Kayaking

Another beautiful day spent kayaking with my brother and his family at Cedar Creek. We spent about 4 hours kayaking. It was soooo much fun. I think next year I'm going to sell my kayak and get a yak board - easier to carry, transport and navigate!

Rainbow

A picture if a magical double rainbow in St. Agatha, Maine.

Beautiful Sunset

This is beautiful summer sunset in St. Agatha, Maine in front of Mom and Dad's house.

Acadian Village, Maine

An old stove. I love this old stove. When I go up to Maine to see my mom and dad in the summer we go to the Acadian Village. There they have houses set up to show the history of the Acadians in the St. John Valley. This old black stove is in one of the houses. It just makes me happy to look at it.

I also love the picture of the kitchen table in the same house. I could just plant myself down at that table, have someone make me some ployes on that stove and be a very happy person!

Quilting Possibilities

This morning, Sara Jane and I took a ride down the GSP (from exit 100 to exit 74) to Forked (pronounced fork - ED) River. We recently found the most quilting shop - Quilting Possibilities. It is located on Route 9 in Forked River. The people who work there are so helpful and just plain pleasant! The amount of fbric that they have there is amazing. I have never seen so much fabric in one place. The quality of the fabric is incredible also.

The best part of the store is this tiny room that is called the "Sale Room". The fabric in there goes for $5 a yard. The quality and diversity of fabric is just great. It is especially great because it looks and feels so expensive yet is inexpensive enough for a begiining quilter like me to feel comfortable using it.

So on our jaunt this morning I went into the "Sale Room" and came out with 4 yards of MODA beautiful rose themed fabric. $20 total for that and then a cute white rose theme fat quarter for $1.35. So much quality fabirc for such a great price!

Now I just have to finish my Alice in Wonderland quilt and I can make my rose quilt. Let the quilting excitement begin!

Buttons

It is official - the heat has finally gotten to my brain. It is just too hot to be outside - so I was looking around my craft room for something to do. I had a shoebox full of buttons. I had seen pictures in a magazine "Where Artists Create" and had seen beautiful canning jars filled with buttons sorted according to color. It was so sparkly and pretty.

I sorted all the buttons by color and then ran to WalMart and bought 12 canning jars. I was so excited when I got home and out the buttons in the jars. They really look so pretty!

I Live on the Surface of the Sun!

OK I can deal with heat but this weather is ridiculous. We have had above 100 degree temperature all week. That is not figuring in the humidity. I truly feel as though I am living on the surface of the sun.

Just to walk from my house to my car - I was drenched in sweat. Walking across the parking lot caused my flip flops to start to melt. There was an actual trail of black goo as I walked. My flip flops were melting away under my feet!

Sara Jane said that when she was outside and was breathing it felt like her lungs were being seared.

It is so bad that on a church sign it said:

Satan called.
He wants his weather back.

Ain't that the truth.

Killer Cupcake

I don't know why - but I really like this picture of the cannibal cupcake. Maybe because it is so unexpected - such a juxtaposition between the comfort of cupcakes and the scariness of cannibals. I found this picture on the internet when I googled for images of cupcakes. I was looking for ideas to decorate an ATC card with the theme "cupcakes" for a swap on MJF.

I almost was going to use it. But I thought it would be disturbing to some. Really unless you know me and my slightly warped sense of humor - this would not be taken in the spirit in which it was given.

So I nixed the idea for the ATC. But I really do get a chuckle out of this picture.

Really.

Roses

I think I might have mentioned this before, but it is worth mentioning again. My mom bought me these two beautiful red knock out rose bushes a year or so ago. They spread like crazy and are rambling and for that I love them so. I love them so much that I planted two pink knock out rose bushes in my front yard next to the mailbox. Aren't they lovely?

Loving the Flowers in My Garden!

I am just finding every excuse to go outside (even in this unbearable heat) to look at the flowers in my garden. I just love looking at those big tall sunflowers - they make me smile just looking at them!

