Chookshed Challenge

 

Deana has launched another Chookshed Challenge for 2025.  We are supposed to choose ten projects, one a month, to focus on for this coming year.  I made a list last year but had to abandon it in June when Elizabeth asked for a Baltimore Album quilt for her high school graduation THIS June.  Well, I stayed on my self imposed schedule and the quilt is now pin basted and waiting for Christmas to be over before I start actually quilting it.   

So. My Chookshed list from 1-10 is to quilt that project.  Like last year, I have to completely focus on it till it's done (hand quilted.)  When I give it to her I will post a photo but not until. If I can squeeze in a project or two in the meantime you will be the first to know.  

So. Am I joining the challenge?  Yes, sort of. There will be time for more projects once we get to June first or I finish the quilt.  

Last of the Christmas books

 OK, last of the Christmas books with a little departure, too. 

You all know how I feel about Ryan T. Higgins' work.  His books are genius and his illustrations are hilarious, even for adults.   Bruce is a VERY grumpy bear who loves eggs.  He robs nests for them and cooks them in interesting ways.  One day he robs a goose's nest, takes the eggs home, puts them on to cook, gets distracted and when he returns the eggs have hatched.  You all know about imprinting, right? Well, Bruce the bear has now become Mother Bruce to a small flock of goslings. Exactly what Bruce does not want.  

This is the first in the Bruce books and what really launched Ryan T. Higgins.  He followed Bruce through many adventures and responsibilities with other woodland creatures.

How about this for a grumpy Santa?  But grumpy as he is he is still caught in the enthusiasm of Christmas. 

If you have any chance to find the Mother Bruce books, do.  But start with Mother Bruce, it introduces the characters that stick with the stories throughout the other books.   

Christmas books

 

This book is one of my favorites (actually, I don't own or read them to kids if they are NOT a favorite) because it gives a sweet explanation for why there are so many Santas around at Christmas.  Apparently, one little sparrow didn't fly south for the winter and ended up stuck in the cold.  Santa invited the bird to warm up in his beard and then stay the winter. But an unforeseen laying of eggs just might derail Santa on Christmas Eve.

Yesterday for the first time a little guy said, " Nah. Uh uh."  So cynical for six years old! Teacher and I looked at each other and then I said, "Well, look, these are actual photographs, not an artist drawing pictures.  Real photographs."  And I left it at that.

This one is new to me this year.  Yes, I still buy picture books but they have to be original, great art and I have to love it.  Santa has been doing this for years.  He comes home - finally - on Christmas Eve and collapses from exhaustion, allowing himself an extra half hour of sleep in the morning before getting up and starting to make toys all over again for next Christmas.  Polar Bear finds out from one of the elves that Santa doesn't do nor has ever done Christmas and sets out to change all that.  The elves take Santa out to find a tree and they have to explain to him WHY.  Then they decorate, make cookies, etc. The whole package.  Even a visit from SANTA! In the end Santa has so much fun he suggests they do this every year.  And so they do.

 

Doings

 It's busy times this time of year. Our calendar is exhausted. It's all good stuff, all keeping in touch with friends and family and baking and wrapping (though I've gone to bags - much easier) and hoping it doesn't snow...much. 

Here are the books from this week's read to the first graders:

This one is an oldie.  First printed in 1963 it keeps on giving its charms.  Mr. Willowby has a huge tree installed in his house but the top bent at the ceiling so Mr. Butler cuts it off and delivers the cut piece to the upstairs maid for her room.  But it's still too big, the top gets cut and Bear takes it home. It's too big for their space so the top gets cut and on it goes, the journey of that tippy top of the tree.  It is a charmer.

I always ask the kids, "Have you ever heard someone say 'be careful what you wish for, you just might get it?' and 'do you really, really want everything you ask for?' "  Well, of course they do. They always look at me like I'm crazy for asking that.  After a couple of years of disappointments in not getting exactly what he wants, Joe finally does. So, yes, be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

We've been doing our annual meeting with Friends Richard and Marilyn at the most holidayish place we know

We start with the pretzel and move on to the biggest burrito and tallest burgers around. There is no supper cooked after a lunch like this. 

