Lunch, Betty Crocker & Spring

Friday, Carol and I ate lunch at a market and deli called Aioli's. Really good and unique food. We each had their vegetarian panini sandwich with roasted red peppers, arugula, fresh mozzarella! cheese and of course aioli sauce. Wow! What a treat. For my side dish, I had cheese tortellini and Carol had the house pasta. My tortellini was so good I purchased a container to take home. They only have about four tables (for two) so it's primarily a take out market. What a great find and only 6 miles from the house. Good thing we only have 3 1/2 weeks left! I can feel the pounds coming on!

So after our great lunch and a trip to the library, I came home and made my Plantation creme cookies for the Weavers Guild meeting today (Sat.). I'm also making the Ina's sticky bun recipe along with the cookies. We need a treat before lunch as well as after so I thought the sticky buns would be good!
If you like chocolate chip cookies and you also like a drop/soft cookie, try this. It's a recipe from my great aunt who raised me. These were always such a treat when I was young...OK, now that I'm old they are still a treat! 1 cup margarine

1 cup brown sugar (or 1/2 granulated and 1/2 brown)

1 cup sour cream (or 2tablespoons white vinegar added to 1 cup of milk)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs (I have used egg beaters)

2 tsp. baking powder

3 3/4 cups flour

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Cream margarine & brown sugar together; then add eggs to brown sugar/margarine mixture and beat gently. In a separate bowl mix baking powder and flour; alternate sour cream or milk with the flour mixture into the cream mixture, adding vanilla in at some point. When all the flour and liquid have been mixed add chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoon onto parchment lined baking sheet and bake 12-15 min. @ 350 degrees.

So, look what's out along the side of the house! Flowers..the azalea's are starting to bloom on the bushes around here. Some homes are just loaded with them so I think that means Florida is now coming into spring! It was suppose to be in the 60's back in Michigan today but rain for the next few days. Darrin has a race today and I sure hope he does well without any injuries. It might be raining but it's better then the snow and ice which he's run in before. I'll be thinking of him often today.

It's Quillow Time!

Carol has been working on a quillow for her grandson. For those who aren't familiar with what a quillow is....it's a small lap size quilt that folds back into itself and makes a pillow. Clever idea that was shared with me by my daughter several years ago. Dawn made me my first quillow which I use to this day. They are easy to make and are great to give to charities. So here's some pictures of Carol's finished quillow. It's really cute!
Carol working hard! Now you have to understand, Carol is not a quilter but each year she makes something for her grand children. I think this is her third quillow! Yea, Carol!
Here's the finished quillow. You can see the pillow flap at the top.

First, you fold in each side to the middle.

Now you fold the end up to the top then flip the entire piece inside the flap.

And here you are! A finished quillow! Isn't the fabric choice cute for a little boy!!

El Toreo Night!

Yep, it was 99 cent Margarita night at El Toreo's! This is one of Bob's and my favorite places to eat. OK, the 99 cent Margarita's are a good attraction as well, but we do enjoy the food. Last night there were 10 of us enjoying the food, drink and conversation.
Next to Bob's left are Marilyn and John. Marilyn is the Crock Pot Queen lady who made us a wonderful dinner a few weeks ago. She can do more with a crock pot the anyone I know and the food is GREAT! John is another golfing buddy of Bob's and they have a great time doing so. John always has great stories to tell.

The lady in the green is Pat (her hubby's pic is upcoming). I've gotton to talk with Pat more this year and she's quite a nice lady. I think I've talked her into trying the Margarita's next time! They were good weren't they, Pat! Next to Pat is Carol and Tony. Carol & Tony are our friends who moved here from Michigan and enticed us to rent here in Ocala Palms. We'll always be greatful for their recommendation and friendship. Next to Tony is our friend Larry. I have a picture of Jan (Larry's better half) but it's not very flattering so I won't post it! Jan is a great cook and fun lady to be with and I'd like to see her again..hence, I deleted the picture! See I'm a nice person, Jan! Jan and Larry were hosts to us on Valentine's day so you can see a great picture of them on my previous post here and read more about them.

