Speaking of Gardens....... old but funny ;)

Italian Tomato Garden:

An old Italian lived alone in New Jersey . He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work, as the ground was hard.
His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:
Dear Vincent,
I am feeling pretty sad, because it looks like I won't be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know if you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me, like in the old days.
Love, Papa
A few days later he received a letter from his son.
Dear Pop,
Don't dig up that garden. That's where the bodies are buried.
Love,
Vinnie
At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left.

That same day the old man received another letter from his son.
Dear Pop,
Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That's the best I could do under the circumstances.

Love you,

Vinnie

Another garden idea if your space is small

Check this out.. don't have the space for a garden.. look at this fun Idea!!! I just love these clever ideas people are coming up with for small gardens. Wouldn't this be fun on a balcony of an apartment complex with strawberry's in it??? This appears to be a herb garden.. you could hang this right outside your back door and bring it in in the fall ... keep a grow light on it and have wonderful herbs through out the winter.. put it back out in the spring.. ya what a way to have herbs year round ;)
This appears to be one of those shoe holders.

Chocolate Chip Filled Melting Moments

Adapted from Elinor Klivans’s The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook published by Chronicle Books

Cookies
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Position a rack in the middle of he oven. Preheat the oven to 300º F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Make the cookies. Sift both flours, the cornstarch, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and powdered sugar until smooth and lightened slightly in color, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the owl as needed during mixing. Add the vanilla and mix until blended. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until it is incorporated and a smooth dough forms.

For each cookie, roll a level tablespoon of dough between the palms of your hands into a smooth ball. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Use a fork to gently flatten the cookies to 1 1/4 inch disks, leaving an impression of the fork tines. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm and the cookie bottoms are lightly browned, about 30 minutes; the tops of the cookies should not color. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the filling. In a medium bowl, use a wooden spoon to stir the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla together until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Turn half of the cooled cookies bottom side up, and use a thin metal spatula to spread a rounded teaspoon of filling evenly over each one. Place the remaining cookies right side up on the filing, and press gently.

The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

recipe from ................. http://erincooks.com/chocolate-chip-filled-melting-moments/

WHO DOESN'T LIKE A SALE :)

I was just shopping for a fun Annie Pattern when I came across Homespun From The Heart . Cindy offers primitive rag dolls, seasonal primitives, patterns, e-patterns, doll hair, doll making supplies, fabric and vintage wares. If you can't sew and are interested in one of her dolls she even has completed sweet Annies for sale. I just love the new design Cindy calls CupCake Dolls...Cindy is having a very nice sale on her E-patterns. She is offering them for $4.00 each if you purchase via E-patterns. There is no limit to the number you can purchase :) If you like sewing Annie Dolls run over there and see what she is cooking up with her sale ;) I know I was happy that I popped by ;)

Is anyone else having trouble with blogger today.. I can't even load up a simple photo!!!!!

Now you can make your own Fabric Bowl ;)

I had several people say they loved my little bowl that I received. They also asked if there was going to be a tutorial soon. So I took a trip around the Internet and came up with a tutorial on how to make them. Just click on the photo it will take you right to the tutorial. I also provided a video that might help you in making these sweet little bowls ;)
I tried and tried to up load the following video last nite and today. But for some reason I kept getting an error.. Alas I was unable to put it on the blog.. you can go to it by this link :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Pbr9zi8XQ
It's a video on how to get you started making these fun and wonderful fabric bowls..
Did you know there is a book out on how to make them. It will mention the book in the video :) Have fun creating ;)


Moda Bake Shop http://www.modabakeshop.com/ has a stunning example of how to put your disappearing 9 patch blocks together... just follow the provided link to see ;) I think their example is awesome.. I can't wait to see how we put ours together ;) I know I am going to try and set my blocks like they have ;)

This is just too funny

To brighten your day. This is a real video from a French documentary about Africa. You won't understand a word, but the video's a hoot. You don't need to understand the words!!! There are trees that grow in Africa which, once a year, produce very juicy fruits. As these fruits drop from the tree they start to change. Because there is a shortage of water, as soon as the fruits are ripe, animals come there to eat of the fruits and help protect themselves from the heat. What happens next, you can watch for yourselves.

