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http://blogs.babble.com/strollerderby/2012/04/10/20-hilarious-skeptical-baby-memes/

HAPPY HUMP DAY!

:-)

Irish Rose Pictures to Come

Hi everyone, hope those of you who were confronted with Hurricane Sandy are safe on the other side of the storm.

We had really high winds overnight and we have a scant covering of snow on the ground.  It's cold and the furnace is going strong.  I think I read that by Thursday the bad weather is supposed to pass and we'll see a glimpse of the sun.

I'm busy working on my Irish Rose afghan and am currently working on the celtic cables section.  I found them to be a bit tricky at first, but am feeling more comfortable with the stitch pattern now.  

Bonnie Barker, who is the designer of this pattern, and a lot of other fisherman-style crochet items, has a really nice web site with aran stitch TUTORIALS.

Here's a LINK to her site.  She is a home school mom and has two books and various FREE PATTERNS on Red Hearts website.  Certainly an inspiring person! 

I'll have some updated photos of my Irish Rose in the next couple of days.

Happy Crocheting...

HDP

Praying for safety for all in the path of Hurricane Sandy.

May God be with you and keep you safe from harm.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

HDP

Other Side of the Popcorn

I'm on the other side of the popcorn repeat section!  

Yippee!  

:-)

I was able to finish up one of the large repeat sections on my Irish Rose afghan this weekend.

Since I'm using a smaller hook than the pattern calls for, I doubled the repeats for this section.  We'll see how the afghan progresses, but I'm thinking I may only do three of the large repeat sections vs. four as written in the pattern.

Right now, I'm just celebrating each little bit of progress!

Onto the next set of cables.....

this is going to take a while...

It's a gorgeous day here in Cincinnati.

Hope you are having a crochet kind of day!

HDP

Saturday Food Fest

“The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook.” 
― Julia Child

We didn't have anything planned today, so I thought I'd try some new (to me) recipes.  

Caramel Corn

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Enchiladas

Pioneer Woman's Mexican Rice

Crescent Roll Apple Dumplings

I was up early, showered and headed out to Wally World to pick up the ingredients I would need.  The "boys" stayed home and relaxed a bit before heading to the barber then to the library.  Since I didn't take time for breakfast, my first stop was Panera Bread for a good cup of Hazelnut coffee and an everything bagel.  That gave me the energy I needed to do the grocery shopping.  

:-)

Once home, I unloaded the mountain of groceries and told the boys to clear the kitchen.  (I tend to be a nervous cook; especially when I'm making something new.)

When we were in PA several weeks ago, I copied down the family recipe for caramel corn from my sister-in-law.  If you click the link (at beginning of post), it will take you to one that is very similar to the one I used, but mine doesn't call for vanilla.  This caramel corn is so good and I'm looking forward to snacking on a bowlful this evening.

Then onto the Enchiladas.  Absolutely delicious!  

Creamy, cheesy and OH so fatteningly good.  This is not a recipe I'd made through the week; too labor intense, but would definitely make it again on another lazy day Saturday.  

Once the enchiladas were in the oven, the plan was to make the Mexican Rice.  But I was drawing near to the end of my culinary adventurousness.  

So I threw together the apple dumplings.  My mom e-mailed the recipe to me after having them at a pot luck.  These dumplings are rich and oh so sweet.  Only thing lacking was a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  

I searched on-line for the dumpling recipe and found LOADS of similar ones, but none exactly like the ones I made.  A lot of them called for Mountain Dew (huh?).  Anyway, here is the recipe I used:

Easy Apple Dumplings

Preheat oven to 350

2 Medium Apples (I used Granny Smith)

1 Can Crescent Rolls (8 count)

1 Stick of Butter

1 Cup of Sugar

1 Cup of Water

Peel and quarter apples (remove core).  Separate rolls and roll around apple quarters.  Place seam side down in an 8x8 baking dish.  Melt sugar, butter and water in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved.  Pour syrup over dumplings.  Sprinkle with cinnamon.  

Bake for 35 minutes*

*Mine could have baked a bit longer, but they were starting to get over brown on top.  If I make them again, I may cover for the first 10 minutes or so.

Time for me to go lay down...

and succumb to my food induced coma.

