Slipping Duvet

Don't you just hate it when your duvet slides around inside the beautiful, new duvet cover? I decided to do something about it. 

Iron-On Velcro

Step 1: Cut matching hook and loop pieces for the corners and middle.
Step 2: Take the duvet out of the cover and turn the cover inside out.
Step 3: Iron on the velcro, shake the duvet to move the batting out of the area. Iron the back side on the highest setting with the velcro against the ironing board.  Use another piece of iron-safe material to protect your duvet and cover.

I used a rag that used to be one of Bruce's t-shirts.

Step 4: Turn the cover right side out and put the duvet back in.

Tip: Iron the velcro onto the same corners.  Or it will look all bunchy.  I'll get around to fixing it this weekend.

Not Killing the Orchid

I love orchids, they are beautiful.  I've also killed a few. They are a fickle beast particularly in a house that doesn't get a lot of sunlight and is not the warmest place. Since I recieved this little lady (for Christmas from my boss) I have been determined NOT to kill it. 

So she's gone into the half bath.  It gets the most sunlight and stays pretty warm because it is a teeny tiny room with a regular sized radiator.

I also put it in a pot specifically made for orchids, eventually her roots will come crawling out the sides.  In potting soil specifically for orchids.  Fickle Beast.  I'll keep you updated.

Saturday Procrastination

Bruce is working today. I've been sitting on the couch all morning, day dreaming about making over the basement, all things wedding and reading lots of blogs! 

I'm pretty sure the next crafty purchase I'm going to make is a Cricut, absolutely beside myself about the things I could make.

I have not been cleaning the house, which is desperately needed.

I'm going to get started on that.

This chair is hiding under some snow in the backyard, I can't decide what color I want to paint it. 

Pretty much everything in our backyard is still hiding under snow.

Bedroom Progress

Remember a few months ago when I painted our bedroom?  Or even further back to the summer when I was drooling over bedding from CB2?  I waited way to long to pull the trigger on the Doodle bedding and it was discontinued but I did get the accent pillow from them.

I originally found this bedding on Greener Grass Designs but when I finally pulled the trigger on it, I got a very nice email saying that this too was discontinued.  (It was an email from a real person and they offered me a discount if I wanted to buy something else.)

Not to be deterred I Googled the manufacturer, Unison Home, found their website and hit their sale section. 

GOT IT!!!  ON SALE!!!

We decided ala YHL to upgrade to a king size duvet (because we fight over the blankets).

My one disappointment is that under our CFL's it reads green instead of yellow. 

Other than that we love it, so does Kenny.

I need to remedy a small slippage problem, we still don't have very much furniture, Kenny's bed belongs in a man cave, new curtains are a must and the rad cover is still in the basement waiting to be painted.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Bruce has class on Monday nights, so we did most of our celebrating over the weekend.

 Have you ever tried to use a pancake mold? 

A heart is a pretty simple shape and it took some finesse, I can't imagine how these fromWilliams Sonoma come out so nice.  Maybe they come with directions.

 I did eventually get some pretty pancakes.  Then I made Ina's crab cakes and lobster pot pies.  Of course I can't leave well enough alone; I excluded the fennel, used my own shrimp stock and added summer corn (real Cape Cod corn on the cob that I froze this summer). Also, I sauteed the crab cakes instead of frying.  They were great but next time I would fry them.

For my efforts I came home to these beautiful roses!  I won't lie, the last (and only other time) I got roses for Valentine's Day was TEN years ago!

It's a beautiful thing to be happy and in love.

Last Minute Decorations

I picked up a few things at Joanne Fabric in the 40% off section.

This wasn't everything; the florist's wire and pliers are mine.

I needed something for the gaint vase that was festive. I took the heart wire and attached some of the silver hearts with the florist's wire.

The red and white candles were left over from Christmas, I love it when I can stretch decorations to last multiple holidays!
I also cut small sections and placed the silver hearts on the ends.  I placed them in a little vase like flowers.

This took less than an hour and looks so cute!

Hearty Winter Meals

Hibernation is one of winter traditions. And with hibernation goes hearty winter meals.

Slow Cooker Short Ribs
Short Ribs for your number of people.
chopped onions
sliced mushrooms
one packet onion soup mix
one can of Coke (must be regular Coke, not diet, not Pepsi. I'm a Pepsi girl but this needs Coke to work)
it all goes in the slow cooker

Cut a piece of parchment paper the size of your slow cooker and place it directly on top of your short ribs, then put the cover on (this too, is crucial or it all dries out)

Set your slow cooker to low heat and wait 8 hours.  This is a great recipe for a work day, ski day, shoveling day, etc. . .

After eight hours if you'd like a thicker gravy pull out the ribs, turn the slow cooker to high then add flour or corn starch until you've reached a consistency you like.  If you go to far beef stock or water can thin it back out.  Let it thicken while you make your starch.

Rice, mashed potatoes or egg noodles all go well with this and a salad if you're feeling healthy.  This recipe also works perfectly with brisket.

This night we had our with waaaay over cooked brown rice.

Celebrating Our Engagement

The night before the big (1/12) storm we got last month Bruce and I decided to open our bottle of special occasion wine.  It's moved around with us since I lived in Amherst.

At some point (when Bruce was living at Shawn's I think) it acquired this sign.

We knew that we would not have to go to work due to the snow so we had good snacks, a fire and watched a movie while we celebrated our engagement. 

During the snow storm, just us.

How to Make a Dog Bed

I started this project last winter, I thought it would be easy to just sew up the edges of one of Kenny's blanket throw in a zipper. 

 I started with the blanket, a "for sports wear" zipper, "heavy duty" thread, and a foam mattress pad.

I then cut the seamed edges off the blanket.  Which turned out to be a big mistake because the sewing machine kept getting caught on the cheap fleecy blanket, I think that this wouldn't have happened on the seam.

I turned it inside out and pinned the edges.  Placing the zipper in one of the short ends.  Kenny wanted to know what I was doing to his blanket.  Look how little he was!!!

Sorry for the crappy photo I was just glad to be done. 

I ended up hand sewing the entire thing.

I was so determined to finish this project that I forgot I was attempting to get the Boston Red Sox B on the top and the long seam on the bottom.

All I did after this was to double over the foam and cut it to size.

Kenny loves it, he sleeps on it every night next to our bed.

Working From Home

During the one of the big snow storms we got last month I did some work from home.  We knew the storm was coming and I brought my work computer home so that I would be prepared for our weekly conference call.

And this is what it looks like when I conference call from our office during a snow storm.
Kenny loves working from home.



Winter Comfort

Food that is.  We love chicken pot pie in the winter and it is so easy to make.  It is also very easy to make over the weekend to have during the week. If you've made a chicken you'll have let over chicken and gravy if not bake a chicken breast and buy some gravy.

Chopped Chicken

Gravy

Refridgerated pie crust

Mixed Frozen Vegetables

Mix everything and place the pie crust over it. Bake at 375 until gravy is bubbling and crust is browned.

Sometimes We Get Bored

And we torture love on Kenny Puppy, when he's being antsy about not really having a backyard to play in. 

We also do things like play Civilization V and Catan, procrastinate about fixing the last few storm windows and watch things like season 3 of the Tudors. 

Ok so maybe we've been hibernating but hibernating in a "we just got engaged" love bubble.