Flamingo Ks Blogabout

Frame-working

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:36:00 +0000

This weekend I'm cleaning up old things...frames and buttons.

Many years ago I inherited a couple of cigar boxes full of old buttons. Many of those buttons have metal studs which have left rusty marks on those buttons that rested alongside of them. Others were cellulose that disintegrated, so I've been washing these buttons and removing the badly damaged ones. Toothpaste, not gel, works pretty well at polishing without scratching.

What to do with so many great buttons that have been lovingly saved for decades? Well, I've placed a few in my vintage shop, but these "white" ones, look pretty placed in a couple of arrays that resemble fossil shells. I'm securing them onto a clear vellum which will allow me to change out the backgrounds with ease....thinking of a grass cloth as a backdrop at the moment.

I hope to pop them into these great old frames with curved glass. They need a good sanding and painting because the finish is peeling off, but aren't they great! Love the curved glass and the carvings.

Now I'm not sure how old these frames are, but they have an odor that needs fixing before putting anything in them. After removing the paper I washed them well with an ammonia solution and hope that sanding the backsides then sealing with shellac will eliminate (or at least diminish) the odor issues. Wonder what causes that stink in old wood.

When I get the project finished, I'll post some pictures. Right now I'm at a stand-still until the weather warms up some so I can go outside to sand and paint. Current temp is 9 degrees Fahrenheit. Brrrrrrr.

Have a great week, Everyone
'Til we next meet....
~~Karen

Waste Not Want Not Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:43:00 +0000

One of my favorite fabric stores is the local Goodwill Store. Someone donates her lovely silk clothing there every now and then, so I like to go every few days to grab up these gems. I've found blouses and skirts, even a wedding gown, and this past Wednesday I found a nice set of silk chiffon pajamas.

I "de-seam" them and use the pieces for purse and pocket linings; but mostly I give the pieces to my class of beginner sewists' to practice working with delicate fabrics. I especially look for stained and torn clothing that would go unsold. Often they will give you a further discount if you ask (because the money goes to a good cause, I usually don't ask with small items, just on more expensive items like formal wear). This keeps costs low for everyone and reduces the landfills' loads a little more.

Sharing some Holiday fun

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:55:00 +0000

Here we are in 2012 already! Wow. Hope ya'll had a lovely Holiday. We surely did.

Luna needed a rest after all her new toys were opened

We spent Christmas with our daughters and son-in-law in St. Louis this year. After Katie's final exam, she traveled here, then we all drove to St. Louis. It was a delightful week and the pups are nearly full-grown now, but just as sweet. Isn't this a cute shot of Luna-girl and her brother, Argus. She really laid claim to this toy and her stocking. Argus, well he's down with any kind of play.


Can't get a good shot of this "action-packed" pup, arghhhus

Besides the pictures of Luna and Argus, I wanted to share a couple more pictures, too. I'm so proud of my DD, Julie. She cooked the whole Christmas meal essentially by herself (and from scratch, to boot!) all in her small apartment kitchen in a shoe-splint suffering from plantar faciitus. What a spread she worked up!


Julie, part chemist, part baker....ah but I repeat myself ;)

Cheese-y Biscuits before the oven (oh yeah, they were yummy)


Green Bean Casserole for her sister, Katie, and cranberry sauce for the rest of us

She's always loved baking and is turning into quite a wonderful cook. This is good news for us all ;)

We're also so very proud of our son-in-law who graduated the weekend before Christmas with his doctorate in Chiropractic Medicine with a specialty in sports medicine. He graduated from Logan College which is on the outskirts of St. Louis, and they had quite a lovely ceremony. They brought in a troupe of bagpipers and drummers to pipe the faculty and grads into the auditorium, and at the finale, they piped them out again. Ben said it was quite a surprise to see them there. What a great touch. Afterwards, his two sisters and two brothers-in-law, a niece and nephew, mom and dad, and the three of us went to their apartment to spend the weekend eating, drinking, and general merry making. At one time there were 13 of us in there....it's still a puzzlement how we all fit :) Here he is getting hooded....

We had a great time with the kids, but it IS really nice to be home again. Sleeping on an air bed for 10 days isn't as much fun as it may sound.

Today we went shopping at Kohls for some end of the year "deals". Yup, went a little crazy because it was "Senior Day", and my husband qualifies for a 15% off, plus another 15% off due to a special Senior discount just today. I don't know how he does it, but he can pick out these bargains like no one else I know. We picked up a couple of gifts for both girls' birthdays which will roll around in a couple of months. Yay! Plus, I picked up a serving tray by Bobby Flay that was marked down 70% on close-out. I've been wanting one for a long time, so I gave in and got it....a little extravagant, but it will be used well, I promise.

