Big Ball of Yarn! Summer Vacation Day 64!

Today I got a skein of yarn from one of my favorite yarn shops; Simply Socks.

This ball of yarn is from their own collection of yarns called Poste Yarn, the color is no longer available as I cannot find it on the page.  The yarn is called Ibiza:

The fun here is that I wound this skein myself with my new yarn ball winder!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Knitting in the F-350. Summer Vacation Day 63.

Early this morning we packed up and hit the road en route to Montana.

Of course I knit on the drive.

Here is what I got done on my July Sock Yarn of the Month:

It rained most of the trip, just stopping as we arrived in Montana.  That however was short lived as here is the view heading south:

Will be getting dark soon so my knitting hours are diminishing. 

Hope this inspires your own creativity. ..

Kathy

Work in Progress Wednesday! Summer Vacation Day 62!

I am up early this morning thanks to having an orthodontist appointment for my son.  My son has inherited the same crooked tooth that I have.  I will let your imagination run with that image, it's not quite hideous, but almost.  Apparently this particular tooth is a genetic thing, a couple of my mom's cousins have this "feature" as well.  Hence, I am going to stop the occurrence of this tooth in my son's smile.

Late last evening while the beans were a chilling, look what I completed:

These are the Oiler's Inspired wool socks that I knit for my brother.  Since it is Wednesday and I am even up early on a vacation day I am going to link up with The Needle and Thread Network.
 Reports so far today have been that these are "comfy" socks and feel like they really fit his foot.  Hmmm, Imagine!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Today has Gone to Beans! Summer Vacation Day 61!

That's right friends, today has gone to BEANS!

My son and I had a lovely day.  We spent all day at the Telus World of Science Edmonton, watched two movies there as well and had popcorn for lunch.

Returning home, I realized I had better get started on the beans:

Twenty pounds of beans cleaned, blanched and chilling in the freezer!

Does not look like I will quilt tonight...

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

What's For Dinner? Summer Vacation Day 60!

Today was a Day of Random for my son and I.

We started out having a plan for the day, but so many things got in our way that we will try again tomorrow.

We went for lunch at The Dish Bistro as I still had some coupons for there.

Then we went to Cookie Love.  Of course we got a bag of cookies, but we also got made just for us Ice Cream Sandwiches.  Ice cream sandwiches this good deserved a park, so we walked over quickly to Paul Kane Park.  It is such a pretty little park in the middle of the city.

A quick stop at the shoe store and day was over.

Hmmmmm, now what about dinner.

My dietitian colleague gave me a spaghetti squash last week, so that seemed like the start for dinner.

Here is what I ended up with:

The squash was cut in half and the seeds cleaned out then rubbed with Chipotle flavored Olive Oil (Evoolution Edmonton).

Baked at 350F for about a half hour.

The squash was then stuffed with sauteed:

* Textured Vegetable Protein (now found at Bulk Barn)

* onions

* yellow pepper

* fresh mushrooms

* frozen niblet corn

* can of tomato sauce

I topped both halves of the squash with mozzarella cheese and fried onions and baked until the cheese had melted.

Yummy!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Green is the Color!! Summer Vacation Day 59!

Alright, so some of you may know that there was a CFL Game today between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and some other dudes.  Since the game was on a Sunday and I could actually watch it, I chose to do that.  But of course if you know me, I cannot sit idly by doing nothing.

So, early this morning my son and I headed off to Brenneis Vegetable Gardens for vegetables for the freezer.

While we watched the game, we shelled some 20 lbs of peas and after the game I blanched and froze them:

Seems like a really appropriate color for today!  Green is the Color!

GO RIDERS GO!!!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

What's for Dinner? Summer Vacation Day 58!

Today was the start to my second part of summer vacation.  We slept in late this morning and did not get out of our jammies until almost 1400 hours and that was only because my brother called to get a ride from the truck stop to our house as he was loaded up with stuff bound for the north.

Since I really did not feel like cooking, we made:

Even my brother who considers himself the aficionado of all things pizza had to agree this was delicious!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Treat Day. Summer Vacation Day 57!

Everywhere I go lately, I seem to see the same treat everywhere!  I have not eaten this treat in years....., so I decided I better make some today.

I searched the internet and found a bzillion recipes all of which did not appear what I wanted, so I had to make a phone call to get the proper recipe:

Puffed Wheat Squares!

Puffed Wheat Squares:

1/3 cup non hydrogenated margarine

2/3 cup white corn syrup
2 tbsp cocoa ( I use Bernard Callebaut)

1 cup brown sugar

Heat over medium heat til boiling, boil for 1 minute and pour over

6 cups puffed wheat.

Pour out into a 9" x 9" greased pan.  Try to let it harden a bit before eating if you can (it's so tasty I start early).  

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Step 9 A Brandy's Quilt. Summer Vacation Day 56!

