Rhonda's Gift Idea

In this picture, Rhonda Pierce is showing me several of her recent "family phonebooks"....

At first, I didn't get it -- then it hit me. WHAT A GREAT IDEA. Every year, for Christmas, she sends out these updated "family phone books", contained inside a printed card. She gathers and updates the family contact information -- addresses, birthdays, phone numbers, CELL PHONE NUMBERS, email addresses...

IT IS GENIUS...I would dearly love to have one of these for my family. With 16 nieces and nephews -- many of them now married, with babies coming at a furious clip -- it's easy to lose track of things....

Let me think...who in my family has the organizational skills to put this together??? Somebody with mad computer skills....yet a creative flair...hummm...it would be a nice perk if they maybe enjoyed taking pictures....

OH MY GOD...WHO WOULD HAVE ALL THOSE SKILLS?? That's right -- my niece Kelcy!!

HINT...HINT...HINT...

C'mon, Kelcy -- you can do it!! THINK WHAT A GREAT GIFT THIS WOULD MAKE for everybody??

I'll pay for the printing!!

A Tulip With An Attitude

John's flowers are blooming...my favorites are always the daffodils and the display this year has been AWESOME...plus, they've lasted for two weeks which is a huge bonus.

The other day, as I was getting in my car, I noticed the yellow tulips had opened. This color yellow is my signature color. I have it on my kitchen counters, my front door is painted this shade of yellow...

It always makes me smile...especially this one particular tulip...

Wrapper Prom Dress

I think this would be a REALLY FUN CHALLENGE...wouldn't it? A woman in Wisconsin spent 6 years making a prom dress for her daughter out of "Starburst" wrappers.

I'm thinking it would be a lot quicker to use the foil from a Hershey's candy bar...chocolate with almonds...and -- hey -- WHAT IF I BOUGHT THE GIANT BARS???

BREAKFAST WITH MY GIRLFRIENDS

When I decided to write about how much I enjoy eating breakfast in a restaurant... I had no idea how easy it would be to find pictures!! Last summer, during our fabulous Chicago visit -- Marion & I started every single day with a fabulous breakfast...


Really -- it is my FAVORITE meal of the day. I have always loved, loved, loved going "out" to eat breakfast. Maybe because it's the best time of the day for a busy young Mom, like my friend Anne, to carve out a bit of visiting time...

Whenever Mary comes for a visit -- we ALWAYS get off to a rousing start with a great girlfriend breakfast...

And, of course, it's always a good chance for a "Sew-And-Tell" (okay, mostly, that's mostly about Judy)...

It is absolutely the ONLY time I ever get to visit with my busy friend Sue...and a couple of times a year, we try to carve out a day -- ALWAYS starting with breakfast...

Of course, even when it's business, like my recent trip to Chicago to meet with Rhonda Pierce -- she KNOWS we need to find the best breakfast restaurant in the suburbs...to get us off to the right start!!

And, every Tuesday -- I actually have my breakfast "clubbers". Wow. WHAT A LUCKY GIRL I AM...

Really. I could have posted a hundred different breakfast pictures...and I remember every one as a time of laughter and joy. Make more time for breakfast with your girlfriends! It's a great, energizing way to start your day. Nobody has to cook or clean...it is the most guilt-free time of any day...nobody has to rush home to meet a schoolbus or start dinner...

Yep. The more I think about it -- the more I realize I owe my happiness and my sanity to BREAKFAST WITH MY GIRLFRIENDS...

Superfulous Lilly & Sophie Pictures

HAPPY EASTER...

Apparently, posting 3 times a week hasn't worked out for me...

The E Team didn't get down to Iowa for Easter -- so I don't have any cute Easter Bunny pictures of Lilly. I've had to content myself with looking back at the Christmas pictures...

I love this shot of Sophie -- taking a nap on top of Lillian's clothes...


This picture has been my screen saver for the last couple of months...Lillian has such a fierce look on her face.


And Sophie, of course, just takes whatever this little girl is dishing...

Yes, I'm overdue for a Lilly visit...she and I will do a belated Easter Egg Extravaganza...

And I can only hope she likes her new dinosaur shirts better than she liked her white dog dress...

Pictures to follow...

