Of birds and blooms...

We have had such luck with birds this year!
We have mockingbirds, woodpeckers, bluejays and hummers. We've had several broods too. A red tail hawk came to hunt on several occassions and caught a mockingbird right in front of me.

We had 2 pair of hummers and their brood stay...they are still here.
I had to buy more feeders.......they are eating around the clock!
I counted 5 on one feeder with 2 fighting near another one.
The most I've seen at once is 9 hummers....makes me VERY happy!




here they are in the rain.......look at this little guy's "hair"...he reminds me of Woodstock!


the rain didn't slow any of them down one bit...



We've also had 2 pair of red headed woodpeckers stay with us...they come eat our little cherry tomatoes after chasing off other feasters!
We don't mind, they are pretty much spent anyway. We had a great harvest while it lasted!



Our morning glories have covered this ornamental birdhouse....these are the wild ones I got from the nature trail.


look how GORGEOUS! The blooms are quite large.



These morning glories jumped the trellis and are taking over the ardesia! I started them from seed last year.



thanks to the rain, our rain lilies bloomed!





and our zinnias are in full force....




I hope you've had beautiful birds and blooms in your area this summer!

Val's chicken n dumpling stew

Ripstick Boy loves to cook....on his own terms.
That means, he gets the urge to cook and go into the kitchen and cooks.
Sometimes, I am lucky and he gets the urge while I'm in the kitchen....like the other day.

He came in while I was making his favorite....Chicken and Dumpling Stew. (recipe below)  Don't know WHY it looks grey...must be the lighting.  Yuck.  Anyhoo, it tastes great.



 he steps up and asks if he can help so of course, I let him.

Be warned, I don't really measure ANYTHING in this....

Val's Chicken and Dumpling Stew:

*total of about 10 cups chicken stock
*4 cups shredded or diced cooked chicken
* OR take a 3 pound chicken and make stock out of it. Reserve the stock, shred the chicken and add back into the pot. (This is how I actually do it)

1 small onion diced
4 stalks celery diced
4 carrots cubed
1 tsp minced garlic (from a jar) Or mince a fresh clove
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf

2 cups bisquick and enough milk to make dumplings.

Saute onions and celery til soft, add carrots and garlic and stir for a few minutes. Don't brown the garlic. Add the bay leaf and seasonings. Stir for about 5 minutes.

Then add to the stock and chicken and bring to a boil momentarily. Turn down, cover and simmer until carrots are just tender. Before going to the next step, taste and adjust seasonings.

Then:

Take 2 cups bisquik and enough milk to bind, stir together to make a dough.
Drop by large spoonfuls (I use a smallish cookie dough scoop.) Make enough to completely cover the top of the stew.
Cover and let cook on medium low about 10 minutes. DO NOT BOIL or the dumplings will break down. They will rise and get large. You can check by using a toothpick until you figure out what they 'look like' when done.

When you serve, dip down and get the soup and a dumpling. We rarely have leftovers, but when we do, its even better!


Then, the next morning, he decided to cook breakfast.

Look what he made......yum!



He insisted we all try it, of course!

Those little bits are BACON!

After a while, I VERY CAUTIOUSLY asked if he would like me to make him an apron. To my surprise, he said "sure."

Off to the fabric store we went.....looking for something cool. ( No offense, but cool is difficult to find in Hancocks.)

In the end, he managed to find some fabric by Robert Kaufmann and I made him this apron...which is reversible.



He promptly put it on, went downstairs and made everyone a milkshake!

Let's get ready to RUMBLE!

On Sunday, Suki (soo-key) had been in the family 2 whole days.
She has already knocked Ginger in the head a couple time for getting too personal.
The kids were asking how she was so FAST....I mean REALLY REALLY FAST.
I guess it is because she was a stray and had to hunt.

She is MUCH faster than Leo (sorry, baby, no offense.)

When we got Suki, they said to let the cats figure it out on their own, that the resident cat will be boss, etc and the new cat will hide for at least 3 days.
Since Leo outweighs Suki by 5 pounds, I decided to keep my eyes open (and my camera handy.)

Only.....Suki hasn't hidden yet.
In fact, she came in to visit me while I was sewing.
Leo ALWAYS comes in while I sew....so he was TICKED that someone beat him there.

He sat down and gave her the ugly eye.
He even growled at her and hissed a lot...she didn't even BLINK.



Then when I was done sewing, she moved under the little art table.
Leo followed her yeowling the whole time....oh, and hissing. Lots of hissing.
She didn't even blink.



