End of June?!?

Hmmm, how did June fly by so quickly?  Here it is the last day, and so in a valiant effort to improve my blogging I'm going to see if I can come up with a few coherent things to share.  

I haven't made any new dresses for my dolls, but I did make an effort to take Ann Estelle's blue dress and make it suitable for Easter.  I was thinking I would add lace and ribbons, but when I searched among my findings, I found a wire-edged dusty blue organdy ribbon that just seemed to say use me.  So I did.  

I loved using it to tie around her head and then just cut a piece to tie around her waist.  It's not stitched on, so I can still make changes to the dress if I get inspired later on.  Meanwhile, AE felt quite stylish for Easter.  

Another thing I forgot to share was Ann's Mother's Day gift.  

A plethora of new cloth napkins, which she knows I love, and my new favorite mug filled with lemoncello almonds from Costco.  I had never tasted the almonds before and let me tell you, it was love at first bite!  Mmmm...

And that's it for now!!  ♥

A Couple of Completions

My first project to share is actually a year old, made last summer when I was in a blogging drought.  Years ago I purchased a booklet of patterns for banners for each month of the year by Pat Sloan.  I used it as inspiration for two banners for our front porch, one for fall and one for the summer.  I made the original summer one with machine embroidery and sadly lost the design somewhere over the years.  The sun had done a number on the fabrics and for several years I pondered making a new banner but never quite got to it.  Last summer, it looked so sad and washed out I knew I had to do something. 

I dug around in my piles of quilt books and found the booklet and decided to make a new banner using the July pattern with no alternations.  It graced the porch for the rest of last summer and I was happy to hang it out again a few weeks ago. 

I just love having the brightness of it hanging there!  I was befuddled about how to quilt the star section but then came up with the idea to trace the star shapes on freezer paper, iron them here and there, and then stitch around their edges with my walking foot.  It worked! 

My other completion is current.  Remember the Snowy Day quilt I began last winter?  I finally finished it!! 

Dan is just crazy about it and I have to say I'm pretty smitten myself.  It was a very different project for me and I'm kinda proud of myself for giving it a try.  It boosted my quilting confidence and I think I'll try some other projects that I probably would have passed on before.  Guess I'm not too old to learn some new things!  ♥

My Kitchen and Me

If you've read my blog for very long, you know I'm a kitchen person.  Notice that I did not say that I'm a wannabe chef, or even a cook.  I do cook, and I do bake, but I claim no expertise in either area.  But I do love my kitchen and all the things a kitchen holds--tools for the job so to speak.  

When we bought this house almost twenty years ago, I was thrilled that it had a pantry.  I'm not certain that it was originally meant to be a pantry, in fact, I think it was meant to be a utility closet for brooms, vacuum, etc.  There's even a light in the ceiling, or at least there was until we took the bulb out and taped cardboard over the hole.  Some other owner installed shelves and of course, that made the light useless as the only part it illuminated was the top shelf.  

Collector of kitchen tools that I am, a good portion of the pantry is dedicated to hold them.  Waffle iron, Instant Pot, toaster (not enough room on my counters to leave it out), snackster sandwich maker, and so on.  Then of course there's the actual food storage including containers of different kinds of beans and pastas. (Have I ever mentioned that I'm a total lover of different shapes of pasta??  Hopeless addiction.)  

Several weeks ago I decided it was time to clean out the pantry and once again find out just what lurked behind those closed doors.  Here I begin to take things out. 

And I began to fill up a counter with the goods.

Maybe more than one counter.  And the floor...

And here we are after careful sorting, consolidation, and judicious replacement.

I don't think I threw away anything but some empty containers after consolidation, but that just shows that I do use what I have.  Which was a relief.   

A Stunning Place for a Shower

And no, I don't mean a fancy bathroom!!  Several weeks ago we headed down to LaGrande, Oregon, to attend a baby shower for Mariah, my nephew JR's wife.  They are expecting a little boy in July and the time had come to shower them with gifts.  

When the invitation came, the location was listed as the Stang Manor.  I texted my sister-in-law, Karen, and asked if pearls and high heels were required.  She laughed and said no, just comfy clothes.  Eric and Keaton were out of town on a school trip, so Ann and Daniel rode along with Dan and me.  It's a four-hour drive, so Ann suggested we spend the night and enjoy a leisurely drive home the next day.  It was a brilliant idea and Dan and I agreed.  (We tend to be quite linear and think, go, attend, drive home.)

We left home before eight, picked up Ann and the D-man and headed out.  The drive was spectacular, and spectacularly slow.  They don't call one of the grades "The Rattlesnake" for nothing.  Steep? Yes! Windy? Yes!  Up we went, down we went, up we went, and down we went. Thirty-five miles an hour was speedy for many miles.   But I digress...

