Sunday, June 1, 2014

What a difference a year makes!

Mollie and Abbey
Almost a year has passed since we got Mollie.  In June Mollie will turn one and Abbey will be 1 1/2! They have kept us busy and I wouldn't want it any other way!

This picture was snapped while we were waiting to start a 5K walk called jog with your dog in Reno, NV.  This was their Third 5K.  They also did a 5K in Fallon, NV called Paws in the park.  Their very first 5K was in Reno on the river walk set up by the Tahoe Trail Trekkers, via American Volkssport association.  The AVA has walks all over:  they are self guided walks, or they also have events:  walks are usually 5K or 10K.  Most are dog friendly.  A great way to get to know an area.

Mike and I are life members of the AVA:  Mike started in Germany, where the club originated.  I started in Reno many years ago.  Check them out at the following link:


www.ava.org

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Mollie




Mollie is our newest member of the family!  We got her from the local shelter.  She was 6 weeks old when we got her.  Abbey and her are great friends!  She has been with us for about a month now!  She is golden lab and very mellow!  She has just fit into our lives perfectly.

She loves to swim!  During our last irrigation, she jumped into the deep part of the ditch and swam around.  At first I thought she fell in, but watching her jump in over and over made me realize she wanted to be in that water.  I think we may have a future dock dog!

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Loading The Kiln!

Kiln getting loaded up!
 My husband is getting involved with the ceramics as well.  He is busy loading up our kiln for our first run!  We are both so excited!

He has been playing with glass slumping.  The second picture shows some of his projects!


Glass slumping using beer bottles

Friday, April 26, 2013

Bowls: Calico Style

Bowl
I love how these bowls came out!  I used 3 different colors of clay:  red, brown and white.  The final glazing really brought out the colors of the clay!
Candy Dish

The Pet dish has not been glazed yet.  Quite a difference!
Pet Dish (unglazed)

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Catladydi Gone to the Dog!

Abbey is our newest member of the family!  She is part Australian Shepherd, part Border Collie.  She has totally taken over the house and our hearts!

I knew dogs needed more attention than cats and now that I am retired and can devote time to her, it was time to get a pup!  Abbey is a very easy going pup and fits right in with our family.

Abbey is a working dog and knows when it is time to feed the chickens and get the mail.  She gets me out more and that is a good thing.  She and the cats get along quite well (they are all in the kitchen at dinner time and eat together).

I can't imagine life without her!



Thursday, March 14, 2013

Class projects done!

Fish plate, double vase and spoon rest
Fish plate

Spoon Rest
 These are last of my clay class projects:  All glazed and fired and ready for use!

Now I can concentrate on new projects!


Double Vase
other side of double vase


Double vase, spoon rest and fish bowl

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Cat Plaque Done!

I love how the cat plaque turned out:  I used Duncan Concepts Sprinkles under gloss for the cat (ginger sprinkles, briarwood sprinkles and black sprinkles)

I used 3 coats of underglaze and 3 coats of glaze!

Now that I know how the underglaze turns out, I am ready to try a couple of more cats for the walls!

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Wild & Crazy Slab Bowl



This slab bowl was fun.  The first firing of it was pale and plain.  I was able to re-glaze it and I threw on tons of glaze:  literally cleaning out jars of glaze and throwing it on!  I wasn't sure what I would end up with, but I like it!

My next project will be the cat plaque!  I have the paints needed and instructions from a pro!

One bad thing, I had a huge plaque of the sun and moon I came up with.  When I went to pick it up to take in for it's first firing, it fell apart.  Darn it!  It was done with red clay.  I do have some pet bowls made out of the red clay drying.

I am still enjoying the process!  Each piece is a lesson!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Clay Class Projects (so far)

Clay Class Projects 

(so far)


Coil projects
A few of my projects have come back from being glazed and fired.  I still have projects waiting to be fired, glazed and re-fired.  Each piece is a lesson!  I have a lot to learn!  But I am having fun with it!  I have discovered a hidden treasure:  a ceramic shop in Fallon!  Yahoo!  I will be spending more time there for sure!

Coil projects:  Pot: needed to put the glaze on thicker.  My new pencil holder!  Spoon rest:  I love the glaze on this one!  This is now in use by my coffee pot.







