Startled Hubby and Those Swedish Hats

OK, so I'm not the only women who startled her husband during the Olympics by blurting out "those hats are crocheted☻ I have to have the pattern!" Did a quick search on the Internet and found some really intense investigations into those hats. Alas the feats a crocheter will go to solve a crochet mystery, Kim Werker at Crochet Me even emailed the Swedish Olympic Committee and received an email from Eva Christensson (The designer)herself. Seems the publicists at the Swedish Olympic Committee passed my email inquiry on to her, and she was kind enough to reply in English directly to her.

Read all about her escapades in her two posts here.

OK I know, I can't read Swedish either. But vixypix was kind enough to translate the pattern into English and posted the PDF file here.

The Dog-Food Bag Project

I've made these before from feed bags and bird seed bags. When I saw this tutorial at

I thought it was one I had to share.

Click here to go to Directions.

Maple Syrup and the Power of the Google Search Button

Contrary to popular belief, not all maple syrup comes from Vermont. In fact, Missouri produces its fair share of maple syrup. This I did not know. My DH worked for years as an Arborist, every time I asked him about tapping our big Maple Tree in the front yard he'd say, "Oh no honey, you have to live in Vermont to tap for syrup." Well here's to the Power of Google Search Button. The big fibber, I looked it up and I can too tap my Maple Tree! Now he's trying to tell me that the tree is old and feeble, I might kill it if I tap it. Well, I 've got news for him, He's going to participate in this simple living from scratch and enjoy some homemade maple syrup from the fruits of "our" labor, If I have to drag him all the way kicking and screaming. Good thing he's skinny, for that dragging bit I mean. ☻

8 Weather Lore Sayings You May Not Know

I found this at the Farmers' Almanac
1. If it thunders on All Fool's Day, it brings good crops of corn and hay.

2. A cold May and a windy April, a full barn.
3. The louder the frog, the more the rain.
4. If the oak is out before the ash then we are in for a splash, But if the ash is out before the oak we are in for a soak.
5. March'll search ye, April try ye; May'll tell, whether live or die ye.
6. Rain before seven, fine before eleven.
7. Sounds traveling far and wide, A rainy day will betide.
8. A cow with its tail to the west, makes weather the best; A cow with its tail to the east, makes weather the least.

And then the one we all know:
April Showers Make May flowers.

My Loves

Stolen Magic

My Granddaughter lost her Lunchbox on the school bus. Not such a big deal unless you 5 years old and fear the Bad Guys. We have some real Bad Guys in my sleepy little town. Awhile back they came into her Grammy's yard and stole our Rhino. And now they got her lunch box too. Very traumatic when your Summer dreams are stolen. You see her and I spent many a summer day riding that Rhino in our back fields, singing "A Lion Sleeps at Night" at the top of our lungs while we hunted for Lions, Dinosaurs, and ventured into magical places. Then one morning the magic ended. Mr. Policeman caught one of the bad guys, but another bad guy had already spirited the Rhino away. Luckily she was reunited with her lost lunchbox, and I'm sure we'll find more magic this summer even without the Rhino. But it makes me so mad that someone could come to my property and steal her innocent joy.

Julie's Rosemary Garlic Crackers

Julie's Homemade Crackers from Everyday Dish TV on Vimeo.

Click here to go to the Recipe

Here's to Fun Springy Days

Today we went to my Granddaughters school art show and science Fair. She had a picture exhibited there. We think it's pretty spectacular for a Kindergartner.

After the Art Show my mom met me at the park. Today was the first Spring Fever day of the year. It reached 56°. Mom and Dad bought me a Bike for my birthday and today I finely got to ride it. It was the first bike ride for me in about 20 years, and my mother's first ride in 32 years. I remember her last ride she fell and severely sprained her ankle. We giggled so much when she got on we almost peed our pants. As she took off I was running behind her holding on to the back of the bike seat afraid to let go. She did get her wobbling under control but she didn't try turning yet. I love this bike. White walled tires and no hand brakes or different speeds, just my kinda speed.

