Home and Garden

Snow White Lives Here

2009-10-15T20:20:06-04:00

Snow White must have lived in North Carolina. Or maybe she used to live here. We have so many interesting visitors. "Hello Bambi, you're looking chipper today."

"Oh, look at how high you jump."

"Yes, yes, I saw you leaping across the yard. Now, Bambi, why don't you scurry along and stop looking at me with those big Bambi eyes."

Of course, Bambi is in no hurry. He's just taking a daily stroll through the million acre wood.

Of course there are a few ladies in the wood that are looking for a good meal.

"I think the deer is a little too big to digest. I suppose I'll have to wait for a male to eat for supper."

"Wait a minute, where's Bambi goin'?" "I don't know Manti, why don't you fly on over and ask him?"

"Whoooo, whooo you lookin' at?" "I'm lookin' at you Barred owl in my back yard."

"Well, if you must look, at least look at my better side."

"Well, hello Charlotte. How are you today?" "I'm quite well, Susan, how are you today? "Please don't give away my whereabouts to the Mantis on the deck. I'd really like to live another day." "Charlotte, I really don't know, do Praying Mantis eat spiders?"

"Hello Peepers, what are you up to this lovely day?"

"I'm looking in your windows, Susan. I must make sure everything is in order."

"And I can tell that they are not in order one bit. Susan, you get along now and go do your laundry."

"Aww, do I have to? I was hoping the 7 dwarfs would come out of the woods and do it for me."

Deb's Stuffed Pepper Soup

2009-10-07T17:06:05-04:00

By Beth Sollars
Singingirl Cooks

I've been waiting a while to do this post. This delicious soup recipe comes from my oldest and best friend, Debbie Finegan, who passed away on September 16th after a long and courageous battle with cancer. She would be beaming from ear to ear to know that her recipe is being published for all the world to see. Well, that previous statement is a bit of an exaggeration, but I imagine that would make Debbie laugh even harder.

This soup tastes just like a stuffed pepper, only better and much easier to make! I'm thinking it's right on time for the cool weather that many of you are experiencing up north. So go out and get the simple ingredients to make this soup, and even if you never met this amazing person, send a little smile her way, up that-a-way, for I'm sure that's where she is with all the other angels.

DEB’S STUFFED PEPPER SOUP

2 lbs. ground sirloin
1- 28 oz. can tomato sauce
1- 28 oz. can diced tomatoes (undrained)
2 cups chopped green pepper
2 beef bouillon cubes
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
3 cups water (more or less depending on how thick you like it)
2 cups cooked rice

Brown the ground sirloin and drain. Add the remaining ingredients and bring everything to a boil except the rice. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes or until peppers are tender. Add cooked rice last. Makes a big pot, plenty for the next day.

In loving memory
Debbie Farr Finegan 8/19/1951 - 9/16/2009

* * * * * * *

Thank you, Beth, for sharing your friend's recipe and for sharing her story of courage. To all my readers - Deb fought this battle for her life for about 12 years. A courageous and strong woman indeed. Beth told me that when you met Deb, she would say "How are you" with such sincerity that you knew she meant it - she really wanted to know how you were doing. I never had the privilege of knowing Debbie, but I know, through Beth, that she touched many lives in a positive and remarkable way. What a wonderful friend, indeed. Just as Beth feels blessed to have had a friendship for most of her life with Debbie, I feel blessed to have Beth as my dear friend for 25 years - that is half my life! Never take your friends for granted. I believe we should treat our family as if they were friends, and our friends as if they were family - for tomorrow is not a promise.

My Dream House

2009-09-25T17:58:24-04:00

You know what I miss about Maryland? The rolling hills and the beautiful countryside. As for people, though, I love Charlotte. I love our home here in Charlotte, don't get me wrong, we have a beautiful home, but there was just something about where we lived in Maryland that was beautiful horse country. It was peaceful. Anyway, in Maryland, at least our home had landscaping in front. It took us 4 years to get green grass, irrigation, a new driveway and sidewalk, a new drainage system, having the entire home interior painted, new carpeting, yada, yada, yada, and I am hoping it won't take us another 4 years to complete the money pit we've invested so much of our lives to make a home.

