October to-date

The photos did not load in order...so I will be hopping around.

Cody, Brook, Isabel, and Jonathan all came to the family reunion. I had to be careful at the reunion and watch what I ate because Brook had notified me that if it was okay she wanted to cook supper for us. Well YES! She pounded chicken breasts and rolled up around basil and mozzarella and seasonings...popped in the freezer to firm for a few minutes...then the flour, egg, bread crumb process and baked it then topped with a red wine mushroom sauce. I had the salad fixings: mixed greens, kalamata olives, pepperoncini, feta cheese, and a homemade vinaigrette. My homemade bread was sliced, buttered, seasoned and toasted. For dessert we had cannoli pie (cannoli filling in a baked pastry shell. MERCY!

Isabel and Jonathan played. He said that her idea of taking turns stacking dominoes and knocking them down was for him to stack them and she would knock them down. Then he would tell her that it was her turn. She would lay down one domino then tell him that it was his turn! ;-)

I made a couple of things for Isabel...a jumper...

...and a corduroy jacket. When Isabel saw the jumper, her eyes rounded. When she saw the jacket, she immediately hugged her arms and said, "I cold." She needed it Saturday evening and definitely Sunday morning! Isn't she such a cute model?! Yes. I think so too.

Sunday morning breakfast with a bacon grease face.

Sunset one evening...

We never had more than four hummingbirds. Then we got down to only two. The other night we had FIVE! They must have made a pit stop on their migratory trip. There's one on the other side of the bottle...the fifth was too busy flying in and out.

At the reunion, Isabel was the youngest...Bill Ray the oldest at 97...he will be 98 next month.

She did not know him so was not too happy to be that close. I was holding her, but it was still too close to him to suit her.

Sewing and Cooking and Other Stuff

Saw three of these pretties on the way to work one day this week.  Drove the back way to town intending to go by Mama's house.  Instead, I turned left to the highway.

A dress for Isabel sewn on Shirley Ann with fabrics and trim from my stash.

I now wish I'd used blue gingham for all three ruffles.

Button-up back.

Found some blue trim in my CQ chest.

Everything gathered but the pears.  They are shredded in the food processor.

Butter, sugar, and eggs all creamed together.

Instead of baking in two tube pans, I bake in four loaf pans...easier for freezing.

Fresh out of the oven.

Delicious!

My next two projects.  ABC quilts for the grandsons. Cain's ABC blocks are already sewn together (on the right). Colt's blocks are different ABC fabric from Cain's, and I will be using blue fabric instead of the green.

Fresh Pear Cake

 2 cups Sugar   
 1 cup Butter   
 4 large Eggs   
 2 teaspoons Vanilla   
 3 cups Flour, sifted
 1 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon   
 1 teaspoon Allspice   
 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg   
 1/2 teaspoon Salt   
 1 1/2 teaspoon Soda   
 3/4 cup Buttermilk   
 1 cup fresh Apples, finely chopped
 1/2 cup Pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Mix well. Sift flour, spices, salt, soda, and add alternately with buttermilk. Fold in apples and pecans. Blend well. Pour into a 10 inch tube pan that has been greased and dusted with flour. Bake 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. DO NOT overbake. Remove from pan.
NOTE: I bake in two loaf pans for about an hour. 
The four cakes above is a double recipe.

No Matter How Small the Project

It's still called "sewing." ;-)

Mug rug for Nancy

Siggy squares for a quilting retreat (COF) in Branson MO.

PS Pool is clearing up!!!  Sam ordered new filters which he'll install next week sometime.  I decided our pool brush was too soft so bought a firmer brush today and it's knocking the last of the algae off.  Gotta get the swimsuit dusted off! 

Quilting on My Featherweight

I had a hard time deciding what to buy me from my mother.  Thought about jewelry - a ring specifically because that's what my mother liked the best.  But she gave me her wedding set a few years back and there's no way I can top that beauty.  All of a sudden it hit like a bolt of lightning...A SINGER FEATHERWEIGHT!!!  I've never wanted one before.  Didn't need yet another machine and passed up on a rather inexpensive machine a couple of years back when I called Carol's attention to a pair of them at an antique/junk store.  She picked the best and was so surprised that I didn't get it.

This is the perfect gift for me.  Mama made just about all of my clothes while I was growing up.  She made hers too. When I married in 1971, she gave me her old 1954 electric Singer machine since she was sewing on a Singer Touch 'n' Sew.  I made most of my own clothing, including jeans that FIT.  I learned the love of sewing from her.  Drum roll.......
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Carol and I had a naming ceremony and the photos are still stuck on my phone, I haven't figured out how to get them to my computer yet.  eyeroll....

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Meet Shirley Anne...
and her first quilting job...
a quilt for grandson Cain.

Stitches are just gorgeous!

Mama Another Year Older

Saint Patrick's Day is also my mother's birthday! She was born March 17, 1935 in Bowie County Texas. A home delivery, she was so puny that the doctor laid her on the trunk to die. Her grandmother walked in and asked, "Why is this baby over here?" The doctor gave his verdict on her ability to survive. Mama Durham picked that little girl up, cleaned her up, and she survived. She survived to marry and have four children. I have the distinction of being Favorite Daughter. I am - ahem - the only daughter. But even if I had sisters...I'd still be the favorite. I just know deep down in my heart that that IS the way it would be. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

She supported me - literally - as I buried my first husband. Helped her sons as their marriages ended and supported them as they made new beginnings. She has buried her parents and her husband of almost 50 years...and she still survives.

