Sunday, December 28, 2014

~ organizing my sewing room...

...I persuaded Rick to help me start a bit early on one of my new year's resolutions.  He put together some shelving for me! :-)

~ organizing my sewing room...

Friday, December 5, 2014

~ first game of the season...

Sofia cheered for the first game of the basketball season tonight.  It was a home game for the girl's team.


 

 In case you can't see the video, here is the link:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/myhappybluebird/15929560026/

 final score:

~ first game...

 The other team fought hard -- but the girls from Sofia's school are GOOD!


Monday, December 1, 2014

~ it's december 1st...

...time for the elves to get busy ;-)

~ the elves are busy..

  Well...one elf started yesterday.  Sofia's homemade apple bread
  rates a BIG 2 Buddy-the-elf thumbs up!!

  She also cut out the snowflakes ~ by hand ~
  I think that even Buddy would be impressed :-)


Friday, November 28, 2014

~ post thanksgiving treat...

...freshly baked cupcake topped with homemade buttercream icing and a cup of cinnamon coffee :-)

~ afternoon treat...

I cannot share the cupcake/icing recipe with you -- Sofia asked me to keep her Christmas recipes secret while she is testing them.

I can tell you that the cupcake and icing are delicious!  Oh, and that cinnamon coffee is perfect!


Saturday, November 15, 2014

~ sugar cookie saturday...

...inspired by dollar store cookie cutters ;-)

~ sugar cookie saturday...

 Baked with love by Sofia .

 Original recipe can be found here: best sugar cookie recipe

Sunday, November 9, 2014

~ homemade olive garden breadsticks...

...made by Sofia -- eaten by everyone ;-)

~ homemade olive garden breadsticks...

original recipe found here:  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/195273333818993465/


Thursday, November 6, 2014

~ baked vanilla glazed donut cupcakes...

 ...recipe slightly modified and made by Sofia!

~ baked vanilla glazed donut cupcakes...

 She even cleaned up afterwards! ;-)

 original recipe found here:  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/140526450848313276/




Tuesday, November 4, 2014

~ vote today...


~ vote today...

I usually don't post about things of a political nature -- but I'm a little excited because today is the first time Nicholas will be voting!  YaY!

Sunday, November 2, 2014

~ happy sunday...

...hugs :-)


~ puppy love...

Saturday, November 1, 2014

~ the final count...

...we had 160 trick or treaters!  This breaks last year's record of 150.  All of them wore costumes.  Maybe the rules set by the old one-eyed crow kept the non-costumed folks away...

~ old one-eyed crow...

 Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

Friday, October 31, 2014

~ patiently waiting...

...for those trick or treaters

~ patiently waiting...

...I think I see some over there ;-)

~ patiently waiting...

...the porch invites you

~ patiently waiting...

... to see what the witch is brewing in her cauldron

~ patiently waiting...

...and to join us

~ patiently waiting...

...to dine with on some locals

~ patiently waiting...

Thursday, October 30, 2014

~ autumn trees...

...the leaves are spectacular this year!

~ autumn leaves...

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

~ creeping around my yard...

...no halloween decorations necessary!

~ creepy things in my yard...
                                             ~ preying mantis ~


~ creepy things in my yard...
                                             ~ wooly caterpillar ~

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

~ carving the pumpkin...

...:-)

~ carving the pumpkin...

Sofia drew the template for Rick.  I guess she got her inspiration from the plastic light-up pumpkin on the left!

~ carving the pumpkin...

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

~ spooky, scary, skeletons...

...swinging from my tree ;-)

~ spooky, scary, skeletons...

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

~ crescent moon at dawn...

...southeast view from bike path across the street from our house.

~ crescent moon at dawn...

Click on photo to enjoy a better view! :-)

Thursday, October 16, 2014

~ local delicacy...

...pumpkin spice mushrooms ;-)

~ local delicacy...

Monday, October 13, 2014

~ spooky, scary, viney things...

Since the weather today was in itself, scary, I decided to make some halloween window decorations.  There is a purple light behind the owl's eyes -- so when it is dark, the eyes glow.

~ spooky scary viney things...


                                             
                                        ~ full window view ~
             ~ spooky scary viney things...



Friday, October 10, 2014

~ done...

...3 hems altered + fully steamed.  Come and get it!

                    PA100009_mycopy


Thursday, October 9, 2014

~ the moon...

...this morning.  View is due west -- above my neighbor's house.

~ the moon...

~ click on photo for a better view!


Wednesday, October 8, 2014

~ as she awakens...

...mother nature is a pretty lady :-)

~ as she awakens...

~ click on photo for a better view!


Monday, October 6, 2014

~ so many pins...

...sew little time :-(  I am working on the hem of a bridesmaid dress for my lovely niece.

PA050003_mycopy

The upper pins are holding up the length of (very uneven) chiffon fabric that needs to be cut away!  There is a slip, an underlayment, and, a chiffon skirt.  I need to alter three hems!

