Some days I just need to quilt. Really. Need. To. Quilt.
It's great therapy for me. Time spent thinking about the person - known or unknown - who will be the recipient of the quilt I'm making. Prayer time. Time to sing to whatever music is playing. Time to listen to an audio book.
Sometimes it's just time for me, doing something I totally enjoy, not taking care of anyone else.
I got a little of this time today. Not as much as I wanted, but it was really good for me. In the process, I realized that it's been almost 3 months since I've had time to quilt. Far too long! That will change.
...may there be mercy in creative therapy.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
savory sundays
This is a quick and easy recipe that goes well with many main courses. A really nice change from rice or potato dishes. Not to mention it doesn't heat up the kitchen too much in summer. Enjoy!
Basil Parmesan Orzo
Ingredients:
2 T butter
1 cup uncooked orzo
1 can chicken broth/stock
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (don't use Kraft in the green can!! Get some from the deli section of your grocery or grate it fresh)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste
2 T chopped fresh basil, plus 2-3 sprigs - for garnish,
Directions:
1. Melt butter in heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in orzo and saute until lightly browned.
2. Stir in chicken stock and bring to boil.
3. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer until orzo is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes.
4. Mix in parmesan cheese and basil. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Transfer to shallow bowl and garnish with remaining chopped basil and sprigs.
...may there be mercy in the breaking of bread at your table...
Basil Parmesan Orzo
Ingredients:
2 T butter
1 cup uncooked orzo
1 can chicken broth/stock
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (don't use Kraft in the green can!! Get some from the deli section of your grocery or grate it fresh)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste
2 T chopped fresh basil, plus 2-3 sprigs - for garnish,
Directions:
1. Melt butter in heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in orzo and saute until lightly browned.
2. Stir in chicken stock and bring to boil.
3. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer until orzo is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes.
4. Mix in parmesan cheese and basil. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Transfer to shallow bowl and garnish with remaining chopped basil and sprigs.
...may there be mercy in the breaking of bread at your table...
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Sunday, July 04, 2010
savory sundays
This is a recipe I found and doctored a bit until it was what we wanted. Whatever you do, do NOT drench the meat in bbq sauce! Just drizzle it to enhance the flavor... this meat turns out too yummy!
Barbecued Shredded Beef
Ingredients:
3 pounds beef roast
2 onions, chopped
2 (12 fluid ounce) cans or bottles beer - (we used killian's red)
6 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons liquid smoke flavoring
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
salt to taste
1 (18 ounce) bottle barbecue sauce
Good onion buns
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees (135 degrees C).
2. Place roast in a large roasting pan and scatter chopped onions over.
3. In a large bowl, combine Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Pour in beer, stir and add to roasting pan.
4. Cover and cook in oven at 275 degrees F (135 degrees C) for 4 to 5 hours.
5. When meat is cooked, shred meat with 2 forks.
6. toast the onion buns and put a generous helping of meat on 'em.
7. drizzle with bbq sauce
(note: I have done this one in the crock pot and it comes out well)
...may there be mercy in the breaking of bread at your table...
Barbecued Shredded Beef
Ingredients:
3 pounds beef roast
2 onions, chopped
2 (12 fluid ounce) cans or bottles beer - (we used killian's red)
6 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons liquid smoke flavoring
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
salt to taste
1 (18 ounce) bottle barbecue sauce
Good onion buns
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees (135 degrees C).
2. Place roast in a large roasting pan and scatter chopped onions over.
3. In a large bowl, combine Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Pour in beer, stir and add to roasting pan.
4. Cover and cook in oven at 275 degrees F (135 degrees C) for 4 to 5 hours.
5. When meat is cooked, shred meat with 2 forks.
6. toast the onion buns and put a generous helping of meat on 'em.
7. drizzle with bbq sauce
(note: I have done this one in the crock pot and it comes out well)
...may there be mercy in the breaking of bread at your table...
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
in the mirror
It's been a week of looking into the mirror that reflects my heart and seeing just how much I am not the person I want to be - or thought I was.
... may there be mercy in the growth that's coming...
... may there be mercy in the growth that's coming...
Sunday, June 27, 2010
savory sundays
My friend, Jenna, over at A Light Inside has a cool blog. One of the fun things she does is called Tasty Tuesdays. Her recipes are yummy and simply reading them will always make me hungry. I've decided to take a page from her story, (pun intended since she is an author and I'm eagerly anticipating her publication date!), and begin with my own weekly recipe.
