Today I am thankful for my friend Marion. She and I have been learning to quilt star quilts together. We've been exchanging emails fast and furious. Her star quilt didn't work out as planned. She was going to drop it. Not on my beat she wasn't! I phoned her and invited her to come "shopping" at my place. She came over, found some fabric to go with what she already had for another star quilt, cut the pieces and had the strips sewn together by the time she left today...great success!

She is going to take the other pieces for the first quilt home "to think about". I encouraged her to do something different with them...and not to rip them all apart. The pieces are too small individually (2" diamonds) to be messing with.

For my part I sandwiched Megan's flannel quilt all ready to machine quilt. I also cut more pieces for the kimono quilt for Lisa. And I tea dyed a piece of cotton for the background on my star quilt. Instead of buying fabric, I decided to get creative about making something work. Paul doesn't want me spending any more than necessary on my hobbies between now and vacation...so I shall try to accommodate him.

Tea dyeing wasn't too strenuous. The hardest part is getting the equipment down from on top of the cupboards - normally a job for Paul. I'm too short to reach up there unless I stand on the counter (we have high ceilings). Even then it's a stretch. But Marion is tall. She lifted all that stuff down for me! What a friend!

I tossed about 12 black tea bags that were about 12 years old (or more) into a 5 qt. enamel pot half full of boiling water and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. I soaked the fabric during that time in tepid water. Then moved it to the pot and just plopped it in - tea bags and all. Stirred it a few times. Brought it to a simmer. Let it simmer 30 minutes. Then added 1/2 c. of vinegar and let it simmer another 30 minutes. Right now the cloth is cooling in the dyebath. We'll see what colour I get at the end of this. It's not as mottled as I'd like. I may overdye with an onion skin spot dye. We'll see...

Marion was a great encouragement in this endeavour. Gotta love friends like that! I, for my part, kept her working on her star quilt by preparing a nutritious lunch. Next to my handwork I love cooking! Any way I can use my creativity is fine by me! Today I concocted a tuna waldorf sandwich filling for pita bread sandwiches. I just had mine on a bed of lettuce.

Tuna Waldorf Sandwich Filling

2 cans tuna, flaked
1/2 large apple, chopped
1/4 c. green onions, chopped
1 rib celery chopped (or about 3/4 c. of chopped celery leaves)
1/3 c. chopped walnuts
1/2 c. fat-free mayonnaise

Serves 3 hungry people or 4 not so hungry.

Hope everyone had a fun and fulfilling day today! I'm not finished yet... So much to do...so little time....!

I had to buy new jeans today. My other ones are being held up by the belt and it ain't pretty at the waistline. I tried some on today and I've gone down two sizes since April! Hurray! I felt so good I also picked up an expensive long sleeved t-shirt for fall. And I paid cash for everything! Better yet.

Also took in some other shopping, visited and knit with friends, and had snack (I brought mine from home) in the food court with friends. I drank water from the water fountain when I was thirsty. A frugal fun afternoon.

I've discovered how to make applesauce in the crockpot. I've made two batches now. Both sugarless. One with cinnamon and one without. I had a friend drop off four bags of apples yesterday. Each bag makes two batches...of 5-6 pints each. I'm busy! I'm making a bunch for people at church. I love the canning and cooking process. But there's no way Paul and I can eat it all. And now the kids are gone we have no one in the family to share it with. So off to friends and acquaintances it goes! Paul has put in his request for sugar AND cinnamon in his! LOL

I finished reading "A Promise of Hope" by Autumn Stringam yesterday.  Very moving story.  I'm so glad she wrote it.  And equally glad for Dr. Popper's postscript at the back of the book.  Very helpful.  I've made Paul promise to read it.  My analytical skills aren't so good anymore.  I rely on him a lot to sort through information related to my disease.

I'm reading a slightly weird one now on schizophrenia and natural treatments for it. Some of it is really good.  Some is questionable.  And some is just downright weird.  Oh well...I just skip over the weird parts...or translate them into the Christian equivalent.  The author is obviously not Christian...but his emphasis on schizophrenia being a disease of body, soul and spirit holds true in my experience.