The T-Mobile Royal Wedding

As far as I'm concerned, T-Mobile should get ALL OUR BUSINESS just because of their fabulous flash-mob events.

This one is a riot...the "Royal Wedding" done with look-a-likes. I am convinced the real Camilla actually did this event for them...

Anyway -- I don't have much interest in the upcoming Royal Wedding. But my cousin Kim does. She will be up at 4:00 AM to watch all the hullabaloo...and I'm putting this up for her, just to tide her over until the real one happens...

Wouldn't it be funny if they ACTUALLY DID IT THIS WAY???

Easter HAM

of course, this is a Thanksgiving turkey...and I do a fair-to-middlin job with that..



But I am FAMOUS FOR MY HAMS. I don't have any pictures of my incredible Easter Hams to put up on this blog...but you have to take my word for it.......nobody makes a better ham than I do.

Thanks to my mother-in-law, Helen Farro.

Of course, you should buy the best "whole ham" you can find.

Then -- and here's the magic -- bake it with the fat side DOWN...

Helen's theory was that the salt stays in the fat -- and if you cook it fat side up -- the salt will run down through the meat...

And I am a believer!!

After the ham is baked, get it out of the oven, turn it over, cut OFF the fat, then score the ham. Stick whole cloves into the "x" spots (optional). Frost with the brown sugar glaze, use toothpicks to hold whole pineapple slices in place (garnished with red cherries) and stick it back in the oven until the glaze bubbles (20 min)...

Brown sugar glaze:

1 1/2 cups of drk brown sugar
3 tbl yellow mustard
Pineapple juice (just enough to make the glaze the consistency of peanut butter)

YOUR HAM WILL BE DELICIOUS...

AND -- if you want to make ham gravy -- here's another Helen Farro tip. Pour the grease off, and add 1 c. of water to the drippings -- and a handful of RAISINS. Let it simmer for 30 minutes or so -- the raisins ABSORB THE SALT. It's a very neat trick. Remove the raisins and proceed with your gravy, as per usual.

Somebody's Gotta Do It...

Spring is SUCH A FABULOUS time of the year. It's also a VERY BUSY TIME workwise -- getting ready for the Spring Quilt Market (in Salt Lake City this year)...

I am delighted to be going to Quilt Market as a member of the Schmetz Needle team. Rhonda Pierce will be teaching a schoolhouse session, I'll be helping out in the booth.

It's hard to explain things over the phone - so we decided to meet at the Morton Arboretum (Rhonda is a member)...


Oh My Goodness...WHAT A FABULOUS DAY WE HAD!! It was warm and breezy...the daffodils were in full bloom. Always my FAVORITE flower.


Rhonda wrote a blog about our day over at the Schmetz Needle Blog -- and this is a picture of HER -- taking a picture -- of the MOST AMAZING TREE you will ever see...

So, we sat on a beautiful deck, with stunning views of the 1700 acre gem, in the middle of the Chicago suburbs, and put on our thinking caps...

Of course -- there was also some delicious coffee (and tea) from the Ginko Cafe...

This last picture is all about Rhonda's great sense of personal style. I love her glasses...and I was trying to get a good shot of the sparkling pink Swarovski crystal on her tooth...

Now -- THAT's some serious bling, girl!!

See you in Salt Lake City!!

Spring DIY Sucks

Okay -- as you already know -- one of the best things about my life is CARRIE. She comes once a week and helps me with whatever horrible job I need done. There is a lot of cleaning -- and she is very, very good at it. I jokingly say that it's a good thing I am so BAD at it -- because that's job security for her.

The last couple of weeks -- we painted the ceilings in the downstairs. That means the kitchen, dining room, living room, and two halls. YIKES. Because I recently bought new blinds for the living room -- we had to drape all the walls, etc. the PREPARATION is always the hard part...

But Carrie has this great smile, and a can-do attitude...I just can't tell you how much I love my Mondays...

Like the painting wasn't punishment enough -- this week I decided we should clean the basement. OH MY GOD....this is a BIG JOB.

We started under the basement steps...and opened boxes I haven't seen in 30 years. Carrie found the grape cluster hanging lamp that was a wedding gift in 1970. Remember?

