Thimbleanna – Page 127 – My little online diary.

Randomness

32 Comments / February 12, 2009 February 22, 2011 / Chat

Just a bunch of random items for this post:

First and foremost, a mention of the fires in Australia. It’s so hard to imagine, here in the rainy midwest, what it must be like in the midst of the unbelievable destruction. I found myself agreeing with Suse a bit, when she posted that it seemed bizarre, if not wrong, to read shiny, happy posts, while so many are suffering. But really, I’ve often felt that way about blogging. You never know when a reader might be one who has just lost a child, or a job, or just been diagnosed with cancer, or whatever. How frivolous a silly post about pennie pockets, or bunny salads, or crafting in general must seem. I really have no answers except to say that I view blogs as a happy place to escape. Our imaginary world where all is well. A place where one might retreat when the real world is less than fair. There’s nothing I can say that so many other bloggers haven’t already very eloquently said. Suse’s post had a bunch of great informative links. And, if you’d like to help, One Pretty Thing posted a great Australian Charity Roundup a few hours ago.
A few weeks ago, I was a VERY VERY lucky girl and I won a giveaway from Marsha at Cute Stuff Inside.

Oh. My. Gosh. I wish you could see this adorable little purse and hold it in your hands. It’s all handknit and it’s amazing. The pictures in no way do justice to this purse (click on them for a closer view). I’ve been showing it to my knitting friends and there have been lots of oohs and aahs. And look, when I opened it up, there was a dime tucked inside.

I’m hoping Marsha will tell us the secret behind this dime. I’ve heard several theories, and now I’m really intrigued. Anyway, THANK YOU SO MUCH Marsha — I HEART my little purse! (And btw, you should check out Marsha’s blog to see these cute little purses in lots of other colors.)
Thank you for all of your fabulous comments about my rendition of Monica’s Pennie Pockets. You guys are the BEST imaginary friends ever. I try really hard to answer all of my comments, but unfortunately, right in the middle of all that commenting, my mailbox filled up and comments started bouncing. I did some quick mailbox clean-up, but there are about 15 of you who got caught in no-man’s land, which made it extremely difficult for me to reply to you. If you didn’t hear from me, you were one of those people and I just wanted you to know how much I appreciated your comments — as I do all comments!
And finally, TheEmptyNestChild would just like you to know, if you need a place to get away from it all, hiding under rugs is really fun.

Besides, it will make the other people in your house really laugh when they walk into the room and see a big hump in the carpet. If you don’t believe him, give it a shot!

Have a good week — and I hope all of you in Australia are staying safe!

XOXO,
Anna

Oh, That Monica.

73 Comments / February 8, 2009 February 22, 2011 / Holidays, Sewing

Once upon a time, THE Happy Zombie posted a pattern for some little Pennie Pockets. Pretty soon, they started popping up all over, because this is what happens in ZombieLand. Monica pours the kool-aid and we all drink it. I knew, as soon as I had my first sip that I’d been had. I started hallucinating and equations were flashing before my eyes:

Pennie Pockets + Hearts from Needlebooks + Crochet from Valentine Cards =

Monica’s pattern is so easy and fun and fast. I changed the little triangle on the front and used wool felt so that it would be easier to do the crochet along the edge. I punched holes every 1/2 inch and just started crocheting. I think it took longer to do the machine embroidered little hearts than it did to do the crochet.

I’m lucky enough to have an embroidery machine, but if you don’t have one, you could just as easily do some hand embroidered hearts. There are some really cute Pennie Pockets in the Pennie Pocket flickr pool that have hand embroidered names on them.

These little pockets are addictive too. I had lots of fun trying them in lots of different fabrics and colors, with different combinations of those conversation hearts. (Btw, if you do have an embroidery machine, those hearts are available at Embroidery Library.)

Now, what to fill them with???

XOXO,
Anna

February Recipe Box Swap

36 Comments / February 5, 2009 February 22, 2011 / Bunnies, Quilting, Recipes

Oh well, once again, it’s the first Thursday of the month so that means it’s time for another recipe box swap.

