Inspired by...

Lindsay's Parmesan Zucchini Fries as seen on Pinterest!

Don't those look yummy!?

I have been harvesting lots of zucchini lately. Actually, it is about the only thing we are getting from the garden right now. There have been a few stray cucumbers and tomatoes, but the zucchini is booming.

Now, as you probably remember, my guy is a veggie hater. Well...he is more of a meat lover veggie no thank-er, so I have to be a little creative sometimes. Usually, with zucchini, I just hide it. Like last week, I grated a big one into a pot of chile verde. He loved it. And double chocolate zucchini cake... he loves it. And meat loaf...he never sees it coming. But sometimes I just want to make zucchini, not hide it. So I have been looking for some good recipes. Recipes that would even make a veggie hater re-think his ways.

So when I came across this recipe on Pinterest, I thought I would give it a try. I made it for dinner last night, and even my guy liked it and said that it was good enough to make again!

Houston, we have a winner!!

You can get Lindsay's recipe (which is actually Georgia's recipe :)) here. And serve them with a side a marinara. They will definitely disappear!!

Oh yeah, did I mention that they are totally healthy!? Baked, not fried. No added fat. And crunchy. Very crunchy. Oh yum.

Have A Cupcake!

Well, it's official.
I have a married daughter and I am a year older!
A brand new son-in-law and a few more gray hairs all in one week. Fortunately, the son-in-law did not cause the gray hairs!!

Between hair dying sessions and wedding planning, I have managed to get a few things done. Like a little free pattern to help celebrate my birthday! It's called Have A Cupcake and you can download it here.

Cute, yeh?

I put mine on a tea towel. But wouldn't it look cute on a bib or party napkins. Polka dot party napkins! Or maybe as a little 4 block table topper. Or......

It is about 8" square as is, but reducing and enlarging are simple enough. So change it up if you need to. And....let me know what you do with it!

Happy stitching.

A Riot of Color

The kitchen window is a little shot of color these days.

The little footed, striped bowl is one of my favorites.

My hummingbird feeder, which you may remember my guy
made for me, is filled with beautiful red nectar.
And this old green bottle, which I just found on the side of the road. I had to stop and
pick that up! And the one and only peony that bloomed in my garden this year.

Now, if only some really good food (made by someone else!!) would appear in the kitchen......

Summer List

Since today is the official first day of summer, I thought it would be a great day to post our summer list. And by "our" I mean my. Pretty much. My guy will be doing a lot of the same stuff. But not all of it.
Like #12. He's not doing that. Or 8, 9, 10 and 11. He's out there too. And #3. He is definitely out on #3. That one belongs to Mama. (That's me. Actually, nobody calls me Mama except me. And I only refer to myself by that name when I am trying to act like the boss. The BIG BOSS. The "don't even" boss. Yup, when I start throwing that name around my people know that they had better (or had better not, as the case may be)...Well, it doesn't actually work out that way in real life. But in my head....oh yeah....the boss is in the house!!)

Anyway, back to the list. Which, btw, I have already started. That's right people, Mama already started. (See what I mean. You knew.)


I already finished #5. Becca and I planted these a couple of weeks ago, on her birthday.

Here's mine:

I planted it in an old piano bench. One that I got for free at a yard sale.
(Yup, #11 is also in full swing.)

Here's Becca's:

She planted hers in part of an old red wagon my guy hauled home from the dump.
He only wanted the wheels and the chassis, so it worked out great.

#4 is also going well. We moved our garden from the old garden spot (which never got enough sun) to the old horse coral. Now it gets all sun, all the time. And it is a lot bigger than the old garden. I am loving it. And by "loving it" I mean LOVING IT!!

We have our tickets for #2 and our reservations for #7 and I have a cute new dress for #1(Ariel) and right this very minute there are 175 cupcakes cooling on my counter top for #1 (Courtney). And tomorrow morning Courtney and I are going to finish the cupcake chandelier. Whew!

Oh, and #3. Are you wondering what that is?
It is similar to Flat Stanley, only you play with a sock monkey instead.
On Memorial Day, we had a little family summertime "kick-off". We had a BBQ and made our sock monkeys. It was a lot of fun...and a lot of funny! I wish you could have seen my guy and our almost-son-in-law with a needle and thread!!

The Monkeys:

From left to right, these monkeys belong to: Courtney, Kyle, Me, Becca and, my guy.

And, just so you are in the know, my guy plans on losing because he says his monkey looks too stupid to be seen with in public. Perfect! That will make it a little bit easier for me to win!!

And if you want to see where these monkey have to go, you can click here for a peek at our bingo cards. (The monkeys must be photographed in each of the locations. The person who photos the most sites wins. And the prize.... a $25 pot! Oh yeah, Mama is gonna win all of that moo-la!)

Seasonal Confusion

I planted these petunias early this summer. On Memorial
Day, as a matter of fact. Don't they just look so summery!

And, as it happens, my Amaryllis is in full bloom too.
So Christmas-y!


And my Easter Lilly? Well it bloomed yesterday.
So spring-y!

I hope your garden is looking just as.......well, year-round!

Happy Flag Day!

I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy
A Yankee Doodle, do or die
A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam
Born on the Fourth of July

I've got a Yankee Doodle sweetheart
She's my Yankee Doodle joy
Yankee Doodle came to London
Just to ride the ponies
I am the Yankee Doodle Boy

~George M. Cohan

Block 11: The Final Borders

Well, here we are. The last installment of Autumn's Bounty.

The last little bit is, of course, borders. One thin solid border and one final pieced border.

My last piece of advice is to resist the urge to finish it off with a solid final border. The pieced border (kind of a random piano key border that reflects the string piecing) keeps the movement in the center of the quilt going all the way to the edge. A solid border will work, of course, but it looks so flat and...... well flat! (I actually tried it with several different fabrics :0)

And that my friends, wraps the whole thing up. You can download the pattern here.
I sure do hope that you enjoyed it!

Now, before we leave the world of fun and free patterns.... my birthday is almost here. And so is my favorite holiday. And that means MORE FREE PATTERNS!
So check back the end of June and again the first week of July for 2 more freebies.

TTFN.

POM for.....May?

Yes, that is right. I am finally posting May's POM.
(No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth or get admitted to the booby-hatch. I just got consumed by Spring Market preparations, and Spring Market, and Spring Market recovery. WHEW!!)

And did I mention the wedding. Oh yeah, that is taking up a goodly amount of time!!
The next big thing on my to-do list, (besides finding a dress!!!!!!!) is to help my daughter make a cupcake chandelier. Oh boy......I will let you know how that turns out. Pray for me friends!!!

Anyway.... This month's (err, last month's) POM is Shortcake for One.

This little cushion measures about 5" in length and has a silver stem (made from an old spoon). And, it is just as adorable as it can be!!

You can access the patterns here. Or look for then in your LQS.