November 22, 1963
November 22, 1963 – An event that changed everyone’s life. Arriving in Dallas, Texas – November 22, 1963 John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas Texas. Kennedy was fatally shot by a sniper while traveling with his wife Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, and Mrs Nellie...
How I Make Felt Flowers – FREE Pattern and Tutorial
Here are some cute flowers, ladybugs, bees, and butterflies made from felt. I found some cute pattern shapes online that were made for felt. The bugs were supposed to be painted on wood, but I used the patterns to make them out of felt. For the stems I used bamboo skewers that I painted green with craft paint. They had you use pencils. It was all very simple and did not take too long to make. Some of the flowers I used embroidery...
Felt Easter Projects – Eggs, Bunnies and Basket
Felt Easter Projects – Eggs, Bunnies and Basket – FREE Patterns and Tutorials. I saw some cute eggs and bunnies at Pinterest and decided to make my own pattern for the egg. I had a pattern book with the basket pattern. I just drew a freehand drawing of an egg shape for the eggs. The Bunnies were two different patterns that I used. Pattern One Pattern Two Pattern three Eggs I drew a few egg shapes and then pinned...
How to Make an Easy Felt Basket – Free Pattern and Tutorial
My Felt Basket. I saw a cute felt basket on line at https://www.freepatterns.com [You can join for free with your email address and download as many patterns as you like.] I liked it and decided to make one like it for Easter for my family. The basket from online was called Annika’s Basket designed by Molly Schaller copyright by DRG 2009. It does NOT have a pattern for the actual basket. It just has ideas about decorating them....
Gluten Free Banana Bread
Save Print Gluten Free Banana Bread Rating 5 from 1 reviews Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 60 mins Total time: 1 hour 20 mins Serves: 1 loaf Ingredients 3 or 4 ripe bananas, mashed 1-1/4 cups white sugar ½ cup real butter 2 whole eggs ½ cup milk, any kind 2-1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Baking Flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon Salt 3 teaspoons Bob's Red Mill Xanthan...
Yukon Gold Potato Soup and Gluten Free Cornbread
Yukon Gold Potato Soup. This Yukon Gold Potato soup is gluten free as it does not use any wheat flour to thicken the sauce. It uses Yukon gold potatoes, pork sausage and leeks. You can use red potatoes and I have even used Russet potatoes as well as White Rose potatoes. I make my potato soup like my mother did without milk or cream as my brother was severely allergic to milk and dairy. So I learned how to make my potato soup with the...
Pumpkin Patch Soup
My daughter Miss Norway made this great Pumpkin Patch Soup and I told her to take photos and I would write about it for Jaquo Magazine. This soup is so yummy for fall and winter! Save Print Pumpkin Patch Soup Rating 5 from 1 reviews Ingredients 2 teaspoons olive oil ½ cup raw pumpkin seeds 3 slices of thick bacon cooked 1 onion chopped 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon chipotle chili powder or equivalent ½ teaspoon...
Our Low Fat Hot and Sour Soup
Our Low Fat Hot and Sour Soup. Hot and Sour Soup variation by Sherry Atbutterfly and my daughter IoBlue [her pen name]. I LOVE Hot and Sour soup! I cannot remember when I first had it but I am guessing I was about 30ish when my boyfriend and I started to go to the local and extended area restaurants trying out their ‘house’ Hot and Sour soup. Each restaurant had their own version! It was the one soup that he loved to order...
Dozens of Easy Felt Ornaments – FREE Patterns
Dozens and Dozens of Christmas ornaments. I work year round on my projects so that they will be done in plenty of time to ship to family and friends who live out of my state. I never know when I will not be well enough to work some days so I pace myself and give myself at least two or more months to finish projects before the holiday or birthday or whatever occasion the item will be for that person. All the pins on this page are found...
