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Quilt Top by Me, Hand Quilted by my Mother, Doll crocheted by my Mother

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Spring and Lilacs

I love spring, I love watching Mother Earth awaken from her Winter nap... The colors of spring are so pretty, there is the yellow of the forsythia, white shows on the Bradford pear trees, the peach trees are flashing their shades of pinks and soon the Azaleas will be in full bloom as I have seen the buds showing their colors of magenta, pink, peach and white... But alas I live in Florida and I am still learning what loves this area... My lovely northern tulips just won't do anything here as no freeze in the winter for them... the daffodils did bloom, but not like the ones I had up north... I miss my tulips, I had thousands of them around my house in the north that would signal springs arrival.. The other plant I miss is my Lilac bushes, I had four of them in my yard and you just needed to open the back door of the house and it would fill with their lovely scent... I always cut a few and had them on the table to bring spring into my home... But here they just don't grow... I tried... I have heard there is a version of the Lilac that would do well here, but I haven't found any yet...

I can't have the scent of my fresh Lilac so I did the next best thing yesterday.... Lilac scent filled my home. No I didn't find a home spray that was Lilac and no one sent me fresh Lilacs... I made Lilac bath products.... There are three of us that just love Lilacs.... My Mother In Law, My Step Daughter and of course Me.. Mel had gotten some Lilac bath products for Christmas, but they were lost in the fire.. so I decided to make some items for both of us..  So last night my kitchen became my lab... I started with Lilac bath salts, Lilac soaps, then some Lilac bath gel and finally some Lilac lotion... when I was done the house smelled like a spring day....plus I now have lovely Lilac bath products to keep springtime a little longer...

                                                   Lilac soaps in the mold
                                                         Packaged Lilac soaps
                                                              Lilac scent and colors
                                                   Lilac lotion in the making
                                                           Lilac bath gel 
                                           and the finish, Lilac bath salts, with Lilac lotion, Lilac bath gel and Lilac Soaps... I am now ready for Spring....Lilac everywhere or at least in my bath...

Friday, March 4, 2011

Friday's Blast from the Past time

Welcome to Friday's Blast from the Past.
Time to take a trip back in time and see if you remember these wonders

This week's Blast is  PHONES   I recently had a conversation with a person in my stitching group and she had suggested some Antique items and Rotary Phones was on her list.... Antique, I think not, I remember them, does that mean I am a antique... I thought classic was 25 years, vintage was 50 years and antique was  100 years or older  maybe I am wrong, But really I  might be vintage, but not quite a antique, at least not yet..

My first memory of a phone in the house was one of these lovely wall phones is stylish black

My best friend had this beautiful desk model in of course the all to classy black
Every teen wanted one of these phones for their pink bedrooms the beautiful Princess Phone
then there was the oh so modern sculptured phones and I had one that looked like a donut


The Cradle phone graced the tables in one of my first homes and Mickey was the next one.



For my old fashioned kitchen, my step father decided that I needed a new wall phone with the Antique look.
But over the years the kids have bought phones for us that they just knew we would love.. The designs were different, but I hated the ringers, can you say MOO  or Choo Choo



Now I still have a house phone, maybe that is soon to be a classic or just a thing of the past but I like my cordless phone with no set style.... I have a cell phone and yes I could go on and on about the cell phone as I had one of the first models that was huge, it came with its own bag and it was bigger then my purse... now the have one so small it fits in your ear... We don't use our cell phone that much, when we want to get away we don't want to be bothered with the phone. Our grand kids are so hooked on their phones if they have a day without it, well lets say that is the worst thing that could happen to a teen.... Not to be able to text your friends   how awful....  and yes, I know their parents take the phones away as a form of punishment....is that cruel and unjust punishment.... I wonder        One more thing about the phones, there are so many websites where you can purchase these phones, I found quite a few at Oldphoneworks.com  and there are sites where you can buy just about any kind of phone design you may want, balls, figures, animals, products, you name it I think someone made a phone of it...

Pet Peeve of the Day
Thank You, is on top of the Pet Peeve list today,  is it so hard for people to say thank you now days?  My Mother raised me to say please and thank you, and I raised my children that way.  But I think somewhere along the line things changed.  I send things out all the time and if I take the time to purchase or make something and give it or mail it to someone the courtesy thing to do is to say thank you or at the very least acknowledge that you received the item.  My ex DIL was famous for forgetting to let someone know a package arrived let alone saying thank you to the giver... My Mom used to get so mad when she had to call the kids and find out if they received a package.  Ex DIL was always to busy to pick up the phone... Now the grand kids follow as they get birthday cards with money and yet they never call to say they received the card or to thank us for sending them their birthday money.  Wonder if they would notice if on their next birthday nothing came in the mail.... 
I couldn't do that, I will keep sending and hope one day their manners kick in, maybe if the kids start remembering their manners the adults will too.  I have been on Melanie's case for the past few weeks to send thank you cards out to all the people who have sent her craft supplies or money.. She received so many cards, and packages from people she didn't know, who just wanted to lend a helping hand and support her as she recovers from the fire that took her home and everything she owned...
So remember, If you receive something, a thank you takes little effort but means so much... We tend to be nicer to strangers then we are to those we love or are related to...and they are the people that really count.
 
 Giggle of the Day
Now for the fun part of Friday's Fun post
It is a commercial, I know there are so many stupid commercials out there and most times I just change the channel.  But I love the commercials with animals... remember the dog at day camp, or the dog with the pacifier in its mouth, they are priceless... and who could forget the Taco Bell dog, he even made it on shirts... My newest favorite is not one, not two but numerous dogs in a commercial for, Are you ready for this??
 
DOGGIE DENTURES
 
Pedigree Dentastix: Doggie dentures

Here is the link for the commercial
http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/pedigree_dentastix_doggie_dentures
OK so there isn't doggie dentures (thankfully), but doggie teeth hygiene is a serious problem and Pedigree Dentastix is a great product and besides what dog doesn't like a treat to chew on and its great for their teeth

At the pedigree site you can upload your dogs photo and give them dentures

http://www.pedigree.com/oralcare/denture-your-dog.aspx

Well that's all for Friday's Fun



Our little Lizzy

I know you have all been introduced to our grand daughter Lizzy. She is Jenny's 4th child and she is following in her siblings footsteps.  Jack is on his way to becoming a Eagle Scout and he has been involved in many community projects, Allison for her Bat Mitzvah choose to make and place mugs filled with supplies that were donated to the Ronald McDonald House... and now comes 9 year old Lizzy and her Bright Idea
Lizzy is concerned about her youngest sister Becca and her having to test her blood sugar daily.  Lizzy was so concerned about children and diabetes that she decided to take on a project and help the cause to fight diabetes.  I could tell you about Lizzy and her cause and what she is doing but instead I have chosen to put the link to Lizzy's site so you can read her thoughts and see what she is doing to help. I am a proud Grandmother, proud that my grand children are trying to make a difference in this world, proud that my step daughter and her husband are teaching their children to care for others and to take positive actions. Please visit Lizzy's site and leave a comment on her efforts, if you would like to make a donation you can follow the link from that site or leave a comment here and I can send you a address where to send your donation.  Grand pa and Nana will be making our donation to her cause.


Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Golden Quilter's Awards

SewCalGal will once again be hosting the Golden Quilter Awards 2011   visit her site to nominate your favorite Quilter's, Teacher's and Products


Here are the Categories:

1) Best Designer
2) Best Teacher/Instructor
3) Best Author
4) Best Quilt Store (Physical)
5) Best Quilt Store (online)
6) Best Long Arm Quilter
7) Most Innovative product (physical item)
8) Most Innovated product (software item)
9) Most influential person in the world of quilting to-date, aka "Lifetime Achievement"
10) Best Quilt Retreat

You have until March 15th to get your nominations in,  any entry after March 16th  will not be considered.

Voting will start on March 19th

So go and nominate your favorites, then go back on the 19th and cast your votes