Class Luncheon

Some of the girls from my high school graduating class many, many years ago get together every couple months to catch up and reminisce about the good old days. Today the ladies came to my house and everyone brought something. We had soups and salad and deserts and a lovely afternoon together. There were 10 of us today, one of the girls told me not to mention what year we graduated, so I'll just say we are oldie but goodies. Our next luncheon is March 30 at Bread of Life in McAlisterville, it's Martha's birthday!

I found the snowman soup bowls at the dollar store. I'm guessing the reason they ended up at the dollar store is because the "carrot" nose was painted red, they were made in China so I'm guessing that the red -orange thing got lost in the translation somewhere....

It's All Cleaned Up!

Christmas Eve, a Christmas brunch and then a big Christmas night meal and it’s all cleaned up and all but the last of the dishes that are still in the dish washer have been put away. I was up till 11:30 last night vacuuming and mopping the floors after every one left. My sister brought games this year and they were a big hit….we played trivia, “wheel of fortune” and “family feud”. She even had prizes and an auction with quite nice prizes…. I was fortunate enough to get a Barnes and Nobel gift card and a basket of stuff that included a mug and hot chocolate along with a bag of mini marshmallows. I later “sold” the marshmallows to my nephew for 5 pieces of candy (the bargaining chips) who wanted them for his 18 month old boy who loves marshmallows.


Today's photo is of the brunch I served on Christmas morning, I didn't really get any photos later in the day when we entertained about 12.

Christmas 2009

Just wanted to post some Christmas photos.... this is my living room. In the winter I watch TV in here because of the fireplace, it's a warm, cozy room. I did my tree in browns and rusts this year but I'm not sure that I like it with the white tree or maybe I'm having a hard time liking such non traditional colors on a Christmas tree.

What does your tree look like? Do you have a particular color that you use to decorate it, or do you use a collection of whatever you have that you have collected throughout the years? I think I need to do more than just one or two trees so that I can use more of the ornaments and stuff I have. hmmmm, if I had another week or two I could probably pull that off....

Shabby Swap

I am a member of a group of women who like the shabby cottage style of decorating and we did a Secret Santa Swap this year and Trish and I exchanged gifts. This is what she sent me. A plate that will be a perfect accent in my sunroom, I love it and a book that I can't wait to read. I paged through it briefly and can't wait to actually read it. She also sent another little wall hanging that will be perfect in my bathroom...

Trish sent my package from Florida on December 1 and I finally received it today. It didn't look like it had been lost in the bottom of a truck somewhere, the box wasn't beat up or anything, I guess it just found its way onto a slow truck to Pennsylvania. Thanks Trish for everything you sent.... you brightened my day!

Christmas Preparations

This was the year that I was going to be prepared IN ADVANCE for Christmas and for awhile I was afraid that once again I’d be wrapping gifts on Christmas eve and not sending out Christmas cards but I have rallied this weekend and in spite of about four weeks of distraction including the death of my father, I think I will be prepared. I have finished my decorating this weekend, I have all my gifts wrapped, not all bought yet, but I know what I need and have it all written down and that is half the battle! I also addressed all my cards this weekend and am working on grocery lists of what I need from now till after my Christmas company goes home sometime after Christmas. So, there is no panic yet here…. How about you do you have lots of preparation yet to do or are you ready to focus on the meaning of Christmas?

New Moon

I am a bit of a closet "Twlight" fan. I read the books in about a month's time and stood in line to watch the movie last night with hundreds of other fans. The movie seemed to follow the book closely and was enjoyable...of course they are never as good as the book, but the movie was pretty good and I even liked the ending....leaving the fans wanting more!

What surprised me was the number of adults in the audience.... a lot more older fans than I ever imagined would be there.

If you read the books and enjoyed them, you won't be disappoointed in the movie although if you are an Edward fan, be prepared... he pales in comparison to the wolves.....just saying

1st Christmas Post of the Season

This is the year that I will send Christmas cards and I will not be wrapping Christmas gifts on Christmas eve!

