The Glamorous Life

We had a busy and fun weekend. Saturday night we went to a murder mystery party...way a little out of our comfort zone! The characters we were assigned to play were a glamorous actress and a famous polo player. The event was set in the 1940's. Not sure we nailed the the 1940's look, but at least we tried. Meet Matilda Gallant and Dominik Hasek. 

Each guest was given a character and a clue to share at the party. Turns out we were more like extras - our clue was that we were talking to each other when the shots were heard. We could add any non-story altering details we wanted. I decided that we had just gotten engaged after a whirlwind romance. Apparently he met me the previous weekend at the Beverly Hills Polo Club and had to make me his bride. Maybe Proposal Day put that idea in my head. I picked up this this little bauble at Walmart to make our story a little more authentic. Do you think it is too much??  Well, I am a famous actress, so... I giggled every time my husband introduced me as his fiancee...he seriously kept forgetting my name...must have been the whirlwind romance.

Sunday we spent most of the day helping my niece move. And I am totally counting that as my workout - maybe for the rest of the week :)  I made a chicken potpie for them to bake at their new place. After all that work, who wants to cook, right?  I made one for our house too, but it turns out my husband is not a potpie fan. I am taking it to work tomorrow to bake and share with my co-workers - it doesn't have hearts on it though :)  I only used a crust on the top and added extra veggies. 

Of course, with this warmer weather I can't stop thinking about the garden. Today I planted a row each of lettuce, spinach, radishes and carrots. Apparently, I am obsessed with color variety. The lettuce is a mix of several kinds of lettuce - various greens and reds. The carrots are orange, purple, white and yellow. The radishes are called Easter Egg Radishes - various shades of pinks, red, purple and white. Poor old dark green spinach is going to set off all the other colors come harvest time. The seed is from last year, so I know I like everything. Hopefully, I didn't get to far ahead of myself - if it frosts I can always replant. 

 

I thought if I put the little marker sticks right next to the wooden edge of the raised bed they wouldn't catch Millie's attention. About 30 seconds after I placed them, she strolled over and snatched the lettuce marker. And I put the rest of them in anyway - we will see how long they last. Fortunately, Millie found another delicious stick to distract her. 

We probably need something a little more puppy proof, but I am hoping for now these stakes keep Millie from digging up what I have just planted. 

This is what happened last year to an unprotected bed. Millie dug up the radishes and carrots on one end. She flung all the dirt on top of the spinach in the middle of the bed and trampled some of the lettuce. Fortunately, with some delicate excavation, I was able to save most of the crop, but I sure would like to avoid that mess again. 

When I was finished playing in the garden, it took some serious coaxing to get Millie to the door. Even then she was not eager to go inside. Prior experience has taught her that she would be separated from her beloved stick du jour before entering the house.  

The seedlings continue to grow. They are all leaning toward the sun...eager to be outside I am sure. 

I have started saving my egg shells for the garden. Apparently, the calcium in egg shells helps to prevent blossom end rot in tomatoes. Nothing is worse than turning over a beautifully ripe tomato to see the bottom rotting out...yuck!  I collect egg shells for a month or so before planting my tomatoes. Then put a handful of the crushed shells in each hole with my tomato plant. I haven't had the problem since I started doing that. 

In sad news, one of my favorite water glasses got broken this weekend. RIP, Grumpy Bear - you brought gallons of delicious cold water to my lips. I still have a Tender Heart Bear glass, but it might be time to hit up eBay for some new glasses. A girl has to have her water in a cute glass :)

I have been inspired by all the meal/snack preppers out there. I couldn't resist these little containers The outside edge has a seal to prevent leaking which is great, but the contents can leak between the two compartments, which is a little disappointing. I would like to have a couple healthy snacks at the ready.

How would you fill these cute little snack containers?

It's Not Just for Old Ladies

Today in celebration of National Quilting Day I am sharing another side to me. I am a "quilter." For some reason, I still can't bring myself to call myself a quilter (without air quotes). I use very basic techniques. When I see the incredibly intricate quilts being made by super talented ladies (and some men) I just can't compare myself.  So far, I have completed three bed quilts, two lap quilts and a doll quilt (and I have a couple quilts in progress).

A bed quilt for my nephew.

A lap quilt for my niece.

