Penny Sanford Designs

"Peeling, Slicing and Cleaning Tomatoes fresh from the Garden"

Here is some footage I shot of Penny during this canning season. She and her Uncle Charles (age 83) have been happily making preserves and Penny has been absorbing as much as she can about the various ways one can preserve tomatoes, pears, etc... A big hit has also been something new, one of Penny's blog friends translated a new delicacy to english and Penny was eager to try it. What was this new sensation you may ask? Tomato Jam! Neither had heard of it before but upon further examination, both love it and Mr. Charles has been proudly giving away some of it and has had great feedback from all. Another delicacy they both have enjoyed is chestnut jam. Penny loves it! Mr. Charles had been picking chestnuts off the ground each morning, which had fallen from the tree here on the farm. I've even helped pick them from the prickly hull in which they grow. We hope you enjoy and would love to hear what you think. Gordon

Cooking with Ghosts

I felt them today. The ghosts of my mother, my grandmother, my great-grandmother, and my great-great grandmother. Women who have cooked for their families on this farm, established in 1837 by my great-great-great grandfather James C. Hamer.

Gordon and Unc had gone to town to run a few errands, and I was alone in the kitchen ...probably alone on the whole farm. 

I was cooking Southern fried chicken in Grandma's cast iron skillet and watching a pot of pink eye purple hull peas, also prepared the same way I had watched Grandma prepare it. A third very large stock pot held a bubbling cauldron of cherry tomatoes simmering their way to becoming Tomato Jam.

The washing machine was making churning sounds. The dryer was making tumbling sounds. The chicken was making sizzling sounds. The peas and tomato jam were making bubbling and gurgling sounds, respectively. The air conditioner and the refrigerator whirred in their harmonious tones.

Across the kitchen floor stretched three sleeping black and tan English Shepherds. I could not see the Westies because three of them were curled up under my chair as I sat and stirred the tomatoes and nudged the chicken. (I think Charlotte was sleeping on the dirty clothes waiting in line for their spin around the washer.)

Jenny B was curled up between my ankles, her cold nose snuffling my leg from time to time to let me know she was there and would appreciate a dropped piece of whatever food I was working with. Annie did that. I adore the subtle movement of the soft fur against my skin and the occasional cold nose kiss.

With all of that noisy silence...that rare slice of solitude, I could actually let my mind wander where it wanted.

First came awareness of the sounds. The churning, tumbling, sizzling, bubbling, gurgling and whirring sounds separated from their harmonious composition into calming individual sounds. The sounds and the smells began to trigger the memories.

Memories of watching Grandma sit on her high stool in her kitchen frying chicken as I stood as close as she would let me inch toward to the spitting cast iron skillet that held her fabulous Southern Fried Chicken. The same cast iron skillet that I was using today.

The melody of the sounds and smells my chicken was singing could have been from the same sheet music Grandma had used in her kitchen performance. One might only detect a few nuances of timing or emphasis if one could compare our Southern Fried Chicken performances in side by side recordings.

I could almost see her showing me how to find the joint as she taught me how to cut up a chicken. I must have been young because I don't remember her letting me use the knife to replicate her actions more than one time.

Mama used an electric skillet instead of a cast iron skillet, but I'm sure she joined the chorus of reminders, "check the chicken.....turn the chicken....better check the chicken....." that repeated in my head as I stirred the tomato jam and fed the hungry twin laundry lions.

My high school Home Economics teacher, Mrs. Henri Sue Kennard, entered my head as I added bleach to the sink of hot soapy water and as I washed up the dirty dishes as I cooked.  I learned so much from her, and I adored Mrs. Kennard! Her wash-as-you-cook discipline has followed me all of my life (so that one does not have a huge pile of dirty pots and pans to clean up after one has completed cooking).

But then the images in my mind switched back to Grandma's kitchen that had faced west. As I washed dishes for her when I was a child, the sunlight turned the soap suds into little exploding diamonds. I could see the view from the window above the sink and hear the mews of the perpetual litter of kittens on Grandma's back porch. I think I learned my love of washing dishes by hand because of Grandma's kitchen.

That deep bubbling pot of scarlet flesh from the cherry tomatoes resurrected memories of Mama canning vegetables and putting up preserves and making jelly.

The summer I read Ruth Sawyer's Daddles, a priceless story of a child's love of an abused dog, I was possessed to pick blackberries because the children of that book had gone blackberry picking with Daddles, the little beagle. Mama did can the blackberries we picked that year. My second dog was a beagle because of that book.

The gurgling tomato jam whispered pieces of stories I had been told about my great-grandmother, Alice Penelope Kelly, my namesake. She was a stellar example of Victorian Era home-making. Nothing ever went to waste, and considerable effort was expended in preserving ample stores of food for the branching family tree.

So there in my kitchen this afternoon, with only the dogs to share my breathing air, I felt the presence of these hard-working women, each a survivor of a unique set of life's challenges. I thought about the legacy each of them had left through food. I thought about the emotions conveyed through the generations via the language of their culinary preparations.

It was as if they were with me in that room today...in spirit...watching over my shoulder, reminding me to stir the tomato jam or the peas or turn the chicken. Mama was smiling with her beautiful smile at the empty and clean counters and my frequent trips to feed the Laundry Lions.

Grandma had a little tasting spoon out, blowing over the latest sample of the tomato jam. Mama Hamer was inspecting my re-organization of the cabinets and pantry and pursing her lips over the cabinets I have not yet reorganized. All the while, she kept a sly watch on what all the rest of us were doing...to be sure none of us were slacking!

Nannie Hightower Hamer, my great-great grandmother was not too vivid in today's visit. I was not told as many stories about her. I did sense a question about why I had her pink painted pie safe upstairs in the old farmhouse when it belonged in the kitchen. I may have to address how to use a naturally distressed original pink pie safe in my future white and yellow kitchen. *grin*

I found myself crying while stirring the tomato jam and nudging the sizzling chicken. These were not sad tears. They were tears of gratitude. They were tears of comfort. I was taking my place in the long line of women who loved their family through the language of food, and these ghosts approved.

The kitchen officially became MY kitchen this afternoon. The ghosts passed those rights to the kitchen to me during their visit this afternoon.

Gordon and Unc returned after the chicken was fried, after the peas were cooked tender and just before the tomato jam turned into a translucent rich scarlett red goo.

The dishes with which I had cooked were drying on towels on counters that had been wiped down with diluted bleech.

I had wrapped the home-made cookie ice cream sandwiches in wax paper to freeze and was in the process of re-filling the molds as Gordon and Unc walked into the kitchen.

When they returned, my fellas entered a house saturated in home cooking smells just as preceding generations of the men in my family had experience under this same roof.

I enjoyed cooking with the ghosts of my fore-mothers this afternoon. The exercise was purifying as if some bottled up emotions were given a chance to finally breathe and boil away into steam. I hope these ghosts will stay in my kitchen and will make their presence known often!

Doesn't Your Dentist Sell Tires in His Waiting Room?

Gordon's root canal was scheduled for 10 a.m. this morning.

However, at 10 a.m. this morning we were sitting in THIS waiting room.

This waiting room was cleaner than most medical waiting rooms I have been in. It smelled better, and Gordon could bring me an ice cold diet soda to sip on as I stitched! You can't do THAT in a doctor's waiting room (can you?).

So what happened?

We had not made it out of the county when a wreck on the highway just ahead of us dribbled debris on the highway that was impossible to miss. We had one blowout, right front tire, and one nail in the right back tire. Thankfully no one was hurt in that wreck that we just barely missed!

