By jove, I think she's got it!

and update with temporary pillows...

OUR home is a taupe colour ( exterior) , we have always have had accents pillows on our chairs

to match...there is a lot of red in them, sew I pulled them out...added

tags to them all, to hold down to chair...we have amazing winds up here..

and VOILA....this is great for now....After we complete our deck...

I will decide on what outdoor fabric to use....that will obviously match our new

red accents.. The sun is trying to come out nearly noon here since

my earlier shots in the am....

NOTE bench and chair are still RED lol...

Oh the fairies in the tea garden caption...we have thousands of fireflies

that come out at night...we think it is because we always have had a white garden...

Sew hence, fairies in the tea garden...

must run...loved all of your comments lol

O

This is the view from our deck now...the right side of the garden...This maple is what

they call a globe maple, ( it will grow into an umbrella....no trimming, it just does that)

This one we planted last year, it is 18 yrs old. Stands about 12 feet high already.

In the garden are some of viburnums, there are some peonies that will be out

in the next couple of weeks, there are bushes of flox and white lilacs towards

the back...too young to flower just yet...we also have some bridal wreaths...

all white...ohhhh and yes hyacinths..all white...all summer long 

there is white something just growing up....

Wish you could join me for some ice tea....

I love to paint, I know my paints and colours. THIS is what I came up with 

in my mind, when I first set out for that 1st gallon of RED OIL PAINT,

not latex, not pink, but red. 

After the first store upgraded me to my urethane oil, IN PINK,

you have to admit it did look pinkish..( take a peak at previous post)

I gave it a night, and when I woke up yesterday, the pinkish hue

did not turn RED. lol  So back to my local paint store...

Turns out they did not have the OIL base I wanted or this colour.

CREDIT all of my purchases..that was nice of them..

And off to 

Canadian Tire...James helped me out..he knew

exactly what I wanted....Strange too, 'cause I never met

him before...."YOU want fire engine red, right?"..

YES YES YES, and that is what I got...

NOW there is no mistaken, this is RED..

Sew I sanded everything down AGAIN,

covered myself up with more sunscreen, because

by this time the sun is beating down on our backyard

and I am very fair...

Paint- check

New brushes- check

Plastic to cover grass- check

1 litre of water- check

Music to paint by .....NOOOO check..( listened to birds instead)

What was to be a 4 hour job, turned out to be a 4 day job,

22 hours....yep...

And because I purchased a LITRE of Paint...I also

painted my DH's recliner.....HE LOVED IT..

He said there is no mistaken it is RED....

Next weekend, we are expanding our deck....

no paint involved here, just stain...same colour as our fence..

Our hole digger fellow...Gopher HOLES, is coming by 

on WED, to dig up some new posts and I will order

all the lumber, and next weekend, DH and I will start building

an extended deck...  ( Plans are already completed)

By jove, it won't be long, before I will be sitting out

on our new deck, stitching along and I bet it will have

a lot of RED in it... Yes it will!

Hope my American Friends are enjoying their long weekend...

Now tell me what colour would you have painted this?

( today I have to complete my project for Riley Blake....

it is red...bet you are surprised lol)

p.s I think I have got to make some pillows for my bench..

yep, on my list

Now we are all seeing red....update and BBQ RUB recipe

UPDATE

WELL..... they upgraded me to an even better gallon of urethane and oil base..

mmmmmm well the colours is bright, but one coat will not do it, maybe 2 more coats

is what I am thinking...

NOTE black ARROW to your right, my DH has to fix one of the panels..it looks rotten, 

LOOKS , forget that, it is rotten...

about 2 inches of rotten....I called him ( MY  DH at work, during his most busiest season yet ) 

 and just said he can patch it for me...lol

He said..." this is not like a quilt sparky, I can't patch it, I will just replace it...."

OK......sew no patching....click...........HELLLLO! lol

Enough of that.... I have things to do....lol

Ahhh yes I have another project I must complete by WED of next

week for Riley Blake...sew that is why I have a red hanger there...painted

that too lol

Ok, it is RED, it is LUKEWARM, not HOT which is what I am going for....

And speaking of HOT, many of my American Friends are celebrating

a long weekend...ours was last weekend....

Sew I have a great BBQ recipe for you....it is a mix, a rub,

come back later...I will post that recipe here...

