Beautiful Soup

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup from Scratch

This started with a rotisserie chicken I bought at the grocery store.  After we had eaten all the meat off of it that we wanted (just the breast, really), I proceeded to boil the rest of the bird in a dutch oven for several hours.  I kept intending to add carrots, celery and onion to the pot while it was boiling at this point, but was distracted by many things.  

Anyway, about an hour before I wanted to serve it, I strained the broth.  I then let it cool enough to skim the fat off the top.  While it was cooling I sliced carrots, celery, onion and fennel into a pot.  I added the skimmed broth, some water and a half of a bouillon cube and returned it to a simmer.  I put in some diced chicken breast, fresh thyme, a little salt and fresh noodles.  After the noodles were done cooking, I turned the heat to low and added a little fresh cream.  For the finishing, I sprinkles some chopped celery leaves.  Very beautiful and delicious!

The reason I was inspired to make this soup is because both my daughter and husband are on antibiotics!  We don't know for sure, but since one of my daughter's friends was recently diagnosed with micoplasma (walking pneumonia), and this is highly contagious, it seemed like they might have it, too.  Fun, fun, negative fun.

Organization, Part 36

Hanging Storage System for My Fabric

For my fused fabric, that is.  Previously, all this fabric was in a bin that wasn't wide enough.  Well, it was just a mess.  I saw this solution on my sister's blog, and then I saw it in person and really liked it.  So, when I went to Howard's Storage on Friday (I think it's at a mall called Parkway Parade - on the east coast), I knew I had to keep my eyes peeled for one of these.  It's actually for shoes, and it's got the pockets on the back, too.  But I didn't need to use those.  

So, this is perfect, and I can see all my fabrics so I don't have to dig in a bin.  Woohoo!

What I haven't said

Tete-a-Tete

What I haven't said is that I finished this quilt, sometime over a week ago.

I'm really pleased with this, and feel that I have reached a certain level that I was aiming at. Unfortunately, reaching that level then sent me into a tail-spin.  Now what? was all I could think.  

I wont go into all the self-abusing thoughts that then ensued, because that isn't helpful.  But I kept going back to Tete-a-Tete, and thinking about the experience of making that quilt.  It was tedious, in that I actually made pattern pieces for almost every piece of fabric used in the quilt. But there was something zen-like in doing it that way; it brought me, mentally, to a different place.  I was in the moment, not trying to hurry up and finish.  I was taking my time, and enjoying it, so that in that sense, it wasn't tedious at all.  I realized I was enjoying the precision of the process.

Precision was a word I grabbed onto.  What connotations does the word have for me?  It was then that I discovered a new direction for my quilts, and made this sketch:

Now, this sketch is small - under 12 inches square.  And it came from an earlier sketch that included many more fiddly bits. I cleaned up that sketch to create this composition, which has just the right amount of fiddly bits to suit me.  I was particularly fascinated with the idea of machine parts and tools going into the composition of a quilt.  It seems like boy things going into a girly craft.  Just seems, I said.  Don't get all weird about that comment.  So, here it is all made up:

Artwerk #1

Fun Weekend

I just spend a fun weekend with my family.  We didn't do anything tooooo spectacular, but we were very silly all along the way.  There was a walk-a-thon at my daughter's school, very well organized event, and afterwards we took a dip in our pool - we were so hot.  Sunday after church we went downtown and saw the Spiderwick Chronicles - very good movie for kids.

But it was also a weekend where we said things that were silly, and then repeated those things all weekend long, getting big laffs each time.  My favorite sayings were: (from my husband to my daughter) "Does my thumb fit in your armpit??"  And there was something about a lumpy koala that kept coming up.  And, "you go hungry, bow bow bow."  Inside jokes all, I know, but it's so nice when everybody is in such a great mood that we just laff and laff. 

Growth

Zinnia Seedlings

Three days ago, I planted these zinnia seeds.  They grow so fast!  Some of them seemed to be duds, so I reseeded them yesterday.  We shall see if they take off or not.  But I'm pretty happy with the five that have sprouted.  If I can keep them alive, I should have some nice flowers in about 3 months.

This is unusual, because I'm the sister with the black thumb.  But they had the peat pots and lots of different seeds at the grocery store, and I finally gave in to temptation.

Room ReDesign

Lacking direction in my art lately, I decided to rearrange the furniture.

Actually the thought process went like this:  I need to clean the house.  That's boring.  How about rearranging the furniture?  Fun!

So, I took no before pictures, but basically I just flipped the living room and dining room.  I found lots of interesting dust and lint bunnies under all of my furniture in the process.  Here are the after pictures.

The living room, being adjacent to the kitchen, now has a "lounge" feel for me.



And eating next to the open sliding glass doors made us feel like we were dining al fresco last night - delightful!

A Brief Hiatus

Well, I took a short break from blogging so I could mope.  

I'm so grateful that's over.