Thimbleanna – Page 156 – My little online diary.

Inspiration

24 Comments / November 13, 2007 February 18, 2011 / Chat

I’ve been thinking about Inspiration a lot lately. Especially as it gets closer to the holidays. There’s inspiration everywhere you turn in blogland and I know it will only intensify as Christmas approaches. A few links I enjoyed today:

Old School Acres is making yoyos. I know they’ve been around but I never get tired of them and I haven’t had a chance to make any yet.
Sarah pointed out an old how-to link for making bottle brush trees in different colors. Very cool.
And Karen Russell was just extra inspiring to me today. I loved what she had to say about “Lasts”.

So, in a pay-it-forward sort of way, I humbly offer my brand of inspiration:

Last night I made my Lazy Day Overnight Lasagne. It’s easy-peasy — made the day ahead and you don’t have to cook the regular lasagne noodles — they soften from the moisture in the meat sauce. After you assemble the layers, you let it cool, then refrigerate it until the next night, when you sprinkle it with lots of cheese and pop it in the oven. Here it is, right before it goes into the refrigerator:

The inspiration?

I hope to inspire you to plan your meals to make mealtime on hectic nights much easier.
I hope to inspire you to make homemade, aka, cook from scratch.
I REALLY hope to inspire you to remember to put the lasagne into the refrigerator before you go to bed so it doesn’t sit out on the counter all night.

Smooth Move, ExLax!

XOXO,
Anna

Bunny Games

32 Comments / November 13, 2007 February 18, 2011 / Bunnies

Whew!Â Thanks for all your great comments about our fun get-together with Sharon! Holy Cow, that woman wears me out — she’s been running all over Indianapolis and she’s even found me a grill hanging off the side of a building to replace the one that fell over a few months ago, LOL. After all the Saturday excitement, I was so tired I slept late on Sunday. I would have slept longer, but my whining bunnies woke me up. I’ve been working on a new batch for a few weeks now. Christmas is just around the corner, and you never know when someone will drop by and you’ll need an impromtu little Bunny Gift. You know, the boss drops by, so you have to say, “Here Mr. Supervisor, have a Bunny.” Anyway, the bunnies were anxious for me to get them all done so they could go out and play. They all waited patiently while I finished up the make-up on the last little Mary Bunny.

They all had big plans to go out and play in the leaves but TheEmptyNestChild happened to mention to them that it was all drizzly outside. They gathered in front of the window and wistfully looked out, dreaming of what could have been. There was a little murmuring among the bunnies when they noticed that some naughty pranksters had smashed the neighbors pumpkins in our front yard. I think they decided that the big wide world might not be safe for little bunnies.

Since the bunnies had to stay inside, they decided to play their favorite Peter Rabbit games. (You were expecting anything else?) Draghts and Ludo. Or here at our house, Checkers and Trouble.

Then they started wrestling and piling on top of each other — Brown Bunny got the worst of it. Mama Bunny kept a watchful eye.

When it was all over, Mama Bunny had them all pose for a family portrait. As you can see, she has her hands full with several sets of twins. It’s pretty hard to get them all to stay still and sit up straight. And Brown Bunny was still sulking and refused to turn around.

So, we had a good day — all the bunnies together and playing games. With the holidays approaching, they know they’ll soon be on their way to new homes. Mama Bunny can’t keep them all around — too many mouths to feed!

Hope your week is off to a good start — thanks for stopping by!

XOXO,
Anna

P.S. Did you notice the updated Holly Button over there in the sidebar? The fabulous Hollycakes has been at it again — she’s written an article all about blogging for the upcoming February issue of McCall’s Quilting magazine — due on the newsstands any day now. I’m very honored and excited that she’s included Thimbleanna in her article! Thanks Holly! You can read all about it here.

Jason Meets Sharon!