Christmas Crafts – Easy Children’s crafts: Sakura Felt Ornament & Button Snowmen
Christmas Crafts – Easy Children’s crafts – age 5 and up – “Sakura” Felt Ornament and Button Snowmen – FREE Patterns. Sakura – Two circles of felt embellished by faux pearl beads White Cherry Blossoms or Japanese Sakura White Cherry Blossoms in Japan are called Sakura. See link below the photo of the Cherry Blossoms for a full explanation. Source. Pinterest – DIY Sakura Flower...
My Childhood: 1949 – 1963
When my brother, my only sibling, who is two years older than me, had a life threatening severe asthma attack in 1957 in San Francisco. The doctor came out to the house and gave him an adrenaline shot directly into his heart. He was saved from near death. After a month of testing which involved the “scratch” test with common offending allergens, the doctor found that my brother was severely allergic to eggs, milk,...
Charles Frederick Ingalls – The Little Known Brother of Laura Ingalls Wilder
Charles Frederick Ingalls – The Little Known Brother of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I am sure most of us are familiar with Little House on the Prairie television program of the 1970s. Very little was mentioned about Laura’s only brother Charles Frederick Ingalls who died at the age of nearly 10 months old on August 27, 1876. He lived in the period between Laura’s books “On the Banks of Plum Creek” and “By...
Candy Corn Design Plastic Canvas Basket
A plastic canvas project that is easy to do and large enough for a child to do. The pattern is for size 7 plastic canvas or 7 holes per inch. You could do the pattern in size 5 or 5 holes per inch for ease for a child or very low vision person or elderly adult. You use a blunt needle with a large hole to accommodate the yarn. This is why I do plastic canvas because it is a lot easier for me to see as I am legally blind, I only have...
If the Shoe Fits … Bag the Matching Hat!
Halloween Plastic Canvas Projects. I found these patterns at Pinterest and wanted to make something like this. I decided to make two parts. One part with the shoe and one part with the witches hat. I also wanted to add a colorful sock like one sees with at Witch’s costume. Here is the one page of patterns from Pinterest Pinterest pattern pin. I adapted these patterns to fit the words above. I just did the hat by itself and shoe...
Big Bat Halloween Decoration
Big Bat Halloween Decoration. Plastic canvas is a medium of a grid with holes similar to open weave needlepoint canvas. It’s firmer plastic that you work with yarn to make designs in the canvas or objects cut out such as this bat. I had gotten a lot of plastic canvas at the second hand store in 2011. People start projects or buy supplies and then give them to the second hand stores or the owners buy things at garage sales and...
Sometimes We Forget to Say Thank You
Here is a great true story of one man’s way of saying thank you. It happened every Friday evening, almost without fail, when the sun resembled a giant orange and was starting to dip into the blue ocean. Old Ed came strolling along the beach to his favorite pier. Clutched in his bony hand was a bucket of shrimp. Ed walks out to the end of the pier, where it seems he almost has the world to himself. The glow of the sun is a golden...
Handmade Grumpy Cat Wall Decoration: Free Tutorial and Pattern
“Grumpy Cat” I wanted to make projects with my new size 7 Aida cloth for myself and Christmas gifts. I found dozens of patterns. I saw the “Grumpy Cat” a few years ago and I decided that if I found a pattern, I would make that for myself. So my first size 7 Aida cloth cross stitch project is this “Grumpy Cat.” I ordered the size 7 Aida cloth when I found out it existed. I looked on Amazon as one...
Grumpy Cat – Free Patterns and Tutorial Videos
Grumpy Cat AKA “Tardar Sauce” The Real Cat – FREE Patterns and Tutorial. Grumpy Cat Pillow and Wall Hanging. I loved Grumpy cat the moment I saw her for the first time on Facebook. I found many patterns and decided I had to make several projects with them! I made a pillow cover, a wall hanging and another smaller project which I will have a story on it soon. I added a border around the Grumpy Cat part of the pillow...
