I wasn't GONNA post today...

I've been trying to do really well at posting every Monday...  if for no other reason than to have a current "image of the week". And I was going to skip it this week, partially because Monday didn't feel like Monday, and partially because just posting image of the week posts is boring. My "excuse" was going to be that I've been working SO HARD on Mr. Website. (In fact, I used it in a comment on a friend's blog :-P) But, with the 15 minutes I have right now where there's not much else going on (not enough time to do a load of laundry - probably enough to fold the last one though, not time for lunch yet - just ate breakfast, not quite time to get ready for errands - hence the 15 minutes) I figured I'd write a post for you.

I HAVE been making some major progress on Mr. Website. All 300+ images have been titled, each one has it's own little boiler-plate description for the enlarged view, and everything has been loaded to the server. Now it's a matter of the details (read: writing the REST of the website, so you can SEE the pretty pictures). I had hoped to get a LITTLE more done during our Christmas Week Adventure, but... it didn't really happen, lol. It IS coming along. And, of course, with everything I check off the website to-do list, I think of some other cool feature/page that I "NEED" to put in. Still shooting for a mid-January launch... *crosses fingers*

For you excitable ones (and you know who you are ;-P)... here's a sneak peek of the home-page!

...and while we're at it, since this is my "Monday" post... the main image there will be this week's 10% Photo. It's called - Winter Getaway -

Not sure how my 10% Photo thing works? Shoot me an e-mail at somethingbetsy at gmail dot com and let me know what medium you'd like it in, and you'll get 10% off my regular prices. What are the options/prices? Check out my Etsy Shop :)

-Betsy

throwin it out there

Have I finished my Christmas cards yet? 

No... but I sent all but 10? of them out.

Have I finished my Christmas shopping yet? 

No... but I only have 1 more item to buy, and have till the 7th to do so.

Have I got my website all done? 

No... but I HAVE made a little progress.

I'll get ONE thing accomplished now though: this week's 10% photo. 

100% random, just like last week :)

- Glacial Waterfall -

You know the drill ;)

-Betsy

It's Monday!

Today was spent doing a bunch of things. 

First, I woke up to snow on the rooftops!!

 So I turned on the Christmas lights and took a snapshot. 

For posterity, ya know? :-P

Later on, I finally got to the local library to become a member and take out the first public library book since high school. Now, just to find time to read it before Friday for my new book club 0:-)

(You can't really click to see inside... I totally stole the photo from Amazon)

Then there was a trip to Walmart for "things I need until 'Christmas' starts on Saturday."  Followed by a visit to the Post Office to mail out a Christmas package and pick up stamps for the Christmas Cards. Then home again to wrap Christmas presents for hubby. The tree is looking REALLY festive now!

(too lazy at the moment to throw a picture up here. Sorry)

Needless to say hubby JUST said "looks like Christmas down there!" in reference to presents under the tree.

And, as it's Monday, it's time to reveal this week's special. This will work much better when my site is officially up and running, instead of pointing to Etsy, but Christmas has taken over for now, so not much progress has been made in the past week :-P. 

This week, I'm pulling a photo at random, and it is...

- Wedding Whites -

If you're interested, check out the Etsy site for prices and mediums, 

but shoot me an e-mail at somethingbetsy @ gmail {dot} com

and get 10% off!

-Betsy

Almost Famous

So hubby's being really supportive with the prospect of this new website business (Still coming soon, some major progress has been made in the past few days). And he has started google-ing www.somethingbetsy.com every day so that my "hit count" goes up. Well today, he googled somethingbetsy.com, and THIS is the first thing that popped up. I'm almost famous!



-Betsy

Have I got a SUPER project for you!!

Every year, we've tried to figure out some fabulous way to keep the live Christmas tree, well... live. And every year, we inevitably fail to keep it watered 100% of the time. When I was little, it was because we had a HUGE tree, and it would need to be watered 2-3 times a day... so dad would tie soda bottles filled with water to the bottom of the tree. You always knew when he was changing them though, because there would be this muffled "grunna nuh humfp, ugh! pbthhh, dang needles, ugh *grunt*" type sound coming from the living room. Things would get messy, water would get spilled, and you generally just steered clear.

It's been (mainly) my job to water the tree as a married lady. I still like the tradition of keeping the tree up as long as possible (for my parents, it stays up until Dad's Birthday... in February), but since it's just the two of us, and we live so far from our parents, it doesn't get watered at ALL for at least a week every year. Which means LOTS of needles come off when it's time to take it down.

