O is for Orange.......

I did this post for Alphabe Thursday and in my book, I covered orange pretty well...Here it is, a little refresher on my take on a color I love.......

O is for Orange...As in the color.....My life is all about color and Orange is a favorite......
Orange is flamboyant and energetic....
Orange is vibrant. It's a combination of red and yellow so it shares some common attributes with those colors. It denotes energy, warmth, and the sun. But orange has a bit less intensity or aggression than red, calmed by the cheerfulness of yellow.

There are orange flowers.



nasturtiums and calendula.....



beautiful orange vegetables and fruits...(I took these photos in Chinatown Hololulu)





How about the beauty of coconut prawns floating in a orange marmalade and red chili sauce?


Orange vegetables are super nutritous and good for you...Carrots, pumpkin, yams...Oranges are one of the few sources of bioflavenoids a vitamin that keeps your veins and cappilaries healthy...they are in the white part of the orange....yummy.

I love orange clothes too...They make a statement.







Here is a picture of me in my favorite "old navy" orange t shirt about six years ago....the pumpkin is wearing an orange wig just in case you wondered what all the fuzzy stuff is......




I even painted the kids space upstairs orange and accented it with turquoise.......so bright and happy!




Knock, knock.
who's there?
orange.
orange who?
orange you glad for the color orange?

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
orange
orange who?
Orange you glad this post is over.......

Beautiful day!

It is gorgeous day out today...I just woke up feeling great! I went straight up and went to work upstairs...Now I have the kids, and playtime is over but I thought I would share a few things I made.
I got everything ready to mail for this months "Enchanted ornament swap" The theme is birds.....I cant show them yet, but I have to show how I am mailing it....



Fun packaging huh? I will show the rest later...
I also did up a pet portrait for a friend to give as a gift....I accidentally erased the picture it was based on, but it is of Max, the golden retriever....I hope you like it Riane.....


Last of all, I found a tutorial at "all sorts" for the cutest criss cross coasters....It is the easiest pattern ever...About five minutes a piece....really! I used some cute retro fabric...this pattern would make cute little square place mats for our trailer too......


I am in love with these little coasters...this may become a new favorite thing to make!
Well the kidletts are getting restless, so gotta go for now...Enjoy your day!!

artistic mother's tote and an art quiltie......

Today I had a day off as far as watching the grand kids....It isn't because Lisa had the day off...It is because the third round of the horrible stomach flu is making its rounds and this time she has it...We do know what it is...It is the rota virus...thankfully, there is a vaccine and I can promise you, I know four children who are going to be getting one as soon as we can get them well. It is highly contagious, and the problem is the two one year olds......they constantly have hands in the mouth....All I can say is I never have changed so many poopy diapers in my life...so today I have a much needed break from poop....The joys of grand motherhood, they are many.........
I used my time wisely today. I slept in, which was amazing and incredible...Then Don and I went to a local nursery....It is called J and J's and I was blown away...We both were...The prices and the plants are just wonderful...They are in the midst of their annual tomato plant sale.....One gallon plants for 1.75.....I bought five different varieties. I also bought their vegetable seeds for beans and pumpkins, a couple of pepper plants, sweet basil and a flat of coleus for a shady flower bed....Don told me that he got such a kick out of watching me...I was a woman on a mission....I love plants, I have since I was a tiny little girl. They are sitting on the landing of the back stairs until after Mothers Day....








Just look at all that green goodness....I cant wait to get my hands in the dirt and put them in their new home!
After the jaunt to the nursery, I went upstairs and made my poetry tote for the Artistic Mothers Group...Click on the picture on the sidebar for more info....This is the week three project. I really had fun with mine. I pretty much had to just make one up because I lost my book.....I am an organized person and for the life of me, I don't know where it went...All I can think of is one of the babies helped Maga put it away in some obscure place....I need to find it because I don't know what the next week is about.....It holds my poetry journal that actually has a poem in it...













I also got one other piece done today...This little art quilt for a Yahoo group I belong too....It is six by eight inches and has a lot of 3d type sewing on it.....Usually I just whip these little quilties out, but I must have worked on this little guy for two hours....I was surprised by the time when I was finished....I think it is all the layered fabric.....I started with a fabric image of a baby and he turned into a mermaid....Just cause you know "everythings better, down where it's wetter, Under the sea..." Who out there knows where this quote came from?








