Robin's Hood - Lunch at Red Robin

I'm happy to report that we have three healthy baby robins.

And they are hungry. All the time.

Robin the robin leaves the nest to feed the little hobgoblin robins every 10-15 minutes. The minute she comes back to the nest, they pop right up with their little beaks ready and waiting.

Robert the robin has also been visiting the nest and helping Robin out.

He's a little bit of a nest hog.

But at least he brings food when he comes.

And it's nice to see that he takes a hand (or beak) in helping care for the little hobgoblin robins.

Robin's Hood

I had a thought all ready to post this morning complaining about how Robin the robin has taken over our deck and we can't sit outside and enjoy the nice weather and we can't cook on the grill.

But then this happened.

How can I be mad at a new mother?

Flat Stanley Goes to the Hospital

Monday was a big day for Flat Stanley. He got to go to the hospital with Vern. He even had some x-rays taken and got a cool stethoscope that he's going to bring back to share with the class as a souvenir.

Welcome Back Old Friend

Oh, how I have missed you.

Speaking of welcoming back old friends, our good friend Jesse (who helped us build our deck last fall) is moving from Louisiana to Indiana this week. He'll only be a couple of hours away from us, so we hope to see more of him. Well, not exactly "more" as in "I'd love to see more of him *wink* *wink*" but rather as in "We hope to see him more OFTEN."

Because the other way is just wrong.

I'd Love to Share Our Good News With You!

Unfortunately, we don't have any.

Vern's surgery today was, yet again, unsuccessful.

The doctor and the radiologist worked for hours to gain access into the kidney but were simply unable to because of the size of the stone. The stone is impacted so tightly in his kidney that there is absolutely no room for the insertion of the necessary tubes and tools to remove it.

So he is home again and waiting for the next effort. The current plan is two-fold. Vern is going to return to the hospital over the next two weeks for insertion of a series of tubes, each one larger than the last, until the entry into his kidney is large enough for the doctor to reach in with his fist and haul out the stone (okay, not really quite that large, but you get the idea.)

The other step is that the doctor is going to consult with the various university hospitals in Chicago to see if they have input into the situation and it is possible that we may have to transfer his care to one of those facilities.

Meanwhile, he has returned home with a series of tubes, bags, and drugs.

This sucks rocks. Literally.

(We would like to thank our friends and Vern's coworkers who have called to check on him and offer help. Your calls and support have meant a lot.)

Overachiever

I don't know whether I'm an overachiever or just hopelessly out of touch with reality. But when it comes to projects, it's a classic case of "my eyes are bigger than my stomach." Or rather "my big ideas are greater than my time and talent."

Regardless, I've got a few things on my needles - both the knitting needles and the sewing machine needles.


First I should probably introduce you to JoAnn. She'll be my stand in for those bloated and bad hair days. You'll probably see a lot of her.



My first project is one that is from Interweave Knits magazine and is called the Bonsai Tunic.

This is what it should look like when it's done.



I have most of the back completed so far, and I'm hoping to finish this by the end of May.

(JoAnn looks like she needs to lose some weight - her butt looks a little big in this sweater.)

I love this little vest because it can be worn with a short or long sleeve shirt underneath it so it should span pretty well across the seasons. It is also my first attempt at charted knitting, so now I'm one step closer to being a "real Knitter." With a capital K. (I did take quite a bit of teasing from Vern for making it in almost the exact same color as the model in the magazine. What can I say? It looks good in that color. . . ).

A couple of knitting projects that I'm dying to start are the Waterlily Top (also from Interweave)

and the Soleil tank top from Knitty.com.

On the sewing side of things, I'm doing a Trash the Stash project and plan to use, sell, or otherwise eliminate all of my fabric stash. I have my fabrics divided into summer and winter fabrics, so I'm working on the summer fabrics right now. I figure if I use it all up, I can buy more of the new fabrics out there and actually have room for it! My goal is to use it with patterns that I already have or that I find online so that I don't have to buy more "stuff" in order to get rid of the old stuff.

The sewing projects are mostly quick projects, so I'm actually hoping to have all of them completed by the end of this month also.

The first project is to make an apron out of this vintage tablecloth. I'm planning to use a pattern from In Stitches by Amy Butler. I love wearing aprons - they make me feel all Holly Homemaker.

I'm also going to participate in a sew-along from Sew Mama Sew and make a vintage style smock.

