Help!!!

Omigosh!  I have not taken care of my blog in so long that I need to try to figure out how to change the background and get everything centered!
If someone could help me out, I would reward you with a free epattern!
Until then, I shall work on it and see if I can get it looking good.  :)

I've been meaning to tend to my blog but it seems there's never enough time. Today with all of the Facebook issues, I realize I need to do this sooner than later.
So stay tuned as I get new work done and share it with you as well as what we are up to here in northeast Pennsylvania!

 I'm back!!

I'm reviving this blog!!!
Stay tuned in a few days as I "dust" it all off and get back to work here!  Won't it be refreshing to come read without all the political arguing back and forth at YOU KNOW WHERE?!  lol
See you all verrrry soon! 😊

Bunnies galore

My style is all over the place.  Most times I teeter between the primitive/grungy look and the cute "sorta" grungy look.  I rarely go to the extreme.
Feeling a little like doing cute so this is what I came up with. 
Mind you, their dresses are getting stained!
No matter what, I always stain the clothes.

What day is it?

Wow.  It has been six months since my last post.  I considered doing away with my blog but I'm going to give it just one more try!  Now that my Mr. is retired, it might lessen the load for me as he is to help me with my biz!
Will be back realllllllll soon!

A divine inspiration...

God put this piece on my heart to create.  From his hands to mine.
Look closely.  Pray for our once great nation to be restored, pray for revival on our land.

Yesterday was my birthday.  Normally I would eat cake, lots of cake but that's a no-no now for me.  My daughter did make cupcakes for the grandies with candles so I could blow them out while they sang.  It rally was for them though.  I took the day off and took two naps and didn't work.
Felt strange but good.  Today is day 10 on the vegan eating plan.  Oh, I almost forgot, I dropped 6 lbs. in the first week so that's a plus!
Enjoy your day,
Maureen

Warm enough for pumpkins!

First I must say, Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there as well as those that have passed on.  God blessed me with amazing parents and then an amazing hubby and now my son is also an amazing dad as well!  So much awesomeness! lol
Well, it's been a warm day and pretty steamy in between the raindrops and sun.  Working on my new pumpkins.  I'm hoping to have this pattern done in a day or two.

Tonight for dinner I made "pasta" (zucchini) with lots of chopped basil, topped with a roasted red pepper "cream" sauce and grilled mushrooms.  TOTALLY vegan!  The sauce was so delicious, I could eat it with a spoon alone and there was no dairy at all in it.

Bon Appetit!

What's goin' on?!

It's been quite some time since I have visited my sorely neglected blog  :(  First it was the whirlwind of holiday activities, then came COLD winter and I dealt with health issues for months.  No flu, not a single cold or cough.  More like chronic illness.  By spring I was at my wits end with the cold winter and the never feeling quite good enough.  And the migraines too.  I have colitis and diverticulitis.
I've also been suffering from reflux for the past few years.  Let's add high blood pressure to the mix.  :(
The Drs. have prescribed meds. for all of these but it seems as if I am not getting any better.  Two months ago I had a bad bout of reflux that had me wheezing and even coughing.  It stayed with me and never left.  My Mr. suggested I see the Dr.  Not another med.  No, nope.  WHY ARE YOU TELLING US ALL THIS, you might be asking?
 Well, I have decided to dig in my heels and take back my life.  First I lil bit of history  :)
I've been a vegetarian since the age of nine.  Most nights my sister and I would be sitting at the table, long after everyone else was done.  My plate would still have meat, and hers, vegetables.  When no one was in the room, we switched plates and got it done! 
Later on, after my teen years, my Mom became a vegetarian as well.  While we did not eat animal/fish/egg products, we still ate dairy.  Cheese, give me any kind of cheese! 

So, you would think that I am healthy, right?  Wrong!  With a demanding business, it seems that I am often eating "on the go".  Never sitting properly down to eat a meal but rather grabbing something from the cupboard or fridge that I could hold in my hand and chomp on while I worked.  Many times it included garbage food. Cookies, crackers, chips, sweets, etc. 
I love to start my day with a cup of coffee and some sort of sweet roll or bun.  Then  I would skip lunch, snack on something fast in the afternoon, and eat dinner.  After dinner there was always something to munch on as well.

