Vivian

It's been a while since I've posted...life has been busy and that's a good thing!

However, my granddaughter, Vivian, will be two on Saturday. I've been working (very slowly) on her gift and time was a-growin' short!

So, today, it was "pedal to the metal" in my sewing studio!  I got her gift (the part I'm making anyway) all finished.

Above is Miss Viv and the picture to the left is Vivian and one of her big sisters, Anna.







The pictures below is the bag that I designed, quilted and stitched up just for Vivian along with a money holder she can wear (cause she's a big girl and her sisters have one, too!

I made the twins school bags for their birthdays and Vivian thinks she needed one, too.  Of course she does!!  So, here's Viv's bag and money holder.

Fall projects

My grandchildren (4 out of the 6) are going to school this fall.

Evie is 8 and in the 3rd grade and needed a bag for her cheer leading paraphernalia.   So, Mimi made her a bag to hold all that fun stuff.
Unfortunately, at this time, I don't have pictures of that bag.  Anna and Nathan are going to preschool and so, for their birthday, I made them school bags.  (Also don't have a picture of those.)

 

 
This bag...all the different views...is a bag for Hadley who also goes to preschool this fall.  I'm happy with the way the bags have turned out and each of them is personalized with their name.

I love the kids and hope they like their bags.

Peaceful Corner and my hike this morning

As I was looking back at my blog, I saw the post about my "Peaceful Corner".  Rick and I were just outside yesterday and we remarked on how much things have grown.  Thought I'd share my peaceful corner now that it's August!

It's still peaceful, but it's even MORE peaceful!

Also, feeling a bit blue this morning and Rick having a golf outing with his buddies, I decided to go for a hike at our nearby park.  It's named Towner's Woods and I spent a little while there this morning soaking up some nature.  I walked on what is called "Butterfly Loop" and upon entering the clearing to start the path, I saw a beautiful yellow butterfly.  Thinking there would be LOTS of them, I failed to get a picture!  Nope, no more butterflies on that trail.

However, I did see this little rascal...a black squirrel just as I was starting down the main path.  I have dozens of these in my yard, but he was there to welcome me, so I snapped his photo.  I saw two spotted fawns.  One crossed my path just about 5-10 feet in front of me.  Nope, I didn't have my camera ready, but knowing a bit about deer, I knew there HAD to be at least one more nearby.  I stood still and waited.  Nothing.  I took a few steps forward and looked into the wooded are to my left (where #1 bounded out) and looked really hard.  There was another fawn there, but he was well hidden.  I snapped a photo, but my automatic focus did it's job and focused on the nearer tree limbs, etc.  So, I didn't get that photo.  I remained still while a multitude of mosquitoes had a bite of ME for lunch.  Soon...about 20 feet ahead of me bounded the second fawn.  Still no photo, but I have their beauty etched in my mind.

Anyway, it was a nice way to spend some time with nature this morning.  I'm glad I went.

Frozen cappuccino!

 

 

 

I was reading Karen's blog, "Sew Many Ways" and she was making an iced coffee today.  This spurred me into showing you how I make my no-fat, sugar-free, frozen mocha cappuccino.  

 

I start with my Mr. Coffee espresso maker.  It was a birthday gift from my hubby many years ago.  I use a stick blender (mine is a Waring brand) and it's quite powerful and I really like it a lot.

 

I use espresso.  You can use regular coffee, but I really like ground espresso beans.  Make yourself a nice strong espresso.

 

 

I use lactose free, skim milk and freeze it into ice cubes.  (I make the milk cubes ahead of time and keep them ready.)  I use 8 cubes, which is one cup of milk...a full serving for meeting a portion of my daily nutritional needs.

After I make my espresso, I pour it over my milk cubes (in a BIG vessel, because it will increase in volume when you blend it) along with two Splenda packets, a few drops of vanilla extract and a quick shot of Hershey's sugar-free chocolate syrup.

 

Using the stick blender, start blending, and chopping up your milk cubes.  It will get thick and increase in volume.

