Crafty key art

I saw these cute shadow box framed keys at an antique mall in Burnet:

I thought, well, I have some old keys I could use for a craft.  They were on various keyrings of  Mark's so they have sentimental value to me.  Who knows?  They may have been to our first apartment, first house, the Galveston home he grew up in - I have no idea exactly what each one went to, only that they were important enough for him to hold onto.

I didn't have a small frame, but I do have several embroidery hoops.  I laid out the keys I wanted to use: two big keys for parents, four smaller ones for kids.  Six in all, to represent our family.  I stretched some burlap into a hoop, and trimmed off the excess on back. Then I added a dab of hot glue on the back of each key and set them on the burlap.  Done.

I kind of love the meaning here: each person "key" to the family that we built.  This was a very sentimental craft.

Symbolism was always big to Mark, as well.  Two peas in a pod we were.

Gina

5 thing Friday - Spencer, pin cushion doll, photos, art, Fudge Pie

Happy Birthday to Son #1 who made me a mom 36 years ago!  He is a hardworking man, loves his family, has a wicked sense of humor.  A good guy.

I am blown away by the fact that I have a child this old.  When we started our family, Mark and I surely did not envision all that would pass. I don't know how to parent adults, so I have moved into an advisory role for the best job I ever had. 

A blog post about pin cushions reminded me that this beauty was in a box somewhere with a broken head.  A little E6000 glue surgery later and she was mended.

I would like to make her another skirt.  I don't know why I took the original one off, and the cushion of her body is not great for pins, but she was sewn by my mother and it has great sentimental value.

I set her on a shelf near a recently discovered picture of Mom.

She is pictured here in Morocco, 1990.  Newly married and so happy.  This photo makes me smile, and I do miss her crafty self so much.

I've been moving things around on my walls, making things a little simpler, easier to look at.  I took the kids' teenaged portraits off the wall in my bedroom, and stored them in the family album.  To the empty space above my dresser I put the nude line drawing.  Seemed appropriate for a bedroom more than an office.  I ordered a beautiful Japanese chrysanthemum print from Etsy to add to my collage wall in its place.  I also patched and painted over the holes left by my failed attempt to hang a TV wall mount.  Then I returned the mount to Best Buy, as suggested by a blog reader!

The upcoming ice storm has me all kinds of stressed out.  Time to bake.  I found an oldie but goodie recipe in my files for Fudge Pie.  Crust is optional.

I made two glass dishes of it, wishing I had ice cream to top it off.  It has a very moist brownie-pie feel to it - perfect to scoop with a spoon.

Fudge Pie

*Pre-heat oven to 350.*

1 c. sugar

1 stick butter, melted 

1/2 c. flour

2 eggs, beaten

1 t. vanilla extract (I also added a half teaspoon of instant coffee)

2 oz dark chocolate, melted with the butter

chopped nuts - optional, but about 3/4 c.

Mix all.  Pour into glass dish or pie shell.  Bake for 25 minutes.

Stay warm everybody!

Gina

5 thing Friday - TV mount, dishwasher repair, art station, reading, skillet

Last week I bought myself an inexpensive TV for the bedroom.  Got it home, set it up on top of the chest of drawers, and thought wow this is super unstable.  So, I picked up a mount for it, thinking it wouldn't be too difficult to install myself.

But for various reasons, it was, and adding onto the stress of the dishwasher issue was not a good idea.  After wasting a couple of hours on it, I admitted (temporary) defeat, boxed it up, stowed it away in an empty drawer, and put my bedroom back together.

At the end of the day I need a calm and cozy place to sleep, without the mayhem from a frustrating and half-completed project.  Who knows if the TV will get mounted any time soon.  In the meantime, I used hair elastics to stabilize the "feet" on the TV, then added a bit of tape to the back of the dresser to secure the cord. 

Tuesday was my Saturday, so I got some errands done, then as I was stuck in traffic I decided to just zip into a nearby strip center to my favorite Chinese restaurant for lunch.  Aside from it not being busy, it was warm, the food was great, and I had enough leftover food for another meal.  Plus no dirty dishes for me to do when the repairman did his thing later that afternoon.

Bless you, repairman.  I went for 2 weeks with no water in the kitchen because the valve assembly had to be replaced.  I might have had an anxiety attack when he left, because I guess I was holding in a lot of stress and tension for all kinds of reasons.  January needs to shape up already.

Anyway, its fixed.  Back to cooking.

I created a better system for organizing my art supplies, and added twistable crayons, tempera paint sticks, and metallic Sharpies.  It looks like something you would set up for a child, but I don't care.  The purpose is to give me a space to calmly think while I work on drawing/coloring/painting and to relieve stress.  I am not an artist - just a person who loves creating.

I showed up at the right time, on the right day, to the right place...and no one else from the library's book club showed.  I sat and enjoyed my beer and the cool night air anyway.  Next week I have book club #3 at a local library, during the day, so hopefully I will not be the only one who attends!  I have been reading lots lately and it's been a calm pastime - along with jigsaw puzzling.

Last week I did the January clean-out of all of my kitchen cabinets and some things got recycled/donated/trashed.  I took stock of what I needed and realized that one of the things was a decent 10 inch non-stick skillet for making an omelet.  Have you ever bought yourself something and thought "why didn't I do that sooner?".  So now I am back in omelet business.  Also, I am thinking that it makes more sense for me to stay off Amazon and shop in person, as long as I am able to do so!

Gina

Empty nest menu #162 and art in the New Year

I still haven't decided about putting the kitchen table in my sewing room - for now I use a folding table that is a great size.  And lately, its been my art table. A friend gave me these mini coloring books and some markers, and I added them to my stash of pencils, acrylic paint markers, Sharpies, small paint pots and brushes, mixed media notebooks, etc.  I am channeling that child who loved Art class only a little less than my English class.

Go here to look at all the cool coloring stuff from A Brighter Year.

Monday - kitchen closed

Tuesday - (freezer) Baked Chicken Breast, Mac and cheese, kale salad (from Chick-fil-A) {grocery shop}

Wednesday - Steak for one, (freezer) twice baked potato, broccoli {last telehealth appt.!, on call overnight}

Thursday - Sausage and Cabbage, corn casserole, rolls, Moscato {kitchen deep clean, do some sewing in the afternoon}

Friday - (freezer) Hamburger Soup, leftover corn casserole {p/u items at Home Depot, take the Christmas decor down}

Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed

Gina

5 thing Friday - Tech Week, beer and Deb, butternut squash soup, photo gift, Pena print

 

Radiologic Technology Week is coming to a close.

My current boss believes in feeding us and gifting us!

She set up a table near her office and it was loaded with treats.  And she made plans all week to feed us bagels, BBQ, ice cream, pizza, Tiff's Treats, Taco Cabana tacos, and a ton of candy. Plus, she had games out and awards prizes if you play.  Everyone also got a tote bag with socks, a phone charger, stickers...we were all like little gleeful kids.

I met up with my college roomie this week to enjoy the beautiful weather and beer.

She has a lot going on, but never fails to make time to meet up.  We talk about anything and everything and the hours always go by in a flash. Its been one of my favorite things to look forward to.

No matter how small a butternut squash I buy, it always seems too big.  So I got the idea to toss half of it in the crockpot with onions, apples, chicken stock from the freezer, a bit of butter, and some seasonings.  I cooked it on high for about 6 hours.

I used my immersion blender to make it creamy and it was delish with a grilled cheese and ham sammie on a night I did not feel like eating what I had on the menu.  Some days are like that.

I am putting together a sentimental gift for the peeps - a Shutterfly calendar with rarely seen photos before the digital age.  I say rarely seen because my kids never look through all these old albums.  But man, were we all cutie patooties!  I shed a happy tear or two.  I hope they love them - Firstborn was just telling me he needs a paper calendar to keep up with everyone's birthday, ha ha.

Since that Pena print is hanging in the hallway at eye level I could see how dirty it was - on the inside!  I don't know how that happened, but I was determined to clean it up.

I carefully removed it from the frame - it had been mounted on foam core board.

I think I may have spent more on the frame job than the actual print itself!

I love it so much in here - I admire it daily.  Mark and I bought it at the Pecan Street Festival in Austin in 1988 and had Mr. Pena sign it right then and there.  It will always remind me of when we were young, in love, and building our future together.

Gina

5 thing Friday - Cava dupe, crafting supply, Luby's, chairs, work today

 I ate al fresco at Cava one day this week, and while it was good, I am reminded that I can make something very similar at home myself. 

Like this beef topped salad with lemon stuffed olives, romaine, grated cheese, zucchini, cottage cheese, and lemon vinaigrette.  I don't know that I can really recommend these Middle Eastern style kebab patties from Trader Joe's, tho.  Unless you like a very earthy beefy kind of taste.

Since I gave the last one away, I visited the thrift store for sewing bits and bobs to make more hearts.  For ten bucks I got three good sized pieces of fabric, some thread, elastic, a notebook and some all-occasion cards, and a bonanza of ribbon.

The bulk of ribbon was in a zip loc marked 50 cents.  I weeded through it, discarding what was un-useable.  Lots of good colors!

Then I neatly folded the rest of it and organized my trims box.  Now I'm set for a few more hearts, and maybe some bookmarks for our reading library at work.  Cheap thrills.

After thrifting, I took myself to lunch at Luby's.  One of the things my mother loved is a visit that included lunch out.  We would go to K-Bob's, Volare, or On Deck in Brenham. Sometimes in Gidding's at Reba's or City Meat Market.  We always ate a big lunch!  All that to say, its been 2 years and I still miss having ladies lunch with her.

I still am a member of the Clean Plate Club - I can always just eat a salad for dinner.  By the way that was liver and onions, fried okra, and sweet potatoes.  Best lunch ever, $10.

Luby's is one of my favorite places - so nostalgic.  Both my mother and Mark were big fans. They were doing a good business that day, the place was packed!  Eating here brings back so many memories.

I listed the black and white chairs on Facebook and so far no takers.  I will give it a month, then contact a charity shop to donate them.  Seems a shame as all they need is a good cleaning, maybe some arm covers, or even reupholstering.  They are in good shape for being 75 years old.  Hopefully someone will give them a good home and love them back into glory.

I'm going to be working today as I switched shifts with a co-worker.  The trade off is that I have been scheduled off for four Mondays in a row!  My co-workers and I like to play word puzzles and quote each other's ridiculous sayings.  They are all younger than me and have different perspectives.  It takes a little of the stress out of the job and makes it fun.  I feel as though I need to distract myself - Sunday would have been my 40th wedding anniversary.  Work will definitely do that for me.

Gina

5 thing Friday - concert, deck, pastimes, music, paint plans

 At the end of June I went to another concert:

All three acts were so good!

{The Hip Abduction, Stephen Marley, Stick Figure}

The music had everyone dancing and singling along the whole time!

It was hot out, but we haven't hit those 100 degree days yet, so it was tolerably in the low 90s.  The Girl took me there AND picked me up with a snack and a bottle of water.  I still ended up walking what felt like miles and was on my feet most of the time.  I was pretty tired the next day but it was worth it!

This deck is the source of some aggravated shoulder issues recently.  I should have just power-washed it to begin with, but no, I scrubbed it TWICE with some deck cleaner, then sealed it.  It came out looking blotchy, even though it is clean.  Next June: power-washing, not scrubbing.  I gave the chairs and table a spiff with black spray paint, and called it done.  I am literally the only person who sees this.

Learning something new, too.  I've been catching up on my reading and focusing on eating more healthily.

Multiple attempts at getting the turntable hooked up just left me frustrated, so I scrapped that idea and bought something to listen to tapes and albums with.  {it also has a radio and CD player, but I will rarely use those} This is where the TV used to live - there are assorted stereo components down below.

I added a tap light on an auto shut-off timer, some command hooks for the album cover of what is playing, and some small baskets for 45s and record-cleaning supplies.

The sound quality is just OK, but I having fun tripping down memory lane with some of my old vinyl.  I just close up the cabinet when I'm done.  The TV went to live in a closet until I decide to get rid of it forever - I literally never watch TV.

I finished up puzzle #2 and am diligently working on #3 and meanwhile, found another three puzzles at Half Price Books. Its a nice calm activity while I listen to music and enjoy the A/C.

The next big project is painting the sewing room.  It should take me about 4 hours total, including moving things, painting, spiffing up the trim, and moving everything back.  The color I chose is about one shade darker than it is now, called Spiced Vinegar.  I also put up the memo board you see.  Its been a lovely space to craft some things lately.  The long hot afternoons were made for creative pursuits!

Gina