The gentleman on the left/front is Pat (yes, his wife has the same name - she was the lady in green). Bob golfs a lot with Pat (not the wife!) and they have a blast. Lots of laughter but Bob said Pat points a lot. Bob seem to think Pat's using the wrong finger when he does point. Hmmmm Larry is at the end of the table and Jan to Bob's right.

We really had such a great time. I don't want to mention any names, but one of our group (Larry) is a little (no pun intended!) bugger! Between this fellow (Larry) and Bob the laughter gets a little loud. One night at a restaurant last year, we were asked by someone at another table to tone it down. Geezzzz...we're just a group of old folks having a good time. Anyway, this person (Larry) in our group had the waitress going and laughing with us. Something about this person (Larry!) taking the silverware or her pen. I couldn't hear it all. But it was so funny and we just had a ball! Anyway, I don't want to mention this person's name (LARRY!) but we didn't get kicked out!

So another beautiful day today in the high 60's or low 70's...weather back home is going to up in the 40's so all in all a nice day for everyone. I'm off to WalMart, post office then back home to work on my Musings quilt! Until tomorrow.....

Klimt and leaves

About a month ago, I wrote about the International Fiber Collaborative project that was asking artists to make leaves (approx. 5" x 7"). Check out their web site of the leaves that have been submitted so far. This is quite a project! There are two pages of leaves received and you can also click on 'tree progress' to see how they are building the 'tree' base. Quite an undertaking for sure! They did receive my leaves and they are in the gallery on page 2.

A day or two ago, I posted about the Klimt piece I was working on. I finished the label and making the sleeve. Here again is the picture that I used for my inspiration.
This is a closeup of my background woven piece and the metal pieces that I stitched onto the background.

Here's my finished Klimt piece. It measures 17" x 20" which is the size each of the quilts are to be. It was fun to work on because I didn't have to do it! You only have to make an 'Inspired by the Masters' if you want to or if you like that particular artist. I'm happy with my piece and now I can focus totally on my 'Musings' piece that needs to be finished by the 3rd week in March! Pictures have to be sent into SAQA rep by March 31st which is the day we are leaving to head home. At least at this point..unless I can talk hubby into staying a week or two. I'm going to try and do that!

I got sidetracked with my present from Italy yesterday so I didn't get to post about the really good birthday dinner we had with Tony (it was his BD), Carol, Sammy and Peggy. We went to a Steakhouse and (my friends won't believe this!) I had steak! Beef! Yep, and I ate almost the entire piece. It really tasted good and it was cooked perfectly...burnt! Just the way I like it! We all went back to Carol and Tony's for cake which we had to almost force down our throats..we were all so full but I did suffer and ate all of mine! Surprise, surprise! A very nice evening. Gee, I wonder where we'll go next for dinner out!

A Wonderful Surprise! Grazie!!

First, to give you some history on one of my friends. LoisAnn and her hubby are now living in Italy for 3-5 years! Of all my friends, I think LA is the one person to appreciate this new lifestyle so I think the move has been a fantastic opportunity for them both! LA is one of the most active and enthusiastic ladies in my group of friends. In addition to being a mom, wife and runner (she's been in several races and does extremely well!), she is one of the most artistic and talented ladies! Her painting on fabric is outstanding to say the least as is her overall sewing and artistic abilities! LA made this yellow panel for our underwater fantasy group project.

So with that background info....look what was in my mailbox yesterday! LA sent me all these different articles from Italy!!! She's written on them to hightlight areas she and her hubby have visited or can see from their home. I was like a kid at Christmas! Each piece was so much fun to see and read about! Then I got to the bottom and LA sent me a beautiful journal book! She took articles from different magazines, newspapers, brochures, etc. and put together this large package for me!!! I just took pictures of some of the articles...check this out (you can click on pics to see more info).

This is from an Italian newspaper..guess their football/soccer is quite the thing! You can see LA's notes on several of the articles.

Now this one intrigues me! FOOD! Go figure! Actually, one of her notes is 'no red sauce in Italy' which I would love...don't get me wrong I love red sauce but at home I make mainly noodles with pesto or a cream based (fat free of course!) sauce. LA also made note that she and her hubby like 'grapa with fruit called Bosco'.

This was some of the wrapping paper LA covered my journal with! For those who don't recognize it, the work are different paintings by Gustav Klimt...which was one of our Inspired by Masters artists we are working on in our fiber group (see my last post). Cool paper isn't it!

