A Fairy on Campbell Ave.

I saw the cutest Fairy Doll today. She was hanging outside the fine art studio of Katherine Devine on Campbell Avenue in Roanoke, Va. Her legs are spools of thread and scissors are in her hair! She sports a wispy Tutu, hot pink shoes and gossamer wings. She seemed very happy there on the street holding a basket full of pamphlets in her gloved hands. Actually, I think she was napping!

Feedback From A Reader

Someone recently commented on an essay I wrote for the Piedmont Writer's Group book: "Potpourri In Ink." He really liked "The Quilter" and I realized that I have not posted (or written) any stories lately.

The Quilter was written a couple of years ago when our local art museum displayed dozens of beautiful handmade quilts and the writers group was asked to write poems or stories to correspond with the quilts. I was given the photo of a quilt with a beach theme. It was a splash of blues and greens and it reminded me so much of the outer banks of North Carolina and the dunes of the Virginia coast.

Here is the piece I wrote for the exhibit.

The Quilter

The Quilter paints with her needle. Fabric is her canvas. By skillfully sewing piece to piece, a sky develops in shades of blue. Below, the ocean's green-blue waves crash on golden sand. The sculpted beaches are so intricately textured that we can almost see the dune.

As the seascape emerges from the quilter's textile palette, the scene comes alive. Embellishment begins. Full of playfulness, she places a starfish here and, with the use of metallic thread, a flash of sunshine there. She creates an impressionist painting with cotton, yarn and thread.

Each stitch adds depth and we are drawn into the tranquil aquatic abyss. We watch dancing white, foamy waves surge toward the sandy shore and then roll back to the deep blue, leaving tiny shells in its wake.

The quilter stitches for hours on her labor of love. Her fingers fly over water and sky. Her quest is to have us feel the billowing wind and taste the salty surge. She succeeds. The quilt-artist navigates her needle stitch after stitch and when her lengthy voyage comes to an end, a masterpiece is born.

To Sum It All Up

So, several readers have asked how things are coming along with "The Game." The Game is my frugal attempt to use up and rotate the food in my freezer and pantry. My goal was to spend a measly $25.00 per week for food (non-food such as paper products and cleaning supplies, etc. excluded) during the month of January. A lot of excess food in my freezer is from the holidays and we have really been cleaning it out this month. In fact, I have really been happy with the results.

Well, until at least until this weekend. In the interest of full disclosure: WE BLEW IT! I wish I could blame it all on my husband's addiction to Sams Club but I was right there with him. At least we have supplies to last a week or two plus the rest of the "hoard" still in the cupboards.

The lesson learned? I am thinking more about our meals rather than throwing something together at the last minute or running out for takeout, I am planning ahead and using up what we already have. I also took a lot of canned goods still in date but things I knew we wouldn't use, to the food bank. It has been a cleaning out process and that is a good thing (as Martha Stewart would say.)

So, I forge ahead, planning meals but with a much bigger budget than January. It made me feel good to make do and be more frugal. Now, for the month of February, my game is to put no more than $50.00 on my credit card. I think I can do it! Could you?

Mix and Match

Here are the earrings that go with the Valentine/Spring/Sweet Pink charm bracelets shown in the picture below. They will be available on Jan. 31st at The Artisan Center in Rocky Mount, VA. Prices are really good too.

Graphics thanks to Graphicsfairy.com.

Earrings at The Artisan Center

Shown in the picture are black glass bead drop earrings with silver accents (I know they look gold in the picture.) My display Phrenology Head is as cool as the earrings! With each (Pretty Little Things by Lynn) jewelry purchase comes a smaller version of this graphic to take home. I just love it!

Available January 31, 2012.

Thanks to Graphics Fairy for graphic.

Valentine Charm Bracelets

Some of my handcrafted jewelry is on display (for sale) at The Artisan Center in Rocky Mount, Virginia. In fact, Mary Wray, owner, has so many wonderful gifts and art available that you could call The Artisan Center "Valentine Central!"

These Valentine charm bracelets will be for sale next Tuesday, January 31.

