I was a teenager when I bought my first clothes with my own money. I have always been allergic to working, so it must have been birthday or Christmas money. I proudly went down the the cool new boutique in town. I think it was a midi skirt, though on me it was probably pretty maxi.
I don’t know how long I had owned it when I noticed that there were a few threads loose, so I cut them off. Well that got me looking closely and I realized that Mom would never have made this without matching the pattern and look at that hem. It isn’t a blind hem at all, just stitching straight across that shows on the outside… and it isn’t even straight.
That was about the time I realized that my homemade clothes were much classier than anything I could buy off the rack. Not that I didn’t love that homemade dresses and the hand-me-downs that got taken up for me. I just hadn’t realized that I had been wearing a custom tailored wardrobe.
Sure, I know how to sew. I would never bother to match the pattern of the fabric and blind hems are too much work. I would probably cut off the loose threads.
When I travel, I like to collect useful souvenirs. So I left Jamaica (in 1992) with a walking stick, basket and a cookbook: A Hamper of Recipes from Jamaica by Jill Roberts. I have tried maybe 3 or 4 of the recipes, but this one I use as a standby. The original recipe included 1 1/2 cup corn oil and only 1 cup of crushed pineapple. You can do that if you really want.
Carrot Cake
2 cups flour 1 teaspoon(t.)salt 2 t. baking powder 2 t. baking soda 2 t. cinnamon
Sift these into a bowl.
Stir in 2 cups granulated sugar. Stir in:
3 eggs 1 can crushed pineapple 2 cups grated carrots 1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup raisins 1/2 to 1 cup chopped walnuts
Pour into lined (or greased and floured) 9x 13 pan (I use pyrex). Bake on the center rack at 350 degrees for 45- 55 minutes (since I start with a cold oven, I go at least 50 minutes, then check for a nice browning around the edges. The toothpick in the middle is almost clean.) Cool completely.
Icing
4 oz cream cheese 1 oz butter 2 cs powdered sugar 1 t lime juice
Bring all ingredients to room temperature then beat together until smooth. Frost and decorate as desired.
or glaze with 1 3/4 c powdered sugar and 2 Tablespoons lime juice (orange works)
or just sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar for a pretty look.
I know that I use this page exclusively for business and friends, so why am I suddenly turning political here? Because this one is a very big deal for all of us in small business.
Net neutrality is the idea that the internet is not just a business, but a public good, like water or electricity. The government regulates those, because we (the people) have decided that all people have a right to such things.
This affects us by making it possible for tiny one person businesses to compete with Amazon or other huge providers. But, if Amazon can pay a little extra per purchase to run at one speed, while your site runs at a slower speed, well honestly, even I am not going to wait.
But the FCC is voting, probably on Thursday, to end net neutrality. So right now is your last chance to call on the legislature to pressure the FCC to protect your business. Or you can contact members of the FCC directly to let them know this is important to you. https://www.battleforthenet.com/?org=dp
As most of you know, I haven’t been a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator in several years. I do still stamp, but just for fun now (or to get the dining table cleared off). I wasn’t really looking for a new business and I really didn’t need a new hobby, but what the heck. I love books, I love children’s books especially, and I have so many children in my life to love now, that this seemed like fun.
I don’t know if I am going to work very hard at selling books. That depends on how badly anyone wants to buy them. I can tell you that you now know what you are getting for Christmas if you are related to me. Books, wonderful books, marvelous books.
And these are really wonderful quality books. I can do online “parties” and get my hosts lots of free books, or I can do home shows if you are in Chester, or Plumas County. For now it is legally a hobby (which means I won’t be able to take your Christmas presents off on my taxes, lol.)
I think this looks prettier in person, even though it is plainer. Not sure why the Very Vanilla cardstock is showing up with such a golden glow to it, but it isn’t really there. I should love it, but I guess I really like subtlety and not so much bling. Can you tell by the way I dress? LOL.
The colors, for those who care about such things, are Emerald Envy, Very Vanilla and Cherry Cobbler. The cardstock, ink and ribbon are the only things that aren’t retired.
When you are a demonstrator, you spend all of your time concentrating on the newest stuff that you don’t even get to use the core items very often. They become accessories to the latest accessories. When you retire, you get to play with all the things you have had around forever and pull all that cool stuff out from under the bed, the back of the closet, and under the nightstand. It is fun to see what goes together… and what doesn’t. Love the Emerald Envy for Christmas.
