HOT Summer Squash

Summer Squash from a good friend @ work provided a great supper this week. (Along with a salad and some parm bread)

Recipe for HOT Summer Squash
Yellow Squash
Broccoli
Red Bell Pepper
Purple Onion
Cheese
Salsa.

Blanch the Squash, Broccoli, and Bell Pepper. While that is draining, add the onion to the pan with some olive oil to make it translucent. Pile in the salsa, shredded cheese and all the blanched vegetables. Stir it all together and serve it warm.

Amounts of each depend on how much squash and how many hungry mouths you need to feed.

Free Fireplace

Since I finished my backyard patio and pergola, I needed another project, OF COURSE! While surfing craigslist for plants for the backyard I found and offer for a free outdoor fireplace. I emailed the woman and she said they had used it once. When I arrived, it was huge and took me two trips to haul it home. You can see how tall it is next to my 11 year old. After a little rust removal, some wire brushing and some heat resistant paint, it should be good to go.

Thanks Craigslist.

Backyard Project - Complete

Before: A wasteland of dried grass, stickers, a tiny patio with no shade from the Austin heat.




This project has given me a new perspective on working with a convicted felon. Yes, he ended up doing a reasonable job, but I was worried each time I gave him any payment.

AFTER: GREEN and some shade.

















After:

Small Table Project

Recipe for a cool little table.
Ingredients :
1 free craig'slist table frame
a can of black spray paint
1 leftover piece of wood (table-top)
Acrylic paint and painters tape

Combine all ingredients while working in the garage which feels like a 350 degree oven.

Kid's Chair

So I took 2 36" long pieces of wood.
3 cuts later and I have a chair for my son's room.

Here is the chair before I paint it.
His room has a surfer theme so, I may round the top off like a surf board and paint stripes down it to look like the old long boards.

Info from my MOM

I received this note from my mom, this morning.

"I noticed the craft places on you blog. I recently received a little booklet about craft books. I joined, received four books for 25 cents each, then purchased one book at 1/2 price, have to purchase 2 more books the next two years. Anyway, there was a card to share with a friend, so if you want to check it out it's joincrafterschoice.com .

You can look thru some of the books and most of the others have readers comments that really helped me decide on a couple. The books I ordered are: "Crazy shortcut Quilt,"" 90-Minute Quilts," "Sewing in No Time." " 24-Hour Sewing Projects" and "Outstanding in the Field."

There are lots of cook books and gardening books. Let me know what you think. I'll share my books with you.

Love ya,
Mom"

Isn't she the greatest. She is an amazing quilter, cook, crafter and NOBODY throws a party like her.
Thanks, Mom.

New Paintings

Watercolor has always been one of my loves. When I took lessons in high school the greatest thing was to learn how to look at colors in layers. My playful farm side took over in these paintings.
My favorite is the church one. These are simple line drawings with ink pen and watercolor washes.

Leftover T-shirts = New Favorite Banket

Lots of t-shirts that were just taking up space in my closet and not being worn.
Grey - Blue tie dyed - white - tan -
Rather than sending the to goodwill, I took my rotary cutter to them and ended up with enough to make a good sized blanket.

Whirlwind - In Progress

When I started the new painting it had a large sky and it became stormy as I painted it. Then before I had even finished painting the ground, a tornado erupted. The painting isn't finished I still have to paint more of the fields for the tornado to tear up and a red barn is going to be on the left side. (Can you see my pencil marks for the road?) I'm not sure if the inspiration came from my life which has been pretty crazy for the past 6 months or from growing up in an area with frequent Tornadoes. Either way, I can't wait to see it finished, along with the calm after the storm.
Take shelter.

Ruined Hoodie turned into Laundry Bag

Had a ruined hoodie that I cut the hood off of and sewed the neck shut.
Perfect for use in the Laundry room for clothespins.

Homemade Breakfast

Nothing better than homemade breakfast. Last night after playing poker with the neighbors (and losing) I decided to make Cinnamon Bun Scones. Found the recipe on Mr. Breakfast.




The scones came out great - make sure and add the Glaze, because like typical scones they are a little dry.

YUMMY!

Welcome to my blog

From now on I hope to provide you with a sampling of ART, FOOD and FUN stuff that I'm doing.
Having to write about my activities will also help motivate me to complete some of the projects I've started.



Today is the first blog post mainly as a test, so please be patient as I build the content.

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