What Joy...What Fun!

Eden trying to hide out from all the holiday hoopla

I am sitting here this morning in silence...ahhh what a treasured moment LOL. Quiet is not what our house hold has been of late =)  Meg is out for the morning dropping Eden off at preschool, and doing a little shopping.  They moved in with us I think it was Nov 7th, so we are going on week four.  This weekend is the scheduled move into their new home if all the inspection stuff goes well this week.  It has been so great bonding with our precious little grand-babies.  They wake up first thing in the morning and cry Nana, Pappa Danny...it is so cute.  I am especially glad to have connected more with baby Avey.  She loves getting cuddles and giving them. We retreat into my bedroom every once in awhile and watch Little Bear together while she sits on my lap.  Ahhh...


Meg and I have gotten into a routine around here and things are going fairly smoothly...but let me tell you about Thanksgiving.  A holiday I will never forget...




Let's start in the great room, my son Josh and grand puppy Frances were residing here

Moving on to the study...which my sister Chris dubbed "The French Room" with it's sliding french doors.  

Her lovely accommodations include a double high blow up bed =)  And do notice the birdcage...yes we had her bird with Josh's birddog Frances in the house...Glory to God in the highest nothing tragic happened!

Upstairs loft...lots of overflow 

First bedroom occupied by Meg, husband and baby Avey

Bonus room/Art Studio occupied by Eden and Jenna Dear

What a mess to put on the World Wide Net  :>)

I think my favorite part during the whole week was looking over at my sister every once in awhile and we would both burst out laughing hysterically...what joy...what fun!

Blogger is being ridiculous and won't let me up load from my computer, says my picasso account is full...so I guess I will continue the saga later =)

Knee Deep in Fun!

This is what my table won't look like this year...hehehe

"I hope that you're still knee-deep in fun because you've not be heard from in eight days! :D Sounds wonderful to me...it's wonderful to have extended lengths of time to be together. "
Vee


A sweet comment from Vee, wondering if I am still having fun.  So I thought I would get in a quick response and update for all.  We are going on I think week three of Babies in the House.  Auntie Christina (my sister) and Uncle Pat pulled into town today.  They are now residing in the "French Room" as Chris has dubbed it.  My husband's study on the main floor with french sliding doors.  They have a brand new queen size blow up mattress on the floor for beddy time.  Puddin Toes can't figure out why they have their own special room =)  P.T. and baby sis are in the two up stairs bedrooms with mom and dad.  Jenna dear is flying in Tuesday night.  I have a rolling single bed under the upstairs daybed that will be her sleeping quarter in the loft.  On Wednesday Josh is coming with doggy Frances.  Josh will have his own new blow up bed in the great room on the main floor since he goes to bed the latest, and I guess Frances will be in the laundry room.  Our house is a mear 2400 sq. ft. But we are all cramming in here.  Don't worry though I plan on taking video and pictures of all The Rutherford Family Camp Granada experiences.  LOL


Am I still knee deep in fun....oh my YES!  As long as we all keep laughing about it.  I have doled out Thanksgiving for everyone to make something.  Jenna started whining about a pot luck Thanksgiving and then saw everyone else jumping in and  finally gave in under pressure and decided to make her Grandmother's deviled eggs.   I think I have 15 for Thanksgiving dinner.  I am breaking many a Rutherford tradition here, but what the heck I might even go all the way  and buy paper plates...nice ones of coarse =}


Meg and Ty are in a whirlwind as the last but hectic and final details of their house are underway.  I was out all day planting...I am their landscape designer/worker bee.  I had some great helpers, but my body is protesting =/  Seriously this is a season that will never come our way again, and I am catching every hug and kiss, every squeeze and love that I can hold on to and treasure for many years to come.  I even quit cooking and cleaning, and threw Costco pizza at everyone tonight. You have no idea how far I have come  =)))))


Oh we are still in the middle of pool hoopla...first bad thing happened today...I do need some prayer and help from God on this one.  The pipes and mechanical stuff are smack dab in the middle of my walk way instead of up against the house where I thought they were putting it.  Contractor is saying he can't make it work any other way...yikes I need a solution by tomorrow !!!!


