TUESDAY GOODNESS

Instead of the occasionally posted Ten on Tuesday, I'm going to switch it up a bit. We had an unusually warm winter and an early spring this year. The Bradford Pear trees bloomed really early and lasted less than a week. The tulips and daffodils and dogwood trees also has a very short blooming cycle this year. And the spring rains came with much-welcome moisture. See what I get to look out at each day?

Yesterday brought an amazing gift to me, and to John. My former teaching partner and dear friend, Jan, and her husband Bill were driving home to San Diego from a recent trip to North Carolina. On the way, Jan wanted to stop in Mountain View and Joplin, Missouri to see where her mother was born and then later grew up. We live almost exactly in the middle of those two towns and they stopped to spend the night with us last night. Oh, my goodness, how Jan and I talked, almost through the night. We finally gave up and went to bed at 3:30 this morning and then got up so they could leave for Joplin at 7:00. I had seen Jan briefly in 2008 when I went out to visit friends but she was still teaching then and we just didn't have the time to sit down for a real natter! Last night we stalked and laughed and remembered incidents from trips we took to Europe and Washington DC with our students. Oh, my, I miss those days. Jan brought along the parts of a quilt she is making and we worked for several hours on a design and I pulled a bunch of fabrics to add to her pile. They were here for less than 18 hours but the memories of laughing and smiling and just being together again will last for a much longer time. Safe travels, my friends. I love you!

And, finally, what would a post be without a quick (and I DO mean quick) snap of my Quality Control Officer here at Pieceful Harbor? Gilligan wanted to make sure that the camera is still working at optimum so he graciously agreed to pose - for all of 15 seconds!

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Easter 2012

Today is Good Friday...frankly, every Friday is a good one if I don't have to work on Saturday. But I digress.....

John has been taking advantage of the spring weather and is building another 4 raised beds for his gardens...I can look outside my eastern windows in the studio and see them. He has 2 beds that have asparagus growing - one of them has asparagus that is 3 years old this year and one has plants that are 2 years old. The 3 year old plants are starting to yield - we've gotten one stalk so far! I know, it's hard to imagine the joy here at Pieceful Harbor when John brought in that one stalk...there was laughing and jumping and dancing!



On another note, since we moved into this house, I've always wanted shades of some sort in the quarter-round windows in the studio. Late afternoon sun streams through the windows for about an hour and it is fading fabric, blinding me, and hitting the screen of the TV (I'm sure it isn't doing any good for that screen). We finally broke down and ordered shades for them...they arrived earlier this week and John spent an evening installing them....aren't they gorgeous? They allow light thru but not glare.



And finally, here is Gilligan....he heard there might be Easter Baskets somewhere this weekend...perhaps there will be treats for fur people...



From all of us here at Pieceful Harbor, Happy Easter.

Thanks for stopping by.

Catching Up

This past weekend was idyllic. The sun was shining and the temps were temperate. Finally the spring has come to the Ozarks. John and our neighbor spent the morning replacing the fencing on the west side of the pasture. Before, the cows would push their giant heads thru the strands of barbed wire to get to the grass on the other side. The constant pushing and shoving of their heads stretched the wire and forced the fenceposts to lean outward. So John removed the barbed wire, replaced the fenceposts, and then they strung field fencing along that west side. Now the cows won't be able to push their heads thru anymore.


Tonight when I looked out the bay window I saw two deer grazing in the meadow. Probably teenagers by the size of them. Maybe a year old. The picture is fuzzy cause I had to take the picture from inside the house and use the zoom on my little camera. But you can clearly see them. Aren't they just the cutest? Just hope they don't start eating out of John's gardens once he finishes building them all.


I'm currently knitting my fingers ragged in Round 2 of Sock Madness. Will try to post once I finish this pair...they are turning out quite pretty.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hand Cream for a Year

I read a lot of blogs each day, along with Facebook and Twitter. One of my favorite blogs mainly deals with quilting but she occasionally puts a recipe or a knitting project out there. One day, she mentioned making a cream for her hands, feet, elbows and knees. She even posted the recipe. I printed it out and decided to try it myself.

Homemade Hand Cream
16 oz. Baby lotion
8 oz. petroleum jelly
8 oz. Vitamin E cream

Mix together in a glass or ceramic bowl with beaters till it resembles frosting.

That's it...no more....I used the cheapest ingredients I could find a the dollar store. I found small round travel-sized containers at Walmart for $1.00/2. Also found some small 1/2 pint food containers there - really inexpensive.





