Yummy Sunflower Seeds ~ WW

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Nectarine Fruit Crisp

I love this recipe because you can use just about any fresh fruit with it.

Our Nectarine went crazy and produced an abundance this year!

We are eating them like crazy but it was time to do some baking. So I got up at 4am - to beat the heat - so I could bake a Nectarine Fruit Crisp. 

The kids popped a piece in the microwave when they got up and had it for breakfast! LOL

Fresh Fruit Crisp

1/2 cup quick cooking rolled oats

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup butter or margarine

5 - 6 cups sliced fruit

2 tablespoons sugar

Vanilla Ice Cream

Combine oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and dash salt. Cut in butter till mixture resembles coarse crumbs; set aside. 

Core and slice fruit. Place fruit in a 10x6x2 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with sugar. Sprinkle crumb mixture over all. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 - 45 minutes. Serve with ice cream, if desired. Serves 8.

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Happy Halloween Coloring Pages

Print, color, relax 😊

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Eurasian Doves That Live in My Backyard ~ WW

 

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A No-Sew Cover for My Favorite Chair

Once upon a time there was a second hand furniture shop I absolutely loved. The furniture and accessories inside were immaculate and everything was reasonable. Can I dare say at one time everything in my living room and most of my home had been replaced with items from that shop. Unfortunately it's closed now 😔

Years ago I bought a chair, a Rowe Addison. Made very well, so comfortable, and it had a washable slipcover - everything you could ask for.

A little while later she got another one in, this time it was a chair and a half!

Yep, you bet I grabbed it for $35!  exact same style, same green slipcover and ohhh that extra half a chair made it big enough that I could curl right up and take a nap. It was my chair!  I don't think I even liked a piece of furniture like that before, let alone loved one!

Not having enough room to have two of these chairs, I decided to sell the regular one. (Worst decision of my life, even if I sold it for twice what I paid for it!)

But I still had my big chair 💚

Before I knew it I had company ~

Yes, my bad for letting them up there in the first place 😖

They started sitting in it even without me 😟

Did I say I could curl up for a nap?

My poor chair was getting a work out.

The canvas like cover was strong and bared through many washings. 

The fabric started to come apart at the piping.

I kept repairing it, over and over at each new separation.

It got to the point where it was no longer repairable.

It became the dogs chair 😢

I threw a comforter over the slip cover

They enjoyed the chair immensely.

After searching and searching online for a store that carried Rowe Addison furniture (hoping they would carry slipcovers also), I finely was given the number to their main headquarters.  You see, I could find the regular size chair (yes the one I sold) and it's slipcover in several stores, but not the chair and a half chair. I was curious regarding the price, maybe I could buy a new one? even though all I needed was the slipcover because that chair is as solid as a rock!

I called and talked to the manager. He said he knew which model I was talking about and that they had a factory in California that would be closer to me. I thought great!  Then he quoted me a rough price.....$600. for the slipcover only.

I almost dropped the phone, all I could get out was a airless "Thank you" before I hung up. OMG! I thought I must have heard wrong. I composed myself and called the factory in California. I was given the same quote - they don't make the chair and a half anymore so it would take 5-6 weeks to make the cover then ship it to me.

OK, getting a replacement was NOT going to be a possibility.

I was tired of that comforter and really wanted it gone.

I was worn down enough to order a slipcover from Sure Fit. I knew their covers wouldn't fit. The chair size would be too small and the loveseat size too big. But after scouring the web and not finding chair and a half slipcovers, I knew I didn't have a choice. I went with the loveseat size.

I tucked and tucked and tied it in places it wasn't suppose to be tied, but they always look decent until someone sits on them.

OK, I give....It's officially the dogs chair.  🐶

Fast forward 5+ yrs.

I've decided I want my chair back!

I would love to be able to whip a slipcover up on my sewing machine, but let's face it - if I could've have done that it would've already happened!

This Canvas Drop Cloth No-Sew Slipcover idea came from Michelle, over at The Painted Hinge.  She did it much better than I on a SOFA! Her directions are so easy to follow. I hope mine are also. I did end up kind of winging it since I kept my seat and back cushions separate.

Michelle recommends ''Melca canvas drop cloths for several reasons. First, they are seamless, so no crooked seams in the middle of your sofa when it’s covered. Second, the canvas is good quality and not super heavy, but a nice weight for using as a slip cover. Third, I love the natural color of their drop cloths.''

Here we go ~

Bare chair without seat and back cushions

I laundered the drop cloth prior to putting it on the chair, just in case there was shrinkage.  This is meant to be a slipcover, so it will be laundered from time to time.

I measured my chair then bought a drop cloth twice as big. I would rather have too much fabric than be short. I centered the chair under the drop cloth - width and lengthwise.

I started tucking at the back of the seat, then along the base of the arms, front then back of the arms.

I smoothed the fabric over the arms and back

I pulled excess fabric to the sides and pinned where necessary to hold it in place. I used big 4'' safety pins. They look like Scottish Kilt pins to me, so in my opinion they don't look tacky. 

Next came the back cushion. It was desperately in need of more stuffing. How much I just didn't realize. But no worries. Whenever I see batting, fiberfill or the like at a sale I snatch it up.  The bags at usually full and the most I've ever paid was 50 cents. I never have plans for it, but for that price I can't leave it there. It's a good this I don't. This poor cushion took two full fiberfill bags and a battling bag to fluff it back up and make it look decent again!

All I did was unsew enough of the bottom seam so I could get my hand in and move the filling around equally.

See how nice and full it is now!

To cover the back cushion I purchased a small drop cloth and just winged it, wrapping the cushion and pinning where needed. 

For the T-seat cushion I had some fabric left from when I recovered my kitchen benches. It was just big enough for the seat. It's pinned to the bottom of the cushion where needed to hold it in place.

If you have square cushions this will be a piece of cake. Unfortunately neither my back or seat cushions are square, so they aren't very neat. When all put together most of the cushion pins are hidden.

At least now when it gets dirty I can unpin and toss it all in the wash.

The dogs have learned to not get on it.....well, almost. I put a big box on it when I'm sitting in it. LOL  Now Bynx has decided she likes it. She's almost 20 yrs. old, has three legs, is full of arthritis, a kidney and a respiratory issue she will have for the rest of her life so ~ wherever she finds comfort I hate to deprive her.

The box is usually next to her, giving her space to curl up. If she leaves the box is there to remind the dogs.

Pets ~ love'em to death

Oh, you would like to know where the dogs curl up now?

Where else - on my bed! LOL

Not bad for for not having to sew. 

I like the pattern on the seat.

Hoping one day I'll meet a seamstress who won't charge me an arm and a leg to make a real slipcover for MY chair ♥

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Wild Flower Color Plates ~ WW

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Missing the Portuguese Holy Ghost Festa and Sopas

Both of my parents were Portuguese, so we attended Festas Spring through Fall throughout California each year during my childhood and I continue to do so now with my family. 

Except for this year due to the pandemic :(

Above is St. Michael's Catholic Church in Livermore my family attended and I grew up in.  We attended so many growing up. My parents always went to celebrate at St. Michael's, as well as, Manteca because we had family there.

Our family has spread out over the years ~
 since my Sister and I have left the nest, we've ventured out a bit.
My Sister lives in Petaluma so we have gone to several there.
I live in Newman, so we've celebrated here and we have attended the largest in the valley at Our Lady Of Miracles in Gustine.
It has been the largest for many, many years. When my Dad was little they lived in Modesto and would make room at their home for many Portuguese friends who would travel cross country to come to Gustine for the celebration.

When my Mother was young she was crowned Queen at St Michael's in Livermore 
where she was born and raised, as were my sister and I.

My Grandmother made her beautiful beaded long dress 
with collar and train by hand! Who was a beautiful seamstress in her own right.

Now as my parents have gotten older (and since Mom has passed) we attend The Holy Ghost in Livermore.
It's usually around Dad's Birthday so it makes for an overall beautiful celebration.

So what is the Festa? What does it represent and celebrate? 

This article describes it well. 

"Feed your fascination for other cultures by going to a Portuguese Holy Ghost festival.  Whether your name is Silva or McClanahan, you'll be welcomed.

Portuguese Americans from the Azores-many whose ancestors came to the West to fish or farm hold festas (pronounced "fesh-tas") in California, Nevada, and Hawaii. There may be one in your city or town; more than 500,000 Azorean Americans live in California alone.