Hope the Pantry can buy lots of canned fruit with the money from these, and enough propane to keep those cans from freezing.
Our local food pantry is having the biggest fundraiser of the year this coming Saturday. It is a tremendous gourmet dinner cooked by one of our volunteers/founders who owns a restaurant. Since things are winding down and she is no longer standing at the stove 20/7 (she gets a little sleep in the summer), she closes the restaurant for a Saturday night and cooks for us. Last year the food was incredible. Sorry no pictures. Didn’t think about it – just ate it.
There is also an auction and the prizes are really wonderful and some are downright amazing. Our little community area is home to some incredible artists and crafters. I am not one of them, but I wanted to do my part. There are 2 seatings, so I made different sets of 10 Christmas cards for each.
Tomorrow, I may post the other one. Depending on if I can figure out what I did with it.
Guess what this is. 
It is nothing. It has to be. Either that or I have been gloriously punked. You see my sister and I decided that we both already had way too much stuff, so in the interest of not wasting money on stuff no one wanted, we would not exchange presents. Okay.
For her birthday, I sent her a card. A card, you get it, one half sheet of cardstock with decorations in an envelope. No check, no gift card, nothing. So when my birthday rolled around I expected her to uphold the bargain and give me precisely nothing.
Instead she gave me this great collection of stuff I actually need. Okay, yes, I do have all this stuff, but my lops are wimpy and dull, my gloves have holes, as does my bucket. And as she says “you can never have too many utility knives.” There is also a poster, but you have to wait until I get it put on the door, then I can photograph it.
So this is where the only appropriate response is “game on”, except game is not on. I know the only way to beat her at this game would be to show up at her house and fix her drip irrigation and install her subway tile. But that requires knowledge and skills I don’t possess, starting with what the heck subway tile is.
But maybe, someday, when you least expect it, I will do something nice for you too. Maybe.
This is where I started with my backyard cleanup program. Note how much of the firewood is covered. My first job was to clear out enough over on the left side so I could add garbage to my compost heap, which is under this mess.
By April 30, I had gotten the left side of the compost as high with garbage as the rest of it, some of the firewood into the shed – just thrown willy nilly as that makes it harder to climb over it. This may not look much better than this any time this year. I will move the rest of the wood, but probably pile incoming wood in its place. I’ll clean up the leaves, but the heap itself it covered in leaves.
And this is the pile in the front yard after very little work was done on it. But hey, I get to enjoy the daffodils while I work on this one.
The thermometer says it is nice and warm outside, but my fingers say otherwise. maybe I should check it out. I might feel warmer out there. If not, I will go organize boxes at the Food Pantry, where it is always cold anyway.
I think I deserve some kind of merit badge for this construction.
Yes, that is my deck, so no, I am not going to light this, ever. It is the pile of green wood, so it goes in the shed for next year. I need to get the loggy sized stuff cut so it can dry. The rest of it needs to fit in some boxes somehow. It is great for starting a fast fire and cleaning the flue, but it is sort of a lot.
Okay, I haven’t written in a long time. If anyone follows my blog and not my life, you may not know the sad news. I am cleaning up the yard for a Celebration of Life for Skeeter. I lost him March 2. I know that is a long time to wait for a funeral, but they can’t bury in our cemetery until the snow melts, then the ground dries enough to support the equipment, so I wanted to pick a date, so I picked his birthdate and we are having a picnic. Although he hated eating outdoors, I think he would approve.
Yes, I miss him. Yes, I remember the fun we had. Yes. I am doing fine, thank you.
This post is a major downer, so feel free to skip it.
This is the time of year that we get all those damned “Year in Review” things. I hate them. I hate them on a good year and this one was not.
I can look back at 2016 and find very little to be happy about, but I have been happy, because that is pretty much who I am.
I can look forward to 2017, and there is even less to be happy about. The worst part is that I am not talking politics.
I will be happy again, I find some in most days even now. I am looking forward to a day when I don’t find myself tearing up or screaming.
It seems that most of the tools that we used this summer for all these building projects have been stolen out of our garage – no I was not locking up most nights. I hardly even care. Skeeter will never use them again. So they stole the good drill and drill bits, and it looks like a couple of other things that I can’t quite account for right now. Sure I use those tools, or I did, now I will just use the older crappier versions that we still have. It doesn’t matter does it?
They seemed to know what they were taking. They took the good tools, but not the stuff that could readily be turned into cash. So woodworker, not druggie. Almost makes me feel better.
Merry Christmas!
darrahstamps 