Tuesday, August 27, 2013

A Chandelier and Basil Cubes

 Hi ! Thanks for stopping by ! I am so excited to show you our new chandelier ! Back in February we started taking down walls and  ceilings.. Here is a link to the start of that fun :)
 We couldn't find a chandelier in any of the stores around here that we really liked but we found this online from LampsPlus.
 It has amber colored crystals instead of white, and I think that goes better with our dining room furniture.
 We had to put all those elements on it , it came pretty naked and they give you a diagram of where to put it all ! That part took longer than the installing it part !
 My daughter in law ,daughter, and I put all the pieces on.
 I still don't have the inside of my hutch decorated the way I would like it to be , but Fall is coming so I can decorate it for Fall !

 This morning I cut all my basil off to make basil cubes for the freezer. It is like having fresh basil all year.
 First you wash all your basil, then put it in paper towels and squeeze the water out .
 I then use my mini food processor with a couple Tbsp.of olive oil .. I keep adding the basil until its all been chopped up.You just want the leaves to be coated with the olive oil , not drenched or soupy.
 Then spoon it into ice cube trays, push the basil down to make sure it is compacted into cubes.. Put it in the freezer until they get hard , pop them out , (sometimes you need to take a knife down the side of the cube to get them out).. I keep mine in zip loc freezer bags , and just take one out and pop it into sauce, or marinades . Basil is great because it grows back and you can do this a few times during the growing season ! Hope you make some basil cubes !
linking to :http://daisycottagedesigns.blogspot.com/
http://www.jannolson.blogspot.com/

Monday, August 26, 2013

Zucchini Casserole


Good Monday morning ! I thought I would share one of our favorite ways to eat zucchini ..
You can make this either on top of the stove , or start it on top of the stove then put in the oven.. To make this I used 3 pretty big zucchini ,( not the huge ones) and one yellow squash. I peeled and chopped them and put them in the pan with about 2 tbsp. olive oil and 1/4 of an onion( chopped) After it cooks for awhile , add a couple peeled tomatoes . ( my kids like the zucchini soft , so if you like yours crunchy just don't cook it so long.) Salt and pepper too.
Then I add about 2 Tbsp of butter , some fresh oregano and fresh basil.
To finish it I added a handful of mozzarella cheese , and a handful of Colby jack. Put the lid on the pan , and the cheese gets all melty :) If you want to finish it in the oven ,put it in a casserole dish then add the cheese. This is such a good way to use up a lot of your zucchini .. One of my sons could eat that whole pan by himself , he loves this stuff so much ! I have even frozen zucchini in chunks and used them to make this and it turned out really good , it just tastes better with herbs and tomatoes fresh from the garden !
Picked some more of my zinnias and played with the Rhonna ap on my iphone .. love this photo of my zinnias !!
 
Hope you have a wonderful Monday , let me know if you make the Zucchini casserole !
linking to :http://daisycottagedesigns.blogspot.com/
http://www.jannolson.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Granny Ripple is Finished and Another Big Flower Blanket

 Hello !
I finished the granny ripple this weekend and started another big flower blanket. You can see the first big flower blanket here..
 These granny ripples work up pretty quickly . Here is the first granny ripple I made ..


 I changed the pattern up on this big flower blanket , from  a 4 stitch granny square to the normal 3 and left out all the chains except in the corners I did 2 chains. It makes it not so loose.. I am doing the join as you go and it is going pretty fast.

 I have a bunch more flowers to be put into squares..All the yarn I am using is red heart yarn..
 Thanks for stopping by and your nice comments ! Hope the rest of your week is great !
linking to :http://daisycottagedesigns.blogspot.com/
http://www.jannolson.blogspot.com/

Monday, August 19, 2013

August Subway Art Table Runner

Good Monday Morning ! Today is the first day of school for my youngest .. He is a sophomore this year , and I can't believe I forgot to take that first day of school photo ! I will have to take one tomorrow ..
I finally got around to making a summer themed ( just for August ) subway art table runner. I used a few colors of yellow, grey, black and white paints..
Wish I would have had some sunflowers for the mason jar, but mine in the garden are all finished ..so I used black eyed susans, and yellow zinnias..


I use my big foam stamps that I bought for scrapbooking a few years ago, for most of the words and then I freehand paint and use fabric paint for the rest. I also sprinkled some glitter in places on the wet paint.


For the ruffle I used black and white check, and then the yellow used to be my kitchen window treatments. I knew there would be a good use for that fabric someday :) It is hard to get a good photo of the ruffle since we have a round table.. Makes it look uneven .




 


I also put my black white check and burlap decomesh wreath back up .. I think I will add some sunflowers with the daisies in the wreath to make it more end of summerish..
Pretty soon it will be time to decorate for Fall .. ( can't wait !)

Hope you have a great day ! I will be back tomorrow or Wednesday with my crochet update.. I finished the granny ripple and started another big flower blanket !
 
 Thanks for stopping by and your nice comments !
linking to :http://daisycottagedesigns.blogspot.com/
http://www.jannolson.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

I'm Back ...Gardening and A New Blanket !


Hello !! I am kind of sad for vacation to be over , but glad to be back home at the same time :) We stayed in the tall building above in Panama City ,Florida, this time on the 4th floor... It was a wonderful trip .. we had pretty good weather with a thunder storm one day and sprinkles another day , but the rest of the trip was great HOT weather!

 
I finished the August cottage of the month while there from Country Cottage Needleworks.. Kind of fitting since its a beach scene :) It was nice to stitch or crochet in the morning before everyone got up on the balcony ..The alarm clock inside my head is set for 6am whether I am on vacation or not !
We got home Saturday to a garden full of goodness!  This is 6-1/2 pounds of tomatoes which I turned into sauce by roasting them ..Here is the roasted sauce instructions
Aren't those little yellow pear shape tomatoes the cutest :)

I had some help yesterday picking the blackberries .. As you can see by his face he ate his share too ! Loves them ! Gobbles them up like candy . I finally broke down and picked some of the zinnias .. I planted a lot of packs of seeds just so I could pick them , and I haven't wanted to wreck the beautiful show in the yard. Last night I picked a bouquet for my daughter and one for myself.. I just love them !
I needed a project for the car ride to Florida 16-17 hours ! So I started this Granny Ripple blanket...
 Not my typical colors , but its  for my second oldest son..It has been going pretty fast .. I made one of these a couple years ago and here is that post ,With a link to the pattern.. I did make it bigger than the pattern ( added 2 more multiples of 17) , and I am using an H hook..
..


 I got this big yarn basket at an Estate Sale a few weeks ago for $5.00 ! It is very big and perfect to hold my crochet projects ! And $5.00 !!!
 
Everything is growing like crazy !
Hope you have a great day ! Thanks for stopping by and your nice comments !
linking to :http://daisycottagedesigns.blogspot.com/
http://www.jannolson.blogspot.com/