Eloise

My offering for Simply Primitives for August 1st. :)

Thrilled & Deeeee-lighted!

We have a saying in TDIPT.....

"Ain't no swap like a TDIPT Swap", and we say it with good reason!

I'm telling you, the gals always have their game faces on, and seem to put their best creative foot forward for these special events!

We've just about completed our Mid-summer Swap, and w/ this one, it was sorta last minute...something to take us through the summer and give us our swap fix until our big Autumn Swap.

We decided that we would keep it simple (yeah, right...no such thing in the land of TDIPT), and stick to one handmade item. We were partnered up, then able to request what type of handmade we would like to have from the other, be it Halloween, Christmas, or just a favorite subject. We also agreed to send just the handmade...nothing else, no added extras, but between you, me and the fencepost, many found it difficult to stick to such strict regulations, and opted to send along a little extra, but we all agreed we would keep it to ourselves and not tell the world, so I won't :)

As I'm sure you can tell by jsut looking at the pictures, I was lucky enough to be paired up w/ Tonya of Back Porch Pickins, and when she drew my name I knew immediately what I would ask her to make for me, and she was happy to oblige!

I asked for one of her sweet Uncle Sams.....and boy did she deliver! I was thrilled when the box arrived, and felt like a kid on Christmas morning! Her packaging was beautiful, and she pays as much attention to the detail of wrapping as she does to creating her beautiful dolls!

Thanks so very much Tonya, I love my Uncle Sam, and will cherish him forever!

Be sure to check out the blogs of other TDIPT members to see all the lovely handmades that were exchanged amongst us!

OK.....bring on the next swap, we can hardly WAIT! We have new members, and they are eager to join in the fun too! It's always fun to watch, but even more so to participate!

The Joys of Summer

Cobbler Anyone?

I love summer, it's my very favorite season here in Michigan. I love the warm temps, sunny days, and the long hours of daylight.

One of the things I love and appreciate most is the wonderful fresh produce grown right here in the state, and available to us during the summer months.... from sweet corn, to tomatoes, to zuchinni. Fresh grown produce is the best!

We even have an area in Michigan called the Fruit Belt, known for all the fresh fruit that's grown here and comes into season during our wonderful summer months. We've got cherries, cantaloupe, peaches, berries of all kinds.... strawberries, blueberries, and of course yummy raspberries.

My sister grows her own red raspberies, and she was nice enough to let me pick while she is away on a mini-vakay.

The season for the raspberries is winding down, but there are still plenty of these sweet and luscious berries to be had!

I was able to pick enough in one day to enjoy some plain, and also to make a yummy cobbler.

This particular recipe has a rich buttery dough, and is best served w/ a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream!

2 -cups Fresh Fruit

Sugar ( I used about 1/2 cup on my berries)

Sprinkle fruit w/ sugar, and stir gently, and let set til it makes it's own juice.

While that's setting, you can make the dough for the cobbler.

1 cup baking mix

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

Melt the butter, and pour into an 8" by 8" baking pan.

Mix the baking mix, baking powder and sugar together, add the milk and mix w/ a fork til, combined. Batter will be thin

Pour batter on top of the butter, and spoon fruit w/ juice on top of that.

Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned on top.

Let cool, and top with fresh whipped cream or even better, a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream!

Mmmm Mmmm Mmmmm, I can't wait for Michigan Peaches to come into season in about a month!

A 23 hour "Getaway"?

..well, that's what we called it, but by the time all was said and done, it was more like one big BLUR!!

By the time preparations were made to have someone here to take care of the dogs, and make sure the teenager wasn't left home alone, I was mentally exhausted (b/c of course as mom's we have to worry worry worry about everything), then off to the grocery store to be sure they had food, and make sure the house is clean, b/c you know how they say be sure to have clean undies on and a clean house just incase anything happens while you're gone. Well, anyway, I was almost too pooped to participate!

It was a good thing our destination was only 1 1/4 hours away!

Believe me, Chicago was mighty tempting, as like Port Huron, it is right on the Lake (Lake Michigan), but we had our reservations made for a night at the Thomas Edison Inn in Port Huron, an old port town, just across the river from Sarnia Canada.

The hotel is located right on the St. Clair river, where it opens up into Lake Huron, with gorgeous views of the river, lake and the beautiful Blue Water Bridge to Canada.

We had a 3rd floor room which offered a view of the River, Lake and of course the Bridge, right from our balcony.


We were a bit disappointed that it was cloudy, and even some drizzle, as the water looks gray, and not nearly as beautiful as when the sun is shining and it gives it a breathtaking turquoise blue hue! It's no wonder they call it the Blue Water Bridge!

I took this pic from our balcony, it's the patio that sets off the hotel restaurant. It was early morning, so no umbrellas set up on the tables yet.

On the American side of the river/lake, both American and Canadian flags wave proudly

as do they on the Canadian side as well.

Hub and I picked up some Cajin Deep Fried peanuts at the party store, and this little fella must have been able to smell them, b/c of all the balconies at the hotel...he ended up on ours, peeking into our screen, so I put a few peanuts out there for him, hoping he didn't mind a little bit of spice.

and I guess he didn't mind all that spicy seasoning, as he kept coming back for more and more!

It was such fun to watch him hold the peanuts and lick the seasoning off, before running off with them.

All and all, it was nice to get away, and I did appreciate it, and enjoyed myself, but just one more day away sure would have put the icing on the cake!

It's been a long time....

been a long time, been a long lonely lonely lonely lonely lone-ly time!

Up until last night I had not listed anything on Ebay since last Christmas, and while I was doing my listing, it all came back to me as to why! UGH......it took me forever, and trying to get a gallery pic, and such, was workin up my blood pressure,and those terrible thoughts of tossing the puter right out the window to the left of me were re-surfacing, and in a BIG way!

Finally after much frustration, and a few hours work, I was able to hit the button, and low and behold....I had a listing, my first of the year!

My lil Punkin girl, w/ her soft muted colors will be on ebay until Sunday night when she ends at 10:45 EDT.