Show and Tell Monday-May 25, 2009

Happy Memorial Day everyone! It has been a wonderful weekend and I hate to see it end. The weather has cooperated more or less, pretty much on the Camelot schedule. Only raining in the late evening. Camelot must be a time zone or two to the east. This week, right on schedule, my tree peony bloomed. This is the oddest flower, it looks like it's made of crepe paper. If it has another purpose besides being gorgeous, I don't know what it is but it keeps up the gorgeous end just fine so I'm happy to have it in my garden.

Isn't that an amazing flower? Hard to believe they are real. And they do have a beautiful fragrance as well.

This is the last week of our drive to come up with some more Hope Chests for Vista Maria. See the blog below for all the information at Enchanted Makeovers. This is such a worthy cause, if you can donate anything, these young women can sure use the boost of having a nice place to stay even though under very stressful conditions in their lives. The CHIP IN button is still active to the right, think about it, okay?

Have a wonderful and productive week all.

Pat

Romantic Roses for Pink Friday, 5/15/09

Pink Friday's theme of Romantic Roses has the Pink Boutiques all atwitter! Everyone loves roses. They touch a chord in every one's heart. The beautiful rose speaks of friendship, caring, romance. I think most every woman remembers the first time she received a bouquet of roses. Roses make the most mundane, special. The scent of roses can be musky and sensual, or spicy and invigorating. No matter which kind you like, there is always a rose or two in every household. The beautiful hankies from your Grandmother often were embellished with roses, the special vase from your wedding, a pretty little tray for your dresser - roses peek out and make us smile. Who has ever started a garden and not had the dream of a beautiful heirloom rose blooming in June? And, so I invite you to come visit us on Pink Friday to see where the Boutiques have added roses. There may be just that special touch you need in your bedroom, or the perfect gift that will say how much you care for a special relative or friend.

Now, speaking of caring, I have to mention again the Hope Chest Project we have undertaken at Make Mine Pink in cooperation with Enchanted Makeovers. We are trying very hard to get together enough to donate 20 hope chests to a women's shelter. The women who arrive there come nearly empty handed. It is our hope to have a chest at the foot of each of the 20 beds for these women to store their clothing and belongings. We have 7 more hope chests to come up with! If you could open your hearts and donate anything at all to this project, it will make such a huge difference in the lives of these women who need our help. There is a widget on the right side of this blog to make a donation. Every dollar counts, if you can afford a few dollars, that would be terrific. We have a deadline we are trying to meet in just 2 weeks, June 1. Please give us a hand with this worthy project. Go to http://www.enchantedmakeovers.org/ to read about this worthy organization.

Show and Tell Monday 5/4/09

This is mostly a tell week. The camera has been sitting idle due to some family problems that have arisen. But at any rate, have I got a lot to tell you anyway. Today is the start of the Make Mine Pink Shop Hop and will run all week. Visit http://www.makeminepink.com/ for registration and then start finding those shopping bags. Wonderful prizes as always, and no purchase necessary for oodles of fun. Please do browse the shops as you go through, though. Even if you can't purchase now, bookmark your favorites for a latter shopping trip. Sorry, everyone- I have tried several times to get the Shop Hop Logo on here and Blogger is having issues again! Check out Make Mine Pink.

Spring is here and violet season is upon us. Found a nice recipe for Violet Jelly from my friends at Prarieland Herbs. Here is the link for the recipe, this looks like jars of amethysts -

http://prairielandherbs.com/violetjelly.htm. It's easy and people will think you are so clever!

You can also candy violets. This recipe comes from The Joy of Cooking. Dissolve and cook over low heat until clear 1/2 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Cool slightly and add 4 teaspoons gum arabic. Blend thoroughly and chill. Chill flowers as well. Dip each flower into solution. Run your fingers over each petal to make a smooth, thin coating. Make sure it is completely covered (any uncovered spots will turn brown). Place on a rack to dry. Turn the flowers over after 12 hours. When they are completely dry you can store them in air tight containers. Have fun! These are so pretty, decorate cupcakes with them.

Now all this talk of violets has me wanting some. May have to go pick some by moonlight. It's still May Day and the violets are full of magic today.

It has been suggested that I incorporate what my family has come to call Bridgie-isms into my blog periodically. This past week was a doozie! Bridgie is 6 years old and on the town track team. She had her very first race this past weekend. So there is this little pint of peanuts on the starting blocks, bang goes the gun, whooooosh go all the racers and then comes Bridgie, jogging along, smiling at the crowd, a wave here and there. After the race, her Mom congratulated her on such a good try even though she came in last. Then my daughter asked her if she was feeling okay being it appeared she was only jogging and we all know how much faster than that she can run. Well, calm as can be, Bridgie looks up at her Mom and says, "Well, yeah, but if I win they make me run another race." Can you just feel the love of this sport coming from this girl?