feeling a little nostalgic about beef stew

I am making Beef Stew this morning for Sunday lunch.  I am not feeling sad but I am remembering how I made beef stew so many times for other Sunday lunches when our children were younger and living at home.
I would get up early to cook the meat and some onions. Back then it was usually hamburger as it was much cheaper than stew meat.  Then I would put it in our big crockpot.  I would peel and dice so many carrots and potatoes,  enough to fill the crock pot as full as I could get it and then top it off with tomato sauce and some beef boullion.
It would simmer all morning and would be ready when we got home from church.  Sides were usually a box of saltine crackers and some sliced cheddar.
Our children and any friends they brought  home to spend the afternoon all liked that crockpot stew.  Rarely were there any leftovers.

Today,  it will just be husband and me and maybe the one bachelor son.  That is fine.  I am glad my children have grown up to be productive adults with sweet families of their own to raise.

Beef stew is not my favorite thing to eat but I sure have fond memories of it!



I know young parents don't always like hearing this but the days when your children are young and dependent on you just might be days you remember as the best of your life.
The days may seem really long but the years go by so fast!  

Pumpkin chevron dresses

My daughter in law showed me a chevron print peasant dress with pumpkin applique from Pinterest.  Of course it was expensive and she asked if I could sew something similar. Peasant dresses are quick and easy so I said yes.  And since I was making one little dress,  I also made a second one for our other grand daughter.  

the dresses are brown and white chevron with machine appliqued pumpkins

I used Mccalls 6530 for both dresses. The larger one is like the long sleeve version but I just cut the dress part longer and did not add a ruffle to the bottom.
The smaller one has no hem ruffle either and I did not add the chest elastic. Also, the smaller dress has elastic at the wrist of the sleeves.

The brown and white chevron fabric was bought on EBay. I was very happy with its quality, reasonable price and the fast shipping. The seller was FantasticsTreasures4U.

If these dresses get handed down to other little girls,  I put a size tag in the back of each one.  I used a small piece of seam tape and hand wrote the size with an ink pen.  

Home tour part 6- living room

This plaque hangs in the living room and is one of my favorite poems. Mine is painted on glass and was bought on EBay. Years ago, my mom made a big cross stitched sampler with this poem for her sister, my Aunt Bernice.  I keep looking for a cross stitched one for my own but have not found one yet

My husband built this little shelf and it holds some of my Longaberger baskets. I would like to put doilies under them, but any doilies in reach of my grands get grabbed and wadded up by them. The grands don't bother everything but they sure go for doilies. 

The living room - looking in from the front of the house. This room was redone before Christmas when we bought the new couches and chairs and that giant TV that my husband picked out and our son hung over the fireplace for us.

The couches have recliners on each end. We wanted this room to be comfortable for us and our guests.

I did not realize I liked golds and dark reds and greens so much until this room came together and most of the accessory pieces were things we already had.

Looking into the living room from the back of the house.

The green vase was a gift from brother and was handmade in Oklahoma from Oklahoma clay. I did not get flowers put in it right away so on my brothers next visit here, he filled it with it with silk roses. And spent an hour or more arranging them.

I got this old treadle sewing machine from my parents. It works but I prefer to sew with electricity :) I do like all the details on it and drawers are great storage for little things.

I sewed the curtains in the living room and in the kitchen-breakfast room all from the same fabric- roses on a gold background. I got the whole bolt of fabric for $19.95 at the antique mall in our town. It was a very good deal! 

Below- the toile pillows and table cloth are from a yard sale on the fancier side of town. The pillows are even filled with down. 

The faux Tiffany lamp is from a clearance sale at Lowes.

Yes, there is a loveseat in front of the gas fireplace.  We don't use the gas fireplace and would only use it if the electricity was off and we needed neat.
We do need lots of seating all our children and grandchildren are here.  So,  we have a comfy loveseat in front of the fireplace.  

That's our living room- thanks for dropping by.