Saturday hoops

with G-ma & G-pa and not too much to smile about...

It's a wet & rainy Saturday and Mommy says the ISU vs. KU basketball game is a sell out and it would be easier if I stayed home with Grandma & Grandpa Gervais.

Can you b-e-l-i-e-v-e

it?

Doesn't Mom know this is Kansas, thee third rated team in the nation and I really need to see this game in person??

Momma is lucky this game is televised or I'd be really upset.

So I guess it's just me and the remote and Grandpa and Grandma too.

Grandpa seems to be a bit more tuned into the game then Grandma is...

she's got that camera out again & right in my face!

The Cyclones are down by 10, doesn't look good.

Think I need my paci...

makes me feel better about this game I'm watching.
Come on guys play some defense...

My paci comforts me and eases my stress from the fact that my Cyclones are now down by 12. Boy, I bet Daddy is really upset...probably biting his fingernails! He could probably use my paci about right now...

Where's the foul ref??

Grandma keeps taking my pacifier out and has that camera pointed right at me again. She wants me to smile...
Geesshhh Grandma, will you please pay attention to the game!

I need my paci, my teams getting beat & there is really nothing to smile about at the moment Grandma...
Come on guys, set up your offense & run it!

Good grief,
now she's taking pictures of my feet...
That was not a good shot...

Now she is taking off my socks...
Follow your shot, rebound!

Now she's telling me I have cute toes, she calls them little piggies. Wish she'd quite buggin' me, I've got a game to watch.

I know what her plans are...

she thinks she's going to tickle my toes or sing that "little piggy went to the market" song to get me to smile for the camera.

Come on ref... he walked with the ball!

Okay, I've had it with Grandma and that camera!

She wants to see a smile...

I'll give her a BIG smile!

I'll need to give up my paci for a bit though...

Pardon me...I feel a tickle in my nose,

AACCCHHHOOOOO!!!!

Grandma is now yelling frantically at Grandpa to get a Kleenex, & telling him to hurry up.

Oh this is good & this is so funny...

I'm not only smiling I am giggling as hard as I can! I've never seen Grandpa move so quick...

(Due to the graphic nature of the next picture, those of you with sensitive stomachs should stop reading now.)
Really....don't say I didn't warn you!

Here is your smile you've been waiting for ...

Sometimes you gotta take what you can get Grandma!

Hop on over...

to Country Stitches!

The new punch needle patterns are up for your viewing pleasure!

We are now taking pre~orders on these and will begin shipping on Wednesday, January 27th.

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda

Moving on...

The last of the punch needle designs are now complete, pattern instructions are wrote, only now I need the sky to cooperate! Wanting a nice some~what sunny day to take the last photo. Hoping to have them posted and ready for purchase by weeks~end.

We are grey~skied here today with a good old fashioned winter ice storm going on outside. They are forecasting a 1/2" of ice then turning over to snow...

A good day to stay inside, unless you have a pair of skates to strap on! Our lights are flickering now & again, just hoping we aren't sitting by candlelight by evening.

With the punch needle pieces done , its time to move on.

Time to move onto the next thing...

Time with the linen, needle & thread.

A soon to be published sampler that will be worked in various shades of reds, mustard's, yellow beige's, khaki greens, powdery blues & drabby browns. The color palette is yummy! Various motifs common to the samplers created in the 1800's will be used throughout this some~what larger piece.

I enjoy working samplers. Each little motif doesn't take all that long to stitch and there is just something about finishing one thing and moving onto the next...a sense of accomplishment of sorts in a short amount of time.

As I sit and work these school~girl type samplers, my mind wanders. I try to visualize the young girls that so carefully worked these samplers & at the same time learned their alphabet. It was the duty of these girls parents to teach them needlework skills regardless of their wealth. The "instructress" or needlework teacher often made the decision as to the overall design, verse and thread choices...leaving very little choice for the young stitchers. You will often find unfinished antique pieces, suggesting not every little girl saw the enjoyment in her needlework.

With my needle & my thread,

Which now appears so neat,

Before I was quite nine years old,

I did this work complete.

It still will show when I am old,

Or laid into the tomb, How I employed my little hands,

While I was in my bloom.

