Some Old and Some New

Greetings my friends on a chilly Sunday afternoon.  It was a lovely, warm day today until a couple of hours ago and the cold weather from up North has made it to SoCal.  We're suppose to have freezing temps these next few nights!  I know, I shouldn't complain but it is unusual for most folks who live down here :)

There's so many things I want to share with you and write about.  But, sometimes I am at a loss for words.  My heart is heavy these past few days with yet another school shooting.  I admire those high school students who are now speaking up and I am with them all the way.  One day I will tell you the story about the school shooting that took place in our little town in Eastern Washington.  That will be for another time.

Besides babysitting my little grandchildren these past few days (morning, noon and night), I had a dinner party last week.  It's always enjoyable for me to plan the menu, set the table and all the other things that are needed.

This time I decided to use my Mom's Community Silverplate.  This flatware and chest have been around for as long as I can remember.  I think my Mom would have purchased it back in the early 1950's.  After my Mom passed away back in 1993, I kept this as a keepsake and didn't use it.  Until last weekend. . .

It so happened that I rediscovered this flatware through a dear blog friend I recently met via her blog.  Margaret has the same flatware and had written about it on her blog.  Of course I commented to say I have the same pattern!

  

It was so interesting to learn about the history of this flatware pattern.  The name of the pattern in the US is Coronation.  In the UK, it is known as Hampton Court.  Originally, it was designed and introduced back in 1936, in honor of Edward VIII becoming King of England.  Of course, as you know, he abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson.  Hence, the name was changed for the UK market but stayed the same for the US.  When I set my table last weekend I found that I do have a complete service for 8 along with an extra  dinner fork along with 8 extra teaspoons.  So, I hurried over to Ebay where I found a matching knife and dessert fork so that my set can now serve 9.  Hopefully, one day I can pass this set onto my little granddaughter for the next generation. 

Now for the new, the bed is complete.  After the bed arrived, it was another two weeks for the mattress to arrive via Costco.  It worked out great as Costco's price and quality couldn't be matched at the places I checked out.

Lilly was quite pleased to check out the new blanket and gave her approval :)

Between watching the little ones, cooking and cleaning and the never ending paperwork, I started on my new sock pattern.  It's a fun easy pattern and I love the yarn.  However, I'm finding it's a bit hard to work in the evenings as the dark yarn against the dark needles can be trying.

Yesterday, my husband and I had a wonderful time with an impromptu dinner at the beach followed by grocery shopping at my favorite Persian market.  So, there's plenty of goodies to make some nice dishes for the upcoming week.  I'll sign off now since my homemade vegetable soup is ready to serve along with homemade corn muffins.  It's cold outside!

It's always a joy to hear from you.  Please feel free to say "hi" if you  wish.

Until next time,

Pat

A Fun Day Spent Shopping

Greetings everyone.  I hope your week is off to a great start wherever you may be.  I had a lovely day today. I accomplished my housework early this morning since I knew I would be out and about.

My daughter met me for some shopping and a quick lunch afterwards.  We had a fun time together finding those bargains we can't do without :)  I just had to buy some fresh flowers for the home before they raise the prices for Valentine's Day.

After lunch, I took myself over to Home Goods which is just down the road from where I live.  Look what I found!  I've read about these for years and have never tried them.  You might think it's funny, but I don't eat chocolate...long story about allergies.  I think dark chocolate may be OK - I'll soon find out.  The rose flavor was interesting in these as compared to the rose flavor I find in Middle Eastern food.  I'm going to serve them to my guests at the dinner party I'm having on Sunday.  While at Home Goods I perused the linen department looking for Italian linens.  I found a set of Italian made 100% linen sheets but I didn't buy them.  I'm sure they would be wonderful but I hesitated.  I did find a new bedspread that should work great.  (I know they're not called that anymore but I forgot the new name...)

Speaking of flowers, I planted some bulbs in pots this past winter and they are beginning to come up.  My favorite is the hyacinth.  And, my hellebore, lenten rose, has many buds.  I'm so happy that it survived the poor soil it lives in.  As a coincidence, the new Sock Society pattern I just received is called Winter Rose.

