The Rainbow....

The colours spread high from across the east,

High in the sky also from the west,

It's when at the middle they became one,

is how I liked the colours the best.... (it was 8:40 p.m. and maybe thats why it looks a bit muggy)

Do you know this past week while I've been on vacation it has rained from Monday evening through to Saturday, everyday. Sometimes it rained ALL day and ALL night. Sometimes we had a thunderstorm...or two with brief sunny skies quickly turning to more rain. Some of you have told me you are having a drought and others say rain too. What has your weather been like?

On Friday night as I went out to wave to Geoff as he sprinted out amongst the rain puddles I took the above pictures. Now I do know the forecast is for rain on Monday and Tuesday again. Perhaps today on Sunday is a day of rest...from the rain. I'm off to my mom's an hour north of me. We hope to be able to walk along the boardwalk by the water and treat ourselves to lunch. I'm taking my umbrella...wish us luck!

I hope wherever you spend today, it'll be a lovely day.... Judi xoxo

Pocket Bag & Silly Abby

With the crummy wet weather we've been having all week I have had a fabulous time crafting. That was part of what this vacation week was supposed to be about, a time for me to play. I've had a jacket sitting in my closet in the dry cleaning bag it came home in last spring. It was never worn all winter so I gathered I wasn't going to wear it any longer. What to do with it I pondered??

Then suddenly lights came on...scissors snip snipped...sewing machine buzzed away...and voila a Pocket Bag was born!

I am so excited about it. It is made with one deep jacket pocket on either outside of the bag. The lining inside the bag is a dark brown and it has a long strap (to slip over your shoulder) and a snap to close it at the front. Fun. I'm slipping this one in to Etsy. When it was complete I thought I's make up another one for me now but then I realized I'd used both pockets...hmmmmm...I should have thought that out differently. Oh well this is just what I wanted it to be.

While I was sewing I could see and hear a robin singing in a tree outside. Thats when I noticed Abby lying on the windowsill watching me, as she usually does. I began whistling trying to sound like the robin. I *lol* when she turned herself upside down to look at me sort of like "oh mama...stop that".

Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to get t full pose. What a silly girl.....

Hope this Saturday is a beautiful one for you.... Judi xoxo

Tomato Slicer??

Last weekend we were galavanting around and stopped at a barn sale. I found these interesting things. I bought two of them..one of these things I don't know what they are for me..and one for Geoff. Do you know for sure what it is. It seems to be aluminum or something. It has a lock to stay closed but it opens like this. Marc thought it was used for slicing eggs or tomatoes. The lady in the store said she saw something on TV and that they were for slicing tomatoes.

They do slice tomatoes but I I'm not sure whether I'd continue using it. My knife was a bit thick and I thought I might be making it dull the way it was rubbing. Maybe I could use another knife...maybe not.

Do you use these plastic cutting "boards". I got the set at Christmas. Each one is coloured differently and has a picture for what you would cut on them. They are fish, poultry, beef and vegetables. They have a different finish on the underside so they don't slip about.

I hope you have a really great weekend with lovely weather. This is the last day of my vacation - this round anyway and it has rained the past 4 days. We're in for more too..yikes! Judi xoxo

Cherub Pincushions and Bunnies

I made a couple of Cherub Pincushions using pretty fabric and added a little mother of pearl bead and a tiny glass heart onto it. They are all ready to adorn any sewing room and assist in sewing projects. They have gone into my etsy shop. Cute aren't they?

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I also wanted to share some bunnies I have around my place. I've shared some of my bunny salt and pepper shakers and the little Berollino bunny plates Madeline uses when she comes over. These are some other plates.








I think the "Carrots" plate counts too because it does serve up some yummy bunny carrots.





















and a bunny planter





and this one came out very blurry but this bunny does hold rings and things....







and a Benjamin Bunny cup







and a wall plaque















and 2 bunnies in the garden at the cottage....

Hope you are having a lovely day... Judi oxox

Donkey's Tail and Sylvia

I wanted to share how well my Donkey's Tail is doing. This is how it looked last summer when it was one year old. The previous summer when I first rooted it it was just 2 skinny "tails" and 4 fatter "tails".