I found this nifty gadget this year, and really wanted to buy it... but for $40.00 (after shipping) I was denied. :(. So I said "Fine. I'll make one myself!"  A few searches on the internet reminded me of basic principles of science which made me realize... this is WAY easier than we'd been thinking.

SO... here's how you make your budget christmas tree waterer which will keep you from all the pain that is watering a Christmas tree. I spent $9.00 on it... but you can PROBABLY do it for less. (yes, LESS!)

What you'll need:
- Big-ol-bucket: I got a 19 Qt Clear (useful) rubbermaid roughneck that is about 9 inches wide, 12 inches long and 10ish inches tall. I like that mine has a lid, to keep gunk out of it. Not REALLY necessary, unless you have small children/pets/etc. (p.s. How funny would it be if you had a goldfish swimming around in there, ha!)
- Tubing: I got 3/8" tubing with a 1/4" inner diameter, 10 feet long at Lowe's for about $3.00. I could have gotten the 1/4x1/8 inch "by the foot" tubing for $0.14/foot... but I didn't feel like finding an associate, as there were groceries in my trunk at the time. You also don't need 10 feet... 5 is probably good. You need 2 feet more than the radius of your tree basically, so you can place the bucket OUTSIDE the branch radius.
- Zip ties: I used two to make it all the way around the truck of the tree... you can put them together to "grow" the length, but if you have one that's large enough to surround the trunk, you're set.
- Water: Warning - you WILL NOT FILL THE WHOLE BUCKET!!

Ok, so here's what we do: We put our EMPTY bucket next to our tree stand and make a mark with where the TOP of the tree stand's reservoir is. Then we make a more definite mark (line) about 1/2" below (or more, if you want to play it a little safe, that's A-O-K). That will be your "max" line. Also make a mark (the best you can) as to where the BOTTOM of the reservoir is, and then put a line 1" above that mark. That line is the MINIMUM amount of water you should have in your bucket.

So now, we have something that looks like this: (but configured to your tree stand)

THEN, we tie a zip tie LOOSELY  around the trunk of the tree. Insert into that loop your tubing, and push it down to the bottom of the reservoir and tighten the zip tie.

Now fill your bucket up to the max line you made earlier. The bigger the bucket, the more water it will hold, the less often you'll need to fill it, but even small or skinny ones will work.

Now, you'll want to CAREFULLY suck on the tube to pull the water through it. If you have clear tubing... watch where the water is... I didn't have to taste pine water, because I stopped JUST before it got to the end of the tube... and quickly put your finger over the end to seal it off. Now submurge the tube into your bucket, bending the tubing so that the remaining air comes out and fills with water. Voila. You're done. The water in the bucket will slowly "back-flow" to the water in the reservoir until they reach the same level. If you have a water-bubble in the tubing, it won't work, so make sure you get all the air out of the tubing. Also make sure that the end of the tubing always stays under water.

If you want to get fancy, you can drill a hole the same size as your tubing in your bucket's lid, slide the tubing in, and then do your sucking. (Scientifically, it's called siphoning). Then when your done, you can close the lid of the bucket. I just put the lid over the bucket and didn't push down all the way. I might get fancy later, but for now... I have more Christmas shopping to do!


-Betsy

301

301 photos are now "prepped" for said website of last week.
301 titled (although some are most definitely lame)
301 watermarked (although I cheated and did a batch-edit :-P)
301 uploaded to server

Still a long way to go, but I'm excited that I finally started for real :)

-Betsy

Interjection:

I follow this blog:

http://www.ourbestbites.com

And it HAS NOT let me down yet. 

One Spoon/Bowl chocolate cupcakes?... 

delicious. Make them. Today. 

With their icing 

(which although it oddly enough involves cooking, 

could be the best icing ever.)

That is all.

-Betsy

Inspiration Part 3

It has begun.

My daddy-o is superfantastical, and is going to help me create a REAL LIVE WEBSITE to sell my pho-tos on :). One where all you need is paypal to order, as opposed to a) me keeping track of what photos are up and which are expired, and STUFF like that and b) you having to have an etsy password/login name to look at them :)

Now, superfantastical-ness takes time, so the site is not up yet, BUT... keep your eyes out for the "grand opening"

In the mean time, if you want any photos of mine, be they on Etsy or on this Blog or somewhere else you may have seen my artsie-ness... just give me a shout, and we'll pay-pal it up old-school style.

