UPDATED! MOD Ranitomeya Toddler Slippers

I finished these little slippers up last night around midnight:

MOD Ranitomeya Slippers – Toddler $10 PR

And they turned out okay ;-)

Getting a picture with orange yarn is always dicey for me – when I use a flash, I get flashback … but when I don’t use a flash I get a dark picture that is unusable. But I liked this color scheme so I chanced the orange ...

Crocheting the mouth line took a considerable amount of time; more than I would have thought necessary, but I am pleased with the final result:

The color yarn I used really is the same shade of the pictured frog face above, but the flashback makes it lighter.

UPDATE! The original eyes I designed for these slippers were closer to the pictures of the frog ... but they bothered me because I didn't think they looked "froggy" enough; so I broke with sticking to 'original' and went with gut feeling - and designed these new eyes for my frog slippers (updated pics below) and I think they look a LOT better, what do you think?

All in all this is a cute pair of toddler slippers and I am happy with the results :-D

CHICKEN –RICE CASSEROLE

I cut this recipe in half for just the 2 of us; but I will post it in its original measurements for families … for large families, bump the measurements up to accommodate your family size ;-)

CHICKEN-RICE CASSEROLE – 6 servings (about 1 cup EA)

¼ cup reduced-calorie margarine

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1-1/2 cups skim milk

1 cup chicken broth

2 cups cut –up COOKED chicken or turkey (about 10 ounces)

1-1/3 cups COOKED white rice or wild rice

1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper

¼ cup slivered almonds (I use a drop of almond extract because my body doesn’t handle nuts very well – and this works for me)

2 Tablespoons chopped pimento

1 can (4 ounces) mushroom pieces, drained

Heat oven to 350-degrees.

Heat margarine in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat; stir in flour, salt & pepper and cook. Stirring constantly, until bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk & broth and heat to boiling – stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Pour mixture into UNGREASED 2-quart casserole or square baking dish, 8 x 8 x 2 inches.

Bake UNCOVERED for 40 to 45 minutes … or until bubbly. Garnish with parsley if desired.

MOD Ranitomeya Slippers – Toddler

I like the color scheme of this little fella that packs a big punch ;-)

Orange and Jade Blessed poison frog (Ranitomeya benedicta)

This frog is one type of the poisoned dart frog species, and I am designing a pair of toddler slippers around this little guy:

MOD Ranitomeya Slippers

I hope to get the trims designed after Supper, and complete them tonight :-D

Tu BiShvat - New Year of the Trees

MOD Toddler Ranitomeya Slippers

This is the color scheme I am basing my next toddler’s slippers design on:

Orange and Jade Blessed poison dart frog (Ranitomeya benedicta)

I’m winding the yarn balls now while listening to John Haller … the actual designed slippers shouldn’t take too long to complete once I start on them.

Packwood Coffee Run

I have the most loving and lovable husband in the world … I don’t know of any other man that would agree to a 4-hour-round-trip-Coffee-Run-spur-of-the-moment-whim to satisfy his wife; do you?

He is a true gem and I am a lucky woman to be so blessed :-D

I woke up this morning, took one look at the lovely weather outside and thought, ‘this would be a good day to enjoy a drive’. And since I hadn’t poured my coffee yet, I thought that the considered (yet unspoken) day trip would even be better with a mug of Cowboy Coffee to top it off.

So I broached to topic to Hubs: “Hon, it’s a really nice day today – perfect for a drive”. That gets his attention ;-) “Where, and how far?” he asks. “Hmmm,” I hedge. “Where, and how far?” he repeats. “Well … it is a clear day outside; and I haven’t had my coffee yet …” I look at him hopefully. “Not Packwood!” Hubs finishes what I had not yet spoken out loud. “I did think Packwood; yes. A Cowboy Coffee sure would taste good.” And I smile at him. He’s hooked ;-) “That’s 4 hour drive,” he grouses.

An hour later we’re on the road enjoying a scenic drive to Packwood with my 3 beloved mountains surrounding us to the right, left, and straight ahead:

To our right is Mt. St. Helens. Jackson Hwy. cutoff.

To our left; and later down the road, straight ahead, is Mt. Rainier. Jackson Hwy. cutoff. Mt. Rainier is the mountain I will miss the most – I visited that mountain at least 2 … sometimes 3 times a year for the past 24 years and have gone over the 3 Passes on the backside of that mountain ever since 1970. This particular mountain takes up a huge part of my heart.

“There’s gold in them thar hills pardner …”; LOL”: Glenoma hills.

Seriously though, there is at least an ounce of gold up there that we know about, for a fact; Bob did lose his wedding ring up there in those hills when he was logging that big hill. He got seriously sick one winter with walking pneumonia and lost a lot of weight; the fell ring off his finger before he realized later that night that it was gone. When he called me I could tell in his voice how sick he was and it worried me. When he came home on the weekend I don’t even know how he got home without wrecking … he was so sick. The kids were so worried that they sat at his feet for hours after he sat down and passed out from the illness and the long drive home, crying that they wanted to give him his Christmas gifts “early in case he doesn’t make it”. Poor little dears.

But he did rally during the Christmas time-off from work … and when he drove back to Glenoma, which was a four hour drive 1-way from where we lived at that time, I started seriously studying to get my driver’s license, so if he was ever that sick again he wouldn’t be alone that far away from home, worrying about his family, about possibly dying, or about how to get safely home being so sick.

Snowy peak of Mt. Adams showing above the horizon just out of Packwood, on the right – in the faaaaaaar distance and to the east of Mt. St. Helens.

Ahhhh: tasty good coffee. We took our time driving back home because Hubs knows I enjoy seeing my beloved mountains, and he lovingly let me feast my eyes on them at leisure.

MOD Green-Pink Tree Frog Slippers

Every year I pick a theme to work my designs around – this year I am designing my items around exotic animals and plants. My first design for this new year is a pair of toddler slippers designed after a cute little green and pink frog. I do not know where this little frog lives … and I do try to get that information when I can … but I found the frog picture cruising the internet and thought it would be a good idea for slippers; my color of yarn is a little darker than the frog’s skin, but I have to work with what is available locally.

This is a picture of my design’s inspiration:

Green and Pink Tree Frog

I started my design last night around 9:30 pm and got this far before knocking off and going to bed around midnight; I went to bed early last night because I simply could not tolerate any more ridiculous, spiteful, or immature and bitterly malicious televised libtard and demoncrat BS about President Trump – I just called it a night and went to bed where I shut it off and put it out of my mind … and thought about how I’d finish my slippers in the morning; LOL:

Tonight I picked my work up again after Supper and just finished the pair about 10 minutes ago as I listened to Diamond And Silk in the background while the rain raced through the outside gutters and melted the latest bit of snow away:

MOD Green and Pink Tree Frog Slippers. FINISHED! Toddler/18 MO $10 PR

I think they turned out pretty well and should be a good seller ;-)