Take a look!

Red ribboned apron    Pink ribbon apron

    I don't even recall how I acquired several lengths of wide, woven vintage ribbon.  Likely my grandmother had something to do with it, given how frequently odd miscellany comes from her.  Two of these pieces adorn aprons for sale in my shop.    Both are done with more handwork than many of my other aprons.  Both would be wonderful for spring and summer.

Easily our silliest tradition

This one goes in the category of "traditions that just somehow happened."  On Wednesdays, there's a Bible study at the pastor's house, which is conveniently just about three houses up the block from our place.   In an effort to redirect an attitude and also move the children along toward home one Wednesday night this winter, I started singing "Six Little Ducks" and then "Be Kind to Your Web-footed Friends".  They make surprisingly good marching songs.  Now, every week, the whole block must wonder what's with this weird, duck-song-singing family!   six little ducks   Web-footed Friends (slightly different than we sing)

Wow- tons of views!

Just now checking my Blogger page I saw I'd gotten more pageveiws in the last 24 hours than in all other time I've been going, put together!  Startling fact- and I'm curious!  Please comment with where you are and how you found me!

Traditions- poppy seed bread

The joke is that "it must be a holiday- there's poppy seed bread!" It's my husband's  favorite and he grew up with it on the table for Thanksgiving, Easter, and Christmas.  Now also, his birthday has joined the list of Occasions For Which Poppy-Seed Bread Is Served.

   I've mentioned before that my father-in-law is the one to do the vast majority of the cooking in their household; the poppy-seed bread is one of the few things that my mother-in-law does make as a matter of course.   Naturally I got the recipe from them quite a while back, so as to be certain to have it for Thanksgiving dinners.
   We had a bit of a saga when it came to Brett's birthday this year, because of the oven.  The timing display quit. Several attempts by Brett to repair it came to nothing and we decided to replace the entire unit.  (The stove itself worked fine during this trouble.)  However, the time between the oven giving up and the time we got the new one installed (quite promptly I might add) did include his birthday.  So there was no poppy seed bread and I had to buy a cake!  
  But- once the oven was in, we made a batch of poppy seed bread.  Happy birthday, Brett!

Can you do your job without the right tools?

    For quite some time, the display of our oven had been partly not working, in that a few of the LEDs were burnt out.  It hadn't been bothering me at all, but it had been bothering Brett, and he decided to try to fix it several days ago.  That didn't work out- several times over.  After the oven stopped working partway through my baking soething today, we decided that it reached the tipping point at which the cost of repairing it.would reach the cost of replacing it. Brett ordered a new range for us which should be delivered early in the week.
   Now- to function at my job without a necessary tool.  How will I do that?  "Muddling" is the word, for sure.  I had to shift supper plans for at least tonight and probably a few more nights to come.  More than that, I can't bake anything properly for Brett's birthday (tomorrow) and it'll mean buying a birthday cake.  To have to buy a cake is an injury to my pride!  I suppose there may be some lesson the Lord has there for me about pride....
  The right tool is necessary for any job.  Muddling along without the right tool, or with the wrong tool, is pretty challenging!

What are your most needed tools for your job?

Easter tradition- just one

   Not to say we have only one, but I'll focus on only one this time!  A new tradition I established last year was to save any decorating until the last minute, decorating for Easter late on Saturday evening after the children are in bed.  This way, the house, or at least the dining room, is transformed and greets Jesus' new life anew.
   Our dining room is easily closed off from the rest of the downstairs, having doors on three sides that can be closed between it and the kitchen, living room and hallway.  For most occasions, the dining room is the most-decorated room in the house.  This year I didn't put as much in the DR as I did last year!  But there were several colored pictures of flowers, draped crosses that say "He Is Risen" and similar things.
   On the front door, i put a wreath I made with tiny hats and flowered fabric, and in the living room, pretty ribboned eggs a friend gave me years back.  Also, several Easter books, including my mom's old copy of The Egg Tree.

Kids cooking- Sandwiches

   Sandwiches can be simple or complex, and they can be a good starting point for children.  My five-year-old son helped last night in fixing BLTS for supper.  He really did a large part of making them himself.
   Bread: my husband uses a bread machine to keep us in very good bread.  This particular loaf got a bit mangled, so it made for some odd-shaped pieces and awkward shaped sandwiches.  Nevertheless they tasted good!
   Bacon:  we used some thick-cut bacon and broke it in little pieces, because it can be hard to keep bacon *in* a BLT.  I supervised while Joshua was able to turn the bacon while it cooked in the skillet.
  Lettuce- flat pieces of lettuce went on the bread first.
  Tomatoes- I cut the tomatoes in half and then cut off a little slice so it would sit flat on the cutting board.  AFter that, Joshua was able to slice them the rest of the way.
   When all was said and done, as simple a meal as the sandwiches were, they were very good.  I was glad that we could say that Joshua got at least half of the credit for fixing them!