Wheel pots



My first couple of throws on the wheel.  Again, a long ways to go.  I really enjoy working the other methods right now:  wheel will come later!










Pinch pots are fun:  The one on the left has a confetti glaze.  I tried to make the one on the right like a big flower:
Pinch Pots



Slab boxes.  The one on the right has every mistake that can possibly be made!  The one on the right has some cat and fish indentions.  The glaze came out interesting.  
Boxes (slab)

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Strawberry Skillet Cake



Strawberry Skillet Cake


1 Cup Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup brown sugar Plus 2 Tablespoons (divided)
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup sliced or quartered strawberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Generously grease a 9 1/2 inch cast iron skillet. 
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons brown sugar over strawberries and gently toss.  Set aside.

Whisk together:  flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

In a larger mixing bowl, whisk 1/4 cup brown sugar and egg until smooth.  Whisk in the sour cream until blended, then repeat with the melted butter.  Dump in the flour mixture and gently stir to combine.  Do not over mix or you will have a tough crumb.

Scatter the berries over the batter and gently press down.  Drizzle any juices from the berry bowl.

Bake in the center of the oven until golden about 20-25 minutes.

Serve warm with some half and half, or whip cream!  Yum!

Friday, January 25, 2013

Beer Grain Bread

Oven ready
Beer Grain Bread

My husband brews beer.  When the brewing is done, there are a bunch of spent grains.  Here is a recipe I made using the spent grains.  My chickens will be missing out on 3 cups of spent grain this round.

The bread is heavy and grainy, but it is absolutely delicious!  The spent grains still have nutrients and flavor.  The grains can also be frozen for future use.

I had very good luck with this batch:  good flavor and good texture.

Ingredients:

3 cups spent grain (wet, straight from the bash tun)
1 1/4 cups warm water
1/4 cups sugar
4-5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 packet dry active yeast

Instruction:

Mix yeast, water and sugar in a bowl to activate yeast: Allow 30 minutes for yeast to activate.

Add Yeast starter, salt, egg, spent grain and milk in a bowl and slowly add flour (I started with 2 cups whole wheat then kept adding unbleached flour until it was the right consistency.  If the grains are wet, more flour needed).

Knead the dough until it is smooth and no longer sticky.

Place dough in a large greased bowl and cover it with a towel.  Let rise to double in size:  takes about 1-1 1/2 hours.  Punch the dough down.

Split your dough into the desired amount of loaves (I made two) you want and shape on a cookie sheet.

Cover with a towel and let the loaves rise again:  another 1/2 hour.

Bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes.  Bread should be a nice brown and a knife comes out clean after being inserted into the center.

Baked!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Pottery Projects

Cat plaque, spoon rest, bowl, box and coil spoon rest

I am taking a clay class through Rising Sun Gallery and Art Studio in Fallon, NV
Rising Sun Gallery & Art Studio

Here are some projects in the greenware stage:

Greenware (noun) is the term given to clay objects when they have been shaped but have not not yet been bisque fired, which converts them from clay to ceramic. Greenware may be in any of the stages of drying: wet, damp, soft leather-hard, leather-hard, stiff leather-hard, dry, and bone dry.

These will dry and then be fired in a kiln, then painted and fired again.  The 1 1/2 hours of class flies by!  These are projects done at home.  I am really enjoying it!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Clay Class


A couple of pots I am working on.  I am taking a clay class through our local art gallery:

Rising Sun Gallery and Art Studio  in Fallon, NV.

The art gallery is trying to raise funds to help provide the community with art classes for all ages.  Here is the link to help out.  Every little bit helps!

Fund Raiser



Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Leftover Turkey Soup



Leftover Turkey Soup


I took the turkey carcass, legs, wings, neck and covered with water in a big pot.  I boiled for about 1 hour.  I cooled it down a bit and scraped off all the turkey that was attached to the bones.  Actually the meat fell off the bones!  I strained the rest of the broth and used half of what I had (I got 16 cups of broth:  1/2 went to the soup, the other half will be frozen for a later time).

So the turkey went into the broth into a pot.
I added:

4 stalks of celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
4 red potatoes cut up
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons dried sage, crumbled
2 teaspoons crushed rosemary
salt & pepper to taste

The veggies are chopped into bite size pieces.  Add to the broth and turkey.  Bring to a boil and cook until veggies are tender.  About 10-15 minutes.

