Nored No More

Quickly

I know it's been ages, and I have so much cool stuff to post... I have a few things to get out of the way (a trip to North Carolina for the 4th of July, and the D.C. Metro Dash on July 9th) before I go back to regular sewing/knitting/posting.

In the meantime, Charlie is love love loving his new food. Even-more-expensive-than-before kibble for breakfast, with a spash of unpasteurized goats milk; an afternoon snack of virgin coconut oil, and dinner is either kibble with canned ground turkey (it worries me that I like the smell; makes me think of Vienna Sausages... and it makes sense since the ingredient list is TURKEY, WATER, and CARRAGEENAN GUM) or two raw chicken burgers. 

I am love love loving my Crossfit workouts every day (well, not every day anymore, since the trainer gave me the word on inserting two days of rest somewhere in the week).  I am love love loving the story line in Game of Thrones. The gore and the nekkid folks are kinda much, but the acting is excellent and the storyline fascinating (says the girl who isn't SUPER fond of Sci-Fi or Fantasy...). I've been watching on-demand, so no need to wait for the next episode - just have 9 and 10 to watch.

Happy (and safe!) Fourth of July to everyone.

Was it yummy??

Last night, I grilled a steak for dinner, and some of the edge pieces were too crispy for my taste, so before I sat down to eat I sliced off the offending parts and left them on the counter.

When I went to do the dishes, I looked at the meat (which I HATE putting in the trash because then it smells) and thought, "Hmm. Three little pieces of meat, three big dogs. I'll be their favorite human ever!" (Nevermind that I'm the only human they're interacting with over the next four days...). So I sit them all down on the deck, and starting with the oldest and moving to the "slowest," I dispense the treats.

Rosey takes it gently from my hands, and starts chewing oh-so-slowly, enjoying the taste and savoring the moment.

Finlay jumps up and takes it, chews three times or so, and then sits down and looks all expectant like, "May I have anotha???"

And then there's Charlie. Charlie lapped the piece out of my hand with his tongue and swallowed it without even chewing ONCE. He sits down and looks at the other two dogs as if to say," What's the big deal? Why are we freaking out? I didn't taste anything."

I'm pretty sure Rosey gave him a disgusted look, and then eyeballed me with, "What a waste." And I don't think she was talkin' about the food.

Here's the deal...

I've been all tied up in finishing lots of big and little projects all at the same time at work, while planning for new ones.  I'm clearly very behind in my blogging, my sewing, my photo-taking, my knitting, my reading, and according to my TiVO, my television viewing as well. Sans pictures, here's a quick update.

Charlie: Charlie had another seizure in early May, while I was hmming and hawing about putting him on anti-convulsants. Rather than immediately filling the Rx when he had the seizure (which, unlike any other seizure, happened right when I walked in the door from work and right at my feet), I called the holistic vet I'd been referred to and made an appointment for the following week. A good chunk of change and a new dog food later, we may have the solution. As it turns out, my dog (and those of you who know me may find this rather funny...) has a TON of FOOD allergies. Everything I've been feeding him since I got him--ya, he's allergic to it. And I've been feeding him good ($$$), Made-In-The-USA, human-grade food...that he's allergic to... fingers crossed his new  food solves the problem.

Eating: I haven't cooked anything cool lately. I made turkey salad last weekend that got rave reviews, but seriously? That's just sad.

Knitting: I'm still looking at lots of pretty yarn I own, but I haven't touched the sticks since I ordered yarn back in...February?

Listening: I don't know why, but I bought three new albums (dating myself there...) inside of three weeks, and each was more different than the next. Zack Brown Band, Adele, and Linkin Park. I love all of them. Linkin Park for Crossfit, Adele for drivig, Zack Brown Band for the pool.

Quilting: I am picking up two finished quilts from the quilt lady tomorrow; one is the Happy Days quilt I made last August. It's my first-ever quilt, made from Sandy Gervais' Frolic. I LOVED that fabric, and can't wait to see how it turned out. I'll post pictures.  The second finished quilt is one I made over Christmas using some SweetWater Authentic fabric I stole (was given?) from my sisters giant stash. I used a Schnibbles pattern, and plan to give it away as a very belated 40th birthday present. Can't wait to see how THAT one was quilted, too. Also in quilting news, I bought 11 yards of Tula Pink's Prince Charming and one of her patterns to make a quilt for my bedroom. I've been slowly working on redecorating the house (remind me to post pics of the new couch!), and this new quilt for the bedroom is just the ticket. Oh, and the block-a-palooza with SweetWater's Sunkissed...still working on that...AND I have two layer cakes of Sandy Gervais' Giddy to do something with as well... I was thinking this (when I get to it).

Reading: While I should be reading some stuff for work...I'm reading brain candy instead. Although I find Stieg Larsson's books to have so many different yet necessary characters that I wouldn't call them brain candy. I started The Girl Who Played With Fire in January, and last week I finished it and downloaded The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I finished that the other day (Memorial Day Weekend was spent pool-side with the Kindle for extended periods of time), and now I'm back to true brain candy: Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware crime novels. I think I'm on number 19? Rage. I started reading those books in the '90s, and two years ago I picked one up and decided to get back into them... slowy. I'm really interested in reading something decent but nothing out there sounds good. I just read a couple of "Summer's Big Reading!" lists in various mags, and none of them sounded like anythingI had to grab immediately.