That’s right, I’m thinking about all that has to be done before the holidays and I’m getting it organized in my head and on paper and have actually begun to check some items off the “to do” list already.

Yesterday I purchased this picture that I have already hung in the kitchen to replace one that I had of autumn pumpkins. I’ve decided that in an effort to make this easier I am putting away all signs of fall so I will be ready to decorate the day after Thanksgiving (after I get home from shopping). I have always kept all my fall decorations out until after Thanksgiving because I have the Thanksgiving meal at my house. However, Thanksgiving seems to be late this year and so I may go with a different plan.

Ok fellow bloggers, when do you all get out your Christmas decorations? Would the Thanksgiving dinner be ruined by a few signs of Christmas? I’m getting anxious to get the Christmas stuff out, are you?

New Contacts

I've worn contact lenses since 1970, I started out with hard lenses and then after many years moved onto gas permeable which I have worn until Friday! This past Friday was my introduction to soft lenses. They are so comfortable and I can see much better at night to drive, no glare, so they sound just about perfect and I'm almost wondering why it has taken me so long to get them. There is one small hitch, one big difference between gas perm and soft lenses and that is that I have to put my fingers in my eyes to take them out and I'm having a really hard time with that.

I have acrylic fingernails and that may be part of the problem, I'm afraid I'll tear them, or I don't know, I'm afraid if I get the tips of my fingers in to pull out the lenses that my nails will scratch my eye... I'm not sure what my problem is. Tonight I decided to take them out about 8 p.m. and somehow I managed to move the contact off my eyeball and I lost it in my eye.... of course my first reaction was to panic.....which was not productive at all. Then I called my daughter who works at Lenscrafters and surely has dealt with other uncoordinated customers....her advice was to keep trying and add a bit of saline solution. So I kept at it, and prayed, and finally got it out. My husband suggested that maybe I should have gotten a new pair of glasses instead of soft lenses!

So wish me luck... I'm going to give it another shot tomorrow!

Blogger Block

I haven’t been blogging lately, but I’ve continued to read all of the blogs I enjoy. I just wasn't feeling the need to blog or didn't have anything to blog about! Last week, or was it the week before? I made soap. I used to make it and sell it but when I got a real job with regular hours and a regular paycheck I stopped making soap. Now I make about 4 pounds about once a year so I have it to give as Christmas gifts. As I was smelling the various fragrance oils that I use for soap making I was thinking I really should do it more often….but my weekends are usually busy and it takes me about 5 hours to make a batch of soap from start to finish so I need a whole day and I don’t usually have a whole day.

Today is the first day of November already and I am hoping that this is the year I am ready for Christmas in time to sit down and enjoy it. I am off to a good start, Molly and I did some Christmas shopping yesterday and I was able to check a couple names off my list. Of course most of what I bought was for her! But she promises to forget about everything she picked out and be surprised come Christmas morning.

Anyone else planning to be organized and ready for Christmas this year and not have to be wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve?

Snowing in October!!!

Last week before the leaves even have had a chance to turn colors and fall off the trees, we had a winter storm....I'm calling it that because we got a couple inches of snow along with some rain and cold weather. Because the leaves were still on the trees there was a lot of damage to trees everywhere with the heavy snowfall we received. Here is what our front yard looked like after the snow... and tomorrow it is supposed to be in the mid-60's.... Welcome to fall in Central Pennsylvania!

Halloween Cat

Yesterday I met Molly at the mall for dinner and since I got there early I had time to look around a bit and I found this cute ole black cat dressed up for Halloween, and since they were only $1 (what a great buy!) each, I bought one for Molly's apartment, my neice's apartment and one for me to bring to work. This morning I put my cat on my desk at work. I love the lavender feather!

This weekend my neice and my sister will be spending the weekend with us, more or less....so I'm looking forward to that and since it is the Oktoberfest here in our town, I haven't cooked a thing and don't plan to!

Finished Projects

Last weekend I posted a couple wall hangings that I finally finshed and listed in my etsy shop. I have quite a few partially finished projects around here! I'm working on getting them listed on my "to do" list. And from there its only a matter of time till I actually get working on them!

