Mish-Mash

Lots of unrelated stuff....

We hit a sale at Kohl's that was pretty phenomenal, and coupled it with a 30% off coupon for the total tab.... Whoo hoo! We basically did our part to rally the current economic mess!!

Michael got a new toy!

In RED!!



















Our old Kitchen Aid was 16+ years faithful.... but beginning to get tired and straining over breads and stiff cookie doughs. Since the Great Cookie Adventure of 2008 looms on the horizon, making cookies for all our clients and friends.... we took advantage of the opportunity to get him a newer and much stronger model!

This puppy retails in some places for $500....but normally one can find it for less. We found it at Kohls for $399, and then applied that 30% coupon! Yay for an additional $133 off! Roughly, we got it for $270, I think. My mad math skillz being what they are, I may be deluding myself. But it sure seemed like a bargain.

He's tested it already and its a really powerful mixer. I read somewhere it supposedly will do six loaves of bread at once..... I can't wait to try some good whole wheat bread for the girls!

I also picked up some plain white china.

I have been wanting to get plain white for a couple of years now, in order to use quilted placemats and tableclothes that are seasonally appropriate, and not have to worry about whether the china pattern competes or clashes with the quilted items. Not that it's something I lose sleep over, it was just a "someday I'd like to" sort of thing. I had seen pretty decent white stoneware at Penney's occasionally, usually for around $99 on sale.

Well, Kohls had a pretty set of Oneida white stoneware on sale for $60.... place settings for 8 with 61 pieces total.... more pieces than I can imagine meal courses for, and serving platter/creamer/sugar to boot. I applied that 30% coupon to that, and got the stoneware for about $40.... less than a buck per plate!

We trudged home with our treasures (plus a few extras, like this table runner which was $15, marked down to $7 and then had that lovely 30% coupon applied!)....

Now it's back to staying frugal for a while! It was fun to shop and pick up some things we had wanted, at such bargain prices.... but things are tight all over, so we will behave for a while now!

The garden has pretty much faded to a nice memory. I got the last of the cherry tomatos collected and dug up the old zucchini plants, etc. Michael picked up the composter we qualified to get for only $20, after Karen and I attended the free composting class at the Arboretum.

I gathered all the old plants from the garden and put them in the composter.

I started layering them alternately with shredded paper, kitchen scraps, etc. Did you know even DRYER LINT can be composted?? I'm trying to train myself to save egg shells, coffee grounds, etc. Hopefully after a winter season of doing this, I should have a good quantity of nutrient-rich compost to add to the garden.

(dryer lint, potato peelings, eggshells, coffee grounds, wilted spinach - What a mess!)

Mother Nature decided to get in on the composting act. We've had severe Santa Ana winds which unfortunately have resulted in devastating fires in some areas of Los Angeles, but here in our area, served to denude the trees of dry, tired leaves.... They are perfect for adding to the composter. I collected three huge bagfuls, and two garbage canfuls.

I used the patented Bury Compression Method to get as many in each container as possible. I should be able to add kitchen scraps (added to and frozen in an old coffee can all week) to the composter and top it with a thick layer of dried leaves, each week, for quite a while.

It occurs to me that this will either be a successful supply of good soil additives..... or a very stinky mistake. *crosses fingers*

I spent some time in the sewing room over the weekend. Daughter Karen joined me, and she blogged about our evening! You can click here to read all about it! (it's the second entry from the top, called "Saturday Quilting" and there is an area to click for pictures and commentary. I loved it! Funny Tiger story, too!

Today I did better at The Schedule! I worked early, worked hard, and then did the floors downstairs.... (That's a thankless 1-1/2 hour job, what with the vacuuming, dry dust-mopping for missed doggie hair, wet mopping for dirt, grime, and doggie footprints, and then the patented Bury Floor Polishing maneuver which involves a large bathtowel under feet, skating around drying the floor to avoid spots!) Then I made it upstairs.

I cut three more blocks of the Saturday Sampler quilt. Since I am not making the center medallian, I needed to make four more blocks to fill that space.

I think this one was called Greek Cross. If I'm not mistaken, it has about 56 pieces. Sheesh! Not nearly as involved as some that the NearlyInsaneQuilter has done, but still, thatsalotta pieces!

I think I'll work on sewing these cut blocks together, and also a Brick Road, next week when I visit Wyoming to see Mom and Dad. I'm only going to have four full days there, so I'm not taking a whole lot with me to work on.

Meanwhile, TuffGirl (Kimi) is catching on to life at Chez Bury Kennel. She and TuffBoy (Jerry) are inseparable.

(a rare quiet moment..... translation: recharge mode!)

"Auntie" Sadie shows her the ropes and they have a great time tearing around the back yard. Sometimes they move so fast that this is what I catch with the camera.

Here's a few shots of puppy cuteness!

I've also been working on some cards. Here's a couple I really had fun making - Karen helped me with some of the coloring. We found it very relaxing!

I'm kind of floundering at them. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm having fun and some of them turn out pretty well! I'm hoping that I will be able to make up nice collections to give as gifts this Christmas. With the cost of greeting cards these days, I think they would make a nice gift!

I'm off to bed.... I'll be up to work early, and try to make it into the sewing room again tomorrow!

:)