Birthday Season

My three sons

There is football season and baseball season, around here we have a mini season of birthdays. It worked out that our three boys have birthdays within a month of each other, April 28, April 30, and May 27. The nice thing is that they are several months after Christmas and that they are over and done with (did I really say that?).

For Jackson's birthday (#2 son) this year we went to visit him for the first time since he left for "school." I took his favorite meal (lasagna) and the famous "poo-poo" cake. (How it got its name is an entire topic unto itself almost). It is a chocolate peanut butter batch of deliciousness made in the microwave.

Chocolate hockey cake

For Chandler's (#3 son) birthday we joined forces with one of his best friends whose birthday is the same week. They were also in the same class so thought it would work well. Of course they had two totally different guest lists so our plan was foiled, but they had a blast at the IcePlex skating the day away. Pizza and a yummy cake from Costco was on his menu, and of course a giant bottle of cheese balls.

Chandler and his friend having a blast


 Hunter is getting all grown up. He worked a 10 hour shift on his birthday, which happened to fall on Memorial Day this year. His birthday dinner was a cookout with burgers and dogs, ranch potato salad, and 3 bean bake. His cake of choice has to have carmel. This is an improvised version of chocolate holey cake.

 Now I don't have an excuse to make a cake, but that won't stop me...
What does your family do to celebrate birthdays?

A little update

"Hello there, where have you been?" Here I am. 

I find myself having trouble with, eh hem, time management. Specifically when I get on the computer. I will think of something brilliant to tell you about and open up blogger to get it going and then I get sucked into reading all of the blogs. Everyone else's lives are so much more interesting than mine and more cleverly penned about. (And don't get me started on Pinterest!)

I have been busy though. The quilting business is getting busier and the good news is that I am still loving it. I have been pretty good about keeping the web site and Facebook up to date with pictures of what I have quilted. http://beautifulbeequilting.weebly.com is the web site and Beautiful Bee Quilting is a page on FB too. 

Speaking of funny posts by others, you have to see this one. The Inbox Jaunt If you ever played Monopoly you will enjoy it. 

This weekend the family is visiting with #2 son at his "school" in Georgia. The grandparents on the hubster's side are meeting us there and them coming back to Rocket City for a visit. Am I ready for company? No way, but I am looking forward to the visit. Maybe I will be inspired to make a decent post about that, but then I will end up reading that list on the left side on my way to it!

Treasures Found

 Today is Thursday. It is the day I spend with my Stitch Its friends.  One of our friends is often not there these days because she works for a lady running estate sales.  She called today from a house near where we meet to tell us about an old sewing machine and a couple of quilts.  So 8 of us loaded up into two cars and went for a visit.  I was just going to "supervise".  Ha, look at what I got!

A 5 gallon butter churn crock, glazed in dark brown and cream. There are no markings on the bottom. 

The lid and handle/churn are wooden. The handle is worn from use. 

 In my modest internet research it would seem that this type of crock would sell for around $200. I paid $30!

iced tea spoons

 These were in the kitchen taped together. A set of 8 iced tea spoons. The back is stamped "Niagra Silverplate". It appears that they are maybe from the 1930's and would sell for about $8 a piece.

 I love the look of old "primitive" kitchen utensils. The spoon has been well used as has the rolling pin. There is a cute little brass bell that has a very high tone to it. And does anyone know what the other thing is. I call it a masher. #3 son proceeded to use it to mash open a walnut. It was very effective for that.  Now I need a wide mouthed crock for the counter to hold my new treasures. 

Lastly is a clear glass butter dish. It has no markings. There was another one in green clear glass that a friend got. Not sure why I got it, since I like to keep my butter in a crock with a water seal on the counter so it is room temp and doesn't mush the bread.

All totaled I paid under $50 for my treasures today, and I didn't need a single thing. That's the way it goes.  Now I need to find things to get rid of. I try to get rid of something for everything I bring in so it doesn't get too cluttered around here.

Have you found any good treasures lately?

Got Pollen?

up close pollen

Spring has finally arrived, I think to stay, here in North Alabama. It is a really pretty place to be in the spring because there are tons of different kinds of trees. The colors all pop out at different times keeping it interesting. The not so good, the pollen. I don't mind the pollen if it stays outside where it belongs. 