Anyone else with projects that aren't completed?

Mosaic Monday

Today's mosaic is mostly photos from my kitchen.... I like white and I like white pitchers... my collection started with a couple small pitchers. Check out the rest of the mosaics at the Little Red House

Beautiful weather today here in Central PA... I hope you are having beautiful weather where you are too!

Ocean Blue Round Robin

­­­­­­­­­Six months ago I sent out an empty block to the women in my Ocean Blue Round Robin. Each month the block went to a different home and the woman there worked on the block adding some stitching. My little block traveled from the United States all the way to Australia and New Zealand, it even spent time in Paris! Last week finally the block was returned to me and this is the result. This was my first round robin and I must say I really enjoyed it. I couldn’t wait for a new block to arrive each month to see the stitching on it and now I looking forward to another new round robin to be starting up soon.

More Projects

I forgot to post my projects from two weeks ago…I painted Molly’s high chair for my nephew Tucker to use when he comes to visit….after he’s done with it, his brother Evan will probably sit in it. I forgot to take the “before” photo so picture a high chair with the finish baked off from being stored in the attic for about 15 years.

The second photo is a sign I made for Molly to put above her laundry area. She has been wanting a sign and every time we went someplace where they might have a “laundry” sign we looked but never found one, so I decided to make her one and she is happy with it….just a simple sign that I painted and then added glitter to. She isn’t much about a shabby look, she is much more into glitter!

Ready for Fall?

Today it has been cold and damp and miserable all day.... It feels like fall and I am not ready for that at all!!!! I came home from work and made corn bread (with the same recipe they used at Beaver Adams, my elementary school) and chili. That's one of the things I get hungry for when it gets cool...

Is anyone else feeling fall in the air? I stopped by the mall earlier this week and all I saw were dark fall colors and I was looking for summer sales. I think I'll hang on to summer for a while longer, bring on the salads and flip flops!

What signs are you seeing that tells you fall is just around the corner?

Saturday flea market finds

Saturday morning my sister and her daughter and I went to an antique and craft fair in a nearby town. The first stop for us was a field where the vendors just make a donation to set up, their stuff is usually not as "nice" as in town lining the streets but ya just never know where a treasure might be found. We didn't even arrive until about 11 am, after all the serious buyers were long gone, but there was still some good stuff left! I bought a lovely Johnson Brothers ironstone platter for $3.00 and a porcelain pitcher from Italy for $4, a smaller platter shaped piece with no markings on the back that I will use as a small tray in my bedroom for jewerly or perhaps in the bathroom for soaps. Lots of possibilities for a small white plate that only cost twenty five cents .

The town had lots of people and antique and craft dealers but I didn't make any purchases there....I was specifically looking for some pretty vintage aprons to hang from a peg rack in my laundry room just off the kitchen but I only saw one place with a couple old aprons and none that I wanted to bring home so it turned out to be a pleasant day and not a real expensive one!

Life's Little Luxuries

One of the little luxuries in life that I have been enjoying for the past few years since I started working is getting my nails done. I have fake nails and I like the fact that I can go every two weeks and have my nails done and they are good till the next time I go. I confess that I chewed my nails until I was 21. I can remember telling myself I was old enough to quit biting them and I quit! So anyhow, I like my fake fingernails and I like a bouquet, or two of fresh flowers in my home. Right now my zinnias look great and I have been picking those from the cutting garden.

What do you enjoy that you consider one of life’s luxuries?

Julie and Julia

This afternoon Molly and I went to the movies to see Julie and Julia. We got there early and ate some popcorn, chatted and got ready to watch the movie. At one point I turned to her and remarked that she was probably the youngest one there. I guess the people were mostly Julia Child fans.... Anyhow, we really liked the movie, it was very entertaining.... However, there was a very rude man behind us and to the right who talked to his wife throughout the whole movie....more than one person turned around to give him the look, but that didn't seem to phase him in the least! I learned a lot about Julia Child and I'd enjoy her autobiography if she has one. I also enjoy most anything that stars Meryl Streep and this was not a disappointment, she was great as Julia Child. If you are thinking about going to the movie, go.....

