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Weather

Oct 27 2015

By shirlsu 2 comments (comments closed)  

B n J Pajama pantsWe finally got past the residual rainfall from Hurricane Patricia.  We were more fortunate than many by receiving a little less than 5″ during the weekend.  We needed it!  I felt so bad that Jacob’s trip to and from Grapeland was under rainy skies and over wet roads.  It certainly makes a 6 hour drive seem much, much longer.  Thankfully, his trip was without incident.

During the rainy weather, I made more pajama pants.  The teal/blue are for Jacob, who was thrilled to receive them.  During emergency weather conditions (ice, snow), he may spend the night on a cot at work.  Until now (because he doesn’t own pajamas), he had planned to sleep in his clothes (for the sake of modesty).  Now, he can sleep in a tshirt and these pants and feel completely clothed while comfortable.  He loves them!

The dark red/purple pair of pants are for Bob.  Since making 2 other pair for him, he has worn them daily so another pair will be handy especially since I already have the pattern, flannel and elastic.  They whip up so easily!

I’m hoping my sewing mood lasts.  I am in serious need for warm, casual tops.  I have lots of cotton knit fabric needing to be used and cooler weather is coming.  Wish I enjoyed sewing for myself more than I do.

The quilting on the Bright Hopes baby quilt is finished.  I embroidered a label and made the binding last night.  All that’s left to do is sew them on and launder.   I’ll be looking for another quilting project soon.  Hoping to feel like finishing something I’ve already started but we shall see.  It’s so easy to get distracted by something new and exciting.

Shirl

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Categories: Family, Quilting, Sewing, Weather 

Oct 9 2015

By shirlsu 0 comments (comments closed)  

For a few days, our weather cooled causing me to think ofSAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES warm casual wear and sleepwear.  With hub’s new health situation, he needs hospital wear too.  We dug through my patterns and deep into the fabric stash and found everything required to make him some new duds.

I chose a vintage robe pattern (Simplicity 8275) because I liked the featured hood.  With Bob’s newly buzzed and balding head (gee thanks chemo!), I want to ensure he stays warm, especially in our old, drafty house.  The fabric is some sort of polyester fuzzy-textured stuff (maybe moleskin) that is lightweight while warm.  He absolutely loves it and when asked to try it on, he wouldn’t take it off.  It fits perfectly with no alterations to the pattern! (Note:  Contrary to appearance in the photo, the bottom hem is actually straight.)

Now that he has a new robe, today I’ll start cutting and stitching pajama pants from plaid flannel we found in the stash.  He’s excited with the prospect and I hope to have 2 pair finished before his next overnight trip to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

The cooler weather has also inspired me to cook soups and oven meals.  Before son Jacob’s visit last weekend, I baked a huge batch of reduced-sugar peanut butter/chocolate chip cookies.  This week, I’ve also made cheesy potato/ham soup, pulled pork and my mother’s recipe of onion-flavored chicken and rice.  I have to be more conscious of Bob’s reduced eating (not to mention requiring soft foods) so I either cook much less or less often.  Thankfully, we don’t mind eating leftovers.

Quilting on ‘Bright Hopes’ baby quilt has slowly continued.  The main body is done and I’m now working on the border.  I expect it to be finished soon.  The appearance is pleasing.

Shirl

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Categories: Cooking, Family, Sewing, Weather 

Jul 31 2015

By shirlsu 0 comments (comments closed)  

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Shirt #19 (seersucker)

Summer has definitely arrived in East Texas with daily temperatures breaking the century mark for the past 2 weeks and no end in sight.  Even after biblical, record rains throughout Spring, we are now watching the skies, hoping for rain.  Our colder-than-normal Winter is only a distant memory as we chase air conditioning while hiding from the sun.  Texas!  No need to say more!

Along with these dog days has come laziness and lack of ambition.  I’ve accomplished little recently and I use the heat as my excuse.  I have only started making shirt #19.  It’s another seersucker with contrasting collar stand and backside of the shark tail collar.  It has a chevron pocket.  All that’s left is to insert the sleeves, sew and flat-felled the side seams, construct buttonholes, add buttons and hem.  Frankly, that’s a 2-3 hour easy job which I have no ambition to complete today.  Shame on me!

Earlier this week, I canned some chicken soup.  It’s SO easy to do.  I cooked 10 chicken thighs in water with seasoning, chopped onions, a bay leaf and celery to make a flavorful broth.  I deboned and chopped the chicken, chopped more onion and celery which I inserted into quart jars along with a couple of tablespoons of frozen corn and frozen peas.  I ladled hot broth into the partially filled jars, wiped the tops and added lids and rings.  I processed the jars in my pressure canner for 1 ½ hours.  Each of the 7 quart jars is a beginning to a wonderful, homemade chicken soup.  As we heat a jar for a meal, I can add rice, barley, noodles, dumplings, etc. according to what we desire at the time.  We’ll have a terrific homemade, hearty, healthy dinner in a matter of minutes.  (I LOVE deliciousness especially when it’s quick and easy!!!)

