Why is it so gloomy?

Why, oh why? I really can't stand gloomy weather! One day, or maybe even three days I can stand, but not a whole week! I can't help but feel grumpy/sad in this overcast state- weather can really make me or break me. I've made a mental note to self a long while back that I will have to live in a sunny place. Okay- my rant is over, now on with the real news! ^^;

I present to you "The Sampler Lady" framed with a mat. Excuse the weird angle- I was trying to escape the glare/reflections.



And here's where I'm at on State Fair


the progression

Excuse all the photos, they are a bit dull because of the overcast day

My grapes are steadily growing. They haven't sweetened yet cause the squirrels would've gotten to them. We're planning on covering them soon from their claws.

The seeds from last year sprouted this tomato plant.

Hydrangeas are blooming~

Last but never least, my babies, Mochi and Pudding

Thanks for viewing, and I hope you all a fantastic week!

Oing! :O

I was happily stitching away...
I was on a streak...

and I knew I could finish it!



and then...
I ran out of floss!

I looked at the clock and it read 6:30 PM (it was a Sunday and Michaels closes at 7PM), I jumped in my car and drove like a mad woman to Michaels. Okay- maybe not a mad woman, but you get the point. I ran to the floss section, and they had everything, everything but the DMC 420. Hah. Then I started scanning the whole floss section to make sure it wasn't misplaced. Sigh. Just my luck.

LHN - The Sampler Lady

I started on Little House Needleworks "The Sampler Lady" a couple nights ago. I've been sitting in front of the tv, just stitching away on this one. It's really enjoyable and I'm loving the way it's turning out. It's being stitched over two on 28ct. Wichelt lambswool linen.

I also made lasagna today. Well... I guess you can't call it lasagna cause I had to use rigatoni instead of the lasagna sheets, but it was still de-lish either way.

Brightneedle - Dollhouse

I know I said I'd be finished with brightneedle's dollhouse a couple weeks ago, but that hasn't happened. I have completed a bit more than this photo shows- I think I'm about 3 hours from finish. I can't wait until it's completely finished, the only problem is... I don't feel like stitching it at the moment! I bought a board for the mat, which is a mauvish color, and I think it'll go well with the stitching along with a deep brown frame I picked out. I am partial to frames with molding- I really love the extra detail and character it brings to the piece.

In the meantime I got started on Little House Needleworks' "The Sampler Lady". I am enjoying working on it cause it's much smaller in scale compared to the dollhouse. And I can actually see a good amount of progression within 30 minutes. I shall post pictures of it soon~

Ciao! Have a wonderful evening!!

It was only to make our friendship stronger

I've been watching the hammies like a hawk and they seem to be getting along just fine. They have migrated to Mochi's toilet roll and now they are happily sleeping in it together.

Here is Mochi making a face at me. I'm not quite sure what she means, maybe she's saying "hey mom, you don't need to check on us every five minutes!"

And here is the progress I made on the dollhouse so far. I'm hoping to finish it by early May, but we'll see what happens. I really can't wait to get it completed and framed!

Start of another room

I haven't been able to devote much time to stitching lately. I can't wait until I start on the room with the fireplace. I love bricks. Sometimes I go strolling around my neighborhood just to admire the houses with beautiful brickwork.

It's such a beautiful day out. The sun is out and it's wonderful weather out to go to the beach. Can't you just imagine sinking your feet into the warm sand, sipping on a cool drink and relaxing to the sound of the waves? Sigh. But the reality of it is I am home alone waiting for someone to come home.

My yummy Heart

I baked a heart shaped pineapple cake with lemon frosting and blueberry&raspberry topping. The cake was so moist and delectable, and the frosting was refreshing, and the blueberry & raspberry topping was just enough of sweet to balance the cake.

Semi Homemade~

This time I didn't have enough time to make it from scratch so I used a pineapple flavored store bought cake mix (+ eggs, water, oil). To that I added 1/4 cup of plain low-fat yogurt so the cake would be extra moist. I baked it at 250 for 35 minutes. (My oven is extra hot! Because the body is so small, the heat is concentrated and it burns the contents if you don't pay close attention.) I split the batter and baked it in two batches. After the cakes cooled I chilled it in the refrigerator for a couple hours. For the frosting I took the juice (1/2 cup) and zest of two lemons, 3 eggs, 3 Tbs of honey. I put this mixture over a pan of simmering water and stirred the mixture for about 10 mins. Then I let it cool and stored it in the refrigerator to chill. In the meanwhile I whipped up 3/4 cups of heavy cream, incorporated the chilled lemon mixture with 3 Tbs of low fat yogurt and there you have the frosting.

