Hot Stuff... Comin' Through!

Looky here -- two posts in a day!!!! Most unusual, but today is not just any ordinary day -- there's a Queenly Potluck going on. I'm bringing my specialty, Jenny Tetrazzini.


I can't call it Turkey Tetrezzini because.... here's the facts, I next to never follow a recipe -- but I promise you this is delicious. The basics are whole wheat spaghetti, chicken breast, thin veggie gravy and shredded swiss cheese -- to this add whatever it is you like most. In mine this would be bacon, onions, apple, carrots, celery, and mushrooms. And I like to spice things up; a little sage, some ground ginger, a wee pinch of nutmeg and a caution of salt.

It's a full on potluck -- Francie has already brought out jugs of moonsh... um, adult beverages . I'm sure later there will be a bon fire and line dancing. Grab a plate and join us.

What the Flock?

The crafts I come up with for the Little Old Ladies in my art group usually must fit these three criteria: it must be easy, it must be beautiful, it must be useful... But every now and then we throw caution to the wind and just fool around.

This was such a fun project. What I do is gather supplies. For the flocking I took this fuzzy, eyelashy yarn see...


Then I shredded it into a billion pieces.

I shredded deep pink, bright orange, royal purple and very black. It was fun, fun, fun (but you can see that).

All the supplies were collected into the spectacular Art Case -- all the flocking, the glue, the masks, the rhinstones, the glitter, the sequins and most importantly, the feathers. The art case, packed with mask-making-booty, was dragged to the epi-center of Little Old Lady Crafting Headquarters...


where we had a blast -- so much fun was mask-making that I forgot to take pictures. Oops. It isn't the first time. But trust me, they had a helluva swell time. One of them made a purple and orange mask and anther went hog wild with the feathers, one was entirely enamoured of rhinstones. One, who says every week, "I can't do this, I can't do anything," succeeded in making the most beautiful mask ever. And they asked the same question they ask every week, "How do you come up with these ideas?" If truth be told... I came across a big bag of cool feathers and had to have a place to go with them.

If you were to hide yourself behind a mask, what secret would it conceal?

Treasures

Never in my life have I owned real silver. Till now.

And to be fair, this isn't "real" silver. It's plate. What connoisseurs of fine things sniff at. But this is my family silver. I'm not sure what happened to the everyday stuff. This is what we set the table with for Christmases and Thanksgivings, Big Deal Birthdays, Engagement announcements.



I didn't so much "inherit" this from my mother, rather I acquired it by default. We went around the room, "Do you want this? Do you want this? Do you want this?" We did this about everything -- from silver to blankets, holiday decorations to sweaters. It was very quick; we're a decisive lot. I got the silver because nobody else wanted it. I guess my brother and sister already have silverware. And now, so do I.

But something was missing. A knife and a fork. The set was incomplete -- I felt I'd failed to look after the family silverware from the minute I got it ... 5, 6, 7, 5, 6, 7... there should be 8. 8 little spoons, 8 salad forks, 8 dinner forks, 8 knives... Why don't soup spoons ever go missing? There were 8 soup spoons, but only 7 forks, 7 knives.

It bugged me that two pieces were missing. Thank goodness for the internet. Thank goodness for Replacements. Have you ever been there? I love Replacements.com. For one thing I LOVE china. But they deal in crystal and silver too. Even if you don't know the pattern name of the piece you are looking for, send in a photo and they will identify it for you. How cool is that?

As it happens I do know the name of my silver, so I looked it up, placed an order, -- 1 knife, 1 fork. There was even a choice between pristine perfect ones or ones with "flaws", "mars," and "imperfections". Wait, mine are 60 years old -- this was my mother's wedding silver. It's been banged around quite a bit. I opted for "flawed" silver.

And looky -- it's here. I still don't see any flaws. It's lovely. My family silver is once again a whole set.

Just in time to set the Thanksgiving table... I better practice -- I've never set my own table with good silver. I wonder if my son and his wife will like it... I can tell them the story about the missing knife and fork. They can tell their son... after all, it isn't the silver that's the family treasure, it's the stories... always the stories.

Gut Apetit.

Men Working

What's not to like about men working? ... gathering their tools and making something wonderful happen.

Especially something wonderful on the roof of my very cottage.

Ain't it purty? I so love this steel roof for so many reasons -- not the least of which is that it went up so fast. No tear off, no mess, no stress. Now the autumn rains can come and I won't cringe every time the sky gathers dark clouds. My pretty green steel roof is secure. My only worry is the next project... It's always something. But this something is done.

Dying for a New Purse

This bad pun was bound to come up sooner or later. I LOVE to dye stuff... any stuff. Tops, bed sheets, wee little ribbons, great big drapes. I need less than no incentive to drag out my boxes of dye. I mix colors, I blend colors, I play like nobody's in charge.

But this time I really have a good excuse ~ my old purse is ratty. I need a new one. And I can't just go to the store to buy a purse. (I'm beginning to notice that I can't just go to the store to buy anything -- first it was curtains. I can't buy curtains -- I have to make them. Then it was doggy collars... and pillow shams, towel trims, dust ruffles.) Once I even made my own dining room rug. This is getting out of hand isn't it? I'll consult a psychiatrist another time -- just now I have a purse in need of making. So, I have dyed my fabrics, gathered my pieces, cut out my "pattern" -- "Pattern? I don't need no stinking pattern."

I have embellished my pocket. Stitched down my straps. (yes, it is lined, I should have showed it to you.) Then I stitched and snipped and fluffed my fringe.
Looky here, Mama's got a brand new bag. How cool is that?

Dance With Me...

I am soooooooooooooooo ready for DANCING WITH THE STARS. Are you ready? It's one thing to be a JEOPARDY Dork... but they at least give me a brand new show every night, no waiting, no withdrawals. But now I am a Dancing Dork too and between seasons, I. Can't. Stand. It. I need to dance... Gotta dance... I can't dance... don't ask me... But oh I will, with much glee and enthusiasm, I will twirl and pirouette, leap and plie. It is not just a TV show, it's an event, a happening. Speaking of which, it happens to be "Work in the Shop" night. No play time for me... OH... but a girl's gotta eat... a little wine, a little cheese. Breads, meats, fruits...

So here we are... a well-stocked shop fridge, a precisely placed TV and I can have my work and my dancing too. I better turn the saw off whilst I "shimmy-shimmy-shake" lest I come up short on digits.
Dance with me... I'll share my wine, I'll slice off some more cheese ... we'll make a night of it. Here in the shop, join me, there's room.

Ushering in Autumn

I can't say where summer went, but this week my Senior Art Party project will usher in autumn. I'm a big fan of treasure boxes in all shapes and sizes. For my group I did in fact get wooden boxes in all different shapes and sizes. Square, round, oval, sectagonal. Some have hinged lids while others have lift off lids. I thought the little clasp on the hinged lids might be hard for the ones with arthritus. It's no fun having a treasure box if you can't open it to take a peek at your treasure. Add an autumnal floral arrangement on top and what's not to like? The colors will set the tone and I'm hoping to engage them in a discussion of what they'll keep in their treasure box. Maybe they'll squirrel away a treasure, like a key to an old long-gone car. Or snippets of silk and lace that remain from a wedding dress.

If you had a treasure box just for you, what would you hide inside?