Gotta take some pics of that...

I look like I have measles..I have all these red batches

all over my hands, and legs....( sorry no pics of that) lol

toddles....

R for Rub

( great for diabetics) 

Forget about ever purchasing any packaged mix..they are often

full of sugar and artificial flavourings as well as MSG.

I have always made my own chill and bbq mixes...

It takes less than 3.3 minutes...I timed it...

Of course it helps to have this list of ingredients handy.

You need these and one small jar to pour it in..

Can we get any easier? NO, and the flavour of your own

seasoning during any bbq season, well let me just say this....

If it would do you any good, you could rub it all over your body..

I don't recommend that though....

it is that good for you... These Spices rev up the metabolism and they burn 

more calories..YES THEY DO, and you heard it here...

from this Reg. Nutritionist....

Gather these INgredients...

1/2 cup of paprika ( if you can find a smoked one, even better)

2 TB ( tablespoons) of cayenne pepper

2 TB of freshly ground pepper or black pepper

2 TB of ground cumin

2 TB of brown sugar ( the real dark kind) this helps to brown meats

2TB of cocoa powder, ( this helps to balance the spices) no it will not taste like chocolate..

2TB of sea salt or table salt..but sea salt is better.

Now mix them all well together and pour into a tight lid jar, place with 

your spices....

Now when needed, it is always good to wash your chicken or pork or beef,

pat dry, and then rub this into your choice meat, leave in refrigerator

for a couple hours or overnight and BBQ as usual...

The flavours get locked in and my oh my oh my...

YOU will thank me...lol

Now I must run, I have another project and some homework

to get to....

Well it all started with wanting to change the colour of my beautiful bench

my DH made me over a decade ago for a Christmas gift. I believe it had about

5 coats of oil based paint over the years...Sew the past couple of days

I have stripped it and sanded it down to the original finish.

Happy with the results, I headed off to our local paint store....

I chose one of the best available exterior oil semi-gloss paint and headed to the counter.

A young very handsome lad...( 20+) ...comes to my rescue, I had an armful

of necessary tools, new brushes, roller, varsol, paint tray..

He takes my gallon paint and tells me he needs to sub it for a base

( sew he can add the colour) great....I never checked the can, cause I know

I brought forward an OIL gallon...

It's early morning, I have had my breakfast, did my workout

and I'm ready to paint, as I am painting...I am thinking.." this does not look

very good, very watery" I look at the CAN it is latex...

YOU cannot paint a latex on an oil....no way...

WELLLLLLLLLLL, this is what it looked like, after I spent

3 hours rubbing off the paint with varsol and sanding it..

oh yes I am painting it this bright RED from White...

CALLED our local paint store...they apologized, I am heading

back there this evening for my OIL gallon...

Will attempt my task tomorrow...

Yes, I suppose I should have just stayed with my original look....lol

 

IN the meantime, Sumatra our rag doll, has taken up post in being our garden keeper.

Birds and bunnies beware, don't even think of touching our wee garden...

She will eat you...

Not really, but I think she thinks she can....lol

 Last week, we built a frame for a raised garden....loaded in 4 yds of garden and triple mix....
then planted...although not much to show just yet, we have a few tomato plants, at the back, are all mixed greens, we have a couple rows of green beans, 1 row of garlic, 1 row of potatoes and 2 rows of spinach...ohhh and 1 row of cucumbers..not bad for 8 sq feet.....

WE have 9 Viburnums ( spelled it wrong in my header) on our property, they flower

in these snowballs in the spring...for about 3 weeks, this is our view...then we prune

them and watch them grow another couple feet by end of the summer.

 These are only 2 yrs old and already they are over 4 feet tall

and 3 feet wide....

My Rhubarb, 2nd year and 1st season to harvest...I have 2 large patches..

maybe next week, I will make some rhubarb relish....

All this work deserves a treat....this is KEY LIME PIE....as you can see, it loves my fork...
I just placed my fork on the plate and noticed the pie took a bite out of it...had me reconsidering eating a slice lol... Took my chances lol

Ok, break is over...I have some homework to catch up on...

