Madison

Long time, no postings!  I'd apologize, but there is no need...life goes as life goes.  However, I have something very fun to post about.

This darling puppy's name is Madison!  She will be coming to live with us near the end of July...right now she's still with her mama and her litter mates.  We are so excited for her to join our family.

Anna's Rainbow Blanket

 My 5-year-old granddaughter, Anna, asked for a rainbow blanket and an orange blanket for Christmas.  Well, being the sweet grandma I am (I'm called Mimi), I combined her request and made a reversible blanket for her.

I thought to myself that I would just go and buy some rainbow print fleece and a nice orange and put them together, sew a border and be done.  NOPE...manufacturers did not have ANY rainbow fleece available.  I looked at JoAnn's, I looked online, I looked under my rug (kidding) but there was no rainbow fleece to be had.  There was no flannel with rainbows, either.

So, being the anal retentive person I am...I went to the cottons and bought one half yard each of the ROYGBIV rainbow colors.  Also some white fleece to make some clouds.

Ok...I'd made a rainbow.  Could I find a pattern for a rainbow?  Nope.
I got my trusty freezer paper out, drew the appropriate (I thought) sized rainbow.  Redrew the appropriate (I thought) sized rainbow.  I did this process a few times.  After getting it to be about 24 inches across I had to work on the arc.  Lots more effort than I thought it would take.  Then I cut my pattern apart.  After that, the freezer paper was ironed (shiny side to the back of the cotton) and an approximate quarter inch for overlap in the applique process.

It's funny...I thought this would be a quick and easy project.  It wasn't hard at all, but it was surely time consuming.

The back of this blanket is bright orange with blue peace signs.  I appliqued the rainbow to both pieces and then I sewed around the blanket about 2 inches from the edge.  I'm not much for tying a fringe on the blankets.

The effort I put into this blanket is nothing compared to the enjoyment that Anna gets from this labor of love.

Merry Christmas, Anna Banana...Love Mimi               

Treva is 3 today!

Treva turned 3 years old today!  She was so excited to be able to say she was three and hold up three fingers rather than two when someone says, "how old are you?"!!

She got lots of beautiful (and fun things) for her birthday.  I made her this banner for her door...it's my project to do for each of the grandchildren this year.  (Her favorite color is yellow, by the way!)

She's a sweet and feisty little girl, she makes me laugh and my heart melt. 

I'm one lucky grandma...each of my grandchildren makes my heart sing...each has their own way to make me feel so loved and treasured.

Our trip to Memphis, Tennessee

We went on a little trip.  Well, the trip was kinda far, but we didn't stay too long! 

We had a really nice trip.  Rick did all the highway driving...I drove in and about the city.

We left mid morning on Monday, April 15.  We spent the first night in Shepherdsville, Kentucky.  When we arrived at our hotel, we learned of the Boston bombings.  How sad...how terrible.

Anyway, back to vacation...we continued our travels on Tuesday morning and arrived in Memphis, Tennessee that evening.  We had a great trip.  We went to the Peabody Hotel and saw the Peabody ducks!  The hotel is just absolutely beautiful.  We went to Beale Street to see a little history.  We went to Tunica, Mississippi and gave some of our money to the casinos there!  (Gotta help the economy!)


We saw Elvis Presley in 1973 in Las Vegas.  He was so good and that was the start of Rick's real appreciation of Elvis's talent.  I've always enjoyed his music and I believe he did a lot of good for our world.

Since we liked Elvis for many years, we thought we should go and see Graceland. 

On Wednesday we went to Graceland and enjoyed seeing the house, the grounds, the planes, the cars and all there was to see.  I was surprised that Graceland wasn't more "grand".

The house was large, but not by today's standards.  I enjoyed seeing how it was decorated and how he chose to spend money.  The private jet was really cool, the car museum was "wow"...so many cars, so fun to see these awesome cars.

Elvis did a lot of good in the world.  He was a very charitable man and did a lot for the music world.

 

Guacamole...homemade

I'm not much of a cook, to be sure, but I love guacamole and I came upon a deal for avocados today, so I went to my trusty Pinterest site and pulled up the recipe for guacamole that I had pinned some time ago.  I am not a fan of cilantro, but a I like regular parsley.

I got mine all made up and into the fridge, but I had no tomato, so I need to run to the store and pick up a couple.

This will be delicious when the flavors are all melded together.  Rick doesn't care for it, so it will last me a while!

Can't wait to enjoy.

Be careful...serious issue--no joking

I received two calls today.  SCAM calls.  A young man with a middle eastern accent told me he was from Windows and my computer was in serious trouble.  I told him I would have my son-in-law who works in IT take a look and to please remove my name from their call list.

He called back a couple of hours later and gave me the same information, telling me I had serious malware on my computer and that in order for him to help me, I needed to go to my computer and he would help me.

The hairs on my neck seemed to stand up on end.  I asked for HIS number and HIS name, telling him I would call HIM back.  He got a bit obstinate with me and said he would call me back at a more convenient time.  I refused that offer and asked for HIS number and HIS name again.  After a bit of a standoff, he finally gave me the information.

I phoned my son-in-law and he looked up the information I had and said it was INDEED a scam.  The caller's plan was to get me to go online, to a web conference site and they would try to "help" me with my computer by my allowing them to have remote access.  After that, my computer and all it's information was in their hands.

I called the FTC and filed a report.  They were very nice and understanding.  The gentleman there told me it was indeed an identity theft scheme.

Be careful...be very careful.  Evil lurks, but so does grace.  Pay attention to your instincts...it could save you much heartache.

Photos, Easter weekend, 2013

 My six "littles".  Some are littler than others,

but they are my littles!

My Easter, March 31, 2013 was spent with family.  There was a birthday celebration and much love to be shared.

We went to Chuck E. Cheese's for Hadley's birthday on Friday.  

Saturday was a huge Easter Egg Hunt at the Snyder's home with probably 50 kids and their parents!

Sunday was finding Easter baskets from The Bunny, gifts of pillows and fun pillowcases (with a chocolate bunny tucked along/with) from Mimi and Papa.  There was church and dinner.  Then we all traveled home to rest, reflect and recuperate!  

I have a marvelous family, to be sure!  I love each and every one with all my heart and soul.