Wonderful Winnings from Dorset

A little while back I entered a blog give-away - Leanne was giving away wonderful things from Dorset - in honor of her 1,000th blog post on Somerset Seasons. In just 18 months she had gotten that many posts - I was impressed. Her daily musings are wonderful - all about Dorset, her animals, snow, growing things, her new garden at the new house, baking, collections, the weather - all sorts of wonderful things that bring you right into her home and garden. I love taking a "stroll" with her - or riding along on Sally Bicycle to see some of the countryside - and when she announced I was the winnner I was so excited. My own little package - coming from England - how did I get so lucky!!!

Well today the package came in the mail - but I was on my way to the bank, then to pick up Don from work, then to our daughter's house (where Ben insisted on fixing us a "breakfast" in his play kitchen - so the package sat in the car - waiting for us to get home. I dug into it as soon as we got in the door - oh the fun!!!

Do you see the stamp on the right side - Royal Mail - oh how special - I've never had anything from Royal Mail before.


And look inside - the nicest cotton towel from Sherborne - castles and abbies all done in wonderful drawings. This will hang on a special rack in my kitchen.

Some chocolae - Green and Black's - dark chocolate with ginger - a mighty good taste. The package of the candybar is a little crinkled - I think someone got into it before the photo was taken.

A lovely card with a bunny fairy and butterflies dancing - two wonderful beeswax candles, a box of Dorset Ginger Biscuits ( I love to call cookies biscuits now - I think I'll teach Ben to say that also). They were definitely "scrummy" - as Leanne had promised. I ate one and fell in love with Ginger Biscuits - I must learn to make them. And a small cookbook of Dorset recipes.

Buddy E. loves the cookbook - he has marked some recipes he wants me to make first. Llook at that lovely painting next to the recipe - the booklet is full of such paintings. I am enjoying reading the recipes - Shearer's Stew - Moonshine (not the moonshine of the U.S. - illegally brewed liquor) but a "rich version of a traditional bread and butter pudding" - Dorset tea bread - Gooseberry Fool (for summer dessert) - Dorchester Scone Ring - Wareham Bears "biscuits made either with a plain shortbread or a chocolate shortbread mixture", now who can resist that? Then there is Nutty Baked Cabbage (as opposed to sane baked cabbage?) - Uncle Bert's Apple Chutney and Old Harry Rock Cakes - plus lots of others.

And the ingredients - I love them. I have to do some research to find out what Demerara sugar is, also wheatmeal flour, caster sugar, strong white flour, single cream, sultanas and treacle ( I think that is molasses). What an education I'm getting - along with the delicious treats and lovely gifts. The candles I will save for a very special ocassion - for Earth Hour 2009, on March 28. The biscuits will accompany my cups of tea and the recipes will fill us with food that is eaten in a far away country that has been brought so much closer with this lovely package from England.

Thank you Leanne - this is a wonderful treat!!!

At Last - a finished quilt!!!

I started this quilt about two years ago. First I had made a Santa quilt . . .

using panels of Woodland Santa and his friends . . .

Our oldest daughter liked the design - and wanted one (but not seasonal) for her office. She is a massage therapist and has a charmingly decorated office.

I found the panels with vegetable seed packets and we picked colors to go with the panels . . .

The seed packets . . .

I had a lot of help with this quilt -

Ben helping pick fabrics . . .

Lots of fabrics to pick from . . .

OK - that is enough fabric picking . . .
These photos were taken in March 2007 - when he was 2 years old. . .

Time to get busy making the quilt . . .

Trying the quilt on for size . . .

Tasting the quilt . . .

Helping Grammy lay out the quilt pieces . . .

There - that's just right . . .

The whole quilt - don't you think Ben did a great job helping Grammy put the quilt together? I think it was super for a two year old.

The the quilt went off to Julie - in Idaho. She is a fabulous machine quilter - using only her home machine. She's done several other quilts for me and I love all of them.