I also want to share with you a little recipe. With the coming Super Bowl, I thought you might like a new recipe we picked up at a grocery in St. Louis. It was one of those in-store demos of yummy stuff that I just couldn't pass up trying. Oh Boy! It's called Laredo Casserole, but when we made it, we thought it was best as a "dip" for taco chips -- perfect for a football party (wink). I was going to take a picture of it, but alas, it was gone before I got a chance to get my camera ready! I'm tellin' ya, it's pretty good and super easy, too!

Soooo....(Imagine here a picture of a glass casserole filled with yellows and greens and reds of lovely cheesy yumminess)

Laredo Casserole (from Schnucks)
1 pkg         sharp cheddar, shredded
1                whole roasted chicken, BBQ or herb, meat shredded (about 4 c.)
1 can          red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can *       Mexican style diced tomatoes, drained
1 can *        condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 Cup         frozen whole kernal corn
1 Cup         frozen peas
1/2 Cup      sour cream

* if you want a dip, leave out the soup and substitute Salsa to taste for the diced tomatoes

Preheat oven to 350 F. Set aside 1/4 cup cheese. In large bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Spread mixture into 2 1/2 Qt. or 11 x 7" glass baking dish. Sprinkle with reserved cheese. Bake 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Serves 6 (about 360 calories per serving)

Lastly, I want to tell you of a new project I'll be working on for the next few months. It's my second attempt at a quilt, so I'm looking forward to it a little anxiously. It's named "Borders and Promises" and involves 9 blocks with an embroidered frame and a bible verse inside. Jenny of Elefantz is offering this design to her followers and anyone interested, so I'm going to give it a try. If it turns out well, I hope to give it to my daughter-in-law who just lost her baby last November (born in October).

Recently I've started hand embroidery again and have been following Jenny's blog because she does some beautiful things. If you haven't visited Jenny of Elefantz, then you're missing out on a real treat. This month she's starting a new BOM (Block Of the Month) and a give-away at her site. The BOM is called "Promises and Borders". If you like hand embroidering and piecing, you're bound to find something from Jenny that will inspire you...just click on her button below to launch a new window to her site:

'Til we meet again.....
~Karen

Merry Christmas to You and Yours from Ohio

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 00:58:00 +0000

Clifton Mills, Ohio

May you all find the true brightness of the season and may your blessings be abundant throughout the New Year. From our house to yours,

Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year

Christmas Through the Year - Dec

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 03:12:00 +0000

Been working hard making up time for all those months I didn't get a gift made for Allie's CTY (LOL)! It's working. Here's a couple of items I finished up....

First up, I finished the Holiday placemats for my daughter-in-law-to-be. She loves green and placemats, so she should be pleased with these. I also got her an assortment of olive oils from Olive Oils and More. I have a couple of varieties from them and LOVE them (blood orange and butter flavored), and I know Santha will, too. She's quite a cook.

The second project completed today was these Christmas Doggie Biscuits for the GrandPuppies. I made up a jar for their parents to bake up more when these are gone. There are 3 varieties -- pumpkin-peanut butter, beef flavored, and plain. I got one recipe from a friend, and the pumpkin-peanut butter one from the net. Hope they like them. The jar is an old one from my Mom's collection of canning jars. So art-deco a cool, huh. I think Julie will love it, too.

Tomorrow, I'm making matching napkins for those placemats.

Wishing you all happy sewing and crafting and hoping you're getting all you projects finished up, too ;)
Peace and Love,

Karen

Sewing for Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 23:15:00 +0000

Today, I'm working on placemats for my future daughter-in-law. She loves using placemats for their meals, so I thought she'd like a set especially for Christmas. So in keeping with my theme of re-purposing, I have an two old green linen tablecloths that haven't been used much over the years that I'm going to cut down to make into placemats.

I've several embroidery designs depicting Christmas themes like reindeer and ornaments, so I'm going to machine-embroider one of these motifs in a lower corner of each mat. Did I mention that her favorite color is green, yeah, like how perfect was THAT stroke of luck.

I'm also toying with the idea of piping around the edges with a contrasting fabric...I'm thinking a green and gold stripe cut on the bias, then I can make the mats reversible by using the piping fabric for the reverse side. That may or may not happen depending on if I get a chance to go to the fabric store today to find something that works well with the linen color. If not, they will just get hemmed and that will just have to do. I'm hopeful that I'll have enough linen left over to make a few napkins, too.

Thanksgiving - My son's message of blessings via Miranda's life

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:07:00 +0000

One of the many things I'm grateful for.... Miranda's Miracles.

