More Floss Keeps!

Available this evening around 6 PM'ish CST,

on

www.countrystitchesonline.com

Great little stitching tools to keep your floss

all together in one place,

and with a little bling at the same time...

stitch in style!!!

We've even added a few new ones to the collection!

Floss keeps feature photo snippets of samplers

from my collection of antiques...
measuring in at just 1 1/4" square!

You can see them

here.

Have a good week everyone,

Brenda

I can laugh...

because I'm Beckham's grandmother

Baby Monitors...

something that wasn't available when Beckham's momma and uncle were babies.

Beckham and his momma and daddy moved into a new home this fall and it was decided that perhaps a baby monitor might come in handy in their bigger home.

I was impressed, these are the coolest things since sliced bread.  

Why,

I even mentioned to my adult children

they would still come in handy

  when the kids are in high school

and dating...

okay

sorry,

got side-tracked there...

Back to Beckham...

At nap time or bed time I just love sitting next to the "downstairs monitor" and listen to this little guy...

  

before falling into a slumber,

Beckham sings the abc song

over 

and over

and over...

so sweet,

"next time won't you sing wis meeeeeeeee"

{precious}

After the songs are over

we move onto stories...

stories Beckham tells

in his own words

about 

Thomas, 

Percy

Gordan

 James

and

Cranky, of course!

Beckham turned 3 in November and still wants to sleep in his crib.  

No interest in his big boy bed,

with big boy covers...

  Beckham thinks it's more fun to climb out of the crib,

then take naps these days...

I received a phone call this morning from Beckham's mommy

and

we talked about painting, stenciling, antiquing, the weather, recipes

and Beckham...

  Momma seemed a wee tad frustrated,

as napping

is becoming more and more a thing of the past..

Remember those days?

  Last evening he was tucked into his crib at bed time,

and a few minutes later

momma and daddy could hear him (on the baby monitor)

climb out of  his crib.

He seems to have it now mastered without

falling...

  Momma says to daddy,

"Go get him".

  Daddy says, lets just wait & see what he does.

CLICK.

{The sound of the baby monitor being shut off.}

The one in Beckhams room.

By Beckham.

Yes, momma's telling me the story

and

I'm laughing my fanny off,

 nearly falling of my chair...

momma however,

didn't see the same humor in it...

I can laugh because I'm the grandma,

right?

I'm thinking mommy and daddy just got busted.

Busted for eavesdropping on their 3 year old,

by their 3 year old!

You see,

there is some urgency in getting Beckham 

to liking his big boy bed

and his big boy covers...

Come tax day,

or there abouts

he's going to be a big brother!

The new baby will need that crib in a few months...

the transition to his big boy bed needs to happen,

soon-like.

Beckham's going to have a baby sister

and 

we are bursting with excitement!!!

Grandma's been buying little girl out fits

with matching shoes...

A little pair of denim espadrilles

for a casual,

play with big brother,

type of day...

Little pink leathers

for dress up

type of days...

and

of course,

every little girls closet

must have a pair 

of zebra shoes in it...

right?

.

Have a good weekend,

Brenda

Welcome Phebe...

Phebe has come to rest

her weary threads

upon the walls of our home. 

Meet Phebe...

Please pardon her holes. 

She is a little ragged around the edges 

and

even missing in some places. 

Her edges are paper thin.

She cost me more

then what I probably should have paid for her,

{sigh}

but I like her,

alot...

holes and all :-)

My first 18th century sampler,

"Phebe Cooper - 1791"

She is old.

Two hundred twenty one years old,

to be exact...

1791 was the year.  

How old is that?

  Let's think about this for a bit,

shall we?

In 1791 George Washington was president. 

  The Betsy Ross 13 star flag was flying.

There were just the 13 original colonies,

with Vermont becoming the 14th in that year.

The Bill of Rights was signed,

in the same year... 

When I think about her age,

it makes me feel better about

the holes, the stitch loss

and 

my purchase...

Do I sound like someone who is justifying

a purchase? :-)

These are all things I will tell the 

dh when he asks me "how much"???

A brick house, a dog, a sheep, a cow and a man with walking stick

adorn this piece...

some of my favorite sampler motifs. 

Proverbs Chapter 3:13-18 are stitched over 1,

with the rest of the sampler worked over 2 threads. 

To the best of my counting abilities (without cheaters on),

it appears to be about a 52 - 54 count linen.  

Yes,

those letters worked over 1 thread 

are teeny tiny folks...so dainty!

Let's just say Phebe had good vision.

Question,

did they have cheaters (magnifiers) in the late 1700's??

Young eyes perhaps?

Rows of the alphabet 

are worked along the top, 

some in regular cross stitch

and 

some in tiny eyelet stitches,

a stitch I'm still trying to perfect...

The sampler came to me

by way

of a

Connecticut estate auction. 

Makes me wonder

how someone could part 

with such a piece,

a family heirloom...

So kids of mine,

if you're reading your mother's blog posting today...

remember to tell your kids

someday,

that the samplers don't get sold

when I'm gone!!!

Have a good weekend,

Brenda

Where is he????

He's late,

it's 7:30 PM...

he should have been home over an hour ago...

Where is he?

 

Doesn't he know 

I've been sitting here,

on this chair,

looking out the window,

 waiting to hear his pick up truck

pull in the driveway 

for over 2 1/2 hours now,

so I can 

run to the door,

greet him,

&

get my tummy rubbed?????

{sigh}
I thought today would never end,
tough day at the kitty office...

Upside Down Chicken...

 

As you may recall, part of my New Years Resolution was to post weekly recipes for my grown kids, so they can have some of Mom's recipes to tuck into their cookbook cupboard.  We are two weeks into the New Year and this is recipe number 2...woo hoo, I haven't broken this resolution as of yet!!