Poor Gordon tried and tried to get the bicycle-sized tire out from under the van. He called a friend to come help. One of the cops working the wreck finished and came to see how we were doing. HE could not figure out the secret combination for extracting that bicycle tire from under the van!

Have you ever tried getting one of those little emergency tires OUT in an emergency? I've NEVER had a vehicle yet where the bicycle tire could be removed without an expert...and when is an expert nearby in a real emergency? (The secret trick turned out to be easy as Gordon has now learned at the Expert tire place. I personally suspect the car companies come up with these difficult but simple ways to make average folks feel stupid! LOL)

We had to have a wrecker. Here is where things started getting funny-weird...or not. If your husband's expert driving had just saved the two of you from a blow out that MIGHT have caused the van to flip and roll off into a deep ditch, the rest of the day might become a little more light-hearted and funny to you also! *grin*

For starters, the blowout occurred just as I finished praying for God's protection on our 180 mile round trip to the dentist in Jackson. We always pray as we leave for any travel. Gordon and I believe that sometimes God allows something comparatively minor to happen to prevent us from being in "the wrong place at the wrong time" where something worse might happen to us.

So Gordon was both relieved that he was going to avoid having a root canal today, but he was also relieved that we were alive with nothing worse than a couple of destroyed tires. So we were in the odd position of thanking God for the blow out!  LOL 

Once before we were praying for God to give Gordon a Mac, as in Apple computer. In no time, God sent Mac, as in Mackie the Westie! Really, the dog's name was Mac which we morphed into Mackie.

I'm sure we have been far more blessed by Mackie our Special Forces West Highland  White Terrier than Gordon has been by the dull gray Apple laptop he later bought! *Grin*

But back to the blowout...So the County Sheriff's Deputy ended up being the one who came out to the farm the night that Mama died. When he determined that we were ok, and it was discussed that there was no way to prove that the debris came from the trailor that jack-knifed and caused the wreck just seconds ahead of us, our deputy said that he was to have been with Trent Lott today.

Now in case you don't know, Trent Lott, now retired, was in the U.S. Senate for a LONG time and was essentially the Senior Statesman from Mississippi. He still is considered that, I suppose, but he no longer holds public office.

Well, if Trent Lott was going to be in Winona or Montgomery County today, then of course, this deputy needed to go there and forget about our little blow out. Trent Lott's family comes from the Carroll County side of Duck Hill which is in Montgomery County, so we "claim him", if you know what I mean. (Do other parts of the country do a quick genealogy run down of who's family came from where, even if the person under discussion has never lived in your county? Or is that a Southern Thing?)

Back to today...Gordon and I were impressed that this deputy was to be one of the escorts for Trent Lott. There was some confusing conversation, but Gordon and I both thought we understood the deputy to say that he would tell Trent about our tire. HUH? We MUST have misunderstood, but since the deputy was needed to escort Trent Lott, we did not ask him to elaborate...he had important places to go!

Within just a few minutes, the wrecker arrived, and the wrecker man introduced himself as Trent Lott!

It seems there is a real person in Winona, Mississippi, named Trent Lott, and he is distantly related to THE Trent Lott on his grandmother's side. Trent has even talked to Trent about their shared name and shared genealogy. Where were the news cameras when THAT interesting bit of news was unfolding? It would be curious to see if there are many facial similarities.

Back to the wrecker ride to the Tire Company Waiting Room where I spent three happy hours stitching... This was one of those big wreckers that requires someone to have a man's upper body strength to climb up into the darned thing. I don't have the upper body strength of a man. *crooked grin*

Thankfully, this time, Gordon was there to push me from the rear to help me get up in this tall truck cab. The LAST time I rode in a big, tall wrecker was about ten years ago in Jackson.

My mother and I were in Jackson for a state convention of the Daughters of the American Revolution at The Hilton. Our van developed bronchitis or something, stopping in the middle of one of Jackson's busiest streets.  The wrecker service was "Big Bob's Wrecker Service" or something like that. I DO remember Big Bob because Big Bob had to push and shove two overly dressed, anything-BUT tiny women into his TALL wrecker cab...with his bare hands on our ample rumpuses!

I was embarassed to beyond words. Mama must have been near death from the shock. The only thing to make it worse was driving up to The Hilton and trying to climb down from this TALL wrecker cab, while attempting to appear lady-like in our dresses, hose and heels. Of course, the first people we saw as we UN-gracefully dismounted that vehicle were some of our DAR friends. I don't think anyone can say that Alice and Penny ever made too many quiet, demure entrances...to anything.

Back to today's wrecker ride with Trent Lott...I was nervous and rattled from the blowout, the embarassing rumpus push, etc., so I was chattering away like a magpie. I just HAD to tell our Trent Lott about my previous Big Bob experience, and that I was thankful that I had a husband to do the pushing and shoving today. 

Gordon was probably melting from embarassment at my prattle, and from the heat and from the exertion of helping me into that tall cab. Trent laughingly said that he has had to do his share of pushing and shoving to help ladies climb up into that tall wrecker cab.  I wondered to myself it this was some sort of male conspiracy to build wreckker cabs so tall just so that the fellas could get away with....well, you know.....

Now we are back home, thankful for a blowout, thankful for a good friend who stopped work to come see if he could help.

Thankfufl for Trent Lott and helpful deputies. Thankful for the two women in the tire waiting room with whom I could chatter about vegetables and sewing and wear off some of that post-blowout nervousness.

I'm thankful for that ice cold diet soda Gordon brought me in the tire waiting room. Thankful for cell phones with which Gordon called that good friend for help and with which we were able to call a root canal dentist to reschedule. I'm thankful that cell phone kept me in contact with Unc to keep him apprised of the situation, and I'm thankful for being able to talk to the Westies by cell phone while I waited and sewed. (What, don't you talk to your dog/cat by phone?)

I'm thankful Gordon's root-canal-in-waiting is not hurting much and can wait until Monday when the procedure was rescheduled. Thankful for Gordon's good driving skills and for his rumpus pushing skills...and for how well he took care of me today.

Thankful for remembering a funny/embarrassing adventure with my mom, and thankful for remembering all the sewing she accomplished while she sat in waiting rooms...however, I don't think Mama ever logged any stitching time in a Tire Waiting Room!

And I'm thankful to YOU for allowing me to prattle all of this out of my system and wind down enough, hopefully, for a much needed NAP! (And Gordon is very thankful he is NOT female! LOL  He can't understand while I have been all a-Twitter!)

Tomato Jam Recipe!

This recipe comes from Anina of Twiddletails ( http://twiddletails.blogspot.com/ ) Anina translated the recipe and converted it from metric measurement for me. Thank you, Anina! We LOVE this Tomato Jam!!

---------------

Pick small, firm, ripe tomatoes. Wash and weigh them.

**We used a low acid cherry tomato, small and sweet. Yellow tomatoes would be fantastic for this recipe too!**

Pierce skins with a thick needle. Soak tomatoes in salt water for 20-30 minutes (1 tablespoon salt to 1 gallon water) Rinse well.

**Unc did not want the peel of the little tomatoes to be in the finished jam (it's a personal preference thing), so we dumped the cherry tomatoes in boiling water, let them tumble for about a minute, then dumped them in cold water so that the peel just rolled off. We cut out the little core too. Because we did not use the salt water and thus did not allow the tomato to absorb any salt, we added about a half Tablespoon of salt to bring out the flavor of the tomatoes.**

Grease bottom of jam pot with butter or oil.
Add 1/2 cup of water and add tomatoes and sugar in layers. Pack the tomatoes quite tightly

**Since the consistency of our tomatoes was different than if we had left the peel on as the original recipe prescribed, we started with 1/2 cup of water in a stock pot, dumped in the tomatoes that were very juicy, and added sugar based on the weight of peeled tomatoes.**

Use 1lb sugar for every 1lb of tomatoes

Heat slowly until sugar has dissolved and then cook for about 2 hours on high heat until the tomatoes are clear and the syrup thick.

