Death By Chocolate

Went to an amazing Pampered Chef Party last night. The food was wonderful and the hostess is the one with the mostest. It was a Death By Chocolate night and I am sure my stomach was protesting as I hadnt had sugar or chocolate in several weeks, but it was wonderful.

I was in awe of the table, but I shouldn't have been as my hostess, is the one with the mostest( is that a word, I think not) but I digress. She always has everything all together and her home and table settings are always beautiful. I envy her, but then I remember that I hate to cook, and table setting and cooking go together. So I will go to her wonderful parties and post pictures of her wonderful table settings and spend my husbands hard earned money on gadgets I never use. ( Sorry honey! He reads this blog you know) But I totally enjoy her company and I gave her a very short lesson on the uses of an iPad last night and that makes my day dont you know. I love it when I can be the techy friend.

And did I mention that I love chocolate and peanut butter, together was even better. Thank you Pamper Chef for this sinfully rich recipe. Now it is back on the no sugar band wagon. At least for now.

 

 

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Celebrations!

I love grandbabies.   I love the way they smell and wiggle and I don't even mind the crying.     There was a birthday celebration for my youngest, Wyatt this weekend.  

  He is crawling and pulling up on everything.   Soon he will be walking, and after that first step comes along, that is the beginning of the end of the "baby" phase, but good thing I have another one (grandbaby) on the way.  

That makes number 13!   I love being a grandma!

God Bless the USA!

One of the really great things about living in a small town are the traditional celebrations.    This one was really special this year, following the heels of the recent flooding.  Our 4th of July celebration always starts out with the parade down main street in Sopchoppy.

There are always lots of politicians and this being an election year, there were more than normal.

Lots of candy throwing and hand shaking, beads and the coveted fans, with elect "Joe Smith for Dog Catcher" printed on them, but in July in Florida, you don't care what they say you just want one.

And then there are the mounted posses,

and the tractors,

and the Shriners with their mini cars, and their tasseled hats,

the old cars,

and the tractors,

the fire engines,







and the monster trucks,

 

and the local beauty queens,

and the future beauty queens,

My granddaughter Havah, who had a great time waving at all the drivers and float riders, to see if she could get them to throw more candy,















and did I happen to mention the tractors?

A great time was had by all and







only in Sopchoppy does the parade stop and wait for old friends, who haven't seen each other in months to hug.   It is like a family reunion and every body belongs.




After the parade everyone gears up for the evening celebration.

You get the lawn chairs, the blankets, the towels and the coolers and set out for your favorite resting spot.   We always have the celebration at our church.    We set up water slides and play patriotic music, and the grown ups sit around and talk to old and new friends and the kids run and play and jump and slide.

Easton & Kyla

Dalten having a blast.

We always make our favorite desserts to share and I made what we call at my house, "Kyle's Pie"  with a little bit of a patriotic twist this time.

This is Kyle -

After dark they shoot off fireworks, and while most are looking upward, it is almost as much fun to watch the faces of the little ones.  

My favorite picture of the day is the one of my two year old granddaughter Kayden, waving the American flag with all her might, everytime one of the rockets goes off.

God Bless the USA!

Two New Tools!

Two New Tools!

I have started using my new iPad to blog, take notes, check my email and keep in touch with family and friends. I have to say that I am thrilled with how easy it is to tote it around, whip it out to take a picture or video and the quality of the camera and display is incredible.

 

Since getting my iPad I have tried to blog using the blogger app. I was summarily disappointed in it's basic interface. So I have abandoned that app for my second tool, "Blogsy". This is a much more complex and powerful blog editor. Serious learning curve, but I will persevere. Wish me luck

 

A least they have YouTube How Tos. You can teach Yourself anything with a YouTube video.

 

Debby You Are Not Nice!

Many people in my hometown are without homes tonite! Their homes were destroyed by Tropical Storm Debby. The flooding in the panhandle of Florida is as bad and worse than what has been shown on the news. Pray for the residents of these small southern towns who have experienced devastating losses. My 18 hours without electricity are a mere inconvenience in the light of their losses.

Play Ball!

One of the greatest things that happens during the summer months is little league baseball. My grandson Dalten made the All-Star team this year . Sitting at the ball field watching him is one of my favorite things. Go Wakulla!

Favorite Thing Friday

 My favorite thing is a photo of my favorite people. All but one of my grandchildren are pictured here and I just can't stop smiling when I look at it. Hope you smile too! 

Don't forget to hook up with Shay at http://fairybreadmusings.blogspot.com/. She hosts this wonderful friday linky party. 

Trees Up! 

I have always wanted to try my hand at a wonky block quilt, so when one of my favorite local quilt instructors, Jeanne Brenner, decided to offer this class, I hopped on it.  

Most of the time I don't take a class to learn a new technique, but to motivate myself to get something done.   With working fulltime, and having twelve grandchildren, I don't always make time for quilting.   If I take a class I will make the preparations, and get the homework done. 

Jeanne Brenner

  I love seeing what everyone is class has brought for the project.   You always see new gadgets, new ways of organizing quilty stuff and ohh my! the amazing fabrics.

It is fun to oooohhh and awwwww, over other peoples fabric choices and to see how different the projects turn out.


I go to my second class on Saturday afternoon and I still have a lot of homework to get finished, but I have plans to burn the midnight oil.


I will share the finished projects and you can see what I mean about variety. 








Need some motivation?  Try signing up for a class.


Happy Quilting!

Janice

What a Great Meal!

On the way to visit family, we always stop at a little whole in the wall called "Deal's Famous Oyster House". They are located just outside of Perry, FL When you walk in the door, the shuckers standing at the bar all say "Some of the best people in the world walk through that door." And at first glance the place is not impressive, but let them bring you their seafood platter and you are hooked. My husband says they have the freshest raw oysters and their crab cakes are awesome.

They also bring you these cute little hush puppies and a squeeze bottle of homemade guava jelly to squirt on them. Delish! Definitely worth finding. If you are ever in Perry, FL.

There Is Nothing Like it!

I know everyone must be tired of my camping stories that begin with "Here is our new camper!". But seeing as we have traded up again, here it is. We were finding that our Surveyor was just a bit too small if we got stuck indoors due to the weather and we got a great deal on the new one. We took it out for the inaugural trip a couple of weeks ago. Where did we go? Can't you guess? North Ga! It is one of our favorite places. And if you ask the locals everyone there is from Florida. I just wanted to share a few pictures and write a few words about the wonderful time we had.

A Wonderful Friend!

I have a couple of wonderful friends. I know some of you are saying "She has a friend?". Yes more than one in fact. But recently. I received this wonderful gift. The hand quilting hoop and stand. Thank you, Wade and Margaret for thinking about me. Wade found this at a garage sale and brought it to me. As you can see I am back at it.

I won't even try apologize for my long absence, but just sum it up in one word, LIFE.