When we sat down to dinner a couple of nights ago I felt a gritty film on our kitchen table, which is a dark brown wood. At first I thought I had used a dirty sponge to wipe it down the day before. After dinner while I was wiping it down I noticed it was bright yellow! Pollen, in my house! I think when the hubster left the back door open briefly (maybe 10 minutes) it got in. Now I am noticing it everywhere, keeping in mind most of our furniture is a dark wood, including the kitchen cabinets. 

Now the dilemma, clean it all up and risk another layering or just let it be until I am sure it won't be an hourly project. If you know me at all you will know that I am going for option #2. I will tackle that tomorrow, there is sewing to be done today :0) 

This is another example of how much is in the air.  I picked up a friend for our stitching group yesterday because she has had several eye surgeries and cannot drive right now. When I pulled up to her house she almost didn't recognize the Pilot, she said it was a different color. The yellow on the bluish has made it look almost green. Again, wash it so it can get covered again?  I think not. 

Poor Izzie even is having allergy problems on top of everything else. She literally has snot bubbles coming from her nose, poor puppy. I am tempted to give her doggy Benedryl, but don't want to knock her out. 

As April goes it has been colder than usual but we had the typical round of severe weather yesterday. No major damage here. How is your spring and pollen count? 

A little work

Here is a sample of the quilting I have been doing at Beautiful Bee Quilting. I send my customers a "sneek peak" when their quilt is loaded and under way. I think they enjoy it. I don't have a long turn around time, usually less than a week, but in the future it might not be so quick and this will be a good way to keep them posted on the status. I have discovered it is not so easy to get good pictures of quilts. I am also spending a good deal of time trying to post the pictures everywhere. Should I put them on the web site, Facebook, twitter, pintrest, blog.... Right now I put them all on the web site and try to get them on Facebook. That takes enough time! So here they are...

An outdoorsy quilt for Pat S's son in law, quilted with fly fishing hooks. 

Dianne R's batik quilt, reminded me of water, so I used a circular pattern that made me think bubbles. 

Janice A's civil war reproduction block swap.
Custom quilted using about 5 different block patterns alternating and feathered triangles in the border triangles. 

Small border, pulled part of a pattern from the larger border. 

Block detail

Christy H's Jewel box king size quilt, started in the 80's :0) Custom quilted with cross hatching through the chains and block design at left. 

Rhonda S's friend's aunt's quilt, vintage maybe. Raspberry and floral, no sashings. I isolated the block and custom quilted with swirly design.

Another vintage quilt, hand embroidered
blocks. I free motioned following
the suggested quilting "dots" 

sashing

The business needs a mascot and I was inspired by Mary Lou Weidman during her workshop through our guild last fall to make a crazy cow quilt. (Click on her name to go to a recent blog post about some of the cow quilts). I think I have a name for her Bea (or Beatrice) the Bumble Cow. I am making wonky letters and borders then I will embellish with eyes and buttons and bee hives and other fun stuff. It's about 45 inches square right now and has been fun to create. 

The last 100 years

Grandma's Birthday Cake

Well, life has been crazy. Children behaving badly and we will leave it at that for now. Things have settled down for the moment, so I am back in blog-land.

Aunt Barbara and Grandma during the reading of the proclamation of
Dorothy Martin Day in Plantation, Florida

The big event of the past week is that I got to go to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to celebrate my Grandma Dorothy's 100th birthday. It was a wonderful time reconnecting with family I haven't seen in 25 years and some whose names I have heard my whole life but never met before. At 100 years old grandma is doing pretty good.  She lives in a nursing home but is not able to get around on her own. She looked pretty in a white suit with a beautiful orchid corsage. For more than two hours she reveled in the love and adoration of more than 50 people. Those in attendance included two of her children, step-children, three granddaughters and one of her great grandchildren (my Hunter). There were many friends and neighbors that also came to honor her. Many of us traveled from out of state. It was a great time for her and she thoroughly enjoyed herself.

When you have lived for 100 years you will get a note from the President of the United States and the first lady. That was a joy for grandma. The envelope got water on it and causing the ink to smudge, which only proved that the envelope was hand addressed in the most perfect calligraphy. In this day and age one would assume it was done on a computer, it was that perfect, but it was not. That makes it all the more special.