Add 1/8-1/4 cup of lemon juice and a couple of pieces of peeled, slightly crushed fresh ginger for every 6 pounds of tomatoes while cooking. Remove ginger pieces.

**We did not have any ginger, so I just added an extra splash of lemon juice**

Let cool, bottle and seal.

**We spooned the hot mixture into hot jam jars fresh from being steralized in the dishwasher.  Wiped the rim and outside threads with a dry paper towel to be sure no seed or jam would interfere with the seal, and then put on a sterile/boiled "slapper" and ring. You know the seal is good if the jar/lid "pops" as it cools of.

My Tea Party Mini Quilt Design now on T-shirts, etc!

I've been so moved at the response to my new design, Tea Party Mini Quilt Pattern!

At least one of you has told me that your husband will be carrying a big flag/banner made from my design in Monday's Labor Day Parade. Oh, I HOPE to see a picture of that!

Others of you are making items to sell. You graciously asked permission first because my pattern did not have any statement preventing it. Here's my thinking on that: If you are making this design and putting it on jackets or making mini quilts, etc, you are not only spreading the word about our concern for this country, but you are also fueling the small business economy. Go for it!

I will soon be sharing photos from the folks who have bought my pattern and have already made something from it...ahhh the joy of a downloadable pattern.

Tonight I want to show you just a few of the items Gordon has chosen on Cafe Press to proudly display this design. It is the same picture as the quilt picture above, so if you are wearing a shirt or carrying a tote with this design, it will almost look like you are wearing a quilted design.

There are many shirt designs, starting at $8.99.

 Golf shirts start at $16.99.

There are maternity shirts, plus size shirts, and even a shirt for your Patriotic Pooch!

I'm especially of the heavy natural canvas tote that is 15" x 18" x 6" and is printed on BOTH sides with my design! Just $12.99!

There are travel mugs, mugs and a stein.

There are note cards with envelopes that you can buy one at a time or buy in bulk quantities of 10 and 20! Plus, there are post cards with this design. There is room on the front for a name or a location.

This is how Cafe Press works. They print your order when they receive it. Print on Demand. Gordon and I receive a small royalty from each of our designs you purchase.

When that "royalty" adds up to $25, Cafe Press cuts us a check and sends it to us.

What I plan to do is to give a percentage of that royalty money back to the Tea Party Organization. Right now, some Tea Party organizers are researching who/what/when/where to allow me to do that.

So, this is a subtle design, "Sometimes you have to spill a little Tea", that you can still wear or show off or mail even if you are not into quilting or into making paper signs from my pattern!

I hope you will visit Cafe Press to see the items I did not mention. If you have a specific request for a particular item, then let us know, and if Cafe Press offers it, we will do our best to make it happen.

Feel free to email me with any ideas and comments. penny (at) pennysanford (dot) com

Only a very few people were NASTY when I first posted about my Tea Party mini quilt pattern.

The majority of people (on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, on this blog and via email) have allowed my freedom of expression on this topic, and for that I thank you very much!

Fun Video for Quilt Shop Client - just released!

Here's a fun video Gordon just finished for a quilt shop client: Patchwork Party 2009, the Fall Edition.

I was just the "talking head" for the project. It was the second video we have done for this client.

In the event they move the link to this preview video, here is a permanent location to view it on the PatchworkParty YouTube channel.

If you need someone to shoot video or take still pictures and turn them into something polished and professional to promote your business, may I recommend my husband Gordon?
gordon (at) pennysanford (dot) com .

Tea Party Mini Quilt Pattern

This is it. My first for-purchase pattern launch.

The Tea Party Mini Quilt Pattern is a downloadable pattern, seven pages long in .pdf format. Those seven pages have lots of detailed photos of the different steps in the little pattern, plus plenty of written instructions.

Because we are not having to have copies of the pattern printed by a printer in an expensive four-color process, we are able to offer the pattern for just $2.50. There's no shipping charge either because you buy and download the pattern on your computer and print it on your own printer.

I envisioned this little pattern as a design you could whip up to hang in your office (pin to a cubicle wall, for example) or to enter in a quilt show as a subtle statement.

You could also applique the shield, cup and puddle of tea to a tote bag or to a shirt or on the back of a jacket.  I'm expecting you to suggest other great uses for this design!

Gordon is putting together all the video he shot as I made this design for a much longer instructional or tutorial video for this pattern. It will be available free with the purchase of the $2.50 pattern. Pretty good bargain, huh?

Here's a short 41 second video introduction to the pattern.

Since this is my first For Sale pattern, I would value your feedback. Are the directions clear enough? I agonized over writing the pattern so that newbies would feel comfortable with this pattern, but I did not want the pattern to "talk down" to experienced quilters. I remember all too well being a newbie in quilting, and there are areas now that I feel nervous in trying.

Same thing with the video preview and the upcoming video tutorial. Let me know if it shows too much or not enough...if it is crystal clear or "clear as mud". (That's a Southern expression for something being hard to understand, murky, like trying to see through a glass of mud.)

What else do I need to tell you? You can always find this and future patterns at the link just under the blog header that says "Quilt Patterns".

Gordon has put an order button "Add to Cart" under the video in this post, but an order button is on the page of Quilt Patterns on this blog. You can pay via Paypal.

As you probably already know, through Paypal, which is a free service, you can pay via bank draft or by a credit card. Gordon tells me that you do not have to have a Paypal account (which is free) in order to make a one-time payment/purchase using Paypal. They want you to try it out and see how easy it is to use.

So, this little design that came to me on April 15, 2009, during a the television coverage of the Tea Parties, is now a pattern you can buy. To be honest, I'm nervous about starting my line of patterns with one that might evoke a few emotional responses. If you have any questions about making this pattern, please do not hesitate to email me: penny(at)pennysanford(dot)com or pennysfikes(at)gmail(dot)com. (Gordon told me to write my email addresses that way so that the spam robotic computers will not add to all the spam I already get.)

Happy quilting!

Fondly,

Penny

Another Yellow Fabric Fix!

If fabric is not your bag, then feel free to pass on this blog post.  For Fabric Fondlers (i.e. Fabric Lovers) around the world, this is a Yellow Fix! Once again, my Fabric Addiction Enabler was Stitchin' Heaven.

I've found a NEW favorite yellow fabric. This is it!

This is a new-to-me fabric company, Studio E. Take a look at all the luscious colors in this particular line.

Note to Studio E: get this beautiful fabric out in some natural light to photograph it to show off the depth of the design.

This is a sateen, and I am 99.99% sure this will become a BUNCH of new pillowcases for our bed. After I wash the fabric and see how soft it is after washing, I will make my final decision.

The pattern and color had me at the first sun beam to flicker over the surface of this beautiful daffodil yellow fabric!

You might remember I am a pillow-aholic. We have 17 or so pillows on the bed, from buckwheat to Euro squares to a body pillow. Too expensive to buy matching pillowcases for all of those pillows, besides, I have made pillowcases for years and enjoy doing so. I make French seams and other tailored details that make the pillowcases last as long as the fabric holds together.