Yo Yo Ornaments – Free Patterns
Yo Yo Ornaments – FREE Patterns. What is a Yo Yo? A Yo Yo is a cut out a circle of fabric that is gathered together around the edges with thread and pulled tight to make a tight circle. Using Yo Yos for Holiday Decorations I have seen Yo Yos since I was a little kid. I do recall that either I or one of my kids had one of the clowns made from the Yo Yos. I have been saving Yo Yo ideas from Pinterest for a year. I have decided to...
Make a Toy Cat
Cute Toy Cat. Print three copies of the cat pattern below so you can have a master copy, and two pattern pieces for each part of the cat except the nose. I also cut out extra pieces for the claws, since I always make at least a dozen of all projects. Words are in Russian, but you can see that the largest is the body, the larger of the two rectangles is the leg, the other the arm and the skinny one is the tail. Cut two of each piece,...
Watermelon Cake
Watermelon cake with vegan coconut whipped cream. My granddaughter had her 20th birthday in July. Her wish was to have a vegan dinner as that is the diet she and her boyfriend follow. So my daughter, her mother, decided to make an unusual cake for her made of watermelon and topped with whipped cream made from the cream part of the canned coconut milk. Here is the link for the various results from different brands of coconut milk when...
Lady Baltimore Cake
Lady Baltimore Cake Recipe. A white cake with whip cream topping and fruit on top and the middle. Traditional Lord and Lady Baltimore cakes were white cakes with a boiled frosting. Topped and filled with raisins, dates, figs and topped with some nuts. They marinated the fruit in sherry wine. I worked for a bakery in the 70s and the recipe my boss made used coconut, cherries, peaches and bananas. I have gone to bakeries that have had...
Aidell’s Spicy Mango and Jalapeno Chicken Meatballs in Spaghetti
My daughter made us a very quick and easy meal last night using Aidell’s meatballs. She cooked the pasta according to the package directions. She made her favorite tomato based pasta sauce and added the Aidell’s Spicy Mango and Jalapeno Chicken Meatballs. You can use any kind of pasta sauce for this quick meal. She added some spinach just before serving so that the spinach was just wilted. For my serving I need my pasta...
Fruit Cake
Pioneer fruit cake without alcohol from Sweden and Wales. Fruit cake without alcohol: This formula for fruitcake has been handed down from Sweden and Wales. There have been many variations of it. It does not use alcohol as their religion did not accept the use of alcohol. The difference was that you first cooked the raisins in the cinnamon and water. Save Print Fruit Cake Rating 5 from 1 reviews Prep time: 45 mins Cook...
Despicable Me Minion: Free Patterns
Minion in plastic canvas and yarn. I have made some Despicable Me Minions with plastic canvas and yarn and plan on making some more from the patterns and ideas that I have assembled here. First are two Minions in plastic canvas. Then I have the pattern for a Minion doll. The pattern is really cute and can be made from felt or material – fleece would come out great! Jeans material could be used for the clothing. Have fun which...
Dad’s Potato Salad
Dad’s Basic Formula – Potato Salad. This recipe was developed in the 1950s before they told us that too much mayonnaise [cholesterol] was not good for you. Save Print Dad's Potato Salad Rating 5 from 1 reviews Ingredients 8 to 10 pounds Russet potatoes [he always made a BIG batch] 8 to 12 hard boiled eggs, 8 jumbo or 12 regular 2 cups celery with tops, chopped 1 large Onion, chopped 1 large bell pepper, chopped 2...
Creamy Pesto Lasagna with Artichoke Hearts
Baked Creamy Pesto Lasagna with Artichoke Hearts. Save Print Creamy Pesto Lasagna with Artichoke Hearts Rating 5 from 1 reviews Serves: 6 portions Ingredients 1 box lasagna noodles 10 oz frozen spinach OR 2 to 4 cups fresh spinach 1 can quartered artichoke hearts in water (optional) 16 oz ricotta cheese 1 egg ½ t garlic powder ½ t parsley or oregano (optional) 1 T olive oil 1 T butter 1 to 2 cups onion (one...
