One a day, eating in...

I didn't want to try another craft type pin while still working on the scarves so I turned to cooking. That is where the bulk of my pins are anyway so it made sense.  I don't want to be that person who pins a zillion things but never attempts any of them.  
So, off and on during our break, I tried a few new recipes.  Most worked, one we are on the fence about.  (Links are at the bottom of the post.)

For Easter, I made Dean a Key lime pie.  He LOVED it!  I'm not a fan of most custard type desserts but the flavor was amazing.  I cheated and used a pre made crust and it was still fabulous.  If you try this, I suggest getting a key lime juicer...cheap and well worth it.  I already had one so I was ahead of the game...

While discussing the yummy-ness of this pie, I told Dean that the pinner said the best Key Lime pie she ever eaten was from a restaurant in the Cayman Islands.  He immediately said it was probably his Aunt's recipe.   I knew he had family there, but had forgotten that his Great Aunt had worked at the most famous restaurant on the islands.  She was their master chef.  Considering her age, I don't think they used the word chef but she was the go to girl for all the desserts.  We have some photos of her work....stunning.    Anyway, he has yet to call and ask her for her recipe....but when he does, I'll be making it!

The next day I tried some green beans.  The recipe used frozen green beans.  They turned out okay.  Part of me liked them, part didn't.  So....I kept the pin but decided to try it again this summer with fresh green beans. They were ugly too...so no photo.  Bah.

I love toll house chocolate chip cookies but Dean wanted me to try a new chocolate chip cookie recipe.  So, midweek I made some from a pin I found and they were AWESOME!  See that little sprinkle on top? Flaked sea salt.  I am never going back.  Seriously, if you are someone who likes to mix popcorn and m&ms, than these cookies are for you!  

Okay, the bad part? The pin disappeared.  As in "POOF!"  I guess they killed the original post or link.  That being said, the good part is I memorized the recipe.  If you want it, email me and I'll give it to you.  It is a keeper.  

This past summer we picked something like 50 POUNDS (yes, seriously) of blueberries.  We still have plenty in the freezer so I tried a new muffin recipe.  I've been avoiding using them.  They are such huge berries that batters can't hold up to them.  So we are using them in smoothies.  It would take a TON of smoothies to use them all up! 
I am THRILLED with this recipe though.  It is light with a nice topping...not too dense but can stand up to those huge berries.

seriously ya'll the berries are the size of a small marble.  I'd never picked such large ones before!

The next day, Kaela came home from driver's ed with a BAD case of strep.  No strep is good, but this one was awful...as in, people canceling trips awful.  She had a high fever and the rest of the not so fun symptoms.  The doctor tried to give her a shot....hahaha, as if!  

Anyway, to help sweetie get back on her feet, I made some soup!  I make my chicken and dumpling stew but wanted Old Fashioned Soup Chicken Noodle...you know?  Oh, and it had to be made in a crock pot.  I knew we'd be out most of the day between the doctor and picking up meds, etc.  So, I tossed it all into the crock pot and forgot about it.

OH.MY.GOSH.  Can you say JACKPOT?!
The soup started out a wee bit bland but with some seasoning magic, turned out to be a huge hit.  As in, not a drop was left.

The things I changed...I partially roasted my chicken for added flavor.  Mine has a lot of chicken in it because the bag "o" breasts I used had one left in it.  I didn't want to save it so I threw that in too. 
I didn't have any homemade stock on hand so use boxed broth.  Boxed broth tends to be bland so I added 6 chicken bouillon cubes to it.  I totally SKIPPED the lemon juice because Matt wouldn't like it.  And I simply forgot the parsley and basil!

To keep the noodles from getting soggy, I cooked them separately then added them to each bowl before serving. 

Okay, now for the links.  I am linking up to the original post for those of you  who don't play on pinterest.  Enjoy!

Key lime pie
Green Beans
Cookies...you'll have to email me 
Crock pot chicken noodle soup
Blueberry muffins

One A Day, a kick start...