23 Comments / November 11, 2007 February 12, 2012 / Peep Days, Travel

Oh My Gosh! The quilty peeps, MeMum and I had a great shopping trip today and the absolute highlight of the day was meeting Sharon. We met at 10 a.m. at The Back Door and we had a plan. We decided to go in one at a time — if we went in all together, it would be too obvious who we were! Jewels and MeMum went in first. Then I came in. The shop was fairly crowded, but I spotted Sharon right away — she was standing near the door and next to Jewels. I dashed behind a barrier and waited for Junie to enter. When she did, I waved her over by me. I couldn’t get Jewel’s attention, so Junie and I donned our Sharon masks and headed her way. POOR Sharon!!! I was worried that perhaps she thought this might be some sort of Jason re-enactment!*

L to R: Jewels, Me, Sharon, and Junie, or
Sharon, Sharon, Sharon, and Sharon LOL!

Really, I think I was laughing too hard to figure out what she was doing (not to mention the fact that those masks were pretty hard to see out of.) We had to take a picture — isn’t Sharon just the CUTEST??? She’s every bit as adorable as you think she is from reading her blog. (And what the heck — look how tall she is — I totally didn’t notice that when we were there!) We stood there by the door and visited for an hour. An HOUR!!! It seemed like 5 minutes. I’ve read about other blog meets and sometimes they say there are awkward silent moments. Ha! There was NO chance of that happening here. Poor Sharon — I hope she didn’t think we were putting her through the Spanish Inquisition. We kept asking her questions — and Sharon, I didn’t even get them all out! I really want to know about you and flying with your sewing machine!

After awhile, I started to feel guilty that poor little Boo was outside waiting in the car. I’d given Sharon her PIF** and she was going to run it out to the car so she could shop without having to carry that package around. (She probably just wanted to let Boo know that she was still alive.) I convinced her to let me run out there. I put my Sharon Mask on and ran out to the car. I couldn’t really see his reaction, but I do remember him saying “That’s hysterical.” I mean, after all, his giant-faced mother is running toward him! Anyway, he’s a cutie — and a real sweetheart to sit and wait on his mom!

When I came back in the store, we decided we better get some shopping done. So, we all split up. Yeah, like that lasted very long. Pretty soon, I was standing next to Sharon, yacking again. (Sorry it took so long Boo — I just couldn’t help myself. You get to know people through blogs and it’s like getting together with an old friend!) We found a bolt of Holly‘s fabric and posed for a picture.

Look, Holly Look! It’s your daisies. (Sorry for the Wilson pose — I have work issues. Hoping not to be found out, if you know what I mean! And what the hey — someone has waited a little too long for the dye bottle!) After that, I seriously began to feel guilty about poor little Boo, so we really did split up. (And there’s another question — Sharon, did you outshop me? I didn’t get much, so you must have!) I think it was close to noon when we got out of there — it went so fast. Sharon is such a cutie — she gave everyone a hug and then left. She probably ran to the car and pleaded with Boo to get her out of there — Fast! LOL.

We spent all of our time allocated to the south side of town at The Back Door, so when we left, we headed to the north side of town. We went to our old favorites, Quilts Plus and The Knit Stop. And we ended up at a fun little restaurant for Linner — by then it was three o’clock — a little late for lunch and a little early for dinner. Then we barely made it to a new shop, Always in Stitches, just before they closed.

We had a great afternoon, but somehow, it just didn’t compare to our exciting morning. Thanks so much you quilty peeps and MeMum for going along — it just wouldn’t have been the same without you! Sharon and Boo — you two are the best! I hope you’re having a fabulous time together and Thank You Thank You Thank You for sharing some of that precious time with us!!! I’m telling you — I’ll be on cloud 9 all week — I still have a smile on my face just thinking about our fun morning. And to all the rest of you — I sure wish we could all have a big ‘ol fun Meet ‘n Greet!

XOXO,
Anna

P.S. HEL-LO! Sha-ron!!! You forgot to take your souvenir mask along! Not to worry — I have your address!!! ROFLMAO!!!!

* Do you recognize the mask? That’s Sharon when she made her pie. You really should go check it out — her original picture is much more flattering — enlarging the picture sort of dorked it up a bit!
**In case you’re new here, PIF = Pay It Forward. Read about my PIF here.

