In the Black

Our first month of retirement is coming to a close.  We traveled around Texas and then went east to spend a couple of weeks with my family in north Georgia.  We got to visit the Georgia Aquarium last week - it is wonderful! 

If you want to feel small just stand in front of this aquarium wall.

Now we are home and ready to explore what this new life holds for us.  One of our first snags occurred doing the laundry.  Mr. Joy & Comfort picked up a pair of black panties and asked, "Whose are these?"  I just looked at him - and them - and him...  Let me see... only two people live in this house.  Whose indeed.

Like most women, I've owned a pair, or two, or three of black undies since I graduated high school.  I like colors and lace and - well, honestly, I thought I had made a better impression on him in them.  Maybe he did work too much...

I explained that they were mine, recently worn and now washed, ready to be worn again.  I'll make sure he notices next time.


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Quilting with Joy

I took on a unique quilting project last year when I won a contest on  Barbara's blog, Cat Patches.   The moment that I entered the contest I had the thought "if I win I'll share the prize with the blogger that told me about the contest."  So when I won a stack of fabric, I contacted Denise at Count It All Joy and told her she had also won.  I sent her half the fabric and she picked out a pattern for us to use.  I had plans for this little project to be finished by March 2012 so that I would have a 'ready made' post for you.

Life got busy, almost to the point of overwhelming, and my sewing machine made two unexpected trips to the repair shop.  I made it through all this and I am proud to announce that I have (at last) finished my block.  That's right, we were making just a simple block...  Here's the pattern by Adrianne at Little Bluebell with its own little story.  The original was a little pillow.  What did Denise make?  Here it is (along with her adventure in making this little gem). 

What did Joy do?  I promise I started off thinking 'little pillow' - something to give a friend who likes to read in bed so she could prop up her book.  But as I played with the fabric something else came to mind, as you can see in this post from July.  If I bought just a couple of yards of fabric I could make a blanket.  Off I went in search of more of the MODA 'little apples' fabric.  (This was the year I learned that fabric lines can come and go quickly.)  All I could find was a few fat quarters of the printed white, a few more of the gray fabrics, and less than three yards of the green. 

This "Mommie Blanket" is for Allison, a new friend of mine.  She recently had her second baby - two under three.  I figure if anyone could use a blankie it would be this sweet (and brave!) young woman.



My 'little pillow.'

Here is it, almost the end of the year, and I have finally finished this little quilt. Many thanks to Denise, Barbara, and Adrianne. 

Cute Fabric - Love the Squirrels!

I learned a few more things working on this little project. Like "share your joy" and "there's no job that can't be put off" and, my favorite, "be nice to strangers - that's how we make friends."

Happy New Year !

             Joy

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It's beginning to look...

When I'm in the mood to create, there is such a lightness in my heart, I work without effort.  I enjoy creating things. Fabrics become quilts. A few flowers and herbs become a garden. Furniture, curtains, meals, and memories become a home.

This past month has been unseasonably warm here in Texas making it hard for me to decorate for Christmas. In my brain, cold weather and gray cloudy days demand color, sparkle, lights, and festive music, but lately my days have been all sunshine and springlike weather. It makes me want to get out in the garden or take a trip to the zoo or do just about anything except create a winter wonderland in the house.

Sunshiny days make it hard for me to focus on decorating the tree.

I am happy to report that we have had a couple of days of cooler weather and I just heard the Christmas Day forecast for a chance of snow - that's more like it. I'm on a roll now, maybe I can finish gift wrapping and just sit by the fire with a cup of tea.

When it gets cold enough to wear a heavy coat,
I can't wait to trim the tree and deck the halls.

I'm off to bake one more batch of cookies and spend some time with my family.   

At last, it's the most wonderful time of the year...

Thanks for spending time with me and my blog.

I hope your holidays are happy and bright.

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Celebrate

Life at our house has been crazy lately. My husband is retiring in less than a month and the parties have already started. If anyone is retiring PLEASE take time to celebrate.

I know so many people who say they want to 'go quietly.' Or you'll hear someone - birthday girl or guy - say "Oh, I don't need anything..." (Yes, I'm guilty of this.) You need it. And your friends need this celebration, too.

Each life is unique with its own series of important life events. In a world with Twitter and "In Your Face" media, you and yours are the Stars of your life.  So, please, enjoy your life - do lunch, brunch, dinner, and Sunday Supper whenever you can.

Take pictures.

Email and snail mail cards for all occasions. 

Light candles, sing songs.



 

Celebrate Life!

