My New Life

You may have noticed I haven't blogged in a while. A lot of different things have been happening in my life. Some very exciting, some not so much.

One of the things I think is very exciting is that I have gone back to school! Yay Me!

The other very very very exciting thing, is that I read this book "NEVER BE SICK AGAIN" by Raymond Francis! I've made some pretty significant changes to the way I eat. It has only been a couple of weeks since I opened the book and already I feel SO much better. Living pain free has become a reality for me, no longer just a dream! Not only do I feel better but I look better too. I have people telling me I am looking so good and asking me what it is I am doing.

Tatting Chic has taught me some very useful things, as well. One that I am very grateful for is that red quinoa absorbs flavor much more than the white does! It has been a lot of fun swapping healthy recipes and ideas with her. I thought I would share a couple of my ideas here with you, and if you have some tips for me that would be great!

The other day I made some red quinoa and black bean "chili" that was delicious! I read somewhere that turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties so I have been trying to incorporate it into my recipes more. I'm one of those cooks who just kinda throws things together, so I don't have exact measurements, but if this sounds good to you, give it a try.

I cooked some black beans using half water and half organic low-sodium chicken broth and a couple cloves of garlic. When the beans were almost done I sautéed some chopped onion and garlic in some olive oil. Once those were done I added curry powder (which has turmeric in it) and some chili powder. Then I poured in 1/3 cup quinoa and 2/3 cup organic chicken broth. I let that cook until the quinoa was done and then added the beans.

I used to love pizza, ok ok I still love pizza, but now I make it differently.

I took giant portabella mushroom tops sprinkled them with olive oil and minced garlic and put them in the oven on 300 to soften for about 15 minutes. Then I chopped up some spinach and fresh basil diced some tomatoes and layered them on the mushrooms. I imagine a little parmesan would be good on there, but I am not eating dairy anymore so... one of these days I'll forget about cheese. Oh I just thought how good they would be if I had made pesto sauce to go under the spinach and tomatoes. I'll have to try that next time!

Anyhow, I am very excited about my new life and wanted to share with you! If you have some ideas for me please leave me a comment.

Hopefully I'll be back on here sooner...

Off to College

Well my baby sister is off to college next week. I am going to miss her sooooooo much!

I decided to pull out the crochet hook and make her some dish rags for her going away gift.

I found a great tutorial for Waffle stitch dishrags by googling dish rags crochet tutorial, I tried doing that now, but can't find it anywhere. . . sorry

Some more on "The Law of Attraction"

Saturday morning I went to the Farmers Market to help my uncle with his Kettlecorn business. Apparently there are a lot of people in the 21st century who trade and barter! I had so much fun selling the popcorn and a whole lot of fun trading it for the most delicious blackberries I have ever had!


The other day I was listening to the radio and heard about a Jazz/Blues festival happening in our area. I was really wanting to go, but thought there would be no way for me to go. . . my husband works evening so I would have to go by myself and I would have to get a babysitter. Not to mention the fact that I would have to buy a ticket.

While manning the popcorn booth my uncle asks me what I like to listen to. . . "Lately I have been really into Jazz"

Turns out he was selling popcorn at that Jazz/Blues festival that night and had a free ticket for me if I wanted to go! And the kid who was selling popcorn with us at the farmers market volunteered to babysit for me!

I Wish! I Wish! I Wish!

The past week I have had the best lesson on The Law of Attraction. It was a great lesson!
The kind of lesson I like. . .

The other day I took my adorable little boy to the library. . . I wish it was because he loves to read. Alas, it is because he likes the computer games they have there. Oh well, he does get a little exposure to the library and at least the games they have are about counting, letters, and thinking. Another plus, there is a 20 minute time limit.

While there, I was reading a book. My son didn't quite get how to play this new game so he kept calling for me. I would get into my book, then a minute later I would have to put it down again. This went on again and again. The third time I heard him calling for me, I looked at the page number and thought "I wish I had a pretty tatted bookmark."

That very night my dear aunt TattingChic called to tell me she sent me something in the mail. I was so excited I had to ask.


Guess what it was. . .



I knew you would guess right!


It was this lovely bookmark designed and tatted by Tatting Chic herself!

She sent a little card telling me about the thread, so I will pass the info on to you all. . . the rosettes are tatted in Yarnplayer's "peace" the green in Yarnplayer's "leafy" both size 80.