Christmas Berries

 - Photo of the week -

AKA, 10% off etsy prices, except ordered old-school style via e-mail at somethingbetsy @ gmail . com

-Betsy

Inspiration Part 2

I took fall photos yesterday while hubby was raking :)

- Lots to do -

And started the beginnings of a catalog

- Maria's Fallen Beauties - 

 

Michaels is on my list of places to go today (with coupons of course) to make up some "stock"

- Autumn Leaves -

 

Because I'm hosting a "31" party next week, and why not try and sell some photography while I'm at it?

- Blue-ish Berries - 

 

If you're near me, and want to come (for photos or Thirty One stuff), lemme know! I'll provide details :-P

-Betsy

Inspiration

I need me some inspiration.

And some motivation.

And probably some other forms of "ation" :-P

I need to put together a portfolio. I need to NAME all my art pieces (ugh). I need to get in the car early in the morning or mid-afternoon and take advantage of the "perfect light" and take more pictures, and I need to do it ALL THE TIME. I need to research some craft-fairs and either print up stock, or get stock printed. 

I need to JUMP IN and DO what I've been talking about for so long now.

I need to get over the fear of failing and just DO it. 

Can I get a boost of confidence on here?

-Betsy

This year, in review.

In making holiday schedules and future plans, etc, I realized we have TONS of stuff going on still before the year is up.

And being the analytical mind I am... I came up with these stats, that I had to share.

We will have traveled over 25 times this year.

5 of those trips were "short" - an hour and a half one way. 

(that means 20 were 5+ hours one way)

7 of those trips had multiple locations/events to attend.

9 of those trips were to My Home

3 of those trips were to Hubby's Home

1 of those trips was "Just for Us." It was 4 days long.

10 of those trips were to visit friends,  

5 of which were weddings.

15 trips were to visit family

 

there are only 52 weeks in a year!

It's a good thing we don't lease our car...

-Betsy

Just a note: It's official.

 Yup, official.

Best bribery tool for Betsy: Lamb Chops. Nice, tender, medium rare lamb chops, with garlic and rosemary.

Just thought you'd like to know.

This week's 10% photo IS:

Is it hot in here?

There's a trick this time: message me on Etsy saying you want "Is it hot in here?" from the blog and what size(s) and medium(s), and I'll make you a listing. This will not be posted ON Etsy (yet at least). You can "remember" this for much later, and still order it... but it'll only be 10% off this week.

Perfect as a note card, customized as an invite for a BBQ. Sorry - but we can't share the recipe for these chickens... mmmm mmmmm good!

Like this maybe...

... just an idea :-P

-Betsy

Happy 235th Birthday Marine Corps!

Today is the 235th birthday of the Marine Corps. A special day in our house, and in our life. I've heard the first verse of the Marine Corps Hymn many a time, but when I married Hubby, I sat myself down to learn the words. Fortunately, I can no longer remember the children's song that I used to sing along to it at functions. *Brainwashing works!* :-P

 The Marine Corps Hymn

(Click on the link to HEAR and SEE the hymn on You Tube)

From the Halls of Montezuma

To the Shores of Tripoli;

We fight our country's battles

In the air, on land and sea;

First to fight for right and freedom

And to keep our honor clean;

We are proud to claim the title

of United States Marine.

Our flag's unfurled to every breeze

From dawn to setting sun;

We have fought in ev'ry clime and place

Where we could take a gun;

In the snow of far-off Northern lands

And in sunny tropic scenes;

You will find us always on the job--

The United States Marines.

Here's health to you and to our Corps

Which we are proud to serve

In many a strife we've fought for life

And never lost our nerve;

If the Army and the Navy

Ever look on Heaven's scenes;

They will find the streets are guarded

By United States Marines.  

I love the FULL song, and decided to share it here today, as part of their birthday present. The other part is a request... that you stop for a minute or two, and say this prayer, or your own if you like...

We pray,
For Marines in combat overseas
Marines in action around the globe
Marines who love their corps so much, that they will celebrate the birthday, and all its traditions, as best they can in the sandpits they live in, with whatever sweets have been mailed, or whatever they can find in their MRE's

We pray,
For Marines who now "guard the streets of Heaven"
Marines who have given their lives recently,
Marines who will give their lives today
Marines who have given their lives in all the conflicts and wars in the past 235 years

We pray,
For the families of Marines
Families who wait at home while their Marine is deployed
Families who have been separated by duty station
Mom's who will have their babies while Daddy Marine is away
Dad's who's Marine wives fight for our freedom
Children who ache for their Daddy or Mommy and don't fully understand.
Families who pray that they will see their Marine in Heaven someday.

We pray for all  Marines, who would willingly give their lives to serve our dear country, that we may have the freedom to do something as simple as publicly ask for voices to join in THIS prayer.
We pray they have a Happy Birthday, with many, many more to come.


