Haute Cuisine

Here's my latest creation.....hot off the griddle. I think I'll call him Spud.

He has separately attached ears and bendable fingers--both firsts for me. I thought he (like me) might need some specs for reading recipes. And he should be able to get a good grip on his whisk for mashing all of those potatoes.

Spud has big hands--with pipe cleaners in the fingers to make them bendable. Kinda makes me think of Sister Mary and her ruler. Spud is a real stickler for order in his kitchen.

After I sewed his hair on I decided he'd be more whimsical with a bad-hair-day look so I frizzed some of it out. You know how steamy kitchens can be.

Then I pondered a shoe solution. Sneakers? White loafers? Bunny slippers? Finally I decided he'd look really silly in black patent dress shoes with orange striped socks. After all, silly is frequently my bottom line.
Things are certainly smelling divine here in the Treehouse. I love a chef who's liberal with the garlic and wine.

Maybe I'll invite the men over for lunch.

Notes from the kitchen

While the potatoes simmer, I thought I'd show you what else is going on around the Treehouse.

Work started bright and early Monday morning on the building next door. The construction guys are now working at Treehouse level, so I've been able to share my dollmaking progress. They had nothing but thumbs up for the red hat lady. I've been reluctant to share the bawdy one. I fear work might come to a halt.

Mr. Gadget, who likes to keep track of everything that is keep-trackable, was reporting the daily start times of the hard-working crew (7:05, 7:14, 7:08, etc.) until I finally told him I had no need for this information. I did note a start-time of 6:47 yesterday morning though. Just saying.

So I was looking through my cookbooks recently and saw this treasure sitting on the shelf.

I know a real treasure when I see one. It's usually something held together with rubber bands (removed for the photo op). This belonged to my mother, and it's filled with little recipe snippets--many cut from magazines and newspapers, and several handwritten by family and friends.

Sadly, most of the contributors didn't sign their submissions, so I've had to do some detective work. This one is dear ol' dad's. There's no mistaking his neat, precise printing--a quality so important in his work as an architect.

There's not much debate about this one either. Grandma Ferna I'm pretty sure. Maybe one of my dear cousins will confirm. I don't remember sampling any of these corn flake cookies though. She may have been more like me--a recipe collector, and not so much a recipe tryer-outer.

This one is trickier. It's typed, so there are no handwriting hints. And it's on an envelope with several typos. My mother was a secretary and an excellent typist, so it's probably not hers. But it is one she made often--usually at Christmas.

This is my sister's handwriting, although I'm quite surprised to see it since I can't remember her ever cooking. Maybe that collector thing runs in our family.

Thank goodness for Aunt Millie. She recognized the importance of signing her recipes for posterity. She deserves to be honored for her thoughtfulness, so maybe I'll make her pickled cucumbers. Why couldn't Aunt Millie have been thoughtful enough to sign her recipe for chocolate cake I wonder....

Look who dropped by

A red hat lady.....just completed this afternoon. She went together very quickly because I already had some of her parts on hand.

I strung the pearl necklace from craft-store beads; the earrings were a dollar-store find. My supply of this inexpensive jewelry is dwindling fast. I think they're on to me. They've raised their prices, and in some cases discontinued carrying it altogether.

I used my new shoe-decoration idea. Unfortunately, the top foot has some tea-dye splotches. I might make a replacement since a potential buyer could view this as a flaw. Then again, maybe I'll just write a note on the tag saying she spilled her coffee while watching her favorite soaps. Yeah, that's the ticket.

The clay witch project sits as I ponder what to do next. She's looking a little bawdy, shall we say. I need to either do some serious sanding, or just throw caution to the wind and add more clay.

What's cookin' next in the Treehouse? Potatoes. I'll hold the gravy.

Shifty business

I finished another doll yesterday, and I guess I should put her next to the nun--in keeping with the proper pecking order here in the Treehouse. And I suppose I should keep them both close to me in hopes that some of their goodness will rub off. On second thought, maybe just the angel. Sister Mary Rebellious might have a ruler up her sleeve.
I'm pleased with the shoe decorations--a new design and a fairly simple one.
I made a small template and drew around it on the wrong side of the peach fabric. On doubled fabric and with right sides together I sewed the two layers together, clipped, turned, hand-gathered it in the middle and finally stitched a few beads on. Shoe embellishments are always a dilemma, and I'm happy to have found an easy solution.