Running: In case y'all didn't know it, we had a brutal heat wave here the last week or so... and yet, courtesy of Crossfit, I was still running sprints in the early a.m. My 5K in April was very smooth but s-l-o-w. My next "race" is the Metro Dash, which is more obstacle course than race. The next two I'm signed up for are also obstacle courses (including one with ZOMBIES!). I'm trying to harness a group of 12 for the Ragnar, but it's not looking too good.

Teaching: Same old, same old - still teaching kids to read. Heh-heh.

Watching: All the season finales that I've seen were fine... nothing that made me go "WHOOOOAAAA....." We'll see when I get through the TiVO.  I saw Bridesmaids, which slayed me, and I saw The Hangover, Part 2, which was funny enough, but exactly like the first one--just in Bangkok instead of Vegas.

Annnnnnd.... that's all, folks! Posts with pics returning soon...-ish... I hope.

 

Whaddya think?

In the process of figuring out how to customize here... still no sewing, knitting, embroidery, cross stitching, or reading. I did, however, just finish watching last night's episode of The Office, and it made me smile. 

More real content coming soon!

What's Cookin' Good Lookin'?

I've not quilted a SINGLE THING since February, which is why you haven't seen anything from me. Public Apology. Bizzy, bizzy around here.

But I've crawled out from under the pile of objectives I'm writing and reviewing to make a dish to take to work tomorrow for a colleague's baby shower. She's a vegetarian, and I had no go-to dishes. After consulting with my mother, and then feeling too lazy to make anything she recommended, I decided that the angel hair pasta they sell at the Market Cafe at Wegman's was going to be my meal.

HOWEVER - I have a HUGE problem in that I can't *stand* taking store-bought stuff to places where you're asked to bring a dish. I don't know why I can't do it, but I can't. So I googled pasta recipes, and that was a total fail. Then I went to Smitten Kitchen and googled pasta recipes, and that was a total win. I've made some of her stuff before, and it always turns out amazing and ends up being something I make over and over again. So the recipe totally came from her, but I altered it in that hers is a summer recipe using goodies from the farmer's market, and mines a spring recipe using goodies from the produce, frozen foods, and veggie aisle at Harris Teeter. You can see the original recipe here. But check it:

Pea and Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

Small bag of frozen peas, nuked and then thrown in an ice bath

Sugar snap peas blanched, tossed in an ice bath, and slide thin on the diagonal (so if you think you see something that looks like a sliced scallion, it's not - it's a snap pea).

Jar of roasted red peppers, a shallot, some oil and vinegar, some salt and pepper zipped through the food processor.

Toss it all together with some pasta. BAM. You're done.

Smitten Kitchen also said the sauce (which makes about 2 cups but you only need a cup for the pasta) (oh - and it's really a vinaigrette - I don't know why I keep thinking "sauce") could go on a bunch of things. I had extra peas, and a can of white (cannellini) beans - so I mixed those all together with the sauce and WHOA. I most definitely have a new favorite go-to dish/meal. 

Raise your hand if you missed Charlie Boy!

How cute is he chewing apart his (MADE IN CHINA!) duck:

(the plastic blob on the right is what made the duck HONK-HONK like a real duck/goose/whatever)

And in case you wondered where he hangs out these days, especially while I'm cooking, I'll leave you with this photo, which MAY contain some clues....

 

Block-a-palooza Block #9

Yay, block nine, Lemonade Stand, is done:

This was done with a slightly different type of no-waste-geese method, and I was pretty darn pleased with my geese. 

 

Here's what else I have to show: 

Have you heard of Quince and Co.? One day I was trolling around on Ravelry, and on an impulse I ended up with this:

So that I could make an Oatmeal Pullover... even though I'm still working on Aidez... and fifty other projects... Anyhow, here's what I liked about ordering some Puffin from them:

So classy! Check out their site - it's beautiful, and I'd definitely order more yarn from them.

What else? I needed thread, so I went to the quilt shop over the weekend. Ended up buying a bit more than what I went in for:

 

Top left: Alexander Hamilton's Larkspur, in the Indigo colorway:

Top right, Kitty Yoshida's Prospect Park in the Grey Pistachio colorway:

I l-o-o-o-v-e this stuff.

Bottom middle: Bella Solids - no idea the names:

But all my favorite colors. Something cool will come of them...

And also? I've been coveting these cathedral window pillows I keep seeing all over the internets. So after trolling around for a tutorial I could understand (and there's a TON out there - but this one made the most sense to me), I started on a few panes today. I didn't get too far - my dog seized, and I put away the sewing after that. But, here's what I did get done:

Yeah - not too far. Two folded up squares and the perfect insert fabric. Can't WAIT to try some more. 

And finally (because I know Sven in Norway is dying to know!): I finished reading Catching Fire so now I'm halfway through Mockingjay, and Bob's Burgers is my new favorite show. The characters are just so...wrong and bizarre. Makes me laugh out loud every episode. 

