Thoughts on my Creative Flow....

Pat Sloan asked on her blog

"What is your creative flow? 

Do you make for the Joy of it?  

Or must you always (or most of the time)

have a purpose for that project? "

This made me think about the reasons I sew, quilt, knit, crochet, write, create new recipes, and scrap book.

When it come to sewing and quilting I make things for many reasons. The desire to create, the love of playing with fabric, a pattern I was inspired by, learning a new technique, fabric that called out my name to come play with it, or called out the name of someone I knew needed a quilt to be wrapped in love.

When I worked full time and had two young children it was my sanity. I would put myself in timeout, set the timer for 30 minutes, and tell my boys they could not disturb me unless there was blood, broken bones, or fire. It is in my soul.

 I believe I inherited the need to create, quilt, and leave a legacy from my grandmother. Grandma Wilson was a quilter and a cook.  I have two of her quilts and the remains of one she made for me when I was born. It is well loved.  I fell close to her sometimes feel that she is looking over my shoulder when I am piecing and quilting.  I hope to pass on the love of quilting to future generations.


Knitting and Crocheting allow me to relax on long rides in the car, helped me through teaching both boys to drive, and I create or make gifts for others. It is something I enjoy and whatever I make it is made with love.


Writing, whether it be in my journals or on my blog allows me to leave something for future generations, ideas, thoughts, lessons learned, recipes, and stories of my life.  I know that I enjoy reading diaries and biographies and hope that someday, someone will enjoy reading mine.  Writing also helps me to clarify my thoughts and my feelings and to plan and organize.


Cooking and creating new recipes is something I enjoy. I take recipes and tweak them so they are more to our liking. Some things I tweak recipes because they are too bland. Other times because I don't like an ingredient and find that by swapping it out it makes it more flavorful. I also play with food and create recipes based on things I have tried at restaurants.  I enjoy the challenge and the outcome.  Tom is my guinea pig and if he says it is a keeper then it is a winner.



Scrap booking is two fold, one it allows me to create memory books of my life, my boys lives, and events and it is a fun time to get together with a dear friend and do something we both enjoy. It is also a creative time, full of of laughter and memories as well as preserve those we want to share with future generations.


I would have to say in answer to the last part of Pat's question that I create because I enjoy it and because I have sometimes have deadlines. One deadline that is fast approaching is getting our Christmas cards made for this year and I have not even gotten started. Yikes!  I have 21 days to get them done and in the mail because in this case I have a deadline....Christmas Eve.

Carrot Juice

I love our sweet Alaska carrots and eat them until they run out, then I go on a carrot deprivation diet.  I freeze some for use in soups and such but carrots that are shipped here from elsewhere just do not taste the same.  I stock pile them in the fall for soups, snacks, salads, and juicing.

Today I made a new for me juice combo and it tastes really good.

4 carrots chopped with peels left on
1 small green apple, cut up
1 TBSP size chunk of ginger peeled
2 small cuties peeled
1/2 cup water
two handfuls of ice

Blend thoroughly adding the hot water when it get thick and the ice at the end to cool it down and thin it our a little more. It tastes sweet, but not too sweet and is filling. Makes a nice refreshing snack. It made about 4 cups of juice. 

I recommend drinking it right away so you get all the nutrients and to prevent loss of vitamin and mineral content through oxidation..  By blending instead of juicing you get the fiber which is good for your digestive system.
 
Here is a link to the health benefits of carrots.

Carrot Juice

I love our sweet Alaska carrots and eat them until they run out, then I go on a carrot deprivation diet.  I freeze some for use in soups and such but carrots that are shipped here from elsewhere just do not taste the same.  I stock pile them in the fall for soups, snacks, salads, and juicing.

Today I made a new for me juice combo and it tastes really good.

4 carrots chopped with peels left on
1 small green apple, cut up
1 TBSP size chunk of ginger peeled
2 small cuties peeled
1/2 cup water
two handfuls of ice

Blend thoroughly adding the hot water when it get thick and the ice at the end to cool it down and thin it our a little more. It tastes sweet, but not too sweet and is filling. Makes a nice refreshing snack. It made about 4 cups of juice. 

I recommend drinking it right away so you get all the nutrients and to prevent loss of vitamin and mineral content through oxidation..  By blending instead of juicing you get the fiber which is good for your digestive system.
 
Here is a link to the health benefits of carrots.

Veggie Fajitas

I tried out a new recipe last week and then of course I had to make a bunch of changes as it was way to mild and I wanted to try some different veggies than were in the recipe and now I think I have come up with the perfect veggie fajitas for us.

1/2 of a small Sugar Pumpkin or Butternut Squash peeled and cut into narrow strips
1 small Zucchinni thinly sliced the long way
2 - Onions - thinly sliced
2 - Sweet Bell Peppers thinly sliced
5 - cloves of Garlic sliced into thin strips.
1 can Low Sodium Black Beans, rinsed, or if you prefer to cook your own, 2 cups of cooked Black Beans
1 - 2 TBSP Olive or Coconut Oil (liquified)

Home-made salsa, recipe of your choice we like the following one:
1/2 Onion
1/2 Sweet Bell Pepper
4 Roma Tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1 Jalepeno (The amount will vary according to your taste.)
chopped and well mixed.

In a large baggie mix the following ingredients:
2 Tsp garlic powder
2 Tsp onion powder
2 Tsp oregano
1/4 Tsp Cumin
2 Tsp Chili Powder
1 Tsp Ancho Chili Powder
1 Tsp Hot Shot or Black Pepper
and for an extra kick at 1/8+ Tsp Cayenne Pepper

Toss the veggies in oil to coat, then put in the baggie with the spices and shake to coat before cooking.

Layered in a mesh grilling basket. I always put the onions on the bottom as they take the longest to cook, but things get stirred up when cooking. I am thinking this will also work well to bake them in the oven when winter sets in and it is way to cold to grill, but then we have two grills. One gas for summer and one charcoal for when it is too cold for gas.

Cook on grill in mesh basket until the veggies are soft (10 +/- minutes)  and then add the black beans and cook for an additional 2 to 5 minutes until the beans are heated.

If you prefer to eat them with tortillas, you may use whatever kind you prefer, heated. You could also do them as lettuce wraps. We prefer to just eat the veggies as we do not eat many grains.

Serve the veggie mix topped with the salsa and shredded cheese and enjoy!

Next time I think I may try adding Sweet Potatoes in the mix.

Locked Out

You all will laugh at me today. I decided to shred and freeze a bunch of zucchini I bought at the farmer's market and thus said well, I should clean out the freezer. So I took things out that were unidentified, or well past their dates so were freezer burned and headed out to the compost pile after defrosting them so they would slide out of containers. I slid the screen door closed and headed off to the the compost pile behind the large pine tree. Dumped everything and came back to the house, only to discover that the screen had latched and I was locked out. You will laugh and I wish I had a video of me trying to get the door open. I stuck my arm between the screen door and the glass door trying to reach the latch. Of course my arm was not long enough. So I looked around to see if there was anything I could use to lengthen my arm. On the grill sat a long handled spatula, AH HA! I stuck my arm back in between the two doors and spent about 10 minutes waving the spatula around beating on the inside of handle and first succeeded in pushing the latch further in, so I was really locked out. I tried wiggling the blade or flat part between the door and the wall to move the latch, no luck, then I went back to putting my arm inside with the spatula in hand and beating on the door, running it up and down trying to catch the latch and finally after another 10 minutes or so got the latch to release so I could get back in the house.

I am still trying to figure out how the door managed to lock.
My phone of course was in the house, the front door was locked, Bryce is who knows where in the state delivering and picking up luggage, and Tom was teaching. The neighbor with the spare key was teaching, and everyone else who could possibly help by giving me a ride to Central to get the key from Tom, was at work. That spatula is going to live on the grill table forever because I am not taking that chance again. I guess I should also take my keys out to the compost pile next time so I can get in the front door. Good thing it was a beautiful sunny day.

It's Back to School Time

     My favorite part of going back to school was setting up my classroom and the smell of new supplies.  The anticipation of new students and getting to know them and what made them tick.  This of course was before all this common core stuff. When you could teach what was required but at your own pace and in your own way. Everyone did not need to be on the same page in every classroom across the district.  I could spend more time on the Civil War and less on the War of 1812. More time on Women's Suffrage and less on the Era of Good Feelings and the Monroe Doctrine. I could use my knowledge to judge when it was time to move one and when it was time to delve deeper into topics based on student interaction and reactions to what we were studying.

     Do I miss the start of school? Sometimes. I miss setting up the classroom and the greeting of students on the first day, but I do not miss the meetings, the paperwork, the daily hassles that teachers have to deal with when they have severe behavior problem students who have never learned manners and appropriate behavior in prior years of schooling or from their parents. I also do not miss the parents who do not accept responsibility for their children and blame everything on the teachers, who are not at fault.

     Last year I was at school for the first student day and I really did enjoy that. I was filling in for a new math teacher who was hired the day before classes started and had to have time to move to Anchorage and get all his stuff in order with the district. I spent two weeks in his room and enjoyed starting the year off with a group of seventh graders.

     This year I am not subbing on the first day of school, but I already have a job lined up before the end of the month. I will be teaching English for a week.  I look forward to it.

     Today when I was out shopping I heard a mother tell her son that they needed to start shopping for school supplies. I would certainly hope so since school starts for students next Wednesday.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

     It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood was my thought this morning as I looked out the kitchen window this morning. The trees are green and the birds are singing and today teacher's are back at work.

     Even after three years of retirement, this being the fourth year my husband went back to work and I did not it feels good to be off today. Yes, I still was up or at least awake before he left the house, but I did not have to hurry off to sit through a day of boring inservices listening to people drone on about ethics, infectious diseases or as we often referred to it the hand washing lesson, child find, and the newer ones on suicide awareness and gender and race equity which are so boring and never really change.

    Today my plan includes sewing, and a haircut. I may run to Joann Fabrics for some shape flex and fleece, but beyond that my day is mine. The only other thing on the agenda is cooking dinner and I am thinking of trying a new recipe for baked cauliflower to go along with some baked sweet potatoes.

     In past years this was always the day I caught up on letter writing, and did applique work, or hand stitched down bindings to stay awake.  I also would work on lesson plans and pass notes like most students use to do back in the days before cell phones and email. <:>/ 

     If the sun comes out or the rain holds off I may even decide to take a short bike ride, but  for now I am sitting sipping my tea and enjoying watching the birds play in the trees out my back window.