Week 4: Jan 25-31

Jan 25 - Walking the dish (again).  

Didn't see any coyotes - maybe next time...

Jan 26 - homemade artisan bread

 Jan 27 - YD and the devil cat ...

Jan 28 - no picture

Jan 29 - cucumber cosmo preparation

Jan 30 - no picture

Jan 31

I missed two days this week.  Hoping to get all 7 next week. I think about it, but then I just don't take the pictures.

Cocktail Wednesday

I got to pick the cocktail this week .. so I went with a Cucumber Cosmopolitan. A friend of mine mentioned that she had one and liked it so I thought it might be worth trying -- defintely more so than my coffee fiasco.  

 

I got the recipe from here.  The ingredients were, gin, triple sec, cucumber water (see the bowl on the left), cucumber spears, lime juice, white cranberry juice, and ice.

 

A great summer cocktail (let's not remember that it's the dead of winter here in California) -- though it's been warm lately so a summery drink was not so bad.

This was not my favorite drink but I would probably have one if offered.  My favorite so far was the cranberry/vodka in December.  That one ranked a 5 (out of 5) for me.  This is probably a 3.5.

New Beginnings .. a linky party

Each month this year, I want to start a new quilt or project.  I'll post about it and then put a linky at the bottom.  Please link up if you'd like to share your new projects. 

My January start is a baby girl quilt.  I blogged about it here.

I'm actually hoping to finish this this month as well, but we'll see. 

Week 3: Jan 18-24

 Jan 18 - Fort Funston (my Saturday walk in San Francisco,
by the Pacific Ocean)

Jan 19 - "Q" key - replaced!!

Jan 20 -- finished quilt top

Jan 21 -- oops! I forgot

 Jan 22 - Wednesday Cocktail

Jan 23 - My fitbit

Jan 24 - NY snow globe

Cocktail Wednesday

This week's cocktail is Caipirinha, apparently the national cocktail of Brazil (who knew a country would have a national cocktail??). It's made with cachaça, lime, and sugar.  Cachaça is Brazilian rum.  Fortunately, I had no problem finding it or the limes. Don't hate me - the limes were 3 for $1. I had three or four types of Cachaça to choose from so I went with the prettiest bottle.

 

The recipe came from here. Basically, the drink was a lime, two teaspoons of sugar, and 2 oz of Cachaça (oh and crushed ice).  Simple.  However, I didn't read the directions completely because I didn't add crushed ice until after the first sip - note my pathetic looking drinks.

One thing I didn't mention is that I detest rum (but I didn't let that stop me from joining in). I had a very bad experience with it about 35 years ago and had not had any since, until last night. I only had one drink last night because I felt I was pushing my luck just sipping it .. no bad consequences though so I may try this again .. or I may modify it by using vodka or some other alcohol. (Marg tells me that if I use vodka instead of Cachaça it's called a Caipiroska.) 

Both Shay and Marg (Quilting in My Pyjamas and Sunshine? Paradise?) gave Caipirinha a 5 out of 5 rating.  I haven't figured out my rating scale yet, but I would probably give this a 3 or a 4.

Today is brought to you by the letter ...

Q

My "q" key on my computer was broken for the last couple months.  It's been a real pain especially since I frequently talk about quilts.  It was super inconvenient.  I went to the Apple store on Saturday and they fixed it, in about 5 minutes.  So tell me, why did I wait so long to take it in?

Happy Monday!

Help! Please!

I'm going to start a linky party for the monthly new projects but before I can do it, I need a catchy name.  Monthly Starts just doesn't sound cute enough.  Any and all suggestions welcome.

Thanks.

Week 2 - Jan 11-17

Jan 11 - walking the dish

 Jan 12 - diaper motorcycle

Jan 13 - Christmas Cactus

Jan 14 - handmade gift bag


Jan 15 - New Project

 Jan 16 - my room

Jan 17 - Weezer

January's Start

One of my goals this year is to start a new project each month -- preferably a quilt -- but at least some sort of project.  I'm thinking something that takes more than one day being the qualifier; or maybe something that takes several hours. hmmm.  Well, whatever.  I'll decide if something qualifies as I go.

This month I started a quilt.  A jelly roll, similar to the one I just finished, but larger and pinker. 

 

#1 Finish

Under the pressure of an upcoming baby shower, I have my first finish of the year. Although I made the quilt top last year, I just finished it today.   The pattern came from here and the fabric is V and Co Simply Style (I totally copied from here, though my quilt looks smaller ...).

It is a small baby quilt -- I think it's about 36 x 36.  I love the flannel on the back -- the rocket ships are great!  I should probably get more in case Katie's baby is a boy ...  of course, Katie may already know what she's having, but she hasn't shared it with me ..

Week 1 - Jan 4-10

 Jan 4 - Superheroes in the kitchen...

 Jan 5 - Nails at the hospital

Jan 6 - corks in a bottle

Jan 7 - cake for a friend's birthday

 Jan 8 - forgot to take a picture

 Jan. 9 - monkeys on the bed

Jan 10 - bowling alley

This is my first week of pictures. Hard to believe I already missed one day, but I'll keep going on anyway.  I'm amazed how hard it is to take pictures every day.  Even with a camera in my phone.