I will say this, though - I have a thing for creamy yellow Georgian colonials with brisk white trim and black shutters. They take my breath away. Of course, we have the Georgian colonial, but it is going to take a hard sell (and a job) to convince my Big Bear to have the entire house painted. I mean the whole dang thing. Whattaya think? I turned on my computer this afternoon and found an email from Creig Northrop Realtors in Maryland (they sold our house for us when we moved to North Carolina), and I like to see what's going on up there on our home turf. That's when I saw this for sale ... Think our home would look as nice as this if we painted the exterior? ...

Feel free to click on any of these pictures for a closer look. Isn't this house GORGEOUS?!!! OMG. I want it. Look at the landscaping - the creamy yellow exterior - the white trim - the black shutters - the - the - the - the boxwoods and rich dark brown mulch. Why are these people selling this home? Are they nuts?!!!

Or how about this deck and flawless backyard? This backyard looks exactly like ours here in North Carolina except for a few minor details. Like, our deck is about to collapse and needs to be rebuilt - entirely. Or, we don't have grass anymore in the backyard. Or, oh, forget it. I can dream can't I?

Or how about this walk out basement and gorgeous green striped side yard. Beautiful I tell ya.

Now this is magnificent. I want the breakfast table and chairs. I love the valances, the fixtures, the yellow walls.

Or how about this kitchen. It makes me want to cook, in an apron and a dress. But the breakfast area is definitely what I love. Think they'd sell me the breakfast table and chairs?

Can't you just feel the cool breezes blowing through the trees while you are lounging and reading on the deck? Doesn't it make you wonder why they are selling this house? I mean, while reading a book and sunning on the deck, did the husband suddenly say "Dollface, how about we sell this dump and move somewhere else? I'm tired of the good life, the perfect exterior, the magnificent decorating, the custom drapes, the pool table, and cutting the perfect, weed-free, yard. How about we move - to - uh - Charlotte, North Carolina? We could buy that house that needs so much work in Weddington, or better yet, why don't we just trade with the Vaughn's. Seems fair to me."

The woman of the house must be an interior decorator. I wonder if she would come to my house and redecorate it for me? Of course, I would have to pay her, and I'd have to be able to afford new furniture, new draperies, and a demolition team to build in window seats like the one under her bay window. Or, maybe I should just buy a lotto ticket and then if I win, I'll move back to Maryland. With my family of course!

Now I could get used to this. I love the colors in this Master bedroom. Didn't the decorator have exquisite taste? Why is it that I can always pick out colors that I love and recognize good taste in decorating, but when it comes to my home I shut down? I haven't got a clue where to start or even how to start to decorate. I think decorating is an extension of the uterus. Why you ask? Well, I'll tell ya. I used to have good taste and I used to have a uterus. I used to have a beautiful home interior and I used to have a uterus. I used to be able to decorate with style and class and ease, but now I'm, uh ... without style, class, and ease. Nope, can't ease into anything. Then they took out my uterus and all attachments heretofore and my home went to hell. So, I figure that the decorating mechanism is somehow a function of the uterus.

Big Bear could retreat to his study. I love a home with a study. Ours does not have one. We converted one of our bedrooms into a home office instead. And these people are smart - they have a Mac. We're Mac folks here too. One of these days, when I have nothing better to write about, I'll have to post before and after pictures of our home office that I just cleaned and organized. What a nightmare. I'll wait at least a year before I post those pictures so as not to scare anyone off after seeing these pictures.

Sarah would love this green. I love a room with color on the walls. This is a little girl's dream room with my favorite thing - a window seat again.