Now I am going to go cook some dinner and then we are going to watch another episode of "Life" on the discovery channel......It is one of the most beautiful Nature shows I have ever seen....I cant wait to watch them with Olivia who is my little nature girl.......

N is for Never......

Good afternoon Mrs. Matlock....It is Melinda here all ready for this weeks Alphabe Thursday.....Now dont be a nag, I am not that tardy....I brought you a nice nasturtium salad with nectarines to sweeten you up...
Today my essay is entitled, "N' is for Never." As in things I would never do....
There are a lot of them actually, like being cruel to animals and children, committing crimes, things like that...I am talking about the things that people will do for money....Like on reality shows. Here are a few of my never's!!





I would never bungee jump....not for a million dollars and not that anyone is offering....but if they did? No way, not ever...I would die mid jump, so it just isnt worth it. The same thing goes for anything to do with hanging or jumping or extreme heights...I deal with my fear of flying, but that is about as far as it goes for this woman. I am the one that sweats bullets on the flying dumbo's at Disneyland....








I would never eat organ meats....oh ick, giant ick...who wants to eat something called offal? You can make them pretty and call them things like Pate', uh-uh aint happening.......blech....
















I would never live anywhere with a cockroach.....they scare me to death...If I saw one today, I would leave everything and go to a hotel until I found a new place to live....I am sure they have their place in God's creation scheme, but not in mine......






I also know I would never join a nudist colony.....trust me on this....I worked at a health club in the 80's that would rent the club out after hours to private organizations....One Friday night it was my turn to work for one of these private openings...Everyone kept snickering...I had no idea why until I walked out of the front office into the weight room and their were naked people everywhere...naked people playing volleyball, swimming, pumping iron....It is a picture you do not want in your head believe me.....Nasty!!!!!! I do not want to see these people naked, nor do I want them to see my naked...thank you very much!





I also said I would never, never get married again and I did. I guess that is a "never say never" kinda thing!
Now, just because never is kind of negative, there are so many nice things I will do.....I will be a good friend. I will be a good listener. I will be kind and love other people and do things with a smile..Does that make up for all my never's? What Never's do you claim?

How this Las Vegas thing all went down.......

Some of you were surprised by my wedding announcement so I thought I would backtrack a little bit....We actually planned on being married in March. My dad asked that we wait until he got to Utah so he and his girlfriend could go to, and do the deed. March came and went and no dad..Then he said the first week of April.....that came and went and he called and asked that we just get married in Utah in a double ceremony...I talked to Don and he agreed if dad would commit to a date....Then it couldn't be until after my brothers birthday....Things kept getting bigger as far as plans and we both started getting anxious. I knew that if a bunch of people started getting involved all that was going to happen was I was going to feel like I had to entertain everyone and I didn't want that....in the meantime, I couldn't even pin my dad down to a date....Friday night our stress level about the whole thing reached a head...Now dad was saying the first week of May, and I was just ready to say forget the whole thing....We went to bed and the next thing I know, Don was waking me up at 5:30 am....He said, " I want to go to Vegas today and get married...."...I told him to let me sleep two more hours and I would give him an answer..Obviously I told him yes....We were on the road at 10:00...I called and made sure that my sister could watch the kids on Monday so we didn't have to come right back...
We got there about 4'ish and went to a buffet at Treasure Island and then gambled a bit and had margaritas....I called a wedding chapel and Don booked a package that made everything pretty easy...The next morning we did the spa thing and I got my nails done too...We ran over to Ross to look for a tie and what did I see but the most perfect white suit for me in just my size....I even found shoes to match....I had brought a silk blouse and a black silk skirt but I wasn't happy with it....
The limo picked us up and took us to the courthouse....I was super nervous.....shaking nervous....





We got to the chapel and had a very sweet ceremony, just the two of us and a minister......it was perfect...in fact the only stress of the day was when I realized that all the underthings I brought were colored and I now was wearing white!!! Don got ready fast and ran back to Ross and had a sales lady pick out a white bra and half slip for me....what a man huh? When I came out of the room all ready to go he got all teary eyed....I was so touched...




