December 9, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 41 Comments

Fishy Placemats

These are the fish placemats I started almost a year ago. By the time I got to the nearly finished stage, I had lost my enthusiasm to do much quilting in between the fish. You might be able to see where I did a tiny bit of quilting in the second to last placemat, but I soon decided that it was a waste of time and not really necessary.

They are each flawed in their own way, so that makes them unique. That, and the fact that I was making it up as I went along without a pattern or any idea of where I was going with it.

The back of the placemats is of the same material as the binding around the edges. When I get tired of looking at fish, I can flip the placemats over. This project has taken me so long that by the time I was putting the binding on, I didn’t much care if the corners weren’t exact or the edges a bit wobbly.

I was just glad to get them finished.

Now all I need is a meal to put on the placemats.

I wonder what would happen if I served fish on these mats.

November 20, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 36 Comments

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

Just in time for Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law sent me this recipe. As it happens, it’s a great recipe for any time of the year and any occasion. It was my first time making this cake, but it wasn’t that hard to do, and because it tasted SO GOOD, I have to share it.

I used my Kitchen Aid mixer but it occurred to me that it might have been even easier with a regular handheld mixer because you can just stick the beaters into a different bowl rather than wash the bowl and reuse it to do the two steps of mixing (you’ll see what I mean).

Step One

Take an 8″ square cake pan and put two tbsp. melted butter in the bottom of the pan. Then spread 1/2 cup of brown sugar over the bottom of the pan.

Set this aside to put in the oven at 350 degrees for a couple of minutes just before it’s time to add the batter. (You need to have time to make the batter before heating the butter/sugar mixture).

The recipe says to add about a cup and a half of fresh cranberries (or even two cups) to this butter and brown sugar mixture. I always have frozen cranberries for my baking so I put them into a big measuring cup and add hot water to thaw them, draining and replacing the hot water a couple of times to thaw the cranberries. These will be added later to the heated up sugar/butter combination.

About 1/4 cup of pecans will also be sprinkled onto the bottom of the pan after the cranberries are added.

** I heated the oven and put the pan in to melt the brown sugar into the butter when I was finished making the batter in the next step.

Step Two

Now let’s make the batter.

Put these ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix after each addition:

3 tbsp. softened butter

1/4 cup white sugar

2 egg yolks (save the whites in a little bowl for mixing later)

1 tsp. vanilla

Step Three

In a separate bowl, put the rest of the dry ingredients together:

1 1/3 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp.

Step Four

Add the flour mixture to the batter, alternately with 1/2 cup of milk, ending with the flour mixture. If the resulting batter seems a bit too stiff, add a couple more tbsp. milk.

The second time I tried baking this cake I did add a bit more milk (say, almost 3/4 cup altogether) and it was better.

Step Five

This is about the time when I put the pan into the preheated oven, because the next step takes about the right time while the brown sugar is melting into the sugar.

In a clean bowl, put the two egg whites you have saved from when you put the egg yolks into the batter. Beat the egg whites until they are stiff.

Fold the egg white mixture into the batter. (Don’t stir it in. Gently fold it in.) The batter should look slightly foamy.

Step Six

Take out the pan with the heated butter and brown sugar, sprinkle the warmed up cranberries evenly over the brown sugar. Then sprinkle a few pecans over the cranberries. If you have a nut allergy you can easily skip this step.

Pour the batter over the cranberries in the pan and spread it evenly.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

When it is done, let the cake sit for a few minutes; then loosen the sides by running a knife along the sides of the pan. Put a plate over the pan upside down and invert the cake onto the plate.

Step Seven

Make a pot of tea or coffee and cut the cake. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream or just have it plain. It’s really good all by itself.

The photo below is from my second try, where I added a tiny bit more milk and used 2 cups of cranberries rather than 1 and 1/2 cups. Better, I think.

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If you have another kind of e-reader, you can visit smashwords.com where you can download my books for the same price of 99 cents for your type of e-reader.

September 17, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 35 Comments

He’s a Fun Guy!

If I have him identified correctly, he’s a fun guy, but he’s a bit of a schwein, a pig. I think this fungi’s name is Phaeolus schweinitzii. Sounds like a sexy pork schnitzel, but in fact, it is not for eating. It will make you very sick or maybe kill you if you eat it. But we’re okay. We’re just looking at it and it shouldn’t make us go blind.

I read on Wikipedia that this fun guy can rot the butt of a fir tree. Not a nice guy, this fungi.

