I can tell I'm going to need blinders

Isn't this just adorable? It's a 0 to 3 months. I found it on sale at
Wal-Mart of all places for $10. My thanks to Kelly for the tip. I then found the cardigan for $6 bucks!


Now I can't continue like this. I never got to buy the boys clothes. Their Mom always had a supply of sale clothes way ahead of their sizes. She might have that too with Elizabeth. I'm not going to ask, I don't want to know. But if anyone has a set of blinders, CAN I BORROW THEM?




Another baby quilt finished today. Nope this one isn't for Lizzie either. This is for Claire. She was born a week before Lizzie. Her Mom works for BT.

It is a log cabin blocks pattern. The blocks are 3 3/4 inches square with 12 pieces in each blocks. I put my signature paper pieced year block in the lower right hand corner.

Spring is slowing sprouting on our hill side. These are Mayapples. They appear before the trees leaf out. The plant is sometimes called the umbrella plant because it looks like a closed umbrella when first emerging, then opens into the open umbrella shape. Plants have two stems and develop a white blossom at the junction of the two stems. The white flower is about 2 inches in diameter and grows beneath the leaves. The berry that develops is the "apple" of the plant. It is reported that the apple can be eaten however the roots, stems and leaves are poisonous. The old timers say when these appear mushrooms aren't far behind.

I will leave you with this little gem. Isn't spring wonderful!

Catching up

WOW what a week it's been! Not only did the grandsons get a new sister, they both tried their hand at photography! Gee I wonder where they get that from? In the picture to the right, Alex takes a photo of his new Gator Golf game we purchased for him on Friday.


He is so proud of this game.


In these next two pictures, Alex took of Brady and I while we were quilting.

Don't you just love the quilting gloves? I am too tight to buy the ones at the quilting store. They usually run $14.99. These came from the dollar store, you guessed it for a $1.00

Brady loves to run the foot pedal. He is really good at it and follows commands very well. Maybe it's a step to get him sewing.

This is the finished quilt. I bought the fabric last Friday. Yes just 9 days ago.

No it's not for the princess. (I'm still working on that one). BT's nephew Cole and his wife Leah are expecting their first baby in 5 weeks. Today was the baby shower.

Here are the Norment girls. Mandy (Cole's sister) expectant Mother Leah, Grandmother-to-be Darlene and Cole's youngest sister Callie.

This was the beautiful table at the shower. Can you guess the theme? Ducks, that's right.

Remember this picture from last April? BT worked on stripping this during
the winter months. This week he finished it. The beautiful quarter sawn oak wardrobe is now in our master bedroom. It holds all the clothes we had in our dresser and the chest of drawers.

I took plans to our cabinet maker last week for a shaker style bed. He is to draw up the cost and get back to us. It also will be quarter sawn oak. We will stain and varnish it to match the wardrobe. Now to find some
thing to use as night stands.

I have to close out with the high light of the week. Lizzie's birth! How blessed we are to have a healthy grand daughter. Mom and baby made it home Saturday. As hard as it was for me, I stayed away. They need their family time.

Sunday I only stopped to pick up Lori's gift for Leah's baby shower.

However, Sunday evening about 7, the son called and ask to borrow a cup of sugar. I said sure. He hesitated and said well he'd be over to get it. Then he started laughing. He said we figured you'd jump at the chance to bring it over.

He really just called to see if we wanted to come over and see the kids. We literally dropped everything and drove the 2 miles. While Grandpa held little Lizzie, I read a book to Alex. The boys then showed off their Gator golf skills.

I hope to have more baby pictures this week. I still haven't seen her with her eyes open. Stay tuned.

Lizzie

The little Princess is here.
And now they are a family of 5!

I took the boys shopping.

Brady holding his baby sister. Isn't this just precious?

Alex is holding Lizzie, but he's not as sure about her as his big brother is.

Alex's turn for a self-portrait.

Elizabeth Norine "Lizzie" arrived today at 7 lbs. 3 oz. Her Mom was at the hospital less than 2 1/2 hours before she was born. They even took at trip to McDonald's drive up window to get the father-to-be some breakfast.

BT and I arrived at the hospital about 4:30. Great Grandma beat me there. Oh those 85 year olds!

New Mother Lori was doing wonderful. She was ready for dinner. Poor girl, they brought her tray and it was shrimp. She hates shrimp. New Daddy went to the cafeteria and brought her back chicken strips, with mac and cheese. That made her feel much better.

We took the boys to LaBamba for dinner. They were more interested in getting a gum ball out of the machine for dessert than having a sopapilla. So that's what they got.

At home, after I returned phone calls and emails, I gave them both baths. New Daddy took Brady home and will put him on the bus in the morning. Alex is staying here. He and I will go visit the hospital since it's not a school day for him.

I'm so excited with a new healthy grandbaby. Hope I sleep tonight.

SHE'S HERE

Baby Granddaughter arrived at 12:48 PM today. No weight yet or name. Stay tuned for details!

My turn

First of all I want to thank Brady for his help with the post from yesterday. I didn't post the pictures I took on Sunday. I wanted to give him all the limelight.

We had the boys most of the day. It was a beautiful day to be outside, as you can tell by the pictures from our backyard.









