Ditto My Last Post, Well...Sorta

We were out-of-town over the weekend and missed our first snow. I hear we got about two inches. This is what was left on the deck Monday morning...just enough to blow the cover of a nightly visitor. 'Coon tracks; they are. :)
I whipped the bindin' on this baby animal print fleece for a gift. Whipped? You wonder. Uh huh, 'cause I've sewn for 40+ years. And I can tell you that even sewing gets easier as you go along; yes, it does. Just wait - someday you'll cross the sewin' bridge from Labored to Whipped just like I did. Tutorial is in the sidebar. See, I'm constantly repeating myself. I should just type ditto and leave. :P The fabric is from Walmart if you're interested in doin' one yourself. (I know, I'm tryin' to boycott that store, too, but I gave in for the fleece. Stone me softly, please.)
This is not the fleece from my last post. No. It's cotton fabric in the same print. Am I blessed or what? Now, to decide...whether we get out the sewin' machine again or...
finish this crocheted ____? You get twenty guesses for what this is going to be, and the first nineteen even don't count. _chuckles_See you next time..the Good Lord willin'. :)

Tin Can Abbey

Hi! Welcome to Tin Can Abbey. snickers
I couldn't tell you when it began. All's I knows is how wonderful they are for holdin' stuff not to mention pretty cool to look at. Very few of these are empty. I use large ones as canisters and small ones to hold fiddly li'l objects like nails, all the tags from every bush, tree, etc. that I ever planted, etc. Yikes. Save me. Some of my favorites came with cookies in them and have windup music boxes in the lids.I've given several tins away, but I'm a thinkin' it didn't hurt me any.
The next three tins are old popcorn tins. Goodman loves his popcorn so I always get him one when they're fresh in the stores. This is my favorite of them. I could live in that scene. I'm keepin' dog food in it. I like the lid of this one.I keep bird seed in this one.This is the only tin that I keep yarn in, but it holds quite a few balls of dishcloth cotton. Um, no this isn't all the tins I have, but I don't want to overwhelm anyone. ;) If you enjoyed perusin' these pictures of my tins I can tell you I'm not the only person who collects them. Recently, as I was cruisin' Ravelry I ran across a new group called What's In Your Altoid Tin?. There you can find some nifty ideas on how knitters use and alter empty tins. I rarely alter mine except for the time I threw one in a fire to burn off the paint. It worked very well. Goodman used it for making char cloth and as a tinderbox back when we did living history reenactments.

I made this fleece blanket last week for Firstborn's birthday. The tutorial is in the sidebar.
Have I been knitting? Yes, some. Have I been crocheting? Yes, but I've been loafin' alot more. Truth is good. See you next week, the Good Lord willing!

Peanut Butter Dream Fudge

Goodman loves peanut butter fudge and had been saying how he'd like to have some so I made a batch last weekend. It's all gone now. It's the recipe, I tell ya. Even the snowman in the striped hat dropped what he was doing to sample it. I basically use the old Fantasy Fudge recipe with a tweak or two. (Tweaky recipe below.) I hear they changed the original recipe, so go here if you want the chocolate version. Here's my method:
Peanut Butter Dream Fudge

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup margarine
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 10-ounce package peanut butter chips
1 7-ounce jar (any brand) marshmallow creme
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine sugar, margarine and milk in heavy 2-1/2 quart saucepan and bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring all the while. Remove from heat. Add the following in order beating each till blended before adding the next:
Peanut butter chips, marshmallow creme, peanut butter and vanilla. Pour into buttered 13 x 9-inch baking pan or smaller size if you want thicker candy. Let cool and cut into squares.
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I sewed this fleece blanket this week. The tutorial link is in my sidebar.  These blankets only take a few hours to sew and make a great, snuggly gift.

I also put up (canned) some blackberry jam this week. Four batches from berries I had frozen last year, yes, last year which is not to be confused with this year...chuckles. The freezes killed the blooms this year. I'm way behind, but it's very good anyways.

Keep smilin', Y'all. :)

Shared at The Art of Homemaking Mondays