Happy Birthday, Tasha Tudor!

We had a wonderful celebration today! The girls dressed in Tasha-Style complete with head-coverings, for as long as they would stay on- long dresses and for the most part bare feet. They picked veggies out of the garden and had lunch and tea in the garden, too! I read a few childrens Tasha Tudor books to them and we looked at a few of my Tasha Tudor adult books as well. What a fun way to celebrate!

YIKES! It's the First Day of School!

Can you believe it? The first day of our homeschool started today! We began bright and early this morning and I got the little ones done by noon. Kaleigh finished up soon after lunch and Casey, well... he's still working. Hopefully he'll be done soon. As you can see, we're a bit informal here. The older kids can do their work standing on their head if they can...as long as it's done and it's done right! I like to have the younger ones use a desk since they're still learning how to write correctly. It's a beautiful afternoon so I'm whisking away to enjoy the outdoors!

Our 25th Wedding Anniversary!

Today we celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary! I can't believe it's been that many years! We've had our ups and downs, good times and hard times, but through the years our love has grown stronger. We have seven children and have lost six through miscarriage... These are the things that bring two people closer than ever...
We had a lovely dinner out, just the two of us, and when we came home we had a beautiful cake and a CLEAN house (Kaleigh, above went through it like a tornado). She also gave the littlies a bath...
Yes, we had a wonderful day. When I look back over the years I wouldn't change a thing... I love that hunk-of-a-man more than ever!

Come Celebrate Tasha Tudor Day!

We're planning on celebrating Tasha Tudor Day by enjoying tea out in the yard complete with a beautifully set tea table. We'll also have cookies and polite conversation along with the reading of several Tasha Tudor favorites!
This wonderful idea of celebrating Tasha Tudor was conceived by Clarice over at www.storybookwoods.typepad.com. You might like to visit her wonderful blog. Be prepared, though, you may be there for awhile... her blog is VERY enjoyable!

Knitted Grocery Shopping Bag

I Live on a Farm blog is one of my favorite places to visit. "Firefly" has some delightful patterns for purchase. This one, however, was free on her blog. If you click on my sidebar you can go see for yourself! I'll use this bag when I'm doing small in-between shoppings; for produce, bread and a few small items. I used kitchen cotton, two skeins (I think). Hmmmm... gee now I'm not sure, maybe it was three. I know I bought extra and I have some left over, but I love the stuff so that's no problem. I might make one of Firefly's knitted jar coverings or maybe a washcloth or bag. I dunno, but the color is so pretty, and once knitted up, the cotton is verrry soft.

A Wee and a Knot Bag

Cassidy is going to a birthday party tomorrow so I thought a Wee from www.weewonderfuls.com and a Japanese Knot Bag would be a cute gift for her friend. Do you see the embroidery on the bag? Her friend's name is Sunny and I was sooo tempted to embroider a sun but thought maybe I'd better not. I still think that would have been really fun, but I'm not sure Sunny would have liked it or not so I opted for a bug to fly around the floral fabric instead.
The Wee Wonderfuls site has some adorable projects and patterns to purchase on there so if you have some free time, take a peek. I bought a pattern from her recently and hope to make it for my girls for Christmas. If I do, I'll post a pic.

Knitted Gift Bag

Hot off my needles is this Knitted Gift Bag from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I used Frog Tree yarn in a deep purple. The yarn is so soft, and the drape is just perfect for this bag. I'm thinking my son's girlfriend will get this for Christmas filled with her favorite perfume...

The Roses Are Bloomin'

at Elizabeth Park! We went on a picnic last Friday to beautiful Elizabeth Park. The park is located on the West Hartford/Hartford border just on the edge of the city. Each year the roses and some other flowers too, are tenderly groomed to perfection for all to enjoy. I made sure we visited this year before the blooms faded. We had a relaxing day admiring the beauty that surrounded us.

Awards!

Hey, Christina, of Bumblebee, thank you for the Brilliant Weblog Award! Did my kids whisper in your ear to try to boost my ego or somethin'? I think they're the ones that keep clicking on my blog to get my numbers up, just to make me feel good...lol...!
I have a few 'awards' to pass on too... there are so many that I enjoy reading, and many are 'superstars' of the blog world, but then there's a few that I just LOVE, and like my blog are kind of little, but terribly interesting to me as they have much in common with my life and my 'belief system' if there is such a phrase.
So here they are - sorry if you've already received this award...hey you can never have too many, right?
Christina of Bumble-Bee Bags, whose blog I love... for her creativity, laughs and her adorable trio of boys!
Alicia of Curiosities808, a font of creativity and uniqueness, her needlework is a delight!
Amy of Ekblad9, her sweetness and sincere, caring nature is an inspiration... plus her brood of kids are so fun to see...
Robin of Knittin Coop - my first swap partner. Robin is full of fun and her knitting and spinning is awesome!
Rae of Made by Rae... I love her sewing and original ideas, plus love the fun photos!
Cheryl of Quilting Memories - Cheryl's blog is so homey... love her sewing, gardening and conversational tone!
Nissa of Simple Gifts - Nissa's my long-time bud... she shares my views, has a lovely family, lots of sewing and creativity goin' on there and is always up for a new adventure!
So there you have my TOP 7! Thanks guys for making my world just a little more special!

Two Hats & Beaded Flip-Flops, Too

Here's a pic of a pair of beaded flip-flops and a sparkle hat. I saw a lady at the beach with the hat, and she was sparkling all over the place. I just had to have that hat! So instead of ripping it off her head I made one instead!
The next shot is of Kierra wearing a hat I made for my friend's granddaughter. I used See & Sew pattern B4764. Although the hat is supposed to be for a boy, I made it in pink and I like it better than the two hats I made for my girls. It's very easy and perfectly functional without the big brim.