Beaded Earrings for Hospice Fundraiser

Hospice of Western Colorado will host a fundraiser and an appreciation dinner for their volunteers in April. The theme for the fundraiser is "Art for Hospice".

My contribution to the effort is a dozen pairs of handmade earrings , some made by using the Japanese method of Makume Game technique using polymer clay, and others with glass beads and purchased findings.

If you have any extra glass beads or earring supplies that you would care to give to the Hospice of Western Colorado, please email me at nmccarroll at mindspring dot com and let me know, and your beads will be used in making more earrings for this fundraiser. (Some of you who read this blog make lovely things, and if you have some extra pieces not being put to good use, this would be a nice gesture on your part. Please be sure and let me know your website, and I will pass that along also.)

Thanks!

Felted Bowls as Blessing Bowls

Last year I whipped up five or six felted bowls with directions from the book One Skein, 30 Quick Projects to Knit and Crochet, by Leigh Radford (Interweave Press). Back in the spring last year I blogged about the book here, and said that felting was a fun project since all kinds of mistakes in knitting can be camouflaged simply by the way the shrinkage factor covers blunders.

One of the bowls I made is just perfect to be given to my friend undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. I filled it with candies and attached a little cross tied on to it with a pink ribbon, and filled it with peppermint candies. Here is the card I copied, with a verse from Walt Whitman, that she may enjoy pondering:

The quotation by Whitman is: "The strongest and the sweetest songs yet remain to be sung."

That is something to think about, isn't it? So if you feel you are used up and tired, remember that there is more life ahead!

Hopefully, a Blessing Bowl is the right gift given at the right time (later today, while she is undergoing treatment) for my friend Carole. This site: Eclectic Gallery gives a summarization of my heartfelt thoughts being conveyed to Carole with this bowl:

The Blessing Bowl is a vessel to share caring, love, thoughtfulness, compassion, joy, feelings, gratitude, and more. The Blessing Bowl... holds written acknowledgment of the blessings in your life.... it is a given as a gift of gratitude, a way to connect with our spirituality, a customized gift that celebrates life's blessings.

So often we forget to tell people in our life how much they mean, the Blessing Bowl gives you the opportunity to tell them how important they are.

This is Carole's gift, along with an attached charm in the shape of a cross that was purchased at the local craft store:

"The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works." (Psalm 145:8)

Lemon Tart with Rosemary and Strawberries

Ok, it's about time for a recipe.

The man of the house reaaaaallllllly enjoys cooking. And he is good at it. But every now and then, a dessert is nice. He does not bake, so that excursion into food decadency is left to me.

This recipe from Woman's Day Magazine caught my eye. Perhaps it was the fresh rosemary leaves in the tart shell that seemed like an interesting combination in a pastry.

Here is a picture of the featured dessert "Lemon Tart with Strawberries", courtesy of Woman's Day.

If a list of ingredients calls for sweetened condensed milk, it MUST be tasty! The ingredients are shown below, in case the picture whets your appetite, and all the instructions can be found here at Woman's Day.

Tart Shell: 1 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
1⁄4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 Tbsp freshrosemary leaves
1⁄4 tsp salt
1 stick (1⁄2 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg yolk mixed with 1 Tbsp water

Lemon Filling: 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
5 large egg yolks
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1⁄2 cup lemon juice

Decoration: 12 strawberries, hulled and halved

Our tart did not finish up quite as pretty as the professional picture, but it probably tasted just as fine. Man, was it good!

Any by the bye, there are 400 calories per serving. Sigh.

(Picture found at Flickr.)