Edie Wadsworth

Knitting, Blogging, and Better than Blogging Brownies

November 9, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 6 Comments

Remember in this post where I said I was gonna be sitting on sofa knitting when my company arrived? Did I mention that my whole family would be ‘lying’ on the sofa knitting. This little knitter is a phenom. She already finished her scarf (with a little encouragement from Grandma) and her stitches look better than mine.

We built a fire (maybe slightly exaggerated) so we could knit outside……..
Grandma worked on an afghan (her, I don’t know, 11th maybe this year) and I worked on my sweater…..which may be finished in 2015…..and will probably be too small for anyone to wear…and will likely be out of style…..and probably unravel. I’m no natural at this. But I do love doing it. You should try it. But don’t make a sweater. I should’ve made leg warmers. ‘Cause I’m a dancer, ya know. Stop laughing. Are you laughing at me as a dancer or me in leg warmers? It’s not that funny. I think I will knit me some leg warmers….to wear to my ballet class. Then I will post pictures of me…..dancing……in my hand knit leg warmers. Now, I’m laughing.
But I did finish this pretty little scarf….to give away to you in just a few days. It is knit with lots of love…..whoever gets this scarf is one lucky friend of mine. While I knit this for you, I thought a lot about blogging and how it has changed my life……so that is what my 100th post will be about…..you, my sweet blogging friends and how my life is different now because of you all.
And besides knitting and ‘building’ a fire, we made homeade chocolate brownies. The name of them from the recipe book was “Helen Traulich’s Favorite No-Fail Brownies”. No disrespect meant to Helen, but c’mon. So, I renamed them “Better than Blogging Brownies” which tells you that I mean business when I say that you need to make these brownies. NOW. And because I love you all I’m including the recipe. Here’s to Helen!
1 stick butter

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 can Hershey’s syrup

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup plus 1 T. flour

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional, I didn’t put them in mine)

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Frosting:

6 T. butter

1 cup sugar

1/3 c. milk

1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. tsp. vanilla

Mix ingredients together for brownies and place in greased 9 by 13 pan. Bake for about 30 minutes on 350. For frosting, melt butter, sugar, and milk and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat then add chocolate chips and vanilla. Stir until slightly thickens and spread over brownies.

Prepare to enter chocolate heaven.

Surprised by joy…….

November 7, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 8 Comments

“If we discover a desire within us that nothing in this world can satisfy, we should also begin to wonder if perhaps we were created for another world.” C. S. Lewis

Do you ever have days or moments where you feel like all is right in the world? Those moments are wonderful and fleeting. Or when the longing for something turned out to not quite satisfy like you thought it would? That longing or desire is God-given. And will never be fully realized in this world. That said, let me show you a few sights that come close.

…snuggling with Grandma….

…watching your daughter add the “mom” leaf to the “What we’re Thankful for” tree…..

…spying on your children as they stage a puppet show with Grandma…….

…dipping pretzels in white chocolate……

…sneaking a few (handfuls) of these pepper nuts that Grandma made….

…..admiring your newly painted and decoupaged bookshelf…..

and newly made sign….

….and feeling almost giddy about this most beautiful butter crock that Grandma had specially made in Minnesota…. you can store your butter in the cupboard (next to the bacon grease) so that it’s always soft when you need it….and I need it…a LOT.

…..scarfing down a mighty large piece of pumpkin creme pie with oreo crust…..my very own creation. It was delish. I used a coconut cream pie recipe…left out the coconut and added pumpkin….I know, brilliant. I should have my own show…….

We get glimpses here of sheer joy…..but they leave us, and for some…..seldom even come. For my children, those moments often come when Grandma and Grandpa are visiting. Mine seem to be fleeting moments in time that I can seldom foresee and never produce on demand……the way my son smiles, Elea falling asleep in my arms, my daughter answering her phone in her best country voice saying “Huva Got”, my husband tucking my girls to bed….and making sure the cover is just right. Those are the moments that we can’t hold on to, that often overcome our emotions and reason…..and leave us wanting more. Those, my friends, are glimpses of heaven, or Eden, for which we were made, and to which we will return.

Company, hot glue, and thievery……..

November 6, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 15 Comments

I’m having company…..which is like my superbowl…..the world cup….the indy 500. I’m a maniac and as soon as I heard the news, more ideas popped into my head than you could shake a stick at. I become someone my children don’t recognize. I move around the house fast and talk to myself and take lamps off their dressers and bedspreads off their beds and spray paint and hot glue and begin the ‘REDECORRRANGING’. That’s where I ‘shop’ the house and the basement and ‘shake’ the snowglobe, if you will. They start to wonder if they can even sleep in the same room anymore. I’m not finished but I’ll give you a sneak peek. Don’t tell Taylor I took his comforter or Caiti that I took her chair and her candle sticks…..or Emme that I took her lamp. It all washes out in the end. But hold on to your ‘stuff’ if you live in my house…..’cause nothing is sacred. And you stand still too long….your liable to get painted.

