Dreading it....

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It's Saturday...so it must be PINK!! If you haven't visited Pink Saturday before, you are in for a treat. Visit Beverly for the details!!

What am I dreading?? Today I have to do housecleaning. Yep. HAVE to. We are having a party on Friday for my Mother In Law's 80th birthday. And, it's at my house. That means I have to get it all spiffed up. And, I truly, deeply do NOT like to clean. Really. Just hate it. However, I want to create a good impression for the guests, so I will do it. Ugh. I also have to get the garden ready, as the party is outside (hoping for good weather, and it looks good so far, whew!).


This is another thing on my agenda for today. Make pillows. It's not a MUST like the cleaning, it's a WANT. I have been searching for something "spring-y" for brightening up my living room, and I just haven't found anything I like. So, I decided to cover the pillows I have. I found this lovely fabric at Roseanne's (The General Store). I don't do a lot of home decor sewing. Please wish me luck.


It's going to be 2 blue pillows and 1 Pink with the cream color in the back.


I have set my sights high with plans for a zipper and piping. Is that asking too much?

With all this "Have To" planned for today....don't be suprised if I end up visiting even more Pink Saturdays than usual. I am an expert at procrastination and avoidance.

Are you looking for a fun way to fill your Saturday? Get with the Pink! Check out the rest of the Pink Saturday blogs!



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Easter Brunch

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It was like a 'coming out of hibernation' party!! The weather had been raining ALL week. Then the sun came out for Easter Sunday and we took advantage of it by having our family brunch out on the deck.

Here is my Mother in Law and my Son in Law, waiting for the feast to begin.


It was SO sunny, we had to put up the umbrella! Yes, I know the table cloth didn't fit....BUT it DID have Easter eggs all over it.

This was the bacon, egg, broccoli and hash brown casserole. MMmmm it was so yummy. And really easy. I put the hash browns in first and baked them for about 15 minutes, then I just layered eggs (with some milk), bacon, broccoli & squash (lightly steamed first) and some cheese. I did sprinkle a little bit of Spike (my favorite 'season all'). Bake with foil for 45 minutes and without for 30. For someone who doesn't cook (me), I thought it turned out good.
(I got these recipes on allrecipes.com)


I love fresh fruit with yogurt to dip.


This was a huge hit. French Toast casserole. Wow, it was so easy! First I buttered the pan, then I put in about 6 pieces of French Toast bread. In a bowl I blended about 8 eggs, some milk, a teaspoon of sugar, and I poured it over the bread. Let that sit for about 10 min., then stir it up a little, sprinkle with lots of cinnomin and bake for about 45 minutes until golden brown. I wish I would have had some raisins to add....wouldn't that be yummy??

Mmmm. This makes me hungry just looking at it!!


Pookie was enjoying the festivities and the sunshine.


I made up eggs filled with candy as a suprise for my daughter (and everyone else of course!). She surprised me by bringing the SAME thing!!


AND, the Newlyweds even dyed eggs. How sweet. Their first Easter as a married couple! Their eggs were all done in Tie Die, my daughter's favorite. They turned out so pretty.

We even had an Easter Egg Hunt. Yep. With ALL grownups. Well kids at heart. It was a blast. We hid those eggs in some impossible places! It was even hard to remember where we hid them!

This egg was just for me. Dear Daughter made it in my favorite color.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.
Now. Keep that warm weather coming so we can all enjoy being outside.

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Pink mystery...

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Hello Pinkies!! It's a very Easter-y Pink Saturday.



Let's have a little mystery...shall we? Can you guess what this is? Isn't it pretty?


It's something I have wanted for a while. I usually wouldn't buy it without touching it and feeling it first.


My friend, Lori has some of this and I knew I wanted some for my own!


I'm going to make something with it....but what?

Actually, I don't really know the answer to that question myself!


What would YOU make with it?



You already guessed, didn't you???

It's Fabric!!

Not just any fabric, it's a collection of Amy Butler fabrics. I'm thinking that they would make some fabulous pillows....hmmmm??



I hope that you are having a wonderful Saturday....For more Pink, please visit Beverly's and take the Pink Tour!




Happy Easter to you!!


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Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm

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Mmmm. Isn't this cake a work of art? It's beautiful! I was lucky enough to be invited to a friend's birthday party this week, and this was the birthday cake.



Does it make your mouth water? Just looking at it right now makes me want another piece! The frosting is buttercream (my favorite).