And this is the beautiful paper journal book LA sent me! Isn't the cover wonderful!

These are the pages inside the journal. Now to decide what to do with it! I will do something that's for sure!!!!

I keep looking at all the different pictures and articles. THANK YOU so much LA!!!! I am thrilled beyond words! This took some time for her to put this together and I appreciate it SO much!!!! I'm so lucky to have such wonderful friends and now to save I have an International friend is the best too! Again, thank you dear lady for your effort and friendship! So in your new language, LA, a big Grazie from me!!!

Monday & Gustav Klimt

Well, I'm finished with my Inspired by the Master's piece by Klimt. Here was the picture I used as my inspiration. Now keep an open mind and remember this is my interpretation of this picture put into fabric! You can click on any of the pictures to get a closer look.
This was some commercial fabric I used for my background. I free motion quilted first.

I took some hand dyed fabrics I had and wove them together making one large piece. Then I cut and sliced that woven (blue) fabrics into three different sections. This is before they were quilted on.

I fused the woven sections on top of my quilted background and then free motion quilted them to the background. Lots of quilting!

I added some other embellishments and I'll post the finished picture later this week. I'm waiting for Carol to come over to work on a quillow for her grandson.

Sun is out and even though the temp is only 47 it's still a beautiful day to be outside! I took Mandy with me to the post office this a.m. and for a quick walk. Bob's off golfing outside of the community today and tonight we are going to Longhorn's Steak House to celebrate Tony's birthday with Carol, Sammy and Peggy. Good food (we've eaten there before) and company so it should be a nice evening.

At the art fair this weekend, there was a young lady who takes photographs of animals, flora, fauna and manipulates them into Mandala's on canvas. They were just beautiful and so unique. I just sent my daughter her web site to take a look, since Dawn also takes wonderful photos. Anyway, check out Brett Miley's web site to see some of her work. Very talented young lady and nice as could be.

Winter Art Fair

Carol and I did get up to the Winter Art Fair At Tioga and we're so glad we did. The weather and company were perfect!
This was my purchase of the day! It's a hand made bowl by FRANK DIGANGI. He had beautiful pieces and so unusual! Carol purchased a bowl that I'll take a pic of and post. It's a similar colorway as this one and just a beautiful. My pic is from the top down so you can see the color pattern inside. They are lead free and microwave and dishwasher safe. Not your typical pottery.

One of the first sights after pulling into the of Tioga Town Square were exclusive homes that looked like something out east or in New Orleans. Each home had porches that wrapped around the house and were so inviting. This is the street we parked on. These houses were on a smaller scale but again didn't look like your typical Florida house.

Your typical white picketed fence! The houses were so nice!!

This was a shot from one of the aisles showing vendor booths. The buildings on the right and left are the town square. Exclusive shops and cafes..very upscale. We're thinking of taking a girls day out just to visit all of the stores.

Of course, you always see birds at an art fair! These little guys were just great and their owners were very interesting to talk to. They also had a blue front Amazon, just like Grace, for 35 years before she died. Bob was thrilled to know we still have a few more years left with Grace! NOT!

Why yes, we did have lunch at Nature's Cafe! I had a vegetarian chili salad which was great. Carol had a grilled chicken, Asian type dish which she said was great as well. Of course we did stop for a Starbuck's break before lunch!

This is another 'small' house on the way out of the 'community'. They have tennis courts, play areas, club house, etc. Again, very exclusive. This house did remind me of New Orleans.

On our way out we browsed the rest of the neighborhood. I did pick up one 'home for sale' flyer which listed the home for $634,900! This was one of the smaller homes! Wonder what these folks do for a living. I'm sure the homes were for their 'winters' in Florida.

This is Anna Marie and Friends, a group that entertained art fair 'goers'. They were a lot better then the sound I picked up but take a listen. If I would have had cash on me, I would have purchased one of their CD's (yes, Bob, I know! I should carry cash!!). It really was a very, very nice day. Oh, we did end up going over the a shopping mall and walked the entire mall! I think we each got our waking in for the day!

New Bed For Our Baby

Bob's other compulsion is taking care of his baby! No, not me (although he does take care of me!). His baby is Mandy! He's been rather compulsive about buying her a new bed so we stopped and picked one up! She's loving it!