Tonight in Cape Giradeau is the Monster Truck Winter Nationals and Bad Boys Arenacross Races and my son will be racing in it. This is one race mom doesn't attend. I'm exicited for him, but i'll be extra happy when he calls to tell me the race is over ☻

 

Releasing books into the Wild

I love books. At times I've owned more books then is good for me or my books. I mean hey, this could be getting close to Library standards. Well probably not that many, unless you'd of asked my non book reading husband. Now that I'm living or trying to live a simpler more earth friendly life I'm only keeping my most loved books you know the ones that are your best friends. The ones I'm not keeping go out into the adoptive world in a few different ways. I post a lot of them on the this is a way for me to trade them in for other books I want to read or add to my favorite book case. Sometimes a book I have have already been listed by many, many people. If I post this book it will probably sit on my shelf for a long, long time feeling very unloved. That's when I like to release them to the wild.

I came across BookCrossing about 4 years ago. My granddaughter was very sick and I had taken her over to the hospital for a test. They put us in a private waiting room and I reached over and found a children's book to read to her.

The book had all these funny stickers on it that said

I've been hooked ever since. Walter Sickers once said "Nothing links man to man like the frequent passage from hand to hand of a good book." What can be better that sending off a book into the wild, someone finds it, reads it, keeps it, or releases it again into the wild for others to repeat the sequence, Sometimes they log it into the bookcrossing website and you can go there and see the journey that you book is flying on. My grand kids and I have released a lot of books out at the Zoo. Its fun to then sit on a bench and watch someone find a book. I've let them at the Airport so they can find someone and fly away with them, though now that life has changed so, that probably is not a good idea, I mean it could involve bomb sniffing dogs and a lot of delayed planes. BookCrossing is earth-friendly, and gives you a way to share your books, clear your shelves, and conserve precious resources at the same time. So grab a book, any book. Register it with www.bookcrossing.com and jot its unique BookCrossing ID (BCID) down in the book, along with the website url or you can print some nifty free labels off their website. Release the book out into the wild and wait for it to write home to you. (You can also give the book to a friend, send it on a book ring etc-- just be sure to make a release note on it when you send it off into the world.) So what are you waiting for? Help make the world a library and recycle at the same time, through BookCrossing!

Yay, I got back on my website, but is Big Brother Looking over my shoulder☻

After all that frustration last night, it was kinda funny that to report the problem all's I had to do was post it on my blog. When I checked my blog this morning I had a comment on it from Tripod it said "Joe Pranevich Says: Found your post and wanted to say that we are sorry that you are frustrated. We are frustrated as well - AT&T is not responding to our phone calls, they won't give us anyone to talk to to help resolve this problem, and they are telling our customers that call them that we have "a virus" without providing us any way to identify the problem they have discovered or any way to tell them when it's fixed. We continue to try and work on the issue. I'll let our CS team know that you had a difficult time finding the answer on our site and see if they can make it more obvious. JP" That was neat, They just magically checked my blog and saw my problem and were going to solve it for me. Hey that's even better than a real live person answering the phone and happily fixing my problem, so much more convenient. This afternoon I received another comment from him stating "Joe Pranevich Says: We were able to reach the right department today and they have removed the block. They tell us that all AT&T customers should be able to access the site in a few hours. Please let us know if you still have difficulty after that." Thank you so much Joe, I clicked on my website and it popped up no problem. That was so nice of you.

This is such a neat way to solve life's difficulties. Here's my next problem, I'm sooooooo frustrated, You see my garbage has to go to the curb, tomorrow is garbage day, and baby it's soooooo cold outside, hehehe. Hey, a girl can wish can't she! I do have a question thou, If Tripod is checking the Internet for disgruntled customers, Who else is looking, I mean is Big Brother looking over my shoulder too?

I'm so frustrated

Sorry, I just have to vent.

I've spent most of the day trying to find out why I can't view my website. Every time I go to it the page just turns into an error page stating Internet Explorer cannot display the web page. I spent 3 hours trying to report the problem to Tripod, Lycos, AT&T Most of the Help areas are just listings of Helpful problems that are not mine, Others Just pop up to that danged Internet Explorer cannot display the web page page. What ever happened to just saying Hey were sorry you have a problem just email us your problem to this email address or even call this phone number and a real live person will be happy to answer the phone and fix your problem. I really don't want to go to a members forum where other members like me may has some helpful answers to my problem. I want someone who works for one of these places to help me fix my problem. I did go to that forum though and would of posted my problem but there was nothing to click on like a post button or a send button to tell the other members what my problem is.
Then I finely found this posted at Lycos Help desk Knowledge base, it says "We are investigating some issues with Tripod where customers report that they can't access their websites. It appears that this problem only occurs for those using AT&T as their Internet service provider. Please report any difficulties as well as any response you may receive from AT&T. Thank you."

