Today is the day!

I found this picture on Rue La La tumblr page . I need to start living like this.

  Today is the day I will watch Nascar (big Dale Earnhardt Jr fan!), eat what is left of the lobster roll I had last night, do a little cleaning (so I can enjoy the week ahead), start reading a new book I bought yesterday and sit outside in the afternoon!  Maybe sneak a lemon cake pop in there somewhere!

Today is the day!

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July

The last weekend in July. 

  It is time to start taking advantage of every sunny summer day!  

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Cork Stamped Cherry Cards

 

 This picture is from Martha Stewart.  I am not sure if I first saw it in her magazine or if it was something that was emailed to me.  I get a  craft idea emailed me from Martha Stewart everyday.  Yesterday I had a little time so I thought I would give it a try.  The craft was using corks for stamps!

Enter the tools needed to make the cards.  Of course the cork is the most important piece.

I needed to make a few practice images. After I did a few stamps, I thought that the cherries would make a nice bookmark. Look for a cherry bookmark post in the future!  

I decided that three cherries looked better than two.  I think that is always the case.  Odd is always better than even numbers.

 

 I had just enough time to make only two cards.  But I think I will make a few more today.

 If I had a blue ink pad I would try and make a few blueberries.  Or a green ink pad I would make the peas in a pod!  You get the idea, I like them all.  Thanks Martha for the idea!

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A Rhode Island Treasure

  Earlier in the month, I entered a contest on a local television station's website for 4 tickets to see a musical at "The Theatre by the Sea" located  a few feet from the Atlantic Ocean.  I hardly ever enter a contest, but low and behold I won!   Back to the theatre, doesn't it look like it belongs in a beach town?  It is so low key and quaint!  Quaint, that is the word to describe it!  There are other words I will use to describe the way it felt in the theatre! 

 The grounds are really nice.  This brick walkway leads to the  bistro that we ate at before the show.  We all loved the restaurant as well.  The atmosphere was casual and the food was really good. 

I would go back to the restaurant even if I wasn't going to see a show. 

They serve drinks here before the show and believe me we all  needed a few bottles of water.  I know I was lucky to win the tickets, they were worth $160.00.  I felt good all day.  I had  what I would call a "good karma day", I did a few good deeds.  But it was 104 degrees that day!  The quaint little theatre had two ceiling fans!  Two ceiling fans, all they  did was move the hot air around.  I know I was thinking half way throw the show I was going to have to leave, get some air.  But I made it to intermission and cooled down with another bottle of water.  When we returned to our seats the theatre was cooler.  The theatre was back to being quaint!  You could even hear  the sound of a fog horn in the distance, so beachy! I was going to say quaint, but I used that word enough! 

What did we see?  We saw Hairspray.  I had never seen the original or the remake of the movie. It was a great production, put on by "The Ocean State Theatre Company". It was also my friend's birthday.  That is why I entered the contest, hoping we could have a nice birthday/Friday night.  Even with the heat we had a great time.  I want to go back next season.

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Recipe Cards

  My daughter's friend  Cassie asked me if I would make a few recipe cards (50) to be used for her sister's bridal shower.  I was happy to make them.  I also covered a  recipe box with pretty paper and a bird, so that the bride would have a place to put the recipes.

 They were a lot of fun to make.  I like to color and this is pretty close to coloring.

This was a very simple project, but I loved doing it.   

I thought I would try the xlarge picture feature that I have just discovered on blogger.   

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Owls Bookmarks

 I want to show you a few owl bookmarks I made.  Little owls like these are great for using small scraps of paper.  

I made them in the spring but I never got around to posting them on my  blog. 

I  gave a few away to my little nieces. They seemed to like them. My favorite is this little blue owl.

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Save your jars!

During my time off I still made a few things, not many, but a few things.

Well, I did make quite a few of these. I think I made about 30 of them in the past few weeks.. What are they you ask? They are tea light holders.

I have been saving all sorts of jars, that would of otherwise been recycled. My Mom helped, too. I might have even tossed out a few perfectly good pickles to get a few empty jars.

I always seem to have a few pieces of tissue paper.  I love the printed papers best.  Some of the department stores have nice tissue paper, especially at Christmas time. 

All you have to do is tear the tissue paper into pieces and I used  Mod Podge to glue the paper to the jars. Easy as pie. I have never made a pie, but this was easy.

After the jar was dry I covered it with a layer of glue and sprinkled a little glitter on top of it.  I tied a piece of jute string around the top and they were done.

They are really very easy to make. A great project for kids!
I have given them as gifts and everyone seems to like them. They look so pretty at night.