Get out there and party. Because every life needs a way to mark time. Life markers to remind us how far we've come, what we have accomplished, and who we love. Places and dates where we can look out and observe the changing of the guard and the beginning and ending of things. So go to those graduations, showers, weddings, birthday parties, funerals, memorials services, Christmas open houses, New Years parties, and retirement ceremonies.  Make time to stop and visit with friends at the nearest bar, tea room, or coffee house.

Even if you live to be 100 life is short.

Celebrate every time you get a chance.

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I'm working on it...

To the many bloggers who post every day - CHEERS!

Me?  I'm in the middle of a cleaning marathon that ends with Christmas all over the house and cookies in the oven.  Also, I did get an iPhone so I'm somewhere in the learning curve trying to figure out how and when I turned the volume off - sorry about all those missed calls...

Today I am celebrating something big in my life.  It has been one year, one week, and a day since I colored my hair. 

Some day soon I will update my profile picture.

Life is good.  Really and truly one of the best things I've done for myself this past year is not put color on my hair.  It was almost a two year process.  The first year I changed over to temporary (28 day) color and every few months I bought a lighter shade.

Then I just quit coloring my hair and - although I can't figure out what I've done with the extra time and money - I can tell you I feel better.  I know, I know, the commercials will tell you that my life is flat and boring and my hair is wimpy.  But I will tell you I'm smart enough to not be bored and a good hair cut (thank you, Jessica!) can keep just about any body's hair from being wimpy.

Unfortunately, this change has not made me smarter - I had to take several pictures before I figured out I needed to "look up" when I pushed the little button.

Next week I'll work on taking better pictures.

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Waiting for My Crown...

You know that gas the dentist gives you, before he gives you a shot so you won't feel the really big shot he's going to give you, so he can work on your tooth, so that next week he can yank off the temporary crown he's putting on today, and permanently attached your "crown?"  Well, let me tell you, it has worn off...  the gas is gone.  At this moment I do not feel like laughing.  I think the feeling is coming back to my right ear now...  While I wait for my body to come back online, I can't help but feel out of sorts. 

So I'm just moping this evening.

Of course, when you're not up to working you can not help but notice everything that needs doing. 

Bless my cozy, cluttered kitchen - 

The hutch in the breakfast room has caught as much junk as I can stand.  So when I finish typing I plan to start thinking about dusting and then I'll put on her winter look. 

Sigh.

But not tonight, I've been to the dentist, and tonight, I'm moping.

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Sweet Potatoes

I know sweet potatoes.  Or maybe they are yams... 

Sweet potatoes (is that darker one a yam?), our half eaten pie,
and small 'crustless' pie.
Just playing with my food.

Whatever this vegetable is, I do know how to make pies with it and this is my favorite recipe.  The recipe makes two 9 inch pies.  I experimented with this batch and I made one of my pies without the crust - would that make it pudding?  or a casserole? 

I could have added to my crustless pie a half cup of Bourbon, 3 more tablespoons of melted butter, 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, and thrown miniature marshmallows on top and it would have been my Aunt Jo's Sweet Potato Casserole (I remember it was a great side dish/dessert at family gatherings - as long as we didn't let it get too close to candles).

I got this recipe from my friend, Freddie.  Sadly, she died just over a year ago.  She had lived a long, full life and was well respected by everyone who knew her.  For me, she lives on in my memories  - her sweet smile, soft southern voice, gentle ways, and even in her pie.

Recipe -  Freddie B's Sweet Potato Pie

Before you can make this pie you'll need to wash, peel, cut up, and boil your sweet potatoes.  I used  three large sweet potatoes in this recipe (and had some left over).  I cut them in to small pieces and put them in a pot, added just enough water to cover them, a dash of salt, and put the lid on.  Put the pot on the stove top with medium heat.  I set my timer for 22 minutes and just let them cook.  I stirred the pot 3 or 4 times.  When the timer went off, I turned off the heat and just left the pot there while I made the pie crust.  Here's a link to my pie crust recipe.  After I made the crust, I drained the sweet potatoes and mashed them.  The recipe mixes up best if the potatoes are almost room temperature.


1 3/4 to 2 cups mashed sweet potatoes (really, this is a very flexible recipe)
1 teaspoon salt
1 12 oz. can of evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon vanilla flavoring (that was my idea - Freddie's recipe only calls for a teaspoon)

Put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl, keep the mixer on low, mixing until everything is well blended.

Pour 2 2/3 cups of the mixture into each pie shell (I've added a little more and nothing terrible happens - you just have to cook a bit longer).

Place into oven and then turn it on to 425F / 425 degrees.

Bake 20 minutes, maybe a little longer, until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Let cool 20 minutes (minimum) I think an hour or two is best.  Tastes good hot, warm, or cold.

Vanilla ice cream is a nice garnish or a little whipped cream.

This is what Autumn tastes like. 

Enjoy.

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