Fall Anticipation and Other Randomness

Well, today's post is going to be short. I have a few craft projects on the table right now, but nothing is ready for me to do a blog about. So, I'm just going to talk about a few things going on with me.

Even though it's still HOT, HOT, HOT outside, I can feel fall coming. There's something about the sky now that says autumn is on its way*, and believe it or not, some of the leaves around here are starting to turn. I can't wait for cooler weather, fairs, bonfires, apple cider, beautiful foliage, mums, asters, and HALLOWEEN. It makes me so giddy I want to squeal!

What also makes me giddy is our new house. We signed the lease two weeks ago, and since we've been moving our stuff over one truckload at a time. I like our new place more and more each time I go over, so I think we're going to be really happy there. I sure am looking forward to enjoying a cup of coffee on our new porch!

I just found out recently that the Mists of Pandaria expansion for World of Warcraft is coming out at the end of September. I'm excited and a little surprised that it's coming out then; it's sooner than I expected. This means I have some work to do, like finish leveling some toons I wanted to have ready for the new content. Guess I'll be spending some time in Azeroth!

*For you science buffs, I did a little research because I wanted to know if I was just crazy or if there really is something to my feeling that the sky is indicating the coming autumn. I can't actually explain what I pick up on that makes me recognize the change of the season, but here's what I discovered: because of Earth's tilt, the sun appears higher in the sky during the summer than it does in the winter. This causes a change in the appearance of the sky's color, due to a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering (what makes the sky blue). The change would be pretty subtle and would vary based on latitudes, but the lowest estimate I've seen about human color perception is that we can see approximately 2 million different colors, and I've also seen estimates as high as 10 million colors. Color variations are subjective, but it probably is possible for a person to pick up on a change in the sky's hue. Read about it all here:

http://www.morehead.unc.edu/Shows/EMS/seasons.htm
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/1998-10/909280669.Ph.r.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayleigh_scattering
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color

Sorry So Late

I bet you thought I'd forgotten about you this week. Never fear, I have not. No, instead I've been busy recovering from a weekend at my husband's family reunion by moving stuff to our new rental. So yeah, that craft blog I've been promising - I think I'm just going to break it up into several small blogs. Let's face it, my picture blogs are pretty long aren't they? This way, it'll be more convenient for all of us.

With that said, here's what I want to show you this week:

This is a wreath I made using jute twine, some wire, old jeans, and three vintage costume brooches that belonged to my granny. I started out with the intent to make something like a wreath I saw, where else, on Pinterest. The wreath is actually for sale on Etsy via TheCreativeGypsy's shop, but I thought, "I'm pretty crafty, let me try my hand at this." So I started wrapping the wreath with jute twine and was about to make the linen flowers when I saw this tutorial for denim flowers on Pinterest. The center beading looked so much like my granny's brooches that I changed my plans for the wreath right then and there. See, I love the old costume jewelry that my granny gave me, but it's not my style for wearing, so I've been looking for some way to incorporate it into something that I could see every day and get enjoyment from. Behold, my wreath! I just love it! It's rustic with a bit of glam. I'm sure the girls at Mary Jane's Farm would be proud. But I didn't stop there - oh no. See, in my granny's box of vintage jewelry was also a pair of clip-on earrings:



So I made myself some flowers that never die. They look just lovely in my milk glass bud vase. So just remember, if you've got something that means a lot to you, but all it's doing is cluttering up your space, turn it into something new. Happy crafting!

The Dream Net

So no picture blog again this week, but I do have something nifty to share. When I saw this on Pinterest:

I knew I just had to make one!

Originally, I wanted a doily center just like the picture, but I wanted to use one of my granny's old ones. Unfortunately, my mom has them all, and I just couldn't wait for my next visit, so I improvised. Mine has a more traditonal net center with lots of beads. Then I loaded it down with ribbons, strings, and LOTS of trinkets that all have special meaning to me. The end result is something unique and sort of bohemian:

My little one calls it my "dream net." She wants one too, so as soon as I get some ribbons that coordinate with her room colors, we'll make her one too :).

Now for a personal update. We'll be moving soon. Last night I took a second look at the rental property I mentioned last week. It's not perfect, but I think it'll do. I'll get some pictures up when we're all settled in!

Tonight?

Tonight could be the night. We are going to see a new place to rent, and I'm hopeful. It's a cute little house out in the country with lots more space than we currently have. It's the right price, and it allows pets. We could get really lucky!

However, our luck always balances out. This afternoon we are dropping off the truck for a laundry list of things that need to be tended to, including new tires and AC repair. Ick. There goes all the money the hubby made from his July 4th holiday overtime. You know what? I'm not complaining. We have always been fortunate with money. We've never been rolling in cash, but we've always had what we needed, and most of the time, a little extra. The powers that be seem to keep us on a short leash so that we never get too far down one path or the other, and I'm okay with that.

I'm making progress on the craft picture blog I promised you a few weeks ago. My main problem is that I'm having issues with uploading my pictures. I'll work on it over the week and hopefully have it to you by next Monday.

I'll give you a sneak preview of what's to come in the craft blog:

I have quite the budding artist in my house. She loves to color, draw, and paint, so my house is overflowing with paper swathed in colors. What I needed was a way to make them special. Now I know a few of you are saying, "but a child's art is already special," and I agree. But I've also heard it said, "When everything is special, then nothing is special," and that I also agree with. Believe me when I tell you, there were so many pictures piling up that I couldn't even see them all, because they were starting to blend together. I was already beginning to overlook the pretty pictures my girl had so put so much love and joy into making.

