Playing

I'm playing instead of packing ;)

I'm trying to finish a customers quilt before we go on vacation. I just looooove to quilt! Hummmm lets see; quilt or 2 day car ride to Ohio, quilt or car ride.......

Have a wonderful day!

Sharon

You are cordially invited to a Party!

My new friend Marty at A Stroll Thru Life is hosting a Cloche Party. It's a first and I have been so excited I can't decide what to wear ;) I love any reason to celebrate, gather with friends and decorating with pretty things how can a girl go wrong!

I recently started collecting cloches but have been inspired how others use theirs, decorate with them and even make them. My head has just been spinning with creativity I have learned from others. So here are my works in progress......enjoy!

Thank you for stopping by!

Sharon

A Craving for Blackberries

We have been blessed with a large blackberry patch this year and I found this wonderful recipe in one of my Cooking Light magazines that is just scrumpous!

Blackberry-Lemon Pudding Cake

Ingredients
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large egg yolks
3 large egg whites
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups blackberries
Cooking spray
3/4 teaspoon powdered sugar

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°

Lightly spoon the flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, 2/3 cup granulated sugar, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl; add the buttermilk, lemon rind, lemon juice, butter, and egg yolks, stirring with a whisk until the mixture is smooth.

Beat egg whites with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Add 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Gently stir one-fourth of egg white mixture into the buttermilk mixture; gently fold in remaining egg white mixture. Fold in blackberries.

Pour the batter into an 8-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Place in a larger baking pan; add hot water to larger pan to depth of 1 inch. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until the cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Sprinkle cake with powdered sugar. Serve warm.

It's delish!
Sharon

Two Men and a Bucket

We had quit the storms here on Friday that left trees dropping left and right. There were no tornado's reported in the area but when the wind is whipping at 8o mph what is the difference.

My husband and I have been working like mad people in the yard every weekend and every spare minute to get ahead of the game before the heat sets in. But that was nothing compared to what we came home to; a complete major setback. Limbs and debre everywhere. The house had trash all over it, all my potted plants were de-potted (is that a word? Is now) and the yard....well lets say it looks as if no one lived here in five years. We were truly blessed with no more than a huge mess to contend with and a large broken limb stuck in the top of a tree. Others were less fortunate with major property damage. There were four trees down on my street alone. So Saturday in the 90 degree temperatures with no electricity going on hour 20 we started all over. So today when my husband gets home from work he will get a surprise from someone who loves him......(that would be me)

and with the help of two men in a bucket!

a little technical difficulty when getting down.......

they got a little tangled up in another tree so that got trimmed.

So after thirty minutes, $350 later we have a limb removed, a clean yard and a soon to be very happy husband!

My treat other than the happy husband?

my grandmother's flowers that I brought back from upstate New York are all in one piece ;) This is truly tree triming at its best.

One happy camper!

Sharon

Grand Opening Celebration!

My new blog-gy friend Lisa at Another Day Today is celebrating the grand opening of her new etsy shop Parkwood Cottage

She is a phenomenial photographer! So please pay her a visit and wish her many blessings on her new adventure.

She is hosting a lovely give-away on June 19th. Who knows you might be a lucky winner of some of her beautiful art work!

Celebrate & enjoy,

Sharon

Surprise Revealed!

A couple of weeks ago I shared with you a "sneak peak" on a surprise gift for someone special. Well here it is - a candlestick pincushion made by my dear friend Pat over at Bird Nest on the Ground She does phenomenal work and as always she out did her self on this one. The detail she has put into this is just incredible. The tiny little crocheted purse, the beautiful beading, pretty trims and lovely embroidery work is just stunning!

And the someone special, the lucky recipient, the proud new owner....

my youngest daughter Billie. The occasion? Well maybe for successfully completing her third year of college, or making the Deans List last semester, or being a kind loving person to others, or just making her mom so darned proud! Yep that's it - "just because".

Enjoy your day,

Sharon

Under Construction

Well lets hope not! Homer and power tools scare me. I love power tools but there is just one that pulls at my heart strings and it is this......

My new Janome MC6600 that I purchased at Houston last Fall. This baby is a work horse and I LOVE it! Quilting is a passion of mine as is collecting fabric. "Hello, my name is Sharon and I am a fabri-holic".

I have dabbled in sewing since the age of 5 making the usual baby doll clothes, pageant costumes as a teenager, little girl dresses as a new mom and now quilts as of 6 years ago. I haven't a clue as to how many quilts I have made or how many I have quilted for myself or others; I quit counting. I vowed to keep a journal and I do take pictures but then that took away from my sewing time (I tell you I have it bad). A couple of years ago I did make 12 quilts in one year and then this past February at a 5 day retreat I made five. "Are they finished?" heavens no. Well some are and have moved on to their new homes (they make great gifts) but there are still several lined up to be quilted. I usually keep 3 or 4 projects going at once; okay I just heard my husband choke in the back of my head; who knows it's a lot! But right now I am plugging along on this beautiful kit I purchased from Fig Tree......

