This week started a bit rough. It's almost over and I thought I'd post something a bit more cheery - glass half full, rather than half empty, days redeemed! I'm moving pretty well again, my heart is on the mend, there's nothing quite as gorgeous as Fall in southwestern Pennsylvania, and everything domestic in me is begging for release!

Don flew west to spend some time with his mother, celebrating a bit early her 95th birthday. Traveling to Colorado in November can easily end up with getting stranded in the airport a day or two extra due to snow, October is a little more reliable. I've got the house to myself for four days, and since I'm still on restricted activity, there's no excuse for not sewing and cooking.

I've mentioned a few times a very fun book for beginning seamstresses, or wannabes - Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol. (Her website is on my sidebar if you'd like to take a look.) It's also chock full of fun ideas if you've been sewing for years. I decided to begin with some baby bibs, when Leslie's friend delivered a baby girl last week. I thought I'd do a prototype for Landon, then move on to pinks and pale greens for new baby Maryn.

This is how it turned out - cute as can be, and it doesn't fit around Landons ample neck. I think it'll work fine for a newborn, but for the few I want to make for Landon to have on hand around here, I think we'll cut them a bit more generously. The fabric is waiting patiently for me to return home from church tonight, and sew into the wee hours. Keeping on schedule is not a strength of mine when I'm home alone. I still need to make a run to Joann's for the gadget that attaches snaps. I want to make extras of these to keep on hand for when new babies appear!


I found a new shop in town this afternoon, "Sew Much Fun", and they carry not only parts and accessories for one of my machines, they also have beautiful fabrics and hold classes now and then. What a treat to find them, right here in town, before winter arrives and traveling gets a bit restricted. Don't you love it when you discover a new place in your town?

After our sewing group got together on Thursday, I suggested an extra sewing day at my place on Friday, and got two takers. Susan and Mary Ann spent the day with me, going through patterns, planning projects, Susan gave Mary Ann and I a class's worth of tips and techniques, and we solved most of life's bigger problems too. That was the morning after my knee procedure and I was able to get up, lightly mop the kitchen, and whip up these Simple Scones, from a cookbook I mentioned recently, "Perfect Recipes for Having People Over".


Scones in a shop usually run about $2.00 each, these likely didn't cost that much for the whole batch, and they were hot out of the oven, served with butter and flavored coffee when Susan and Mary Ann arrived. The cute tray was just perfect for serving them on, and there are a few more to fill in as breakfast the rest of the weekend, when it's just me and the dogs.

I suspected the perfect cure for being hurt was to spend time with women I dearly love, who also care about me. I was right. What began as a very difficult week, on several levels, is ending feeling like a blessing, albeit some of it in the disguise of challenges. Life is like that more often than not. This weekend I'm so thankful to be able to walk up and down the stairs in our home, to clean my house a bit, and to have women I care about in my home. I wouldn't have appreciated any of it as much if the week hadn't started out with pretty big potholes in the road.

Here's the recipe in case you've been feeling a bit lonesome or know someone else who might be blessed by opening your home. Likely you wouldn't have to look very far, maybe even just next door. Enjoy, and happy weekend everyone!

SIMPLE SCONES - makes 8 generous scones

1/2 cup sour cream (fat free is fine)
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup raisins (I used craisins)
1 stick unsalted butter, frozen
(Note I added 1/2 cup dates, rehydrated)

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper. (I used my pampered chef pizza stone.)

Whisk sour cream and egg in a small bowl til smooth. Mix flour, 6 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda and raisins in medium bowl. Grate butter into flour mixture using large holes of a box grater; toss to combine. Stir in sour cream mixture til large clumps of dough form. Use your hands to press dough against sides and bottom of bowl to form a ball. (There may not seem like enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.)

Place dough on a lightly floured work surface and pat into a 7 1/2 inch circle about 3/4 inch thick. Use a sharp knife and cut into 8 triangles. Place about 1 inch apart on cookie sheet. Bake til golden brown, 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for at least 5 minutes. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature. (Note - I mixed up some vanilla frosting, melted it in the microwave, and drizzled all the scones with it, for a sweet glaze.)

Served on a pretty plate, by a friend with a warm, listening heart, they're pretty hard to resist.

Labels: Busy Buzz