Play dough .....

....my way......  I should be playing with Apoxy Sculpt and making chicken legs...er...goose legs for Ms. Mother Goose....but, my kitchen just seems a more fun place to play at the moment.  So, I am.

How I love playing with dough.  Any dough.  Ever since I began to bake bread several years ago...I just love to experiment with various recipes and types of breads and buns.  Check out my other blog sometime to see what else I get up to.... lots of tasty recipes if you care to try some ....

It's great fun to see if I can recreate some of the photos and textures that are shown and talked about on bread baking forums and blogs...

This is a no knead ciabatta loaf from Chef John...

Cornmeal so it doesn't stick ...and also it gives a nice bit of crunch to the bottom of the bread.

Here it is rising.... hiding under a floured tea towel....

Share a smile Friday

Bob's Pant-cape Tuesday was fun.... well worth a giggle, smile or laugh right out loud, so do check out his page....and just keep on scrolling ....waaaaay down .... my guy is there too......

I can't find my page from last year ...and I know I participated...but, perhaps only on his blog... so... you'll have to go there to see periwinkle "pants" on Bernie...

other than that ..  check out this page from Tuesday... or just scroll down a post or two ........to see him this year ...trying desperately not to hang himself ..yet again!@  Sadly.... it is now his most unfavourite word.... hahhaha.... maybe next year he will let somebody else give it a go.


 Heeellllpp!!

check out some other smiles for your Friday....

bending wire..

Usually a bit more tricky than it looks ... for me anyway....

...maybe just one size smaller would work better.  I seem to be awkward at it and it is a struggle to get it how I want it.

Bent into a shape for Ms Goosie's feet ... I was then hesitating as to whether to just put on some felt as called for in the pattern...or go for the gusto and form some Apoxy Sculpt into great feet... as Maggi and I decided, and she has already done. ...(she's a lot quicker than me at doing any of it...and carries on between visits... I seem to be lazy or something..) ...  somehow I just never find much time to work on anything crafty these days.

Organizing, still trying to choose kitchen tiles...which by the way...I HAVE now!  woohoooo ..... must tell the contractor because it takes 5 weeks to get them!  acckkk!

And, then...I had to fix  my mixer.  Can you believe all this time I was dissing my Cuisinart mixer.. because it didn't pick up whatever was on the bottom of the bowl?  Some of you are probably already saying....she should have read the instruction manual.  No??  Well, I should have.

There it was.  In black and white. The solution to the problem.  Which by the way.... I found out from somebody's blog while reading and surfing ...   and it wasn't even to do with that.  But, on a bread baking forum ...somebody mentioned how to fix a Kitchen Aid mixer having the same problem.   I had always been whining about not having my little Kitchen Aid still...as it was perfect for that very thing.  Couldn't believe it when somebody complained about hers..and I had to read on.

To discover this:::::

There is a nut to loosen......

If you have this problem  ... get out your trusty crescent wrench ..... and....one thin dime....















After loosening the nut... give the top post of the blade a turn ... tighten the nut again, insert the blade, and put the dime in the bottom of the bowl. Turn the mixer on at 2 ... if it doesn't even touch the dime yet...which mine still didn't..... take it out, loosen the nut again and try another quarter turn or so.... reinsert and try again..... until it moves the dime a bit on every swipe past it.

I actually had to turn that post so that several threads became visible.... as you can see in the photo ...in order for it to even touch the dime....so it was short of the bottom of the bowl...allllllll thissssss tiiimmmmmme!  mutter...mutter........ *&^%....
No wonder it didn't mix as well as it should.  It couldn't even touch the ingredients.

Several years now since I gave away my trusty KitchenAid mixer and bought this new one.  All the time I have been wishing it would give up the ghost so I can treat myself to a new yellow mixer.
NOw what? ....it may go on forever ...grinding and clunking and being downright noisy...but, working perfectly.   I want a new pretty, yellow, quiet KitchenAid mixer.

Maybe when the tiles are done....I'm gonna treat myself.

Almost missed it !!

Pant-cape Tuesday...or Tchewsday as Bob calls it.... I must make myself a reminder somehow for next year...

Last year, Bernie... one of the FDB (front door bench) bears wanted to be the one to give it a try when Bob put out the word he was planning this caper. He is usually pretty quiet, Bernie, ......but, .... wanted to step up and give it a go.  I think he read that little slogan .. you know the one...."do something brave every single day".

It was a bit of a disaster... him in his periwinkle "pants" and all.  In England, pants are underpants just in case you didn't know ..... go to this link if you want to see last year's frolic.... Scroll down to check out poor Bernie.
Last year he tried it off the back of the chair... but, had bigger plans for this year.  Well, higher at the very least.

And, this year,  he said he wanted bigger, black pants.  Thought it would make him look tougher somehow (he's been watching Batman movies) ... ...and give him more confidence.. because last year ...welllllll..... let's just say things didn't go quite according to plan.  I didn't notice him digging through my drawers..hahhaha get it ..... ?   drawers  !   ..hahhahahhah...oh, sorry.... I'm as bad as Bob.....

By the time I got up this morning..he had already shinnied half way up the curio cabinet....  and definitely had the little bears pretty worried.
                                                           


















He slipped..... scared me.....

... managed to 'right the ship' so to speak....

..barely able to reach the top on his tippy toes....

 Made it...and then, ....  crawled out to the edge...on his tummy ....  oooooh, that's a long way down.....

Realized how high he was and sort of hesitated....

Percy, inside the cabinet, was getting really worried now ...

Bernie launched himself off the top.... "mind that plant Bernie!!"  acckkk!  too near the bamboo plant...