Vegetable Frittata Squares!

My $25.00 Per Week Food Budget- How Did I Do It?

Well, the end of another food budget week in under my belt (literally!) I did really well this week and, in fact, broke even spending a total of $24.00 and change. Andy's beef stew became big pot of Vegetable Beef Soup and I will have to freeze half of it. We have eaten this soup for several meals and it is very good, but we are growing tired of it.

Another meal with multi-leftovers was oven fried chicken and dressing. I served it with salad and peas. Not exactly diet-ish, but it was really yummy. That lasted two dinners and one lunch. Tonight I fixed Vegetable Frittata Squares (with broccoli, onion, mushrooms, zucchini, yellow squash, spinach, red bell pepper, peas, chives, sour cream and, of course, eggs) to go with pork chops (from the freezer) and fruit for dessert.

 "Vegetable Frittata Squares" was a recipe I found in the latest issue of All You Magazine. Now, I am going to give a short advertisement for All You. This is such a great magazine! The recipes are always good. This month in addition to the frittata there were Chocolate Panini and Mocha Truffle Cake recipes! Either would be delish for Valentine's Day dinner. There were many, many more recipes this month.

All You features articles on how to save money. One that caught my eye was called "Yes, you can eat that." For example broccoli stems, shred them and make broccoli slaw. Beet greens can be chopped, blanched and mixed with roasted beets and goat cheese for a salad. It tells how to crisp up wilted carrots and what the heck to do with softened fruit.

There is fashion and medical advice in All You Magazine and it is geared to saving money. And, I can't forget the coupons. There are $50-$80-$100 or more coupons waiting to be cut out. In this economy, we can all use some money saving help. Can you tell, I love All You? Pick one up at the grocery store. The Vegetable Frittata is worth the price of the magazine.

Sunday begins another "cheap eats" $25.00 spent on food for a week. But, it really will be easy. You see, I still have ham, turkey (from Christmas) and chicken and fish in the freezer. All I am buying are staples (milk, bread, coffee etc.) and special ingredients. It feels good to economize and use up what I have, carefully listing only what is needed. I think we are eating healthier too. Tune in for next weeks "game" results.

My Old Canning Pot

New Old Finds!

I have blogged about The Cellar Chest Consignment Store before:

2/16/11 "Consignment Shop and Being Frugal
3/1/11   "Treasures At The Cellar Chest

I really wasn't looking to buy anything yesterday as I carted in two boxes of things to sell, but I just had to "look around." This is what I found (see picture.) It is an old metal canning pot with lid and I thought, " Wouldn't it be cute lined and filled with ice to hold drinks next summer. Warm dreams of summer parties on the deck with lemonade and BBQ filled my head.

Back to reality and the bitter cold winter.

Tania, the manager gave me another idea for the canning pot. "Fill it with flowers for your porch" she said. I liked that idea and I drifted back into lovely long days of spring with colorful flowers popping up everywhere and ivy dripping over the edge of my old canning pot.

So, I bought it and brought it home to be filled with something wonderful in a month or two.

If you have not been to The Cellar Chest yet, please go see the treasures there. There are two drop leaf tables I would love to have it only I had the room. Lovely little settees and side chairs, sofas and accessories. Take a look at the shelves full of books, glassware, dishes, Christmas items (including a cute set of dishes I am trying to sell) and antiques. Oh yes, I left several old pottery crocks for someone else to buy, but I may go back to get one. It would be a cute addition to my garden.

The Cellar Chest is located at 6620 A.L. Philpott Hwy (58 E.) just outside of Martinsville, VA.

The Artisan Center In Rocky Mount, Virginia

The Artisan Center is the place to go for a unusual gift or piece of art. There are paintings, sculpture, note cards, jewelry, wood carvings, Mosaic tables and birdhouses and books to name a few. In fact, there is a little of everything in this lovely gallery in Rocky Mount, Virginia. Located at 224 Franklin Street.

Shown in the picture is owner, Mary Wray. She will help you find the perfect purchase and even give you a little history about the "White Lightening" capital of the world; Franklin County, VA. Why, you can even buy a jar of Moonshine jelly!