These fabrics pictured are all 100 percent cotton premium fabrics for quilting or home sewing. My previous absolute, all time favorite yellow fabric in the entire universe, "Sunshine" polka dot by April Cornell for Moda is shared here and here! I would still buy more of this fabric if I could find it!

Look at three pieces from Free Spirit Fabrics by designer Verna Mosquera.

I can't tell you the name of the fabric line (collection of coordinating fabrics by the same designer released in one particular season), but the three names of these coordinating prints are "Twisted Rose", "Miniature Rose" and "French Border Print".

These three tight weave sateen fabrics may also end up in pillowcases. The colors and prints work perfectly with a bedding set we already have, but who can't use some more pillowcases? *grin*

I really would like to know the thread count on these beautiful quilting cottons. Does anyone have any idea if that information is available?

Moving on to the third photo, how cute is the name, "Oddles of Poodles"? I'd buy the fabric (at the bottom of the picture) just for the name! It was designed by Cheri L. Strole for Moda Fabrics. (At least I think that is what was printed on the selvage. When type is printed in yellow on fabric, it can be hard to read!)

The beautiful fabric at the top of the third photo is "Roses" produced by Free Spirit Fabrics and designed by Donna Dewberry.

My previous favorite yellow fabric was an April Cornell print. Moda does seem to lavish her fabric designs on fabric with a soft, sateen weave.

These three corn-yellow pieces are no different. I love all three of them!

"Polka Dot", "Mulberry" is the middle fabric, off to the left of the picture, and "Portugal" is the one with the big flowers.

I need more of that "Mulberry", and maybe all three of these. Moda does not reprint its fabric, so if I decide I will need more of one of these, I'd better make that decision fast before these beauties are sold out!

I do have another piece of yellow to show you and some great fabric from Australia...but that will have to wait for another post.  What fabric colors do you find irresistible?

Email Philly Eagles re: hiring Michael Vick!

Here is a link to send the Philadelphia Eagles an email with your thoughts about them signing Michael Vick (Atlanta Falcon quarterback disgraced by huge dog fighting operation).

He was signed for two years at $1.6 million dollars for the first year. He may have spent 23 months in federal prison, but that does NOT make up for what he did to those dogs (torture, killed the losers, etc.)

Please share this with all dog lovers so that the Philly Eagles will know how the general population really feels about their hiring of Michael Vick!

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/fanzone/Thanks.asp

Butterbean Bliss

Today was the first day Unc picked enough butter beans for us to freeze. He picked two gallon buckets for me to shell. That yielded two shy quart packages. I think we will freeze them in pint bags from now on.

I love shelling butter beans and peas. If we could grow English peas, I would adore shelling them because I LOVE, love to eat English peas!

One thing I learned that I will pass along to you. On a whim, I asked Unc if we could feed the butter bean hulls to a cow (I'm storing information for when we get a milk cow or a couple of little steers to fatten up for the freezer). He said the sharp point of the butter bean hull might puncture a cow's intestinal tract.

Good information to have. So he has been putting the butter bean hulls around various plants in the garden as mulch.

Until today we have only had enough butter beans or green beans on any given day to shell for one meal.

Those first fresh picked representatives of each garden vegetable are always THE best, THE most tender, THE most flavorful you can imagine!

Unc, age 83, planted this garden, has tended it, and is picking the produce.  All I am doing is helping put up the veggies and fruit. Not a bad bargain, huh? 

One more fun discover during this butter bean adventure...the Westies LOVE the taste of raw butter beans! That is great! We try to give our dogs as much raw meat, veggies and fruit as possible.

So far, the Westies love carrots, squash, butter beans, figs, banana and orange! The raw meat part was not a problem for them to embrace. Raw egg, buttermilk and yogurt are also favorites. Google the "BARF" diet for dogs if you want to learn more.

Unc picks our green beans small and tender (see the Chapstick for size comparison), have been so wonderful! They are small enough that they do not have any strings to be pulled off. TENDER! All we do is cut of the ends of the beans.

We boil them with salt in the water and add a little butter when they are tender. That's it. That fresh-from-the-garden flavor is so nutty and green! We've not picked enough green beans to have enough to freeze yet. Unc will be planting green beans again very soon for the fall garden!

A Southern Woman's First Southern Fried Chicken

Tonight I am a card-carrying member of the Sorority of Southern Women Who Fry Chicken!

I'm 46 years old, and today was the very first time I have ever attempted to fry chicken.

To be honest, I've been afraid to fry anything since my attempt to make french fries back in 1984 or 1985. My girlfriend's husband made some comment like, "Do you think you could have added more grease to these?"

That was my last attempt to fry anything until today.

Today's rite of passage has brought back so many wonderful memories. As a little tyke, I watched Grandma make fried chicken, sitting on a tall stool by the stove so that I could watch her work her magic.

I can see her twisted arthritic fingers flicking a tiny pinch of flour into the hot oil in a big cast iron skillet to test it's readiness for the chicken. I think that was the same cast iron skillet that I used today.

So many years later (Grandma died in 1979) I can just smell that  heavenly aroma that permeated her house and floated onto the porches around her house!

The anticipation for that first piece of Grandma's chicken was so intense that I always picked off pieces of the crust as the freshly fried chicken was cooling on its metal cooling  rack on the kitchen counter.

Thighs were (and still are) my favorite piece, along with the gizzard and the chicken heart!

Grandma and Unc would save me the gizzard and heart to enjoy when Mama and I stopped by Grandma's house on the way back home from school.  Before we walked through Grandma's front door, I could smell that fabulous Southern fried chicken aroma, and I would practically run to the kitchen for my thigh, gizzard and heart!

So, today, bolstered by good advice from my friends on Facebook, I joined the esteemed ranks of Southern Women Who Fry Chicken!

Today, Unc cut up the big ten pound bag of chicken and provided a second opinion on the hotness of the oil and the readiness of the pieces to be turned or taken out of the skillet. I was very thankful for his help and advice!

He even tasted that first piece with me to evaluate my technique. 

What I learned is that I really want my fried chicken to taste just like Grandma's fried chicken. I thought I wanted to make crunchy chicken with thick crust like one of the fast food chicken chain restaurants. To make Grandma's chicken will necessitate a few changes in my recipe for next time.

Here is a synopsis of what I learned (that might help you join me in this tradition):

1. Soaking in buttermilk gives the chicken a faint sour/tart flavor reminiscent of fried dill pickles. Soaking in buttermilk helps the meat stay moist and juicy, and helps hold onto the flour coating.

2. Next time I will soak our chicken in sweet milk with an egg.  This is what Grandma did...I'm pretty sure.

3. I did add a little corn starch to the flour today to make crunchier crust like the fast food chicken. It REALLY does do that, but I realize that I want Grandma's chicken, so I will not add the corn starch next time.

4. For a bit more crust (especially since we remove the chicken skin), I could soak the pieces in milk/egg, dredge through the flour, dip again into the milk and dredge again in the flour.

5. I've read numerous techniques for seasoning the chicken, including soaking the chicken in brine (salty water) or adding the salt/seasoning AFTER the chicken has been fried. 

What I will do next time is rub salt and pepper into the chicken meat before soaking it in the milk/egg....OR, it may work best to rub the salt/pepper into the chicken meat AFTER it soaks in the milk/egg. I have yet to experiment with those two techniques.

At any rate, the flesh today was not seasoned as I remember Grandma's chicken, or Mama's chicken or Louise's chicken or Dollie's chicken...four ladies who have spoiled my family with superior Southern Fried Chicken. (By the way, Miss Dollie said she uses a little seasoned salt instead of plain salt. I called her when my first piece was not flavored like her fried chicken or like Grandma's fried chicken.