Of course, add to that the fact that Mama and Daddy had a restaurant all my growing up years. I keep asking Mama how they made something. There are bits of paper with recipes scratched on 'em in so many places in this house! This will help me to transcribe those notes into a more useable format.
I hope you enjoy Savory Sundays. Let me know if you try any recipe - and your honest opinion. I really do want to know if your family liked it or not!
Pork Stroganoff
Of course, add to that the fact that Mama and Daddy had a restaurant all my growing up years. I keep asking Mama how they made something. There are bits of paper with recipes scratched on 'em in so many places in this house! This will help me to transcribe those notes into a more useable format.
I hope you enjoy Savory Sundays. Let me know if you try any recipe - and your honest opinion. I really do want to know if your family liked it or not!
Pork Stroganoff
Ingredients:
4 (1 1/4 inch) thick pork chops (boneless will work nicely if you prefer)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/4 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chops until well browned on both sides. Remove chops and set aside.
2. Add onion and mushrooms to the skillet and cook until tender, stirring occasionally. Return chops to skillet. Add water, mustard and salt. Raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 hour.
3. Remove chops to a warm platter. Into skillet add sour cream and heat through (do not boil). Pour sauce over pork chops. Garnish with parsley and serve.
...may there be mercy in the breaking of bread at your table...
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
saturday ramblings
Saturday morning, waiting for the Man to finish his shower so we can go do fun stuff together. Thought I'd drop a few words here. Nothing important, just a few rambles to get me back on the blogging mode a little.
on turning 50: way cool! I've been blessed to have friends and family who all wanted to celebrate this milestone with me. So much that my celebrations began the last weekend in March and ended with a trip to San Diego the first week of June. Yes, the entire point of the trip to San Diego was for me to be spoiled beyond belief by Mama. It works every time. In between were parties, lunches, weekend getaways, photography classes, dinners and more. It's been amazing fun!
on work: economy still isn't good enough for us to get back to our normal 40-hour work week. Am hoping that this reduced hours thing only lasts this year.
on losses: a dear friend lost her beloved husband last week. He was only 54 and a wonderful man. I've spent a lot of time talking with her as she deals with her grief and the overwhelming sense of the rest of her life. She told me the best advice given from anyone came from me: "Don't look at the rest of your life. Don't look at the year, the month or the week. Don't even look at the hour ahead. Right now you only have to deal with the next 5 minutes. You can manage 5 minutes at a time. When that 5 minutes is up, deal with the next 5 minutes." She's dealing with life in this way for now. When she can, she will take on 10 minute increments.
on the Man: am so thankful he is all healed up from his adventures in the medical world in May. Between a fall down a flight of stairs, hitting his head and a nasty bout with pneumonia, he scared me quite a bit. Thankfully the fall ended up with a minor whiplash that healed quickly. Thankfully the pneumonia cleared. Oh, and then there was the accident last week. Yep, he got rear-ended while driving our truck. Truck is still in the truck hospital, but is being fixed. The young man who hit him has great insurance and they are being extremely reasonable and kind to us. Again, no injury to the Man makes me happy.
on family: it's hard to see Mama aging, but age she must. Despite that, she's doing very well for a 77year-old woman. My sister is doing spectacularly well, which makes me so very happy. She's finally learning how to be herself and that she's a beautiful person. My brothers... well, yeah, they are my brothers. Big brother is showing the ravages of his major illness that should have killed him. He still works, but his body shows many changes from the strong and healthy big brother in my head. Middle brother is still absolutely crazy, silly, and has learned next to nothing since his heart attack and bypass surgery. Youngest brother breaks my heart. Heroin. Nuff said.
on quilting: haven't had enough time to do much since the weekend with Kim at the beach. But I've been planning and have some fun projects lined up. Not to mention new gorgeous fabrics!
on knitting: a dear friend gave me a coupon for knitting lessons with her! I mentioned that I might like to learn to knit one evening while at her home. When my birthday rolled around, there was a gift of a knitting book, some yarn and her time. Can hardly wait to cash in that coupon!
on camera time: definitely planning some serious camera time this summer. Between Mama and some friends, I was given the gift of a serious one-on-one class with an award winning photographer. Wow!!! Another item on my can hardly wait list!