It all seemed to come to a head about 3 weeks ago when I just could not get well.  Migraines, stomach cramps/pain, reflux, you name it.  I did some research on the internet and I have decided to make some radical changes in my eating lifestyle. 
I will become a Vegan, I proudly told myself.  This should be easy, I already am almost there.
NOT!
I began my new life on Monday, June15, 2015.  Yes, at this point it's only been 6 days.  First day went off without a hitch.  Second day was okay, I craved cheese with my meal.  Wednesday, I was miserable.  Thursday I REALLY wanted some cheese, a cracker or two, however I didn't cave.  By Friday I had a migraine but I think it's really just caused by my body flushing out the toxins.  Today, again, I have a headache but I'm telling you this, I have not had reflux since Monday and that is the first time in months that I can say that!  There are no stomach pains or bloating.  And I have such a feeling of accomplishment that I actually made it to the weekend without eating any of the garbage foods.

So, I am reviving my blog, as a way of keeping myself accountable for staying the course!  It's a lot harder to cheat when you have an audience!  I will continue to update on my life and work as well.
So, follow my journey with me, through the ups and downs, twists and turns!
With my new eating plan, I no longer am allowed sugar, oils of any kind, meats/fish/dairy, no butter, no cheese, no white flour, etc.  If you are interested in reading about the plan I suggest you do a search for Dr. McDougall.  He has several books available.

Enjoy this photo of my salsa, guacamole, and "chips"!

Wow.....over 4 months????

Where have I been?  Well, summer is busy here.  Okay, it's always busy here but we did our usual veggie garden and I tell you, my daughter and I were canning fools!  We canned everything that came out of that garden and what we didn't eat or can, we froze.  This week we are finishing up the last of the canning with almost 60 jars of assorted apple sauce varieties.  Tomorrow we are doing Caramel Apple Jam and then we are done for the season.  *WHEW*

I came across this while surfing the net and thought it was so interesting and maybe someone could make some gifts too!  URL is below the picture!!

http://www.savebiglivebetter.com/2013/04/472-easy-meals-in-a-jar-recipes.html

Three new patterns!!

Been so busy with orders, outside work, etc.  However, I have 3 patterns.

Summer Bears, includes both the sunflower bear and the sailor bear.
Uncle Sam includes doll, clothing and the banner.
I also have Mayflowers, then and now.  This is a remake or revision of the 2004 Mayflowers pattern.  I have updated it and the pattern includes both the 2004 version and the new 2014 version of the dolls.

Summer bears  $10.50 + ship mailed.  $8.50 Epattern

Mayflowers, then and now.  $9.50 + ship mailed.  $8.00 Epattern

Uncle Sam  $10.50 + ship mailed.  $8.50 Epattern

I may have a few finished pieces available as well.

Hope all is well with everyone

Sam I Am

Funny, I don't usually make Uncle Sam dolls because they end up looking like santa.  However, this one evolved over days.  I did the body first.  Had no face in mind.  Spent two days going over fabric choices before I settled on this.  I love his coat fabric, I purchased it probably 7 years ago, not knowing what I would do with it.  I just liked it that much.  He got dressed, then came the face and bear and then the hat.  Now, I was stumped because I felt if I gave him a flag, it might have been "stars and stripes overkill"!  I recently made a burlap banner for my nieces wedding so BINGO!, I decided he would have one as well.  On a much smaller scale!

I'm quite pleased with the way it all turned out and I am frantically working on getting the pattern out in just days so that you all can make your own before July 4.

Enjoy your day,

Maureen

Rustin' stuff!

Just finished rusting up a batch of shiny safety pins in assorted sizes for use in my work.