And a bar, and a pool table, and the brick, and the hardwoods ...

Yep, I love a home that is tastefully done, and this one in Glenelg, Maryland will only set you back $1,125,000. Makes me "almost" want to move back to Maryland. Emphasis on "almost." We paid half the price for a lot more headaches I'll have you know, and in another 10 years, our house too will look like this - just in time for us to sell it.

Of course, that ain't nothin' a lot of creamy yellow paint won't cure, and landscaping, and hardwoods, and a new remodeled kitchen, and a new deck, and a hell of a lot more grass seed, and custom drapes, and new furniture, and, and, and ....

P.S. If anyone ends up buying this house and you found it on this blog, you had better tell Creig Northrop to pay me a finder's fee or I'm going to have to go to Maryland carrying a tennis racket - and not for playing tennis either. Maybe I should start selling real estate on the side. Naaah, I'd have to move back to Maryland for that.

An Angel Making Deviled Eggs

2009-07-29T05:57:08-04:00

Yes, he is an Angel. Yes, he is my son. No, he is not a "Mama's boy." Yes, I dote over him like crazy. No, he doesn't say "aw, Mom" when I hug him and kiss him and pinch his cheeks and rub his ear lobes. Yes, he is definitely a cutie pie. No, he doesn't like math. Yes, he does like helping Big Dad in the kitchen. And, Yes, he is going to be a heartbreaker some day - but when he does get married, he is going to make one young lady a very lucky gal - why? Well, one reason is that he likes to cook.

Oh, how he and Big Dad slaved in the kitchen over the eggs while Matthew learned to carve out the centers.

Okay, well maybe they didn't slave all that much.

Big Dad (aka Big Bear) showed his boy how to slice the eggs without slicing a finger.

And I think he was quite proud of himself for having sharpened his knife so well.

Here are 11 perfectly sliced dented hard boiled eggs. It doesn't take much to make a man happy, let me tell ya. (I'll bet you counted those eggs didn't ya?) Fortunately for us, we didn't have to count fingers at the end of this tutorial.

He showed Matthew how to spoon out the yolk. Matthew paid close attention.

And then he tried it himself. I watched in amazement as my son held the egg with tender loving care and spooned out the yolk. (I know, I'm being a mush, but hey, that's because I can!)

Matthew said "See Mom! Watch what I do with this little sucker." "Okay, show me my handsome prince."

And so I watched him as he learned to do something new.

And I beamed at his thrill over an egg yolk.

Matthew worked hard, concentrated on the job at hand, and had a great time with his Dad.

And after all, isn't that what life is all about? The little moments. The special times we make for each other. The love we share in the small moments.

I mean, this was no big deal maybe to you and me, but to our son it was a great time. It was a memory making moment. It was time with Dad and time with Mom and a glorifying sense of achievement. I'm so glad we had deviled eggs the other night.

How to Make Your Own Shower Curtains

2009-07-07T20:02:13-04:00

See this bolt of fabric? I bought it 3 years ago to make a shower curtain for the children's bathroom. I'm the Queen of Procrastination. It's one of my personality defects. But today, I got off my tuff and decided to do something about it. So, I set up my sewing table and pulled out my sewing machine and set up shop in our sunroom.

Then I do what all mother's with teenage daughter's do - I called her over to help. Big Bear finished the drywall patch where the shower rod had pulled out of the wall and I thought this was a good opportunity to get down to making that shower curtain. Sarah is great at measuring and that is the first thing you have to do - measure the height from the top of the shower to the floor.

And the width of the shower.

Make sure you have a pencil and paper handy to take notes.

Pull out all your goodies - bobbins, thread, scissors, pins, transparent rulers, rotary mats and rotary cutters.

Now that you're all ready to start making your curtain, you want to measure your fabric. I had purchased a bolt of 60" fabric and purchased enough material to make 2 curtains for the same shower. I measured for the length of the first curtain with additional fabric measurement for the hem and the seams. Then I snipped the fabric with scissors where I needed to cut it and ripped it in half. That was easy.

