Ringing in the New Year!

Well, instead of the usual resolutions to lose weight, blah, blah, blah......I have been inspired by fellow bloggers...This New Year I vow to make a sincere effort to learn something new each day, to read something each day, to send words of kindness to someone each day, to eat healthier, to excercise more, to read my Bible at least 3 times a week and to thoroughly enjoy each and every day, as each day is truly a wonderful gift.

How about you? Any resolutions or plans for the New Year?

Happy New Years to my loved ones and fellow bloggers. Bring on 2011!

Back to the calm.....

(not my pic)

Now that the rush and flurry of trying to get all of the gifts completed on time, and then the pressure of producing a fabulous meal, it is time to sit back, take a deep, cleansing breath and relax. In through the nose........out through the mouth..... I am a bit behind in getting all of the pics posted of my creations but all in good time. Thankfully it is a short work week - makes it a little hectic at work but nice to have the extra time at home.

I hope all you had a wonderful holiday and major blessings to you all in the New Year!!

The day after......

What a very busy, but perfectly wonderful Christmas! We spent Christmas Eve with my sis and her family, and my mother in law. Yummy food and good company. Christmas morning we awoke to falling snow (that has not stopped yet!). It was the first white Christmas here in WNC in 20 years. We had a traditional turkey dinner that of course, provided us with plenty of the mandatory left over turkey and dressing! My youngest son proposed to his gal on Christmas morn. I wish I could have been there to see it! My baby boy, on his way to matrimony......*sigh*
All in all it was a very nice day. I hope you all had a wonderful day too, surrounded with love and joy. Happy Memories! And of course, Happy Birthday Jesus!! The best gift we could ever receive!

Christmas memories.....

My sister found a few old pics of Christmas' when we were little girls. It brings back so many wonderful memories of the magical Christmas' that Mom always made so special for us. I miss you Mom!

Merry Christmas to all my friends and loved ones. May your holidays be filled with wonderful memories - new memories and treasured old memories!

(I'm the cute one in the front!) ;o)

More progress!!

A nice chunky neck warmer.....Buttoned all the way up it will cover your chin/jaw and ears!

One button open it folds down into a pretty collar!

 And one more hat finished! This one is for an adult male. I love it!

Only 3 more hats to make and a few other projects and I will be finished!

We got some snow overnight so I do not plan on leaving the house (except to shovel the walk) so I should be able to get another one finished! woo hoo!

a few decorations...

Just a quick pic of our tree and our fireplace with the lights on the mantel...I love the holidays!

Made a wonderful pot of Venison stew tonight. The house smells so good! Now I am busy working away on more gifts....I will be done - I will be done - I will be done!

My Christmas gift progress...

I have been busy crocheting away (after working all day) and thought I would post pics of my progress. Here are two hats that I have finished for the Grandkids, so far....

I just love my little model. He was so patient and photogenic too!

A few more project to go. I will continue to post my progress as I go along.

Yummy Autumn Bread

Last night Hubby persuaded me to make Autumn Bread. I found the recipe on fellow blogger "Little Fists'" blog and I must say it is fantastic!!
(recipe/original post here - http://littlefistsworld.blogspot.com/2010/11/perfect-for-autumn.html)
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe Dani. He gobbled down three large slices with butter while it was still warm. It was quick and easy to make too. Definitely going to file this recipe in the "keeper" section!

New Kitchen Curtains

I made new curtains for my little kitchen window. It is an adorable vintage style print.

A close up of the print....

What d'ya think?

Amish Baked Apple Pancakes - Yum!

Thanks to a recipe from fellow blogger Morning Ramble, I found this recipe for homemade Amish Baked Apple Pancakes. It was wonderfully fantastic!

Amish Baked Apple PancakesIngredients: 1/4 cup (1/2 stick/2 oz./56g) butter
1 Golden Delicious or Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and cut into thin slices (I used a Macintosh, and it was good!)
3/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
(I added a dash of cinnamon to the batter)
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Instructions:
preheat oven to 450 degrees F/230 degrees C.
Melt butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet over moderate heat, (remove 2 tablespoons of melted butter and place in a mixing bowl.) Add apple slices to skillet and cook, turning over once, until beginning to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. While apple is cooking, add milk, flour, eggs, granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt to butter in mixing bowl and blend until smooth. I use a whisk.
Pour batter over apple and transfer skillet to oven.
Bake in preheated oven until pancake is puffed and golden, about 15 minutes.
Dust with confectioners sugar or add a bit of maple syrup, then serve immediately.
Makes 2-4 servings.
Note: in order to get a nice looking pancake that puffs up on the sides, make certain the skillet is hot when you add the batter !

The pancake comes out very large and will serve 4 large portions! We had ours with sausage and a bit of hash browns.

I will be definitely be making this again!

Here is a pic of when it came out of the oven. My electric oven is weird so it did not brown on the top as I would have liked but it was delish!

Here it is all dished up and ready for consumption. YUM!!

I have been inspired!

After reading Jolly Bee's blog about homemade cranberry sauce, I had to try to make my own. I followed the trail back to the original William Sonoma recipe and it smells wonderful!!
I will NEVER go back to canned cranberry sauce!

Here is a pic of it on the stove and one of the finished product. (I think I need to find a more suitable bowl!)

I cannot wait for a wonderful family meal at my sister's house. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Good food, good company and no other expectations.

I wish all of you a wonderful and memorable Thanksgiving holiday. <3

A very busy day today - my latest creations for etsy

Made a set of wash/dish cloths and some Christmas ornaments for my shop on etsy.com....sooner or later I will have a good selection! :o)

What I did over the weekend...

I did a little crocheting.....

Here is my pretty dishcloth. Almost makes washing the dishes fun!

Here is the swiffer pad I made - not sure how it got dirty on the top, since you use the bottom!

Here is the bottom - eeewww! It sure is dirty. Good thing these are washable and reusable. I better get busy and make a few more, so I can wet mop all of the doggie dirt up!

Christmas for the grand daughters....

Started my project for my three grand daughter's Christmas presents. I will post pics after they are finished!

A little bit of tea stained muslin drying in the sun on this gorgeous Fall afternoon! Can't wait until it is dry so I can start on the "treasures" it will become! :o)

Finished my first prototype today. Took me longer then I had hoped and it definately needs a little tweaking but I love it anyway!!

Eureka!!

I think I have found my signature product to sell on etsy.com!! Now I just have to handle all of the registration/copyright/trademark legal....stuff! Sorry, but I can't tell you what it is until all the paperwork stuff is sorted out. I am so excited. Let's just hope I can sell some of these babies! LOL

Hump Day!

Well, it is STILL raining here in WNC and I can truly say that I have had enough.

My Blog name explained....

For the past few years I have been an aquarist/fish keeper and a member on AquariaCentral.com, an online community/forum for fellow aquaria enthusiasts. I have been known on that site as Noodles (Noods for short) for such a long time now, it has become my nickname of choice. This, along with my love of quilting gave me the idea for my blog name. I think it sounds pretty catchy!