New Floor, yahoo!!!

Getting ready to work:

Starting in the laundry room:



Our floor has been rapidly deteriorating for the past year or so. It was put into our home as the standard vinyl flooring, when our home was built 8 years ago. It was a very nice floor for a few years, but lately it has just been a pain. We couldn't get it clean or keep it clean. I guess the color and quality conspired against us, plus the little microscopic cuts just caused real problems.

Fast forward to a week ago. We have been watching for a sale on wood laminate to replace our vinyl and sure enough, we got some at The Andersons for $1 per square foot. So Leon started on Sunday and just finished with the final touches today.

IT IS PERTY!!!!

Thought I would share the transition with you

Here is the work force, a lot of work went into it:
And here is the finished floor

I love how the sunshine looks when it is shining on the wood.


It is beautiful. I love it!!!!

I think some cute little round rugs in front of the stove and sink would just look perfect.

Julie, Julia

I have been wanting to see the movie Julie, Julia and we finally got an opportunity to go on Saturday afternoon. It was absolutely delightful - just a feel good movie. It was about a young lady, Julie, who blogs her way through the Julia Child cookbook. But in addition, it showed the story of Julia Child herself. I was absolutely enchanted by her and what a cool lady she was. And her husband, the love of her life, was such a strong force in her life and cheered her on to her success. Kudos to Meryl Streep!!

And I absolutely loved Julie, played by Amy Adams. She was fresh and funny and made me want to blog through the very same cookbook. I give this movie four stars of five.


Speaking of blogging; as I was thinking of this blog and what I wanted to say, I thought it might be fun to think of books that I might like to "blog my way through" and what sorts of books might that entail? Suppose, I were to blog my way through the phone book - Oh the people I could talk to. How about books of hairstyles, fashion, diets (I think I did that!?!?), and how-to books. I could blog through the pattern books at the fabric store, the seed catalogs and the road atlas. I am reminded of the old saying - the places I would go and the things I would do. What books would you like to blog your way through. Let me know and I will post it. Who will be the first to say the Joy of Sex (guess I just did!)

Take me out to the ball game

Take me out to the park.... Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks..... great song!! ... Great American institution.... "Baseball, mom and apple pie"

We had an opportunity to go to a baseball game yesterday. We have been to a couple of games here in Columbus, since we have been here, but had not been to the brand new ball park that opened last year. Leon was lucky enough to win some tickets, that allowed us to watch the game from a box suite at the ball park. I had never been in a suite at the ball park and it was pretty nice. When I first heard that he won the tickets and that they were for the box suite, I thought it was cool, but wondered if I would miss being down with the people in the 'stands'. I thought that it might feel very strange and that the atmosphere would not seem true and original. However, it was actually pretty neat and I could watch the game without peering in between heads and being squished into a seat, shoulder to shoulder with a smelly beer guzzler or a teenage giggling bunch of girls, or any number of other annoying people that may be there. ( I hope I don't sound too prissy). Anyhow, the suite was very nice with a couch, table, counter with space for all manner of eatery (although we didn't have any) small bar with stools, and seats in front for viewing the game.

The new ball park is very nice and if you get a chance to go there, you should take the opportunity to do so. I forgot to take my camera, so I am showing some pictures I found on Flickr.

Oh, I almost forgot. Columbus got stomped, in fact, it was so bad that we left after the 6th inning (it was 4 to 14 when we left). Worse.... We played Indianapolis.

Our lilies and our Lily

Our lillies

and

Our Lily

The art of mowing a lawn (or cutting the grass)

A freshly mowed lawn is one of the nicest things about summer. My dad owned a lawn mowing business and I have smelled a lot of freshly cut grass and there is no smell quite like it. It is such a summer smell and just totally takes me back to lying in the grass as a child, looking up at the clouds, running through the sprinkler, playing kickball and all the great summer things that children do in the yard and on the grass. It smells fresh and clean and wholesome. It is a smell of nature.

Another thing I like about a freshly mowed yard are the lines that the lawn mower makes. It just sets off the freshly manicured look of it. If you are really creative, you can actually do a design on the lawn or just alter the direction of the lines. Extremely manicured landscaping is not really my thing, but a newly mown lawn is a whole different matter.

And how cool looking is the sun shining on a newly mowed lawn? It just looks like a carpet.

The "art" in these pictures was created by my Leon.

Saying goodbye

Leon and I attended the funeral of 'our' cousin, Carlene yesterday. I say "our cousin", because the cousins in this family do not designate between yours and mine, or his spouse or her spouse. It is a very accepting family and I am blessed to have them. The family originally consisted of six siblings, from which the cousins all came, as baby boomers, born in the forties and fifties.

Anyhow, Carlene has been fighting cancer for the past 2 or 3 years and the past two to three months, she had opted to forgo any additional medical intervention, other than routine medical care. As we all prayed for her, she journeyed into this process of death with a spirit that I have never seen before. All of the family went to see her in her home as she approached the end of her life here on earth. She was so happy to see everyone and just laughed and enjoyed the company of those that she loved and that loved her. Her husband said at the funeral, " she died like she lived, with grace, love and class". Her daughters were with her when she passed and will carry on that grace, I have no doubt. I see her, in them.

I haven't been to an awful lot of funerals, but I have taken something away from every single one. This one gave me a desire to be there for others. Carlene was always there for all of us. She was just quietly there, no pomp or circumstance, just there. I remember that she was there for my own father's funeral, and she barely even knew him. But she was there for me and Leon. I can't possibly live up to that, but I sure will do better, for having known her.

