On The Edge Pillowcase Finish

You Go Girl On the Edge Pillowcase is done! Kyle's girlfriend, Julia, has a birthday coming up in a few days and I thought she would like two pillowcases and a little embroidered pillow to match. This is the second time I've made these babies and I love them every time. You can get the free directions and tutorial by clicking the link above.
The fabric is all cotton, purchased at JoAnn's and the crocheted edging is Aunt Lydia's crochet cotton. The little pillow is white cotton on the front and matching blue on the back.

Home, Travel and Back Home Again!

Home really is where my heart is. I'm not much of a traveler; never was... I really enjoy...

tending to my blooms...

blossoms...

veggies...

and more veggies. But sometimes, a girl has got to leave the nest just for a little bit and...

go on vacation, kick up her heels with the kiddoes...

make s'mores by the campfire...

revel in the chaos of traveling in the big van altogether...

fool around and have fun at whatever shops and places she visits...

watch the older kids still enjoy a family vacation...

visit a butterfly garden on the hottest, most humid day imaginable...

never tire of watching her kids and others' kids go round and round on the carousel...

admire sleepy little girls slumbering in the trailer...

be content that her hard-working hubby has some time off to finally relax and read a bit...

celebrate a birthday with a home-made cake even if we're away...

and then come home to the beautiful scenery...

countryside farms and...

curvy, hilly roads that bring us back home!

How to Can Carrots Tutorial

Read all directions before starting!
I used to be intimidated by the whole canning thing. No need though, as canning is not very difficult at all. I picked about 8 lbs of carrots (and beets, too!) and got busy canning them. Here is a very easy, step by step guide in canning carrots.
First pick your carrots.

Second, put them in a large bowl filled with water to soak while you scrub each one with a scrub brush. Scrub them really good to get off all the dirt in the crevices! Isn't the color stunning?
Slice the carrots into nice pieces, neither too thin nor too thick. At this point, you can put them into baggies and put them into the refrigerator overnight, as I did. If you're not too tired, continue... At this point you want to have your canning jars hot. I put mine in the dishwasher and run them through a full cycle so they are clean and hot when I need them. Also, get your water going in your pressure canner.
Put water into a large pot and put a colander inside the pot with the carrots in it. When the water comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer carrots for five minutes. They will still be a bit firm; you don't want to cook them all the way through. Remove from heat.

While the carrots are cooking, get your canning jars out of the dishwasher and put one teaspoon salt in each quart jar and one half teaspoon salt in each pint jar.

Next, using a canning funnel, fill jars with carrots filling only to the bottom of the neck of the jar. Shake down a bit.

Fill each jar with nearly boiling carrot water using a ladle. Fill just to where the bottom of the canning funnel is inside the jar, which is 1/2" headspace. Wipe around the outside of the jar with a clean, wet, cloth. Put on lids, jar rubbers and metal rings.

Place in pressure canner and process for 30-35 minutes at 10 lbs.

Remove and admire your beautiful jars of carrots. You'll really enjoy them this winter!

Granny Square Pillow and Summer Beauty

I saw a very pretty crocheted pillow here and decided I wanted one too. The only problem was that my finger has been swollen for a few months now and I was giving it a much needed rest from any type of needlework. So what's a girl to do? I ended up whining to Kaleigh and asked her if she could make me one similar to the one I saw. Did she do a great job, or what? She came up with her own pattern, including the single-crocheted back, and used stash yarn. I love my new pillow!
Casey took a picture of the moon during the day. Isn't it beautiful?
Deep purple cascading petunias brighten up my front porch stairs.

Peas and raspberries are just starting to ripen. Mmmmm... they are so good!

What I'm Up To ...

Summer; my favorite time of year! I've been making weekly trips to the reservoir...
enjoying watching my big kids "play" with the little ones...

spending LOTS of time on my favorite float reading and "taking a tan" as Caressa calls it...

getting gussied up for going out to dinners with my hubby...
having fun with the summer birthdays and the cookouts that go with them...

totally enjoying the company of my girlies and son's girlies...here playing on the hammock... which happens to be my favorite reading spot!...

watching my three littlies stage performances of made up plays on the deck...
and lots of swimming lessons... It's a busy family-loving, bang up good time! Hope yours is special, too!

Garden Tea Party

We hosted a tea party the other day amid the garden. Surrounded by flower pots filled with blooms, they all had a magical time! Dressed in pretty dresses (minus the little mister in the pic), they enjoyed iced lemon/peach tea, cucumber sandwiches, fruit skewers and cupcakes. They had a delightful time!

Just Checking In

Sorry I haven't been here for awhile. You all know how spring is; lots to do and not enough time to do it in. That aside, I have been enjoying the beautiful weather we finally have. We had lots of rain and a tornado that passed two miles from my house but since then nice weather has come.
The baby crow, above, has a hurt wing. Yesterday, Kaleigh and I heard the crows making quite a racket. She went out to see what the fuss was about and the crows were swooping down trying to attack our kitty, Misty. She is the sweetest cat out of the three that we have but who could blame the crows? Misty was "playing" with the baby crow! Kaleigh was able to scare off the crows back high into the trees and my husband went out and picked up the baby bird and put it on the sky fort. Hopefully, the baby will be able to fly back up into its' nest. Naughty kitty!

I'm still plugging away on the Little Miss Shabby BOM. This one is the May block and the next one...

is April. As you can see, May brings flowers and the April one has little Easter eggs in the trees. So much thought is brought into each block. They are very cute. I'm halfway done and stitching one block a month is just my speed; nice and slow.
I haven't done any knitting lately. I think I have arthritis in one of my fingers from repetitive motion. It started about a year ago and I ignored it and plugged along. At this point, it's swollen and hurts so I'm giving it some TLC and rest. I'm drinking tart cherry juice and have some raisins soaking in gin to eventually, hopefully, relieve the swelling and pain.
So instead of knitting I'm embroidering, cross-stitching and reading. I also have some sewing to do so those things should keep my hands busy, for now.
Kaleigh is off taking her SAT's this morning. I hope she does good. Cassidy just told me she asked for the intercession of St. Dymphna and St. Thomas Aquinas to help Kaleigh along! I love to see the kids live their faith!