...may there be mercy on my family, my friends, the Man and in my ramblings...
on turning 50: way cool! I've been blessed to have friends and family who all wanted to celebrate this milestone with me. So much that my celebrations began the last weekend in March and ended with a trip to San Diego the first week of June. Yes, the entire point of the trip to San Diego was for me to be spoiled beyond belief by Mama. It works every time. In between were parties, lunches, weekend getaways, photography classes, dinners and more. It's been amazing fun!
on work: economy still isn't good enough for us to get back to our normal 40-hour work week. Am hoping that this reduced hours thing only lasts this year.
on losses: a dear friend lost her beloved husband last week. He was only 54 and a wonderful man. I've spent a lot of time talking with her as she deals with her grief and the overwhelming sense of the rest of her life. She told me the best advice given from anyone came from me: "Don't look at the rest of your life. Don't look at the year, the month or the week. Don't even look at the hour ahead. Right now you only have to deal with the next 5 minutes. You can manage 5 minutes at a time. When that 5 minutes is up, deal with the next 5 minutes." She's dealing with life in this way for now. When she can, she will take on 10 minute increments.
on the Man: am so thankful he is all healed up from his adventures in the medical world in May. Between a fall down a flight of stairs, hitting his head and a nasty bout with pneumonia, he scared me quite a bit. Thankfully the fall ended up with a minor whiplash that healed quickly. Thankfully the pneumonia cleared. Oh, and then there was the accident last week. Yep, he got rear-ended while driving our truck. Truck is still in the truck hospital, but is being fixed. The young man who hit him has great insurance and they are being extremely reasonable and kind to us. Again, no injury to the Man makes me happy.
on family: it's hard to see Mama aging, but age she must. Despite that, she's doing very well for a 77year-old woman. My sister is doing spectacularly well, which makes me so very happy. She's finally learning how to be herself and that she's a beautiful person. My brothers... well, yeah, they are my brothers. Big brother is showing the ravages of his major illness that should have killed him. He still works, but his body shows many changes from the strong and healthy big brother in my head. Middle brother is still absolutely crazy, silly, and has learned next to nothing since his heart attack and bypass surgery. Youngest brother breaks my heart. Heroin. Nuff said.
on quilting: haven't had enough time to do much since the weekend with Kim at the beach. But I've been planning and have some fun projects lined up. Not to mention new gorgeous fabrics!
on knitting: a dear friend gave me a coupon for knitting lessons with her! I mentioned that I might like to learn to knit one evening while at her home. When my birthday rolled around, there was a gift of a knitting book, some yarn and her time. Can hardly wait to cash in that coupon!
on camera time: definitely planning some serious camera time this summer. Between Mama and some friends, I was given the gift of a serious one-on-one class with an award winning photographer. Wow!!! Another item on my can hardly wait list!
...may there be mercy on my family, my friends, the Man and in my ramblings...
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
time with friends
Sitting in a gorgeous mountain lodge with a nice glass of wine and a few good friends, lots of laughter and great conversation... lovely, lovely.
My precious friend from Florida, Melissa, and her delightful husband Tom, decided to come here to the PNW for their vacation. Juli, Carrie, Marla and I got to join them for a long weekend in this amazing cabin near Leavenworth. Since it is Carrie's anniversary weekend, not to mention it would be nice for Tom not to be the lone man here, her husband, Darren, joined in the party.
This a a great mix of folks with whom to have total fun.
We have enjoyed great food and wines, laughed until we cried, talked about more serious issues until we had moments of clarity and everything in between. And of course, 7 people, 6 laptops, 4 iPhones, 3 blackberries, 5 cameras. At times we have been all sitting in the same room, each with our respective feet up and each one on a laptop while conversation flies throughout the room.
It's been awesome fun!!
It's also been so very good for me personally.
These friends allow me to be exactly who I am without censoring myself in any way. We may not agree completely on religion, politics or other issues, but there is a level of love that surpasses those differences.
...may there be mercy in the joy my friends bring to my life.
joining the wordless wednesday fun
poster a museum of flight
Click
This is the learning post for how to do this... thanks SuziQOregon!!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
almost there!
In just a shade over 2 hours, I will reach the half-century mark.
50. Years. Old.
AWESOME!!!
If I didn't have to get up so early, I'd stay up till midnight just for the fun of it.
...may there be mercy and joy in the celebrations as they continue!
Monday, April 19, 2010
fruits of our labors
The fruit of our labors indeed. After 3 days of quilting at the beach with my friend Kim, we had a ton of finished projects to show for all our work. The picture above is of the pool table covered with all the stuff we had done.
We each took several unfinished projects that were clogging up our creative process. It felt great to get 'em all do
ne!
