Biccy Barrels, Ginger

I seem to be at the mercy of Blogger, as I wanted a different order, but what can you do except go along with the uncontrollable. I recently enjoyed a post by Helz of Blue Shadow Pony in which she shared that her 'biccy barrell' was empty of her DH's favorite treats. I told her that it made me feel like making some Snickerdoodles, and filling up one of mine. She wasn't familiar with them so I sent her the recipe. This got me thinking that maybe I would share my 'cookie jars' aka 'biccy barrels'. I love biscotti, and if I had room, every time I went to Sam's and they had another ceramic biscotti container, I would probably get one, since I don't I have settled for two, the Santa, and the one marked Biscotti. I love the colorfulness of them.
If anyone would like, I will also share my Snickerdoodle recipe. If you aren't familiar, they are delicious crunchy cookies that are very easy on the budget, and mostly things that everyone has in the kitchen already
SNICKERDOODLES

1 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons cream of tarter

1 teaspoon soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Sugar

Cinnamon

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix shortening, sugar and eggs. Blend dry ingredients and stir in. Roll into balls the size of small walnuts. Roll in 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Makes about 5 dozen.

I love stoneware, and so the stoneware one is one of my favorites. My niece, Beth Ann, is very talented and handpaints ceramics that are sooo cute. She did a goose for herself and her mother, and when I admired them she was kind enough to do one for me. I think my goose cookie jar is adorable. The last is a Waterford biscuit barrell, which I would never have bought, but I got it from work for sales points, and I love it a lot.



The rather homely little pot with the odd looking little nubs is my attempt to grow ginger. If you have never been to La Gringa's Blogicito it is a very interesting look into life in Honduras. I find it very interesting as that is where my DIL is from. She had a post about growing your own ginger, and she also linked to information about crystalizing it yourself.

Giveaways

Lyn at Blue Bird Quilts is having a Christmas in July Giveaway, three different mystery Christmas parcels. You have until noon Friday 25th to leave your comment.

I keep seeing Stitcher's Angel Swap badges on different blogs. I'm going to have to check into that a little further, it looks very interesting. " 7 generous and talented designers on the one blog?". How could you go wrong.

Orange Crush Borders and Flowers

Finally, I finished the thinking stage and got on with the doing stage. I have the borders done on my OC, and am ready to make the binding, sew the back, and piece batting if necessary, and send it off to the longarmer. It is quite large, about 103 inches by 88 inches, so should fit a queen sized bed quite well. I'm now almost ready to get started on the StashMystery quilt.

The flowers my DH (he said DH stands for deadhead) brought home yesterday from the grocery store. I love fresh flowers they really brighten up the house, and I like the colors of these. Sometimes DH stands for darn husband, but now it is standing for dear husband.

A day or two ago DH came in and told me he had read my blog. He was very complimentary, which was very nice to hear. I have shared my blog with my kids and my husband now, and my kids seemed kind of semi-shocked with the blog and the fact that I have a Blackberry, I think they think I'm rather old for such things, but not in a bad way. I know I'm no spring chicken (chook), but I don't think that I am ready to give up gadgets and technology yet. I have always liked gadgets of all kinds, cooking, technology, etc., and I hope that my brain will allow me to enjoy them still for many years to come. I've been semi-coveting an Ipod, but haven't figured out any reason why I would need one. Of course, a few years ago I felt the same about computers, and now I'm an addict, I am thinking maybe I need an intervention. Have a nice day, and enjoy your technology.

Starting and Shopping

I hope everyone had or is having a nice day today, and for those who celebrate Independence Day, a happy holiday. It is a day to enjoy, but also a day to reflect on the sacrifices that have been made for us. There is a very informative and inspiring post on Julie's Blog on that very subject. It is about the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and how their lives were affected by there choice for liberty.



I spent part of my day shopping at JoAnn's today. I thought that the needles that I purchased awhile ago would be what I needed for my 'green' grocery bag, but they were too short, so I purchased needles of different types, and yarn for my bag. I hadn't bought any for years, except for the ones that didn't work for this project, which were on sale and fancy with a tapestry case, so I had a little bit of sticker shock in the needle department. I hope I can figure the pattern out and see it through. If not, I guess I will make dishcloths. That is another knitting project I have been wanting to do.