Here more fun They asked me to report my difficulties to them but they didn't say how to report them to them.

Hey people your talking to a person who once deleted Windows off her computer. The computer repair man had to put a new mother board in my computer to fix that. Apparently once you delete Windows its like you deleted the brain. Now they expect me to figure out how to report a problem to them. Go figure

I got a Blog Award, Really I did!

This Birthday is so much fun. Today I got a mouse in the Llama's feed can (Surprise), A new Drivers License (that has some one else's picture on it, after all that old lady can not be me she has two chins), but best of all, drum roll please, I received my 1st blogging award from Penniless Parenting. You all really should check out her blog she has great frugal tips and ideas. Thank you so much. Now I get to pass on this cheerful award to 12 other fantastic blogger's.

The rules of accepting this award are:
Put the logo on the sidebar or within a post
Pass the award on to 12 blogger's who brighten your day
Link to the nominees within your post
Let the nominees know they received this award by commenting on their blog
Link back to the person who gave you this award, as a way of showing your appreciation for being appreciated.

Here are the posters to whom I would like to pass on this award

1. 
   
   
   Cold Antler Farm Jenna lives in the cutest little homestead in Sandgate, Vermont. Right now she is going thru the heart-stopping roller-coaster of buying her first home. I never miss a day of checking out her blog.
2. 
   
   
   Tramps Camp is another of my favorite blogs. For theses 2 Tramps their profile says it all... Two incredibly fortunate humans with too many interests... Gardening, Cooking - BBQ, Dutch Oven, Sourdough, Outdoors - hiking and wildlife, hunting, camping and travel, fishing, golf, archery, photography.... Definitely a cannot miss blog.
3. 
   
   
   Powell River Books leaves me green with envy. I just melt every time I go there, I mean who wouldn't die for a float cabin on Powell Lake in Coastal BC. That's off-the-grid and they even generate their own electricity using solar and wind power. I want their life, hehehe
4. 
   
   
   The Big Red Barn is another one who inspires me to live more lightly on the earth. Barb's Wool Dryer Balls are definitely on my wish list. And they have the cutest granddaughter.
5. 
   
   
   Deep Winter I love Tom Sherry's books. The fact that he shares them online free for everyone is amazing to me. His first novel 'Deep Winter' had me on the edge of my seat, His second novel 'Shatter' left me crying for more. Now his third novel 'Remnant' leaves me checking every day for the next chapter.
6. 
   
   
   Fantastic Find If you want to keep up to date with fantastic finds and freebies this is a must check out blog. I swear she must live and breathe on the Internet to find all this great stuff to post.
7. 
   
   
   A Homesteading Neophyte Phelan's homestead is how I want my 5 acres to grow up too. Here's where she blogs about everything from food, homesteading and lots of family fun too. I just love the way she refers to her kids as Medium and Large.
8. 
   
   
   Cooking From Scratch This blog is all about making great food from scratch. From the simple to the complex, She tries it all. Here is where I'd kill to be invited over to dinner.
9. 
   
   
   A Foothill Home Companion Her profile states "My name is Molly. Making stuff makes me happy, so I try to make something everyday, even if it is just a mess." Well I can only say Molly there's no mess about it, Your blog is Fantastic. I just love your great ideas.
10. 
    
    
    Meet Me At Mikes is the coziest blog I've ever been to. Every time I go there I just want to Curl up and spend the night.
11. 
    
    
    Feeling Stitchy If I ever thought I knew how to embroider, this blog show me my error. I have never seen such talent showcased more.
12. 
    
    
    Food In Jars Talk about inspiration, canning, pickling, preserving and baking, all from the heart of Center City Philadelphia. Every time I visit this blog I find something new that I must get to canning.
    

