Flowers and Purses

I finally took photographs of a few purses I made last year. These are mine. My mother fell for them and asked for one. Well, with a removable insert...what good is one, so she got two. The original pattern is a Tammy Tadd Design. With each purse, I make modifications to make it all mine. The orange/yellow/green fabric is so NOT me! But I love it! I purchased some coordinating FQs and machine quilted the orange dotted fabric for the body of the purse. The blue and yellow fabric is reversible pre-quilted fabric. I made two of these...one for me and one for Mama. To change bags, just rip the Velcro apart, remove the liner (which has inside pockets) and Velcro it inside the next purse.

Now, for my dark bags. I made two of the reddish bags - yep, you guessed it, one for me and one for Mama. I love the bag with the animal print. This is the first one I did with the wooden bead trim and found out that I needed to drop it an inch so that it did not flip to the inside of the bag.

My hosta buds opened. They are not the perfumey kind and aren't all that showy. But I think they are gorgeous. I just love the foliage.

And look! My mother-in-law's tongue is about to bloom! What a surprise. This is the first time I have ever had one to bloom. (BTW, the Latin name is sansaveria...I think.)

He's Back

Sam has been gone for a whole week! John, his son, borrowed a bulldozer from Elton, his uncle/Sam's brother. The only stipulation Elton made was that Sam or his younger brother, Terry, run the dozer. Terry works in John's office, so that left Sam up for the job. He has the bulldozing complete, but has to go back in a few days to finish the clean-up.


(Thought I would include a photo of Sam's family. The oldest and youngest are sitting on the couch, Terry and Sam - you should be able to tell the age difference of 22 years! That leaves #2 Steve, #4 Linda, and #3 Elton.This was taken back in 2004. Sam's mother is now 94. Physically she is doing great. Unfortunately she has Alzheimers and is now in a nursing home.)

This has been a mixed blessing time. I enjoyed doing what I wanted to do when I wanted to do...I ate what I wanted when I wanted if I wanted. You know, ice cream with chocolate syrup on top at 4:30 so wasn't hungry at supper time. Had a salad. Oh! Ate Brussel sprouts which Sam doesn't care for! But let me tell you how I cooked them:

Chop up 2 slices bacon and cook until nearly crisp. Toss in 2 minced garlic cloves and 1 diced small onion. Saute until the onions are translucent. If you have small Brussel sprouts, leave them whole, if larger (you decide what is large - for me anything larger than a quarter), cut in half. Oh? How many? I used a package of frozen Brussel sprouts. Toss them in the skillet and toss with the rest of the stuff already in there. Pour over 1/2 can of chicken broth. Cover with a lid and let simmer and steam until most of the liquid is gone. Don't forget your salt and pepper to taste. Cooked this way, they are not the least bit crunchy. If you wanted crunch, you could forget the broth...they have enough moisture that they will steam without any added liquid. Shame I didn't think to take a picture...next time.

This makes me think about Fried Cabbage which is cooked pretty much the same. I use 2 slices of bacon for half a head of cabbage...4 slices for a whole head of cabbage. Because Mama didn't, I don't use the garlic or onion, but I bet it would be good. And, I don't pour in chicken broth - but it couldn't do anything except enhance the flavor.



Here we are (2002). Jonathan, my son, Brook and John, Sam's two...me and Sam.