Here's a close-up of her hand-crocheted collar. A few years ago, I got on a crochet kick and made a bunch.



It's certainly handy to have one at-the-ready.

I've shared here before that it was my Grandma Ferna who taught me how to crochet. I'm pretty sure she was the original Queen of Crochet. She never left home without her little silver crochet hook and a ball of thread tucked securely in her purse. I remember how awkward I felt in the beginning. My fingers just wouldn't cooperate and many times I was ready to give up. But she assured me I could master it if I just perservered.

The wife of my dad's cousin gave me similar advice when I got my first car.



"I'm never gonna figure out this shifting business," I said one day in her presence.

"Just keep practicing," she told me, "and pretty soon you'll feel like you're wearing it."

She was right, of course. Good thing for me it was one-size-fits-all.

Pigeonholing

The other day Mr. Gadget and I were discussing our handicrafts. These would include his woodworking projects, and my dolls, clay figures, and what not. He was expressing disappointment that some of his creations seem destined for the scrap heap. I assured him that he need not be disappointed in any of his pieces and that I had an excellent system for classifying all things handmade.

If something comes out a little crude, coarse, elementary or unsophisticated, it's classified as primitive.

If it turns out lopsided, disproportional, preposterous or freakish--to the extent of appearing to levitate--it falls under the heading of whimsical.

And if neither of these two pigeon holes seem appropriate, I told Mr. Gadget not to fret. It becomes known as folk art. In a hundred years or so, it will appear on the Antiques Roadshow and be worth $$$.

Engineering marvel

I've mastered the bird legs. I've successfully attached them to the body. I even managed to convince him to stand upright. I think I'm ready to build bridges.

He just needs a little more sanding and then he'll be ready for coloring. Too bad I didn't save the Easter egg dye. Does Crayola still make crayons in robin red breast and robin gray wings? What? They never made those colors? I coulda sworn....

Here's my next project. It's a witch, but you probably already figured that out. Good thing I'm not in a hurry. Witches have lots of parts and it's going to take me a while to figure out where they all go.

My clay figures are not pretty in their infancy. I start with styrofoam and wire, and plenty of aluminum foil. Clay adheres well to foil. Any little things you can cobble together and cover with foil will work fine for a skeleton. All will be well-hidden once she's dressed in a glitzy get-up--you know, unsightly veins, love handles and cellulite.

Which reminds me. I'm back on Weight Watchers and making good progress. Mr. Gadget has graciously agreed to be my love handle-o-meter. I'll watch the scale, and he'll monitor the love handles. He says it's a tough job, but an important job. And now that he's retired, he assures me he has plenty of time.

Birds

I've decided to take a little break from fabric and venture back into clay. I'm making birds.

I had small, whimsical birds in mind--in primary colors--that would make a pleasant arrangement on the mantel. But clay can be finicky and unpredictable sometimes. What you had in mind isn't always what you end up with. I think I've got a robin here--a chubby little guy who will need to stand alone. And, darn it, he's going to require a more challenging paint job than just red, blue or yellow.

He's probably going to need sturdier legs than these--my first attempt at bending and twisting wire into bird feet.

Maybe I'll just add them to the curio thingie. They'll be an interesting conversation piece if nothing else.

In other birdish news.....on Sunday I spotted a momma duck and her 8 little ducklings parading along in front of a neighbor's garage. Mr. Gadget, in his excitement, closed in a little too closely with his camera and forced momma to take flight at full squawk. I warned him to take cover as she circled overhead.

See the babies over to the left by the sprinkler head? This cute little huddle of ducklings--all squeaking harmoniously--made their way across the next driveway and headed toward the river. And I'm happy to report momma soon caught up.

