Thimbleanna – Page 93 – My little online diary.

Whatever Happened to …

42 Comments / December 6, 2010 February 22, 2011 / Chat

… the kitties who drag sweaters around?

We outsmarted them. We close the bedroom door so they can’t get to the sweaters anymore. Then, they outsmarted us back. Now they drag the t.v. blankets from the family room all around the house. Every night when we come home, there’s at least one blanket on the floor. (Oh look … there’s the little culprit surveying his handiwork.)

Sometimes, the quilt is by their dinner bowl. They might be sending a signal.

… the little boy who could recite Billy Collins poetry?

He actually met, and talked to Billy Collins! You can read the All Things Considered story and listen to the interview. Definitely worth your time. (Thanks to Jill for the tip.)

… knitting here in ThimbleannaLand? In particular, the yarn that I bought at the end of this post?

I know. It’s pitiful. Not much knitting goes on around here. Most of my knitting was done on airplanes, and since I don’t travel much anymore, I’m struggling to find knitting time. The yarn mentioned, is a pair of socks in progress — they’ve been on the needles for. ev. er. The good news is the heel has been turned, so there’s hope in sight!

… the advent calendar I made last year?

I gave it to MyDadLovesMeBestSister and it looks much better in her house. CuteNiece2 was excitedly explaining to me last week that they don’t put the numbers in order and it makes it a lot more fun to figure out which day they’re on. (Do I get a prize for a run-on sentence? I had to squeeze this one in here — there really needed to be something Christmas-y on this post. Speaking of pitiful!)

So, those were a few things I just know you were losing sleep over. Now, off to bed!

XOXO,
Anna

Oh, and P.S. How fantastic is this cool idea from the Divine Twine website?

Really. Look at those sugar jars! I think they were made just for Divine Twine. Look how perfectly the spool fits into the jar!

(And shameless plug: the twine is still 20% off!)

Hawaii Toast

46 Comments / December 1, 2010 February 22, 2011 / Recipes

Thanks for all the love and concern for CuteNiece1 and her Blueberry. You guys are all the sweetest. I’ll stick another post here, so that icky wreck isn’t the first thing you see when you come for a visit!

I figure at this busy time of year we all need some easy dinners. You know, for those nights when you’ve been out shopping all day. Or climbing up and down the ladder decorating all day. Or you’ve been baking all day and you don’t want to spend one more minute in the kitchen than necessary. (Notice I said YOU in all of these scenarios — ’cause none of these activities apply to me. I haven’t been doing diddly around here. Not did. lee. squat.)

Anyway, a little open-faced sandwich that we call Hawaii Toast* is one of our favorite quick dinners. It couldn’t be simpler to make. Turn the broiler on in your oven. The above picture shows the steps for the toast (clockwise from bottom left): Take pieces of toast and lay them out on a cookie sheet. Layer a ham slice, a pineapple ring, and a piece of mozarella cheese on top of each piece of toast. Pop the cookie sheet into the oven, on the top rack, and broil for 3 or 4 minutes until the cheese is browned and bubbly.

Then serve with your favorite soup. Canned, of course. You’re much too tired to make homemade soup.

And then, because you’ve been busy all day and neglected the kids, they’re going to be whiney. Since TheManoftheHouse has been lounging around the office all day, leave the kids with him and head to the local watering hole for some refreshment.

(Most people think that’s some guy’s name on his bar, but you stay-at-home-mom’s know better, right?)

XOXO,
Anna

* I realize Hawaii Toast isn’t gramatically correct — it should be Hawaiian Toast. We call it Hawaii Toast anyway. If it bugs you, linger longer at SAHM’s until, like us, you don’t care anymore!

Unwelcome Guests

53 Comments / November 28, 2010 February 22, 2011 / Around the House

Did all of you Americans have a nice Thanksgiving? I can’t believe it’s already come and gone. We had a really wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We had a LOT to be thankful for here in ThimbleannaLand. Not the least of which is that CuteNiece1 was with us. She had a pretty serious car accident the night before Thanksgiving and totalled her cute little Blueberry.

Poor, poor Blueberry. And lucky, lucky us. CuteNiece1 walked away with a few bruises and cuts and it was so lucky that no one was in the passenger seat, as there wasn’t much left of it after the accident. Definitely a Thanksgiving that we’ll remember!