Here are some other shots of the individual items:
Pillowcases that Kim made for her baseball loving son:
Placemats I made for a friend:
Pillows I made for my sofa:
More pictures will follow as I find 'em.
...may there be mercy on our creative processes...
Sunday, January 03, 2010
embracing
Wow... it's been way too long since I've been here. All the usual reasons and issues apply - stress, work, health, family, blah, blah, blah. Really it's just life happening.
Since change is unavoidable, and life keeps happening, I'm deliberately choosing to embrace changes and life this year.
Some of the changes to be embraced:
-turning 50 in the most healthy way possible (actually really think this one is cool!)
-planning my week ahead each Sunday - in writing. (food, time, chores, time to quilt, etc)
-regular exercise (oh...mercy!)
-reduction in work hours and income (economic downturn strikes again, eh?)
-returning to a joyous outlook
-managing stress in positive ways
It will be interesting to see how these changes actually look in comparison to previous processes. Lots of room for learning since I didn't get zapped by perfection last night. Darn!
...may there be mercy in the lessons of embracing and change.
Friday, May 29, 2009
plans change, life happens
Life happens and plans change. We got word during the road trip that Mama has cancer. Trip has been cut short and we are heading home. Spent the last 2 days driving, driving, driving and are in Kennewick, WA tonight.
After today's long drive, during which we talked through our emotions, cried, and came to initial terms with this, our exhaustion level is too high. Mama said to stop for a day and go to a couple wineries since we are in the area.
I've always been a good girl and done what Mama says.
...may there be mercy and healing for my precious Mama.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
road trip
Am currently on a road trip with my sweet husband. We have already traveled almost 2000 miles!!
Most of this trip is in Colorado, chasing the wild steam train. But we've found a winery or two, not to mention the odd fabric store.
More after we get home!
...may there be traveling mercies...
Friday, April 24, 2009
ramblings
A few rambling thoughts...
herniated disk in back = owie. big, major, want-it-gone-right-the-hell-now owie.
brother #2 massive heart attack followed by quad-bypass surgery = wishing to be with family in san diego. big, major, wishing-to-be-there. (really glad he's doing well in his recovery now.)
sunshine days = happier spirit. big, major, happier spirit. yay.
...may there be mercy in my ramblings.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
same sweet smile
Each time I see her, she has the same sweet, "lights up the room" smile and a killer hug that makes you feel like you are the most important person ever.
Unfortunately she's already moved from cane, to walker to wheelchair. Hard to see such quick progression in just 7 weeks. But, as we were told today, the familial type of ALS moves quicker than the sporadic type. There isn't any prognosis of specific time frames, but it was said clearly that this is moving quickly. She may move from a bi-pap machine to an a-pap soon.
Today a large group met to join forces for practical support and help for the family. Meals, household help and social times are all a part of the needs being met for this precious family. With the number of folks there willing to help, it's going to be a harder task to wait one's turn than to get the help needed.
Hallelujah! This will allow them to spend their now limited family time as a family, making precious memories.
My emotions are kind of shot, but it is okay. It's the reality of it, right in your face and right now, that really hits hard. In my day to day normal life, I can easily forget the major issues others may be facing. But when I see her, it all comes home again that she is going to die from this.
I gave her an extra hug today... but to be honest, it was selfishly for me.
...may there be mercy and time for more extra hugs - for me and most importantly, for her family.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
clutter busting
clutter busting weekend has helped me to sort out my emotions.
...may there be mercy and peace for us all.
Friday, February 06, 2009
hold us close
She put on her sweet smile and said, "I have Lou Gehrig's disease." As she said it, I saw the deep pain in her husband's eyes.
They were in my office today to sign some papers, these friends of mine. And with those words, spoken with a lovely hope behind them, she shifted my thinking about life... again.
No, I don't have any more answers now. It's only been a couple hours. Quite frankly, I'm still reeling from the shock and throwing a massive temper tantrum at God. Thankfully, he's treating me like an overstressed 2-year-old and just holding me close while I rail, catching my tears until I tire and allow his comfort in.
...may there be mercy and grace to support my friends however they need.
Monday, January 19, 2009
UAQ
Poor little Ugly Ass Quilt. It's become the Charlie Brown Christmas tree in my heart.
I still think it's totally ugly, but I feel so sorry for it that I am finally finishing it today. Well at least the piecing part of it. I'll take it to Kim's in the next couple weeks with some other (prettier) quilts to do the quilting on her long-arm machine.
...may there be mercy and the UAQ be a much loved treasure for the one who loved these fabrics.
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