Sometimes you just need to make a Dick Scarf.

Sometimes you just need to make a Dick Scarf.

 My son has a good friend that hilariously draws snow dicks on car windows when it snows, and I have found this pretty amusing.  As Christmas was approaching, I stumbled across some crocheted Dick Scarves and thought, “I can do that”

I started by creating a pattern from a paper grocery bag, and then I found a thin pin knit blanket at a thrift store and the plan came together… 

I folded the blanked lengthwise and pinned the head part of the pattern on one end and the balls part of the pattern to the other end, making sure to tuck the tassels in so they could be on the outside once turned right side out.  (Next time I will pin these tassels in place while I’m sewing so they don’t get caught in the stitching. 

I sewed around the pattern before I removed it and then turned the scarf right side out and ran a finishing stitch around the entire scarf to close up the space left to invert the scarf and to insure the scarf didn’t unravel from the inside out.

 

The gift was a huge success and had a place in my son’s friend’s home now..  Just a little something from one smart ass to another J

 

What can you do in 140 days?

What can you do in 140 days?

 

Two years ago today I stopped to see my friend Stacey at Blue Bayou Pub. I knew she was in pain and had been seeing doctors about it for quite some time. When I arrived, there was no one else there and she told me she was waiting for test results and they found lesions on her liver and a tumor on her pancreas.

 For a second, I thought “At last! They figured out what is wrong and can help you now” but before I finished my thought, Stacey also said she was already told it was stage 4 pancreatic cancer and there was nothing they could do. She was just waiting for a call confirming what she had already been told.

 I didn’t know what to say, I was shocked and overwhelmed. I fought back tears as other customers came in. A few minutes later the phone rang, it was the lab’s confirmation of the diagnosis. Stacey came out of the kitchen with tear-filled eyes, just looked at me and simply nodded yes.

She wanted to be upbeat and positive and that had to be so hard for her to do because she was afraid. It was 140 days from that phone call that Stacey passed away. 140 days full of chemo and its side effects, severe pain, and so many doctors’ visits.

All of this makes me wonder, “What could I do in 140 days?” Go on a much needed diet, spend time in my craft room, take a class or two, devote more time to friends and family? Or maybe just be grateful for what I have and enjoy life….

Family Get Together

Family Get Together

Summer is full of picnics, get-togethers and shindigs  and as we were preparing for one of ours I made a few notes.

First is my favorite summer pasta salad.

1 One LB box of pasta, I use Rotelle, but you use whatever you want

1 Ten OZ bag of frozen peas.  Keep frozen

1 Bag of frozen cheddar cheese, the size depends on how much you like cheese

1 One LB package of ham cubes

Miracle Whip light.  How much depends on how wet you like your pasta salads I use about a cup and a half

½ Cup Grated Parm

½ Cup Ranch salad dressing

Boil the pasta and right before the pasta is ready to drain, retrieve and open the frozen peas into the colander along with the ham cubes.  Pour the hot pasta and water over theses and rinse with cool water   until pasta is cool to touch.

In a large mixing bowl mix Miracle Whip light, Grated Parm , Ranch salad dressing and frozen cheddar cheese.

Pour contents of colander into mixing bowl of wet ingredients and mix well and refrigerate.  Cool at least 24 hours before searving. 

 

The Next tip is about the prep of the meat. 

We grill all of the meat the night before and the day of we keep it all warm in a Nesco or Crock Pots (Depending on the size of the crowd expected) That way we are not cooking while our guests are here so we can visit. 

My last tip involves the alcohol served. 

I found out a while ago that 1 drink mix packet meant to flavor a water bottle, (Like Chrystal Light Drink Packets) is enough to flavor an entire bottle of vodka, and is the perfect ingredient in making sangria.

 

Oh and one last thing!

I found a double yolker while making deviled eggs

Entertaining a 13 year old…

Entertaining a 13 year old…

Our 13 year old niece stayed with us last weekend.  We had 13 year olds, this will be easy, oh wait, we had boys! 

We had lunch 

Had to get cheese curds

 

We went antique shopping and found out she likes some old things and some new things

 

100 year old school full of antiques

 

Creepy Masks

 

And craft time

Well we all survived.  All in all I think it was a good experience for all of us.   We found out about Pokémon Go and Snapchat and remembered what it was like to have a teen ager in the house again. 

We even found an adorable lamp for our upcoming first grandchild

Kitchen Time

Kitchen Time,

Sometimes I feel like I am a bit bassakwards in the kitchen.  Or maybe this is genius, you be the judge.  I use a kitchen scissors way more than I do a knife.  It is just easier for me to trim fat, chop herbs or dice mushrooms in the can.  That’s right, I dice my mushrooms right in the can, it’s just easier.  I received my favorite (Fiskars) kitchen scissors from my former mother in law as a Christmas gift many many years ago.  I’ve never had it sharpened or repaired.  I have tried others, and just don’t like them.