I was so excited to get it back in the mail last week - quilted and ready to bind.

All the binding strips . . .

Stitching the scrappy binding together on my trusty Featherweight . . .

Stitching the binding to the front of the quilt . . .

Binding pinned on the quilt - ready for hand stitching. Ben wanted to help with this and was very cautious of the pins - he calls them pokies.

Close-up of the quilting - you can see the amazingly straight lines that Julie did - and the pretty variegated thread. Julie has such good design ideas for quilting.

Another close up . . .

Trying to pick up the quilt . . .

Ben decided that it was a great quilt to hide under . . . once it was finished and all the pokies were taken out . . .

Popping out!!! Look how that boy has changed in two years!!!

The quilt makes a good garage for Ben's school bus - and some pretty fabrics for a roof for the bus.

It is a wonderful quilt - and I had a wonderful time putting it together. Thanks Julie and Ben, for all the help. Who helps you make your quilts?

Happy Valentines Day

Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. "Pooh!", he whispered. "Yes, Piglet?" "Nothing", said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw. "I just wanted to be sure of you."

~A.A. Milne

Today is such a neat day - we always celebrate doubly - because Valentines Day is also the day Don proposed to me - 45 years ago. Of course when he tells the story that we got engaged so many years ago he likes to add - don't you think it is time we got married? He's such a silly guy. It makes his eyes twinkle!!


I was still in high school and of course my parents highly disapproved of Don. (They spent most of their time disapproving of things, so it was no surprise.) He had come from Wisconsin to work in the pulp mill and make his millions (well thousands anyway) - he had just finished his first year of college and had a chance to come to Alaska with a friend to make over 4.00 an hour, when wages in Wisconsin were 1.78 an hour. His mother had passed away the year before and he felt no ties to stay in Wisconsin.

We lived in a very small town and any new young man was really the main topic of discussion among the girls in my high school (we hardly ever dated the boys in our class, we'd all grown up together and they were more like brothers than date prospects.) There were 36 in our graduating class - - so not many choices to pick from anyway.

I worked after school in the local drug store - which had an old fashioned soda fountain - and when Don and his friend walked in and ordered a milkshake one night after they got off work - we both knew instantly that this was the one for us!!!


That was in November - and when we got engaged on Valentines Day I couldn't even wear my ring - but we were happy anyway - and eventually eloped to Texas (all the way from Alaska) to get married in the town where Don's dad lived. Of course we heard all the dire warnings - you are too young - it will never last - you don't know what you are doing - but 45 years later you see we weren't too young - it did last - and we did know what we were doing - we were following our hearts - to a wonderful place.

We sometimes celebrate with candy - or with flowers - or with a lovely dinner in a restaurant - sometimes all of those things - and sometimes none of them. This year we are going for a nice Valentines breakfast - then over to help our daughter and son-in-law do the last bit of moving and cleaning of their old apartment - they just bought a house and this is moving week. A lovely day that is quite typical of our lives together - family - friends - and each other.

Hope your day is super special!!!

Oooh What Pretty Fabric

I had a chance to buy some fabrics the other day, from a Picasa photo album - and I jumped at the chance. Someone had listed photos of fabrics they had for sale, with descriptions and prices (2.00 and 3.00 a yard for really nice cotton fabrics) Several of the pieces already have projects assigned to them - the others just seem to be too pretty to pass up.

These go with the seat covers on the dining room chairs.

Seat cover fabric - don't you just love it??!!??

I know - apples in Washington - probably overdone sometimes - but I love the fabrics. I am going to make some potholders to start with - not sure what else I will make - any great ideas? Since I don't need new chair seat covers - those are out - - - thinking - thinking - - -

And the fabric goes so well with my Corelle Chutney dishes

I needed some small christmas prints for my ornaments that I made earlier this year. I want to send one with each christmas card next year. These two fabrics seemed perfect.

And here are three fun fabrics - the corn is for a Crow quilt I am gathering fabrics for

This is part of the pattern for the quilt - I just love crows!!!