We all have a rosy glow because every single inch of this place is decorated and lit and making some sort of noise.  The tables are all lined with dancing whatevers making noise, the televisions are playing Christmas movies - not the same ones at the same time, the animated characters are animated, there are swags, garlands, baubles, signs, lights, and one waitress for the whole place.  But we tell her we don't care, we are there to have fun so when she gets to us, she gets to us. Reservations start in September.  We go between the lunch service and dinner service so we can always get a seat and are ok to stay as long as we are gone by 6.  Not a problem. 

The next day we met Friends Marge and Harry at the Christkindl Market, new to Grand Rapids and in its second year.  PH and I went last year and thought it interesting and fun and different so this year asked M & H to meet up with us.  It was cold this year.  A storm was moving in later that day so we went early with all the other old people.  Last year it was a huge success so they expanded the vendors by double this year.  That kind of works in some ways but not others.  More vendors means sales are spread out more and one vendor said last year was busier because it was a new thing and people were interested but now they know.  It is expensive, too.  We had fun strolling and had a really good waffle sandwich for lunch.  PH chose a sausage sandwich.  

Today's lunch was postponed because that storm came through bringing high winds and very cold temperatures meaning icy roads. We didn't get but an inch of snow here but it's icy and every single school in West Michigan is closed.  

I finished Elizabeth's BA quilt top, I will layer and pin it today.  I can't believe I was able to keep to the schedule I had.  It's beautiful and makes me smile when I look at it.  I'm pretty sure she doesn't see this blog but I really can't take any chances.  I think I will maybe post for one day a photo of it and take it down just to be sure.  But not today.

"That's how my mother always did it"

    This fall I discovered a Facebook group called For the Love of Pie.  It's been quite interesting to learn from this group that there are about 897 million ways to make a pie crust, an obsession with this group during apple pie season in knowing how to get a flaky crust. And, of course, everyone had an opinion and the veteran bakers all decreed theirs was the best.  Foolproof.   Novice bakers were panic stricken. It was kind of fun to watch. 

     As apple season morphed into pumpkin pie season the advice changed remarkably.  Most everyone, and I mean MOST, use the recipe from the can of Libby's pumpkin but NOT the can of "easy" pumpkin pie mix.  Just the can of straight up pumpkin and their recipe on the label. 

    The one constant refrain, the one thing 99% of the people said, the one bit repeated over and over and over:  "that's how my mother always did it."

    My mother never made a pie.  She had opinions and decreed making a pie was more trouble than it was worth.  She enjoyed EATING pie but would not make one. So when it was time to learn how to make a pie I watched my grandma.  

     I volunteered to make the pumpkin and pecan pies for Thanksgiving this year but I've only ever made one of each in my whole long life.  I didn't have to go far for advice, that FB site was full of it. But I did call Friend Marge for her take on pumpkin pie because she makes them for HER family.  She went through the check list, it matched the thousands of people on the FB site and even said a few times, " that's how my mother always did it."  

      

I volunteered to make the pies but really, it was going to be the girls learning to make a pie. They are with us for the two days before Thanksgiving every year so I put them to the learning task.  

One thing one of the women on the FB site said made ALL the difference to her Libby label pies was to add an extra egg. That meant for one pie cutting one egg in half.  Hmmm.  Elizabeth came up with the solution.  Scramble the egg and then using the kitchen scale, weigh it and measure out half of it.  Voila! 

It. Was. Perfect.  

 

So was the pecan!  Even though I told the girls "Thanksgiving is not the time to experiment.  Thanksgiving wants tradition"  I didn't have dark corn syrup, just light. I didn't have dark brown sugar, just light.  We used what I had and I added some pure maple syrup.  Maple syrup can't hurt anything! 

Thanksgiving reads

 This week's books are Thanksgiving dinner books.  It is in two days, so they are timely.

The Tappletons are gathered for Thanksgiving dinner and each element of the meal meets a ghastly beginning or end.  Mom drops the turkey and it slides out the door and into the pond, dad is responsible for the pies, Kenny the salad, Jenny the potatoes.  But by the time everyone is gathered around the table they all have to confess. Grandma has been waiting to say grace and as everyone is feeling quite sad she saves the day with her message.