Our little Miranda passed away several days ago just shy of being 1 month old. This was quite an ordeal for my son and daughter-in-law. Last Sunday they thanked their congregation for their help and shared their remarkable story. I'm posting their testimony, their own words, their own voices of Blessings bestowed during this time. It's rather a long discussion, but they both have a few remarkable milestones in this month-long journey.

http://www.westminsterbible.org/focus-on-jesus-mark.html

This link will take you to the services of their church....click on "Walters Testimony"

As an aside...I avoided listening to this because of not wanting to relive this again. But, I'm glad I did. There are some incidences of which I wasn't aware.

Christmas Through the Year

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:25:00 +0000

With all that's been going on, I didn't get a chance to post October's CTY Project over at Allie's blog. Now, the recipient of this gift subscribes to my blog, so I can't show the actual gift, but I have pictures of duplicates I made for our little Grandpups, Luna and Argus, to wear while celebrating Halloween this year in St. Louis.

For trick or treaters, Luna greeted them in a lovely orange organza scarf embossed with black cats, while Argus sported his stylin' black organza adorned with silvery spider webs.

I know it was a simple gift, but sometimes those are the best, and it was easy to get finished in a evening. Stop on over to Allie's site and jump into the project if you haven't already. She has drawings for gifts, and links to some really fun tutorials to get inspired by. Plus its so much fun to see what others have been doing.

Just for fun, here's a couple more puppy shots in parting....

Party-ready Pups...Luna, a luna moth, and Argus, pirate dog


Naptime after all the Halloweening...

It's good to be back in the sewing room. I'm anxious to get some projects off the ground and update my shops that I've neglected so.Hope to have some new projects to share with you soon. Until then, happy sewing......
~~Karen

double, double toil and trouble

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:28:00 +0000

A dark Cave. In the middle, a Caldron boiling. Thunder.

Enter the three Witches.

   1 WITCH. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.
   2 WITCH. Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin'd.
   3 WITCH. Harpier cries:—'tis time! 'tis time!
   1 WITCH. Round about the caldron go;
In the poison'd entrails throw.—
Toad, that under cold stone,
Days and nights has thirty-one;
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot!
   ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
   2 WITCH. Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
   ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
   3 WITCH. Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf;
Witches' mummy; maw and gulf
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark;
Root of hemlock digg'd i the dark;
Liver of blaspheming Jew;
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse;
Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips;
Finger of birth-strangled babe
Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,—
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For the ingrediants of our caldron.
   ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
   2 WITCH. Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.

May the spookiness of this season make you smile and eat a little candy, too. Happy Halloweening....

Miranda update

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:33:00 +0000

After my last update little Miranda had a rebound, then this past weekend she started slipping further than before. This Friday Vince and Lisa will have to face the terrible decision to take her off the EKMO machine that is keeping her oxygenated. They are heartbroken, but have been given His grace to live in their faith that the Lord has a special place for Miranda in his Kingdom.

The outpouring of love and prayers has been remarkable. Hundreds of people have sent their support for our family, and it has meant the world to us all. Words can't describe how much comfort we've received from Everyone, and I can't thank you enough for all your kind words and best wishes through this sad time in our lives.

Until later,

~~ Karen

Miranda's newest update

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 02:36:00 +0000

Miranda has been going downhill all week. We really thought we'd have to go back to Maryland for the very worst reasons by this weekend, but she may have turned a corner. Here is the latest post from our daughter-in-law, Lisa.

Yesterday was an awful day, in the afternoon after a long day of low pressures that weren't responding to any interventions, finding she had an infection and believing her to be succumbing to sepsis, Miranda's attending doc came to me to ask when Vince would be up at the hospital and if we had family that would need to come in, because we needed to have a discussion about terminating support. I wa...s broken. That was the one choice I had prayed from her first day that I would NOT have to make. All night I prayed that God would make our next steps clear and that He would give us peace if it was our last day with her. In the next few hours there was a change. I noticed she wasn't quite as red as she was all day, her pressure was steadily coming up and her sats looked good. The night-shift fellow who in the past few days had been pretty grim said she was comfortable with how things looked and it seemed to be a change from the afternoon. So I went to go rest in the mothers' room. This morning when I woke up and headed back into the PICU her fellow was the first person I saw. She said, "we had a great night, really good." When I got into Miranda's room all the nurses looked at me and said, "this is like a different kid." I looked at her and her color was great, I looked at her monitors and all the numbers looked really good. Then her attending walked in and there was a smile on his face. He said "I know you've said that you're receiving a lot of support from your church family and people are praying but I'm not sure what kind of strings you're all pulling, this is not what I expected to see this morning, I thought she would die last night. This is a remarkable change from where we were yesterday. We need to talk about getting an echocardiogram, we may be approaching the window to get her off of ECMO." This afternoon she did get her echo, the pulmonary pressure is about 2/3 of her systemic pressure and they need that to go down to 50% or lower. She was clamped off ECMO support for about 8-10 minutes. In the last few minutes she began to drop her saturation levels and the ECMO team felt it was safer to bring her back online that to keep pushing her. When they brought her back onto the circuit they kept it at only 30% cardiac support and her sats recovered immediately. That is MUCH lower support than she's had in the past week, at one point yesterday she was on 100% support. I am AMAZED at what God accomplished in less than 24 hours. After seeing this change the doctor feels comfortable giving her more time to recover and has put off our "meeting" for a little while longer. We are far from out of a critical situation because she still isn't able to support herself off of the ECMO machine, but we're seeing tiny steps in the right direction. Praising God for a great day today and praying for His grace and mercy to walk through tomorrow although we don't know what it holds.

