The Peace Lily!

My Peace Lily bloomed today! What a lovely Mothers Day present. I have nurtured this plant for over three years and it finally decided to bare itself to me today.

Filbert or Hazlenut??

Filberts, also known as hazelnuts, originated in southern Europe and Turkey. They have been grown in the U.S. only since the late 1800s. Oregon produces 97% of the U.S. crop, with Washington accounting for the remaining 3%. These two states account for roughly 5% of the world's production. At the present time, there are approximately 30,000 acres of filberts in Oregon. While plantings continue to increase, they are being limited by the availability of suitable nursery stock.

The name filbert is the scientifically correct name for the tree and nut. The name is of French origin and the tree was likely first introduced into Oregon by early French settlers. Hazelnut is the name coined by the English and it was applied to the native species by early settlers. Hazelnut is more commonly used in marketing channels. In 1981 the Oregon Filbert Commission decided to conform to the common standard and began emphasizing "Hazelnut." According to a manuscript found in China, from the year 2838 B.C., the filbert took its place among the five sacred nourishments God bestowed on human beings. In olden times the filbert was used as a medicine & a tonic. The Greek physician Dioscorides 1800 years ago, emphasized the properties of the filbert: "It cures chronic coughing if pounded filbert is eaten with honey. Cooked filbert mixed with black pepper cures the cold. If the ointment produced by mashing burnt filbert shells in suet is smeared on the head where hair does not grow due to normal baldness or to some disease, hair will come again." Some thought 'filbert' was derived from St. Philibert, as August 22 is dedicated to him, corresponding to the earliest ripening date of filberts in England.

The Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm

Kindly click on each picture to enlarge them for some extra incredible detail; but make sure you use your browsers back arrow to get back to this page.

What a gorgeous day here in Oregon! Spring has finally arrived and given us a lovely sunshiny 75 degree day. Doug and I had heard that today was going to be beautiful; the weather man on channel 8 has been tempting us all week. We packed a picnic lunch and drove from Hillsboro to Woodburn, Oregon (about 25 miles) to finally, after living here 16 years, visit the "Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm" http://www.woodenshoe.com/

We only waited a short while to gain parking access and our first stop was the gift shop(bring lots of money!) Doug bought me a pair of Delft, Tulip shaped candle holders and a Delft tulip shaped spoon holder for the stove top! I love Doug! Then we strolled up the Tulip aisles and toward some antique cr 1911 wood burning tractors.

Theses tractors are so interesting! They are all in the original operating condition!













Tulips everywhere..............and looking East is majestic Mt. hood in all her glory! On the way home looking North we were able to see Mt St. Helens, Rainer, and Hood!!! Unbelievable.........















They have the cutest little "Cow Train" for the little kiddies to ride.












Tulips

Tulips, tulips, tulips................















I Love the variegated tulips!

Momma's Jacket.......finally completed!

Well it took me long enough to finish this for you Momma! TaDa..it's done! The belt gave me fits......Burda patterns are very sparse on their directions. I'm pretty confident that I made it entirely all wrong but it turned out OK. Now, here's the tricky part.........let's hope it fits.

Carrot Cake Supreme!

1 1/2 lbs carrots, trimmed and shredded
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups corn oil
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup of raisins
1/2 cup walnuts grated or broken into small pieces (optional)
Cream Cheese Icing (see following recipe)
Makes 1 1/2 cups
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 lb of butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sifted confectioners sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
Scrape and grate the carrots into fine shreds. There should be about 4 cups firmly packed.
Butter the insides of 3 round 9 inch cake pans. Line each with a round of wax paper cut to fit neatly. Butter the paper. sprinkle with flour and shake out the excess. Set aside.
Beat the sugar and eggs until thickened. Beat in the oil gradually.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir this into the egg mixture. Add the vanilla. Fold in the carrots, raisins and walnuts.
spoon equal amounts of the batter into each of the prepared pans. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top springs back when gently pressed with fingers. Turn cakes out onto a wire rack and let cool.
Meanwhile prepare the icing. Use to frost the cake between the layers, around the side and on the top. You may wish to double the icing recipe................I do.....I LOVE cream cheese incing.
If you're skilled you can make a two layer cake and after they've cooled, slice them in two horizontally. This way you have a four layer cake.that's when the extra icing comes in handy!