    

    
    

It's Almost Spring Peeper Season

Oh the Sweet Serenade! I turned 35 years old in Boot Camp at Fort Leonard Wood Army Base. On the evening of my Birthday we were out in a field shooting tracer rounds. Boot Camp started in January and this was the first spring fever day we had. Temperatures were in the high 50's and I was marveling at how neat the tracer rounds looked in the evening dusk, like glowing dashes across the field. Then the Spring Peepers started a serenade. It was at that moment I experienced the most intense feeling of home sickness that I have ever experienced in my life. A gut wrenching feeling of want, for a spring evening with my husband and kids as we pause in our back field and listen to the Spring Peepers, passed thru my brain that night. Soon after that night on our 15th Wedding Anniversary I would graduate boot camp and be reunited with my family. But I can honestly say that on that night of the Spring Peepers, If I had then heard a Whippoorwill, I'd have gown AWOL.

It's funny how sounds and smells can insistently transport you to a feeling or memory. A deep longing for something. Well anyhoo, Today's my birthday and I need some spring in the air, I really wish all this cold, mud, and snow would morph into a Spring Peeper evening.

I guess I've got Spring Feaver☺

I'm in the need for Spring!

 

Crackers from Scratch

Cheese Crackers – Make Your Own and They’ll Taste Like Cheese!
Can't wait to try this recipe I found at eating cleveland™
Sounds like the Grand kids will be in taste bud heaven!

Click Here to go to recipe

Olive Oil Crackers - This cracker recipe makes thin, snappy, rustic crackers, that are sturdy enough to stand up to a hearty dip.
I found this recipe at 101 Cookbooks, This should be just purrfect for my Hummus.

Click Here to go to recipe

Here's a Whole Wheat Sesame Cracker recipe that I found at RecipeLand.com. It's another that I can't wait to try.



Click Here to go to recipe

Homemade Hummus

I just love Hummus, our grocery store sells a hummus with roasted pine nuts to die for, but it also has a lot of additives in it. I did some searching and found a great tutorial for making Hummus at The Hummus Blog, Click here to see.

I just love this recipe for Hummus with roasted pine nuts at Epicurious, Click here to see.

And Chief Snow at Harvest Eating has this great recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Click here to see.

What were up to

Last November after Thanksgiving, our local Veggie Stand had a close out on fresh Pineapple. I snatched them up and my husband and I canned them in a very light syrup. We just popped open the 1st jar to have with some Ham for dinner. The only word to describe this is YUMMY, it is so much better than store bought canned pineapple. I found the directions to can the pineapple here.

Canning our pineapple was such a success that as soon as I read Marisa's post at FOOD IN JARS for canning mandarin oranges I knew we were going to can some, Her tutorial, Click here, makes it look so easy and fun and mandarin oranges are a staple food for my Grand kids. So today it's the Olympics and canning clementines ☺

Free Crochet Patterns for Snuggling

I've been looking at these free Patterns from Red Heart

And can see my next Christmas crocheting projects.

Everyone Can Snuggle - Link to PDF Free Pattern Click Here

Crochet Snuggle Up Throw, Adult and Child Patterns - Link to PDF Free Pattern Click Here

Tiles Granny Afghan - Link to PDF Free Pattern Click Here

Recycled Crochet Hook Holders

I found this great HOW TO at She states "Living Green and Recycling can be fun and creative. Customize your favorite hooks for comfort and be environmentally conscious at the same time."

Examples using empty pens, highlighters and permanent markers.

She has a great PDF file of the tutorial that you can download

Click here to go to the Recycled Crochet Hook Holders Tutorial by LadyWillow Designs©

Free EBook ~ Seven Quilted Bag Patterns:

Found these free patterns at Quilting Arts, they say "You can never have too many bags, and here is your opportunity to add seven quilted bags to your collection! Patricia (Pokey) Bolton, Editor-In-Chief of Quilting Arts Magazine® has put together this wonderful free gift for anyone who loves the art of handmade quilting (and beautiful quilted bags)!

Whether you choose to make all of them, or have a special favorite you can't get enough of, Seven Quilted Bag Patterns: Handmade Quilt Bags from Quilting Arts is sure to be the pattern book you turn to again and again. Best of all, it's absolutely FREE!"

Click here to go to the ebook