Happy Birthday Wish

Happy Birthday wishes are being sent to my brother Mike!

It's hard to get a picture without Marlene attached at his hip. (Love you Marlene!)

I hope your day is a great one.  And the year ahead is filled with lots of happiness and good times!

I love you, brother~ Barbie



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I Got Some Press!

I'm so excited.  Another blogger saw my post earlier on our camper and asked if she could blog about it.
She sells vintage linens and laces and wanted to highlight a good use for them....our camper.
Please visit Deb at www.linenslaceandlattes.blogspot.com and see what a great post she did.
Have a delightful day!
Babs

A Little Bit of this and that!

We hung a woodpecker suet block up on our feeder and this fella' has been visiting us.  Here he is on the ground loving this tree stump.  This was taken from inside the house.  He's huge.

Simon came over to Grandma's for a quick visit with Jojo.

Awww....they are all posing together.

Made a trip to the Farmer's Market.  I bought zinnia's  I have them all over the house in white vases.  Love them!

OK, one more of JoJo...we won't be seeing her for a few months.

Off to Allegan Sunday for their Antique Market.  Hope to find something fun for the camper.  Enjoy your day.
Babs

Great Little Story

106 KMEL
A 50- something year old white woman arrived at her seat on a crowded flight and immediately didn't want the seat. The seat was next to a black man. Disgusted, the woman immediately summoned the flight attendant and demanded a new seat. The woman said "I cannot sit here next to this black man." The fight attendant said "Let me see if I can find another seat." After checking, the flight attendant returned and stated "Ma'am, there are no more seats in economy, but I will check with the captain and see if there is something in first class." About 10 minutes went by and the flight attendant returned and stated "The captain has confirmed that there are no more seats in economy, but there is one in first class. It is our company policy to never move a person from economy to first class, but being that it would be some sort of scandal to force a person to sit next to an UNPLEASANT person, the captain agreed to make the switch to first class." Before the woman could say anything, the attendant gestured to the black man and said, "Therefore sir, if you would so kindly retrieve your personal items, we would like to move you to the comfort of first class as the captain doesn't want you to sit next to an unpleasant person." Passengers in the seats nearby began to applause while some gave a standing Ovation

Facebook.



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Fresh Corn Idea!

Nothing better than fresh sweet corn! Ours is here and its delicious. For an alternate way of eating it, i Thought this looked great.



Serves 6

6 medium ears of corn

6 strips of bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 small onion

1 medium poblano, finely chopped

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1 small celery rib, finely chopped

3 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and finely chopped

2 medium boiling potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and cubed

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

Pinch of sugar

1 small bay leaf

2 cups light cream, at room temperature

1 cup milk

Freshly ground black pepper

Chopped parsley, for garnish


Working over a bowl, cut the corn kernels from the cobs at about half their depth. Then, using the back of the knife, scrape the cobs over the bowl to release all the "milk"; set aside.
In a large saucepan, fry the bacon over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain. Crumble and reserve.
Discard all but 3 tablespoons of the bacon drippings from the pan. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat until golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the poblano pepper, jalapeño and celery and cook until slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, potatoes, salt, allspice, sugar, bay leaf and the reserved corn kernels and their "milk" and stir well. Cook over moderate heat until mixture begins to sizzle.
Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender, 35 to 45 minutes. Stir in the cream and milk and bring just to a boil. Remove from heat and season with black pepper to taste. Ladle the chowder into bowls and garnish with the crumbled bacon and parsley.

Recipe from food52.com

It's the weekend already! Make sure you play a bit!

Summer Salad

This was supper last night.  Isn't it pretty?  Easy too.

Baby spinach leaves, grilled chicken, kiwi, blueberries and peaches (you can use strawberries but our berries looked bad).  The white is feta cheese (you can use goat also) and the center is candied pecans.

The dressing:  1/3 cup canola, 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar, 3 Tbs. strawberry jam, 1 Tbs. poppyseeds and 1/8 tsp salt.