The limo took us back to the Hilton and we changed into shorts and went and played....we ate a really romantic dinner at the Venetian and then went to the late showing of Mystiere....It was incredible...We slept in yesterday, then went to the pool until four and got home about 11 last night.....I am very happy with the way things turned out...It will always be a special memory and I am glad we followed our hearts and did things the way we wanted too......thank you to everyone for your well wishes! Mrs. E.......

Something is in the air today........

Spring is here
the sky is blue
Birds all sing
as if they knew






Todays the day
we'll say I do
and we'll never be lonely anymore

Because we're going to the chapel and we're
gonna get married
and we're going to the chapel and we're
going to get married
Gee, I really love you and we're going to get married
going to the chapel of love



Bells will ring
the sun will shine
I'll be his
and he'll be mine
To love until
the end of time
and we'll never be lonely anymore















Because we're going to the chapel of love at 3:00 pm today....
I just wanted to share the happy news with all my friends! Please send up a prayer that God will bless our marriage............Melinda C. (soon to be Melinda E)

A day in the life and the Friday night sew in.....

Once a month there is a Friday night sew in and bloggers from around the world dedicate the evening to sewing projects..Then you post them and go see what everyone else made....(click on the Friday Night sew in Button on my sidebar to find out more...) I was ready....I had a lot to do today and I got it all done..
I got up at 5:30 am to go to my daughters house...
there by 6:ooam
Took a shower, got dressed
Kids up, got Olivia ready for school...
Took Olivia to school
Drove little kids to my house
fixed breakfast, got them fed and bathed and dressed...
Cleaned the house and did laundry
Watered the garden
Cleaned again...they are kids ok?
fixed lunch
Watched Velveteen rabbit with Andrew
snacktime
Lay them down for naps...one year old for the first time refused to participate.....finally he slept about the time Andrew woke up...
(this is when I usually play catch up on the sleep thing)
pick up toys, play in the yard
2:00 kids go home with mom
one hour on the treadmill
paint stove hood of trailer
wipe down walls of trailer start to prime realize I need more primer
go to loews to get more primer and paint
stop by Subway so I dont have to cook anything....






Set up new sewing table because I got a new folding one so I would have more room....






I had already decided that tonight I was going to work on the quilt for our bed in the trailer....I have vintage cowboy hankies and I am going to build around them...so I got the fabrics all out and ready to go....





And I just finished the fourth block....Here are the first four.....




They are going to be 20" square....I am going to do four rows of four and then borders and binding...But guess what? I am too darn TIRED TO SEW!!!!!!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???? The moral of this sad Friday Night Sew in....Dont Have kids? (just kidding) Dont do so much that you dont have anything left when it comes to sewing........sighhhhhhhhh

Alphabe Thursday, the letter "M

Boy, this week is flying by...Good Afternoon Mrs. Matlock it is Me, Melinda and I am here to do my Meme' on the letter M'....I brought you a nice musk melon to enjoy as a snack...

Mary Margaret got married in May to Mark.
for their first marriage meal she made him marshmallows
and found out his bite was worse than his bark.
Mark must be a meat and potato man....

Homemade marshmallows!








1 cup cold water divided
3 1/4 oz envelope unflavored gelatin
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp real vanilla extract
three cups powdered sugar sifted

Butter or spray a 13 x 9 pan and then like with parchment paper
sprinkle powdered sugar in bottom of the pan

Place 1/2 cup of water in a mixing bowl and sprinkle gelatin on top. Let stand for fifteen minutes...
In the meantime combine the rest of the ingredients except remaining powdered sugar and vanilla in a pan. stir over medium heat until it comes to a boil.
Cover pan and let it boil for three minutes without stirring to dissove sugar.
remove cover and attach a candy thermometer. Turn the heat on high and let boil without stirring until thermometer reaches 240 degrees....Slowly pour into mixing bowl with gelatin and water while running mixer on low.
Mix until it triples in size and gets stiff...It takes about 10 minutes. Add vanilla and mix it in...
Spread marshmallow in pan...it is sticky!!!! sprinkle more powdered sugar on top and let sit twelve hours. cut with a sharp knife. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.....

