And a month has passed. Whoops.

Well, hello thurr. I do mean to blog more, and quite frankly, I'm surprised that it's been over a month! Of course, with Christmas, time does tend to pass alarmingly quick. Anyone else make a New Year's resolution? Mine is to not listen to Taylor Swift this year. On the tv? Change the channel. On the radio? Change the channel. On the PA in the grocery store? Sprint towards the doors with my hands over my ears singing "Good King Wenceslas" at the top of my lungs. Oh yes, I am serious.
I did join the gym in October, and dang, I was doing good. Lately, I've been having some sinus issues (termites, or sinusitis? Who knows) so I'm blaming the slackassery on a mixture of that and the snow. Who the hell invited the snow to winter? I mean, Jesus, some people.
So let's see, in reverse order, made some things for Christmas:

 (beach glass wreath)

 (Ornament made of an old grater with Fimo gingerbread men)

 (Makeup bag. This was my first attempt at freezer paper stenciling. Swoon.)

(Cozy little meeses).

(Not a creature was stirring, indeed).

I made other things, another bag, pj pants, a buttload of baked goods (not literally, I actually put the stuff in cute little bags and boxes. Let me just say, I was plenty tired of packing fudge), and a whole set of photo booth props. Where are the pictures, you say? Yes, good question. I must take more pictures...

Tonight I tried using my printer to print on fabric. Hallelulia.

SOOO happy with the results. I took a piece of freezer paper and ironed over the type when I was done, hopefully it'll set the ink a little better (I'd have used wax paper, but I had none, and even though I know the ink is supposed to be permanent, I figured it couldn't hurt).

Now I'm trying this neat thing where I finish what I have started before I start something new. I'm not enjoying it, but it is effective. So first up, bind the baby quilt that I was making for a friend, and then get to work on some birthday presents.  I ordered some material yesterday from Fabric.com, I'm so weak!! But it's lovely... and I think it's a good thing that my Grandmother didn't have access to the internet....

Let's see. What else? I'm making a (let's be honest here) half-hearted attempt at eating better. I had roaster cauliflower for supper, but yesterday I ate a bag of Hershey's cookies and cream kisses. See above: I know I'm weak. At least they were on sale? Yea, I know. Poor excuse. Here's my problem: I LOVE sweets. Chips? Pop? Fast food? No problem, I'd rather have good food. But put chocolate in front of me, and I'll see how much I can fit in my mouth at once. So, any fellow sugar junkies out there have any tips?

Channeling my inner elf

'Tis the season. I've avoided the glitter so far... but we all know it's only a matter of time...
Pictures of shiny things...

 ...Not a creature was stirring...

 ...unlike here. These creatures are always stirring. I sat on the floor, because this spot on the cupboard was the place I could get a picture of the garland where there was nothing else Christmassy. As soon as I sat the floor, they were on me. I keep telling them they're too big lap dogs. I think they're trying to be small here, to stay out of the picture.

Woodsen! Moosen and bearsen in the woodsen!  (I made this for the BiFL, but I may need one myself).

Okay. Time to make the doughnuts presents.

Should I not return,  Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Dang.

Some days it really isn't worth chewing through the restraints.
I wanted to make a.... something. I dunno. I guess. It was that sort of mood. Where you're like, "OMG I'm SOOOO bored. But I don't waaaaaaana...." So I dragged myself into the sewing room... rifled through stacks of material (muhahahahaaha!! stacks of material!!) and started cutting. I figured I'd make it up as I went.

.
So I cut up some half-triangle blocks and sewed. And sewed some more.What did I end up with?

Ta-da! An e-reader case that is too *BLEEEEEEEEP* small for a *BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEP* Kobo.

 *back*

*front*

Easy fix. But... c'mon!!
Thankfully, sewing mishaps don't put me in the same mood as baking mishaps, so it's not on fire in the yard. Go me!

Bear with me...

Blogger went and changed on me, so I'm not sure how long it'll take me to figure this out.
So. Where have I been? Well, that's none of your business, and I'll thank you to stay out of my affairs (to quote Ace Ventura). But I've been doing a little sewing

I've been making some extra bags for the upcoming Christmas Sale in Sherbrooke next month. I'm a little in love with the bag on the bottom tho, I'm not sure if I can part with it, or not.

The hounds are enjoying the cold weather a lot more than I am. I'm still denying the change of seasons, and refusing to give up the flip-flops just yet.

