Calico Comments

Last week I made a pot roast for dinner. YUM and thanks to the Zombecks for giving me the roast a while back. We had Mom and Dad over for dinner and had a good portion left-over.

So the next day I chopped up a bunch of the left-overs and made a beef barley soup. First I sauted some onion and celery in butter. Then I added the beef. To this I added all the left-over gravy (about 2 cups) and a large box of low sodium beef broth. Turned up the heat... then added a bag of frozen mixed veggies and a can of cannalini beans. Simmer simmer simmer... then added 3/4 cup of quick cooking barley and in 10 minutes I had me a monster pot of soup! Why do I cook so much for just 2 people??? It's so much easier that way. Some day I hope to have a pressure cooker so I can preserve leftover soup in pint size jars. What do you think???

Anyway, after my Handy-hubby raved about my soup... the next day I packed up a quart of it and took to my Dad. (Mom and I were going shopping & out to dinner) He paid me one of the greatest compliments EVER... he said it was much like my Grandmother's soups. WAHOO!!! Now that was worth sharing for!

Today I ate the last bowl of it. So much for that... maybe I'll do it again sometime.

I'm working on a quilt. For those of you who are crafty, don't get too excited. I'm a complete beginner working with very little instruction. Please keep in mind that I have little patience for instruction anyway, so while advice is appreciated, please don't be insulted if I can't fully comprehend it. My idea is to make a country style quilt for my spare bedroom. I'm incorporating burgundy gingham, some deep green patterned fabric, with several flannels with lots of blue in them. All these colors will compliment the room nicely. I'm trying to recycle flannel shirts at the same time, which is playing into the concept for this blanket. Four simple squares will be sewn together to become one larger square. Strips of flannel will connect the larger squares to become panels. There will be at least 5 panels, which should be large enough to cover the bed. The strips will be the button strips from the shirts (I hope) and to adhere the backing to the actual quilt, I will tie buttons onto some of the button holes. It's a work in progress, but I can see it in my mind. Now again, I'm not real crafty, so bare with me if I'm a little slow in producing such work. So far I have cut over a hundred small squares and sliced one small spot on my wrist (how?). I have not yet started any sewing. I haven't even resurrected the sewing machine yet. BUT - I do have a table to work on - so that is a plus.

My Handy-hubby is working today. He called to vent his frustrations because a couple people called off work today (on a holiday!) and the line has been consistently out the door!!! The poor guy! I wish I could help him.

I had a rather lazy day to start. I lazed in my bed-clothes until noon. I surfed the net... pondered what I might do today... Then I consumed some coffee, swept the downstairs, put in a load of laundry, and stepped into my workout clothes. Since that time I have exercised... done more laundry... washed all the dishes and prepared a large bowl of fresh veggies for the family picnic later this evening.

Ok best get on with it... the day is filling up fast since it's lazy start. This is a good thing. Much to do... Later Gator!