Another Great Give-A-Way!

Calamity Jane's Cottage is having a fabulous Fall Give-A-Way! After you have had a chance to look around my site and POSTing a comment, mosey on over to Calamity Jane's and take a look at the fabulous purse she is giving away. You have until August 28th to register!

Dinner Time!

It is Tuesday and I am posting a wonderful dish. It is great if you have a large family to feed or if you like leftovers. We are a busy family. I cook healthy (well you might change your mind after this one..), using fresh and fresh frozen ingredients and most of the time, from scratch. So I like to prepare meals that are quick, tasty and plenty of it. :-)

Tonight's menu (and a few other nights this week as well) is Turkey Crock Pot Roast. My husband can and will eat this whole dish in one sitting, so I have to warn him that it is for 2-3 meals or for him to take to work for lunch as well.

My family likes all white meat, so I buy a Turkey Breast Roast. It does not matter what brand. All are good. Some stores will sell "Natural" or "Organic". If you can find them and work them into your budget, by all means, get them. BTW, I usually toss the gravy packet. This recipe makes it's own and it is great like it is. You just need to strain it before serving.

Now, one thing you will rarely see in one of my meals or recipes is an onion. I am allergic to them. But just b/c I do not have them in my meals or recipes does not mean that you cannot add them if you and your family love them. :-)

Select fresh vegetables, celery, carrots and potatoes. Mushrooms are good too, that is if you have them on hand. (My mom would add an onion for the family pot, my tiny pot would be onionless, yes-the woman had to always prepared a separate dish for me...)

Clean & chop the veggies and set aside. Unwrap the turkey, rinse it off, leave the 'lattice' work around it and place it into the crock pot. Pour about 2 table spoons of olive oil on top of the turkey roast. Add some cracked pepper and a teaspoon of minced garlic or 2 cloves of crushed garlic. I do not add salt b/c most turkeys have been soaked in salt as a preservative. Read the label before adding salt.


Pour chopped veggies on top, place crock pot top onto crock pot. If cooking all day, turn on low. If cooking 1/2 day, turn on high. Leave alone and let the aroma fill the house.

Now, if your family likes dark meat, there is a turkey roast that is a white meat/dark meat combo that is really good. If you have a large family to feed, I think you can now get huge crock pots that will hold a whole turkey. You will just have to increase the amount of ingredients accordingly.

Now for the side--- Green Beans!


We love green beans and they are DD's favorite. I love to add a few sliced almonds to mine, sea salt and cracked pepper. And here in the deep south, we do not eat green beans with out BACON!!!! I know-this is the unhealthy part...

Y'all this meal is so good! For us 3, we can get 2-4 meals off of it depending on how hungry we are. Really great when I am teaching or shooting at night (I am the only cook in this house). When we have piano, dance, soccer, etc. Lots going on and coming and going. Sometimes I want to just throw something on the plate, put it in the microwave and get it to the table so we can move on. And still be healthy. This is one of those meals for us. :-)

Enjoy!

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A little addition to today's post. Zoey, our TAG (Timneh African Grey) is trying to learn how to whistle "Jesus Loves Me". We have been working on this a while. We had been working on the "Star Wars Theme", but she and I really love "Jesus Loves Me" and it is so cute to listen to her. I will have to look it up, but it seems like God's Word said something about birds singing His praises. I can tell that she really loves whistling this song.

Bird Photos

I love watching the birdies feed in the mornings, throughout the day and evenings at the feeders. They are right where we can watch them through our bay windows from the kitchen table.

We get Cardinals, Red Headed Finches, Red Headed Sparrows, Chickadees, Titmouse, and a variety of other lovely birds.

I had a watermelon that needed cutting, and you know who loves watermelon! Zoey!!! I also thought I would get a few photos birds feeding at the feeders.

Well, while we were out there, and I was cutting up the watermelon, Zoey decides to let out these blood curling jungle cries I have never heard before. (Very glad that she never never does them in the house. I do not think we could handle it.) It literally made my brain rattle! Pierced my eardrums, well, you get the idea. She would cock her head from side to side as though she was listening for an answer from the distance, then go back to her watermelon.

Of course, all the song birds around the house grew very quite when they heard Zoey's blood curling cries. I feared she would attract one of the hawks that live near by. They would mistake it for a mating call or a meal. Not sure. Many of Zo's calls sound like the shrill of a hawk flying above in the sky. And when she is fully flighted, she looks like a hawk in flight. Hard to believe my tiny little bird would have that kind of wing span. She is a house bird though. A pet. And a meal for a hawk, or worse, that beak of hers can do a lot of damage to a hawk as the talons can of a hawk can do a lot of damage to her. Then you have two animals mortally wounded. So we have to be careful when we take her out of doors.

I am sorry that the only photo of birds feeding is a
Tinmeh African Grey eating Watermelon.

And a lovely photo of a bowl full of watermelon!!!

Two Great Fall Give-A-Ways!

Linda at Behind my Red Door is having a Fall Giveaway. You have until Sunday Noon EST to register so get on over there. Click on Linda to get to her blog. Really nice fall deco. And with it being balmy 90's + here in the deep south I am ready for anything to make me think it is cooler. ;-)
Make sure you look around. She has a great site!

Sue over at Country Pleasures is having a Fall Giveaway. It will be going on for a couple of weeks. Just click on her name... Sue and it will take you to her site to register. Make sure you look around! She has a great site!

Smocking... and Yes, I do Sew!

I have reloaded some photos, removed some that would not load from the hosting site they were stored on and rewrote the S&T just a tad... But it is still all about smocking!

