August 17, 2026 - Cross Stitching - Come Into My Garden - A Start!

 This may be my most favorite project ever! Do I say that about all of them? Maybe but, I do LOVE this one.

Look how pretty that flower is!

I'm so in love with the linen! If Denise were here, I would say I love, love, love this project! We used to laugh about how it sent us over the edge when floss tubers would say "love, love, love". Some still say it but several years ago, some of them would say it a dozen times in one video. Then Denise and I would write each other about something we had found or stitched, and we would say "I love, love, love this!" OK . . a happy memory and no tears! Good job, Judy!

Sunday I started working on the border. I'm making one side of each "x". I just wanted to get the border "outlined". The green for the border is Oscar (my favorite color and the reason I named my sweet baby Oscar!) and I wasn't sure it was going to show up well so in the area around that first flower, I made both sides of the "x" and it shows up fine.

I stitched the first flower, which is in the center of the top border, just to get the placement going for the border. Another reason to start with the border was that this is 36 count linen and I only have 2" on each of the left and right sides. I'll be framing it myself so I'm not concerned about 2" but just wanted to be sure the linen is straight and I wasn't going to get near the bottom and have only 1" or less on one side.

That's another thing about linen from Fabrics by Steph, while I can't guarantee that her linen will always be cut perfectly straight, the few pieces that I have are cut perfectly straight. It's pretty aggravating to get a piece of linen and lose an inch or more because it's cut so crooked. I understand . . it isn't easy to cut it straight but . . 

OK . . no more complaining!

Wait, I take that back. This chart! It was published (or at least delivered to the printer) in 2020. It is not formatted to be used with Markup R-XP. I barely know how to use the app so I should probably not even try to explain this but for a chart to work, say it's six pages and 1, 2 and 3 are at the top and 4, 5 and 6 are at the bottom, the three that are lined up together need to have the same number of vertical stitches. Then the ones that sit on top of each other need to have the same number of horizontal stitches.

Say page 1 is 63 x 102, page 2 is 55 x 102 and page 3 is 28 x 102.

The page 4, could be 63 x 90, page 2 would be 55 x 90 and page 3 is 28 x 90. I have no idea how the designers make it all work but they do but . . not this chart. I fiddled with it for several hours yesterday. Then I decided . . forget it! I'll work from a paper copy. No. My brain said "NOT doing that!"

I was thinking if I copied it, then cut and pasted pieces of the pages together, I might could make it work but, in the end, I decided that Chart #1 will be pages 1, 2 and 3 and Chart #2 will be pages 4, 5 and 6. It's two different projects on the app. It's working. Thank goodness I thought of that!

I didn't want to unroll the whole piece but the border matches up. So thankful for that. I'll be able to stitch mindlessly to complete the other half of the x's and there's a second row of the border but it's just under the first (you can see some of it on the top left). When I'm tired or easily distracted with other things, I'll work on finishing the border.

Canning Ground Beef

 The way I cook is probably different from how many of you cook but I think my way works so well for us. We have food in jars that I've canned; sometimes it's a "meal in a jar" and sometimes I have to open several jars and combine this and that to create a meal.

Today I canned ground beef, which is one of my favorite things to have in jars. There's so much I can do with a jar of ground beef! We have quarts and pints of canned ground beef canned. 

We have quarts but we were out of pints so that's why I have two days for canning ground beef. Quarts will hold about 2 pounds of ground beef; pints will hold about a pound. The ground beef I have has very little fat so a pound of 80/20 wouldn't yield quite as much meat as does 93/7. I count on getting 1 pound per pint but today, 17 pounds filled 23 pints. I did weight the meat but I'm kinda surprised I got that many jars. 

Probably Thursday I'm going to can about that same amount of ground beef but I will add bell peppers and onions to that second batch, maybe even a few jalapeno peppers.

