Baking, Decorating for Fall, and Camping or How to Overcome the Isolation Blues

 Rick and I may not come out of 2020 without having gained a few pounds, but baking this time of year is one of my favorite things to do.  We are enjoying each and every bite too!

Yesterday I made these Candied Pecans from Lauren's recipe that you can print from her blog. 

"Tastes Better From Scratch"

I quarantee you it's fabulous and tastes exactly like the warm Candied Pecans you purchase from vendors at festivals!  It says to let them cool completely and store them in a tight container, but they were extra good while they were warm.

I also made some very yummy gluten free pumpkin bread the week before.  I used my regular recipe but substituted Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1 to 1 flour.  I've used this recipe for years and it makes one bundt cake and a loaf.  It's perfect if you want to gift one!  I don't think this happended this time though, Ha!

A rather large crack developed in the center of the loaf, but tasted great!  

My only fall decor has been limited to my crocheted items and a few other pieces.  This black and white plaid pumpkin I crocheted a few years ago goes perfectly in my kitchen with my new curtains, therefore I placed it on this old scale.

My living room had a few more pumpkins made with yarn wrapped over cheap pumpkins from 

The Dollar Store.  Simply cut a hole in the top and bottom of the pumpkins removing the stem.  Wrap the thick chenille like yarn through the top and bottom all the way around and add a stick for the stem.  

 I did crochet a Halloween pillow for myself and my daughter, Amber.  You can find the pattern for the pillow here at TLB Patterns.

This cute plaid garland came from either Michael's or JoAnn's.  Isolation is messing with my memory!

These little wine cozies were crocheted using a pattern from 

The Midnight Stitcher.  I got the leather "Wine O'Clock" and "Whine Not" tags from

Angie & Britt.

To keep us from losing our minds this summer we got out and went camping at local state parks every month.  Even though the last trip this fall was rather rainy, it was still good to get out of the house and into  nature.  Get creative, bake, or get out and enjoy the beautiful parks around you.  You'll be amazed how much better you'll feel.    

We like everyone else have had some tough things to go through lately and I won't dwell on that here, but how are you doing and what are you doing to overcome the Isolation Blues?

It's Mom's Fault

This happened last night.

I had moved my yarn basket to my art room because Daisy is obsessed with yarn.  I keep the door closed.  If I leave it open while I'm painting, she sneaks in quickly and grabs a skein while I'm painting.  Apparently after cleaning up my brushes last night, I forgot to close the door.  Rick is telling her that this is not acceptable and she listens to him intently.  She also loves to tear up all the yarn labels.  I do keep my expensive yarn in a box that she can't get into.

Daisy told Rick, "In all fairness, it's Mom's fault.  She left the door open!"  She's your basic two year old.  

How's your self isolation going?

Autumn Morning Pondering

This morning I woke up following the dogs down the stairs into the kitchen.  

As I turned on the lights the dogs ran to go outside.  I picked up their bowls and filled them with food and turned around to see their smiling faces at the back door wanting in out of the cold.  Before they get their food I have to give Jersey, my little black and white cattle dog, her heart medication because she won't take it if I give it to her after she eats.  

I then grab a cup of coffee that I started the night before and sat down at the stools by the counter.   Lady, my Golly (Golden and Collie mix)  won't eat unless I sit there at the counter. 

This is our morning routine that we do each and every day.  My dogs are aging and have health issues and they are our a huge part of our family.  We have a rountine and we stick to it which makes the rest of the morning go so much smoother.  

As I was sitting at the counter looking out at the backyard which is west, I was amazed at the golden glow that was cast on everything.  I ran to the front door on the east side of the house to see the most amazing sunrise.  Long ago I gave up trying to photograph and capture the colors because I simply can't capture God's amazing handiwork.  So, I'll just take my time and then continue the rest of my morning routine and be thankful that He brought it to my attention on a simple morning while sitting at the counter drinking my coffee. 

Plaid Crochet Pumpkin

I finished this plaid pumpkin this morning and these are my only autumn decor so far.

Plain and simple decorating has become my style now and I'm not sure if it's age related or pure laziness.

But if I were truly lazy, I would just go and buy some pumpkins.

An Evening With Susan Branch in KC

Do you ever have one of those days where you can't wipe the smile off your face?  Yesterday was one of those days.  My daughter, Amber, and I spent the day together shopping, having lunch on the Plaza in KC, and then we (drum roll please) went to hear Susan Branch talk about her new book, Martha's Vineyard Isle of Dreams.  I have been a huge Susan Branch fan for years!

I have so many of her books:  Sweets to the Sweet, Vineyard Seasons, Christmas Joy, The Summer Book, A Fine Romance, Fairy Tale Girl, Girlfriends Forever(I've given this one as gifts too), and now this new one!  I've been charmed by Susan's artwork from the first time I saw her illustrated recipes in a magazine (I can't remember if it was Country Living or Country Home).  I used to tear them out and save them.  Then I got hooked on her handwritten and illustrated books and calendars.  