Fresh strawberries (soooo sweet) and on top..... drizzled white chocolate. Oh yes!!


The birthday girl baked it herself. It was HER birthday, but WE were the ones who got the treat!! Lynn....Hope you had a wonderful Birthday!!


Inside was a layer of bananas and cream, and strawberries!


It only looks like I licked my plate. I wanted to, but then I might not get invited back, right?


I even got to take a piece home. That didn't last long, let me tell you!!



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Road Trip!!

I have missed visiting my favorite blogs.....it's just like missing friends and I am looking forward to catching up! Whenever I read that someone has been "too busy" for blogging....I can relate! And, it's nice to be back!

This past weekend I went on a last minute Road Trip. Down to San Diego on Saturday and back on Sunday. It's about 8-9 hours one way, so this was one quick trip! A dear childhood friend of my Mother In Law's passed away and we went to her memorial service. The weather was perfect. It turned out to be a very nice bonding time for us. My MIL entertained me with stories of her youth, and the long hours on the road just flew by!


She remembered this friend, who's service we were attending, had come running over to her house the day that Pearl Harbor was attacked. Imagine that. I love the stories from those days. It's like time travel in a way. Times were different, for sure.

The service was preceded by a visit to a spectacular garden right on the ocean. We could have stayed there all day. I will always love the sound of the ocean waves. It's so peaceful. I can almost feel that ocean breeze right now.




I was in the unique position of being at a service for a person that I had never met. I got to know her through the stories of her loved ones. I can tell you for certain that I would have liked her very much!


It made me wonder what my family would say about me. It's hard to imagine how people really see you, don't you think? What stories would they tell? Did I have an impact on their lives....a good one? What quirks would stand out?


At this service there happened to be a lot of family photos. She was a beautiful woman and even did some modeling in her youth.
I have decided to go through ALL of my family photos and REMOVE any photo that I don't like of myself!! Hah. What do you think about that?


It was a sobering reminder of what each of us will really leave behind. It's the relationships. We are creating moments and memories all the time. Some good and some ....not so good. I can't imagine being preoccupied with these thoughts all the time, that would be exhausting. I guess it just comes down to the basics. Try to be a good person. Try to do the right thing. Hmmm. Maybe I have heard that somewhere.


I don't think that Memorial Services are FOR the person who has passed. They aren't there in person to be honored. It's for the loved ones left behind. It's for their comfort and it's their opportunity to express themselves and share.


Today, make an effort to smile more.


Today, reach out to a loved one and tell them how you feel about them.


Today, be grateful for life.

I am grateful for my family, my home, my freedom to pursue my hearts desire. And, I am grateful for YOU my blogging friends!


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Time for Gardening?

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Happy Pink Saturday!!

Is it time to start working in the garden? I'm not a very good gardener at all. Every year, I think that I will really get out there and make something happen.....but it doesn't seem to work out that way. Luckily, Mother Nature does a lot of gardening around here...so it looks wonderful anyway.

Maybe I would want to do more gardening if I had these handy implements....hmmmm????



I don't think they would get lost, would they? And, hubby would NEVER borrow them, right?



We went to a Master Gardener class last week on growing an Edible Garden. It was very interesting. We are going to plant a neighborhood garden this year. It's all family around here, so it should be really fun. I'm looking forward to it...and I'm sure that YOU will be hearing ALL about it (grins).

Hungry for more Pink? Head on over to Beverly's and take the PINK tour!




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All about the Internet

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Tea and Internet. Two of my favorite things!!

I belong to a wonderful Women's Network group in our area. At our monthly meeting I was the speaker and my topic was "The Internet". I love the internet and it was fun to share all sorts of fun places to go online with the group.



While we enjoyed a lovely luncheon and TEA of course, we visited with each other and enjoyed the fellowship of our members. As for my talk, there is never enough time for ALL the things that could be shared....you know? We talked about email, websites, blogs (of course), Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Ebay, dating online (that was fun!), and so much more.


Mmmmmm, did I say that the food was WONDERFUL??



As I was gathering my info for the talk, I was reminded of how AMAZING the world wide web is. I have made some TRUE friends online....right from this blog! I don't even like going ONE day without checking in with my email and blog. I love hearing all about what everyone is DOING on facebook. Isn't the internet SO incredible? I am in wonder that I can sit in my little house in the country and reach out in to the world and connect with fantastic people. What a blessing that is.


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