The Time Has Come!!!

Well the  day is here  !!  The one  I thought  would never  come, the  one  I have been waiting  impatiently  for!!  We  have a moving van and  car hauler  sitting in the driveway and  a  mess of  boxes  and furniture  to load  so  now  comes  the  physical part.   This  will be  a long  day , then we  leave  tomorrow morning  and the  next  stop tomorrow  afternoon is  Florida and a new  home.  So  I guess this  is  where  I will jump off  and  the next time I see you I will be in sunny Florida!!  You  all  take care and I will be back very soon after I wade  through a sea  of  boxes and  put  everything  away!    

Waiting !

 

I don’t  like that  word ,  I never have , I am not  good at  it .

So we are down to May  in just  a day or two.  We  have  bought a new home in  Florida, and  we are  moving  the middle of May  if all goes as planned.  The  waiting  is the most  difficult .  I am not  good at it ,  I suck at it  actually.    We  have  to wait  to  see if my  husbands  SSD goes through,  we  have to wait  to see if  we  got the  house  we wanted in Florida, we  have  to wait  to move  because  we  got the  house.  We have to wait  for my son to be released  from the  army………………..  and  so  on!!  I  don’t like  waiting, I  want  things  now .  My  grandma always  said  waiting  teaches  patients  ,  maybe  that  is why I am not  so good  at  because  I am not  very  patient .  Well  hopefully  this  time will go by  fairly quickly and  it will be  time  to go soon.   I know we are looking forward to  the warmer  weather  in Florida .  It  is  cold  , rainy  and  very  dismal here this  weekend  making  Florida look even grander  to us  now .   Pray for me  that I will have patients  to wait  this  out.  Pray that  we have a safe move and that  all will go  as  we hope  with the  SSD and  pray  that  my hubby  gets  to feeling  better in the warmer  weather  and  hopefully he will love  it  there.   So  hopefully this  will be  the last  post  for me  from  South Carolina  and  I  shall see you soon in  sunny warm  Florida.  Have  a great  couple  of  weeks  and  I will see you soon !  

What happened to spring?

Soooo. it is  the  last  week of  March  in a day and  the  first day of  spring is  long  over ,  we  had  70 degree  weather that  day , but  now what  happened?   

I know  I have  been lapse  about  posting.  I do apologize  for that but  I have  been busy.   I have  been working up  my fingerless mitts, slippers  and kitchen items  for folks  and now they  are  done, so  for a while  I have  to take a break and get back to what I want to do. 

I have  grand daughters  that  want  doll clothes and  bunnies  and toys and  hats  and all kinds  of sweet things  made  by  grandma plus I have  been making an afghan and  I LOVE working with those pretty bright  colors.  Yes  it is a granny  ,  I am so addicted to anything granny , I just  love  the style , the colors  and  the  patterns.  The  new  granny patterns  are  very  unique and  so fun to make.

 So  what  else  have  I been up to ?  Well  my  husband  finally has  me talked  into  that  last  move  I shall ever make .  I hate  moving  , no really  I despise   it all the packing and  unpacking,  the  ridding of  boxes  and of course all the  tossing  out or giving away  because  you won't need it  or have  room for it  routine.  We  are moving  to Florida.  Yes  I hear you snickering, but  we  are tired of  cold  and  snow and ice soooooo......  since he has  been suggesting it  for years I have  decided that  we should  go.  I used  to love  the  snow ..........  I am from Michigan  and  I lived there  for over 40 years   but there  just comes a point when I have to say  enough.    I love snow  at   Christmas.     I want  to  be  warmer now, as I move into the next chapter of  my  life.  So  we  move  one last  time to Florida.  WE have found the spot we want , we have purchased  the home  and now all we need to do is  get our son  here  to this  house  so that  he can take it over   and  we  can make the  last  move.  I  so look forward  to it , my  kids and grandkids  are REALLY looking forward to it LOL .  We  are less then an hour  from the  land of  MOUSE and  all things  Disney.  Plus  we  are  surrounded  by attractions  and now they will not need motels  ...........  see a plus  side  always  !!   So  I know  that  they will be  down to visit,  we  shall be  warm and  happy and  my  old  bones  will be  resting  in the sun doing what  I love to do , sitting and knitting or  crocheting the  days away  in my  little  sun room in  my  new home  .  

See  now does  this not look inviting ?     I think you shall agree  and now  I will have more time  for  my favorite things  and  blogging  here with you .

The sad  part of preparing to move  is pretty much done already.  Yes  I did have to find a good  farm for my chicken girls .   I did that  and they are very happy now  and  I did have to find homes  for 4 of my rescue pups.  I have  done that   as  much as I  love them I could not  take them with us and I knew  that was  the mission  when I took them in  so now they all have  very  sweet  loving forever homes  and  I know that they are  doing  well so I can  continue  on with a quieter and  less chaotic  but missed  life.  I have  been in dog rescue for  over  10 years  and   even though I will miss the  licks  and  wagging tales  I am ready for  some  quiet  and my  3 little  pups  will be  very happy not to have  to share me anymore LOL.