(verse from an antique school~girl sampler)

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda

I'm stuck

in contemplation....
Seems like I get stuck here often!

Contemplation of the "finish" of the last punch needle design. The new designs that I promised you all in a couple of days a few days ago...

Do I sew it & stuff it into a little pillow,

or frame it,

or add woolly tongues

or take the easy way out and just scan it and plop it onto the pattern cover as is? A little voice in my head keeps telling me, "this IS NOT an option!"

As of this morning I'm leaning towards adding woolly tongues,but that could change by noon!

Today's goal is to have the piece completely finished by days end.

4 new punch needle patterns will be ready for purchase in a few days...

I promise!

Then it's time to contemplate what's next...do I begin stitching the sampler I have graphed that's begging to be stitched, or do I start that rabbit doll that's been sketched since last spring?

Have a good day,

Brenda

They need our help...

The average person in Haiti lives on a $1.00 a day...

This is less then the cost of that cup of coffee we buy at Starbucks

or that bottle of Coke we drink a day...

We need to reach into our pockets and help the people of Haiti.

A dear high school friend is a co-founder of a wonderful non-profit Christian group called Providence Ministries based in St. Paul MN. Please take a few minutes to read their heart-warming story.

Asking you to forgo that cup of coffee or bottle of coke for the people of Haiti...every dollar helps!

Brenda

COMING SOON!

These

&

a

couple

otherSpring~likepunch needlepatternscoming ina fewdays!

With thy Needle & Thread,Brenda

Today's recipe & photo share are courtesy of my son, Matthew.

To set the scene of today's post, we'll begin here...

SCENE I

It's Saturday afternoon & the phone is ringing.

Mom: "Hello"

Matthew: (no hello, just a voice doing his best Beavis & Butthead impersonation...)"Aaaaaahhhhhh, if you were fennel, what are you & where would you be in the grocery store?"

Mom: (I'm now thinking, what in the world is my #2 child cooking...)"Fennel is a spice and you'll find it in the spice aisle"

Mom: "Sort of looks like caraway seeds".

Mom: "What do you need fennel for?"

Matthew: (his phone is now breaking up as it often does when he calls me from the grocery store and all I could make out was...) "I'm going to smoke it."

Mom replies in a somewhat louder/concerned type of voice: "WHAT...you're going to do SMOKE IT????"

Matthew: "Yea, I bought some salmon and I'm going to smoke it." "The brine calls for fennel".

Mom (now in a more relaxed voice): "Oh, yea, that sounds good."

Mom: "Do you have a smoker?"

Matthew: "No"

Mom: "Oh"

Matthew: "I'm going to turn my grill into a smoker." (He inherited this sort of "make-do" ability from his Dad)

Mom: "Hummm, will that work?"

Matthew: "Yea, it'll work."

(Blogger Mother is now brainstorming....I'm not quite sure what kind of response this question will bring, but what the heck...I'm going to ask it anyway...so here goes)

Mom: "You should take pictures." "You know, step by step pictures." "And I'll post it on my blog!"

Matthew: "Okay."

(He said okay, can you b-e-l-i-e-v-e it! Mother is now doing the "happy dance" as she has Monday's blog post all planned...and better yet, she doesn't have to make the mess in her kitchen or even take the photos!!)

SCENE II

Sunday afternoon (It is at this time I'm really wondering if sonny boy is going to pull through on this sort of deal we had goin'. Later in the day I check my email and oh baby I got mail! Mail from Matthew! Mail with lots of pictures attached! We are makin' smoked salmon & Matthew you are thee man!!!

Here is the recipe just as it came to me from Matthew...no editing, so enjoy!

ok so here is what i had to do. first you have to put the "brine" together and soak the salmon in it for a day or so. here is the brine (Mom thinking here...looks like the college grad could use a refresher course in capitalization)

4 cups water

1/4 cup kosher salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 bay leaves

1 stalk sliced celery

1/2 cup chopped fennel

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 smashed garlic cloves

Place salmon in a pan & pour brine over

Refrigerate over night.

