MOVE ON OVER

We're taking a time out. I'm trying really hard to only post on one blog from now on. We'll see if I can do it. So head on over to Elderberry Street for more up-to-date info on what's happening. See you there!

Well, That's A Look

I don't have any really good pictures to post, so I thought I'd show you this cute picture of knitting friends. I have knitting friends, too. Thank goodness we don't look like this these days. Do you suppose they were complaining about acrylic yarn splitting, how expensive that silk is, or that they couldn't get on Ravelry yet? Boy, they sure missed out. I bet they still enjoyed their knitting friends anyway.

Yummy Summer Salad

Here is a new recipe I tried the other day. It has fresh summer vegetables, arugula and rice in it. Beware! It's spicy. You could put in different peppers and make it milder. But, it sure was good this way. I got this off of http://www.bhg.com.

Fresh Corn-Rice Salad
Prep: 20 min. Chill: 1 hr. Cook: 3 min.
Ingredients
4 ears fresh corn
1-1/2 cups cooked rice, cooled
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup fresh arugula
1 small red onion, cut in thin wedges
1 jalapeño pepper, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar or red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Directions
1. Husk corn and remove silk with a stiff brush; rinse. Cook corn in boiling, lightly salted water for 3 minutes. Remove corn; let cool. Cut corn off the cob in planks (see note).
2. Combine cooked rice, tomatoes, arugula, onion and jalapeño pepper. Transfer to serving bowl; top with corn.
3. Drizzle with vinegar and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature. Makes 10 to 12 servings.
4. Note: To cut planks, place an ear on its side on a cutting board. Holding the corn firmly with fingers away from the blade, cut off a side of the corn. Rotate and repeat until all sides are removed. Use a spatula to gently move planks to salad.

Wedding Project

We really wanted to order a custom runner for the wedding but didn't want to spend all the money. So, we sort of "made" our own. We ordered a runner from http://www.originalrunners.com/. Then embelished it with a transfer monogram from http://secure.wonderfulgraffiti.com/. We're going to seal it to make sure it stays. Transfers obviously work better on walls. The monogram is in navy blue. It turned out very, very nice.

Ingenuity

What do you do when you're a knitter and need stitch markers and don't have any? Improvise! We were on a flight to Kansas City for all of the wedding stuff when I realized I didn't pack any markers. DD2 came to the rescue with this idea. We took her gum out of the wrappers and twisted them into markers. It worked, till I got some real ones. It's a pretty temporary fix, but I thought it was very ingenious. Thanks Rach!

Hair Day

Last Tuesday was the wedding hair consultation. The girls looked beautiful when we left. Rachael's MOH look took LOTS of bobby pins. She's instructed to not cut it at all until after the wedding.

This is Lauren's (bride) updo. Her curly hair really looked great like this. The ladies next to her went on and on about how beautiful her veil and hair were. But, we can't show you those pictures till later. ;-)

Bridal Shower

The entertainment.

The awesome gifts!

The yummy food.

Lauren (bride), Grandma Turner, Rachael (MOH)

Check out my other blog at http://elderberrystreet.blogspot.com/

Friends and Family

I'm in Kansas City this week, meeting old friends and hosting my daughter's Bridal Shower. More pictures will follow. This is my friend Lynn that I haven't seen since junior year of college, a LONG time ago. Lynn and I met for breakfast and an hour and a half was NOT enough time to get in 28 years of journey. It was great to see her again. Picture of the shower will come when I get back to SoCal. Thanks Lynn for taking time to meet up and catch up.

Pebble Beach

This was the view from our room.

Exploring Carmel Valley.

The essential 17-mile drive vista.

Up close and personal. I'll post more photos later of our trip to Napa Valley on Tuesday.

Wedding Knitting

Above is the "not quite finished" capelet that Lauren (the bride) will wear after the ceremony. It's turned out really pretty and is REALLY soft. The pattern is called Cocktail Capelet. It is actually very easy.

