OK – so here is what I DID do.

FIRST… I put together the top for my grandangel, Jannae’s, art quilt.  

She made these drawings on cloth with crayon when she was 5 and 6 years old.

Second – I knitted a hat for my Grandangel, Leanna.

Leanna's knitted hat

I think I have redeemed myself after making her an ugly scraf that my brother, Dan, says looks like she was wearing intestines around her neck.  I still do not know what to do with it………I guess it would make a good WHITE ELEPHANT gift if that ever comes up!

Leanna and the UGLY Knitted Scarf

Third – I helped Grandangel Leanna make a pieced skirt for her sister’s American Girl Doll.  She made it with 2 1/2″ fabric strips from my 30′s fabrics – I have a special basket for this fabric collection

Grandangel Leanna and the SKIRT

Fourth – I finished my 2012 January Color Challenge – combined with my January Free Motion Quilting Challenge – it is my first Alzheimer’s Art Quilt to be donated this year.

The colors were given by Vicki Welsh – the picture is of tiles of an 1882 Ship that she saw in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.  I used yo yo’s that I purchased at an “estate” fabric sale.  I just couldn’t let this deceased quilter’s pickle jar of yo yo’s that she worked so hard on NOT get used for something special!

I also quilted it using HEART LEAVES – the January 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge.

The Spangle Tree

I named the quilt the THE SPANGLE TREE in memory of my friend Margarita.  She was a Spanish Professor at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, CA  where I taught for 20 years.  We used to walk together in the early mornings before our classes started.  I loved her!

Margarita was very spiritual and shared the story of how “GOD SPOKE TO HER ONE NIGHT AND CALLED HER HIS SPANGLE.”  She was very distressed because she dreamed and prayed in SPANISH and God had spoken to her in ENGLISH.  So she had to go look up SPANGLE in the dictionary.  She said it meant sweet, and special – like a sparkling  star.  (I looked up the meaning on WIKIPEDIA and evidently it was also a candy made in the 1950′s as well….now discontinued.)

Here is the BACK of The Spangle Tree…..I used a BIRD HOUSE label (you have to have birdhouses to go with a Spangle Tree) that I got on the WHITE ELEPHANT TABLE at my Colonial Piecemaker’s Quilt Guild meeting.  I love using unloved and unwanted things for a new purpose.

The Back of THE SPANGLE TREE

Fourth – I made my 11 x 14 block for the Richmond Modern Quilt Guild Round Robin that will begin in February.  We had to use a word that represented our dreams or aspirations for 2012.  I chose SPANGLES (I guess my friend, God’s Spangle, Margarita, is on my mind a lot lately, and I had a DREAM about this block – SERIOUSLY, I planned it in my dream!)   So, in 2012, I hope to be sweet, special, different, sparkly like a star, colorful, and FUN!….so SPANGLES is my word for 2012.  The dots in the fabric represent the CANDY NERDS which I tasted for the FIRST TIME this week.  Grandangel, Sarah, shared some with me.  The ONLY candy that I really eat much is chocolate….so this was a taste adventure.

Spangles

Fifth – I put together my 2011 Summer Mystery Quilt!

Summer Mystery 2011

So what will I do this week?  WHAT I HAD ON MY DESIGN FLOOR LAST WEEK!  LOL.

Go to Judy Laquidara’s Blog at Patchwork Times.Com to see what quilters around the country are working on!

 http://www.patchworktimes.com/2012/01/23/design-wall-monday-january-23-2012/

The food was great (I had a CA Omelette with mushrooms,  avocado, and goat cheese) and I discovered that I like homemade biscuits with strawberry jam and fresh ground pepper (Grandangel Cooper peppered it for me!!)

Here are my pictures to PROVE that Santa is real – and we had brunch with him today.  PS…if you click on the pictures you can see my DD’s head on her body at the lake!  :):)

When we got home the Epps family opened their first FAMILY GIFT – a WII game – JUST DANCE 3.  OH MY is this ever fun.  I am here to tell you that it is the BEST EXERCISE ever – but you don’t even know you are exercising.  You are just trying to dance and keep up with the little dancer on the screen.  I am so uncoordinated, it is pathetic.  BUT….I had fun anyway…..and there will BE NO PICTURES OF THIS EVER on my blog – or anywhere else, for that matter!!!!!!  lol

Seriously – if you need a gift idea – JUST DANCE 3 for the WII is a winner and good for folks of all ages!  It passed the three-generation test here today!

