changeable seat cushions

I bought these metal outdoor chairs at a yard sale awhile back and never got around to buying or making seat cushions. Finally I collected enough throw pillows from yard sales to make some.

I sewed one side with velcro so I can easily take off the covers and wash them and change them as I come across more fabric and ambition to make more.

scary old photos

I saw this in a magazine and I almost died laughing. It was perfect timing because my mom and I had just gone thru old photos so I had some great ones to select from. I scanned the photos in and blew them up. Or you could be like my mom and just punch thru the originals (Sorry Aunt Ruth). I made “frames” out of cardboard and black construction paper. Take a string of orange christmas lights (found in the halloween section) and punch thru the eyes.

(I don’t know the 2 on the ends, apparently from my mom’s grade school, but the dude in the middle is my dad’s senior picture:)

decorative trim

This folks is what you call a project that looks SO EASY but turned out to be mind and wallet intensive. I figured I could trim out the whole room for $100. Ahh, excuse me… have you seen the highway robbery they call the Trim aisle at Home Depot!?!?!?

Anyways… log the man hours… log the steps walking back and forth to the miter saw…. log the amount of paint, caulk, trim boards, 1×6s, 1×4s… but it’s done and I think it looks fabo!

Check out the before shot!

sunflowers

My first sunflower of the season. Mental note to plant lots o’ sunflowers next year.

garden progress

May

June

July

August

calzones on the grill

One of my favorite foods of all time are calzones on the grill. They are so yummy and can be made to fit different individual tastes. Just buy ready to bake pizza dough in the deli section of your grocery store and load it up on your fav toppings. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and throw on the grill until the dough is cooked. Delish!

*We use a topping to distinguish, who’s is who’s*

Some of my favorite goodies to add is:
Fresh pressed garlic
Onions
Green Peppers
Sausage
Pepperoni
Mushrooms
Fresh Rosemary
Fresh Basil
Lots of cheese (different types)
Fresh spinach

what my parent’s did on their maine vacation

My parents came out to visit us for a week. They are not ones to sit around on their duff. So I made a list of all the odd jobs around the house for the “odd couple” to do:) They had the list done in the first day! They came up with the rest.

THANKS MOM & DAD!

Built a beautiful pathway for me to get to the composter. I wish I would have taken a before picture. I’m lucky I didn’t break my neck.

Hung shelves in bedroom closet
Hung curtain rod in guest bedroom
Painted night stand
Organized my garden supplies area
Cleaned out construction trash from underneath deck
Finished quilt
Planted annuals in gardens
Built storage in basement for construction leftovers
Painted yard sale find
Hung bathroom mirror (I’m embarrassed to say that this has needed to be done for over a year)
Sprayed weeds with Round Up around house
Hung clothes line
Cut and installed final deck board
Filled in all nail holes in bedroom
Built rock wall around garden in front yard
Fixed front porch step
Cleaned up sticks in front yard
Collected stones for future walkway
Planted flowers in flower pots
Hung other bathroom mirror
Cleaned under the sink (gross)
Cleaned the crumbs in the toaster (who does this but my mom???)
Installed screen door on the porch
Installed porch lights on the deck
Filled my hanging planter that has been empty all summer so far

knitted chicken viking hat

And the tradition lives on….. I’m sorry but how cute does Sophia look in this!

Let me just say, be prepared to get some looks when you stroll into a craft store asking for “Raw chicken colored yarn.” This pattern is from CraftBits. I started this in the summer and never finished it. Now that I’m almost done, I was thinking I should have done it in “turkey brown” for thanksgiving! The drumsticks are impossible to make as originally spec’d… I fudged it.

Click here for the original pattern
Click here for the pattern with my notes

Big brother Eric back in the day….

corn chowder

This tasted like yummie corn on the cobb but as a soup!

6 fresh medium ears of corn
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tbl cooking oil
1 14.5ounce can chicken broth
1 cup cubed peeled potato (1 medium)
1 cup milk
1 tbl all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 slices bacon, crisp cooked, drained and crumbled

1. Use a sharp knife to cut the kernels off the cobs.
2. In a large saucepan cook onion in hot oil till onion is tender but not brown. Stir in chicken broth and potato. Bring to boiling, reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10 mins. Stir in corn. Cook, uncovered, about 10 mins more till potato and corn are tender, stirring the mixture occasionally.
3. In a small bowl combine milk, flour, salt and pepper, stir into corn mixture. Cook and stir till thickened and bubble. Cook and stir for 1 min more. Add bacon, cook and stir till heated through.

Taken from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

veggie garden map

My first real veggie garden! Thanks to my wonderful husband who did all the tilling and hard work to get the area ready. I would show a picture but it already needs weeding. I wants it’s internet debut to be a good one. Till weednation is under control, here is the map.