I don't like frayed edges, so I folded the fabric, placed it along a line and cut off 1/8 inch. I did this on all the frayed edges so that I was working with fabric that had a nice, clean straight edge.

I have company. "Hannah, you are such a cutie pie."

Next, you want to press your seams. I never sew a seam that I have not prepared first by pressing it flat and pinning it in place. Here, I am pressing up the side seams about 1/2 inch. Pay no attention to the fact that I am wearing one of Big Bear's t-shirts around the house. That is just how I hang out sometimes. Comfortable is the only way I like to be, especially around the house.

After you have pressed the first seam, go back to the start of that seam and fold it over one more time, pressing as you go along. Be careful not to burn your fingers.

After you have pressed your side seams, you will want to straight-stitch along the outer edge, about 1/16 inch inside the fold.

I like a double-stitching. It makes a nice clean edge. So, I stitch 1/16 from the outer edge and the inner edge of the folds of the seam.

On the top edge, I have folded and pressed a 1/2 inch seam, then I am folding it again, but this time, I am measuring 5 inches.

You don't have to have this much of a hem across the top, but you'll see what I am making shortly and you'll understand why I did it this way. I am measuring the seam with my transparent ruler and pressing and placing pins in the fold for easier sewing.

Pressing really does make a difference when you are sewing. Mine is always on and ready every step of the way.

Since I am going to be making button holes where the shower curtain hooks will be attached, I want the button holes to be stable and not tear over time. I accomplish this by using some lightweight fusible stabilizer inside the upper hem just beneath where I am going to put the button holes. I measured on my rotary mat and cut a 2 inch swath of the stabilizer.

Then I screwed up and pressed the stabilizer on the wrong end of the hem and had to rip it off and start over. Then I pressed it on where it was supposed to be - near the fold closest to the top of the shower curtain. See where I am pressing it on near where you can see where I pressed the 5 inch hem? Once I have the stabilizer in place and fold the hem back over, the stabilizer will be just beneath the first 2 inches of the top of the curtain.

I forgot to take a picture of sewing the 5 inch hem in place, but you get the picture, right? Now I want to measure for the button holes. I measured the total width of this panel of the curtain, starting from about 1 - 2 inches inside both edges and 1 inch from the top edge of the curtain, then I divided that into 6 parts because this is only a half of a curtain panel and the entire curtain has 12 hooks. Are you totally confused yet?

In my case, I placed a pin every 10.5 inches to make 6 button holes.

And that is exactly what I did. I attached my button hole presser foot to my machine and I made 6 button holes right where I had marked them with the pins. It is probably a good idea to do a few practice button holes on a scrap piece of fabric before you dive into making them on your project. And yes, I did just that to make sure I was working the machine properly and wasn't screwing up. I screw up a lot when I sew. That's why I have a seam ripper handy. Very handy.

I wanted my shower curtain to have extra pleats, unlike the ones you buy in the store that are flat. I like them to have body. I like pretty things, and I like pleats in my shower curtains. So, between each button hole I made a pleat and pinned them down. Now you see why I had a 5 inch hem across the top of the curtain, I wanted to make the pleats. I sewed them down on both sides of the pleat 1/16 inch from the edge of both sides.

Then I hung the shower curtain on my mother's shower rod and tested it out. Lookin' good! At this point, I have not hemmed the bottom of the curtain. Instead, I measured to the floor while it was hanging from the rod and pinned it up.

Then I pressed a nice big hem along the bottom, pinned it into place and sewed it in place.

And, here is my finished panel. This is just one of 2 panels that will make the shower curtain complete. Then I can tie them back on both sides like draperies if I want to make it look nice.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this mini shower curtain tutorial. That's what I did today while listening to the Michael Jackson memorial.

Oh, and hangin' out with Hannah at my feet.