God Bless Our Troops
Showing posts with label Eleanor Burns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eleanor Burns. Show all posts

Friday, January 22, 2016



I was a little better behaved yesterday regarding things I "want" to do and things I "have" to do.  The workout room is looking much better.  I still have a ways to go, but I am gaining ground.  I have made a dent in several rooms, but today I am focusing on the piano room and living room.  It's like losing weight - you don't see a difference for a while, but then all of a sudden - bam!

Yesterday I made a batch of Amish Friendship Bread Tarts.  If you look at the picture, you will see 3 little girls looking out the window.  These Amish young men were building a lean-to on our tool shed.  The girls were fascinated by both the men and their horse and buggy. I happened to snap this on the fly and it is my favorite picture ever.

I wasn't too sure about this scent at first, but I am finding that I love it more each time I work with it.   Of course, the most fun was making the label.  For some reason I find packaging my favorite part of the whole creative process.

I also made a batch of matching candles.




I had planned to make fudge yesterday but discovered I am out of butter.  I was quite surprised because I buy a LOT of butter.  The dairy farmers should have my picture in their milk houses.  

Soooo, since I couldn't make fudge, that freed up some time for quilting.  For the very first time ever I made an "Eleanor Burns" quality pinwheel - every point perfect! (When Claire and I watch Eleanor Burns, we eat a piece of chocolate every time she says "perfect.") I am a very slow piecer and for many years I forced myself to work faster.  I have a niece who can churn out beautiful quilts in record time.  I discovered that in quilting, as in life, one must be true to oneself.  I need to work slowly and methodically, concentrate on what is right in front of me under the needle.  I had to ask myself why I quilt.  I quilt because I love the process.  I got more satisfaction out of that one perfect block that took me almost an hour than if I had made 6 in the same amount of time and had to rip out stitches - which is what happens when I try to do things faster than my abilities allow.  If you think about it, there are many life lessons to be learned from quilting.  Patience, perseverance, focus, planning, organization.  These are all things that quilting helps me work toward. 









Wed. June 11, 2008 - Atkins Induction day 2

On the lowcarb front:
I did well last night at the staff "bye bye party." I ate before I went. I had diet coke. There were only two of us who weren't drinking beer or wine. Our drinks came in plastic cups. What's up with that?

I have not been doing well with exercise. But I'm working on it. I'm working on it.

Here is my menu for today:

Breakfast:
Mocha latte
Low carb cheescake

Lunch:
ham and cheese sandwich on revoloopsie rolls
sugar free jello cup
romaine and spinach salad with ranch dressing

Snack:
Atkins Advantage bar

Dinner:
Probably an omelette (I am such a creature of habit)

I found a way to have ice cream on induction. (see below)

On the home front:



I am so looking forward to Monday and the official start of my quilting season. I love Eleanor Burns. Her quilting videos which are available free at quilterstv.com are not only great for quilters, but she is a wealth of knowledge on the history behind the patterns. She dispenses her tidbits as she sews the quilt tops. Her folksy style is endearing and I just love to have one of her DVDs going in the background while I am working in my quilting/knitting room.

On the business front:
I have the oils melted and the lye mixed for a batch of soap. I am hoping that my mica powders have arrived because I am eager to make a batch of "Hunter's Soap." The fragrance oil arrived a couple of days ago. It definitely smells earthy. If the mica powder hasn't arrived, I will be making one of the other fragrances that I am low on - either Country Roads or Apple Jack 'n Peel.

I have found some neat new soap dishes that I plan to put on the website. I have been looking for something unique to offer with our hand-made soap. These fit the bill very nicely. I filed for our LLC this morning and now I need to quit spending money for a while. Except that I need more base oils for soaping. Then I close the checkbook. You heard it here folks.

I have some new candle molds that I want to try. They are the perfect size for tarts and for adding to potpourri. I am retiring from the school next January and I am really looking forward to having only one job "off the farm." That will give me more time to get our website stocked.

On the work front:
Tonight I have rehearsal with the weekend cantors. (My other job is music director at my church.) I love our cantors. They help keep me grounded in a sometimes very stressful job. One of our beloved cantors died suddenly last October. He was the "go to" guy for anything that needed to be done. If ever there was a saint on earth, John was it. He did everything around that church. The cantors and I decided to take over one of his duties as a memorial to him. That is the cleaning of the baptismal font.

Our baptismal font is huge, and what John used to do by himself, several of us now do. We have some visitors of the "bat" persuasion. This makes keeping the font clean a challenge. I can usually tell when there is a bat living in the church when I find dust on the floor of the sanctuary. That means something has been flying around and stirring things up.

Sunday we noticed some other, ummm, debris in the font and on one of the walls. (?) Tonight we will be draining the font and cleaning it. And all the while, I hope John will be looking down on us and smiling. We miss you, Cute John!



Some have asked me about the name for this blog. For those of you who don't know, a sugar bush is a maple syrup operation. We are farmers and syrup is our winter crop. Guess who doesn't partake of it very often. But, if you ever get a chance to try a maple cream - and I mean 100% maple cream - it is not to be missed. Of course I don't eat it now, but I plan to work it into my maintenance plan. Maple syrup, in very small quantities is probably doable. It has never caused cravings for me, but I will not being using it for a while.

Challenge of the day:
With what shall I reward myself after an evening of cleaning up bat poop? I'm open to suggestions.

Later . . .


God Bless the troops