Meals are so easy when all I have to do is open a jar of already cooked ground beef. Some of the dishes I love using the canned ground beef for are:

• Pizza - The first time I used canned ground beef for pizza, I was not sure what Vince would think but he said "You would never know it was canned! So . . why defrost ground beef, brown it (and have a skillet to clean), when I can open a jar, drain it and put it on the pizza!
• Ground Beef with Mushrooms - my favorite! Saute sliced mushrooms in a bit of butter, add a bit of flour to make a roux, pour in a bit of beef broth, add the drained beef from a jar (pint or quart), season to taste. Before serving, add a bit of heavy cream to the gravy. Serve over pasta or rice or mashed potatoes. 
• Soup - There are so many soups I can make with a jar of ground beef. I can add a jar of beans, a jar of carrots or fresh carrots, shredded cabbage, maybe add pasta or not. I can add taco seasoning, corn, black beans or pinto beans and have taco soup. This site has 24 soups using ground beef. Most of them would work with canned ground beef.
• Pasta sauce or lasagna.
• Pioneer Woman has 50 Ground Beef Recipes and many of those would be perfect for canned ground beef.
• I don't even know if this is something that sounds good to anyone else but I have jars of split pea soup I've canned and sometimes I like to add ground beef to that!

Before I was able to start canning this morning, I still had to clean up the 30 jars of soup I had canned last week. One batch had a bit of siphoning - not even enough to really show that the level was down inside the jar but there was LOTS of grease on the jars so I got those all cleaned up. Thankfully, the ground beef jars aren't greasy at all. Tomorrow I will remove the lids, wipe them down but that will be an easy job, and get them on the shelves.

August 16, 2026 - The Next Blackbird Academy Project - Come Into My Garden

I've already written about this project, Come Into My Garden by Blackbird Designs, but I am so excited to get to start it.  The September project should be something with a bird and Come Into My Garden has a bird!

The linen is Sassenach by Fabrics by Steph and just look at these gorgeous floss colors.  The floss is the called for floss - all Weeks Dyeworks.

Today is a leftovers for lunch day and I hope to get at least 400 stitches made today.

Last night it was about midnight when I finished Christmas Rose. I immediately got up, took it off the stitching frame and pulled the frames I might use to fully finish it. By then it was almost 1 a.m. but I grabbed the bag that contained Come Into My Garden, the floss and the linen and even though I knew I needed to get to bed, I went ahead and put the linen on the scroll frame, and I actually sat down and thought about stitching but then I said no . . NO!! So, this morning I finally get to start Come Into My Garden!

August 16, 2026 - Cross Stitching - Christmas Rose is Finished!

 Last night I finished Christmas Rose. This is my first project for Blackbird Academy. 

It was late last night when I finished it and the photos are kinda blown out with the lighting in the basement. I had already grabbed a few frames to see if anything I have here might work.

I'll just number them so if anyone wants to let me know what frame you like best, just tell me the number (or  you can tell me anything you want to tell me!)  :)

No. 1.

I like my pieces framed a bit tighter but these are standard 8 x 10 frames and since it's a piece that won't be out all year, I figured this size would work since any custom frame is going to be at least $50. And, once it's laced and pulled a bit tighter, I don't think the space on the sides will be quite so wide. But, I could change my mind. Here are a few other options. Any thoughts (on the specific frame or the spacing)?

No. 2.

No. 3.

No. 4.

No. 5.

I pretty much like all of them but I feel like #2 might be kinda wide. I think this is the order in which I like them:  1, 3, 4, 5, 2. Help me please!!  :)

For anyone who isn't familiar with Blackbird Academy and may want to join, there's a Facebook group, Blackbird Academy SAL, with over 2,000 members and quite a bit of fun activity there. The project is the brainchild of Holly Jones (Mrs. Jones Stitches) and Leah (The Blooming Stitcher). Both are fun flosstubers so please take a look at their videos if you're a stitcher.

August 16, 2026 - It's SO hot and SO dry!

 I haven't kept up with it but I believe our temps have been above 100 at least since August 1. I don't think we've had rain is about two months. Fall cannot get here quickly enough to suit me.

Please ignore that my weather station seems to be a day off. Today is Saturday, August 15. Maybe the weather station is also anxious for August to end. I will fix it today -- no telling how long it's been off.