6. I also learned today that keeping the hot oil at the proper temperature for optimum frying is more of an art than it is about following directions.  I just need some more practice in this area.

7. I just learned from my friend Teresa that leaving the skin on the chicken will give it more flavor. Today the dogs got the chicken backs and chicken skin...raw...look up BARF diet for dogs to understand.

I would rate my first attempt at fried chicken at a 5 out of a maximum of 10. The meat was moist and cooked well. A couple of pieces were cooked a little too much. None of it was undercooked. The crust was crunchier than I wanted, and the salt/pepper did not reach the meat as well as I wanted.

When I achieve the Southern Fried Chicken that Grandma, Mama, Louise or Dollie have cooked in the past, then I will proudly accept a rating of 10!

Unc and Gordon were so supportive! Mr. Wardell was here tonight to go with Unc for some late afternoon fishing for catfish, and he said the chicken was delicious. Mr. Wardell is a sweetheart, and he knew this was my first fried chicken. *grin*

So tonight, I am again flooded with happy memories of watching these four women cook Southern Fried Chicken. I feel a bit chagrined that my chicken was only a 5, even though I KNOW I will achieve that perfect 10 with some practice.

Today's cooking adventure has awakened deep feelings in me of wanting to earn my place in a long, long line of excellent Southern cooks, my genetic foremothers. I want my two fellas to be sneaking a freshly fried piece of chicken to eat almost as soon as it comes out of the skillet.

There are some nuances of emotions to today's experience that I don't fully understand yet...something I can't quite see...but this rite of passage today has moved me deeply. Maybe it has something to do with Mama's death in January and taking my place as Top Female in our little family of three. If you know what I'm experiencing, please email me and help me understand these emotions.

Back on Facebook

Thanks for all  your help in attempting to have my Facebook account restored!

Facebook did NOT restore my account, so I had to start from scratch. Please feel free to "friend" me on my new Facebook account: Penny Sanford Fikes.

I think this link will also get you there: http://www.facebook.com/inbox/readmessage.php?t=233157915190&mbox_pos=0#/profile.php?id=1341114725&v=wall&ref=name

I could rant about Facebook and their lack of customer support, but the whole mess is over and I don't want to expend any more energy on it!

Here is my other contact information. If you Twitter, please add me, and I will add you in return.

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pennysanford/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/pennysfikes
YouTube: PennySanfordDesigns

Happy Social Networking!

Tonight, Gordon and I are giggling ourselves silly over some old Harold Lloyd movies on TCM, doing a little social networking in person, between the two of us! LOL!

Reconnecting with the nuances

Nuances is just one of my favorite words. Don't know why. Kinda weird to have a favorite word, huh?

In this case, I mean little things, simple things, tiny moments, memories of simple elements from my life that bring me peace. Calm moments and feelings. Remembered smells, sounds and tastes.

Those memories one would put in that Jim Croce bottle from his song, "Time in a Bottle".

"If I could save time in a bottle..."  The rest of the lyrics don't quite fit what I'm trying to express, but the mood of the song does.

Whenever I've experienced something very special...a moment with Gordon, a moment of creativity, one of those frequent experience that demonstrates God's protection...I've thought about the Jim Croce song.

I've purposely saved that moment, those emotions, those visual images, smells or tastes and have put them in my figurative Time Bottle to be able to play again like a video clip...a video clip with the added senses of taste, touch, smell and emotion..

This year has been all about reconnecting with those saved moments. These pictures represent just two of hundreds of tiny moments that fill the Time Bottle of my life.

This jar of gardenia cuttings that have sprouted roots in our kitchen windowsill brings back the many times I looked at Grandma's array of cuttings rooting in the two windows of her bathroom.

I remember vividly that the sun shone through the yellowed water, illuminating the white roots. I was fascinated as a child by her green thumb, and I tried to absorb every trick she told me about rooting cuttings.

I can just pull out of my Time Bottle the saved nuances of taking a bath in Grandma's huge cast iron tub, looking up at the dozen or so pint jars of rooting flowering shrubs. I can feel the texture of the worn tub, smell the towels and the Ivory soap, hear the water from the pipes that sang and the faucets that squeaked. I can even feel the sunshine on my back from one of those windows.

Grandma died in 1979, and the family and our life changed forever. Now she is with me every time I use one of her cast iron skillets or look at the two pint jars of gardenia cuttings rooting in the kitchen windowsill. My memories of her are as integral and penetrating to who I am today as these roots that will burrow into soil and feed a future gardenia plant, nourishing it to bloom.

The second picture is of Unc. He and I started a jigsaw puzzle last week. He saw me playing with a computerized jigsaw puzzle, and I realized that he was missing the time we have shared over the years, putting together jigsaw puzzles.

Another memory in my bottle. I can feel the heat of the wood fireplace at Grandma's house while Unc and I put together a jigsaw puzzle on a folding card table in the living room. Grandma was in her chair by the fireplace watching us, laughing quietly at our prattle.

Then when I moved back to the family farm in 1991, Unc and I started a new jigsaw puzzle just before Christmas each year, after all my porcelain orders had been filled. This time it was Mama sitting in her comfy chair laughing at our prattle.

Last week, as we opened the box of a puzzle we had put together before, this Noah's Ark puzzle, Unc used the same phrases he has used for every puzzle we have assembled together.

"Don't pick out one with too many pieces."
"I think you put two puzzles in this box! There are too many pieces for just this puzzle."
"Don't take it apart...we need all the help we can get!"
"I found a corner!"

Our methods remain the same, after 40-plus years of assembling jigsaw puzzles together. I pull out the edge pieces first. Unc turns over the pieces and pulls out the edge pieces as he goes. Then the daily search for pieces that fall onto the floor or get picked up or chewed on by a pet. Sharing the box top to reference the photo as we work on our respective areas of assembly.

"I need HELP on this puzzle," his lure to get me to come work on the puzzle.
"I'm putting together more of this puzzle than you are," another lure to get me to come work on the jigsaw.

Unc is 83 years old. I must save these moments in my Time Bottle, because this may be the last jigsaw puzzle we ever put together...together. Unc is in fantastic health for a man 20 years younger, but none of us is promised tomorrow.

So every day, I try to save a good memory in my bottle. This entire year has been about appreciating, revisiting, reconnecting with the nuances that comprise the happy memories in my Time Bottle.

First Butterbeans and Snap Beans of the year

Nothing can possibly taste any better than the first snap beans of the year. Even if one cans or freezes vegetables to enjoy year round, that flavor of veggies fresh from the garden, still warm from the sunshine...is impossible to capture in words or seasonings!

We like to eat our green beans/string beans/snap beans very small, before they develop any "strings" to pull off. We boil them with salt and butter. That is it. They have THE BEST nutty flavor.

Then yesterday and today, Unc brought in the first butterbeans for us this year. Again, we pick them small, definitely smaller than a dime. They are so tender and flavorful when they are small like that. A delicacy to be able to harvest one's vegetables at the size one prefers.

Same with squash. We like them at five to seven inches long. Nice pretty quarter-sized slices. Tender. Flavorful!

Today Unc pulled one okra pod. Just one. We cooked it with the green beans. It was divine! We'll start freezing the baby green beans and baby butterbeans as soon as we are picking more than a one-day's serving of each of these veggies.

Unc's garden has done well this year. He has had to plant a few vegetables twice because of the heavy spring rains, so we have not had the quantity of vegetables we want to share with friends. He plans to start planting some things for a fall garden, so our canning and freezing season will last for months more!

I'm thankful for every morsel of home-grown, chemical-free food that goes in our freezers!