After making room for the chicken soup on the shelf, I notice we have no more space for jars.  The freezers are also packed full so I need to stop putting up so much and start eating some of it.  It’s time to chomp down on some of this accumulation of fresh, wholesome food.  I’m down!

Stay cool!

Shirl

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Categories: canning, shirt making, Weather 

May 5 2015

By shirlsu 0 comments (comments closed)  

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Harvested fresh kohlrabi

After harvesting 2 kohlrabi and some snow peas and including them in our shrimp fried rice dinner last evening, I decided all the kohlrabi are ready to be picked.

If you’ve never eaten kohlrabi, they taste nearly exactly like the peeled stems (my favorite part!) of fresh broccoli.  The young leaves and stems are also edible.  We loved the flavor they added to our dinner and wish we had planted more than 9 plants.  There WILL be more planted in our fall garden.

Tonight, I’ll peel, julienne and steam a few of these bulbs along with some fresh snow peas, mushrooms and carrots.  It will be a delicious side dish served with smothered pork chops I’ll also make.  My mouth is watering just thinking of it!

Each day the snow pea yield increases.  Currently I harvest about a quart Ziploc® packed full each day.  Those we don’t eat right away, I blanch and freeze.  They will be so tasty during the heat of summer when those plants no longer produce.  When the weather cools later in the year, I’ll plant more in our fall garden.

While enjoying a cuppa and strolling in the garden earlier, I noticed several eggplants have begun blooming.  I do enjoy eating eggplant from time to time but DH mistakenly purchased over a dozen plants!  EEEK!  If they produce as I suspect they will, we’ll have enough to feed much of the county!  I see a heap of eggplant parmesan in our future!

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Wonky Star quilting – back

After dinner each night as I relax from a busy day, I continue to hand quilt Wonky Stars.  I’ve completed all the squares and am now concentrating on the stars.  They are about half done.  I haven’t decided how I’ll quilt the border.

It has begun raining – the first of 9 days of predicted precipitation.  Being forced to stay inside will afford me an opportunity to continue quilting on the Split-16 borders.  They are over half done and I can think of nothing that would make me happier than seeing this LONG project finished.

Shirl

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Categories: Cooking, Quilting, veggie gardening, Weather 

Apr 28 2015

By shirlsu 0 comments (comments closed)  

Lately, I’ve been thrilled watching our garden thrive.  SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURESIt’s large enough we’ve been able to space the plantings so DH can get our tiller amongst the tomatoes and between the rows so weeds have been well controlled.    It’s downright beautiful and I was elated to find our first tomatoes late last week.

Rain has been timely so watering has been at a minimum.  All was well until Sunday’s storms arrived….DUM DAH DUM DUM.

I shouldn’t complain as I know others suffered much worse weather-related fates.  Before we lost power, I watched storm chasers on live streams spot tornadoes and experience peltings from softball-sized hail.  We suffered neither of these horrors, thank the gods.

Our garden suffered from straight line winds and torrential rain.  The winds blew the young plants over and the rain beat them into the dirt.  When I inspected the garden the next morning, I was dumbfounded.  All but the snow peas (growing on fencing) and tomatoes (surrounded by cages) were laying flat and coated with sand/dirt.  My brave green soldiers had all fallen in defeat against the stronger weather army.

After spending some time gently misting the sand/dirt from hundreds of little plants and allowing the sun to work its magic, the plants have slowly begun straightening.  With only a few exceptions, I think all will survive.SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

After a brief rain today, I was able to more closely inspect and harvest the first of the snow peas.  Sadly, the storms have damaged some of the vines  but I’m hoping they will survive.  There were only a few to harvest but I’ll add to this batch over the next few days to have enough to make shrimp fried rice w/snow peas, mushrooms, spinach and carrots.  It will be wonderful!  If the weather cooperates, the plants will grow and produce enough to freeze and enjoy throughout the year.

As always, I spend my evenings hand quilting.  Wonky Stars is nearing half done.

Shirl

 

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Categories: veggie gardening, Weather 

Apr 2 2014

By shirlsu 3 comments (comments closed)  

I spoke with Jacob last night about the shirt I most recently made for him (see last post) and after altering the original pattern according to his actual measurements since his weight loss, he says it’s the best fitting shirt he owns.  He said he’s worn it no less than 5 times to work and wishes all his shirts fit this well.  Now I’m excited to make more for him and I already have fabric on hand!!