We all know the old lady who swallowed the fly...and myriad take offs on that rhyme.  This is another one.  This is also one you have to watch the pictures very closely.  For that reason it's better as a lap book. But after today I realized kids don't watch the Thanksgiving Day parades on TV anymore.  When I was a kid that was mandatory.  We had to get out of our mother's way so she could cook and we'd watch the parades on TV because it was the only thing available.  Now I guess with so many streaming options kids just don't.  I think next year I'll choose another book.  But this one is such fun!  Sigh.

Update on the BA quilt.  I have all four borders done, two are attached, two waiting.  In a few minutes the girls are coming for two days and then it's Thanksgiving so I won't get back to it for a few days.  But I am SO on schedule all angst is gone and I can feel good about leaving it for a couple of days.  Gives my hands a rest.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

The cookie

 When we were kids we always called this cookie butterballs.  That's what we were told they were. But when I grew up and started reading cookbooks I have since seen them called snowballs or Italian wedding cookies. I even had one once that had crunched up potato chips as an ingredient! 

As far as tradition goes these cookies are on the same level as the turkey for Thanksgiving.  I can't remember ever a Thanksgiving or Christmas when these were not part of the offering.  

I double the recipe so I only have to do them once.  The freezer is my best friend. We like them just this side of underdone, we don't like them over cooked so they are watched very carefully. 

Roll them in powdered sugar almost immediately from the oven and the sugar will melt and they will get a little gummy coating. Then when completely cooled I roll them again. 

The real problem for me now is PH and I are the only ones who like them with the chopped walnuts and he barely eats cookies.  The kids, in-laws and grands don't like the nuts.  I can't eat these without the nuts so I add them to the very last of the recipe and make just a few for us. I use walnuts for subtle flavor. 

Pasta day

 In our family, for Thanksgiving we stick very close to tradition.  Some families move things around a bit or a lot and sometimes that's very necessary.  We, however, hold tradition sacred and don't veer very far from it.   The biggest veer was when daughter took over the cooking and hosting when she got married.  I certainly had my share of cooking and organizing a meal with one oven and one refrigerator for twenty people in my time so I gave the holiday meal to her gift wrapped.  

And she does the day proud.  For us, it's food cooked from scratch if at all possible.  There are certain things that have never been off the table, it's not a time to try something new.  For me, it's a cookie.  I know the turkey and all sides will be there, but since I was born there has been one particular cookie one of my grandmas made for EVERY Thanksgiving and Christmas and so I do, too. That, tomorrow.

Yesterday was noodle day.  Or pasta if you prefer.  

PH's family is the noodle family and he grew up with these at every gathering of any kind.  Our daughter took up the baton and taught her girls .  We have a photo somewhere of six month old Elizabeth in a high chair pulled up to the table while our daughter made them.  So, it's part of her.

It's a big job, they make enough for Thanksgiving, Christmas, a bag for PH to bring home uncooked, and ugh, the girls like eating them uncooked.  They don't eat them cooked.  Ugh. 

It was pointed out that this is Elizabeth's last year before going off to college.  If she gets in to the school she wants, she won't be around for this next year.  This is a year of "this is the last time...." and while we are supposed to celebrate and encourage their life's journey, it's a change I'm not excited about.  I will miss all of them as they go off.

Hint: don't wear black when working with this much flour.  

New reads

 Tuesday's reads this week.  

I chose two that are over 30 years old but endure.  I tell the kids if a book is really good people will keep buying it and if they keep buying it the people who make the books will keep making more of them.  Some things really do keep on keeping on.

These two deserve it.

David Small is almost a household name in Michigan if you are in the children's book world. His illustrations are classic.   Imogene wakes up one morning with a huge rack of antlers on her head.  This doesn't seem to bother her in the least but it sure sets her mother off!  I mean, really, what would YOU do if your child came down for breakfast sporting a rack like this?  

I love, love, love this one.  Brigid wants markers.  Mom says no because she has heard that markers only mean trouble.  Coloring on walls, floors, themselves, they are a mess so "NO!" Brigid makes some good arguments in favor, makes some promises and keeps them so she manages to convince mom to get more.  And more.  And then temptation sets in.  With the kids there is ALWAYS a laugh and an "oh no!" moment at the end.

