Birthday Party Extravaganza and a photo bomber in the family!

Yes, we have a photo bomber....his name is Grayson and the following photos will prove it! LOL!  He stuck his hand in the picture at the last minute...............no, Grandma did not get a homemade cake made as we were gone to my appointment in Mountain Home all day.....we also took the birthday boys out to eat and of course, did a little 'shopping' while we were there.  My daughter and I are  terrible 'enablers' of each other...pointing things out and telling each other...'Oh yeah, you should really get that for sure'!.....it can be pricey but that's another post for another day! LOL!  So, it was Pepperidge Farm birthday cake with strawberry ice cream............. 

They also got extra 'wishes' if they found candle wax on their piece of cake which.....they did as by the time I got all those candles lit it was almost a bonfire!

Grandma's legs were tired so we retired to my bedroom to open presents...I was trying to take this picture...........

but the first time this happened........the photo bomber...strikes again!

 I think Sam liked his present.......

  P O W E R    R A N G E R !!!!

 The boys love the girls and have grown up with them since Nitty first guarded Sam as a baby.....laying next to his crib and she still guards them when they come to visit...

 I'm thinking we have another Lon Chaney on our hands as this kid has a million faces...................

I think a good time was had by all.............
Happy Trails!!!

Treasures from Iowa!

The Iowa gang arrived and brought me presents!  I was not expecting anything but they said they were for my birthday and Mother's Day so we'll roll with that....it was like Christmas!

First my daughter made chocolate chip cookies.........they're going fast but it was so nice because I didn't get a chance to make a dessert.........

then there were her candied lemon rinds........yummm.....my daughter and I are both big lemon/citrus lovers.........

and just in case that wasn't enough....she got me a box of lemon Girl Scout cookies!

My SIL is a great baker and he made me a loaf of herb bread with flax and chia seed....delicious and healthy too........

 Disclaimer:  being from Iowa we are all pork lovers so if you are not into pork....look away......but if you are into pork.....go to your nearest Walgreen's and get some of this.....you will not regret it!  In my book....bacon is King or Queen...either way it reigns supreme in my house.......I try to limit myself to once a week except in the summer when, of course, there are BLT's (bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches) but for those in between times when you don't want to get the pan out and fry some up......reach for a package of this...........out of this world Bacon Jerky!  I thought I died and went to heaven when I first tasted this awesome wonderfulness!

Now that the food gifts are done I'll move on to the non-perishable treasures............this cute little bag held several of them.............

like this purple mercury glass jack 'o' lantern that holds a votive candle........we are also big Halloween fans..........

this cute little scarf which I will most probably tie around my neck while eating my bacon jerky.....

I might save this Burt's Bee's lip balm for cold Winter nights...........

but here's a Summer time version..... orange dreamsicle

I have solar butterflies that stick in the ground and now I have solar butterfly lights too.....I can't wait to try these out! 

Okay, the grands were so excited for me to open this present and their Mother had to keep reminding them not to 'spoil the surprise' as they wanted to tell me the minute they arrived! LOL!  Of course, now they are picking their projects for Grandma to make for them which is fine with me!  Such a cute kit!  LOVE!!!!  They knew exactly what their Grandma would love.........

Another awesome present and last but in no way least is a beautiful quilt rack that my SIL got for me at a sale..........it is just gorgeous and in perfect shape!  My family is so good to me and they make me feel like a very special Mom and Grandma!

Happy Trails!

Happy 4th of July America!

 The grands got here safely yesterday and we have plans for today!  There's a parade, ice cream social (my personal favorite) and a boat flotilla on the lake and fireworks......that oughta do it unless it rains and then we'll just stay at the ice cream social and eat goodies until they come out our ears!  LOL!  Happy 4th of July everyone!!!!

 Happy Trails!!!

It's Monday! What are you reading watching or listening to?

 It's been awhile since I posted about this topic so since I've finished a few books and watched a few shows I thought I would update you!
I finished So Big.....another Pulitzer Prize Winner (they're making a liar out of me).  This was written back in the 40's, I think, by Edna Ferber, a famous authoress back then.  When I was very young....like 20's with a family, I saw a 1950's version of the movie starring Jane Wyman and the most distinctive quote from the movie that I remembered was 'some people are emeralds and some people are cabbages'.  Not sure what I took away from that but it was a movie I dearly loved and have never seen it since.  The book was a bit different from the movie but in thinking back on the film there was much that related to me and my life in later years.  I didn't realize when I watched it but  some of those same themes appeared in my life.  Has this ever happened to you?  It's a Wonderful Life was also a common thread in my life.  So, did the movies subconsciously affect how I lived my life or were they a 'review of coming attractions'...a 'heads up' or hint as to what my future would be?  Maybe someday I'll know the answers to those questions.
By the way, I highly recommend the book but I could be prejudiced.......  **** stars

  By the Iowa Sea was an extremely well written book but the content was despicable!  This book was so bad I literally threw it out when I was finished....yes, in the garbage!  I have never done that in my life!
I lived and worked in that area during the flooding and thought it was a memoir about the people and the floods and although there were many familiar references and some facts about the floods, the majority of the book focused on his sex life!  Both his and his wife's sex life and an affair he was having and it was very graphic in places.  I always finish a book but I had a hard time with this one....depressing, TMI and really left a bad taste in my mouth!  * star and that is only because despite it all I think he is a good writer but he needs to change his genre for sure! 

 My latest finish was The Alchemist which has been touted all over the world and translated into a zillion languages but alas...I did not find it that interesting.  It's about finding your purpose in life and ensuring that you do not waver from it.  I think this would be a great book for someone younger but for me at my stage in life....I've either found it or I've stopped searching! LOL!  Either way I am very content with my life right now.  *** stars 

 As for my current reads.............
AMAZON STATES: "From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the beautiful, stunningly ambitious instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II."

I just started this Non-Fiction last night and it seems interesting and well written right off the bat!
Amazon States:
"The term fisherwoman does not exactly roll trippingly off the tongue, and Linda Greenlaw, the world's only female swordfish boat captain, isn't flattered when people insist on calling her one. "I am a woman. I am a fisherman. . . . I am not a fisherwoman, fisherlady, or fishergirl. If anything else, I am a thirty-seven-year-old tomboy. It's a word I have never outgrown."
Greenlaw also happens to be one of the most successful fishermen in the Grand Banks commercial fleet, though until the publication of Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm, "nobody cared." Greenlaw's boat, the Hannah Boden, was the sister ship to the doomed Andrea Gail, which disappeared in the mother of all storms in 1991 and became the focus of Junger's book.
The Hungry Ocean, Greenlaw's account of a monthlong swordfishing trip over 1,000 nautical miles out to sea, tells the story of what happens when things go right--proving, in the process, that every successful voyage is a study in narrowly averted disaster. There is the weather, the constant danger of mechanical failure, the perils of controlling five sleep-, women-, and booze-deprived young fishermen in close quarters, not to mention the threat of a bad fishing run: "If we don't catch fish, we don't get paid, period. In short, there is no labor union."

As for a magazine, this is a 2004 issue of NG on Global Warming..........interesting since that was 13 years ago!  Hoax........I don't think so.........good bye planet earth...........

 Now for the video portion of this post............I have watched this movie on Netflix that came highly recommended by one of my favorite pod casters, Joyce of Ruby Moss Cottage.  To be honest...I didn't care for it much.  It seemed to be the same old story of women being taken advantage of by the men in their lives and then  "standing by their man" regardless.  I have stated before on my blog that to me martyrdom is not an attractive feature, I don't admire people that allow themselves to be walked on nor people that pride themselves on being 'victims' and that is what came across to me.  I did not enjoy it nor did it make me feel good about these women and for some, their 'self-imposed' suffering.  I could be all wrong but I do look at life differently than many women.  Now it makes me wonder why this is Joyce's favorite movie?
“Intensely thoughtful . . . In Grasse, a small town outside Bakersfield, the women meet weekly for a quilting circle, piecing together scraps of their husbands’ old workshirts, children’s ragged blankets, and kitchen curtains. . . . Like the richly colored, well-placed shreds that make up the substance of an American quilt, details serve to expand and illuminate these characters. . . . The book spans half a century and addresses not only [these women’s] histories but also their children’s, their lovers’, their country’s, and in the process, their gender’s.”—San Francisco Chronicle

 I just started watching this series on Netflix.......I watched the 2nd episode last night and it is very good.  I do have a hard time sometimes understanding the fast talking English accent but it certainly keeps my interest, so much so that I do not do any handwork while watching which is very unusual for me!  Now this is a woman I can get behind!  Strong and stable and she has certainly proven it over her years of reign!  I highly recommend this series.
"Based on an award-winning play ("The Audience") by showrunner Peter Morgan, this lavish, Netflix-original drama chronicles the life of Queen Elizabeth II (Claire Foy) from the 1940s to modern times. The series begins with an inside look at the early reign of the queen, who ascended the throne at age 25 after the death of her father, King George VI. As the decades pass, personal intrigues, romances, and political rivalries are revealed that played a big role in events that shaped the later years of the 20th century."

The last show I have been watching, but which I will most probably stop, is Life Below Zero about people living in remote parts of Alaska.  I love shows about snow, the wilderness and living off the land and simple living. 

 Unfortunately, you would think it would be survival but also peaceful but I cannot believe the swearing and temper tantrums!  I guess this is what the reality shows go for regardless....drama, tension and a distortion of reality.  It's sad that evidently the vast majority want to see other people in dire straits and bad moods and filled with anger and frustration.  I guess I'll just have to live my own little happy life and feel bad for the rest of society that feels life isn't worth living if they can't watch violence and drama...is that all they can relate to?  It makes me very sad to think that way but what else is on t.v.?  Even the news and the weather are sensationalized.  Oh well...."the times they are a changin"!  
I hope you are in a 'good place' today and at peace with yourself and those around you and please share what you are reading, listening to and watching!
Happy Trails!
P.S.  The 'grands' arrive today so I will try to blog but not sure if I will get an opportunity....we shall see 'how they roll'! LOL!

YOP Week #1

This is going to be a different format for me this year and I hope it helps me to stay focused and finish more projects.  The idea behind my plan is to be able to cover my wide and diverse scope of creative interests but also to finish items, learn new techniques and design my own unique creations.  I will list each category and there will be something to finish and then something to start instead of start to finish.  The reason being is that I have WIP's (works in progress) in almost every creative endeavor I have ever attempted.  In order to permit myself to start something new I have to finish something in that category.  There may be some blank areas simply because I haven't 'unearthed' that category from my plastic bin museum yet but when I do those blanks will get filled in.  So, here goes!

Project List for 2017 - 2018 Year of Projects:  (once I get the hang of my new system there will be start and finish dates, links to patterns when possible, material lists and names plus any equipment  used such as needles and sizes, but for now this is all I have for you....I apologize)

1.   Charitable Giving:
      finish ==> Mother Bear Project  bear

      start   ==>
2.   Wool Applique:
      finish ==> folk art quilt (yes, really...it's still not done!)
      start   ==>
3.   Rug Hooking:
      finish ==>
      start   ==>
4.   Ornaments:
      finish ==> Knitted Star Ornament  
One of 10 star points done

      start   ==>
5.   Gifts:
      finish ==> Grayson's giraffe (pitiful, I know...I don't even have a project page out there for this!)

      start   ==>
6.   Quilting:
      finish ==> Sampler Quilt (this is SO embarassing and now I can't even find it!)
      start   ==> #1 quilt in Simply Charming book

7.   Embroidery:
      finish ==>
      start   ==>
8.   Cross Stitch:
      finish ==> The Frost is on the Pumpkin

      start   ==>
9.   Sewing:
      finish ==> Happy Easter mini quilts

      start   ==>
10. Crochet:
      finish ==> Patriotic Flag pillow (this was for Memorial Day and now it is almost the 4th of July and I'm still not done!  Maybe I need a support group?)

      start   ==>
11. Knitting:
      finish ==>
      start   ==>
12. Sock Knitting: (yes, these have to be a in a category all by themselves as I always have to be       
                                knitting some socks!) 
      finish ==> 2016 Christmas Eve cast on socks - one done and progress on the 2nd.......

 This is the 2nd sock...........

      start   ==>
13. Learning: (classes and techniques)
      finish ==>
      start   ==>
14. Design:
      finish ==>
      start   ==>
15. Utilizing books and magazines I already own....thank you to Ella for this great last minute idea! 
      Yes, Ella, everyone here knows I am a shameless copycat of great ideas but I always give credit to
       the creator of the idea! LOL!
      finish ==>
      start   ==>

     I think that about wraps it up for now and although I have many more interests such as woodworking, decorating, painting and DIY.....I need to stop somewhere! LOL!  This will be my post for July 1, 2017 but it will also be a page on the right sidebar of my blog.  The post for today will remain the same but the page on my sidebar will get updated as the year progresses.
Happy Trails and Happy YOP 2017 - 2018!
P.S.  It is never too late or too early to join in this group......here's the link to the Ravelry group for Year of Projects 
Come on along...we'd love to have you!