Quite a few of our extended family members gathered to SURPRISE Daddy and help him celebrate his 90th Birthday in Kansas City, MO!  We ate, we laughed, we played…..and we took LOTS and LOTS of pictures!    We had a pizza party at home for the FIRST PARTY….the next night we had a gala Italian dinner party at our favorite KC Restaurant – Cascone’s…..and Saturday Daddy’s sister and some of his nephews surprised him at yet another birthday party!  Daddy said it was a party worth waiting 90 years for THREE DAYS OF PARTIES!

We had LOTS of fun.  Daddy’s Grandangel Amanda decorated his cake with clowns – oh my – GREAT CLOWNS made out of icing!  

The NEXT GENERATION of his grandangels and great-grandangels had a ping pong tournament that was  SIMPLY MEMORABLE.   The guys dressed for the occasion…..it was hysterical.  They even had an official tournament bracket thanks to technology.  (YEARS AGO we just played and the winner stayed in and welcomed a new opponent!  LOL)  Grandangel Amanda and Great-Grandangel Harry won the tournament!  :)  Daddy even had fun pinging and ponging a bit!

At the end of the pictures you will see some pictures of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri and some shots of Crowne Center – even the Emory Byrd and Thayer Laughing Santa!

We are going to have another SURPRISE party for Daddy’s 100th birthday – but I guess since he reads my blog, it won’t be a big surprise!  :)

Enjoy the pictures!

Grandangel Sarah is eating olives and reading my sausage recipe

We are missing ingredients!

So, did I go to the store and buy what we needed.  NO…..being the adventurous person that I am I just made substitutions!

MAD SCIENTISTS MAKING UP A NEW RECIPE

We have no dried crushed red pepper – no problem – we will leave it out (my DD complains that it is too hot anyway!)

No tarragon…..no problem, we used Steak Rub – Grill Mates.

No white pepper….no problem,  we used fresh ground black pepper!

No celery salt …..we used Lawry’s seasoned salt.

No liquid smoke……THIS WAS THE INGREDIENT THAT ALMOST SENT ME TO THE STORE!  But we substituted Blackened Seafood Seasoning and Sarah added an extra T of barbecue sauce too.

Grandangel Sarah is stirring the brew....

So we mixed and rolled the sausage into little rolls….wearing baggies because NEITHER OF US WILL TOUCH RAW MEAT (I know……pretty silly…..but true!)

Rolling the sausage!

All ready to be baked!

Did you notice that little black thing in one of the sausage rolls?  Sarah got so inspired by our impromptu recipe alterations that she threw in a few black olives…….so like the little baby doll baked into the KING CAKE during Mardi Gras…..we had a little olive baked in our sausage.  Sarah said that the person who got the olive would get a prize.  SHE HID THE OLIVE IN PLAIN SIGHT SO SHE COULD BE THE ONE TO GET IT!

We had lots of fun making the sausage…..and guess what……it is the best that we have ever made…..so I am including our REVISED RECIPE HERE!

sao’s Turkey Sausage (made since 1964 – revised in 2011)

5 lbs ground turkey (do not use white meat – too dry)

1 T Parsley

1 T Cilantro

1 T Curry Powder

1 T Chili Powder

1 T Garlic Powder

1 T Boston Jerk

1 t Mustard Seed  (one teaspoon – usually I use 3 tablespoons)

1 T Oregano

1 T Steak Rub (Grill Mates)

1 T Lawrys Seasonsed Salt

1 T 21 Season Salute (from Trader Joe’s)

5 drops Tabasco (I usually use 10)

1 T Blackened Seafood Seasoning

2 T Teriyaki

2 T Soy Sauce

1 T Worcestershire Sauce

2 T Italian Dressing

3 T Barbecue Sauce

Throw in a few sliced black olives – or anything else that happens to inspire you at the moment!  

Mix well – roll into logs

Bake in 250 degree oven

Turn and Drain every 30 minutes

Takes about 3 hours

Is it genetic?  Is it learned?  BOTH?  NEITHER?

I have always hypothesized that a lot of it was learned.  If you are exposed to many different foods as a child, it is likely that you will have a more varied  range of DELIGHTS than if you only had meat and potatoes at your family dinner table!  

There are FIVE children in my son and DIL’s family and they are a prime example  of why I am confused about learned taste preferences.  My DIL is Italian and she is a great cook.  They sit down at a family dinner table every night with gourmet delights and a variety of foods – lots of variety – and always fresh ingredients – including  all kinds of FRESH VEGGIES and esoteric ingredients.  They eat meat, sea food…….EVERYTHING.