I got started by looking for a way to recycle old jeans. After seeing an article in a magazine about making a quilt in a weekend with 5 inch squares I decided to try it. (For the record it took a bit longer than a weekend!!!) The goal has been to use salvaged fabrics...old clothes (especially the jeans) and fabric that has been given to me from other people's stashes. I have a bunch of fabric that a friend had given me after her mother in law passed away.

I decided on a red/white/blue palette - classic Americana never goes out of style. I started collecting additional bits and pieces. One of my best sources was yard sales. I didn't need much yardage so old clothing worked very well. I could get unique patterns (super cheap) that were perfect for my crazy quilt design. I confess I have loosened my original rules and have purchased several new fabrics over time to incorporate. There are just so many great prints I couldn't help myself.

One of my favorite projects was making a quilt for my sister and brother-in-law. I worked for months with my two nieces and nephew to make it. We purchased extra fabrics to represent each person in the family's favorite animal - penguins, moose, horses, zebras and elephants. The kids all took turns sewing. And there were plenty of shenanigans like my nephew wrapping his little sister up like a mummy with the scraps from the fleece lining. We gave them the quilt for Christmas and I think the kids were proud of their accomplishment :)

It seems funny to cut up this much fabric just to sew it back together again. Laying out the squares for a quilt is no joke. We had to clear the living room to get enough space to lay this one out. We climbed over the couch we had crammed in the hallway for several days. It takes considerable trial and error to achieve a perfectly random layout.  This poor quilt has been in progress for years - since my husband and I were dating. I am guessing it is about half way finished...one of these days.

For years I have been making flannel baby blankets. It is a super simple pattern and I love being able to personalize the blankets with unique and colorful fabrics - how many pastel items does one baby need? Each side of the blanket is a different fabric.

To give myself a little wiggle room I always purchase a little more fabric than I need for the blanket. The blankets are 42 by 42 inches  - which is not coincidentally the size of my table top. I usually purchase about a yard and a third or half of each fabric. I have been saving the left overs and finally decided on a plan. One of my former co-workers (and awesome sewing mentor) showed me a quilt she was making. The pattern is Disappearing Nine Patch. I feel instantly in love with how complicated it looked though it is super simple.

First you sew together 9 blocks to make a large block. Then cut the block vertically and horizontally to make four new blocks. Notice the different size squares and rectangles you have created. Then twist the blocks whichever way you like. The end result looks so much more complicated than it really is.

I don't remember how many blocks I made total, but my quilt top is finished. I plan to sew together the batting and backing, then take it somewhere to be quilted. It is large enough for a queen size bed. I don't think it is the sort of quilt I would put on our bed, but I envision myself snuggled up on the couch in it. I am keeping it as a reminder of all the babies that have been wrapped in the blankets I have made : )

I love the Disappearing Nine Patch pattern. I am planning to use up the rest of my red/white/blue/denim stash to make a couple more quilts using this pattern.  I have a long way to go :)

If you are ever in the vicinity of Paducah, KY I would highly encourage you to check out the National Quilt Museum. They have all types of quilts on display and the artistry is incredible. We visited on our mini-vacation last summer. It was one of the most tormenting experiences of my life - no photography allowed in the gallery!!  Maybe photos don't do the quilts justice anyway. You can check out some pictures on the National Quilt Museum website, but again if you can visit in person. I just looked at their website to write this post and it made me want to plan another trip.

This picture is from the Quilt Museum's website

And what does this all have to do with losing weight. It is very difficult to snack when your hands are busy. In fact, I get so engrossed I don't even think about snacking...that is a feat in itself. I haven't sewn as much lately, but this post has me excited about completing the quilts I have in progress. And I definitely need all the help I can get keeping myself out of the snacks!!

The All Important Question

March 20th is Proposal Day. To celebrate I am sharing my proposal story. SPOILER ALERT: I said yes!

I met my husband through my sister a little over 5 years ago. Her family was taking Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes from him. Eventually, my sister invited him over to hang out and watch football (and to meet her sister - she just didn't tell him that part). I knew what she was up to, but I will be honest, I never thought he would be interested in me. I saw him as the super athletic martial arts instructor...pretty much the opposite of me.

