Busy days continue.......

I'm not getting to read blogs nor post comments to them with Jessi here.  We have been super busy. Besides regular swimming, we have done sewing, soapmaking (Jessi was taught by a neighbor and was given some start-up supplies that we are enjoying using), and chocolate making (with her grandfather...I'm on Weight Watchers now and doing well, so steering clear of THAT activity). We have all been having a wonderful time with her here and are happy she will be with us three times this summer for long visits!!!  But...please forgive me for not knowing what has been posted on your blogs.  Jessi likes to work on her "Webkinz" when she has a chance and she uses my computer for that.  (If you are out of the loop on that one....Webkinz is a line of stuffed critters and there is a website on which you can do all kinds of games and activities and set up a house for your critters....really cute...even fascinates me!!!)   Here are a couple of photos of Jessi with some of her homemade soaps as well as unmolding seashell-shaped chocolates. (Say THAT 5 times fast....LOL!!!)  She will be here through Thursday and then I'll pick up reading blogs wherever they are.....I know it will be hopeless to try to catch up on what I've missed on them.  :(

Fun weekend and fun days ahead....

We went to NJ on Father's Day weekend. Our daughter was singing with the Tim Keyes' Consort in a classical music concert.....TeDeum.  It was done Saturday night at the Richardson Auditorium on the campus of Princeton University. What a beautiful, classic, old building that is with amazing acoustics!  Here are a few photos from that night........the Consort when performing (our daughter is in the bottom row of singers.....first one on the left...she has done flute with them in the past, too....been with them for 15 years now...very proud of her musical talents)......then a photo each of hubby and me with her prior to leaving for the concert.....the last one is a photo of the exterior of Richardson Auditorium.  We should have taken more inside photos, too, as it is a wonderful place.  (Of course, what else could we expect of Princeton? LOL)  I think a couple of the photos might be able to be clicked on and viewed larger....but not sure.  Tonight we get our granddaughter for a 10-day visit here, so lots of fun days ahead. She also wants to make another small quilted wall-hanging for her bedroom at home.........love that she is interested in sewing!

Love my hydrangeas......

I really enjoy my hydrangeas!

A follow-up.....

Just a follow-up to tell those who wanted to know.....this photo taken by my husband of Mennonite gals at the beach (with their shoes lined up neatly in a row) did win as the best Visual Vacation Image of the first 10 years of Delaware Beach Life magazine and is now part of a ten-year commemorative collector's edition!  Thanks to all who were so supportive of this!

Soon to be a "birthday girl".....

Our youngest grandchild will be 8 tomorrow. Where does the time fly?  These are some of the photos taken recently of her by a photographer friend of my daughter.  (If any of you live in the south Jersey area....suburb to Philadelphia and would like someone to take special pictures for you, let me know and I will put you in touch with this gal. She does a terrific job and has a dynamite personality, too.)
By the time of the last of several photos, Jessi had enough......put her mom's sunglasses on and showed some "attitude" and the photographer realized that was a great photo opportunity, also!  I agree....don't you?   LOL

MEMORIAL.....

Memorial Day is a day in MEMORIAM of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us!  BBQ's are nice, but please always remember the reason for this special holiday......and pray that they have not died in vain.   Thank you, also, to all the family members who gave their brave young men and women for the freedoms we treasure in this great country of ours!

WOW...2 posts in one morning here!

I have finally gotten around to reading blogs and see that the Bloggers' Quilt Festival is occurring now.  I didn't want to miss out, so here comes post # 2 for today!   Some of you have seen this quilt.  It is a simple design....just squares on point....but it has a lot of meaning for me.  I made it for my daughter this past Christmas. She had been going through some tough times after getting out of an abusive marriage. She and her daughter were living in one rented room in a friends' house and I wanted to give her a gift from the heart for Christmas so she could wrap herself in my love during the times she was feeling sad.  She has always loved salad and many times we'd take her out to eat and all she would want to order was salad. SO...I spent some time seriously collecting veggie prints and made her a quilt I called "I Just Want Salad".  Jackie, a quilting friend with a long-arm, did a wonderful job of custom-quilting it for me and I was very pleased with how it turned out.  You can see she was pleased with it, too, as she was reading its name on the label.  (The second photo is of the quilt before quilting and binding...so you can see the full design more clearly.  Now go click HERE to see the other quilts in the Festival.http://amyscreativeside.com/2012/05/18/bloggers-quilt-festival-spring-2012/