So  a couple things  that  I am working on  for you to see and then I shall close  and  sit  and try to enjoy this  very cold and  rainy  , snowy day  and  dream of  Florida  !

This  is  my  granddaughters  work in progress she  wants  a big  granny in little  girl colors  LOL

I have  made  more  pairs of these  then  I care to think of at the moment  but they are so nice to slip on  in the house  . I always  have a pair with me so if I go to someones home I can remove my shoes and put these  on .

AND  since  my  grandchildren LOVE  sock monkeys  I am making  Alyssa  a  small one  of these  and  one of these below for the big  girls  soo soo  cute  and  I like them so much I make one  in my  size  of this  one below.  You  all have a great weekend  and I will see you when I see  you  !!   :)

A nice quiet weekend, snowy weather and a good blog produce this !!!

So I have  been having  some fun the last  few days.  I LOVE to read blogs.  I could spend all day  reading  peoples  knitting, crocheting  and crafty creative blogs. I was  just  catching up on some of  my faves and I came across this one  ......... I love  free stuff and I love  love  LOVE yarn and this one caught my attention ......

 Journey of a crafter: Giveaway: want some yarn?: It's been time to do some spring cleaning in my stash these days and I've found something for you! There's 1 prize consisting in this s...

This is  such a wonderful and  creative   blog  I am so glad  I found it ..... you  probably wonder how I did find it right?  Well   I found her  on my twitter  account.  Yes  ....... I twitter and  I am having such a good time with it .  My twitter  name is  Sunflower Farms 1.   I have  been putting all my  things  I am creating on it and I love to follow all kinds of  wonderful crafty creative people and their blogs.  I have  made some new friends, gotten some wonderful ideas, and  had  fun  seeing how  beautifully creative  people are  .  So  I think I need to update my  blog list  and  you should  really get a cup of coffee,  charge or  plug in your laptop and  start  reading.   One  of my  very all time  faves is  this  one , Attic24.  Her  blog  is  a wonderful relaxing read.  Her  designs are  so beautiful, and so colorful and cheerful. I  absolutely adore her designs . I go to her blog everyday and I visit her face book page  all the time for updates.   So  you  have  my  permission , sit down, relax and  read a  few blogs and enjoy!!

 OK  so I told you that  Lucy from Attic 24 inspires me  to be  creative  and I love  what  she does  with such colorful yarn .  I absolutely love  her eye for color and  her  love for all things  granny.  I also  love  all things  granny!  I love  round grannies . square grannies, lots of color grannies. one color grannies, granny ripples  granny stripes , I  adore  the  look of the granny patterns  so much and  all that  Lucy creates that  I have  started my own colorful Granny Stripe  Afghan.  Of course  I must  tell you first  and foremost that I have  no eye  for  matching  colors.  I stink at  it  and  as much as I would  love  to recreate one  of Lucy's Granny blankets,  I fear it  will not  be nearly as  pretty  but  here is my  attempt  to  recreate one of  her  most  beautiful blankets .  I have  been working on this all weekend  since I have  peace and quiet .  Yes it is very quiet this weekend as the hubby has  been in Oklahoma  visiting our  son who is in the  Army.  Since  I have  been alone  , just me and  the dogs, this is what I am working on .  I must  say the further along I get the more I am liking it .

Oh  I did  mention snow  didn't  I ?  Yes  here is  wonderful South Carolina  we  usually get  really mild winters.  On this past  weekend  though Mother Nature  decided  we needed   a little joke, a wake up  call of sorts .  Perhaps  she thought  we were so disappointed that  everyone was  getting the white stuff  but us..........  well not  me   but  we need to make the children here  happy.   So  this is what  she sent  us this past  weekend .  Yes  we got about 3  inches.  It  lasted  until the next day  or  so and it began to melt .  I still have  just  a few spots  here and there where sun has not hit it  but for the most part it is now just a memory.

                                                          

Busy hands

So  I have  been  very busy  working on  some  smaller  items  to  try and get a small business going  selling  what  I think will be  needful  items that  people will want to buy  .  I have  a  real liking for making these dish and wash rags and  scrubbies.  They work  very well, and they hold up  to the  most difficult of tasks  they last  soo much longer then a sponge and  I wash and dry these all the time to sanitize them.  If you are interested in anything you see here please  send me an email or  leave a comment and I will answer any questions  for you I can .  I can make any of these items just about any color that you would like also.  The  wash rags  and scrubbies are all in 100 % cotton yarn and are washer and dryer safe.  