Please keep praying! God is not done using our little girl for His glory. We are humbled to be a witness to His mighty hand.

Prayers are powerful little things....thank you, Everyone, for your prayers and good wishes.

Miranda update

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:31:00 +0000

Spoke with my son last night as he was driving to the hospital to relieve his wife of her turn at the vigil. He said she's still listed as critical, and she's holding steady. They had to move her 2 days ago, and that set her back. It takes her a day to recover from any little change, but she does recover. The doctor said he picked up an article the other day in which a study was done showing that adding a nutrition change to these kinds of cases makes a difference. So they asked Lisa for the breast milk she's been expressing and hope to introduce it to Miranda today or tomorrow. She already has a tube in her stomach which pumps out her stomach acids that we think they will use to pump in the milk. We so hope this will help her get better sooner. She can't stay on the EKMO machine indefinitely, and she's been on it several days now...it's very important that she starts getting better.

Thanks again for all your prayers and good wishes. Words can't express how comforting this has been to all the family. We are so blessed to have good friends like you lifting us up.

Here's a little picture that Lisa took the other day. It says it all....

Update on Miranda

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 23:55:00 +0000

She opened her eyes Saturday. Just for a little while before the docs sedated her again. But, oh what a treat.

They had placed her on dialysis a couple of days ago to help her shed excess fluid she was retaining and help her kidneys filter out all the chemicals they've had to handle. Docs were hopeful her blood pressure would go down and her lungs would hold air on their own. Within hours her fluid levels dropped and the next day they took the ventilator off which had kept her lungs inflated. The dialysis also has been removed. She's still on the IKMO (heart-lung) machine which they continue to try to ween her from.

Her blood pressure is still high though, and she seems to be steadying just a little, but she's still considered non-stabilized yet. I could go on and on about her, but I don't want to bore you. Just thought you might like to see this wonderful picture of our tiny little girl. Peeking through the window to her little soul.

We arrived back home Sunday to check on the kitties and take care of business to find that we're having a lovely Indian Summer this week in Ohio, and the leaves are just perfect. Hope you are having a wonderful week, as well.

Thank you for all your warm wishes and continuing prayers for Miranda and her family. I'm so touched beyond belief, and her parents truly appreciated everything you've done, as well. God bless you all.
~~Karen

Our Newest Grandchild, Miranda

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:35:00 +0000

Little Miranda was born September 30th at 10:34 P.M. She took two breaths then stopped breathing. Apparently, her lungs collapsed. She's currently at John Hopkins in NICU. We've been with her since Oct. 2. Prayers would be greatly appreciated for her and her parents and sibs.

Pix of new Grandkids

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 01:08:00 +0000

Luna (girl) getting her bath treatment

Argus romping after his treatment in the tub

Luna keeping an eye on Argus, planning her attack

Argus has a tiger by the ear

Thinking of napping now....

Huzzah! I found a card reader, so here are the pictures of our new Grandkids we took about 12 days ago. They are growing by leaps and bounds...so cute. Still waiting for our next Grand....any moment now.

Have a great week, Everyone....ciao for now

Still not sewing

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 03:06:00 +0000

Just an update...

So, I've got all the boxes unpacked and my sewing room is all set up. So, whats the prob? Time.

Yes, when one moves into an apartment complex, its generally expected that said complex will take care of maintenance issues. Well, I'm here to testify that this is a BIG misconception. Luckily, my husband has gained some handyman skills through the years. So, we're fixing "short-comings" of this apartment. Scrubbing, painting, insulating, plumbing, caulking, weatherstripping, pest control, and tomorrow the carpet cleaners we hired arrive to aid in the cause. Yay!

After they leave, we're going to try to rid the stairwell of the foot-long cob webs, and maybe take the hall light fixture down to see where the short lies. Sometime in the future we're hopeful the maintenance man will actually stop by and fix or replace the vertical blinds so that we can not only twist them open and shut, but also slide them across the windows with a complete set of slats. Ah, we all must have a dream..

