Thimbleanna – Page 140 – My little online diary.

So Much to Blog, So Little Time

23 Comments / July 2, 2008 February 18, 2011 / Travel

YooHoo! Anybody still out there? Sorry for that little blog break and Thanks for all your awesome wedding picture comments (btw, in case I confused you, I didn’t take those photos — which is a darn good thing as I had a hard drive crash last week and don’t know yet whether my pictures can be recovered — but that’s a story for another day ;-) ) Also, I’ve had a few “where are you?” worried e-mails (you guys are so sweet!) so I thought I better pop in for a quick visit.

It’s been all play here in Thimbleannaland this last week with my aunt’s visit. We’ve been having a great time doing all the things that we love to do … quilting, shopping, knitting, baking and EATing! I’ve probably gained at least 5 pounds, but they’ve been worth it.

Our local quilt guild had a quilt show last weekend and my aunt and I went to a class there with Kim Diehl (which I’ll blog about later.) One of the vendors was a new shop called Caroline’s Cottage Cottons. Since we’d already planned to go to Shipshewana on Friday, we (MeMum, Auntie and I) decided to check out Caroline’s shop in Rome City, Indiana. It’s a darling little shop and I’m looking forward to seeing them grow.

A very big bonus (and surprise) for me was that Caroline’s was only about 3 miles from Gene Stratton Porter‘s home on Sylvan Lake. I LOVED reading Girl of the Limberlost and Freckles when I was a girl and I’ve always wanted to visit her home. The picture above is the grave site where Gene Stratton Porter and her daughter are buried. Have any of you read her books?

Here is a picture of her cabin. It looks out on Sylvan Lake and the setting is just stunning.

In addition to being an author, she was a naturalist and wildlife photographer. There were a few examples of her wildlife photography and I was amazed at the close-ups of butterflies and flowers that she was able to capture in the early 1900’s. They told us she spent hours and hours patiently waiting in the woods for the perfect photo.

She also had a sun room with many windows and a tiled floor. She used to open all the windows, throw birdseed all over the floor and sit among the visiting birds. Many of her books were made into movies and in the early 1920’s she moved to southern California for health reasons and to expand her film business. Sadly she died there in a car accident in 1924.

She had a beautiful garden and my pictures don’t even come close to doing it justice. Just to the left of the picture above was a long brick walkway covered by a wisteria arbor. Unfortunately my pictures were very dark, so you’ll have to use your imagination.

If you’re ever in Northern Indiana, or if you’re a Gene Stratton Porter fan, her “little” cabin in the woods/on the lake was well worth the visit. (Oh, and there was a picnic pavillion, so bring a picnic!)

More next time!

XOXO,
Anna

At Last, The Final Wedding Post

46 Comments / June 25, 2008 February 18, 2011 / Wedding

Well, we’re having a slow start to the week here. My weekend consisted of cleaning and trying to get back to normal after my trip last week. I also finally had some time to play around with some wedding pictures. There are tons and tons of them to look at and it’s hard to decide which ones we’ll want to put in albums or frame or whatever.

I love the first picture in this little grouping — can you see the groom getting used to the feel of that brand new ring on his finger?

So, lots of picture decisions to make in the days ahead!

Also, achtung (LOL):

Do you love cupcakes? Sharon is having a cupcake swap. You better run over there and sign up.
Cassie is giving away an adorable pincushion that just happens to match my blog wallpaper. It’s a sign LOL! It has some perfect embroidery on it — hurry and go sign up for that too.

It’s a busy week ahead here in ThimbleannaLand, so I have no idea when I’ll be able to check on you all. My best-ever aunt from Utah is coming tomorrow and we’ll be attending some local quilt show activities. And then, unbelievably, TheSecondChild will come home from his semester abroad on Thursday night (that was a fast 5 months.) I spoke with him this morning and I’m very pleased to report that he has survived, as he puts it, leaping into a gorge with a rubber band tied around his ankles in New Zealand. Yuck! He sure doesn’t get that sense of adventure from his mother — I can barely leap off of a bed!