Here is “Baby Bear,” just beginning to grow in my yard.

Here is “Mama Bear,” just a bit bigger.

And here is “Papa Bear.” I thought it looked like a layer of slightly burnt pancakes, but the grass had me wondering – did the grass grow through it, or did the fungus grow around it?

So if you can’t use it, what’s the good of it?

Well, apparently, it is also called “dyer’s polybore,” and mixed with the right mordant (fixative) this fungus makes rich brown dyes that can be used to dye wool.

I’m going to rush right out and try that.

August 5, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 40 Comments

Mystery Bug

I took this picture a few years ago and had forgotten about it. My white phlox plant still had a few flowers then, but later, most of the white flowers got eaten by this grasshopper and his friends.

I’m not crazy about insects, but this grasshopper had rather pretty markings. I tried to find out what kind he was. The closest I could find was a two-striped grasshopper. It looks to me that this guy has only one stripe but maybe they are counting the identical stripe on the other side of his body. Any ideas for an accurate I.D.?

I recommend “The Phlox” for lunch,

With seating for a crowd,

Delicious food on offer here,

So far, it’s not too loud.

I’ve stuffed my face with flowers white,

They’re delicate to chew,

If you don’t join me soon, I say,

That’s just too bad for you.

I thought she grew these plants for us,

Perennials you know,

And yet she shoos us all away,

“Get out! It’s time to go!”

March 1, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 36 Comments

Quilting Retreat

The view from the lodge where we have the quilting retreat is gorgeous, even with snow, which always seems to hit us for the February retreat.

Inside the lodge, in the new section (below), quilters have their machines set up at the far end and tables are set up for meals at the closer end. See the buffet-style serving area in the middle by the posts.

Next to the new part is the older section of the lodge, with carpet instead of hardwood flooring. The quilters on this side are closer together, but they each have their stations that they use every time they come to a retreat. The banter and chatter is cozy and friendly, and the quilters share new ideas.

Some of their finished products are hung on the railing of the loft. Sometimes just the flimsy (the top of an unfinished quilt) is hung up, and the less creative finishing work is done later, at home.

More quilts.

My project of fish placemats was very time consuming and I haven’t finished them yet, but I’ll post them when I get them done.

When I came home, I had a short (maybe 10-minute) ferry ride from Quadra Island to Vancouver Island, but the sky and sea were all one snow-filled mass. See the bits of snow still sitting on the roofs of other vehicles? I took this picture from inside my truck.

Looking out one of the ferry’s side windows, I could see the white caps blowing off the tops of the waves. The ferry swayed side to side as it battled the pull of the tide near Seymour Narrows while the wind blew in the opposite direction.

I had a white-knuckle 45-minute drive home on a snowy highway once I got off the ferry, but I felt safe in my truck, and was glad we had invested in good tires.

February 16, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 58 Comments

Set the Table

When I was quite young, my mother taught me how to set the table. I think it’s something that most parents teach their children as soon as they’re able to help out. Sometimes children ask:

Which side does the knife go on?

Which side for the fork?

Which way should the knife be turned,

Ready to eat pork?

Sharp side in or sharp side out?

How close to the plate?

What if there’s a spoon as well?

Can you tell me, mate?

So I decided to come up with a way to make it easier for a child to learn to set the table. Somewhere I had seen a set of placemats that showed exactly where to put the cutlery and where to put the plate.

At the same time, it was a good way to learn what the primary colours (red, yellow, and blue) were. The green was a bonus.

I made these quite a long time ago (eight years), but as I looked through some old photos, I came across them. Since I’m going to a quilting retreat next week, I thought I’d share these with you. I didn’t use a pattern to make the placemats. They’re quite simple. But I did cut out the shapes for the plates and the cutlery using cardboard tracers.

February 13, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 46 Comments

Love, Love, Love

Because it’s February and Valentine’s month, along with my fish placemats, I plan to make some more heart placemats at the upcoming quilting retreat.

Did you see the movie with Adam Sandler where he frequently says, “Love, love, love”? He says it with a sigh, or as if people are making too big a deal of love, but really he wishes he could make the girl fall in love with him. I don’t know which of his many movies it was, but I remember him being on the beach being a bartender in a little beach bar.

Anybody know which movie I’m talking about? I just don’t remember. All I remember is that every once in a while, he’d say, “Love, love, love,” as if it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

On Valentine’s Day we like to show the special people in our life that we really do love them.