Amen.

 -Betsy

Christmas Present Sneak Preview! :-P

So 1st of all, I'm excited about this... I've been meaning to make one for about 2 years. 2nd, the gift recipient is 6, so I'm not too concerned about her seeing her present early. 3rd, I had fun taking/editing the pics of it... so I'm sharing :-P

Merry Christmas Goddaughter! :-P

And yes, I realize it fits me, and a 6 year old's head is a bit smaller... but I haven't washed it yet, and it's REALLY stretchy.

-Betsy

MAN it's cold!

So it suddenly got REALLY chilly here. Like, low of 31* last night, and only 50 by 10am (when I dragged myself outside to run). WOW.

So this week's 10% picture is....

 

Ice Shelf

Which is not technically on Etsy yet, but maybe I'll add this and the other "November/Winter" pics later today :-P.

The great thing about this weekly photo thing? I always have something to blog about each week ;). Especially since I haven't cooked any FABULOUS new meals lately (although I did try a risotto...) and all my craftyness is being funneled into Christmas presents.

I may take a drive with my camera today... why is it so hard to get moving when it's so cold?!?

-Betsy

Running

So while the "Crud" is gone for a bit, I'm working on getting back to running. I started the c25k (Couch to 5k) well, back in June... it's a 9 week program. I'm on week 4. Yup. Stupid Crud. July, half of September and all of October had to be "taken off" Oh well, enough griping.

See, the goal is this:

 But right now, I'm about here:

So I'm back at it again. Especially since I got these new guys yesterday :-D

One less excuse.

Any items on Etsy that use "Rocker"- be it an 8x10, or any other medium is still on sale for 10% off. Want 10% off on a different photo? Comment your favorite here, maybe it'll be next week's featured item ;).

-Betsy

Happy Halloween!

 So there's this fine group of ladies that encourages people ALL OVER to get together and take "Silly" photos. They have a blog, and a facebook page, and the pictures that are created are just fun. Most of them are group shots, but I haven't gotten hooked up completely with a group here yet... so when a fine young lady decided to do self-portraits... Day-of-the-Dead self portraits... I figured I'd play too. This is the result. One of the more comical ones at least.

I'm thinking about doing something similar to sit on the porch for Halloween and scare little kiddies before handing out giant pixie sticks. Yup, we're gonna be THAT house :).

As far as this week's 10% photo... we'll go with a fall photo for, well... fall, and The Rocker, for the chair I wish I had on my front porch :). Happy Halloween!!

(remember that this photo is 10% off... no matter what media you get it in... and it's available in all standard size photos, magnet sets, note cards, gift cards, gift tags, etc - ask and ye shall receive.)

-Betsy

Just Because

So I visit my blog to keep up with the blogs I follow... and it's been too long since I've had a fabulous photo up. So there one is. This pic has been on my mind lately... I'd forgotten I'd taken it until my sis mentioned it. (sisters are somehow just fabulous like that) and now it's stuck in my head :). So here it is. I made her a tote with this for her birthday, but it came out a little screwed up since I used a REALLY old sheet of transfer paper... so I forgot to take a picture of it. oops. (oh, and I gave her other stuff too... I'm not that mean)

My Etsy sales are a little down too (read: non-existent)... so just because... 10% off any item purchased with this photo. And if you think this sounds like a fun idea, I may even make a point of doing this weekly. Each week having a sale on a different photo. Comment if you like the idea... visit etsy/email me if you want the photo ;)

available as any standard size commercial print from wallet to 16x20, greeting cards (approx 5x7), note cards (approx 4x5), magnets, gift tags, tote (with new transfer paper ;-P), or high resolution prints up to 8x10. All prints up to 8x10 (commercial or high res) can be matted for up to 11x14 frame. matting will be included in the 10% off deal. If ordering via etsy, mention this blog post to receive a 10% rebate on applicable items, or convo me for a special listing.

-Betsy

rain rain... why aren't you snow?

So the "Virginia Crud" is back again, and I'm back to wondering if I'm going to make it out alive. A dear friend of mine keeps pestering me saying I need out of this house... which makes sense since I've been sick basically since I moved in, but there's this little voice in my head saying "how are you going to know another house is any better? What if you really are just allergic to Virginia? Pete's fine."  And then the other little voice saying "are your allergy meds THAT important - miss a day or two, and then sick for 5? it doesn't make sense... but is it real anyway?" You'd think that if missing a day or two ruined me, that it would only take a day or two to get back on track. Unfortunately, that is apparently not the case. Who knew allergy meds were so finicky!

