Catastrophe Averted

A could-have-been catastrophe was averted by a couple of quick thinking tried-it-all cooks. My older sister had collected all the ingredients to make what was to be the best fruitcake ever, and if you do any baking at all, you know how expensive it can get to fix anything like a fruitcake or an Italian Cream Cake or the like.It was a day or two before the big event for which the cake was planned, so Mary proceeded to follow the directions to the letter. She combined the fruit and nuts and other necessary ingredients and let it set for the two hours recommended, eagerly awaiting, but very impatiently, of course, to get the cake all baked and iced with that delicious brown sugar frosting that she remembered Mom making when we were kids. She had done exactly what the recipe had said, or so she thought, but when she turned the cake pan up- side-down, over the beautiful cake plate which she had previously selected, so her cake would look it's best, the wonderful expensive fruitcake fell all to pieces.Frantically, she called Mom. "Mom, you've got to help me. What am I going to do?" The cake ingredients were so expensive, and she had her heart set on that wonderful fruitcake for all the family that had come home for Christmas.Mom says,"Just calm down. Form it into little balls, and cover them with chocolate. They'll be fine." And of course, Mom was right. Several of us pitched in and proceeded to form the fruitcake into little balls while others melted the chocolate bits with a tad of crisco in the microwave and drizzled it over the entire collection of cake balls. Mary sprinkled the tops with some red and green candies. Wallah! They were a smashing hit with all the family.No one the wiser that it wasn't the original plan from the start.(Maybe next time, we'll try a different flavor coating. There are so many options.)

Thirty one years later.....

I was afraid it would not all be the

same when I hit publish. Here we are,

thirty one years later.

And they said it wouldn't last....

I can't believe I am putting these pictures on my blog, but like they say,

After you reach a certain age, it doesn't seem to matter as much as it once did.

We are all going to get older. The only other alternative we have is to die

young, and I'd rather not go just yet. There is still a lot more I would like to

do in this life.These are not the best pictures in the world, but they are the

only ones I have of these particular days.December 23, 1978 and December

23, 2009.Several years and several pounds ago.Thirty one years, to be

exact, but let's not talk about how many pounds ago.We are both retired now

and living a simple, but comfortable life. We both spend our days, doing

pretty much what we want to. He is a very social person, and spends most

of his days visiting all the neighbors and the restaurants, catching up on all

the news, and chatting with all the local folks. He is an avid story teller,

as everyone in our life will agree. I've always said he was like E.F.Hutton.When he talks,

everyone listens.(I think E.F. Hutton was a highly advertised stock broker on TV, back in the

day.)As for myself, I spend a great deal of my time doing crafts. There are so many things I

want to try and do in that area. My home is filled with projects I have collected over the years

with the anticipation of getting to them all. I am beginning to think it is hopeless to even think I

might accomplish that task. I want to try my hand at everything.If I attempt it and feel it is not

satisfying to me, I will put it aside in hopes that it will interest me more at a later date, and most

usually, it will. Maybe several years later though.There are a few other things that I still must do, even

though I am retired, so my time is never really completely my own, but I manage to squeeze in

quite a few things that I do enjoy on a regular basis.Most of which do not mean a hill of beans to

anyone else, but to me, they give me peace and contentment. What more can one ask for.

The Big Day is almost here,and I only hope the family gets a fraction of the pleasure out of the

day as my sister,Vicki and I have, in collecting, crafting, and wrapping everything to make their

Christmas enjoyable. I have been really sick with a sinus infection, and had to call Vicki in for

support through it all.She has been a GodSend. Thank you, Vicki.

P.S. I found this verse yesterday and at the risk of sounding like I'm tooting my own horn, I wanted to post it. I thought it was a really nice verse.

I'll go ahead and hit publish. I worked on this piece forever yesterday and still couldn't get it just right, so hope it's not too much of a mess when I post it today.

Our Redneck Christmas

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Just A Splash Of Christmas!