...hung up by the cape.  A little help Mom?? kkkkchh.. please........kind of choking over here..... cacckk...

I helped him down...but, it wasn't long before this.
I walked into the kitchen to get coffee and there he was ...on the hood fan... surveying the area for a safe landing spot.

Get off there!  There aren't any!

Mom.   I hafta do this.  For Bob.  Well, for my self esteem too ...

Is that fear and trepidation I see in those eyes? ..... yeh, that would be my guess .... but, he wasn't backing down.

He got down on his tummy again, crawled to the edge... checked out the area..... and before I knew it....

..launched himself into the air.... I almost missed him with the camera !!  He flew!

Only a short distance though.  His "cape"... ....somehow got hung up on the handle of the stove.

mmmmmm...?? ... fmfm..... ?? MoMMMM>>>>>>

Yeh, yeh...I know...... 'a little help'...... okay, I'm coming....
oh....never mind....it came unstuck ....whew.... hey, these feel kind nice as a hat....... soft and silky.....

hahhaha.... look Mom...... "word" ..........

Share a smile Friday

Hey!  what's the problem..... .....      I'm just having two.

This is the guy that gives me the same disapproving look every time I open the elephant jar by grabbing him by the head...the 'carpet meister' that is ...not the elephant.

It made me laugh, seeing him sitting there beside the biscotti, just after I finished drizzling on some chocolate the other day.... he seemed to be giving me the evil eye.....

Check out the other Smiles on a Friday just by clicking on the Smiley button  ... how about joining in?... We could all use a smile this week and that's for sure......

I can't believe it.

My friend has lost her sweetheart.

In my last post I mentioned my effort of a copycat goosie I made a while back ... copying one made by my needle felting friend Gretel.  When I told her I was making one just like Snowdrop... and was having trouble...she even sent me some of the very same wools she used...!!  And, followed my progress ..emailing me with details of how she did certain things so I could manage to do it.  A special lady.

A mutual felting friend wrote to ask if I had heard the sad news; that Gretel had lost her wonderful Andy.  Her partner of 21 years.  I absolutely had not!  Imagine my shock and horror ... and then, total dismay at the situation in which she now finds herself.

Life ...... honestly, what can a person even say?   You just never know from day to day what it will throw your way; what you must face or how you will carry the load.

As I read her latest posting I just sat here and cried ... and then cried some more when I read the comments.   Then, surfed to some of the blogs to see who some of these friends were, and found people all around the world who have been touched by Gretel in some way.  They have felt her easy friendship and unselfish and generous sharing nature.  They want to help in some way... any way... and now two friends have set up a site for helping in a concrete way.  Isn't  Bloggyville a marvelous place?




Here is the address of The Gretel Project.  An effort to help with immediate financial assistance because she is in a precarious situation.  Andy died without a will.

If you know Gretel, and perhaps even if you don't, but want to make a difference in a genuinely good person's life... please take a few minutes to read the information and to make a contribution.  Perhaps somehow, in some small way, we can help to make a totally unbearable situation a bit less heavy for a very special person.

Gretel, you are an inspiration and a joy to know.  I am proud to call you my friend.

hugs, Vee

xxx

The new little goosie ..

The only other one I made was my copycat version of Gretel's needle felted Snowdrop.  But, Maggi found this cute pattern and we are using a fluffy feathery looking mohair for this little gal.

I got her beak on....for which we are using some lovely dark rust felt.  The instructions say to glue it on.  Pagh..... it was a bit of fiddling...but mine is stitched.  Not having glue on my mohair.  Besides... stitched will stay firmly in position.

She is a perky looking little thing isn't she?  That is a test eye..but, looks about right for size.

I managed to find some scraps of boiled wool I used eons ago for a bear I made in a class that was more to do with embroidered flowers on the bear than the bear itself.... just enough to make the wing pieces ... they look like gloves with fur around the wrists ..hahahha... well, they do right now.  Wait ..... it'll look much better when they are actually attached, I'm sure ...well, I hope they do !

Some days I love to work in chaos it seems.  It almost feels "cosy" if you know what I mean.  On others...I must tidy, tidy, tidy, before even beginning to look at a project.  Yeh, I know...oddball.  That's me.

I had boxes of ribbons and piles of fabric all over the place trying to choose a tiny bit for her cape and for a big ribbon on the neck/collar of her cape.  I always find pinks look almost red to the camera lens.  This one looks so much nicer in person.  A beautiful piece.  In person, this ribbon is a bright fuschia pink and lovely soft greens...with some threads of brighter greens ..... to go with the soft green of her cape.  It is part of a huge 2 metre chunk of lovely satin-one-side fabric I found in an Indian shop years ago... used on Madame Pompadour for ribbons and trim on her gown.

Share a smile Friday...

... hahahha.... this is great.... don't even have to dream up a catchy title for this posting... although, I'm not usually at a loss for that ....
Take a look at Annie's site for the Smiles that are being shared ....... Who can't use another smile?  If you have some fun thing to share ... why not join in ?  Let's get it growing....

Twiglet's post today has the same guy as I'm going to show you ..... ....but, I think he's worth a second glance, and no, I'm not talking nekkid 'boy toy' or anything like that ....

although, having said that he is naked save for his little ribbon tie.....

Please meet Tanner.

Needle felted for a swap in which he went to live in England... a long trip for such a little guy, but I think he was almost glad to be away from this bird.

"Should I move a bit further from this bluebird guy?"

"How can I look cute if he is always there behind me?"

"Listen up ya silly bird...... get lost!"  "This is my 15 minutes".

"Brother...... can't a guy get even one single minute of personal space?"  ... pout.................................