I had about 1,000 pounds of PAPER for the recycle. Old brochures, flyers, checkbooks, records -- from the original "Rita's Sew Fun". (A business I closed 15 years ago...)

We also burned boxes of old checks, credit card slips, etc. WHY DID I EVER PUT THAT STUFF IN MY BASEMENT??

In addition, of course, I hauled another ton of stuff BACK TO THE GOODWILL STORE... where it very possibly came from to begin with...

This is the passenger seat in my car...

AND the back seat and trunk were jam-packed as well. Boxes of books, clothes, pots and pans, stuff I've had for decades...

Of course, we didn't take the time to dust or clean all this treasure...and, as I was unloading it, I saw my basement treasure for what it really was -- disgusting, dirty old junk...

The young man at the "Donations" door was kind of a sourpuss...

As I was handed him another garbage bag full of dirty old wooden frames, I crumbled under the pressure of his judgmental look...

"My mother died, you know..."

He went from judgment to understanding as he smiled and nodded...

Sorry, Mom.

(My mother did die. In 1997.)

IT'S SATURDAY...

You already know that when Bert & I do our "kicking around" on Saturday -- we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE going to a good old-fashioned auction. Recently, we were in Muscatine, Iowa -- and we managed to fill the Subaru with lots of unique treasures...

I'm always a sucker for any kind of unique aprons...it is almost impossible for me to resist anything with Rick-Rack on it...

This fabulous yo-yo quilt caught my eye -- but I decided to just take a picture, which helped me to resist buying it.


All-thing-sewing catch my eye, but over the years, some collections have come and gone. Pink flamingos used to tickle me -- but, eventually, I became immune to their charm. Some collections are just like men. You simply get over them...

Saturdays are so special to me. It's my one-day-a-week "all about me" day. Bert & I always start with a nice breakfast -- where we "download" our respective work weeks. Then, we move on. Maybe a little day trip to another town -- Clinton, Iowa City, Muscatine, Rock Island...with an auction or an antique mall...

Neither one of us even answers our cell phones. The great thing is that -- at this point, our families know better than to even try to call us!!

It's taken us MANY YEARS to train all the people in our lives to GIVE US THIS DAY...and allow us to make our Saturdays into the joy-filled, interesting, vagabond, get-a-way, quiet, fun-filled, relaxing, refreshing time that it is.

I'm just saying. Maybe you need a day like that, too. It's your time. Everybody wants a piece of you. Sure, there's work to be done. Things you should be doing...but maybe, once a week, it could be not so much about things you SHOULD be doing, but things you WANT to do...

April 15, 2011

It is April 15th -- and your taxes are due. Ugh...

Yesterday, a new post did NOT go up on this blog. WHERE IS RITA?? WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT MAD BLOGGER??

Hey -- Spring happened!! I am delighted to report that the beautiful breezy days have brought with them that invigorating energy. I opened the windows and have been busy doing those things we all do in the Spring. In the mood for little DIY -- Carrie and I painted the ceilings in my kitchen, dining room and living room. Now I'm thinking of restyling the chairs we sit on... I've been hanging the sheets out on the line to dry.

And, honestly -- I'VE BEEN ATTENDING some great classes. As you know, I live in a wonderful area for business classes and this year, there were WAY TOO MANY to choose from. Ironically, I was so busy taking blogging classes, I didn't have time to ACTUALLY BLOG...

When I started writing this blog, my mission was to see if I could do it every single day for a year. That was July 9, 2009. I keep learning new things -- and writing this blog is sheer joy for me. So I'm not going to stop...

But I am going to slow the pace. I was always afraid that if I missed a day -- you'd never come back. So I forced myself to write every day.

Hey -- if things go right -- I'll be adding a new "widget" on the left hand side, where you can sign up for "email" to follow this blog.

Because this spring is CRAZY BUSY...I've had classses every week, and now I'm ramping up for Spring Quilt Market in Salt Lake City. Mary & I will be doing our Ya Ya shows at the QSC shows this summer -- well, there's A LOT TO DO...

But I promise to keep you posted about all of it...and I will still be writing a couple of times a week. Cuz for me, it's my "potato chip" job. Instead of eating potato chips at night, when I'm watching crappy television -- I write blog posts...