Ronda thank you for giving me such a good laugh!!! I had forgotten when my apricot trees use to drop the fruit and my Nanna Banna Goat use to eat them.. she would do the same silly thing stumble all around and look all wonky at you ;) One year that stupid thing ate so many I thought for sure she was going to OD on fermented fruit!!

I found a new site

I know several of my followers sell their handcrafted items. I found this wonderful site called Art Fire. On my side bar you will find a button to go to that site. Please click on the join button as I will get credit for you joining. If I get 20 people to join I will have a free life time membership. So ladies join up even if your not selling. Its like Etsy if your going to purchase you still have to have an account. So come on girls help me out and join up :)

Thanks My Sweet Friends :)

It's All Coming together nicely ;)

Oh my what has the Aunt Pitty Pat been up to lately????

Remember the last post where I had all those arms, legs, and heads... This is what all of those arms legs and heads are beginning to look like now ;) I just need to sew on the legs and faces to complete these funny little bodies. Momma Bear... that I spent the 4th of July with said they look like little ET's right now without the legs. She just laughed and laughed ;) Momma Bear gets her coined name because..... she is aways feeding me home cooked meals!!! Sort of like the Momma bear in the Goldie Locks story. :) Working on my Annies is going to be a today job. I have switched from painting on faces to sewing on faces. I think that method is working out much better for me. At least I like how they are turning out. For some reason they look more finished and they have that handcrafted look about them. They really do look like they were made from the heart with love. I admit I am not a painter... never was and probably will never be. But as a person that likes a challenge... I try really really hard at the painted stuff:) Here is my little Andy that I am working on .. I may have shown him before ..but I thought I would throw him into the mix, just in case you have not seen what I am up to with the Andys. Thank you all..... for your help with suggestions and patterns to help me get this little guy together ;) I am also going to work on him a bit today. If nothing else I will get some hair on that shiny little noggin ;)
Yes its ok to laugh........ I am laughing as I type this!!!
LOL here is my first hand stitched face on my Annies... she is sort of funny looking... sort of Wonky!!! I need to remove her eyes and re-set them with a different flat un-shinny looking button. I think the shiny buttons... makes it look like they have a black eye or something..
Believe it or not these are the same color of buttons and same style.. look how they look so different!!!
I know I know not a very good photo ..but its the best I could do for now :) Its cloudy outside and this is an indoor photo with me standing above her. I promise when I get all the Andy's and Annie's done I will take a super photo of each one of them :) Did you notice I made felt shoes for her.. I think I will put handmade shoes on all of my Annies now. Heck the shoes make up faster than I can paint them on :) Oh BTW this Annie is not completed she still has some work to be done on her. Like tuck in the hair strings and add some jewelry on her to froo froo her up a tad :)
WONKY HOUSES
Ok here is the design I came up with on my Halloween Block. Do you see the fabrics that you sent to me? Well I really have used a lot of them so far. I still have several blocks to make ;) This is only the first stage where you fuse them to the main block I still have to satin stitch around the out side of each of the 12 blocks. I think we also have to sign them. I am leaning toward putting a bat across the moon or a witch on a broom :) The window is going to be sectioned off and with panes. The door is going to have a little window at the top.. also can't forget the door knob . the chimney is going to have some smoke or the Ghost is going to be coming out of it .... I also think the window or the door way needs a ghost. I am going to put on buttons and lace and what ever else I can find to finish them up. I think they will be so fun when they get done ;)

I am really having a fun time making these blocks. It has been very time consuming.. I am so thankful our hostess gave us almost two months to make them as I think I just might need all that time to work on them. I cut out all the 12 1/2 X 12 1/2 back ground squares yesterday and got 4 blocks fused and then I started on another 4 blocks. I have to fuse the pieces and then place them on the 12 1/2 block. Having done all of that yesterday.. I worked on them for 5 hours and decided I needed a rest. I still have a hard time standing and sitting at too long of a time in one session. I have to take breaks. But I was having so much fun with theses I just kept at it. Big mistake...... So now I will have to pull myself away from the fun :) I hope you like my blocks if you have any suggestions I am very willing to listen to how to improve them ;) Thanks for letting me share my recent sewing projects with you :O)
Oh do you think I should paint on faces or sew on faces? Which way do you like the best????

HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE 4TH OF JULY :)

My Flag is out is yours??

It's never to late to fly Ole Glory :)

Wow I can't Belive It!!!

Wow sweet bloggie friends... I can't believe its been since Sunday that I last posted here on the little ole blog. I guess its been a busy week!!! Where does the time go?? I remember sitting at the table with my mom when I was 17 griping about how the days were so long and boring. My mom in all of her wisdom... smiled at me and said wait until your older you will wonder where the time goes... I hate to admit it but she is right. (I hate to admit it but I am more and more like my mom each year!!!) Where does it go??? Well maybe it went like this... On Tuesday my neighbor accidentally let the horses out.. so it was go down the road and gather them up and bring them home. Now this was a fun time... cars were racing by at break neck speed and I could only catch one.. but I am lucky .. If I can catch that one the others will follow once one starts moving away from the other ones. When they were little I use to pony them together down the road with the old Mare. So they got use to following and being in a line. Oh did I tell you the PoPo was out there too... some one called the cops on me!!! I am thankful they did.. I wouldn't want anything happening to the horses. After the horses were caught and secured up in their pasture. I then race to that Vet appointment to get Fatty Matty and Tigger their last Lipto shot. Both babies were good except Miss Matty that got scared and Pooooooed on the floor. I was so embarrassed..but I expected it from her!! She is such a fraidy cat. Ok so.... After returning them home... it was time to go get grain for the goose and a mineral salt block for the horses at the local Farm center. I dropped that off at home and went to Wal-Mart to get food me and eats for the creatures. When I returned home I changed all waters and filled up the feeders. Did I mention that I also put out two huge round bales of hay for the horse too :) Fed the Koi fish and grained the horses.

Wed was a work day and was it a day from heck.. I was busy from the time I got to work until I got off work. I even got off late by the way. There I was upon arriving at home.. I had nothing to do... WRONG!!!!..... it was laundry, animal chores and emails.. I did some sewing for my Friends swap that I am in. I almost have that together to ship off on Monday. Yeah it will not be late or at least I hope its not late !!! No it will not be late ;) Its due on July 10th. Then I am going to do nothing but work on my Halloween Blocks for my block swap. Thanks to all my sweet blocks swappers I have some amazing fun materials that I can now start my blocks with. Thank you sweet and generous friends. :)

Tonight I am going to do some research on the computer for 12 1/2 inch blocks. I designed a block but I don't know if I am pleased with it. So like I always do I'll get on the net for Ideas :) Isn't that what a lot of us ladies do???

Yeah... then tomorrow is my last day of work this week .. I am off the 4th and so far no one has any claims on me... so its either going to be a blk and white, Gone With The wind, or Disney over indulgence movie marathon. Or I could just sew for me... something that I like to do once in a while. I consider sewing for me as a free day. I don't want to do anything else but that. I am able to take my time and be creative ... and that will be just the day to work on my Annie Pattern that I am developing ;) I also need to make my Toy Society toys... I missed the last two months and I feel like such a cad not getting those done... I will get caught up on that I promised my self to do one toy a month and I am behind two...but it shouldn't take much. I already have the patterns picked out for them;) I know this is a bunch of gab but I didn't have anything amazing to post today.. Just me and my little ole words of non-sense :)

So my friends where does the time go???

Happy Stitching No Ripping :)

Oh by the way did I tell you I bought myself a new Motorcycle??

Here it is a Cow-a-saki