Spreading the Word on a Special Giveaway

 

As many of you know, PJ @ Seens From The Backs Of My Eyelids, has a brother, Henry, who lost everything he owned to fire on Saturday, July 24, 2011. The outpouring of help for Henry was so overwhelming, PJ would like to thank you all in a special way.

On next Wednesday evening, September 7^th, she will have the computer randomly select three names from her Wednesday blogpost this week.

The first name selected will win a $100 e-certificate to Amazon.com.

 

The second name selected will win a $75 e-certificate to Amazon.com.

The third name selected will win a $50 e-certificate to Amazon.com.

All you have to do to enter the drawing is be a follower of PJ, leave a comment and MAKE SURE THERE IS A LINK TO YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR COMMENT. Easy peasy, right?

Before the end of the day on Thursday, September 8^th, PJ will contact the winners and before the end of the day on Friday, September 9^th, she will have the e-certificates sent from Amazon to the winners.

 

So head on over to PJ's and enter to win!

 

 

Taming the Perfection Monster

We entertained family last night. This weekend is the family "Non-reunion" (so named because a certain someone avoids anything named reunion like the plague. He is totally fooled by the non-reunion renaming, lol) With family members from far away in town that we just couldn't wait to see, we invited them over for some special time together.

May I admit here that this time I was a little stressed? I didn't plan well and with no time to make things fancy I was feelin' cranky. We bloggers tend to do that I think. Make everything a production worthy of Cecil B DeMille with our cupcake flags and tablescapes and whoop-de-doo fancy touches. Truth be told, I love a reason to make things special. But putting that kind of pressure on ourselves can make us entertain less can't it? Does it make us anxious before the guests arrive? What's the deal with that? Because really, getting together with family and friends is about these....

 Laughter....

smiles...

 Enjoying tarts that leave a whipped cream kiss on your lips:)

Hugs after a satisfying meal.

 Gathering firewood with the littlest kids

So you can teach them at an early age how to start a fire...lol

The queen of hearts, she made some tarts, all on a summers day

The Knave of Hearts he stole the tarts and took them clean away.

It didn't take me long to take a look around and realize that high expectations and trying to make things "perfect" had nearly robbed me of the joy of just being with people I love.

We have promised ourselves to have people over more often. I am promising myself that I won't put so much pressure on myself to make everything perfect. 

Because what's more perfect than sharing love?

Thank you Victoria for taking most of these photos while I was busy:)

Sam

Our family is blessed with some of the sweetest nieces, and a nephew, in the whole world. Earl's sisters' girls are each 9 months different in age from my own daughters and I love them like my very own. We are blessed that they are willing to spend time with us and hang out and talk. I had coffee with my oldest nieces Kayla and Samantha this morning at Panera. We talked for two hours and I'm pretty sure we solved most of the worlds problems over those cups of java and breakfast:)

 Afterwards, Samantha had asked her uncle if he felt like making cheesecake with her. He pretty much loves time spent baking with any of the kids so guess what his answer was?

 Sam came home with me, tied on an apron and dug in with the Uncle. White Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake was the cheesecake du jour. I grabbed a lick of the batter when they were done and, Heavens to Betsy, I think I need to make one for the next holiday!

Tasting is pretty much required for quality control don'tcha know.

And when they were done Sam went home with a cheesecake to die for.

 Hey Sam, You are going to save us a piece aren't you:)   Hmmmm?

You Can Make Your Own Greek Yogurt

Yes you can. It's easy and with the price of Greek yogurt at $2 for a small serving it will save you a ton of money!  I first saw this recipe here, and with these directions we have been making our own for over a year now. Grocery store cost = $2 for 6 oz.  Our cost= $2.50 for about a half gallon!

Greek yogurt is thick and creamy and so good for you! We make the yogurt overnight in the crock pot and strain it through extra large coffee filters to get rid of most of the watery whey so it gets stand up on your spoon thick.  With a little practice you will get pretty consistent results, and you can't beat the price! A little honey, a little fresh fruit, and you have a great start to your day:>)

I've added this link to my recipes page. If you give it a try let me know what you think. If you need help, email me, I'll be glad to help you through it.

Enjoy!

In the shop now...This cutie patootie little rattan bag I found at a sale. Velvet and felt fruits and veggies. Have you ever seen anything like this? When I saw it in I just knew someone would love it :>)

Maybe you?

Ok, off to the sewing machine I go. Hope you're having a great day, found anything cool at a sale lately?