The fabric is just stunning! I looooove red and green and these are just so soft and warm. The pattern is called "Fly Away Home" and this quilt was featured on the cover of American Patchwork & Quilting several months ago.

So when will I finish?.....Well lets see; there are 3 pieces to a block, 29 blocks per row, 12 rows for a total of 1,044 pieces; oh probably in this life time! ;) But trust me you will be the first to know. When you hear a loud roar "WAHOO" that will be me. The one with droopy dark circles under my eyes from the lack of sleep, numb fingers, a crooked back BUT one quilt top complete!

So now with my new venture into blogging..... "Hello my name is Sharon and I'm a fabriholic-blog addict"

LOL,

Sharon

I've been WHAT?.....

.....I've been tagged by Michelle over at Chocolate and Marmalade Tea Well I can't say I have been that since the third grade running from little Randy Baker on the playground so he wouldn't pull my pig tails but this sounds like fun!

Rules: I am to share 6 unimportant things that make me happy (seriously, just six?)

and "Tag" six blogging buddies

If you are one of the lucky six, copy and paste the cute smiley face on your blog and share with us your six unimportant things that make you happy.

So here we go in no particular order.....

1. Sand between my toes

My father was in the Air Force so I spent most of my childhood in Flordia and Hawaii and a little ocean water and sand on a girls feet was just heavenly!

2. Organized kitchen cabinets

"A place for everything and everything in its place"

3. Tea with girlfriends

A nice cup of tea on a cool Fall day with girlfriends

(this is my grandaughter - is'nt she sweet!)

4. A red sports car 5. A bowl of cereal

There is nothing like a good bowl of cereal before bed, and......

6. Pink Flamingos

"TAG" You're it!

1. Melissa at Melissa's Heart and Home

2. Karen at Somedays are Diamonds

3. Pat at Birds Nest on the Ground

4. Cathy at The Sylish House

5. Rue at Rue's peanut butter and jelly life

6. Stacey at Poofing the Pillows

I hope you will have as much fun as I did!

Thank you Michelle,

Sharon

Happy Faces

We have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of these lovely little blooms and today they arrived. This is my sweet hubbys flower garden. They consist of all our Easter lilies from years past. He is so proud of this little flower bed and unfortunately he is away at school this week and won't be here to greet them. I enjoy watching him cultivate his little flower bed; however the other ten are my responsibility!

Enjoy,
Sharon

A Birthday Celebration!

A BIG Happy Birthday wish to Michelle at

Chocolate and Marmalade Tea

Please pay her a visit and wish her another year of happiness.

She has an awesome blog!

Celebrate & enjoy,

Sharon

New treasures!

Look what Mr. Postman delivered yesterday......

this very sweet little cake plate with covered dome that has such beautiful etching on it and......

this very pretty little butter dish. Now to find the perfect place for them to shine!

Thank you Mr. Postman,

Sharon

Decisions, decisions

We have been in the process of updating our "lighting" situation in our home in two phases. The first phase we replaced the old fluorescent light fixture in the kitchen that wasn't even centered and installed recessed lighting. It has been wonderful! We did numerous other small changes as well but that was the major change. In phase two we will do recessed lighting in the living room (if hubby doesn't change his mind again) and various other electrical type things around the house. But my dining room is yearning for a new light fixture and I am simply in love with this chandelier from Pottery Barn and have been eyeing it for some time. So you ask "what is the problem", well the problem is me, it's always me. I tend to over think things and I tend to like things much larger in scale; not necessarily in the price range because I can be rather frugal but in size. Like our dining room furniture for example.

My oldest daughter was moving into her first apartment and she needed a small table and chairs for her kitchen area and I thought nothing of it to offer her mine without giving second thought as to where the rest of the family would share their meals. So off we go to find the perfect replacement and I fell in love with this very nice pine table that seats six. Of course there was a beautiful china cabinet to match that could not be abandoned. So here we go, problem solved. Never once did I think about measuring the room, after all there was already a table that seated six and a china cabinet in the room so I didn't think anything about it until it was delivered. Do you see where I'm going with this? To save myself further embarrassment lets just say it's beautiful and fits nicely into my SMALL dining room.

So I have measured and remeasured the area to the dimensions that this lovely chandelier is and I think it will fit. It is ever so slightly larger than the one I have (of course) but I just can't decide. So do I say "what the hay" and be consistent with my large scale of a dining room, because lets face it, the table is not getting any smaller or do I shop some more? Please help end this agony (LOL).

Shopping with you,

Sharon