Me and dad, Jim McKenna

I have been thinking about all of the changes grandma has seen in her 100 years walking this earth. I googled it, of course. All of the famous people born the same year are no longer living, but included Richard Nixon, Paul "Bear" Bryant, Gerald Ford, Rosa Parks, Jimmy Hoffa, and Vince Lombardi. An interesting list. That was the year the Ford Company introduced the assembly line, the US government imposed the Income Tax, it was the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, the first crossword puzzle was published and Camel introduced the first packaged cigarettes. Just think about the things that have changed since then. Two world wars, super high definition flat screen televisions in every nook and cranny of society, cell phones with internet access, the internet, commercial air travel just to name a few. I also ponder the things that have not really changed that much. The stuff we use has changed, but the character of people has not really changed.

The girl cousins, Betty, Melissa, Mykie, Holly, Shebby
with Grandma. (She wanted to wear the hat)

Grandma has touched a lot of lives in her time here. I realized by spending time with my two girl cousins how different all three of our relationships are with her. She has shared a part of herself with each and every person in a different way. Mykie is her oldest grandchild and is about 12 years older than me. She grew up in Ohio, the daughter of the oldest daughter, my aunt Dawn. I am the youngest grandchild of grandma's youngest child. Holly is the middle child of the middle child, my aunt Barbara. Isn't that interesting? (There are also 5 grandsons that were not present.) As the oldest Mykie had a special connection with grandma, she even wanted to live with grandma when she was a teenager. I think she shared poems with Holly. I learned practical things from grandma, how to layer garbage bags to make it easier at trash time, to put a lid face up so germs don't get inside, and the use of homeopathic remedies instead of running to the doctor for every ailment, to name a few. Grandma also taught me to keep a Prayer Journal. I have not done such a good job the past few years of keeping it up, but am motivated to do so again. It is a great way to keep a record of who you have prayed for and when the prayers are answered.

Hunter collecting shells at John Lloyd Park beach

Hunter visits with Aunt Sharon and cousin Robby

Before leaving Sunday we were able to make a quick trip to the beach to collect some shells. We also got to visit with my sister in law and nephew for a short time before leaving. We just didn't have enough time.

How old is the oldest person you know and how have you been influenced by them? 

Almost a month later....

I can't believe my last post was almost a month ago! So if you follow you are probably wondering how the football tournament turned out. After the first win the boys lost the next two which gave them fourth place out of 8 teams in their division. As a mom it seemed that the refs had something against our boys, there were a ton of bad calls against us and not enough for the other team.  They were blatantly face masking and not getting it called. Oh well, and life goes on. I am really proud of the boys for their hard effort and sportsmanship in the face of difficulty.

Coach Knight receiving medals

Chandler, Carter, and Daniel getting medals

As a special surprise for the team the coaches treated the team to a night at the Nickelodeon Resort in Orlando. They had a great time getting slimed and swimming in a pool that was more than large enough for the whole team :)

The Sting boys doing a fun Nickelodeon relay

Donovon getting slimed

Unfortunately I was not feeling well as we checked into the hotel, feeling feverish and starting to cough. So I medicated heavily with mucus relief and Advil and tylenol and forged on. Saturday was a long drive home to Huntsville, still heavily medicated. Chandler and Isaiah were troopers and well behaved for the long trip. It was good to be home. By Sunday I was feeling really lousy and didn't get off the sofa all day. Every time I coughed my chest burned. Monday I decided to take myself to the walk in clinic up the street. I am always afraid of picking up something else at those places. The doctor prescribed antibiotics and steroids for the cough. The doctor said 24-36 hours and I would be feeling great. As far as I could tell the medications made me feel nauseous and dizzy but did nothing for the cough. I am just now not coughing, almost a month later. (I had never taken steroids before and hope to never take them again, they made me feel horrible.)

Jackson and Chandler modeling just a fraction of the Gator stuff from Grandma Joanie

So with a week being away from home and the next week plus trying to get well, this month flew by. Christmas has come and gone, in a flurry of Orange and Blue thanks to my step-mom Joanie.  I don't know how she does it, but she always finds the most unusual Gator paraphernalia. The weather is dreary, wet and cold. Honestly, it matches my mood. More on the reasons for that some time in the future, maybe.  So what do I do when life gets me down? Just keep quilting, just keep quilting, what do we do? We quilt, we quilt. (my version of life according to Dory).

Here is a peek at what I worked on the day after Christmas, all for me!