Thank You sooooo much Aunty Tatting Chic!!! I absolutely love this!

That was not the only thing my thoughts called into my life this week. . .


The book I was reading was about a family in the 1800's and I thought about how nice it would be if we slowed down a little and if we actually still traded our talents or goods for services. Like if we could pay the Doctor bill with fresh farm eggs, or perhaps a tatted doily.


"So, what could this thought have brought into her life?" you ask

"Did she get paid with a chicken or eggs or what?" lol


Actually I got a call from my mom who tells me she scheduled an appointment for me with Dr. Tagg, the world's greatest chiropractor! Woohoo! I am thinking, since she scheduled it, she is gonna pay for it.


I give her my sleeping son, for her to watch while I am at the chiropractor, and she tells me to go pick a box of peaches off the peach tree to take to him.


hmmm ok. . . she always gives fresh fruit to the doctors or whoever will take it. . . but a whole box???

As it turns out, some people in the 21st century actually do accept trades. Thank you Dr. Tagg! I feel soooo good!


My third wish, I should have been more specific about. . . My husband wears a mustache and a goatee. I love it! I find it very very sexy!

This past week he didn't shave at all! His sexy goatee was turning int a scruffy beard! ewww!

I wished he would shave.

He has Wednesdays off. . . I came home from work to find a completely clean shaven man. boo hoo! He actually looks like a little boy without the goatee!

Some Tatting from the Past

Before my grandma Jenalyn passed she gave me a few things that I treasure dearly. Among those are her christening dress and 4 baby bonnets. One of those bonnets is tatted. She would have been 100 years old this April. I know this was used when she was a baby and that she was the youngest child, so it might be a little over 100 yrs old.




You can see that the ties at the picots have started coming apart, along with some of the motifs.



My plan is to figure out the pattern on this and make a replica.



I treasure this little piece of tatting from the past and hope that I will be able to make one just like this for the baby daughter I hope to have.



A special thanks to my sweet blond big boy for modeling the bonnet. I love you, My Super Helper!

Krystledawne's challenge

So, about 2 weeks ago Krystledawne issued a challenge to share our tatting spaces as they were right then at that moment. I thought that was such a great idea, but I didn't have my camera. . . I have really enjoyed looking at the tatting spaces everyone has been sharing on their blogs! I am finally sharing a pic of mine.

I was kinda hoping by the time I got around to taking the picture I would have something a little more useful and attractive than the plastic shopping bag that I carry with me.


There it is finally. . . My tatting space!

Spreading the Love~ Experiences

I have the best neighbor in the world! She has 4 boys! I can't even imagine the energy she would need to have, to do all she does! The other day this amazing woman stopped by my house and asked if my 3 year old could come over for a playdate. . . I have never done a playdate where my kid went to someone else's house to play while I stayed home. . . It was heavenly!

Well I had 2 free hours, so my baby sister and I watched The Notebook while I tatted this beaded heart



(This is the Peacock Heart with beads added to each of the picots. I dropped a couple picots because I thought with the beads it would look too bulky)(I realize there are stains on the heart, note: tatting and tea don't mix. I guess I had to learn the hard way, why Grandma always kept her yarn wrapped in a clean dishtowel while she worked on a project. To keep it clean!)

As we were watching The Notebook I felt it necessary to explain to my sister that when elderly people get dementia, the nurses don't actually keep their family from them. . . And the families DO NOT introduce themselves as other people. (The one problem I have with this movie!)

I think the most tear-jerking part of this movie is when she finally remembers that he is her husband. . . then they have those few minutes together. . . Then she doesn't recognize him and starts screaming for help. It makes me cry every time I see it. This time I couldn't help but think of something that happened just the other day. . .

Right now I work in an Adult Family Home and I care for 4 women who all have dementia. One woman has Alzheimer's, and her care is difficult. Her husband comes to see her often, but has a really hard time seeing what she is going through, and dealing with her inability to remember him and the life they shared.

The other day while he was visiting, he asked her what her name was. She responded with her correct first name and her maiden name. He came to where I was working and told me about this. His eyes were filled with tears as he said "She doesn't remember her married name."

While I care for his wife, she talks to him and about him constantly. Often saying "I love you, Johnnie" So I know she remembers him.

I was tatting this heart while I watched the movie and thought of this. I decided that instead of giving this heart to a stranger I would give this to him. Because I wanted to remind him that even though his wife doesn't remember her name, she does Love him.