It was easy to do, here's the "recipe":

1 cup Peroxide

1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

2 Tablespoons of salt

Mix together in a glass jar, I used a quart jar.  Stir, the salt may not all dissolve

right away but that's okay.  Dump in your safety pins and leave them for 2 days.  I stirred the mix about 3-4 times over the course of the 2 days.  DO NOT put a lid on the jar.  Yes, it smells so if you can leave it safely outdoors away from pets or somewhere  else ventilated is best.  After two days, drain out the ever so yucky fluid, I poured mine onto a nice big weed in my yard!  I spread my pins out on a flat stone to dry outside but I guess you could put them on newspaper inside.....I've just not tried that so I don't know.  Just know that whatever you put them on to dry, will be stained so be careful.

Use gloves, be careful, and last but not least, I'm not responsible for any "accidents" or mishaps you might have when rusting your own stuff!

Rust away!!!!

Annual Pattern Sale for 24 hours NOW!

Annual pattern sale going on now thru tomorrow night, May 27, ends at 9 p.m.
You can view my patterns on Etsy or www.picturetrail.com/sweetmeadowsfarm or you can see them on Facebook in the group:  The Prim Pattern Shoppe.
If you see something you want on Etsy, do not purchase thru Etsy, rather, email me your selections.
Patterns are buy Two, Get a third pattern free.  Free pattern will be the pattern of equal or lesser value.
Enjoy, it only comes once a year!!!

Wedding Bells!

My niece Olivia,   was married yesterday. Me, my daughter, and my daughter-in-law baked our faces off and put together a dessert table for her wedding.
There were mini cheesecakes, strawberry, lemon, carrot cake and chocolate mini cupcakes, oreo-peanutbutter-brownies, truffles, cake pops, chocolate dipped cookies, choc. chip cookies, cherry pie, strawberry/rhubarb pies, red velvet whoopie pies, choc. dipped pretzels, etc., etc.
There was so much that everyone took home lots of sweets  We also made the burlap banner for the table. Oh, and I also made her wedding cake, not pictured.


It was a hectic week leading up to the wedding day as I was sick for 6 days.  Thanks to my daughter and daughter-in-law for stepping up to the plate and getting a LOT of the baking done!

Congrats to Olivia and Andy, may you be eternally happy!!!

How was your weekend?

Weekends around here are always busy this time of the year.  There is a lot of yard work, grass that grows non-stop and then the greenhouse to tend to.  We don't put the plants into the ground until after the 1st of June due to frost issues.  We learned the hard way many years ago.  This weekend my son and his family got away to spend some time at the lake house and invited us to come over on Saturday evening for a cookout.  Gosh, it sure was chilly for the end of May and drizzling too but that didn't dampen (non intentional pun here!) the kids spirits!  There was plenty of fishing with Grandpa and both Sophie and Holden  caught a variety of fish.
I stayed on land for most part by the fire that my son built!

Best times are had when spent with family!

Hope your weekend was a good one!

My carving skills!

So, I got out my Exacto knife last night much to my husband's chagrin.  He still reminds me of a small "mishap" about 23 yrs. or so ago that ended with a trip to the hospital.  OooOPs, my bad! lol
I've had these dried birdhouse gourds for several years that I hung to dry in the barn and decided to finally do something with them.  Probably so I could justify to the hubby, growing them again this year.
I cut a round hole in each and today my Mr. drilled the wood and we hung them along the fence at my shop.
I love them, I hope they find some residents soon!

Should I, or shouldn't I?

I have found it difficult to keep blogging now that I'm on Facebook.  I do miss sharing stories and pictures and facebook is really so different.  I think blogging is akin to a public diary for me.  I will give it one more try.  One more push!  In the meantime today I will just share some of what I have created so far this spring.
May God bless your day!

Maureen

Happy New Year??? Wha-what??

Where have I been?  Well, I have many, um...excuses.  No reasons for my absence.  I've just been plain busy :)
You know, the holidays and such.  And then the migraines came again.  We won't go there today.
It's cold, it's snowing and it's winter.
'Nuf said.  I could deal with the cold if we got some sunshine.
So I really stopped in here today to let you know I have not dropped off the face of the earth.
I will be back later this week, with something much more interesting and some pictures too!
Have a blessed weekend,
Maureen