Here we are with the Blocker family quilt. The family that the tenacious Mama Durham was born into. An article about the quilt ran in the local paper here in my hometown and in the New Boston paper near where Mama grew up. The photo was taken Christmas 2010.

Giving her a couple/three options for lunch, she asked me to pick up barbeque and bring it to her house for lunch Wednesday. I also delivered this...a purse I made for her. Complete with my label sewn inside. I do everything I can to keep the Favorite Daughter designation! ;-)

Beautiful Monday

It was a clear cold 24 degrees this morning! I LOVE IT! Cold. No wind to amount to anything. Dry. I moved my potted plants in Saturday so they are safe. We don't have any pets. Propane tank is full. Contentment. No change in the seasons...or very little change...is one of the main reasons I did not like living on the Gulf coast. ...Well not ON the coast, but 10 miles from it. (Although according to the weather report...they got rather chilly down there today too. And my poor baby is down there riding a motorcycle back and forth to work and home.)

I made beef stew for supper Sunday night. Browned the flour-dredged meat and put it in a slow cooker with potatoes, onions, carrots, bay leaves, garlic, tomatoes. Simmered on high all afternoon. Served with a pan of homemade cornbread. Sam bragged and bragged on the cornbread. This morning I ladled some into a container and put it in a soft-sided insulated bag and left it in the Tahoe. When I left for lunch...it was 42 degrees. Perfect! I drove to Mama's for lunch. She did not know that I was coming. First thing, she asked me to change the sheets on her bed. :o) Gotta love her! She had already been to town for lunch but she sat with me in the kitchen while I ate. (YES! I brought enough stew for her supper!!! What kind of daughter do you think I am?) I plan to do that again...maybe once or twice a week.

This is what I saw on the way back to work... Saturday, I made three stockings...All of the adults have one like Erin's. I threw the other two together with fabric from my stash. As the babies (remember, Colt is only a month old and Isabel isn't even born yet) develop personalities, I'll make appropriate stockings for them.

Sam celebrated his 75th birthday last Thursday! I did not have time to make his all time favorite dessert for his birthday, but I told him that I would do it Saturday. Weeeelllllllll.....Saturday I forgot. I cleaned house. Decorated a bit for Christmas. Made the three stockings. I don't know when I had the head thump moment...but first thing Sunday morning I started preparing the dried apricot filling. Sam noticed it when he walked through the kitchen. He asked what happened to Saturday? I asked if he remembered that I told him I would make them Saturday. Well, of course. I got busy cleaning house and decorating. But I'm making them now. :o)

He worked in the wood shop Sunday afternoon. When he came in he asked where they all were? Usually there's about a dozen. I made them bigger this time. But there's ONLY seven. They're bigger though.

His sister is in from Bay City. She spent the night at Elton and Carol's. Elton and Linda came up and Sam joined them to go see Colt. But, last night...Sam and I discussed the apricot fried pies. At first there were seven. After supper there were only FIVE! Did he want to share them? LOL He told me to put them in the pantry. HECK NO! He's not sharing his apricot fried pies with anybody!!! But me... ;o)

Holidays and Babies

How neat is this? My niece, her husband, and their daughter. Did you guess the Red Queen, Mad Hatter, and Alice?

I finally got my "Made by Sherry ,...." labels so finished this. Sigh. Brook told me 'no pastels'. She did not say 'no pinks' until I saw her last month at the baby shower for her brother John's baby. Too late...this fabric was already purchased.

I also finished the crocheted blanket for John and Erin's baby. The baby was originally due the end of November, but the date has been changed to about the 23rd. I bet I know when he will be born...when he gets good and ready!

Baby Quilt

I made an origami bag for Jonathan's friend. A while back I made her a button up the front scrub top with the pink camo fabric. Jonathan asked that I make her a bag with the large remnant.

I'm making baby quilts...this is the beginning of quilt #1.

Baptism Sunday

Meet the other brother. December 14, 1954. Billy when he was little. Billy Joe when he started school and there were two Billys in his class. Ooops! Where did this come from? Yes...there's a story. I think I've blogged about it before. BJ when his first child, a boy was born, and also named Billy. He was baptized today. I had my camera with me and didn't think about whupping it out in church. I hugged him afterwards and told him that it had been a long time since he'd made me cry. This time...it was a good cry. Mama, Sam and I went to his church today. Along with his friends, we filled two pews. Later, we went to Mt. Pleasant to eat.

I finished my newest purse after I got home this afternoon. You know, this dieting and exercising is just not dropping the pounds like I thought it would. BFF Earlene said that muscle weighs more than fat. Sigh. I'm into month #3 and can't for sure tell you that I've lost ten pounds yet. I thought I had. One day last week, after getting off the scales, I was grinning from ear to ear. Must've been a low water retention day because it hasn't happened again. MOF this morning I started to throw the scales out the bathroom window...and that would've been a tragedy, but they are double paned fixed windows. They do not raise or lower. Pffffftttt. And I guarantee it's not because of the chocolate. I bought this bar before the quilting retreat where the tree limb fell on my car. Finished the last square a few minutes ago. Here's something to make me feel better. I think it's working!! ;o)