   

As   you  can see  that  is quite a variety.   I  have  been busy  and  I  am  in the process of  making  more  so  please  if you  would like some just  let  me  know .  I  will have  prices  up in a day or  two for the items .   For the  most  part  Dish Cloths  sell for $3.00 each for the simpler patterns and $1. 50 for shipping and  the  scrubbies and  little sponges are $2.50 and  $1.00 shipping  each.  I will have  more  items  to post and  organize  very soon.  If  you have  any questions please comment  or message me  or  visit my  facebook page   http://www.facebook.com/sunflower.farms.3

So what do you do when it"s cold outside?

So it is  still  cold here today.  Yes  I know it is February.........  but  it  usually  is  warmer then this.  Yes this  weather  has  been really crazy  here  this  winter, one day or  two  in the  60's or 70's and then into the  deep freeze  we  go.   My poor chickens  keep  looking at me like they  want  me to make them some sweaters or mittens.   Today  at  3 in the afternoon it  was not  even 40 degrees.  So  it has been so cold the last  few days  I barely  have  gone outside.  I  love  to be outside  .........  usually but  this cold  is  not usual.  I have  managed  to start my  walking program again and  I have  managed to walk for 45 minutes with my  music  but  I do walk  faster  just to stay warm  and  keep the  joints working.    I know  that  I feel better  when I get out there but tonight  they are  calling for freezing rain or  snow  over night  for us  I  hope they are wrong  but if not I may be  walking in boots tomorrow.

  So what  do you do when it is  so cold  out that you want to stay in?  Me I just  want to keep those  knitting needles or crochet hooks working ,  as I have  an addiction to yarn and  I must  satisfy it  by  handling it, making it into something pretty and warm.  If I am not  feeding my addiction then most likely  I am in the kitchen baking.  Thank goodness my husband  does not mind me  baking,  in fact he  encourages it ........ a lot.   I  love  to make  bread and  I used to do it  the  old  fashioned way  of  mixing and  kneading it  by  hand  .   Well  for Christmas  I got  a  new best  friend and  now I have  found that  he  loves to help me  with the bread !!    I  gladly  let  him and he  does an wonderful job, much better then I can do it.

So I found this  fabulous recipe for  whole wheat  hamburger buns  that  I make  but I have  found that  the  recipe also makes  wonderful  bread  .  This  recipe  will make  one  good size  loaf  if you  let  it  rise  for about an hour  and them shape it and rise  it in a pan  for about a  half hour and then bake it in a 375  degree oven  for about a half hour. 

So below the  first picture is  the  recipe for the  buns,  It  really is  delicious and I have  found that  I  just recycled a large tuna can and  washed it  very well and  I use that  to  cut  out the buns , place them together  on a pan , let them rise  for about  20  to 25 minutes and them  bake them ,  You  really must  try this  recipe they are  soo  good .,

Hamburger Rolls 

• 2 tablespoons rapid yeast, room temperature
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (110 F)
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups all purpose flour

In a medium size mixing bowl (or kitchen aid mixer) dissolve yeast in water, add oil and sugar, set aside undisturbed for 5 minutes. Add egg, salt, and enough flour to form a soft dough.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, adding remaining flour as needed. (Do not let rise) Divide into 8 pieces, forming each piece into a ball. Place dough balls approximate 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. (or use parchment paper)  
Cover loosely with a clean towel and let rest 20  minutes.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes.


This  next recipe  is  so wonderful and  I found it on a lovely blog  called Rosa's Yummy Yums.  She  has  the  best  recipe's and this one is  hers.

So  if  you prefer  a no  wheat  flour roll here is another  very  good very easy  recipe that  makes up quickly and  easily.

 Ingredients:
1 Cup (240g/ml - 250g/ml) Water, lukewarm
2 Tbs (30g) Unsalted butter, at room temperature and creamed
1 Egg (~63g)
3 1/4 Cups (433g) Plain white flour
1/4 Cup (53g) Castor sugar
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tbs Instant yeast
1 Egg yolk (+ 1 Tsp water)
Sesame seeds

Method:
1. Sprinkle the yeast into the water and leave for 5 to 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir to dissolve.
2. In a big bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well.
3. Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured working surface and knead for about 10 minutes until you've made a soft, smooth dough.
4. Place the dough in a clean and lightly greased bowl.
5. Cover it with a towel and let rise for about 1 (or1-1/2) hour, until doubled in size.
6. Divide the dough into 8 pieces and shape each piece into a flattened ball.
7. Place the buns on greased baking sheets, cover with a towel and let rise 30 to 40 minutes, until they're quite puffy and doubled in size.
8. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
9, Glaze the buns with the egg yolk and water mixture, then sprinkle with sesame seeds.
10. Bake the buns for 12 to 15 minutes, until they are golden brown.
11. Remove them from the oven and cool them on a wire rack.

 So  I hope  you all are  staying warm and  cozy inside this winter.  Well  I must  be  going , so I will see you soon.