Tata!

HDP

Irish Rose - An Update

Well, I finally got to a point where I thought I'd take some photos of the aran afghan I'm working on.  I'm going to call it Irish Rose.  

:-)

The popcorn stitch is one of the first large repeat sections...

then more cables...

I will definitely be blocking this once it's complete.  I've blocked the other aran afghans I've done and it really gives the stitches a nice crisp look.

The fisherman afghans are time consuming; but the variety of stitches keeps a large project like this interesting and fun.

Dear son is sick with strep throat.  With that in mind, the last couple of days have been quiet and I've been able to get in a little more crochet time than when school in session.  

I'd love to have this complete by Thanksgiving.  My in-laws are coming in from the mid-west for the holiday and I'd like to be able to send it home with them lovingly gift wrapped for Christmas.

HDP

Annual Pumpkin Farm Trip

(Above photo from 2011's trip)

Every fall, our little family heads out to Iron's Fruit Farm for a little autumnal fun.  This past Saturday afternoon we made our annual "pilgrimage".  

The day was overcast and gray, but we didn't let a few dark clouds spoil our day.  

We took a hay ride out to the corn maze; this year it was cut out as a tribute to the Cincinnati Reds...

and after we found our way out of the maze...

we head over to the pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins...

The farm seems to be deteriorating a bit, which is sad to see, but the people don't seem to mind...

We got four pumpkins, one for the front porch and three little ones for me to steam for pies or bread.  

It was a fun afternoon even if it wasn't the prettiest of fall days.

Family:

Today's little moments
becomes
tomorrow's precious memories.

HDP

Baby Items Link Party

TwoLuLa is having a "Baby Love" link party.  

Check it out and have fun!  

:-)

Happy Monday!

Heather

Sloppy Joe's and Other Stuff...

Fall is here, I've gotten out the warmer clothes and have on a nice comfy sweat suit right now.  

:-)

My menu's have changed too with the cooler weather and today I've got Sloppy Joe's in the crock pot.  This recipe is really, really good and I highly recommend it.  I don't use the mix, I use her suggested seasonings instead.  The house smells great and I can't wait for dinner.  

I've been busy working on my in-law's Christmas blanket.  I was getting close to the repeat section, and decided I didn't like the way the stitches were looking with the J hook.  So, I got out a smaller one and started over.  So far, I'm liking it much better.  I'll get some pictures up once I get a little further along.

We had a bit of a scare last weekend with dear husband.  This week has been full of medical tests for him.  Thankfully, it doesn't appear to be anything serious.  For family and friends who were aware of the situation, we thank you for your prayers.  

God is good; all the time.

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.  

Psalm 116:5

(KJV)

I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend with my family.

Hope your weekend is blessed!

Heather

HDP

Fresh Pumpkin

I steamed up the four pie pumpkins I had purchased fresh; they made 6.5 cups.  That's enough for two pies, the two loafs of bread above, and a bit to spare.  

:-)

What I didn't use today, is now in the freezer for future fall goodies.  

I found the PUMPKIN BREAD recipe online and it had good reviews, so I thought I'd give it a try.  The aroma of the bread has made the whole house smell like fall!

One of the loaves will likely be gone tonight.  Dear husband loves quick breads and we'll have it with our chicken salads for dinner.  I may have to hide the other loaf as I want to have it with the Tortilla Soup I plan to make on Friday.

So thankful for the little things that make life joyful.

"We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer - 

HDP

Another Aran Afghan

At the starting point anyway...

I wanted to make an afghan for my father-in-law and his wife for Christmas.  But, I also wanted to be sure they liked it.  So had my husband give them a call to see what color would work best with their decor.  They preferred gold or rose,and I selected the latter to work with.

I'm going to be using Wool-Ease in Dark Rose Heather.  It isn't as dark as it's showing up in the photo; we are having an overcast day here in Cincy.

The pattern I chose to do is the one on the front cover of the booklet.  Isn't it pretty?  It has an interesting stitch pattern in it called Celtic Weave that looks like a lot of fun.  

I'm hoping to get started on this later today or tomorrow.  

Looking forward to a fun and challenging new project to start out the Christmas crochet!

Hope you are having a great day!

Heather

HDP