This is a 3-week long sew along, so I'm going to try to do a little each week as it is presented. It's a pretty easy pattern, so I shouldn't have any problem keeping up with this one. I've got a couple of cute fabrics in my stash that I have in mind for this.

(Gee, with all the apron/smock talk, you would think that I cook and clean a lot. Not true. I just like to look like I do.)

Finally, I ran across a super easy tunic in the most recent issue of Threads. It's simply made from rectangles. I'm going to make it in a basic black stretch fabric so that I can wear it with all my t-shirts this summer. This one should whip up in no time.

Whew. I'm tired already and I haven't even cleaned up my sewing room so that I can get started.

If you don't hear from me for a few days, send help. Or Martha Stewart.

Get Your Kicks On Route 66

Today we took Flat Stanley on a little trip along the road that they call the "Mother Road" - Route 66.

Here are some interesting facts about Route 66:

• It goes from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California


• It crosses 8 states and 3 time zones


• It is 2,448 miles long


• You can no longer drive the entire 2,448 miles of Route 66. Parts of it have been replaced by major highways.

Route 66 has many famous landmarks. We are lucky to have two of them in our area, and today we visited them with Flat Stanley.

The first one is a set of 3 statues named Polly, Jolly and Johnny. They are in Braidwood, Illinois and show their support for American Troops.

The other landmark we visited is much more famous. He is the Gemini Giant.

He is over 20 feet tall and is so famous that he is featured in lots of books about Route 66 and roadside America. He cost $3500 when he was purchased in 1965 and it took two big trucks to get him from California to the Launching Pad Restaurant in Wilmington, IL.

Stanley really enjoyed his trip down historic Route 66!

Laundry Day with Flat Stanley

Today Flat Stanley helped with laundry.

Sort of.


I had to explain to him a couple of times that the washing machine was not like a ride at the fair and that it wasn't safe for him to get inside of it.

After we got that all worked out, everything was fine.

Maybe when he gets home, he can help Scout's mom do the laundry. I hear she has a lot of it.

Mission "Hurry Up and Wait"

Vern's surgery, which was scheduled for tomorrow, has been rescheduled to next week.

They didn't really say why, but I have my suspicions.

We Have Had a MIRACLE!

Vern found something in the refrigerator.

By himself.

Flat Stanley Gets a Check Up

Today Flat Stanley went to the doctor for a check up. He was a little worried that he might have to get a shot, but the doctor gave him an exam and said that he was in perfect health!

He did have to explain to the doctor how he got so flat since the doctor had never seen anyone THAT flat before.

A Letter Home on Cinco de Mayo

Today I let Flat Stanley use my computer.

And we had a special dinner out in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! (Anyone notice the significance of our table number?)

I'm happy to report that Flat Stanley is now Not So Flat Stanley after he ate 10 tacos and had fried ice cream for dessert.

Sneak a Peek

We haven't been getting a lot of work done on the house lately but we've been pecking at a few things a little at a time and made a little progress.

Here's an unfinished idea of what the floor is going to look like. We only have this small section completed, and it isn't grouted yet. We'll be using a dark grout because let's just be honest here - I'm not going to be scrubbing a light colored grout to keep it that way. Been there, done that . . . I'm too old for that shit.

And here's a peek at the tile that we are considering as part of our backsplash. This would just be the accent strip (about 3" wide) with a neutral background. We haven't made a final decision, but I wanted to bring some amber and red into the kitchen for a splash of color since everything else is so neutral, and this works perfectly with what I had in mind.

Now, if we can just actually get a wrap on a few things before Vern has his next surgery on Thursday (May 8), I'll be a happy camper.

Want to See My Buns?

This is not a cooking blog, although you wouldn't know it by this and the previous post. I'm definitely not the best cook out there (okay, I can hear my family laughing about THAT one!), nor am I the neatest cook, which seems to be a requirement for a cooking blog. Also, I don't actually have a kitchen right now, so that probably would be a fairly good thing too if you wanted to have a cooking blog.


Sometimes I occasionally run across a recipe that I want to share. And sometimes I don't have anything else interesting to say. Today, it's a little of one and a lot of the other (I'll let you decide.)


It was a beautiful day today, just right for grilling out, and I picked up some fantastic ground round yesterday at our local grocery, so we decided to make hamburgers. However, I forgot to pick up buns and didn't want to make another hour trip back and forth to town to buy them, so I scoured the internet (okay, not really - I just Googled it), and came up with this recipe.


Holy Hannah These Are Good Hamburger Buns!