While I was at JoAnn's, I also got the fabric for the new mystery quilt from 'StashMystery' yahoo group. I know that I have lost my mind, as I am still working on the Orange Crush and Carolina Crossroads, but this is a simpler project, and looked like a change of pace. I am kind of defeating the purpose, as it is supposed to be from stash, but I don't have a big stash, and I wanted a change of colors, too.
I thought of the Boxy Stars, but this one lured me.

1Bag - Knitted Grocery Bag

In my blogging, I ran across firefly's blog I live on a farm. I haven't done any knitting in years, but her knitted grocery bag was so pretty, and her reasons for using the 'green bags' so convincing that I thought I would give it a try. Besides, about a year ago I bought some circular knitting needles that I haven't tried, and I thought this would be a good thing to try them with.

The complete instructions are on her blog, and you'll be helping the environment, if you would like to give it a try, also.

Anniversary, Ikea, and Mail

Yesterday was my DH and my anniversary, but he wasn't feeling too well, so we decided to celebrate today instead. First we went and had lunch at Bahama Breeze, which was delicious as always and then we went to Ikea, as they were having their first sale ever since they opened in Orlando. The sale was a disappointment, but I did make a few purchases. The sale things that I got were the potholders 2 for .99 cents, and the fabric. Has anyone used the cotton fabric from Ikea. I hope that it is good, as I got 10 yards. it is 59 inches wide, and was on sale for 1.99 and I thought that it would make a nice backing on girly quilts. The little clock was 2.99, and I needed one in front of my sewing machine, so far so good it has run for about 3 hours, and the wooden box is for my paper storage by my printer.

When I got back home I had finally gotten my package from Connecting Thread. I have heard good things about their thread so I'm going to give it a try, and I got the yellow gingham for a baby quilt.

I haven't given up on my Orange Crush. I haven't exactly been keeping my shoulder to the wheel, but I have gotten my borders cut out, and my little extra blocks almost finished sewing together to use in the border. I'm almost ready to sew the borders on.

Key Rings and Gnomes and Giveaway

I hardly ever go on the back porch lately, as it is so hot, and it is so hard to get out the sliding glass door. We have 3 locks, and a rod, I guess we are security conscious or else neurotic. We don't live in a crime ridden area, but we like to be secure. Anyway, while I was out there watering my avacado tree (which I grew from a seed), I thought that I might as well take a picture of my new gnome that I got at Target yesterday on sale. I have another big one on the porch that I call John, the one in the planter is little John, and I am calling the new one Sean. John is after my father-in-law, who loved to garden and anything 'nature'. Sean is standing on top of the pot that my avacodo tree was in before we repotted it, and unfortunately the little tree isn't showing up too well, and I cut off it's top.
While I was out there, I looked up and noticed that I was being watched, so I took a picture of my visitor. The round circle thing on the left is a golfing contraption that my husband bought and never used much. It was supposed to help you have a perfect swing.

On Lynette Anderson Designs she got a new key ring, very pretty in the shape of a strawberry, and she is asking for pictures of others and then is having a giveaway of a new 'woof' pattern. The first picture is of a gift key chain from my son's youngest son Kevin, and a gift key chain from my son Robert and his wife Brenda. The second is a key chain with a flashlight that my mother 'won' at the casino. I can't understand the love of gambling, but she enjoyed her times at the casino, and so I'm glad that she had something exciting in her life. The last is my 'Hold to the Rod' key chain. It is not pretty, but it has religious significance and meaning. You can read it a little, I think.

I Just Found Another One - Giveaway

This one is Brenda's at Pumpkin Patch Primitives she is making up and giving away a kit for this beauty. Just leave a comment.

Contest

There is a very interesting challenge (contest?) on Donna's blog. It's DONNA'S - In The Attic , and she is challenging entrants to make any size Turning Twenty quilt top by July 11th. You can even use one that you have already made.


You can see the details on her blog, but the prizes are these fat quarters,


or a wall hanging made from fabrics similar to these. I don't know if I will be entering, but maybe, I would be able to do a small one.

Orange Crush Top Without Borders

My OC is now a complete top without borders. I am thinking on the borders, which could take a day or two. I am first of all thinking if I want a small white border, or black, and if I want to incorporate my leftover little blocks in some way. For now, I'm just enjoying the finish of a step completed. For many, this is just a blip on their quilting experiences, but for me it was a challenge. Maybe, it will give me the desire to try some more, more difficult patterns.

By the way. I checked the bird nest, and the babies are gone. I'm sorry that I couldn't get some better pictures, but I'm glad that they were able to fly away.

Candace