Wylde Women Award

Lori, the most positive, upbeat person in blogland, at Morning Glories & Moonflowers has bestowed upon me another award! And, thanks to modern technology Blogger is posting this whilst I am on the Cape and nowhere near my computer. So - as soon as I get back I will take care of both awards.

What's that smell?

Oh - sea shells in a tack box. I don't recommend visiting the beach, collecting sea shells, forgetting that you took them out of the car and put them 'some place' in the garage for over a week. The smell (because, some of those seashells still had some 'meat' on them) is a little overwhelming.

She's A Winner!

Over the summer our library is hiding animals throughout the library. Each week there is a new animal to find. Once you find the animal you return to the children's librarian and let her know where it is. You then enter your name into a raffle. Some prizes include gift certificates to a local independent bookstore, stuffed animals, crayons, books, etc. My three-year-old won last week. Out of all the prizes in the box what did she pick? A day-glo pink slinky. She wore it on her arm like a large bracelet.

Necklace Giveaway

Lori over at Morning Glories and Moonflowers is celebrating her 300th post with an altered art pendant giveaway! Make sure you visit her blog for all the details. She is also hosting a fall swap, in case you want to get in on that too.

Blog Makeover Giveaway

This one is almost too good to be true. Nell over at Casual Friday Everyday is hosting a blog makeover giveaway. Sign-ups end on July 31st. This could free up so much time for some blogger!

Think about it -

No looking through other blogs to find that post on how to change your blog from two columns to three.

No trying free-ware to get that avatar you wanted.

Just focusing on how fashionable your blog now is while you type away.

That would be awesome.

Fall Fabric Swap

Because now I'm procrastinating - waiting for one more load of laundry to dry before I finish packing - I found a new swap to join. The 1st Annual Fall Fabric Swap will be happening on Marvelous Mouse Designs Blog. It is so easy. All you have to do is send a partner one yard of fabric. I can so do that. I just found out that there is a quilt shop down in the Hyannis area - gee right where I'll be on vacation next week. Oh darn. I will have to go and visit it and hope I can find some fabric. Ooohh - maybe barnyard fabric!

Reverisble Bird Seed Skirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Reverisble Bird Seed Skirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Okay - If I don't win this skirt (& I'll be on vacation the day she picks the winner) I'm stealing the idea. Isn't it awesome. My kids actually like to feed goats and chickens at the farm where we belong to a CSA (we never seem make it down to the pigs or cows) so maybe I'll make one if I can find a cute barnyard fabric. Any suggestions on where to find a cute barnyard fabric?

Best Soft Serve On The Planet & Swap Answers

I love summer. I love friends that invite me up to their homes last minute (because I'm a spur of the moment kind-of gal). What I don't love is using the wrong level SPF on my kids and having my one daughter & myself looking red as lobsters. No, I don't love that. Poor thing. I've decided, as soon as I get back from our real vacation next week, that I'm buying SPF fabric and creating some clothes for us. Our pale white skin just burns and burns and burns. No fun.

Before the sunburn though we had a good time up in the Ossipee Lake Region of New Hampshire. We went out for ice cream. Yumm-o. What is better than an ice cream shop right on the highway? According to their signage - this shop has the best soft serve on the planet. I don't know if it was the best though - I had moose tracks & it was extremely yummy hard ice cream. Photographer for these photos - my six-year-old.

And - what did the Mallory & Jace receive in their swap? A lot of stuff! But, the photos in my other post were of a set of matching cards and a gathering apron. Will have to post those photos separately - am in the midst of doing much laundry, cleaning the house, contacting our house / dog / fish sitter, making a packing list and trying to find toys to 'sneak' into the car so the kids don't know they have fun new stuff waiting for them. Ah - to be a mom prepping for a vacation.

Edited to add: Okay - Sherry has posted way better pictures of the stuff I sent her kids than I took. Visit her blog to see the stash and the apron.

Mini Golf Mania

I love mini-golf. Back when I was a working girl at a large pharmaceutical company in East Hanover, NJ there was a mini-golf place 'next door' (just a bit down the highway). Two of my co-workers and I had our lunch hour down to a science. The one with the car closest to the building had to drive to mini-golf, then there would be time to play one round of mini-golf before ordering / eating an order of fries each for lunch (okay - I was in my early 20's and fries for lunch were fine back then), then we'd drive back and resume our day a little happier than we had left it.

Up here in New England near the coast there are tons of mini-golf establishments. I told my husband my goal is to visit each and every one and to write a book - half of the book he could write as if it were a 'real' golf book (Captains Corner Mini-Golf located in Salibury, MA offers XXX yards of golf on premium fake grass) the other half would be for mom's and kids (clean bathrooms, great ice cream selection, lots of seating - for eating the ice cream, close to ocean, fake dinosaurs, etc.).

My six-year-old plays the game for about half the holes and then gets bored. My three-year-old, on the other hand, has played her version of this game since she was 18 months. She hits the ball with her club, chases after it, picks it up, and plops it into the hole. Hole in one every time!

