Four Friends

The Library looks great; we four friends hung our art today. The show will be there all month.
There is a variety of media, watercolor, pastel, acrylic, oil, and fabric collage.
We will host a reception and sale on Sunday, Dec. 11th from 12-3 o'clock. Plenty of coffee and pastries available. The Library is such a beautiful place to show art. There are also several sculptures to see and 4 or 5 colorful mobiles hanging from the high ceiling. The Library will be open for business also, in case you need a good book to read, or you would like to check out a movie. We would love to see everyone there, so you can see what keeps us busy.

Blue Monday

Used the blue plate for the heart shaped waffles.
Grandee and I made these on her Thanksgiving visit.
We got the idea from Jean's blog Sweet Nothings.
You just use biscuits in a can (Grands or somethings similar).
They were very tasty and so easy for the young ones.
The blue and white plates got quite a work out for the big dinner.
See what else is blue at Smiling Sally's blog

Roasted turkey

Thanksgiving is over and guests have gone. We had a lot of fun, and a lot of good food.
Everyone especially liked the turkey we had; it was so tender and juicy, so I thought I would tell
you how I fixed  it. It was a combination of what I watched my Mother do when I was young, an article  in the local newspaper, and a recipe on Oprah's website.
I remember my Mother getting up in the middle of the night to put the turkey in the oven. Well, I changed that up a little :>). We had a 20# turkey so I washed it well, salt and peppered  inside and out, sprinkled with a lot of Thyme (one of my favorite herbs); soaked a thin towel in melted butter and covered the turkey. Put it in a roaster pan on the rack, and put it in a preheated oven (500 degrees) for 30 minutes. When the fire alarm kept beeping, I turned it down to 275 degrees; this was about 10:30PM. I went to bed and in the morning about 8:30 AM I checked the temperature of the turkey (180 degrees) and it was done. I poured the drippings out of the pan to use for gravy; let the turkey sit in a cool oven until we were ready to cut it. It fell off the bone and was so tasty for 20 people. Had a few leftovers, so we made sandwiches on Friday. There you have it. I just wish I had taken a picture of it so you could see the beautiful golden skin. We won't be waiting until next year to do a repeat; just too yummy!

Thankfulness

A gratitude list is a wonderful way to start the day. It brings to mind the many things that we can say "thank you" for. Even when things might not be going the way we would like, there is always something to be thankful for.

This process helps us appreciate the many blessings that occur daily in our lives. It can also make a cloudy day, sunny; a sad day, brighter. Somehow, just thinking about the good that we have, far out weighs the bad. Today, on Thanksgiving day, use this opportunity to see how many things you can be grateful for, and say "Thank you".

Is your silver shiny or black?

While getting ready for guests to come for Thanksgiving dinner, I was polishing some sterling silver pieces, thinking all the while,"I sure wish silver would stay nice and shiny", and also thinking about "gifting" the silver to our children while they are here for a visit. They can polish it next time. It was the same day that I found in my stash a 1935 magazine "The American Home". The cost was 10 cents, and right there in the middle of the magazine was an article touting the beauty of sterling silver. Well, times have changed and this generation is more likely to be selling the sterling silver, rather than polishing it, so I think we'd better hang on to the silver as insurance in our old age. It will probably sell whether it is shiny or tarnished. Black silver can be good for something!! As a matter of fact, this 1935 magazine could be worth something! What do you think?

Good cause

Going to an event today in Taylor, TX for the Bastrop fire victims. Lots of bar-b-q and music; some art and fun items to see, especially friends.
If you remember weeks ago I posted these "things" I had made. Wasn't  quite sure what to do with them until today! I tied the one I bought around my cowgirl hat, and it looks fabulous! Also taking a couple of fabric collage: I especially like the one called "Best Friends" with the 2 young women (BFF) and a dog (BFF). Have 1 tote left, so it is going too. The sky is overcast, but the temperature is great for a beautiful day!

I hope this will encourage someone today.
I wrote this a few years back when I was doing a lot of calligraphy.
I have used it as a wall piece; also made a card, put the heart behind vellum and tied a pretty ribbon on top.
This made a beautiful card to send for a wedding.
 If you need more encouragement check out stories here

Blue Monday

Time to join the rest of the gang over at Smiling Sally's site for Blue Monday.
I found this small "glass painting" out in the garage in my "save" box. It is probably from the 70's.
There are 3 or 4 glass panels inside; a few flowers are painted on each one so that it has more dimension.

 Mine is very small; probably about 3X4 inches.Does anyone remember these? 

Peppers

I saw Jacque's peppers on FB this morning, and I was reminded of our dinner last evening with a friend.
I took a picture of all the veggies because they were such pretty colors. Jacque grew her peppers, but we had to buy ours at the store. I am a firm believer in roasted potatoes and veggies. I used sweet potatoes, small red new potatoes, green beans, red onion, and red and green peppers. I put them in a zip lock with a little olive oil and my favorite herbs and shook them around. Lay out on a cookie sheet in a single layer (very important, so they crisp), roast for about 30 minutes at 450 degrees. My hubby grilled some steaks, and that was it. Yum! There were a few peppers left over, and I will take Jacque's suggestion and make a pepper and cheese sandwich on the whole wheat bread. Looked wonderful.

Somehow this week has just flown by. I have been cleaning house , which I try not to do too often. :>)
We are getting ready for a big gang coming for Thanksgiving, so I made some changes and did some cleaning.
I recovered the dining room chairs. They are beautiful!!
I wanted centers for the fabric flowers. Couldn't find any exciting buttons in my stash, so I used old pearls and I love them.
I think I will put a clip on the back so the flowers can be used in your hair, or on a lapel or even a purse.
I guess I will have to open an Etsy store because my studio is getting full of stuff. I need to share it with others.

WOYWW

What's on my work desk? I am thinking Christmas cards; even made a few. I used some of my
fabric collages, had pictures taken, and printed them. I backed each picture with a colored
card stock and then glued it to a white card. I have a good supply of envelopes, so that won't be a problem.  Fabric flowers are also on my desk. I always seem to do  several projects at the same time. I wish I knew why this happens to me. Does anyone else have this occur when you get all geared up to do one thing, you end up doing 2 or 3 projects at the same time? Please tell me I'm normal!! Be sure to check out Stamping Ground, here to see what others are doing. Julia is good enough to host this happening every Wednesday.

Blue Monday

It's Blue Monday again and time to post something "blue".
This fabric collage called "Madonna of the Chair" has a lot of blue in it.
I love the color blue, so of course it is one of my favorite wall hangings.
Don't forget to head over to Smiling Sally's blog to see other "blues"

Happy Sunday

This made me smile when I finished painting it.
Blessing to you this Sunday morning.

Today is special, for someone special

I just visited my friend Lynn's blog and she is having a Blogaversary Party! Three years of creative sharing.
I always enjoy going to see what Lynn is doing. Her interest seem to be varied like mine, so I always see something new and exciting. She is also very generous with her give-aways, something I need to work on myself. I have good intentions, but it seems like life gets in the way; I will have to put more focus on this in the future. I am still learning how to handle such things. Anyway, go see what Lynn in doing today!

Aftermath

Wow! 900 hundred goblins later; we are all out of candy, streets are still full of people.
We saw a lot of interesting sites tonight. I loved the clown family, from Grandpa all the way down to the clown in the stroller. We got serenaded by three lovely teens, and one little girl probably paid big bucks to the hair dresser for these knots. I wore my bubba teeth and scared some little ones. We even had a bee keeper with his little bees; they brought an angel with them for protection. Anyone want to ride in the stagecoach? It was fun for this year; we will have to think about a repeat performance next year. Actually, we never know what next year will bring, so we will take one day at a time.