They even eat what could be labeled as STRANGE THINGS at the FAIR – like deep fried frog legs and chocolate covered bacon……..but NOT ALL OF THEM are adventurous like this.  I would say that out of the five grandangels pictured below that there is at least one who eats ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING and one who barely eats anything……the other three have a variety of taste preferences.    I am thinking that it  can’t merely be learned.  And it can’t be all genetic either…….isn’t this fascinating (or is it just me???)

My Daddy has a wide variety of tastes and even eats salmon (which in my opinion is too odiferous to enjoy.)  It actually makes me shudder (and a lot of you are going to be bewildered to hear that something that YOU LIKE SO MUCH is not enjoyed by MOI!)

Daddy shops for healthy things and eats in what I call the DR. OZ STYLE……    This wonderful role model for healthy eating (Daddy) also eats SYRUP on his cottage cheese…….     I eat jalapeno peppers on my cottage cheese.  LOLL

My Daddy also puts his whole entire breakfast into one bowl……he invented BREAKFAST IN  BOWL!  I put my breakfast into one glass!  I have raw oatmeal, cereal, yogurt and a little orange juice in a clear glass so that I can enjoy the LOOK of the beautiful layers.

Did I learn my taste preferences from Daddy?

RECIPE FOR RED PEPPER SPINACH DELIGHT

(Yes, I named it after I just made it up!)

This is what I had for lunch.  I sauteed fresh spinach in olive oil.  I tossed in 8 fresh from the shell peanuts for protein (I do eat peanut shells but didn’t put them into this recipe,)  added lots of fresh cracked ground pepper and threw in a BUNCH of Jalapeno Pepper slices.

Then I put it into a BOWL that was actually 1/2 of a fresh raw red pepper.  Isn’t it pretty?

Let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS…….HEAVENLY.  If I make it again I will add sliced black olives to sprinkle on top!

And this is what my daughter had for lunch….. a tuna sandwich – easy on the mayo.

SO THE JURY IS OUT ON TASTE PREFERENCES…….I have a tendency to like things that are different…..and maybe that is GENETIC…..but……maybe far out taste preferences skip a generation…..or two!  My daughter eats like a normal person, my Daddy and I are what I call more fluent with our taste preferences!  I will let you know if I ever figure this out!!!  :)

In the meantime I am taking a little poll.

ARE YOU

a) a plain mayo and tuna sandwich for lunch type

b) a syrup on my cottage cheese type

c) I am going to try sao’s RED PEPPER SPINACH DELIGHT

d) all of the above

e) none of the above

f) _________________________________________________________

Life is like a box of chocolates…..YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING!  LOL

Grandangel Sarah has Latin Club after school today and they can dress as a Greek Goddess (or God if they are not female)  if they wish.  Sarah just made arrangements to go to LC last night, so we have been engaging in some LAST MINUTE COSTUME CREATION.

The serendipity part?  Sarah stepped on a plastic hanger this morning and the RESULT turned into her bow!!  I wrapped some twine around each end of the broken hanger and secured it with double knots and then wrapped the ends with rubber bands!  lol.  I told Sarah that she probably wouldn’t be doing much HUNTING with this one today…:)  HM….I doubt if they had blue bows either – but oh well, this is the NEW ARTEMIS!

Sarah's BOW for ARTEMIS

Since she won’t be doing any serious FOR REAL hunting, Sarah is taking her own hunting props.

Artemis couldn't really shoot this cute little fox!

So here is the rest of the costume….

My skirt - that she will secure with a belt!

Sarah's white sweater and Sister Leanna's HUNTING NECKLACE!

Sarah made the arrows

One more thing - a last minute bag for the arrows

TA DA - ready for the hunt

SO – this was the CHALLENGE for the day – what challenges are you accepting today?

And – just in case you wanted to know WHO ARTEMIS WAS….here you go!  :)

ARTEMIS was the great Olympian goddess of hunting, wilderness and wild animals. She was also a goddess of childbirth, and the protectress of the girl child up to the age of marriage. Her twin brother Apollon was similarly the protector of the boy child. Together the two gods were also bringers of sudden death and disease–Artemis targetted women and girls, and Apollon men and boys.

In ancient art Artemis was usually depicted as a girl dressed in a short knee-length chiton and equipped with a hunting bow and quiver of arrows.

I copied the information above from this link….you can read more here…..

http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Artemis.html

Today was what I call a COZY day – cool outside, cozy inside.  Patsy was working on some beads that I was just absolutely enamored over.  She is making these beads by rolling and gluing old magazine covers and then covering them with a material to make them hard and shiny.  LOOK!