I managed to wash and fold the fabric for the flannel quilt for Meghan, and have it sitting on the cutting board all ready to go.  I'm hoping I have enough of it.  I may need to buy more.

I talked to Lisa about doing a quilt for her.  I'm am feeling as if Meghan is getting a lot from me while Lisa is sadly watching on.  I'm glad I offered.  She has an idea of what she'd like.  I sent her some photos of works in progress to see if any of them appeal to her.  Haven't heard back yet.  Will see...  I have a few ideas...  Probably I will give her the finished kimono quilt.  But knowing their colour scheme I may make some more blocks in the gold/brown/green ranges.

I discovered a new simple healthy dessert tonight.  Normally Paul and I have a dessert we call Pears Piquant.  It is a fresh pear cut in half and cored, and brushed with lemon juice to prevent browning, and topped with a whipped topping.  Usually we use the storebought whipped topping with a couple teaspoons of white wine vinegar and 1/4 c. of plain yogurt added.  Well the sugar in the whipped topping isn't good for me.  So tonight I decided to experiment.  I used about 1/2 c. of plain yogurt and just added 1/16 tsp. of powdered stevia to it.  It worked!  It was almost the same taste as the other topping.  And I managed to shave several calories off my dessert to boot!

Swimming classes ended tonight.  I'm glad I went.  I learned how to do the front crawl better.  But also how to do various strokes in the water that don't require putting my head under water.  Such as side stroke, front crawl with head up, breast stroke with head up, back crawl, and elementary back stroke.  Not bad for six lessons...well...four.  I missed two of them.  It was enough to refresh my memory so I feel more comfortable in the water.  I am amazed at how limiting my back is.  It really affects my kicking.  I definitely need to strengthen my lower body. 

After swimming I met a lady in the change room who looked like she'd lost a lot of weight.  So I started chatting her up.  She had.  She'd lost 30 pounds in one year.  Mostly through exercise.  She runs 2 miles 3 or 4 times a week, does sit-ups, and swims.  She also changed her eating habits.  She's learned to snack on cucumbers and basically eats anything green. She eats fish and chicken.  But avoids red meat and potatoes.  Sounds interesting.  It's one way to make sure people get their fruit and vegetables!

Well that's all folks!  I'm off to finish laundry before bed.  Write to you all later...

Well it doesn't quite go like that in the song...but that seems to be the theme of my life right now.  I was to the gym this morning where I was presented with an exercise program that seems rather straight forward and doable.  I'm not going to remember all the exercises though.  I hope they do attach them to the page when I'm in next...as they said they would.

I got checking "The Serotonin Power Diet" book again and discovered I am doing the diet wrong.  I've been eating carbohydrate at lunch time when I shouldn't be.  Plus, I am supposed to be sick of carbs by this point in the diet.  And I'm supposed to drop my carb snack at night.  I am delighted!  When I drop those two carb servings I should be down to four servings of carbs a day.  That should work just fine for me.

I've been busy knitting here.  I am re-knitting the sleeves to the baby sweater.  It's more like a toddler's sweater now!  I am blocking the new sleeves and then will sew the whole thing together. 

I started lace knitting a wimple, but pulled it all out in frustration today.  It was too large and I had dropped too many stitches and couldn't see where.  I'll start again...

I am plotting the start of another child's sweater.  A wool pullover of burgundy Atlantic by Briggs & Little. 

I don't know what I'm going to do with all this knitting.  I suppose I'll end up giving it away or selling it.  We'll see.

I tried to simplify my life a bit today by going from two library cards to one.  I had one for our homeschool when we homeschooled.  Now the girls have left home I think I can safely give this card up.  Alas, Paul had taken some stuff out on it and accrued some fines.  I didn't have cash on me to pay the fines when I was at the library, so I left the card as is.  Paul can pay the fines.  I'll slowly rotate this card out of use and then cancel it.

