Books, Tea, Plans, Life Class

Well I took my first Zumba Gold dance workout class last week, and just got out of my second class. All I can say is...wow! I felt like a teenager at a dance party. I love it that our teacher is a grandmother, and she gave us the high and low versions of the moves, and the music was absolutely exciting and motivational with a Latin vibe and some nostalgic tunes too! I never sweat that much, even on my treadmill, walking three fast miles! So...that's the high of it. The low is...I was hurting a little the next day! But I kept stretching about every half hour--I think I was a little too in touch with my inner teenager at the class! I forgot that I'm in my fifties and I already have a pinched nerve back problem--totally forgot! I tried to pace myself today, at first, but again I got so lost in the music, I danced full out. Maybe I won't be as stiff tomorrow as I was last week. I recover fast!

In the meantime, the other day while recovering from Zumba, I was resting and watched The King's Speech--so loved it! Of course, while watching it, I had to pull out my big book on the kings and queens and look things up--I'm endlessly fascinated with the stories of all the earth's kings and queens and princesses and so on. I can't ever get enough! Then, after fixing myself a tall refreshing glass of tea, I pulled out my cross-stitch books to make a few plans. I have some pieces that are going into a new cross-stitch quilt, and I am thinking of creating a couple of more little items that will patch into the quilt--this will be a summer project, and I love it already. And let's face it, I just get inspired with ideas when I pull my books out.

My favorite book of cross-stitch patterns has really become my go-to book. It has so many motifs and patterns in it that you can stitch up just about anything that your heart desires in any combination that you wish. I have a lot of post-it notes marking pages in this book!

I also found my kitty pattern to make some new stuffed kitties. I'm going to try some with patches of materials, some embroidery, and some little cross-stitches patched onto their bellies--this could be cute.

I really think of my big corner desk as my "cross-stitch corner" because I keep a lot of those supplies there, along with pieces of fabric, discarded jewelry, beads and ribbon for my mixed-media fabric projects. This also works into my scrapbooking nicely too. My daughter went to her senior prom last weekend, and I am definitely inspired to do a few scrapbook pages with her prom photos!

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday!

It was so fun to have a photoshoot in the park with her and her group of friends all dressed for prom. They looked like they were in the pages of a storybook! All the parents took a ton of pictures in the Japanese garden area of the park--we all had a great time before we sent them off to their dinner and their prom.

Back at home, I made myself cozy with more tea, starting work on some stitching, and watching one of the Oprah lifeclasses--I love that show. I try to watch at least one a week, and I am happy that when I first signed up for Oprah Lifeclass, they sent me a leather journal! Pretty cool. So now that I can DVR the shows I want to see, I take lifeclass notes in my little journal. Of course, I can't just take notes, I have to doodle while I'm pondering these deep thoughts. But it makes it more fun to go back and read my notes later!

After I have watched a lifeclass, taken notes, and received some inspiration and enlightenment, I always come up with some new ideas of my own. I think that's my favorite part! I try to mark those pages so that I know those were my ideas--possibly for future use. I think I'll need to do some stretching out and lifeclassing tonight. That sounds like a good plan. That, and some ice tea!

More lifeclass notes and doodles.

My daughter and her charming prom date!

Eat happy, write and doodle, dream daily, stitch some love.

Happy May Day!

I want those big fat bees back in my garden this summer!

 Let's hope the April showers have brought May flowers, because May is such a happy month! I brought home a whole tray of flowers last weekend--my own seedlings have not been doing well this spring, so I did not let that stop me from the hopes of having a fabulous garden--I found my garden at a greenhouse down the street and I am set to plant it! My handy hubby has the tiller out, and we will be putting in three new raised beds--so I am excited about the month of May!

 I have a lot on my list beyond creating my secret garden:

1- Spring cleaning and making the house look fabulous and smell sweet

2- Having a bunch of teenage girls join my daughter to get ready for prom night--I have some tasty snacks planned for their "getting ready" party

3- Stitching, sewing, and more stitching! I want to make a cute summer dress from a Simplicity pattern I have, and put together my next cross-stitch quilt--my sewing machine is going to be busy!

4- Writing, writing, writing. I am revising my play, and then back to the novel!

