Snickelfritz

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Construction zone and meet the chief

 Twenty-nine years ago when we were young pups and growing out of our house, David and I decided to add a new addition to the house.  We hired a contractor, who was a younger pup than us, to do the job. We had a family room,  full bathroom with laundry room, and a large master bedroom built.  It added almost  a third more to our house and we could stretch again and all the children had their own rooms.

  Fast forward to today and we needed to replace some of the windows in the family room and once again called the same contractor.  They put in a window yesterday and these are some pictures from the  job.



    The old windows had lost their seal and it made the view look foggy.



 
  So out comes the old window.  How many times did I wash that window? 


 
   So this is how it looks without a window.  





  In with the new and then adding the trim.  Our house will be one hundred years old next year.  When we add a window we try to match the trim to the older part of the house.  These guys did a great job.



  First we saw through a glass darkly, but now we see clearly.   Wow, what a difference.  It looks like there isn't glass in the window. 



 There were other things going on at our house thise week.  Picnics, lots of swimming and a whole morning watching our grandson play in a lacrosse tournament. 



    This is the lacrosse player.  Don't you love that red hair?  He's a handsome lad and a really nice one too.  Going to be an athelete.

  Now I will leave you with a picture of Big Chief Wantabeinthewater.



  Him one happy camper.  Bye.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Making egg salad

  David and I love egg salad.  I only started making it more in the last year or two.  I don't know why, but I always thought it was too difficult to make.  Watch while I make it and see what you think.

   First you boil your eggs, of course, unless you like really runny egg salad.  The trick to perfect boiled eggs is starting them in cold water, bringing them to a boil, turn off the burner and set them aside and cover them. If you keep boiling them, they will have green yokes.  Nothing turns people off like serving them green egg salad.  Leave them there stewing in their own juices for about 25 minutes. This angers the eggs, but what can a person do? 

   After peeling them, and this again is my preference.  You may like eggshell in your egg salad, but I wouldn't recommend it.  Then I take an old potato masher and start mashing those eggs until they are fine.  We like our egg salad a little more chunky so I don't mash mine as fine as some.

  This is what it should look like. 

  Then you add salt.  You must use a huge hand to do this.  I think this is about 2 teaspoons, but I don't measure so it could be a little less or a little more.  You can add what you want or none at all if you are on a salt free diet.  I know David will salt and pepper the dickens out of anything I make so I usually don't add alot of salt to my cooking.

  I like to add a little pickle relish.  This is about a teaspoon.  Not much, but it does make a difference.

  I forgot to take a picture of it, but now is the time you add your mayonnaise.  I use Miracle Whip Lite which I think tastes just as good as the regular Miracle Whip.  This, again, it is according to your taste how much you will add.  Some like egg salad with alot of mayonnaise and some like it a little dry.  We like it kind of in the middle.  Just add a little at a time until it is the consistency you like.  All this took less than five minutes except for the boiling of the eggs and waiting for them to be ready. Put your egg salad in a bowl and into the refrigerator for several hours because it tastes better after a day or so but I couldn't wait.

 Then comes the fun part.  Making your sandwich.  I used multi-grain sandwich thins toasted and spread the egg salad thinly on it as I don't like alot of filling.

  Add a little pepper.

  I add bread and butter pickles. Yum.

  Then you take a big bite and your eyes roll back in your head and you pass out because you forgot to check the expiration date on the mayonnaise jar.  Just kidding!  But do check that expiration date.

  A great idea I had was to make Pac man sandwiches for your next ladies luncheon.  Just take a bite out of every sandwich, cut an olive in half and, voila!   You have a conversation piece sandwich.  Of course the ladies at your luncheon would have to be really close friends and not opposed to eating after you, but hey,what do you think? Bye

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

The Children in my garden

 Many years ago I use to have children playing in my garden.   It wasn't a garden then, it was a big grassy yard that took two days to mow.  It had a big tree in the front of the house with a treehouse, a sandbox in the side yard and a tire swing.  There was an above ground pool and a big field next door where the children could play baseball or fly kites or sit under the big mulberry tree and play.

  Now we have very little lawn, lots of flower gardens and an inground pool and only occasionally are there children playing in the garden.

  Saturday we had a couple of kids, my kid and the big kid in the white hat playing in the pool.  The water was too cold for me, but I had fun watching all of them.

  I allowed my grandboys to take pictures of me with my camera and this is one they took.  I think I have budding photographers in my family.  Not bad for three and four year olds.

  But these are not the children I am writing about today.  I have been collecting children in my garden for several years and here are a few of them.

  These two sit in one of my flower beds.  I think they are so sweet although the one has kind of scary eyes.   Wouldn't want to meet this one on a dark night walking around my garden.  Does zombie come to mind?

  I have given most of my children names.  They are named after my children and grandchildren although I am going to have to get some more as my grandchildren outnumber my children. At least the boys do.  This one is Adam.