The new one is very special because it's now autographed and because we got to meet Susan and her husband, Joe.  

Amber looks a little jealous that Susan is extending her hand to me.  Not sure what that look is all about, but we both thought it was funny, so I'm sharing it!

I hunted outside for their van before we entered the building and couldn't find it.  Joe was kind enough to tell us where it was parked so we could take pictures.  They are traveling the country on their book tour in this beauty!  I've seen it on Susan's blog which you should definitely read.  Also, go to her website and sign up for her newsletter Willard.    I adore the whistling birds on her website!  

Sorry about the pictures of the van, but I have a new cell phone and still learning to use that camera.   Such a fabulous day!  Thanks Amber!

Here's a few of my Susan Branch collection along with a few other favorites on my hutch.

There is so much going on at our home recently and I will share it all with you soon hopefully!  

You Know You're Getting Old When.....

Before I start on the subject in the title, won't you join me for a cup of tea?  I got this sampler of Tea     Forte Chocola (not misspelled) Teas for Christmas and have been using them sparingly because they are just too pretty.

Five of them came in a pretty heart shaped box:

Chocolate Rose

Coconut Chocolate Truffle

Hazelnut Truffle

Belgian Mint (the one in this photo)

Swiss Apple

The tiny green leaf and the silk bags are so pretty that I hate to use them and toss them.   Which one would you like to try?  They all have a hint of chocolate in them.

Now that I have my tea in hand, I'll get on with the subject of this blog post:

You Know You're Getting Old When....

1.  You mom calls your daughter, your daughter calls your son, and your son who is sick with a bad cold walks over from his house in a snow storm to make sure you haven't fallen into harms way.

Before all this happened I was busy painting my kitchen and had taken everything down including unplugging the phone from the wall where I was painting so that I didn't paint the cord.  I completely forgot about it and of course my mom had tried off and on all day to call me.  My husband was out of town on a business trip and she assumed I had fallen off my ladder and was lying on the floor injured.  As day turned to early evening, I realized the phone had never been plugged back in so I plugged in the phone jack.  The phone kept saying "connecting" but never did.  I figured I'd better call my husband on my cell phone to let him know I was o.k. before he got nervous and tried to call.  While I was on the phone with Rick, our son came through the back door to check on me.  He was covered with snow and coughing his head off.  

  He looked at my house phone and proceeded to plug it into the outlet since I had only plugged the cord into the phone jack.  Finally I had a connection and had to call everyone to let them know I was ok. Poor guy said it was too slick to drive but was happy that his mom wasn't injured. 

The paint color I used in the kitchen is another story all together and will share some other time.

2  I'm sure you're wondering why no one called me on my cell phone when they couldn't get me on the house phone.  I truly dislike cell phones and only have mine for emergencies.  I had plugged it into the charger because it's always dead.  Thank goodness I thought to do that because everyone definitely thought there was an emergency.  It of course was plugged in but not turned on.  

3.  While at T.J. Maxx  the other day I found some red and black buffalo plaid slippers in the clearance aisle for $15.00.  I adore buffalo plaid and bought them straight away.  Sunday evening while coming down the two stairs above the landing I slipped and fell (I'm blaming it on the new slippers) spraining my ankle.  It's amazing I didn't go flying through the window on the landing except for the fact that it was closed due to inclement weather.  

I'm trying to figure out how I could have been climbing up and down a ladder for two days painting and not hurt myself, but simply walking fall and injure my ankle.  I've been sitting for the last few with days with my leg iced and elevated in the recliner.   In case you wondered where I was, that's my story.  Please don't call me on my cell phone it won't do you any good.  

Royal's Celebration Parade

Yesterday we were still celebrating the Royal's victory and went downtown Kansas City for the parade with about 800,000 other people.  We tried to take pictures of the sea of blue in front of the Union Station, but we were looking into the sun.  My daughter, Amber, took these two.  The aerial shots from the television stations were amazing.  All you could see were the tops of trees and building and thousands of people in blue.

We had a great time celebrating with friends and family and the people in this huge crowd were very well behaved.  Only three arrests out of that many people is pretty amazing.  

Heading toward the parade we found this altered speed limit sign.  

I guess the fun is over and it's time to get back to work!

Go Royals!

I apologize for being more excited about baseball than painting, but this is what we are doing.  This photo is from one of the playoff games.  We'll be watching the games and cheering in front of our t.v.!  Our kids, Amber and Eric came over last night to watch the game with us.  Our good friend, Mark, joined us as well as we stayed up stressing out for 14 innings!  Way to go Royals!