These are so good and the kids like to help with the mixing...(once the hot stuff is mixed in...)you can add food coloring and different extracts...Olivia likes them for her birthday parties colored pink...You also can dip half of them in melted white chocolate chips and then sprinkle with cute sprinkles...Oh yummy, love that sugar high!

Pretty pink things, a star block and the Catbird.....

Wow, I am definitely enjoying the weather..I haven't spent too much time in the sewing room the last few days because we have been outside and in the trailer staying busy! The kids are really enjoying the yard...Especially Trace, who has developed a taste for rocks...Every time I look at the little bugger, he has a rock in his mouth. He is quick about it too....
The interior of our little tumbleweed is coming along...I am now ready to paint the inside! woo hoo! I have the stove, oven and ice box door painted in fire engine red...I just love it....Today I got a black chandelier to hang above the table...Once we get the inside done, Don is ready to start on the outside...Our first camp out is Memorial Day weekend...We are taking Olivia and leaving Cooper at home...We are meeting Don's son and family at Brown Lee reservoir....it is on the Idaho/ Oregon border....My dad is also going...There is great fishing and it is going to be a blast...I also started working on the quilt that I am making for our bed in the trailer...I am using vintage cowboy themed hankies and doing kind of a log cabin thing around them in retro fabric...The decorating is what I have fun with!

Andrew just loves the garden...we got some blue potato's to plant and he asked me all day if they were up yet...The peas and the lettuce are going crazy...He says that the lettuce is going to taste "just like chocolate"...Wouldn't that be a good thing? It's a four year olds logic, don't try to understand....
I got the red, white and blue Amish star block done.....It is 12" square.










Soon in the mail I will get eleven packages with fabric too make eleven different stars...This is going to a quilt for the trailer too...I am so excited to see all the fabric that the other ladies picked!

I finished the second journal page and now my commitment to the Nature Journal is finito....I better run and sing up for something else....lol
This page is called the "Catbird" ..just my skewed minds interpretation.....









I like the jungle colors.......they speak to me....
Finally, I wanted to show off the Easter goodies that I got from Denise at
Http://couturedepapier.blogspot.com
She was my second partner in Miss Rhea's Easter basket swap....She had been hit by bad storms in her area, and didn't get out to get anything made. She made the most beautiful yogurt cup basket that sits in another basket....








Some aqua sequins wrapped in tulle, a pink candle with a decorated top and the sweetest little tussie mussie decorated in soft pink and white.....Olivia's eyes popped out of her little head as she tried to snag these goodies for her "pink" bedroom...She loves swap packages...Andrew just keeps his eyes out for candy....Thanks so much Denise.....it is all lovely!

thirty days of giveaways at I have a notion!

It ends April 15th so get on over there....It is not too late to go back and enter all their giveaways including the biggie...
A Go Fabric Cutter from Accuquilt....it is pretty amazing.....
http://ihaveanotion.blogspot.com/
http://www.blogger.com/Ihavea-notion.com

Go check it out.....

I think it is Spring now.......

Crossing my fingers anyway! We have daffodils and tulips and my peas and lettuce are sprouting...I even got to hang some laundry on the line again the other day...Oh, the simple joys...I love hanging out laundry!
I want to thank everyone for all the kind comments on the "Luke" post....So many sweet words...I just worry for his mama that this month doesn't cause some kind of a setback for her....I know keeping busy really helps and busy she is! She usually goes to his grave site in Portland and living here she wont be able to do that. Maybe it is a good thing, I am not sure....
I haven't posted anything the last few days because we once again have had the lovely pleasure of the stomach flu.........






Yep, this is the "holy goose my stomach hurts.." look.
First it was Olivia with her head in the toilet, then it was yours truly, then Trace, Don, Andrew, Jace and Lisa....it was another puke fest....Gross I know, but it happens...I still had the kids so that was hard, but we all slept alot. We all wash our hands and eat right and all that..who knows why it has hit twice like this..Any suggestions? I guess flu shots for everyone next year.....Today I felt a little better and washed mountains of blankets, towels and kids clothes. Insomnia is no longer a problem...I have slept the sleep of the dead..That is the one positive note!
So now we are all better!









Life is good.......

