Remembering Patty....

This post is for my cousin Patty Plessner Ruth who passed away early Friday morning. She was only 45 years old. I have many happy childhood memories that involve Patty including swimming at the Madison pool, mud pies & oil soup, playing cafe in our kitchen/dining room, three-wheeling, visits to your family cabin on Pomme De Terre-learning to waterski & kick the can, embarrassing Kristi and her date by wearing her bras over our clothes, and spinning so hard on the mini merry-go-rounds at the Hoffman school that somebody even peed in their pants. Our moms were not pleased. You had a lot of fun ideas and many of our antics resulted in getting in trouble after Karen reported us! I am so sorry that you died so young and that your family is heartbroken. You raised two beautiful, smart daughters and I know how proud you were of them. You were a cherished wife, daughter, sister and of course a cousin to so many of us. I picture you in heaven with Grandma Anderson and that brings me some peace. Thank you for being a very special cousin and playmate. We will miss you.

Summer...

Well, I'm officially off the school clock for the year but I will need to return tomorrow for a few hours. I had some last minute drama with our grading system this afternoon but was able to get the job done the old fashioned way for the cumulative grades. We went until 11:15 with students this morning, a potluck and then meetings until 2pm. So not a lot of time for other essentials but enough whining. I get it all done tomorrow. It's hard to believe that the year is actually over. It was a good year and they always seem to go extra fast. I should mention that I got my 25 year pin today-yikes!!! I was the only one at that level and Louisa got her 30, none higher than that, she seemed shocked too. It will be 5 years before I suffer that embarrassment again. I know I should just be proud of it but it's hard not to feel old. :)
I love old maps and have used them for bulletin boards but never considered them for wallpaper. I like it in a small area.

This is pretty too, like a patchwork quilt.

Raise your hand if you love these linens!!!

Have a lovely weekend!

Graduation parties will take up a large share of mine.

Vintage Lighting

Last summer, I went to an estate sale just down the road and found some fun stuff. I bought this fixture and wasn't sure if I would be able to use it or not but thought for a couple of bucks it was worth the risk. So, 10 months later, we had an electrician coming over so I set this out and asked him to put it up above the kitchen sink if possible. Well, it was a piece of cake I guess and it works perfectly with our cabinets and everything else really. It's fun when things work out that way.

Finally spring!

The pansies love the cooler temps.

My favorite variety

The primrose are very healthy this year.

Last year I planted this window box late so this year it was the first planter I filled.

I haven't put in many flowers yet but I have been planting my herbs, lettuce, onions & spinach in pots. It's coming up so quickly, can't wait to eat my own homegrown salads. I will plant my other window box on the house this afternoon and then I really should clean/organize the potting shed corner of our garage. I've neglected it for a couple of years. It's been raining most of the morning here.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my two favorites!

I am very blessed.

Happy Mother's Day to all my blog readers who are moms too!

Rhubarb Nut Bread

As I am writing this, my rhubarb bread is just finishing up in the oven. It smells especially good as it's the first thing I've made with rhubarb this season. I had some sad rhubarb plants growing to the south of the garage that didn't get enough sun so I moved them down by the cabin. It's been 2 or 3 years and this year they are finally taking off. I did read it can take awhile. Junior has the world's best rhubarb plant down there so I thought it had to be a good spot. Here's my very favorite rhubarb recipe:

Rhubarb Nut Bread

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2/3 cup oil (I sub. half with applesauce)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Mix all of the above-add:

2 1/2 cups of flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Mix that gently on top and then fold in with bottom-it's the efficient way.

Next add:

1/2 cup sour cream or yogurt

1 1/2 cups diced rhubarb

1/2 cup chopped walnuts/pecans

Topping:

2 T white sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup pecans/walnuts-if desired

The real directions say to spray 2 loaf pans and bake for 55-65 mn. I use an old fashioned muffin pan and the rest goes in my Scandinavian fluted pan and I reduce the time. Then I don't have such a hard time getting it done in the middle. I have this issue with most of my dessert breads.

"Tis the Season

It finally seems to be safe to start planting. This year I am hoping to plant herbs again and even more lettuce than I ever have before. Yesterday, I planted 3 planters with a variety. I tried planting some of the little scallions too, we'll see how that goes. My kitchen window boxes are full of impatiens and begonias in pinks, reds and white, with some ivy. The stone planters will be full of pansies. That's all I have so far and it doesn't seem so late after all.

Encore!

Our view: straight ahead and down below.

We could easily see how fast the pool areas were filling up!

On the way to the buffet! (above)

Beautiful walkways inside the casino.