We also discovered a few unwelcome guests on the day before Thanksgiving. We have a big tree in the backyard that is looking a little poorly, so we called in the tree expert.

It’s very grave, indeed. It seems that we’re now hosting the famed Emerald Ash Borer. We’d heard about the EAB a few years ago when it was first found in Michigan. Back then, there was a lot of talk that wherever the EAB was discovered, people would be required to cut down their ash trees within a few miles, in order to try to stop the spread of the EAB. They must’ve decided that was too expensive though ’cause we never heard much more about it. And it’s too late now. ;-(

Mr. Tree expert showed us 7 or 8 other big ash trees on our lot. Our sickly tree will come out this week (it’s too close to the house to do anything else) and the other ones will eventually die too. I hate having to cut down our trees! This is a serious infestation, and sadly, if you’re in the eastern US, those little critters are probably coming to a tree near you soon.

So hey — notice how I’m totally avoiding the big event coming up? It’s a strategy!

XOXO,
Anna

Pie Day

42 Comments / November 25, 2010 February 22, 2011 / Holidays, Recipes

I know that we usually say that pie day is 3.14, but here in ThimbleannaLand, Pie Day is today. (Well, it waaas today, but now it’s yesterday ’cause tech support and I had a little overnight session trying to view my pictures, but we’re not talking about that. Just pretend it was today. ThankYouVeryMuch.)

(The Keep Calm part is especially important given all the website problems here in the last week!) Anyway, I’ve spent the day (yesterday, ahem) baking our usual pies for Thanksgiving. Apple, pecan, pumpkin and this year, I’ve added pumpkin praline.

A friend at work suggested it. You take your favorite pumpkin pie recipe, but before you add the pumpkin filling, you spread a praline layer (1/3 c. chopped pecans, 1/3 c. brown sugar, and 2 Tbsp. soft butter mixed together) on the pie shell and bake it at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Then remove it from the oven, pour the pumpkin mixture on top and bake like you normally would for your pumpkin pie. The hot praline layer under the pumpkin mixture causes little air bubbles to come to the top of the pie, but that doesn’t really matter. I’m betting it will still taste good.

I also had fun with my little Williams-Sonoma pie crust shapes again this year — I love those things! (Btw, I added the little acorns on the pumpkin-praline pie after the praline layer was baked — otherwise, they’d be burned.)

I ran across this Pies That Kill article this morning. Whew! None of these pies are from any of those sources — I’m thinking we’ve dodged a bullet. Homemade pies are low calorie — right?

Wishing a Very Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the US!

XOXO,
Anna

VeronicaViking Comes to Visit

35 Comments / November 22, 2010 February 22, 2011 / Quilting

Sweetie Pie came to visit this weekend and we worked on Christmas gifts. She has two new nieces this year in her family (born within three weeks of each other), so she thought it would be fun to make them each a baby quilt.

SweetiePie had the tops all pieced before she arrived. She said she was inspired by a similar style quilt by CrazyMom. I didn’t get a good shot of SweetiePie’s full sized quilts, but her little center blocks are all the same size.

Hester and I helped with the quilting. We quilted 1/4″ lines where all the blocks were joined and 1/4″ lines around each little center block.

Hester was very excited to be working with VeronicaViking (by decree of SweetiePie, she must be known as VeronicaViking — not just Veronica). SweetiePie got VeronicaViking last year. Isn’t she pretty with her aqua buckle on the side? I’m VERY impressed with VeronicaViking. If you’re in need of a starter machine, this is a great choice (she’s an Emerald 183). She handled the quilting, with the help of a walking foot, like a star.

SweetiePie decided to put a satin binding around the quilt edges and VeronicaViking did such a pretty job with the three stage zigzag stitch. Not a pucker in sight.

One other cute goodie that SweetiePie made was an etched casserole dish. I think these make great gifts!

Lucky for me, SweetiePie said I could share her pretty projects here in ThimbleannaLand, ’cause blogging about the big 2010 Leaf Cleanup (woohoo, we’re finally done), and a dirty house, aren’t very exciting. Thank You SweetiePie!!!

XOXO,
Anna