And, look at my geraniums blooming.  I love the white one.  In the middle is an Arabian Jasmine that has the most fragrant flowers.  It reminds me of Egypt when my husband took me there on my very first trip.  We were at Casino El Nil in Cairo (not a gambling casino), on the Nile River.  Flower sellers were selling necklaces of jasmine and they were heavenly.  It was my first time to eat ice cream with mastic (an aromatic resin from the mastic tree).  The addition of mastic changes the texture of the ice cream.  It is very popular in Turkish ice creams, too.  Sadly, I don't eat ice cream anymore due to allergies :(

For those of you who don't knit or crochet, I won't bore you with any patterns, etc.  But, please wish me luck as I'm baffled with my new sock pattern. . .

Lilly sends her greetings to each of you.  She had a restful afternoon sitting in my chair and taking her afternoon nap.  Until next time. . .

My best wishes,

Pat

My Universe is Complete

Hello my friends.  Do you like the title of my post?  Haha, a play on words.  My Sophie's Universe blanket is finally completed! It's new home will be in Turkey.

You may remember that I began this project back in July of 2017.  I diligently worked on it every day until I left for Turkey and when I returned home, it kind of sat in a bag in the closet.

But, like many of you, I hate to have unfinished projects.  So, since the middle of January I have been working to get this blanket completed.  I added my own design for the border (starts with the green leaves shown above), as I loved doing the red roses and wanted to incorporate it the edging. It's such an intricate designed blanket that I felt it needed a little more pizazz for a border.

Here's the little bag of yarn leftovers from this project.  I must say, this blanket is a yarn eater!  Originally, I purchased 15 shades of yarn but ended up using 13 skeins.  I had purchased this yarn to make another Attic24 coastal ripple blanket in a different color combination. But, after working on it awhile, I frogged it.  My inspiration for this blanket was Kate over at Kate's Adventures; look at her gorgeous blanket she made! Isn't it amazing with that additional border? I ran out of energy and yarn to make my blanket any larger. . .  

I completed my Vintage Fairy Lights socks.  This was a fun and easy knit from talented designer Helen Stewart.  I'm now awaiting to begin The Handmade Sock Society.  My new DPNs and sock yarn are ready! 

It's Saturday night here and my little grandchildren just left.  My dear children pictured above, took off for a short 3 day cruise.  So, I and my dear son-in-law along with my dear husband, took care of the little ones.  It was a fun time for all.  We will all be cruising together later in the summer.  

Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday and I know absolutely nothing about football.  But, we will celebrate on this day nonetheless.

Take care my dear friends and thank you again for all your great advice regarding my new bed.  The bed arrived a week ago, is all put together and now I'm waiting on the new mattress.  Patience. . .

With my best wishes,

Pat  

Homemade Bread, Etsy Purchases and Grandchildren

Hello my friends.  I'm sitting here on a bright, sunny afternoon, enjoying the freshness after our rainstorm on Tuesday.  When it rains, it can pour down here in southern California.  Our pool is filled to the top but luckily it didn't overflow.  I feel so sad for all those people who have lost life or home from the ravages of the floods due to the Thomas Fire (which is about 100 miles north of where I live).  Sometimes, we can take things for granted.  I'm so thankful every day.

Being thankful, I'm so thankful for the many blog friends I have met.  I get so many great ideas from all of you.  It can be books, fiber arts, recipes, gardening or just some great advice now and then.  The other day I was reading Morning's Minion's blog and she had shared her recipe for some wonderful homemade bread.  She's an expert bread baker! I used to bake bread regularly but for the past few years, my yeast baking has consisted of rolls.  Today, I made the bread pictured above.  You can find my recipe at the bottom of this post if you wish to try it.  (I think it didn't proof enough hence the crack in the loaf).

The title of this post today mentions Etsy purchases.  I've finished my latest  needlepoint and I found this much needed little thread catcher on Etsy.  Isn't this just an adorable little fabric bag?  And, it was like $5.00!

I think I shared with you that I joined The Handmade Sock Society and I'm anxiously awaiting for the first pattern release.  I wanted (but didn't need :)) a new sock project bag.  I found this adorable little project bag from this seller on Etsy.  It was a great buy, too!  I used to sew back in the old days.  But, my sewing skills are circa 1970's and it makes me nervous with clipping all those threads, etc.  Hence, my love of knitting/crochet/needlepoint.

 

For the past few months, my dear husband has been having some medical tests are still inconclusive.  On our way home from the doctor on Tuesday, during a torrential downpour, we stopped at Trader Joe's and I just had to buy this colorful cyclamen complete with the flower pot.  I'm wondering if this is a plant and I can keep and have it bloom again?