After that is done soaking it is time to lay the meat out and let it dry out. The reason for this is so that "pellicle" is formed on the fish and it gives the smoke something to adhere to. (Mom thinking...he has been doing some major research on smoking, now he is throwing "big" words at us). During this step it is a good idea to have the fish sitting somewhere cool (65 degrees or less) and with air movement. I sat it outside and had a fan blowing on it for about 2 hours. (Mom thinking...something about this picture totally cracks me up! What if the neighbor's dog or cat catches whiff of this out on the deck drying?????)

Hickory, wood of choice.

While the fish is drying its a good time to start soaking your wood chips in a bowl of water. (Me thinking...dang I taught him well, he is multi-tasking!!!)

Since i am using a gas grill which isn't a wonderful candidate for smoking, i made several packets ready to replace any that stopped producing smoke. After your fish has been "dried" and your wood chips are nice and waterlogged its time to prep the grill. Take your wood chips and wrap them in heavy duty tin foil so that it is pretty much air tight. To get good smoke you should put the packet (or packets) of wood chips under the grill grate so its exposed to direct flames. Turn the grill up until you start to see smoke.

once the grill is smoking its time to get the temp under control. smoking is suppose to be done between 225 - 250 degrees. I had the fish on the side of the grill that had the burner turned off and the other side was on low which for me kept it just below 250 degrees the entire time i was smoking the meat.

Depending on the thickness of the fish you should leave it in the "smoker" anywhere from 1 - 4 hours. i left mine on the grill for pretty much the entire patrioits vs. baltimore football game (Mom is now laughing out loud...isn't this a classic "description of time" coming from the male gender?!!!) i think it was just under 3 hours.

I now have something to snack on for the next week.

Fresh smoked salmon will be good in the fridge for 10 days and 6 months in the freezer.

And that ends our fun day of cooking with Matthew. Please let us know if you would like this to become a weekly deal, as I'm sure Matthew wouldn't mind.....

Also please free to offer any favorite brine recipes or smoking tips that you may have!

Have a good evening,
Brenda

(Matthew if you should happen upon this post...thanks a bunch! - Love, Mom)

When Agassi meets Ruby...

Ughhhummmm,Pardon me?

Um,this is where I lay.

This is my spot in the sun.

I lay here all day and bask in the sun and watch the squirrels and birds.

What are you doing,where did you come from?

Ughhhh, the nerve of my human mom...

Oh, oh there she is with that camera,

again...

I'll just sit here and pretend I don't see her.

If I don't look at her maybe she won't see me.

When she's not looking I'm going to have to check this out...maybe,even,sneak a tiny taste.

Is this what "curiosity killed the cat" means?????

Wishing you all a quiet lazy day in the sun,Agassi

Meet Ruby!!

My Christmas amaryllis I call "Ruby" is finally making her striking appearance.

She is a little late, but that is okay...

Christmas sort of snuck up on me too this year!

3 bulbs...

each producing 2 buds, yippeee!!!!



Bulbs were planted the week after Thanksgiving in hopes for a blooming show at Christmas~time.

December was a deary month and due to lack of sun, Ruby was a bit slow in growing...

"I can totally relate Ruby,

I'm pretty certain I am solar powered too"

Wishing you a bright & sunny day,

Brenda

Mother Nature at her best...

Just when I thought I couldn't take another day of snow & winter

I wake-up and look out the window to find

the trees covered in beautiful crystals

or

Hoarfrost.

Hoarfrost is similar to the dew on a summer morning. The dew freezes on everything it collects upon, forming beautiful feather-like crystals. Heavy fog is almost always present on these rare winter mornings. After the fog clears it exposes an astonishingly blue sky which makes the white frost stand out so beautifully.

It truly is a sight to behold!

Join me on my morning walk

&

take in this occurrence that happens just a few times each winter...

Even frosty has hoarfrost on his twiggy arms. Gotta love the life jacket frosty has tucked under his arm.

Even Frosty is thinking summer time & swimming!

If you want to see our Mama Cardinal, click on above photo for a larger view. (Really wanting a bigger zoom for birdie photos!)

Looking out over our lake...

A few lonesome fish houses & one of the 3 small islands on our lake. My kids always told me there are deer that live on the islands when they'd come home from a day on the lake...do deer really swim??? Or were my kids trying to see just how gullible their mom really was??

The above photo gives true meaning to the United States Postal Service's slogan...