Still looking for my card reader....I saw it earlier this month, but I don't know where it wandered off to. Hopefully, I'll have something more fun for ya'll to read and look at next time. So, ciao for now.....
~~Karen

Moved in and getting back up to speed

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 17:59:00 +0000

Hi again, Everyone!

It seems like I've been gone forever, but it's been only a few weeks. I'm almost ready to get back to work again.

As you may remember, we have sold our home of 20+ years where we raised our 4 children. We had a couple of weeks to locate a new place, which we thought we had found, but that house ended up with some major problems that were repairable, but would lessen the likelihood of reselling the property easily. So, we withdrew our offer on that house and moved into a 3-bedroom townhome about 5 miles away from our old place. We're quite comfortable here, and are nearly completely settled. It's not where we want to live forever, but its good for now, and we don't have any upkeep worries, so we're free to roam to our hearts' content.

This weekend was a long holiday for our youngest, so she came "home" for the weekend. She now has to sleep on the pull-out sofa bed, but she's fine with that. This place was home to another cat before we moved in, and the complex really didn't clean it very well since they had 3 days from the last tenants leaving to us moving in. So, our kitties got infested with fleas a few days after we moved in. They've never had fleas, so they went nearly crazy with the itchies. This weekend we decided to bug-bomb the place and put the cats in the vets for treatment and a short overnight stay. After setting off the bombs, the three of us headed off for an overnight stay up at Lake Erie.

Saturday we went to see my brother-in-law, Smitty, who's spending some time in a recuperation center recovering from what we think was a heart attack while he was visiting his son near Cleveland. He's doing well and hoping to go home this week. On the trip up there we stopped by a place called Grandpa's Cheese Barn. Its a place right off the freeway that sells Amish goods...pickles, peppers, candies, smoked meats, herbs, teas, and of course, hundreds of varieties of cheeses. Oh my! We shopped, then grabbed a sandwich, then shopped some more. It was great fun because they had tons of samples of cheeses, salsas, pickles, spreads, ciders, and much much more. We came out of there with 3 cheeses, one dip mix, some summer sausage, and a pound of fudge. We shared some with Smitty, then went onto a drive along the shoreline westward to a Chataqua-like community called Lakeside. We're thinking of starting to hold our family reunions here and wanted to get Katie's feedback. We found a hotel for the evening and then went back toward Cleveland area to catch a concert at a festival in one of the burbs called Hudson. Lee's brother, Tom, was performing there, so we stopped by to surprise him. Afterward we all went back to his place to visit for awhile before heading back home.

This morning Lee fixed Katie and me a feast of scrambled eggs and cheeses before she left to go back to school. We'll bring the cats home tomorrow because the vet's office is closed for the Holiday. This afternoon, Lee and I will head out to the Labor Day Festival in town before the rains come back in. I should be upstairs unpacking my sewing room boxes, but it's kinda nice to relax for a little while.

Wish I had pictures to share, but my battery is discharged, and haven't located my charger yet. Maybe next week's posting. Take care and we'll be chatting later......ciao for now -- Karen

Moving

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 22:10:00 +0000

Friday
The good news, we sold our house. The bad news, I've got to pack all this $%^&*( stuff. Yikes!

Katie's gone :(

I was originally going to post about how sad it is to see Katie's room empty. The lament of all empty-nesters...this is our baby, so we're getting to be Pros at this (not really -- Never). Then, I was going to share the happiness of Katie's sister, Julia, coming home from St. Louis just to help her little sis move in....


Katie and Julia in the kitchen again-Kay looks thrilled, doesn't she

But then, just a few days after these pictures were shot, we got an offer on our house. Counter offers were made, and we all merged to agreeable terms of sale. That was last Thursday, and we've been running around with our agent ever since looking at places .... running, running, running .... like crazed home-less folks. In the mornings we'd look at apartments on our own, in the afternoons we'd look at houses with our agent. We really haven't had a chance to miss Katie.

Home

The next morning after getting the 1st contract to review, Lee and I sat out on the patio in the swing looking at our gardens we worked on for all these years. We gazed out at the berry patch that was where we put the girls swing set and play house when we 1st moved in 21 years ago, and the flowers that was just a weedy mess a few weeks ago.

Patio Swing


Cone Flowers out back


THE apple tree Julie picked flowers from our 1st Spring here 1991

We relived stories of how our neighbors came over to help us build the garden shed, and how the 4-H bunnies cages lived behind that shed then moved into the garden where the bunnies could roam around freely. We still have the scales and "bunny gear" on the back shelf of the shed.

We watched a turkey hen with her brood walking back to the woods from their journey to the apple trees between our house and the neighbors' and then recalled how we never saw turkeys or fox while our dog, Charlie, was living.