Today or tomorrow I'm hoping to go to the Winter Fine Art Fair @ Tiogi. This appears to be similar to the Ann Arbor art fair but without the heat and humidity of Michigan in August. There are tons of different types of artists such as fiber, mixed media, sculpture, watercolor...looks really interesting and weather is perfect today. Mid to upper 70's, slight breeze and NO humidity! Perfect for this menopausal lady!

Food Fight

Yesterday morning while having our coffee we looked out the window and spotted a hawk on the lawn eating 'something'. Bob did go out later and confirmed it was a fish from the DRA. Anyway, crows surrounded the hawk and later turkey vultures came! It was a hoot to watch. Check out the video's I took below! You never know what you'll see!

Wed. Margarita Night

Another spontaneous decision last night to go out for dinner and where else to go on a Wed. night but El Toreo's for 99 cent Margaritas! YUM! When Bob got home from golf I had veggie lasagna to heat up but he suggested we go out. Back home, we don't eat out but once or twice a month. So why not take advantage of it where we're on 'vacation'. So off we went and we had a great night of just the two of us. We each got a combination plate rather then our usual chicken quesadilla.
Bob's knee is doing really better using the brace. Today, again, he has no pain and wants to go without the brace...but I'm going to nag him to wear it anyway just for a few more days. We'll see!
Nothing more to report. Amber is practicing at school for her spring concert. She said today they are meeting with their music teach for one hour and 15 min. to learn some more songs. I won't be home for the concert but dad or mom will tape it for me.
Another beautiful day here for us to enjoy. We're getting ready for the March 1st countdown on our days left in beautiful Florida!

More food and fun

This morning, Bob and I took off to guess what! SHOP! Yep. Well, we haven't been shopping for a few weeks! Bob found some great bargains and did get some new outfits. This is the first year I haven't found any thing in the stores, which is ok.
Bob's left for golfing now so I'm doing some laundry (the washer here is quite small so you are doing lots of laundry!), computer work then to work on my Klimt challenge piece!
Yesterday, I took Mandy to the dogie park here in the community. We met up with Bailey and his mom, Cheryl. Bailey is the cutest dog!! What a sweetheart and he has his own golf cart! Yep, the name on the golf cart is 'Bailey's Cart'! Do we spoil our dogs or what! But that's OK. Here's a picture I took of Bailey (left) meeting up with Mandy from my cell phone. Of course, Mandy doesn't play with any dog other then Cody so she and Bailey just walked around the park. They were so cute!!! I don't have connections to upload from my cell phone so this picture will have to do.

Marilyn and John invited us to their house for dinner last night. I'm going to call Marilyn the Crock Pot Queen! She can cook anything in her crock pot including Sangria! When we went to Marilyn and John's for a New Year's Day celebration she made a fantastic taco dish called 'Breakfast Migas' in her crock pot. Last night Marilyn started us off with some wine from Michigan! and appetizers that were puff pastry with artichoke filling in one and a spinach/cheese filling in the other. Yum! Her main course was Coq Au Vin which she cooked in the crock pot and was it ever good! Chicken and wine, what could be better! Here's a picture which represents what we had, plus, Marilyn had roasted potatoes (sweet and white) and carrots along with oil and some great spices for dipping our bread.

I made the old cherry cheesecake standby for dessert, using fat free cream cheese and fat free evaporated sweetened milk. We finished our meal with coffee and dessert and then talking, which for those who know Bob and I was right up our alley!

All in all we had such a pleasant evening with food and conversation! We didn't get home until almost 10 so you know we were enjoying ourselves! We did get to listen to the end of President Obama's speech when we got home. He is so eloquent and certainly gives you a feeling that he is a leader! So until tomorrow!

What happened to Monday!