Our hostess, Randi, at I Have to Say, has chosen Fun Foods as our theme this month. In my book,

Fun = Easy.

For fun and easy, I have one Go To snack … but wait, how many of you remember THIS commercial? (And while we’re sidetracked here, can someone please tell me how to embed a video into a wordpress blog? I’ve done it before, but I can’t seem to make it work. ???)

I’ve always loved that commercial. It’s one of my favorites — that’s one of the few old commercials I can actually remember (and now, through the magic of YouTube, I can re-live my childhood commercial experience — woohoo!)

Rice Krispy Treats are one of my very favorite FUN foods. Kellog’s Cereal company feels the same way, because if you go to their website, you’ll find lots of fun things to do with Rice Krispy treats. (And, apparently Judy and I think alike too, because she has posted a recipe for Scotcharoos — Rice Krispy Treats on steriods.)

And, because the hardest part about making Rice Krispy Treats is throwing flour all over yourself, I wanted to show you another of my favorite fun foods that you’ve probably already seen.

The Pear Bunny Salad. MeMum used to make this little salad for us all the time when we were little. It’s so simple to make. Put a pear half on a piece of lettuce. Add a cottage cheese tail, raisin eyes, almond slice ears, and a red hot nose. The cottage cheese and pear are a perfect compliment and one bite sends me instantly back to my childhood.

So. A little weekend sewing coming up. I hope you have some fun plans too — and if not, make some Rice Krispy Treats and turn it into a fun weekend!

XOXO,
Anna

That’s Amore

45 Comments / February 3, 2009 February 22, 2011 / Chat

Did you all have a good weekend? It sounds like those of you in southern England are having a very exciting time with all of your new fallen snow. I love the snow, so I’m so excited for all of you to be having so much fun!

We had a pretty quiet weekend. On Saturday evening, the yearly auction to benefit the school that my children went to was held. It’s a VERY posh, formal affair — so posh, I never get to go. By the time you buy tickets for two, rent a tux and buy a new gown, you could easily be approaching four figures. Maybe someday when I don’t need a new roof, counter tops, …. well, you get the picture. There will always be something, so it won’t happen.

Anyway, for the last 5 or 6 years, it’s been our (MeMum and I) tradition to sneak in, before the affair and ogle the fabulous decor. They have a different theme every year. It used to be children’s book themes (Very Hungry Caterpillar, Where the Wild Things Are (my favorite year, how I wish I had pictures), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, etc.) but they seem to be getting away from those themes. This year, the theme was “That’s Amore” and the decor had a wine/Italian theme.

They made the entrance look like you were going through a wine cellar. This is actually the high school locker room, but you’d NEVER know it. It’s one thing to have a restaurant or business permanently decorated like this, but to bring it all in for one evening is something else. The decor is so over-the-top and it’s really fun to see. For example, where on earth did they get all those wine kegs in the middle of nowhere with no wineries in sight???

After you walk through the “wine cellar” you enter the “ballroom/dining room”. There are always chandeliers hanging above each table. They always sell these after the event every year (That’s where I got the chandelier for the dungeon last year — for some reason I didn’t blog it and now those pictures are gone with the hard drive crash. ;-(. )

They serve a multi-course meal and just look at all those glasses — one water goblet and 3 wine glasses. (These pictures are a little deceiving — it was actually pretty dark. I set my camera on a pedestal and slowed the shutter speed way down to allow extra light in.)

I thought the tables were just beautiful this year. Each chair had a black and white feather boa hanging on it. And I’ll bet SweetiePie would have drooled over the tablecloths — they reminded me of the black and white prints she used in her wedding. I’m guessing there were between 20 and 25 large round tables.