View from our dining room in Spring

We then recalled all the dogs from the neighborhood we knew... Fluffy, the knee-breaker, Barkley, the protector, and Indie, the rock-biter.

Laughed about how our neighbor's dog used to charge over to see us at a dead gallop everytime she was let outside. When we were building the brick walkways and steps leading from the porch, she'd charge over through the cement and sand, so we'd have to redo everything again and again. We were so aggravated at her, but it all melted away as she demanded her loving from us. It took is several weeks longer just because of all the dog petting breaks we had to take.

Reliving the memories of the aches and pains we had after moving tons of brick piece by piece over the course of building those paths. Our neighbor used to bathe my aching fingers in warm parafin from her physical therapy office every night that summer. Washing dishes never felt so good. Speaking of doing dishes...

I never showed ya'll my kitchen, please forgive me for bragging a little. Our builder used to laugh and say how everyone can tell a woman designed this house....I'm going to miss all this space.

Then we started to get anxious about cleaning out all the tools we've accumulated through the years and packing them away, and how big of a storage unit/s we might need. And, THE biggest question...where might we move to.... and how much must we pack away for long-term storage and how much to pack away for short-term. That's when we decided to go out for breakfast and look for an apartment to move into before we got too nuts thinking about all these things and worrying ourselves to death about where we would live next month. Sometimes, you just need to jump in and "do" instead of "think". This was one of those occasions.

Tuesday
It's been 5 days now, and I just starting to pack today. There has been so much to do to ready for the coming water inspection. Plus we're still having showings as back-up to this offer....things can always fall through up to the last moments. This afternoon the home inspector comes with the buyers, so we have to be gone, but until then, it's still ours, and we will take the time to start the separation process by ourselves. No cleaning this time, dirty dishes in the sink, laundry in the dryer. We need time to be at ease right now. After all, this was our dream house that we had saved and sacrificed many years for. We designed it, we had it built, we improved on it and we raised our children here. It's always going to be a big part of us, even as we find another home to downsize to, where-ever that might be. This home and this community will always be "home" in some fashion just as it has for the last 25 years.

Now, off to pack pack pack then pack some more.....I don't know if 3 weeks is enough time! Yikes....still have to decide on a rental property in case we don't find a nice place to buy in the next few days. Ah, the craziness begins.....

Thursday

After running through about a dozen houses with our agent, we were surprised to find this little gem. So, we put a bid on her contingent upon us closing the sale of our home. What a surprise to discover it was built by the same builder that built our last two homes! No wonder we felt so comfortable. When our boys see the inside, they'll know right away why we chose this place... on the inside it looks a great deal like our home back in the 1980s where they grew up. Circle of life kinda thing, I guess.

So, it belonged to a couple who recently passed away, and they took real good care of it. Three bedrooms and two baths and a great room. Plus, a nice kitchen and eating area. The yard is much much smaller than these 2.5 acres we tend to now. Most of the grass is in the front, with the back of the yard going nearly straight up a hill. It has been terraced, but most of the back yard has not been made into lawn...its still wooded with a nice thick patch of briars behind a row of lovely white pine trees. One apple tree, and one crabapple flank the back of the "yard" and there's a nice sized deck right in the middle of them. If this becomes our new home, I'll be sure to post pix.

I don't think I'll be posting much for awhile because things are really hopping around here. Enjoy the rest of July, Everyone. I'll be reading, just not writing....not for a while. Until later......

~Karen

New Cheesecake Recipe - Its a Keeper they say

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 02:05:00 +0000

So, last week Allie posted a recipe from her friend, Shirley, for Pineapple Cheesecake along with a picture. It looked so light and fluffy that I couldn't resist trying it. Well, it was absolutely delicious. Of course, I had to fiddle with it a little, because one of the three of us doesn't like pineapple. So, I just omitted the pineapple and put in a little lemon zest and juice for flavoring. We didn't have any graham crackers either, so I used ginger snaps instead along with a few crushed up toasted almonds for a little nutty kick.

Here's my version recipe if you'd like to try it....

Lemony Cheesecake
          Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.

    Crust:
3 cups crushed graham crackers or ginger snaps (or a mixture of both)
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sugar

    Filling:
2 8oz. packages cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon zest
juice of one lemon (optional)

Crust: Mix together the crushed crackers, melted butter and 2tbsp sugar. Pat filling along the sides and the bottom of a 9" pie plate

Filling: In a mixing bowl, beat eggs until fluffy. Add cream cheese. Beat, beat, and beat some more until as light as possible. Add vanilla, sugar and zest and beat beat beat some more. You just can't beat this mixture too much. Place mixture on top of crust and sprinkle with set aside some of the cracker mix to sprinkle on top.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, or until middle of cheesecake is well set. Refrigerate until cold.