For a shy person I am still stunned that I technically asked him out first. We had gone to a school play with my sister's family (but not "together"). Then about a week later I went to watch one the Jiu Jitsu classes (and the cute instructor). It was the most beautiful of fall days and I wanted to go hiking at the state park. My sister's family was busy...sooo...I said "hey, what are you doing this afternoon?"  He said he was going to go by his parents' house and help his dad clean out a shed (or something like that). I must not have been listening too closely because the next thing out of my mouth was "do you want to go hiking at the park?"  Awkward pause...and then he said "sure". It turned out to be the most memorable date of my life :)

I have mentioned before on my blog that I waited a long time to find "the one".  I was 40 years old when I met my now husband. He is about 5 years younger than I am. I was a little self-conscious about my age and it was never brought up. He had gone to school with my sister and she is the same age as he is. I don't really know if he knew I was the older sister or not. I just never brought it up. I remember one day he was with me in the car when I stopped to pick up a prescription. The first question out of the clerk's mouth was "what is your date of birth?" WHAT??  You want me to tell you my age in front of my boyfriend??  Either he didn't do the math or he didn't care.  Most importantly he didn't run away :)

We dated for about a year and he had "made it clear" that he was not interested in getting married again. So based on that I was not expecting him to propose, but there were a couple of times it crossed my mind. One time I remember being in the car and him holding my hand. There was a moment I caught him looking at my hand with an odd expression. I just felt like he was checking out my finger to maybe determine my ring size. It was a fleeting thought.

On Christmas Eve we had spent the evening at my sister's house and then came back to my house to exchange Christmas presents to each other. He had put my present under my tree almost a week before Christmas. It was the size of a shoebox, but much too heavy to be shoes. Finally it was time to open my present. It was in fact a shoebox - filled with a bunch of junk - including his funky old tennis shoes. I still didn't really know what was going on, but I played along like I was super interested in the junk. Or maybe I was hunting around in the box for the "real" present. Then he tells me to stop and put the box down. I look up and he is on one knee next to the couch, ring in hand, "will you marry me?"

The pictures in this post are our engagement pictures taken by our friend, Amy, at my inlaws' farm. She has since started her own photography business. You can check out more of her pictures at Look Closely Photography. You can see pictures from our wedding in this anniversary post. Amy wasn't doing wedding pictures yet. I didn't love our photographer so he doesn't get a shout out (but I won't publicly bash him either).

I love hearing people's love stories...please leave a comment with your proposal story.

Pi Day!

Thank you to Desiree for the great idea to celebrate Pi Day with a 3.14 mile walk. To be sure it happened I did it first thing Saturday morning. It is so easy to get distracted throughout the day - no matter how good your intention is to get in a workout.

I am usually satisfied with a walk anywhere in the 15 minute mile range. This one was over 17:30 per mile. And I have 5 very good excuses reasons for my unimpressive time. Before I begin my list, let me preface by saying..."I am proud of myself for getting out and getting it done."

#5 - Puddle dodging.  We had a ton of overnight rain. We were originally projected to have between 1-2 inches. I am not a fan of soggy feet, so if I can avoid a puddle, I will. I am thankful it was warm. Imagine if all that precipitation would have been in the form of snow. I believe the estimate is 1 inch of rain = 1 foot of snow. Yikes!

#4 - Picture taking.  But how could I not stop for a quick snap of a bunny eared mailbox??

#3 Worms!  I have NEVER seen so many worms. Seriously, I saw more worms on Saturday then I have seen in my entire life combined. They were all over the street. Big ones like this one...

 ... or this one....

And hundreds more of every size. Some still crawling and hundreds of dead ones like these. I was a little grossed out at the thought of all those worm guts on the bottom of my shoes. It is difficult to walk and worm dodge under these conditions. Let me be crystal clear...it was disgusting!

#2 - Strange dog. Near the end of my first lap my husband met me and stopped to tell me about an incident he had with a husky. He was running and all the sudden something hit the back of his leg. When he turned around he saw this dog. It ended up not following him, but my husband wanted to warn me about where the dog might be. Sure enough he was there waiting. He ran out to me. I can't say he was aggressive, but definitely stood his ground in an unfriendly manner. Any time I moved a little he would step closer and make an odd noise - not a growl, but not a "hey pet me" noise either. We stood in this awkward stare (with me looking away to not appear threatening) for several minutes.