Family Picture(s)

We took family pictures the Sunday after Christmas.  Here's the first one.

Oscar's Best Movie Nominations

• Here are last year's Oscar nominees that I saw, and the ones I didn't see.  Since this year's Oscar nominees are on my 2014 list, I thought I would post last year's.

  Armour

  Argo - loved this movie; although I basically knew the outcome, I was on the seat of my chair (actually since I was home, I was just in a state of agitation, anxious to see what would happen). 3/30/13

  Beasts of the Southern Wild

  Django Unchained - this is definitely a Quentin Tarantino movie. Lots of gore and revisionist history.  It was okay, except for the couple of scenes that were totally over the top. The language was foul.  I would have liked it more if I felt the little things had been historically correct.  If you like Tarantino, I am sure you will enjoy this movie. 5/25/13

  Les Miserables

  Life of Pi - I enjoyed this. I have issues with the theology at the beginning, but otherwise it was good.  It was not at all what I expected and very, very entertaining. I'm not sure which story is true, but I like the one about the tiger.  5/5/13

  Lincoln - I hate to admit this, but I didn't find this movie entertaining at all.  I kept waiting for it to end.  I'm sure the acting was great.  I'm sure Civil War history buffs really enjoyed it.  If you are someone who enjoyed it, please let me know what you liked about it. 4/4/13 (Liked Abraham Lincoln Vampire Slayer better.  -- Did I actually say that???)

  Silver Linings Playbook

  Zero Dark Thirty- I also liked this one. I didn't know anything about the controversy until after I watched it. Again, I knew the ending but found myself very anxious while watching it. 2/28/13

The List for 2014

So I'm a little late with my list.  Really had a hard time coming up with 52 this year.
But here we go ...

1. Get my passport (applied for on 4/30) - DONE
2. Spend an entire day in my pj's
3. Start one quilt/project a month (ideas:  Cat quilt (Oh Fransson!); Grinch Quilt) 1) January - baby girl quilt; 2) February - Grinch Quilt; 3) March - Zoom Zoom (1); 4) April - Elephants on Parade; 5) May - Improv Quilt; 6) June -- OOPS; 7) July - Go Fly a Kite; 8) August - Star Quilt; 9) Tiger Coins Quilt (Detroit Tigers, that is); 10) Gingham giraffe; 11) Sewing Kits; 12) No-sew blankets
4. Walk across the Mackinac Bridge (Labor Day - 2014) - DONE!!
5. Go to Jono and Lolo's wedding - done - 5/9/14
6. Make thimbleberry jam - about a thimble's worth - DONE
7. Run/walk 300 miles - DONE!! (according to fitbit anyway!)
8. Run in a 5K - Run or Dye (actually I walked) - the race was on 3/29 and I think the only picture I posted was of the packet I picked up on the 28th..,
9. Make 9 quilts - 1) Jelly Roll Quilt; 2) Another Jelly Roll Quilt; 3) Elephants on Parade; 4) Zoom Zoom; 5) another zoom zoom; 6) Go Fly a Kite; 7) Tiger Coins; 8) Gingham Giraffe
10. Make a quilt to donate
11. Take pictures every day and post them once a week (Starting Jan 4) - sort of
12.  Make curtains for my room
13.  Make curtains for the boys' room
14.  Do some hand stitching/embroidery.
15.  Try to hand quilt?
16.  Try free motion quilting
17.  Do a jigsaw puzzle (worked on a few ...) - Done (in Maryland)
18.  Visit my MIL - DONE
19.  Visit my Aunt and Uncle - DONE!
20.  Organize my office - Done (needs to be done again)
21.  Organize my room
22. Spend time with each of my kids - sort of
23. Go on 12 dates with my husband
24. Get caught up on Dr. Who - DONE!
25. Watch the current season of Downton Abbey
26. Plant some herbs (basil, rosemary .. something)
27. Knit something ... started a blanket
28. Sew something to wear
29. Participate in "Mission: Slimpossible" - done (Came in Second and 21st the second time around)
30. Buy 52 - $1 items #1-12 - Glassware;  items 13-24 - Puzzles/Games, Books, Sheet
31. Watch all Oscar nominated movies - bust
32. Go to a National park
33. Do a wine tasting in Napa - DONE
34. Take a road trip - drove from Houghton, Michigan, to St. Ignace, Michigan, and back .. should qualify.
35.  Swim in the Gulf of Mexico - DONE
36. Read 12 books - Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant,
37. Visit the Grand Canyon
38. Paint my bathroom
39. Watch a sunrise - DONE 9/5/14
40. See a sunset - DONE
41. Make a bag (made a clutch)
42. Do something kind for a stranger
43. Go to the beach - done several times ...
44. Go to Tahoe - DONE!
45. Get a new hairstyle
46. Watch a classic movie
47. Get another Judy Bolton book
48. Try a new recipe
49. Go bowling - went Bowling on 1/10 for YD's boyfriend's birthday
50. Volunteer (somewhere different)
51. Have a "fat" night - plenty, but not intentionally
52.  Make a list for 2015

Happy New Year!

I've just about got my 2014 list done but not quite.  We've had an interesting week or so and I haven't had time (or haven't taken the time) to get it done, but I will.  I'll also see how I did on last year's list.

I'm hoping to post this weekend ...