Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy

When I was  about 12 years old I read a wonderful book about four sisters.

There were four girls in my family too, and so

one of America's best loved coming of age tales quickly joined my list of favorites.

Little Women

VIV (Vivian Trillow Smith),  illustrator at Hallmark cards
designed these doll greeting cards when the 1949 version of the movie came out.

Jo

Meg

 Beth

 Amy


 And this is a 1963 Saalfield paperdoll version of  Little Women.

Did you have a favorite sister? (from the book.)

(book cover)


Which was your favorite movie version?  1933 with Katherine Hepburn as Jo,
1949 with June Allyson or 1994 with Wynona Rider?

(Movie images found online)

My sisters all live far away, 

and this post is making me miss them.

Glass Art

(Artist: Sam Stang, Missouri)

 What do you get when you mix gorgeous art,  yummy food, great music,

a picturesque neighborhood and a perfect day?

The Plaza Art Fair!

(Artists: Jim and Renee Engebretson, Wisconsin)

WOW!

 I was smitten by the glass pieces this year.  

As much as I may have wanted to plunk down $2000 to buy that bowl,

the ol' pocket book said "nope".

(Engebretson)

But these tweet birdies made it back to my house.

(See previous posts about the Plaza here and here.)

Tea Break

,

Take a break.

Leave all your stress and worry behind.

Enjoy a nice, hot, cup of tea with me.

(Teacups- Memory Lane, Royal Albert)



Linked to  Teacup Thursday.

Fabric Stash

My quilt fabric stash:

Yes, I am one of those quilters with a drawer for every color.

Pinks

Purples

Reds

Yellows/Oranges

Blacks/Browns

Light Greens

Medium/Dark Greens

Aqua Blue-Greens

Light Blues

Dark Blues

One other drawer (not pictured) for Whites/Creams.

I have two small bins of scraps. (top right)

And a pile of current projects. (top left)

And a drawer full of UFO's. (I did a post a while back on that.)

No,  I am not the type of quilter who hides her fabric in every nook 

and cranny, under the bed, and between the sofa cushions, 

and in the trunk of the car, so her husband will not know how much she has.

And I am not competing in the "she who has the most fabric when she 

dies, wins" contest.  I have enough stored for now and only 

buy more when a project calls for it.

What's your fabric stash like?

C,mon!  I showed you mine, now I hope you'll show me yours! 

(If you do a post about your stash, be sure to let me know and I'll add a link here.)

Lil Red Hen

Downtown

We took a trip into downtown today.

(We = Me and Mr. Garden, my best friend and her husband.)

It was a good thing we brought our umbrellas. 

We waited in a very, very, very, long line (2 hours) to see this:

The brand new Center For Performance Arts!

We heard two groups play.  They were amazing!

It was worth the wait.

Then we walked to the Entertainment District for dinner.

Cheers!

Fun day!

Girl Scout

Were you a Girl Scout?  

I was a Junior and a Cadette Scout.

Years later my daughter was a Brownie and a Junior Scout.

(And my son was a Boy Scout, but that's a separate post for another day.)

The dark blue sash was mine. 

(We wore blue uniforms, not green like they do here in the US.)

The brown and green sashes belonged to my daughter. 

Recognize any of those badges?

Did you have a favorite that you earned?

I had so much fun learning to sew,  making centerpieces, 

 cooking over a campfire and managing my collections!
Remember s'mores? 

What fun times those were!

The books and badges and uniforms might look different today,

but the promise to be honest and helpful 

and to do good is still the same.

All The Way From France

A few weeks ago, my blogging friend, Baukje at Busy Bee Free,

sent me some sweet gifts all the way from France!

A little stocking keychain she knit herself, and

some pretty vintage linens from a vintage and craft festival she attended.

Thank you so much Baukje!!  I love it all!

As you can see the pretty flowered apron, battenburg lace napkins and

tiny knit stocking keychain are making themselves right at home among my things.

If you all have not met her yet, 

you can visit her blog, Busy Bee Free, here.

She is a talented needlewoman, an amazing gardener and a lovely friend.

Sipping On Green Tea With Lemon

I'm sipping on green tea with lemon this afternoon.

No pattern name is marked on this Royal Albert teacup.

Do any of you teacup collectors recognize this one?

Small brown lidded dish with lemons- T. G. Green & Co.

Brown Betty teapot covered in a teacozy from my best friend.

Doily- crocheted by Creative Carmelina

Joining:

Tea Time Tuesday 

 Teacup Tuesday with Martha and Terri
A Return To Loveliness 

Eat Your Veggies!

Rosemary Chicken and Roasted Vegetables

Did you eat your veggies today?

I did!

We had Rosemary Chicken and Roasted Vegetables for dinner tonight.

It's so easy to make.

Put skinless, boneless chicken in a baking pan.

Rough chop red peppers, carrots and broccoli.

Lay them out in one layer in a separate baking pan.

Drizzle both the chicken and the veggies with a small amount of olive oil.

Sprinkle both pans with black pepper, rosemary, sage, onion and oregano.

Add a few red pepper flakes to the veggies if you like some heat.

Pour a small amount of low sodium chicken broth into each pan

  (just enough to barely cover the bottom)  to help keep things moist while cooking.

It also adds a bit more flavor, since I did not add any salt.

Roast in a 350 oven for about an hour, til the meat is cooked through and has a nice light brown tinge. 

The vegetables taste so sweet when they are roasted!

Simple and healthy!

(Feel free to substitute any of your favorite veggies and herbs.)

Flying My Flag

Green Reamers and Nutcracker Sweet Antiques

It's official.  I now have three green glass reamers, so it's a collection.

I can't believe I found the one in the upper right corner for $3 a few days ago.

That's a steal of a deal!

  

I've had the others for several years and have shown them in past posts.

Two reamers

Making lemonade

Speaking of pretty green glass, 

I saw these gorgeous pieces for sale last month

at a little antique shop in Paola:

Nutcracker Sweet Antiques.

Look!  They had a reamer just like one of mine!

 I really liked the Raggedy Anne and Andy dolls,

the awesome red scale,  turquoise coin bank

and little toy iron.

The owner was just as nice as could be.

And there was a cute resident puppy-dog and bird. 

Plus there was a great little restaurant next door called Beethoven's No. 9.

It was such a wonderful little shop and I hope to make a return visit soon!

I've Got The Cups Out

Come on over!  

I've got the cups out and am brewing a pot of Earl Grey.  

Linking to Teacup Thursday @ Miss Spenser's Tea

Squirrel Chaser

"Quick!  Catch that squirrel!!

Where'd he go?

I don't see him!"

 "Wait a minute... how did I get so high up here?

Maybe if I go out on this limb... no that is not working.

Maybe I should try to back down.  

Or maybe I'll try to come down head first.   

Maybe I won't climb down at all!!

Meow!  

Meow!

Meeeeeooooooow!

Come and get me out of this tree!"

Katerina and the rescuer.

Arboretum

Follow me to the pond and over the bridge,

 Into the garden and under the trees.

Butterflies flit, turtles sun, bees buzz and children run.

A perfect day at the Arboretum.

Joining Mosaic Monday at Little Red House

Blue Plaid

 I seem to have collected quite a number 

of blue checked/plaid tablecloths over the years.

And ya'll are not one bit surprised by this statement, are you?

Crazy Daisies

I'm having so much fun makin' crazy daisies on this little flower loom!
Yarn, ribbon, or raffia wrapped 'round and 'round.

Add a wee bit of sparkle.
One package ready to go.

PS-  I think I need to find one of these.

(straw bags,  pics from the web.)