Life Lesson #1,496,732

Life lession #1,496,732. When you are looking to purchase a new washer and dryer ... go ahead and ooooh and aaaaah over the pretty ones. You know the ones I am talking about ... every little thing that could make your life simpler and make laundry less of a chore and just think about how sweet it will look in your laundry room and all your neighbors will have laundry envy. After you have ooooohed and aaaaaahed, move on down to the inexpensive ones ------ the washer with three wash cycles and the dryer with three heat cycles. Period. Just do it. Trust me, the cheaper ones outlast the expensive ones and they get your laundry just as clean and dry. Luckily, the nice man from Big Store Appliance Repair was able to work a little magic today and get my Elec*****x dryer working again (less than two years old). Before that one, my Sam***g dryer tore up four times in three years. The matching Sam***g washer is still working, but only after three service calls (and the rinse and spin only cycle does not work). If the nice man from Big Store Appliance Repair had NOT been able to work a little magic today, you would have seen a giant bonfire in the McCormick front yard in Dogwood estates with some crazy woman running around it screaming. Sanity saved for one more day. I am finished ranting now.

Stitched with love

My sweet mom made a baby quilt for each of my three children when I was pregnant with them.  With my first child, she bought a coloring book and traced patterns to embroider.  I loved it the first time I saw it .... loved that she made it, loved that my child would have a quilt made by their mamaw, loved it when I wrapped my son in it, loved it when he would not go to sleep without out ..... just loved it.  I was not a quilter at the time but even then could see how much time and love she poured into that quilt for her first grandchild. 

I look at the embroidery, all those satin stitches, the thought she put into the colors, the hand quilting .... I wish she was here so I could tell her again how much I love this.  She also made a quilt for my other two children and I have them all on a quilt rack in my bedroom.  The thing that really amazes me about these quilts is that she really was not a "quilter" in the sense that I consider myself (addicted, consumed, passionate about quilting).  The thing she loved the most was crocheting doilies.  She used the tiniest crochet hooks and fine thread to make some of the most beautiful doilies, dresser scarves, and tablecloths I have ever seen.  These baby quilts hold so many memories for me and I am very thankful that she took the time to make them.  To me, their worth is immeasurable.

Pleasantly confused

Wow, has the family unit changed in my house over the past two weeks.  There is a lot of old history to the story, but I am not going to get into that here.   When I need to really scream, I have a couple of blogger buddies (you know who you are and I thank you) that I can email.  My mother-in-law has come to live with us.  She has early Alzheimer's in addition to some other medical issues.  Over the past few months to a year, we knew she was having some issues when we talked to her on the phone.  She had some "medication mishaps" and ended up in a state of acute delirium over the course of a week or so and had not been taking care of her hygiene or eating properly (perhaps not eating at all) and she ended up in a very bad state and was hospitalized.  After a two week stay and starting on three medications for Alzheimer's, she has stabilized quite nicely.  It was determined by her doctors that she could no longer live independently.  She was not happy about that, but really she has gotten to the point where she cannot make those decisions on her own.   She is what the doctors call "pleasantly confused", meaning she does not have any violent behavior and some of the things she says and does are quite amusing.  I work at home, so the bulk of the caregiving has fallen to me.  I have called upon my husband to step it up on weekends and do most of her care (other than helping with her shower).  As much as I love my husband, he would be content to sit back and let me do it all.  But, if I am going to keep any shred of sanity, I am going to need a break on weekends.   I think the hardest part for me is having someone in my home all the time.  We want her to feel at home and not feel like a guest, but for years now it has been me and my husband, then one child, then two children.  They are in college and one moved out and came back and then the other moved out with friends.  I admit it, I am having a difficult time feeling at home in my own home these days.  I am really trying to work on this, but I am finding it hard to relax.  We have one bedroom on the first floor, which was ours.  Since she cannot physically climb stairs, she now has our bedroom (and master bath and closet) and we have taken my daughter's previous room upstairs.  I am having a VERY hard time getting my work accomplished in a timely fashion.  I cannot shut my office door because she may need me.  I always cook supper but now have added breakfast and lunch.  Add extra laundry, extra dishes, extra cleaning, and lots of interruptions throughout the day and I am up until midnight or 1 a.m. getting my work finished.  For instance, on Thursday she pulled all my husband's clean and folded tee-shirts out of the dresser and told me they smelled bad and needed to be washed.  I really do not mean to come across as whining.  I married my husband for better or worse, yes I did.  I think I just needed to blow off some steam this evening and kind of put my feelings (good or bad) in writing and get it off my chest.  Oh well, tomorrow is another day.  I am going to clean my sewing room after church and then lock myself in and quilt all evening tomorrow. 

