Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Long Time no Blog

This is a lovely waterfall inside Olympic Nation Park. I was able to travel to Washington state earlier this month for work and got to arrange for a free day to view the Park. The weather was fantastic there while we visited and it was a relaxing visit. What amazes me the most about the west coast of the US is that you can be standing and looking a the ocean and the snow covered mountains at the same time. We were able to see the stacks at the beach in the park.
We also were able to stand on Hurricane Ridge where the snow in the roads was still about 10 ft tall on the sides after the plow ran through it. Here I am standing at the top of Hurricane Ridge, Olympic Mountain in the back ground. 
 I got a bit of stitching finished on the airplane ride but the plane was packed and I gave up after a while. I was able to complete the camp piece from April. ( how long ago that seems now) I am saving the photo until I get the Glory House assembly completed. Hopefully this weekend will offer time for that. I was able to pick up another piece last night that is very nearly completed. Stitched a few hours on it until my eyes gave out for bedtime. No stitching or quilting photos in this post but hopefully soon. My mom is living at the lake for the summer. Still a bit more remodeling there before we can consider that a place to relax. We are having a half bath but in upstairs and it just seems to be taking forever. This is what happens when you can only get the work done of the weekends. I am so ready to have all the transitional stuff finished so I can get back to my stitching and quilting life. The dining room table is loaded down with the Batiks I plan to use for a quilt for my bed. I am ready to cut but need a block of time to get started. 


Hope everyone had a great Memorial Holiday state side and took a minute to remember those who fought for the freedom we enjoy. The older I get the more humbled I am by those selfless people gave so much for our Country. 


Happy stitching and thanks for stopping by,
Pam

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

And the winner is....

Maybe we should start with desserts first. A friend loaned me a cupcake cookbook which had some great recipes and the bride to be loved the idea so I make about 90 different cupcakes(I had much lower attendance expectations than most of you) Strawberry, white chocolate and mocha latte were the 3 types she picked. The strawberry had the "c" initial for her new last name. The white chocolate had white chocolate shaves with silver sprinkles. The mocha latte had chocolate frosting with a second marscopone frosting and chocolate covered espresso beans with salted caramel drizzle. They were all great tasting and moist cupcakes. I had an antique cut glass punch bowl from my step-dads family that we had a delightful pink raspberry punch that looked great with the other colors.


This is the table before the food landed. I was able to uses the cut glass glasses that match the punch bowl as vases for roses from my neighbors yard. As many as you see there were still tons left in the yard. They have about 50 rose bushes in their yard.We had my great aunts silver punch bowl for a second punch serving. I think it helped cut out the congestion around the serving tables to split it up.  


The entry table and sign in had hydrangea (also from neighbors yard. They have an amazing garden. I was able to use them in the living room in a couple more vases as well. 


The menu included a cheese selection of Smoked Gouda, Cream Havarti and Sharp Cheddar. Fresh fruits ( melons, strawberries, kiwi, grapes, pineapple and  blueberries) Homemade chicken salad and a spinach dip. Not really a traditional tea as I revolted against making those little sandwiches that get stale and pet-ti-fours but it was nice and the bride to be was thrilled. ( if she had insisted I would have of course made them for her but she was happy with the offerings) The grand total of attendance was 54 so I believe that makes  Terri who guessed 61 the winner. Please send me your snail mail for your stitching prize!


Thanks for stopping by,
Pam