This is how it looks now. You have to be very careful with this plant. It knows just how it much water it likes. If it doesn't have enough it will immediately panic in that you barely touch it and it'll lose one of its "leaves". These begin to root and multiply and then climb right out of the pot like this one.

Since last year I now have the plant pot sitting in a larger bowl on top of an inverted bowl. Its up higher now and that shows how much longer it is. Ideally it should be in a pot and hanging up where it isn't disturbed. I'll end up losing the little "leaves" once it grows a little more and touches my table. I just don't have a suitable spot for hanging it.




This is Sylvia my African Violet. I posted about her once before when I was at Wordpress. Our manager where I worked part-time 4 years ago rooted one leaf for each of us as a farewell gift when the store closed. My one leaf is now 4 separate plants in this pot. The original one in the store I called Geraldine. She was always in bloom even though she never saw sunlight and was in very dry soil. Three of mine in the pot are blooming, the fourth one just never does bloom. Isn't she beautiful? She loves me taking her into the kitchen sink and sprinking warm water over her leaves just as I did to her mother.

Have a lovely day.... Judi xoxo

Memorial Day at the Cottage

I hope everyone had a lovely Memorial Day. This was my first trip of the season to the cottage with Marc which is right on Lake Ontario in New York State. I live across that lake in Ontario, Canada which is off to the left of where we look over the lovely blue water.

We had a nice Memorial Day weekend. Marc's grandson Jack came to visit with Marc's daughter and SIL. Jack will be 2 years next month. I love that age. I was able to visit some blogs and read about your weekends as well.
It was a cooler weekend in the 60s with a slight cool breeze from the lake most of the time. I caught a picture of three white swans floating by the cottage. I drove back home late this afternoon and will do some catch up of projects/crafts for the rest of the week while I'm on vacation. Then I'll head back on Friday for the weekend.

Have a lovely day... Judi xoxo

English Roses China Teapot Lamp

Its PINK Saturday and Beverly from HowSweettheSound is hosting us again. Visit her site to see allllll the other PINKness participants. Don't forget to leave them a message so they know you've been visiting and enjoy...

I finished it!!

A couple of weeks ago I showed you my roses teapot (minus lid), PINK and yellow roses sugar bowl from last summer and pretty roses in PINK and yellow cup and saucer.

They are all fine English china and oh so pretty. I told you I was going to make something and I did! Its no a pretty English Roses China Teapot Lamp. I drilled and screwed and glued. It stands almost 20" tall and today I topped it with a white shade.

I actually had to purchase a 5 shades in 3 separate trips before finding the right size and style. The china is so pretty and feminine. It will most likely make its way into my Etsy shop next week.

I'm on vacation yipppeeee for a week now and we'll be spending time with friends. I also plan on some thrifting in new areas.

I hope to find some pretty workable plates and more prettyness for another lamp. I'll be peeping in during my travels here and there...

I hope my American friends have a nice Memorial Day weekend.... Judi xoxo

Barbara and Oprah and Kris Allen

Congratulations to Kris Allen!! The new American Idol. I thought he would win but I was still so surprised...in a great way! good for him. I'm sure Laurie will have more posting to do sharing in the excitement in Arkansas!

For those of you who watched American Idol did you love it and were you so fully entertained by all the talent as I was! I can only imagine the utter thrill they had singing with the celebraties like Danny singing 3 songs with Lionel Ritchie, and Kiss was there and Rod Stewart...fabulous!

UPDATE - I can now post Barbara's blogspot : http://www.barbaramuirpaints.com/

Its so exciting and I wanted to share with you that tomorrow, Thursday a friend of mine will be on Oprah on "Where the Skype are you?" Barbara is a faculty where I work and she paints. She paints portraits, still pictures...pics of her cat...her family. She has a lovely blog where she shares her paintings and her stories faithfully every day. When Barb paints a commissioned portrait she has the subject(s) sit for her while she paints. She shares her connection with that person and being an english teacher she writes in such a lovely, light hearted positive way.