Yikes! Not sure what all I did yesterday other then I some quilting (after my cleaning and a load of laundry) but I was delinquent about a blog entry! Guess nothing of note worthy was happening. Bob and I did run some errands this a.m. and enjoyed the beautiful weather. It's only 58 but feels like 70 with a breeze. Bob's leg and hip are feeling better so he decided to golf after all today.
So here's what Bob's wearing on his leg now. Looks pretty cute doesn't it! OK, so it's not Bob's leg! But you get the idea! We did pick up two other small braces today which he'll try tomorrow. Actually one of them is for an elbow (for a giant by the size of it!) and it appears it would work for his leg. So he'll try that one and another smaller version. Bob's love of golf is like my love of creating fiber art. He's willing to try anything to keep himself on the golf course. So between Tylenol Gel tabs, Glucosamine and braces we're hoping for the best!

I want to try and get some more work finished today on the Inspired by Masters challenge our small fiber group is doing. In this challenge, there are six 'painting masters' ; Klimt, Beardsley, Hokusai, Mucha, Hundertwasser & one more TBD. We are then creating an art quilt from our interpretation of that artists work. What's nice about this challenge is you don't have to do all six, you can do one or five or three...whichever artist inspires you. I finished my piece inspired by Aubrey Beardsley which you can see here. Now I'm working on a piece inspired by Klimt. I made good headway yesterday afternoon now I'm just tweaking some of my free motion quilting then I'll add some embellishment(s). I would post the pictures the pieces some of the ladies have finished but they are looking at putting an exhibit on for next fall so I'll wait until our first showing. We're hoping to have at least 20 pieces completed for the exhibit. So I better get to work! Until tomorrow!

Sunday - day of rest?

No, today won't be a day of rest...I did that yesterday. For my Michigan friends and family, I'm having some of my health issues I had last fall...so not to sound like a complainer we'll leave it at that! UGH!

Here is my nature journal quilt (8 1/2 x 11") for February. The background was chalk applied on milk soaked muslin. I free motion quilted the leaves then painted some of them.
This is my March nature journal quilt. The dark hole at the top is actually the quilt cut away and beading around the edges. I used paint sticks on freezer paper stencil to make the trees.

So, I finished the start of (now that sounds strange doesn't it!) my latest project which is creating an Art Diary. Back home I have some large, plastic sleeves that I keep different techniques I've tried, which is nice. But I got thinking after seeing Linda Kemshall on QA tv showing a fabric book she made of her art quilts. Why not challenge myself to make an art diary of my techniques rather then small pieces put into plastic sleeves. So I did..hence, the "finished the start" of comment. I made the cover and 1st page of my Art Diary which I'm showing here. I'm going to put a slide show on m blog for those who are interested in the process/progress of each page. I really had fun with this 'self challenge' and perhaps it will inspire others to do the same either with their journal quilts (8 1/2 x 11") or similar to mine which is approx. 18" x 18".
Here is the cover of my Art Diary. I took a pieces of commercial fabric and free motion quilted it; I added metal washers then I used a foam roller and applied Liquitex lt. blue violet soft body paint on top of the washers and quilted piece; I painted the wording with White Mist by Stewart Gill.

Closeup of my Art Diary cover

Cover page of my Art Diary

The 1st page started off with cotton sateen (from Joanne's) and bamboo batting with no backing; I started the quilting with a twin needle just 'willy nilly' using cotton thread; then I continued quilting using a dark blue rayon and Sulky 30wt cotton, variegated thread throughout the piece; I mixed fiber reactive dyes with print paste and covered the entire piece; after 24 hours I rinsed out the dye but decided it was too dark so I mixed up bleach and sprayed the entire piece then panic set in and I quickly rinse it! It did become a lot lighter which was ok. After it dried I added some metallic threads to outline the butterfly I had drawn with threads.

So this is page 1 of my Art Diary! I'm going to put grommets on the left edge so I can attach the Not sure what page 2 will end up being but I'm looking forward to it!

Closeup of page 1

Girls Night Out

Yesterday, Carol and I went to Girls Night Out in the downtown Ocala area, which is sponsored by 18 different shops. The timeframe was 4 - 8 but we arrived early to have lunch at the Primary Oven market and bakery. This is quite a unique place that serves different fresh made lunches daily. And the desserts! Huge and good! Funny how when we get older huge meals and desserts are impressive to us! Anyway, after lunch, we walked around the town waiting for 4:00 p.m. The downtown Ocala area is quite old and they have some pretty historic buildings as well as speciality shops. If you look at the corner of this picture, you'll see the building where the Primary Oven is now located.

