twisted blossom

Update

Mom will return shortly, so exhale that held breath. Things have been rather crazy the past few weeks. Due to the fact that the Detroit courthouse was struck by lightning, caught on fire, and was flooded (yes, at the same time), the court date was postponed, so little Anthony had to return to Detroit for a month. While we were still recovering from the grief, Mom's computer broke down and needed a wireless card replaced. Then we went on our vacation to Naples, Florida. The first three days of our vacation were spoiled because of hotel trouble, but the rest turned out okay. Upon our return, we retrieved Mom's computer from the shop to discover that they replaced the entire motherboard. Fine, right? Wrong. Only a few of the files were backed up and she lost everything else, we were not even notified that this could be a problem. She cannot even stand to look at the computer at this moment, but I am coaxing here to get back into the swing of things, at least blogwise. ¡Adios!

A Quick Note

You may be asking yourself, "Oh, where has our beloved blogger vanished to? Could she be entertaining the relatives that just don't leave? Was she abducted by aliens? Accosted by gnomes?" I, her son, am here to calm your troubled hearts. My mothers plate is extremely full right now and there is little time for anything but court business and a four-year-old. Do not worry, she will return. Now you can all take a deep breath since nothing gnome related has plagued said blogger.

This is what a killer lemon pound cake looks like....

Sorry I couldn't show you more, but it didn't last long enough to get a full-body photo of it. This was by far the best pound cake I have ever eaten. Not too heavy, but just dense enough with the right amount of lemon to give it some zing.  This dynamo was one of those last-minute, "Oh, friends (the brandolina clan) are dropping by in a few hours for an impromptu visit, I need to bake something. Hmm... what to make?" Here is where I should have pulled out a tried and true recipe that I had all the ingredients for, but nooooo, I decided I needed something lemon (with not a lemon in the house). I hunted around the Internet, and after some digging I found "the" recipe. The only thing that was a tiny bit off, at least to my way of thinking, is the lemon drizzle stuff. It was very, very thin. It worked great as far as soaking into the toothpick holes, but I needed to add a bit more sugar to make the glaze and to keep some of it on the top of the cake. I did make a run to the store for lemons, and I am so glad that I did. I am sure using the bottle type would not taste as good. This is a great summer cake! I will be testing and retesting this cake for a while.

a birthday celebration and keeping busy

Busy, busy!

 

We had a big birthday to celebrate around here! My sweet guy Max turned 15. FIFTEEN!!!!! I can't get my head around that. How did my baby and partner in crime get so old? Good Lord, in a few months he will be able to get behind the wheel of a car and actually drive it. How awful that when you feel desperate to hold on the tightest it is the very time you need to pull back a bit and let them find their own way. Still shaking my head!

We have also been busy with other things (besides endless worry about the little guy, lawyers, battles with insurance companies and such), some of them fun.

 

More freezer paper stencils.

 

Riding in the co-pilot seat of the Fastrax plane while the skydivers jump (the men folk, not me).

 

Chillin' at the pool.

Trying to put an etsy shop together.

Working on the painting.

How are you kicking off the summer?

anchors aweigh, my boy......

  

This is my eldest son, Bradley, and his new fiance, Miss Carolyn. Aren't they sweet together?  We are so happy and look forward to having her as part of our family. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to have another woman in our clan, someone who "gets it!"  Congratulations, you two love birds!!

On the heels of that wonderful news, we had to say a teary goodbye. Last Monday, Bradley's ship pulled out of San Diego and headed out on deployment. We expect him to be gone a very long six to nine months. Though I cried like a baby during our last phone conversation before he boarded the ship, it still did not seem final, as I knew he was headed to Hawaii for his first stop. I found comfort knowing that he was still in the States. Today we got a call from our sailor. He was preparing to leave Pearl Harbor for foreign shores. Now I know he is really gone, and serious uneasiness has set in.  Not a day will pass during his travels that I will not be thinking of him.

Godspeed, my son! 

