Oink Oink

I have seen some really cute breakfast ideas on the web lately. Here is one such idea I made for Elizabeth this morning.She thought it was a rabbit, then a dog and her third choice was a pig. I'm no artist but surely it shouldn't take 3-tires to tell it's a pig. Oh well, at least she liked it and began eating it right away.

The Big "50"

On Wednesday Pat turned 50! We weren't able to celebrate then because of the broken water pipes so today was the big celebration. For dinner we had pork steaks.

With oven roasted potatoes. My sister-in-law made these when we visited her and they are now a Family Favorite! Thanks Cathey!!!!
Salad with the new Kraft creamy dressing, I love this new dressing.
Lemonade to drink; I add lime juice to mine and slices of lemons and limes.
Pat requested a coconut cake for dessert. This was the first time I had ever made a cake like this. While it tasted pretty good, the cake was on the dry side so next time I will try a different recipe.
Pat's birthday gift was Season 5 of Andy Griffith.

Yesterday's Unexpected Bargain

Yesterday was my day to go to town and since I am a "Bargain Shopper" I am always on the lookout for a great deal; boy did I ever find a great deal!

My local grocery store had Pilgrim's Pride chicken marked down to 99-cents per package. These were originally marked $2.19 per pound; I was able to purchase 8-packages, each package averaged 3 to 3.5 pounds.
Once I got home these went straight into my freezer which stays well stocked with great unexpected deals.

Preserving Memories

When Jonathan was younger I taught him about sewing. Along with making the normal pillows, which is a good beginner project, I had Jonathan make a quilt. The batting we used was thick so the quilt would be plush. I didn't know a lot about machine quilting at this time so the layers were "tied". Jonathan has used this quilt on his bed for several years. It has been washed several time and for the most part, has held up pretty well. Recently I noticed an area where one of the blocks had come un-sewn and several of the "ties" have worked their way loose causing small holes to form on the back of the quilt. The kids and I recently pinned the quilt and I used my walking foot to re-secure it, which wasn't very easy since the batting is so thick.
Now all I lack is patching the small holes on the back of the quilt and then it will be good to go for another several years.

Hurray, The End Has Arrived

Here is what caused us so much trouble.

New pipe has now been installed, a second hole had to be cut in the living room floor and the hole on the porch has to stay open for a week or two so we can make sure nothing else begins leaking.

This evening I was able to wash my mountain of dirty dishes and take a warm bath; I'm not sure which felt better, washing dishes or washing myself!

American Girl Pioneer Dresses

Recently I had a woman from Colorado contact me about making some Pioneer Doll Dresses. A group of friends are attending a Fall Festival in October and their little girls were wanting matching dresses for their American Girls dolls.The dresses turned out so cute! I imagine the little girls are going to squeal with delight when they see all the pretty new dresses.

Good News at Last

After one very long, very tiring, and very dirty job the work crew found the leak! They had to cut a very large hole on the side of the house.
And another large hole in the floor of the porch. The pipe is very corroded and the leak is a pretty good size.

Tomorrow the work crew will be replacing the old pipe with a new one. If all goes well we will have working plumbing once again.

Boo Hoo Hoo

We have had to hire a crew to help with our water leak. The first thing done was to have a professional locate the leak with professional equipment. The leaky pipe is located between an outside water faucet and the living room right under the porch.A hole was cut into the living room floor, after the floor was cut a jack hammer was needed to break away cement.
The porch floor is concrete and they are having to tunnel from both the inside and the outside.
What a mess!!!!!!!

Then and Now

Before we decided to Home School Jonathan went to public school for pre-K and kindergarten. Here Jonathan is ready for his first day of school. Bundy, the dog, was our family pet for 16 years.Here is Jonathan ready for his first day at College.
Today is both exciting and scary; it feels like Jonathan grew up overnight.

Star Quilt Progress

Today I began the machine quilting on my Star Quilt.
Each star block has detailed quilting and the setting blocks have stars within each square.
Some areas have wavy lines to represent a waving flag.
It's hard to see all the quilting but so far it is really turning out nice.

Vintage Quilt Tops Completed

With all the water problems we are having it felt good to get away and do some work in the sewing room. I managed to complete the last of the vintage quilt tops.

I really liked working with vintage reproduction fabrics.
Once these get quilted the beauty of the quilts will really stand out.
It feels good to have these completed and ready to ship.
Now I can check them off my "To Do" list and get busy working on some pioneer doll dresses for a customer in Colorado.

I Need to Run and Hide

Our water problem still isn't fixed and I am going crazy! Poor Jonathan and Pat, they have been out in the heat digging and digging and we still can't seem to figure out where the problem is. I finally gave up and came indoors to hide away from all the mess. Our yard is covered in trenches and holes.

The only ones enjoying all the digging are the chickens, they have been feasting on all the worms we keep digging up.
Even though Jonathan is finished with Home School he is still learning. Here he is learning how to cut pipe and thread pipe.
I have been trying not to dirty up dishes by cooking, but after all the hard work I decided to make a special meal. Meatball sandwiches to start with...
And for dessert, banana pudding.
Now I'm off to hide in the sewing room.

Digging, Digging and more Digging

Yesterday Pat was able to drain out all the water and dig under the house. The first broken pipe was within reach so he was able to fix it and now we are waiting for the ground to dry out so he can insulate the pipes and get the area ready for winter.
Jonathan and I have been digging all morning looking for the last break wich is turning out to be such a hugh job.
The work is hard and we are getting so dirty!

I HATE DIGGING!!!!

Bad Luck Continues

It seems we not only have a broken cold water pipe but a broken hot water pipe too. Now all the water going into the house had to be cut off and we will be without water for awhile.

There is so much water under the house that Pat had to begin digging a trench to help it drainThe cellar, that is next to the house, is flooded too. Thankfully this has only been used for storing old cans of paint, bottles of garden sprays, old buckets and other junk.
I had at one time thought about cleaning out the cellar and fixing it up but now I am not so sure this is a good idea.

Bad Luck Starts Early

This morning we had very little water pressure in the tub and sink. After mentioning it to Pat he went outside to see if water had been left on. This is what he found.

Apparently the new water pressure we have, due to the new well, was too strong for the old pipes under the bathroom floor. Now we have a flood under this part of the house. Thankfully there is a water cut off there so Pat was able to cut off water to the broken pipe without cutting off water to the rest of the house.
There is no telling how long it will take to empty out the water so Pat can get under there and fix the pipe.

Home School Field Trip

After baking the apple cake we decided to take the day off and have a field trip. Since we had apples on our mind we decided to go visit an apple orchard.

The weather was nice.
I love this bench the orchard had, it is three trees bent into the shape of a bench.
Each of the three trees were loaded with apples.

Walking in and around the trees was so nice.
Last year the orchard trees didn't produce apples due to a late freeze. This year the trees were loaded with apples.
Many of the apples were picture perfect.
We gathered up several types and I am hoping to make some apple butter.
Elizabeth sampled every apple she could get her hands on.

More Homemade Goodness

Today Elizabeth and I made an apple cake.We used a vintage bowl I recently found for $12 at an antique store.
Crock bowls usually sell for $25 and up.
The house smells good and the cake was perfect.

Conserving Water...The Hard Way

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