Another weird thing I do is use paper plates as a disposable cutting board.  I bought a flexible cutting board at a flea market and have not pulled it put since I brought it home.  It is just as easy to grab a paper plate dice up what I need to and dump it in the pot. 

 

 

All of this weirdness came to me as I’m making one of our favorite side dishes for lunch, so here’s the recipe for my sautéed vegetables and rice.

1 ½ Cup White Rice Uncooked

½ Cup Chopped Onion (you can use more or less)

1 4oz Can of Mushrooms not drained

¼ Cup Grated Parm

¼ Cup Shredded Mozzarella

¼ Cup Chopped Chives

¼ Cup Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon of Montreal Steak Seasoning (I use this stuff on everything)

3 Cups of water

Sauté the onions in the olive oil, add the uncooked rice and sauté until the rice gets translucent. Add the seasoning, water and can of chopped mushrooms. Bring this to a boil and reduce heat, cover and let cook until rice is fully cooked. Turn off the heat and add the chives, parm and mozzarella.  Mix well and serve hot.  

Apple Trees

The Hubby is an avid hunter so it is no surprise half of our back yard is a food plot for the white tail deer.  Over the years we have harvested venison right from our own back yard. A pretty sweet deal for us plus it provided extra food for the growing boys.    

The Wall Of Shame in the garage

Five years ago we decided to plant apple trees in this food plot, so we obviously had to fence them.  I remember tree shopping and bringing four- Five Foot Tall-  Fireside Apple Trees home, all lying down in the back of the pickup truck.  We discussed caging them that evening and the decision was made not to, because “the deer could not possible find them that fast”. WRONG! Then next day we went back to town to purchase fencing.

With the boys all grown and out on their own, there is no longer the need for extra venison so we have decided to plant grass in the food plot and make it part of the yard.  Tonight we took down the fencing we put up 5 years ago and are disking the area.  The plan is to plant the grass this fall and have a larger yard in the spring. 

I think the time is right because we found some damage to a limb from rubbing on the fence and some of the lower limbs are limited by the fence.

 

Wedding Ideas

Wedding Ideas

I’m pretty practical about things, so when the hubby and I decided to get hitched we had a budget, and because it was the second marriage for both of us, plus we just bought a fixer upper, that budget was pretty low.  We wanted our guest to have a good time though and when all was said and done we had so many compliments on our efforts, everyone enjoyed themselves.  These are just a few ideas I’ll share with you.

We were married in a church in our home town and the rest was at the hotel in a neighboring town where everyone was staying. 

The bouquets were of live and dried roses with antique lace and buttons tucked in.  This cost a fraction of the normal price because the flower store could just hang and dry roses that were about to expire and I supplied the antique lace and buttons. I still have mine.

I was looking for center pieces and was discouraged by the price for something to just sit in the middle of a table and no one would remember its existence.  I ended up cleaning some terracotta pots that we inherited when we bought your house. We filled them with candy and the hotel supplied some hurricane lamps at no expense.   

Instead of having a traditional wedding cake, we opted for a verity of round cakes in our favorite flavors, German Chocolate, Black Forrest, Lemon Poppy Seed and Carrot Cake. Not one slice was left; the DJ took the last one home.  This cost much less because it was not considered a wedding cake and the store also delivered the cakes and supplied the pedestals as long as I promised to return them.

 

The only regret I have is the photographer choice I made.  I didn’t do my homework and chose someone who was going out of business. She showed up late, had an attitude the entire time, she also ended up holding my negatives ransom.  After purchasing my negatives I took them to a local photo shop and did receive some sound advice.  When looking for a photographer for any event, go to your local photo shop and ask for their advice.  They deal with so many different photographers some professional and some hobbyist but all in all you can get a good referral from them. The bonus was the disposable cameras we put on every table produced some fun filled pics.

Hello,

Hello,

I am a wife and mother, I have always been crafty, repurposing and upcycling thrift store and garage sale finds.  I love spending time in my craft room, sewing, crocheting and painting. I love spending time in the kitchen making up recipes and creating gifts for friends and family.   I also love spending time outside gardening, fishing and four wheeling. 

 

 

 

I have a passion for old stuff. I am the keeper of many family hand-me-downs and consider it an honor to pass these things on to the next generation. I have a favorite antiquing town here in Wisconsin and drop in at least once a year to look for treasures and blow some dough.

My husband and I bought a fixer upper in 2000, because that’s all we could afford and spent the next few years making it our own.  There is still some work to do, but we are very proud of our accomplishment.

With the invention of Pinterest I have gained a passion for all kinds of ideas in these areas and can easily piss away the better part of a weekend pinning, pinning, pinning. https://www.pinterest.com/fowmona/

 I have said for years that I should have my own show and I have known the name for just as long, “Fucking Off With Mona” kind of a Martha Stewart meets Thug Kitchen thing.  We would do some crafting, cooking, gardening and DIY stuff, make some cocktails and bitch about our men. 

Good Times!

We also have one spoiled wiener dog, Schatzie, and you will see lots of pictures of her