I'll have to photograph and share the squash casserole recipe with you. We tweaked it a little from Grandma's recipe, and Unc and I are besotted with it. Gordon still will not eat veggies. What do I do with him to convince him to eat veggies? *sigh*

Cooking by Kerosene Lamplight!

Whooo weeee!!!! We had a humdinger of a storm this afternoon, and the power was out for almost five hours! We were three hot humans and seven hot dogs!

At least we could continue cooking because the stove and oven are powered by propane! We were well into making beef and chicken enchiladas...and cooking squash to freeze...and making some squash and chicken soup to put on the dog food every day.

That was a lot of cooking putting out a lot of heat without air conditioning! Phew! The four kerosene lamps also put out their fair share of heat!

Because we are the LAST customer on this power line, we have experienced plenty of power outages over the years, some of which have lasted days! A 117 hour outage is our record so far, and thankfully that occurred in the winter! We stayed warm with propane and wood heat!

Gordon and Unc, as always, pitched in this afternoon, and we got it all done with squash frozen and a couple of casseroles of enchiladas in the freezer, ready to cook another time. I do like to make enough of whatever we are cooking to freeze for an easy meal another day!

The food photos are from some time this month! I need to take more photos to share with you as the squash and green beans and as of today, cucumbers, are beginning to come in. Unc and I had a cucumber sandwich at tea time...even though we do not have a formal tea time every day. LOL

Progress toward being reinstated on Facebook

I am DEEPLY moved by how many of you are emailing Facebook, asking them to reinstate my account! "Thank you" does not seem strong enough to express how you have moved me emotionally with your response!

We are all so busy with just living Life, that it is a GIFT when you take a moment to send an email of protest for someone and something that does not directly affect you! At least I interpret your gesture as a GIFT!

A number of you have shared with me about similar experiences with Facebook...a friend or a group of even personal experience with having one's account disabled. Thank you for commiserating and sharing your experience with me!

If you are reading this for the first time, my blog post yesterday shared the details.

I do think that FB is growing so fast and has automated so much of their communication that they are essentially constipated. 

Gordon and I continue to send emails every day asking them to reinstate my account. The emails you are sending are helping. I'm hoping the automated system at Facebook will see the words, "Penny Sanford Fikes" enough that the issue will be handed over to a human.

So, if you have another minute to send another email, or if you think your friends would have a moment to send a short email, please send an email to disabled@facebook.com and ask them to reinstate the account of Penny Sanford Fikes.

I hope there will be SOMETHING I can do for you in the future that will mean even half as much as what you are doing to help me be reinstated on Facebook! You can be sure that the minute I hear anything from FB, I will be sure to let you know!

Now, I'm off to make chicken enchalidas and beef enchiladas. I made some beef enchiladas last week, a first for me, and Gordon loved them! That makes me feel like a million bucks for him to enjoy eating something I have just made for the first time!

I'll let you know if I hear anything from Facebook! 

Facebook Disabled My Account!

My Facebook account has been disabled. 24 hours ago. I am so bummed about this!

It seems I have too many friend requests, and those friends have sent me too many Facebook messages. Excuse me?  Is not that the purpose of Facebook to begin with? To make friends and communicate with those friends?

I could go into the nitty gritty details, but quite frankly, I am just too disgusted to write it all down, even on a keyboard. 

As of this time last night, the groups I started were still in place, but I had been removed as administrator. Those groups are just there, without anyone protecting them from spammers.

I had created:

Mississippi Quilters
Alabama Quilters
Louisiana Quilters
Tennessee Quilters
Arkansas Quilters
Florida Quilters
North Carolina Quilters
Kansas Quilters
Oklahoma Quilters
New Mexico Quilters
Texas Quilters
Texas Quilts

I started a few more groups for quilters from an individual state to find each other, but at the moment I can't remember which states for certain. Eventually I was going to make a group for every state that did not already have a Facebook group for quilters of that state.

The reason is that when I started on Facebook, I could not find more than a few other Mississippians who were quilters. From the comments I have received from MANY Facebook quilters, others have felt the same way about finding quilters from their state.

Gordon has helped me research having one's account disabled by Facebook, and there are hundreds of people, maybe thousands, who have had their accounts suspended or disabled. Some have experienced that indignity several times. Most have been reinstated after badgering Facebook with emails.

If you could help me get back on Facebook, I would appreciate it. I need my account, "Penny Sanford Fikes" to be reinstated so that I can keep my friends and keep the groups I started. Please email: disabled@facebook.com and ask them to restore my account.

So many of my blog friends have also connected with me on Facebook. I love to be able to connect via Facebook. It is like seeing people at a grocery store. The greetings may be short in passing, but one feels like one has touched base with more people because it is more interactive (in my opinion) than blogging or Twitter or Flickr.

I think Facebook is making examples out of some of us so that they can set the stage to charge for "power users". Fickr has a pro account, and Typepad has a pro account. Other social networking platforms have paid pro accounts.

I would pay for a pro account from Facebook, but that is not even an option. For now, they are penalizing a few people according to some irrational triggers in their automated system. POOF, six months of friends and photos and conversations and groups are gone as if I had never existed. Many of those friends I don't know how to contact outside of Facebook.

--------------

Gordon has just washed the four Westies, and they are romping and playing around the den-turned-bedroom. It is precious to watch! We don't have to blow dry the Westies...they are Run Dried! LOL

I promise to do better at blogging again! Please forgive me for not being more consistent in writing this month.

If you can help by writing Facebook on my behalf, I will be very, very appreciative.

Where to begin?

I'm so behind in sharing stuff with you that I hardly know where to begin.  

If I wanted to blog about something lately, I did not have accompanying pictures to share. Or if I have the pictures to share, I've been too tired to edit them to upload and write anything. 

That is something for which to be thankful because it means I have been more active lately than I have been in many months of that stupid bronchitis. Today Gordon carried the oxygen-making machine back upstairs to the closet where it has been stored. I no longer need supplemental oxygen. YEAH!

We're planning a "freshening" project for the kitchen involving paint and a new floor and some re-organization. We've been moving Unc's wood-working out of the kitchen in preparation.

Yes, you read that right. In the 4 plus months I was sick and in bed most of the time, Unc moved into the kitchen with his carving. The kitchen is the center of the house, and he likes to be around people when he carves. I was unaware of how bad the kitchen was getting, and Gordon was torn between not worrying me and still keeping Unc close by to watch (and be sure he was not cutting off fingers).

I won't tell you how many of his tools and pieces of wood and carving chips and layers of wood dust were actually in the kitchen because I don't think you would believe me! I did not take any pictures of that clutter either!

This is also another step of the journey of turning the kitchen from Mama's kitchen to my kitchen. Those of you who have made such a conversion will understand the heavy baggage of memories, good and bad.  Off to work on the kitchen now...

Oh, the wild turkey (which is a female, Unc says) visited us one morning recently to check out the free fruit under the Mulberry tree! I was surprised how much they walk with a regal gait like a peacock!

Charles Hamer carving a fork.

Charles Hamer, age 83 of Kilmichael, Mississippi, carving a wooden, primitive fork made from trees blown down by Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005.

Does Social Networking make me more sociable?

Remember when it was a big deal just to have a pager number or a cell phone number in addition to one's home or work number? Now this:

Website: www.pennysanford.com
Blog: www.pennysanford.typepad.com
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pennysanford/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PennySanfordDesigns
Twitter: http://twitter.com/pennysfikes
YouTube: PennySanfordDesigns

We dumped our land lines earlier this year after Mama died. She was the only one who used them any more. Gordon and I conduct more business on our cell phones than on the land lines, and Unc could not hear well enough to talk on the phone if Gordon or I were not around.

