Carol's Heart

Peyote stitch heart using pink, red mix and center pink.

Thanks Carol! Family.

Flower and heart

Brick stitched heart with 3D flower.

Thanks Mindy, L&L conference

Paisley Heart

I've been beading up a storm! Here is a paisley heart bead embroidered straight onto the foundation fabric.

Thanks Jen (and Lawren). L&L Conference.

Herringbone Heart

Here is a free-hand herringbone-stitched heart.

Design by Suzanne, L&L. Thanks!

Irony

In an ironic twist of fate, during this process of beading squares to raise funds for breast cancer research, I have been diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma in the area below my right eye. At this point I haven't scheduled surgery, but am readying our life for unknown. Preparing meals ahead of time, gearing things for easy in the future, and yet day to day life still goes on with grocery shopping, trips to the beach and the library, and continuing to work on house projects.

In terms of the beaded squares: I continue to work on them. I will stitch as many as I can. A package of completed squares will ship to the project prior to my surgery. Then based on what happens I will continue as I can. Please know I appreciate EVERY design and admire your willingness to contribute and am randomly stitching. If I can't get to each design I mean no affront to any designer. Life happens.

Enclosed heart

Here's the latest heart square. If there is time I will add an inner lining of red beads per the designer, but... time is passing and there are so many squares!

Thanks Bob, family.

A new light fixture

We spent our holiday time relaxing in between Kirk's periodic trips to work. We hung out and worked on the house. I wanted a new light fixture in the main bathroom. Unfortunately it wasn't as simple as it sounds. But we were up for the challenge. Some deconstruction, a new light fixture and vent fan and then some wallboard and now we are ready for the wall finishing. Thanks to Acey for helping us design the new medicine cabinet, the inset will be stained glass and I'll post another photo when it all gets done. (Don't hold your breath)

One more heart

Here is a fabric scrap with 8 hearts, open to the possibilities of the universe.

Thanks Kharis, family.

Settling into the Happy New Year

Jan 2009. A new year stretches before us with promise and possibility. We had a quiet celebration with fireworks in our back yard and then a bit of gaming. I hope your Evening was spent doing something you loved.

I have lots of things to post and several pictures ready to go, but let me start off with a recipe that we enjoyed this evening. I've been organizing the thousands of recipes I've collected over the years. I found this from www.womansday.com/specials Slow cooking, year unknown... This is not for the faint of tastebuds, this is some kick *&^ soup.

Santa Fe Sweet Potato Soup

2 dried New Mexico chili peppers

2 cups boiling water

1 Tbsp oil

2 onions, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 finely chopped jalapeno pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried oregano leaves

4 cups peeled sweet potatoes cut into 1/2-in cubes

6 cups vegetable or chicken broth

2 cups corn kernels, thawed if frozen

1 tsp grated lime zest

2 Tbsp lime juice

2 roasted red peppers, cut into thin strips

Finely chopped cilantro

1. In a medium bowl, soak chili peppers in boiling water for 30 minutes. Drain, discarding soaking liquid and stems. Pat dry, chop finely and set aside.

2. In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, until softened. Add garlic, jalapeno pepper, salt, oregano and chili peppers and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Transfer mixture to slow cooker. Add sweet potatoes and broth and stir to combine.

3. Cover and cook on High 4-6 hours or Low 8-10 hours, until sweet potatoes are tender. Strain vegetables, reserving broth. In a blender or food processor, puree vegetables with 1 cip reserved broth until smooth. Return mixture, along with reserved broth, to slow cooker. Or, using a hand held blender, puree the soup in slow cooker. Add corn, lime zest and juice. Cover and cook on High for 20 minutes until corn is tender.

Okay, that was the real recipe. I substituted 2 Tbsp chipolte peppers in adobo sauce for the New Mexico peppers (I didn't have any) AND 1 can roasted chopped green chilis for the jalapeno (didn't have that either). I used 1 large onion and didn't add any salt as I was using a carton of broth. I chopped the roasted red pepper finely and added it with the corn, juice and zest of a whole lime and then forgot the cilantro. We put dollops of yogurt on the soup to cut the heat a bit. Enjoy!