I took this photo last night after fiddling with the chiffon fabric for hours...  Since then, I have basted the chiffon hem, sewn the raw edge of the chiffon hem and taken out all the pins.  The next steps should go more quickly.


Friday, October 3, 2014

~ project(s) of the week...

...done

            PA010002

...done

            PA020005_mycopy

...and, Done!

P9290023

Applause, applause...

P9290004

Note:  I "cheated" in the third photo -- the weather has turned gray and dreary, so I am using the photo taken before the painting was completed.  But, I'm sure you get the idea ;-)


Wednesday, October 1, 2014

~ it's October 1st already...

...ahh (as in take a deep breath and relax!)  Look at that pretty autumn morning sky :-)  Okay, so I'm cheating here, because this photo is from yesterday morning. I also want you to enjoy my freshly powerwashed back gate along with me -- before it's 15 minutes of being clean is over.  We have 3 gates -- this is the one that gets the most use...and...the dirtiest.

~ early autumn morning sky...

Since the powerwashing made me feel energized, I decided that this week's project should be...

~ project for this week...

...to get rid of the unattractive moldy stains on the front porch.  It is on the caulking surrounding the vinyl framing and woodwork. I get annoyed by it each time I change the decorations, and through the entire summer (yes, I vent this annoyance to Rick ;-).  We have tried everything over the past couple of years to get rid of it -- but it does not budge.  We cannot even get it out with sandpaper.  So -- I googled how to paint vinyl.  When I am done (by the end of the week) I will post a photo of this completed project.

And, then...we must quickly move onto --

                              halloween decorations!


Monday, September 29, 2014

~ last week...

...the weather was great for doing some powerwashing!

~ powerwashing...

The garden didn't need much attention, and, it was too early to start putting up the halloween decorations.  So...I did the front porch, the backyard fence, the garage doors, the back porch, and, the front walk.  Rick was trapped inside taking an online training class while I did this.  When he finally had a chance to come outside on Saturday to finish up the posts on the front porch, the weather was sunny and hot -- so he was not feeling the "great weather for powerwashing" that I had been raving about all week.

I'm off to this week's project -- hopefully that "great weather" continues to cooperate with me :-)

Friday, September 26, 2014

~ smile...

...if you have pink braces  :-)

Sofia the brace face...

Monday, September 22, 2014

~ glorius autumn sunrise...



~ glorius autumn sunrise...

~ 63 degrees farenheit, slight breeze, heavenly :-)

Sunday, September 21, 2014

~ pumpkin art...

...drawn freehand and painted by the talented Miss Sofia :-)

::malificent::

~ pumpkin art...

::dopey::

~ pumpkin art...

Thursday, September 4, 2014

~ they're gone...


Today:  Sofia's first day of 8th grade
              Nicholas' second day of college classes
              Rick's first day back to work after vacation
 and
              My first day of quiet since the end of June.



Friday, August 29, 2014

~ cookie the cat...

...enjoying the gorgeous late August weather :-)

~ Cookie the cat...

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

~ a view of the porch this morning...

...late summer loveliness.  This is where we sit before the craziness of the day begins.

~ morning view of the porch -- late summer...

Ozzy's favorite place to sit before the craziness of the day begins. :-)

The flowers in the hanging pots have been changed from petunias to chrysanthemums, and, the blue morning glories on the porch are blooming...sigh...summer is coming to an end.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

~ a double rainbow...

...needs to be shared with friends :-)

~ double rainbow...

   

Friday, August 8, 2014

~ the fore of us...

...playing miniature golf in Flemington :-)

~ the fore of us...

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

~ new etsy listings...

...we've listed Sofia's perler bead art on etsy!

~ perler bead art magnets...

Come take a look ;-)

Just click the link to etsy ~myHappyBluebird~ on the right hand side of the screen.

Monday, July 21, 2014

~ zucchini muffins...

...made by Sofia :-)

~ zucchini muffins...

These are delicious!  You can find the recipe here:  Sweet Zucchini Cupcakes

Sunday, July 20, 2014

~ sunday lesson...

Today, Sofia is busy making banana muffins.  We didn't have any over-ripened bananas on hand, so we learned something new today!  To quickly ripen bananas, place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Heat the oven to 300 degrees farenheit and bake for 20-30 minutes.  To test for doneness, poke with your finger -- the banana should have a soft/squishy feel.  Note:  I protected my fingertip with a paper towel to avoid a burn while testing for doneness.

~ quickly ripened bananas...

To remove the skin:  let the bananas cool and then use a very sharp knife to make a single cut down the side of the banana.  The inside should easily pop out!

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

~ after the rain...

...droplets sparkle in the foggy morning sunlight.

~ after the rain...

~ humidity 95%, temperature 76.5 degrees farenheit, dew point 75 degrees farenheit.

Last night's thunderstorms dropped a ton of rain on us.  This morning, it feels like a steamy jungle out there. It's so humid that  I broke into a sweat just by pressing the shutter release on my camera! More thunderstorms are on the way to us today...sigh.

(click on photo for a better view :-)