Unc was nervous about NOT being able to hear well if we were not around to pick up the phone. That nervousness translated into hearing even less on the land line. If we were around for him to hand the phone to us to interpret what he might not be able to hear, he could hear better.

That probably makes no sense if you've never witnessed the indignity of aging, but I hope you know what I am trying to express.

We just opted to drop the land lines, keep our cell phones charged and with us 24/7, and spend the money saved on some other bills. More and more we are running across folks doing the same.

Anyway, while acquiring my personalized Facebook Internet address (url), I could not help but remember the time when keeping up with someone was just the matter of remembering a pager number.

Mama and Unc used to talk about the many advances in technology in everyday life that they had witnessed. Imagine what Gordon and I will be able to list as technological advances in our lifetime when we hit our 80's!

What is your Social Networking footprint? Does Social Networking make you more sociable?

Happy Flowers and Green Thumb Ladies

Here are some of the pretty flowers that have beautified the farm this spring.

It has been so rainy for so long, and I have had this ongoing bronchitis-like stuff, so Gordon or Unc brought flowers inside to cheer me up.

Some of the rain-drenched flower shots that Gordon snatched between rains are my favorite flower pictures from the first five months of 2009.

Now, looking back at these pictures from the past five months, as I share them with you, I realize how just a photo of flowers can brighten one's day.

For a good while we thought this bronchitis-like stuff might be triggered by allergy, so the only flowers I received from the yard (since I was house-bound by the chronic coughing) were photos of flowers blooming in the yard.

Each of these flowers in these photographs come with memories. Most happy, some bittersweet.

I remember one particular afternoon, about 18 years ago, when Unc, Mama and I went to Kay Emmon's homeplace in Carroll County to buy starts of this antique rose. (first two photos) That was quite an adventure finding her stately 1870-era farmhouse.

She "pegged" rose bushes to make baby plants. That method calls for pulling a rose branch down to the ground and putting a brick on the branch to hold it in contact with the soil so that new roots can form. After about a year, you can sever the branch and transplant the baby rose plant.

Other types of plants she started under quart jars around her yard. There were small battalions of little quart jars stationed at strategic places. It was quite a visual experience of color and little armies of quart jars and bricks.

That was  a magical afternoon, and we bought a number of antique roses and lillac and fragrant violets from her.

What are your memories of special Green Thumb Ladies you have met through the years? I have a cousin in California who sends photos of the roses cut from her yard.  LaNelle Renfroe Johnson must have roses in bloom 12 months of the year!

She sends her rose pictures to various family and friends. Those pictures are really a day brightener!

As for this bronchitis like stuff, the doctor put me on a different course of medicine yesterday, and it seems to be working. As soon as I now, I will share with you a very suprising cause of chronic bronchitis-like cough that has grounded me for well over three months.

What is Jenny B up to these days?

Jenny B came to live with us here on the farm March 21, 2009. She has long since captured our hearts, all three humans. (Heck, she captured my heart in the first five seconds.)

Jenny B is busy being Jenny B these days.

She and Mackie have formed a very close bond. Anywhere Mackie goes, Jenny B is right behind him. Anything Mackie does, Jenny B is his shadow.

Sometimes they look like a tiny team of furry white horses the way they run together, as if they were in invisible traces.

Every morning, Jenny B wakes me up by licking my face, especially my nose. I've GOT to find a resource that tells why a dog wants to lick around a human's nose and mouth.

I don't want to stop her licking, but I do not like the face licking. 

She is so cute when she licks away my tears.  They must taste very different because she stops and studies my face before resuming her self-appointed role as tear-annihilator.

Jenny B is a Mama's girl, but she also flirts and plays with Gordon and Unc. Gordon has discovered that she can't stand for him to lightly blow in her ear...like he might blow over my ear...light and ticklish. Those two have turned it into a game of hide and seek among the pillows on the bed.

Gordon blows across her ear. Jenny B hides among the pillows. Gordon finds her and blows. Jenny B wriggles all over and scurries around on the bed to hide behind me or burrow under another pillow. It is quite a delight to see them play like this.

Jenny B patrols the back yard with Mackie, every time. During all this rain, she has come in soaked and muddy, just like Mackie. She brought in just as many seeds in her fur during those weeks it would not stop raining enough for Gordon and Unc to mow.  I'm sure she wonders why the Westies here get so many baths!

It's past time to give her a little trim, and I am deliberating whether to cut those adorable little tufts of hair around her eyes. They look SOOO cute. We have been brushing her every day and working with her to get her more accustomed to being groomed. We don't want to create any anxiety in her sheltered little life.

Jenny B is so tender and trusting and loving. As I mentioned before, she was hand-raised by a breeder who knows how to prepare the vibrant terrier personality for loving homes. Jenny B would be fabulous around children, and terriers are not always recommended for households with children.

You know there will be more photos and blog posts about Jenny B and all of our Westies! Until then, here are some Jenny B posts you may have missed:

Jenny B Learns to Sew
Jenny B's Perspective
Jenny B's Third Day
Jenny B's Second Day: A Real Beazer with an Adorable Beazer
Jenny B's First Day: Shhhh, The Baby is Sleeping
Jenny Be Still My Heart

The Yellow Dotted Affair

It's raining today. A pretty, gentle, summer rain. I would normally enjoy a rain like the one we had today, but my "acute bronchitis" has been getting worse all week, and we have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow, hoping she can end this three-month saga.

Anyway, I need cheering up, so I have been editing some photos I took last week of pretty yellow fabrics. Here follows some pretty pictures and prattle.

First, I will confess I have a problem with this out-of-print "Sunshine" by April Cornell for Moda. I'm obsessed with it. If a fabric could represent the complexities of a human's existence, THIS fabric is how I would want to be as a human.  Don't ask me to explain that. I cannot.

The fabric was introduced to the consumer in 2007, I think. Of course, I did not discover it until late 2008. I ordered my first yard. I even prattled about it in this blog.

Then I started looking for more of this fabric. I wanted enough for a backing of a king size quilt, 9 to 10 yards. I found the almost-six yard length that I snatched up.

Browsing around the Internet late one night recently, I stumbled across this beautiful eight yard length ON SALE! AND the shop accepted PayPal, meaning I could pay for my "fix" straight from the bank account...forget some little bill that might need to be set aside for a while...I needed a Fabric Fix!

Well, my fabric shopping has been greatly curtailed this year, so I get even more excited when a package with fabric arrives! I've had to do a little fabric shopping for a special commissioned quilt that I'm currently working on. You will see it when it is all finished. *grin*

While sorting and organizing my fabric stash, I decided to take a photo of some of it. This Tower of Happy Yellow represents most of my yellow fabric stash.

Another piece I bought long ago I was delighted to find a similar piece recently. It is the yellow batik pictured in this post.  

While I was enjoying photographing yellow fabrics that day, I shot this favorite yellow print by Sue Penn. I cannot remember the name of the fabric line or the manufacturer.  I had cut off that info from the selvage to look for later. That little piece of selvage will show up. I have a little collection of them since i am always looking for various out of print fabrics.

A previous fabric orgy here

Magnificent Mulberries

The mulberries are coming in.  Have you ever eaten a mulberry right from the tree, warm from the sunshine? It is like a very mild, sweet, soft blackberry without the tart and without the seed.

The heavy rains earlier this year probably washed the pollen off of the trees, Unc told me, resulting in a very sparse crop of mulberries this year.