Here he is going in for the "Siamese Smack down!"



Only he missed.

But SHE didn't! She whacked him SO FAST I couldn't even snap a photo of it.
And... she did it while laying there.
She just pulled out her little pistol of a paw and POW! Right between the eyes.




Okay, I know its bad but it was awfully funny...and I had my backup plan in case it got ugly...which it didn't.

Leo moves back a little and pretends he doesn't care that he just got schooled by an 8 pound GIRL.



Then he moves back a little more. Pretending to be asleep, except that he keeps opening one eye!



The phone rang and he WATCHED ME LEAVE THE ROOM.
Luckily, the kids answered it so I turned back to see if I could catch anything 'good' on film.

Yeah.......SHAMEFUL...........just look for yourselves what he was doing.



Oh and then he realized he was caught...who me?





Oh, and Suki?
Here is the way she looked for the ENTIRE ordeal.

She was SCARED I tell you, REALLY REALLY REALLY SCARED.....

yeah, rrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiigggggggggghhhhhhhhhtttt.

July's Toy Society drop and Mama Mia!

Yesterday we ran out and dropped off this cutie of a hootie!

We dropped him at the Ochsner pediatric clinic in Slidell. The clinic is in full 'shot' mode due to new requirements in the state of Louisiana. The kids suggested we drop him there in hopes that someone coming out from getting a shot might take him home!



The waiting room was busy so we left him outside in front of the entryway....tied up to a column.



I hope someone takes him home soon!

When we got home, look what was in the mailbox for me! My MAMA MIA apron from Micki! I adore this 70's fabric with the peace signs! She also included some lollis and napkins and a handmade recipe booklet.



Thanks Micki! I can't wait to use it!

A very Happy Birthday.....

Friday evening we brought home a new family member.....meet Suki, a sweet Burmese.


I didn't anticipate this....we were just returning something!

But when Dean brought her to my attention, I couldn't resist.
She has had a hard start to her young life but will be most loved with us.
She had a respiratory infection when they rescued her (still has it), then was spayed, then had a hernia from the spay surgery!
She still has some stitches but they don't seem to bother her.


They say she is about 2 years old but she is SO small...and still VERY playful. She weighs 8 pounds right now...about the size Leo was when he was 9-12 months old.

The dogs ignore her for the most part. They are mostly interested in her booty! Just like a dog! ha!

Leo seems to hate her right now but I don't think that will last. He will puff up and make those funny cat fight sounds. She just lays there looking at him. Leo can't stand all that starring so he high tails it outta there!
Being an indoor cat, he hasn't seen another cat since he was 7 weeks old!
I think his curiosity will win him over though.

See how blue her eyes are!
Sorry for the awful photo and the reflection but its the ONLY one that shows how blue her eyes are.



I don't know how to take a photo of her without getting those stupid red eyes!

The rest of my birthday was just as fun.
We went out to dinner so I could have a REAL margarita!
Then we came home for cake and ice cream and some fun gifts.

I couldn't resist smashing Rip stick Boy's face into my cake when he went to sniff it...



The cake was a little worse for it, but still tasted great!



After wards, a quick thunderstorm came up.
The rain was coming down so hard it was actually forced under the front door.
Now that is difficult since we have an 8 foot deep covered front porch!
It was actually hitting the fairy lights I have entwined into some grape vine around our front door!






A perfect ending to a perfect day!

Mama Mia!!!!!!! It's my birthday!

Okay, so it IS my birthday but its ALSO our last day to ship out those AMAZING aprons inspired by the movie!

So ladies, please get those aprons out TODAY! Be sure to email me when you do...THANKS!

And just for a little encouragement......here's another lil flashback! Stay tuned afterward, because you can see more and more and.....

Busy......

Last week I finished some little receiving blankets for Crafthope.
I made 11 of them... enough to fill up a flat rate box.



I also finished and mailed off my partner's Mama Mia apron swap package!
Micki was my partner but she requested I make the apron and package for her mom, Sue!

I had such fun coming up with this one. Sue likes blue and enjoys the music from the movie. I wanted the apron to take on an older soft look (like the ones in the movie) so when I sewed on the scroll of notes, I didn't finish the edges. With use and washings, it should soften right up.




here is a little dish scrubbie I made her to go with everything....I used THIS pattern and just made it bigger. I actually goofed up midway but was too lazy to ribbit.
Soooooo, this is how it turned out, no one will be the wiser!



and here is the rest of the stuff I came up with.....Micki told me she likes romance novels and chocolate so I had to add a bit of that for her......

I hope she likes everything!