If I don't get back on here till then...everyone of you dear folks have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!!!!  

Babies in the House!

We have got babies in the house. Meg, Ty and babies are moved in for the next two weeks till their house is completed. But no worries Nana has a few tricks up her sleeve for lots of fun an entertainment =) BABIES R US 

         Meg's house in progress

The girls are so sweet. Lots of fun memories are being made.  Dan and I are constantly cracking up at our 3 year old grand daughter's expressions and comments. She is such a little communicator. Little Avey on the other hand is full of cuddles and love.  They are keeping us busy, but they couldn't be any more charming  Pray our energy keeps up with all the fun!

Our pool in progress

I guess you could say we are in a construction zone!

New Project

   

We have been busy with a  big new project going on in our backyard.  Finally getting to put in a pool.  A small swim spa really.  I hope it all turns out well.  There will be lots of garden fluffing going on after all this mess.   I am not too worried though =)

                                                                 More updates to come

These are NOT Your Grandma's Pickles

I was watching a new morning show on Hallmark.  "What Ever"   Martha Stewart has apparently taken over the channel with all her new shows.  I think it was the first show with her daughter Alexis and friend Jennifer, when Alexis started complaining about all the vegetables her mother had delivered to her apartment.  She was a little cranky while explaining how she had spent her whole evening roasting the vegetables to process them all.  Okay follow me now...;)  early last week I had watched a cooking show on pickling veggies with Jamie Oliver... I think.  Then I read a recipe for pickling on the internet...just to get the basic vinegar, water, salt, sugar ratio's.  That recipe suggested a marinade for veggies after they were pickled.  I thought the idea was brilliant, instead of leaving the veggies sitting in all that brine and getting soggy.

Sooo my creative right sided brain goes into action and some how I come up with all these amazing veggies combos.   I roasted two pans.  One pan with peppers, tomatos and onions.

Then the other pan with brocoli, carrots and cauliflower. I tossed them both with olive oil, salt, pepper, and freshly minced garlic.  On the one with peppers I sprinkled dried oregano and basil.   When the veggies came out of the oven I squirted them all with fresh lemon juice.

The peppers and onions I am using for a pasta salad tomorrow night.  The cauliflower, carrots and brocoli we ate tossed over some brown rice with some shredded pork I had simmering in the crock pot. YUM

 I still had some more cauliflower and lots of cucumbers to do something with.   So I did two separate batches of pickling water.  I just didn't go heavy on the vinegar or sugar.  I did throw in a few mustard seeds, and a pinch of salt.  When they were both gently cooked, I drained them and cooled them off in a marinade of olive oil and garlic.  I tossed fresh basil and cherry tomatoes in with the cucumbers.  Then with the cauliflower I used fresh oregano!!!  That was key.  I usually don't use my fresh oregano...I don't know why. I think I will quickly find more uses for this fresh herb.

For lunch that day I tried all my veggies over some low fat cottage cheese.  It was sooo delicious.  I am  never going to do the canning thing, but I must say both of these methods are a great snappy way to use up all those excess veggies coming our way this harvest season.

End of the Summer Whirlwind

Another one of those whirlwind seasons.  It really was calm for the six weeks of Dan's recovery compared to this.   We have had birthdays, a wedding, a funeral, three sets of visitors, another art show all in the last three weeks.  Did I mention we are helping plant a new church in town, and next week is the launch? lol  I am in constant fifth gear it seems these days.  I know I have another two busy weeks in front of me and then perhaps the calm after the storm will come :)  Then hopefully I can get to my completely neglected garden.   Although I still am enjoying all its last fling beauty from a distance... when I don't look too close :)

Here is one day during the last three weeks were I had a little overflow of Nana creativity.  Meg asked if we could just have a simple family birthday party for Eden at my house this year.  She is in a 700 sq ft. apartment with two babies and in the middle of building a house.  That is another story...