Today (Saturday - I started this post yesterday and never finished it!):

Yesterday:

Friday:

The good news is that the basement stays cool, even with the A/C set on 76. The thermostat is upstairs and yes, 76 can get a bit warm up there if I'm cooking but 66 in the basement is cold for me. We stay in the basement (it's a walkout); TV is down here, cross stitching and dongs are down here. 

I usually end up opening a window for a while. Today it's 68 in the basement because (1) I have a window open a bit and (2) I had been cooking upstairs and with the stove going and the thermostat on 76, it got I down to 63 in the basement so the thermostat got changed to 78.  I don't like doing that because it takes forever to bring the temp back down and that's hard on the a/c unit - that's what Vince tells me anyway, but 63 is TOO cold!

The weatherman said today that we likely have 10 - 12 more days of this heat. I'm pretty sure we've been over 100 for at least 30 days and it's been probably two months or longer since we had a drop of rain.

On the local FB groups, there's been so much talk of the high electric bills. Some people in small homes are having bills (one month) over $1,000. I know so much goes into the amount of electricity used - things we can control but a lot that people can't control - homes that aren't insulated, leaky windows, etc. I was nervous about seeing our bill. It was posted this morning and it was not bad at all. Not funny but it made me chuckle - our water bill was more (quite a bit more) than our electric bill. Not sure that's ever happened and definitely not sure the amount of produce I'm growing right now was worth the cost of that much water. I suppose the squash bugs appreciate the water and the squash plants they're ruining!  :(

The experts say this has happened before (this many days without rain and temps above 100) but never when we've lived in this area, which has been 10 years between the first time and this time.

To say I am ready for fall and then some snow would be an understatement!

August 14, 2026 - Azure Pickup

Today was our Azure pickup. Going to the Azure pickup is so different from going to the grocery store. Pretty much everyone there buys like I buy, cooks mostly from scratch, cans, has a garden. Everyone seems so excited with what they're getting - it's just a fun experience.

This week (we get deliveries once a month), I got the following. For anything "weird", I will explain why I got what I got. Canning jars were on sale last month and there must have been over 100 cases of jars that were delivered to our drop location and I think there were only about 15 people who ordered this month! Azure's jars are SO much better, in my opinion. They can be ordered with lids and rings or without lids and rings. I have plenty of lids and rings but I go through a lot of lids and rings often have to be tossed. It's cost effective to get the jars WITH the lids and rings because it's more to buy them separately but I don't mind buying them without lids and rings. When there's a sale, they often will sell out so if there's a size jars I NEED, I will order them with lids and rings and without lids and rings and I hope I get one or the other and then sometimes, I get both but I never complain about extra jars!

• Pint jars - wide mouth with bands and lids - 4 boxes (12 each)
• Quart jars - wide mouth without bands and lids - 4 boxes (12 each)
• E-cloth Dust Wand
• Honey - Raw, clover - 12 pounds
• Raw Apple Cider Vinegar, organic, gallon jug - 2
• Organic Green Lentils, dried - 36 ounce bags - 4
• Stain & Odor Eliminator - lavender - 1 gallon
• Desert Essence Coconut Shampoo
• Desert Essence Coconut Conditioner
• Desert Essence Coconut Defrizzer and Heat Protector
• Once Again Nut Butter - Sunflower Butter - 16 oz. x 6
• Safe Catch Skipjack Wild Tuna Steak - 5 oz. cans x 3
• Azure Homestyle Flour Tortillas 10" - 24 pack x 3
• Azure Market Whole Milk Mozzarella Cheese - 6 pounds x 2
• Peanut Butter - Organic, no salt added - 16 oz. jar x 3
• Paprika Powder, Smoked, Organic - 1 pound
• Thyme Leaves, Organic, Fine Cut - 1 pound
• Black Pepper, Organic, Ground - 1 pound
• Baking Powder, Organic - 1 pound
• Ceylon Cinnamon, Organic, Ground - 1 pound

That's it for this month.  Here's a bit more explanation on some of the items:

Raw Apple Cider Vinegar - one thing I will get done today is make fire cider. I've made the same recipe for 10 or more years. I'm going to make the same recipe but I'm also going to try a couple other recipes from this book.