I hope your week is cruising along on SUPER!

XOXO,
Anna

Apparently, Now I’m a Groupie

32 Comments / June 21, 2008 February 18, 2011 / Travel

TheFirstChild is working in an internship this summer and he takes great delight in calling me frequently, crying into the phone, and bemoaning the fact that, oh, boohoo, the Dr. let him go early so he HAD to go play golf. Sort of a “You’re working and I’m Not.” (The first time he did this, his wailing was so convincing, I thought something was wrong. And btw, I’m very happy that he’s getting this little break, as I know that when school starts in the fall, he’ll be so busy he won’t even be able to spell G-O-L-F.) His most recent phone call came just as I sat down in my plane seat on my way to Newark last Monday.

So, Monday night, I was sitting in my hotel room, on the fence about whether I would go into NYC on this trip. On a whim, I decided to check the Good Morning America website and see who would be the featured artists for their Summer Concert Series in Bryant Park. Now, I’m not much of a music buff, so normally, I have no idea who the featured artist is. (Remember my trip last year when I happened upon Hannah Montana Who???)

But, this time — oh, how I knew the featured artists! Boyz II Men are the all-time favorite group of TheFirstChild, so that did it. I HAD to go into NYC and take pictures for my little cherub. But first, I HAD to call him, wailing into the phone of course, about how oh darn, my return flight on Friday wouldn’t be until the afternoon, and oh, boohoo, I guess I’ll just have to go see Boyz II Men in the park! That one phone call was SO worth all of TheFirstChild’s “You’re Working and I’m Not” phone calls. Boy, was he ever jealous!

Before this concert, I had no idea what Boyz II Men even looked like. I just knew that they were an R&B group, so it was fun for me to see them in person. And I must admit, I was a bit misty eyed, standing there in the crowd, remembering how TheFirstChild had played so much of their music in high school. It was also fun to see Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts up close. They’re both so thin and pretty!

Boyz II Men have a very impressive music record. Their hit “End of the Road” (which they had the whole audience singing acapella!) spent 13 weeks as #1 on the pop charts, breaking Elvis’s record of 11 weeks for “Don’t Be Cruel”/”Hound Dog” (sorry Gurney!) Then, their hit “On Bended Knee” replaced their “I’ll Make Love to You” for a 6 week run on top of the charts. Only Elvis and the Beatles had ever replaced themselves on the pop charts.

The concert was way too short (what do you expect for free LOL!) They sang a Motown medley from their new album of old Motown Hits. That was fun as they were dancing too. Then they/we sang “End of the Road” which was very cool. When they were done, I went to the area where I thought they would leave the park.

First Robin Roberts came out. There were very few people hanging around and she stopped to talk with a few women. What a nice woman. She’s recovering from chemotherapy treatments and her hair is coming back in — isn’t she beautiful?

Then Boyz II Men came by. There were maybe 10 of us standing there (not counting security and people walking down the sidewalk.) They stopped and gave autographs, so now TheFirstChild has illegible scribbles on a piece of paper LOL. I have no idea who these kids are, but the Boyz were SO nice to their adoring fans — they took the time to chat with them, autographed a poster that these kids had, and posed for a picture with them. I was very, very impressed with their kindness.

All that excitement was over by 9:15 a.m., so I decided to head south and check out this beauty:

The Brooklyn Bridge. The day was just beautiful as I walked across it (I took the Statue of Liberty picture above from the bridge.) And now, Ms. Charmed, I won’t get lost if I need to go there again!

XOXO,
Anna

Dip Dippity Dip

40 Comments / June 18, 2008 February 18, 2011 / Recipes

I’m in New Jersey this week again for work, so when you add that to my Wonder Weekend of Windows (thanks for all your happy ladder wishes!), not much sewing or crafting has been going on in my neck of the woods.

