Floss Keeps Re-stocked!

We've restocked the floss keeps and added 4 NEW designs!

 

Showing you a peek of two of them...

Check out all 4 new designs

here

 

Hoping everyone has a good weekend.

  We are off to visit our grandchildren

 and

 celebrate their Momma's birthday.

 

Brenda

Progress...

 

It's a fresh spring morning here...

sun is shining and everything is glowing green.

Our summer-time guests have arrived... 

 

Things are all beginning to bud out,

the trees are beginning to have that "lacy look".
Love.this.time.of.year. 

The yard is filled with all sorts of critters,

out and about,

enjoying the morning air,

and
 taking in a morning bite or two....

My morning entertainment and inspiration.

 

This guy made me chuckle...

Standing alert, little hands folded in prayer position,
with the morning sun kissing his furry belly,
complete with "feather on the nose"...

And I spotted our mother or father rabbit, they are annual guests in our yard....

out enjoying a nibble on dew-kissed greens.

I enjoy this morning quiet time...
time to take in the dawning of the new day,
 a time to plan how my day will unfold.

As any small  business owner, I wear many different hats,
my days are filled with various "things-to-do"...
Computer work,
 paper work,
 filling customer's orders,
 and
 sneaking in some stitching time,
when able...
It's a balancing act, of sorts,
 and at the end of the day,
I always hope to get all items crossed off my list.

 I'm making progress on the Summer Sampler. 

 Here's a peak.

  I don't have a whole lot left,

 it's just that I don't have a whole lot of stitching time....

that's a problem!

 I've also been working on the tedious task of charting Susan Dickinson, 1841.

Here is her color palette...

 Isn't it lovely?
 

Lots of "orangey reds" and "salmony pinks",
warm greens and browns...

all colors that make my heart a-flutter!

 The sampler is an Adam & Eve sampler. 

 Adam has hip problems!!
But,
 I don't love him no less...
makes me love him more, really.
 

  And the curious little guy to the left of Adam,
 is a fox...
So.Cute.

 The sampler has a simple meandering floral border,

and
 is filled with squirrels, birds, pots of flowers, owls, cherubs,

verse worked over 1,
and

a BIG red house!
Perfect.

And,
 I almost forgot,
 there are 4 NEW charts coming soon!
Their titles are...
Liberty House
The Sampler House
The Sewing Bird
&
The Dame of the Needles

These are smaller,
 quick-stitch projects,
 watch for their releases in a couple of weeks.

 

Have a good day,
Brenda

The boys are back in town!!!!!!

 My world this morning is a whole lot

 brighter,

cheerier

 and

 merrier...

what a difference a week makes.

 

 A week ago we were in a blanket of white,

this morning the trees are blanketed with fragrant blooms,

and

buzzing with bees...

things are coming to life!

 

Oh, what a beautiful morning!

 

While doing my morning stitching,

  I heard my first wren.

They have returned and soon this little guy

will be busy building several new "homes" for the love of his life. 

 It is usually safe to think

 that spring has arrived to stay,

when these little puff of feathers make their appearance.

 

The outside is so full of noises

 that are songs by my ears,

 this time of year...

This boy was busy drumming on our chimney this morning.

  As startling as this can be,

it's still music to my ears.

Sounds of springtime.

  After several minutes of drumming,

 on the tin flashing around the chimney,

 it was off to enjoy a nut or two...

Isn't he pretty?

 

And

the boys are back in town...

I've filled a couple of feeders with safflower seed just for my boys.

It's their treat of choice...

 

 

 

A trip to the grocery store

 to buy oranges and grape jam

 is on my list of to-do's today.

I've got bird chores to do....

need to get ready

for the arrival of the

Baltimore Orioles. 

They will soon be our guests.

 The boys are back in town...

Spring has finally arrived,

 I think I'll call in sick today!

 

Happy Spring,
Brenda

 

New stitching goodies...

Are you a floss keep junkie? 

There are a few,

 and I know who they are!!  ;)

 

Don't you need a sweet little pair of scissors to match your floss keeps?

 

Freshly added to our website,

 are 4 different designs in the School Girl Scissors & Fob series. 

The sweet little embroidery scissors are 4" long

 and

 are stainless steel. 

 Not too shiny of a silver,

 almost a brushed pewter appearance to them.

  A tiny 1" fob

 hangs from the scissors. 

 The tiny frame, with it's ornate-trimmed edging,

 is home to a color print of cross stitched motifs. 

 

And for you floss keep junkies...

we will be refreshing the inventory of those in a couple of weeks. 

 Watch for some new designs this time too!

 

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda

Sweet potato lovers...

you must try these!

I made my first attempt at making sweet potato chips,

 and,

 oh

 my goodness, are these good!

 

 

No frying necessary, these are made in your microwave! 

 

 

You will need a mandolin or a food processor that slices very thin slices.   When buying your sweet potatoes, look for ones that are somewhat straight.  Scrub the sweet potato, removing any dirt or dark spots.  No need to skin the potato.  The skin is full of nutritional goodies!  Slice the potato and toss slices into a large zip-lock bag.  Drizzle olive oil over slices, close bag.  With your hands, work the oil around the slices, so all oil is evenly distributed.  Sweet potatoes will darken, so you don't want to slice the potatoes too far in advance of microwaving them.  I used two potatoes for the two of us, and had a few leftover for next day snacking.

 

Remove the glass circular tray from your microwave.  Lie it on a piece of parchment paper, and trace around, onto paper.  Cut parchment paper circle out.  Put tray back into the microwave, placing paper on top of the tray.  Place potato slices onto tray.  Don't overlap, but they can be touching slightly.

 

Sprinkle with fresh ground sea salt and rosemary.   If you don't like rosemary, omit...but this makes them good!  Microwave on normal setting for 6 minutes.  Timing may vary from microwave to microwave.  You can always do a test run with a couple of slices to determine the best amount of cooking time for your microwave.    As the chips start to cook, their edges will darken and crinkle up.   The chips will still be slightly soft when done, but crispen up, rather quickly, as they cool.  If they don't crispen up, they need more cooking time.

 

I will be making more of these this summer...yum!  A perfect compliment to grilled brats or burgers.

The best part is, they are good for you!  The sweet potato is the number one most nutritious vegetable...did you know that?

They are high in potassium, calcium and Vitamin A&C to name a few nutrients.  A good food to eat when you are under stress and tension.  Stress robs your body of potassium, leading to muscle aches, pains and cramping.

 

Another week has flown by, tis already Friday...

Have a good weekend everyone,

Brenda

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guess what?

It really can still snow in May...

This poor little tulip is saying, I'm so full of snow!

Me too....

I'm really done with winter,

I've had enough...

Like the saying goes,

this weather is for the birds...

I'm not so sure our little bevy of poofy-feathered doves would agree...

 

Oh,

 hi there robin,

you are supposed to be our messenger of Spring...

When will it arrive?

 

How many times will it snow upon your back?

 

The dear husband got up from the supper table, pushed his chair in and said...

"well, I'm going to go outside and build a snowman".  I detected a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice.

I told him, "do it and I'll take pictures"...

He knows better.

He knows if he did, there would be pictures of him,

pictures of him, 

in his cute little "walter hat" all over my blog...

 

Have a good day,

Brenda

 

Buena Vista!

 

My husbands 40 minute commute to work

 takes him through the rural countryside of Buena Vista and Pocahontas counties.

After commuting this for 20 plus years, he has found various quiet county blacktops for the trip...

the less traveled roads.

 

It was on one of these rural blacktops,

 about 200 yards from the road,

 he spotted a very large nest.

At supper that evening,

we talked the usual "work talk",

 "how was your day talk",

 and he mentioned he thought he might have spotted an eagles nest. 

 

So, with camera in tow, we went for a Sunday drive.

The big tree stands out in an open area along a creek bed.

Upon arrival, things seemed pretty quiet at the nest.  

No little heads bobbing up and down in the nest. 

 

 We just sat there enjoyed the smell of fresh black dirt,

 sounds of cow mooing off in the distance,

and watched,

 and

 waited.

 

   The creeks are running good with all of the rain we have had,

 and everything is starting to green up. 

 From watching the Decorah eagle cam,

 I was aware that the parent eagles usually sit in a tree

 relatively close to their nest.

 

I spy two eagles! 

Sitting in a tree next to the nest, there they were!

Sitting there so majestically, are mom and dad!

  This is the best I could do with my 270mm lens. 

Can you spot them in the tree?

 

 After several minutes of taking in the warmth of the early evening sun,

one flies off,

 following the creek,

fishing time!

