Chat – Page 34 – Thimbleanna

It’s the Weekend!

70 Comments / September 5, 2009 February 22, 2011 / Chat

Yipee!!! Here in the U.S., it’s a three-day, holiday weekend. And lookie — my weekend started off with a big surprise in my mailbox:

Isn’t that the cutest ribbon? And just perfect for the surprise inside — Frannie’s Favorite Recipes. Frannie is Marsha’s (from CuteStuffInside) daughter. (Read here for an adorable post about Frannie and her BFF.) Look at that Cah-Ute cover — I can hardly stand it! And the best part — it’s full of recipes for just my kind of food — cookies and cupcakes! (How did you know Frannie?) I’ve been looking for a good chocolate cupcake recipe and I can’t wait to try yours. Thank You SO Much Frannie. You’re a sweetheart. I’ll always cherish my new recipe book and the oh-so-sweet note you left inside!

Thanks for all the fun comments on my yoyo post. I probably should have explained the cause of this new obsession. Remember when I embroidered the monogram for my friend’s daughter’s bedroom? Shortly after that post, I delivered the monogram to my friend and she showed me the progress on her daughter’s room. Holy Crap! It’s just gorgeous. Hot. Pink. Walls. and beautiful black Ethan Allen furniture. And the pièce de résistance was this Ethan Allen yoyo quilt. The minute I laid eyes on it, I grew weak in the knees and started to hyperventilate.

In the days following that visit, that yoyo quilt was all I could think about. There were e-mails and discussions with Brigette and Ms. Barefoot (my yoyo quilt idol). Could I make one? What colors? Finally Brigette convinced me that red and white was the way to go — for a first yoyo quilt. So, that’s the plan — we’re making a red and white yoyo quilt. Hopefully, it will be done before I expire, and if it is, I could see a second yoyo quilt. And then a third. ‘Cause wouldn’t it be fun to try them in a bunch of different color combinations?

Now, on to the weekend. TheEmptyNestChild is hoping for a big escape and a grand adventure. I hope you have a great weekend too!

XOXO,
Anna

{Edited to add: OHMYGOSH! My weekend can end right now — look how lucky I’ve been! Breathe In. Breathe Out. This is going to take a whole stackful of paper bags for breathing!!!)

Random Chit-Chat

33 Comments / August 25, 2009 February 22, 2011 / Chat, Sewing

Thanks for all the birthday love for MeMum and TheFirstChild! BigBoy’s present from SweetiePie was a skydiving adventure with her and four of his friends. They sat around the air field all day on Saturday, but the weather was bad so, they decided to try again on Sunday morning. At 10:57 a.m. on Sunday I sent SweetiePie this text message: “Well? Are we having any luck?” At 12:13 p.m. she replied with “We just landed!!! That was F—ing amazing! Will call in a bit!” SweetiePie never swears, so to get a “F” and three dashes means it was pretty darn incredible!

Remember when Toni sent me some Vegemite? Well I finally got around to trying it. Just like everyone said — with toast and some butter. The good news is I didn’t hate it. The bad news is I didn’t love it. It must be an acquired taste and I probably didn’t love it because I expect something sweet on my toast. It was definitely fun to try it out though — thanks again Toni!

The Very Cool Penny has decided enough is enough. She wants Free Spirit Fabrics to start printing their Flea Market Fancy line again, so she’s started a blog that will act as a petition of sorts and a place to share the Flea Market Fancy love. So, if you’re a Flea Market Fancy Lover, run over to the new Flea Market Fancy Freaks blog, sign up and share the Love with us!

Did you know that The Vintage Workshop has a new blog? I love their clipart for craft projects. If I were smart, I’d wait until September 1st to tell you about them so that you won’t know about their very cool fabric giveaway. But you know I love you, so there ya go.

The Little Red Hen posted an interesting way to quilt fabric with the decorative stitches on her machine. I decided to give it a whirl on some potholders that I made for a friend, and I LOVED it! I used a simple wavy stitch and I’ll definitely be quilting that way again. (Embroidery design from embroidery library.)

Shutter Sisters had an interesting post about Aha Moments the other day, probably just as I was having a huge Aha Moment of my own. But not in a good way. Fortunately, I have my beloved Hester and I can retreat to the dungeon to do a lot of little mending.

And last but by no means least, Don’t Look Now (haha), but ….well, Kellie is having a FANTASTIC giveaway. RUN over there and sign up!!!

Whew! That’s it — thanks for hanging in there. Hope you’re having a good week!

XOXO,
Anna

Oh, p.s. — my e-mailbox filled up on Monday night, so I missed responding to a few of your comments from the last post. Sorry — I’ll catch you next time!

Distracted

52 Comments / June 23, 2009 February 22, 2011 / Books, Chat, Recipes

Well, I’m a little late with a weekend report, but I have a good excuse. I’ve had my nose buried in The Help. I completely avoided the computer last night and sat out on the patio reading until dark, enjoying the last of my peonies and savoring every word.

I couldn’t help myself. I loved this book and haven’t been as excited about a book group book in a long time. I finally finished it today on my lunch break. Fortunately, no one came into my cube to see the tears in my eyes. Yvette commented on my last post about how sad she was to see the book end and I couldn’t have said it better. Except maybe to use PKM’s favorite phrase — it was super delicious. More than super delicious!