On the way home from the funeral, Leon and I saw a beautiful bit of nature and a promise; and I couldn't help but think of Carlene.
Taken by Leon with his cell phone

More garden gatherings

Mescalin Lettuce
Tabasco Chili Peppers
Green beans
Bell peppers
Hungarian peppers


When I was out picking beans, I noticed some of the other vegetables that were maturing and will be soon ready to pick. It is amazing to me that nature can produce some of the most beautiful "still life's" that can be found.

I always have thought that the produce departments in grocery stores are beautiful. Every imaginable color. Although everything I photographed was green, they are still beautiful and just wait til the tomatoes ripen (they are almost there).

Mother Nature is still the best artist!!

Vegetables are grown and nurtured by master gardener, Leon

Easy Sunday

Well, it is Monday and I have a couple of days off. No particular plans, which is the beauty of it, because I can just do as I want when I want. Having worked for many years, it is nice to just enjoy a day without the pressures or stress. Sometimes even then, I struggle to slow down and ignore the clock. But more on that later.

I wanted to share a couple of dishes that I made yesterday. I had a spinach salad in a restaurant recently, that was absolutely wonderful, so I decided to attempt to replicate it yesterday for a light meal and I paired it with homemade 'naan', the traditional indian bread. UMMM Ummm Good!!!!

It turned out so well that I thought I would share the recipe (made up by me, after having had one). So I don't have measurements, but just made it to our taste.

Combine in salad bowl and then toss.
Fresh Spinach
Feta Cheese, crumbled
Fresh Mushrooms, sliced
Bacon, crumbled
Balsamic Vinegrette, drizzled over the top




Could it be much easier than that? (and healthy, too)!!

Then I made Naan, which I absolutely love. Recipe can be found here.



After we ate, I went out to the garden to pick green beans. Leon's garden is beginning to bear "fruit" due to his hard work! He really does enjoy his garden and I am sure that when we retire, gardening will keep him busy all summer. So the vines were bursting with green beans and the harvest was very satisfying. I snapped them all before I went to bed, but won't be be cooking them until tonight.

Dancing girls - four years old

When Katie and I went to the quilt show a couple of weeks ago, one of the fun things that we do is to shop at the vendors booths. We always seem to come away with something really cool to do or really cool fabric. Last year we got tools to attach "bling" to fabric. Katie has gotten into needlepunch from the kit that she got at the quilt show. Of course, we are women and love to shop, so there have been many temptations at the quilt show, some of which we give into and some not.

Well, this year, I was walking down one of the aisles and spied a fabric panel with a row of little ballerinas on a stage in the five ballet positions. Having just been to Abby's dance recital, I knew I had to get it. It was so cute and all I needed to do was simply quilt it. It was two weekends before we were going to Indianapolis for Abby's birthday, so I decided I would give it to her for her birthday.

I purchased it, took it home, picked out a backing fabric, got out mh batting and started in. Now I don't have the patience to hand quilt and I am not very good at it anyhow, so I machine quilted it. Having taken a class in machine quilting, I was hopeful that I could do it, without much practice. Machine quilting is not difficult, but requires a lot of practice and I hadn't been practicing. The end of the story is that I did quilt it on the machine and there are a lot of little errors, but I was still pleased as punch. So I picked out some border fabric and finished it up.

When you're four, toys are the most important thing at your birthday, but she sat right on that quilt to play with her toys. As Martha would say "It was a good thing".





Her bicycle basket, streamers and bell

And something for Lily, too!

A gummy situation

The privileges of turning four are not without responsibility. The precedent is clearly set. When we turn 16 and are able to drive, it is a privilege that we wait for expectantly, but with it comes responsibility. Responsibility for the safety of self, others and the care of an automobile. Keeping gas in the tank and our drivers license valid, among other things become very important responsibilities. When we wait for college at age 18ish, the privilege of living on our own is not without responsibility. Responsibility for getting up and getting to class without parental guidelines. Making decisions on our own and getting projects done becomes our own responsibility, along with eating right and doing our own laundry.

This privilege/responsibility relationship was brought to mind, by a very important milestone in my granddaughters life. But to be sure, there was responsibility attached.

Abby turned four this week, and one of the things promised to her was that she could chew gum when she turned four. She was so excited, that it was one of the first things that she wanted to do. Her mother has told her over the past couple of years, that she couldn’t chew gum until she was four. It was a hard rule, especially when I asked her if she wanted a piece of gum, with me not knowing the rule.

With the ceremony of going to the store and picking out which gum she would try first, Abby embarked upon her gum chewing adventure. Turns out that she chose strawberry, a personal favorite of my own. The actual experience was as good as she thought as she took the gum out of the package and removed the paper and then into her mouth it went. Mmmmm Good!! Horns sounded, drums were beating – She liked it!!!!!

But oh my, the responsibility and rules that went with it. She couldn’t stick it under her chair when she got tired of it. Of course, she was not allowed to swallow it. She could not stick it in her sister’s ear or leave it laying on the couch. She had to put it on her plate at dinner so that it did not get wasted while she ate (and it was very hard after that). Any gum found on the driveway, was immediately traced to her, whether she did it or not. And of course, there were places and times that she could not chew gum, like preschool or church.

Was it worth it? Worth all the rules and the responsibility for handling it like a big girl?

YOU BET IT WAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Quilt Shop Quilt at the Quilt show- Quite a Quilt!!

Well, I promised you a quilt and I must deliver. I think I was misleading yesterday, when I said I did not have pictures of any redwork. This quilt is redwork. I liked it because there was so much to look at. I got a shot of every room. I am not a Sunbonnet Sue fan, and these characters do resemble that style, but I was impressed with the work and the different rooms.
It reminded me of a doll house.









Hope you enjoyed!! It really is so much more vibrant and detailed in person. As you can see, it won a ribbon.