Surrounded

May I present,

Surrounded, the quilt.

Made (mostly) in secret,

and finished 9/28/2015,

one week after Brandon's 17th birthday.
At the beach :-)

Surrounded, 

because the orange pluses are surrounded by gray,

and the gray pluses are surrounded by orange.

Because the blocks that are outlined in hand-quilting with black perle cotton

are surrounded by those that are not.

Surrounded,

because the back,

which really could be the front,

surrounds him with things that say 'Brandon'.

The arrows
(made by sorta following this tute) because he likes to shoot them,

and because he builds amazing bows out of pvc.

I was so tickled to find a scrap of this letter fabric from Matt and Marin's quilt with a 'B'! Perfect!!

Shurekin
as a nod to his awesome black belt ninja skills.

Dapper foxes,

because he is of the generation that wonders 

what does the fox say?

And he is such a fine dresser.

(when he wants to dress up...)
And really, because I just thought he would like the fabric ;-)

Did you see the seam there?

Surrounded,

because this handsome boy is surrounded with love.

surrounded by balconies.....

I love you to the moon, Bran!!

Linking up with AJ and the finishers (sounds like a band, huh? ;-)

one week at the beach

Things got a little crazy when we decided on Saturday the 19th

(after opening discussions on the topic that very day)

that we were going to the beach on the 26th.

What can I say?

We are fly by the seat of our pants people ;-)

It was sooo worth it!

It was our most relaxing vacation ever.

Most likely due to the fact that our little people 

are getting big.

that's not Jeremiah's white butt - it's his swimsuit lining pulled up - I promise

Also, I think everyone really appreciated getting to go on vacation,

because we weren't planning to take one this year.

The weather wasn't the best,

with it being so cold our final day there

that nobody got in the water,

so we will be sure to go earlier in September in the future.

Even with the lack of sunshine most days,

it was a fabulous way to spend my birthday week :-)

At least 5 dolphins came by to wish me a happy birthday on Wednesday! Incidentally, the only day we saw any dolphins...

I often found myself smiling.

Not a silly lovestruck grin plastered on my face,

but just a very contended small smile.

At least that's what I felt,

so I assume that's what it would've looked like....

We stayed at,

what appeared to be from our night-time beach walks,

the best condo on Gulf Shores,

The Lighthouse.

Thanks, Love, for a wonderful week! XO

my rooftop experience

I needed to pin rows together Saturday,

so I thought I'd go out and sit in the sunshine
and enjoy the beautiful weather.

I grabbed a chair out of the Excursion

(that's where we store our 'camp chairs')

and choose a spot

well away from shade and shrubbery

where mosquitoes would be waiting to eat me alive.

Darn it if I didn't get bit 3 times,

before I'd even been out there that many minutes!

As I folded my chair
(not very gracefully)
and threw it back in the Excursion,
I hollered that what I hate about Arkansas
is
whenever the weather is nice enough to be outside,
you can't go out because of the damn mosquitoes!

Tyler said I sounded just like Beverly,
and then invited me up on the roof where he and Brandon were working.

He said mosquitoes don't fly that high.

So
(oh, Nancy - you're going to love this ;-)
I went in the house and grabbed a towel to sit on
so the shingles wouldn't scratch me,
and up the ladder I went
with my 22 quilt rows, a tin of straight pins, and my sewing glasses in one arm
and my green striped beach towel in the other.

You know what?

He was right!

Mosquitoes won't get you on the roof.

I can't believe we've lived in this house almost 11 years,
and I've never been on the roof.

It was so nice and peaceful up there.

I could see the entire back yard
and all of my chickens wandering about.
There was a nice breeze.
The kid noise sounded like it was coming from the neighbors',
and not my own.

When the guys finished their work
 they rested a bit with me,
then went about their day.

I stayed on the roof,
pinning.

Then Tyler started mowing,
so that added the smell of fresh cut grass
and the sound of a mower
 to the mix.

I might just move to the roof.

for the girls

When I bought the last sewing machine for Rahab's Rope,

they called me.

It seems they recognize my love for the women and girls they serve,

and wondered if I might like occasional updates on them.

Ummm.

yes, please!!!

Vicki, the founder, is over there, in India,

right now.

And while she's there, 

she will be taking pictures to send to me :-)

She also wanted me to send her 

a picture of me,

with my machine,

so she can share it with the women 

who learned to sew 

on machines I've donated.

So these are the pictures I sent

(because you know I could never settle on one...)

so they will know

about the (silly) woman in Arkansas,

who loves them.

(yeah.   so everything was totally staged....)

(Thanks, Love, for supporting me and  my dream)

buns and bagel dogs

We found (and tweaked, of course)

a fun recipe to add to our lunch and Sunday Snacky Dinner options.

These everything bagel dogs are a hit with everyone.

The kids think we should bring them as a 242 snack,

which is high praise for a low carb 'bread' food, let me tell you.