5- I have two birthday parties to throw, one birthday party to attend, and a 23rd wedding anniversary to celebrate--I have the day all planned too!

6- Planning vacation.

7- I am starting a Zumba Gold class this week--that is Zumba for middle-agers, in case you've never heard of that version of this aerobic dance party--I am excited and I hope I survive it! I'll let you know.

8- I plan to go on more picnics and walks by the lake!

9- Also, I need more girl lunches with my gal pals, and especially some wonderful girls I went to high school with--we are celebrating life with our memories of the 1970's and we have fun together!

Blessings to all as you enjoy your own eating, writing, dreaming and stitching. Happy May days!

Lemon Lemon-Thyme Squares

Gardeners who are lemon-lovers no doubt will have plenty of fresh lemon-thyme growing back perennially each year. I love to just hang out in my garden and crush on the herbs for a little aromatherapy, and lemon thyme is at the top of my list for alfresco aromatherapy sessions!

Now that I have a favorite family treat, made with my precious lemon thyme, I can do something else with it besides aromatherapy and stuffing it into chicken!

This recipe is so easy to make, I've been making it once a week lately! It's a fabulous dessert, and I admit it--I have it for breakfast sometimes too!

LEMON LEMON-THYME SQUARES

In a little bowl, stir together the flour:

  1 cup flour

  1/2 teaspoon salt

  2 tablespoons chopped fresh lemon-thyme leaves

It's easy to just strip the tiny thyme leaves off the stem--they hardly require any chopping, and again, you'll be in heaven with the aroma!

In a mixer combine:

1 stick of unsalted room temperature butter

1/2 cup powered sugar

Mix until creamy, then add:

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Continue mixing until combined, then add the flour mixture and mix for just a short time until it's all combined into a dough. Now, stop right here...because I could eat just this dough! But I'll control myself.

Now, butter a little 8X8 pan, spread the dough into it with wet fingers (very important), and bake for 30 minutes at 325 degrees.

After your lemon-thyme creation has cooled, it is time to glaze it!

GLAZE: Simply stir together 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice with 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Now, this is a very light glaze, but it is plenty. I make it light to cut down on carbs, but it also hardens a little more quickly, and then you can cut it into squares, pop them out of the pan and onto your serving dish, or in a nice storage container. We eat them so quickly, I honestly don't know if they keep well for more than a couple of days--but you could try! 

             Enjoy, lemon lovers! If you don't have lemon-thyme in the garden - try it!

Eat what you bake--Write what you live--Dream your future--Stitch your heart out.

Ten Good Reasons to Thread a Needle

Recent studies have shown that sewing can actually help you relieve stress and lower your blood pressure.  

Wow. I know I love stitching...in fact I don't think a day goes by that I don't thread a needle for some reason. So I thought I would share my favorite reasons to thread a needle...just for fun. (And by the way, my blood pressure was 120 over 70 yesterday.)

1. Sewing can be so creative. So...sew creatively!

2. Sometimes, it's just necessary--repairing that hole in your daughter's dearly loved shirt.

A little pink needle book--stitched quickly together.

3. It gives variety to life: sewing pieces of fabric together...cross-stitching...embroidery...sewing patches of knit squares together to keep you colorfully warm...quilting...mixed media stitching...sewing on paper for scrapbooking...so many ways to stitch!

4. Stitching gives you a little control in a big crazy world. You pick the thread. You guide the needle.

5. Sewing has a magical way of lifting away cares and offering some peace.

6. Make a doll for a child...you'll never stop sewing.

7. Take a few little squares of fat soft felt, and some hot pink DMC floss...embroider a flower on the front, sew the three squares together down one side, and you have a little needlebook--buy some of those gold embroidery needles to tuck into it. A little bit o happiness. Perfect gift to tuck into a card!

8. Cross-stitch a heart and feel the love.

9. Make friends. An old-fashioned sewing circle...a workshop...a class at church...meet your fellow bloggers who love to stitch! Get together and make girlie aprons!

10. Teach a friend. Meet for coffee, give her a needlebook you made for her, and give her a gift that keeps on giving.

Inside the little pink needle book.

Beginning work on a bunny peep cross-stitch.