For the candied pecans:  place a handful of pecans in a small pan, add 1/4 of sugar and a tad bit of water.
Turn the heat on medium high and keep on moving the pecans around.  They will begin to carmelize.  Keep moving, the sugar and liquid will evaporize.  Watch real close as it's easy to burn them.  When carmelized, empty pan onto a piece of waxpaper.  Cool pecans.  When cool, break apart.

YUM!

Tuesday Tidbits

Just doing a little catch up.

Do you ever spend time at a bookstore? I spent a few hours Sunday afternoon at Barnes and Noble. I so enjoy grabbing a few magazines and an iced latte, and my iPad. I sit and peruse magazines for ideas. My iPad comes in real handy. I write down ideas, blogs I find and snap an occasional picture (is that bad.)




I don't want to forget an idea.

SEW article by Mary Stanley.blogspot.com

SEW by Somerset

So inspirational. It gets me in trouble though. I get all these grandiose ideas. I want to try everything but I have to focus on "the quilt".




So that, I am doing. Created this square last night.

Richie and I went for a nice bike ride last night. It was humid and hot but nice just the same. I want a basket for my bike. I want to carry my camera, phone, and a water bottle.


Cute idea but I think a neutral canvas liner would look awesome.  I originally thought a wicker basket but I want something a little more  hip.  CitySlicker-ish. Is that the word I'm looking for? Not so cutesie.
Did I show you the bike?  My Electra Townie.



Many errands to do this week, need to schedule a haircut and a pedicure and continue my work on the quilt. Our last class is in a few weeks. I am nowhere near done.

Hot and humid here! Wish I were young and had a body to just hang at the beach. Here is my nephew just hanging out, lucky guy!



Enjoy your week. Are you watching the Olympics?

A Visitor, A Birthday and Saturday Morning Coffee

Joslyn came for a visit overnight.  The family is spending a week up north at camp so they stopped for a night to spend with aunts, grandma and cousins....oh uncles too.

Sharing with Aunt Barbie

I like my new dress Aunt Barbie made but just a little big right now.

Jessie turns 25 this weekend!

Uncle Phil made this Dorie Greenspan Tiramisu Cake.  FABULOUS!

This morning, we had our traditional Saturday coffee and donuts.  This Saturday, however, we had Blueberry CoffeCake and Warm Biscuits with Homemade Strawberry Jam.

This guy, Jacob, even surprised us all with a quick visit!  It was great to see him again, though, he just lives behind me!

Peek A Boo!

It was just a quick visit but thoroughly enjoyed seeing this little pumpkin!

Hope you all enjoy your weekend.

Gray or Grey?

So, which is it?

GRAY or GREY?

Subway Reading

I stumbled upon this great blog, Underground New York Public Library.  It is a visual library featuring the reading riders of the NYC subways.  The author then identifies the book and the author never the reader. She posts a new photo each day. Interesting indeed. It's wonderful how she captures many different aspects of people.

Every photo has an Amazon link to the book. I found a few I think I'd like to read already.  For example, The Dinner at Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler.

Let me know what you think of the blog!  I think it's awesome and look forward to the photo of the day.
Babs

Do You Have a Friend Who Can Do It All?

I do.  All I need to do is pick up the phone and say, "Dawn, I need your help!" and she's on it.

My latest project I wanted to accomplish in the sewing world was this adorable journal cover.

via Stitchedincolor.com

Rachel, the creator, kindly sent me the measurements for the cover.  I've tried to make these composition book covers in the past and failed,well, I didn't go so great.  The cover just wouldn't fit.  So, who do I call?  My friend, Dawn.  I sent her the basic instructions and this picture.  Next thing I know, the following day...she has it figured out. She made a template and she drew the design out on graph paper and had all the pluses colored in various colors. She called and said, "one problem. This is not you."  Meaning, see all those tiny little squares?  They measure about 3/4 inches each.  Small + exact is not my gig!  She knows me well.  Darn it!

So, she gave me the basic instructions for the basic cover and said I should start with that.  I could do it.  Just be sure to measure, measure, measure.  So.....I did and am pleased with the results.