Not much else to report from the weekend. Just a teeny little bit of sewing happened, but mostly yard and housework. And we had a Father’s Day cookout on Sunday. The weather was beautiful.

We even had blueberry ice cream using this recipe. Yum Yum! When TheSecondChild was 11 or 12, he wanted an ice cream maker for his birthday, so we gave him one. We’ve hardly ever used it, but making this ice cream was so easy and fast, it won’t be another 10 years before we use it again.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m way behind on blog reading. Hope you’re having a good week!

XOXO,
Anna

Grocery Shopping

63 Comments / June 19, 2009 February 22, 2011 / Books, Chat

Last weekend, TheManoftheHouse came home from his weekly shopping trip (he does the grocery shopping, which works for us — I’d rather be outdoors and, although he wouldn’t admit it, there’s great sightseeing to be had in a grocery store) and told me about this conversation he had with a woman in the checkout line.

She was meticulously placing her groceries in piles on the conveyor belt and he said “Wow, you’re organized.” She explained her system to him and proceeded to show him her shopping list on a sheet of paper torn out of a notebook. So, TheManoftheHouse showed her his shopping book list. He said the lady loved our shopping list, so I thought you might be interested too.

Each January, I buy one of those calendar books that tracks each week in a two-page spread. They’re usually available half-price. Then toward the end of each work week, I plan the meals for the following week. I write the menu for that day right under the day of the week. The groceries are written below the menu, organized by areas of the grocery store (dairy, vegetables, meat, etc.) It’s also a great place to keep notes about recipes, etc.

The book has little tear-corners on each page, so we can always open it up to the correct week. TheManoftheHouse takes the book to the grocery store each week. He keeps a red pen in the spiral spine of the book and he crosses the items off as he puts them in the cart. Then he brings the book home and I use it all week to remember what we’re having for dinner.

It’s been a good system for us for several years now. No lost grocery lists and (in theory) no lost recipes. No standing in front of the pantry after a day at work wondering what we’re going to eat. And when I’m in a menu rut, I can go back to previous years and get some ideas for things we’ve eaten in the past and liked. TheManoftheHouse is an excellent shopper and he’s great at sticking to the list.

How do you handle your menu/shopping? Have any secrets you’d like to share? And while I’m asking questions, do you have any big plans for the weekend? I’m hoping to get a little sewing done and then this sty will need some cleaning as my family is coming over for a Father’s Day cookout. I’m also hoping I don’t get sidetracked — for you readers out there, I’ve just started a new book and I Love it so far — if there’s even a hint of rain, I’m thinking there will be no yardwork and lots of reading. ;-)

Have a great weekend!

XOXO,
Anna

Mail Call

34 Comments / June 5, 2009 February 22, 2011 / Chat, Quilting

Well hello there! Have you all had a good week? Are you ready for the weekend? I’ve had some excitement in my mailbox this week. Looky what’s here:

The Siggy Swap blocks are in the house! I opened them in the car and I had so much fun reading through all of them. They’re all so pretty. I saw old (haha, how old is old in blogland?) imaginary friends in there and a lot of new blogs that I need to check out. I haven’t decided how to set my blocks yet, but I have a few ideas. I’m making myself wait to work on them until I finish a few other projects. (It seems like I’m always saying that. {Sigh}) Thank you Connie for all your hard work on this swap. It’s appreciated much more than you know! And thanks to all the lovely ladies who participated — it’s been a really fun swap.

But Wait! There’s More!!! Look what else the mailman brought me!

OhMyGosh! Can you believe it??? I won Jodi’s Sew Mama Sew giveaway a few days ago. I couldn’t believe it when she e-mailed me to tell me. (There was an audible gasp!) Isn’t it beautiful???

And talk about speedy mail service! When we picked up the mail, I hurried into the house, grabbed some rags to clean the patio table off and ran outside to put this adorable topper on our table. It’s just beautiful outside with all the beautiful greens in our yard. (Those are the very last of my lilacs – boohoo.) I LOVE LOVE LOVE this cute topper Jodi — I really can’t thank you enough. That Darla fabric has been my very favorite fabric this year, so that makes it even MORE exciting! To all of you who didn’t win, you’ll be happy to know that I’m contemplating not entering any giveaways for awhile so that you’ll have a better chance of winning. (I’m embarrassed to say how many giveaways I’ve won in the last month and all from such fabulous women.) And I’m thinking I should run out and buy a lottery ticket — if only the lottery was as easy to win! Anyway, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Jodi — you’re a fabulous imaginary friend!

So…on to the weekend — WooHoo! Hello June and good riddance May. Not sorry to see you gone Miss May — you didn’t give me one free weekend, you old hag! This weekend is MINE. All mine. I’m hoping (no, I WILL) get some sewing in this weekend. I hope you all have a Super weekend too!

XOXO,
Anna

P.S. Thanks for all your thoughts on the pretty egg. Quilty Peep Junie has a nest of Killdeer in her backyard and she thinks our egg looks like hers. And Teresa sent the picture to a biologist and he thinks it’s either an egg from a Red-Tail Hawk or a Red-Winged (Shouldered?) Hawk. It’s definitely not a Cooper’s Hawk’s (which we had nesting in one of our trees last year) egg. Whatever it is, it wasn’t watching it’s egg!