Posted on 02/01/2025 6:55:11 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Beautiful! :) Yo-Yo’s were popular with both of my Grandmas. We had clown dolls with yo-yo clothing. Still wish I had them!
All about Yo-Yos:
Unfinished quilts have popped up in our thrift store too and have been tempting. If the top part is done and you like it, not hard to put some batting and a simple backing on it.
Either my mom or my Grandma made a jingle bell Jack doll for my older sister out of those. Those were the arms and legs with jingle bells for the hands and feet. I bet she still has that doll.
I think I might just have to do that sometime!
I haven’t seen any Grackles yet. We have too many Starlings, but it’s not as bad as previous years. I’m going to have to keep my eye out for how many goldfinches I see. I think you’re right, that it is less than usual. We only have a few Blue Jays and they aren’t hogging the feeders, so the little ones are plenty happy. The bluebirds have been coming to the mealworm feeders off our deck, and I always love seeing them. They cheer me up, but mealworms have gotten pretty expensive. I added red pepper flakes to them to deter the squirrels, raccoons, and possums from raiding those ones.
The only thing I’ve ever ‘quilted’ was a table runner. I found some fabric that I fell in love with, and used an old bath towel as the batting and the same fabric front and back.
After I, ‘fell out of love with it,’ it ended up in a dog bed.
I’ll stick to Blue Ribbons for crochet - but I sure do admire those that CAN and do quilt! :)
Hey! You should enter the Yo-Yo quilt in your County Fair! I’ll bet the Judges will love it and know all of the hard work that went into making it. :)
I have made a few of those the most recent in 2002. I have a pic of it with the original book which I had as a child. I’ll find it.
I have the book here somewhere. Pretty sure I can find it quickly, but not 100%. I used to collect old children’s books, especially Little Golden Books. I’ll look for it, in a while, and if I find it, will post a photo.
The inside of the book is really cute. Mom showing her daughter how to make yoyos and the doll.
Yes, that’s the book! A Ding Dong book!
I love that purse! It’s like carrying a bouquet of posies with you! Cute!
Thanks, it has a zipper closure and a zippered small pocket inside. The material was a cheap remnant I found looking for something that would make a pretty yoyo. Large garish prints that would not make up anything nice would make great yoyos. The colors look great and the big ugly print disappears.
The trash needed to go out early for pickup and it’s 22°, feels like 17° My ‘reward’ for braving the cold is that a spectacular sunrise is going on over the eastern mountain range. The colors are deep purple & scarlet & as the sun is getting higher, the scarlet is overtaking the purple & the part closest to the mountains is lightening up to a deep rose pink, with gold at the very bottom. Just gorgeous!
What snow is left is full of animal tracks, mostly deer I think. I put my carrot peels out for them where I left apple peels for them in the fall. The deer have been hanging around a lot lately ... probably waiting for me to plant something! :-) Three male bluebirds were ‘having at it’ in the front yard earlier in the week. I know there was a nest in the trees last year, but could never spot it. We have bluebird houses my dad made & put up in the fields at the old house .... I need to get them on my next trip.
Greek Fries
Enhance a humble bag of frozen fries ....or make your own with Yukon Gold.
Turns fries into an important side dish, showered with Mediterranean flavors.
Ing Lge bag frozen fries, or fry up 6 medium Yukon gold 2 tbl olive oil 1 tbl Homemade Greek Seasoning ½ tsp k/salt ¼ cup small feta crumbles 2 tbl ea finely chopped curly parsley, red onion 4 lemon wedges; tzatziki, lemon dill sauce (your fave), or aioli, for dipping
Steps Evenly space oven racks to ensure even cooking. Add fries to bowl; toss w/ olive oil, Greek seasoning, k/salt. Spread fries in straight lines on 2 parchmented sheetpans, spacing out as far as possible. Bake 425 deg 20 min. Take them out and carefully flip each fry. Return to oven (reversing pans on racks). Bake crisp, golden 8-10 min, watching carefully; time depends on fry thickness and oven. (If fries seem soft, bake a few more min.) Taste and add pinches salt if needed.
Garnish: Transfer fries to platter; top with feta cheese crumbles, fine-chp parsley, red onion. Serve with lemon wedges and tzatziki or lemon dill sauce.
Notes makes a goodly amount of fries, but much less than a Greek restaurant portion. The largest quantity that fit on two baking sheets is 2 lb; decrease if desired (adjust seasonings).
Homemade Greek Seasoning
Made with simple pantry staples and perfect for sprinkling on fish, chicken, and veggies. Stir 3 tbl oregano 2 tbl ea basil, onion and gar/pwders 1 tbl ea dill, black pepper ½ tbl salt. Store air tight in pantry jar up to a year. Use 2 tbl per pound of chicken or vegetables.
I found my Jingle Bell Jack book this morning! Right where I thought it would be. I have two copies, so I’ll bring the other copy when I see my sisters in October. I’ll set it aside now in the beach bin that we always take.