But shouldn’t we do that every day? How should we do that?

Here are a few ideas.

Good relationships have a lot of give and take. The thing is, it’s not meant to be “one gives and the other takes.” You both have to give and take, equally.
No good keeping score and saving up Brownie points. Just go for it, and be good to each other.
Work towards a common goal. If you are working against each other in life’s goals, it’s not going to work. For example: If one makes the money and the other just spends it, it’s not going to work. Or if one always messes up the house and the other one always cleans it, it’s not going to work.
Allow your partner his/her own space; time to pursue some creative hobbies or quiet time on their own.
Say something nice to your partner every day.

Lastly, I was reminded the other day about how dogs behave when their owner returns after having been away for a while. If you’ve ever owned a dog, you might have noticed how they jump around and sometimes yip and bark and whine, or roll on their back hoping for a belly rub because they’re so happy to see you.

Wouldn’t it make your partner feel good if you showed how happy you were to see them when they come home? You don’t have to bark and yip, or roll on the floor with joy, but … well … you get the picture.

Happy Valentine’s Day

February 6, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 58 Comments

Something Fishy

In a couple of weeks, I will be going to a quilting retreat. It’s a chance to do three days of sewing without having to stop to clean the house, make dinner, and wash dishes.

It has been since before Covid that I have been to one of these working holidays and I was at a bit of a loss as to what project(s) to take with me to work on.

Four years ago, I sewed the placemats you see in this post, meaning to take them as gifts to friends in Montana, but with the border closed for a long time, the placemats were put on the shelf for later, and later, and later. I almost gave up on the gift idea and was going to use them myself, but they didn’t feel as if they really belonged to me. They were destined for Montana.

Along comes a quilting retreat that I’m able to attend for the first time in several years. It will be the perfect time to make a set of these fishy placemats for the Captain and myself.

Here is the first one I made, rather oversized, but okay to use as a table center. You can see that I got carried away with my imaginary fish. That’s Darth Vader’s cousin on the top right.

No such fish exist, as far as I know, but it was fun to make up some “pretend” fish to swim in and out of the seaweed.

A few turtles swam past as I was sewing. Some stayed to visit.

Some of the placemats have rocks near the ocean floor. Maybe I’ll put some clams and crabs in the next set. Sea urchins might be fun to add as well, and who knows what else might live there in the depths? Maybe a squid or two? In this case, the sky really is the limit.

I hope to have a new set of fishy placemats to show you in a few weeks.

November 11, 2022
by wordsfromanneli 31 Comments

Mum’s the Word

Imagine these flowers as the size of a potted chrysanthemum that a friend brought me as a hostess gift about a year ago; maybe a five-inch potted plant.

The potted plant looked so pretty and I thought what a shame that the flowers would soon die and that would be the end of it. But later when the blooms wilted, I put the pot outside and cut back the dead flowers. Out on the deck, I kept the worst of the frost off the plant all winter.

In the spring it got new green growth and wanted to be a tall plant. I should have cut it back, but didn’t, so it got a bit leggy.

But look how it bloomed in spite of me! Next spring I’ll try to keep it pruned better and who knows, I might get even more flowers – if that is even possible.

Anyway, it’s a beautiful way to remember a friend. I smile whenever I look at this mum.

If you should want to please a chum,

Just give them a chrysanthemum,

These yellow blooms are like the sun,

They tend to cheer up everyone.

A hostess gift that stayed alive

And has a strong will to survive,

It blooms for such a long, long while,

Eliciting a frequent smile.

July 31, 2022
by wordsfromanneli 47 Comments

Flossie the Floozie

Have you ever been ignored by someone you care about? You wait, hopeful for conversation, and … nothing.

I told Floyd, “My name’s Flossie. How are you?” But he was so snooty. He just flew to a nearby tree and ignored me. Let me tell you, I was hurt.

I was seriously doubting myself. Having a confidence meltdown. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Why didn’t he like me? He was so unfriendly. Just stuck his nose in the air. He was fine as long as HE was talking, but as soon as I said something, he flew off.

Then I had a thought. I … er … I … hadn’t had a bath in a while.

I checked my pits. Hmmm…. Got myself tidied up and as I sat there waiting, I realized that when I introduced myself, he must have thought I said my name was Floozie, not Flossie.

Well, now we wait … and we’ll see. I should wait a few minutes before I call him back. Wait until my feathers aren’t so ruffled. But still, what a nerve of him to be so rude.