In any event, I decided my hacking was not conducive to handling small children's clothing, SO I "called out sick" from the Thrift Shop today - and discovered that the other volunteer's family has been apparently fighting the "Virginia Crud" for the past month too. Granted, they've only been nasty for a month, but they have lived here for 20+ years with no issue... so it gives me hope that there's something "bizarre" in the air outside this year.  She's saying we need a frost to kill whatever is out there - so rain, turn to snow! I like cold better anyway! Maybe I'm just that unlucky and all on my own got bronchitis and a cold and now another cold (should I really be HOPEFUL for that?). Either way - I finally scheduled an appointment to get a referral to have allergy tests done. Might as well find out for sure what my issues are.

-Betsy

Spaghetti Sauce

So today, I am making spaghetti sauce. Last time, I made it from fresh tomatoes, and hubby and I decided it was missing just... more seasoning. This time, I got a HUGE can of whole, peeled tomatoes from Sam's Club, and read up on how to make spaghetti sauce. And what I learned: add olive oil and as much seasoning as you want. You almost can't go overboard. So a handful of dried basil, a big handful of oregano, a small handful of ground up rosemary, 2 small onions, diced, and 3+ tbsp of minced garlic, a bunch of salt (that one you probably CAN go overboard on, but tomatoes need a lot of salt, so don't worry too much).

Hardest part? Cook FOREVER. Without the lid on is probably better - tomatoes are really juicy, and sauce isn't supposed to be. Why is this hard? You PROBABLY shouldn't leave the house while you have an active stove going. But it's a great thing to do if you're going to be baking bread on laundry day.  Yup... that's the hard part. And even the not flavorful enough sauce was delicious. Can't wait to try this batch :-D

-Betsy

Where are my pearls?

I have a wedding to go to... and had to get new shoes. (yay :-P)

So THESE fabulous beauties...are my new shoes.

Aren't they FABULOUS?!? 

So I decided I need to break them in a little... and what better way...

Than to vacuum.

Where are my pearls? :-P

-Betsy

Mmmmmmm... beer cupcakes with alcohol frosting....

So I'm made cupcakes today. I had to ask a GROOM for help with his fiance's Bridal Shower and Bachelorette... and he would only comply with the promise of "Car Bomb Cupcakes" being delivered. I needed the guest-list help that bad! I love them both, but haven't quite been part of the "local watering hole" for the past... 4 years, so I was stuck. Car Bomb Cupcake Bribe to the rescue!

They smell delicious coming from the oven with hints of Guinness. The delectable taste of bailey's in the buttercreme... I'd recommend halving the batch unless you have lots of people to share with, as these are RICH, but YUMMY. And definitely get the special icing tip for filling cupcakes... I can't imagine doing it any other way - just make sure that you stop if you start to "pop" the cupcake, lol.  And make 1.5 times the icing recipe... maybe even double. Unless you want just a dollop on top, which might be a good idea when it's filled with ganache, but I went with "go big or go home" :-P

Photos first... then link to recipe.

The recipe is here: at Annie's Eats.

-Betsy

Fidelio, you have such power.

So it's been about 2 weeks since my last post. And APPARENTLY, I'm supposed to post more than that. So as opposed to leaving a long comment about why I haven't posted... I'll post about how I haven't posted... and then the clock can start over again :-P

Reasons I haven't posted:

1) Virginia is trying to kill me. Slowly. North Carolina had RIDICULOUS pollen issues - everything turned green, and yea, the throat would be a little scratchy, and you felt a little crummy... but I have since learned that the green dust from heck was far from an attempt at my life. Virginia... has no visible signs of allergens, however, it has caused an incredibly sore throat, unimaginable sinus congestion and sleepless nights due to me waking myself up coughing. I have drank approximately a gallon of fluids every day for the past week, and still... not much improvement. THIS... has lead to reason #2

2) Nothing creative has happened. No paintings have been done (I was supposed to re-start that today... oops), no photos have been taken or uploaded (or sold for that matter), dinner's have been lame and boring (last night was grilled bratwurst and mac and cheese... 1/2 grownup), and there has been much couch-sitting.

3) My current projects are all future gifts. Any creativity I've BEEN working on... is to be gifted. So I can't post about it. One gift is for next week... so you might get a picture then... if #4 resolves itself. The other is for a baby who's going to make his debut in January... so don't count on that one any time soon!