For the blueberry/raspberry syrup I took 3 Tbs of berry jam, 3 Tbs of grape fruit juice, and simmered the contents over low heat.

Next, I frosted up the cakes and decorated the edges with finely chopped roasted walnuts. And lined up blueberries in a shape of a heart and filled it in with the berry reduction. Then I put some of the leftover frosting in a ziplock bag, snipped the edge and wrote a short message.

Voila~ my yummy heart! And it was a success!

A tip

When frosting the cake, you can get crumbs in the frosting. To avoid this first thinnly coat the cake with the frosting. Then wash up your tool and add a second layer of frosting, now your frosting will be crumb free.

Also an update on my Doll house:

I wasn't able to get any stitching done on it yesterday, hopefully I'll get to work on it tomorrow~

Doll House

I wasn't able to get much stitching done yesterday. But I was able to feast on a meal at Stonefire Grill so I was happy. We had so much leftover- we brought back five to-go boxes. I absolutely love their bbq chopped salad and the aloha pizza. mmm dee-lish!

This is the little progess I made on Doll House. I am loving how it's turning out despite a sour start. Everytime I watch something on the television I always make some kind of mistake, this time it was a big booboo and I ended up pulling out a good three hours worth of stitches.

I'm putting the Noah's Ark Sampler on the backburner for now. (Sorry~ I will get back to you soon!)

Doll House

I started on Brightneedle's Doll House cross stitch a couple days ago. I made some color changes and I started on the framing of the house.

I really love this charming pattern and I hope to get it finished and framed soon.

More pictures to come soon~

I tried my luck on ebay and I was able to win some patterns. They should arrive by the end of next week. :)

Noah's Ark WIP

I've been working on the Noah's Ark Sampler bit by bit everyday. I've progressed quite a bit from this picture, but it's what I have for now.

I've been furniture shopping with my mom this weekend. I'm looking for some bookshelves to store my growing supplies, and my parents are looking for new seating for the living room. While shopping around for sofas my mom and I found the perfect leather sofa and chaise. It's similar in color to the one we currently own, but the design, shape, and price is just what we've been looking for.

I can't wait till I move out and get to decorate my own house~ but I have a feeling that will be years later.

Day Six

I made the mistake of watching my favorite drama while cross-stitching last night. I ended up taking out an hour's worth of stitches. It was so painful, but I had no other choice.




I also love putting together puzzles. I had bought this one a couple years ago and decided to put it together this month. Unfortunately it has been the last thing on my mind these couple days. It's a stunning 1000 piece puzzle with Kathy Jakobsen's lovely landscape of autumn trees.

Ham Shui Gok

When I went to New York, my best friend and I had dimsum in chinatown. It was my first time trying the authentic dimsum as opposed to the store bought shu mai. Well there was this one kind that was crunchy on the outside with chewy mochi and savory delicious-ness inside- I later found out that delicious-ness was called ham shui gok.

And during the weekend, I just had to make it myself! My version has more of a korean taste, the only similar thing was the crust, but it's still delicious.

In the original version I heard you use ground pork, which I replaced with ground beef. My mama always taught me to grind your own beef, that way you know what's really in your beef. To the ground beef I added: finely diced mushrooms, onions, garlic, and scallions, a touch of sesame oil, a good amount of soy sauce, a bit of salt and pepper and mixed filling together with an egg. In a separate bowl I combined sweet rice powder (Mochiko powder) with water and seasoned that with a tiny amount of salt and sugar. The texture should be soft to the touch but not gloppy. Then I rolled ball-shaped mochiko dough with my palms, stuffed it with the filling and closed it up. Then you fry them in oil and voila, my version of ham shui gok! Enjoy~

I also started a new cross stitch pattern. This is the progress I made in four days.

Title: Noah's Ark Sampler (Cross Stitch & Country Crafts Dec 92)
Date Started: March 14, 2009