 Oh and a bonus:

11. Quality alone time. There's nothing like sitting on a sunporch, a sleepy cat at your feet, ice tea, your thoughts, and your stitching.

Courage

"Courage! What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the 'ape' in apricot? What have they got that I ain't got?"

--Lion, The Wizard of Oz

Afternoon Plans

What are you doing this afternoon? Don't you love afternoon plans? I don't know why, but when the sun is out and my greenhouse is warm and lit up, I suddenly have the urge to do so many things. First, I want to gather up my stitching and bring it out to that lovely long sunporch called my "greenhouse" and put my feet up and cross-stitch for the next two hours with a big glass of iced tea and lemon, and the cats playing and enjoying life.

It's just for days like this that I keep a little butterfly cross-stitch kit, I made up myself, hanging on a handle by my sewing table in case I get the urge to see a butterfly come to life on a piece of aida cloth. But, unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of stitching for two hours--so I can only wish. I am caught up on the laundry (that usually lasts for five minutes) and the house is not in bad shape. I need to practice my violin, plant more tomato seeds, work on revisions in my play, find my pedometer for a walking competition that starts tomorrow, get a few things at the store including some free Silk almond milk--one of those coupons that  doubles to the actual price of the product!--clean up my desk, sew the straps onto my latest girlie apron, and embroider two new designs I'm working on. Well, I guess that's enough for an afternoon! And, sadly, I'm not even sure what I'm fixing for dinner. But I'm thinking that a big salad and some chicken cordon bleu sounds lovely.

First I have to wrestle the ribbon away from Joseph.

Now, I know if I get started on cleaning my desk, I will without a doubt do a little piddling. I was piddling  through some stuff the other day and found this 1948 falling-apart fat encyclopedia hiding in a drawer. I remember encyclopedia salesmen in the 1970's selling whole sets of big, slick heavy black-cover books of knowledge (pre-internet), so this old fat thing is kind of a wonder. I snipped off some ribbon to tie it up and put it out in the open somewhere. It is funny to look things up.

This old encyclopedia is fun to look through--but I'm too busy!

Oh to be Minnie, without a care in the world!

So, I will be fortunate to check one or two things off my list today, and thank goodness that the chicken cordon bleu is frozen! But I'm definitely going to need some tea! It's only Monday.

Eat well. Write often. Dream big and little. Stitch something...it's good for the soul.

She Got a Little I-Cord Happy

Knitting an i-cord is so fun and incredibly easy! 

I learned how to knit i-cords because I wanted to use them as the arms and legs of my cuddle creatures. But as I began knitting the i-cords, I sort of got addicted to it! Basically, you just cast on a few stitches onto a double-point knitting needle (I cast on five stitches for my creatures) and then knit the row, slide the stitches to the other side of the needle, and knit another row. Just keep doing this, sliding it back and forth, and you will have stockinette stitched a tube. (without going to the trouble of stockinette stitching, because you were sliding it back and forth, so all you had to do was knit)

Finally the day came when I had knit all my cuddle creatures that I wanted to knit for gifts and for the house (I may knit more later). But I wanted to knit more of those i-cords! So I did. Then I started looking at them, laying there side by side--this time I had cast on seven stitches for each i-cord--and I realized I wanted to sew them together in sort of an i-cord patchwork and make a little tote bag. It would either be lots of fun, or a disaster. But I did it anyway.

I-Cord Heaven!

I used lots of different varieties of the cotton sugar and cream yarns.

I think I had knit about 24 i-cords when I started putting my tote bag together. It was fun to lay it all out and see how these colorful cotton cords would go together to make a nice, thick, wonky little bag. With the same yarns, I just started quickly stitching one cord onto another to complete each side of the bag. Then I stitched the whole bag right sides together.

Lastly, I stitched on i-cords for the handles. The bag has a nice, sturdy feel to it, so I'm ready to make a bigger one! This was the test. I like how it turned out. It looks like something I bought at a street fair or something. Very fun! Here are more views of my little bag.

So, be sure and stash a little ball of yarn and your double-pointed knitting needles in your go-bag--you can knit on your i-cords while waiting in line, riding in the car, or visiting a friend. So fun!

Ahhh...a chair full of embroidered pillows!

Eat, write, dream, and stitch an i-cord, or maybe 20!