So I said sure.  She warned me...keep it simple.  When I went to the grocery store that day, the Dollar store just beckoned my attention and I thought...well maybe I will just run in there real quick and see what I can do for under ten dollars to decorate for the family birthday.  Needless to say I was quickly inspired :)

 It turned into a fairy princess theme.  Notice the butterfly wands in the vase, and the fairy wings on my chandelier. 

 It all started when I saw these resin fairy princesses in the front of the store...for only dollar...I ask you how could I resist?

 All ready for the party when  in walked the birthday fairy princess!

 She was so thrilled with her party!

 of coarse little baby sis was invited...my adorable Sweet Pea

 I can hardly believe my Eden is three!

one other princess joined us for birthday cake

The evening ended with some wonderful entertainment from the hula  girls :)

The Six Weeks are Over

Sunset on the Columbia River

Quick up date on Dan the man. He is doing so good.  His six weeks of recuperation from his second hip surgery is over and he is doing just fine!!!  A little tired the first week of work putting in those 8 +...hours at the office, but that is to be expected.  One of the best moments during his recovery came when at 3 weeks he had his blood tested again for the cobalt chromium levels...results were no detectable signs of cobalt chromium!!!! Woo Hoo !  Thank you dearest Jesus!

Our annual hot summer night cruise on the river with great friends!

I now have my domain back to myself  ;>)  and I have been a busy bee.   As I shared a few posts ago, I was invited to participate in a once a month art walk in our historical downtown area.  I had such a fun night!   So I am into water color painting for the next week.  I had lots of fun today when I decide to take to my garden for inspiration.  I ran outside with my pruners and this is what I came up with.

Then I sat down and "loose painted" away.  

 One of the local artists came by at the first Art Walk I did last month and said ...Oh, ghost flowers !  Funny, funny, Cam...but you know he is kind of right. So I went a little brighter on this one.  His wife came in earlier and offered me a show at their coffee shop.  We will see who wins out :)  Hope fully I am going to try to get some oil painting done next week and come up with something a little more less ghosty.

Computer update! Some of you have asked. Let's just say the jury is out. You may have noticed my little mac  charmer in the background.  If I could only tackle IPhoto I would be so happy.  I have had some "helpers" but they can't quite seem to help me get my file system back the way Aseedc filed them

Oh and I did try downloading Aseedc for mac, and it looks just like IPhoto ...urrrrr

The Wall

 I can't believe I spent two half days painting one wall, and oh the best part...two hours in Home Depot trying to get a color match to my paint chip!  The results...so minimal.  Ahhhh

I knew my beige paint would need upgrading when we were under construction, but I just couldn't deal with all the options for all my walls at the same time I was making so many decisions for flooring, tile, light fixtures...did I mention I designed the whole house. That in it self was enough to put me on overload.  Paint color went neutral to be dealt with later.

So this week I started out one morning to scrub my tile floors. Company coming this weekend, and to tell you the truth I couldn't even remember the last time they got a good scrub =/   (that is why smart older women pick beige ie the color of dirt...hehehe it hides everything)

Somehow those very beige walls got to me.  I had spent two hours trying to get a paint match at Home Depot earlier this week from a paint chip that they no longer carried by Ralph Lauren.  No problem they said...haha...look closely at my paint chip and see the colors on the corners they tried.  Funny thing was I was not planning on the getting paint, I was at Home Depot helping Meg pick out her house flooring, counters, paint....she is now in the middle of house construction.  What was I thinking trying to do double duty.  Anyways I just felt sorry for the paint people and bought one of the two quarts they were trying to mix to match my chip.

I know I am being so random this week.  Long and short of it all, I painted a wall, with lots of detail trim work because of the mantel and shelves. All that work later I have a darker beige wall....LOL!

The wall on the left front helps show that there is some difference and yes the picture does not do it real justice.  My mantel does stand out much better than before...(see below)...but not a whole lot!