I am working an evening shift tonight, so I had a bit of time to quilt this morning ☺

I managed to get Step 9 A of Brandy's Quilt done:

Now off to make sure that dinner is ready for my husband and son when they get home!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Finally! Summer Vacation Day 55!

Good Late Evening Internet Friends!

So, the very reason I went to the market garden last Sunday was to get the necessary ingredients to make Mustard Pickles!  Every couple of years in late August we travel back to Nova Scotia to visit my husband's family, and of course I HAVE to go to Prince Edward Island.

One of my favorite foods from there is something my mother in law introduced me to:

Mustard Pickles!  Served on top of Atlantic Salmon it's just FABULOUS!

Guess what we had for dinner tonight?

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Third Day Pickled! ☺ Summer Vacation Day 54!

Still having the dilemma with having more brine than jars and vice versa!

So, what to pickle now?

Oh right, I have a big bag of:

 Pickled Carrots!!!

Now the pickling of random vegetables will end and I can start the project I originally went to the market garden for!!!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...☺

Kathy

Pickle Saga Continuum. Summer Vacation Day 53!

Still pickling away....

Since I had some left over brine and a really big bag of beans I decided to make:

Six jars of these.  I have run out of my special Weck jars so am now using my regular canning jars.  Will be ordering more of the Weck jars for sure though next spring, because they can be stacked!!!  These cannot : (

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

I'm Pickled on Summer Vacation Day 52!

Seriously.  I really am in a pickle today!

I got up early this morning with a plan to go to my local market garden shop and get some vegetable matter for a project I just decided had to happen today!

I arrived at the crack of 0930 to find out that they do not open til 1100 hours on a Sunday!  Really?

Well, thankfully Brenneis was open!  I am not sure if I have ever shopped there, but I most definitely will again.  Everything was super clean, crisp and well organized and it smelled just like the market gardens back in Lumsden!

Well not only did I get the couple of ingredients I was looking for, but also two, twenty pound bags of....

That's right!  Pickling Cucumbers.  These are the first of what would eventually total 15 quarts of garlic dill pickles!  Got to use my new Weck Jars too, so was super excited!!!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Happy Birthday To Me & Summer Vacation Day 51!

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Today is my birthday and I had a FANTASTIC DAY!

After going out for breakfast for Strawberry Waffles I went to Sparrow Studioz and took a three hour class (not a tour) on how to use the long arm machines there.  It was "sew" fun.  Unfortunately when I registered I was told I did not have to bring a quilt top to work on, but they were nice enough to make me a quilt top to practice on:

I am "sew" excited now to get another quilt top done, just so that I can go and play on the machine again!

Afterwards I went out for lunch with friends to Duchess Bakery .  Then my husband and son took me out for dinner at The Dish Bistro (I love that place).  

It was a wonderful day and I feel truly blessed on this day to have so many people that helped make it special including my friend Claudette who I do not see as often as I should or write to as often as I should yet just after midnight I had an email to wish me a Happy Birthday!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

The Final "Boot"iful Block. Summer Vacation Day 49!

Good Late Evening Internet Friends.  Only one more evening shift to go before the weekend, and then I can hopefully get caught up on stuff!

I completed the last of my three "Boot"iful blocks that I picked up at Prickly Pear Quilts:

Night Night!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Another "Boot"iful Block! Summer Vacation Day 48!

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Another long day, but good day is almost done.

Although I got all the pieces cut last night, I only managed to get the second "Boot"iful Block done:

Now I am going to go curl up with my knitting, the cat and a quilt and see how far I get before I fall asleep...

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

A "Boot"iful Block! Summer Vacation Day 47!

Good Late Evening Internet Friends.  Afraid there will not be a lot of blogging or creativity going on this week as I am working evening/night shifts for most of this week.

I did manage to finish cutting the strips and assembling one block of a table runner that I picked up at Prickly Pear Quilts back in July:

Now off to get things ready for lunches tomorrow morning as that is soon approaching ☺

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Day of Random. Summer Vacation Day 45.

After getting off of work late last night, finishing a quilt block, then watching a really stupid program on television that every half hour there is another riveting episode, I did not fall asleep til somewhere around 0400 hours.  Hubby and son were at the acreage for the weekend, so I slept in this morning.  

So far today, have only accomplished two loads of laundry (both folded and put away), made dinner (have left overs for tomorrow evening), showered and put on a clean pair of pajamas and did sun myself on the deck for a bit this afternoon and knit a bit.

The big accomplishment however was this:

This involved relocating cat from quilt top on couch.  Then a Costco sized lint roller and a trip through the dryer to remove cat fur as my son's garbage dump cat (Hello Kitty) has been sleeping on this quilt top for the past six months!

After it was mostly cat fur free, I stitched on the green border to get ready for the outer border.  By now, Hello Kitty had claimed his quilt back.

