More than a choclate bunny

This is the bunny wallhanging and the quilt and pillow I made for the baby. I think I am almost done. I love the colors.

Sweater and Bonnet

Here is the little sweater set I made John and Liz's baby. I loved the colors and it was a Bernat yarn called satin with a soft fluffly feel. So much easier to do baby stuff, it only took me a week working in the evenings watching television.

It is finished

We finished Kaylie's quilt on Wed. This will be her last day for the summer. It makes me sad, cause I really look forward to our day together. I love the choclate brown and pink combo.

And the garden grows...

I went out into the trails and picked another bowl of raspberries. These went into the freezer, and I'm not sure what we'll do with these.

Here are some items from the garden. There are some Finger Eggplants, whose meat is good but the skin is bitter. A white eggplant, I have not cooked one of those yet. And some banana peppers, which I chopped and added to my zucchini stir fry.

I've been picking the zukes young so they work both in stir fry as well as raw. YUMMY.

Cake Wreck

This post is NOT related to Tyler's birthday cake, but a random timing coincidence.

Anywho.. I was cruising my google reader again today and came across this blog:
http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/
It is all about funny cakes. My personal favorite is Olivia's baby shower cake.

Tyler's Birthday Cake

OREO & Fudge Ice Cream Cake


Prep Time:10 min
Total Time:4 hr 10 min
Makes:12 servings
1/2 cup hot fudge ice cream topping, warmed
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
8 OREO Cookies, chopped (about 1 cup)
12 vanilla ice cream sandwiches, unwrapped
POUR fudge topping into medium bowl. Add 1 cup of the whipped topping; stir with wire whisk until well blended. Add dry pudding mix; stir 2 min. or until well blended. Gently stir in chopped cookies; set aside.
ARRANGE 4 of the ice cream sandwiches, side-by-side, on 24-inch-long piece of foil; top with half of the whipped topping mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining 4 ice cream sandwiches. Frost top and sides of dessert with remaining whipped topping. Bring up foil sides. Double fold top and ends to loosely seal packet.
FREEZE at least 4 hours before serving. Store leftover dessert in freezer.

RedDog has Flag

Ever since we bought the farm, Red Dog has dreamed of having a flag flying on a great big pole. Well he got his dream and he is very happy. Feel free to go to www.knoxie.shutterfly.com and see the rest of the pictures.

What to get for the guy who has everything...

This website is a joke, albeit a funny one. This one is the real deal, as seen on CNN. To answer the question on everyone's mind...yes, they have been working on a beer scent for two years, but can only manage the smell of stale beer!

**Warning**Warning**Warning**

We don't really know if any of ya'll are fans of the X-files, but if you have any desire to go see the movie, DON'T DO IT. Don't waste your time, don't waste your money, and most of all, if you are a fan, don't waste the enjoyment you ever got by watching an episode. The characters didn't even seem to follow the way we knew them, the plot was weak at best, just plain stupid at worst. I feel confident putting it in my worst movies ever made category. On the bright side, we got wine and curtains, so the trip to Champaign wasn't a bust.

kaylie learns to quilt

Kaylie is learning to quilt. It isnt quite the instant gratification that some of our smaller projects were, but I think this 10 year old has a grasp of the bigger picture. She has done very well. Next time she comes we are going to finish quilting her quilt. We just used scraps of the quilt I am making for John and Liz's baby. Kaylie is so much fun I think we could bottle it.

Blueberry Picking Time

Last week my blueberries finally got ripe. I think they are sooooo pretty. I froze them, so when my babies come to visit we will have blueberry rolypoly.

Raspberries

We finally used the raspberry juice that we strained... I had thought about making a simple syrup with it. Instead, I just put it in the blender w/ some vanilla ice cream and some milk and made shakes. I thought that they turned out pretty good. Charlie and Tanner liked it, Brett... not so much. Then again he is the picky one in the bunch. So, that just meant, more for Tanner.
Maybe I'll try the syrup next time.

Stylin' in WVa

Ok.. I wore my favorite swim top (the one with the best support). My favorite swim bottoms, that just happen to be fuschia. My Gold and Blue water shoes, which are totally fab! None of which matched or coordinated... top that off with a lovely horizontal striped beach towel. I felt like Miss Hampshire County!

Our friends own about 500 ft of creek front property (almost 50 acres of land). I would take this over the beach anyday! I loved it! We had a great time, I really wanted to stay and never go back to work.

I want Sheets!!!

I lurk daily on this blog: http://www.polkadotcreations.com/blog/
I'm completely fascinated at all the sewing that she does from thrift store found floral bed sheets!!! I've been yearning for sheets for weeks now! I want sheets!

Lollipops

This week when Kaylie came to play, we made homemade lollipops. Thought you might be interested in the recipe.

Lollipops


Butter 2 baking sheets and evenly lay out sticks, I used bamboo skewers and cut off sharp end

In medium sized pan, melt ¾ cup sugar, ½ cup corn syrup, and ¼ cup of butter on low heat until sugar dissolves.

Bring the mixture slowly to boil stirring frequently. Continue to boil for seven minutes.

Take pan off the stove and add 6 ounces of your favorite Jello, that will be two small packages of Jello, stir until smooth.
Spoon candy over stick using a metal spoon and allow to cool. The candy sets up pretty quick so you need to hurry at this point.

Creative and Free

Just wanted to share with you a blog article that I read today.... We are a creative bunch, yet we are frugal.. take a minute to read "Open Source Software for Artists: Why You’ll Never Pay for Art Software Again" this is a good read. Check it out!

Learn something new everyday....

Hi Y'all,
I started a new job at a fashion store and learned the coolest trick. You know how when you go to a clothing store the hangers slide oh so nice. You'll never believe what they use to make that happen. Are you ready for this top secret retail tip- garden variety wax paper used for baking. Seriously, take a piece of wax paper and wipe it on the closet rod and BAM your hangers slide with ease. Just thought I would share this newly acquired info with the masses of Porch Stories. Martha Stewart eat you heart out....

Tina's weekend

We had a great time when Tina came down. The first picture is the latest quilt she made. Red Dog and lyle were singing a duet.

Betz White

http://blog.betzwhite.com/ Jolene sent me an email with a link to this site and I thought it was worth sharing with all of you. It has sponge balls ,which knowing how we love water fights, might be a fun project to do for a hot summer afternoon. I think Jo should have a job just finding these fun websites to go to and then we wouldnt have to spend hours searching. It also has a link to the crafty crow site which looked interesting also.

OBX

Have you ever seen those oval stickers on people's cars with the letters 'OBX'???
I never knew what the heck that meant until recently. About five months ago our friends asked us to join them camping at Camp Hatteras which is in Rodanthe, NC on the outer banks.
Ohh... OBX = outer banks.. DUH! We are about 90% packed and ready to go, I have a ton of food in the fridge and freezer already!!! We plan to leave at about 5am tomorrow morning. Pete and Julie left today and they said it took them about 7.5 hours. That is not to bad.... we could probably get away with only stopping one time, if I don't drink to much liquids :')