Pinterest Wednesdays.

Most of you have, I'm sure, discovered the glories that await on Pinterest. If you haven't, I'm sorry for you, definitely check it out. If your wondering what it is, the best way I can describe it is a super fancy fun way to organize your internet bookmarks with pictures. It's mostly fashion, home decor, recipes, and crafty projects. It's fabulous. However, with such a wealth of ideas out there I often wonder when I "pin" something if it is actually going to turn out, bake up, clean, be as easy... as the pinner claims. With that in mind and inspired by my friend Beki who once did an entire month of cooking and serving all recipes she had pinned on Pinterest I bring you "Pinterest Wednesdays". Where I will share with you something I did inspired by Pinterest and whether or not it was a flop. It could be any ol' thing as long as it was initially inspired by something on Pinterest.

Today I bring you: APPLE PIE BREAKFAST.  The original post and recipe can be found on this blog here. This was sort of a baked oatmeal in the slow cooker kind of thing. Plus you use Irish oats. Does any thing sound better then Irish Oats on a cold fall morning? I was excited (yes I get excited about things like Irish oats). However, the actual directions instruct you to cook if for four to six hours and to stir every hour! Who only sleeps for four hours? Or were you suppose to eat breakfast four hours after you wake up? That's crazy! And, who is going to get up and stir them every hour? Slow cookers are suppose to be more convenient not less so. There were instructions for if you were going to leave them with out stirring but with the warning that they might be mushy. I went for it any way.

The cast of ingredients.

The end result? Meh. Not bad, not great all in all pretty disappointing (which is what I've heard about that "eggless cookie dough" floating around on Pinterest too by the way). It needed more sweet, we had to add quite a bit of sugar after and it needed something crunchy like pecans or walnuts. It wasn't bad after I doctored it up but I feel like if I have to do a lot of doctoring then the original pin is sort of a fail. I will say that the apples I used were sour (great baking apples) and maybe that makes a big difference.

Before it cooked all night.

I was so disappointed that I scoured the internet for another Irish oatmeal crock pot recipe and tried that one out this morning. It was pretty good much better then the first one. I think I just need to try making the oatmeal on the stove the old fashioned way. But oh man the idea of waking up to hot oats just keeps me wondering if there is a good recipe out there (that cooks long enough for me to actually sleep).

How I felt eating "apple pie breakfast"

Because, I don't want to leave you newbies on a sour note (much like our oatmeal ha ha) I did want to mention this pin claiming to have the remedy to night time coughing for your children. After a nearly sleepless night of listening to SuperH cough his head off I was willing to try anything. This woman claimed that if you rubbed eucalyptus oil on the soles of their feet then covered with socks they would sleep without coughing. I read in the comments that several people used Vicks this way (beware if your child is asthmatic apparently Vicks can screw with that) as the first ingredient is eucalyptus and that's what I had on hand so that is what I tried. It totally worked!!! WHOOO HOOOO!!! We all slept. Seriously people why did I not know about this before now?

Any way, what great successes have you had from Pinterest? Any amazing failures or things to avoid?

Now I Can Sing in the Rain.

It's done!!! And, it didn't even take that long. Or at least taking it one step at a time made it seem all very manageable. It fits and it's so girly and pretty and I am really really pleased with how it turned out. I was going for something in my childhood memory and it must have worked because, I was babysitting a three year old little girl one day, and when I tried part of it on she lay her hand over her heart and gasped!

As soon as I finished it the weather turned unseasonably warm and very sunny and clear. Oh well, I'm wearing it any way.

I used a pattern from the Indy company "Favorite Little Things." I loved how there weren't a million pattern pieces and it went together really well, but I thought the directions were kind of sparse. I didn't really have any problems but if you were new to sewing I think it may have been a bit mystifying.

I ordered these rain boots online. They're Sperry and were super on sale. Even after shipping and handling they were cheaper then any I'd found in stores. Brian thinks their ridiculously pink and bright but I think that's really smart because I'll be easier to spot on a gloomy rainy day.

Singing is the sun dappled shade.
Just singing in the shade.

Do you see the tiny bird sitting on the
bike seat?

I'm so happy with it. It's such a wonderful thing to finish a bigger project and to be happy with it. Sewing isn't always like that, makes me super grateful when it does all work the way I pictured it in my head. Ranger seems to like it as well. I think he knows that it makes our walks a priority, even in rainy weather.

Closeup of the super soft flannel lining.

Here she is being displayed
on Ol' Gertie.

Laziness.

Sometimes I feel really lazy. I mean super duper lazy. This doesn't happen often mostly because I have kids and a life and that makes being lazy impossible (sleeping in isn't even sleeping in anymore. I'm excited if I wake up and it's after seven). But, sometimes I get to be lazy. Laziness mostly hits me when I'm cold. How can I be expected to do anything if I'm snuggled under a blanket?