Some weeks ago Oprah found out about her and she was contacted. Oprah wants her to sketch a picture of her and one of her puppies She had an interview a couple of weeks ago on Skype. If you watch Oprah you'll see her on Skype on Oprah! It will be aired at 4:00 p.m. my time which means because I'm off at 3:30 I'll be home in good time. Isn't that neat? Its so wonderful for Barb to be recognized in this way. I would be interested to know if you watch and see her! Way to go Barbara!

Dancing...Singing...and a "new" Chandalier

Well it really is time to step up to high-speed internet. This free dial-up is just so slow and it takes forever to visit everyone. On top of that at 11:30 on Sunday night the dial-up quit. I had a busy tone on my computer until today. I get it free from my work but it took until today for them to have it fixed! I'm glad to be back and trying to catch up.

Tonight is a busy night around here for me. Dancing with the Stars ends tonight. :o( It was so good last night.

I think Shawn Johnson did such a wonderful job. Her freestyle was so energetic. Melissa Rycroft was pretty good too but I have seen her dance better. I ws surprised at Cheryl's choreography last night. Gilles Marini wasn't dancing the way we love to watch him dance. She seemed to be doing most of the dancing. The spotlight was on her I felt.

Its a 2-hour finale and I'll be glued to the TV. No matter who wins that couple will deserve it. They are all so good. Don't you think?

Following that we have Adam Lambert vs Kris Allen on American Idol. I think this will be a close one. The two of them are so different and so good in their own way. Are you like me glued to the set Monday to Wednesday? I won't know what to do with myself next week!! (Check here for this site)

Very recently I was excited because I found something at the thrift shop that I'd been looking for. I didn't want to show it right away because I was going to paint it an ivory perhaps a bit distressed. It was one of about 7 boxes of new chandaliers. I am SURE I "willed" it to be there.

Some of the others were really huge and heavy and quite lovely...but too big for my place. I had Geoff hang it up for me last night in its original state. I think I can bribe Geoff to take it down again if I decide to spray it another colour. All the pricsms were included although I had to go back to get them once I noticed they were missing but a little hand written note explained there were extra pieces in their back room. Do you know, this beauty was $24.99. Good deal eh?

I had better do what I need to do tonight...so I'll be all ready for the big TV festivities.

Enjoy... Judi xoxo

Do you like fish...and the weather...

First of all I hope everyone had a great weekend. I hope you had nice, warm sunny weather? Our weather wasn't so great for a long weekend. It didn't get higher than 60 and today it was in the 50s and breezy. BUT tonight we're in for a frost warning??? Can you imagine? Its going to be 0F. I sure hope everyone camping this weekend has an extra blanket with them..brrrrrrr. As the week goes along its going up to almost 80F. Now thats a big difference.

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We've been enjoying fish about once a week. We've tried frozen talepia a number of times and its very delicious. Each fish fillet is packages separately so its easy to cook just what you want. Its a very mild fish. We bake it in the oven with a little bit of pineapple teriyaki sauce over it, or we've also discovered Orange Ginger Dipping Sauce. I use that sauce over chicken and pork chops but its very good on fish as well. We put on just a little bit and we can't get over how delicious it is.

Last night we prepared fresh red snapper, scallops and shrimps. It was a nice dinner served with rice and green beans. Unfortunately I had already started eating when I remembered I might like a picture. Isn't it bad when you can't do anything without panicking for the camera???



We fried the scallops and shrimps we fried in just a weeeee bit of butter and added some of the orange ginger sauce. We cooked them about 4 minutes each side and thats its.


We tried a new recipe for the red snapper. For the 2 of us we halved the following sauce recipe and it was perfect for the one large piece of red snapper we shared. Because we had the other seafood we knew that was all we needed.

Red Snapper Parmesan

2 lbs. red snapper (we used one large snapper which we shared along with other seafood)

1 c. sour cream

1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp. grated onion

1/2 tsp. salt

Dash hot pepper sauce

Paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

We greased a baking dish and placed the fish on it. Combine other ingredients except paprika and spread over the fish. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake 30 minutes or until sauce has thickened somewhat and slightly coloured.