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Salmon Burger Salad

 

I had posted this salmon burger salad earlier today but I did not like how dark the picture looked so I made the picture brighter and I like it much better.  There has to be a secret on how to take a great picture of food. If there is,  I don't know it.   But, what I basically want to say in this post is that I had my first salmon burger last summer and I am hooked.  I am not a big fan of hamburgers, I like black bean, turkey and veggie burgers.  I can now move salmon burger to the top of the list!   Add one to a salad and I think you have a great meal!  I like romaine and baby spinach as my base and then add whatever is in the frig!  This salad also has celery, tomatoes, olives, Gorgonzola cheese, green pepper, blueberries, raisins, crouton and I topped it off with my favorite dressing balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  What is your favorite dressing?



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I love my table

This is where my  beautiful outdoor table got it's start. In my parents backyard. Some day maybe I will take a few pictures of what my father has created in their backyard.  Look at the fence and you can see he likes old rusty things! I asked my father in June if he would mind building me a table on wheels. I gave him a drawing, we settled on the dimensions and he said as soon as he was finished with an outdoor project, my table was next on the list. How could this be happening to me? Couldn't I leap over the other project? But, I waited patiently (who am I kidding, I wanted my table).It was well worth the wait!  It looks perfect on our deck.

  He cut a few pieces of metal for the side, then he spray painted them flat black. He spray paints everything! I asked him if he had something we could put on the side, for a handle. When I said we, I meant him! He went in the basement and within ten minutes he has this handle. It was pretty rusty, I like the way it looked. He put a clear coat on it, perfect.

I did not want the edges to be perfect, he made that happen as well.

The wheels were silver, but I wanted them to look old so I spray painted them with a metal paint that makes  the wheels look old and well, rusty!

The table might be too nice for outside, but here it will stay until the leaves start to change. 

 The heat has arrived in Rhode Island. 

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Why is this happening?

I am having a few issues leaving comments on some  of my favorite blogs.  Is anyone else having an issue? I write the comment and then select post and it says I have to sign on to google.  I sign on, go back to post and it says I have to sign on to google again..  It's frustrating because I want to leave a comment!  Did something change while I was gone?  And why is it only happening on a few blogs, not every blog?

    I want to thank Carol for her helpful hint!  I am pretty sure the issue is solved!

 

 Thanks for visiting!

Oatmeal Zucchini Muffins

From what I am seeing on other blogs, this year is not the best year to have a vegetable garden. I have never had a garden, I just grow a few pots of basil to use in sauces and on pizzas.

The other day I wanted to make zucchini muffins so I had to go to the grocery store and buy two zucchinis.

They came out rather good and they are great for a mid day snack.

Here is the recipe. 
3/4 cup oil
 4 eggs
 2 1/2 cups flour
 1 1/2 cups sugar
 1/2 cup oatmeal 
1 Tbs baking powder
 1 tsp salt
 2 cups zucchini (shredded)
        Beat together the oil and eggs with a fork.

In a large bowl mix together the next 5 ingredients.

Add egg mixture and shredded zucchini.

Pour into greased muffin tins (I used Pam).

You can sprinkle the tops with cinnamon and sugar if you like.

( I forgot to do this but I still liked mine)

Bake for 25 minutes at 400 (remember ovens vary mine did not take 25 minutes)

Makes 18 muffins.

 I am going to make oatmeal blueberry muffins next.

 .Thanks for visiting!

It was nice to take a small step back into blogging yesterday. I did not intend to post again today. However, I started taking pictures and thought while I had a little bit of time I would share them with you. This is the first thing I see when I walk down stairs in the morning. I keep the drapes shut in our bedroom, to keep it cooler during the day. So this is really the first sign of daylight for me.

After I have my first cup of coffee, I can really start to see things. Great, the pool is looking really clear today. I can honestly say that we have had our pool since 1994 and I have gone in it about 20 times and that is on the high side. I am not a pool person. There isn't anything wrong with that, is there?
This is what it looks like on the outside.

I love how it looks in this picture.
Stay cool everyone, it is hot out there!
Maybe today will be the 21 time I go in the pool! I will let you know if it happens, it could be on the local news.

Thanks for visiting!

My Favorite Place

To state the obvious, I have been a very bad blogger. I do intend to return to the "blog world" on a regular basis, just not yet. This is where I have been spending the last few weeks. It is our deck. I can honestly say it is my favorite summer destination! I have been to a few graduation parties, cookouts and a beautiful wedding. I have watched too much tennis, The French Open and Wimbledon. I would really like to go to one of those events, if I can bring myself to leave my deck, just kidding. I hope to take a few days trips. I live about 30 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean, it's summer time, I should make some concrete plans. People travel from all over the world to go to Newport, Rhode Island. I usually make it there once during the summer. I did go to the Brimfield Fair, one of the biggest flea markets in the country. That was fun, very hot, but fun. The weather has been beautiful! I love the summer! I have jumped on the "cake pop" band wagon! I have made three batches since July 4. They are my new obsession! I am going to do some blog visiting. But right now, I have some green beans and red potatoes on the stove that have to be tended to first. I also must water my outdoor plants, they need to be watered twice a day or I will lose them! Then, I have to run to the grocery store, we are having tacos tonight!

Thanks for visiting!