Sunday I got a real bad case of the lazy. In my defense I wore my super cute plaid dress to church, with my vintage shoes and short sleeved bolero and it was not warm in that Holy building. Not warm at all. So by the time we got home the crisp fall weather was making my nose feel like an ice berg. I got into a pair of very worn jeans and a super stretched out sweater and then plastered myself on Brian. It seemed like I was trying to be snuggly but really I was just trying to steal his body heat (If I'd known better I would have put that into our vows "Your warmth, Oh Brian, shall be Jessie's warmth..."). Then I wanted coffee, and my laptop to surf the web and I was sooooo cozy and walking up the basement steps would be a near impossible feat.

You know what? My dearest love made the coffee and brought me a cup and brought me my computer (that necessitated two trips up and down the stairs). Then our youngest was yelling from his bed (nap time) that he needed to poop. Brian took care of that too, (but as punishment he put the dog out and I had to let him in). I don't get to be lazy very often but when I do it's because my husband is so great about taking care of me and things. Just so I can try and warm up my knee caps (there still cold in case you were wondering).

Side note: It looks like a dead person is laying on my sewing room floor but it's really the finished outer shell of the rain jacket. Hooray! Getting so much closer to having it finished. Today I surfed the web for rain boots.

The rain jacket part III

I find I don't sew properly if Pandora isn't playing.

I also need tea and a square of chocolate.
Or a few squares...

It's coming along. Not even slowly sort of at a surprising clip. I've taken my own advice and just look at one step of the directions at a time. Broken down it doesn't seem so bad. Make a pocket, I can make a pocket. There are a couple things coming in the near future that make me scratch my head, but I will get to that, maybe by then it will make more sense... Or maybe not. There is this one spot where I think I'll have to go off "the reservation" and that makes me a bit nervous. I've always been a "follow the rules" kind of gal especially when it's something I'm unsure of.

The mess.

I am so thankful for my sewing room. With it I have all this floor space to lay out fabric and pattern pieces and cut. My pattern instructions are laying in the middle of the floor completely spread out so I can look at them whenever I need to without unfolding it and finding my place.

This fabric is so long it takes up the entire length of the room.
I almost cut out the pieces upside down!!!

Because I'm sewing with plastic (basically) I'm sealing the seams with this really stinky glue stuff. Hopefully it will prevent water from seeping in behind the holes.

A Pocket!!

One thing that is super weird about sewing with this stuff is that you can't iron it. If you sew you know you iron a lot. This stuff will melt right to your ironing plate (thankfully I read about that before I did it myself. That is totally something I would do). Instead I stack books on top of whatever needs a crease, It doesn't work very well but it's what I've got.

I am really hoping to have this jacket done by October. For one thing if it takes much longer then that I won't be able to use it until the following spring and that would be a bummer! Secondly I'm going to a writer's conference then and I really want to wear it there. Why do I want to wear it there? I have friends that will be attending and who doesn't want their friends to ooh and aah over something they made? Really it's good for me to have an actual deadline or some things never get done.

Honestly this picture is for my sister Heather
and all other dog squishers out there.

I suppose that's why I'm going to this conference in the first place. I love writing (and I do consider blogging to be a big part of this) and I would love to put some of my fiction out there for other's to read. To be able to help my family financially would just be amazing. BUT I have the worst time being consistent at it.  The best luck I've had is when I'm around other writers; being inspired by them and pushed by them. I'm hoping that this conference (which my husband encouraged me to attend b/c I couldn't get past the cost of it. He's so good isn't he?) will inspire me to really get to it! To "Just Do It!" as the Nike saying goes. And, I have a big looming question I'm hoping this conference can help answer: when do you give up on an idea and move on to a different one? When do you accept that a story isn't very good at all? When is it truly bad and when is it just getting over the hump? I don't know how to answer those questions and their on my mind a lot. Almost constantly right now.  Well, anyway, I'm hoping to attend the Breath Writer's Conference with a smart new rain jacket and a quirky new skirt and find some answers. If your interested in what other local writers are hoping to get out of the conference check click here.

Thanks for sticking with me faithful readers. So many times I feel discouraged and even with this blog I want to throw in the towel. I'll start down the dark path that "no one reads this drivel!" and almost always I'll get an encouraging comment here, on Facebook or even in person, and it will bring me so much encouragement and hope. Thanks for that.

Inspiration.

The world is full of inspiration; the woods and the sky, children at play, the LL Bean catalogue...

I see you looking at me a little mystified. I know it's strange but I get a thrill when I see those glossy pages peeking out at me in the mail box. I don't think I've ever bought anything from them as their costs are a little out of my price range but I sure have dreamed about it. The LL Bean catalogue has taken my mind on many glorious backwood hikes.  Let me show you...