"easy" pattern does not = quickly finished

 

Today was my niece, Kira's, 1st birthday party. She is such a precious little one! Her mom loves handmade things, so of course I was thrilled to put together a "gotta make" list.  Being a mom of boys, I have not had much of a chance to make girlie things. I wanted needed to make something cute, sweet, all-girl. Well, ahem.. I bit off more than I could chew (at least in a day and a half). The pattern said "easy," right on the front in no-nonsense lettering. So, I'm thinking piece of cake, right!? I am sure for you awesome, experienced sewing ladies this would not be a big thing, but for me, oh dear. I really needed to have started on this much sooner. The directions were a bit confusing. I suppose if I had not struggled with the directions and had a bit more confidence it would have gone a little faster. I am too embarrassed to admit to how many hours this took me, but I will say I was finishing up minutes before we walked out the door. I am pleased with how it turned out, very cheerful!  I had been so inspired by the beautiful sofa make-over done by Ms. pink picket fence, I was thinking perhaps I could try to make-over a couch in need that I have here. After this dress experience, I believe I will rethink that plan.

How about those onesies? I just love everything about freezer paper stenciling!!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Forgot to mention the pattern info: Simplicity, New Look #6796

Geeze, there is not enough time in a day...

I am here, indeed I am. I have not been at the computer but I swear I have not been idle. I have been living one of those weeks that we have all experienced, the kind that starts out with an empty calender so you relax and prepare to put your feet up and coast. Just when you settle in the phone rings (a zillion times). Teen pops up panicked with a big project due in "just two days" (though he knew about it for weeks.) The same teen needed a dress shirt for an awards ceremony next week. Seems he had a growth explosion and outgrew the dress shirt he wore for Easter. He is a bit small for mens shirts (just a few inches in the arm length and a tiny amount in the neck), and a smidge too big for a size 20 in boys. After several days of after school shopping, we settled for a shirt a tiny bit too small and in boring white. A wild tie that he fell in love with was the only thing that made him happy.

There were a few crazy/ugly twists that occurred a few days before our court date on the 17th, so I was living on the phone and digging through tons of paperwork. My stress level went through the roof! As luck would have it, the hearing was postponed due to a clerical error. In the end it really was a good thing, perhaps it was more like the lesser of the two evils. We are now scheduled for a May 27th court date, and a meeting with the GAL sometime between now and then. What a mess!

I did manage to finish the center of Manny's quilt top. I had a very hard time getting a clear picture, it has been raining way too much here! I need to buy some fabric to make the border. I am thinking dark blue with small dots or stars or... Any suggestions?

monograms around the house

I am feeling monogram goodness. As I mentioned here  I want to monogram my very cute,thrifted black chair. I didn't come up with the idea all on my own, I was inspired by this photo in Country Living's May issue. If you don't  have access to the mag., you can check out the chair makeover here. I have been poking around on the Wonderful Graffiti website and am loving their big selection. There are so many great ideas I am feeling the need to find things around the house that could use some sprucing up.

Oh my....

Lodged

The rain to the wind said,

"You push and I'll pelt."

They so smote the garden bed

That the flowers actually knelt,

And lay lodged-though not dead,

I know how the flowers felt.

Robert Frost

estate sale & thrifted projects

Earlier this month I acquired a few items at an estate sale. The big items were chairs (much to the Mr.'s dismay). I have a strange addiction to chairs. I have no idea why, but we now have way more than we can use.   

This picture is of one of a pair. These hipsters have potential, don't ya think? Ranger clearly thinks I have lost my mind and believes there is no possible way these chairs will ever make it out of the 70's. Hence the appalled look on his face. I am seeing these painted white with hip fabric on the seats. Any thoughts on this? If all goes well, they may find a home in the family room.

This gal gets a good scrubbing and stays black. I will recover the seat and I am thinking I will try monogramming the back in white. I saw a monogrammed chair in a recent magazine, and it was very cute. This will find a home in our bedroom, I think. Our bed is black so this should work.

Last but not least is this awesome work table. I found this at a thrift store. Love the wheels and the lift up flap. I really love everything about this industrial charmer. I had planned to clean it up and paint it. I bought a can of light blue paint to spruce it up, but once it was clean I decided I really like the hard- working beige it was born with. I am also a fan of labels, and this still has its label so for now a paint job is out of the question. This table now sits next to my easel and is hard at work keeping my paint, brushes and other supplies close at hand. I did score a bag of smalls at the above-mentioned estate sale that I will have to get some pictures of. Guess I better make time to work on those chairs so they can make their way out of the garage and into the house. It is hard to open the car doors.