The festa tradition, which has been observed in this country for about a hundred years, mingles Catholic religious beliefs and ancient legend. Although the sentiment behind festa's is the same everywhere, particular customs can differ between communities. The Sunday portion usually starts at 10 A.M., with a parade from the Portuguese hall in town to church. Other fesh-tivities sometimes including bloodless bullfights-- take place on Friday evenings, Saturdays, and Monday evenings.

But for the uninitiated, the Sunday events are the most interesting. Appointed festa Queens (big Queen and little Queen) and their Side Maids make their way down the parade route towing capes of velvet, jewels, seed pearls, beading, feathers, and appliques (their finery, and other aspects of the festa, recall 14th-century Queen Isabel, a peacemaker and friend to the poor-particularly during a Portuguese famine). 

A Portuguese brass band or two enliven the atmosphere. 

At the church, the costumed parade cast jams into the front pews, and a Mass is said, often in Portuguese. After the Mass, the priest crowns the Queen at the altar.

A feast of tradition ~

The parade then returns to the Portuguese hall, where the new Queen releases a white dove, symbol of the Holy Spirit, into the air. (The popular belief that a visit from the Holy Spirit is what enabled Isabel to relieve her people's suffering is the subject of several miraculous legends; according to one, the queen, smuggling food to the poor in midwinter, produced live roses from her robes when her husband, Diniz, demanded to see what she was concealing.)

Inside the festa hall, volunteers prepare sopas e carne (beef soup),

served free to everyone in the charitable spirit of Isabel.  The cooking starts in the wee hours of the morning in order to have enough to feed everyone who attends, Portuguese or not.

To make the sopas, cows donated by Portuguese community members are slaughtered and boiled for about 6 hours in huge pots (some large enough to hold the meat of entire cows).  Added are onions, paprika, cinnamon, cumin, tomato, wine, and sometimes cabbage. The broth is poured over French bread and mint sprigs; the beef is served alongside.

Bread and meat are served to the tables in huge metal bowls along with carafes of wine.

The hall fills up fast, as people finish, more are ushered in.

Everyone makes their plate.

Throughout the day, you can usually buy other Portuguese specialties-sweet bread, linguica, tremocos (boiled lupino beans).

After the meal, an auctioneer sells donated items like homemade bread, homemade wine, homemade table linens and a multitude of other items..  

Proceeds are used to defray the cost of the festa's. Portuguese music fills the hall Sunday night (or sometimes Saturday),

and dancers stamp their feet, spin,

and pose according to the calls of the Chamarita. Generally, a community holds its festa at the same time every year."

Sunset Magazine

Every year I try (someone usually outbids me) to win some homemade delicacy.

This year I finally did!!

Portuguese Sweet Bread,  Portuguese Cheese From Portugal (huge wheel came into the Oakland Port, they cut wedges and zip locked),

Casal Mendes (a white Portuguese Wine),

and the illusive Pièce de résistance....

Aquardente (Homemade Portuguese moonshine)!!

Donations are also given after the meal. Deacon Dave receives one from the Knights of Columbus.  Talk about a small world ~ Dave and my sister graduated High School together. She used to date him!

Since they were all cancelled, I decided to make Sopas myself. Mom used to make it all the time. This is her recipe.

Sopas

Ingredients

• 3/4 container Pickling Spice
• 5 Bay Leaves
• 1 can Tomato Sauce
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 4 cloves Garlic, chopped
• Dash Salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup Dry Red Wine (Burgandy)
• 3 lbs. Stew Meat
• 1 bunch Fresh Mint, tied into a bundle
• 1 loaf French Bread, sliced
• Water, to cover

Place Pickling Spice and Bay Leaves in Spice Bag or make Cheesecloth bundle.

Tie spice bundle tight

You can see Mom's recipe had been used many, many times

Boil meat till tender, reserving the liquid. Place all ingredients, but the Mint, into dutch oven/kettle. Fill with water until all is covered. Simmer 3-4 hours, covered.

Add the tied bunch of Mint. 

Simmer 20 minutes more covered. Remove spice bundle and Mint bunch. Discard. Serve gravy and meat over sliced French Bread and enjoy!