so summer is over – at least by the looks of my schedule – the kids are back to school and the aspen trees are almost empty so fall must be lurking around

so here I sit in peace and quiet ready to get back into the swing of things

We did manage to get some great things done in August -

I mastered the granny -

This bit of charred pork was transformed in to some serious South Carolina style pulled pork

We took the kids to tour the museum I worked at while I was in college…

where I learned that aluminum is no longer in style…

this would be less of an issue if I didn’t have the same cake carrier in red in my house.

I decided that next party I throw will be a tea and scissors party

We also managed to sneak in some swimming lessons.

This…

became this…which means I’m one step closer to a workshop

and yes that pun was totally intended.

lulu celebrated a birthday this weekend -

there were flowers

there were buntings

there was cake

there were candles

fun was had by all

The little people are on summer break so I have a ton of extra help around the house.

They are in charge of things such as making sure snack is served on time and making sure lunch is served on time.  Shortly after lunch they start asking what’s for supper so that I don’t fall behind schedule on that either.

I did get a chance to take part in Creativity Bootcamp led by Maegan of Madeline Bea – Life set to Words.  I chose photography for my medium since it would allow for quick turn around so I could complete the assignments each day.

Here’s a little slide show of my photos inspired by the bootcamp process.

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As a sort of continuing education, Maegan will be leading the Sunday Creative over at Life set to Words.  I’m looking forward to having an entire week to consider her prompts.

While out running our errands, lulu decided she wanted to try raspberries because “they are dad’s favorite”.  I grabbed them without thinking what I would do with them.  Sunday dessert rolled around, I whipped up the leftover cream (from the on the fly pasta and peas with bacon), added the raspberries and topped it off with a couple of speculoos cookies that my, oh so kind, cousin sent to me as a mother’s day treat.

Lulu voted it a success.

I put the kids to work for this one.

They each designed and stitched a little something for my mom.

It’s teacher appreciation week at our school this week.  I don’t know what says thank you better than an eclair filled with a white chocolate pasty cream, topped with a bittersweet chocolate glaze.

Now I must figure out how to attach a clown hat to a clown wig.

Tomorrow is the circus, you know.

My little town is hidden away in the midwest.  We don’t have big box stores, or oversized museums, or fancy skyscrapers.  We’re all right with that though, because what we do have, is a community.  We catch up with friends at the Lincoln Cafe,

(photo credit to Derek on this one)

we stop for coffee at fuel,

we take walks along tree-lined streets and hang out in the park,

and on the first weekend in May, we Chalk the Walk.

The artists start working on their spots on Saturday morning and then finish up on Sunday.  It’s great to stop in on  Saturday morning and see what people will be recreating, and then see the work progress over the weekend.

saturday -

sunday -

saturday -

sunday -

We popped up on Saturday evening, after the artists had called it a night.  During the day the streets are filled with people so it’s difficult to get pictures.

There is also an oversize community picture that takes over the entire street and people fill in foot square sections to complete the picture.  This year’s picture was from the Wizard of Oz.  Here’s lulu working on our square.

Then we stopped in Sunday to see it all finished,

along with checking out the progress on all the other squares.

Oh and I mustn’t forget the cheesecake

It was creamy lemony perfection.

Now I must sew tote bags together because they seem to lack the ambition to sew themselves.

happy monday everyone!

Well, I’m doing my best to stay one step ahead, but lately there has been a lot of playing catch up as well. I’m working on a picnic quilt, while also trying to make several tote bags. I did manage to sneak in an impromptu trip to Chicago with some friends. Closely followed by the spouse heading out for some hunting with friends. Now the little ones are battling colds/allergies. I was also asked to put together some desserts for a meeting at friend’s house.

I made double chocolate cookies, meringue shells filled with lemon curd, and raspberry linzer bars with a hazelnut crust. After spending Monday at the stove I was really looking forward to getting the house in order, but cj’s cough kept him home. He and I tackled a little project of our own that was a blast, but we have to wait until after Mother’s Day to talk about that.

I’m hopeful it will warm up enough that I can get the rest of my herbs into their summer homes this week. I’m also beyond excited to have some friends visit this weekend for one my little town’s greatest events.

I have spent most evenings working on the hand quilting on the mostly french general quilt.  I’m more than half way done, but need a distraction.  Fortunately, Spring arrived and everything is starting to turn green and bloom around here ~

~even the bees have taken notice