Last week we were on Spring Break and for the first time in a looong time, had nothing major planned other than driver's ed for Kaela!

After doing much weeding and mulching to put the landscaping to bed for the summer, I decided to finish work on Ginger's marker.  I started it the week after she died and was the perfect project because it would take about a week to finish.
But then I looked at it and I decided I hated it.   I hate everything about it.  I hate the size and everything.....so I told Matt to throw it out.  He won't.  He said to wait.  So did everyone else.  So now, it sits on the floor in the dining room and every time I look at it, I think of how much I hate it.

Soooo, I decided I HAD to do something to jump start my creativity and turned to Pinterest.   I thought if I could just try a new pin each day during break, I'd get moving.   

On Good Friday, I met a co-worker for a little crochet and hot cocoa at Starbucks.  

I didn't actually work on a project, I just practiced going from knit stitch to purl stitch.  For some reason, the transition between those two isn't easy for me.  

While there, Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher came walking in.  I noticed them only because I was at the table right by the door.  They blasted through the doors so quickly that many people didn't even notice. (Quite frankly, celebrity sightings are pretty common here because of all the filming done in Louisiana. Because of that, most people don't freak out when they see a celebrity.  Furthermore, both of them had been seen the day before at a Winn-Dixie.)
Anyway, about midway to the back, a barista SCREAMED out "It's MILA!"  And everyone started looking around.  Thankfully, most didn't do anything, just continued drinking and eating like usual.  My friend and I didn't skip a beat (we're cool like that.)

On their way out, Mila did check out my octopus cozy, yep...I'm sooooo cool.  (Seriously, I think if she'd looked at me, I would have flung it at her.  Hahaha.)
Sadly though, some lady was CHASING them by now trying to get a photo.  Cracked me up.  Like if you were preggers and had just barfed your guts up in a Starbucks bathroom, would you want to take a "candid" photo with a lunatic chasing you with her cell phone?  NO.  The answer is NO.

So back to the pin thing.  My first two days I spent making a Solomon's Knot scarf.  I found the pattern on pinterest and really liked it.  I did not make the same scarf, I made mine into an infinity scarf.  But the stitch is there, along with a different scarf.   (The link is below this post.)
It is also called a love knot.  Pretty.  

and here is the finished scarf.  I used 2 skeins of the Noro yarn I talked about in this post.

It is beautiful!  The photo doesn't do it justice but I took the picture late at night because I couldn't wait.   I like it so much, I started another.  Maybe that photo will be better....

Lover's knot 

quiet

The days are going by...Mojo has been getting some extra loving from the family.  He misses Ginger terribly.   Especially when we all leave.  He dashes to the door, not wanting to stay behind. He never did that before.
I am so sad about losing our sweet girl but losing mom so quickly after her took my breath away. To me, as a human, Ginger's loss was eclipsed by my own mother's death but Mojo's world changed too.  And it shows...
He has aged so much since her death, he turned into a little old man overnight.  

As for me, I'm sad.  Not depressed...but sad.   My parents both died within a short few months of each other...and a part of me is still wrapping my brain around that.
And yet, life goes on.   
Matt had his prom and senior trip to Disney. 
Kaela is taking driver's ed.  
Dean is going on a business trip. 
I go to work.
The hook and yarn along with the book I am reading were set aside until this past week.  It felt good to do something which required me thinking instead of just feeling.      

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my sweet lovin' man!

He went to California in February and I forgot to post those photos of his adventures....thought I'd share today!

on a hike....

at the beach...

hangin with Charlie...

and basically misbehavin....

That's my man!  I love you honey!!!!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I love our yard...

“People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.” 
― Iris Murdoch

“A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in--what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars.” 
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

“A flower blossoms for its own joy.” 
― Oscar Wilde

Add caption

“The earth laughs in flowers.” 
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Prom night

Last Saturday was PROM!    Matt's friends all met at our house this time around because Dean "knew a guy- who knew a guy- who could get him a deal on a limo!"   
Let me tell ya folks, 6 degrees of separation is totally alive and well...and we were glad of it.   They had the limo all night long and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Matt and his girlfriend.   They looked so wonderful.  I cried (duh) but only because mom wouldn't see him in his tux.  Momma always loved to see people dressed up.  She would have loved Shay, she has a beautiful heart to match her beautiful face.

