Friday's Fun Blast from the Past 1/28

Blast from the Past

Here we are again, Friday and yet another Blast from the Past.

Smells are the Blast today... Can you close your eyes and remember what your Mom, Dad, or Grand Mother smelled like?  Is there that one scent that will take you back in time when you get a whiff of it?  I recently had that happen to me.

 

 I opened a bottle of Jergens Hand Lotion and as the air filled with the sweet smell of cherries and almonds, I was whisked back to a time when my Nan was still in my life.  My Nan lived with us and she was one of those non stop type ladies. She was always making herself busy with as she called them the household chores. To make sure her hands stayed soft my Nan would pull out her bottle of Jergens hand lotion. rub it into her hands, arms and face and the air filled with the sweet smells of that wonderful lotion. I loved that smell and my Nan would make sure my hands were a soft as hers.

 My hands have been so dry lately and nothing seemed to work, We stopped by the drug store and there on the shelf was my old friend Jergens lotion... Now days the lotion sports a plastic bottle with the words original scent on the label  instead of the beautiful glass bottle she once wore, but when I opened the lid and took a whiff, there was the wonderful scent I remember so well. My bottle may not be as glamorous as she used to be, but she still has the power to take me back to my childhood and bring back the memory of a special lady, My Nan. My hands are now soft and smooth and maybe one day my grand kids will recall their Nana's special cherry and almond scent from her Jergen's Lotion.

The wonderful vintage Jergens bottles like the ones shown can be found on ebay, I might just have to buy one so my Jergens Lotion will get her glam back.

Pet Peeve of the Week

Rude Cashier's, Now don't get me wrong these men and women have a hard job dealing with the public. I have seen customers being rude to them to.  But if I get in their line and I smile and ask how you are doing, then know that I am a nice person.  I know they really don't want to be stuck behind a register when it is such a nice day out, or they have a date in a hour or would really rather just be texting their friends.  They applied for the job, and were so happy when they were hired, They  now have extra money in their pocket to buy that must have new game or outfit, Now they must realize that you have to work to earn that money, friends will wait and if they don't, well it really isn't my fault.  Realize that because I choose to shop at their store, I am helping to pay their salary and it would be so nice if  they just said Hi or smiled a little. If I and the hundreds of other customers that are served in a week decided not to come and see their unsmiling face, then the store might have to cut back hours, or worse cut staff, They might lose their job, The store might even have to close.  So just a little smile might save their job, Most of us customers are nice and we to have things we would rather do than shop and pay high prices or deal with a grumpy cashier. Heck, most of us have done our time behind a cash resister or two.

Giggle of the Week

Exercise Program

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side.

With a 5-lb potato bag in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax.

Each day you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer. After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato bags.

Then try 50-lb potato bags and then eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato bag in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. (I'm at this level.)

After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each bag.   Gotcha!!!  hehehe


Special Notice.. Watch Nanbon's Corner and Southern Style blogs for a CSN Giveaway, coming real soon... There will be a giveaway on both blogs, so make sure to enter both contests.  Also at the end of January the One World, One Heart Blog event will be under way. Last year there was over 1,000 blogs participating..Think of it, new blogs to visit and each will host a doorprize... So check back real soon..

My little Runway Models

One of my favorite blogs to read belongs to our own Jennifer.... She just tickles me sometimes with her posts.  You never know what will interest her from week to week. It could be the death of her beloved refrigerator or a post on the new puppy that will be a small dog (HA, if she only knew) Our Jenny is not the graceful swan, she can and has taken a spill or two and ended up on crutches and she will detail the whole scenario in her blog. I have even offered to buy her a padded suit and at times I call her Grace... Thankfully she hasn't had any of those blogs lately... Jenny is also a Huge Coffee addict, her coffee shop of choice is Starbucks, so if she is having a bad day or week and we are in her area we stop and order her a coffee.  Now we can never remember what she drinks, but thankfully the employees at Starbucks know Jenny and Phil, we just tell them to give us Jenny's coffee and they make her Peppermint Mocha latte with non whipped cream or something like that...They know and it makes Jen's day. Jen has even hosted many coffee giveaways on her blog. She has had Community Coffee, speciality coffees, and recently she got to do a Tassimo system giveaway, of course she also got to test and keep one of the machines which was  to her delight.
Now I am not a blogger who will post photos of the grand kids all the time. But the other day I went to Jen's blog and there was photos of the most beautiful little runway models and I just had to share with you.  Jen and Phil are the parents of 6 beautiful children... Phil is a part time photographer and he recently photographed a bridal show.  Lizzy and Becca were part of that show.... so with out further ado, here are the photos I took from Jen's blog just to show off our beautiful flower girls...