Are these beads amazing?

They are made from triangle slips of magazine pages.

Patsy has a special tool that she uses to keep the HOLE in the bead!

Here they are before the outer coating is on.

I really want to learn to do this for sure.  There is something especially nice about taking material that is going to be tossed out and making it into something ever so nice!

And look what Carmen got as a GIFT from the QUILTED B  when she ordered fabric.  It is a really nice pin cushion.

Carmen got this as a gift when she ordered fabric online

The Quilted Bee

I think I am going to order something – just so I can get one of these darling pin cushions – and the business card is really nice too!

I like Carmen's Sewing kit - it is a little make-up bag - isn't that clever?

Carmen's hand made quilt is growing!

We had so much fun looking at Linda’s daughter’s wedding pictures.

The Groomsmen wore Tennies!

Isn’t this clever – the groom and the groomsmen put on tennis shoes after the wedding!  HOW CUTE!  I think feet pictures are just precious anyway!

And look at this cake – I LOVE IT!

FANTASTIC CAKE

Isn’t this the most beautiful cake ever!!!  I enjoyed seeing the pictures!

I worked on my Scrappy Grandmother’s Flower Garden Hexagons today – I think I made quite a few.  It is a nice hand work project.  I didn’t take any pictures – but when I start sewing them together, I will share!

It was a good day – very relaxing and lots of fun.  

The only bad part about the day was that I WANTED TO GO TO HOBBY LOBBY – our new store here in Midlothian.  I left the group fun a bit early especially so I could stroll up and down EVERY AISLE at Hobby Lobby.  Well,  I drove ALL THE WAY to the end of Midlothian Turnpike and I just never did see it – so I turned around and drove all the way back…..and still didn’t see it.  BUMMER.

When I got home I GOOGLED HOBBY LOBBY and discovered it was on HULL STREET – no wonder I couldn’t find it on MIDLOTHIAN TURNIKE.  SIGH….guess I will save that for another day.

A VERY GOOD PART ABOUT TODAY THOUGH was that Grandangel Leanna got her learner’s permit!  YEAH!  And isn’t this the cutest little Metal Diet  Coke Bottle EVER!  I haven’t seen these before!!!  :)

Leanna got her Learner's Permit!

The quilt is a PUMPKINS GONE WILD panel by Moda and I love it.  I thought a panel would be a good thing to practice hand quilting on!

Hand Quilted Halloween

I love decorating for Holidays….it just makes me SOOOOOO HAPPY!  See that little white pear on the table…..I made that *with Catherine’s expert instruction* while on retreat in Williamsburg last month.

It's beginning to look a lot like FALL!

There is ONE MORE HAPPY THING to celebrate today.  Grandangel Sarah is 12.  She was so excited for her birthday that she woke up at 5:40 am instead of her regular 6:00 time!  She came out of her room smiling and said, “GRANDMA, QUICK, LIGHT THE CANDLES!”

The candles are lit!

I always light the birthday year number of candles (this year there are 12) and have them on the breakfast table.  It is so much fun and it gives me an EXCUSE to shop at the Yankee Candle store!

Birthday candle is in the cake!

OK – so her morning present is on her chair, the 12 candles are burning and the birthday cake candle is lit…..time for Sarah!

Grandangel Sarah is 12

Does this look like a happy face, or that!!!

The IPOD Touch is a hit

Her DPoppa programmed her IPOD TOUCH so it was ready with ITunes!

Purple Zebra Cover

When you have a purple zebra cover on your IPOD Touch, it just HAS to be a good day.  Since I don’t have one (a cover or an IPOD TOUCH) I am just going to have a good day anyway.

I HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY TOO!

HERE ARE ELEVEN THINGS I LOVE ABOUT CAMPING

#1  I love sleeping in a tent.

Our cozy tent

I especially like sleeping in a tent when it is COLD and there are LOTS of blankets – six of us filled this tent with wall-to-wall blankets, stuffed animals, sleeping bags and pillows!   There are PEOPLE SLEEPING in this picture but it was so cold that heads were hidden – tucked under pillows.  :)

Tent stuffed with fun!

#2  I always have unique scientific experiences while camping

Camping is educational….for example, you can learn firsthand about CONDENSATION…..our tent was covered with it when we woke up in the mornings!

Condensation

I am not complaining at all about all of that CONDENSATION because we had lots of creature comforts – like LIGHTS IN OUR TENT! That lantern lit up the entire tent!