Our main stop was Bakers and Cooks a store that not only carries cooking items, but also houses a kitchen for both demonstration and hands on type cooking classes. They have lots of gourmet coffee, specialty teas, and samplings of their gourmet food products. We got to 'taste' some wine and brownies (we didn't eat our dessert at Primary Oven - we took it home). This is a neat store to find unusual gifts and cooking items...which we did!

It was a beautiful day for walking and sitting out side drinking coffee and spending money. Carol and I usually plan one day each winter to walk around the downtown area and it's always a really nice day and pleasant memory.

A good dad

I've always thought my son was a good dad and tries to be a good example to Amber and Nick. I received this email today from Darrin. The kids have enjoyed selecting items for Darrin to pack up each month. I've been to the house when the kids will grab a protein bar or a new package of chap stick to place in the box. They would also go as a family to Costo (just like Sam's Club) and pick up treats to send to the troupes. Here's the email Darrin sent out this a.m.

Over the past 9+ months, our family has been sending care packages each month to the Marines in Iraq along with goodies to GySgt. Gary Morrell and this past week both of our kids received a very special package from GySgt. Morrell and the Marines in Iraq to thank them both for all the things they have done. The kids wanted to share with everyone what they had received…see the attachment. Amber received the same for her school (Clear Lake Elem. Oxford) along with the flag shown in the picture with GySgt. Morrell (on the left in picture.) On 02/19/09 GySgt. Morrell will arrive home after his 3rd tour…The Soukup’s are planning on showing up at the airport to help Welcome him home and say Thank You for all he has done.
Darrin

This is the certificate that was sent to Nick. I'm sure he was quite excited to show at his school.

I think this is a good example of showing support in our own little way to our troops. They really have sacrificed so much for us to live the life we each have.

Wednesday Dye Day

Today is going to be beautiful and perfect day for dyeing. I'm working on some new pieces and techniques which require dyeing. Oh well, someone has to do the playing, I mean work! So I get to play with dyes today! I'm thinking blues for today but I might work with some purple too. With dyeing you just never know what you'll get and you'll most likely never get that same, exact color again.

So when we were in Micanopy on Monday, I saw some small, wood sculpture pieces in the Shady Oak Gallery. They were done by Rick Cain of Micanopy. His work is stunning and the detail is unbelievable. He has a wood sculpture of an alligator that is over 10 or 12 feet! Plus, there are hidden alligators in the sculpture! There are videos and pictures of Rick working on different projects on his web site. It's worth a few minutes to check it out.

Mayberry or Twilight Zone

Mayberry or Twilight Zone were the words one merchant described the town of Micanopy, Fl. Micanopy is where Carol, Peggy and I spent yesterday afternoon walking, shopping and eating. This town is so quaint but yet some business were quite upscale. Each of the stores are located in very, very old buildings with each room FILLED to the brim with merchandise. The book stores did remind you of a Stephen King novel and you were waiting for the villain to come out and ask if you wanted to give your soul to him! I was really impressed with one of the book stores. This particular one (again was filled!) had each category listed above the books. You knew exactly where each type of book was located. How impressive for an antique book store! I lost count of the number of rooms holding books.
So this is the first building we approached upon arriving. And with 'food' on our minds we stopped in for a lunch. The cafe is on the right side and our lunch was great! We each had stuffed tomato with chicken salad on lettuce with a vinaigrette dressing. The plate was huge! But 'waste not, want not' so we ate almost the entire meal. Well, we had a lot of walking to do so we needed our energy!
The store on the left called Shady Oak Gallery looked like just a stain glass merchant but they were more then an art glass studio. They carried stain glass and did workshops in addition to fine jewelry, local art and gifts. They also have a bed and breakfast which looked quite nice on their web site.

This is where we ate our lunch.
Even Elvis was in Micapony!

We had a really nice day and it's so much fun to see different areas of Florida. I always thought of Miami and congestion whenever I thought of Florida. But coming to Ocala and visiting the surrounding areas over the past five years has certainly changed my mind. That was the first thing Bob and I noticed when we came here five years ago was seeing birch trees and pine trees and no palm trees! We thought we couldn't be in Florida! We felt like we were up north Michigan. Maybe that's why we like Florida in the winter. OK, the warm weather helps, doesn't it!