So -- you see -- the problem is I haven't had time to watch so much crappy television...!

I'm going on a new 3 times a week schedule...

Aunt Rozella's Silver

This is my favorite birthday picture...Elliott & Emily & Lillian were here for a visit...


Remember that earlier post -- this picture of my "clubbers" -- all holding a special silver dessert fork? That's because I was sharing my chocolate birthday cake with them -- and my rule is, "if we're going to eat cake, use the good silver"...

You KNOW I have a soft spot for wonderful soup spoons. I have spooners FULL of them...like this set I purchased in Ireland. And every time I grab one of these spoons, I fondly remember that wonderful sister's trip...

This is a picture of Aunt Rozella's silver. Spring Glory. Real silver. When I was a child, my Aunt Rozella was my favorite adult in the world. She put this set of silver together over the course of 25 years -- buying one piece at a time. She spent $2200, and every receipt was in the box...the last piece she purchased was the cake server. ($275 in 1976).

After Aunt Rozella died, we found the box of silver under her bed. Even though my family had eaten Thanksgiving dinner at her house for 30 years -- none of us knew she had the silver. I was stunned. It was real silver... But she had never used it. Not even once. Obviously, my aunt was "saving it for a special occasion"...and that day never happened. That made me very sad.

At Aunt Rozella's auction, I bought the silver. And my rule has always been -- any time both boys are sitting at my table -- we use the silver. Any time there's birthday cake -- we use the silver. If we are eating pie -- we use the silver....

Opening Aunt Rozella's box of silver is one way I clearly send that message to my family...you are worthy....

I'm just sayin'....

Junkin with Sue

At least a couple of times a year, I get together with my high school friend, Sue. We like to go junkin...and I thought this was a treasure...

And -- ISN'T THIS A GREAT LIGHT?? I need a new fixture over my kitchen table -- and I love everything about this. The bright colors, the 70's style...I LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT. And it's only $42. What a bargain...

You can see from the background that Sue and I are in the PERFECT place...there was a lot of treasure here, at the Junk Asylum in Park View, Iowa...



Of course -- then we had to EAT LUNCH. One of my favorite spots -- Granite City. It was my birthday lunch. GREAT DAY, SUE...Thanks again...



We ALWAYS say this -- but why don't we do this more often??

Memphis Dino Modeling

Memphis was spending a little "Aunt Rita" time...and I thought she should design her own "dinosaur" shirt. She sorted through the available shirts and picked a lovely striped shirt to start with.

Then, I helped her cut a giant green dinosaur out of a big boy shirt...we used some stitch witchery to iron it into position...

This is a close up of the zebra fringe...yes, you know the logic -- just because we can...

She was on her way out the door when I tried to get these pictures -- Grandma Ronda said, "give us that super-model look, Memphis"...

Ronda & I both doubled over laughing...and you've GOT to wonder what they're thinking, don't you??

Great job, Memphis!!

Figge Art Museum

My niece, Amy, has three boys. Cale, pictured here, is the oldest and he was recently recognized as a "young artist". There was a lovely reception at the local Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa.

Here, Cale is showing me his picture -- and explaining what it's about...

Amy, Cale, Cash, Garrett and their Dad Bill. Who, incidentally, on the previous night, was recognized himself as an accomplished artist. (he won the Karoke contest at the local bar)...

It was a beautiful spring day -- and I was delighted to be part of this artistic celebration! Thanks for the invite, Amy!!

And congratulations, Cale AND Bill...

Some FUN STUFF

During my exhaustive thrift shopping adventures -- one of the things I'm always a sucker for is "Seven-Day-A-Week' dishtowel sets. This particular set had puppies as a theme...and the linen towels were pristine.

It was a complete set -- all seven days! Pinned at the corner, they looked like they'd never been used. I paid $12.50 at a flea market.



This yellow matelasse bed coverlet was too much for me to resist...so I bid $2.50 -- but it's only "full" size -- when I need a Queen. But I still might use it on top of the box spring -- it would be a great bed skirt...I dunno yet...


And -- this t-shirt is bound for Lillian's room!! I'm not sure what it will be yet. Maybe a pillow? Or part of her curtain?

I'll think of something..!!