Rain, rain, don't go away.  YAY!  We are finally getting some much needed rain and I am loving it!  My flowers are singing in the rain they are so happy. 

I had a couple of classes yesterday on a gloomy, rainy Monday.  Forgot to get the camera out for the first class and almost forgot it during the second class, but did manage to snap a couple pictures of the gals.

Heather is busy laying out her pennies for the tomato penny mat.  I love all the reds she chose!

Linda was with me in the first class.  I love that she chose to spend her day with me!!  Linda is leaving for Florida later in the week and this project will be perfect to work on during her long car ride.

Heather is so cute and love that dimple girl!!  This was a just for fun picture because I forgot to take pictures. 

A picture I took at Jennifer's house.......

A teeny tiny peek at some of the fabric that was on Jennifer's overflowing shelves......red, my favorite color, of course! 

Have a great rainy Tuesday.........go splash in some puddles!

What a week I've had.  Lots of classes, class preparation, working on new models for July/August classes and watching the girls.  Just a super busy week with no posts and lots going on.  And I kept forgetting to take the camera to classes so I apologize to the fun classes where there are no pictures to show how much fun we were having!!

Several of the ladies working on recipe cards at my house.  This group has been meeting for several years and always come to my house. 

Went to a little consignment shop one day and found all these fun jars.  One can never have too many pretty jars to fill with fun things!

Working on a new project for a July (and more) class.  It's called Wool Crazy and it just about makes you crazy (but in a good way!).  Lots of fun, unlimited creativity, and a long way to go before I'm finished!

Finished my quilt squares for my class homework.  I'm using Christmas fabrics and can't wait to see it all together.  There are 25 blocks in total that we will be assembling next Saturday.  Stay tuned!

Several ladies got together Saturday morning to work on Debbie Busby's Strawberries and Cream pattern.  It is strawberry season and this piece will make a great addition to everyone's decor when done!  Carolyn is really concentrating on her needle.

Betty wanted to be in the witness protection program but I think NOT!!

Kim looks so festive in her polka dotted shirt.  Matches the project she's working on!!  Glad you came to class Kim.  Hope I'll see you at more!!

Laura and Pam attend a lot of classes together.  They're such good friends and have so much fun together.

After class was over, several of us headed to our friend Jennifer's house to help her celebrate her 40th birthday.  It was supposed to be a surprise party but unfortunately we didn't get there in time to yell surprise when she walked in the door.  She pulled in her driveway just as we were coming down the street.  So here she comes out of the house yelling " You GUYS!" and we're all yelling surprise, here we are!

Jennifer's best friend Janet helped set things up along with Jennifer's sweet husband, Bernie.  They put out quite a spread for everyone to enjoy.

Like mother, like daughter.............Jennifer and Alice

Ooooh, presents!

We ended up in Jennifer's workroom, which most of us had never had the opportunity to visit.  It was a bit overwhelming with all she had in there.  Fabric galore, all nicely organized on shelves by color, projects, quilts, books, just mind boggling and a dream to be in.  This was one of the projects that Jennifer was working on that I fell in love with.  A little grandmother's flower garden quilt.  I told her the colors were perfect for my dining room!! hint hint  I loved the way she had all her tiny little peices organized.

Laura finally couldn't resist any longer and had to play with the fabrics.  It was EYE CANDY!!

I gave Jennifer one more gift.........the banner that my husband got me when I turned 50.  I told her 50 was just around the corner from 40 and I was passing the gauntlet!

HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY SWEET JENNIFER

Thanks for letting us be part of your celebration!

Raleigh and I spent the day together on Thursday.  We did lots of things around the house and eventually ended up in my workroom, which can be an adventure all in itself.  I decided to organize some papers that had been piled on a shelf, trying to free up some space and ended up with a pile of "trash" in the middle of the floor.  While I was working on organizing that pile of papers, I ran across several pattern pieces and old patterns.  I decided that I needed to stop organizing and make a pincushion for a possible July class.  Talk about attention deficit.............

So now I have bits and pieces of wool laying around while I'm creating a new pincushion................which led me to, for some reason, kitting up the upcoming summer months of Calendar Girls...................

So I ended up with another pile on the floor in place of the trash pile which I had cleaned up............which somehow led me to sorting lots of buttons which I ran across while organizing the shelves which may be for some possible future sale......................

and then I ended up making a bed which I had washed the sheets for with Raleigh's help.  She was so sweet helping me put on the sheets and quilts and we each took a pillow to put a case on.  Somehow hers ended up on her head. 

And then on Saturday morning several ladies headed to Laura's house for our first quilt class.  We all had lots of beautiful fabric as Pam shares her stash.......

and we'll all end up with such beautiful, totally different quilts in the end.  I'm working with Christmas fabrics that I had picked up here and there a few years ago.  I'll be happy to use them up.

No, Laura, I'm going to be the teacher today.  Take your seat please!

The class was small, with five students, which enabled Debbie to give everyone the attention and instruction they needed.  She was such a delightful teacher, with so many funny sayings, that I started to write them down.  One bit of wisdom she shared with us was to "not fry bacon naked and if you are over 50, don't sew without your bra.  That way you won't have saggy seams".  Well, at this point we all cracked up.  And from there class was underway!!

Lunchtime.  Everyone brought goodies to share and it was so delicious.  We had broccoli and spinach quiches, strawberry spinach salad, fresh fruits with yogurt dip, fresh veggies with a wonderful dip, healthy rice chips and for dessert strawberry shortcake.  That was worth coming to class for!!!

We did lots of rotary cutting for our strips of fabric.  Laura had tables set up in the family room which worked out great for the cutting stations. 

Debby is proud of her flying geese block.  Now go home and make a few more of those Debby!!

We are at the end of our day here.  Everyone is ready for a break. 

I took a picture of Debbie Powell, our teacher, taking a picture of us.  You can tell we were getting punchy at this point.

Last, but not least, Debbie won the mouse pincushion drawing from the March/April classes.  So congratulations Debbie!

Hope everyone has a Happy Mother's Day and enjoy the beautiful Sunday we're about to be given!!

I had the honor of attending a cupcake party at Raleigh's school yesterday in honor of Mother's Day.  I absolutely could not miss such an event.  The children were adorable, the tables were set with mini muffins, milk and orange juice.  It was just precious and/or adorable!

Raleigh and her Mom, Meredith

Raleigh and her wonderful teacher, Ms. Missy

Nothing but the best for my Mom, egg carton flowers!!  Beautiful!!!

The children all lined up to sing several songs to their mothers.  They were so cute.  Raleigh played with and ate her hair most of the time but she somehow managed to sing while doing that.  Guess she was multi-tasking which we all know is important to learn at a young age if we are to succeed in this world as women!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers and grandmothers!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTIN!!!!!

We hope your day is a special one and that you spend it celebrating the day and being happy.  I know you can find reason to celebrate on Cinco De Mayo!!!  Funny you were born on that day!!!  We love you and wish you much happiness.

Kristin and her sister-in-law Meredith, who also has a May birthday coming up.  Two daughter-in-laws both born in May, coincidence??

Kristin does not like to have her picture taken, so she's probably telling me to not take her picture at this moment.  Oh well.............I own the camera!

IT'S YOUR DAY KRISTIN!!

Well, I drove back to Cameron yesterday late afternoon to pick-up my potting bench.  I couldn't figure out a way to get it before June and I sure didn't want to wait that long.  I called up Evette and asked if she was ready for a quick road trip and she happily agreed to go with me.  Thank goodness because I was driving my husband's old red pick-up truck and I don't like to drive it close to home, much less any distance.  So I was happy to have my sidekick with me!!!

Here we are, all loaded up.  This thing weighs a ton.  Doesn't look quite so attractive in the back of the truck.  Philip told me when I picked the bench up that he had gotten five orders from people who saw my bench and wanted one too.  So great for him. 

Now for the next part of the story, I don't have pictures.  You should have seen Mark and I trying to get this thing off the back of the truck and up onto the porch.  We finally got it on the porch where we were able to then load two of the legs onto a piano dolly.  I pulled the dolly and Mark pushed from the other end.  We were a sight.  But we managed to get it to the screened in porch right where I envisioned it and now, here's how it looks......................

As you can see, I've had a lot of fun decorating the potting bench.  Not sure why it's called a bench since there's no place to sit!

This sweet little bird house has been in the garage for a year.  I brought it back from Oregon last summer and something got broken on it so I never did anything with it.  Decided this morning it was time to get it fixed up and onto a new home.

Couldn't have a potting bench without tomatoes!!!!

And you never know when you might need some rain boots for working in the garden

I found this metal tray at the Old Hardware Store in Cameron.  It has four divided sections and some sort of French gardening words etched around the outside.  Just perfect for my new toy!

Lots of fun odds and ends.  The cool thing is I already had all this "stuff" tucked away in the garage or here and there. 

I just fell in love with this concrete statue.  Found her in the Old Hardware Store also.  She weighs a ton but I thought she would be great to go with the new bench.  I put her on the front porch for a bit and I really liked her out there too.  I'll have to come up with a sweet name for her.....maybe Emma or Sarah or Hannah or Emily........................

OK ladies, time for the May recipe card classes.  I do believe we're going to be coloring and it sure looks a little bright compared to what we normally do.  Think Cinco De Mayo!!

Merry gardening days and decorating dreams to everyone!