Christmas Through the Year

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:34:00 +0000

Yay! I've finished my July contribution to Christmas Through the Year already! Woot Woot!

Way back in January my DD and I stopped into a newish store in Columbus called Sew to Speak to look for some fabric to cover a couple of throw pillows. She had a hard time deciding because they had so many pretty choices, but she saw this cheerful Alexander print and fell in love with it -- so 70s, isn't it! She didn't think she could afford the fabric and the pillows, too, so we just left empty-handed. She was a little bummed, but hopeful she would find something she would like at Target or Ikea or someplace else. Well, she got busy in preparation for her trip and upcoming classes, and forgot about throw pillows.

So, while she was in Europe, I picked up 2 half-yards, and then I picked up a couple of 18" throw pillows. After removing the covers, I set about covering the stuffing with some muslin. Then did a simple box cover and voila....she now has some pretty cool pillows for her new-to-her black leather sofa. I'm not sure I can wait to give these to her for Christmas, but I'm going to try....Now to find some yellow fabric to make into a throw for her, too. So Groovy ;)

If you haven't been following Allie, you should hop on over and check her site. It's not too late to jump into her Christmas through the Year project. There's no pressure to finish a project every month and that works great for me, plus there are prizes every month. How cool is that!

Sunny Days

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 22:41:00 +0000

It makes all the difference when the sun shines, doesn't it. I would never do well in areas of the country that don't receive much sun -- like Seattle. The ole motivation factor increases exponentially with the amount of sunshine during the day and decreases just as quickly with gloomy, rainy days.

So last Saturday the sun started shining again. Happy day! Lee got a ton of weeding done, and I got most of the weekly house-cleaning finished. Huzzah! In celebration, we decided to take a break and visit a couple of yard-sales before the rain clouds came back in the afternoon.

I love yard sales. I usually find something I just can't live without. Here's my latest acquisition. It's an old Hookah! Yeah, not real useful for an asthmatic, but it'll be fun to have on the shelf for my family members to run across during the family reunion this year. Tee-hee. It makes me smile to think of what my smart-alecky kids will have to say about this $5.00 deal.

Another yard sale yielded another great little find for $5. It's a Kenmore 1755 mechanical sewing machine, made in about 1974. It had a price tag of $25.00, but I was merely curious about the cabinet and was looking at it when the seller came up and told me I could have it for $20. I said "No, thanks, I'm just admiring the cabinet" and walked away. I truly wasn't interested. My DD was looking around at other things she might use in her new apartment, so we were just poking around and he came up again and told me to please take it off his hands and offered to sell it for $10...then he said, here just give me $5. Heck, I was half expecting him to offer to pay me $5.00 to take it away! So I agreed and we loaded it into the car. All the way home I was kicking myself buying it because we're trying to get rid of things instead of acquiring more in anticipation of moving. But my DH was very supportive of the buy when I got home, which made me feel much better about succumbing to temptation. Here's a picture....

We put it in the laundry room and I started experiment with it later on that evening. Yeah, not perfect, no surprise there -- it needed some TLC. Now, it did fine straight stitching, but it couldn't zig-zag and some of the gears were frozen up beyond my abilities to free them. Well, I figured, what the heck, and I took it into a repair shop to get an estimate on fixing it...$69...not high, but not low, either. Actually, that's he customary cost for a basic cleaning in this part of the country, so I thought it might be worth it. I was looking at his showroom of old used Kenmores and saw most of his stock was selling for about $120. The repairman said this model was one of the finest Kenmores ever made and well worth the investment, so I said, "Okay." Got it back Thursday, and it sews like a dream. Even the cams work well. So, it cost me a total of $75.00. Not a bad deal, I guess. Plus I have a pretty nifty cabinet as well. It looks much like the old White "Workhorse" (from the 1940s) that was my Mom's machne, but not as heavy to lift -- Yay! She just hums right along. Nice. I'm likin' her....guess its time to name her....any suggestions?

Packing up the Sewing Room

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 14:37:00 +0000

We got a couple of offers for the house this week which lead to a YIKES moment. We're still negotiating, so it's not under contract, but it's time to seriously consider getting ready to move. One of the rooms that make me the most nervous is my sewing room.

So, I decided to start with my stash. You can't tell from the picture, but all these shelves were piled to the brim with stuff. So, a couple of days ago Lee picked up some boxes from Wally World and I started pulling piles of fabric out of the closet. What to chose? Where to begin? Nearly overwhelming.

