January 21, 2009

Sampler-Ready

Do you like my new banner photo? It's a picture I shot today while I was out and about in Fredericksburg, of Kenmore Plantation, which was George Washington's sister's home. I like it far better than Mount Vernon, where George lived. Talk about Sampler-Ready. I have to confess that I have never been inside, which I'll have to do in March when it re-opens. And I badly want to see the gardens; the local garden club has restored them, and they're supposed to be wonderful. Here's a link to the website, if you're interested--it takes you on a nice room-by-room tour of the renovation. When I'm retired (yeah, sure), I'd like to do the degree in historic preservation offered by the University of Mary Washington.

I'm a little sad that this is the last day of my mini vacation. I went find a shirt or two for work at the mall, promising myself two things (I hate malls). Wait. That's a misplaced modifier; I don't work at the mall. See? I'm all tangled up. Anyway, I went to the mall to buy a shirt. For work. And the first reward? An Auntie Ann's pretzel with a diet coke. And then I thought, well, if I didn't find anything much, or it isn't expensive, I'd then go to Everything Cross Stitch and kit up a couple of things. Which, when you think of it, is a conflict of interest, because of course I won't find any shirts or spend any money if the reward for not finding or spending is going to the needlework store. But I bought a nice shirt and a pink sweater and then, having spent way less than my allotted clothing budget, I hightailed it to Fredericksburg to buy something far more interesting.

First things, first: some progress on Peaceful Paradise.

Here's what I got: Rosewood Manor "And a Garden Grew." AGAIN. I have completely lost the original copy--probably threw it out with some magazines. I have thoroughly combed my needlework areas several times, and it's just not here. I already own the fabric and the majority of the DMC (there are 120 colors of DMC in this, so I'm not even contemplating substituting it out).

I kitted this up because when I was at the shop last, I spied the nicest, minty-green Lakeside linen for this project. Edited to add: this is The Skating Party, by Praiseworthy Stitches. I'm doing it on 32 count linen (in Patina) using the called-for GAST and WDW threads.

Other than my little journey to the mall and the needlework shop, I've been inside stitching and doing stuff in the house. Like cooking. Last night I made a recipe from one of those magazine pull-outs in one of the Sunday papers: Penne with Vodka sauce. It called for onions and carrots, diced and sauteed in olive oil, along with tomato paste, two cans of tomatoes, including the fire-roasted ones (which have black burned bits on them--shoot--I'm calling all my food "fire-roasted," since I have a bad habit of starting a meal and then wandering away distractedly to read or stitch.) And vodka, which you can't taste at all. It doesn't seem to add any tanginess/saltiness in the way that wine does, so I think you could leave out the vodka, unless you happen to want to have a cocktail with it while you cook. Anyway, you finish off the dish with some cream, which makes it smooth and silky and turns it all pink. Mmmmm. Predictably, BF said: "Where's the meat?" when I served it.

"Did someone say 'Pink?'"

16 comments:

Tammy said...

What is the name of the project you got the green linen for? I love it! I wouldn't be subbing out that DMC either, OMG 120 colors?? They are gorgeous though, aren't they? Love the new header!

xeyedmary said...

When you're ready to start "And A Garden Grew", give me a heads up- I have that one in my stash & want to get to it sometime this year!
Your pasta recipe sounds yummy. Silver Palate makes a jarred suace called "Vodka Elegante" that is very good if you're feeling lazy.
OOps! I think the blogger outage has started!

xeyedmary said...

Sorry to comment on my comment- but I JUST found my missing JCS 2007 ornament issue in with my fabric when I went to look to see if I had bought any for Garden Grew!
Thank you Glenna!

Tammy said...

Thx Glenna! How the heck did I miss that one--it's right up my alley!

RG said...

THAT is some bunch of stitching to do. What on earth do you do with all the finished pieces? Bunny Lady stitched for several years and we have them on walls, all our relatives and friends have them, and we have them in boxes! I have a special wall just for lighthouses!

That Vodka sauce. Oh boy BL has a recipe too and it has a bit of those red pepper flakes .. just a bit mind you .. and serves it with penna and our guests generally consider it grown-ups mac and cheese! Even the servng bowl gets licked! I think maybe the vodka does kind of sour it up just a bit, a taste we like.

Hi Pink! Glad to see you have the humans gated up inside the Golden Pen!

The Scarlett House said...

Hey Glenna, your new banner is so darn awesome. Gosh, I just love the houses you show us. Everything in AZ (a.k.a. "Beigeville"), is well, beige. No brick, no variety of colors, just boring beige stucco.
Love your new stash additions. 120 colors? Whew...have fun with that.
Thanks for the tip about "Two Fine Ewes". Unfortunately, I tried to order it from there twice, and they don't have it even though it's on their site.

xeyedmary said...

It seems I have not bought the fabric for Garden yet- I'm going to stitching tonight to see what she has- she tends to have mostly pre-packaged fabric cuts- usually not bigger than 1/2 yard or 18" wide. :(
Sometimes she has larger pieces in the shop, so I have to hope for that & then color; I may have to order. I have all the DMC colors so that's not a problem. I've never done a SAL, so the more informal it goes, the less stressed I know I'll be! (Pressure!!!!)I'll do my best to be ready for this weekend just in case!

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

I love and a garden grew...
And I love George W's sister's house :)
Someday...we're going to do all this historical distric viewing...when my kids are just a bit older.

Anna van Schurman said...

I looked in to doing the historic preservation degree at Winterthur and the amount of chemistry I'd have to take was daunting. Still, what else will I have to do in retirement?

d. moll, l.ac. said...

Pink, pink, I love Pink's bangs 'n' mutton chops, or whatever they are. Can't you just stitch the photo? It does look ready.

Michelle said...

Love The Skating Party! That's too bad you had to replace the Garden chart - I hate when I can't find stuff. Great sampler-worthy house, it is beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Love the new header. The houses there are gorgeous. I enjoy seeing your progress Peaceful Paradise. And I love the two projects you have kitted. I would like to do Skating Party someday myself. I have just recently "discovered" Praiseworthy Stitches, and I really like their designs. :)

Deb Cushman said...

Law of any craft -- you will find the original, now that you've purchased another one! Can't tell you how many times that law has worked for me! Those samplers are gorgeous. Really keeps you out of mischief, huh?

The Scarlett House said...

Hi Glenna, thanks for the heads up on the new B.K sampler. I hadn't seen it yet, so you really made my day. It is totally awesome and a must have, of course!

RG said...

Say .. isn't that a rabbit in the window just to the right of the front door???? Looks like Pink!

Anonymous said...

Love your banner. The chart by Praiseworthy is very nice, I might have to add that one to my stash:-)