I've been eating weird meals lately...trying to use up food before we go on a road trip soon.  Today was Swiss chard and spinach inside a whole wheat pita.  Kind of interesting.  Actually quite good because the Swiss chard had been cooked in butter and olive oil, with garlic and lemon.  It could have done without the lemon though!

I made some cool Blueberry Lemon Muffins not long ago...sorry, no photos...

Blueberry Lemon Muffins
(makes 12)

Mix wet.  Mix dry.  Put wet into dry.  Add blueberries and bake in 350 F oven for 20 minutes.

My latest variation is to make Blueberry Coconut Muffins.  I used apple juice concentrate and milk to make 1 c. of liquid...and I tossed in about 1/4 c. coconut instead of the lemon rind.  I also made them half whole wheat pastry flour and half white flour.  They are absolutely delish!

I'm slowly plugging away at refinishing a small plywood dresser built by Carl's grandfather.  We bought it off Carl when he and Lisa moved.  I've stripped quite a few layers of paint off it.  Now to patch it, sand it, and paint it.

For those of you wondering...I haven't forgot the Sewing Room Organization Challenge...  I just keep forgetting to bring the magnifying glass upstairs to check the sizes of the used needles...which are currently sitting in a pile on my sewing machine extension table! 

I found this great recipe for Baked Apples with no sugar added! Check this out folks...even Paul raved about these!

Sugar Free Baked Apples
(serves 2)