 

 Buena Vista, beautiful view.

 

You may have heard about the eagles nest from Decorah, IA that has the webcam and went viral.  We all watched it, and didn't get anything else done, but watch the eaglets.  Some may not know that the parents started building a new nest over the winter months.  They chose the "over yonder" nest to raise this years young ones, so no Iowa eagle came.  I am relying on Facebook updates on the nest.  The pair has a nest of three eaglets and they seem to be doing well.

  I miss those cute little "poop squirts"....anyone else?!!

 

Happy May Day,
Brenda

 

 

 

Spring at Last!

We are all excited that the warmer weather has finally arrived!  Boy, what a day of warmth and sunshine can do....my early tulips that had snow on them on Tuesday sprung forth bright little red blooms and my Coral Bells and Bleeding Hearts all made their entrance into the world too!  I think spring has sprung and I couldn't be more excited!

I've had a weekend of stitching and cooking.  Grilling to be exact.  Grilling and a nice warm spring day just seem to go hand and hand, so I decided to grill some Apple Wood Smoked Pulled Pork.  It sort of is an all day thing, and you need to "babysit" the grill.  I was able to get quite a bit of stitching in, while babysitting the grill, and enjoyed the lovely weather too!

It's been awhile since I've done a recipe share, so I snapped a few pics of the process, and thougt I'd share them with you all...

 

Apple-Wood Smoked Pulled Pork

Don't have a smoker?
 Neither do I, this recipe uses the indirect heat method on a Weber charcoal kettle grill or the likes. 

Ready?  Here goes...

 

The rub...

1/4 cup paprika

3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons dried oregano

2 tablespoons garlic salt

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon celery salt

 Mix spices, sugar and salt in a small bowl.  Store in an airtight container.  Will keep for up to 2 months.  This amount of rub will do two roasts.

Separate and skin garlic cloves.  I use a whole head of garlic...the more the merrier!

 Using an 8 pound bone-in shoulder roast (may be called a butt roast, too) with skin, make small cuts into roast and insert garlic cloves into cuts.   Oh yea, I'm feelin' like Martha now!!

 Using half of the spice rub, rub spices into/onto roast.  I've done this both ways.  Wrapping the roast with Saran Wrap and refrigerating overnight, or putting it on the grill right away.  Honestly, it is just as good without the resting time.

 Soak wood chips in water.   I always use apple wood, tis a nice flavor mix with the pork.  Soak chips about 20 minutes.

 The meat gets grilled, using the indirect heat method.  What that means is, you only put charcoal on one half of the grill, building up the charcoal pretty good along the side of the grill.  The meat will set on the side without the coals.

 Once the coals are glowing, add a couple good-sized handfuls of wet wood chips.  Let the smoking begin...

 Place your roast in a disposable tin cake pan, fat side up.    Add 1 1 /2 cups of water to then bottom of the pan.  Place the pan on the side of the grill, opposite to charcoals.  Place the lid on the grill, making sure that the vents are located over the meat.  This allows the smoke to roll over the the meat, as it exits the grill.

 Every hour you will add hot charcoal and more wet wood chips on top of the new charcoals. 

This gadget is really great for that...

 No peeking for the first hour...

and this is what it looks like with one hour of grilling. 

 The roast has formed and nice dark crust

 that will aid in keeping all the juices of the marbling inside of the roast.

 Continue to add fresh hot charcoals and wood chips each hour. 

It takes about 5 hours to fully cook. 

 This can depend on weather conditions, wind etc.

  Use of a meat thermometer is important.

 When a meat thermometer reaches 200 degrees, it is ready to take inside. 

 I immediately wrap the roast, tightly in tinfoil, and let it rest for 30 minutes.  This will keep all the juices inside of the meat. 

 You may be thinking 200 degrees seems too hot? 

 I know, so did I.

  Standard cooking time for most pork is 170 - 180 degrees.

  I've always cooked this recipe for 200 degrees, and it always comes out fork tender.

While the roast is resting in the tinfoil, time to make a North Carolina-Style Vinegar BBQ sauce.  This is more spunky then saucy...much thinner in consistency, then the bottled sauces we buy on the shelf at the grocery store.

  These vinegary sauces are the original American Sauces.

1 1 /2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons kosher salt

1 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

 Heat the vinegar and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. 