Miss Becca and Miss Lizzy

This little guy is another of Jen's little Jewel's  Look into those sweet, adorable,  innocent eyes, would you believe he is Jen's biggest trouble maker... NO, Not that sweet boy.... but he is..... I just think he is so cute... but he does have a tendency to cause Jen and Phil to sprout a few extra gray hairs now and then...

I almost forgot, I wanted to share Jen's newest addition to her home... Her little Sally.  Sally was given to Emily by a friend and Jen was told she would be the lap dog that Jen wanted.. We stopped by the house and I took one look at Little Sally and oh no, Jen, I think they told you a story, Sally is not going to be that tiny little lap dog you want.... She looks more like a Saint Bernard puppy... Remember Beethoven.... What big feet she has and that big head.....

We stopped by Jen's after my doctor's appointment Monday and in just a couple of weeks the little puppy had tripled in size. It took both arms just to pick her up, I just looked at Jen and laughed   Jen still thinks Sally is going to be that small lap dog... I don't think so.... She is 9 weeks old and a armful already and she will keep growing until she is 6 months old..

 OH and she is a piddler, yep she got me when I picked her up... Becca and Mo laughing like crazy because Sally peed on Nana's hand....

One More Done

I just finished my sixth square of 2011 for my charity quilt group... This one is from a kit and it is a cute little dog that will go into the dog quilt.   I bought the kit on sale at Jo Ann's along with  a Dolly Mama kit so I will be starting her tonight.    I think my new goal for the month of February will be a Dolly Mama quilt. If anyone has any of the Dolly Mama or Mill Hill patterns that you no longer want or need, I would love to have them... 
The WOCS ladies have been stitching and getting lots of squares done, soon as I have all the squares for a quilt I will be choosing fabrics and using my Accuquilt GO to cut out the blocks.  Sometimes it is hard to choose just the right color or pattern for a quilt. I try to match or coordinate fabrics to match the colors in all the squares and normally there is 5 to 9 squares per quilts. It is a challenge and I just love a challenge.

Oops, I almost forgot to share my news with you all.  I went to the foot doctor yesterday and I have another month of sitting on my derriere and keeping my foot up.  Why just another month... well, I am scheduled to have surgery on the 25th of February to fix the foot for good. All the treatments just would not work this time.  There were three options and even though the one I chose was the radical one, it is the one that has the best results.  I didn't want to do the other two options and have them not work and have to spend more down time.  So I am getting the surgery and I am told I will be able to walk on the foot that same day... I can't wait to get this all over with. After all Spring is coming and there is spring cleaning and gardening to do plus I want to have a yard sale, I can not afford to be hobbling along.
Have a great day and I hope you enjoyed my little dog... Nana Bonnie

Friday's Fun 1/21

Welcome back to Friday's Fun, so here is yet another Blast from the Past for you

Remember this cute little things, I know a lot of you have never seen this handy dandy device, what is it you ask?  Every refrigerator came with at least two of these devises. They were really easy to operate. Fill with water, open the door of your Frigidaire, open the freezer door at the top and place this ice cube tray on the shelf  inside. When ready to use ice, pull the handle up, take the divider out and you now have perfect cubes.  One precaution when using this device, avoid touching with wet hands or your tongue as you will stick to the tray.

Now days we have ice makers in our fridge and if we have to use ice cube trays they are made of plastic.  But the concept is not dead, no some ingenious inventor is making a fortune on this type of device.

tell me now, does this look similar, just a little bigger, same principle, but with out the pull handle.  Still you get perfect little brownies.  I use myPerfect Brownie pan all the time, I liked it so much I bought one for each daughter. This would be great to make brownies or little cakes for a school, church or scout troup bake sale

See, Something Old is Now Something New.

Pet Peeve of the Day

I love watching all the cake decorating shows that are on TV, they inspire me to be just a bit more creative in my cake decorating. Some of the cakes they make are beautiful, others, well lets say they are not that great.  BUT really, can you believe the amount these places are selling their creations for? One place charges no less then $5,000 for any cake and that is not a large cake like the size of a wedding cake, but that is for a small cake. There was one show where a entertainer in Las Vegas had a cake made for his brother's birthday and the cost of that cake was $15,000 dollars. ARE THEY CRAZY. I think having a great cake is wonderful for any occasion, but really is a cake worth that much money.. there are so many other things I could think to put that much money to use for. I am trying to find a way to buy a long arm sewing machine so I can make more quilts for my charities, maybe I should start making designer cakes and that will pay for the sewing machine.

Giggle of the Day

Pajamas, now I don't mean PJ's in general. I like PJ's and I wear them to bed, if I don't feel well I will stay in them all day as I laze around the house.  But one thing I would never do is be caught outside my house in them. I wouldn't walk to the mailbox in them, I wouldn't go to someones home in them and Never would I be caught in a store in them.  I am not making this up, there are people out there who will go anywhere in their PJ's. I stopped by a mini market and had to do a double take of a lady in her PJ's.  The other day I spied a lady checking her mailbox in her PJ's and when a lady showed up to pick up a freecycle item I was giving away,  you guessed it she was in her PJ's.  Plus they now have PJ's that look like jeans... Whats next in the world of high fashion..  But really seeing all these women running around in the PJ's is just way to funny.

Another finish

My fifth CCS for 2011, stitched for WOCS
I am still not supposed to be on my foot, so I continue to stitch... My group is making a quilt with the long legged birds from Heart in Hand.  I signed up for the Christmas Bird and finished him in one day...

I am currently working on a Dog Square for the dog quilt, but it will take a little time to get this one done. Monday I go back to the foot doctor and see if the foot is healing.

Its been like Christmas here this week

It has been just like Christmas, maybe even better... My mail box has been stuffed to the rim with wonderful things this week.  I love getting packages in the mail, any kind of packages, even those little tiny samples that companies send out make me smile. But this week I received items from my online charity group, items I won online, and a surprise from a online friend.  So if you want to see what I got, I will show you my goodies.

I won a giveaway for reading glasses from the Reading Glasses shopper they were the first package to arrive this week, I ordered mine in Purple (so I know at a glance they are needlework glasses) and they are 4.0  I know why so strong, well I use them as magnifiers when stitching, very comfortable to wear.  I have 4 pair from Reading glasses Shopper that are just for my stitching, plus I had gotten my husband some for when he is checking his coins. 

Next two packages were from members of my Charity Group, they sent me their stitched items and quilt blocks that I will be using in future quilts for a nursing home. Plus the lady that sent the log cabin block also made me this special badge.  It will proudly hang in my sewing room. 

These two ladies did a wonderful job

Next package was a total surprise and I just love surprises.  I received this delightful pattern from a online friend. We met at the online Needlework Show, She is a designer and had a booth at the show. I had emailed her to enter her door prize drawing, I didn't win the door prize, but she stopped by my blog and she wrote me, seems we had so many thing in common. We became fast friends sharing jokes, stories, our love for our families and of course our babies, our dogs. We send things back and forth from time to time, I think at times it is more like a contest to see who can surprise the other first.  She got me this time but good, She said she saw this pattern and thought of me and my quilt making and had to get the pattern for me.  A big Thank You to my friend Miss Claire, watch out, it is my turn now....LOL.  I am always on the lookout for things my friends and family would enjoy, things they collect or things they like to spend their spare time working on. I thought I was the only person who did this, but it seems that once again my friend and I are thinking on the same wave length.  I also want to share with you a little note my friend sent me. It brought tears to my eyes, guess pay it forward works.

the note:

***Bonnie I Have to tell you, thanks to you, one of the local nursing homes (several of their patients were clients of mine when I was working) will be benefitting from a slight change in plans. I will be crocheting lap blankets for them to give to the patients who don't have anyone to come and visit. Claire***

And now for today's Special Package, I won a online contest , it was for a Gift Certificate to Fat Quarter Shop. So Monday I went Shopping at their web site. WOW so many really wonderful things there and what did I find but grab bags and they were on sale.  Now I was trying to make the most of the gift certificate that I received as I knew I would buy fabrics and those fabrics would go into my Charity quilts.  They had FQ grab bags with 12 FQs for $15.00 or a 12 lb grab bag for $69.00, I wasn't sure, I hadn't ordered from here before, which was the better value for my purpose. SO I emailed them and to my shock I received a answer right away, I thought surely I wouldn't hear from them till Tuesday as this was a holiday weekend. My question was answered and I made my choice and order three of the FQ grab bags and would you believe they arrived today, now that is super fast service.  The bag was bulging at the seams, and when I opened it there were bundles of beautiful fabrics.

my lovely bulging package from Fat Quarter Shop I was so excited as I had no idea what was inside.

see my beautiful packages and yes, that is my Hungry Accuquilt Go Cutter in the background just waiting to eat those lovely Fat Quarters..YUMMMM

Look at all the luscious fabrics just waiting to be made into a quilt. I am so pleased with the Fat Quarter Shop, their customer service is excellent, the product line is fantastic, and their shipping if so fast, I would recommend them as a AAA store.  Plus I just love their sales.... Thank You Fat Quarter Shop



Happy Birthday to my husband

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband..  Yesterday was my DH birthday, I didn't bake him a cake as he is just not much of a cake fan. Instead I baked one of his favorite pies, A Lemon Meringue.  This is not a kit, it is from fresh ingredients and it tasted so good.  I did have a little problem with the meringue weeping, for some reason my meringues weep.  Never had that kind of problem before when I lived up north, so I am going to say it is because of the area I live in now and not what I am doing wrong.  At least the meringue didn't slid off the lemon curd.  Guess I need to watch more of the food network channel and I am sure Alton Brown could tell me what my problem is.