Yes, I am still here

To all my quilting blogging friends --- I am still here.  We have had some major changes in our household.  My mother-in-law has come to stay with us.  I will write a more detailed post later.  She has had some health issues and it seems she will no longer be able to live alone any longer.  We have had to move our bedroom upstairs and do a little remodeling and my days (and nights) have been crazy.  I still take 10 minutes and pop in and read your posts and look at all your lovely pictures.  Please keep my family in your prayers ... a lot of changes are going on and I need some extra doses of patience and compassion. 

New recipe --- homemade Sloppy Joes

My husband had to leave unexpectedly this morning to drive to Arkansas to get his mother and bring her here (another blog story for later) and my daughter now has an apartment with two friends, so my son and I are alone this weekend.  I have several hours of work to do over the course of the weekend plus get a bedroom ready for my mother-in-law, and my son has a paper to write and more homework, so we opted for a simple supper.  We thought about ordering pizza, but I pinned a new recipe on Pinterest a few weeks ago and have been wanting to try it out.  Nothing fancy, just sloppy joes, but homemade.   Here is supper ...

Click HERE for the recipe.  The only ingredient I did not have was dry ground mustard and my son picked that up this morning.  It is very good and I can definitely see it being on the menu for the next football gathering at my house.  It is a little sweet for my taste, so the next time I make it I will leave off the brown sugar and will add a little garlic and probably some diced jalapeno.  I have very specific tastes for sweet and savory, usually not together.  If you love sweet chili or spaghetti sauce, better not plan on supper at my house because you will not find it here.  If I want something sweet, I will go get a Milky Way bar or Hershey bar or something equally sugary.  I started to leave the brown sugar out this first time I made it, but the recipe has over 600 reviews and 5 stars, so I felt like I should give it a chance as written before starting to make changes.  

On a totally different note, here is a view of the beautiful Kentucky sky from my front porch this evening. 

Hope ya'll are having a wonderful weekend! 

Pumpkin spice muffins --- Pioneer Woman style!

I know it isn't fall yet .... the temperature outside still says summertime, hot and humid.  But, it is September and fall isn't too far away.  Without a doubt, autumn is my very favorite time of the year.  More about autumn later ... but today a quick glimpse of fall food.  I have been looking for a really good pumpkin muffin recipe.  I came across a recipe by Ree, the Pioneer Woman.  I had everything in my pantry to make these except Carnation evaporated milk (we called it Carnation Cream while growing up, not sure why).  I dropped by the grocery after church today and picked up a small can and made these muffins today.  Here are pictures of mine ...

If you want a GREAT homemade muffin, click HERE for Pioneer Woman's recipe.  One thing I LOVE is that this uses butter instead of oil.  I do have to disagree with her on one thing.  She said the recipe would not make a full 12 muffins.  I filled all 12 cups at least two-thirds full, probably closer to three-fourths.  The recipe calls for 25 minutes.  I baked 20 to start with, wanting to make sure they did not overbake, and ended up giving them another 3 minutes.  They are dense and packed with spicy, pumpkin goodness (but not overly sweet).  With the homemade cream cheese frosting, these taste a lot like a pumpin roll.  Break away from the box and packet mix and try these sweet babies ... you will not be disappointed.

Birthday gifts from my friend

I just had my 55th birthday on August 29 and I am the "baby" of a group of four.   My husband was also born in 1957, as are our best friends, a couple named Kathy and Rob.   They live two counties away from us, a 45-minute drive, but we get together as often as we can.  My husband turned 55 in March, Kathy turned 55 in July, Rob on August 15, so that makes me the youngest -- oh yay!   They graciously share their garden with us in the summertime .... tomatoes, peppers, squash, corn, green beans, greens, onions, okra ...... and in return my husband will put something on the smoker for them, pork loin or shoulder roast, ribs, different things.  It is a wonderful trade-off.  Kathy and I exchange gifts for birthdays and Christmas, and it is usually something we have made.  This time, she made me a set of coasters with tile from Lowe's, fabric, and ModPodge.  This is something I have been wanting to try and just have not gotten around to it. I love these! 

Also, she loves, loves, loves to upcycle .... she finds clothing at Goodwill and makes something different out of it... placemats, napkins, whatever.  Sometimes a dress will have unique buttons.  She calls some of the dresses "church dresses."  Trust me, this is a term of endearment and in no way meant to be disrespectful.  She and I both spent our early years in small country churches where the women wore long, full dresses.  Pants were a no-no.  When she finds a dress at Goodwill that is full and long and has lots of usable fabric, she calls it a "church dress."   Here is a picture of one she found this summer ...

I wish you could see the buttons on this dress  .... they would definitely have cost more than the $5 she paid for this dress at Goodwill.  There is enough fabric in the dress for two aprons, and she made me one for my birthday ... look at this!!!!!!

I am not sure, but this looks like Debbie Mumm or Mary Engelbreit.  Best friends are the greatest!