So when I saw this project on Pinterest, I knew just what to do with the little one's masterpieces. At first she was unsure of letting me cut them, but when she saw how they turned out, she was really excited about helping Mommy make pictures. Her favorite right now is the bird. I was thinking since I have so many paintings, that doing a few of these for every season would be a great idea. Now I look up and see a daily reminder of my little artist. I have plans on making Christmas gifts using this idea, and I'm sure the family will love them. I have also used her art to make cards for holidays. The one we made for her daddy on Father's Day turned out especially well, thanks to this idea I pinned: http://pinterest.com/pin/22658804345586346/.

Well, there you have it. Stay tuned for more Pinterest ideas made real, and more fun, crafty stuff by yours truly! See you next week!

Is it that time again?

It feels like it's been ages since I last blogged. Quite a bit has happened this week. We're still enduring a heat wave, and I swear that our little AC is losing the battle. We're supposed to get a reprieve from the high temps this week, and I so hope they're right. We had quite a storm not too long after I finished my last blog post, complete with golf ball-sized hail and hurricane-force winds. One of the pine trees out front decided to split open and fall over right in front of the house, and I am SO, SO grateful it decided to fall AWAY from the house.

Look at this tree. Just look at it. All falling over and crap.

 Had the wind been blowing the opposite direction, our master bedroom would have been crushed. That would have most certainly moved our rental search priority to DefCon 1. Speaking of which, last Thursday we took a look at a rental property that we liked very much. We may not get it because it's a tiny bit more expensive than we would like, but hey, at least we found something. That's a great improvement over the "no pets, no longer available" luck I've been having. We will prevail. With time and perseverance, we'll find a place that's both in our target price range and has the features we're looking for.

Now that I've given you a personal update, here is the real reason I'm posting today: HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE ICE CREAM.

Wipe your chin; you're drooling.

This stuff is delicious, and it wasn't difficult to make! I found the recipe in a Philadelphia Cream Cheese  advertisement in my latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens. It really does taste like cheesecake with strawberry topping. It even has graham crackers in it! I made this for dessert as part of our Independence Day celebration, and I have to say, I'm pretty proud of myself. Anyway, without further adieu, here's the recipe:

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream, courtesy of Philadelphia Cream Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 2 tsp. lemon zest
• 1-1/2 cups fresh strawberries
• 3 HONEY MAID Honey Grahams, coarsely chopped

Directions:

• Mix first 4 ingredients with mixer until well blended. Freeze 4 hours or until almost solid.
• Beat cream cheese mixture with mixer until creamy. Blend berries in blender until smooth. Add to cream cheese mixture with chopped grahams; mix well. Freeze 8 hours or until firm.
• Remove dessert from freezer 15 min. before serving; let stand at room temperature to soften slightly before scooping into dishes.

See, what'd I tell ya? EASY! Go make some. You won't be sorry!

PSSST! By the way, you don't have to use the name brand stuff. I didn't. But don't tell Kraft I told you that.

Too hot to do anything

I had a revelation a few days ago. I'm not very good at this whole blogging thing. My inspiration for blogs comes in fits and starts, so regularity doesn't really fit into the equation. Even when I say to myself, "I need to blog today, " oftentimes, life gets in the way, and I end up doing something else. I want to post more regularly, and I think the only way to do that is to actually schedule my blogging time. If I constantly gather my blogging inspiration and sit it aside, then I should have enough material to sit down and crank out a blog for you all once or twice a week. It's a nice plan.

That being said, it's too hot to do much of anything right now. I don't have to tell you about the heat wave because it's pretty much been all the news has talked about lately. Well, I might have to tell you, if you live underground, since temperatures remain fairly constant and comfortable there. But then again, if you live underground, you probably don't read my blog, so... Anyway, our poor little AC unit is having a hard time keeping up with this triple-digit heat. Our house is so poorly insulated that we can't keep it any cooler than the mid 80's. Which causes me to think. Why is it that I find a low humidity, mid 80-degree day outside to be beautiful, but when it's in the 80's in a climate controlled house, I feel like I'm going to melt away? I digress. Back on track. It's been pretty warm; so warm that I haven't even been playing WoW, which would be my usual indoor pastime, because my computer will kick out too much heat. All I've wanted to do is sleep, since the heat makes me sleepy.

I have managed to get a few things done in between sleepy times. Last night I sewed new curtains for my bedroom. The day before I got the shape ready for a paper mache project I'm working on. The day before that I painted a new sign for my living room. I want to get pictures up for you guys, but my laziness always stops me just short of doing so. Anyway, I can't fight it anymore; I'm taking a nap. Catch you guys later!

Life in Flux

All I want to do is settle down on my little hobby farm with some chickens, a cow, and maybe some ducks. I want to plant a garden and line-dry my clothes. I want to chase after my little one while she collects dandelion blooms for me to make dandelion jelly. Is that too much to ask?

Well, we still haven't sold our NY home, so we couldn't buy a place here in NC. We were fortunate enough to find a landlord who didn't mind our 108-pound monster dog or our cat. He also let us put up a clothesline and plant some vegetables, even though it makes mowing the lawn more difficult for him. However, our landlord informed us that on his birthday in January, he'll be officially retired, and he'd like to sell his rental homes. He said he won't kick us out if we want to stay, but I'm not sure if that means he expects us to buy this place or not. So, always prepared, we've been doing some searching for new places to rent. But good grief! Finding a place in our price range that will let us have our mutt is proving near impossible. It's a good thing we've got until January.

So if you don't hear from me, well, I'm too busy looking for a place to live.