I May Be Hooked

I've been wanting to try my hand at felting for some time so when Lisa at Lil Fish Studios posted a tutorial on how to wet felt rocks, it was just the nudge I needed. Thanks again Lisa!

Not related to felting:  You need to look at these adorable little dolls Lisa made too.

Here is the beginning of my felting projects.  There are rocks that I wet felted according to Lisa's directions.  It worked really well, but I think I'll look for smaller stones.  Then I needle felted an egg and a bead.  I found various tutorials and videos on the interweb to lead me in the needle felting.  I'm sorry I'm not referencing any of them because I read a little here, watched a little there. 

Well, after I made the bead, my son challenged me to make a square bead, a cube, if you will.  Actually, I believe he was mocking me in my excitement about my new felting "skills".

So, I googled and yes there were a couple of square felted beads out there.

I gave it a shot, and it led to this necklace.

I actually made the cube by needle felting polyfil into the cube shape and then covering it with my wool roving.  I first covered it with green and then little pieces of gray roving.  I didn't know you could needle felt polyester, but that was another tidbit I learned online. I did it to save on my roving, but for such a small bead I probably won't do it again that way.  The bottom bead is a round one made from the gray roving. 

I have some jewelry making supplies on hand as I've been dabbling a bit in it.  Now, I think I may have a direction of where I can go with it.  Since I took these pictures yesterday, I felted a brooch, a bracelet, and a pendant.  I'll show pictures next week.  

I'll be ordering more roving and supplies!  I'm just really enjoying this new venture.

I bought my roving from this Etsy shop, Wistyria.

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This weekend is a baby shower for my daughter.  The baby girl is due at the end of April! 

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The Truck That Isn't Anymore

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This is the grain truck that I mentioned in my last post.  They'll never know why it started on fire. Perhaps a rodent had chewed on wires.  My husband had just parked it and went to the basement of the farm house to eat lunch.  Had he not had a phone call from his brother that brought him up out of the basement for a better signal on the cell phone, it could have been much worse.  The truck was parked right by the farm's two fuel tanks.  He and his brother used the tractor to pull the burning truck away from the fuel barrels while they waited for the fire trucks to arrive. 

The "couldas" :: could have ignited the fuel barrels, could have happened when parked for the night inside a shed, could have been full of grain,...

I don't see a lot of point in looking at the "couldas" except to see the blessings.  Funny thing though, if the "couldas" would-a, we still would look to God and praise Him for being there with us. But, maybe through gritted teeth for awhile. :)

Today, very happy for what is.

Salute to Old Timer's Ingenuity

Sweetness!  I went to an auction yesterday and was pretty happy with a couple of the things I brought home.

This table is quite sturdy and bonus!  has a towel bar attached to it that I didn't even see when I bid on it.  I know, so much for close inspection. :)  Which is why I came home with this a few weeks ago.  But, per your advice on that conundrum I am going to marry the cubbyhole piece to this table.  So's the plan, anyway.

Biggest problem is where to put it and what color to paint it.  If it were going in a potting shed, I'd leave it...hhmmmm....that is still an option.  Just need the potting shed. :)

A big **SALute** goes out to the man who cut out these tin gallon cans to make his own drawers/bins.  A woman could have made these, Rosie the Riveter comes to mind since they are full of rivets!  I just love these cans.  

I bought four of them and then had to let two go because the contents brought too much money.  But, I knew the one regular auction goer who bought one of them and asked him if he'd sell me the container.  He says, "You want the container?!"  "You can just have it."  I grinned big.  The other fella who bought the sixth one...well, not too approachable.  

These will probably end up in the barn at the work table doing just what they do best, holding screws, bolts, washers, etc. 

The edges are a bit rough, but isn't the idea great?  Do you think there would be any danger of a spark when you'd take a tin snip to these.? These gallon containers seem to be the ones filled with flammable contents. I think a person would want to really wash them out even before you started cutting. Then wash again.  A grinder could sure smooth up the edges. 

Now, what to do with all of these rivets?!   I'm open to suggestions!

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The farm's grain truck burned up last week just shortly after my husband parked it.I'll post a picture later this week of it.  We are thanking God that it wasn't worse.  Just the cab is gone and explosions were avoided!

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I'm linking up with Apron Thrift Girl and Thrift Share Monday.

Saturday Digest

We had snow/hail with thunder yesterday.  Really cool!

Another window seat project....more to follow.

This is the new "toy" I received for my birthday that I mentioned a few posts back.  If you draw, you may love it!  I'm using it for editing in Photoshop.  Makes my brain work. :) and, hurt. :) That "old dog" adage comes to mind.

The products web page is here. 

**I've ordered wool roving to try my hand at these. Oh my. So pretty.  But even better still, these that Lisa sells. But, currently, sold out. :(

**We get faster internet service on Tuesday.  ~~happy~~dance~~

**Wishing a wonderful weekend!!

Kid Friendly Lent Recipe

Ok, calling this a recipe is really a stretch.  A big stretch.  But, easy it is. Kid friendly it is. And, good it is.

I make these for the kids year round not just during Lent, but now seemed like a good time to share it.

Apple Cheesies

Ingredients:

  tortilla shell

 shredded cheese

apple.

  I like the Monterrey/Colby Jack combo of cheese and also the Mexican blend of cheeses that is made by Kraft and Shurfresh (not taco flavored though).  The sweeter apples are better.

The finer you chop the apple, the less likely it is to fall out of your tortilla shell. :)

Melt in the microwave until cheese is about half melted.  Then roll up.  

That's it.  Served with some fresh vegetables and you have a pretty nice lunch. 

We started making cheesies at home after the kids liked the cheesy burritos at Amigos.  They weren't so keen on the beans that are in the Amigos version so we never put them in at home.  Then one day when I was making cheesies for lunch and cutting up apples to serve with them, my little girl jokingly asked if I was going to put the apple in the cheesy.  I realized that the warm apple would be quite good with the cheese and thanks to Audrey, Apple Cheesies were born.  

Gourmet we're not. :)   But picture grating your own imported cheese and making your own homemade tortillas and you can step it up a bit. LOL!

May your Lenten season be blessed!

Dreams of a Moonlight Garden

As you plan your garden for this year, you might consider white.  

When we first moved into our house one of my flower beds was deemed the "Moonlight Garden"  and I had hopes and dreams of white flowers glowing at dusk and illuminated by the moon.  Well, 15 years later, I still have the dream. :) The soil was poor, my attention to the bed has had a wee bit of competition, but  I still plant white flowers in pots and enjoy those at dusk.

I took the photos in the two mosaics at dusk one night last summer.  They are straight out of the camera with no editing, I think you can tell how they just pop at dusk and if you have bright moonlight, by the moon.

I have also found that light purple plants are gorgeous at dusk.  I remember the bloom of the milkweed plant  and Husker Red Penstemon being amazing as the sun went down.

This web page gives you a list of good plants to use in your moonlight garden

This link: a lot of information on moonlight gardens

This page: videos on a moonlight garden (scroll down)

I would really like to hear your experiences with  moonlight gardening!

Linking up with Kathleen at Faded Charm for White Wednesday (on a Thursday) 

Tea on Tuesday::Texture Tuesday

It's been awhile since I've joined up with Kimmie for Tea and with Kim Klassen for Texture Tuesday.  It's so fun to edit pictures of tea cups!

One of my daughter's gave me this Tazo Rest Rose Tea.  It's so light and delicious!  

The challenge for Texture Tuesday was to use the theme "happiness".  Well, this tea from my daughter in this cup made me happy, so "happiness is a cup of tea in a vintage cup".

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!! 

May you feel the love from above!