So tasty!  I served with sour dough roll.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Nutella Rolls With Cream Cheese Icing

Nutella Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:
1 can Pillsbury Grand Biscuits
1 small jar Nutella
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350
Roll each of the grand biscuits out into a flat circle with a rolling pin, coat with sugar on both sides.
Spread a couple of TBSP of Nutella onto each rolled out dough.
Roll up each dough (like a jelly-roll)
Cut each rolled up dough into 3 equal pieces.
Place 3 pieces, with the cut side up, into each muffin tin slot (sprayed with Pam)

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.  Once cooked, let cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then remove and let finish cooling (or if you are like me and like them warm, then you won't have to wait long!)

For icing, beat softened cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar together until smooth.  Top each Nutella Roll with icing.


These disappeared fast!

Playing with Jewelry



I have been trying to learn jewelry making.  I made the turquoise necklace, bracelet and earrings, then made two more earrings.  The earring set on the right is still in pieces.

I am just learning and found that joining a kit of the month club was helpful.  What you see in the picture is 2 kits.  I actually have two more earring sets to make after finishing the one on the right.

To me it is a inexpensive way to learn.  The kit includes all of the things you need to complete some fun projects.  It is something that works for me.  The site for the kits also have videos set up for the projects, so you can see the items being made.

http://www.simplybeadskitclub.com/

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Sopapilla Cheesecake Dessert



My husband found this recipe.  He is a cheesecake lover!  Today I made it for him!

Sopapilla Cheesecake Dessert

Ingredients:

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 (8 ounce) cans crescent roll dough

1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Beat the cream cheese with 1 1/2 cups sugar and vanilla until smooth.  Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough.  Use a rolling pin to shape each piece into 9X13 inch rectangles.  Press one piece into the bottom of a 9X13 inch baking dish.  Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture onto the dough in the baking dish, then cover with the remaining pice of crescent dough.

Drizzle the melted butter evenly over the top of the cheesecake.  Stir the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, and sprinkle over the top, along with the almonds.

Bake until crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown: about 45 minutes.  Cool completely in the pan before  cutting into 12 squares.


YUM!

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Evolution of my Crochet Jewelry Experiment



Learning to crochet jewelry is a learning process for sure.  I did some without beads, but decided to try to do with beads.

The first one I used #10 crochet thread and plastic beads.  Basically I crocheted 3 single crochets, added a bead, three single crochets and tied it together.  It came out long!

The second one was with some yellow stretchy cord and plastic beads.  Same pattern:  it came out about half the size as number one!

The third one is black stretchy cord, plastic beads and same pattern.  I obviously crocheted a little tighter:  actually I think I stretched the cord as I crocheted.

Number 4 is my first one with wire.  Interesting process:  I used glass beads.  I crocheted 3 chains, added 2 beads (one after the other: two chains), then only 2 chain stitches in between the two beads.  Ending with 3 chains.  I added a clasp to this one:  it would not fit over my head.

Each piece used 40 beads.  It is fun experimenting and I really like the way the crocheting with the beads look.  I still will be practicing and experimenting!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Envelopes from Magazine Pages




While going through my desk drawer I found a folder with an envelope template and some envelopes I had made a few years ago!  Forgot how fun they were!  I guess I will have to start making some more!

I had stickers to put on the center of the front of the envelope for addressing the envelopes.  Might put a smile on some mail person's face to see these envelopes for a change!

Monday, August 27, 2012

Shell and Arch Trim Crochet Necklace

Top is Arch trim necklace, Bottom is Shell trim
Another project done!  These crocheted chokers were a challenge.  I have never used such a small crochet hook and such thin thread in my life!  I was excited to complete this project.  I can still use some practice, especially on the tension, but I will be making more!  I am not afraid to try that lacy stuff anymore!

The button can be worn in the front middle, on the side or in the back!

I got this free pattern from the following link:


http://www.themakingspot.com/crochet/pattern/crochet-necklaces

These were created by Carol Meldrum and she is kind enough to provide the pattern for free!

I am the queen of tweaking and did a little tweaking in the arch trim necklace.  I don't know enough about writing out crochet patterns (it is like a foreign language) to say what I did, but I did tweak!