Friday, October 17, 2008

NATURE'S BOUNTY


"Fingerprint Friday" How do you see God's fingerprints in your life? The little glimpses I do get of God here on earth have always been through nature and the cycles of the seasons. I love this time of year and hope I have captured it in these photos. Go on over to Pampering Beckie to join in and please leave me a comment so I can stop by your blog!



Don't forget to scroll down to enter my give away for my autumn peasant top!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

ANYWAY


People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, People may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway.
The good you do today people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway.
Author: Dr. Kent Keith

I found this on Angie's blog here.
Scroll down to sign up for my give away!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Give It Away Wednesday


This week's give away is the cream floral peasant top.


Welcome to my weekly give away which will be happening every Wednesday until Christmas. You have until Tuesday of the following week to post a comment. I am hoping to generate some Christmas spirit ahead of time this year. Each week I will be giving away one of my designs. I need some major change in my life and I know that giving is one of the main spiritual practices whether it is giving of your things, yourself or your time. And, as I said last week and will say again next week, if you know of a child in need, please email me and I can design something special for them. Please don't be afraid to ask. Ask and you shall receive.



The winner of last weeks Halloween skirt giveaway is Tracey from Stitch X Stitch, she is from England. Congratualtions!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

A Day in My Life

As I said in the post previous to this, I joined this "Day in my life" Once a month I will join with other women and share a day, today was not a good day to share. By doing this though, it helped me to look around and find something good in the moments of dispair. I also noticed that during the week, I judge my days on how much I get done, guess thats a good thing to notice and try and change. So here goes!
Woke up late as usual, Razzle and Midnight, our kittens like to sleep all day so they have lots of energy to charge around the apt all night. So I had about 2 hours sleep and the worst allergies I have had in about 30 years.
Pried my crabby daughter out of bed, made her breakfast and lunch and an after school snack. Still in my pj's (half hidden by a coat) Walk her to my favorite coffee shop to meet her friend Kate, kiss her goodbye as they walk to school together.
Grab a coffe and go to my morning meeting which I didn't plan on doing, I am still in my pyjamas! The topic was: self seeking will slip away and we will gain interest in others.
Leave the meeting early because of the sneezing and return home. Do some computer work while eating the left over pumpkin cheesecake with my fingers. Oh.

Last week when we were upstate, a farmer told me about an online dating service for farmers, so I sign up for that (time is running out for me to get my dream life of owning a small farm) I haven't dated in 8 years. I got a few flirts from cattle farmers! One man emailed me and it was like he was speaking in another language. I begin to think, Do I live in a Fantasy World? This isn't what I thought farmers do! Kill animals, yuk! Exausted and depressed, I go back to sleep for 2 hours.

Farmers we met upstate! They didn't kill animals, they grew lavender and had gourmet hens and bees and apple trees?!

Get up again, take a shower and off to my dd's volleyball game. It is almost 4:00 and with the help of a Starbucks Vivano I start to wake up. Join my mommy friends at the game and my dd scores 8 points, 8 great serves. I was so happy for her and so proud. They win the game.
Off to Best Buy to exchange the ipod dd got for her birthday. We walk up to 86th street both of us in a great mood. Her dad calls and tells her he is getting her the phone she wants for her birthday. Could her afternoon get any better?
Get to 86th, ipod sold out, hop on subway down to 42, get the ipod, dd drops part of the head phones, starts crying, there is a grateful dead record signing in the store, chaos, the whole front of the store smells like drugs. AHHH! I am leaving, go to wait outside while somehow my dd talks the manager into giving her a new set of headphones. Lots of traffic on the bus ride home. Protest outside of grand central. 7:00, dinner in the pizza place, she sits and does homework, I make 6 trips up and down to our 5th floor walk up to schlepp the laundry across the street. Oh no, I left the quarters upstairs.
Am i boring you to tears yet?
10:00 Laundry done, DD takes shower, I start sewing. Mom, can you lay down with me? (Just when I am finally about to start work) I give in because she is my life. We have a nice cozy talk in bed and hope that tomorrow will be a better day.

Talk about You Tuesday


LITTLE JENNY WREN
A really special blog! Little Jenny Wren, a blog that celebrates life. From her handmade waldorf style dolls to her lovely quotes. I have to admit this blog touches my heart. One day a month you can join "a day in my life" where woman share about the simple things they do throughout the day and post it. Right now, she is having a sale in her Etsy shop. The dolls are amazing. I am a dollmaker and I know the amount of work that goes into these waldorf dolls. A handmade doll is unlike any other. It is not just a doll, it really has a soul and a life of its own. Buying one of these dolls is an investment in your childs life.
So go check out her blog and Etsy shop and be inspired!

**And don't forget to sign up for my halloween skirt giveaway here, you have until tonight at midnight.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Recipe Monday

Well, it has been a busy 5 days! My dd's 12th birthday has been a 5 day celebration! There was a hiking trip upstate, a sleepover party at our house, Saturday's trip to 6 flags great adventure, Sunday's pumpkin picking out East and a party at my parents today. I AM EXAUSTED!! But, it was lots of fun with lots of good food! My daughter wanted pumkin pie for her birthday cake so thats what she got on Friday at our house. She loves my mothers cheesecake, so my mom surprised her with a delicious pumpkin cheescake today at their house. So anyway, now I have about 5 minutes to post this recipe before it is no longer Monday. Now 4 minutes! I think I am going to hit the publish post button and then come back and finish. Be right back! Well I hope that worked. So, this weeks recipe is a really delicious pumpkin bread. A lot of the things that make baking easier and more succesful to me is to share the answers to the questions I had to ask when I did the baking. So, here goes. Hint 1: It looks like a ton of dates, but its not, they shrink when they are baked. I thought the recipe was wrong and was going to dump half of them. Hint 2: Sift the flour before you measure it and Hint 3: This recipe calls for breadcrumbs, make sure they are unseasoned NOT Progresso seasoned Italian Breadcrumbs!

PUMPKIN BREAD

2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoons Cloves
2 Large Eggs
2 cups light brown sugar packed
1/2 cup canola oil
1 lb (2 cups) canned pumpkin
8 oz (1 cup) pitted whole dates, each date cut into 2-3 pcs (no smaller!)
4 oz (generous 1 cup) walnuts

Oven rack should be set 1/3 up from bottom. Set oven to 350. Butter a 10 x 5 x 3" loaf pan or 2 smaller pans. I used 2 smaller pans. Dust the pan with fine dry bread crumbs, then tap out excess.
Sift together flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Set aside. In a large bowl beat the eggs just to mix (I used my kitchen aid) Mix in the pumpkin and then the dates. Now add the sifted dry ingredients and stir or mix on low setting until they are smoothly incorporated. Stir in nuts by hand.
Turn into prepared pans and smooth the tops.
Bake for 1 1/2 hours in large pan or 70 minutes in the small pans. Bread is done when a tooth pick comes out of the middle JUST ABOUT clean.
Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove and let stand on a rack until cool.
Bread can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the fridge for 2 days or frozen for 3 months.
To serve immediatly, cut slices 3/4" thick with a serrated knife. Great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Enjoy!