The whole operation took less than 1/2 hour and that included putting the cream in the jars and washing up. I gave one of the small travel-sized jars to each of the girls at the library and told them when they needed more, let me know. I think there is probably enough for an entire year on my counter. It takes a VERY little bit of this to moisturize your hands, elbow, or heels. Really, with the petroleum jelly in there, it's quite moist! I put a bit on my feet before I go to bed and my heels are really healing up nicely.

So if you're in the area, and you need hand cream...stop by. I've got plenty to share!

Thanks for stopping by.

Ten on Tuesday

This week's Ten on Tuesday sounds as though it would be easy. But I found it hard to come up with 10 Movies I Have to See NOW!

Here goes:
1. One for the Money. I love all the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich. While I really didn't see Katherine Heigl as the main character, I always saw Sheri Shepherd as Lula. Can't wait to see this one!
2. War Horse. I'm not entirely sure why I want to see this one. I really don't care of horse movies but this one intrigues me.
3. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I think anyone who was aware of what was going on during the 9/11 era is going to want to see this movie with Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks...
4. Sherlock Holmes 2 - Robert Downey Jr is not my favorite actor but he totally owns this role. I loved the first movie and am looking forward to seeing the sequel.
5. Iron Lady . One name - Meryl Streep. 'Nuff said.
6. Bloodfare. Independent writer/director/actor J. A. Steel is a friend and I am looking forward to her newest offering of horror. (And besides, my son has a speaking role in the movie!)
7. Breaking Dawn, part 1 - I'm probably going to have to wait for the DVD to come out since there isn't anyone I can go with and I don't see the need to drive 30 miles each way to see a movie by myself.
8. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - I enjoyed the books so the movie is something that I'd like to compare it to.
9. Joyful Noise - I like Queen Latifah and the thought of her and Dolly Parton in the same movie makes me smile.
10. I simply cannot think of another movie I'm dying to see. So we will leave this one blank.

Thanks for stopping by.

TEN ON TUESDAY

This week our Ten on Tuesday subject is one that I can definitely get behind.

10 Soups You Like to Eat:

1. Homemade Chicken Soup - my wonderful husband makes the absolute best chicken soup. He puts in chicken pieces from the chickens that he grows. Yum!
2. Tomato soup - this is my comfort food. Along with a grilled cheese sandwich or with cheese slices cut into stars and put in the bottom of the bowl so it melts when the hot soup is poured over it.
3. Cream of broccoli soup.
4. Potato Cheese soup. I've got a marvelous recipe for this soup made in the crock pot.
5. Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup - this is the kind that comes in an envelope and has millions of little noodles in it...I haven't had this in years and it still makes my heart flutter to think about it.
6. Chili - I know, it's not really soup, but it is really good and, let's face it, this is my list and I can put whatever I want on it.
7. Portuguese Soup - I got this recipe from a lady who had a small diner in Rhode Island when we lived there. We ate there each Friday nite. Made with chorize and beans...truly a wonderful winter soup.
8. Bean with Bacon soup.
9. Cream of Asparagus soup.
10. Cream of Mushroom soup. Now I don't like this all by itself, but I sure do like to use it when I'm cooking...included in a tuna casserole or on top of a roast, it is definitely a kitchen necessity.

What kind of soup makes your heart sing?

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Birthday to John!

Last weekend, John celebrated his 60th birthday. And what a birthday it was!

John III, along with Jill and Hewston, flew in secretly to surprise John at his office on Thursday. That was so cool to see his face when he thought I was walking in so we could go to dinner together...instead, John and Jill walked in with me following holding Hewston. We all went to dinner and John was so happy to see them.

Then, on Friday, we all went to Silver Dollar City for the day. Oh, my goodness, was it cold! Luckily, they'd brought a camo snowsuit for Hewston. He looked like a Yeti but he was warm!

On Saturday morning, John III took his dad to the movies since Jill and I had 'girl' things to do. Little did Big John know that we were setting up for his surprise birthday party that afternoon. They got home to a houseful of his friends wishing him a happy birthday.

I gave him a 2012 Kawasaki Mule for the farm. I must say, in the 40 years I've known him, I've never seen him speechless - till that day. It took him a full minute to understand that the Mule on the front lawn was his.

All-in-all, the weekend was a continuous surprise for Mr. Wonderful.

I love you, John. You are my hero...