Makes 6 servings.

Do you like fish...what is your favourite? Do you have a favourite fish recipe?

Clara on PINK Saturday

Don't you love PINK Saturdays hosted by Beverly at HowSweettheSound? Be sure to click and see all the other participants. Leave a comment so they know you've visited.

I want to introduce you to Clara. She is my most recent project, a little PINK dolly. Clara is the perfect little first dolly for a little one. I've made her from soft cuddly PINK fabrics and embroidered her little heart and face. She's filled with polyfil just enough so that she is easily grasped by little fingers.


Clara, little dolly has little PINK ribbon tags so that little fingers can feel their softness. She has been admired as baby shower gifts so I've decided to put her into my Etsy store. She's waiting for loves and going along on little adventures.

Note: Clara went to Etsy and was immediately SOLD! But I have another one in my Etsy shop again and I'm working on a little buddy for her.

I hope you have a lovely PINK Saturday... Judi xoxo

Happy Birthday Richard

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you.... Happy Birthday to you... Happy Birthday Dear Richard...Happy Birthday to you....

Today, 28 years ago my youngest son Richard was born. The day was so beautiful, a perfect spring morning when I was blessed with another perfect little baby boy.









Richard has always brought me such joy and I'm so proud of all that he is.

This picture was taken on Mother’s Day when we celebrated his birthday a bit early so we could all be together. He’s blowing out the candles – and making a big wish I’m sure. He has a lot of wonderful interests and is a great hands-on person. We have always shared a special bond between the two of us and he shares such warmth in expressing his gratitude, his love and his loving hugs.

I hope today and this whole year will be as wonderful for him as it was for me on the day he was born. Happy Birthday!

Have a lovely day... Judi xoxo

Fresh Strawberry Fruit Cake

I baked a Fresh Strawberry Fruit cake for Mother's Day which we celebrated at my mom's house. My youngest son Richard's birthday is May15th so because we were all together we put on candles and sang Happy Birthday to him also. I posted about this cake last summer on Wordpress but I hope you don't mind my posting again.

This cake is moistened with sweeted water and best when made completed a day earlier.

Fresh Strawberry Fruit Cake

Use equal amounts of eggs, sugar and flour adding 1 tbsp. extra flour. I used 5 eggs (1 cup), therefore one cup of the other 2 dry ingredients. That made a 9" cake pan. I normally like to use 7-8 eggs and use a large tall pan.

Eggs
Sugar
Flour plus 1 tablespoon
2 tsp. baking powder

Fruit - any mix of your choice of strawberries, kiwi, grapes, peaches, blueberries etc. You can use canned fruit cocktail as well.

Strawberry Jam
Jello powder (box of 4 servings)
Heavy cream - whipped

Beat the eggs and sugar for a couple of minutes until light and airy. Beat in the flour with the baking powder little by little until mixed.

Bake for approx. 35 minutes at 350F or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan on a rack. Remove cake from pan. Slice across through the middle and separate the 2 pieces.

Prepare jello as per instructions but decrease boiling water to 3/4 cup. Place in fridge to set. Keep an eye on it because you want to take it out when it is still spoonable so that it will just spread but not run.

Meanwhile mix 1-1/2 cups of warm water and sweeten with tablespoons of sugar until quite sweet. You can add a splash of rum or cointreau for additional flavour. Use spoon to moisten the bottom and inside of top layer with the water. You want it to be quite moist.






Prepare fruit by cutting into slices and place on top of cake as creatively as you like. :o)


Whip the cream.
Spread some strawberry jam on bottom piece of cake. Place some fruit on bottom layer. It doesn't all have to be covered. Spoon some whip cream over fruit. Place top layer on bottom layer.



Spread whip cream around the sides of cake and 1" around the outer edge of the top of cake.

When jello has set enough to be still spoonable, spoon it over the fruit and top being careful that it stays inside the outer rim of whipping cream.



Refrigerate to set. Tomorrow it will be so delicious!! This is a very popular Finnish cake and quite impressive looking as well. Its a long winded recipe but so fast and simple, really. Enjoy.