Incidentally, after spending hours and hours of research on new beach locations east of where we usually go, it was decided that maybe we should stick to the same place where we’ve gone before, near Ft. Walton Beach, on Okaloosa Island. The prices are much more reasonable than further east. Maybe we can take a day trip towards Pensacola or Orange Beach just to get a feel for things.
We decided to each have our own units instead of sharing. It gives everyone a place to go back to if things get unpleasant on day 3 or later. Hubby and I have always shared a unit with older sister and her hubby. Younger sister has wisely had her own unit with her hubby each time.
My older sister is undiagnosed bipolar, and she has frequent migraines. It’s not fun to be around her when she isn’t feeling well. Sometimes, it’s her own making, and sometimes it isn’t. Either way, I don’t like being grunted at when I’m being courteous. Hopefully, this trip will be fun, and if there are any differences, we can each have our own space to retreat to. I know she doesn’t wish it to be this way, but she’s unpredictable and not always under control.
My one difficulty will be that we will have to leave our one cat behind for so long. We discussed it at length whether it would be less stressful for him to be here by himself, and have the pet sitter come once or twice a day. He doesn’t ever come out to see her in all the years she looked after the cats. Last summer, he lost his brother to cancer. They weren’t litter mates, but had been together since they were a week or so old. For 14 years. We all grieved for a few months after brother’s passing. It was unexpected. Very aggressive cancer.
Anyway, we decided that two days in a car crate each way, plus a hotel stay 2 nights, plus a week in an unfamiliar place where we wouldn’t be around for several hours each day would probably be more even more stressful than being in his own home by himself. I hate that I couldn’t figure out a way to make it work. We could board him, but that would also be stressful, plus he’s gotten sick whenever we’ve done that in the past. Soon he’ll be 15. He’s holding his own, and I hope he stays with us a while longer.
Sounds like another beautiful sunrise!
We still have snow on the ground, got a fresh inch each night for the last couple of days. The sun is out which will melt some of it, but the temps are still below freezing. Heat wave today will reach 27! LOL. Actually, it will start to warm up some in the next several days. I think we might reach the upper 40’s by Monday or Tuesday! I’m anxious for the monastery soup cookbook to get here, but I think it will be middle of next week before it shows up.
We have 4 bluebird houses and they usually pick 2 to raise their broods in. Hopefully that pattern will keep up. It’s always exciting when they’re nesting!
You sound like you have a good plan. If you have had someone in the past come in and feed your cat he will probably remember. Sounds like the least stressful for him.
Cranberry Bliss Bars / White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing
A tempting treat w/ toothsome ingredients.
Ing DOUGH 1 cup unsalted butter melted 1 1/3 cup light brown sugar packed 1/4 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs + 1 egg yolk room temperature 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 2 cups all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2/3-1 cup dried cranberries 2/3-1 cup white chocolate chips 1 tsp orange zest TOPPINGS Dried chp cranberries to sprinkle on top Melted white chocolate drizzle FROSTING 8 oz cr/cheese room temp 1/4 c unsalted butter room temp 1 1/2 c conf 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions whisk flour, salt, b/powder. In a 2nd bowl, whisk unsalted butter, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla til smooth. Add wet ingredients to dry with rubber spatula---will be between a cake batter and cookie dough, not too thick and not too runny. Mix in orange zest, white chocolate chips, and dried cranberries.
Line a 9x9 or 9x13 pan with parchment. 9x9 for thicker bars; 9x13 for thinner bars. Spread batter evenly across pan. Bake 350 deg 22-25 min---don’t overbake; will continue baking out of the oven. Thinner bars will cook faster. Cool in pan 10 min then remove to finish cooling to room temp.
Make Icing. Add cream cheese, unsalted butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla to bowl. Use hand beater or stand mixer w/ paddle to beat fluffy and smooth. Scrape sides as necessary. Frost to desired thickness. Chill to set; optional but makes cutting a lot easier. Now cut bars into large squares then half diagonally to create triangles. Drizzle melted white chocolate on top and sprinkle w/ chopped cranberries.
Thank you. I think going forward, I’ll have her come by the house once a week in the month before, and see if I can acquaint them again. It’s been a few years since they laid eyes on each other. Our other cat, Crick, was a lover, and would come visit every guest we had. So she was very close to him.
Watson is a hideaway type, but he’s a love bug with people he knows. Including our kids who were around when we adopted them at 6 weeks old. Our daughter fostered both of them, and then we adopted those two sweet guys. Oh, their names? Watson & Crick. We celebrate their birthday on DNA Day, April 25th, after their namesakes. It’s real,y close to their actual birthdays.
Yeah. Back in the day, I totally got into scientific research because of DNA. Our daughter is also a scientist, a neurophysiologist. So the names have always seemed appropriate. But in retrospect, I wonder if Crick was the star. In our house, he sure liked the spotlight.
Watson is a cutie, and he was the first to learn his name. Smart kitty, just shy.
That is an excellent plan.
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