 

Block-a-palooza Block #8

Whoops! Forgot to post this:

My Basket of Geese from Thursday. Applique, and I gotta say - I read the post of the directions and went, "Ugh." I had some anxiety about proper placement of the geese, but opted to go with the tried-and-true lick-it-and-stick-it method, and I'm pretty pleased with how it panned out.

I painted all weekend long. I also finally set up my surround sound system - well, watched and made drinks as Jen did it.  Y'all, my movies  now look and SOUND like I'm actually at the theater. 

Oooh  - also, Jen's husband Chuck steam-vac'd my carpet and it looks like I have brand new carpet. The estimate I had came back a smidge high (over two thousand for my l'il ole one-bedroom). This makes me very happy that my carpet looks this good. The living room is lookin' gooooood. The kitchen needs another coat and the tile to go up. Then on to the dining room and the bedroom. Slow and steady.

 

Block-a-palooza Block #7

Whew! Okay - all caught up just in time for block eight to come out tomorrow. Here's block number seven - Orange You Glad I Made a Nine-Patch (ha! loved the name, and loved that it was a nine-patch, as they're kinda fun and easy for me).

And since I started Mockingjay last night, I'm off to go read a bit more of that  -- stayed up way too late last night reading  - AARRRGGGH.

SO. NOT. HAPPY. 

Although, also w-a-a-y less confused. I just went to Amazon to get the link to Mockingjay, where I noticed it's called Mockingjay: The Final Book of the Hunger Games. "FINAL" - as in, "Hey, you read the first one, and then you started the last one - and all that confusion over WTH? the Quarter Quell? Peeta's a what where? District 12, wha-? ... all that should be cleared up if you'd just read CATCHING FIRE: THE SECOND BOOK OF THE HUNGER GAMES first."

So apropos of my life. Sigh. Upside: the correct book is on my desk at work, so tomorrow I'll start reading Catching Fire. 

Block-a-palooza Block #6

So I'm a smidge behind - block seven came out YESTERDAY, and I'm just now posting block six. I had a very productive weekend, though. 

First, the block:

I love this. I love all the blocks. But secretly, this is my favorite so far. I'd actually do a whole quilt out of blocks of this. 

Next, the home improvements:

Painted the kitchen - Candied Lime and Vanilla Steam. Heheh. Just realized they're both foody names. There's the tile in the background. I still really like it. Also? The microwave there? It died. GE came to service it. Repairs cost more than replacement, so a new one is being delivered tomorrow. Sigh.

Also, you can't tell, but I a) painted this corner (Brisk Olive - same color; and the next two walls in the living room will be done tomorrow, because I took down the drapes and sent them to the dry cleaner, but they're ready to be picked up which means they're ready to be hung up which means the wall needs painted) and b) I put new books up. You may be able to tell that I put together a new console (I haven't had one since....2003? I've been using a steamer trunk full of books - off to storage with those). It's so grown-up looking! It was also fun and easy to put together on Saturday night - a mere two and a half hours from Target to this (I'm not counting the HOUR it took me to plug the cords back in so that I had sound and audio on TiVO, cable, and PlayStation... that was like DEATH). I also have a new surround sound system there, courtesy of my friend Jen in honor of my upcoming birthday. THAT isn't set up yet - but it's close. And then it's gonna be the BOMB.

Finally, tomorrow Lowes is sending over an estimator to tell me how much to tear up, remove, and install carpet. I'm thinking of one of the two below:

And finally, I finished Hunger Games over the weekend and thankfully have Mockingjay to start......NOW!

Block-a-palooza Block #5

Today's block comes from Miss Print, and the name is Geesey McNinePatch. I liked the name. I like nine patches. Flying geese, however, aren't really my favorite thing. No matter how perfect my cutting, and how straight my sewing, the little buggers always end up "bowed," almost. Kinda concaved on top and convexed on the bottom (my math friends' heads just exploded with my verbed use of concave and convex). Also, I've used some of Miss Print's tutorials before, and I really have liked them. She's a whip. So I thought perhaps the tutorial she had on "no-waste" flying geese would make me suddenly love love love me some flying geese. 

I still don't.

After three hours, here's what I produced (note: it's REALLY wrong):

Note the left and right columns: the geese are flying in the same direction. Go back and check out Miss Print's - the geese are flying a circle around the nine patch. 

So, okay - that was a pretty obvious mistake. I ripped out one of the columns, went to rotate it and sew it back on, but realized I ripped out the wrong column and had to resew the ripped one and THEN rip the other column. So, about another 30 minutes go by and I produce this:

My geese now fly all around the nine patch, but again - I STILL don't have it right. Go ahead -- go look again.

I'm going to call it creative license, leave it as-is, and go to bed. A colleague loaned me the Hunger Games series over 6 months ago, and I'm FINALLY going to start reading it. Perhaps..........NOW.

 

PS: the tutorial was excellent and easy to follow. I dunno what my problem is - I think the next block I'll try printing out the PDF instead of running back and forth to the computer (which, yeah, is a laptop that could carry over, but there's no where to put it in the "sewing area".... First World problems, y'all...).