4) Miscellaneous excuses that Fidelio won't accept anyway: I lost my camera charger, so I can't take pictures even if I wanted to until I find it - both of them. No one has bought anything from my shop since I put up the new fall series... or since I put up the coupon - figured I'd let my "ad" run at top-space for a while yet, since this IS supposed to be support for the ETSY shop ;). AND no one ever comments (boo, hiss, poor me - pity party complete).

So there it is. Don't expect another post for a while ;)

-Betsy

oh, and the "coupon for you" deal is still good for a while, lol.

Coupon for me? Coupon for YOU!**

So I stopped in Michael's today to exchange a broken paint pen... Hopefully the new one works, cause it was definitely an "off the books" exchange. Nice lady though :).

In any event, I had a coupon, so I went to do my normal supply shopping that I do whenever I get a good coupon from Michaels. WELL, their note-cards? WERE ON SALE! So I didn't feel bad AT ALL getting another size in stock :-P. All photos on SomethingBetsy.etsy.com... are now ALSO available as NOTE cards - 4x5.5 (quarter fold size).

**And as a special "thank you" to those who read the blog (and to pass along my savings)... message me on Etsy with the photo you'd like, and the size card, and you'll get $2.00 off on a set of 10! All cards are signed and the title of the piece is written on the front.

Happy shopping!

-Betsy

P.S. If you don't want to join Etsy... but you want some cards... e-mail me ;)

For Hadley.

Who's Hadley? The cutest little girl of the Anderson Crew!
Why Hadley? Because the poor girl has exema and is allergic to EVERYTHING.
Her mom is super cool, and takes FAB pictures. And while I don't KNOW Hadley, I figured that if I enjoyed reading her mom's blog every day... I could post a few recipes from my box that she might be able to eat, without getting the itchies (and hopefully easy for mom)

SO: Massive Recipe Overload commencing.....

NOW!


Italian Chicken Parsels
Chicken, Mozzarella Slices, Zucchini, Onions , basil or oregano, pepper, rice
- Cut squares of foil and brush with oil.
- Slash chicken 3-4 times and tuck mozzarella in the slashes.
- Place zucchini and onions maybe on foil and season with pepper and herbs
- Place chicken on veggies and close the packets (fold up the foil)
- Place on cookie sheet and cook in a 400* oven for 30 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked. The veggies will steam while the chicken cooks. (or you can do it on the grill - slightly lower temps though - due to direct heat)
- Serve with white rice


Chicken Nuggets!
Super simple.  Chunk up chicken breast. Coat with (gluten free) flour, optionally seasoned with salt and pepper (nothing else needed) and pan fry in butter. It's a light coating, but delicious. I use this method in my Popcorn Chicken Salad.

Honey-Mustard Dipping Sauce
1.5 cups mayo
1/4 cup Dijon-style mustard
1/2 cup honey. Mix well, chill for 2 hours and serve.


*side note: Lumpia Sauce is very similar to sweet and sour sauce - which generally uses corn starch and/or ketchup. Lumpia sauce uses BANANA Ketchup... which might be a good alternative to some other dipping sauces that use tomato.


Tuna Noodle
1 Can Tuna
1 Cup Gluten-Free Pasta
1 cubed apple
Mayonaise 
Easiest summer food EVER. Cook Pasta, rinse with cold water (or you can make it hot and let it cool in the fridge... or eat it warm, but I don't like it warm). Drain tuna, cut apple, mix with as much mayo as you like. DONE. 


Poppy Seed Chicken - This one's been blogged... so I won't repeat it


Mustard Baked Chicken
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp mild mustard
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp poppy seeds
salt and pepper to taste

Arrange chicken in an oven-proof dish. Combine butter, mustard, lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper.
Brush mixture on chicken (I generally use a small dish and practically sink the chicken in the sauce)
Cook in oven on 400* for 15 minutes, then turn chicken over.
Serve with gluten free pasta, egg-noodles are good (although may cause itchies... I dunno), and rice is yummy too!


Scalloped Potatoes
4 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
Salt and pepper
about 3 tbsp gluten free flour
about 4 tbsp butter
about 1.5 cups milk
Butter a 1.5 qt casserole dish. Cover bottom with a single layer of potatoes. Sprinkle generously with salt pepper and flour and add dots of butter. Repeat until all the potatoes are used. Pour milk over potatoes until almost covered. Dot top with additional butter. Bake 1 hr at 350* until potatoes are soft.