I'm out of bird stories for now, unless you want me to talk about the chicken I cooked for dinner last night. It was very juicy and tasty, and there are leftovers for tonight. Most of you know I'm a fan of chickens. I've stitched a few in my time. Just so you know, it wasn't one from my collection. And for those of you who might be entertaining evil thoughts......no, it was NOT a duck....

Card shark

Last night I went to a cardmaking workshop at the local library. I wasn't planning to attend until the library sent out a second notice saying there were still spaces available. It would do me good, I decided, to get out of the house for something other than grocery shopping and medical appointments.

I spent the first part of the two-hour workshop walking around aimlessly, looking at sample books and cardmaking supplies that were pleasantly displayed on long tables. Where was the teacher, I wondered, who was going to show us the ins and outs of cardmaking? Soon I figured out there wasn't one, but the children's librarian--who had cardmaking experience and, who knows, maybe even finger painting-- would be on hand to help if we had questions. I continued circling and chipmunking--and briefly considered returning home to watch a baseball game instead--and finally decided maybe I'd just dive in.

I passed on the op to make an actual greeting card and decided instead to make gift tags. I ignored the silly-edged scissors and the embossing gadgets. After all, I'm a simple-minded gal. And after all that chipmunking, I had to do something on the quick. I'm still in the process of coloring the ladybugs. They'll all be red except for that one rebel. It'll be the perfect tag for one of my friends in particular. On the inside, I'll write: "You are weird," I mean, "You are special."

In other news, I finished Lois.

Here's a close-up of her feet:

Next up on the sewing table is an angel, and then maybe a bee. I'm still feeling a little buggy.

And speaking of cards, Porch Poker Lady definitely has the better hand this year. I'm so far out of her league, I've decided not even to play. No one would ever mistake me for a card shark. I'm more of a card guppy. I hope I never end up like my late father-in-law who was such a sore loser--or so I've heard---that he'd routinely tear up his cards and stomp out the door.

Remembering

I love these little clips. I keep them in the Treehouse to help me remember stuff.

Sometimes it's just the routine stuff.

Other times....well.....they help to jog my short-term memory. I'm getting older, you know. Come to think of it, my short-term memory wasn't all that good when I was younger either.

Too bad I didn't have these helpful little clips when I REALLY needed them.

And lookee here! Someone got her wings:

Here are the particulars. I had a scrap of greenish frog fabric that seemed to complement the other colors nicely. I used one strand of embroidery floss and a running stitch for the wing swirls. I wired the wings so they would keep their shape and stand up nicely. This is my first attempt at wing-wiring and it seems to be working fine....so far. Let's just hope she doesn't get a notion to try them out.

Going buggy

Moving on, I've shifted my focus to flying insects. This ladybug (who told me her name is Lois) is still in process, and I feared she might be headed for a time-out while I pondered accessories. What is it about ladybugs? They like to taunt me.
Fairly quickly I hit upon this idea for the collar. Ladybugs can make quite a fashion statement with polka dots and tulle. And now I'll stew over the wing issue which is always a challenge because just what color are ladybug wings anyway?

I'm sure I'll come up with something. In the meantime, gotta run. Tech Guy and Big City Girl are enroute.

Making light of it

Uncle Sam is finished and taking a short break from his post on the table in our entryway.

One of the things I like best about this doll style is that they can be posed in a variety of ways....pigeon-toed, a dainty little ankle-cross, or a more manly look with a foot over a knee. The half-pound of weighted pellets in the nether regions gives them a nice, firm base. And with a good foundation, a doll can have an attitude. Like this, for instance:

("That sty is sooo not my style!")

Or this: ("Where's that martini I ordered?")

Or this one:

("You think it's easy flying around the yard all day?")

I'm pleased with Uncle Sam's hat.

It's made from a medium-weight cotton and painted. I love the whole idea of primitive because nothing has to be precise. Like those stripes, for instance. Sometimes I achieve this primitive effect from painting in the almost-dark because I can't be bothered to get up and turn on the light. If I'm lucky, I finish before Mr. Gadget goes on his evening lamp patrol. He's ever-vigilant in his quest to light up my life.