I am coming along very quickly on the border design for the BA quilt.  I chose to do a swag. The two long sides are swagged, I'm putting a sort of flower at the ends, which I like a lot, and when those flowers are done tonight I'll attach the long sides, measure for the short sides and keep on keeping on. It's coming and I'm on target to get it finished and layered for quilting by Christmas. But December is becoming very busy so I have to keep plugging on.  This year with only 3 weeks from Thanksgiving to Christmas is very stressful. 

New stuff

 I know I said I haven't done anything other than the Baltimore Album for months but I did get some pillowcases done for the kids for St. Nick's Day.  I have made pillowcases for the kids for years and Mike asked for some new ones for Christmas.  I have some but not many Christmas fabrics in my stash and only had to shop for a few.  The two cookie baking are for Adelaide and Ceci, the bakers in the families.  The middle one is Elizabeth.  It has a carol in tiny print and she is in the choir and writes like a No-See-Um crawling on the page so this fits her.  Mike chose the red snowman and Charlie, now a college student gets the manly plaid.  I use the French seam method when I make these for the kids and they love getting new ones.  Our DIL said the kids always want "grandma's pillowcases" on bedding changing day and in their Halloween photo Mike was taking his Halloween case trick or treating to fill with candy.  

Last week I couldn't breathe much less speak and things are not going to be better anytime soon. But I have to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

These are the two books from last week

This one the teacher always appreciates me bringing in.  Playground behavior many times dictates apologizing and this one gives good insight in how to do that. Correctly so it means something. 

Now, don't get excited.  But I have to say this title is always a way to stop the fidgets.  This is the story of a dung beetle who is torn between wanting to be with the popular bugs and his love of his food.  No one wants to sit with him at lunch for good reason.  But when it's time to show what he's made of - so to speak - he comes through and with that the other bugs admit to THEIR idiosyncrasies which can be just as gross or weird, proving we are all a little weird in our own ways.  The teacher liked this one so much after I read it last year she bought a copy for her grandchildren.

And these are from today

As much as I hate to use our new political situation in comparison to a great storybook this one does ring a few bells.  The river was there but it didn't know it was a river UNTIL (- a refrain throughout the book so soon your audience will say it at every page - )  bear comes along.  It's a cumulative story and very good.

You must know by now how I feel about Ryan T. Higgins.  Wilfred is one of his earlier books but no less wonderful.  Wilfred is a very large hairy monster who finds himself near a village of very little people who are ALL bald, even the children.  Because he is very large and very hairy he has a hard time making friends until one bald little boy befriends him.  Big "Awww" factor here. 

"Pity the Nation"

 My state of disbelief is beyond words so I had to let someone else say them.  I don't even have the capacity to react.  Disgust? Shame? Fear? I'll think of a few more when my heartrate settles down and my stomach stops churling.

My disappointment is mammoth.  I never, ever dreamed that the entire U.S. was so overrun with people who are bigoted and intolerant, who believe white people are the only ones worthy of living life, who would actually allow old white men to tell them what to do, who believe it's so ok to hate, to disrespect the person sitting next to them.  Who want to turn our history back 400 years ago.  That's not you, you say? Really? 

NEVER EVER did I think this is what people believed, truly in their hearts.  How can you hug your children if you believe in this person?  How can you smile at your neighbor if you believe in this person?  How can you proclaim yourself if you believe in this person?  People would actually say they 'didn't like what he said but liked his policies" and I would laugh.  He has no policies.  He doesn't know what a policy is.  YOU weren't listening.

Now, I know those of you who voted for this poor excuse for a human being think I am the one who is all of these things.  That I am the one casting aspersions on you, if you voted for him.  That I am the one who needs tweaking.  That I am the one who is intolerant of you.  Maybe so, now.  But I don't think so.  If  YOU voted for him you did this. You think his hatred, his complete ignorance, his criminal behavior, his white supremacist beliefs, that putting him in front of a microphone and doing NOTHING but spewing hate and name calling, things we put our children in time-out corners for, things we don't allow on the playground with kindergarteners, you applauded it, and rewarded it with the highest honor a citizen of the U.S. could hope for.  You allowed someone into that chair who declared he WOULD be a dictator and punish women and surrounded himself with the scariest power hungry white men.  You did this. After what will be 14 years of his vile behavior I don't know if we will ever turn away from indecency.  I hope you know something that I don't because God help us all. 