Hope you are being a bit more productive than I have been lately...

my best

Life is COOL now, but it wasn't always lol

( I wrote this years ago, I found it in a folder and thought, it was a funny post to share...) but only if you are over 50+ lol

Yes!!! I hate hate hate being over 50+

It all began on the eve of my 50th I knew things were never ever going to be the same. I was never going to be in my 40's again. I was never going to be without a bra and be supported- ok that is a stretch, I wasn't even able to do that in my 40's. Well you know what I am saying. It was like overnight everything changed. I don't mind the wrinkles, the grey hair,  I have red,(only my stylist knew) the hot flashes. What bothers me is that I hate that it matters to everyone else.

Am I alone here? I look around me and all of sudden everyone seems to be around the same age...Old. Ok, it probably doesn't help that I live in a new adult only community for over 50's- the average age here is 70. And we moved to a very small community of less than 5,000. Not sure why they call it a bedroom community. Does that mean we spend a lot of time there?

Afraid to go out? I regress, the point is I wanted to share how I hate hate hate being 5o+. It has taken me a few years to try and get used to it- ahhhh it is not working. I don't see anything to look forward to. For me I am looking forward to the end, at least then I would be planning something.

Isn't this nice for my very first entry? I feel better actually so thanks for sharing it with me. Sharing my grief? Is that what I said? Anyway, I will return to the darkness, bring a light will you ?

over 50+

grand lady

Update spring 2012....I do love my life, I love being a mature lady, ok, maybe not mature as in maturity, I feel like a kid, act like a kid, and my own kids and grandkids have a hard time keeping up with me. As far as friends, well they can't keep up either, ohhhh they try lol.  WE have settled into our community, it has been quite a few years now, we have a beautiful vegetable garden, flower garden and a forest view. Our felines are as happy as honey bees, buzzing around our yard and feeling protected by the wolves and hawks...

Of course I am still a student, and have just tipped the learning curve, finally seeing the light of what is to come...I can actually do a lot now, nothing to brag about yet lol but it is coming.( the sharing not bragging lol)  I love my new teachers this term, one in particular who is amazing, everything he has shown me I can actually do, like right there and then. 

Working in vectors over graphics has been a challenge but a challenge I am loving. 

made this recently using new tools!

I have a few projects I am working on for a few companies I am working closely with, sewwwww soon I will be able to show and tell. Just wanted to let you know, I don't live in darkness anymore, but I do live a loner's life. It is good that my DH is also a LONER, we are sew well matched.  Ok, gotta run, or actually scooter off to the paint store, I am picking up some COOL red paint to paint a love seat and chair for our garden...


Hope you are having a lovely spring..I am getting ready for summer....

Sweet on Apples....

I am sweet on this gorgeous bundle of fabric.

Don't you just want to bite into it...lol

I will be making this apple quilt that jina from riley blake designed

with the Quilted Fish, new fabric line, apple of my eye.

( whew --that was a mouthful) lol

This is a very special quilt for many reasons. 

First it was a lovely gift from a dear friend who knows

how much I love butter creams and reds....

She is super sweet.  She knew I would love it...

She is the apple of my eye!

 I can hardly wait to start it..

I believe it will be my summer project. 

The second reason this will be a very special quilt...

 is our area in South West Ontario

Canada was  hit with an early frost that damaged

90% of our cherry, peach, apple and pear trees. 

This fall harvest, we will not be running out to our farmers

market to purchase their fruits of their labor.

There will be none.

This saddens me greatly,  we know many of our

local farmers. They have become great friends.

Their loss is ours too!

We have always been supportive of local

farmers, today more than ever!

I will be making 2 of these quilts..

ONE for our local farmers... sew they can auction it off...

Under each apple I will be embroidering

all the diff't types of apples that are grown around here.

Gala, Honey Crisp, Macintosh, Granny Smith, 

Ida red...... and I will stitch our year 2012.

Something good will come out of this...I just know it!

This weekend, we will be planting a huge garden, 

we purchased all of our triple mix and garden soil

from our local farmers, we even ordered a couple

fruit trees.... We have learned plenty 

since we moved here from the city...

Never do we take anything for granted...

Be kind to Mother Nature...

WE will share our fruits of labour, even through

stitching and quilting, we can all do some good!

You are a Mother!

 There is something about Mothers- that stands above the rest.

It matters not what you Mother, that is not the test.

If your heart is golden beyond the sun -

If your arms are outstretched beyond a run-

If ever you questioned what have you done-

You are a MOTHER.

