It's almost my bedtime...

It has been a very long day and it is about time to hit the feathers.  I wanted to share a few things with you.  One of my team mates brought me in a little gift.  Her Auntie had knitted little mitten ornaments and I think they are darling.  I stepped out of the car and immediately handed them over to the Professor Trim a Tree.  They are darling aren't they? 

Hip to the Hop Dot gave me a Christmas card with a baggie of this savory treat.  The card survived but the treat died a horrible way, but I enjoyed every morsel.  She gave me the recipe.  I stopped at the store on the way home and got the  crackers and Ranch Dressing Mix.  I made this up while I was making a pot of chili this evening.  I am also trying to make my chocolate peanut butter cookies.  Don't think they will get finished this evening.  Oh yes, the recipe for the Oyster Cracker Snack is over at my cooking blog.  You know where that link is...on the upper right side of this blog.

I "bought" stash yesterday with my gift certificate from last year!  I love this Stoney Creek Christmas design.  It is a pretty and girlish design. 

There are 8 designs in this Leisure Arts booklet and it was 9.95 so $1.25 a design.  I like all the designs in this booklet.  Lori Markovic designed all 8 designs, I like her style. 

I have had my eye on Bethlehem for a while, now I own it.

Three Kings is lovely and I think this and then Bethlehem would make lovely mantle skirts or in my case, entertainment center skirts.   

And of course I need to update you on the Campbell Kid escape.  Well somehow he did get off the branch and was sneaking between the sofa table and sofa to make a mad dash through the back door when Professor let the pups out to take a tink.  Needless to say "The Kid" tripped over the Professor's foot as the Professor tried to fade to the left to stop him.  Well there was a bit of a tussle, and "The Kid" drew blood when he clamped down on the Professor's little toe.  Needless to say "The Kid" back on the branch.  My rear end hurts just thinking about it. 

So for now my fine dear ones, I hear the song of the soft mattress sirens and I will dream lovely dreams of stitching and cookies and good friends.  God Bless Us Everyone!

Monday, Monday, So good to me!

Good Morning all my wonderful friends.  It is grey and will soon be raining within the secluded boundaries of the Lilac Thicket.  Thankfully we will be spared of the snow which areas around our grotto will 1) enjoy 2) curse 3) pretend isn't there.  I woke up this morning wanting a coffee cake.  I went through my recipes and found none.  So I threw myself onto the Internet and found the recipe for the above Cherry Swirl Coffee Cake.  I halved the recipe but forgot to half the can of cherries so it is a little cherrified!  A clever domestic Goddess (meaning not me) could change the pie filling to apple, blueberry, pooh berries or any fruit filling.  I will make this one again.  You can find the recipe at the Lilac Thicket Cooks.  The link is on your upper right.  Oh yes, yesterday I added the No Oven Peanut Butter Squares there also, they taste like Peanut Butter Cups....yum! 

I am still adjusting to my new shift, 7am to 3:30pm.  I love it and my new position at work but it does take adjusting to.  My days off are Sunday and Monday.  Today I want to go to the bank and the Social Security office to get my name changed.  I have decided that I will remain married to the Professor, well he really does need me...oh and I kinda missed him while he was in New York for his mother's funeral.  So I need to become Mrs. Professor with the Social Security.

Princess Wiggle Wiggle will grace our family Christmas celebration this year.  I am very excited about that.  That little pumpkin is so much fun to be around.  She is a one toddler show!  At my Brother 2's birthday celebration she wanted to know why I had to go home.  I told her I had to call the Professor.  She started calling Professor's name at the top of her lungs.  It was so cute.

So I am getting so excited about the New Year.  I have all kinds of projects in mind for knitting and crocheting.  Not to mention cross stitch and crafting.  I have all kinds of ideas for presents for next year.  The above empty wine bottles were spray painted white and then sprayed with glue and rolled in Epsom salts.  I love these, what a pretty display and think maybe tapered candles in them too! 

This is another cute idea!  A bowl cozy from an old sweater sleeve!  You could use the body of the sweater for throw pillows and the sleeves for the cozies!  

Aren't these plastic containers cute dressed up as a snowman?  How cute to take something like this to a work party or a church brunch! 

Yup, clever, clever, clever!  I would never have thought of doing this.

This trivet is bottle caps that have been crocheted together!  You could make them for all holidays or even decor!  Simple to crochet, even I could do it! 

Everyday my dear and darling Professor is putting something else on the tree, see the lower right?  That is a Campbell Kid doll straddling a branch...I caught the poor thing trying to escape when the Professor wasn't looking.  I also never thought of extension cords as Christmas tree garland, but that's okay...it must be a Guyanese thing.

Well my kindred spirits I think I will close this entry and get dressed.  The Professor is washing dishes and I am here sitting on my rear.  Oh well, I have my priorities.  God Bless Us Everyone.

In Memoriam

Veronica Glenn 1924-2011 

My husband's beloved mother died November 29th in Brooklyn, New York.  She supported her 7 children by herself working as a domestic.  She loved her children, her mother, her sisters and brothers and she was beloved by all her neighbors in her native Guyana village.  She came to the United States in the early 80's and became a citizen.  She loved to cook and bake.  She loved to sew.  She delighted in watching her grandchildren be born and grow.  She is deeply mourned by my husband who inherited his mother's face and his father's height. 

I am so sad that I did not get to meet you Mother Glenn.  I wanted to thank you for the wonderful man that you raised who became my husband.  I will miss you too.



So this week before Christmas I think it is appropriate to honor my beloved family members who are now in Heaven and who I miss each and every day.  They all live with me with each beat of my heart.

Emma Gertrude Connolley Russell, 1912-1996 

Edwin Fredrick Russell 1912-1988

My wonderful Grandparents, they always put family first and always made sure we had food, clothing and a roof over our heads.  I miss both of you more then you can know.

William Harrison Roberts, 1903-1999

Mildred Timmerwilke Roberts, 1903-1991

(My mother in the middle is still alive and well) 

I wish we had lived closer to my paternal Grandparents so they would not have been so isolated and they would have gotten to know us better.  I am very much like my Grandmother with her love of needle crafts and cooking and baking.  Grandpa was an amazing man, being able to fix anything.  He had spunk and fortitude as witnessed by re-roofing his home by himself when he was 83 and digging up the front yard (much to his neighbors chagrin) to fix the septic tank when he was 81.

Richard Calvin Roberts, December 10, 1934-April 27, 1987

In spite of all of the difficulties you presented to me growing up as your daughter, I love you and miss you with all my heart.  You were a proud member of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard which instilled great patriotism in me.  I have your wicked sense of humor and I also have your inability to hold onto a dollar bill.  You were sure a character and you left this earth far too soon.

My dear readers, we here at the Lilac Thicket have been in a state of mourning the loss of my mother in law, the Professor's mother.  A week after that my youngest brother had a heart attack.  He is home and doing great. So it goes without saying life here in the folds of our secluded thicket have been a bit on the stressful side.  Please forgive me.  God Bless Us Everyone.