Mosaic Monday

I don't often participate, but I love seeing what everyone else is doing. However I thought I'd share some stitching I have recently completed this week. Click on the photo to get a better view of the stitching if ya want. Go to Mary's blog at The Little Red House to see everyone else's mosaics this week.

Round Robin

I'm in my first round robin with my stitching group. The challenge is to piece a block only using the color blue. All embellishments have to be in blue as well. Luckily there are various shades of blue that are allowed. There are six people in each group and so that means that there will be six people working on each block. This is the stitching I did on the last block I received. I'm getting anxious because I get one more block to work on and then my original block will come home finished, or nearly finished. I didn't work on it yet, so I will finish it up when it comes home. In the meantime, here is part of the block I just sent on to New Jersey. I did the fan.

To Paint or Not to Paint!!!

Ok, I realize that my sister is anxiously waiting to see the kitchen face lift, however... it's not quite finished. Viewing today's photo you will get the idea. Today I purchased this geranium print. I remembered it from the beginning of the summer, but I remembered it in a black frame and just a single geranium. hmmmm, I'm afraid my mind will not be improving from here on out.

Anyhow, now that I have it hung, do you think it should be a black frame to match the furniture in the kitchen? I'm guessing I'll only use it in the summer and I'll hang something else there later but right now since I have been thinking red in the kitchen, I will be keeping the print, just not sure about changing the frame. What do ya all think?

Strawberry Jam

I am the administrative assistant at a church. One of the things I like about my job is that people sometimes remember to do something nice for those of us on staff here. Last week one of the ladies from our congregation brought me a jar of freshly made Strawberry Jam. I am really grateful for it since I don't take the time to make jam. I don't usually purchase it either but when someone gives me a jar of homemade jam, I quite enjoy it. So this week I am enjoying the pleasant surprise of a lovely little gift and having freshly homemade strawberry jam on my bagel.

Monday morning when I opened my office door I found this lovely bouquet of flowers waiting for me from another friend. I hope you have a good week where you work too!

Yard Sales

I used to be an avid yard sale-er but now that I work full time, I really don't have the time that I wish I did to go to yard sales. I did see one in my neighborhood on Friday on my way in to the office and drove past it, then backed up and I'm sure glad I did. I picked up a very pretty little plate and asked the price when she said ten cents I picked up a few more old things that caught my eye and then found some old books that I wanted to stack to vary the height of some objects in the bedroom. Anyhow, I photographed my loot for today. Can you believe when I asked how much, she told me $1. I gave her two and left happy!

Out of Your Comfort Zone

I participated in the "Out of Your Comfort Zone" challenge at my favorite crazy quilters yahoo group. I'm a newbie stitcher and I just had to complete a block and the challenge was to do something you don't usually do. I have never done any silk ribbon embroidery before so I knew that would have to go into my block. I also have never had a feature patch on a block that I did. I was disappointed it that though, the patch that I bought on etsy was printed on a tightly woven fabric so it was kind of hard to stitch through it. Maybe I needed a smaller needle, not sure what I may have done wrong. Anyhow I didn't get the block finished by the deadline so I'm still working on it, but here it is as I photographed it for the challenge.

Happy Birthday Molly!

My little girl has grown into such a lovely young lady. She will be turning 22 today and graduating from college in December and who knows what after that. She has a lot of ambition so I am sure she will do well in life.

We will be celebrating with a shopping trip on Wednesday. She is working in Harrisburg doing an internship today and will probably be exhausted. She just arrived home tonight from a weekend in LA and is somewhat jet lagged,add that to the fun filled jam packed weekend and I'm hoping she won't be to tired to shop!

The photo is of her 2nd birthday.

Happy Birthday Molly.... Love ya!

Auction

Today I cleared my schedule and did something that I enjoy doing, I went to an auction. It was an estate sale and located down the street from where I live. The family lived in the house from 1943 until about 9 years ago and the sale was today. The weather was almost perfect and the sale was held in a big old tent.