 Add the remaining ingredients and warm through.

Remove the foil from the roast.  Cut away the top "fatty skin" that is on the top of the roast and dispose....

oh, baby, are you salivating yet?

I do leave smaller amounts of the blackened spices on the meat for more flavor.

 The roast at this point will just fall apart, with the use of a couple of forks.

 Pull apart in piece sizes that best suit your tastes. 

 You can pour the sauce over the roast or serve on the side, letting each person add the amount of kick they like to their own meat.

Delicious! 
This is good served on toasted buns or just as is... and of course you can't have pulled pork without cole-slaw...mmmmmm, a match made in heaven!

 

 

Have a good week everyone,

Brenda

 

Cute as a bugs ear!

NEW!

Tiny little book of needles,

each decorated with tiny X's that make up it's cover design.

 

Offered in 3 sizes of needles. 

 Each sweet little book is home to six nickel-plated,

 high quality,

 tapestry needles. 

 The needles of choice for cross stitch.

 



 

A little stitching sentiment

 adorns the backside of each booklet.

 



Offered in sizes 24 - 26 - 28...

your most often used sizes of needles for cross stitch. 

 

What size needle to use? 

 

My general guideline is:

14 to 16  count - size 24

18 count  - size 26

32 count or above - size 26 or 28

Size 28's are my favorite for working over 1 thread on small count linens.

The bigger the needle number, the smaller the needle.

Just remember, the higher the count linen, the higher number needle size!

 

This is just what works best for me, others may have their own favorites. 

Remember, you want the eye of your needle

 to be big enough

 to gently open the fibers, slightly.

  This allows more room

 for the floss to move through the linen

 and prevents the floss from fraying.

 

The little book of needles

 are sold exclusively through www.countrystitchesonline.com

and

 can be viewed under the NEW ITEMS category there.

 

And lastly,

 a couple of sneak peeks...

 

The book of needle cover designs have been charted

for stitching,

 



and

are currently being stitched

 for future pattern releases. 

The above piece, "The Sampler House" needs some frogging...

Can you spot my error?

I stitched the crow onto the wrong letter...{sigh}

 

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda

 

Quacks Me Up!

Woofta, after a busy and hectic day at Country Stitches I came home to total critter craziness.

Our snow has melted, though the wind had a slight nip to it, at least the sun was shining.  It's been awhile since we've seen the sun, a very long while.    I felt like putting my feet up for a while and just sitting at the kitchen table and enjoying a peaceful cup of coffee.  I thought I'd warm myself in the sun for awhile before deciding what the heck I was going to make for supper. 

 

I'm drinking my coffee and looking out the window and I spot this duck.  Don't know what type of duck it is...seems to be something more then a mallard.  So it's a duck, but ducks don't usually hang out in my back yard.  The duck didn't move.  He seemed to have his head tucked under his wing....at least that is what I was hoping....I was hoping that the naughty hawk that frequents our yard didn't spot him first.....

I guess what I'm trying to say is,

I hoped the duck still had a head...

  

So,

 I did take a picture,

 you dumb duck,

and now your photo is all over the blog world.

  You have now gone viral,

what do you think of that? 

  Gack, gackgackgackgack!

By now my coffee has grown cold, cause the duck was distracting me and I forgot to drink my coffee.  So, I get up to put a splash of hot coffee into my cup and I am startled by a noise at my window.  I look over and all I see is this

and dirt hitting my window.

 

Visitor number 2...

The furry rat had the nerve to just sit there in my flower box and stare at me whilst I slurped my cup of coffee. 
  A window peeping squirrel? 
Can I call the cops?
  You do know,
 they only remember where they put there nuts 2% of the time... 

 

My next thought was...The cat? 
Where's he at?
  He usually knows where all the squirrels are at.
 I can't believe he isn't right here up in the window sill....
hmmmmm,
I better go find him. 

 

This is where I found him...

in.my.flossbox.

Now I'm really feeling a little disappointed....
this is WHAT goes ON while I'm away,
 hard at work??

Really?

So,
 you no longer do squirrel patrol?

No more kitty treats for you.

 

 

 

And your asking yourself,

can't she really find something better then an old Amazon box to put her floss in?

Yep,

 ask myself that too,

everytime I find this 12 pounds of fur in my box.

 

Thinking I need a box with a lid before I cough up a furball,
Brenda