 

My little granddaughter is here for a couple of nights.  Here she is at her home helping her Mom set the table.  Her older brother (my first grandchild), will join her tomorrow for a fun time with Grandma and Grandpa.  The joys of being a grandparent!

I hope that the New Year is being good to you.  Lilly is doing well and wanted me to send her "meows" to everyone, too!  Until next time . . .

My best wishes,

Pat

Pat's Whole Wheat Bread

2 cups lukewarm water

1 package dry yeast

scant 1/3 cup honey/molasses mixture (you can use all honey if you wish or brown sugar)

2 Tablespoons oil

1/2 Tablespoon salt

3 cups Trader Joe's pastry whole wheat flour*

2 cups all purpose flour*

I used my Kitchenaid mixture to make/knead this dough.  I placed the water in the warmed bowl and added the yeast.  Let it sit about 5 minutes.  Add in honey/molasses mixture, oil, salt and 3 cups of the whole wheat flour.  Start mixer to begin combining the ingredients.  You can give it a good stir with a large wooden spoon.  Add in all purpose flour, gradually, until mixture becomes a ball.  Don't add too much as you want a soft dough.  Knead a few minutes in the machine and then remove beater and cover dough and let it rise for at least one hour.

Punch down dough and divide into four balls of equal size.  Let the balls rest for about 10 minutes.  Grease well two 9 x 5 bread pans.  Shape each ball into a nice ball and place two balls in each pan.  Let rise for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place bread pans in oven and bake for 30 minutes or until they sound "hollow".  Place a clean tea towel on the counter and put a cooling rack on top.  Remove bread from pans onto cooling rack.  Brush tops with butter.  Let cool and then slice or freeze them as you wish.

* I keep my whole wheat flour in the frig to prolong it's life.  But, when I looked at it today, it wasn't fresh so I used instead this Trader Joe's pastry flour.  It worked great as it's just a finer ground whole wheat flour.  In you use regular whole wheat flour, I would use two cups whole wheat to 3 cups of all purpose flour.  It's up to you whether you enjoy a fine textured bread versus a coarse textured bread.

 

  

A Week of Cake, Lefse, Party Food & Socks!

Hello my dear friends.  It's Friday morning here and our heat wave has passed.  It felt like going into a furnace each time I walked outside this past week.  Hopefully, we can enjoy some nice fall weather southern California style!

It's been a nice week here at home.  Earlier this week we had some friends over for tea and cake.  I enjoyed using my English bone china tea cups that I've collected for years and years. (I inherited most of them from my dear Mother).  I made this seed cake from a recipe I found on the Simple Living blog.  I made it in my new 7" round cake pan and it turned out great.  I was so pleased.

Do you enjoy drinking tea out of pretty teacups?  Each afternoon I drink a cup of tea from one of my favorite teacups.  It just makes me feel like it is a treat and an afternoon enjoyment.

Yesterday, I met up with my dear Daughters of Norway friends and we made lefse.  It's my job to roll the dough and I always look forward to this activity.  I had to leave early but I know they made a lot of this delicious flatbread.

In the evening my daughter hosted a party and I made these appetizers to share.  It's an easy recipe and they make a nice addition to a party.  You'll find the recipe at the bottom of this post.

It's been awhile since I shared any knitting, crocheting or needlepoint.  I finished the socks above.  I called them my Aegean Socks since I knit them while vacationing on the Aegean Sea.  You can find the specifics here on my Ravelry page.

If you happen to enjoy knitting, crocheting, sewing, quilting, etc., please check out #stitchingsanta 2017.  Sewchet is hosting a secret santa/swap and you can sign up at her blog.  There are two categories to choose from; knitting/crochet or sewing.  I think it will be fun.  Sign up now if you want to join in as the deadline is October 31!  All the info in included in the link above.

I'd better start my day and see what Lilly is up to.  I think she's outside hunting geckos!  Enjoy your day and I look forward to hear from you!

With my best wishes,

Pat

Puff Pastry Appetizer

1 Package puff pastry

1 small potato 

1 to 2 tablespoons milk or water

1/4 cup to 1/3 cup feta cheese (I use Bulgarian sheep's feta)

1/2 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

fresh chopped parsley - 1 tablespoon

fresh chopped dill or dried dill- 1 tablespoon fresh or 1 teaspoon dried

1 tsp dried mint

fresh chopped sage

salt and pepper

1 beaten egg

**Note**You can use any combination of cheese and herbs you may like to make this pastry.  Since I have an allergy to cows milk, I use sheep's milk cheese hence the Romano and Bulgarian feta.