We went to Sinatra's Come Dance with Me. They set Frank's voice to a live orchestra and dancers and it was a lively, impressive show. The guy in this poster reminded us of David. The neat thing is that we walked right by Steve Wynn before the performance. I noticed him first as I had just been watching him in our room while getting ready on the hotel channel. He ended up sitting in the front row at the show, with a pretty young blonde. Steve Wynn is the owner of the Encore/Wynn. He also created Bellagio and other hotels in Vegas, plus a new one in Macau, islands somewhere, not sure. Anyway, they put on a great show and I guess if your boss was in in the front row, you would too. :)

Vegas-Encore

Check in! The background looks like a collection of vintage brooches.

This tilework mosaic is stunning-it's on the wall on the way to the Wynn.

The tile work on the floor is gorgeous and features butterflies and flowers, so pretty!

Fur-Comparison shopping

You've seen these furs before on my blog. I purchased all three for less than $10 at the Salvation Army in Fergus. They have satin lining and the red one has a little hook and eye closure.
So, we were in Las Vegas for fun a couple of weeks ago and this window at Oscar De la Renta stopped me dead in my tracks. It is in the Wynn/Encore passage-way shops. I had to know how much they were asking so I went inside and had someone helping me within 10 seconds because you rarely see people inside these shops. The guy asked if I'd like to try it on and of course I did. I noticed that it had a silk or satin lining and hook and eye closure just like one of my furs does. It had a ribbon tie that I thought was very pretty and I believe he said it was mink. I took a look at the price tag and it was $3,000!!
The fur that Shari has on is the most similar to this one. I will probably take the red bow off of it. Sometimes I do wear these at home, when it's really cold it's kind of cozy to have one around your shoulders. They also look nice on wool coats with plain collars, maybe my leather coat too.

April 16th Snow!!

Trying to find some beauty in the new snow...

The sun is out this afternoon, so it can't last long.

The ice is out across the lake and around the edges over here.

Little Dutch shoes from the Bargain Bazaar.

I had to buy them for $1. We'd like to go to Amsterdam someday.

Library Bake Sale

It's the Library-a-thon this Friday. I didn't bring anything last year and felt guilty, so this year I made my usual donation; biscotti. I used the little wax paper bags and made the biscotti smaller so it would fit. I showed Dan when I had them all displayed properly and he asked, "Are you going to blog that?" So, here it is. Hopefully they will all sell.

Fun at State BB

Congratulations on a great season, Coach Flom!

Let's zoom in on that fun shot!

Eden Prairie BB-State Tourney!

We're all excited here about David's team making it to the the State AAAA championship game! Catch them on CH 45 at 8pm and look for the guy pictured above! :) Nancy's husband of course. We are very proud of David and his team. Dan got to watch them beat Lakeville South while he was in Mpls on Wed. Last night we watched them beat Osseo on TV and are hoping that they will beat Hopkins for a second time for the State Championship on Saturday. Last year they earned 4th place and this is David's 5th year as head coach. Whatever happens, it's going to be a great night! I'll be snapping some photo's and will share some here.

Last couple of weeks

We had another snow day on Wed, yawn, which means my Easter vacation is now shortened to 3 days. I got revenge on winter anyway by putting away all my warm winter sweaters. I'll get by. The great blue herons are back so I know spring is just around the corner....
Vintage shopping-you never know what you will find and when I spotted this spotted purse at the Goodwill in Fergus I thought of Sarah and bought it just in case. As soon as she put it on her shoulder I knew I was right! I love this purse and it is much better on a 19 year old shoulder than mine. :) Sarah loves it too, so it has a great home. The spots are all flaps so it moves a little, very fun.
So.....onto stuff for me, I stopped at the BB tonight on the way home as it's been a whole week since I've been there and scored on this Talbots top for only 75 cents!!! Yes, you read that correctly, Charice. I think it will be great with white capris and shorts, jeans too. Also is a good school shirt which is always a bonus. I have been using loads of self tanner lotion and you cannot tell from this picture, that's for sure. I hate late winter white skin. I am tempted to get another body spray before Vegas but cannot deal with the orange palms, hands and feet. I won't lay in the "cancer chamber" either so the lotion is my best shot this spring.
And now, my favorite find of the day, my Mexican inspired handmade shirt for just $1. It's colors caught my eye and then the handmade stitching, not only in the front but a little in the back too. Zoom in, it's a blanket stitch! Think jean capris with cute sandals and a Corona with a lime. I wonder who made it? I hope they'd be happy knowing that it's very much admired and appreciated by its current owner. I'm off to apply more tanning lotion to my arms, but not my knuckles. Yikes!