Now, that's the last I'm going to say about this, even though my heart rate won't slow down and my stomach won't stop churling and I am trying to decide what to do about the people I personally know who voted for him.  My capacity for forgiveness, let bygones be bygones, doesn't stretch that far. 

Hate wins

 I'm sorry, but I can't talk right now.

Halloween

Did you think I forgot Tuesday's books?  I did.  I thought of this post this morning.  Oops. Both are very Halloweeny books so save them for next year.

 I already told you what I think of Ryan T. Higgins.  He started with a book called Mother Bruce (instead of Goose) and it was an instant hit, not only for the story but this guy is a master at illustrations and expressions and making adults laugh.  This is his Halloween book and probably, *cringe* the weakest ONLY because I think knowing what the Legend of Sleepy Hollow is about helps with the humor and kids don't know that story.  But if you own all of the Ryan T. Higgins books, like I do, this is in the collection.

This one, though, has been a Halloween favorite for many years.  I can't imagine not reading it just before the holiday.  Mr. Wilkerson is a very crabby, mean ol' guy who wants his pumpkin pie perfect.  Demands it.  Mrs. Wilkerson makes his pie and as he was taking the first bite he dies. She buries him in the pumpkin patch and moves away.  A grandma and her grandson move in and unwittingly put a fresh baked pie on the windowsill to cool. Yup, Mr. Wilkerson wants a pie so bad he will rise from his grave to get one. And holy cow, trying to please that old codger isn't easy.  But Grandma isn't afraid of an old puff of smoke grump.  Again, the illustrations are amazing.

I am within three squares of 20 for the BA quilt for Elizabeth. I debated stopping at 16 but couldn't get my mind around a square quilt for a tall girl and I also didn't want to make four more.  Adelaide stopped by Saturday, I showed her what I have, she said Elizabeth will love this quilt and we brainstormed a few more ideas so ok, I'm making four more for 20. I will determine if she looks at the blog before I post any pics because she said even though she gave me some thoughts, she wants it to be a surprise.  Since that is the ONLY stitching I am working on there isn't much else to show.   

For now, the weather is unusually warm but it's windy so the leaves are all off the trees and the forest has a new blanket of fresh yellow and it's beautiful.  Too beautiful to be sitting inside so I am taking my book and tea out to read.  

A Sky High Adventure

 Our weather has been spectacularly beautiful lately.  Very mild temperatures for October and the colors are peak right this minute.  I have been feeling very guilty about not being out there in it so yesterday PH and I drove three hours north to Boyne Mountain.  It's a ski resort, there's golf and there are trees. Between two of the highest hills/mountains they built this:

Can you see that bridge strung out there with people walking on it?  It's called the Skybridge and you don't get much closer to feeling like you are walking in the sky than this.  

I suggested it to PH for a day trip and thought he would say no because he is very uncomfortable of heights and being out there on something like this, well, it would take all the courage he could muster. BUT he doesn't tell me no.  So we went.

It was a Monday so we thought weekend crowds might be lessened.  Nope.

You go up one ski lift to the top, walk across - everyone going in the same direction, and at the end take another ski lift back down.  

The bridge wobbles a lot. You are walking down then it evens out they you go back up.  Not a lot, but when it evens out in the middle it's also a glass floor.  I kept telling PH, who was concentrating his mostest to get across at all, not to look down.    I thought this would never be something I'd do but lately I've been talking about a hot air balloon or sky diving and so in PH's thinking this was small potatoes. And for me, I was surprised at how easy it was, how short it felt and how quickly it was over!  The views? Spectacular.  Do it again? Absolutely.  

Our son, who grew up on the Indiana Jones movies and can recite every single word of the dialogue of all the movies and relates just about anything to a scene in the movies sent this to me after I told him what we did. He thought I would have the problem with the crossing, not PH.