Now, I need to figure out how to do all that fancy, fun stuff.

via StitchedInColor.com

via StitchedInColor.com

How cute are those.?  I have ton of fun scraps of fabric.  I could do a lot of cute ones.  Now just how the heck do I get all those pieces "evenly cut"?  Dawn!  Help?

Do you have a go to person in your world?  I can call Dawn any time and say "I need your help, your advice, whatever....and she would be there."    She often volunteers to do the chore.  How blessed am I?
Thank you Dawn, for all you do for me!  I value you immensely.

I'll let you know if I succeed with the piecing part.

Thank you to everyone who commented on the anniversary idea.  The general response suggested something laid back and easy.  No big fuss, no big expense.  The hubby suggested taking a float in a raft down the Muskegon River....and I added with a picnic lunch and some bubbly!  It's a short month away so I'll let you know what we end up doing! 

Stay cool!!  High 90's here today.
Babs

Would Like Some Advice

Richard and I will be celebrating our anniversary next month. Thirty two years.



Every year we struggle with what we should do to celebrate. Due to lack of ideas, we end up going out for dinner and that's usually it. I really wish we could come up with something different.

We don't want to fly somewhere. No long trip or cruise. Probably a day trip. Just stumped.

Can you help?


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Thought Provoking, Touching, Personal

A friend, Roberta, is a writer.  She is composing a memoir of her son Noah.  Recently, an excerpt was published in a journal, Atticus.  Such a thought provoking piece.  Wonderfully written.  Tender.  Honest.

Please take a moment to read this short piece.    WWYD...What would you do?  I'd love for you to share your thoughts.

He Plays the Harp.

Thank you, Roberta for sharing such a personal experience with us.

Roberta King

I Got Sidetracked!

I have been taking an online handstitching class.  There is so much work to do and I have fallen behind.  However, it's OK.  I will work at my own pace and not stress out about keeping up.  It's summer...what was I thinking!  If I were to keep up, I would be sewing/handstitching about eight hours a day.  No can do!

So, typical me, when the going gets rough....I veer off course.  I couldn't resist making this little pillowcase dress for Joslyn.  She's coming for a visit next Friday and it will be perfect timing to give this to her.

Have a great weekend everyone!

The Latest Adventure

As you may have read, we headed out very spontaneously Monday. Our destination..Interlochen State Park. It is north of us, close to three hours away.  Interlochen is the home of Interlochen Fine Arts Camp.  Kids from all over the world spent the summer there.  Music, dance, theatre...they host concerts throughout the summer. 

We took some backroads along the way. Here is a wind farm they are constructing outside Scottville.

We settled into our site and enjoyed a relaxing evening. We were right across from Duck Lake. A nice sized lake, very clear and very warm. We enjoyed a gin and tonic down by the waterfront. The stairs to the lake was right across from our campsite.





Later that evening, we headed down the street to Bud's. A great little cafe like place. Lots of people hanging out. They have salads, sandwiches, coffee drinks, a bakery, and ice cream. I had a Java Chip ice cream cone (single dip). It was so delicious!

Tuesday, we headed to the Leelanau Pennisula to check out some other campgrounds. We visited three; two were too rustic for me...the other was too crowded and more of an RV park.

We stopped in Glen Arbor for lunch. Charming little resort town. My niece Jackie put in a request that I stop at Cherry Republic and have ice cream for her. We stopped right after lunch....too full for ice cream but did sample their chocolate covered cherries. Could have eaten a ton of them!

This was such a charming bookstore in Glen Arbor. I looked for Mario Batali, but didn't see him anywhere.

From Glen Arbor, we headed to Sleeping Bear Dunes. You may recall that last year it was voted as #1 Most Beautiful Beach on Good Morning America.  It is gorgeous.

lots of people climbing the sand dune.

My husband coming down from the top of the dune.

 The scenic tour:

Stopped by a nice little Quilt shop in Interlochen. Had a nice evening cookout on the grill. Read some, stitched a bit, and headed out late Morning on Wednesday for home.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous....even had a little chill in the evening.  All in all, it was a perfect getaway.