There was a lot of depression glass....I don't collect depression glass, nor do I collect slag ware or milk bottles which were all in abundance. There was a lot of primitive stuff but among all that, there were a few treasures....

I love the candelabra that I purchased, it looks great in my turquoise dining room. The large pitcher and glass has a repair and is not perfect. I was not happy to hear the auctioneers announce at the beginning of the auction that they don't have time to inspect the glassware and you buy it as is....so they were not announcing the condition of anything.... I don't like that at all.....I bought the pitcher to put on the floor in the kitchen to fill with hydrangeas or something dried so it's ok that it isn't perfect. My husband put it on top of the china closet in the kitchen when I brought it home and it may stay there for awhile.

For $1 I bought some vintage dresses. One of them is already on my mannequin, they were not in good condition but good enough for Miss Frannie. I got great buys on doilies and dresser scarfs, etc. I was able to get the stuff for $5 a box. Can you believe no one else wanted them!

I love ironstone so I am always on the look out for it; the only ironstone that they had were two large platters. The biggest one is a size I don't have and weighs 8 pounds....can you imagine that platter with a 20 pound turkey on it? I would need to have someone carry it to the dining room for me! They sold them together and I bought them. I'll be using the large one to replace a metal tray I have propped up on the top of a bookshelf. The smaller one will be added to my collection of ironstone platters in the dining room on the shelves above the windows.

So that was my day.... I needed a day to just sit and do nothing! Today was the day.

Babies!

This past weekend Molly came home so that we could visit the newest baby in the family. My nephew, Tim and his wife, Emily had a baby boy born 13 months to the day after their first child that makes two boys for them. I guess that will be an active household. Molly loves babies so she was excited to go play with Evan. He slept the whole time we were there (that's the kind I like). Anyhow, congratulations to Tim, Emily and Tucker, here's wishing a bright and happy future to Evan.

Photo of Molly and Evan Devine. That reminds me....I want to paint Molly's old high chair white, it was wooden and the finish baked off in the attic so I want to get it prettied up for Tucker (the older of the Devine boys) to use when he comes to visit. So be watching for that project.

Wild Black Raspberries

Last night Molly text messaged me to let me know she would be coming home to visit today.  I had something planned that I knew she would be excited about and sure enough when she said "what can we do?" I was ready with an activity and I suggested that we go pick black raspberries.

From the time she was a little girl we have had a secret black raspberry patch that we can walk to and pick from.  We don't get a lot of berries  but it has always been an activity that we have done together and have done every year. 

The night before on my evening walk with the dogs I discovered that they were ripe and I picked a few and thought to myself that I'd be picking raspberries with the dogs this year.  So as it turned out I was as glad as she was that we could pick raspberries together again one more year.

It's Lunch!

As an avid blog reader I am surprised at the number of women out there who blog about the beautiful food they prepare. I'm not one of them. I've got an idea that the world is divided into two groups of women, those who love to cook and those who cook to survive! I would be a member of the "cook to survive" group on most days.

I do enjoy sitting down to a beautiful table and beautiful food, but believe me the effort is wasted at my house. I have good intentions and have a small garden with lettuce and basil and other veggies growing and today I actually remembered to use them. Just for me, I picked some lettuce and basil and added it to my hamburger roll along with a couple pickles. I used more of the lettuce for a bed to put a dab of potato salad on and then cut up a strawberry to add a bit of color to the plate and I ate in the dining room and felt quite special.

Ok, so if you are not a member of the "love to cook" group, I have a challenge for you to go the extra mile this week with your food presentation and see if your family isn't impressed!

Time for an update

My computer is not feeling well....  the M fell off and has been glued back on, it seems to be running slow and the battery is about dead.  I ordered a newer, faster one and as soon as it comes, about July 2....  I'll be blogging again. 

In the meantime since my computer is only working sporadically, blogging  is not working well for me...  till later....  

A New Boyfriend!!!