Today I mailed off fabric for a red, white and blue "no sew" quilt block exchange...I saw these on blogs and couldnt figure out why they were "no sew"..I mean, you gotta sew the blocks together right? It is because you pick the block and the fabric and then send it to the other participants and they sew it together....Here is the fabric I picked.











I personally like to mix patterns and pattern sizes...I am going to make up my block tomorrow...

I also made a couple of journal pages to finish up the Nature Journal project...Some of the people got way ahead and then I felt way behind so I played catch up even though I wasnt really late....I have two front and backs to do...
One is done and the other half done....here is the first one completed.....
Front:











and the back:









The only thing that really ties them together are the words and the style but I am happy with them.....
Oh yeah, and Happy Spring.....I think....(hope?)

L is for Love, Luke and Loss......

I love being a grandma....It is one of the biggest joys in my life. Before my first grandchild was born, I worried that I wouldn't feel that bond...Kinda like when you are pregnant with your second child and you are worried that you wont have enough love for another child..After all, you love the first one sooooo much! Then you see them and it is instant adoration, fascination and yes, love....I have been at every grandchild's birth and am amazed that every time I am instantaneously overwhelmed with love and I feel that new baby calling to everything I am! The kids all call me maga.....it is Daniels (my first grand child's ) word for me....and it has stuck. I love being Maga, it is the most important thing I do and it is my most joyous one....If you ask me how many grand kids I have I will always say 6....Five on earth and one in Heaven because I always count Luke....He is with me everyday as much as the other kids...He lives in my heart and my memories.....
Luke died of SIDS when he was two and a half months old....I had just taken a lot of pictures of him because I did a lot of scrap booking then...I am so glad I did....



















When you lose a grandchild, you try to hold off your own grief so you can help your own child get through it...It is the hardest, most painful job in the world....I never actually let go until I made this page for Luke and said goodbye....If you click on it, it will get large and you can read it....




L is for Luke, Loss and Love.....

Luke Thomas Allen
February 2004 - April 2004

Nature journal, Artistic mom Journal and a Art quilt.....

First of all, I want to tell everyone that I was so honored to be asked to do my first blog interview...It happened today over at http://alteredbooklover.blogspot.com

I feel like a superstar! Thank you so much Elizabeth for the great honor....Go over and say hi and have a read and a look.....I think it is pretty darn cool!!

This is going to be a fun post with a lot of pictures...I love pictures, I think they are my favorite things about blogs...
I have been a part of a round robin Nature Jouranl group where we do pages for each other and it is winding down...To hold my pages, I altered a book but the pages inside werent working, so I took them out, put ribbons on both sides and I use it like a folder..I like it a lot and it works better because these pages are beautiful on both the front and back side. In between the art, I am planning on sticking my seed packets and any notes I have about my garden this year...You know the one I hope to have when Spring comes....I havent planted in Utah and I like to keep track of what works and what maybe doesnt.....
Here is the cover.....







Here are some of the beautiful pages in the book.....








yep, I planted peas on the advice of the extension service here in Utah then it snowed...Now you know one of the reasons why I was so mad when winter struck again!!!! They havent sprouted, so I am hoping they are safe.......

















These pictures mostly just show the front of the pages...Arent they beautiful? All kinds of interpretations and mediums...I love it....

I also finished my poetry journal for The artistic Mothers Group hostessed by Trudy Callan...There is no poetry in it as of yet, but there will be....I used my favorite sheets of background paper to make it...It has all these awesome blank lined pages just waiting to be filled!









The picture is not of me, but I was suffering from indecision on the picture thing so I used this cute little collage girl instead.........
Last of all, Stefanie, a blog friend sent me an email from C and T publishing to join in their club and they send out calls for artwork and quilts and things...They had a art quilt request using lutrador..They sent me some and this is what I made using the lutrador......



I made a background using two different fabrics, drew a couple of roses and grapes right on the lutrador with a black sharpie and then I painted in the color with neocolor 2's....then I basted it to the quilt base and thread painted it all in..Then I beaded it by hand...yes me...believe it...then I burned away the excess from around the design and put a back and binding on....The lutrador was super easy to work with, it was kind of fun and you can do a lot to it...I guess you can even print on it....Here is a close up of the flowers......






If anyone out there has used lutrador, I would love to see anything you have made.......Let me know! Have a good night everyone.......