In my mind I wake early and after a morning cup of coffee drank from a tin cup and made at my old stove  I don my plaid wellies and step into the misty morning. We live in a cottage tucked back into the woods at the edge of a lake and every morning the dogs and I gather up the eggs from our hens that scratch around the backyard. The crispness of fall is in the air and I contemplate either kayaking our little lake later or a trip to the apple orchard. Either way I know I'll look smart in my comfy flannel shirt perfect for this woodsy lifestyle of mine.

I breath in the spicy scent of pine and think of Christmas just around the corner. Both our dogs (a corgi for me and a bull dog for Brian, though, both dogs prefer me of course) stay close by my side because they know we're about to hike into the woods.

Late that evening I snuggle up on my couch next to a merry little fire. My dogs are snuggled into their monogramed doggy bed. I have a cup of warm cider from the orchard next to me and some knitting in my lap. Brian looks at me lovingly and I think, "life doesn't get any better then this."

I think I should mention that Brian's dream is vastly different from mine. He wants to live in a place where he can see a football game i.e. Columbus. Maybe I could do Wisconsin where the packers are, maybe. I'm just hoping that by the time we can afford our "dreams" he'll want a more laid back lifestyle. It's also possible that we won't experience our dream living until we enter that sweet by and by at which point I assume teleporters will be available for use (how did we manage before teleportation?). Either way I'll keep dog earing pages of my LL Bean catalogue and dreaming of a pine scented life.

A few pictures.

At the beginning of the summer I had big plans to do fun crafts and cooking projects with the kids. Totally dropped the ball on that. We can blame it on the rain or lack thereof since it never rained we were outside a lot. And maybe my great ideas are really just practice for when I'm the most fun coolest Grandmother EVER!!!!

One of the things I did manage to do was make popcorn balls with the older two kids. It was soooo messy but very fun. We followed a Martha Stewart recipe and they were made with marshmallows, toffee and chocolate chips (yum). 

We made the popcorn in an air popper. Remember those?
The kids were amazed by it!

This summer I did get some great shopping in. One of the best finds of the year was this china set. I bought it because I liked it. Then I found out it's worth quite a bit of money (we got twenty pieces for $16!). I'm still using it though (because things should be used) and who knows maybe I'll find more some day. 

Any way I made my dear friend and neighbor Jen her birthday dessert. And used the dishes then. I let her pick out whatever she wanted for dessert and she picked out a brookie (cookie with brownie on the bottom). This is why we're seriously good friends!!!

Then I accidentally sat down and summer was over. Whoops! 

This is my oldest on his first day of real school. Kindergarten here he comes! Joyfully! Can't you tell? (He's actually doing great and I think likes it).

I Did Some Old Fashioned Tracing.

I finally got out my rain jacket pattern and started tracing the pieces. Tracing and cutting out the pattern pieces is my least favorite part of sewing. Some of my friends love it but to me it's messy and overwhelming and it's just the step getting in the way of me getting on with it! I used to never trace my patterns and just cut them to size (still hated it) but since I started investing in indy patterns I've made myself trace (the difference in price being very motivational to use the pattern again).

This is how I trace my pattern pieces.
I tape them to the window and then trace them onto
freezer paper. I often wonder if my neighbors think I nuts.

Sometimes I feel that life is like tracing a sewing pattern. I know what my big goals are (sew a rain jacket) but I have to wait and trace and when I pull out that giant tissue paper of pattern pieces I become quickly overwhelmed. In life I feel the same way a lot. I have goals: open an etsy shop, write a novel, raise two children, but I can't jump to the finished product and so many times I can't even get started because I'm overwhelmed with the first step. Finding time to make the product for the shop (to say nothing of photographing it and setting up the internet space), making myself sit and write when the story feels so flat and silly, eighteen years of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.... You get the idea.

But here's what happened when I finally started tracing the pattern today. I noticed that half the pieces were in a different size group, I could fold those up and put them back. Then I started tracing. One piece at a time I felt the puzzle coming together. One chomp of the scissors after one chomp, Pandora playing in the background. I stopped for lunch, I stopped to read a story to the kids, then I went back to it and before I knew it I had traced and cut all the pieces. Life is like that too, isn't it? Instead of focusing on all the millions of imagined steps from here to there we just need to focus on the one right in front of us. For me being overwhelmed can be paralyzing but today I think God showed me that I don't need to be overwhelmed I can take it one step at a time. Decide what I really need to worry about (is any one going to buy my novel doesn't really matter at this point since there isn't one) Start off the shop with a few pincushions and a few aprons, love the kids as much as possible, and for Heaven's sake sit down and right a page already!!

One step at a time sweet Jesus. One step at a time. (I'm not really sure if that's how the hymn goes I'm terrible with lyrics).