You may  have wiped a tear or two or even three-

You may have heard some stories that would have you climbing a tree-

You may have taken a call that stops you in your tracks-

You may have questioned if you have all/or enough facts-

You are a MOTHER.

You will always question if you were the best

You will always wonder what was the test-

There will always be some sorrow

but there will be always be tomorrow-

YOU are a MOTHER!

Happy Mumm's Day.

written by me...

Lean this way- pin keep no sewing skills needed.

Lean this way, pin - keep

( a no sew project)

by Mdm Samm

I was asked earlier in the year to be part of the design
team at Riley Blake Designs...
Every 2 months we come up with a project...
This is my second project...my first was the indoor awning...
My next, well it is something for the outside...till then.....

I saw my first field of Sunflowers  in the Southern

part of Vendee, which is not far from Provence.

I went to school in France, I was 11 years old when

the sisters of the order took us to view a miracle.

It was a field of sunflowers, it was approaching

11:00 am. I remember because we always had

prayers at noon before lunch.

The sisters shared with us all that we

would be touched by this beauty that would

last a lifetime. I have to admit they were right!

Every sunflower was facing the sun...on close inspection

there was one that was facing at an angle. Not sure

"she" wanted to join in just yet...Sister Rejeanne

whispered in my ear.... "You are like that sunflower,

always a bit different".  Somethings just stay with you.

When asked to join in the rbd  PIN CUSHION club

I knew right away what I was going to create.

A sunflower!  

Although I love colour, I always seem to lean

to 2-3 colours only ...Good for all of you  since I am pretty sure

many of you have some black, white, and yellows in your stash..

I chose this gingham yellow from the Fly a kite collection

and the solid black from the Tuxedo line.

Supplies

You will need less than 1/2 fat quarter of each.

You will need a flan tin or cookie cutter,

1  floral foam ball. ( purchase whole at Michael's, and you cut it
in half using a very sharp bread knife-

sew you can make 2, same price if you just purchase 1/2)

Presencia thread in yellow for French Knots , I used a variegated.

a glue gun to glue it all together....

No sewing, except for the french knots...
( there is a  self covered button there...I was thinking
of using instead of french knots..some of you could do that 
too if french knots are not your thing)
I ended up doing french knots..

Outline your tin with a white pencil and then 

add 4 inches around the diameter.

You will need that when you stitch the circle

and cinch it around your half floral foam. 

It will cover the bottom completely. 

 Now fold your circle into quarters and finger press.

Open it up and draw a 2inch in diameter circle. 

Now using Presencia Finca 8 variegated thread

make some french knots to fill that circle.

Now cut 2.5 inch strips, and sew 2 together..

You only want to have 1 seam. Now fold towards

the middle, sew your seams are touching the centre

strip. Next, wrap around flan tin or cookie cutter,

you want to see the shape and wrapping it very tight

will make it easier when you add the floral foam.

Cut 2.5" wof of gingham and 1.5" wof of solid black.
Fold in half press, and then fold 2 pleats.
stitch, fold 2 pleats again and stitch. and repeat
for both gingham and black. ( Ok, you can use
your machine if you want to) lol

These will be your petals, and of course they are ruffled..
I added the black to the outside of the gingham, take
a peak at pic again. I will wait....

Now you will stitch around the edges with just a loose
stitch, stitch your whole circle piece; the piece  you added
all your french knots to. Pull it as tight as you can,
and if you have a label, stitch that on to cover
your gathered piece.

Smooth it out as much as you can, you will have enough
to smooth it out, if you followed the 4 inch rule..

It should fit in perfectly, before you add your ruffle.
Use your glue gun and add a thin strip of glue
around the base and secure it to your tin or cookie cutter.
I used some tweezers and two of my  strips of ruffles
and tucked them inside the tin and  flower foam ball...
and voila!

I added a bow...gotta have a bow,
and some pins, and a PIN it flag....

I hope you will Lean into this one.
She is easy to make and I won't tell you how
long it took me....( I made a few before I got it the way I wanted it
for you) suffice to say, it will take you no where near that time....
Less than an hour!

What will your flower look like.
What colours will you choose..?

I HAVE a KIT for you...
tin, 1/2 flower ball and this fabric
if you like....but if you tell me your colour
choice, I will be sure to add enough of that colour too!

MONDAY GIVEAWAY
if you are a follower you have an extra chance...

My best

Congrats to Deborah..
You said surprise "me"...and that I will
your package will be sent today
you will be making your very
own floral pin cushion

5 Wilton WOOPIE PANs to giveaway!

I am more than  a keeper of some blogs ( wink)

I bake too. Love to bake in fact.

I was sent this recipe and I followed

it to a T.  ( the first time, that was Monday)

Way to sweet for my DH and I's palate.

Sew this morning I changed the recipe

and the results were a much  chewier ( can I say that?)

 cookie with less sugar.

The only thing I did not do was

compromise it's taste...

( crunchy on the outside and chewy in the centre)

I have this buddy, I am sharing this recipe for

today. I understand he lovessssss

oatmeal and sew does his sister..

Sew here you go....Master E. 

I think you will be shouting..

WHOOOOOPEEEEEE!

very soon!

Whoopee Pan here

great price and you will be using this plenty...

I think I will be getting one more pan..

Whoopie Cookie 

 WET Ingredients.....

( I made another batch this morning..most of them went out the

door yesterday to neighbouring friends)

I am always testing recipes , when I made this again,

I subbed 1 ingredient...

1/2 cup of unsalted butter ( soft, you know room temp works best)

3/4 cup of brown sugar..( I chose golden) make sure you pack it well

1/2 cup of honey ( I love creamed honeys)  OR you can add 1/2 cup maple syrup

instead of the honey. ( they just came out of the oven, same texture, a bit diff't

taste...very flavourful) 

2 large eggs

( wet ingredients...mix all these till nice and creamy)

you can  use a mixer..I just did it by hand.

Now for dry Ingredients

2 cups of all purpose flour  ( used Robin Hood)

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon of mixed spiced ( it has nutmeg and cloves and ginger)

1 cup of uncooked oats..not the instant kind...the one that has large flakes.. 

( I chose Robin Hood)

1 cup of raisins..( I like dark ones, golden would work too)

HOW TO:

Preheat oven to 325'..you are going to bake this for a longer time

than a traditional cookies...  A warm oven will make them chewier

and more moist...( can you say more moist) or moister lol

 Add your dry ingredients alternating with some raisins...mix

with a wooden spoon...a little more dry ingredients and then more raisins...

YOU want your dough to be still wet, not dry...I always end up

with a couple tablespoons of flour mixture that I don't' add...

because it is at the wet mixture consistency you are striving for.

Look at the pic above. click on it..you can see the consistency

better there..that is what you want to achieve.

SEE IT? lol

Now drop a rounded tablespoon of dough into each

dish...If you don't have one of these, use of course

a baking sheet with some parchment paper.

Those of you who have a  whoopee pan by Wilton,

no prep needed, no butter, no parchment...

Now put your timer on for 20 minutes..YES 20 minutes

They will come out just like this..

I leave them in the whoopee pan for 10 minutes

and then I tap the pan on the side, and let the cookies

fall onto a dish towel ( clean one of course)

There you go...Let's all have a whoopee day..

Or tomorrow...or the day after...

I think a whoopee cookie would be fitting for any day

at all ...

 btw this recipe yields 21 cookies...

Ok, I have some behind the scenes stuff

to address today...still working

on stuff for that other blog...

 WE have a GIVEAWAY

OHHHHH my look what I have done...

I have received sew many inquiries about this 

WHOOPIE PAN...( I call it whoopee) 

that I decided to make a call into

WILTON headquarters.

I spoke to the nicest over the top gracious

lady, and she said "what can we do?" 

She loved the photo of the whoopee cookies btw...

I said with some enthusiasm ( wink) "a couple whoopee pans for a giveaway

would be nice...."

She said " I was thinking 5"

SEW we are going to give 5 of these wonderful pans

away on Monday..

Count them 5... to 5 diff't people..

I think I may be more excited than you...

yes I think sew..

OK, if you win one of these, what will be your

favourite cookie recipe that you will

make in them..?

Ms S, thank you sew much

for creating some sweet excitement

over here for my quilting and baking friends..

Congrats to the following...

M.E. 

Cherry

Corrie

Barbara 

and Selina...

YOU all won a whoopie pan..

WHOOPEE....yes you

all will be baking something

whoopee very soon..