Insomnia can be a good thing!

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night?  Just suddenly your eyes are wide open and you instantly know there's no returning to sleep this night?  I think this may happen with women "of a certain age" and I know that it happens to me these days and it never happened when I was in my 20's. Of course, I may have imbibed in a few more cocktails then than I do now, so that may explain why I didn't wake up in the middle of the night.  (LOL!)  In my 30's, the babies woke me up in the middle of the night too many times to count!  But now, I occasionally will bolt up, wide awake, in the wee hours of the morning and I just know I may as well get up and begin my day.

So, at 4:30 AM, I was in my sewing room working on these pumpkins, embroidering the vines on each block.

I got the embroidery finished but didn't get back to them to finish assembling the top.  Maybe tomorrow.

Today  I also finished stitching the backing on each of these wool pennies, so the next step is to arrange them and then stitch them together and get it on the table--not likely to get that done before Thursday either.

After I'd done these things, it was into the kitchen for me.  Yesterday I made the cranberry relish and baked the gluten-free cornbread that I'll use for the Thursday's stuffing. Today, it was time to make the pie crusts and get them in the frig to chill.  Yes, I make my own pie crusts--with the help of my trusty food processor that I bought for $25, I think, back in the early 1980's.  It's still going strong so I'll keep it for another few years.  I also used it to make up the roasted red pepper dip that is great with rice crackers. I don't have a pic of it but it looks a lot like this one I found on Food Network

I found this recipe a few years ago in an old magazine I read while waiting for my husband to complete his medical procedure at the Minneapolis VA.  I swear, the magazine was at least 5 years old, but this recipe caught my eye.  I love making it and its always been a hit, so here's the recipe if you want to try it too.

2-7 oz jars of roasted red sweet peppers, drained (I use fire roasted peppers)

1/3 c dried tomatoes, oil packed, drained and snipped

1 tsp fresh thyme

1 tsp honey

1/2 tsp salt

1 clove garlic, minced

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Place everything in the blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Cover and refrigerate up to a week. Serve with veggies or crackers.

So simple and soooo good!

After I finished my kitchen chores, it was back to the sewing room to make the curtain for Don's golf "studio."  I feel I must explain.  When we moved to this house, the basement ceiling was too low for Don the swing his golf club and play golf on his indoor golf simulator program. While we were in Alabama last winter, the carpenters came in and excavated a pit in the basement floor so he would stand lower and thus have enough head room to swing his clubs.  I know, I know. It was either dig the pit or cut the floor joists--I think the pit was the wiser choice.  (Have I ever mentioned that my husband is a golf fanatic? Oh yeah!)  

So he's busied himself all year, getting this room set up and the last thing he needed was a curtain for the door into a storage area.  Here's a view of "The Pit"  looking toward the sheet he uses as a screen.

And this is the other side of the room, with the new curtain in place.  I think it looks pretty good and he's happy with it as well. Check that off my list of things to do! 

That's how my day has been--very busy and productive.  Now I'm ready to get out my Kindle and relax with my book--or maybe a game of Scrabble. ;)