Queenly Things

Find a Wheel, and it Goes Round, Round, Round

"Find a wheel and it goes round, round, round
As it skims along with a happy sound
As it goes along the ground, ground, ground
Till it leads you to the one you love"

I loved singing rounds when we were kids in elementary school. You waited, holding your breath, until the teacher pointed at your group to start and someone, usually an icky boy, ALWAYS messed up. I'd learn the songs at school then come home and teach them to my little sisters. We would practice for hours in the bathtub or while waiting for the sandman to arrive on his rounds. 

And variety shows like Ed Sullivan, Perry Como Dean Martin, remember those? There were always dancers like the June Taylor Dancers on the Jackie Gleason Show who would make those awesome round formations that were filmed from above? It looked like a human kaleidescope. Ooooo, I wanted to be a dancer back then like the ones on those shows.  

Then there was the Fifth Beatle, the fifth wheel, Billy Preston with his big old halo of black curls? "Will it go 'round in circles, ah huh? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky".  

Weren't those just the days? Well, the wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round, I s'pose. I think the nostalgia has been inspired by the retro fabrics on these penny rounds. I'm making brooches.

See you around.

A Little Wrist Action

Really enjoying the jewelry making this summer. No threat to Tiffany's, clearly, but it's so thrilling, when someone compliments you on your adornments, to say, "thanks, I made it."

I took a one-evening class last Spring to learn to make leather and bead jewelry. I took it at the request of a friend who wanted to take it and wanted me to take it, too. It was an okay class, sparked my imagination, but paying for a class is totally unneccessary. Tutorials and videos abound on the internet and, fact: this was not that hard to do.

The juxtasposition of rugged leather and sparkly little beads really sends me. The plan was to make a double wrap but I did not estimate the beading thread accurately. Next time. The button, but of course from my bottomless stash, is an old copper National Park Service button. Pretty shnazzy.

The fun nevers ends around here. What? Oh, thank you, I made it.

Sweet Madeleine

Checking off another accomplishment this summer - making madeleines. From scratch. Une madeleine, comme celle de Proust dans le rêve. 

There was a thought flitting through my brain that I could make the perfect madeleine - well, perfect in the respect that it would be a madeleine that was exactly what I wanted a madeleine to be. Spongey, yes, but  not too spongey and also, they should be a little crusty around the edges where the sugar browns the thinner parts.

Found the molds at a rummage sale a few weeks back and well, voila, there they are. I did it.

C'est si bon!

 

Golly Gee, Look at Me

Using up buttons for all to see.

Terribly 

fun, you see.

Using up buttons; one, two, three.

Happily

With much glee,

Using up buttons whoop-tee-dee.

Surely ye

all agree,

I'm using up buttons, I'm on a spree.

Large and wee,

A to Zee,

Using up buttons suits to a tee.

Jewels they be

and almost free

Using up buttons most handily.

 

And now, I'll just button up.

 

Made in the Shade

Having two months off in the summer is not something I take for granted but it is a time I like to take advantage of. I love setting my own schedule, doing projects at my own pace with the luxury of knowing I'll have time tomorrow if I don't finish today and also, the gorgeousness of not doing anything at all if I choose..

Mornings, lately, after my walk I've been putting on a CD of a audiobook, settling back in a comfy chair and knitting or working on one of these lap quilts I've stitched up. I am using up bigger scraps fabric. The layers are not quilted, although I think I might finish some like that. Mostly I am just tying them together with yarn.

So far I've finished a blue one, am tying off a green one and have a red one all ready to put together. Nothing fancy, nothing hurried just a lazy day project. Feels good.

Knit Witless

Now that I am the new Canning Guru of the West Coast (see previous post), I can check that skill off my "to-learn" list. And so it is that now you'll find me trying to maneuver two unwieldy and very unbending sticks through the air with the greatest of ease. Har, har. Does anyone have a couple of hands I can borrow because this knitting thing is truly made for folks with more than two? This is my fourth or fifth day of really trying to learn to knit. The second day I really got the whole stockinette stitch going like a house afire. I was making plans for knitting the Empire State Building when...I dropped a stitch. There were those plans in the toilet.

It usually isn't that hard for me to learn something like this, but knitting is a bitch, a hard taskmistress, I am telling you that right now. I am feeling fairly witless in this process. The other thing that is out-of-the-odinary- I'm not giving up. No, siree. While I don't envision Miss Marple moves any time soon, you know knitting while you're not looking so's you can solve mysteries and stuff, I am going to finish a project.

 

This little sample is, mmmmm, maybe the 30th or 40th attempt. No lie. Tension is truly the key. Unfortunately I haven't quite mastered that but I am sure it'll come to me eventually. It's got to, right?

This is what I'm aiming for. I think it's totally doable unless I poke out an eye or something first. See it starts small, at the point, so I figure by the time the piece is of any consequential width I will be really good - okay, better than I was at the beginning AND there is a very sneaky little ruffle action all around that should hide a bazillion mistakes. 

So anyhoo, if anyone o' you are considering writing a beginners knitting book here's a tip: it's a good idea to teach people how to fix their mistakes - pick up a dropped stitch, undo a lousy row, take out an unwanted extra loop - 'cause hey, we're beginners. We're going to need to know that stuff.

I'll keep you posted on the "cool, easy (my behind)" knitting as it progresses. Truth be told, I am feeling very determined. Needles crossed.

Plum Lucky

I know it's hard to believe, but actually - I don't know everything. But I'm all for self-improvement therefore it is with great pride that I announce to you that today I did my first-ever-in-my-life canning. Yeah, you're all old hands at it but for some reason - maybe a little fear plus some who-cares-you-cn-buy-stuff - I had never attempted this pretty cool bit of culinary wonder.

I ordered this guide - it's British and Brits sure as heck know about putting up delectables. What to make, what to make? Jam, yes, I've been in a few. I mean we have dozens of jars waiting in the wings to adorn our toast, so it seemed superfluous and there's all that setting up and gelling drama to consider.

So for my first outing in what is surely to be a career in canning, I chose to make pickled plums. We visited some friends of my mom who have a lot of fruit trees in their backyard. The kindly old gentleman from Texas took his state-of-the-art plum picker ( an old juice can nailed to a very long pole with two nails bent into claws above the can. Worked like a charm) and bagged me some pounds of big purple plums.

It was a little scary, the sterilizing and sealing part, but persevere I did.

All in all, I do believe it might just have turned out fine.

Of course, the test is really how many people I send to the ER when they taste their holiday gifts this year. But, hey, it looks real pretty, yeah?

Whatever You Do, Don't Make These Cookie Bars

Seriously. Salted Caramel Butter Bars? Who needs 'em?

I mean, even when you stick them in the freezer to "save" them but you sneak one just to make sure they're still "okay" and they are waaaayyyyy better than okay....pfffttt?

Yep, Salted Caramel Butter Bars - don't even start.

 

But if common sense and severe warnings won't deter you, here's the recipe.

More or Less Marsupial

I've got pouches, little suede-y pouches.

Incredibly easy to fashion. I used this tutorial.

When I chanced upon a piece of real honest-to-goodness suede the other day, the die was cast, as it were. Had to make 'em.

Nifty, thrifty - good for gifties.

Summer Lovin'

So much to love about summer - like drying your sheets on the line.

Icy cold root beer milk (Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!) for lunch.

Picnics on the grass with homemade Chex Mix for snacki-poos.

PIMIENTO CHEESE!!!!! and lemonade.

Outdoor concerts.

And fireworks. Doesn't get much better.