The green lentils - I want to cook more lentils. They're good for you and quick to cook so I'm going to do my best to cook them at least once a week.

The stain and odor eliminator is something I use when washing dog bedding and sometimes in Vince's clothes if he's been working outside.

The skipjack tuna - I've never tried it but have wanted to so we're going to have tuna salad roll ups today for lunch and use the tortillas I got today.

The mozzarella cheese - I will grate some of it, vacuum seal it in 2 cup portions and freeze it. I will cut the rest into about 3" sections, vacuum seal those and freeze them also.

The spices are just to have on hand because those are the ones I'm almost out of. I will put about 4 oz. of each one into the small jelly jars, put the rest into pint or quart jars, vacuum seal them and keep them in the coldest, darkest area of the basement.

That's about it for this month's Azure haul. I will probably place an order next month but then won't place an order again until probably April. We don't drive at dark and it's about a 35 minute trip to our pickup location. Then there's the snow and ice, not only that we have to drive through but the delivery trucks (18 wheelers) can get delayed because of the weather. This past winter we had a pickup that ended up being after 8 p.m. and the wind chill was below zero with snow on the ground so whatever we need, we'll get it next month or we'll buy it local or do without!

August 13, 2026 - Slow Cooker Chicken with Feta and Basil

 You know how I'm always seeing little hidden meanings or messages in things - some things. There are things I can't seem to find any meaning or reasoning to sometimes. Today I was re-arranging (actually - cleaning!) a spot and there was the cutest Dachshund bag that Denise had sent me a couple of years ago. More tears! More questioning WHY!!

The other day I had stuck my favorite canning book over on top of the cookbooks on my bookshelf. I had two packages of chicken breasts - 8 breasts per package. I had hoped to can 8 chicken breasts today (which usually fills 10 quart jars with a chicken meal) and 8 tomorrow and be done with chicken canning for a while. I just wasn't in the mood to can today but . . duty calls and I have to get it done.

I went to grab the canning book this morning, turned around to say something to Vince, thought I was grabbing the canning book, got upstairs and realized I had grabbed this book.

I figured that meant I should make something in the slow cooker today. 

For years, I followed Stephanie O'Dea's blog and she has the best slow cooker recipes. You might be able to see all the little slivers of paper towels in this book where I marked recipes I wanted to make. It's probably been 6 or 8 years since I opened this book so I had no idea what recipes were marked.

The first one I flipped to was Basil Chicken with Feta. I had breasts and the recipe called for thighs so I just split the breasts lengthwise so they wouldn't be so thick. I had everything else. I got the olives out to slice and thought . . no, I have Boscoli in the fridge . . I can use that so I scooped out 1/2 cup of the olive salad. Done! No slicing olives today. I'm actually out of home canned garbanzo beans so I had to use a can of storebought garbanzo beans from the pantry. That means I need to can at least 24 pints of the beans before winter. Told you - a canner's work is never done! :)

Vince walked by the slow cooker after I had taken the lid off and he said "That looks like something from a restaurant!" Yay!! I served it over linguine with a bit of grated parmesan cheese. 

It was delicious!

There was enough left to make two more meals. One went into the freezer and one went into the fridge and we'll have that Saturday.

Here's my system where I'm trying to keep track of the "ready to eat" foods that are in the fridge and freezer.

This is the fridge where the leftovers go. Obviously I didn't know today's date! I'm starting with a clean slate. Today was trash pickup day so anything that had been in there longer than I feel is ok . . that was discarded. There is some leftover pizza in there but it doesn't usually go on the list because we never forget there's pizza in the fridge.

This is the dry erase sheet that's on the freezer. For this one . . obviously I can't write straight!  :)

I try to end every month with at least six meals in the freezer. That gives us about a week of eating out of the freezer. The first week of each month is "eat out of the freezer week". The third week of the month is "eat out of jars week" so really, I only have to cook complete meals for two weeks each month.

Maybe I can get more stitching done next week than I've done this week!