The best part - they just added batting cages.

Oh - or - the other best part is that if you get a hole in one, as you leave, you tell the cashier which hole it was. Every day different holes are chosen at random and if your hole in one matches the 'hole of the day' you receive a gift certificate to the seafood restaurant next door.

Golf, batting cages, seafood - oh - and did I mention, directly across the street is an ice cream stand. The only thing that could make this better for me would be that it was located on the beach.

Join Craft Corps!

Vickie Howell is working on another book and is looking for crafters to interview. Visit her blog for all the details including the Crafter Profilee Form. Hope to read about someone I know in there!
Deadline to send her an e-mail: August 15

Fall Swap and a peek

Lori over at Morning Glories and Moonflowers just hosted a Kid's Summer Swap and now is hosting a Fall Swap - for us adults this time. It should be a blast. Sign-ups will end on August 15th. Visit her blog for more details and to sign-up.

And - I finally sent out my Kid's Summer Swap packages today. Only a week late. Car issues. Kind of a bummer living in the 'burbs and not having a car. Anyway, here are some photos as to what

Mallory

& Jace

can look forward to in their boxes. Any guesses as to what they might be?

Summer Dessert - and Project Runway Tonight!

I've mentioned this before & I'll mention it again - we don't have central air. We have two rooms with air conditioners - the kitchen is not one of them. I wanted to make cookies today. When the temperature inside my kitchen surpasses that of the outdoors - I abstain from cooking (which would be for the majority of July and August - good thing my husband likes grilling and my kids like cereal).

For dessert tonight we didn't have much ice cream left. So - we made our own chipwiches. I just used store bought cookies, sprinkles (or jimmies - depending on where you live) from the pantry and the rest of the ice cream. They were a hit.

Guess who had a good (and messy) day at camp today?
I even let her go to the library looking like that!
The children's librarian's son goes to the same camp.

And - in just a little over an hour season 5 of Project Runway will begin. They are already taking applications for season 6. Let's see - how about a housewife that makes crayon rolls & coasters - can I turn them into a dress and "Make it work"? Nah. I'll stick to watching the show.

Summer Memories

My daughters remember last year when we rented a cabin in Maine and we roasted marshmallows over an open fire (they also remember the bull moose hitting our car but that is another story).

On Friday, my older daughter's camp roasted s'mores on an open fire as one of their Free Friday activities. She ran out of time and was unable to make any. As we drove home I promised her that we would roast marshmallows this past weekend.


Fast forward to Sunday afternoon and us in our local grocery store buying the last portable grill and some charcoal along with the fixings for S'mores. We went home and Lucy and her Daddy assembled the grill. The girls then proceeded to each eat half a bag of marshmallows. Ah - summer memories - when your parents let you dance outside while eating sugar on a stick.



Of course - that could be why the older one didn't feel well this morning & I sent her to camp anyway and she wound up having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day and the camp director called and said I had to go and pick her up early...maybe, perhaps...

Pinata Pinafore GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

Pinata Pinafore GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

Really - this woman is too much. Another giveaway. She made three dresses in one weekend. Ummm - I'm working on coasters. Yeah. Her kids must actually go to bed on time and / or not destroy her sewing area because mine don't want to go to bed and if one of them is being good in the sewing room the other one is doing something to mess up my space. Anyway, I digress, visit her blog and see if you can win a fabulous pinata pinafore!

Rhubarb, Beets & Swiss Chard, Oh My!

Delilah the cow and Lucy & Lola at the farm where we joined a CSA. I'm kind-of hoping Delilah doesn't make it into our meat share - she's so cute and only a little bit bigger than our St. Bernard. In the photo Lucy (the taller girl) is sporting a headband made from a 100% polyester recycled tie - pattern is from Nini Makes.

We have been receiving our Vegetable share for at least a month now. All I have to say is WOW! The lettuce is amazing. On our 1st tour our farmer said that salad dressing was to hide the taste of store bought lettuce - that his lettuce would hold its own in a salad. Was he ever right.


And, thanks to the CSA, I have used Rhubarb for the 1st time in my life. I made a rhubarb crumble and a rhubarb cake. The cake is pictured above - covered with whipped cream & since we were out of normal ice cream an ice cream sandwich to top it off. I'm partial to the crumble though. I love oatmeal and cinnamon together.

And, I just had beets for the 1st time as well. Well, I mean, probably like others I have had the canned beets from the store that taste - um - unique. Let me tell you - fresh beets are unbelievably yummy! We had them boiled and made borscht that was okay but not great.

Tonight I'm off to find the New Moosewood Cookbook because it supposedly has the best chilled borscht recipe and our library won't open again until Monday & I need to make this now. Well, tomorrow. Along with a Swiss Chard and Artichoke dip I found on a new blog (new for me) Farm Girl Fare (see - get veggies you normally don't buy and it sends you searching for recipes all over the web).

Happy Eating!

Brillante Weblog Award

I want to thank Lori over at Morning Glories & Moonflowers for bestowing a weblog award on me. I feel honored and awestruck all at once and seem to have misplaced the speech I was sure I had written.