Pour over a couple of ice cubes in your serving glass.

Put your feet up, relax a bit and enjoy.

What a guilt-free refreshment!

 

If you make one, let me know what you think!

 

 

Finished product----->

Peaceful corner

 

This is the front corner of my home.  I love this area...a small fountain and my summer plants.

Independence Day Celebration, 2011

This morning our town had what's called the Kent Heritage Festival.  It's ALWAYS on the Saturday before July 4th and we (Rick, Evelyn and I) went.  I forgot my camera (darn), but we had a really good couple of hours.  I saw old friends and enjoyed chatting with them.  Evelyn got an airbrush tattoo on her arm and some cool souvenirs.  I got a big frog that's stuffed with sand to use as a pin cushion.

Today my niece Kathy and her husband hosted their 7th annual pig roast.  It's such a fun day to be with extended family, see old friends and meet some new folks.

The only thing missing was my daughter Kelly and her family, but we did take Kelly's oldest daughter with us.  They live in PA and we drove there to bring her home with us for a few days.  That's Evie sporting a pair of FAB earrings and other jewelry from her cousin Ashleigh and a cell phone from her cousin Allie!  Eight is such a fun age.
 

This picture is of Treva, She's in the bounce house and having a great time!  She's quite the "firecracker", that girl!

This is Evie and Allie.  The girls love being together and they had a great day.  It makes me so happy to see them together.

 My silly brother, nickname Butch. 

Ev's having a bit of lunch...roast pork, escalloped potatoes, corn on the cob, cole slaw and rolls is on the menu. 

Q:  What does she eat? 
A:  A roll and an ear of corn!!!  That's my girl!  (Also a little dessert from a huge array.)

Treva's having a sip and lounging in her chair!!  Ah, to be one year old again!








Son in law, Todd.  Wonderful husband and father.

 Daughter Jennifer, busy mom and wife.

This is my sister, Cris.  She's tending to the horses and Ev just loves to help. 

Hadley and my sister Cris...again with the horses.  I'm so glad my grandchildren can have this experience.  I had it with friends of my parents when I was a child, but my children didn't have that opportunity so much.  Sad, but we didn't have many farm friends.

Now, this is me in the bounce house...can you believe I would get in the bounce house?  I guess I was being very invulnerable today.  It was fun, all the girls got in there while all the kids were swimming.  We had a blast!

Hadley's showing me just how to do it!

More bounce house.  I believe Jennifer has scored 2 points by putting Treva in the hoop!







Mama Jennifer and her babies...such fun to bounce.  Today was a fabulous day for me.

Garage Sale?

I've been invited to participate in a neighborhood garage sale that will be held the middle of July.  Therefore, I've been trying to get my "rear in gear" and get things cleaned out.

I've put it off for too long!  My sewing studio, which is the entire upstairs of my cape cod home, is not just for sewing right now, because it has become the catch all for all things without a designated area.  Grrrr... :(

Anyway, while sweet Ricky was golfing this morning, I made a commitment to get up there and clean out a bit of the area.  Well, I did clean out the first cubbyhole at the top of the stairs.  The cubbyhole looks terrific, but my sewing area looks even worse!!!  I hauled all the stuff out of the cubbyhole, took down a good bit of unwanted items to the basement (garage sale storage area), but there are boxes...probably 4 or 5 that are memory stuff from my daughters' young years.  I don't know what to do with it, except to give it to each daughter.  However, I need help going through it and I'm going to ask my sweet daughter, Jennifer to help me with it.  She can take what is hers and do with it as she will.  I'll send off what is not hers to her sweet sister, Kelly.  I'll load it in my car and next time I go to her house, I hope she'll look through it and do with it as she wishes.  (She's not very sentimental and is not a "keeper" like her mom), so she'll make quick work of it, I'm pretty sure.

I took a break when Rick came home from golfing, had some lunch and spent some time at the computer...hence this post.  Think I'll go back upstairs and try to sort out a bit more.