We have one large mulberry tree on the west side of the farmhouse. The birds and deer eat most of those mulberries, so there are very few mulberries left for us humans. I also love the tree for its fall foliage also, so we continue to plant baby mulberry trees around the homeplace, knowing the wildlife will feast on the berries.

One year we even had a family of skunks come to visit and gorge themselves on mulberries  every night.

That was back when we used window fans in the bedrooms to pull in cooler air at night. Skunks travel in a cloud of their infamous odor, even if they have not been startled. I can still remember waking up to the pungent, undeniable odor of skunk in my bedroom. It is a rather alarming way to wake up! One does not go back to sleep easily while breathing eau de skunk!

Plus, in those days, our border collies lived outside, so I was always afraid the dogs would wake up and decide to chase away the skunks! Fun memories!

I love Mulberries so much, to eat and for the tree's beautiful fall foliage, that I sculpted an ornament and a brooch of the mulberry leaf. The angel is darting between the mulberry leaves in this sculpture. Her wings and skirt are made of mulberry leaves.

More of Unc's carving talent

Unc caught up with the orders for his wood carving, so here are some new pieces that he has available.

The wood is all from trees that Hurricane Katrina uprooted in August, 2005. It has dried slowly and naturally. That means the wood won't crack in the future.

He oils his primitive kitchen utensils with olive oil, several coats to seal the wood.

These Salad serving sets are new designs for Unc. I remember how many years I searched for something hand-made by a Mississippi or Alabama artisan to add a little drama to serving salad. Why did I not ask Unc to make a pair for me 20 years ago?

The bread board was a special commission for a special friend. The special wood grain, the natural organic shape of the board (following the shape of the original log) and the size make it truly one-of-a-kind!

He has started making little cutting boards again as well.

Here is how we use his little cutting boards. They work marvelously when trying to keep little pieces from scattering all over the counter or table or floor!

Another new primitive kitchen utensil Unc has started making this year are potato mashers!

All of Unc's primitive kitchen pieces are hand carved and hand finished.

Several of these pieces pictured in this blog post are already sold. If you are interested in some of Unc's primitive kitchen items, just let me know, penny(at)pennysanford.com. Unc accepts Paypal or checks.

I prattle about Unc all the time on this blog. For those who are new readers, Unc is my 83 year old uncle Charles K. Hamer. He has lived his entire life and is the fifth generation of this family to live and work on this Historic Centennial Hamer Hills Farm, established 1837.

See more of Unc's carving here.

My Mystery Penny from Australia, c. 1943

I found this little treasure while recently cleaning out a drawer in the house.  

Back when I was a little bitty tyke, like age 4 or 5, I found this little treasure on a playground in Jackson. We lived in Jackson during the week for Mama and Daddy to work, and we came home to the farm every weekend.

I vividly remember opening my grubby little hand and showing my little found treasure to them that afternoon. I'm pretty sure they checked with the other parents to see if another little child had lost it. They taught me ethics like that, so I feel sure they practiced those ethics as well.

All I know is that I was allowed to keep this Australian penny, from 1943. It was a special treasure since my name is Penny.

All these years, I have wanted to have this mounted in a finding that will allow me to wear it as a necklace. There is not enough room to thread a chain through the curled lip of the hat. I've tried numerous times.

You can see there are solder marks on the underside of the little hat that hint this may have been soldered to something...a belt buckle?

Is this a real coin for Australia? It would have been a rather large and thick penny. 

I've seen real U.S. penny coins flattened with the imprint of some tourist destination added. People collect those.  I've never seen anything like this little hat.

Please share any information you might have on this type of coin art. Sharing my little "treasure" with you has been a fun mini trip to Memoryville!

Get this blog in your email inbox

Gordon has fixed the Subscribe by Email feature to this blog!  YEAH, Gordon!

Apparently, Feedburner was bought by Google, and there was an email (that I totally missed) instructing me what to do to tweak things the Google way. I hope the tweaks will restore the email delivery of this blog to those who are subscribed that way.

If you have changed your email address, or if you want to subscribe to this blog for the first time, just look for the subscription thingy over on the right of the page. Enter your email address into the little space, and click on Subscribe.

I just subscribed to my own blog so that I could share with you what steps are involved.

After I hit the "Subscribe" button, a window popped up, and I had to type in the letters of the squiggly non-word.

Then I got this message: "Please check your inbox for a verification message from “FeedBurner Email Subscriptions”, the service that delivers email subscriptions for Penny Sanford Designs. You will need to click a link listed in this message to activate your subscription."

Hope this helps. Some of you have asked lately about subscribing to this blog via email. Even more of you have asked why you were no longer receiving this blog by email anymore. Now you know why...and how.

PLEASE let us know if you have any problems!

Heavenly Sunshine

Today was the third day of beautiful, glorious, blessed sunshine!

Gordon caught these quick photos of the Westies sunbathing this afternoon.

It was so bright that even the appropriate camera adjustments could not adjust. But then, little white Westies are not easy to photograph in bright sunlight.

Unc planted basil and bell pepper seed in the cold frame this afternoon. He has a nice little garden started in spite of the rain. That is for another post with different photos.

Gordon and I are working steadily at our various projects. Plus the dogs. Plus Rosalie (who is missing at the moment...not unusual of her, but it still gives me anxiety until we find her.) Unc is great help with housekeeping and mowing.

Ideas for optimum cutting surface

First, my serendipity from yesterday.

I put my cutting mat on Mama's old rolling hospital bedside table. It turns 360 degrees. It adjusts in height. It worked wonderfully with my new 24 inch cutting ruler. Even the tiny lip of the table helped in my cutting project.

There I was in the lap of cutting luxury, in my padded, rolling office chair, cutting quilt pieces in total comfort. I will designate this little hospital table to be my small cutting surface for ever and ever.

No, we did not lift it from a hospital. We ordered after Mama's stroke in 2004 from a Sears Medical Supply catalog. It makes a great laptop table or hand-sewing surface for when one melts into a recliner and needs a rolling table to roll under one's extended feet.

Now for my questions of you:

I need to designate one of our 6 foot folding tables to be a cutting table for larger stuff. I've seen some pretty large self-healing cutting mats on eBay. If you know of a source with good prices, please let me know.

What are the recommendations for the height of such a cutting table?

I'd like to cover the boring brown fake grain with something pretty and colorful. Oilcloth? Fabric with a top layer of thick clear vinyl? What would be durable? 

Alicia Paulson (Posy Gets Cozy Blog) used concrete blocks to raise the height of her cutting table.

Another question:  Not all self-healing mats are made equal, apparently.  My cutting mat, above, was a bargain from eBay. Maybe I have left it in the hot car to bake...it started life as my cutting mat to take to quilting classes.  It does not "self heal" as well as I expected. Is there a brand of self-healing cutting mat that you would recommend?

My eyes, ears and brain are all open to learn from your experience! Thanks, in advance!

My Three Magnolia Sculptures

Actually, I have sculpted seven magnolia pieces, but the rest were private commissions or are now retired. These are the three magnolia pieces that I will currently make.

That pretty aqua fabric has been flirting with me from its cozy basket in my sewing area.  Before washing it, I put it to service as a backdrop for a few new pictures of these three magnolia designs.

These are available in an ornament ($25 plus shipping) or as a brooch ($20 plus shipping). They come in a gift box with a brochure. The brooches can be worn as a necklace or as a brooch.

I will sign or personalize the piece for free. Orders over $200 get free shipping.

Magnolia Leaf Brooch:

Magnolia Blossom Brooch:

Magnolia Glory Brooch: