2017 First Snow of the Season

I grew up in Wisconsin so cold and snow come without saying.  The first snow was always exciting but it was just the beginning of a few months of more snow and bitter cold.  Living in South Carolina I still get excited for the first snow as long as I can stay home.

Saturday we had our first snow of the year, what a beautiful blanket of white.  I was lucky enough to be off of work so what do my husband and I do - head for the mountains to see more snow.

We left the house at 11am to start our ride to the hills in the Renegade and by then the roads were starting to melt.  For the majority of the trip the roads were great until we hit the road to Sassafras Mountain.  On the way up we did see a couple of trucks in the ditch, 2 vehicles that slid together passing each other, lots of 4 wheelers, kids with sleds and allot of beautiful scenery.

We made it to the top of the mountain and back home safely.

Beautiful day and a great ride.

Mary

Been Wayyy Too Long!

Happy New Year!

Decided to jump back to my blog that has been long neglected.

I was thinking yesterday of some of my goals for 2017, what I want to achieve not resolutions.

First is to naturally lose more weight and become more healthier.  Last September I joined a program called Body Talk.  The program taught me allot about listening to myself and what my body needs.  Through the 3 month program I lost 22 pounds and have signed up for another 12 week program starting on the 16th of this month.

I have acquired allot of yarn (surprise) and collected allot of balls of yarn left over from completed projects.  So yesterday as I was going through a small bin with my left over yarn when I decided to knit at least 6 pair of socks fom my scraps and stash this year.

Next is finish my UFO quilts, problem is I don't know how many I have and don't really want to know.

Last goal is to declutter the house.  This is a big goal but if I keep working on it maybe by the end of 2018 I will be done.

Good News - Bad News

Good News - Our pool is open.

Bad News - The water temp is 68 degrees.

Good News - The temps are going to be in the 90's the next few days so that will warm up the water.

Bad News - It will be in the 90's the next few days and it's only May 3rd!

Mary

Busy Day

Managed to finally do the binding on 2 Table Runners and also quilt two others.

Planted the first raised bed garden and got the next bed ready to plant within the next week.

Did five loads of laundry.

Did some grocery shopping.

Took a nap during the race.

And knitted some.

Time to call it a day!

Back to work tomorrow.

Mary

Welcome 2012!

Goodbye to 2011 - Welcome 2012!

Here's to a Fantastic New Year!

Hope all your dreams come true.

Mary

Merry Christmas to All

Happy Holidays,
Mary

Domestic Diva!

OR MAYBE NOT!

A few months ago I found this site Salad in a Jar and found rather interesting.  First I tried her instructions for Greek Yogurt - not a failed batch yet.  I have been making my own Greek Yogurt now for about a month and it's probably the easiest thing to do.  Sometimes I get 2 pints, the batch before I got 3 pints, now this one 2 1/2 pints.  Pretty cost effective too - I save about half over buying already made.

Another thing I started to do is make my own bread again.  This time around I am using white wheat flour for some added nutrients and fiber, it gives a denser bread and very filling.  My new favorite recipe is also from Salad in a Jar site - Sweet Milk White Bread.  I made a loaf last week and it uses sweetened condenser milk but only half a can so I mixed up another loaf and froze it after the first rise - that is the one rising now.  I was never really happy with the size loaf that came out of the bread machine, so now I let it do the mixing and first rise then finish the rest the conventional way.

And that was the end of the Domestic Diva for Saturday, went back to sewing.

Mary

My Garden

Decided to have a hobby garden in the backyard this year.  It's the perfect size (4' x 8'), it only takes a couple of minutes to weed and should yield some great vegetables.  Jody put this together for me about 3 weeks ago and I have planted broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers and this morning beans.  I also added basil, oregano and chives - the basil is growing the best right now.  The cabbage, broccoli and brussel sprouts actually should have been planted a month earlier than I did but the plants were on sale for $.99 for a 4 pack - no out much if the don't produce.

Mary

Went for a great ride today - up to Lake Jocasse - what a beautiful day. Stopped by Subway for a couple of sandwiches for a picnic lunch.
Love Springtime in the South.
Mary

Snowstorm 2011

On Monday we received about 6 inches of snow - just what they predicted. The snow started at about midnight early Monday morning and didn't let up until the first part of the afternoon. Then if that wasn't enough we had freezing rain for the icing on the cake - at least that was a light rain and didn't last long but still put a nice shine on everything. Hard to believe we will be back in the 50's on the weekend.


The puppies love the snow - hard to get them to come in when there 'jobs' are done.

Now we have had two storms in the same Winter season, that's enough snow - time for Spring.

Mary

Snow and Sew

This was the view out my sewing room window Sunday morning. According to the news we did have enough snow to classify it as a White Christmas - first one since 1963 in this area. It was certainly beautiful to see the big fluffy flakes coming down, but now in my personal and humble opinion that can be it for the rest of the winter season.


Now that I have finished my Carolina Christmas Quilt it is time to start on the next quilt for our bed. I am now officially participating in Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt, the clues started back on November 19th - so I'm a few weeks behind, at least it's not a race. For the quilt I chose Civil War era fabrics; the colors I am going with are browns, greens, pinks and neutrals - the same colors in the mystery.


With the snowy weekend we had and our plans changed I was able to get a few 'clues' completed. Son far I have clue 1, 2, 4 and half of 6 finished; 3 and 5 have quite a few pieces to them so they will take a while longer.


For some odd reason when I sit down at the sewing machine I always have to figure out how I can get my foot in to operate the pedal. JD and Sophie are usually under the desk but today Kasey decided to join them. They never go under there until I sit down to sew, not sure if they think I can't sew without them there.

Oh well, it's Monday and back to work.
Mary

Happy Holidays!

My wish to all is a very Wonderful Holiday Season.

Mary

Jo's Visit to the South Continues

Saturday we continued on with Jo's tour of the South with a ride up to Caesar's Head continuing on to see Pretty Place down through Bevard then up to Highlands down to Franklin and ending up for an early dinner at the Dillard House. After over stuffing ourselves at the Dillard House onward to home where we comfortably ended the evening watching one good movie and the 2nd movie the verdict is still out on.

Today was kind of a laid back day with laying around this morning - all of us tried from the past couple of days of travel. Thursday night I introduced Jo to Shrimp and Grits, this morning she had Biscuits and Gravy for the first time - hard to believe for people in the South to understand no one ever having them before but it's not a meal in the North. Jo and I ventured into Greenville for a little shopping then the sad trip to the airport where we had to say goodbye for now.

What an fabulous weekend - not ready for it to end.

Mary

Christmas at Biltmore

Awesome day Friday with my hubby and a very good friend, Joann. We went to the Biltmore Estates in Asheville and had a great time. The highlight of the day was Candlelight tour of the home - simply beautiful. The house and grounds are magnificent thoughout the year but the holiday decorations are fabulous to see.

What an wonderful day!
Mary

Happy Thanksgiving

Now it's well into the afternoon - dinner is past the and THANKFUL all are at rest. Quite an eventful day - kind of THANKFUL it was just Jody and I.

I started the day in the kitchen first making biscuits and gravy for breakfast. I have the biscuit recipe in my head, a real easy recipe but apparently hard to remember today. The amount of flour was right but not enough milk and too much oil equals hockey pucks - THANKFUL that they were still edible. Next was Pecan Pie - THANKFUL for no issues there. Then came the sail bird, after 2 hours in the oven it was time to put foil over it to keep it from drying out. I opened the oven door and pulled the rack out a little turned to grab the foil and by the time I turned around the bird went sailing to the floor (THANKFUL the turkey stayed on it's back). THANKFUL that for once I did not have a dog under foot, gated the kitchen and Jody cleaned up the floor while I washed the bird. An hour and half later the bird was done and then put the dressing in the oven - THANKFUL for no tragedy there. Dressing finished baking, turned off the oven and then the oven started beeping and then some crazy code across the panel, Jody killed the power to it and turned the power back on and the panel started making a clicking noise and flashing - power off again, tried it a couple more times same result. THANKFUL for a home warranty - Jody went on line to schedule service.
If you think you have nothing to be THANKFUL for just relive your day and no matter how small the thanks are they are still there.

Mary

My New Toy

My Kindle. Last May my sister sent me a listing of all the audio books my Mom listened to, a total of 334 with only a very few duplicates. Rather an extensive list, so I decided a would start reading from her list. As I looked through the list I found five maybe six that I read, needless to say I have a long way to go. Now I'm not a fast reader and with everything else I got going on I figure 1 book per month, so keeping at that pace it should take me approximately a little better than 27 years to get through the list.

Happy Reading!
Mary

Horse Pasture Road

Interesting ride yesterday, rode up to Horse Pasture Road which is problem 25 miles from home. Jody went squirrel hunting up there yesterday and wanted to show me the area. I had actually been there more than 12 years ago - way to long to remember much about it thou. Unfortunately it started raining while were on the road (forecast was 0% chance of rain) so ended up having our picnic lunch in the truck. Bumpy but an enjoyable ride with some awesome views.


Then I finished the day with laundry and some quilting - guess which one is my favorite.

Mary

A Quilty Couple of Days

Spent the past 2 days quilting along with other errands to do. One appointment was to go get an estimate and visit my favorite body shop again. On Saturday I had a man use my rear bumper to stop his truck - at least the damage was minor and hopefully its just painting the bumper. Then the rest of the running around was nails, haircut and the beloved grocery shopping.

The first quilt is one of Bonnie Hunter's pattern called Jared Takes a Wife - I assembled the top better than a year ago, hung it on a hanger but never could decide on how to quilt it. I decided on the panto called Dusty Miller and used a color of thread called Mustard. After I finish the binding the quilt will make its way to Door County and be up for sale.


The second picture is of a block of the next quilt I finished quilting last night. This quilt will also make its way to Door County next week for sale. This quilt is just a little larger version that I made my Mom last winter. The block is called Sawtooth Star and the quilt went together rather quickly. I start the quilt a week ago, other than the binding its a week and a half quilt - quick and easy.

Today is my Mom's birthday - sadly she is no longer here but I will always carry her in my heart. Mom - today is especially for you - I love you.

Mary

Snow Puppies

I think the puppies have eaten their weight in snow.

Ended up with about 3 inches - it had almost quit snowing by midnight. Today is to be in the 40's - so the melting mess begins. Snow predicted for Monday - the Weatherman couldn't possibly be right two times in a row (we'll see!).

Mary

It's Snowing!!!!

No that mound off on the left is not a drift but the pool cover.
What a trip home - snow covered, slippery - took 30 minutes to go 8 miles!
And to think I was jealous of the people farther north of all the snow, now I remember it - I think I have adjusted to the South.

Ok, now that it has snowed I'm ready for spring - bring it on!

Mary