Mom’s Spanish Rice
My Mom’s Spanish Rice and My Adapted Version. Here is my Mom’s basic recipe with adaptations by me to follow. Save Print Mom's Spanish Rice Rating 5 from 1 reviews Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 50 mins Total time: 1 hour 10 mins Serves: 4 cups Ingredients 3 - 8 oz cans tomato sauce 1 - 28 ounce can whole tomatoes 24 ounces water 4 tbsp olive oil 1 large yellow onion, chopped 1 cup uncooked...
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Cookies
Silver’s Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Cookies. Nom Nom! My daughter Silver has an issue with gluten so she has been cooking gluten free for a few months. That has helped her to get rid of her gluten intolerant intestinal pain issues. My daughter Silver is my second to the oldest daughter. I was living with IoBlue my youngest daughter. I now live with my oldest daughter Miss Norway who is a good cook as well as a...
Halloween Style Tic Tac Toe
From the Halloween Plastic Canvas patterns board I have at my Pinterest account, I merged two pattern ideas to make this Halloween Tic Tac Toe. I wanted to make the two game pieces different, rather than the whole kitty and the pumpkin, I wanted a kitty face and a plain pumpkin. (One piece of plastic canvas is all you need, size 7, or 7 holes to the inch is the easiest for me to work. I get my plastic canvas at Amazon.com. You can buy...
Barilla Gluten Free Pasta with Shrimp Recipe
My daughter Silver [her pen name] has had issues with her digestive system. She was having severe intestinal cramps and other symptoms. She was finally diagnosed with intolerance to gluten products. She had to forget about eating breads and pasta dishes. She heard about new products that are alternatives for pasta and other wheat substitutes. Finally, there is a solution for her with the new arrival from Barilla America company who...
Make a Haunted House Kleenex Box cover with Plastic Canvas and Yarn
Haunted House made from yarn and plastic canvas. This Haunted House decoration is also a Kleenex box holder. When you have the Kleenex tissue box in the house and pull up a tissue, it looks like smoke coming out of the house. You can also add a piece of white cloth and add some googly eyes to it and shape it to look like a ghost coming out of the roof for Halloween! Haunted House Kit This is the Haunted House Kleenex box that I made....
Felt Dolls Projects
Felt Dolls Projects. I was getting into making felt projects for all the Holidays, and I wanted to make some felt dolls for my niece’s twin daughters’ birthday. They are 4 this year. I had ordered felt by the yard from Hobby Lobby earlier in the year for my felt crafts for the year. I printed out the patterns and cut out the shapes needed then added the embellishments such as lace, ribbon, buttons and beads. I embroidered...
Island of the Blue Dolphins and the Sequel, Zia: Book Reviews
There is nothing better than a true story brought to life. Even if some of the story is changed some from the historical event in the 19th century, the basic idea is there. I love survivor stories especially when they are true! I LOVE historical fiction. I had not heard about Island of the Blue Dolphins book when it came out when I was age 10 in 1960. I wished I would have read it then! However, when I did read it I was in my 50′s and...
Golden Gate Bridge closure January 10, 2015 to January 12, 2015.
Golden Gate Bridge closure January 10, 2015 to January 12, 2015. In 78 years the San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge has only been closed for more than a few hours a few times. It was closed in 1987 for the 50th Anniversary. The 52 hour closure for this weekend [Jan 10 – 12] will allow workers to install a new movable barrier for traffic lane control. In the past the plastic orange cones were moved by hand each day via the...
Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files book 15 called “Skin Game.”
“Skin Game: The Dresden Files” Book 15 I started to read the Dresden files at the recommendation of my 30 year old son. My son loves the books so much that after he read the first four books he ordered an outfit so that he would look like Dresden. The outfit consists of the all important Black Oilskin ‘Western Duster’ overcoat. To top off the coat is a Western Stetson felt hat complete with a silver band. I have repaired the coats for...
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