Grease muffin tins.  (I used a 12 count and a 6 count muffin tin). I use puff pastry squares and cut each square into 4 pieces approximately 2" x2".  If you use a large sheet of puff pastry, cut into 2" by 2" squares.  Lightly place pastry into muffin tin; gather dough and place in muffin tin but don't press into tin.  Let the dough kind of float as when it bakes, it will fill into the tin.  

To make the filling, microwave potato for about 3 1/2 minutes. Peel and mash adding a little milk or water.  Don't add too much liquid as you want the mashed potato to be on the dryer side.  Add in cheeses and herbs.  Be careful with the salt as if your cheese is salty, add less salt.  Add in pepper and then beaten egg.  Stir mixture well until it is blended.

Place about 1 tablespoon of filling onto each pastry square.  (I usually divide the mixture in the bowl and that way I can judge how much filling to put into each square).  Place filled muffin tins into a 400 degree pre-heated oven and bake for about 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown and puffed.

Remove from tin and let cool on a wire rack.  Serve and enjoy!  

Although the recipe might look complicated, it is very, very easy.  You can adjust the filling to any taste you might like. 

 

Five on Friday under Gray Skies

Hi my friends.  It's Friday and that means I'm linking up to Five on Friday at Love Made My Home.   It was a bit of a busy week around here.  We have had some wonderful gray skies but no rain in our area.  Today we received a few rain drops and then no more.  How I long for refreshing, cool rain.....

Speaking of water, we have a swimming pool.  It's not that we want or like to have a pool - the house we bought came with a pool.  My  husband would love to fill it up with dirt and never again have to deal with the problems a pool presents.  Long story short, our pool water was saturated.  Meaning that it no longer had any life in it.  The water has been in there five years.  On Sunday we rented a pump and emptied the pool....

 

This is how it looked the next morning at 7:30AM.  We worked until 12:30AM the night before.  Then we had to clean it which took another 6 hours.  Luckily, we had some help and now it's clean and ready for the next couple of years.  It's a shame though that we had to do this job during the drought we are experiencing.  We called our water district and they assured us that it was fine.  On a side note, we took out some of our grass and replaced it with artificial grass.  It will save a little water....

 

How can I wrote a post without mentioning Lilly my cat?  Here she is in all her glory.  She was so happy to see us after we returned from our trip.  She's a very vocal kitty and loves attention.  You know what I found at the bottom of the pool?  One of Lilly's long, white whiskers!

Today I had the pleasure to babysit my little grandson.  He's growing up so fast.  He's excited for his new little sister to arrive.  He's collecting transformers so today we went an found another one for his collection.

Here's my socks that I finished last week.  They are called Fork in the Road.  You can find the specifics on my Ravelry page.  My name there is theknittednest.  They were a fun and fast knit since I used 6 ply yarn.  I got this idea (using 6 ply yarn) from my friend, Winwick Mum.  

Here's a photo of dinner this week.  It's yellow split pea soup (sorry that I didn't garnish it properly for the photo).  I had a ham bone in the freezer and I made the broth and added the yellow split peas along with some chopped carrot, celery and leeks.  It was tasty on these cold evenings we've has this week.

That's about it for my Five on Friday.  What have you been up to?  I'd love to hear from you.

My best to each of you,

Pat :)

ALOHA From Hawaii

AlOHA my dear friends.  Lilly wishes to thank everyone who read her blog post and left such kind comments. She was SO happy to hear from each of you

So my family took a little vacation this past week.  As you may know, my daughter and son-in-law are expecting their second child in August.  She only has a small window to travel and my little grandson had spring vacation.

So, we headed off to the island of O'ahu since Waikiki Beach is our favorite destination.  It's just over a five hour flight from LAX.

In the photo above you can see Diamond Head in the background.

My first trip to Hawaii was years ago; we came to board a cruise leaving from Honolulu.  I really didn't like Honolulu on my first visit. But, we returned a couple of years later and stayed on the beach. It was so much fun.  The last couple of times we were at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. It's at the end of Waikiki and the beach area is so nice.

 This year my daughter booked for us condos in the Ilikai.  Do you remember the original Hawaii Five-O?  There's the shot of Jack Lord at the top of the building, looking out?  Well, that's the Ilikai. It turned 51 years old this year.  We rented two separate units through Hawaii Vacation Properties, LLC.  It's nice because we had a kitchen which works great for us.