Then there are the roses. I love how they are not formal roses - just kind of all over the place roses. My mom bought me the rose bushes last year and i love love love them!

I love going out to the garden in the early morning and watering and talking to all my plants. Sometimes I think the plants are the only things that listen to me (LOL).

Next year, I plan on doubling the amount of sunflowers that I am going to plant. I love the seeds and they just plain make me happy.

ATC Cupcake Swap

For this swap the theme was cupcakes. It made my mouth water just thinking about it! I looked at tons of pictures of cupcakes, illustrated cupcakes, I took pictures of cupcakes, I even toyed with the idea of a 3D cupcake using real cupcake cups and cotton balls. But then I remembered one of my favorite pieces of Britannia "Keep Calm and Carry On".

Why not? Keep Calm and Have a Cupcake. Now that is a mantra I can live with!

Paul McCartney

Sara Jane, Haskell and I went to Yankee Stadium on Friday night to see Paul McCartney! It was such a wonderful show. He sang for almost 3 hours straight and I knew every song he sang! It was just a great night.

Mary Jane's Farmgirl Swaps #1 Group ATCs

I have been participating in the swaps on MaryJane's Farmgirl Chatroom for some months now. What an absolutely lovely and talented group of ladies!

Of course, it has just recently occured to me to start taking pictures of my swap items before I send them out. It didn't even dawn on me to do this until AFTER I had packed up my item for the quilted dish drainer swap. But I did remember for these three.

The first swap was really interesting. I love making these ATC cards. Usually we do it in bulk (20). But for this swap we were in groups of three. The first person had three blank ATCs they put something on it. Then they mailed it to the second person in the group who added another item. Then that person forwarded it to the third person who finished the ATC and then mailed the other two cards, completed, to the first two artists. All of the artists' names are on the back of the ATCs.

It was really a fun swap. I was the last person in our swap. I added the flower and the picture of the woman.

Swap#2 Fall Matchbox Swap

Here are some pictures from the matchbox swap. Inside each one I put a tiny yo-yo heart.

Swap#3 Altered Spoons

I didn't even know what an altered spoon was until I googled it. Wow! So many different things to do. Here are some of the pictures of my altered spoon:

News Flash

News flash! SJ has opened her new Etsy shop: Cutie Patootie Apparel. The link is here under my links and I'll post it here as well:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/CutiePatootieApparel?ref=pr_shop

Please take a minute and check it out!

First Zucchini of the Season

Jasmine is not loving the first zucchini of the season. It is almost as big as Jasmine so maybe she thinks that it is an alien coming to get her. Who knows what goes through the mind of a little five pound cat?

SJ and I took a ride down the GSP to Forked River today to check out a quilting shop "Quilting Possibilities". Get off the GSP at Exit 74 make a right onto Lacey Road, then a right onto Route 9 South and it is right after the WAWA on Route 9. So easy to get to. And were we ever surprised at what we found! It was a HUGE shop. When we walked in - we were totally overwhelmed by the amount and selection of fabrics. Not only fabrics but patterns, sewing machines, notions, on and on... The store associates were very helpful and very pleasant. We will certainly be going back to that store. It was a nice ride there and back with my sweetie SJ.

When we came home SJ went in the house and I headed into the garden. It is like a jungle out there. I do mourn the loss of my peas, green beans, and kidney beans. I think I saw some evidence of nibbling on my pumpkin stems - but I can't be sure. But the vines for the zucchini, summer squash, pumpkins and cucumbers are all over the place. I corralled them in with the mesh from the bean trellis, the bean tee pees and actually used some left over chicken wire to make a trellis. It certainly looks a little neater. That's when I found the zucchini. I see several more starting. I also see some small peppers and tomatoes starting. The sunflowers look like they should be blooming soon. I can't wait until they do and I can take some pictures!

Next year I need to get some gravel down on the non garden part of the garden, pathways, etc. I also need to make a better gate and really attend to any spots where little critters can get in. Tomorrow I will head to Lowe's to get some wood to make my scarecrow!

Mail Art for July

I can post the pictures of the mail art that I made for July now that I know that Nini received it.

I had a lot of fun making this. I used an old cigar box and covered it with gesso. Then I tried to pick out colors that I usually don't use - just to get me to (excuse the pun) think outside of the box! The box got me to thinking about a door. Then the door got me to thinking about the Joseph Campbell quote about following your own bliss.... and the rest just flowed from there!

I am so glad that Nini enjoyed the box. I really loved creating it for her!

Day at Ocean Grove

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It seemed like a good idea this morning. SJ and I were going to head over to Ocean Grove and spend the day at the beach. The forecast was great, sunny and hot with no chance of storms. The beach at Ocean Grove doesn't open until about 12:30 on Sundays because fo church. We packed a lunch, some ssodaas, towels, magazines, chairs, umbrella - let's go.

The next time I get the bright idea to go to the beach on the weekend I want someone to smack me upside my head. Here in NJ we have lots of...people...who come from the northern part of the state or NY and spend the sumer in NJ. They spend their money here which is good for our economy. But the benefits end right there. We have a special name for these people: Bennies.

Bennies do not have a clue about personal space. Bennies do not have any idea what an "inside" voice is Nor do they understand that certain topics should not be discussed in the middle of a crowded beach. Bennies ignore all local traffic laws. They are loud, rude and mostly arrogant.

Now there are many nice poeple that come to the Shore from northern Nj and NYC. You would never know that these people are from "away". You wouldn't call these people bennies.

You see, being a benny is more than living in a certain geographic region. Being a benny involves a certain state of mind.

Anyway, enough of my rant. We spent only about 2 hours at the beach for several reasons:
1. The bennies
2. The water was disgusting. It looked like milions of scales had been dumped in the water.
3. The bennies

I'll go during the week, later in the afternoon from now on. I am just getting too old to deal with it.

The pictures are of my sweet daughter, SJ. The beach around us. The snack shack behind us and the town of Ocean Grove. And the crazy pasttime of New Jersians- getting hooked up to a parachute and towed by a boat out on the ocean. every time the boat slows to dip the people's feet in to the water, I am reminded of bait being dipped into the water for fishing. I don't know that I necessarily want to be shark bait.

Garden Gossip

Well, more garden gossip. I have been lucky because it has been raining enough to keep my garden happy but not enough to drown it. I just wish I had more tomato blossoms. It seems lke the squash and zucchini are blooming as well as the pumpkin.
I had to clear away the remains of the groundhog eaten peas and beans - so I planted more tomatoes in their place.

The big winner this year seems to be the mint. It s really flourishing!

Next year I am going to plant some nastirtium in with the beans - that should chase away the groundhogs. Possiblt out the poyyed miny around also.

Modeling Cutie Patootie Apparel

This is Abby (you've read about her at Gus and Trudy). She is modeling a skirt that Sara Jane made. Sara decided to open an Etsy shop and she is calling it Cutie Patootie Apparel (after Denise's name for her).

Sara has been very busy, she completed two blankets (so soft), a pair of cute pants and a shirt. Next I am going to ask her to make me sleep shorts and a skirt. She is ordering her business cards tomorrow and we are looking online for sew in printed labels to pt in to the clothing. I am very excited and happy for her!

Garden Exploding With Life!

My garden is really exploding! The raspberries have started coming out in full force. The potatoes are blooming, as are the squash. My tomato plants are getting tall and they should be blooming any moment now. And the mint! Oh for the love of God, I have so much mint - chocolate mint, spearmint, peppermint, candy mint, lemon mint!!!! I especially love mint because it comes back every year. My sunflowers are growing so tall. I can't wait for them to bloom. When they do I think I will park my Adirondack chair in front of them and spend the day just looking at them. Those sunflowers make me so happy!

And of course, the guardian of it all, my sweet baby, Jasmine the cat. She loves to come out on the deck with me. When I go out to the garden she sits up on the deck and watches me putter around. I think it amuses her.