Hopefully, gluten free flour and the other alternate flours around can replace your regular flour for the wheat!  I have a lot of friends with allergies - one has celiac's, and does all her own bread making with the gluten free flour and rice flours. Another is allergic to celery (talk about not eating out - EVERYTHING is cooked with celery salt!) and has started her own garden so that she can avoid all the STUFF she's allergic to. Sunflower seeds are a hit with her. And my cousin is allergic to fruit... and that's near impossible to avoid, so he takes  a Zyrtec every day... and wishes he'd known years ago that would fix it. It's always best to avoid as many foods that cause you allergies as you can... but sometimes ya gotta go the medicinal route. Like me - I'm allergic to Virginia... but I'm stuck here for now... so Clariton and Nasonex are now part of my everyday routine :-P. Good luck! And enjoy the potatoes and water Hadley ;)
 
 -Betsy

Ta Da!

Pictures loaded to Etsy - next... winter pics... coming soon...ish :-P

-Betsy

A Preview!

I got my Fall Series collection together!
Here's a sampling of them... well, all of them, but some got cropped in making the collage...
Soon to be seen for sale on Etsy!

...when I get around to posting them. :-P

(first, I need to title them... and it might just end up being Fall 1-20, lol)
Feel free to share your ideas

-Betsy

MOVING!! (kinda...)

So we moved at the beginning of June to Virginia (this you know) and when the movers set everything up... I had them put the loft (and therefore my desk and studio) in the basement. The AC didn't work when we got here, and the room was pretty large, so I figured it would be a good spot to set up the craft-room (aka, studio). Well... 3 months later, I haven't painted ANYTHING (except for finishing that wine rack... in the garage), I've FORCED myself to ALMOST finish a few curtains, have knitted 1 thing (because the baby was coming whether or not I made those booties, and Casey needed them prior to the baby being born) and have been "using the stair master" for all the Etsy stuff I've shipped (three trips up and down two flights of stairs AT LEAST for each order).

Needless to say - the basement was not the prime location for a studio. There were no windows, and yes... it was cool, but I felt so... separated from everything. And not like a solitude, peace, and comfort kind of separated; but disconnected, imprisoned, and hermit kind of separated. SO... I've talked it over with Hubby, and as usual, he saw it coming before we moved in (why didn't he make a bigger deal of it then? Because I wouldn't have listened, that's why) and his "man cave" which we've called the office (because what kind of cave gets nice soft light as early as 7am and has fabulous evening light as the sun sets?), is officially moving to the basement.

Where real man-caves belong.

Plus, the "man cave" is a place for him to have his gear STREWN around the room without getting me mad :-P. And now he'll have more room to do it in. The only sad part, is I promised I wouldn't make him help me move the loft- which means the loft, and therefore my fabulous desk is now gear storage. Which will work well for him, and in exchange I get a closet. I'm not sure it's a truly fair exchange, especially since I've been banned from buying any more desks.  I do still GET a desk - the one that's already in the office (leftovers I tried to get rid of, had no good takers, and so came with us and got re-purposed). But I have an idea to use IT (and a trip to Lowes) to get me a HUGE desk and TONS of storage again in my soon-to-be-super new craft room.  *evil laugh*  He's gone all day tomorrow... as long as I get it done while he's gone, it'll all just flow into "craft room move" and he won't even notice that I have a new "desk" :-P.... right?

-Betsy

Well, it's over.

I was all excited to post a contest - I thought that maybe the people who read my blog but didn't "follow" it (cause I know you're out there) would "follow" and that maybe a few new faces would appear. And a few more followers did come in, but... only ONE PERSON entered the contest!!!?!?!? 

Now, I LOVE her, and I MISS her dearly, but seriously - ONLY ONE!? 

Well... 

any of you out there who were thinking about it but thought my goal of 30 followers was too high and so "didn't bother"  

HA!

Fidelio my dear, I'm going to be needing that address.... :-P

 As an aside, while I didn't get 30 followers, I DID say I might be generous. Right HERE. So no complainin! :-P

If you've decided that you want your OWN set of memory cards, or that now you're sad you didn't enter... you'll just have to visit my Etsy Shop and request one or you can just be nice and leave a comment on my blog somewhere :)

CONGRATS MY FRIEND!!

-Betsy

Soulvaki... AKA, Chicken Gyros

I had 2 cucumbers from the garden that were almost at the "overripe" state... and we don't eat THAT many cucumbers (which is why I grew them... I hate buying them and throwing half away... growing them and throwing half away I'm much more comforable with) so I decided that I needed to make Tzatziki Sauce... which means gyros - but I didn't have any lamb around, so we had Soulvaki instead :)

Boy was this yummy - and way easier than I had expected. Lettuce, tomato, peppers, a little shallot, feta, grilled marinated chicken and Tzatziki on a pita. Heaven and even potentially a "quick meal" if you do a little prep ahead of time!

