New Members of the Family & a few things I whipped up this weekend with a tutorial!

I am apologizing to the Title Police because I have the need for long titles lately.

Here are the new members of our family...Mr. & Mrs. Duck.

I really shouldn't call them family because we don't feed them. I think we all know what happens when you feed things that come to your house unexpectedly...They Come Back! And, since I do not like animal poop in my yard (#45 on the 5000 reasons we do not have a dog), I am choosing not to feed these guys. But, they have been here every morning since Saturday.
I guess they like to be ignored.

Kind of like old boyfriends...they keep coming back even when you ignore them.

Not that I have old boyfriends hanging around. I just remember those days.

Let's move on.

Here's something yummy for you!
A while back when I did the Sausage Gravy Tutorial, I mentioned that I make Chocolate Gravy when I don't have sausage handy.
WB LOVES chocolate gravy! He will get a plate and stick 1 biscuit in the middle of the plate and then cover the whole plate in gravy. All you see is the white plate edge with brown all the way around and a big brown hump in the middle. He wouldn't let me take a picture of it because he thinks this whole blogging thing is silly. Probably because it's not about tractors.

On to the tutorial~
You will need:

1 cup sugar
4 Tablespoons of cocoa
1/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons of flour
2 cups of HOT water (hottest you can get from your tap is fine)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 Tablespoons butter

First, pour sugar, cocoa, flour and about 3/4 cup of water in a saucepan. Whisk it together to incorporate. Your eye should be on MED-HIGH or 7-8 if you have numbers.


Then, add the rest of the water. It will look like photo above. Cook it on MED or MED-HIGH Whisking occasionally at first. Once it starts to thicken, whisk it more often so it doesn't get lumpy. When it gets to the desired consistency, add the vanilla and butter.


You are looking for the consistency above...kind of like a thick soup mixture. It should coat your spoon, but pour smoothly.
Serve it over your biscuits! This would probably be good over ice cream too! You could cut back on the water to make it more thick and fudgy.
Let me know if you make it!

On to the other things I whipped up this weekend.
My sweet friend Brooke is having baby girl #3! We can't wait for Charlotte Blake to get here! When Brooke was pregnant with Lucy (#2) I made her a diaper bag...and she liked it. So, she wanted me to make her another one for Baby C. She has a Vera that she likes, so I just took some measurements off of it and started drawing and cutting and sewing.
Here is how it turned out...


On the front is a small pocket with Charlotte's initials.


There are 4 pockets on the inside...


The back has a long pocket the width of the bag with ricrac trim. And the bag can fasten with an elastic button closure.


I also made a matching changing pad with flannel and a zippered pouch (in the pic above).

It is more "free-standing" because I used Pellon 71 (I think) which is an interfacing that is super thick and almost too hard to fold. She kept saying that she liked to throw things in her bag and then has to dig them out. So, I made it more open so that it would be easier to look for things. I know I have that problem too. And, with a baby, 2 year old and 4 year old...I don't think she will have time to search for her keys!

Are you still with me?
It has almost been a year since I started blogging! I can't believe it! Anyway, I am wanting to revamp my blog because I feel the need to decorate something. And, since there are lots of free things out there now, it fits into my budget of $0!
So, I am wanting to get away from the Bees...do you think I should go to the trouble of changing my whole blog name and everything or can I still stay with the Honea Bee title but not have bees on the background???
I look forward to your thoughts!