Friday, October 28, 2011

Cookbook Cleanup

As I was cleaning the kitchen today, the pile of cookbooks on my counter and filling two shelves annoyed me.  I love cookbooks, but almost never use them.  When I need to find a recipe, I go to the computer and search for what I want.  Ten years ago when I moved into my house, I got rid of a many, many cookbooks.  Today it was time to purge again.  I gathered all the cookbooks in one spot and started eliminating.

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I kept the sentimental ones – the church cookbooks, Northwest Suburban Quilters Guild cookbooks, some gifted cookbooks, and my very first cookbook, The Joy of Cooking, along with the Mitford cookbook and of course the treasured Pioneer Woman cookbook.

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I’m now down to one shelf and two overflowing notebooks where I stash recipes printed from the web. 

No “before” pictures, but the “after” pictures make me happy.

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Neat shelves and an uncluttered counter……………ahhhh nice. 

Supper tonight was leftovers.  Don’t need a cookbook for leftovers!!!

Bonnie

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Saturday Afternoon

My new computer is up and running…..

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with the Windows 7 “The Missing Manual” at my side.

 

The bed is made and a Welcome card is waiting for my cousin to arrive.

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I’ll turn the oven on before I head out to the railroad station to pick her up.  The oven will be ready then to pop in a pizza for our supper.

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And I will turn on the Fall fragrance to fill the air with a cinnamon scent.

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No sewing will happen for a few days, but I will instead enjoy lots of talking, laughing, shopping, maybe a little sleep, and the great companionship of my cousin.

Bonnie

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Down time

While I lived for almost five long, long days without a computer, besides pacing the floor and grumbling, I also made a Christmas table runner (15 minute pattern)

Xmastablerunnerwith a yo-yo on each end instead of the buttons provided with the kit.  I put a sparkling button in the center of the yo-yo.

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My best way to fill time though is to put a puzzle together.

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Now that I have my new computer, I need to get to work re-installing programs and restoring data.  Then there is Windows 7 to learn and a new printer to install.  I’ll be glad when cloud computing is here for us home users.

Bonnie

Monday, October 17, 2011

No computer

Yes, that's right, I do not have a working computer at home.  My laptop decided to quit working all of a sudden.  Black screen.  Bad, bad, bad.

So, since I cannot live two minutes without a computer, I hiked myself over to Best Buy and purchased new equipment which will be installed this coming Wednesday.

In the meantime, I am very, very grateful for the free computers at the Library - which happens to be only a few blocks away from my house.  It is not the same as having my own computer, but at least I can keep up with email and some blog reading.

I hope I will be up and running by Wednesday night.  Please come back.

Bonnie

Friday, October 14, 2011

Crafting Fun Fun Fun

My visitors,  Brenda, Judy, Lesley, Lou Ann and Penny (alphabetical order so as not to offend) spent this afternoon doing paper craft projects.  We made little notebooks (purse size), candy wrappers, and Halloween cards.  It was messy with glue and ink, but it sure was fun.

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When you add up the cost of all the equipment and paper, Hallmark cards might be cheaper, however, we were all proud of our creative efforts and amazed at each other’s abilities.  Fun, fun, fun.

Bonnie

Thursday, October 6, 2011

3 more FW blocks

Block #102 – Whirlpool

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Block #61 – Northern Lights

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Block #55 – Linoleum

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(Photoshop changed the orientation of my pictures and when I moved them back the right way, the dates stayed the wrong way.  Why?????)

Two more blocks to do and I will have my goal of 50 blocks.  I woke up this morning worrying about how I will put them all together as they are not all a perfect 6-1/2 inches.  I know that adding sashing will help, but the logistics of side and top/bottom sashing with uneven blocks has me a little befuddled right now.  Company is coming next week, so I think I will put it all away for a while and not subject myself to anxiety.

Bonnie

Saturday, October 1, 2011

7–count them–SEVEN Farmer’s Wife Blocks

Block #31 – Evening Star

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Block #35 – Flower Basket

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(I cheated and used rick rack for the handle instead of making that curved fabric handle.)

 

Block #39 – Friendship

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Block #81 – Snowball

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Block #92 – Streak of Lightning

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Block #107 – Windblown Square

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Block #111 – Wrench

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I need to make five more blocks to have a total of 50 – the right amount for a lap quilt.  So close……….

Bonnie