I got out my yards (yes, yards I had to order from away) of border fabric:

Only to have Hello Kitty try to pack this quilt up.  I suppose he was going to try and fit it into his "kit bag"! ☺

Although originally I had loved this fabric and thought it would make a perfect border for this quilt, I am now having a change of mind as the border print is so big and loud compared to the delicate piecing that is this quilt.  It sort of looks garish!  I have decided that this will make a lovely backing for this particular quilt and the top will be left as is with a black binding to coordinate the front and back☺

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

p.s.  I sure hope I'm not getting closer to being the crazy cat lady..... 

March Block of the Month! Summer Vacation Day 44!

Good Evening Internet Friends.  Can you believe it is almost the middle of August?  I was just starting to get used to this nice warm weather and now.... I digress..

This evening after getting home from work I finished the final piecing of my March Prairie Rose Block of the Month.  I decided that since last weekend I had picked up the May - August blocks from Prairie Points Quilt Shop I really should start to work on this kit and get it completed only somewhat behind schedule.

Here is the March block:

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

A Mojo Monday Birthday Card. Summer Vacation Day 43.

Today before going to work I decided to sit down and make a birthday card that has been a little long in the making.  I could not come up with an idea or the motivation to make it for quite some while now.

I finally decided to use my August Simon Says Card Kit because it all looked so FUN.

Here is the card I made:

The format for this card is from Mojo Monday 357.  Sure hope the recipient likes it!  The great thing about this card kit was that all the supplies necessary to make this card were in the kit!  LOVE it.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Step 8 of Musical Stash Quilt. Summer Vacation Day 42!

Today was a day of "random".  A day off of work, with no agenda of things I HAD to do!

I ran a few errands, went for a bike ride and to the spray park with my son, and then did a bit of quilting.  I was able to get Step 8 of my Mi Vida Loca quilt done.  This is the one I am making for myself from my "Musical Fabric" stash:

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Thinking of You. Summer Vacation Day 41!

Good Evening Internet Friends!

This evening I had time to sit down in my craft room and play with some of my scrapbooking/card making supplies.  It seems like forever since I have had the time to do this (too much work lately).  

I got the Kind Koala stamp set back in June, but have not had time to use it.

This evening I decided that this stamp would be the perfect greeting to use to send to a very dear friend of mine.  She has lived in Australia in the past and still returns there frequently.  I also REALLY need to send her a card because she is always so prompt at sending birthday, Christmas, hello etc. cards to me, and unfortunately, I am not so prompt :.(

I think she will be pleasantly surprised to get this in the mail:

I did use all Stampin' Up product in this card although.... most of it is "retired" product (shhhh).  I used the Blendabilities markers.  I am still not a big fan of these markers and prefer my Copic markers because for one thing they do not "bleed" out of the lines like these ones do for me.  Maybe it helps make the koala look a little more cuddly?

Off to the post with this.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

March Block of the Month. Summer Vacation Day 40!

Good Evening Internet Friends.

One of the things I did this weekend was pick up some more of my Prairie Rose block of the month kit that Prairie Points Quilt Shop was offering last winter.  That made me realize I better get going on this project again.

This evening after dinner and bike riding I completed the center block for this month's block:

TAH DAH!

Pretty cool I think!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Step 8 Brandy's Quilt. Summer Vacation Day 39!

Late this afternoon we came home.  Next time I will try and remember how crazy the highway is on a long weekend, and maybe stay at the acreage til after dinner!

After dinner and the laundry had been started I sat down in my craft room and did Step 8 of Mi Vida Loca on Brandy's quilt:

Now, off to get ready for the work week.  Thank goodness it's a short one this week ☺

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Summer Vacation Day 38!

We are at the acreage for the weekend just relaxing.

Okay, we did go into town to fill the water tank, and that was an adventure of sorts...

When we got back, my son and I rode our bikes out to see the crops around us.  The corn field was quite the intrigue  for my son as he had never seen how tall corn gets (city kid : \ ).

Did some knitting after dinner before having a camp fire.
Here is my latest knitting project:

It's a cardigan that is knit in the semi round(?) so that there are no side seams : )

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Summer Vacation Day 37!

Good Day Internet Friends!

Okay, so I feel old, this summer is sure slipping by and I am not sure where it is going, and or do I have much to show for it.

Have worked the past two evenings so that really messes with my bike riding and spray park fun : (

This morning my son and I are heading out to the acreage for the weekend, I was simply too tired to leave yesterday after work.

To get this day started we needed a hearty breakfast so I made:

Now, you may wonder what is so special about these waffles.  Well, nothing really.  I used the Wonderful Waffle recipe, except that the milk was substituted with So Good soy milk, and the flour I substituted for Quinoa  and Teff flours.  I had to add a little more soy milk that what the recipe called for, but other wise they turned out really well, and my son even liked them!

Now, off to the Third Birthday Party/Sale at Prairie Points Quilt Shop!  "Sew" much fabric to find!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy