Hydrangea Heaven and Happy Anniversary!!!

It is the first day of my vacation and as I woke up this morning, I managed to squint at the clock rado. It said 9:18- Yahoo!!! I got up, read the paper, checked my e-mail, ran the vacuum and got ready to run some errands. One of my e-mails was an invitation to join Ravelry.com. I am so excited. It is the neatest web site where you can document and share your knit and crochet projects. They are taking on members slowly until they are up to speed and then will open up to everyone. The couple running the site were here in Columbus recently for a needlework convention and there was a big writeup in the Columbus Dispatch. (okay, maybe it was medium sized). Anyhow, I am pretty psyched to get going on it and have already got a few things done on it. In order to post pictures on it, I have to first post them on Flickr. This too is temporary until they get the web site more flexible. Anyhow, I was already a member, but only used it to see Abby's picture and had never uploaded any pictures. So I worked on that for quite a while. Now I am posting here, so I have spent a lot of time on the computer today.

The reason for my post today is to share pictures of the hydrangeas in Carrie's yard. They are absolutely gorgeous and I love white flowers. They are so pretty in a night garden. I think I should get some this summer. I need to do a bit of research, but have done some already. They bloom all year and the soil is what determines the color. If you add aluminum to the soil, they will turn blue. My information comes from Hydrangeas! Hydrangeas! I believe that Carrie's hydrangeas are the Annabelle variety. That is fun because that was Leon's mom's name, and the girls' grandma.

Happy Anniversary Carrie and Matt. I know that your special day gets upstaged by the princess, but we love you and are so proud of both of you. You are a very special couple.

A 3 year old princess

We just got home from a very special birthday party. Abby is turning three on Tuesday, but as far as she knows she turned 3 today. (and we're not telling her any different.) We had a great time and I think Abby did too. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and I just must say, that arriving at Abby's house is so wonderful, because she gets so excited and just runs into our arms.

Now the tradition that Leon has with Abby, is that whenever we have a visit, either her to our house or us to her house, Papaw has a present in his pocket for her. Just a little knick knack or toy that she gets to reach into his pocket for. Grandma usually gets to pick out the toys, so this time it was a little play flashlight ( it did light up) and on the other side of this pants, he had another pocket with a toy for Kyle. So they both had flashlights to play with.

Carrie and Matt had a great taco dinner for us. With the traditional taco shell recipe from me. This recipe has turned out to be a family favorite. I will share it with you in a later post. Here are all the people there to celebrate Miss Abby. All four grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa D from Chattanooga, TN, Grandma and Papaw B. from Columbus OH, Aunt Lissy and Uncle Chad from Columbus, Aunt Becky and little cousin Kyle from Chattanooga.

We played Bocce Ball (don't know how it is spelled, but this seems right for some reason) in the evening and the little ones were hilarious. They stood right in line with us and patiently waited for their turn. We threw the bocce balls and they threw their balls. You can see how cute they are.

The next morning we all got up and went to church (well, ALMOST all of us). I can't remember who, but somebody couldn't get up!?!?!? But Abby got up and wore her new dress and new hair ornaments. The birthday girl is "pretty as a princess". Well, okay she really is a princess.

When we got home, we all pitched in and the cookout was great. Hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, deviled eggs, salsa, fruit bowl. Brandon, Kristy and little Grant came over to help celebrate. That is three toddlers - Oh my goodness, what fun they had!! Chasing bubbles, playing in the sandbox, swinging.

Abby had many presents to open and she certainly had no hesitation in doing so. This is not a child too shy to for the "grip and rip" method.

Abby blowing out the candles - almost got "too" close

Here is Abby licking off the princess from the cake.

It was a wonderful day and I am sure that Abby will sleep well tonight and so will Grandma and Papaw. By the way, I am sure that Abby loved all of her presents and she did get many... volleyball.... Aqua doodle... Baby doll .... Adorable dresses ...... Bubble gun.. animal hospital toy.... and baby stroller. What a lucky girl. I can't imagine which one she might like best. Hey it's my blog!!!!

I am off all week on vacation and intend to just take it easy. I also hope to do a post a day. See you tomorrow!!! Oh yeah, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY - I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!

A day off with friends and quilts.

Oh my gosh, so much to do and so little time. I barely have time to post and it's on to something else. But I slowed down on Thursday and Katie, Peggy and I went to the quilt show. What a great day and the quilts were absolutely gorgeous. The first wonderful thing was that I had the day off and got to sleep in. I am so NOT a morning person, so anytime I can sleep in and take my time getting going is wonderful for me. I was at Katies by 10:30 and then we had to do a photo shoot, as promised a couple of posts ago. Doesn't photo shoot sound professional? I'm not so sure ours was professional, but we had fun. So as promised, here are close-ups of Katies linen pillowcases as displayed in the last post.

Love this one!! the word that comes to mind is coquettish!!

Next, it was off to lunch before hitting the quilt show. We all decided pizza sounded good, so we went to the Italian place where Peggy goes. Pepperoni pizza and salad. I could live on it. Unfortunately I didn't think to get a picture, so you all will have to just imagine 3 women putting down a large pizza and large salad. We were quite talkative and I actually think that they enjoyed having us there, to keep the laughter quotient up. It was fun!

Next, on to the quilt show where we dropped Katie off (she just had surgery on her foot a few weeks ago and is still taking it easy) at the convention center downtown. Peggy and I decided to park on the street and one of us would run out in two hours to feed the meter. Believe it or not, we actually remembered to do it. Thanks Peg!

Now, we are in the lobby deciding where we go to get tickets; and Katie is head to head with some guy and talking sort of low, like she didn't want us to hear. Well, lo and behold, she scalped us tickets to the quilt show!!! Saved $6!! (okay, I did exaggerate a bit about the head to head and talking low, but had to give her a little bit of grief! Love ya, Katie)

The quilt show was neat and here are some pictures of some of our favorites. Or at least some of my favorites.

I just thought this one was neat looking!! Plus it is blue, and we all know how I feel about blue!

I liked this one because of the colors and the use of such a simple object to make it so beautiful.

This one was really cool, and what is neat is what you can't see in a picture. All kinds of little embellishments throughout the quilt. Shells, fish, little tanning oil bottles. I have a close up I will show you next. Here it comes!!




Okay, I tried to get their faces, but 'somebody' wouldn't cooperate. Got ya, anyhow! Surprise!!




You gotta love those crazy quilts. Got close-ups, but am saving for another post!

This was a mini quilt. I could actually try this one - at least the inside of it. Too cute!!!






Okay, I saved the best for last. This one absolutely enchanted Katie and Peggy. I think they might make me one for my birthday!?! Anyhow, the inside is filled with winter snow scenes that are embroidered in and I did get shots of them, but am saving them for another post. Maybe tomorrow!


Most exciting experience at the quilt show:
We found a similar vendor to the one where we bought our 'crystal setters' last year. The story is that both Katie and I bought these devices that were supposed to adhere little crystals to fabric to make cute bling-y tee shirts and jeans. The problem is that we both had issues getting it to work, so it was a bit of a waste of money. Well, Katie was intent on finding that vendor and finding out what was wrong with our setters. The vendor we found gave us a couple of tips to make it work better and although I have not tried mine yet, Katie has succeeded in making 2 teeshirts. You go, girl!!! Today I will try again and post a picture!

NEXT DAY (FRIDAY):
Yesterday afternoon, I got a call from Lissy that she was having some abdominal pain and was going to the doctor. Long story short - doctor thought it was appendicitis and sent her to the ER. They decided to do a CT scan and I arrived after work, just as they were taking her in. After waiting, a surgeon came in and said that the CT was inconclusive and that they wanted to keep her overnight just to be sure. They actually had the gall to take her pain medicine away so that they could assess the pain level. (just kidding about the 'gall' part). Anyhow, the pain had subsided and she was released this morning with no real diagnosis. A possible explanation was a burst cyst on her ovary, which would be painful and the pain would subside as her body absorbed the cyst fluid (kind of like a pimple or blister, I guess -- only worse). Anyhow, everything is fine and she is home again. Kind of 'sucky' Friday night for her and Chad! - But he was there for her!!

SAT.MORNING:

This morning Leon took me downtown to see where he worked and we had breakfast at Rise 'n'Dine in downtown Columbus. He works in a pretty plush law office and it is located in the arena district, which is really cool. Lots of neat landscaping and walkways. Now I can imagine him at work. The highlight of this job for him is that his area has windows. Pretty nice!