Have a very sweet day..... Judi xoxo

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A note to Judy - the Orange Ginger Sauce I use is this purchased one which says its a dipping sauce. I use it on so many different foods when cooking including the talepia fish as I told you. I also put it on pork chops on chicken when grilling or baking, and when I'm doing a stir fry with shrimp and other fish and seafood dishes. Great with scallops. I am in Canada so if you can't find it I'm sure you would have a similar type of sauce. Try a chinese/ethnic part of your grocery store too. The pineapple teriyaki sauce I buy in the states and can't buy here. I think its HP brand. Let me know if you can find it.

Thrifty Wasting Time...

Sometimes I really get on my nerves because it seems I don't pay attention to what I'm telling me. That causes me to waste time making decisions when I know anyway. Huh? mmhmmmmm...

There is something I've really wanted to have that I've had but don't have lately. Huh? mmhmmmmm... but I'll tell you about that later. But at the beginning..

Yesterday I stopped at a Thrift Shop close to my home because I was looking for a silver tray because....I'm going to attempt a new craft. I went in and found a lovely one with handles even. So lovely that I had to buy it and as I was getting ready to leave I thought I might even give it to my son Geoff it was so nice. I was afraid of messing it up with my new craft. Thats when I spied, in a box JUST what I told you above I've been looking for. It was there...right there...and I hoed and I hummed about it, and then I left...without it!

So because I'll explain the other thing in another post I simply have the tray to show you. This is how it looked when I first bought it. You can't even see the tarnish in the picture can you?...

I cleaned it up with Twinkle and then it twinkled so much it looked tarnished in the picture! So here it is on the table along with my recent thrift found silver candlesticks and my thrifted silver flower container. I wasn't working the vignette for this picture I just wanted you to see it.

That is my Show and Tell and I can't wait to show you what I found!!

I hope you find this to be a very lovely day... Judi xoxo

Mother-in-Laws Table

A few years ago my mother-in-law moved into a nursing home and my eldest son Geoff was given this lovely table of hers. She always had it at one side of sofa in her livingroom. At the time Geoff thought that I would enjoy the table more and should keep it for him and he would take it back another time.

Its a very interesting table and is on little wheels. It has sort of hinges for lack of what to call them at the sides. That allows the bottom shelf to be pushed towards the back










and then slide up to create a wider table like this. This picture is a side view.







I'm so pleased to have this table and happy that my son was offered it because his father would have sold it had he been there. Both my boys are so happy it will stay in our family. Does anyone know anything more about this table? Why it would have wheels etc and what it might be called if it has a name?

Have a lovely day.... Judi xoxo

Blue Monday

BLUE Monday is hosted by Sally from SmilingSally. Be sure to click to see all the other Blue Monday participants and hope you'll leave everyone a comment. They'll be happy you did.

This weekend I made 2 new cushions for my sofa. I love the floral in them and you can see the BLUE flowers in the fabric. I added a red trim to them and like the way they bring out the red which goes so well with the BLUE.

Do you remember a few weeks ago I made drapes using the same fabric. The pillows give you more a jest of the colour. A couple of weeks after that I posted on the diningroom chairs that I recovered with a matching plaid fabric, all except for the one chair in the picture which I covered in the drape fabric....just for contrast.

I'm loving this fabric. They are using colours I love but just haven't really brought out and together until now because I had to accidentally stumble on this fabric to do so.

I've used this floral fabric to make the pair of full length drapes, 2 cushions and covered a chair seat. I have some fabric remaining I may use for a runner or another cushion I have to remind myself how much fabric I have remaining.

Can you guess how much all of this has cost me? The fabric is a really good quality fabric which was on a reduction with further reduction table at $5.00 a metre (a metre is 39"). I purchased 5 metres and there was about 3/4 metre left which they just gave me. Thats $25.00 plus tax!! My diningroom chair fabric is also a good quality fabric reduced to $7.00 a metre. I purchased 2 metres for a total of $14.00. I have a nice chunk of that fabric left for another project. I love bargains like that and it sure helps to be able to sew. It makes decorating so much more fun thats for sure.

I hope you have a fun day... Judi xoxo