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I hope everyone is having a great day today and looking forward to a wonderful weekend! The Lord is good to us. We are blessed in this house.

I am participating in Kelli's of There's No Place Like Home Friday Show and Tell. {Click on this link to read more about it.}

I was going to be lazy and show the handbag/purse I posted yesterday as my show and tell. But, Kitty commented in a very sweet post about my bag and requested to see some of my smocking. I did quickly find a few photos before the bus ran (and made/packed lunch while photos loaded!) I hope that you enjoy them!
DD Wearing Picture Smocking Designed by Laura Jenkins Thompson. The design is Laura's Scotties and she is posing with none other than Laura herself! I just love Laura! To learn more about Laura, click here.

Another picture smocking plate by Laura. Carousel I think, but I cannot remember without looking it up.

The collar on this dress is also an Ellen McCarn design. (The dress is also an Ellen McCarn Pattern.) The dress fabric is silk doupioni. The bodice of the dress is textured with 'backsmocking'. Our oldest male budgie, Tweety, is perched on DD's hand. He was young then and thought DD existed only for for his pleasure and entertainment. He adored her and loved me. He has a wife now. He still likes her, he still loves me. I am "Mommy"! He is and will forever be attached to my apron strings. Zoey is so jealous of him. ;-P

This is a sweet little preemie/burial gown set. I included my hand so that you can see how tiny it is. (I have very tiny hands, 4 -1/4 ring size...) It would fit a 1-2 lb baby. I think it was donated to an Atlanta or Nashville hospital at on one of the SAGA (Smocking Arts Guild of America) National Conventions.
This plate is picture smocking on a Mary Dee Dress pattern by Childern's Corner. (Laura's Scotties and Carousel Horses are also CC-Mary Dee's.) The plate is "I Love My Country" and I cannot remember who the designer is. But many many of my friends have made it and I copied their fabrics and colors. :D Imitation is the best form of flatery!

That is my Friday Show and Tell! I hope that you enjoyed it! If y'all like sewing pictures, I can bore you to tears with them. ;-) I have made tons of articles of clothing. The photos are saved on cd's somewhere. I need to watermark faces (of my child and my niece) before I post a quality photo of one of their faces straight on.

I look forward to seeing everyone's Show & Tells. Have a wonderful weekend!

One of My Favorite Purses

This is a purse I made some time ago. I love it! I use it every fall. I designed and drafted the pattern myself. I have made many for gifts, but this is the only one I have made for myself. (Just picky about fabrics and colors I guess... ;-P)

It is a tad smaller than the Sew Gracious bags, but just a small tad. (I declare, I do not know how she can make any money for what she sells them for... I have more money in this bag than what I pay her for one of her bags...)

Here is a back view of the bag. I think the top fabric in this bag is Waverley. The bottom is some other type of upholstery fabric. I have also used silk to make these bags. The trim is upholstery trim. It takes me 3 1/2 to 4 hours to complete a bag from start to finish, depending on if I do any hand or machine embroidery.

The inside is lined with ticking. It was not very expensive and went with the fabric so well.

Here is a close up of the bag. It is a nice purse. Handle is long enough to sit well on the shoulder.

I do not make them to sell, I only make them for gifts. If you ever get one from me as a gift, consider yourself a very very good friend. :-)

Have a Blessed Day!

Inspired to go Thrifting and Antiquing

Inspired by Rhoda's "What's Your Favorite Thrift Find" I was inspired to go to a couple of nearby places.

The first place I went was the Salvation Army.

If you look at this table and chair set, then go to Cindy's My Romantic Home and take a look at her Dining Room Table and chairs....

The caning needs replacing in places. But... made me think, "I wished I needed a Dinning Room Table and Chairs!" Oh well, someone will find this jewel and enjoy fixing it up and have a great time with it. :D

There was also a lovely sideboard in great condition.

Then I went to On a ShoeString Antiques in Bluff Park.
This is the store where I got the Compote and Silver Butter Dish.
Click Here to read more...

There is a lot of Garden Art for sale in the front.

While the front rooms are filled with prime items like a Tiffany Lamp, dishes, collectibles, etc. The back is full of cool stuff that takes little imagination to use. You have to go through the place several times to take it all in. And don't forget the upstairs!

Here are several mantels stacked several deep. A sink... A barbers (or dentist) chair and an adding machine. Behind all those mantels are shelves with more dishes!

I am not sure what this is, but I thought is was neat and decided to take a photo.

There were many cabinets in the back. This one is "Vintage Shabby Chic" complete with contact paper on the door. I guess it was a 'cool' idea at the time. ;-)

Anyone need a nice chair?

Or maybe a Rocker?

Look at all the teacups.
They were in the bathroom.

And this little potty and chamber pot were in the bathroom too!

I was much interested in this little one. I have been looking for any antique hand crank child's sewing machine for a while. But it was a little pricey. Today, I will go to Smocking Arts Guild Meeting. Several of the gals have collected these. I will tell them the brand and ask what is a fair price. If it is good, I will go back and get it. :-P

Of course, I had to go into the caboose! (That is where I found my Silver Plate Butter Dish!)
Everything in the caboose is 1/2 off. There was a lot of silver plate in there. If you needed it, want it and have a place to put it.

Look what I found!!! A plate to match the Compote! (And other pieces that I have, mom gave me.) There are a couple of chips and a corner kinda broken. However, I call that character. :D

Price... $4.00!

If anyone in the Central Alabama area wants to know where or how to get to these items/places, email me or comment and I will email you where/directions.

Have a great day everyone!