sewtakeahike

Food for thought

I really have struggled about whether or not to write this post.  I don't want to press my views onto anyone, however, I don't think avoidance is the answer, either. Just know, if you decide to continue reading, these are my views, and I know that many will not agree (and that's ok!)

I am referring to the holiday of Halloween.  I know many of you do celebrate Halloween and mean no harm and actually have a lot of fun doing so.  I used to dress up and go to parties, carve pumpkins and encourage others to do the same.  In fact, one year I carved 10 BIG pumpkins and lit them up on my front porch.  My husband and I were living in a home that was built in the early 1900's, in an older neighborhood so the house had a nice porch with a swing.  (Oh, how I miss porches and swings and rocking chairs, but, I digress!)  So that particular Halloween seemed especially festive to me with 10 pumpkins carved and lit on the railing around the porch.  Anyway, in the last couple of years, I have found out what Halloween actually means and what carved pumpkins with a candle in them stand for, and now, being informed, choose not to participate.  (It truly hit home for me when I realized that Halloween is one of the most widely celebrated holidays, second only to Christmas, and this dichotomy is no coincidence in my book.  I had always heard this, but failed to realize the significance of it!)

So today, I do hope that each and every one of you have a blessed and safe day. 

If you are interested, here is a link with some info on the meaning of Halloween that I found to be very informative!   

~ Penny

pomegranates are lovely

Lovely photos of my favorite fruit!  I wish I could get them year-round!

                                                                                          

                              

          

 

                                                                                                                           

                                                

                              

This is my favorite way to eat them, on top of vanilla yogurt.  I want to try them in a recipe though, cooking OR baking, does anyone have any good recipes?   

6 no longer, but still eating it!

My Dad and Mom used to make these for us when I was a kid, and still to this day, some 30 years later, I still love to have fried bologna sandwiches a couple times a year.  My husband won't touch it, in fact, he would rather not be around when I make it.

                                                                                       

                                                                              

What's weird is that I will not eat bologna plain.  It has to be fried.  You don't even have to use any extra oil, just a non-stick pan, the bologna makes PLENTY of oil on it's own and you are good to go.  Oh, and you need to cut slits in the edges of the bologna because it will curl and the edges won't get done without doing this step.  This is a fine art, and I believe I have perfected it.

                                    

                                                    

When I was a kid, I used two pieces of bread, now I make it opened faced with whole-wheat bread and safflower mayo.  Much better for you, uh huh!  I would highly encourage anyone to try this even if you don't ever eat bologna, ever. 

                                                                   

                                                                                                   

You will like it.  Then you will have to be like me and limit yourself to one or two small packages of all-beef bologna per year so you don't get carried away.  I'm not kidding.

~Penny 

shopping bags

I did manage to get two things done off my list from yesterday, pizza (of course) and the shopping bags.  I will be giving these to a friend of mine that I have hiked with a couple of times.  Hopefully she uses them and replaces getting those plastic bags when she shops.   The bottom two rectangles of home dec material on the front and back of the bags are from these and the denim is recycled from an old pair of jeans that I always had to pull up.  It was so annoying and I finally put them in their place!                              

                                                      

                                          

                                                         

hot chocolate day

Sit down and have a cup.  The weather is kinda dreary, but good, when you have hot chocolate.  Today was a day of continuing education for me, reconnecting with colleagues that I haven't seen for a while and just talking.  Meeting new people and learning.  It has been a good day so far.  I still have a few hours before today is over, so here is my list of things I would like to do:

• make shopping bags for a friend we are having dinner with tomorrow night.
• get out my knitting paraphernalia and kick down my anxiety to learn this skill again
• Make some scrumptious pillows for our bed
• sew up a bolero out of some knitted black material that I bought on clearance several months ago
• whip up a couple of gifts for my mother-in-law who, after finding out about my sewing obsession, sent me this awesome fabric

  

• eat pizza

I have some choices to make since I won't be doing all this tonight.  I think I'll definitely start with the pizza......

~Penny