WOW we are having some serious warm weather here for our neck of the woods. I mean 50 degree temps which for us in February is really rare. The snow is just about gone -just piles here and there. As far as we can see around the lake - all the ice fishing houses pulled off the lake on Sunday - with the actual deadline of March 6th two weeks away yet. Not because the ice will thaw in the middle of the lake to a dangerous level - but the shoreline ice could pull away and getting off the lake could be a problem. Colder weather is on the horizon in the next couple of days - but no real snow in the forecast. Weird mid winter temps and weather all together.
The mister and I snuck away midweek with another couple for a fun getaway for a couple of days. The guys wanted to cross country ski - and even with crazy warm temps they were able to get in a couple of days of that - not great skiing but they made the best of it. It was even nice enough to play cribbage outside in the afternoon
The view out our townhouse wasn't lakeside but on a little inlet where we had swans come and visit us often during our time there
Kari and I were able to get in two full days of sewing and it was wonderful. I learned a few tricks on my new machine.
Speaking of a new machine - a new one was gifted to me by Mr. Farmhouse back in December to replace my old Pfaff who has served me well for many many many years. She was getting tired and I knew for about a year it was time to think about upgrading - (seriously I really don't like the learning curve that I knew was coming with something new - makes me sweat lol.) . After about a year of thinking - and I'm not kidding - I took the plunge and bought one with an embroidery unit - meet Sophie
So why Sophie you ask - well even if you didn't here's the story. A few of us Woolies made the big plunge and bought machines during the same week from the same dealer. I think they had a very good week that week lol. We decided that they should have names. Shoot why not I call my Tahoo Pearl because of the name of her color - which is just a pretty name for white lol. Well my first time ever touching a machine was on my Grandma Sophies treadle machine. She would let me "play" with the treadle but I never sewed on it. Mother Tother who's nickname is Sunny was my teacher on her singer machine when I was growing up. It was so hard to choose because they both represent my history with sewing. So since my first time touching a machine was on my Grandma's treadle I went with Sophie. Aren't you glad you asked lol. Dang Sophie is really smart and with her will come a huge learning curve - insert sweat here lol - but we have been playing nicely together and I think with little bits we will bond nicely.
I did get most of a Valentine wool project completed for me - not as far as finished but dang close - cute little mini truck from Buttermilk Basin. I have a few of this series in the kit box so I'm trying to work on them here and there. Slow and steady right?
Thank you so much for all the email addresses that have come my way for my newsletter for Farmhouse Woolens. I will be sending out a newsletter on Thursday morning. So if you don't receive one and you've signed up - check your junk mail and if it's not there - give me a shout. Here's a peek at a few things getting listed on Farmhouse Woolens on Thursday night as well as some personal kits I will be de-stashing. I really need to clean out some of my stash and now is the time. So pop over around 8 if your interested. I have many things still out for either quilting or finishing up. So at some point the beginning of March you'll find lots of new things listed. I'll keep you posted through the newsletter. You can sign up by sending me an email at fhwoolens@gmail.com an letting me know your email address.
Last post I promised a good recipe to share with you. We had another good one tonight that I forgot to take a picture of before hand. It was beef stroganoff and I found the recipe on facebook - yummmm. I'm really trying to remember the camera thing lol and take pictures for blogging purposes. Anywhoooo this was found at Mommy's Kitchen Blog.
Salisbury Steak - A New Version
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 1 - package Lipton's French Onion Soup mix
- 1/2 cup cracker crumbs
- 1 egg
- 2 packets (0.75 oz) brown gravy mix - prepared
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 small can mushrooms sliced
- egg noodles, rice or mashed potatoes
Make hamburger patties using the beef, cracker crumbs, eggs and soup mix. Fry or grill until patties are browned on both sides. While the hamburgers are cooking mix together the brown gravy with the required amount of water and then add the sour cream and mix well. Spray a 9x13 pan with non stick spray and lay cooked patties in the pan. Cover the patties with the sour cream gravy mix. Add mushrooms and bake at 350 degrees covered for 30-40 minutes turning patties halfway through the baking time. Serve with the noodles, rice or mashed potatoes. I did add some fried onions on top when I served them because I had some leftover - that was yummy and I would do it again.
I hope all is well in your neck of the woods. I will see you back here next week maybe Tuesday or Wednesday lol. As allows you can find me on Instagram under yellowfarmhouse
Well here we go - the 2nd week of February already. Good golly Ms. Molly where did January go. I always find that January tends to be a schlump of a month for me. I've paid attention over the last few years and finally realized that. Hey nothing gets by me does it lol. But when February rolls around I always feel that zip show back up and I am ready to tackle things.
I have to say not much is new here at the Farmhouse - been fairly quiet with a few things here and there. I have quilt retreat with the peeps coming up in a few weeks and I'm really looking forward to that. We are headed to a new retreat for us - and I'm sure it will be wonderful. Shoot just to get away and sew is great isn't it? That means it's time to start thinking about what I will be taking and getting a little prep work done ahead of time - what a concept lol. I'm vending at a local quilt show the end of March so I imagine my sewing time will be spent on a sample or two - plus some glorious handwork. My goal for 2017 is getting some of those UFO's out of the boxes and finished up. Now having said that - I did challenge myself to the sew along on Lori's blog for Jan Patek's Fall Festival quilt - BUT it's all from my stash - no fabric or wool bought for it. I didn't quite make the challenge for February - but I did get the main block done - just didn't get the little moon blocks finished up - hopefully will be caught up for the next showing in March - here's my first block
The color isn't perfect because I took the picture tonight but you get the idea. I'm doing my top all in wool and going somewhat with what Jan used on her blocks as far as color goes. So I went with a blue moon and star - I like it and totally out of my box lol. I'm trying hard to stitch during the day for business and stitch at night for myself. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Anyway block 1 down. I'm also stitching on Chubby Bunny by Wooden Spool Designs. He's such a cutie pie.
I know the link for Farmhouse Woolens Etsy site isn't working and I'm trying hard to figure out what the heck I'm not doing to get it to go live. So if your interested you'll just have to type it in - sorry - I will keep on keeping on in that department. I'm getting ready to send out a newsletter in the next couple of weeks as to what's happening at Farmhouse Woolens. If your interested in signing up for it - please send me an email at fhwoolens@gmail.com and include your email address in the body of the email and I will add you to the list. How many times can I say word email in that sentence lol. I will have an update on the site next week. One of the upcoming kits next month is this adorable bunny that one of the peeps is working on - so sweet.
I have several dear peeps and angels helping me out with a few samples - what a blessing they are. I will share their projects with you as they come in and are completed. The projects will also be on the etsy site sometime in March.
A little decorating did happen in the last few weeks - although not much. I love this big tray I bought down at Buttermilk Basins open house last fall. I had it decorated with this big bowl during the holidays and just switched out a few things for Valentines decorating. A little hard to see - but those hearts are made from an old coverlet and have an antique key in the center.
So there ya go a little bit of this and that. Now that I've jumped back into the blogging pool - I'll see you back here next week with a yummy new recipe and maybe a few other things I'm working on.
Have a great week
Until Next Time
