I'm on the run again!

My Lillies are the most beautiful thing in my yard right now, I just love these little ladies!! I am thinking about moving them, tho. I've had them for about 8 or 9 years, and they are on the East side of the house. They bloom every year, but they should have gotten a little fuller by now, and I still only get about 3 stalks every year. (I want about 20) so Mr Wonderful said he would move them to a sunnier spot? Any suggestions? I just love these, my heart soars every year when they bloom.
I am off to the Library and Video store this morning, because we are leaving for the "north country" and Elly and DD#3 are going with us this time, so we need "busy stuff" in case there is rain. Our little sanctuary is going to be a zoo this time, tho, for the holiday weekend. Good for the resort, bad for the regulars. But, there will be plenty of activities to keep two girls busy.

I hope you all have a safe and wonderful holiday...I will pause for a moment and try to fathom the depth of what this day means to us here in the most wonderful United States of America.
oh, and have a blast!
lyn

Cuttin' a Rug

Getting the strips together is the most time consuming part of the process. I started sewing them by hand while watching TV, and crocheting them as I went. Tread a needle, sew strips till the thread ran out, attach strip to the last one on the rug, crochet the strip, sew strips. I got a little rhythm going during Desparate Housewives and Dancing, and I added a black stripe to contain all the scrappiness of it all. (sorry about the rotten pic)Then, I got to really looking at it, and decided I could do better, and I had a major bump in the middle that I tried to stretch out, but it always came back. So, I gave up and ripped it out, started all over, and this time it is going so fast because I (finally) followed Finns advice and sewed the strips on the machine. And now look, even Cubby likes this one better! She can't wait till I leave it on the floor for good, she thinks I lay it down just for her.

In between, I tested a theory. I wanted to put a flannel backing on the Ethnic Star, but I wasn't sure how it would wash. I had visions of the flannel shrinking and getting so soft, and the front, not shrinking as much, so it would be wrinkled, puckered, and old looking,,, sounds wonderful to me. What a wonderful, warm, cozy effect that would be, right?

So I cut a square of flannel, and a square of cotton, put a simple grid on it, and bound it. Threw it in the washer and dryer, rubbing my hands together the whole time, thinking how clever I was, I was going to make this quilt look a hundred years old! Pleasure oozed out of my pores.
Until I pulled it out of the washer. It did not look a hundred years old, it did not have the wrinkled, softly aged look at all. It just had the puffy look of the 70's & 80's. I was so disappointed. I hung my head as I brought it up to show DD#3. I handed it to her and tried to explain that I had other theories we could test out......She didn't hear a word I said, she was squeeling with delight! "OH, That is exactly what I wanted!! Look how old that looks! It's perfect!!! Oh, Mom, I"m going to LOVE it! Thank you so much!" Needless to say, I (like any of you would have done,) pretended that was exactly what I wanted it to look like.

Why is it, I think the 80's are out of fashion, and now my daughter thinks of the 80's as "retro." Go figure...

Hope your day is wrinkled and sofly aged!

lyn

Just about as crafty as a Granny gets

Lamby & I have been crocheting, Does anybody remember "broomstick lace?" it is old, old, old, so ancient, I don't remember my own grandmother ever doing it, I have only seen it done once, other than the baby blanket I did over 30 years ago!
The real story is...The "broomstick" has been in the same drawer in the buffet since I finished the baby blanket for my oldest, he is now 33 years old. Along comes Leash rummaging and trying to organize, and the thing drops on the floor and the bottom breaks. I am the resident Glue Guru, so I glue it back together, telling her the whole time, Nanny gave me this 34 years ago, you have to be careful, plastic gets brittle,etc, etc, etc. Then, Elizabeth comes over and wants to know what it is, so I show her, next thing you know, she is watching a dolly blanket grow before her eyes. She just happens to have a cold dolly that has a dress that will match these leftover 1982 yarn balls! What luck! So, no quilting, just broomsticking. I am honestly riding my broomstick...tee hee! Anybody remember this stitch?
The wonderful and talented libby challenged us all to reveal our ironing boards, and you know me, I jumped right in and claimed the prize for the oldest, most decrepit, etc. My Mom recieved this when she married my Dad as a hand-me-down in 1950. It was up all during my childhood, and in the 60's when polyester came out, it was pitched into the basement never to be seen again. Fast forward to my own housekeeping, and I loved cotton, thought polyester was icky feeling, so I needed an ironing board, bad. The ol' girl ended up in my bedroom for years, then we built the new house and she became Queen of the Laundry Room. She has helped me tremendously and one of my grandaughters have already claimed her.
I was confident the Queen would be my shoo-in for some kind of praise, but to my suprise, she still looks good, (just a few cobwebs underneath, like me) the forties green is hardly faded, and her fairly new dress is not as tattered as you would think. So here is my friend, The Queen.

Have a wonderful day!
lyn

Wow, busy, busy, busy

It has been a wild weekend, and still busy on Wednesday. For Valentine's day, my DH rented a cottage here, http://www.doublejj.com/accommodations/loghomes.htm

it is about 5 miles from our home, so travelling in Feb wasn't an issue. This is the fourth time we've taken advantage of the "Sweetheart Special" which is 2 day, 1 night accomodations, Prime Rib dinner (w/ their fabulous desert) and breakfast. For pennies, you can stay two nights since it is winter and they are a resort. So we left on Thursday, ran home cuz we forgot our bathing suits, had a wonderful dinner, lounged in the hot tub, got up Friday and had a wonderful breakfast, ran home cuz we forgot DH's meds, picked up some low-calorie snacks, and spent the rest of the day reading, and pruning in the hot tub, and reading, awe-some weekend! I win the prize for having the most romantic husband!

We got home on Saturday, and Sunday was my Darling Leashie's 23rd birthday. I made the Lasagna, and her Daddy made the cake. She is such a darling! There are not enough adjectives in the English Language to describe how loving she is. She became mine when she was two weeks shy of a year, and she weighed 8 lbs. 10 oz. at a year old. She came with half a hospital and 17 medications, most of them given 6 times a day. Through the years, she has given me many scares, many messes and many, many smiles. She is the last one, she is the baby, she is the one who cured my "I Want Another Baby" itch. She's the one who got the new crib, after 6 boys, she got all new clothes, she's the one who still lives at home. Thank God!

So now I'm thinking about the deserts, Double JJ Ranch mixes 37 kinds of chocolate and molds it into a truffle-like ball about the size of an x-large egg, they lay it into a martini glass and cover it with a rich vanilla creme......(sorry, need a napkin to wipe my drool)....I have dreams about this "Chocolate Ball" I wish I had pics but I didn't have my camera, next time...

Leashie's favorite cake for her birthday is what her and her daddy call "Dump Cake" the easiest cake in the world, and you would be suprised at how good it tastes. All you have to do is "dump" a can of cherry pie filling and a can of pineapple (not drained) in the bottom of a 9x13 cake pan and sprinkle a whole box of white or yellow cake mix (dry, not made as directed on box) on top, slice a stick of butter or margarine into thin pats and lay them on top of the cake mix. bake as directed on cake mix box and that's it. I usually sprinkle colored sugar on top, green & red for christmas, pink and purple for Leash, we are a home-made-cake family. Next time I'll tell you all how we make our "Paddy Cake"

have a wonderful day!

lyn