No matter who you are there are things that get done everyday. Most of the time it is washing dishes and making beds, sweeping floors and wiping counters. In a way I do enjoy those things, the things that you do over and over and over again. But no one really gets excited about those hum-drum things cause everybody does it (or someone does it for them) and nobody talks about it or gets excited about it.
I remember my Mother showing me exactly how to wipe a counter top -- don't just swish the rag back and forth! No, you sorta go in half circles working your way to the edge and allowing the cloth to gather all the crumbs and bits til you get to the edge and carefully dump it into your other waiting hand. Now I do it that way, and I am sure you likely do to!
Now, today though along with those hum-drum sorts of things I have managed to fit a few rewards in with all the work!
Not yesterday, but the evening before, I started to knit another toque...
For some reason I kept counting wrong and the 64 stitches that I was supposed to cast on, was 63, so I took it apart and started again -- it's amazing how long it takes to cast on stitches and to knit the first couple of rounds!
I took the work in progress with me to a meeting where I sat in a chair for a couple of hours listening to people talk about quilting (My quilt guild meeting, actually) I surprised myself how quickly I was able to knit up this toque, because this morning, I knitted the last few rows while I read through some blogs before breakfast...
{I had no model on hand so the big crochet rock on my balcony served as model for the new toque}
As I was saying I was at my quilt guild meeting on Tuesday. One of the "features" of our meeting is a Give and Take table -- I always check it! And there was a shoebox full of cut squares, all about 3" square or so. Now, I sure didn't need a whole shoebox (in fact a boot size box) of fabric. I started looking though the squares and noticed that there were some very interesting OLD or perhaps you could call it Vintage fabrics. I love old stuff! So I picked out a good handful of a variety of the older fabrics and trundled back to my seat not looking at them again until I got home quite some time later...
Interesting selection of little squares there, except there was a problem...
Can you see? Every single one was not quite right, some were 3 inches and a bit one way and 3 inches or less the other way or more that 3 1/4 inches, many of them lop-sided as the square above -- do you see? Aw, Well, I decided I really liked the combinations of those old fabrics, so I took the time and trimmed the squares down to 2 1/2 inches square. Now I suspect that these old fabrics had been in a drawer or a box since before we had rotary cutters, rulers and mats and that these had been scissor cut, with a bit of a slip now and then...
I stacked up the finished recut squares and since I did not take too, too many I decided to just put them all together randomly, created a border or two and call it complete. Quilted simply with a cross-hatch design all over, I found another older fabric to use for binding and got that little project done before lunch time!
Both the toque and the little quilt will be going into my ETSY store (click on the sidebar where it says ETSY if you would like to know more)
You would think that was enough work and rewards for one day, eh? Well, not so...
The word has been going around that McDonalds (yeah, the big Yellow M) was giving away Buttermilk biscuits yesterday and today.
Well, now, one of my favourite quick homemade snacks is Tea Biscuits, or some call it Short Bread or Quick Bread. I don't have the inclination to go to a fast food place with all the noise and line-ups so I decided I can make a batch of Buttermilk Biscuits fancied up for practically the same price that McDonalds is charging AND I can have more that ONE!
I got out my Mom's old recipe book, not because other books don't have a Tea Biscuit Recipe but because I like to use her cookbook and remember learning about baking and cooking along side her, many many years ago (about the same era as those 'vintage' fabrics are from in the first part of my little story)
So I put the ingredients all together, rolled them and cut them and put them on the baking tray.
Into, and then out of the oven...
By the way, my homemade "Buttermilk Biscuits" are fancied up with chopped prunes and a pinch or two of cinnamon -- try to get that at a fast food joint! And I would bet the homemade version here has far fewer calories than the FREE ones...
Finally onto a plate with too much butter, and apple and a bowl of soup for lunch...
Whew!
Now I wonder what is on TV this afternoon?