All of the comforts of home

#3 The Games

We took a BAG of games – like UNO, DOMINOES, BATTLE SHIP, and RING TOSS!

I think ring toss was my favorite.  See that little opening in the tent above the lantern?    We tossed our little LIGHT UP RINGS back and forth across this opening…..WHY?  Because….just because.    It was fun to see those little circles of light flying around the tent.  Grandangels Sarah and Leanna were on one side with me – DD Christi and DSIL Greg with Grandangel Cooper were on the other side.     There were no winners or losers – just flying lit-up rings and lots of laughter!  I can hear the giggles in my mind and heart right now!

One landed on my purse!

#4 The Food ALWAYS TASTES BETTER cooked over a fire

The food was memorable on our camping trip.

I LOVED SIPPING STARBUCKS COFFEE IN THE MORNING WHILE SITTING AROUND A BLAZING FIRE!

Our campsite had electricity!

Breakfast was an adventure……we had pancakes, eggs, sausage, cereal, OJ …….and even hotdogs!!  My DDSIL, Greg, made breakfast and it was delightful.  The FIRST PANCAKES are never as pretty as the subsequent ones….:)

My DSIL made the delicious pancakes *they were ACTUALLY GOOD!

One of the RULES of camping is TO HAVE FUN and if you want a HOT DOG FOR BREAKFAST – why not?  Grandangel Sarah did just that!

Sarah had a hot dog for breakfast!

Yummy?

Speaking of food – there is nothing quite so dreamy as a SMORES with a little blackened marshmallow.  YUM

Grandangel Leanna LOVES SMORES

#5  The Campfires

I don’t know what my FAVORITE PART of camping is but I sure do like the evening fireside times….can’t you just smell the fresh air and the aroma of burning wood?

Fireside fun

#6  Roughing it

I really enjoy imagining what it was like for the early pioneers – they really had to rough it.  No electric coffee pots either.  I actually smiled when I climbed out of my tent and looked at the row of WET SANDY SHOES waiting to be worn!

Cold wet sandy shoes....AH.... LOVE ROUGHING IT

I even wore socks with my Birkenstocks – but I think I was the ONLY one who thought it looked cool!  LOL

Cute? Black socks with my Birkenstocks - anyone can wear running shoes!

#7  I Loved Walking the Trails

There were lots of trails to explore.

I was enamored with the Spanish Moss

Loved the early SIGNS OF AUTUMN

Does anyone else think this is BEAUTIFUL?

#8  I LOVE the people who were with me on the trails!

My DD and Grandangels, Sarah, Leanna and Cooper

Cute deer on the trails!

Don't we look like seasoned hikers?

Three happy grandangels!

The Beach Path

Grandangel Leanna loved hunting for sand crab

Flying a kite was one of the highlight of our two beach days!

We loved flying the kite!

Sand - blue skies - good wind - grandangel = happiness

#10 Sunset

I don’t know what it is about a sunset, but it is simply exhilarating.  I think it is even better AT THE BEACH!

Beautiful sky!

Playing NETLESS Badminton at sunset

#11 Tree Climbing

I love to take photos of the grandangels climbing trees!  They have such wonderful trees at the Virginia Beach Campsite!

Cooper and Leanna in one of the trees

 

HIGH UP IN THE TREE!

 

I wanted to climb those trees – but I didn’t have tree-climbing shoes!  But, I couldn’t fight the urge – so I climbed up on a not so high branch in my trusty Birkenstocks!  It was really fun!

I did climb on a low branch - just couldn't resist!

 

So there you have it – just a few of the reasons why I love camping!  It is a tradition and I want to repeat this fun at least once a year for my birthday celebration! 

Daisies

Here is DAISY!  I loved this car and still miss her to this day.

Daisy in the Snow

 

My favorite part of my DAISY car was the sunroof.  When it rained, the grandangels and I opened the sunroof and got wet while singing “SINGING IN THE RAIN!”

 

She had a wonderful sunroof and grandangels could stick their heads out to catch raindrops on their tongues

I also have a cat named DAISY MAE!

Daisy Mae

OK – now that we have established the fact that I like Daisies……I also love fall  - the leaves, the cool weather, the pumpkins.

And speaking of pumpkins, some critters have been having a party.  LOOK at the pumpkin that is in my mailbox garden.  DO YOU RECOGNIZE THESE TEETHMARKS?  Squirrels?  Turtles?  Deer?  I would really like to know – the teeth mark have made a rather interesting design statement!

Who has been eating my pumpkin?