2012 July 17 — Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara

New Blog and Blog Ads

July 17, 2012 · by JudyL

The new blog is almost ready for its debut. I think you’re going to be surprised and I think you’ll like it. I’m sure you’ll let me know if you have any issues! Give us a few days . . we’ll get everything worked out. I love how I throw that “we” around when I don’t have a clue how to fix anything but I do have Sara’s email address!

From time to time I get some feedback about the ads on the blog. The BlogHer network is great to work with. They bring in quality ads, we can opt out of those that we don’t feel are a good fit for us. One of the new and upcoming trends in the ad network is BlogHer TV which you’ll see over on the right sidebar. I’ve watched all the videos on all the channels. I love the Shrimp Taco video. I have to smile. The tacos look great but look at that kitchen. I wish I was brave enough to have orange countertops. I also love the Braised Morroccan Chicken video and think we will have it for dinner on Thursday night. That looks so good and so quick and so easy!

With the new BlogHer TV, there will be a short (about 15 second) ad in front of the video. Once you’re done with the promo ad, you’ll get to the video/tv. There are three categories for — food, beauty and fashion, humor and inspiration. I currently have the food category set to run on my blog but once the video opens up, you will be able to switch to the other categories. Also, according to BlogHer, there will be a clear and easy way to exit the videos. These are new and fresh and they look interesting to me. You have to click on them for them to open. They don’t pop up unless you want to see them.

From time to time, we are offered the opportunity to review items or do special promotions. I always think about the promotions and think about whether it’s something I truly believe in and something I would enjoy and I think you would enjoy. The Chip-It program by Sherwin Williams was one of the promotions I was able to do. I’ve had so much fun with that one. There’s a review post tomorrow for a product that I love. I knew I would like it because I love their other products. The Texas Tourism promotion was great for us. We love Texas and we were able to visit San Angelo as a tourist and write about it. There are often promotions that I think are better suited for audiences besides my blog readers and I pass on those. Very often on the ads, there’s a promotion or sweepstakes where you have a chance to win and the prizes are often quite worthwhile.

Last year I made the decision to give up traveling and teaching. I’d rather stay home, design patterns, sew, cook, tend chickens, and do the things I love. My patterns could be offered for sale or used in magazines or books but for the most part, I offer them freely here so please remember that when the urge to complain about the ads strikes. There’s really some good stuff in the BlogHer ads.

· Filed Under: Home & Garden · 20 Comments

Nicole’s Sofa Quilt – Hour #18

July 17, 2012 · by JudyL

Since Monday’s instructions didn’t get posted and the ones I posted earlier today were really for Monday and Tuesday, here’s the one for tomorrow (Wednesday).

Sew the units together from Hour #14 and Hours #16 and 17 to make the top and bottom sections of Block 2. Make 34.

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Lots of Canning

July 17, 2012 · by JudyL

Yesterday I was able to break/cut the ham bone into three pieces. Each piece went separately into three batches of stock. They were simmered with carrots, onions, celery, bay leaves, pepper and a little salt. It was an all day process and by the end of the day, I had 40 pints of smoked ham stock.

This will be added to beans, mustard and collard greens — anything we cook that we want to have a bit of a rich, smokey flavor. I paid about $24 for the ham. We ate it two meals, I pulled enough meat off the bone to use in 16 batches of beans as seasoning, and got 40 pints of broth. Not a bad investment.

Today I’ve canned the tomatoes we picked the last couple of days. It amounted to 7 quarts of plain tomatoes and 6 pints of okra and tomatoes. I wish I could can at least 52 pints of okra and tomatoes . . that would be one pint per week. Not a lot, really! But the tomatoes are about to wind down.

The okra will continue to make, up until it gets cooler or until I quit watering it! I’ll can it separate from the tomatoes and there are plenty of canned tomatoes so I can make okra and tomatoes but it’s so convenient having them together in the jar. By the time the okra gets to producing really good, the tomatoes are ending.