This is the Kelly Cardigan that I knit for Rachael to wear after Lauren's wedding. It has pretty pewter and crystal buttons down the front that I bought at Wool and Company, Geneva, IL.

Stitch N Pitch

Monday night was our local Stitch N Pitch at the Lake Elsinore Storms game. Can you see the crowds? I guess Monday's are not the best attendance. The poor Storms bombed, but I didn't pay too much attention anyway. There was a pitcher that was fun to watch, other than that we talked and stitched.

I'm not even sure I knitted too much. These ladies are all from Daily Fiber Yarn, our local knitting shop. Even funnier was the Knit Affair from Corona is owned by the wife of a work associate of KB's. I knew she looked familiar. How strange was that?

Happy Birthday Missy Lauren!

Today is Lauren's 24th Birthday! How on earth did this happen so quickly? Wish I could be with you! I love you!

Mexican Potluck - Continued

From the looks of things and the sound. . . I think the kids had a great time.

Chloe (Jessica's daughter) and Sheryl

Allen, Ian, Jessica and Linda dig in.

Sick Kid and Cookout

Our neighborhood Bible Study had a Mexican Potluck at the Sheryl's home last Saturday night. It was a beautiful night in a beautiful back yard and TONS of food. Why was I worrying about that? It seemed to me that everyone had a great time. We had about 38 in attendance and there were at least 3 families that couldn't be there. Oh my goodness! We would've had almost 47 if everyone could've come! Linda and Angie and Jessica's lovely Horchata drink up on the counter. Ray's talking in the background.

Regina, Renee and Greg.

Larry and Ray.

Ignacio (Nacho) and Paige

I know you can't tell by this picture, but Rachael was very sick and I had to take her to Urgent Care the next day. Puppies always make her feel better. She ended up having a kidney stone and infection and is on 3 medications. One seems to be making her have TERRIBLE mood swings, which thankfully, we are able to laugh about. I have more pictures. Maybe tomorrow.

Wedding Preparations

We're getting excited about DD1's wedding coming up in September. This is DD2 who is the MOH trying on her dress. Slung over the bannister is a sweater that I knitted for her to wear after the ceremony. Below are the invitations I'm using for the bridal shower. Yes, they are a completely different color palette. But, aren't they cute?!

These beautiful cards come from from Pepperina Press, http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13229138. I obviously don't know how to do this right yet. All her cards are so great. She was a big help and went way beyond by getting these printed while she was waiting for her baby to be born. I think he was even late.

We'll keep you posted on more preparations soon.

Problem Is. . .

So, I've been instructed to add to this blog. Problem is. . . the majority of my pictures are on my other computer that died last night. Looks like the mother board has blown for the 2nd time. This is a major problem at our house. This is one of my most current pictures on this computer. It is of a visit from my Mom and Aunt Jeanne in April. I picked them up at the San Diego Airport, went to visit Rachael and then took a stroll through Balboa park. It's a beautiful place! So from left to right, Mom, Rachael, Me and Aunt Jeanne.

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy 4th of July to everyone! Don't you just love the Minnie Mouse slippers?

It's Hot Here!

This little darling has got the right idea. I think she'd like to be playing in a kiddie pool about now. She's working hard and going to school and planning her September wedding. Which is actually what I'm working on at the moment. (I know you can't tell). You can see she had "style" even then. She's going to be a beautiful bride. Love you Missy! I just thought I'd add a water related post since it's so darn hot out here.

Home, Sweet, Home

Here's another spot in my kitchen. I actually do have room to cook! Here is more silverplate, plus, I love my cool bread board and my vintage paper cutter which I use for paper towels. I love repurposing vintage items for updated uses, similar to the JunkMarket Ladies at http://junkmarketstyle.com/. Now I've learned two things, how to put a link in here and how to edit. Yeah! It's also obvious that the bottom picture is what I typed first. Gosh, I've got a lot to learn.

I thought I'd start showing little pieces of my house. Here's a taste of my "collections". I love tarnished silverplate and flower frogs. The platter and coffee pot were a gift to my parents many years ago when we moved away from Oklahoma City. I also love transferware.