Wednesday - June 19, 2012

Well... we are now Great Grandparents!!  OMG... I'm so excited to have lived long enough to have great grand babies.  Please meet the newest member of our wonderful family - Aubree Payton.  She was born last night weighing 8.1 oz and was 20 1/2" long!  She's only a few minutes old in this photo!  Grandpa and I laughed... we think all babies look alike as soon as they are born!  Then in a matter of hours they change into their own cute little personalities.  Heather and I agree... Aubree looks like Elizibeth (her mommy)... She's going to have the same pretty lips and those beautiful eye brows! 

We get to hold her today!!!  I can't wait!!

Here's some cool things for you today!!

COOKIES... who doesn't LOVE COOKIES?  (me...I'm raising my hand at the moment...)  I saw these sweet ones and had to show them to you....

I love lavender...don't you?  I think it's the sweetest flower... here's a HUGE basket full of bundles... I sure wish I had several of these.. PLUS... I want the basket too!

Then... look how the cookie artist has designed this wonder piece of art!  This is a REAL cookie.  You know my friend - Paula Barnes?  Remember... Bonnie Blue Quilts/Red Crinoline Quilts... well... her daughter makes gorgeous cookies (I've blogged about her before - her site is on my blog). She could make these in a heartbeat!  She's so good and a true artist!

Then...Look at me... I'm peaking around the door at you... I'm not quite sure if I should be afraid of you or not....bbbbaaaaaaaaaaa !!!  My fur is a bit of a mess...wouldn't you say?  Such a sweet, sweet face!

And...here I am again in a sweet cookie!!!  Such patience these people have to make these cookies... NOT ME!!  I'll write a check for this type of artwork!  hahahahahaha! 

Remember Jill - she worked at OGC for me... up front???  Well, she is an awesome cookie artist too!  Remember when she used to sell her cookies.  My customers loved them!  Hey Jill...   I MISS YOUR COOKIES!!!

LOVE YOU!!!!

And... here is what I would call a relaxed family!  What a hoot!!!  The little one on top... they must have thought the ground was a bit to hard for napping... I'll just crawl on top of mom...she's nice and "fluffy" !!

Then I saw this and thought...what a super - great idea!  These are the cotton facial cleaners that you can buy in bags... ever use them?  Well... they've coated these in wax and use them for "fire starters"!  How clever is that?  Save all of your OLD icky candles...where there isn't much left.. put them all in an old pan together.. melt them - remove any old wicks.  Then dip the cotton facial circles into the was (with tongs) and cool on aluminum foil.  When dry... package them in Ziploc bags or a tin with a lid.  You're good to go.  Great to take camping with you!

For some reason...this paint - Annie Sloan - has come up over and over lately... in my chat on Facebook, on Pinterest - I must try some of this.  I think there is a shop in Ponte Vedra that sells it.  It's the old fashioned chalk looking paint and you are supposed to be able to use it on furniture... best part... you have to do NO sanding and NO cleaning to the piece of furniture before using the paint. 

Now...that's what I call pretty darn wonderful!!  Have any of you used this before?  I thought I would go on-line and see if they have a color chart.  brb...let me go look right now! 

Below is her website... and it does have her color selections... they are gorgeous...

Annie Sloan Paint Website

This is Annie!!

And these are the brushes she recommends we use.

She even uses her paints on fabric and then applies a wax...what a fun technique... I'm going to read more about it!

And last but not least.... a sweet picture of a new baby... I need to see if Great Aunt Heather can get little Aubree's hands like this for a picture!  What do you think Aunt Heather???

Have a great "hump day" and get some sewing done.... I'm going to finish cutting out my quilt today!  Have I told you how much I DO NOT enjoy cutting out quilts????  NO!!!  NOT my favorite part of the process!

Later chickies...  Gloria

Monday - June 18, 2012

Well... I certainly hope everyone had a great Father's Day weekend!  We sure did... Jack and I played around shopping and goofing off on Saturday...then ate with our Heather, Keck and Lexie at Carrabbas' on Sunday ... man that food is scrumptious!  Then we got to bring Lexie home with us to spend the night.  She's such a great little girl!  This morning about 4:00 am I felt this little person crawl in beside me in bed.  What a wonderful feeling to snuggle with a little one.  Of course... I was now wide awake!  Ha!!!  She is now happy cuddled on the couch watching her all time favorite - Scooby-Doo!!  What a silly peanut she is!

This is ONE BUSY WEEK and I'm lovin' it!  Today.. .I MUST get a quilt cut out for the upcoming "girls" weekend of sewing.  Some of my friends are traveling to Jacksonville and they along with some of my other buddies are going to spend the weekend sewing!  I can't wait!  I need some girlfriend time!  THEN... Tuesday I will be taking 13 gals to Wisconsin... to Primitive Gatherings Retreat!  OMG... I can't wait.  I've rented a 15 passenger van (for all of us to go shop-hopping in) along with a mini-van.... FOR ALL OF THE LUGGAGE!  I get to be the tour guide and chef on this trip and I can't wait!

So... that means I'll be out of pocket for Friday of this week and Tuesday through Monday of the next week.  We don't have a computer at our Wisconsin Retreat House !!  I'll try to hook up with Vic's wireless (she's going too...yippee!) but I'm not sure if that will work.  We'll have to play it by ear!

Let's see what I have for you today....

I've finished knitting my fingerless gloves!!!  All I have to do now is stitch them together!  I sure hope my sister-in-law loves these things... if so.. .I'll make her some more!  I think her hubby and sons may like them too... they all have a landscaping company together (Indiana) and these will be perfect for that not so freezing weather...but "I still need some gloves on" time of the year!

I burst out laughing at this cartoon... OMG how I can relate to this.  The extra fabric waving on my arms should just be out-lawed!  Don't you just hate the "sagging" years!! Disgusting!

I've mentioned before how I love bottle-brush trees... well...this one is even more awesome... it's on an antique box with an adorable sheep!  I WANT THIS!!!!  It would look ever so lovely with my little collection!

Now.. I don't know about you... but I think this is the perfect tag to own!  You know... for those projects that actually take forever...whether it's the project itself... OR... because it took so long for me to finish!!

Now...this my friends... is a gorgeous picture! 

 Hubba... Hubba!!  No more needs to be said!  Yowser!!

I've always wanted one of these dress forms... and it seems the older it is and looks - the better for me!  I've asked this questions before... "why in the heck do they cost so much"?  It's just NOT FAIR!!!

This bag is so attractive to me.  Now... I must admit.. I'm not a fan of (what appears to be) the small opening at the top.  I'm a gal that wants her bags to open BIG and WIDE so I can find things easy!  Especially my stinkin' keys.  I swear... I can toss them into my bag and in a nano-second they have found their way to the bottom... and hiding under something!  What's up with that?  My mind is working, and working.... and working... on an improved design that I think I just might have to make!  I think I may have to make mine from blue ticking... I even have some awesome trim for it!!! hhhmmm....

Heeee Heeee.... isn't this adorable.  He's got him a mouse!!!!

Now...this is one talented puppy dog!  So funny... he looks like he's smiling with a mouth full of yellow teeth!!  hahahahahahaha!

Well... I just told Lexie we would go to Denny's this morning for breakfast.  I'm not sure why...but she loves that place... Go figure!  She's jumping all over the place with excitement... it's pancake time!

Yumalicious!!!  I'm off to the shower, get dressed... and headin' for Denny's..!

Have a great Monday... we'll chat tomorrow! 

Gloria

p.s.  My granddaughter may have her baby "Aubrey" today!!  She's being induced!!!

June 15, 2012 - Friday

How was your trip down memory lane?  Did you laugh... did you get a little teary eyed remembering fun times (I sure did).  Today I have more for you... then I get to scoop off my cutting counter and cut out a NEW quilt... I'm making for a sample for Cinnamon's.  It's an adorable Christmas Quilt from Primitive Gatherings.  It's just wonderful and I can't wait to get started with the piecing portion of it.  My wool applique is all finished (with the exception of some extra stuff that I have to add after the quilting is finished).  Here it is!!!!  I'm going to be making a ton of half square triangles... Don't you just love this?  I'm so excited!!!  Thanks Lisa for making this adorable quilt!!  You're the bomb!!! (that's Lisa Bongean - from Primitive Gatherings)  p.s.  See you in just 12 DAYS!!!  (I'm taking a group of gals to her retreat house... 14 of us!)