Come In And Take A Look Around......

You will surely find a great gift! Here are a few of the hundreds of pieces of art and gifts for sale at The Artisan Center.

Button, Button Who Has The Button?

I think I used them all on my Mother of Pearl vintage button covered mirror now for sale at The Artisan Center.

Oh, Have A Heart!

These stuffed fabric hearts look cute hanging from a door knob or drawer pull.

Patchwork Heart Pillow For Your Sweetie

My patchwork pillow is for sale at The Artisan Center. It is Valentiney but can be used any time of the year. It is decorated with beads, old buttons and is hand embroidered.

Will You Be My Valentine?

These paper Valentines are filled with candy hearts and are for sale at The Artisan Center in Rocky Mount, VA.

The Game Continues!

This is an update on my attempt of frugality. As you recall (or you can scroll down a couple of posts) I am playing a little game with myself and trying to spend only $25.00 per week on food for the month of January. Now folks, this does not include cleaning supplies, toiletries or miscellaneous non-food items that always end up in the shopping cart. Unless I was an extreme coupon person, which I am not, that would be impossible.

So, I must admit that math was my worst subject back 100 years ago when I was a lass in school. However, I will try to figure out how I am doing so far with my "game."

I was actually $10.00 to the good last week. I know spending only $15.00 seems like a dream but as I told you, we had a ton of leftovers in the freezer- still do!

Things were going well until my husband wanted to go to Sams Club for chicken salad (personally I think my chicken salad is better because I add pecans and grapes or apples, but to each his own!) So, you know how it is when you are pushing the cart down the aisles at the big warehouse stores. Add a little this, add a little that and Vim-Vam-Voom- you rack up a $200 receipt. So, I was taking things out as fast as he was putting things in the cart.

"Remember the near heart attack you had when you saw the December bill from this place?" I asked.

Well that did it but we still spent $29.00 on food which equals $19.00 (because I had that $10.00 from last week) but only leaves me $6.00 to go. I can do it! I am determined to do it! I am woman hear me roar!!!!

Opps, I got lost in the moment. Tune in soon for the next installment of "Lynn's Frugal One Month Lifestyle Changing Game."

PS: Of course, this doesn't include lunch out with the girls. Or dinner out with my husband. Or if I happen to end up one day at Viva La Cupcake in Roanoke.

Andy's Beef Hunter's Stew

Andy volunteered to cook over the weekend and I yelled "Yippee!"

 He is on board with my game of spending $25.00 per week on food this month. This is how he made his stew:

He knew we had two nice beef steaks in the freezer which he seared and then cut into bite sized pieces. He cut up 4 large potatoes, two large onions, a few stalks of celery, a cup of chopped carrots and added all to our 4 quart crock pot. He added a box of beef broth and a few cubes of beef bouillon then adding several cups of water. The spices he used were: a little garlic, a few red pepper flakes, black pepper and a little oregano.

This cooked for 4 hours on high and then 2 hours on low. It made a huge amount of stew and we will eat it for many meals this coming week. Shown in the picture, the stew is combined with a grilled cheese sandwich. As far as the game goes, all we had to buy was the celery. What a deal!

You've Gotta Do What You've Gotta Do!

When Husband Andy looked at the grocery and Christmas bills for December, he caught his breath. He didn't say much but I could tell he regretted some of his "Christmas Cheer."

So, I am playing a game with myself the month of January and I am trying to spend only $25 a week on groceries. $25 doesn't go very far, it is true, but I have a side by side refrigerator with the freezer compartment stuffed to the brim as well as a small deep freeze in the garage. I was so tired of Christmas food that I froze a large part of the leftovers. I know there is chicken and pork chops waiting to be cooked and maybe even a stray pizza.

So, this week I made a large amount of chili in the crock pot, served it over rice with onions and cheddar cheese. I also invented a soup with leftover sausage, onions, parmesan cheese, chicken broth and potatoes. I bought a bunch of Kale which was under a dollar, chopped some of it and threw that in there too. It was yummy.