Winding Ways as of 4-2-14

Winding Ways as of 4-2-14

Lately, I’ve been hand quilting the Winding Ways top and finished the main body last night.  Today, I’ve begun marking the border to start quilting tonight.  This photo kinda shows the circular quilting.  Pardon the grungy marks.  Hopefully, the next picture of this quilt will show it finished and laundered.  Because I like it so much, I haven’t decided if it will be kept or gifted.

Except for some severe storms, things have been fairly quiet around here.  The storms have caused some damage to Network equipment but it is slowly being repaired.  We could definitely do with less lightning but we’re glad to see Spring has finally arrived.

Shirl

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Categories: Family, Quilting, Sewing, Weather 

Aug 1 2013

By shirlsu 0 comments (comments closed)  

 

It remains pretty quiet around the ol’ homestead. We’ve been enjoying a very pleasant, peaceful summer with only one day (thus far) when the daytime temperature broke the century mark. We’ve had plenty of rain so the trees are happy and everything is green. We’re barely able to maintain mowing the tall grass/weeds around the house and have quit mowing the meadow. It’s simply too much to maintain. There is plenty of hay in the area fields so ranchers are happy and their cows are fat.

Last week, brother Jim and I once again visited the casinos and restaurants around Lake Charles/Kinder, LA. We thoroughly enjoyed eating fried oysters and shrimp etouffee at Steamboat Bill’s. On this trip, we visited Coushatta Casino twice to ‘double-down’ on complimentary Slot Play money. It’s so much more fun to lose ‘free’ money than our own. We also enjoyed complimentary play at L’Auberge. Wish I could report we came home big winners but I will say we had a terrific time!!  Can hardly wait to go again!

1951 Singer 403a

1951 Singer 403a

On the sewing/quilting front this month, I purchased still another vintage sewing machine. This time, I bought a Singer 403a manufactured in 1951. This is a straight stitch machine but when cams are inserted, it does decorative stitches. The machine came with 12 cams. I’ve since purchased additional cams for more stitch options.

I had not planned to purchase this machine and was satisfied with the 5 vintage models I already own. I was simply window shopping on eBay® when I spotted it listed for $100 or make an offer. Just for grins, I decided to make a stupidly low offer… and to my complete disbelief, the seller accepted it!  (I’m not a bit sorry.)

The machine is in pristine condition requiring only a wipe down to remove a little grime and some fresh oil. She runs fast and smooth and if I didn’t already love her, I know she could easily be resold at a handsome profit. I plan to keep her for now. Her name is Lola Latté and looks lovely sitting next to my Singer 301a named Mocha Mona. They are both mocha colored.  An ensemble?

Well, that’s about it for news on this end. I continue to hand quilt the Split-16 quilt and hand piece Tumbling Stars. I suspect I will finish them both at nearly the same time if work continues at the current pace. It would be perfect to remove one finished quilt from the frame and immediately load a new one.

Life is good on the hill!

Shirl

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Categories: Family, Quilting, Sewing, Travel, Weather 

Jun 15 2013

By shirlsu 0 comments (comments closed)  

 

Not much is happening on our hilltop.  We’ve officially entered the ‘Texas Summertime Doldrums’ with daytime temperatures in the mid to upper 90’s accompanied by occasional severe thunder storms.  Though it’s only a memory, I continue to be so very thankful for the long spring weather we experienced this year.

Having lived in Texas my entire life, each summer reminds me of my life-long wish to live further north.  I love cold weather and have always desired to live where I could fully experience it.  Maybe next lifetime!fish tshirt detail

Since my last post, I’ve been sewing some casual clothes.    I haven’t made any clothes for myself since my major trip two years ago so my closet was getting peckish.  I avoid attending anything requiring me to dress up and have a large collection of jeans, so I concentrated on making scoop neck t-shirt tops.  These are perfect to wear on gambling jaunts with brother Jim.  Pictured is the tiny trim I included around the neck. I recently received a new stash of little trimmed elastics to choose from.  It really dresses up an otherwise ho-hum top.  I’m glad to have new tops so I might downgrade older ones to wear around the house.  Win-win!

Speaking of gambling jaunts…. Jim and I just returned from a 3 day trip to southwestern Louisiana to visit our favorite restaurants and casinos.  Because he has been visiting casinos for a number of years, he receives complimentary hotel rooms in addition to standard free drinks on the casino floor.  His new car gets excellent fuel economy which contributes to an inexpensive ‘get outta the house’ break.  We each split the cost of gas and pay for our own meals and gambling.  Since my budget is tighter, I gamble less than Jim but I have as much fun.  Sadly, we aren’t planning to return until weather cools a bit, possibly late September or October.

Jake is visiting this weekend so I’m staying busy cooking.  On my way home from Louisiana, I stopped by a fruit and veggie stand and purchased fresh green and red tomatoes and fresh okra.  I plan to fry green tomatoes and sliced okra for dinner tonight.  I KNOW Jake will enjoy it, as will we all!

I’m hoping to hit the cutting table and sewing machine again early next week to make more tops and maybe some new shorts too.  I love having new clothes to wear!

Happy Fathers’ Day!

Shirl

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Categories: Cooking, Family, Sewing, Travel, Weather 

Sep 6 2011

By shirlsu 0 comments (comments closed)  

Tees and gown

 

With our continuing drought here in Texas, instead of planting a fall garden to feed the family, I’m sewing more items to feed my hungry closet.  I’ve reached my goal of having all new clothes for the upcoming vacation and am now sewing for the pure pleasure of it.  Though I’ve made a number of new items, the fabric stash shows no sign of shrinkage.  Could it be I have too much?  NO WAY!  Since I’ve used some of the stash, do I have a good excuse to purchase more fabric?  Ya’ darn tootin’!

With the serious threat of fire and continuous heavy smoke in the air, as I finish sewing each article of clothing, I pack it into a suitcase in case we’re forced to make a quick evacuation.  I’ve set aside a carload of items I must save with thoughts of losing all else.  Other than my family, critters, a few photos, important papers, my sewing machine, laptop and a couple of quilts, I’ve come to terms with the possibility of losing our home.  It’s part of the risk of living in a rural area during a historic drought.  I still wouldn’t trade it for a big city home with nearby well-equipped fire department.  We’ve had that and I’m very glad we’ve evolved to no longer hear constant sirens.

Though dry, our weather has finally cooled this week.  We’ve not seen triple-digit temperatures for the first time since May.  It feels wonderful to spend pleasant (though smoky) time outside.

Shirl

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Categories: Sewing, Weather 

Aug 4 2011

By shirlsu 0 comments (comments closed)  

 

There’s no doubt about it, it’s been a HOT summer.  This is the warmest we’ve ever seen in Grapeland since moving to the area 20 years ago.  The air conditioner never stops roaring and the electric meter zings. I fear our next bill!!!

This picture is of the remote readout for the thermometer mounted in the shade overlooking our garden area.

While temperatures have been HOT, I’ve had the opportunity to learn a few things:

  • It’s important to know, okra is crazy!  While all other plants are dead or dying, with only a little water once or twice a week, okra flourishes… and when okra is happy, grasshoppers are happy.  Those plant munchers are large enough to filet!  I harvest (okra, not grasshoppers) each morning before the heat becomes unbearable.  Gooood eating!

 

  • Don’t leave 2 liter bottles of carbonated drinks in the car through a HOT afternoon.  Bob went to the grocery store and purchased a dozen sodas (to feed Jake’s fizz addiction) along with a bunch of groceries.  When he returned home, we unloaded the car, but we got tired and HOT so left the drinks to be brought inside later.  MISTAKE!   The bottles got HOT, pressurized and the containers split.  We’re so lucky they didn’t explode or leak all over the car.  Not noticing what had happened, we brought them inside where they started to hiss and seep.  Lesson learned!

 

  • Some of our super special wireless Internet equipment is heat sensitive.  We have 8 customers (socked in by pine trees) which require special wireless equipment for delivery.  Each day, when the thermometer rises to 104° without a breeze, that equipment shuts down.  I have no clue how HOT it is on the tower where the equipment is mounted but it’s obviously too HOT.  Each evening as the temperature drops, the equipment works again and there seems nothing will fix this problem except cooler weather.  Fortunately, the customers would rather suffer the minor inconvenience than lose our service.  Most of these same customers are suffering water and food shortages for their livestock so a little downtime for Internet is minor by comparison.  <shrug>

 

  • We have free-range dogs as does everyone in our area.  Lolita’s and Coalie’s original owners live across the road on two large properties.  Both dogs enjoy visiting their old homes for a little while each day and the old owners encourage it.  The dogs also enjoy swimming in the neighbors’ ponds.  Lately, Coalie (Newfoundland mix) stays inside (too HOT for his arctic blood) as does Nugget (he seldom treks anymore – getting old).  Lolita, with her bubbly personality and slick fur, doesn’t mind the heat so much and loves visiting Marie, who spoils her with tasty treats and a welcoming lap.  Recently Lolita returned home limping and whining.  After checking her paws, I discovered she had blistered her pads while crossing the HOT road.  OUCH!  I mentioned it to Marie so now she sometimes drives over and picks up Lolita for an afternoon visit and lets her walk back home in the evening.  Sometimes Jake drops her off so she still gets to socialize.  Yep, she’s spoiled!

 

  • After experiencing 110° temperatures for several days, 103° seems downright pleasant.

Shirl

 

 

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Categories: Pets, veggie gardening, Weather 

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