A Prayer Blankee for a Little Boy

My son came home the other day telling us of a tragic accident that happened to his friend's son. The dad brought his son to the firehouse to see the progress of work that was being done. His three year old son, John, (who is a twin) went over to one of the steel doors that wasn't secure, and pulled on it. The 120 lb door fell on him. He is now in the childrens hospital in the ICU.
When Corey told me this story, I felt really terrible. As a mother, I know (and you probably do, too) how quickly accidents can happen. Life changing accidents. Although I don't personally know this couple (Corey and Kyle both have worked with them as mom and dad are both paramedics) I wanted to help these people somehow. So Sunday, Kaleigh and I decided to knit our three-year-old little friend a prayer blankee. We wanted it to be extra soft and snuggly. I believe he is still unconcious, but God willing, John will wake up soon and feel the soft comfort and God's healing touch through our prayer-filled blankee. We both knitted several hours on Sunday, praying each hour for nine consecutive hours, the Infant Jesus of Prague Novena. In between are many, many prayers of healing and comfort for John. We also prayed for peace and comfort for his mom, dad, and twin brother during this very stressful, difficult time. Please, take a few minutes and pray for John and his family.

Birdie Sling Bag

I've admired the Amy Butler Birdie Sling Bag for quite some time and decided it was time to make one for myself. I got my material from Joann's and ordered the pattern on Ebay. The pattern was incredibly easy to follow, with precise directions and great visuals. The finished bag came out really nice, too. Now Kaleigh would like to make one for herself. Another trip to Joann's for more beautiful fabric. I'll post a pic when she's done making hers. With the pattern being so well-written, I have an urge to scout around and see what other patterns of hers I'd like to make. I have several other projects in the works, though, so for now I can only look. I'll be posting some pictures of other works soon...

Recipes and Memories

As I was flipping through my recipe box this morning I came across some old hand-written recipes I've had for years. They brought me back to when I was first married, nearly twenty six years ago. Time marched on as I shuffled the cards: a recipe for Chili Con Carne, my best girlfriend when I was growing up Mom's recipe. Her mom just recently died... My grandmother's coffee cake recipe, and my other grandmother's sour cream cookie recipe, written on a torn piece of paper. I wouldn't be able to make the cookies from the tattered, yellow paper, but I refuse to throw it away as it's the only hand-written thing I have from her. And my other grandmother's coffee cake recipe is the only one I have from her. As I went through the cards, not only did I find recipes from dear ones long gone, I also found recipes from neighbors and friends I haven't heard from in years. Helen's home-made BBQ sauce, Sue's peanut butter and jelly bars, Sherri's chocolate zucchini cake and many more. My older kids grew up with these womens' children. Some of them I still keep in contact with or hear through the grapevine how they are, while others I just wonder about. Memories flooded my mind. The years pass so quickly. I'm glad to have a special piece of each one of these ladies. My 'ol recipe box holds much more than ingredients and directions... yes, lots of memories are tucked away in that box, too.
Here is a recipe my mom gave me many years ago. She used to make it for me and my brother as a special treat. I don't know where she got it from but I do know I'm going to make it today for my kiddoes to have for dessert tonight.

Pineapple/Cherry Squares
Crust:
3-1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup shortening
3-1/2 tsp baking powder 3 egg yolks, beaten (save whites)
1 tsp salt 1 cup ginger ale
1/4 cup sugar 1 tsp vanilla
Mix until crust holds together. Press half the crust onto a cookie sheet.
Filling:
1 large can crushed pineapple with juice
3/4 cup sugar
1 small bottle cut cherries
4 TBS corn starch
Bring first three ingredients to boil, thicken with corn starch. Cool and spread over crust. Roll out the other half of the crust and place on the filling. Beat three egg whites. Brush on the crust and sprinkle with chopped walnuts or pecans.
Bake at 350 until bottom crust is brown; about 25-30 minutes.

New Life for an Old Chair

Our comfortable, old green chair was in a bad way. The dog chewed the bottom skirting off. It bothered me for a while but only when I looked at it. I chose to ignore it. Then when we recently repainted the room it just stuck out like a sore thumb. I decided instead of buying a new chair "we" would cover it, somehow. So I went down to Affordable Fabrics where all fabrics are $2.00 a yard, yes, including the mega wide decorator fabric, and bought a few yards. I thought the floral print was really pretty and would go very nicely with the color of the room. That's where my end of the "we" ends.

Here's the finished product. Isn't it pretty? I wish I could take credit for it but I can't. My husband dressed it up all by himself. He measured, tucked, pinned, and sewed all without a pattern. What a guy, huh?

Weekend Happenings

The weekend was filled with beautiful weather and a very special visit. More on that further down. I know I promised pictures of some of the gardens last week, but I never got around to posting, so this is a bit late. Anyway, here is the front garden coming in very nicely.

I kept my husband pretty busy making boxes for the veggies. Following the directions in the Square Foot Gardening book, our garden is growing better than ever.

We have tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, beets, peas, pole beans, cabbage, escarole, pumpkins, zucchini, cauliflower and broccoli. I may have missed some others, but you get the idea.

If you click on the pictures, you can probably see them much better.

And now for my special visitor... Sally and I have been on a small, four person group for quite some time. We both knit and that's how we 'met'. Although Sally is a little older than the rest of us on our group, she has more energy and zest for life than anyone my age that I know! She's full of wisdom and just an exceptionally nice person. I'm honored to call her my friend. She drove from Michigan to Massachusetts for her grandson's wedding this past weekend and made a stop at my house! We had such a wonderful visit, our husbands included.

Sally made me this beautiful knit towel, washcloth, and mitt filled with some lovely hand-made soap. She used a flax/linen yarn in a cool blue. The set is just gorgeous.

I gave Sally this linen dish-towel drawstring bag. I made it up and found that the size will be perfect to store my home-made bread. I think I will make a few for myself.

I filled the inside of Sally's bag with local cheese, local maple candy, crackers and home-made cookies. I didn't want her or her husband to get hungry on their trip all the way back to Michigan ;)

Love My Wet Bag

(NOTE: Sorry if you got this twice. I deleted the first pic I took as it was ridiculously blurry. Hope this one is better.)
The little girls have been taking swimming lessons this week and next week. I'm gone for four hours a day (usually longer as I always find somewhere else to go) doing this little task. All the kids have gone to the same swimming school for (gulp) 24 years and Corey used to be an instructor for them. So I didn't want to change as I really feel they are the best swimming school there is, so I drive...
Since the girls need to change seeing they're sitting in the car for awhile, and since I usually do some errands along the way home, I thought they should get out of their wet suits. So I made this plastic-lined, zippered bag to put their suits into until we get home. Wow, I love this bag! When we get home, I hang the bag on the line to dry to use the next day. Love it! If you'd like to make one you can get the directions here: http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com. Lots of goodies on that site. Have fun!