Upon arrival in LaGrande, we dropped the Daniels off at JR and Mariah's to spend the afternoon with "the guys", and found our way to Stang Manor.  Turns out, it's a lovely 100-year-old home built by a timber baron using the same plans as his home back in the upper midwest. It is now a bed and breakfast and part of our family was actually staying there for the weekend, and because of the multiple days, we had access to the whole house, including the kitchen.  

I have taken some pictures from their website but encourage you to go to the actual site for even more pictures and history of the house. 

Front garden with house on the right

Kitchen of my dreams!

Sitting area for one of the suites

Dining room with original table and sideboard

Beautiful entryway

The shower was a great success as JR and Mariah received many lovely things for their soon-to-arrive little boy. I made my usual gift, a quilt, and though the design was very simple, the fabric made it one of my favorites.  

The motel was just the thing for an eight-year-old boy because it had a big, empty pool, and I'm here to say Daniel made excellent use of it.  After eating all kinds of treats at the shower (the boys all joined us after it was over and enjoyed treats, too), we checked into our rooms, D hit the pool, and Dan and I headed out to pick up a pizza to eat in our room. Following the pizza, D hit the pool again, this time with Ann joining him in the water, and needless to say, he spent an hour or more there again in the morning before we headed out.  

We meandered (literally!!) our way home, stopping to admire Lake Wallowa and skip rocks, and decided a stop at Costco when we reached Clarkston was a much-needed break.  What a fun weekend.  Family, food, swimming and Costco!!  

Happy May Day!!

It's finally beginning to look like spring around here! The trees have been valiantly trying to leaf out and from a distance, we can actually see hints of green when we look at them.  This Mary Engelbreit drawing gives a glimpse of how I'm feeling about all this!!

And it's May Day.  I remember as kids we would make May baskets in school each year and then take them home to fill with flowers to leave on someone's doorknob.  I don't think anyone does it anymore, and it's kind of sad.  But then, if I even wanted to try it this year, nothing is blooming yet in our yard, and it sort of negates to whole thing if you have to buy the flowers. Just not the same as lilacs or tulips or daffodils picked at the last moment before delivery.  Ah well.  

Happy spring!  And happy May Day! ♥

Hey, I'm Back!

I've been a terrible blogger this month, but as I said in my last post, when not much is going on, there's not much to write about.  Still true!

We did have a lovely Easter, or as our pastor prefers to call it, Resurrection Day last week.  For only the second time, our church had a sunrise service and it was scheduled for 5:45.  For those of you who know me well, you know I don't think there's time before eight now that I'm retired, so this was truly an endurance test for me.  I passed!!

Ann and I decided that with such an early start, we needed to restructure our usual plans.  We decided on a brunch after the service followed by a call to Cam, then a long nap, then dinner.  I'm pleased to say that our plan was very successful.  

We thoroughly enjoyed hearing Cam's voice and by putting him on speaker on Eric's phone, we were all able to hear him and respond.  Amazing tools we have now! Such a blessing.

Here's a couple of photos after naps were had by all but Daniel.  Oh to have the energy of an eight-year-old!!  

Ann was headed to the deck to read to Daniel when I told her the furniture wasn't out yet.  She said her guys could fix that and before we knew it,  all was in place! Score for Papa!!

And above is a photo of our crazy movers soaking up a little warmth after they've expended all their energy on their work.  Yes, it was another laid-back holiday here at the resort, enjoyed by all.  ♥

Blah, Blah, Blah...

Those words describe the weather and this blog post. Outside it's grey and damp.  Inside it's the same ol', same ol'.  Not even anything worthy of a photograph.  So, in few words, here's what's been happening the last few weeks:

l) I got the Snowy Day quilt top finished.  I need to find a backing for it and get it loaded on my long arm, hopefully soon.

2) I am trudging away on my treadmill.  I've logged 55 miles, half an hour at a time, and I think I can see a difference in my shape.  

3) As I trudge away, I'm watching movies through Amazon Prime on my new iPad, purchased for just this purpose. I'm thoroughly enjoying each one. Just finished Fiddler on the Roof  and am now watching Charade. Love, love, love Audrey Hepburn's clothes in it!

4) I am loving my bread machine more and more! That I can make a wonderful salt-free loaf has revolutionized my life.  Guilt-free toast and sandwiches!!

5) We had a ladies' retreat at church two weeks ago and I discovered a fabulous new salad dressing during our Saturday lunch salad bar.  Newman's Own Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette.  Oh my! Mixed greens, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds and a little feta?  Heaven!

6) Cameron continues to settle in in Rwanda.  He's done some exploring and found a bakery to have a coffee and a chocolate coated donut.  Some little tastes of home that did wonders for his morale. (Most of their meals are rice, beans and cooked bananas.)

And that about covers my life for now!  ♥