Golden Honey Granola

I'm not a big fan of granola, but this stuff is great! Here's the recipe:
6 c old fashioned oats
8 oz sliced almonds
1 c each: dried cranberries and chopped dried apricots
1 c light brown sugar
1 t salt
1 1/2 sticks butter
1/2 c honey (LB had squeezed out most of my honey into the sink, so I used barely a 1/4 c, and it turned out fine)

Preheat to 350. In a large bowl, toss oats, almonds, cranberries, apricots, sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
Melt butter in saucepan and add honey. Pour over oat mixture and stir to coat.
Spread granola onto parchment lined baking pan and bake, stirring occasionally, for 35-40 mins.
Cool completely and transfer to an airtight container.

I added semi sweet chocolate chunks after the granola had cooled, but I think next time I will add chips because the chunks tended to over whelm the other flavors. I think I will try whole almonds and cashews in my next batch as well, since I couldn't really taste the almonds and cashews make everything better!

Things I've been making....

I've been sewing up a little storm in my art room- trying to get enough hats made for my sister to sell this summer. This is the completely adorable basic design:For the plainer hats, done in a tan muslin and mocha brown flannel, they'll get a cuting up with fabric yo yos, embroidery, buttons, etc. With such a cute design, the embellishments are just frosting on the cupcake. And the really awesome thing is that I can get a hat done while the boys are sleeping or playing in the yard, or in the evening if I've still got the energy.
I've also been making pads with this padding compound I got online. It's a really fun concept: Just simple notepads, to do pads or the more fun recipe card pads and organizer pads. For example, I made recipe card pads out of tear-off postcard sheets:
Handy for when someone loved a certain dish and wants the recipe, or for finally coordinating your recipe box.The great thing is you can use the backside of used computer paper and any thin cardboard (like what cereal boxes are made of) and have a fun useful notepad for pennies!
This is my fridge organizer. Walmart sells magnetic adhesive rolls, so I cut two one inch sections, stick them to the back of my organizer and wahlah! done. I love this thing.

Some things are better off done in college...

Like trying to watch 50 movies in 50 days. What was I thinking????
Probably what I pretty much always think :
"I'd like to learn how to quilt. I think I will make a king sized log cabin quilt made of clothes that I wore when I was 13."
"I'd like to learn how to sculpt. I think I will try a life sized sculpture of an indian on a horse leaping over a burning covered wagon."
"I'd like to learn how drive stick shift. I think I will drive my friend's car through rush hour traffic in Chicago."

What is it with the inspiration causing me to leap off the cliff of imagination? I mean really?
This part of me is good in that I will try anything absolutely anything once, but bad in that I have abandoned so many things without finishing. So many things.
So many times I would feel guilty that once again, I am not finishing what I said I was going to do, but now I think I am embracing that about myself a bit more. I just need to keep my big yap closed and not make statements like:
"Every Monday for the next three years I am going to complete a work of art and post it here!"
No, Faith, you're not. Why not just do the two works of art you actually will finish and post them? Why make it such a show?
So what have I been doing during the time I was supposed to be watching period films to critique here?
I have been working on a new purse for myself
I finished the breast collar and belt I was making for a friend who trims and shoes Kitten's feet for me
I cleaned and oiled all my tack
I have been making notepads with this padding compound I ordered online
I have been making the cutest hats for my sister to sell this summer
I have been riding Kitten a little bit more, loving her a lot more, and getting ready to start her barrel training.

So, all in all, not bad, huh? I am learning to embrace the flow, and keep those grand "I'm going to..." statements to myself.