I don't know why I felt the need to go somewhere else because this is the view outside the door right next to where I am sitting now.  Our forest goes on and on with hills and the trees so golden the glow changes the whole inside of the house to golden.  Sit out there and the leaves fall on you like feathers and you can hear them rustle against each other as they come down.  Everyone says they love fall but hate what's coming.  But you don't want to hurry this.

 

It's Tuesday and these were my reads for today.  I didn't bring absolute Halloween books with me this time but stuck with the night and with a bat.

Stellaluna has been a favorite for 25 years.  I remember when I worked in a bookstore and it first came in I was won over with the illustrations, they are gorgeous.  

Stellaluna is a fruit bat.  One night she is separated from her mother by a hungry owl but falls into a nest of birds. Well, talk about being confused!  Birds eat yucky bugs and don't hang by their toes and don't fly at night.  She adapts, though she will never like the bugs.  Eventually she finds her momma who promises she will never have to eat a bug again.

This one is silly.  The animals are afraid of some night noise and thus afraid of the night animals the perceive are making the noises.  This one needs close examination of the pictures because the expression on this opossum's face when skunk demonstrates his way of dealing with a threat is hilarious. Not a lot of words in this one, the pictures tell the story so a little one who is learning to read can pretty much handle this one.  I love this one!

Tuesday Titles

 It's Tuesday!  Here are the two books I read to the kids today. One is silly, one is sweet.

It's coming on to Halloween, if you can push Christmas aside to buy your Halloween candy. I don't know about you who live outside the U.S. but here Christmas started creeping in in late July and its full blown out there now.  

This is the silly one.  The most important ingredient in a witch's favorite soup is a spoonful of frogs. If you can catch them. 

This is the sweet one.  When it first came out it was almost impossible to get a copy because quilters were buying it like crazy. Who wouldn't want this one if you are a quilter? Lucky for me I follow publishers very closely and knew it was coming before it was published and had my order in.  Little ghost wants to be like the other ghosts, light enough to fly easily.  But he is a quilt and so he is heavy. As he tries to enjoy Halloween like the other ghosts his life takes a turn toward an adventure the other ghosts can't experience.  There is a big "awww" factor here.  

Friend Laurie and I went to Shipshewana yesterday. I wanted to find what I needed for new pillowcases for the grands.  I found some really good ones!  I thought of each of the kids and found something that fits them.  We then had lunch and went to the bulk food grocery and stocked up with great prices.

Update on Elizabeth's BA.  On zoom the other night I made the comment that sometimes I struggle with a square so much that I just tear off the applique when I finish, or don't finish it at all.  Sometimes I just didn't like the colors when they got together so I tear it apart and pick new colors.  Sometimes t's something else.  After we zoomed I continued the struggle with the current block and ended up tearing it all out, back to blank background.  I struggled with it so much I was just plain tired of it, didn't like the way it looked, so- gone.  Yet the next block went together in two evenings and its perfect.  I am now going to start on their house and am not sure how it's going to go.  I took a nap today so will hope for the best. 

A Party

 We had a party.   We were gifted the use of the Showboat for a day and decided to cook dinner for our immediate circle of friends, the ones we see on a regular basis, the ones who live in our stories.  

I cooked.  We served chicken, kielbasa, sauerkraut, German potato salad, applesauce from the wild apples we picked in the Upper Peninsula, squash, corn cut from the cob, rolls and PH's mom's famous apple cake.   I would rather plan and cook a feast than dinner every night...anytime. 

Our lovely daughter made sure she took lots and lots of photos of each table.  A few were home with sicknesses but we had 32 here.

 

And when everyone left, we gave them their own little apple pie to take home.  

It was a lovely day, we had such fun. We are so grateful for our friends and know we are very lucky.

It's Tuesday so here are the books I read to the kids today.  These are the last of Ryan T. Higgins' Penelope Rex books.  As I said last week, Ryan T. Higgins is a genius, a grown man with the mind of a six year old.  He gets it. 

I really am not sure if these books are available outside the U.S. but if they are, even if you don't have littles around, they are a delight for any one.