Ok, she says he isn't her boyfriend but they have been dating since about January and tonight I finally got to meet him. He graduated from the college Molly goes to in May and is back home looking for a job in Pittsburgh. Anyhow he is visiting with Molly and I met them both for supper before she had to go to her evening class. So I took the opportunity to take a quick photo.

The reason I was in Selinsgrove was to take the dogs to the PetSmart spa. Pardon me if I upgrade it to a spa in my mind, it was over $1oo to get a haircut for two dogs. Rusty did get his teeth brushed and had special shampoo.  Here is a photo of Rusty while he was getting clipped. The girl did a great job and they look and smell great!  And Stewart relaxing at home.

Mosaic Monday

I took photos again tonight of what's blooming in my garden in Central Pennsylvaina. I'm guessing these flowers are all pretty famaliar. One of the white ones is wild honeysuckle. Does anyone else have this one? I have a love-hate relationship with it, mostly I hate it because it is so invasive and is everwhere. But right now for a few days it smells heavenly when it is blooming. So today I almost love it. But as soon as the blooming is over I'll be out there with my clippers trying to get rid of it...again!

Cupcake Plate

This week I took a day off work so that Molly and I could go shopping.  We both love TJ Maxx and she loves the Olive Garden   We are great together at TJ Maxx she heads off to the clothing and I go to the home goods section and am rarely disappointed with their selection.  This week one of my purchases was this cute little cup cake plate.  We had a pot luck dinner at our church this week so as soon as I saw the plate I knew what I'd be taking as my contribution!  

Campfire!!!

Molly called me tonight at about 10 to say that she and her friend Anthony and his friend Zach were coming over for a campfire. They included me in the plans and brought marshmallows and chocolate and graham crackers to make S'mores. It's been a couple years since we had a campfire in the back yard and I have missed the kids and the campfires. So tonight was great for me! Thanks Molly and Anthony :)

Look What's Blooming!

Here is another mosaic of what's blooming this week in my garden....mostly iris and some clematis. The peonies are just starting but I probably have enough varieties to do a mosaic of their own.

I had a lovely Memorial Day vacation. My nephew's son turned one and had a big birthday party, that was fun....lots of kids everywhere. My sister and her daughter and my daughter were all here on Sunday, I love catching up with them.

So far, it has been cold and I have put the gardening on hold. I think we are to get rain the rest of the week. I really need to get to a couple more greenhouses and get some flowers in the ground. Maybe later this week.

wii fit-

I've got a huge pile of mulch in the driveway to be spread, about 3 major projects crying to be worked on, a crazy quilt block to be pieced for an upcoming challenge and I am having trouble focusing on any of it because I bought wii fit this week!

I've been having a lot of fun with it and getting some exercise. Unfortunately, as an overweight-out-of-shape woman who is used to sitting at a desk all day, I may have overdone it a bit....my hip is hurting making it difficult for me to do any gardening or other projects....

So, for today, I'm going to get reacquainted with my kitchen so there is some food on hand for the Memorial Day weekend. I have Monday off and I'm excited about that! I'm hoping to be somewhat productive that day, if I don't decide to play tennis, go bowling or learn yoga poses.

Big ole spider web!

Today in my exit to leave for work, I happened to notice this big ole spider web by the garage doors. I have a busy weekend planned that includes making improvements to the outside of our place. You know what I'm talking about....getting out the garden statuary, cleaning up a few more gardens, pulling weeds, making the porch look more inviting, etc. I'm making a mental note to get rid of that big ole spider web as well!

Dining Room Project

I have the dining room project just about finished. I still have some things on the hutch that I don’t have room to store anywhere, but stay tuned, that will soon change too!

My project is one of those face lifts that really didn’t cost much at all but made a big difference in the look of the room. All I did was paint the walls and the chandelier and added shades to the chandelier, making a big difference with very little money.

One more project for that room is to paint Molly’s high chair that has been stored in the attic. The finish has baked off, I want to bring it down and paint it white and put it in one of the corners. My nephew’s son Tucker will be happy for it the next time he’s here for a meal.