  

Today's recipe is an old family favorite.  We enjoyed this over the weekend at our house...

don't think I made this in the year 2011, not sure how I could forget about this one...it is fabulous! The kids, when they were younger, would request this dish...they called it " that upside down chicken."

 

It's real name is Amish Roast Chicken and Potatoes with Garlic.  The recipe comes from an older cookbook of mine, titled NEW RECIPES FROM QUILT COUNTRY by Marcia Adams.  This is a lovely cookbook with wonderful photos and stories of Amish country.

So let's get started...

 

Peel red potatoes, carrots and onions and cut up into chunks.  Use whatever amount will feed your family...and maybe even a little extra for leftovers!  This dish is just as good heated up the next day.

 

Peel 6 or 7 large garlic cloves.

 

Chop some fresh thyme, the more the merrier...

 

Rinse and clean a chicken well and pat dry with a paper towel.  Place the chicken, breast side up, in a shallow 15" x 12" greased pan.  I like to use my well seasoned terra cotta clay pan for this.  Separate the skin from the breast meat with your fingers and insert a liberal amount of thyme between the two.  Place a handful of un-chopped thyme into the cavity of the chicken.  Place onions, carrots, garlic and potatoes around the chicken.

 Add 1 heaping teaspoon of chicken bouillon granules to 1 cup hot water.

 

Melt one stick of butter.  Mix butter into bouillon/water mixture.

 Pour chicken stock/butter mixture over the chicken and vegetables.

 

Cut a lemon in half.

Squeeze lemon over the chicken.

Tuck spent lemon halves along with the thyme into the cavity of the chicken.

Season chicken breast with chopped thyme and freshly ground salt and pepper.

Place in a preheated 425 degrees oven.  Bake the chicken for 1 1/2 hours.  The chicken should now have formed a lovely brown and crispy skin and the aroma in your house is amazing....

 Now take the chicken and flip upside down.  Yep, this is where my kids got the upside down chicken from!! 

It is at this time that you now turn the oven down to 325 degrees.  The high temp of the oven to begin with seals in the juices of the chicken.  When the chicken gets turned upside down, the fat from the dark meat will now run down into the normally drier white meat, making for very moist white meat....delicious!

Bake upside down for 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until leg easily breaks away from the body.

Remove the veggies and chicken from the pan.  Place veggies back into the oven while you prepare a gravy.

 Let the chicken rest at room temp for 10 - 15 minutes before carving.

Separate the fat from the drippings from the bottom of the pan, saving the drippings

Measure drippings and add enough water to make 2 cups of liquid.  Place in a small stove top kettle.

Add two packets of chicken gravy mix, stirring to mix.

Bring to a boil, stirring until thick.  The lemon, garlic and herbs in the drippings make a delicious gravy...yummers.

Our favorite side dish with this meal is fresh green beans.

And remember those garlic cloves we tucked into the dish?  You get to fight over those...they are wonderful spread on warm-from-the-oven French Baguette bread.

Play for a printable version of this recipe...click the arrow to start.

Free printable recipe card generated with Smilebox

Enjoy,

Brenda

Unfinished handework...

We all can relate to those words, right???

Unfinished handework...

We all have them tucked here and there,

in plastic tubs, in cute little zip- up bags, in sewing baskets...

Right?

Just waiting for a cold winter's day to pull them out again,

to get re-acquainted,
if you will...

with the good intentions of,

"thy will be done"

I have many of unfinished pieces of handework of my own.

I've confessed.

I like unfinished work...

  So much so,

that I even enjoy buying unfinished handework,
worked by others...
{sigh}

Here are snippets of an unfinished antique sampler from my collection. 

It has various borders,

motifs, 

alphabet and numbers 

along with the "Lord's Prayer".

Our father

whichart in heaven

hallowed be thy name 


thy kingdom come...
and
as you can see,
whomever was working this piece 
never quite got to the "thy will be done" part,
literally...

I can't help but wonder if the stain on the cloth had something to do with the failure to complete this piece. 
The stain doesn't bother me
and
I hope to some day
do this sampler a favor
and
finish stitching the Lord's Prayer
and re-frame it in a more age-appropriate frame.


I'm drawn to samplers with out-of-the-ordinary motifs...
See the zebra?  
It is the zebra's fault that I now own this sampler.  
See the cute bunny? 
I also love old samplers that contain a bunny.
So it's also the bunny's fault that I now have this sampler in my collection...

And then there are the floss choices,
browns and blues...
a color combination that makes my heart flutter.
I own two antique samplers worked in browns and blues
and they both happen to be
unfinished pieces of work...

  

I also love borders.  Another detail I pay close attention to when purchasing an antique.
  This sampler has varying borders on all sides,
and even varying borders within those sides.  There are 10 different borders used within the four sides of the sampler. 

Some are small and some are very over sized...

The sampler itself is over sized...
See those fingers?
  See those toes? 
This gives you a perception of the size of this piece.
Yes folks, she is a big sampler...
She hangs in my office at Country Stitches. 
I spend many minutes a day
just looking at her lovely 
brown and blue, 
tone on tone
motifs.  
She measuring 39" x 22". 

Here is a better look at the varying borders...
they range in sizes from 1/2" at the bottom
to the 3" tall tulip border at the top of the piece.
  I love the folk-art feel
these mixed borders
give the sampler... 
Design is worked 
on a 28 count linen 
over 2 threads.

I have no plans on reproducing the sampler,
due to the size of the finished piece. 
However 
there is a fun project
in store for 2012,
using bits and pieces of the sampler
worked into smaller samplers,
ditty pockets,
pin keeps etc...
all worked in 
browns
& 
blues.
Plans for this pattern series is due to begin
in October of 2012...
stay tuned for more details.

With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda