Seattle

We are now in Seattle, but got here by the longest way possible.

We left the house at 3 am Central time.  Airport drive was easy, only the plant people are out that time of morning.  And they are going home.

Boarded at 5 am and took off for Houston. Arrived At 9:20 am as scheduled.

Then the front came through and the airport shut down for an hour or more.  Due to lightening and rain.  When they got back to working, we boarded the plane took our seats.  For the next two hours we were number 116 in line for take off.  The pilot would count them off as we moved closer and closer.

The flight was 3.75 hours and he landed at 4:45 pm when we should have been there for 12:47 pm.

Glory be, we got the car and Alamo had upgraded us to the largest vehicle in the known world. And if you know frank, you know he can’t park his truck or my CRV.   you know frank can’t drive his truck, right?  The Escalade is twice the size of the truck!

We are using the truck for Shannon, Tina, 2 kids and us, but it goes directly back on Sunday before we head out to the little roads of the state!

As,we were coming into Seattle, we were rewarded for all our trials and tribulations by the beautiful and rare sight of Mt Rainer basking in the sun!

Saturday Quilting Fun

Sounds like a magazine:  Saturday Quilting Fun - Issue 278 vol. 3 ed. 12

I guess it is sort of a magazine anyway, this blog is.  (that probably won't pass the editors!)

I am still upset about the three feet of water in my brother's house.  I cannot imagine, truly.  How there is just nothing left.  The impact of his words when he said them, We will get the skiff and go through the house to see if there is anything we can salvage.

All my pictures, my history, my life, my stuff would be gone if we had three feet of water.  I want to do something to help them, but really there is nothing.  He is not the first of my family to have water, Cousin Karen had water several years ago.  And the Northern Cousins have blizzards and snow storms to contend with.

Ok, this is supposed to be Saturday FUN!  Me and my "ever faithful companion who is never 2 steps away from me" decided we would quilt a bit on The Mystery Quilt.  It is on the frame and I chose the thread yesterday.  I actually got two whole rows done before we were called away to dinner with Press and Ann.

I was reminded of how hot it is in that dining room,  even with my bright primary color fan blowing on me.  I had purchased two of the mercury lights to replace the incandescent bulbs in the lamps attached to the frame parts.  So I changed them out.  Frank hates these new eco lights because of the danger of the mercury.  He says the disposal of them is worse than any damage to the environment and cost to the consumer from the other lights.    I just wanted a cooler burning light.

After I changed the lights, I was hungry and it is only 10 am so I ate a Morning Glory muffin.  I need to make some again, I promised Tiger to bring him some during the week.

These are like the healthiest and best things you have ever had in your mouth.  And yes, I did give you the recipe.  Click here for it again.

this time instead of vegetable oil I used coconut oil.  It is healthier and doesn't go into fat storage in your body.  I was interested in seeing what the taste would be, but there is no difference at all.  That I could taste anyway.

Try it either way.  They are worth the messy kitchen you get when you bake from scratch!

glen

Mostly Back to Normal

Whatever NORMAL is!  LOL.  I will put a quilt on the long arm tonight and maybe finish it up tonight as well.

I baked some Morning Glory muffins and got some yogurt started.  I didn't want to start yogurt and have the electricity go out.  But now we are on a roll.

Frank wanted to get out of the house, I guess spending 24 hours with me is too much for him.  So we called Ann who needed to charge her phone and iPad and headed to Jones Creek Cafe for fried shrimp poboys!  Yum.

Frank is outside cleaning up the detritus from the trees.  Mostly leaves and small branches.  I don't let him do anything with tools or ladders without an adult present.  So he is restricted to grounds work.  You never know when he is going to come inside dripping in blood and needing a quick ride to the ER. We were on first name basis with two of the ERs in the area for a while there.  Once the new rule about the adult being present, he got better.  I think he forgets he is not 25 anymore and can't bounce!

DiNozzo spent a lot of time running in the yard.  He kept coming back and standing on the table of the deck.  I think he was watching the fence, the squirrels often run along the fence when they jump out of his way as he stalks them.  They feed in the grass picking up the seeds that fall from the feeders, shoved out by the little birds.  There is quite an accumulation at the bottom.  DiNozzo and Chloe both eat the seed from the grass as well.  I can often be heard yelling, Don't eat the birdseed, stupid!)

Can you see the cardinal?  See how fat they all are?  I buy a ton of bird seed for them.  Birds on welfare.  In the right hand picture he has moved to the feeder at the top.  And his wife is on the other side.

I have a nice recipe for Sweet Potato Bread Pudding to try this weekend.  Like I am on a diet.  Right.

I will share it with you sweeties if you want.  I am lusting after the Vitamix blender.  I fear one will arrive at my doorstep soon.  But there are so many models  to choose from.  Do any of you have one?  And do you make soups in it?  Is that for real?????

Patty, is that what you do?

glen

Now I Am the Celebrity

When I left the house this morning, I just went to the grocery store.  No make-up, no fancy clothes.  Just me in my jeans and t-shirt.

And by 2 PM I had been interviewed by CNN, WAFB, WBRZ and The Advocate.  So you will see my grungy clothes and my unkempt hair.  But my words are from my heart.  I will have the links up as soon as I get them.  And you can see me in my glory!  LOL.  Be mindful, I had not known I would be on TV when I left for the grocery store!

All this is because of the dog, now named Jimmy, who was viciously tossed over the fence at CAAWS this weekend.  We have him on surveillance camera.  Right in front of the Illegal Dumping Statute sign!

Now with over 2000 facebook hits, the illegal dumper's face is being seen by hundreds of people.  Julie and I are still attending the court dates for the Norton and now the Greenwood dumpers.  When will the cruelty end?

In the last dumping episode with Jean Norton, who was ultimately convicted of Cruelty To Animals in East Baton Rouge Parish, I had people wonder:  Well, aren't you an animal shelter?  Don't you WANT animals?

Actually we are not a shelter.  The public shelter is located at Animal Control for East Baton Rouge Parish.  We are a 501(c)3 non profit organization who pulls dogs and cats from kill shelters, vets them and rehomes them.  Our main focus, however, is offering low cost spay/neuter services to the population of EBR.  We also provide humane education to schools and library programs when we are able to be in those places.

So the short answer is:  No, we are not a shelter, we do not have unlimited resources or space to house all unwanted animals and we have large hearts that find the behavior of this man abhorrent 

Jimmy will be vetted this week, although sometimes it takes a while for us to get an appointment because vets give is discounted visits.  And we will have him neutered and then he will be up for adoption.  If anyone is interested in fostering or adoption, you can hop over the the CAAWS website and let them know.  I am not in that division.  (Makes us sound large and professional, huh?!)

www.caaws.org

Jimmy is in good hands, but who knows if this idiot may have other dogs who are not.

glen

Stash report 6-10-12

The day I have been dreading.  I made whole wheat sandwich bread, we made groceries in 3 different store (Reeves, Walmart and Sam's), rode bikes 3.7 miles, walked a mile with the crazy diNozzo and energetic Hugeaux the Grand-dog, made some of those great Morning Glory muffins.

Frank is watching LSU Baseball Tigers lose the Super Regional so I am catching up on my emails.

Busy non-sewing day today but I quilted two quilts yesterday so today I was recuperating!

Stash has not been a good, well, good is relative I guess.  I like what I got!

used this week	-3.5
used in june	-15.75
added this week	29
Add in June	34
Used YTD	-90
Added YTD	67.37
Stash reduction	-22.63

Still in the red so that is good.  I bought fabric two days straight from the store here that is reducing inventory at 40% off to move to smaller digs.  I am thinking this week they may go to 50% and there are a few pieces I would go back and get.  Can anyone say Kaffe?????

The usage is for two quilts for Carrie for baby showers.  Her friends are all having babies now.  And she is getting the itch to do so herself.  But I think they have maybe two more years on their career plan before that can happen.  He has been with his company for 5 years now and she has worked as a designer for 3, and is headed for partner when the economy improves.

More baby quilts in the weeks to come.  And more finishes.  In the morning, check out Design Wall Monday and see my finishes and what I am working on now.

glen

Chocolate Yogurt and morning glory muffins

Made it Sunday night.  Cocoa powder and honey mixed to a paste, then the yogurt base as usual.  Ferment for 12 hours and you have chocolate yogurt.  I will tell you how it tastes in the morning.

I will have it with the Glorious Morning Muffins I made Sunday afternoon.  They were fabulous, Frank has already eaten 5 of them and the day is not over yet!

2 eggs
3/4 c vegetable oil (I use canola)
1/4 c milk ( I used reduced fat by Kleinpeter)
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups unbleached flour
1 c packed brown sugar (I used Brown Sugar Stevia)
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt (I use the coarse kosher salt)
1 1/2 c shredded carrots
1 c shredded apple
1/2 c coconut
1/2 c raisins
3/4 c sliced almonds (I used walnuts because I didn't have almonds)

1.  oven temp at 350.  Paper baking cups in 18 muffin slots in pans.
2.  in a large bowl beat eggs, oil milk and vanilla with wire whisk until well blended.  Add flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and stir util dry ingredients are moistened.  Stir in carrots, apple coconut raisins, and 1/2 c almonds.

3.  divide batter evenly among 18 muffin cups.  (I use individual silicone cups because I was having a hard time finding the paper ones)  Sprinkle remaining 1/4 c almonds on top of each muffin.

4.  bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of center muffins comes out clean.  Cool for 5 minutes and remove from pan.

High altitude: use 375 oven and increase flour to 2 1/4 cups and bake for 18 to 23 minutes.

This wsas on the back of the General Mills unbleached flour bag.

Applesauce in Honor of George W.

Sunday England was celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth's reign.  It is a wonderful and exciting celebration of a beloved monarch.  So I decided to do a bit of celebrating on my own back here across the pond in the colonies.  Apples for George Washington, the man who could have been King of America.

...President Washington was so well liked after his Revolutionary victory that a group of citizens frustrated with the Continental Congress [so that is actually nothing new] floated the idea of a coup-d'etat and the installation of King George and the creation of an American monarchy. But Washington, who believed that anyone might make for a good leader, staunched the idea and eventually relinquished his power as commander-in-chief.  

(The Man Who Would Be King Newsweek, Oct 7, 2008 8:00 PM EDT)

I had these two apples left that needed to be used after I made Morning Glory muffins using one of the three from last week.  So I thought of applesauce, since it can be eaten as is or stirred into the homemade yogurt.  Apple Yogurt with Oatmeal sounded good so I decided on Applesauce for George Washington.  I am going to tell you what I did, since I was making it up as I went along.  

2 apples - finely chopped

1/4 plus 1/8 c water

zest of a small lemon

juice of 1/2 the lemon

heaping 1/2 tsp of cinnamon

Add caption

Put all the ingredients into a saucepan, I used my small dutch oven.  Stir to mix it all up and cover.  Cook over low to medium heat until the apples are soft, maybe 15 or 20 minutes.  Then smoosh them with a potato masher if you like chunky sauce or a blender if you want it well ground.  You can use a food processor as well, but the blender seems easier to clean up to me.  Probably isn't but that is the way it feels.

Keep a close eye on the boiling concoction because the pectin in the apples and the sugar combine to make a thick base which will burn in a heartbeat.  I did have to add a bit more water twice because my apples were not soft yet and the liquid was pretty thick.  I like that you don't have to add cornstarch or flour and cut down on some of the carbs.  I also used about 1/2 brown sugar and 1/2 brown sugar that was actually stevia.  It leaves no aftertaste and cooks like real brown sugar but is difficult to find.  I order it from online sources, I can find them if you want to know.

I zested the lemon with this thing, a lemon zester I guess.  Who would have ever thought I would fall for that gadget.  I am usually a non-gadget person, but I really have found this useful and not expensive to purchase. Beware, I did, however, zest my thumbnail pretty good.  

For variations on this theme of applesauce, you can try to cut the sugars down by half and go more natural.  You can cut out most of the sugars and add Red Hots if you like a cinnamonny spicy applesauce.  And you can add some vanilla to enhance flavorings.  I even saw one recipe that added dolce de leche, wouldn't' that be good, creamy applesauce.

I think I got rid of my apples nicely!


Meanwhile.......Frank slept.