Finally, my husband came around the loop again and rescued me. He ended up standing between me and the dog until I passed around, then he was able to shoo the dog off the road. After that, we decided to go to another part of the neighborhood to finish. Dog - 1 / Walkers - 0

And the #1 reason for being slow - Lack of Consistency.  I have not been walking everyday and when I have walked, I haven't been doing my previously normal 3 miles. There is no way to keep your skills up if you don't practice. And this definitely holds true for walking fast.

All in all, it was a fun way to start Pi Day. And I am sure you might guess how we ended Pi Day. Since I had been keeping track of odd March holidays I had been thinking about Pi Day in advance. With it being a Saturday I had plenty of time to do a little baking. My niece came over in the afternoon and we baked an apple pie and a peaches & cream pie. We decided to invite a bunch of people to help us eat it.

My husband got his favorite kind of pie...pizza!

And then there was the dessert... My husband requested Apple Pie with two crusts. Apple pie is not my strong suit. The crust didn't look evenly golden brown, but I was definitely pleased with the flavor. It worked out to make apple pie because I had some free apples I wanted to use up. They weren't very crispy so I wasn't crazy about eating them raw. I was about two apples short so I added a couple of pears. One day, I might try an all pear pie.

Peaches and Cream Pie  This pie starts with a cheesecake-like layer, then a peach layer and finally the crumb topping. It was a definite "make again" recipe with a few adjustments. I would have liked more peaches and less crumb topping. Maybe next year :)
At the end of the evening this was all that remained. I might have had pie for lunch today...don't judge :)

This was by far the most festive Pi Day of my life. I love random celebrations with family and friends.

A couple other random weekend moments...

Happy pups soaking up the Sunday morning sun.

I am not sure what message I should be receiving, but these were the conditions I was forced to blog under this weekend. Is someone trying to shut down "Losing My Puppy"??? Or is this my fan base??

Happy Monday, everyone!  Hope it launches you into a great week :)

Uncovering the Garden

We have had some incredible weather this week! Now that the snow has melted I had to get out and assess my garden. I didn't do a very good job cleaning it up at the end of the season. So I had some work to do. I was very surprised to see so much green had been hiding under the snow.

This was last year's Pico de Gallo bed...jalapenos, cilantro, onions. I believe this year it is going to be my early bed...lettuce, spinach, radishes, etc.

I am happy to see some signs of life on my oregano and thyme plants. Not sure about the rosemary yet, but I am hopeful. If we redo our deck and/or make a patio, I am going to move the herbs next to it. I think a couple of rosemary bushes would be nice.

The sweet basil definitely didn't make it. Even before the big bad Rottweiler grabbed it, it was toast. She shook that poor plant senseless. I don't know how she doesn't give herself a concussion.

Be the end of the season last year I kind of gave up on the garden. I am embarrassed to see these wasted beans.I wasn't a big fan of the beans on the fence. This year I will probably only plant bush beans.

 This is the remains of a tomatillo...so delicate.

Millie spent most of our outside time assaulting plants that I was removing and supervising my progress.

A little work and this bed looks so much better. I highly recommend gardening in raised beds. It makes an enormous difference. The soil doesn't get hard and weeds are much easier to pull out. I don't really need more soil from the farm, but I might get a little just to enrich what I have.

Millie was obsessed with all the spring smells.


And every time I turned around she had dug up another bed. I would like to think she was helping, but that might be wishful thinking. We are definitely going to come up with anti-puppy plan to protect the plants.

There is some work to be done before planting, but it looks much better and it did lift my spirits a little bit to spend some productive time in the sunshine.

Spring seems to here, but poor Millie is desperately holding on to her beloved snow pile. I think she wore herself out mauling dead plants and digging up the beds. I found her relaxing on the snow. I am not sure why she is giving me the "don't beat me" look. Maybe because this snow pile is actually not in our yard and she knows she is not supposed to leave the yard.

Now it is time to figure out when and what I want to start planting. I hope I am not getting too far ahead of myself. I am going to double check the upcoming weather, but this weekend may involve me putting in something. Potatoes are traditionally planted on St. Patrick's Day. I haven't planted potatoes in a couple of years so it might be a nice something different.

I am so ready to move past the winter and all its heavy comfort foods. I can't wait to enjoy all the fresh veggies.