The New Sewer System

Holly cow what a mess is in my yard, the sewer is coming in and what a mess!
I have been trapped most of the day unable to send out graduation notices or go anywhere, plus trying to keep dogs calm.
What is going on you might ask?
Our neighborhood is getting a sewer system, I could be really excited but instead I have mixed feelings.
The water company is the one who set this in motion and for me it has been frustrating and for a few neighbors who have been seeing red over this sewer system.
Would you believe this started in 2000? and now we all are seeing some work go on.
I am upset about it because we all started paying for it and someone in the water company stole all the money that was put into this project, so we residents had to start all over and of course the money has doubled and tripled, to say the least it has been tough on us.
I think what makes me so frustrated is when my home burned in Nov of 99 insurance did not cover the garage nor the septic tank. So we had to use the contents from insurance to pay for a new sand filter septic system, so its kind of like burning 28,000 dollars in the fire place and having an extra debt or paying for 2 other sewer systems. I know it will make the value of the house go up and believe me, we all new sewer out here because not everyone has sand filter and a lot of these septic tanks are out dated, and very stinky in the summer time; so its mixed emotions about the whole thing.
Oh crap! they hit the water line to the house! I stopped writing for second to go see what all the screaming was about and why the dogs are going insane, I hope they fix what they damage!

Talking about My Geisha Quilt

This has to be one of my most favorite quilts that I created mostly because no patterns were used and it was all my original design.
I used all kinds of fabrics in this quilt cottons, rayon's, recycled fabrics from shirts and I did a bit of ribbon embroidery on this one. The ribbon embroidery was done to create a flower in some of the Geisha girls.



The story of the quilt is the girls decided to do some practice of using their fans and decided to do it outside, but the wind caused them some problems. I also added colorful buttons and you can see some of them in this panel that I did; in this panel she is heading out to start the practice.





This is the last panel where the fans have blown away and the other girls have left and given up, so there is only one left and you can see the wind is blowing pretty hard being her is hair is all messed up. I know I have talked about this quilt once before but it is such a favorite and I had the new camera I wanted to show more detail of the quilt for you all, I thought the photos came out better this time around. I love making these type of applique quilts and not using any patterns because it really gives one that original type of quilt, I am thinking about adding it to my Art fire shop or to my other blog, but for now I just wanted to share it again with you all.

Black Eyed Pea Stew

I just love making home made black eyed stew!
If you have a crock pot that will help but it can be done on the stove also with a pot.
First cook up bacon and cook it until its really crisp, cook about 1/2 of the packet of bacon for this. Or if you can get a packet of bacon ends even better to cook up.
Set the cooked bacon aside.
Slice one large yellow or white onion, dice into small pieces and add butter to a small skillet and cook onion until transparent.( Be sure to add onion and butter to the crock pot or large stewing pot on the stove.)
Okay now add 7-8 cups of water to pot or crock pot and one full bag of black eyed peas, onion, back, 2 cans of beef broth, a bit of basil, sometimes I liked to add stewed tomatoes add the cooked bacon.
Set crock pot on low or cook on stove on very low heat.
Stir occasionally; start this early so that it will be ready for dinner and this is a large amount so you can put it in a container and freeze for another day.
This is a easy idea but I thought I would share it anyway, I love black eyed peas! Yum!
Remember this is going to cook all day on a low heat, you will know its done when everything looks thickened.
Serve with corn bread muffins and cold glass of milk.

Frillanna and Dutter the cat, a 19 inch cloth doll and 19 inch stuffed animal.

This is a adorable set a 19 inch Americana rag cloth doll and her cat; The cloth doll is 19 inches and so is the cat. I have made the doll from muslin and filled her with fiber fill; Dutter the cat is made from Berber and filled with fiber fill.
Frillanna's facial features were designed by me and painted on with acrylic paints, the dress is denim with cotton plaids mixed in and the colors of red, white and blue.
The hair of the doll is a wool yarn an off white with bits of black in it
Dutter the cat is made with a blue Berber and he had small black beads sewn into his head for eyes and a red ribbon around his neck.



This is a close up of the facial features that I designed, I had so much fun designing this cloth doll and using my drawing skills, each doll I make comes out with their own personality and I can't duplicate the same doll so that must be where the adventure lies.






One last look at these two, I will be adding them shortly to It's Krazy Kute Productions so that they can be purchased.

Sharing the Walk My Walk

Yesterday was a nice day so I and my husband decided to go for a walk along the Lewis and Clark river which is only a 100 yards from my home.
This is the view up the river and one can see a old cannery and the backside of Astoria and the Lewis and Clark Bridge.


This the the view looking down the river and across the river down further is the Lewis and Clark fort, things are starting to get that green look.
Thought I would take a picture of the shipyard that does repairs but I did not get the building in the picture but I did get some of the fishing boats.




A picture of one of the creeks as the tide is now coming in and a little bit of the field where geese do some nesting.



it was such a nice day warm and a bit cool with the breeze blowing.
The picture below was of an interesting piece of driftwood sitting on the river bank and I thought it would be interesting to take of picture of it before the tide came back in, it looks so old.

Creating One of My Many Cloth Dolls

I thought it might be fun to show the process of creating one of my many cloth dolls; so here she is on the sewing machine finally being put together. In this step I am sewing the head to the front of the body using muslin and I have already embroidered the facial features a few weeks back.




Okay now the front of the body is ready to be attached to the backside of the body. Now onto other body parts such as the arms and the legs. What I am doing here is sewing the arms onto the body front and when I turn it the arms will be sewn to the inside of the front and back of the body.






This is the completed body of the doll who will be 23 inches long. Now onto the hair, bloomers and dress. Yup that is Oreo's pound puppy sitting on the table ( my baby dog)




This is the cloth doll with the completed dress and hair added to her, she is coming out pretty cute....




This is the finished rag cloth doll, and I will be adding her to my other blog so that the doll or the pattern can be purchased and I will also be naming her and talking more about her at It's Just Krazy Kute Productions

A Recipe for Potato Soup/stew

I love potato soup/stew and so with a little experimenting I like using my crock pot to make this.
You can do this either way; but my family likes the potatoes with the peel on, and I know some people don't like the peel so if you don't peel your potatoes.
For my family I use about 9-12 potatoes and the large the better, I slice the potatoes at a angle and toss them in the crock pot with 4-6 cups of water, depending on how large your family is but if you end up with extra you can freeze it for another meal.
I love adding caned milk or regular milk can be used, add 2 small chopped onions, and you can add cooked up bacon, sausage, hamburger(cooked) celery, basil, peas, carrots, in this case I add onion, already cooked hamburger and basil.
You can add whatever you and your family like, I want to mention the canned milk really gives it a good favor and you should add at least 2 cans to your crock pot. Check on it from time to time just to stir and add about a tsp of flour for a more thicker sauce if you would like or just leave it as is and have a thinner soup/stew.
Now set your crock pot to low( start this early in the day) and let it cook all day long, serve with corn bread or sourdough toast,buttermilk biscuits and a green salad.