Leather Frill

Oh my...I shouldn't be daydreaming of purchases... but, Christmas, wilt thou come soon?

My new favorite pretty - from here.

Irish Beef and Stout Stew

I recently said that I have been bored with food. I think part of that is that for the past month my family has been sick, and no one has had an appetite. This week I decided to make comfort foods in the form of soups and stews. This one rocked! Everyone in the family loved it, including my husband who is in the throes of sickness and hasn't wanted to eat anything. Oh, how I love it when I do something right!
(... and good news, this is a large recipe, so for those of you who like to cook now, freeze, and eat later...this is perfect!)

Ingredients
(Serves 10)
4 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cans (6 ounces each) tomato paste
2 1/2 pounds new potatoes, scrubbed
2 medium onions, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium beef broth
1 can (14.9 ounces) Irish stout beer
10 garlic cloves, sliced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 boxes (10 ounces each) frozen baby peas, thawed
Directions
Preheat oven to 350. In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, toss beef with flour; stir in tomato paste. Add potatoes, onions, broth, beer, and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cover, and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Transfer pot to oven, and cook, covered, until meat is fork-tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Stir in peas, and season with salt and pepper.

Helpful Hint
To freeze, divide stew among airtight plastic containers. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in refrigerator (or place containers under cold running water to release stew) before reheating.

Who are you voting for?

Still confused? or do you think you know? Take this easy, unbiased survey to find out who you most agree with.

Click here.

Bijougirl Designs

A few of my new favorites. These are going to the show with me (unless someone emails me about them first.☺)

Sarah and Mike

Here are a few pictures from Sarah's wedding to Mike this weekend at the Nashville Zoo.

I've been tagged...

...by Rhondi to tell six things about me. Thanks Rhondi! ☺

1. I love to cook, but over the past six months, I've become really bored with food.
2. I really look forward to T.V. shows that Seth will watch with me (there aren't that many of them) and I don't feel bad about putting the kids to bed early sometimes so we can get all prepared to cuddle on the couch and watch them.
3. Sometimes I wish people could just see inside my brain so I wouldn't have to put into words what I'm thinking.
4. I tend to think in images the most when I'm awake. That's why this blog is good for me; it forces me to write words.
5. I'm very unhappy without my morning coffee.
6. I'm convinced there is nothing better than the sound of ocean waves, unless it's the sound of wind rushing by my ears as I'm headed down a snowy slope on a pair of skis.
Now I tag: Carrie, Kristen G., Kristen S. and Erin. (and anyone else who would like to be tagged;)
(Image from we♥it.)

I've been a bad, bad blogger...

I'm sorry. Stick with me, I promise I'll be better this week.

Image from here.

Thanks

... for all your encouragement, friends. I do realize I was a bit cryptic yesterday...I stumbled on that sign, and it just spoke to me. But after a worried, late night text from one of my best friends, I thought I should explain. This sickness we're fighting is lasting forever. Unfortunately only one of us had strep (which can be fixed easily with medicine) and the rest of us have a virus with head and chest congestion, hacking coughs and fever. After two visits to the doctor, we are still having to just let the virus run it's course. Elijah had both the virus and the strep and even after the strep was gone, the virus lingered on. All told he was sick for about 15 days, 12 of those with fever. Kaleb is on his 8th day of fever, Emet is on his 5th. I'm close to being out of the woods, but I still don't feel like doing anything, and my dear husband who has done such a great job of making dinners and getting medicine for us hasn't even started the process yet, although he said this morning that his throat was tight.
So, even though I'm sure there is a light at the end of this tunnel, I just couldn't see it yesterday.

photo from here.

I need someone to tell me this.

from here.

Wookie's computer

If you've been wondering where I am...I've been so sick. I apologize for not keeping up with the blog this past week. But I have an interesting slideshow for you today. Enjoy☺

What am I doing?

I've been making, making, making, lots of jewelry, jewelry, jewelry. Unfortunately none of it will go into the shop until mid-October...I've got a show.


p.s. all those "charms" on the left in the bottom picture will have their own chains...I'm just waiting on it to arrive.

FRINGE

Did you see it? I'm hooked already...

Friends

This picture makes me happy. And I need it today. Our household is trying to get over strep and I have a billion things to do. I'm really thankful for all the people supporting me!

Does Evil Exist?

I read this story on the blog, "What You Got 2 Say" and I loved it enough to share it with you:

One day, a professor of a university decided to defy his pupils.

He asked, “Did God create everything that exists?”
A student answered bravely, “Yes, He did.”
“…everything?” asked the teacher.
“Yes! Everything.” Was the answer of the student
“In this case, God also created evil, correct? Because evil exists.” Said the teacher.

The student had no answer and remained in silence…..

The teacher was delighted at the opportunity to prove one more time that God was only a myth.

Suddenly, another student raised his hand and asked: “May I ask you a question, professor?”
“Of course you may”, replied the professor.
“Does cold exist? asked the student.
“Of course.” answered the professor, “Did you never feel cold?”

“Actually, sir, cold does not exist. According to studies in physics, cold is the total and complete absence of heat. An object can only be studied if it has and transmits energy and it is the heat of an object that transmits its energy. Without heat, the objects are inert, incapable to react. But cold does not exist. We created the term cold to explain the lack of heat.”

“And darkness?” continued the student.
“It exists.” replied the professor.

“Again, you’re wrong sir; darkness is the total absence of light. You can study light and brightness, but not darkness. The prism of Nichols shows the variety of different colors in which the light can be decomposed according to the longitude of the waves. Darkness is the term we created to explain the total absence of light”

And finally, the student asked “And evil, sir, evil does not exist. God did not create evil. Evil is the absence of God.

Now it was the professor’s turn to remain silent….

Well if you are wondering who the student was, he is none other than Albert Einstein. What a great thinker he was.
(image above is from this great flickr photostream)

Art Department

I love the photography of Ruven Afanador and this site: Art Department, is a good resource for tons of well loved photographers and their work. I got lost for several minutes over there. Very inspiring, indeed.

September's Indie Fixx Galleria

I am participating in this month's Indie Fixx Galleria. There are some really fabulous shops on here and I'm excited to be involved. I'll be working the next day or so to make a button for Indie Fixx Galleria in Photoshop to put in my sidebar.

Painting toast

My kids have been sick all week. The past couple of days, my middle child has been too sick to go to school, but not sick enough to forgo playing and getting a bit hyper. My patience is on it's last reserves, so I'm coming up with a project. I saw this toast painting craft on Make and Takes, a real cute, crafty blog.
Click here to find out how to do it. I think the kids will like it...and I hope it keeps them busy for a few quiet moments...

The real you

Love this photo. It's from here.

The 60's "us"

We're the new cast members of Mad Men!

Just kidding...we went to a sixties party this weekend.