Happy Father's Day

It's Father's Day, the end of the day and we are winding down the day to tomorrow and another week at work. This is my thanks to the fathers in my life, my own father who loved me unconditionally and my husband, Leon who has loved and helped me raise my (our) children. Also, I want to thank the father of our granddaughter, Abby. Matt is a wonderful father to Abby and husband to Carrie.

We had a wonderful day with Melissa and Chad, starting with church and ending with a great meal together, burgers, potato salad, corn and ice cream. All four of the kids and Abby gave Leon a game for the Wii and we played them. What fun! Carrie, Matt and Abby called and are safe back at home from vacation. I missed talking to her, while she was gone.

Here is Leon playing the Wii. Aren't you supposed to stand up to box???

Yesterday, Leon worked a few hours at the Habitat for Humanity renovation, while I went to the grocery store and to the mall where I spent the rest of my gift card from the kids. Sometimes, just normal old Saturday errands are fun to do. So, I had planned a great meal, which I really only enjoy when I have the time and freedom to do it. So, my recipe came out of the Rachel Ray's cookbook that I got for Christmas. Now I am anxious to try more of them. It was literally a less than 30 minute meal. It was called, drum roll, please, "Chicken and Grapes with Creamy Mustard Sauce and Couscous". It was fun to do and it really was awfully good, if I do say so myself.

Starting with the recipe and red grapes.....

Browning the chicken......

Making the sauce.....

The final result with couscous, plated for Leon.

I also need to explain that I have been 'forced' to give up on Abby's sweater. It seems that somewhere along my travels, I lost part of it. Now I certainly could have re-knitted the sleeves, which were what I lost, but I decided that I would rather start all over on something different. So I have started a new sweater for her and it is in a beautiful mint green. Here is the start of what is on the needles. I think this sweater will work much better for her and I like the pattern, the color and the yarn itself better. Much happier than with the last one.

Katy-did is in the pink

Well, it has been a few days since I posted, and I have a couple of pictures to show, so here I go. First of all, I rode to the porch party with Diana and Katie, having left my car at Katie's house. Upon our return, I went in to see how she displays her special embroidered linens. Everything that Katie does is just so neat. She has such a flair for displaying the things that she loves. When you walk into Katie's home, you know her, and what is important to her. Now, before I show you the pictures, you must know that Katie loves pink!!!!. Her beautiful linen pieces are displayed in her bedroom. I wish I had gotten close-ups of the pieces, but I'll be back, girlfriend!

I actually have two pieces that I want to display - one is the pillowcase shown in an earlier post and also a dresser scarf, both embroidered by my mother. I will be sure and get a picture when I get this done. I will either have to wait on Leon to make me the rack or figure out how to do it myself. This will be interesting to see how we proceed. My color is blue, so that will be my focus.

Next picture is of a plant that hangs in our bathroom. Several times a year it blooms and the flowers are absolutely stunning. The absolutely neatest thing is that the blooms consist of little tiny flower-ettes and they form an abolutely perfect little ball. I am amazed everytime it blooms. I don't know if you can truly see it in the picture, but I tried to capture the roundness of the bloom. For obvious reasons, these pictures are dedicated to my friend, Katie. I never dedicated pictures before, but hey it's my blog, so I can do what I want.

Porch parties and flooding

It's the end of the weekend and although the heat is pretty intense, it was a good one and it is supposed to cool down later in the week (into the 80's, which is not really cool to me). It's the age thing I think. I really do hate getting older.

Anyhow, my friend Sharon from work invited a bunch of the work gang over for a porch party Friday night and we all had a great time. It seems that she just had her porch 're-decorated', with the help of Katie who has a knack for decorating. Sharon has a very nice wraparound porch and she and Katie decorated it with all kinds of neat stuff. It was all very cool. I took a couple of pictures, but they really don't do it justice. It was really very neat. We all went over after work, and Sharon and her out of town friend, Betsy had straw hats for us all to wear. We were all quite stunning. She had great food and the porch was full of our laughter all evening. Sometimes there just nothing like getting together with the girls. The menu was chicken salad sandwiches, veggies, blackeyed peas and corn salad (see picture - I tried it at home), deviled eggs, nachos and salsa, raspberry dessert and brownie fudge. Thanks Sharon- I had a great time!!!! and your porch looks cool! Everything was so nice!