This painting is traveling today to it's new home Pennsylvania:

"Beekeeper's Cottage"

Autumn Wreath

This is my husband's idea of a fall wreath.  Although right now I have to admit that I really like it!  I'm not sure who you're cheering for in tonights game at Royal Stadium, but I know who we are rooting for.  We did wake up to gentle rain this morning so I'm hoping it stops before game time.

We'll be watching the game from here though and this room is a mess right now.  Last weekend we ripped out the carpet because my sinuses couldn't take it any more.  Every time I sat down in the room to watch t.v. I couldn't breath.  Watching the ball games with no oxygen getting through just increases the stress load.  

Needless to say the floors underneath are in pretty bad condition and we will need to have them refinished or replaced.  I'll keep you updated on that.  This was the only carpet left in the house and even though the floors look bad, I'm breathing a little easier for the game tonight!

Retro Sunroom Makeover and Reveal

My daughter decided that since her husband was going to be out of town for a week that she and I should get together to remodel their sunroom as a surprise for him.  She gets that from her mother!  I've been known to move a waterbed by myself when my husband was out of town, rip out carpet, or redo an entire room because Rick really doesn't like the idea of change until he sees it finished and he's always been happy with the results.

First things first, she removed the blinds before I arrived.  We headed for Ikea to purchase curtains and a few other things.

Amber was so excited to try out her skills with power tools!

We also went to the hardware store to purchase 1/2" electrical conduit and some other items to make the rods and curtain brackets.  She had so many windows that we had to keep it within her budget and this was the best and least expensive method.  We she cut the conduit with a hack saw to length.  My girl is a beach body coach and has the muscles for such activities.

At Ikea we found sheers for $4 a pair and each panel is 103" wide.  Yes, I said $4 a pair!  If Amber's cat who looks like a complete angel in this photo, tears up the shears, she can afford to replace them at that price.  They were 98" long and we had to cut off several inches.  We put up several pairs to cover the entire area.  The curtains in the corner were on sale for $15.95 and she bought 3 pairs.  

This old metal table belonged to my mom and dad when we were kids, but the chairs didn't survive, so she purchased two clear lucite chairs to put on each end, also from Ikea.  They are hardly noticeable.

The comforter and pillows for the daybed were purchased at Target.  The comforter was on sale for around $16.  The black and white polka dot rug came from Ikea for $20.  That black desk chair was replaced by an aqua chair shown in the prior image from Target. We couldn't use another lucite chair because it wouldn't have slid in all the way and it's a narrow room.

The pictures are a little dark because we were in a hurry to get everything finished before Scott returned home and had to use Amber's cell phone to take pictures.  I love the soft glow from lamp light!

We kitty proofed these two curtains because her cat, Birdie, loves to sit on the little stove and kept going behind the sheers to get to the glass table.  

It was a pretty productive weekend and her husband was very happy with the results!  I love helping out my kids!

A Summer Bouquet Surprise

Rick and I came home from a weekend trip to find this beautiful bouquet on our back porch.  A beautiful red headed angel of two adorable children thought of us and dropped it by.  

It's one of those arrangements that's so artfully put together that you can enjoy it from all sides, but I couldn't put it on my dining room table because my cat, Bailey, also loves flowers and would have taken it apart.  It's much safer in it's current location on the buffet.

You really topped off our weekend Kerry!  Hugs from both of us!

A New Spring Apron

I finished my apron last week and completely forgot to photograph how I used grandma's old apron as a pattern.  Basically I just folded her apron along the seam lines and laid it on my new fabric and cut it out.  Her apron had darts, but mine doesn't and it really doesn't fit any differently.

I asked Amber to model it for me because I do dislike having my picture taken.  It's a little hard to wear an apron with a cowl.

I thought spring would never get here.  Yesterday I woke up to this weeping cherry tree in bloom when just the day before it was covered in buds.  It's always the first thing to bloom and reminds me of fireworks!  

Let's take a closer look.  See that nest in the center?  I'll be keeping my eyes on that.  

Spring is my favorite time of year in the garden.  I have so much to tend to and need to get out and get those leaves out of the beds.  How is your spring so far?

Mother and Daughter Quilting Day

Last week my daughter, Amber, and I made trip up to Missouri Star Quilt CO. in Hamilton, MO.  This was her first trip there and she is now addicted to quilting.  We spent the day working our our quilts Sunday afternoon and she finished her quilt top all except for the borders.  We were doing this in the middle of our dining room since I don't have a sewing room.

This is the Jelly Roll Race 2 and you can find the link for the directions at the bottom of this post.

I spent the day binding my quilt with a black and white stripe that looks like checks after I sewed it on.

My next sewing project will be to replace this old worn out apron that was Grandma Edna's.  The last time I washed it, it had a big hole in the center.

I love this style of apron and the old retro fabric.

This is the fabric I'll be using:

I will also be trying to do a time lapse video of me working on a painting this week.  Wish me luck!