Here are a few photos of them all together.  The ladies were all so lovely and the gents, equally handsome.   

Sam jazzed up her kicks for the occasion, smart girl.  Her feet weren't going to be hurting later.

Prom night for Matt is in the past and right now he is on his Senior Trip....with graduation right around the corner, our son will be gone in a flash...

A long goodbye to March

I decided it was time to write a new post but was stuck.  

Like with daddy, grief killed my creativity.  All I could think of for March was how utterly AWFUL it was.  So I pulled up my photos and stared at the proof that there was a lot of good, a lot of fun and a lot of love in the month too.

I think I'd rather remember the love and the good and the fun.  Wouldn't you?
So, pull up some m&ms Sheri, and a glass of wine Page, and read on....remember with me.

Matt turned 18!  

The local strawberries came out and my wineglass looked much better with one in it.  Especially this one...

We went to Florida to see my family...as you can see in this photo, we are a weird, weird, WEIRD family!  But we had mom howling so it was all worth it.  

I had a knitting lesson with a girlfriend and practiced a bit in the evenings...

I changed out our front door to celebrate St. Paddy's Day...

and did something I found on pinterest.... Worked like a charm, no slumped boots any longer, which saved room on my shelf.

We had some lovely weather which prompted us to start our basil...and set out seed.

With spring equals birds so I made a new nesting material ball...

Dean and curlygirl had a daddy-daughter day...

While Matt and I had a mother-son day...

If y'all don't have special dates with your kids, start doing it now.........time truly flies.

There was a lot more packed into the month than I had remembered.  Grief has a way of distorting everything.  But I can take the grief because it means I had someone in my life worthy of my tears.   The grief will remain with our family but so will all the good memories of our loved ones.

A life full of color.....

March 27th my mother passed away.  
It was sudden, it was unexpected....it was totally Mom.   She always did things her way.  
Frank Sinatra may have made a particular song famous, but my mother LIVED it, every day.  (I cannot tell you her age because a lady NEVER told her age.  "You have to leave a little mystery...")

If Van Gogh were to have painted her, his palette would have been filled with all shades...of RED. Mother may have been sad sometimes but she was NEVER blue.  Heaven forbid.

My mother was over the top.  She was the life of the party...in fact, the party never got started until she arrived.  Few photos of her exist with JUST MOM.  She was a hugger and a kisser, a lover AND a fighter.
She she would shake her fist and yell... and she would laugh until she cried.  
She was spicy and spunky ( she was a Scot after all)  And, oh how my daddy loved that!

Mom sucked every bit of life out of living...and people couldn't help but get caught up in her.  She feared nothing and no one.   
Daddy, with all the love in his heart, called her Hurricane Linda when she was "on a roll."   You couldn't help but love her. You might be terrified of her at times but you simply couldn't help but want to be near her.    You could just FEEL the life force within her, trying to burst out.  
Every head turned when she walked into the room....some in fear her eye would land on them and deem them unworthy.    

As a young girl I once wondered if mom would go to heaven when she died.  I knew daddy would....he was so kind, so predictable, so easy.  
Mom was never anything remotely like that.  Sure, she could be sweet but she was never predictable and certainly never easy.  The only thing easy about her was her laugh.  It was full and rich and loud and happy and a "you just had to laugh along even if you didn't know the joke" kind of laugh...

I know now that the only place mom COULD go is heaven because God is the only being that could handle her.  I'm sure the devil himself shuddered every time she got out of bed.  I bet he ran for cover the moment her feet hit the floor.  Oh, how I wish I was more like that.

Mom, I love the laughter you taught me.  I love the LOVE you taught me. I love you.