Saturday afternoon we got a call from Carrie (she is in Indianapolis) . It seems that Matt had gone to Bloomington Saturday morning (yesterday) for an annual conference meeting for their church. The meeting let out around noon and as you know there had been major storms in the southern Indiana area, which is where he was. Well, needless to say, he could not get home to Indianapolis. Roads were closed and there was simply nowhere for him to go. He sat at an interstate exit for several hours waiting for it to open. Then he tried driving away from Indianapolis to get back around to some way home - ended up in Columbus, IN driving around. Of course, when the realization hit that he may be there all night, there were no rooms. Everyone else was in the same situation and the people whose homes were affected had nowhere to go either. We checked in every few hours with Carrie and Leon talked to Matt once. To make a long and miserable story short, he finally got on 74 around 8:30 and got home after nine. The whole time he was only 45 minutes from home, but just could not get there. He shared that the entire area is absolutely devastated! We're glad you're home, safe and sound, Matt!! The clincher is that they had to get up this morning for an 8:00 flight for their vacation to Florida. Yes they made it. Enjoy, you guys!!! I tried to import pictures from the news, but no luck.

Quote of MY day

I had a doctor's appointment today and I came away with the greatest quote. Maybe it is not original, but I think it is one that will help me. It is "stop trying to discover yourself, instead create yourself"

Made of Honor (at the movies)

I took a couple more pictures of the peony bush and my geranium plant, to show the progress and I must say, that in a weeks time, they are much more beautiful.

We went to see Made of Honor last night and it was a cute little movie. It was very predictable, a romantic variation on a theme, but I never get tired of the cute little romantic movies. This one had Patrick Dempsey in it and I don't think I have ever seen him in a move, although he is great in Grey's Anatomy. Maybe I have just not seen him in the starring role as he was last night. Anyhow, I gave it four stars on my blog rating box. I saw some previews that I really want to see, as well. Naturally, I can't remember the names. One was the one with Adam Sandler in his role as a hairdresser - something about Zohan - looked funny! There was another one that was more dramatic. Something about people (as in civilization) disappearing from the cities. Sort of like the rapture!?!

So I have been reading a couple of books that have made their way, quite by accident into my hands and I have to wonder if God, the universe, fate, the great spirit, my high power or Mother God has something to do with it. The two books are discussions of spirituality apart from the traditional religious theology that so many of us have been raised (and courageously, I say also mired) in. I have struggled with the concept of traditional religion for most of my life for a number of reasons, and in fact I would say that I fear religion to some extent. Some of the different philosophies I am reading about, I find very interesting and can see such value in them. The first book that I started and am just working on finishing up is The Shack. It is a story of a man and his 'visit' with the trinity - the father, the son and the holy spirit. The story is clearly fiction, but the ideas presented and the manner of presentation is pretty amazing. It certainly makes you stop and think. I really need to read it twice. It would certainly be criticized, if not rejected by conservative theological people, but for those who feel comfortable enough to question and to think outside the religious box, it gives much to think about.

The second book is called The Knitting Sutra. I picked it up at the library along with some pattern books, expecting to find a humorous book about knitting. I totally did not expect a 'spiritual' book, but this lady in her spiritual search studied all the 'isms', the religions of various native groups, such as native americans, guatemaleon (sp) groups, etc. and as she knitted her way through her life experiences, she became spiritually fed and at peace. Her learning about herself was monumental. Again, I need to read it twice, but my thought is, after reading both of these books that we all are brought up in a society that views religion differently. Who is to say that my religion is more right than the native Americans or the guatemalan people. We all have our 'documentation' - ours is the Bible. But that does not preclude the consideration of other experiences that other people(s) have, nor does it negate their 'documentation' . The study of religion really is quite fascinating, if you have the ability to see all of them as viable and indicative of their higher power, whether that be a spirit far off or within themselves. I found much in these books that I loved, quotes that I read three and four times.

From The Knitting Sutra by Susan Gordon Lydon:

" Two things have occurred to me over and over again while knitting. One is the old saw about the devil making work for idle hands, except with a twist. If the devil makes work for idle hands, then could constantly busy hands entice angels to whisper in the knitter's ear? and is it possible that female spirituality through the ages may have been concealed in the minutiae of domestic life rather than expressed in the grandiosity and pomposity of churches and sermons?"