ICING DIRECTIONS
Blend the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and sugar and beat well!
ENJOY!!!
http://www.grouprecipes.com/45497/carrot-cake-with-cream-cheese-icing.html

Creating my first banner.....so easy a caveman could do it!

Creative and Unique Designs at www.itsewadorable.com

Pageant Stuff For Sale!

About a year and a half ago my daughter-in-law and I were on a pageant frenzy! We, that is me, was going to make the winning pageant attire for my darling Beautiful granddaughter. I browsed the Internet and was sucked into the pageant world! After spending copious amounts of time and money, both Andra and I gave up! Actually it was Ava who was not ready for the pageant world.
Needless-to-say, I have "Pageant Stuff" for Sale.

This is what I have:

Jumbo Spandex(Super Stretch)White
Style: JS-016Width: 45"Per Yard Price: $ 12.00Description: White, Heavy Weight 2 Way Spandex, 66%-70D Bright Nylon 24%-40D Semi Dull Nylon 10%-280D
Spandex 2 yards @ $12/yd = $24.00
Purchased from SpandexHouse.com

Crystal Organza White Crystal Organza 100% Nylon Sheer Crystal Organza. Measures 44 inches wide. Fabric is very sheer, with a crystal shine spread throughout the fabric. Color may vary due to differences in computer screen settings.
7 yards @ $3.99=$ 27.93
Purchased from Syfabrics.com

Venice Lace
4 yards of 2.5" wide Daisy Venice lace @ $1.10/yd =$4.40
2 yards of 1.5" wide Flower? Venice Lace @1.00/yd =$2.00
Purchased from Lacehaven.com

Two (2) Christy Argo "My Pageant Kid" Pageant Shell and Skirt Instructional DVDs. Electronic pattern for bodice and skirt size 3. $20(DVDs) $10(patterns)

$89 value for $50!! Plus shipping.

Sewing for Momma

Ok, so I'm not really happy with the results..........It was the fabric that gave me FITS! It's the most ravely fraying fabric I've worked with in ten forevers. I tried it on for shoulder fit and decided that with your narrow shoulders Mom, I needed to either make darts or a pleat in the back neck area before attaching the band. I pleated about an inch out of that area which brought the shoulder (sleeve cap line) up on each side. See what happens when we live 3,500 miles from each other!
I don't feel like sewing today; Beth and Sara are coming over for Easter Diner tomorrow. we're having Spiral ham, potato salad, sweet potatoes, fresh green beans and I am making a homade carrot cake with cream cheese icing! OMG! TDF!
Did someone say "Weight Watchers???




It's been years since I made anything for my Mom. I think the last time I sewed for her, my youngest child was two! She's now 35! Wow it has been a while. Mom has always been a fancier of oriental design; a year or so ago I talked her into buying a piece of fabric which is a gorgeous purplish blue with gold dragonflies. I was thinking Mom would sew it into something wonderful but the fabric was put aside; until I showed up for Christmas! OK, I'll make you something, I told her........(I secretly think she did it on purpose)she gave me a pattern she had purchased but I think she knew as well as I that the pattern just didn't suit her, the style leaned more towards the size 00 Vogue models. (Mom used to be 00) So last week I ordered a Burda wrap blouse/Kimono type pattern, sent her the link and she approved with delight! I'm off to cut this beauty out and will post my progress. This ones for you Momma!
Well Mom, I got too busy trying to sell the "Pageant Stuff". It takes a while to do the research for all the products that I threw the reciepts away for. I've got the fabric laid out at least........

The Little Beach