Core the apples and put in a pan to bake. Mix together the apricots, pine nuts, fruit spread and pumpkin pie spice. Stuff the apples. Top with each with a teaspoon of butter. Pour water/cider/juice to 1/2 - 1" depth on the pan. Bake at 375 F for 30-45 minutes OR microwave on high for 15 minutes. This can be served with yogurt if you want. We sliced the apples and mixed everything up like a crisp with no topping. It tasted just fine.  The cookbook these came from, "Outsmart Diabetes", considers this a breakfast food.  If breakfast is this good I'm sold!

~~~~~~~~~

Other weight loss news...I hit 182 pounds yesterday...my pound for this week is gone...and my official weigh in isn't till Saturday morning. 

I've been reading Dr. Phil McGraw's "The Ultimate Weight Loss Solution" and am on the chapter on creating a support team.  I seem to suffer in this department.  Dr. Phil talks about the need for a coach, cheerleader, teammate and umpire. 

My coaches have been my exercise specialist and nutritionist.  I think I've used them as much as I can.  I just need to follow through on what they've suggested...which has only been possible since the new orthodics came. 

My cheerleaders are on-line for the most part.  Though I do have some friends in real life who are great cheerleaders in the diet arena.  I appreciate that. 

What I miss, and wish I had, was a teammate.  I'm largely on my own for exercise in particular.  Paul is getting better at dealing with diet changes generally.  Doesn't object to my funny experiments in the kitchen too much.  Though he does have a tendency to just go buy junk food when he wants.  I noticed this week he hasn't left it laying around for me to find.  I am so happy!  I can't keep my hands off it if I see it.  Out of sight, out of mind.  He's really taking this no sweets at home business seriously.  Gotta love him for finally understanding and doing something about it.

The umpire is my doctor.  She lets me know what I need.  I have been so frustrated.  She's been very good with me though.  I don't see her often enough to really use her as an umpire though. 

Hmm...lots to think about in the support arena. 

I have found the way to keep me motivated to exercise is to vary where I walk every day.  Today I took the car to a nearby nature refuge and walked for awhile.  It was sunny, but a cold wind was blowing.  I took my binoculars along to birdwatch, but truth be told, there simply weren't a lot of birds around...some Canada geese, mallards, blackbirds, and robins.  That's about it.  Not warm enough for the smaller birds yet. 

I've made myself a deal that I won't go on the computer in the morning until I've done at least 20 minutes of exercise.  So far so good.  Though I'm sure my on-line activity is suffering because of it.  But that's okay.  Weight loss is more important than socializing on the Net at the moment! 

So that's my mid-week weight loss update.  Hope everyone is having a nice week.  Take care all, and God bless...

Sometimes you just feel like a nice dinner at home. Last night Paul and I decided to work together to provide supper and clean up afterward. It's much more enjoyable when you work together. And we're starting to get good at it. It takes awhile at first to get used to someone else working in your kitchen. You want them to do things your way. But I do have an added benefit. Paul was a bachelor until he was twenty-eight. He knows his way around a kitchen and, in fact, is an excellent cook in his own right. I just have to learn to keep myself busy and hold my tongue. He did just fine...as always.

Our menu last night evolved from Carrot Thyme Soup to include whole wheat biscuits, Nuts and Sprouts Salad and the leftover Blueberry Flan from Friday night. I actually managed to snap a photo for everyone before we sat down to eat. Paul was laughing at me. I seem to post a lot of dessert photos, but no actual meals!



It doesn't take much to create a beautiful meal at home. Paul and I decided the only down side to this is the clean up afterward. And even that isn't so bad when you have help. The meal definitely beat anything we could have bought in a restaurant though, and for a fraction of the price.

The liquid in the glasses is not wine. It is black cherry juice with club soda. Okay... but not a mix I'd try again. Maybe if I'd used concentrated black cherry juice it would have tasted better. This was a bit weird...but no more so than wine, which we are trying to find replacement for. We just don't want copious amounts of sugar to replace the wine. We're looking for a fairly healthy drink.

Nuts and Sprouts Salad



This is a remake of a salad I had at restaurant in Halifax once some 25 years ago. My friend and I dissected the salad ingredients with a fine tooth comb and wrote the list on a napkin to replicate at home later. It was a success!

Layer in order:

I'm on a gingerbread kick!  Today I was reading in "Beautiful Places, Spiritual Spaces" about making a house a home.  The authors suggest baking something nice smelling (what baking isn't?) before your family comes home.  I thought about it.  I often plan my bread baking days so the hot bread comes out of the oven about half an hour before Paul comes in the door.  He loves it! 

But I didn't want to bake bread today. 

Instead I was feeling adventurous.  I wanted a new recipe.  A low fat, low sugar recipe.  A carb recipe, but good carbs.  I pulled out Sandra Woodruff's "Secrets of Fat-Free Baking".  I cruised my freezer looking for atrophying fruit.  Yep, there they were...two bags of frozen bananas a little brown on the edges.  I was thinking Banana Loaf, but when "Secrets of Fat-Free Baking" turned up a recipe for Banana Gingerbread, I couldn't resist!  So my house now smells like Banana Gingerbread, which is still in the oven.  And oh my!  Am I done for on this one!  If it tastes a fraction as good as it smells, I'll be in Heaven!  I'll take pics when it's done...and maybe include the recipe...with my variations (I can never follow the recipe exactly...I think it's in my genes). 

I am big on making things a bit easier for Paul right now.  Things are tough at work and he'll have to work ten days straight before his next day off.  Mostly due to sick staff.  I worry about his health.  If a little baking will make him feel better, I'm all for it!  I'm already plotting the next week...



Banana Gingerbread

1 c. white flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. wheat germ
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 c. mashed very ripe bananas
1/4 c. molasses

Combine dry ingredients and stir to mix well.  Combine liquid ingredients and the stir into dry.  Pour into greased 8 x 4" loaf pan and bake at 325 F for 40 minutes, or till it smells done (toothpick comes out clean).  Let sit in pan for 10 minutes before trying to remove it.  Turn upside down and it should fall right out.  DH and I like this served warm with Lemon Sauce.

Lemon Sauce

1/4 c. sugar
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 c. water

Mix together and cook in top of double boiler till thickened.  Add:

2-3 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice

Stir till everything is well mixed.  Drizzle over the gingerbread.  Make a pool around it too.  Yum!