiful. If you have a request for instructions from a long lost articles, let me know, I may just have what you're looking for.

I am still in search of an article from the early 80s. If I ever find it....

Read More......

I took the plunge!

I went to haloscan a couple of days ago and noticed the recent news. The had a hack for the new blogger. Yes! It's exactly what I was waiting for. You see, I abhor the comments section on blogger. I cannot stand typing in code words for the opportunity to post a comment. Yuck. So I have been with haloscan for almost as long as I've been blogging. I paid the $10 ($10 wow that's all!) upgrade fee and I get to ban, and manage and change my template and do all kinds of neat things with comments.

When I read the news that some really great tech guy or girl over at halscan had figured the hack to get it to work with the new blogger I jumped at the chance to use it. That siad, as you can probably tell, there are a few bugs with the new blogger.

When yo migrate your site over, you lose all the cool extras you've added along the way. Then over the next few days, as I have been doing, you begin to remember all the stuff you used to have and begin adding them back in. It's not too difficult, but if you have a friend that's done it, give them a call or write them an email to check if you're doing things correctly.

Once you've made the migration choice, you'll get to see the bells and whistles, blogger has added. Cool stuff like being able to change your template colors and links, and all that good stuff pretty easily. I'm still not sold on the colors I'm currently using so you'll probably watch the changes with curious minds wondering when I'll stop. Possibly never. heh.

If you haven't yet managed to migrate, blogger is now saying the new blogger is blogger and the old blogger wants a vacation. I think that maybe, just maybe, they'll try to get you over your fears and have you make the change soon. Come on join the cool kids, drink the koolaid, or jump off that cliff, whichever peer presure slogan works for you. I know my sis has an aversion for lemming behavior, and doesn't like the "if I jump off a cliff will you?" mantra, but come on sis, I did it!

Read More......

Happy New Year

Forever, that sentiment has puzzled me. I was not schooled on the good fortune of a new year. Life began on your birthday, and your "new year" was on that anniversary each year. I say the "Happy New Year" greeting (feeling somewhat wierd) to those I meet in my daily outings, and here on the blog. Everywhere I visit are celebrations of the New Year.

As I try to figure out my lack of enthusiasm for this day, maybe it's that I listened too well to the teachings of the Old Testament when taught as a young child. The new year was celebrated with great anticipation in old testament times, mostly looking forward to the Jubilee year. It came in sevenths. On the seventh year, a Sabbatical was celebrated, farmers were to leave their land fallow until the next year. A rest period, kind of a type and shadow of the creation, I suppose. Then after the seventh sabbatical, the year of Jubilee was celebrated in the fiftieth year. Great things happened. Mostly with land ownership. Debts were forgiven and clean slates were made. A new approach applied and life was to improve.

Those are the things I remember being taught as I traversed the religious background of my childhood. We didn't have a definite religion, and visited just about anyone who had open doors when I was growing up. You name the church, I visited it, at one time or another. [I never did go to a Scientology place, as I didn't know about their existence until they purchased the land at the end of the valley. Yes folks, I live in Scientology land. The little robots(at least that what they seem like to me) are all over the place.] The year of jubilee came and went in our modern society yet debts were not forgiven. We've replaced the valued traditions of old with simple parties and "new beginnings". Salutations and celebrations have replaced true caring and forgiveness, especially empathy. The shadow of the creation has been replaced with the stark brightness of the new age, personal effort and amazing ability to intellectualize our existence.

Can you understand my confusion? I do care. The world needs a little more caring. From all of us. What I wish this new year, is a little more empathy, caring and concern. Instead of looking at the beggar with disdain, can we ask ourselves why? What put them there? Can we try, in this new year, to reach out more to others, really truly look them in the eye and ask the hard questions? You know the questions, the ones that will make you stretch forth your hand in fellowship, and true concern for the well being of others. The questions that look beyond the simple straight forward answers of "fine" or "just great" and move to real answers given because they feel your concern. Can we make each other just a little less anonymous, objectified? I think if we do, our lives, and the lives of those we reach out to, will be better.

So in this new year, I really do wish your dreams come true. That your empty longings will find fulfillment and that you will fill yourself with the love you are seeking. By giving, we receive. So give, give more than you ever expected, and reap the rewards you never knew existed.

Read More......