My bedroom with a cute little makeover….don’t look too close ’cause those ‘window treatments’ are pillow shams nailed straight to the wall….with spray painted stars hung over them. I am completely out of control. The nester would be proud.

most of the items are things hijacked from Taylor’s room….

and I’m taking profile shots too…..to send off for my silhouettes……

and a chair ‘borrowed’ from Caiti’s room…..

and a beautiful damask make-shift ‘tablecloth’……it’s just 5 yards of fabric that I bought from Hobby Lobby for ten dollars!!!

and a fun little table decoration I threw together. I looked like I was doing Kung-Fu when I made this….

and a window ‘mistreatment’ that is pinned mostly…..with the most gorgeous tassel and three trees….to decorate the kitchen window…….

and this pile of stuff……

which I turned into this…..

Are you tired yet? More coffee anyone? Stay tuned ’cause I’m in a frenzy and there’s more to come. Oh, and I forgot to mention all the food I’m making…..pumpkin creme brulee, gingersnaps, homeade bread, and much more. When my in-laws get here I’ll be sittin’ on the sofa knitting…..like nothing ever happened!

Swing votes, swing states, swing dancing, and just swinging……

November 5, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 12 Comments

Life goes on….even when your candidate doesn’t win….. even when you run out of decoupage two sheets of scrapbook paper too early….even when the seven pounds won’t come off…..and even when you’re children think you’re crazy for trying to learn to swing dance from a girl name “Tracy” that lives in your computer. The sun rises, we wake up to another beautiful day and thank God that we live in America…..where we can vote and decorate and dance and……swing. So, to cheer myself up, I downloaded a video of my girls reciting a poem…..called “The Swing” while swinging.

The Swing
by Robert Louis Stevenson

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside–

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown–
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

Election Day….

November 4, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 8 Comments

It’s election day, except I already voted for John McCain which you can read about here. So much for never discussing politics or religion….rules I frequently violate. In other news, guess what I found yesterday? C’mon, guess….no, I didn’t find cheap and gorgeous pieces of ironstone. No, I did not find a way to train for a half marathon without running…..and no, I did not find my sanity which I seemed to have misplaced a few months back. But I did find several delightful pieces of hammered aluminum at my local antique store. It seems they have some new vendors…..who have some new pieces. Or had some new pieces. For those of you who don’t love all things 1950, hammered aluminum was very popular back then and is harder to find these days because it’s relatively inexpensive and people who buy it…love it and don’t give it up. Why do I love all things from the 40’s and 50’s…..I don’t know. Maybe it’s because that’s when my parents were born….and we always idealize the past. Maybe it’s because I watched too many episodes of Leave it to Beaver….and Andy Griffith….and I love Lucy…and Happy Days. But I love old things….which sounds much better if you say ‘vintage’. And I absolutely can’t wait until Thanksgiving…..when my hammered aluminum will make it’s debut. Macdaddy loves this quote by Cicero, which seems so appropriate today,

“To disdain those things handed down by your fathers is to remain a child”

So, I won’t disdain them, I will wash them and display them and use them and think back to a quieter more settled time in history when home was the center of life….and mom’s wore aprons and made homeade bread and kids played outside…..all evening long…..and people knew how to do the east coast swing…..which I am determined to learn. Oh, and they served their families homeade food in hammered aluminum. Which I will do very soon!

Doesn’t it look lovely against the black bookshelf? This piece I will use for silverware.…
and these pretty little pieces will hold olives and pickles…..
and this sweet covered dish will hold my cranberries and apple dish……
and this…..will hopefully be finished by then. I’m painting the bookshelf black….then I have to distress it (to make it looked ‘worn’ )and then I will add maple stain(to make it look vintage)
and then I will add the hammered aluminum to make it look retro 50’s. Now, go vote. For John McCain. And find some beautiful pieces of hammered aluminum. And put on an apron and make homeade bread with your own two hands. And turn off the TV and send your kids outside to play. And dance. The east coast swing preferably. But I’m not trying to tell you what to do.

Song 42

November 3, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 15 Comments

My son wrote a song called Song 42 based on scripture taken from Psalm 42—tricky, huh? The song is beautiful and after I listened to the song 442 times, I went and read Psalm 42…..and began to weep. Like a baby. I’ve read Psalm 42 many times before and have always loved it. But it’s different when you see how your children might translate that word into a song. I think the girls and I (the little ones that I homeschool) will have to add this psalm to our list of ones to memorize. I’ll never read it the same again. Every time I read those precious words I will hear my son’s voice in my head singing this:

I will say a prayer to the God who gives me life

I will say to God my rock, Lord I love you

And I am thirsty, thirsty for the living God

Where can I meet Him?

Tears have been my food day and night

I long to serve him

Where can I meet Him?

During the day the Lord sends his love to me

During the night I wil sing songs about Him

I will say a prayer to the God who gives me life

I will say to God my rock , Lord I love you

When the world comes down on me

and questions “Where is your God?”

I will say, He lives inside of me

During the day the Lord sends His love to me

During the night I will sing songs about Him

I will say a prayer to the God who gives me life

I will say to God my rock, Lord I love you

Lord I love you

Lord I love you.

Now for a double blessing, read Psalm 42.