 Another meal was ham and beans. I had the dried beans and pulled Christmas ham from the freezer and, of course, made cornbread.  I made turkey pot pie from leftover deep fried turkey from the freezer and frozen puff pastry. Tonight, we baked potatoes and smothered them with a choice of chicken, cheddar cheese, green onions and sour cream or the above mentioned chili with the same toppings. It was very good and so inexpensive. Andy did dip into my little budget and brought home tangerines so that was a healthy dessert.

Looking through my canned goods, I can come up with lots of meals. Salmon will become Salmon Croquettes and we love tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches for a quick dinner. We love to eat breakfast for dinner and Andy makes up a breakfast casserole using Tater Tots in place of hash browns, onions, cheese and eggs. If he has ham, bacon or turkey, he will mix that in too.

So, this may become more difficult as the month comes to an end but I am sure I can find lots of good ingredients in my cupboards and freezer. Remember all that pumpkin puree I froze? Well, thank goodness; because there is nothing better than pumpkin cream soup.

As for dessert: We were given chocolate truffles and dark chocolate peanut butter cups from Trader Joes for Christmas and boy are they good but..... so rich and so many calories. We allow ourselves one after dinner with coffee or have a little of that famous "Sarah Mason's Dessert-Type Pumpkin Bread" from a few posts ago. I will let you know how my little experiment turns out as the month goes on. I don't think we are going to starve and might even learn something in the process.

I LOVE Brussel Spouts!

I am happy to report that the Christmas food is gone! Well, almost gone because I did freeze some ham and pumpkin bread as well as macaroni and cheese (don't know how that will turn out) for later meals. Andy and I were so tired of turkey and dressing, cranberries in all forms and ham.

Tonight, I made a simple baked Tilapia dinner. I kicked it up a bit with some yummy sides. I recently found a recipe for Creamy Wild Rice and Mushroom casserole. It is so good. And, as you can see from the picture, I cooked "Caramelized Brussel Sprouts."

Don't like brussel sprouts, you say? Forget about it! When you cook fresh brussel sprouts and caramelize them like this, they taste as sweet as candy!!!! Here is how to do it:

Take one package of fresh brussel sprouts, cut off the stem, trim off the outer leaves, rinse and cut in half down the center. Pour 1/3 Cup of good Virgin Olive Oil into a measuring cup and dip out 3 Tablespoons into a large skillet. Place the brussel sprouts cut side down in the skillet and drizzle the rest of the Olive Oil over them. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, cover and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove cover and add a couple of Tablespoons of water, cover again and cook for 2 more minutes. Turn off heat and let simmer a few more minutes or until tender. Toss with the juice of 1/2 of a lemon and a little more salt and pepper.

Talk about good! Try it, you will like it.

One silly little tidbit: When my sons were young, they HATED brussel sprouts and for some reason we started calling them "Brussel Straps." Still do! Guess you had to be there. That's all Folks!

This Stuff Can Cure Anything! (According To My Mom!)

Read below for the full story!

Impressions of the new year, 2012

I have no complaints so far, of course 2012 is only two days old. Just a baby! But.... it is OK so far with the exception of a few coughs and sneezes around our house. My husband is downstairs in his recliner as I write this. His throat is sore and scratchy, he has the chills (off and on) and he aches all over. I suggested he call the doctor today but, (and this is a man thing) he said "Maybe tomorrow." Just now, he is well enough to call the Georgia University's quarterback a "big dummy."

I have also been under the weather with a headache. Today, I felt well enough to start dismantling the Christmas tree and decorations. Why, oh why does it take so long to take down? It is so much fun to put up that the time seems to fly. But, back to my illness of the last couple of days. It got me thinking about my childhood and how my mother treated our colds.

Mother was a big believer in Vicks VapoRub. She thought it was a miracle potion because when we were very young, she would stick it up the noses of my sister, brother and me. She would also spread it all over our chests. Mother would then take one of our dad's handkerchiefs and stick it to the goo so our pajamas wouldn't smell like Vicks VapoRub. I can almost smell it now! Seriously.