1 1/4 cups milk, slightly warmed
1 beaten egg
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 cups bread flour (I used All Purpose flour because that's what I had on hand)
1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
Directions

Place all ingredients in pan of bread machine according to manufacturer's directions.

Select dough setting.

When cycle is complete, turn out onto floured surface.

Cut dough in half and roll each half out to a 1" thick circle.


Cut each half into six 3 1/2" rounds with inverted glass or a round biscuit or cookie cutter.


Place on greased baking sheet far apart and brush with melted butter.

Cover and let rise until doubled, about one hour.

Bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.


That's it. Super easy and made with ingredients that are almost always on hand.


As you can see, after I rolled and cut my buns, they weren't especially pretty (I bypassed the "brush with melted butter" step)



After the rise, they looked much smoother (gosh I love my new oven and it's "bread proofing" setting, but if you don't have that on your oven, you can cover them and put them in a warm place to rise)


I brushed them with an egg white wash and sprinkled them with poppy seeds.


Ready for the burgers! Seriously, you have no idea how good these babies were.


And since this isn't a cooking blog and yet I'm still talking about cooking, I might as well add the recipe for the seasoning mix I used on my hamburgers. It's a copycat recipe for Fuddrucker's.

Fuddrucker's Hamburger Seasoning

2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle on hamburger patties before cooking.

Don't be stingy with this - sprinkle it on and then sprinkle more on. And then a little more for good measure.

I like to make up several servings of this and keep it in a spice jar so that it's ready to use the next time we have burgers.

My husband calls me a kitchen goddess. I say it's more like a goddess without a kitchen.

It's So Easy, It's Almost Embarrassing

Cool Whip.

Graham crackers.



Spread thick or thin.


Freeze.


See? I told you. So easy it's embarrassing.

But if you are feeling adventurous, go for the gusto and mix it up a little with chocolate or cinnamon graham crackers and different flavors of Cool Whip.



I think even Vern could make these.

If he didn't, you know, have me around to do those kinds of things for him.

P.S. No jokes please about why I have all this Cool Whip on hand.

We Got a Surprise Visitor Today

Imagine our surprise when we opened our mailbox today and found this!

Our niece, Scout, sent Flat Stanley to stay with us for two weeks, but I think he's planning to stay longer from the size of his suitcase!

The first thing we had to do was get a scarf for Flat Stanley since it was really cold here today.

Then Flat Stanley went to Lowes with us. He looks like he is pretty warm in his scarf, but he wanted to go inside and shop with us anyway.

Later, we went to Kohls. Flat Stanley helped us buy some silverware, but he's a pretty smart shopper because he used some coupons.

Flat Stanley was pretty tired after his trip here all the way from Wyoming, so he's resting up now because we have a lot of adventures planned for him.

Robin's Hood - Day 3

Another hard day of labor by Robin the robin.

Office Space

Look! My new office has walls.

Sort of.

Organize Yourself

And then I woke up.

We're working on a major decluttering project in preparation for a large garage sale later this summer. Having moved from a much larger house into a small home, we just have too much stuff. We've had a couple of sales since we moved here, getting rid of the large stuff, but there was a lot of the stuff that we "justified" keeping. The reasons varied from "someone gave it to us" to "we paid a lot of money for it." Sometimes we justified it because we actually did have room for it.

However, after reading Peter Walsh's book, "It's All Too Much" (Vern just finished reading it too), we realize that just because it was a gift, it cost a lot, or we have the physical room for it, it is not always something that we need in our life, especially if it doesn't help us achieve what we want for our lives.

For example, the pile of organizing books.

I had them neatly organized and categorized on our bookshelves. However, after dusting them for the 10,000th time (it's really dusty here in farm country), I'm just frankly sick of them. Not one of them has magically organized my house or even given me the motivation to do the job myself. Not only that, not one of them has even had one bit of information or one new idea that I didn't already know.

So I had to ask myself - WWPD? (What Would Peter Do)

Peter would say "get rid of all of them. . . except mine of course."

And so that's what I'm doing. Some are being sent off to Powells and others are going in the garage sale.

Except for Peter. Peter can stay.

Robin's Hood - Day 2

And the count is now two eggs!

A quick Google search tells us that robins only lay one egg per day and that they usually have four or five eggs in the first laying of the season (which we believe this probably is since it's so early in the spring). It then takes another 12 to 14 days for the chicks to hatch.

So stay tuned.