Yes, I am having blogger withdrawal. There has been so much going on around my house, I simply did not have the time nor energy to post a blog. Wow! I never thought that would ever happen, but I enjoy this little project I've started this winter as much as I do blogging.It's the little pouches I've been making. My sister,Vicki, is in from her home in North Carolina, and she is the quilter in our family, so maybe I can pick her brains while she's here. I hope to spend a little time with her and have her tweak my pattern and techniques. I have been making the pouches in all sizes and colors, and matching up coordinating fabric for the linings.I can use a little guidance on the different types of closures for them, also. Between the two of us I hope we can perfect it to where I can hopefully sell a few at the local flea markets and yard sales.I have been more excited about this project, than I have over any of the other projects I've done in awhile.Today, I tried to work on a little more decorating. I have plenty of decorations up already, but Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and I like to stretch it out for at least 4 to 6 weeks. Pop is not wild about having everything decorated up, but he tolerates it. He can be a 'scrooge' at times. I think he worries about the expense more than anything else. He has every reason to worry about that though. Everyone has so much 'stuff'. You cannot buy anything for folks that they don't already have, but if you don't buy something for everyone, there is always someone who gets upset. Most folks don't like gift certificates. They say they are too impersonal.It's hard to know what to do when it comes to pleasing everyone and not breaking the bank in the process. It is very easy to see why Pop hates to see the Christmas season come. I usually do 90% of the shopping and all the wrapping. That helps to keep him from getting so tore up over it all. He loves seeing the kids open presents around the tree. It brings back memories of when his 2 girls were babies and everything was so simple and uncomplicated.Progress, age, and the state of the economy changes a lot of things.

The picture I've posted is a few of the little splashes of Christmas I've been working on today. I have spoken before of having so many little bits and pieces left after all the Christmas doings are done. These are a few bits and pieces I've hot glued together and I place them around the house where ever I think it needs a Little Extra Splash of Christmas. I try to put in bits of red, green, gold, and silver. Usually things that are bright and sparkling. I love to make these about as much as any part of Christmas. Making something pretty from things lots of folks would throw away. That is so sad, but it seems that is the American way. Toss it and buy more. Usually on credit.

Sorry! That's not a very happy thought to end my blog with, but I will close for tonight and get back to my pouches, and gift wrapping.

Merry Christmas To All and to All a Good Night!

Having Fun With My Little Pouches!

Who would have thought that a grown woman could have so much fun. I have hit on something that I dearly love to do. I love material. I love hand stitching. I love mixing and matching fabrics. I really don't know how or why I have fallen in love with these little pouches, but I have. I like to make things that are usable for one thing.Then when you toss in all the other aspects I just mentioned, I guess that was the clincher. Making something useful and pretty from something I already had. No expense involved. I have found many uses for the pouches myself, so I would imagine they would be handy for most women. We are having a Redneck Christmas Party again this year, and one of my sisters said for me to have some ready for that. Things are slowing down around the farm, so I do have a little more time to work on my crafts. I have the chickens, dogs, and goats to check on daily, but that doesn't take too long, if I don't let the goats out to graze. I try to let them roam on the property to get fresh grass as long as there is fresh grass. Then they must be content with hay and corn.Pop has been helping the neighbors with their tobacco stripping lately, and he brings home the stalks. I go out and scatter them over our new yard for fertilize.They are great for that.Other than that, and keeping coffee for the coffee drinkers, the only other duties I have are making a pot of soup, or chili, or some type of meal for the day.Since there are just the two of us, so we don't cook big meals.We have a coffee drinking neighbor who brings supper in on occasion. He is a bachelor who loves to cook.He will bring us some of whatever he has cooked up on occasion, and we will share our meals with him on occasion. I sent him home with a container of vegetable beef soup last night.He had brought chili and zucchini bread a night or two ago.It's great to live in a small community such as ours. There is so many bad things happening in the world nowadays, we are truly blessed.But back to my pouches. I was saying, I don't have that much to do, most days, so I have been working on the pouches non stop. I hate being interrupted for anything, I enjoy them so much. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. It really threw a chock in my wheel. But,hopefully, I'll get back to them today(except for a hair appointment).

Happy Birthday, Daddy

I write this in memory of my Dad, on his birthday. If he had lived 3 more months,he would have been 84, as was his Dad,when he died, but it was not meant to be. He was diagnosed unexpectedly, that June, with cancer.It was more than one human could endure.He had survived a quadruple by-pass in 1996.He had survived a stroke. He had lived with prostrate cancer for many years,with doctors keeping it in check.He operated bulldozers in and around Hardin County, Kentucky,for 30 years, before retiring, on account of the accumulation of dust in his lungs.I have heard many folks say that my Dad was one of the best bulldozer operators this country has ever known. That makes me so proud.He sold his 120 acre farm,and relocated the remainder of the family to an island in south Georgia.There, he and Mom remained for 28 years, and finished raising their last five children.We were never wealthy in a monetary sense, but we were extremely rich in so many other ways. Dad made sure we always had a home that no one could put us out of. That in itself, was worth more than gold.We never went hungry. Dad made sure we always had land to grow most of our own food. Us kids learned so much by living the simple life that we led, we've had very few problems surviving any of the hard times we've had to face during our lifetime.We never had a lot of the luxuries which a lot of folks had, but we were a lot richer in so many ways that others only dreamed of. Dad was one of the strongest men I have ever known, and his large hands were his trademark. It's been said you can judge a man's heart, by the size of his hands, and it must be true. Dad had one of the biggest hearts, I've ever known. I could fill a book with stories that friends and family have shared with me, about him. He was a loved man and will be remembered by many for years to come.

We Love and Miss You Daddy. Our thoughts are with you daily.Your loving, second born child of nine,Sue.

My Little Rag Rugs

Here are a couple of pictures of some of my rag rugs. One or two winters ago, I undertook to make a little rag rug, by tearing narrow strips of fabric. Mostly clothing or sheets that were no longer needed. I rarely ever buy new fabric for my crafts. I feel that is my purpose for doing the crafts. To make use of anything that is no longer usable in it's present form. I got started making the little rugs and got carried away. I think I made about 20 of them that winter. I gave most of them away to family and friends, but kept a couple for myself. I can always make more if I decide I need more.

There is something about the little rugs that brings me peace and contentment. I guess it is the thought, more or less, of the day when folks use to make them back in earlier days when times were much more simple. I can just imagine how it would have been to lived back then. I'm sure it would not have been as wonderful as we imagine. It only seem so now, because we have lived through the fast pace times in which we have.
Just thought I would write about the rugs since I ran across the pictures this evening while removing a lot of pictures from my hard drive to discs. A lot of reminiscing going on here tonight. Until my next post,Happy Reading!

I Love Consignment Stores.

Here are a few of the nice things I found today as Mom and I browsed through a local Consignment Store.The crowd was unreal.Mom
and I love hitting yard sales, when
the weather is fitting, but with
Mom's age, we now have to do a
lot less of it, and when you are addicted, it's rough. So now when
it's cool or Mom doesn't feel like walking that much, we go to consignment shops and get our yard sale fix. It's just as satisfying, to me anyway. She never buys much.
Since she is 83, she says there's no use cluttering up more for us to
worry with when she's gone, but I think it's more because she is on a
very fixed income, and her better
judgement holds her back. I don't
have that much restraint. Most of
what I buy nowadays, is for the
pattern. Ilike to try lots of different things. The valance was just cute. I have not decided if I will keep it as a valance or make something else out of it. I'll need to study about that. The casserole carrier was so pretty, it was irresistible, also. It seems to be a fairly simple pattern, and it would make a nice gift for any occasion.
The little crocheted dress was darling. I think it is a hot pad, but possibly I could feel my way with the pattern and make something close. I crochet by eye.I'm not much for reading pattern directions. So Folks, Another Post, Another Day, Happy Reading!

Do We Worry Too Much?

I guess it is a "woman thing."I worry

about every bite I fix,when preparing a new dish for others. I suppose that's why it's not a good idea to fix anything you have not previously tried out on your own family.I had a package of dates my Mom had given me, since she doesn't bake that much anymore. I wanted to use them, but I really didn't want to make Date Pinwheel cookies. I had baked those in the past, and they were wonderful, but not exactly what I wanted for Thanksgiving. I preferred to make a cake. I got a new recipe off of Cooks.com for a Date Nut Cake, that seemed pretty simple, and I had all the ingredients, or close enough. I had to make my own buttermilk. No problem. I had done that lots of times. I whipped up the cake and iced it with Cream Cheese Frosting. We really didn't need it for our big meal, so I kept it here at home. No problem moving it here. The coffee drinkers stop by after their morning Deer Hunt every day, and you see what's left. It went great with the guys with hot coffee.I love cooking, if it gets eaten. The local coffee drinkers are a big help in that department. Any time I have something I want to move along, leftover wise, bring it out and serve it to the coffee drinkers.Pop provides the entertainment, I provide the refreshments.It works out good for us both, since we both love company.I love my quiet time. That's when I do my crafts, but I love it when company drops by, too. Any day brings in lots of visitors around this house, as most of the neighbors will agree, but on holidays, our driveway is usually extra full. I drove a school bus for several years, so we have an really big driveway.I had such good luck with this cake, I plan to try this recipe again.It may be one of the recipes I put in my little home made recipe box. (that's most likely another post at a later date)Until then, Happy Blogging!

My Handy Little Pouches

I am so proud of my new additions. I worked on these off and on yesterday, between baking and getting ready for the big day today.We will be spending Thanksgiving with Mom. Several of the family will be there. I fixed a sweet potato casserole,one of my family's favorites, and a Pineapple Cheese Ball, and a Date Nut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Those are my contributions to the meal.But while things were cooking,I worked on my little pouches. They are so handy to keep things in that I use on a regular basis, but cannot seem to locate when I need them. I have all sizes of crochet needles in one. Machine parts in one, and my bobbins in one. I love these little pouches. I get to use lots of my pretty remnants of fabric, and they are out where I can see and enjoy them while I am working.I have done the stitching all by hand, and I enjoy that so. I am as proud of the interior as I am the outward look. Is it wrong to be so proud of your own work? I guess next to some folks work, they are 'small potatoes', but I am truly proud of them.I feel I will making more of these this winter. Till my next post, Happy Thanksgiving!

My Apple Basket

This is one of the baskets I covered a while back. I hardly ever buy brand new material, but when I do run across a piece I dearly love, I try to make something with it that I can use, and have out where I can see it on a regular basis. I use this basket for a catch-all to hold my pretty little remnants of material. I use material in a lot of my projects, so I get to see it often.I don't really know what the fascination is with the covering of the baskets. It could be the hands-on work it takes to fix them. I love hand stitching. Not enough to do a quilted quilt, but I do love hand stitching small projects. There is something peaceful and calming about it.I guess there are those who would say it was nerve wrecking for them, but not so for me.I have a young neighbor who feels the same way. She makes beautiful quilts, and all by hand stitching. She says she will never own a machine.Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I'll keep my machine.Till another post.Could be in a few hours. Who knows. I love blogging, too.Happy Reading!

My Deer Basket

Another day, another project. Today

it's a half bushel basket in which a friend of mine gave me some pears this past few weeks. He sent 2 full bushel baskets and this half bushel basket full. Pop said the friend did not want the baskets back, so I decided to cover the smaller one. I love covering baskets. It seems these kinds of baskets are few and far between any more.I have covered all sorts of baskets. Usually they are ones that have been damaged, or soiled, or just plain falling apart. You can hide just about anything with a little batting and some pretty fabric. I covered a small basket a few years ago, just as a project I carry with me to keep my hands busy. "It just so happened" (like Brother Art, from Mom's church, says,"Nothing 'just so happens'")to be at Mom's that day, and it 'just so happened' that she would be going to her annual Christmas party for her Sunday School class.Well, of course, I was invited to go along.On such a short notice, and I had no gift,except the basket I had just finished.So I took it for my exchange gift. It was a hit. I was never so proud. Everyone wanted my basket.I have made and gave away so many. They make nice catch-alls for whatever you care to use them for. Pop asked me as I was finishing this one, what I would use it for. He never even notices usually, but I suppose it was the deer pattern on the material I was using. I think he would probably love it for his own use. Men need catch-alls for their stuff, too.I'll probably put a brown ribbon around the rim and cover the handles with the same ribbon, and then if he still seems interested, I guess he can have it.I can see it now, by the door filled with his caps and house slippers and gloves.

Christmas Leftovers!

No, I'm not referring to food. I am talking about all the little fragments of ribbons and lace, greenery and hardly ever used ornaments,imperfect bulbs,etc. Anything left lying around after the tree and the house are decorated for Christmas. Most folks would toss these things. No qualms about it. But we crafters, don't think that way. It's "Put it in a box somewhere, and I'll think of something to do with those things later. They are much to pretty to throw out."I guess most crafters have thought those very words more times than they care to mention.Then one day, when I need something to fill my day, I'll drag out that box, my glue gun,my scissors, my glasses, my cup of tea,and I spend the day assembling cute little coffee table pieces like the two at the bottom of the left hand picture and the wreath in the right hand picture.(Vicki, the mitten is the one I spoke of earlier. I bought 4 and plan to use the pattern to make my own similar mittens.The little angel is one we made in Homemakers.)I have so much fun putting these little things together. They just add another touch of Christmas in a spot that needs perking up.They are nice just to give to a friend, or take to the nursing home, or to a shut-in that might not be able to decorate on her own. And all the small bits and pieces left over from Christmas are recycled and bringing someone a bit of Holiday Cheer.

P.S. One way of using up the bits and pieces, is to glue them in a pretty arrangement on the top of a gift-in-a-jar which a lot of folks are making nowadays.

More Childhood Memories

There are a lot of things that happened in my childhood that I have no memory of. Things my siblings remember , that I don't. Funny how you remember certain things, but not others.But this one thing, I remember well. I ran across this old receiving blanket , probably at a yard sale, and it brought back memories from around the time I was 9 or 10 years old. Mom had a set of twins born in 1957. We were fairly poor and did not have all the amenities others enjoyed.
Since we had very limited storage space(we were living in an unfinished basement at the time. I suppose Dad was waiting for more money to come in, to finish up the house.) However, Mom needed storage for the twins diapers, so while the first four children were at school, Mom would take the pictures from her embroidery patterns, and trace them onto long rolls of freezer paper.(We always had freezer paper since we processed our own meat on occasion.When the four older kids got home from school, we would line up around the table, and color those little pictures.Very similar to these I have posted.When all the pictures were completed, she would take the roll of paper and cover a cardboard box with them, and that would hold all the diapers.A very simple ,but ingenious way to keep us busy and make the storage container that she needed.Poor people have poor ways, but they usually get the job done.Till my next post,Happy Reading.

"My Smokey Little Red Devil"

I woke up early this morning since I crashed early last night. I had both grand kids all day yesterday, and no opportunity for a rest or a nap, so you can imagine. I had no trouble falling to sleep, and if I lay in the bed too many hours, my back begins to hurt.So I'm up at 4 a.m.The first thing I see when I opened my eyes this morning,was this little Red Devil.It was the only one thing,out of many pieces of memorabilia, that was saved from the house fire,from my grade school days.He's a little smokey himself, but I had to keep him. He is so cute. (For a Devil) I thought while it was fresh on my mind, I would jot down the words to my school song which he always reminds me of. So to the best of my memory, here it is. If only I had a way to put the music on here, too.

On, on, RHS We are right, for the fight, to-night. Make that bas-ket Ev-ry-time And every Red Devil Star will Shine. Fight, fight, fight, For the Red and Black We will push those Trojans back, We will shoot, pass, and run, Till the battle is won, And we'll bring home the vic-to-ry.(Trojans came to my mind, from my High School days, but you would use the name of the opposing team for the game that night.)

I was never into sports that much, but always loved that little song.And I loved my school. Especially grade school. Even though I was small, I knew the names and faces of most of the folks I went to grade school with. On up to the twelth grade. Many years later, I would run into folks that I went to school with and say, "Oh, I remember you from school." They would say"No, you couldn't possibly remember. I was eight or ten grades ahead of you."That didn't matter, I remembered them.I had an excellent memory back then and I was always interested in who was who. I guess that's why I love geneology today.That's my story about the Little Red Devil. Thanks for listening.

New Friends

I missed going to the grocery store when I was out with Mom on Friday, so I stopped by the little discount store in a neighboring community, a bit closer to home. The lady and her husband,running the store, both had a history of crafting. It was such a joy to talk to them both about things they had made in the years they worked with the crafts. I did my grocery shopping, and since the little store was not that busy, I pulled up a chair and we exchanged stories of our crafting experiences for about an hour or so.When you are talking about something that interests you so, time gets away. It was so refreshing to hear about all they had seen and done with their craft business. If my memory serves me correctly, they had a trailer of sorts that they would load up with their crafts, and travel to other states where they had a prearranged calendar date set for them to be certain places on certain days. They had another person planning out the various setup dates and locations for them.That must have been nice to have a spouse that is interested in the same things you are, and being able to do the things you love so well, together, and travel, and make a little money along the way.What could be better?Hopefully, I will get another chance to visit with them again or even better, maybe she will get her daughters together and start up a blog or two, so we can share some more crafting ideas. I have found that I enjoy blogging, about as much as I do crafting. Who knows, I may end up being a writer. I love the writing part of it , as well as the crafting. It's strange how life take so many unexpected twists and turns. Never say never. Anything can happen in life.One door closes and another door opens. I guess that's what that means. If we could only see it in time to take advantage of it. Until my next post,Happy crafting.

Booties, Snuggie, Blocks & Snowman

I finished up a couple of projects last night and wanted to post them today, before the grandkids arrive.When they get here, that's all she wrote when it comes to using the computer.I finished the granddaughter's booties.

They are really simple(no pattern used). Just a drawstring little baglike slipper. We wear them around the house on cool mornings, especially if the fire went out downstairs, and the floor is cold. When they get dirty, just toss them in the laundry. The same with the little bottle snuggies. Mom uses these a lot. She has to take different medications throughout the day, even when we are out on the road, so she carries a drink of some kind with her at all times. The little bottles stay ready in the fridge, so naturally they will sweat when she takes them out. This keeps them from getting her hands or purse wet.(She does slip them in a plastic bag.)The little blocks are one of my favorite projects. We had so many ends and pieces left over when the Amish built our porch on three sides of our new house, I could not bear to put them in the firewood box. I do love wood. I use it a lot in my crafts. Any way, I try to think up lots of ways to use it. The 4 year old grandson helped me with the blocks, and he got carried away, painting before I got to sand the blocks, but what the heck. He enjoyed it, and it didn't matter that much. That is one example of "Choosing your battles."The little snowman is another project. The grandkids and I use clay a lot, and this is one little item that survived. John gets as much fun out of smushing my clay projects as anything. I usually make him things that don't matter so much and keep my special projects out of his reach till they dry.Deer season is still in, so Pop has to make the trip to the woods, to check things out this morning, but since I must go after the kids, it is his day to fix breakfast. I get a little break, and that is a tremendous help. Till another post. Thanks for reading!

My Christmas Stocking Story

I know my sister is proud of her first knitted Christmas stocking. I remember 30 years ago, I collected enough stockings for the entire family, each to have one of their own. Mostly to hang up for decoration, since it is almost impossible to put very much in each one.The tradition finally became simply putting in a large bag of M&Ms in each stocking. As a joke, which they all are good at, the size of the M&M bags grew smaller and smaller as the years went by, and the prices went up. This past year, their Dad had me to buy individual bags of M&Ms and only put in 2 or 3 little bags in each stocking. You've never heard such a fuss.(It was not my idea. He just likes to get those two girls stirred up, and that did it.)But back to the stockings. I had gathered up enough stockings for our family and we'd use them over and over every year. Well, when the time came to add on the two son-in-laws, I could not find 2 more stockings,anywhere close to matching the ones we had started with.When Pop and I first married he had a living room suit with large red flowers in the pattern of the set, so I bought enough red material to make drapes to match. We used those drapes for a few years, and finally when the sun had begun to bleach a few places, they had to go to the quilt scrap box. I remembered the red material which I had stored away, and dug it out. I cut out 2 more stockings from the red material and found some perfect white material for the cuffs. That only left the trim. I knew there was no need trying to find similar trim, so I took several strands of red and green embroidery floss and braided it. That was an excellent trim for the two new stockings. I still feel a sense of pride when I get those stockings out each year, knowing what I went through to get them made. No one but me knows how it makes me feel to know I had done that. But that's OK. There are lots of things we do, that never get noticed or complimented on, but the pride we get from knowing we were able to do it, is payment enough. I'm wishing you lots of wonderful Holiday Memories.

As I read "down---to---earth's" Just Do It

There is so much that I want to try after reading one of the blogs entitled,"down--to--earth". I am sure that is her intent. Just today, I stumbled across one of her topics,"Just Do It".It read like a self help book, which I am no stranger to. It really does help you to read all that she has done and is still doing. I think I read in one of her posts that she was a retired teacher. You can tell. She teaches you without you ever knowing she is doing so. That is a gift. Her plan is to get others interested in taking control of their lives. In my opinion, I think she is saying,"Don't sit there and expect life to fall in your lap. Just do it."My sentiments exactly.We must be around the same age. I think some of the wisdom I possess came with maturity.I like that word better than age. Don't just sit around wishing your life could be different. Do something about changing it, if it is not to your satisfaction.I hear it everyday. "Oh me,poor pitiful me."That kind of attitude will only get you to an early grave. There are so many possibilities in this world, everyone should be able to find something that satisfies them.Try them all. You will stumble across something that "strikes your fancy", then run with it. There are so many things that I have tried in my lifetime. And there are so many of them that I continue to do. I'll admit. I do have a lot of unfinished projects, but I eventually get back to them. I just put them up on a shelf when I get bored with that particular project, and go on to another.Even if I don't get back to it for 5 years, I will have a renewed interest in it, when I do. It will seem like a new project once again.Some projects 'strike a chord' with me, and I will continue them on through the entire winter. That's when I know I have found something I really like.A project that I am not interested in today, may sit well with me another day.I am that way with cooking. I did it for a job and loved it, but now that I have the freedom to do other things, I cook very little. I worked on a cozy for my sewing machine today. I found that idea in one of the blogs I had been reading. I had a small quilt of sorts, that I did not know what to do with, and when I read about the cozy, I decided that was what it would be.When I tired of that earlier today, I decided to get inside my freezer and use up some of the items that needed to be moved.I pulled out some venison, some ground beef, some sausage and some Italian turkey links. I am a great one for experimenting. I went to my old stand by,cooks.com , and found a basic recipe for meatloaf. I've never been able to get it just right. I made a double batch following the recipe fairly close, other than the meat, and it wasn't so bad. We had meatloaf sandwiches for lunch and there is plenty left to nibble on tonight and tomorrow. I have enjoyed both my ventures today. Only next time I make the meatloaf, I plan to leave out the sausage. Other than that, it went over well with Pop. He is picky about his meatloaf. Now I will have to rush out and let my goats graze awhile and feed the chickens and dogs before it gets too dark.

I have posted pictures of both my meatloaf and my cozy. I didn't put ties on my cozy, like the one pictured in the blog I read. This way it can double as a spread or whatever.