Award Winning Gooseberry Pie

Ok, for those of you who know me,,,,,know I love Gooseberrys....so when I saw this Gooseberry Pie I just could not resist photographing it.

It deserves a Blue Ribbon....

The top one is....well, can ya guess? lol!

Farm Girls Invade Rosalia WA. News @ 11

(left to right, top to bottom) AmyGrace, Michelle, Brenda, Karin, Grace & Renee

OK,,,, so what do you get when you combine a small town community event, a handful of girlfriends (with credit cards) and a beautiful day???

You get a day filled with non-stop chatting & shopping and fun!

Today was such a day when a bunch of gals who all met through the MaryJanes Farmgirl forum all converged on the quaint little town of Rosalia Washington, population 647.

Brenda (pastblessings) and I started the day off with breakfast at "Chaps" in the town of Cheney and then headed out to Rosalia where we met up with Karin from Cheney and then Michell(huckleberrywine) who gave us a delightful tour of the town. We found our way to some fun shops & did what we do best,,,,we Shopped! Then we met up with Amy Grace, Tanya, Amanda, and of course Renee and our very own farm girl leader, MaryJane Butters. The Mayor of Rosalia was so sweet and agreeable to take this group photo of us.

I have to say, it truly was a step back in time, walking through this sweet town. I am so glad Michell invited us in for the day to see her little community of Rosalia.

Thanx for the lovely day Michell. We'll be back!

Up To More Sewing Mischief...

Up To More Sewing Mischief... OK, so what do you do when you have a pile of fabric on your cutting table & a million unfinished sewing projects??? you start yet another project....lol!Last night I decided to play with a pair of overly well worn jeans and make an apron from the jeans...I peeked around into several forums and came up with some good ideas, but ended up kinda doing my own version..... I am going to use the back side for a child's apron which I will do another time, yep it will go into my unfinished pile... but since my jeans are a size 8 the legs(thigh) were to small to make an apron for me soooo I stitched the 2 thighs together to make a more generous sized apron. I also added 2 front pleats. Then using some scrap fabric I had (barely) enough fabric to make the ties, waistband, ruffle and pocket trim. I like the way it turned out, a bit stiff for an apron, but fun none the less. Next I decided to assemble my cute Butterick pattern apron. I bought the fabric at Ben Franklin's over in Cheney. They have the best little sewing/quilting fabric section.Anyways, as you can see the purple & yellow are a fun combination and the trim on the pocket is from a tattered tablecloth which was given to me by a dear friend. The ruffle lace is trim left over from another project....I love using up my scraps & being creative with them.Ok , hubby is home with the Flu, so I will make sure he is comfortable & then I am going to go hide in my sewing room and do some more sewing.

Memories....

This morning I took a few minutes to visit a few dear friends blogs. While peeking in at Mary Jane Lee's blog, she posted about a 'Tickled Pink' platter she received on a recent 'Sisters on the Fly' (which we are both members of) outing. I could hardly wait to tell her about my collection of Tickled Pink.

But while photographing my collection of Tickled Pink I found myself looking at each piece and and then looked over at the set of Rosenthal dishes that my dear mother passed on to me. She knows how much I cherish these pieces and wanted me to enjoy them now and not wait till she passes from this life to be with our Heavenly Father....so now I have these "Memories" in my home to enjoy, well minus a few pieces which one of my precious 4-legged fur babies accidentally broke...it's ok, because a wonderfully talented friend took the broken pieces and made a mosaic picture frame for me out of those broken pieces. The pieces may be broken, but the memories are not.

My mom is such a dynamic lady, at 74 she is a whirlwind of energy and just enjoys life to the fullest. She is so very active, I can only hope that I have 1/2 as much spunk as she when I am her age....I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I inherited her genes....my sister, Suzan and I joke that twixt the 2 of us we stilled don't have the energy mom has!

Memories are sooo very special,,,,they can take us places that we often forget about in our everyday hectic lives,,,,thank goodness for a simple teacup that makes us stop for a moment and cherish our memories, and on that note I am going to go call my mom..

So, have you talked to your mother lately?

Tata-4-now & have a memory filled day, after all, today's activity will be tomorrows memory so make it a cherished one.

>^..^<

WSQ Quilt Show 2008

Ok, so today I had the good pleasure of volunteering and working at the Washington State Quilt Show here in Spokane Valley. It is a 3-day event that is put on buy WSQ every year. Talented quilters put their quilts on display for quilt lovers like myself to see and enjoy.

I am just in awe of all the talented quilters that have their quilts on display. I wish I had a fraction of their talents and skills.

I am posting a few pictures of quilts because of their interesting techniques. The one reminds me of the Dresden Plate design but done with hearts. I also love the Cherry quilt with the dimensional leaves and of course the simple stitch work done in reds & blues.(Red Work).

I hope to someday be able to step out of my 'comfort zone' and try my hand at stitching one of these lovely quilts but for now will just continue to be in awe of them.

As always, you can 'click' on the pictures to get a closer look. Enjoy.

Time to Re-charge our batteries...

Gary & I decided our "batteries" needed to be re-charged so we went over to Riverside State Park and did a little hiking and relaxing by the river. It was great to get away from the chores at home and just enjoy the sights & sounds of the river, the gentle rustling of the trees and the honking of the geese(pic #3). Oh to have had a fishing rod with us, as we stood gazing down into the river a rather large fish swam past us. I guess he was enjoying his day as much as we were enjoying ours. There were riders on horseback, some hikers and some die hard campers, all enjoying these last few nice days of Autumn.

I already have reservations made for camping with some friends next summer....I can hardly wait till then.

A River Runs Through....

Do you ever have one of those moments when you need for sanity's sake an escape? I needed such a moment the other day and found myself sitting on a picnic bench watching the river flowing past. It was so calming and serene... In fact Gary and I are going over there tomorrow to take in the beauty of the Spokane River and the surrounding vegetation and just breath.

Soon Winter will hit and we will be busy with life and the up coming Holidays so for now, for the next few days we are going to slow down and enjoy the beauty of nature.

An Evening at the German~American Club

Meri, Evan & Gary

Grace & Meri

Grace, Janet, Judy & Meri

Well tonight was my night to cook again for

the German~

American club...this time I made Jager Schnitzel with the help of my family.

The menu consisted of a creamy hunter sauce over buttered noodles & a pork cutlet, beets, green salad, kaiser roll and for dessert, gingerbread with a strussel drizzle, mint leaf & topped w/whip cream. oh Yum! My daughter, Meri and her husband were on salad & dessert detail. My hubby was on onion & garlic chopping detail and I was the Jager Sauce Diva...lol! We make a great team. All & all it is always fun to cook for such a large crowd but in tonight's case I was able to take time out and dance,,,my favorite, the Chicken Dance! Funny, the men folk never want to dance to the Chicken Dance song so we ladies just get up there and have a blast!... I still had my apron on,,,Poor Judy, I snagged her onto the dance floor, but she is such a good sport and she never complained about my singing off key either, Thanx mucho Judy. After all was said and done and the evening wound down I was able to relax with a nice snifter of warm Amaretto & Creame,,,,oh yum! perfect for capping off a wonderful dinner.

It's all MaryJane's fault...

Ok, so several months ago I received a sweet homemade pillow case from a dear friend. It was so sweet that I kept thinking I should make one....well I finally did...so Thank you MaryJane for the pillowcase and sparking an interest in making one, nay...several....it's almost addicting, they are 'sew' easy to make.

Here is my newest creation of my favorite subjects. >^..^<