Tzatziki:
1/2 cup grated cucumber (I food-processed mine to save my fingers and cause I'm lazy.)
1/2 cup strained greek yogurt (I just put mine in from the container that said "strained" but it ended up being soupy... don't know if that's right, the cucumbers, or if I was supposed to drain the yogurt again...)
1 garlic clove (I used a rasp to mush mine in)
1 tbsp Lemon Juice (mine was from a bottle)
1/4 tsp salt
**combine, eat. Keeps in fridge for a week

Soulvaki
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves minced garlic (SOOO yummy!)
1.5 tsp fresh oregano or 1/2 tsp dried
1/2 tsp salt
**marinate chicken for 30 minutes, flipping once. I cubed the chicken and put it on skewers... you could use chicken fingers and just throw them on the grill, or use a grill pan too.

"Gyro" - Gyros are basically Lamb with Tzatziki on a pita. Anything else you add is considered a condiment. Soulvaki is the "chicken version" of a gyro.

-Betsy

Venting Space

I need a little venting space this morning so I can go be Christian.

I love my hubby, he did NOTHING wrong today, however... it's Life I'm mildly perturbed with at the moment. See, hubby doesn't always go to work at the same time in the morning. Sometimes it's 4am (yuck) and sometimes it's 10am (yay!) and sometimes, he wakes up, and decides he's gonna take another 1/2 hr or hr of sleep... just because? I dunno, I don't ask at 6:30 in the morning. And it's not important enough to wonder about later.  So last night, I decided I needed to get my sleep schedule back on track, so I was setting my alarm for 7am. 1/2 hour after hubby NORMALLY gets up to leave for work. So what happens? I take my Clariton last night, and at 12:30 in the morning, remember the "may cause sleeplessness" warning that had me taking it in the morning. Crap. Oh well, can't go back in time, I'll just wait it out. Well, at around 2, I finally got tired. And at some point, hubby decided he wasn't going to wake up until 7:30am... so when my alarm went off at 7, and I hit snooze, someone was there to give me a hug... and again at 7:09, so I asked "when are you getting up?" Response: "half hour." So I think... I'm gonna really annoy him if I let my alarm go off 4 more times before he gets up... I'll turn it off.  Meanwhile, my iPod had it's volume turned off last night so I wouldn't wake up hubby while I was poking at it waiting to get sleepy. So NO ALARMS for Betsy. 8:45, my "not enough water, wrong amount of sleep" headache is keeping my eyes closed and I realize that in 15 minutes, I'm supposed to be leaving the house to work the Thrift Shop. So I write this LONG status on Facebook, and realize that it's not enough venting for me (I'm always being accused of festering, when in reality it just takes me longer to vent, and if you let me finish it all goes away - if you stop me in the middle, I need to start over later) so I'm taking the extra 10 minutes and writing here. SO THERE!

So why is it, Life, that on the days I set my alarm, hubby sleeps in late, and the days I don't, he goes in to work on-time and I sleep late??

Off to be Christian with a Special K Protein Shake for breakfast, sore from yesterday's weight lifting session and run, with a "not enough water/sleep/something" headache.

Thank you for letting me vent.
I do not apologize for the length of this post. hahaha :)


-Betsy

Anyone out there holding contests?

I was approached by a giveaway search site in regards to registering my giveaway... since it's over in 2 days... I'm not going to partake, HOWEVER, I thought I'd promo their little shindig, so that anyone who DOES have a giveaway and might want to partake... can :)

The site is called Giveaway Scout dot com and although I'm not sure I'll be registering MY giveaway, I might start searching through it for those fabulous giveaways that I might want to enter... it categorizes the giveaways people register by type and then lists them... over 400 pages worth of them... somewhere around 7000 giveaways. I'm dumbfounded.

Anyway... if you're interested...

-Betsy

Treasuries!

 I had one of my new photos displayed in an Etsy Treasury today - check it (and all the other stuff) out HERE

I was in another treasury earlier this month HERE

And I was featured on a Facebook Page HERE

My CONTEST is still running for a few more days too.

-Betsy

Yay for table saws :-P

Made by us!

He used the power tools (most of them) and I was in charge of finishing. 

Nice, right? :-P

-Betsy

Dinner Tonight

This is what happens when you suddenly realize you have a bajillion cherry tomatoes from your garden, a HUGE bush of basil and a nice little bit of fresh oregano!

And I ate it all forgetting the picture of the noodles tossed in. :-P mmmmmm... yummy!!

-Betsy