"We deliver in Rain, Sleet or Snow...

that is,

if they can find your mailbox!

City is beginning to clear snow that is piled on the sides of the road, loading it onto large semi-type trucks and then leasing farmland to dump the snow on. Something I have never seen done as long as we have lived here.

A lonesome crow warming himself in the morning sun

&

I'm pretty certain he is thinking the same thought as I...

"wish it would warm up & real soon-like"

Keep warm & enjoy the weekend,

Brenda

I've hit the wall...

I am sick of winter!!!!!

I'm just putting the final touches of makeup on for the day before heading into Country Stitches and I hear that loud noise...

I know that noise...

the dreaded noise of that big yellow road grater.

Now this isn't our typical city snow plow...this is a big time toy!

My first thought was to run outside and stand in my driveway. I could hope "he" sees me and out of the kindness of his heart, lifts the blade. The hair was done, makeup was on but I was waiting for the iron to heat up so I wasn't totally dressed...if you know what I mean?? So let's just say I wasn't totally presentable...so instead I stood and watched out the window and said a swear word or two, or three or maybe it was four....

You see, "they" come along after your driveway has been blown out...always a given. Their blades not on the street mind you, but up on your parking and with the blink of an eye you have

Mt. Everest at the end of your driveway. Any plans of going to work anytime soon are gone...

Have I mentioned I'm sick of winter???

Don't "they" think people need to get to work? Our neighbor (who is a surgeon) is currently out in his driveway in his little hospital scrubs (brrrr) chucking frozen boulders of snow by hand...can't even scoop the stuff! As for the patient...hopefully it isn't anything too pressing as doc is going to be late today!

So I guess I will spend another day at home working on Easter designs & hopefully the bright cheery colors of the season will help brighten my day!

Snowed In,

Brenda

P.S. as for the photo above...I can't take credit for this but you know that winter is getting long & cold when this is the stuff your friends email you.

Round 2

After our 24" Christmas snowfall we are bracing for round 2

&

baby it's cold out! Over~night temps are supposed to be 35 degrees below zero...brrrrrrrr

We just worked a part day today at Country Stitches, heading home before we got blocked in our driveway by the snowplows that go by. Tomorrow is "ify" as to if we'll make it into work. Eight new inches of snow and blizzard conditions are expected for tonight and tomorrow.

I don't like winter...

never have,

never will...

I just don't like being cold!

Soooo....

I trudge through the winter months trying to find the beauty in this longest Iowa season

& I will admit even though it is cold...

it is pretty.

Big fluffy flakes

falling gently

look like goose down

Icicles...

nature's Popsicles

(largest icicle I've ever seen...must be 15 feet long)


Subtle reminders of warmer days...

Dried floral...

a snowflake's resting place

Snowflakes...

one of nature's most fragile,

but just look what they do when they stick together.

This weather makes me long for warmer days...

so in the mean time

I'll thumb through the seed catalogs that are arriving daily

&

dream

& wait

for my amaryllis to burst into its beauty...

&

just suck it up...

It's Iowa & It's Winter!

Have a good one,
Brenda

NEW PATTERNS!!

INTRODUCING...

With thy Needle & Threads first ever Valentines

cross stitch pattern designs!

I've been wanting to design some patterns for Valentines, yet designs that don't really "scream Valentines"...does that makes sense??!! I do think I have achieved that goal with these 2 new designs. Either piece could be kept out year long...sending the message of love without saying "happy valentines". If you are real adventurous...work them in different colors! I could easily see either piece worked in civil war shades of indigo blue & browns.

"Cupid's Heart"

Finished size is approximately 6 1/4" tall by 7 3/4" wide. Design is worked on 28 count Cashel linen over 1 thread (color - Antique Ivory) with DMC flosses.

"Love & Be Loved"

Finished size for this hanging pin keep is approximately 5 1/4" tall by 9 1/4" wide. Piece is worked on 32 count Belfast linen (color - Platinum) over 2 threads with DMC & Weeks Dye Works flosses. Piece is gently aged with Distress It spray for a wonderful "time-worn" look. Old buttons stitched across bottom of piece adds additional charm.

Patterns are now available for purchase on our website.

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda