What I saw today.........

What I saw at the store today, Hallmark mind you. A lady wheeled in her stroller, not unusual you might say. But she came in through the door backwards, you know how you do when you're trying to open the door with your butt. When she turned around, inside the stroller were.........
2 little doggies! Two little cute shaggy doggies. I looked at them, they looked at me. I sure wish I had my camera gosh darn it! I chatted with "Mom" for a sec, you know me LOL, gotta get the scoop. "Mom" said she took her doggies shopping with her all the time, her doggies missed her too much when she was gone. I listened and patted one, I didn't even roll my eyes once at the other lady behind us who was staring at them also. I must admit they were very well behaved doggies though.
This is one of Cleos favorite spots, stretched out on the stairs. She wont budge an inch, not even for shopping. We all have to step over her and hope somebody doesn't slip and break their little neck in the process.

My afternoon was spent slaving away in the kitchen. I was going to try this simple recipe I had bookmarked in my Buffalo Jr League cookbook- "penne pasta with mushrooms, tomatoes and Gorgonzola cheese". I chopped and measured all of the ingredients a head of time and set them aside in little bowls just like on TV so I could add them as needed without panicking. We invited Jons cute girlfriend Carly to join us since my cooking up a storm is a rare occurrence lately. Set the table with real linens, cut fresh flowers from my neighbors garden (HA), just kidding, I do have a patch of gerber daisies. Made Caesar salad, Italian bread and added a bottle of white wine. DH arrived home from work confused as to what the celebration was all about yet happy to see me in my apron cooking. Well I do have to say, my efforts were worth while, dinner was great as well as the company. It was fun! Just not enough fun for an every day occurrence, I would never get any sewing done!
Now I am going to step over Cleo and head upstairs to do a little stitching.
Wow, can you believe tomorrow is the 1st of August already?
Thanks for stopping by, have a happy weekend!

Whats a girl to do?!

Did you ever feel overwhelmed, like there is just so much to do and so little time to do it?
That is how I feel lately. Hardly enough time to keep up with the daily chores, errands and design work. DH sometimes wishes I would add gardening to my list, GARDEN, what the heck is a garden! Does he mean weeding? I don't like weeding. I love gardens, but you know, I just don't feel I can add gardening to my list. And don't you just wish you could wave your magic wand and POOF, the house would sparkle all around so you could just sit and stitch! Here is a corner of my sewing table, I am embarrassed to show, but LOL, but it is what it is. I spent most of my weekend filling orders, which is always a GOOD thing! In-between I squeezed in a little sewing time. I have 3 projects going on at once, yanking out fabrics left and right, hence the mess. The leftovers just haven't found their way back to their proper drawers yet. Oh Martha my fabric folding girlfriend where are you?
I have the borders sewn on my quilt, next comes the really fun part, adding a little applique fun!

I am also working on a little gifty project for my cupcake swap partner Jana. I don't think she checks out my blog so here is a little hint of the fabric I am using. Cute Japanese kittens (no cupcake theme here LOL). I did already purchase all my cupcake related items, I just wanted to include something sewn from the heart. Can't show and tell all yet but good grief is this ever CUTE! I was up until 1:30 last night stitching away on this. Jon popped his head in the door and said don't you think you better go to bed Mom? I have to admit I am a night owl. I love to sew when the house is quiet, seems like I get a lot accomplished.

We did get out and about yesterday, we had been invited to a picnic. Its always fun being entertained and fed. Speaking of feeding, good grief, its dinner time already. I guess I had better slap something together. Too bad I just couldn't pour us each a bowl of cat food (which we would all love) and then get back to my projects. Well don't worry people, I am going to make a nice salad, grill some pork chops and slice up those red tomatoes, fresh from somebodies garden, not mine. LOL
Have a wonderful week!

A night out on the town!

Well I just knew Jerry would provide some excitement when he returned home from his last business trip. He got tickets to the Tom Petty concert at the new Sprint Arena. Last night we headed downtown with son Jon and his cute girlfriend Carly to see the show. All I can say is WOW, WOW, WOW! Be still my heart, seeing Tom Petty was a thrill! Not only was he fabulous, it was just nice having him tell us several times how much he appreciated being there to play for us. Good vibes!

A pic of the new Sprint Arena, hard to fit it all in but its super nice.

Had to include a pic of son Jon and cute girlfriend Carly, aren't they just too cute for words in their matching, or co-ordinated I should say, outfits! Jon would have a fit to hear me say that LOL, but I still think its too darn cute! I had brought my camera of course in hopes to take some pics inside at the show. Of course when we get to the door we find out it is a no camera event. Poor Jon, he ran my camera all the way back to the car which was parked on the top floor LOL of the garage across the street. The things he does for me!

Today its back to reality and a little sewing. Summer just seems to get in the way of sewing doesn't it. It's hard to stay cooped up for long when the weather is so pretty.
Enjoy your week!

Dog Days Of Summer

I feel like I'm in a boring girl slump, I believe they call it the dog days of summer (sorry Cleo).
I have mostly been doing computer work this week, so no sewing show and tell here. Even Cleo is bored with me. This is her morning spot lately, when I wake up she is on top of this chair in the computer room. Boy she is long when all stretched out!

Each summer we eagerly wait for the Peaches and Cream corn to arrive from Nebraska and this was our lucky week. This corn is heaven on earth and I buy it at least 3 times a week while its in season. My son Jon thinks its pretty pathetic that I would take a picture of corn and then actually write about it. Hes probably right. So he took me out to lunch yesterday. Well, he drove me, I bought LOL. I told him someplace nice, no waiters. Jon has champagne taste and a beer budget. LOL We went to Ingredients, upscale cafe, wonderful lunch with a hot date.
I really am lucky to have such a nice boy.

I have been tinkering with this wonderful fabric by Sandy Gervais for Moda. Might end up a cute purse, might not.

Tools I can not live without: my circle and oval templates, especially the circle ones. As you can see they are well used. If you enjoy working on penny rugs you should have a set. They make drawing the pennies a snap. If I need to draw larger circles I use bowls, plates and glasses, your kitchen is a template store in itself! Shot glasses make a great small circle template! LOL

Okay so I am running out of stuff to chat about. So who are these cute little dolls? Why their name is Ginny of course! Ginny was the doll of the 50s, pre-Barbie. My sister and I both had them. Besides the American Girl dolls I just dont think they make dolls this cute anymore. These are a few from my collection. For years I tried to find clothes for them at antique shops. When I did find clothing it was usually in awful condition. Then miracle of all miracles about 8 years ago I discovered tons of Ginny items on Ebay. I was in Ginny gone crazy heaven! Much to hubbys dismay I fought long and hard to win these minty little outfits. Priority Mail boxes arrived weekly :) Well thats all over and done with now, but my girls are lookin good dont you think?

A mint party outfit.

Looks like its back to school for this cutie.

Mint bridesmaid dress and hat. I just love their hats with little vintage flocked flowers.
Time is marching on here, I am waiting for hubby to get home. Hes been OTOB (out of town on business) LOL these past 2 days. Its pretty quiet here and Cleo and I miss him. We need a little excitement!
Thanks for stopping by, have a great week!

Almost Friday

Its hard to believe another weekend is upon us already. Boy oh boy they are going by fast and before you know it we'll be making snowmen again! I spent most of the day at my computer.
Listening to some good music and working on the pattern for "Jingle bell Snowmen". What a cute penny rug this is, the wool felt colors are scrumptious and it stitches up rather quickly.
If you click on the picture you can enlarge it for better detail. Hoping Jerry will have time to add it to my web site this Sunday.



Today was just the most perfect summer day. Low 80s and a little breeze. I spent some time this afternoon sitting on the patio with a stack of sewing magazines. I am out of books to read,
something I dread, so I see a trip to Target coming up in the very near future. I love my yard. Its hard to take a good picture of because its so long. Big tall trees line the back with a little wooded area. Very quiet and restful. We have lots of critters. Mostly your normal types, those pesky squirrels who are constantly trying to break in to our attic. Chipmunks, bunnies hopping all over, possum at night and during the winter an occasional fox. Cleo is an indoor kitty but is kept well entertained watching all the critter action through the screen door. And birds of course, lots of birds. I sat there today really noticing their many different songs. It kind of made me think, gee, these sounds are here to be enjoyed, and sometimes you just need to really slow down and listen to the music that surrounds us.

And speaking of birds, do you know what type this is? It is a lemon juicer bird!
This is the cutest and coolest thing, I just had to have it! You put a wedge of lemon in the body, when you push down on the handle it strains your lemon juice through its beak. Nice for your hot or iced tea. I bought it in Canada a few years back when visiting my girlfriend in Buffalo.
Thanks for stopping by, you all enjoy a great weekend!

Happy Anniversary To Me!

Wow, it has been a long day. I have been so excited, waiting all day long for my honey bun to get home and take me out to celebrate! Jerry and I have been married 37 years today. Whoooeee, that's a looong time I think!

Jerry took me to a darling restaurant in Brookside, an adorable area on the Missouri side of Kansas City. Beautiful old renovated houses, lots of neat shops and spots to eat. We dined at Carmens, a cute cafe with an Italian Spanish Tapa menu. I chose the wine, I thought Woop, Woop sounded like the perfect Anniversary wine.
I bottle of Woop Woop wine later and a very fine meal, I think I am going to go lay my head down on my pillow! Heres to 37 fun filled years Jerry,
XXXOOO Your Barbie Jo

A quiet but tasty 4th of July

Another holiday weekend come and gone! Ours was pretty laid back and quiet. Jerry kept his self occupied smoking up a storm (and the neighborhood) on the 4th. Besides his awesome brisket and beer can chickens, we had our favorite hash brown casserole, baked beans and a banana split pie. Lots of food for 3 people and we have been nibbling on it all weekend. But you know, I kind of like that! No meals to worry about for 2 days just means more time to enjoy doing other things.
Such as this book I started and finished today. It was a page turner! I also completed my Snowman penny rug and have started writing the instructions for it. Hope to have it on my website next weekend.

This cook book I ordered from Amazon was in my mail box yesterday. You know how much I love my Buffalo food! I ordered a Buffalo Jr League cook book, I figured it would be chock full of great recipes. Personally I have to admit I was a wee bit disappointed. The book is really well done, beautiful watercolor prints by a local artist and lots of interesting Buffalo facts. Full of lovely recipes, gourmet restaurant type recipes. So if you know my love of cooking; slap that beef on the table type meals, you would sense my disappointment. But seriously, I did not find those recipes I craved, the wonderful flavors of Buffalo I still miss. The pizza appetizers called for purchased dough for heavens sake! When Buffalo has the best darn pizza ever, pizza I go to sleep dreaming of, AAAAAAUGH! And no Sponge Candy recipe:(

I hope your weekend was fabulous!

Happy 4th Of July Weekend!

Happy 4th of July weekend to all! As I type the storm clouds are rolling in once again! We had really heavy storms last night. Jerry just called to cancel dinner tonight, he was going to help a fellow employee after work whose basement flooded from all the rain. I talked to my sister in Pittsburgh this morning and she said they were expecting bad weather also. Looks like it may be a wet 4th for many. Rain or shine we are cooking out tomorrow! Jerry loves to get his Hasty Bake smoker going. We will be cooking up a storm for just the 2 of us with lots of leftovers for Jon. Jon has to work, you have to wonder how many people will be eating out at the Bonefish Grill, or other restaurants for that matter tomorrow. So if you see him give him a BIG tip! Hoping he gets off early so we can all go to the fireworks together.

Wether you are traveling for the long weekend, or just hanging out in your back yard, we wish you a safe and happy 4th!