"Can't talk!! Gotta get the ball!!"

 

What else.... made a wee graveyard on a cake plate for Marcia (unfortunately I have no pictures of the gore when I jammed my Olfa knife in my thumb)

 

Not the best pictures 0_o

The first one is, if you look really, really closely, 2 little hands reaching up through the pond. Now, the pond. Damn pond. I had it painted with a wee person floating in it, and when I poured in the fake water... *bubble gurgle burp* the water ATE THROUGH THE STYROFOAM BASE. Oh, saints preserve us. Le sigh. Next time I'll know better.

 

And I'll try to show up around here more often then every few months. Promise. And I'll try to make the next post a little more interesting ;) 

 







And that's when the arse fell out of her.

So.

How've you been? I've been away, and I've missed you.

In April, I packed all my stuff and left Bedford and my ex, and blah blah blah. Things went sideways. What can I say? Well, a lot of things, but nothing I'm gonna say on here. Anyway, through an odd turn of events (and believe me sometimes it sure is frickin' odd around here) I ended up back at home, and helping my dad lobster fish for the season. Now... I'm on sabbatical. Apparently. That sounds right, anyway. I've been helping my dad fix his parents old place. And look, I sewed!

I sold 12 of these to The Stepping Stone, in Guysborough, and THAT makes me pretty happy.

Downside of living in the middle of nowhere: Seaside "highspeed"? It's a joke. It is not highspeed. It's, at best, perfectly average speed. And I get disconnected every time the phone rings. What the hell, man? In other news, a longer update to follow soon about my unfortunate brownie adventure, how much my parents are enjoying bonding with the hounds, and... erm... other stuff.

Dear Blogspot,
What the hell! I though we were friends! Not only has no one been able to comment on my blog in FOREVER, but now I can't even find my dashboard. You've changed. And I don't know if we can stay friends for much longer.

I made a f#$%ing cake

Sometimes I like to bake. Most times I don't. I come from a long line of people who become enraged by the act of baking. When something goes wrong in my sister's kitchen, her dog won't even come in. My mother once hucked a pan of brownies, pan and all, out the front door and across the driveway. When things go wrong, this is me:

except I don't look so friendly.
So today, I saw a recipe for a Peaches and Cream coffee cake, and it looked so good, I figured I'd make it. (Recipe here, maker beware). It does taste delicious (I didn't use the pie filling, but just canned peaches).  But c'mon! See, I mix everything by hand, because I'm Amish like that, and when it came time to add the egg whites, it just wasn't happening. I had sections of cake batter, lubricated by the egg white, just slipping past the wooden spoon. "Madness! I will use the hand mixer!!" The hand mixer, however, didn't  like this plan. It sluggishly worked its way through the batter, blending the ingredients, but I could tell it wasn't happy. Actually, I'm pretty sure it was just this side of smoking. A strange thing happened: the batter clung to the beaters, working its way towards the body of the mixer, and I thought, Nay nay, this will never do. It's mixed enough, I'll just get rid of the beaters and mix the rest by hand. This, my friends, is where things went sideways. The batter was completely covering the beaters, so there was nowhere to grip them while they were still in the mixer; thinking I would just drop them out and then clean them off, I lifted them from the bowl. The following is playing through my mind in slow motion: looking at the beaters in front of me,  clear of the bowl, I think I should really unplug this before I take them out. But I didn't; the rising tide of batter had covered the cord, and I figured this way, well f#&*, I don't know what I was thinking, other than, Oh God, what a MESS.  If only I'd have known.... So there the beaters are, so full of batter, they resembled corn dogs, and I figured I'd just drop them in the bowl, reached for the eject button, and

                        I turned

                        the f-ing thing

                            on.

My mind, in a blur of panic (I'm not prone to panic, but hearing flack-flack-flack as batter hit every conceivable surface in the kitchen, well, it startled my poor, unemployed brain), went Oh Muh Guh, shut it off!! Which was clearly interpreted as Turn it UP!!

It was everywhere. Even in the GD cupboard. Oh. My. God.

*calm blue ocean. calm blue ocean*

The good news is, it really does taste good.

Royston has gotten over his extreme remote related humiliation, and was back to his normal self. Pictures as proof, because I don't want anyone thinking he was beaten with a hose or anything (*ahem* Lori), he just looks like that when he knows he's been bad. But look! Happy hounds in the yard:

 Happy Monday!