So, what to post? The other day I was looking on my recipe page, and I noticed an appalling lack of appetizers in my collection. In fact, there are no appetizers in my collection. The shame! So, I decided to tell you about my boys’ favorite appetizer. It’s a Tex Mex Dip that they ask for every time we have a family get-together. Many of you probably already have this recipe — when I made the cookbook for our family a few years ago, one of my cousins submitted this recipe too — neither one of us knew that the other one had the recipe. TheFirstChild loves this recipe so much he can eat it all himself — oink, oink. When we had his high school graduation party, I made 10 of these dips and all those kids practically licked all the dip out of those pans!

Tex Mex Dip

3 ripe avocados
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 package taco seasoning mix
2 cans (10 oz.) bean dip
1 bunch green onions and part of tops, chopped
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
8 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Mash avocado with lemon juice, salt and pepper. (Or, if you’re lazy like me, just buy the pre-made avocado dip LOL!)
In separate bowl, mix together sour cream, mayonnaise, and taco seasoning.

Layer in a 13 x 9 dish: 1) bean dip, 2) avocado mixture, 3) sour cream mixture, 4) tomato, 5) onions (Ok. Fine. Sharon and Quilty Peep Junie, you can just leave this layer off!) and 6) grated cheese. Serve as a dip with tortilla chips.

1/2 of this recipe fits perfectly in a round quiche dish and, if you you’d like, you can freeze the 1st three layers. (And please note Kim, there are no mashed potatoes in this dip. Although, I’d like to apologize to those of you not in the US, as you might have a hard time finding some of the ingredients.)

TheManoftheHouse would like to offer you a bite.

Three more things:

I’m sure I’m not the first to tell you, but check out the fantastic giveaway Jackie has going on. She’ll quilt a quilt for you, up to a twin-size. Wow!
If you’re interested in vintage hankies, Rebecca has found some fun ones. Check out the rest of her vintage goodies in her etsy shop while you’re there!
So, what do you suppose is going on with bloglines? Suddenly tonight, bloglines dumped posts for the last 5 or 6 days from about 10 of you into my account. Sorry I missed you all weekend!

XOXO,
Anna

A Shower Gift

41 Comments / June 14, 2008 February 18, 2011 / Crafting

About a year ago I saw a fun idea for some personalized casserole dishes while I was blog hopping. I wrote the idea down in my trusty little notebook, knowing that I would want to make some this spring for our bride and a few other kids who I knew were getting married. Then I promptly forgot about it.

Fortunately, in March, Kairle came along and saved the day. Just two weeks before we had our first bridal shower for SweetiePie, Kairle posted a great tutorial for how to make these casserole dishes. Thank You Kairle — I love this idea! I made one for SweetiePie and one for a shower that SweetiePie and I attended last weekend.

I was very surprised at what a big hit this dish was! This was a really crowded shower and everyone was talking, so you really couldn’t hear much about the gifts when the bride opened them. But when she held up the casserole dish everyone noticed and there were lots of questions about how to get that name etched into the glass. We also got the bride a few other things from her registry at Williams Sonoma — one of which were these dish towels that I personalized for her (I put the “K” in the corner, rather than the middle of the towel, in case she wants to display them without the “K” showing.)

I love going to bridal showers. They’re so happy and fun. I picked up another cute idea — the hostesses put fresh flowers in their gift to the bride — a blender. These flowers were on the food table and they were so pretty, I didn’t even notice that they were in a blender until the hostesses presented them to the bride.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have windows to clean. I spent about 6 hours yesterday cleaning windows inside the house ( I’m blessed with lots of windows LOL.) I still have a few more inside windows (they’re double paned — about every 5 years I clean between the panes and this is the year so it takes longer than non-in-between-panes cleanings) and then I’ll move outside.

I love doing windows outside, especially on a beautiful day like today. (Although, I’m not looking forward to all the mosquito repellent involved — we’ve had so much rain this year, the mosquitoes have run amok.) If you never hear from me again, you’ll know that climb up the ladder wasn’t successful!

Have a great weekend!

XOXO,
Anna

P.S. Oh And happy Father’s Day to all those Papas out there.Â We’ll be having pies with the men in our family — by request, there will be lemon meringue and I’m trying out a new Strawberry Pie recipe that looks great!