WARNING: Mashed Potatoes Ahead

13 Comments / November 10, 2007 February 18, 2011 / Recipes

Dear Kim,

It has come to my attention that perhaps I’ve been a little brutal in subjecting you to repeated mashed potato posts. Especially when you’re so good to make your girls mashed potatoes — in my house, what mama doesn’t like, mama doesn’t cook LOL. So anyway, I’d like to offer you the opportunity to bug out of here and go enjoy something that may be more to your liking. Besides, being that you live in England and all, you’ll find the rest of my post boring.

Thanks for stopping by … see ya next time!

XOXO,
Anna

Now, for the rest of you, I just wanted to share one of my very favorite winter dishes — Shepherd’s Pie. I often wonder if Shepherd’s Pie is to England what Meatloaf is to America. Everybody has their own favorite recipe. I didn’t grow up with Shepherd’s Pie. In fact, I’m not sure I’d even really heard of it until about 15 years ago. TheManoftheHouse was on a business trip to London and I tagged along. One day, we took a tour to the Cotswolds. It was a cold and rainy day (which is kind of like a dark and dreary night, only the sun is shining.) We stopped at a cozy little pub and they had about three things on their little buffet line. I chose the Shepherd’s Pie and loved it instantly. It could have been because we were cold and hungry and it really warmed me up. Whatever it was, I came home determined to find a recipe. It took me a little while to find one I like because I like it pretty plain. I don’t like peas or corn in my Shepherd’s Pie. I like peas and corn just fine, but on the side please.

I would say that this is a great recipe for kids, but I think my kids hate it now. I think I’ve burned them out on it. That, and they’re always trying to eat healthy, aka, low on the carbs, which rules out mashed potatoes. Not me though — bring on the Mashed Potatoes!

Shepherd’s Pie

4 cups cooked ground beef (or any cooked ground meat)
1 cup chopped cooked potatoes
1 cup grated cooked carrots
1 small chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 14-oz. can beef stock
cornstarch
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups mashed potatoes
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs

Grease a deep-dish pie plate and set aside.

Combine meat, cooked potatoes and carrots, onion and parsley. Dissolve cornstarch in beef stock in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook for about 3 minutes or until slightly thick. Pour into meat mixture and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper.

Place in prepared pie plate and cover with mashed potatoes. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Place in preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are golden and pie is heated through. Serve immediately.

I hope everyone has a good weekend. I’m off in the morning with the quilty peeps and MeMum. We’re going to the big city for a little quilt shopping. It’s going to be a BIG day — we’re having a blog meet up with Sharon and her little Boo! WooHoo!!! Sharon, you won’t have any trouble figuring out who I am — I’ll be the one with the bags under my eyes ’cause I won’t get any sleep tonight!!!

XOXO,
Anna

Save the Date

26 Comments / November 6, 2007 February 18, 2011 / Wedding

According to Martha, six months before a wedding, Save the Date cards should be mailed. So, here we are, six months before the TheFirstChild and SweetiePie’s wedding. This past weekend, SweetiePie declared it was time, and we worked on her Save the Date cards.

Sweetie Pie found the idea for this particular style Save the Date card in one of her Martha Stewart Wedding Magazines. Each little card contains three stickers that the recipient can put on their various calendars. Pretty clever, I’d say!

Printing out the stickers was the easy part. SweetiePie bought stickers at Office Depot and downloaded some formatting software. I was amazed at how quick they were. Then we printed the cards. That took a little more work as our printer didn’t like the size of the cards. We figured up a work-around though, and after that, the printing was went pretty smoothly.

The cards came with plain envelopes, so we cut papers to line the inside of the envelopes. What did we ever do before paper cutters with rulers? They make things so easy.

Martha’s version of the cards were pretty narrow and the cards that SweetiePie found were much wider. We added the little bow to dress up the cards and take up some of the extra white-space. We’re only about 1/2 way through, but they’re coming along nicely. With a little luck, the bride-to-be will be buying postage by the weekend!

A very special thanks to all of you who’ve taken the time to comment in the last few weeks. You’re all The Best and I’ve really enjoyed the conversations that we’ve been able to have!

XOXO,
Anna