Sweet Tea...

Nothing says Southern better than a big ol' glass of sweet tea.  So simple to create - "good water" (meaning filtered, not tap), sugar, tea bags - and oh so good.

As far as I know, recipes for making sweet tea are pretty much the same all across the southeastern US, but oddly enough, everyone's tea tastes just a little different, even within the same family.  My husband can't stand the stuff, but my son Tyler loves it even more so than soda.  I find that funny considering Tyler spent most of his young life living out in the Great Plains of South Dakota (where ordering a glass of sweet tea at the restaurant will undoubtedly get you a gasp, and possibly an, "Oy vey!" from the waitress).    Regardless, the boy learned at an early age just what this nectar of the gods was as well as how to make it.  And yes, his sweet tea tastes slightly different than mine even though I taught him how to make it.

:)

Monday is coming around the corner too fast for this gal!  For those of you who do not know, I'm having yet another surgery Monday to continue with my nearly completed breast reconstruction ORDEAL.  I'll save that long story for another time when it's not 1:30-in-the-morning-and-I-have-to-get-up-in-5-hours kind of day...er...night.  You get the picture. :) Time for that last sip of sweet tea and then off to bed...

saluu,
Susan

Happy Valentines Day!  Just when you think Spring has arrived early, what happens?!  Brrrrrr.....winter is back!  I'm not complaining though...it gives me an excuse to grab a cup of hot chocolate and snuggle with my honey in front of the fire. :)

This week has jumped into full gear and I've hit the ground running!  Work has been busy, and the extra traveling I've done today sent me straight into nap mode when I returned home.  Unfortunately, not much else was accomplished this evening, but oh...I sure do love those catnaps.

This blog has been an idea circling in my head for quite some time.  I've started and stopped it umpteen (is that really a word??) times and changed the blog name at least a half dozen times.  No doubt you're curious as to where the final name choice actually came from so, voila!

Please allow me to introduce you to the Fred's.  These are our furbabies, Bodie and Koko...both Boston Terrier rescues, and both truly adorable.  They are a rambunctious, loving, mischievous hot mess and I love them dearly.  Because of their antics, they've earned the nickname, "Fred's in the Head," or "Fred's" for short (no offense to anyone named Fred!). :)  It's really just a silly little nickname, but one that they respond to surprisingly well, haha!  They do inspire the funny side of me so I thought the name would be perfect for the blog.

Other than the Fred's, one thing you're probably going to see a great deal of on this blog is homemade hot and cold process soaps.  I caught the soap bug a few years ago and have been churning out the soap bars ever since.  Lately I've taken a hankering to playing around with different soap formulas and natural ingredients in an effort to create one really kick-ass bar of soap!  It has to have it all: soothing, softening, cleansing, and the oh-so-wonderful-yet-very-subtle scent.  I'm also trying to incorporate various plants from my garden as much as I can.  One of these such soaps is a cold-process soap handmade with cucumbers from my garden last summer.  This was actually the first time I tried going the cold process route, but I was very pleased with the results!

The second time I made cold process soap was also the first time working with goats milk.  I thought it turned out beautifully, if I do say so myself, though honestly in the larger bars, I found the patchouli scent a bit overpowering (note to self!)...

This will be made again soon (minus the overpowering scent), hopefully by the end of the week, and will be for sale in my Etsy store. :)  I will post a tutorial & recipe for making this soap so you can make your own as well!  Speaking of Etsy...I'm adding items daily as time allows so check back often for a variety of goodies and giveaways!

saluu,
Susan

Good Evening everybody!!!

I know there's not much going on here yet, but I have a whole slew of fun things planned coming up soon! Please bear with us as get it up to snuff!

What an unusual winter we've had thus far.  While daytime temps hovering in the 50's & 60's certainly isn't unheard of here in Alabama, continuing to have these through winter certainly is!  You won't hear this gal complaining though.  After living in South Dakota for 16 years where we often had 9 months of winter every year, this is simply paradise. :)  Unfortunately though, we've had a fair amount of rain with a good bit of flooding. I stopped at a few places on the way to work Monday and snapped some photos of the flooded areas:

Even with all the flooding, there's still a great of beauty to be seen:

Saluu,
Susan

Backtracking a bit

Knowing that I would eventually get this blog thing down and an actual blog up and running, I've been busily preparing for months.  I think it's safe to say that I've photographed just about everything under the sun that's been stationary for longer than 5 seconds! :)  This, of course, is in between working full-time as a hospice nurse, cleaning, cooking, sewing, and mending my 23 year-old's broken heart.  Becoming an adult really bites sometimes doesn't it?  (More on this later...)

One of the more recent projects I was involved in was the SewMamaSew December, 2011, Giveaway week.  That was loads of fun and I was soooo excited and blessed to be able to participate!  If you've browsed through the Fred's very short (ha!) archive, you've probably seen our giveaway already. Thanks to our new Jo Ann's store for the beautiful fabric and a lovely pattern from ithinksew, I was able to sew some fab women's Kimono slippers!

I had a blast making these and hope to sew a few more pairs for the women in our family in the near future. :) The soaps shown were a sampling of what Fred's Koko Kabana shop will be offering soon (that is...as soon as I find a spare minute to list them on Etsy!) :)

Did any of you participate in SewMamaSew's Giveaway Day? If so, please shoot us a comment on your experience with it!

saluu,
Susan