Now I have the honor of passing this award to seven others and will do so very soon - I just have to finish up assembling my Kid's summer swap stuff that I signed-up for on her blog as well.

BTRS Swap - Place Mats for Me

I just got my place mats today. Well, they were in my mailbox yesterday but I didn't go across the street to check it until today. They are so fabulous! Kris over at River City Handmade did a wonderful job. I love the polka-dots!

My daughter got home from camp today and oohed over them before saying "Mommy - you made more place mats." I had to tell her no, someone made them for me. She said "OOOOOH - she's good." Hmmm - I don't think I have gotten that reaction from her on the place mats I have made.

To top it off she sent me a matching dish towel (above) the fabric scraps (which will have to become coasters) and a pattern. The pattern is awesome. It is for a skort, short and top for a child and my older daughter only wants to wear skirts and shirts. I had to talk her into skorts for summer camp.

Thanks again Kris! You made my day!

Another Giveaway!

Lori from Morning Glories & Moonflowers has got to be my most favorite person that I have never met (in real life). I love her blog, her jewelry (she just opened an etsy shop) and all the comments she leaves me! If I ever need positive motivation I just read her comments. She's one-of-a-kind. And - she is having a giveaway to celebrate the opening of her etsy shop. So - visit her blog, follow her directions and you might win a fabulous pair of earrings.

BTRS Swap - Place Mats

BTRS Swap photo 1
Originally uploaded by bethvanduzer

I joined the Bend The Rules Sewing Swap. We were each sent a partner that provided us with information on what she would like for a place mat and napkin set.

My partner said her kitchen was black, yellow & blue. After visiting three fabric stores and purchasing four other fabrics that almost fit the bill I found this Alexander Henry fabric. It has blue, yellow, and black (the stems - they're black, right?). And - it's Alexander Henry. I love this fabric. I have seen it used a lot but I still smile every time I see it. I hope my swap partner likes this.

I started with my place mats first. It's a good thing I did. I couldn't seem to get the binding to work quite right so I opted for ric rac. I've gotta admit - I think I like the ric rac better so I'm glad I used it.

I liked making the napkins (these are reversible) and the criss cross coasters better than the place mats. They seemed to provide faster gratification. Actually, after making the reversible napkins I wished I had made my place mats the same way. And - I think a smaller print fabric would work better with the coasters. Other than that they were totally fun.

I'm done with this and will mail it off to my partner tomorrow along with a favorite summer recipe.

Ice Cream Social Frock Giveaway!!!!

Ice Cream Social Frock Giveaway!!!!

Same blog - another dress to giveaway! She makes me want to sew more and give stuff away.

Roosters-N-Rickrack Pinafore GIVEAWAY!!!!

What better way to celebrate the 4th than with a giveaway?

Roosters-N-Rickrack Pinafore GIVEAWAY!!!!

This dress is too cute!

Chunky's - The Only Way To See A Movie

Out here in Massachusetts and New Hampsshire there is a place called Chunky's. It is a movie theater that is ideal for families. There are tables that have leather chairs - either passenger or driver's side - from real limousine's. One side has an armrest, the seats recline, and they are on wheels. You sit down at a table on one of three levels and when the waiter or waitress comes over you give her your order. Your food is brought to you (even if you only want popcorn). And the food is surprisingly good. Burgers, quesadillas, salad, steak tips and chicken fingers are just a few of the menu items we have sampled. And, if you are over 21, they have beer & wine as well. You can either show up early and eat before the movie starts or, if you don't, service still happens during the show. And, since there are many families that frequent the establishment no one minds if your child dances in the aisle during the credits.

I don't think my husband or I will ever take our kids to a regular movie theater again.

Cupcakes on the counter...stories of our families

Another opportunity posted at the Creative Writing Opportunities Yahoo! Group I belong to.

RaeAnn Proost, Author of SORRY LITTLE SUPPER, THE STOVE AND STORIES OF A SWEDISH GRANDMOTHER and PEPPER IN HER POCKET, THE STOVE AND STORIES OF A COUNTRY GRANDMOTHER wants submissions for her next book:

“If you don’t, who will?” is the question I ask at my book signings. If you don’t take responsibility for writing and sharing your family stories, who will? Genealogy studies and time lines are important in the process of capturing our histories, but names, places, and dates can be dull reading. Preservation of events and impressions may be lost along the way. Remembered sights, sounds, touches, and aromas tell the stories. These are the facets of the imperfect crystals of our lives. I propose to give back and offer encouragement to new authors, inviting them to share family memories and a recipe. CUPCAKES ON THE COUNTER, THE STOVES AND STORIES OF OUR FAMILIES is to be a collection published in 2009. Please copy your story (500-1500 words) and recipe to an email (no attachments, please) and send to me before December 31, 2008, at

sorrylittlesupper( at)bendbroadband .com (replace (at) with @). In the event your story and recipe become part of the final publication, you will receive an honorarium.