It's Sunny - But Cold

Finally, some sun. Maybe, just maybe, some warmth is on the way? This certainly has been the coldest winter we have had in quite a while. It just never seems to warm up. We've always had a cold snaps during the winter with a few days of relative warmth in between....but....ackk...we've had more 20 degree and 30 degree days than ever. Even today it's still in the 30's despite the sun. According to the forecast it might get in the 50's. Heaven.

I know, all you with snow measured in feet instead of inches would kick me if you could....especially with another storm bearing down....but hey....we're just not used to this....most locals have never heard of layering, and probably would think it was a haircut if you mentioned it. So we just run from house to car to building with our tender little or large subtropical hineys freezing off.

In the Garden. I thinned the the carrots and picked some Swiss chard and green onions. The carrot tops, chard, and green onions went into a yummy pot of greens along with bought mustard greens, collards, onions, and garlic and a dash of my home grown dried cayenne pepper.

Then we thoroughly enjoyed our very real baby carrots....soooooooo yum.

Celebration Of A Decade Of Talia

Talia's Place Setting
The Oh So Opulent Donut Tower!

The place is just beautiful and ready for the perfect little ladies to arrive.

Yes, Talia is sipping her tea with her perfect "Williamsburg Era" manners. Her party theme was "An American Girl Party - Felicity and Elizabeth". Everyone was to bring their favorite dolls.

Instead of birthday cake Talia requested "Fruit Tarts". So I made her "Fruit Tarts" from sugar cookies, cream cheese and sugar, and kiwis and strawberries. Easy and Yum.

Talia and Lydia. Ahem, Talia, did young ladies from the Revolutionary Era stick out their tongues?

Geesh, once the Chinese yo yos arrived the manners left, but not the fun.

Table aftermath....on to the next thing.....

GIFTS!!! I don't know why people wait so looooooong to open the gifts....with all the squealing going on you realize giving can be as much fun as getting. Jenna smiling with Talia beside the beautiful table cloth, flower arrangement, and napkins she and her Mom made for Talia's American Girl table.
Hand drawn birthday greetings.

Um, Seleste, I meant to bring it all into your room. Um, not the hall.

Then we made lovely fans for some lovely little ladies. Soooo much concentration.

Lovely study in blue.

Wow, the organic flourishes really bring it out.

The creativity of this beauty really astounds me.

A fan fit for an ice princess.

... and such drama from the Birthday Girl.

Anyone up for a fourteen rock tournament? The girls share an easy game that can be played anywhere. They learned about this colonial game when they visited Williamsburg from one of the residents.

Now the dolls take tea.
O.K. Forget the dolls.....It's too pretty outside to be inside. This isn't on the party itinerary, but let me show you what we like to do that gave Mom a heart attack at first, but once she recovered and realized it was pretty safe she lets us do it. Come on! It's fun. Up the levee...

Now go! GO GO GO!!!!!

Come on kid....get out of the wagon....it's hard enough to pull up empty...

It's O.K. nothing hurt but my pride.

Your turn.

Seleste, pull us to the back yard.

The leaning tower of donuts.

Happy Birthday TALIA!

Turning 10

Turning TEN in our house hold is a big deal. It's one of the two years you get to have a shin-dig! Ten and sixteen, that's it. That's the only two years you get a birthday party except for family coming over singing happy birthday, eating cake and getting a few gifts from Mom, Dad, Grandparents, and Aunts....at 10 and 16...YOU Get To Invite ALL Your FRienDs!!!

So great preparation and anticipation were involved to put together a delightful bash a ten year old missy would never forget! I think it'll take a few posts to show all the ten year old joy from Saturday...I'll start with the pennet banners we made.

We bought pretty, cheap, and clearance fabric for a $1.50 a yard in five different girly patterns. Next we cut out a diamond shaped pattern and used it to cut out 40 pennets. Stacking the fabric helped speed up this process. These diamonds were then folded in half and ironed into the pennet shape.

Then we used fusing to fuse the edges together from the tip to about 1 inch from the top.

Here is all the ironed pennets waiting to be fused and then....

Strung on ribbon to soon festoon the par-tay room!!!

After the party they'll add some spice to the girls' room. Next......The PARTY!

Dress Attempt

Two Little Girls....Two Pretty Fabrics for each.

Cut, Cut, Cut....

and cut, cut, cut.....

read, read, and sew, sew and read again, and rip, rip, and sew again....

sew, sew, sew....

Yes....

Pretty little dresses for pretty little girls that actually fit their tall thin frames...

I'm going to do this again....it was so much fun...and now that I understand the basics....I'm going to have even more fun!!!!

Fridge Art

Fridge Art by Seleste age 11 and Talia age 9. List by Kristi.

Musque De Provence Pumpkin's Journey To The Table

Dipping out the "innards".

Yuck Mouth

Seeds To Save

Brilliant Orange

Plenty of scraps for the chickens.

A big ol' pot full.

Such a rich orange.

Cooking down.

Punkin' loafs ready to pop in the oven.

Pumpkin bread for dessert and pumpkin for a side at dinner.

Click here for the "Ultimate Pumpkin Bread Recipe".