#10 The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Costumes 3.5
Scenery 5
Dialogue 3.5
Storyline 5

I watched this movie in the "watch instantly" section of Netflix

Tenant of Wildfell Hall (ahhh, a movie title that makes sense!) Was very intriguing. As in, I couldn't stop watching even though half way through I wanted to! I am glad I watched the whole thing, and I would even watch this one again, but there were several elements that irked me. (probably a sign of a good movie!) The main character is quite the repressed mystery in teh beginnning of the movie. It was clear that the main lead would have to fall in love with her, but I am never quite sure why. How can all that passionate feeling happen when he is rebuffed at every turn? It must be idiocy!
I also liked the little boy but when he is taken by the father and made to endure all of these horrible things 'to become a man' I was overwhelmed with pity and felt so so sorry for him. The poor thing. Even now I feel sorry for him. It could be I overly sypathetic to young boys, but still. I know the author was trying to shine a spotlight on a certain type of father in those days, but it was almost too heart rending. And for her as a mother to stand by and have to watch it happen- Gahhh!!
As th story progressed I found myself really liking the main character. Her character unfolds in the best way as the story unfolds. At the end of the story there is a nice little twist that makes it all better.
Overall I loved the beginnning and end and really struggled through the middle because of the awfullness of the fahter. But it is a good solid story that kept me watching and had some redemption to lift my spirits. Iwould recommend this one.

#9 Under the Greenwood Tree

Costumes 4.5
Scenery 4
Dialogue 4
Storyline 5

I watched this movie in the "watch instantly" section of Netflix.

This movie has all my favorites, an engaging female lead, a choice of 3 suitors, and a really cute leading man. This isn't a deep thinker, this is just pure fun. The supporting roles are funny and rich and this will probably go down as one of my favorites, predictable and enjoyable. The only thing I felt was a slight dissatisfaction in the fact she WAS educated and she married uneducated. Normally this isn't a problem for me and I almost always root for the underdog, but I felt that unless he became really successful, all of her education would be a bit of a waste.

#7 Falling for a Dancer

Ok, so the Easters came and went and I have yet to post the movies I DID watch. So here goes.

Costumes 2
Scenery 4
Dialogue 3
Storyline 4.5

I watched this movie by having it sent to me through Netflix

So what is up with these titles? Falling for a Dancer? There wasn't a single dancer in this whole movie! The story line was really interesting: A young girl gets pregnant and faces the choice of an unsavory unwed mothers home or marry an older man and live in the middle of nowhere, Ireland. She chooses marraige and arrives to find the widower blunt, crude and jealous, and that he has four children from his first marraige. The story is her life, trying to be a good wife and mother, wondering how she is going to survive her basic relational needs going unmet, and what to do with the attentions of other men.

This was interesting, and the main character was one I liked and respected. She made a clear mistake bu then she gave what could be a really horrible situation her best efforts. There is a sex scene, but it isn't lascivious, it shows the lack of intamacy adn understanding between the main character and her husband. The storyline really carried me along. It isn't all torture and despair, her relationship with her children and the mysterious neighbor Massey(plus the really beautiful scenery) show that while her marraige stinks, her life has other joys and fufillments. This even kept my 16 year old niece interested!

# 7 in transit so we'll move to #8 The house of mirth

Costumes 5
Scenery 4
Dialogue 5
Storyline 5
Overall 5

I watched this movie on Netflix "watch instantly"

I have no idea how these books come to be titled. The house of Mirth is definitly mistitled but still a must see. I really liked this movie, despite its tragic end. The whole story follows what happens to a bright young socialite after her reputation is tarnished.
The characters are rather wooden in their acting styles, but the dialogue is so wonderful that I could overlook it. The storyline is kind of a social commentary of high society in the 1800's in America. It peruses the power of a rumor, the strict behaivoral codes of the time, and what life is worth with a tarnished reputation. It also brings into light the swift changes of power in high society. The main female character is very interesting, but I would have liked a little more development. We start the movie off with the understanding that she is a man hunter, a widow, and also a delightful friend and companion. It was hard to swallow all of those character traits on the few minutes explanation in the dialogue. The costuming was fantastic as was the sets in many of the scenes. This movie would be worth listening to for the dialogue alone!