 This is Abby and Aidan.  They get along so nicely together.  Sometimes the real ones like to pick on each other.  Typical brother and sister, but they love each other and that's what counts.  I love the look on these little faces. They seem to enjoy each other's company.

  This is Sara. Reminds me so much of our daughter when she was little.  She stands at the entrance to the tiny wood.

 This is Jason.  An uncanny resemblance.  My son who was in the Air Force and now a computer specialist.  Wish I still had my three children still playing in the yard, but time marches on.

   Love this little angel with a bird on her shoulder.  I've had her a long time and repainted her a couple of times.  She keeps watch over my garden.  Speaking of birds.......

  There are birds on our rose arbor and guess what??????





    A  bird built its nest right smack dab in the middle of the arbor.  She was very creative and built her nest where predators could not reach her babies.

  Lest I be put in the doghouse, I must post pictures of my furry children or they will feel left out.  Bonnie getting her daily treat. Okay, she has several daily treats.

  I love this picture of Belle.  It's her in a nutshell.  The sweetest dog with a cute personality. 

   Well, hope you all have a wonderful day and if you have your real children playing in your garden, cherish the times because they will grow up so quickly.  Bye.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Sew-crazy

   What's your passion?  If you have one you are one happy person.  My passion is sewing.  Mainly quilts.  I have found something else I love to sew and I am going to show you.   But first, do you remember these?

  Last Christmas I got the idea for these dolls and could not stop making them.  I ended up making forty-two of them.  Sew-crazy, huh?  When I find something I like to make I generally make more than one.  More like five or more usually.  Now I am hooked(in the good sense) on making purses.


    I found this pattern on duringquiettime.blogspot.com.  Isn't it cute?  A dresden plate bag.  Here are a few more I have made from this pattern.


  This is one I can carry this summer with a denim skirt and red t-shirt.  I even like the inside of it.

  Bright summery colors.  It's so much fun to pick fabric for these purses.  Here is another.

  This one has an equestrian theme.  This is the front.

  This is the back.  Couldn't you see carrying this while wearing brown corduroys and a cream or forest green turtleneck?  Okay, that is how my mind works.  While I am making these I imagine what I would wear.  Sew-crazy?  Or just crazy?

  Since Queen Elizabeth is celebrating her 60th year of being queen I thought I would make a purse to commemorate it.  Found this darling fabric online and I just love it.

  This is the back of the purse.  The graphics are so darn cute. 


  This is the lining for my Queen Elizabeth purse.  Crowns!  I will carry this while wearing a diamond tiara and a white ermine cape.  Anyone got some I can borrow?

  I made this purple purse just because I liked all the fabrics that coordinated with the purple flower material.  I love green and purple together.  I don't have anything I could wear with this purse.  I do have a purple jacket I bought at Coldwater Creek, but when I got it home, I didn't have a thing to wear it with so it is hanging in my closet lonely and forlorn, but not forgotten.  I will just have to figure out something.

  This is the back.  I really love this fabric.  I am going to have to find something purple to wear.  I don't think it's my color, though. 

 
  This is the lining.  I'm beginning to understand why I can't stop making these purses.  I love to fiddle with different fabrics to see what will go together.  I really love making these and I can't carry them all.  I've made twelve, I think and given away a couple.

  This is the one I am carrying right now.  It really holds alot more than one would think.

  I can carry everything I need in this little purse.  One day at Sunday School the little children wanted to know what I had in my purse so I took out each thing one at a time and there really was alot in there.  Now they want me to show them every Sunday!  Funny and cute.



  I've embellished some of the purses with vintage belt buckles like this one and this one.  David has accumulated alot of old belt buckles from auctions through the years.   These look like art deco.

I'll show you one last purse.  I have ideas for so many.  Even one I will carry election month.  Will show you when I get it done.  Bye.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Flamigos anyone?

  A couple of years ago a friend gave me this fluffy-headed pink flamingo pen "because," she said, "you like flamingos.  "Whaddya mean I like flamingos!" I replied to her.


 
Now I loved her thoughtfulness and I do love this little pink flamingo, but me, like flamingos?  Where did she get that idea?  Then I started looking around my house.

  Here's a faded pink flamingo bought years ago at an antique store.  he stands in my side yard by the drive.  I see him every day.

 
  Pink  concrete flamingo purchased at a now defunct antiques store in northern Florida.  It had a companion, but we chose to buy just this one.  When we went back to the same antiques store a few years later the other one was gone.  I keep him outside on my shop porch.  One year I brought him into the house in the winter not knowing that ants had built their home inside him and when they got in the warm house they all came out.  Now he stays outside all the time.

  Pink flamingo I painted on my shop floor just because I could.  Okay, maybe I sorta like pink flamingos, but I wouldn't say this is a huge collection. Maybe I need to embrace my pink flamingoness and buy a couple of those cheap plastic flamingos and put them in my front yard.  Bye