Mother had another secret medicine she only brought out in an emergency. It was called: Hot Milk Toast. Just the thought of it nearly turns my stomach. Maybe it is a Midwestern "delicacy" because I have never known a Southerner to eat it. I never want to have to endure it again. Ever! Hot Milk Toast is just as it says: Hot milk over toast. Powdered sugar on top does not help. It is slimy and mushy and really a fate worse than death if you were a little Kansas child in the 1950s with a drippy nose and Vicks VapoRub all over your sticky chest.

Now that I have that off of my chest, what am I smelling? Oh no! It can't be! But it is- Vicks VapoRub wafting upstairs to my office loft. My sick husband is also a believer.

New Year's Day, 2012! Can you believe it?

Andy and I celebrated New Year's Eve with a nice early dinner at the Olive Garden. Love the soup, salad and bread sticks. Later, back home in our flannel jammies, we watched Dick Clark count down the new year, the big crystal ball in NYC drop and the crowd in Time Square usher in 2012. We toasted with a glass of bubbly, clicked glasses and kissed our first kiss of the new year.

That all sounds sweet and sentimental- right? Well, the truth is: we were both sick. Andy with a sore throat and me with a headache (and not from the 2 sips of wine either.) We just felt crummy, a feeling that continued through the night. This morning brought a worse headache, chills and nausea for me and scratchy sore, irritated throat and achy joints for Andy. How is that for starting a new year?

At almost 3 pm January 1st, things seem a little better although we were disappointed not to win the VA One Million Dollar Lottery. Three Virginia folks did and I bet they are celebrating right now. Oh well, we really didn't expect to win anyway.

I have to write my New Year resolutions and try to stick to them this year! But here is one that I hope to accomplish:
I am going to launch a website to sell my various items. It won't bring me a million dollars, but might help the "fixed income" thing a little bit. So, I will tell you about it soon. Right now, my jewelry, Christmas stockings and "fancy" bookmarks are available at One Block East Gallery in downtown Roanoke, VA. Check them out if you are in town. Debbie will help you find the perfect gift. More later about these items and more. Pictures too!

Meanwhile, Dear Readers- A very Happy New Year to each of you. I hope you have enjoyed my silly little blog- I certainly have had fun writing it. More to come, so tune in often!

Parties and Get Togethers

Tis the season for parties! We entertained with two dinners and a luncheon for family and friends. It is fun to bring out the china and Christmas dishes, platters and red stemmed glasses. We eat too much, drink more than usual, and spend too much money- but it is always worth it and much more just being with loved ones.

After Christmas Andy and I went to Ibby Greer's "2012 Mayan End Of The World" party. It was December 30th and by then we were sick of "Holiday Food," you know, ham, turkey, sweet potatoes and all of those desserts. Ibby, along with Bill Connor and Andrew Call, hosted a wonderful evening at their beautiful historical home called "The Grove." The theme was Mayan and the food was Mexican. Wonderful Mexican! There was not one single ham biscuit or bowl of ambrosia on the table. OH LA!!!! Fabulous dinner with wonderful, interesting people to boot. The picture shows the festive table, but that was only half of the food laid out! My tread mill is calling my name!

Dining Room Table at the "Greensboro Girls Christmas Party

I have blogged before about my six friends who live in North Carolina. I call them "The Greensboro Girls." None of us would qualify as "girls" anymore, but that is beside the point.We all used to work together at a wonderful place in Greensboro called "Potpourri Press, The Company Store." After the business closed, we continued to stay in touch and over the years we have gone through just about every imaginable event, situation, emotion, trauma or drama and managed to stay close friends.

We have a Christmas party every early December. Everyone brings a dish, bottle of wine and gift to share. We play the Dirty Santa game and sometimes it gets a little wild and woolly! There are REALLY fun gifts at the party and several of them are stolen, swapped and/or fought over (in a nice way, of course.) It is all in fun. Usually!

This year, Tricia hosted the party. Tricia is a decorator extraordinaire. She changed her theme this year and the picture shows her beautiful white/silver and crystal table scape.