MEMORIAL DAY 2010

Today we remember and thank all those who served in wars and especially those who died so we may live in freedom. I have relatives who served in the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, my dad served in the Navy in World War II, my father-in-law flew with the Army Air Corps in World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War. We thank my three brothers in law and sister in law who served in the Air Force and my nephew who is currently at the Air Force Academy. We miss you, we thank you, we honor you.

Enjoyed seeing my daughter this weekend, even if it was for only a short while. She and my mom had a few laughs on the deck. (photo overexposed!)

And below, is our little Daisy who is almost 17 years old. She can't jump up on her chair anymore............so I bought her a little bed for the floor. I'm not sure how much longer she will be with us, but at least she knows she is loved.

BRAVES WIN! BRAVES WIN! BRAVES WIN!

Bank of America tickets on the 9th row behind Braves dugout, seeing Chipper up close, Heyward homerun, rain delay plus fireworks = a great Saturday night at Turner Field!!!

Below is Medlen pitching. I swear he looks like he should be playing T-ball, I don't even think he shaves yet! But he pulled it off, a Braves win.

We got to see a great Jason Heyward homerun! He is awesome! We also found out why he chose the number "22". When he was in high school playing baseball, his best friend on the team was number 22. His friend died of cancer in their senior year. Jason has always gone back to check on his friend's mom. When he was offered a position on the Braves, he called her and said he had a surprise. He took the jersey to show her and tell her that he would always be thinking of her son when he wore the number 22. Everyone in the stadium was crying!!!

Chipper up to bat.

The Coke bottle in the outfield. Each one of those panels is an LCD panel and the "Coke" label lights up with video before each player starts to bat. I remember when Chief Knock- A -Homa used to come out of his tee pee in far left field everytime the Braves hit a home run. Not politically correct!! Boy has technology changed from smoke coming out the top of a tee pee to swirling video on a Coke bottle..........

My sister in law and her friend Rick.

The rain held off until the 8th inning and then it came out of NOWHERE in huge drops. These guys have a rain delay down to a science. No problem, I had my trusty green ponchos that were left over from the Georgia Tech games when everyone made fun of me! But I seem to remember everyone saying "Pass me a poncho!"

Victory after the rain delay!

Ha! All decked out in our ponchos.........

The fireworks were spectacular after the game! And two turns out of the parking lot we were back on 75 N..............thanks for the tix, Neets!!!

WHAT'S ON MY NEEDLES? plus a little coffee cake

I started knitting a new felted purse. It will primarily be white but will have camel and shimmery accents. The yarn on the left has a little gold shimmery thread running through it along with an eyelash type texture. I plan on making the handles out of the white and using the camel again at the bottom to hide dirt. Can't wait to see this one felted! I'm using the FELTED FANATICS BAG l pattern from The Whole Nine Yarns.

.............and while you're knitting why not munch down on some of the best COFFEE CAKE? One of my mother's friends makes a dozen of these coffee cakes every Christmas to give away as presents. IT IS THE BEST coffee cake I've ever had. Here's the recipe if you want to try it out.................

SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE

2 sticks butter, room temp.

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 cups sifted flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sour cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Crumb mix:

3/4 cup chopped pecans

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cream butter and sugar very well. Add eggs, cream thoroughly. Sift dry ingredients and stir into cream mixture alternating with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla. Do not over beat. **I mix the crumb topping first so it's ready.

Pour 1/2 mixture into well buttered bunt pan. Add 1/2 of crumb mixture, add remaining batter and then rest of crumb mix. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes then turn onto rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!!

GREY DINING ROOM

My husband just finished painting our dining room today. I really love the grey paint. It is very neutral and gives the area a little more contemporary look. I polished the silver that we inherited from my husband's grandmother Fly who lived in Tennessee. The crystal canister was a wedding present and the mirror belonged to my grandmother who lived in Mississippi.

My brother in law brought us the chandelier from Czechoslovakia when he served in the Air Force. Painting is from World Market.

My dining room furniture belonged to my grandmother. I love the dark brown against the grey walls. We bought the bird paintings back in the late 70's when I worked in Greenville, SC. I like changing things around and mixing styles. Now I'd like to make some side panels for the windows and recover the chairs. Those JoAnn's coupons will come in handy!

SHRIMP CREOLE

Publix had shrimp on sale this week so I thought I'd buy some before the price skyrockets because of the Gulf Coast oil spill. I found a WONDERFUL cajun creole recipe online. I made hush puppies and bought some fresh sweet corn to finish off the meal. See below if you want to try it too............

CAJUN SHRIMP CREOLE

2 lbs shrimp

2 16 oz cans Cajun stewed tomatoes

2 medium onions, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

2 stalks celery, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

1/2 cup green onions

2 bay leaves

salt & pepper

Creole seasoning

hot sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup water

2 Tablespoons flour

3 Tablespoons oil

Cooked white rice

Make a roux with flour and oil in large skillet. Add onions and saute. Add bell pepper and saute. Stir in tomatoes, garlic and bay leaves. Cook 30-40 minutes on medium low. Add water and sugar and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low. Add green onions, celery and parsley. Simmer 20 minutes. Add the seasoning and shrimp and simmer 2-5 minutes. Remove bay leaves and serve creole over rice.

HAVE FUN IN VEGAS!

My son is heading off for an internship in Vegas. Car packed, check. Life size road atlas, check. Money from mom, dad, and grandma, check. Instructions from everything from how to drive 2,000 miles without getting a ticket to how to cook salmon on the grill...........I promised myself not to act TOO much like a mother whose youngest was leaving on his biggest adventure of his life. But, things kept popping out of my mouth like "Remember it's a desert out there, wear sunscreen". Then I'd remember he was old enough to know that! Then out popped "Remember to stay hydrated, it's a desert out there" and I had to physically hold my hand over my mouth to keep those words from popping out. But as I took his photo getting into his car, I saw his pure joy and I know that he will have a great adventure. "Remember, if you see Tiger Woods, just walk the other way!!!"

COLLAGE BOOKMARKS

These are two bookmarks I made for friends at work who recently celebrated birthdays. One loves to knit and the other loves to quilt. I was just playing around with collage materials, stamps, acrylics and transfers.

KNITTED PREEMIE HAT

My daughter was a preemie 27 years ago. She weighed 3.5 lbs. While going through her baby box recently, I found a little white knitted hat that she had worn in the hospital. I'm sure it had been hand knit by someone in Greenville, South Carolina where she was born. It was SO tiny! I decided to look on the internet for a pattern to knit some preemie hats for my local hospital. Below is one I knitted last night. It's a sweet little eyelet pattern and is only about 4" tall by 5" wide. If you'd like the pattern you can find it here. And if you'd like to knit some for the preemies, let me know. I plan on giving them to a friend who works in the NICU at Kennestone.

BLUE SOCKS FINISHED

I finished my second pair of socks tonight. I made them a little shorter than the pattern and they fit my feet better than the first pair. These are so much fun to make and you can whip up a pair in a day or two. I should start making Christmas presents now!

CRITTERS FOR THE CHILDREN'S LIBRARY

What do you do with all of your recyclables? I've decided to make some paper mache figures for the Children's Library for the summer. The summer reading program theme is "Make a Splash" this year so I'm making a few of the more popular figures and putting them into a water theme. I think I'll put little floaties around Froggy's arms and some flippers on his feet. Below I gather my materials.............an old Tide container, toilet paper rolls, wallpaper paste, newspapers, masking tape, paper plates, etc.

I start by looking at the shapes of the materials and figuring out how to make Froggy out of a Tide container! I roll newspaper balls up for eyes, tape paper plates as lips, and tape the toilet paper rolls as arms.

I then tear newspaper up into small (somewhat) pieces and dip into the wallpaper paste. I start applying to the figure and keep adding newpaper balls where needed. The masking tape keeps things in place. It also helps to use a hair dryer to quickly dry the wet newspaper. Below, you can see his face developing.

Here he is so far with the first layer of paper mache applied. I will let him dry today and add arms and feet tomorrow. When he is dried, I will paint white gesso to completely cover the newspaper print and then paint with acrylics. I think these figures will add a touch of whimsy to the Children's area at the Woodstock Public Library. Come see us this summer and sign your kids up for the Summer Reading Program!