This is the view from the condo we rented

My daughter Heidi, who loves to explore, took us on a walk through the back of the hotels along Waikiki Beach.  We went inside and toured the Royal Hawaiian.  I loved this display of edwardian style clothing. Doesn't it remind you of the clothes worn on Downton Abby?

The photos above are from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. It's a beautiful, historic hotel right on Waikiki.

Evening sunset...I love the palm trees

My little grandson, Oliver with his Hawaiian leis....

Evening sunset outside of Dukes on Waikiki

For the last few years, my daughter has taken me to tea at Christmas time or for Mothers Day. This was an early Mother's Day present.. afternoon tea at Orchids at the Halekulani Hotel.

Fun little side note....the ladies bathroom at this hotel is amazing.  It's the first time I've seen an electronic bidet in a public restroom.  There's also a little speaker box in the wall.  You wave your hand over and it plays "comfort water music".  My daughter, who is familiar with Japanese culture, had to explain this to me.  We had a great afternoon.

The kids rented a car and took us to the east, or windward coast, side of the island.

I had to bring my knitting along with me!  This is a new sock pattern that I ended up frogging since my stitch count was going to be off!

I love the real green mountains and lush vegetation.

I really should say a little about the  historical sites of this island.  Pearl Harbor I feel is a must see.  I saw this historic site on my first trip here.  It's best to go with a tour group who will obtain your tickets and entry time for you.  I was born long after World War II but to see Pearl Harbor and reflect back in time what happened there is very touching. And, yes, you can still see the oil on top of the water from the USS Arizona. This memorial site is part of the National Park Service.

I had always wanted to visit Iolani Palace which was the home to Hawaii's royal family up until the late nineteenth century.  It's downtown Honolulu, next to the state capital building.

This is a view of the dining room on the first floor of the palace.

This is the throne room.  Do you see the feathers on either side of the chairs?

Here's my little grandson in front of the beautiful staircase which is made from Hawaiian wood.

Lastly, I had to take a picture of this door hinge that is made in silver scrollwork.

Besides spending time with my family, my trip to this palace was such a highlight of my time.  The royal family was very close friends with Queen Victoria.  All the palace furnishings are European in design.  Even the clothes the royals are wearing in the pictures and paintings are European in style.  Iolani Palace had electricity and a telephone  before the White House!

After the overthrow of the kingdom of  Hawaii in 1893, the palace was used for government offices up until it was restored in the late 1960's.  The original furnishings of the palace had been auctioned off many, many years earlier.  The Friends of Iolani researched, and continues to research, where theses items are and have been successful in obtaining many of them to showcase in the palace again.  The palace is beautifully designed.  The only thing I noticed is that there are no fireplaces; obviously no need for them due to the warm climate.  

The bottom floor of the palace, where the kitchen is located, had numerous other rooms set up with displays.  There is a small display showng the royal jewels belonging to various members of the royal family.  The designs are Victorian and most of the pieces were from London.  I loved seeing the exquisite workmanship and design.

One last little note which will be of interest to quilters; Queen Lili'uokalani was imprisoned in an upstairs bedroom of the palace for nine months.  During this time she made a crazy quilt that is quite amazing.  This quilt is on display in this same room.

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Some have said that I travel a lot.  I have dreamed of traveling since I was 13 years old.  In middle school ( it was called junior high back in my day), I had a wonderful social studies teacher by the name of Mrs. Bettis.  She opened my eyes to all the places in the world.  Growing up, my parents didn't travel.  After I got married, our travels took us to Egypt every few years.  I dreamed of seeing Europe and other places.  I lived 22 years in a remote little town with a population of 12,000, before internet and cable TV.  It was through books that I traveled.

Now my children live in different places so my husband and I take family vacations with each one of them.  The children are the ones who plan these vacations.  There's a trip planned for next year that already has Sadie's name on the list and Sadie hasn't arrived yet (my new little grand daughter to be)!  So, maybe we are a bit of a crazy family :) 

The downside of traveling is that I have to leave Lilly at home.  I really miss my cat when I'm away and when I return, she is always so happy to see me. 

I hope you have enjoyed this little glimpse into history.  Until next time, my best to you!

Pat 

OOPS, I almost forgot.... all the photos shown above were taken by my daughter Heidi.  Thank you Juji :)

Linking to the following:

Handmade Monday

Ivy & Elephants 

Antiques and Tea Cups 

Frontier Dreams