Tasty Thursday: Rutabaga

Just enjoyed some delicious rutabaga and so easy to make.

Cut off the waxy outside layer then slice or cube it.
Boil until soft.
Drain, return to pot.
Drizzle on blackstrap molasses in quantity of your liking.
Shake on a little sea salt.
Toss in some margarine.
Cover pot and let items melt together for a few minutes.
Mash.

Yum.

Please Pray for my Dad.

He's having triple bypass today. Please pray for the doctors in whose hands he will be and that he has a successful outcome and recovery.

Two Hats for Thursday

As always, for Online Angels.

These hats are in honor of my Angel friend Tracy and her beautiful Mom, who passed this week.

Betty worked long after most folks have retired, was a strong and loving lady. She certainly raised a wonderful woman, Tracy, who herself is a strong and loving mom.

The black yarn is soft, like a mom's loving touch, and is recycled from a hat I made my own mom. The body of the hat is very thick and warm, protecting a little one's head from being cold or bumped, just like Betty - strong and present.

The variegated is a favorite yarn of mine. It makes me smile when I see it, just as Tracy brings joy and light to those around her.

Waste Not Want Not Wednesday: More Booties to Share

For Online-Angels' blitz, another fifteen pairs of booties. Lots of boy stuff this time out. Let's see, part of a pillow cover that came apart, fabric from the back of a nice cotton button down shirt my son got a stain on the front of, fabric left from Christmas gifts, excess fabric cut off when I made the shoe bags and a bit purchased from the remnant bin.



Ten pairs I made last week but didn't get to post.




And 12 pairs I made just now after composing this post. The football ones are very timely, I'd say. Not a big fan but wherever you look you can't escape talk of the impending Super Bowl.

Need Some Freeware?

No nag screens, no requests for donations, just true freeware.

Please help Haiti

About the easiest way I can think of for folks to donate very badly needed relief funds to Haiti is this:

Text “HAITI” to "20222" and $10 will be given to the Clinton Foundation's Haiti Relief Fund, charged to your cell phone bill.

Waste Not Want Not Wednesday: Shoe Bags From Pant Legs

These were the legs of my daughter's old capri pants. The rest had been made into a purse long ago.

First, I cut them to a size suitable for my many pairs of work shoes.

I am on my feet all day long and change my shoes during the day - it's good for my feet to do so. That means I have three pairs of shoes on hand at work plus whatever sneakers or boots I wore while commuting.

I don't want them getting beat up so I'd been meaning to make some bags for a while. When I was going through my stash for bag fabrics I came across these and knew they would not only work but look cute hanging on a hook as well.

The scraps I cut to make them the right length became booties you can see in last Thursday's post. So for one cut and two seams I've got the two pairs of shoes not on my feet set up with pretty little bags to protect them.

Travel Tip Tuesday: January 29th & 30th and JetBlue

If you're traveling on JetBlue January 29th and the few days following, please get to the airport very early, especially if you're traveling out of the larger stations like Boston, JFK or Fort Lauderdale.

The airline will be transitioning to some new software and although they've been preparing for this for some time you should expect check in to take longer than usual during that time.

Cutie Little Booties

Made from scrap fabrics left from other projects and the ever so elusive high quality ribbing I'm forever looking for in the stores, I enjoy the heck out of making these fun little pops of color for Online Angels.

Waste Not Want Not Wednesday: Grocery Bags

These were my Christmas gifts. I started with a goal of forty. Twenty were to go to our family holiday gathering and twenty to the folks in my daughter's office who have graciously cared for our animals during various emergencies this year. Then I got a little more ambitious and decided sixty would be better so folks might have more than one each. I went at it like a beast, cutting up clothing, sheets, curtains and remnants from my stash, assembling them in various stages without counting. The third photo shows an old guinea pig cage cover I'd sewn for our pets. We'd used it for a couple of years before switching to a different cage. I'd always wanted another project for this very pretty fabric to go to - this was definitely the one!

I wanted each to have a tag tied to it that identified what it came from - remnant, pajamas, curtain, etc. and since my daughter is the scrapbooker that was her contribution to the project. Well, that and tying and cutting all the threads which was one heck of a job! Her poor fingers.

When I finally finished sewing she had tagged and counted over 80!

I'm told they were enjoyed at her office for which I am glad. I wish I'd had more of an opportunity to sit down with folks who were going through them at our family Christmas. When one pink bag was described as being curtains from one of my parents' old places in Hollywood my brother, a big guy you wouldn't imagine wanting a pink bag, immediately spoke up for it. That was exactly what I had hoped for - to bring a little bit of fond memory to someone's day as they drop a loaf of bread into their bag...and to do some recycling and destashing.

A Link to 100 Tutorials.

What a nice post here at The Long Thread, featuring their favorite 100 tutorials of 2009. Definitely worth a look!