The middle batick fabric could go in christmas ornaments or stars like Belinda lured me into making - and the bottom fabric with multi stars is just so darn cute I couldn't resist it.


And then here is the yarn and plastic canvas I bought last weekend - these are colors that I need for the lighthouse project .


You can get plastic canvas books for any project you could imagine at this ebay site - she has lovely things to choose from - and so many choices!

It was fun to get the package of fabric - Ben was here (our four year old grandson) - and we had just finished binding a quilt when the package of fabric arrived. He looked at the quilt and then at the fabric and said "Grammy, you are quite an expert on quilts". That little boy just melts your heart!!

Thrift Store Shopping Saturday

After our wonderful walk on Saturday morning - we headed off to the thrift stores in Burlington. The sun came out just as we were leaving the lake and the day sparkled from the fog that had clung to the bare trees.

The first store we stopped at had a few good things - and here they are.

Some plastic boxes for storage and for projects - I just love plastic boxes. . .

A tiny little vase - for violets - or feathers

The little pottery holder on the right was given to us by a very special friend. The feathers are ones we have collected over a couple of years. Here's a hint for those saving feathers - put them in a zip bag in the freezer for two weeks - it will kill all the mites that will, over time, destroy the feather and those it comes into contact with. We used this method in a museum where I volunteered - for the baskets.

And a Micky Mouse pancake mold - Ben likes pancakes for breakfast on his early days here - he asks for Grammy pancakes - which are homemade instead of the frozen ones. I can't wait until he sees the Micky Mouse.

Then on to the Salvation Army - where I found a few yarn colors that I need for my next plastic canvas project. The patterns are so much nicer now than when it was first a popular craft - more intricate and delicate designs.

And a lovely hydrangea pillow for the living room - so now I have enough throw pillows for the living room. I was slowly changing them and this one completes it for now.

And a christmas throw pillow - this will go in the storage bins until next year - but first I shall attack and remove that fringe - I'm not a fringe kind of gal I guess. I love the bird houses and the garlands and tree. The pillows were on special 50% off - I got both pillows for 3.50. Not bad!!! And they look brand new.

We do a family ornament exchange every Thanksgiving and I found this cute little Tigger ornament for our son - he just loves Tigger.

And then to the last Thrift Store for the day

A darling book - wonderful poems that I know the boys will enjoy - I certainly do.

And a bedtime stories book - Winnie the Pooh - everyone's favorite.

A book about a girl that was touched by a falling crow feather and could fly - a simply delightful andventure.

And a book for Grammy - this is a book about a farm - Seven Gates Farm - the decorating, crafting and gardening that they do there - it is a book to be enjoyed with a cup of tea and a scone on a wintery, blustery day. Enchanting.

Some cookbooks for our daughter who collects - and cooks from - the little cookbooks made by organizations - 4H - granges - churches - schools, etc.

I couldn't resist these two old Betty Crocker cookbooks for her. Notice the 1.00 original price tag on the Outdoor Cookbook - I paid 1.99 for it on Saturday. At one time I had the bisquick cookbook - got it for a wedding present - and she will find lots of fun recipes in here.

Some steak knives to match our silverware - I didn't even know they made steak knives in this pattern . . .

For the boys - a spiral racetrack. This should keep them entertained on Friday when they are both here. Jahn and his family are moving into their new home on Friday and he will spend the day with me while the furniture is loaded and unloaded - and Ben is here on Fridays already so they will have some fun together. This race track has roaring car sound effects - what fun!!!

And a cash register that talks and does all sorts of fun things. I'll have to save up some empty boxes for them to play store with.

That was our trip - fun to dig around in the thrift stores now and then and get some new things to entertain the boys and some new things for our home - new to us anyway. And the total cost of all that we got was 23.18 - not a bad day - and then we went to lunch at our favorite buffet and then took a ride through the foothills on the way home - a delightful day. Have you found some great treasures at the Thrift Stores lately?