Ok.. here we go down memory lane...

SHORTHAND!!!  Did any of you take this in high school?  Vicky and I did...we loved it.  We would practice and practice so we could be faster with our dictation!  Then you had to read the silly stuff and type it into a letter.  You know... I still remember a ton of it!!  I even remember how to write my name in shorthand!!

Oh My...this brings back tears to my eyes.  Jack and I used to eat at Shoneys when we were dating.  I can remember the first time there... like it was yesterday... he ordered a Big Boy, fries, chocolate shake... then he had that wonderful strawberry pie...remember it?  I had the hot fudge ice cream cake (oh my gosh ... it was so good)  THEN... he was still HUNGRY and ordered a Buddy Boy - you know ... the one with the hot ham and cheese?  I can remember thinking..man this guy eats alot... and he was as skinny as a rail.  I do believe his waist was a 29 at that time....hahahahaha....

BUGLES!!!  I still love them to this day... and you know what...we used to put them on our fingers...just like this!  We would pretend we were CATS!!!!!  They are sssssoooooo good dipped in Ranch Dressing... YUM! (I think my tummy just growled....)

Here is the popular "Friendship Bracelet"... the one you always wanted to wear that was your boyfriends!!!  Did you all do that too?  Then... remember when you got to wear their class ring??? Of course it was WAY TOO BIG... so we wrapped them all the way around in Angora ????  Are you with me?  I tried to find a photo of one on the Internet... but no luck!

Ha!!!  I remember our phone in the country...it didn't even have a dial on it.  When  you picked it up the operator would answer!  Guess what... I still remember the phone number !  2135W 

It was a party line and the neighbor lady up the road... she would always pick up and listen to your conversations!  Mom... she knew who she was... so when she heard the phone click...she would say - "Betty... hang up the phone!"  hahahahahahaha!!!

Now...this is delicious!  Can you tell what it is from the picture?  If not...it's FRIED BOLOGNA!!  i LOVE IT TO THIS DAY.... and even make it once in awhile.  It's so good on FRESH white bread with mayonnaise!  YUM YUM!!!  (there goes my tummy growling again...)

A couple more....

Did you ever get one of these tablets?  We loved them!  Grandma Grunawalt - every year for Christmas would buy all 3 of us girls one of these... along with some new pencils and a coloring book.  Then she would bake us a cake - called - Poor Man's Cake.  It was in a bundt pan...and was dark in color - had one cup of cold coffee and raisins in it.  We LOVED that cake!  She never had the recipe...she knew it by heart and to this day... I still DO NOT know how to make it.  It was so good... thanks Grandma for the sweet memories.  She left us at the age of 98 !!

Okay... now these candy lipsticks left a scar on my childhood.  I remember finding a broken one on the floor in the dime store (Schultz 5 & 10) one Saturday on our trip to town.  I put it in my pocket and was playing with it when I got home.  MOM had a fit... she told me it wasn't right to steal!  I tried to explain it was broken (cracked and falling apart) on the floor... she didn't care and would have it no other way than to haul my silly little butt back into town.  There she made me promptly apologize to the old man that ran the store (he was pretty scary looking...as I remember)!  I cried all the way home.  However, I NEVER took another thing in my life.... well.... that's not a true statement... we used to sneak cigarettes from Grandma Rawleys pack - unfiltered Lucky Strikes - and try to smoke them in the basement of their lake house.  Wow...were those things disgusting!  Of course we got caught...but she never told Mom... whew!!  Grandmas are great aren't they?

And my last photo for you today... is my all time favorite show (when I was a kid)... Shirley Temple movies.  I just thought she was wonderful... I wanted to be like her so much!  She got to sing, dance and have fun... I must try to find some of these movies and see if my little Eden and Lexie would like to watch them.  You never know...they may fall in love with her too..

Well... the weekend is upon us and I'm hoping you have fun, fun things planned for you and your family.  We're taking Jack to Carrabba's for Father's Day!!  OMG I love that place...it's so darn good!  I haven't been there in ages so we're looking forward to it.

Have a great weekend... I'll see you on Monday... and GUESS WHAT?  I didn't get through all of my "memory" photos so I'll have some more for you.

Take care... keep sewing!!!

Gloria