You’d be pretty hard pressed to guess that this is an auditorium. The door in the picture above is the only thing that gives it away. I’m always very intrigued by the fabrics and pictures that they hang on the walls. And see the display above with the pictures and that ladder? The black trellis thing on the walls is FULL of little tea light candles. I think there were at least four of them in the room with ladders standing ready — I’m sure they planned to light those candels just before everyone arrived.

And last, but not least, the flowers. The flower arrangements were just gorgeous. Those are all real flowers. I think they were my favorite part.

I think they were selling those after the event too LOL. Must eek out every penny for the cause!

So, That’s Amore, a little sewing and a few movies (Doubt and Grand Torino — both big thumbs up, although Grand Torino has really bad language, so beware) made up my big weekend. Any excitement in your neck of the woods???

XOXO,
Anna

Blue …

47 Comments / January 30, 2009 February 22, 2011 / Recipes

… is the color cast by the shadows at dusk yesterday when I took this picture of all of our new snow. Isn’t it pretty? I love the snow. Too bad Mr. Spikey Haired Snowman didn’t stick around…there could have been a Spikey Haired girlfriend in it for him. (My yummy new snow needs an awesome Melly to adorn it with snow angels!)

Blue is also the color of blueberries. Or so they say. I personally think they should be called purpleberries, ’cause they don’t look very blue to me. But whatever. Diana is hosting a food challenge where each week they cook foods made from the 11 best foods you aren’t eating. This week’s challenge is blueberries, so I thought I’d play along. I haven’t always been a fan of blueberries, but after I found out a few years ago that they are a superfood, I found a new appreciation for them.

Oh, and just to get sidetracked here, while I was taking blueberry pictures, I decided I needed a plate with some blue on it to make my little blueberries look a little more…blue. It reminded me of a story I’ve been meaning to tell you about these plates. I realize a lot of people don’t like blue, but do you like my pretty plates? (The answer is yes, LOL.)

When MeMum and her sister were young and starting their families, my grandmother said to them, “If one of you will name a daughter after my mother, that baby will inherit my pretty blue china.” My aunt had a little girl first, but she passed on the offer (perhaps because her name is Ann, which might be confusing?) and being the next-born granddaughter, my great-grandmother’s name became mine. But, the sad thing is, when I was a little girl, my grandmother died in a house fire and most of the china was destroyed in the fire. For many years, I only had a few place settings of that blue china, but one day, MeMum found Replacements.

The whole point of telling you this story is to tell you about Replacements. Do you know about Replacements? They are a fantastic company located in North Carolina and they specialize in replacing lost dinnerware (china, sterling, silver, etc.) Over the years, MeMum has given me Christmas presents of replacement pieces of the blue china. She found Replacements before we even knew what the internet was, and she used to place her orders over the phone. They have incredible, helpful customer service. The internet has made their service so cool — now you can search for your dinnerware pattern and see if they have any of it in stock. And, the really cool thing is that once they know what patterns you’re interested in, they generate lists of what they have available and mail them to you. They’ve grown into an incredible service — their website says they have over 13 million pieces in their inventory and they even ship outside of the US. They have a huge showroom too … one of these days I hope to visit. (Note: Replacements is NOT like going to the thrift shop. It’s a service for hard-to-find items and they aren’t cheap!)

So. File that little tidbit into your little tidbit file. That could be the most valuable thing I’ll ever tell you. Someday, if not already, you’re going to need Replacements. Now, back to the blueberries…

Oddly enough, Diana mentioned my VERY favorite blueberry recipe in her posting with blueberry recipe ideas. It’s Ina Garten’s Blueberry Crumb Cake. I’m pretty sure the healthy blueberries cancel out all the butter and sugar, so if you’re dieting, don’t worry. I LOVE this recipe, and you already know how much I love Ina. As much as I love Sawyer, when they tell me I can only take one person to that desert island, he’s getting dumped and I’m taking Ina.

Because, look what she’s done for my patisserie dome. Ina’s little blueberry crumb cake completes my patisserie dome. Have a great weekend — and for a complete one, make this blueberry crumb cake!

XOXO,
Anna