Brady peeking through the big rock










The guys












King of the rock










The other King


I've had several inquires on the shavings. This is a recipe I got from BT's grandmother. She had all her recipes memorized. And she could tell them to you in German as well as English.

To make Shavings, here is what I do: Take 3 or 4 or more eggs and beat well by hand with a fork. Beat in a pinch of salt and 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk. Beat some more. Start adding flour, about a cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add enough flour until it's a soft dough that you can roll out. Keep your counter floured well. Roll very thin. Thinner than pie crust.

I then use a pizza cutter to cut into rectangles about 2 by 3 inches. Make two or three slits in each one.

Fry immediately in hot oil (I use Canola). Drain and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon that you have put in a old shaker. Enjoy!

Let me know if you try them.

Why are they called shavings? Grandma thought they looked like the wood shavings on the floor of Grandpa's carpenter shop.

As for the recipe for my pepper jelly, it's sure-jell. Take the jelly and put it over a block of creme cheese. Spread on crackers. Oh gosh is that good! If you're close by I'm up to a few more trades! I wish Sara was closer, she has items she is willing to trade. Maybe even maple syrup!

I hope we all stay safe tonight. Strong storms are predicted.
70 degrees 10PM

Brady here reporting

Today I took Grandma's camera and took pictures. Here is Grandma making us shavings. I can eat 19 of these!


My little brother is playing pbskids.org on Grandpa's lap top.

From the deck I took this picture of my Grandpa varnishing some shelves.

I even found the zoom button.

And here is my self portrait.

It was fun taking pictures for Grandma. I really enjoyed eating the shavings. I don't think I ate 19 though.

She got a good deal, I got a good deal

So tonight I get this email. It starts like this: Dear sweet neighbor................... could I possibly interest you in doing a swap with me?

It went on to say: I have a recipe that calls for pepper jelly, I bought some that said Hot Pepper Jelly, and they're right it's HOT! I wondered if you had any of your jelly left if perhaps we could trade a bottle of home made wine for some jelly??? Did I mention that you are my favorite neighbor?

I immediately emailed her back and said I'd be happy to do a trade. But I needed tomato juice worse than wine. Now I know this neighbor. Her and her husband grow a beautiful garden and can tons of vegetables. They have probably 50 tomato plants a season.

Soon the sweet neighbor drives over with not only a bottle of homemade wine, but 3 quarts of tomato juice. You can bet I gave her 2 jars of pepper jelly!

In the end we were both happy with our deals.

54 degrees

Answers to your questions

Thank you fellow bloggers for making my day. I had 7 comments. That's another record.

Now to answer a few lingering questions.

The colors are black and pink, with a touch of mint green thrown in. I'm sure it's my photography that needs tweaking. She wanted pink and brown, but all we could find were polka dots and strips, no little girl prints.

Let's see, Sara you asked me a couple of days ago on a post why we get up at 7:31. That way we can always say we slept until after 7:30!

Thanks for the compliments on the blacksmiths items. We especially like the knocker ones!

Tonight we are getting a nice slow soaker rain. It is much needed in the area. The spring flowers and budding trees will love it.



10 PM 48 rainy degrees

Baby count down

It's just 2 weeks until the little princess is due. I've been busy sewing.

This is a wall hanging to go over her changing table.




Two pillow cases for her.









A dresser scarf. And then there the diaper hanger I made, the curtains, 2 fitted sheets, and her dust ruffle. I just forgot to take a picture of those.

Tomorrow I am mailing a piece of her quilt fabric to my friend Sheila. She will get a call as soon as the little girl is named. Sheila will then put a monogram on the fabric so that I can sew it into the quilt.

I better get busy, I'm still working on the quilt.

I can hardly wait to hold her.

Oh by the way, her little 4 year old brother wants to name her Sparky!

Yesterday and today

First of all I have to apologize to the blacksmith. I forgot to post one of my favorite things he has made for me, a boot scraper! It is right by the mud room door, just as it should be.







The oak wardrobe is almost finished. Today he steel wooled it. It will need one more coat of polyurethane.









This is what the son and his friend did yesterday. What a pile of wood! It was two trees that Jeremy needed to cut out of his yard. They will make a few extra bucks by selling the pile.








Here they are resting








And someone has a birthday today! Yes it's Bentley. He is 4 today. So for breakfast I made him an egg cake, candle and all!
After all if Sara's coon dog gets home cooked meals everyday, surely Bentley can have one for his birthday.

The birthday dog enjoying a dig!

Hand Forged

I am not like the mechanic wife, who's car is never running. Or the accountant's wife, who never gets their taxes in on time. Or the contractor's wife, who never gets her house finished.

No I am the wife of a blacksmith who is lucky enough to have a lot of his handy work around the house.


Like a hand forged gig for the 7 year old grandson.












Or a forged gig for the 4 year old grandson.

The dog kennel even has a hand forged handle and latch.

And beautiful hand forged latch and hinges on my deck.










6 count them, 6 hand forged skewers










Gorgeous hand forged andirons.











My own personal knocker on my red front door.










Or my other knocker on the brown door. (Every woman needs 2 knockers)








My wonderful crane in the living room fireplace.

Even hand forged steak turners.

My little hand forged garden trowel.

And then there are the hand forged gigs he sells. My egg money!

I am so lucky to be married to wonderful talented blacksmith.