Jam Session

I have gotten so much done in the last week. Some sewing, cleaning, a weekend away with the love of my life and Jam making! Our pastor has a peach tree and he shared some of the harvest. Bucket after bucket of fuzzy sweetness. We made five kinds of jam and two kinds of peach pie before we hit the bottom of those buckets.  And oh. my.  If I had to choose favorites they would be the Peach Melba with Raspberry, the Orange peach and the Vanilla peach. Since we make our own Greek yogurt in the crock pot, these are the bomb stirred in for a touch of peachy sweetness! We also made Grand Champion jam for those who like a little spice and a rockin' Butterscotch peach made with brown sugar that we tossed in the freezer. 

The Peach Melba with Raspberry recipe and the Butterscotch Peach Jam come from this book, Well Preserved: Third Edition: Small Batch Preserving for the New Cook . It is chock full of small batch recipes for jams and relishes, chutneys and pickles. You can find it in my Amazon store on my sidebar under the cooking category :)

Jam is easy and has lots more uses than just a topping for toast. Try it as a glaze for grilled pork or chicken, add some vinegar for the best sweet and sour sauce ever, or do as we do and add it to plain yogurt.  We have even given some as gifts already and with fancy flavors you can't get in the stores, and a fresh loaf of home made bread it's a special treat for someone you love.

I would love to hear if you can special treats this time of year. What's your favorite recipe to put up for the winter or give as gifts?

Do You Wanna Be a Quilter?

Hello, friends and followers!

I would like to welcome you

to a Wantobe Quilters Campaign over at www.sewwequilt.com

They are having quilting supplies to giveaway 5 x a week for 12 weeks!

Mondays-Wednesday-Fridays you can win

Supplies that will have you quilting

before you know it…From sewing machines to irons, to die cutters,

to mats, to rotary cutters, sewing baskets, scissors, batting, needles,

rolled sewing machine bags, patterns, books, magazines…everything

you could imagine to assist you in being a NEW Quilter.

Even if you are already part of this community you can win

quilting stuff too…Tuesdays and Thursdays are days for us.

All you have to do is give me your name and phone number

and email sew I can submit this to the organizer, because if you win

anything I can win something too.

All you have to do is be my follower and a follower

over at www,sewwequilt.com

That is all! There are over 53 Sponsors involved.

I am pretty excited to be part of this, sew should you.

I love being a QUILTER!

P.S. You will not be eligible to win anything if you do not register

with me (or with any blogger where you see this message)

Just email me at [email protected] and leave your name, email address and phone number. The info won't be used for anything but this contest!
You don't have to be a quilter to love these prizes! If you sew or know someone who sews, these prizes are gorgeous and with Chirstmas coming they would make great gifts!

To my love,
You are my joy,
my laughter,
my confidant,
My sounding board,
my hiding place,
my encourager,
my fire in winter,
my explainer of all things,
my protector,
my comfort,
my best friend (forever!),
My strength,
my weakness,
my everything.
Thirty-one years. And counting....♥

Love Kathy

The In Between Time

It's here, summers last month of heat and sunshine, vacation and play. To me, it is the winding down of summer and the beginning of fall. Our thoughts begin to turn toward crisp days of Autumn, going back to school (*sigh* :>{) and getting the house ready for the hours we will spend inside instead of out in the garden. In my mind it really is a time "in between".

I'll be taking the next week off to get some custom orders finished and get those last few projects done before my day job starts again in a few weeks. I'll be popping by your blogs to say hello now and again and I'll be back with, hopefully, a fresh outlook on the coming season.

In the meantime, I thought I would leave you with a few rooms to drool over from my Pinterest.

 Lately I am just loving the warm pine furniture with white that I have been seeing. I have wondered all along if once we all get everything painted white, wood will come back into favor. I'm holding off on painting a few pieces just in case:>)

 Although this Island from Habershamhome.com still inspires a little paint love..

All that apple green and distressed white, beautiful!



I love this room just because...well, who couldn't love that stained glass? Toile wallpaper? This looks like the perfect top of the stairs nook to me.

And I have always, always wanted a cozy little booth like this in the kitchen. I swear I would never have to go out for coffee again. This just has my name all over it:>)

What are you doing to get ready for the coming season? Do you feel summer winding down too, or is it still in full swing?



My First Pattern!

I'm excited to announce my first pattern available in my etsy shop! It's no secret that I'm not a high production sewer. I make these designs, and I love them, but I always have this need to move on to the next thing. That means sometimes I don't make enough of whatever current design to satisfy demand.

So from now on, whenever I put out a new design, I'll do my best to make a corresponding pattern. For those who prefer to use their own fabrics, or personalize the design somehow. You can even make multiples for gift giving!

I hope this helps make my designs more accessible. You can find the pattern in my etsy shop now, and to celebrate my very first pattern, I am offering it postage free:>)

I also want to take the time to say thank you for all the support and encouragement you have given me with your comments, advice and yes, with purchasing my designs. You cannot know what it has meant to me.  It has put me on a different path than I would have taken without your input and support.

So, Thanks. You're the best. All of you.

Love Kathy

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