Well, after taking a couple of deep breaths, I decided to start with the fabric that I was sure I wouldn't use this summer. First to go into the boxes, upholstering fabrics--Plop. Next, I put in all the scraps of spandex and specialty spandex, keeping only black and white out in case I get an order. Then all the jersey knits, keeping a few out for a couple of t-shirts and summer dresses I may be able to get to this summer yet. Finally, all corduroys and wools and quilt-weight cottons and some yarns.

Wow! What a difference it made in the closet as well as my attitude. I feel such a relief. Now, I still have a TON of stuff to pack yet, but it feels so much "lighter" in there. Rejuvenated is the right word here. I now plan to pack a box a week until I'm down to just the essentials.

The plan is to put most of our things in storage and rent an apartment for a year while we scout around for a house to buy once we sell this place. So, I'll have to whittle away more in that sewing room, but it's a good start. One thing I've done is to donate some of my stash to the local high schools' Home Ec departments. I wasn't sure if they'd want my stuff, but to my surprise, they did so I gave one of them some of my spandex, too, and offering to help teach a spandex class at one of the schools next Autumn because the teacher is nervous about sewing with spandex.

Back to my roomier sewing room. Finishing up some throw pillows for Katie's new apartment. She chose some really pretty fabric, I'll have to take some pix and share with ya'll soon.

~~ Karen

Farm Market finally comes through

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 01:35:00 +0000

These were supposed to be available for Mothers' Day...they were not, too cold. Finally, the other day, the sign finally went up and I scored 4 quarts today! Woo Hoo! Aren't they gorgeous! All hand picked and everyone perfectly ripe. Notice how all the caps are standing straight....they were picked today.

The market has a cool machine that one person drives to pick the berries. There are two tractor seats about 10 inches off the ground in the back that two other people sit on to pick the berries as the tractor goes very slowly down the rows. After about two rows, the riders switch sides so their muscles don't hurt so much from leaning . My daughters worked this farm market through their high school years and once in awhile they were assigned "berry duty" which they loved. The field hands got paid more than the market people. Those kids had HUGE biceps by the end of summer from lifting tons of veggies. I miss those days because we got 40% off all the produce but the sweet corn. Now, I pay full price, but when you get beauties like these, I don't mind so much.

So, I thought I'd share some of my baby dresses my sisters saved for me. This green dotted swiss was made for me by Evelyn one day. I used to have a picture of me in it, but can't find it. My dad and mom had a summer cottage at a local lake where Evelyn and Betty (my sisters) and my folks spent the summers. Evelyn said she made this for me to help pass the time. Yes, I was a late-in-life-baby.

Here's a pink silk dress. I don't know who made this, but the seams are pinked, so they were hand-made. I'm thinking this was for my Betty's wedding, but I'm not sure. I definitely was for a special occasion, being silk.

Evelyn whipped this up at the beach one day for me. I had quite a few of these little sundresses at one time.

I'm told this bonnet was mine, too. The doll modeling it was mine. She's a Betsy Wetsy and is missing most of her hair.

This was one of my beach hats....funny, I had no swim suit, just my undies, but I had lotsa hats.

This is a little slip that has delightful scalloping around the sleeves and hem. Made in the Phillipines, and there are two tiny buttons and button holes on one of the sleeves.

This is all polyester and is very light weight. You can see through it. Yep, handmade.

It's a beautiful evening tonight. The lightening bugs started sparkling last night, so we're going out for a little walk to enjoy them. Later....

~~ Karen

Christmas Through the Year

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Sat, 28 May 2011 22:55:00 +0000

I've been working on the May gift, but it's not quite finished, darn. The good news is I've got a great jump on June's gift. I can't say what it is, because it's for one of my followers, but I do have something I can share with you. After you finish here, hop on over to Allie's place to see what Everyone's been working on....some sweet things there.

Handmade cotton dress for Julie

Matching corduroy pinafore for Julie

I pulled these out of the cedar chest last week. I made two sets of cotton dresses and corduroy pinafores for my little girls way back in 1990. They were from a very old pattern my sister, Evelyn, gave me to use, probably dating from 1950s. Evelyn made many dresses for me when I was small. She was 22 years old when I was born and already an accomplished seamstress. I have a picture of her wedding party which shows her in her wedding dress and my other sister, Betty, in her bridesmaid's dress -- both handmade by Evelyn. It's been digitized, but its on my other computer, so I can post it yet. I'll try to get it online next time. Have a great weekend, Everyone.

~~ Karen

Too busy to blog, but not to busy to share this

noreply@blogger.com (Flamingo K (aka Karen Schurr)) — Tue, 24 May 2011 13:18:00 +0000

I ran across this little gem this morn....hope it tickles you, too. (The best line is "the trick is to boil the egg first" -- listen for it ;)

Ciao for now....

~~ Karen