We usually have a bit of leftover dough, and I'll make a plain 'bun' just for me :-)

I'll warm that bun, open faced, under the broiler

and slather on some butter.

De-liciousness!

Last time, I accidentally left it under the broiler too long and made toast.

Oh my goodness, it was good!

I'd planned to give 1/2 the bun to Tyler,

and I did,

but it was a sacrifice.

And when he offered me a bite,

I didn't hesitate to take one :-)

Her recipe says it makes 4,

but I have found that I can get 5 or 6 per batch.

Maybe we just like our bread part a bit thinner?

I don't have all of the ingredients she uses for the topping,

so I just mix together a little bowl of seeds and spices that I do have.

We've made them without any topping,

and without brushing with the extra egg,

and they are still quite yummy,

but they do look nicer with the topping.

I'll list my ingredients here,

but you'll want to go to the above link for the how-to,

and to see her beautiful pictures.

Whether you use Sarah's recipe or my tweaked (cheaper/lower calorie/tastier) version,

(or your own tweaked version)

is up to you,

but I really think you want to try them.

Bagel Dogs (or buns), our version

1/2 c shredded monterey jack

1 c shredded mozzarella 

(You can use all moz, but the mj makes it more flavorful)

2 Tbs cream cheese (or 1 oz if you like to use the packets)

1/4 c baking mix

1/2 c almond flour

3/4 tsp xanthan gum

1/4 tsp Himalayan salt

1 egg

In a nutshell ~ melt the cheeses together

and in a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients with the egg.

Then mix the two together.

I turn them out onto a silicone baking sheet and knead it (with wet hands)

until it's well mixed.

Divide into 4-6 equal portions

and flatten

and wrap around a hot dog or sausage, sorta sealing the dough on the bottom.

(or just shape into flat-ish buns)

(her method of spiraling looks better,

 but it's harder for the kids to do.

Plus, it's just faster to smash and wrap...)

Add egg wash and toppings if desired

then bake

(on the silicone liner or parchment paper)

at 400 for about 20 min.

yum!!

a different kind of work in progress

If you know me much,

you know that I struggle with my weight.

As in,

me and my fat

fight.

a lot.

And for the past 14 months,
despite my best efforts,

the fat has been winning.

And frankly,

I am quite sick of it.

I decided that from our anniversary (Aug 8th)

to my birthday (Sept 30th)

sugar, in any form except the occasional bite of fruit

and wheat

would not pass my lips.

At all.

It's not like I ate much of either,

but I did allow it to sneak in here and there

in the form of an occasional 1/2 of one of those skinny sandwich buns

or a low carb tortilla.

A 1/2 cup of ice cream

or maybe an oreo or two.

A buttered cracker.

A half of a protein bar.

Some peanut butter m&ms, warmed to perfection...

~

I am happy to report that except for communion crackers on Sundays

(I pick the very smallest piece on the tray)

and a very tiny bite of Tyler's burger once, 

after he kept insisting it was the very best burger he'd ever eaten in his life

I have ingested no wheat.

none.

notta.

zip.

And sugar?

the same.

Except twice, accidentally.

Once,

I ordered a Southwest Salad from McDonald's.

It wasn't until I'd eaten 1/2 the salad that I thought to check the dressing.

11 grams of sugar!

Darn it!!

I really liked that salad.

And Monday, 

returning from visiting friends in TX,

(where I quietly declined on all sorts of deliciousness)

we stopped to get snacks and I chose beef jerky.

Because what could be wrong with dried beef??

Sugar.

that's what.

It wasn't real beef jerky : /

I had one small piece before checking the label.

Darn it again!

~

Even with my faux pas,

I am quite pleased with myself.

Being so conscious about what I eat (or don't eat, rather)

has caused me to watch,

more carefully,

everything I put in my mouth.

When I cook,
I am a picker.

But I've found that in the past month,

I've picked a whole lot less than usual.

Sometimes I'll have dinner completely ready and realize I haven't tasted it once!

Do I feel better? 

Has the scale been kind to me?

Honestly, 

no.

But I'm pretty darn proud of my willpower anyways.

I almost feel like my sister :-)

I've said "No" to 

warm fresh bread at Longhorn Steakhouse

brownies

(sitting on my counter for 3 days.

Three days, People, and not one nibble)

smore's while camping

peanut butter m&ms

banana splits

the last Ritz, taunting me in its crinkly package

croissants

Krispy Kreme donuts

and countless generous offers of "Would you like a bite of  'x'?"

I've passed on all these things,

but I haven't felt deprived

and sorry for myself;

I feel "go me!"

spur of the moment

Did you know that if you burn old Christmas lights, your flames will be brilliantly colored?

 

We were feeling the need for some family time.

Our first choice (the beach) wasn't feasible,

and neither was our second choice (camping at Lake Ouachita) 

so we settled on a back-yard camping trip 

last week.

The kids thought it was almost as good as going somewhere to camp,

and I got to sleep in my own bed,

(and I could use the stove in the 'hospitality center'...)

so it was a win all the way around.