How Things Change...

Years ago, we were campers.

We found communing with nature, sleeping 

under the stars, cooking on the campfire to

be fun.  Well, except for the bathrooms.

Once we started staying in nice hotels on 

business trips and renting condos and 

apartments on trips overseas, my camping

days were over.  Marble bathtubs, down

pillows, jacuzzis and saunas in the bathrooms

were divine.  

I realized when you were the Mom, camping

was a whole lot of work.

Every Spring, the Sunday ads were filled

with the latest camping gear.  We bought 

so much stuff through the years that we had 

a shed filled with every camping item you

 could imagine.

Mr. Wonderful was about to send it all to

Goodwill this summer.  I said, hold on a bit 

longer, the kids may want to use it,  they 

are getting to the age when we first started

camping.  And lo and behold, a few weeks 

later Katie said she was going on a camping

trip, could she use our stuff?

Wonderful has a few vacation days that

he has to use by the end of August.  We

are spending a few weeks in Playa del

Carmen, Cozumel and Cancun in 

December and next summer we are planning

another BIG trip so I suggested we save 

money by taking a camping vacation next

month.  He said, you? camping?

Well, I'm thinking of it more as just cheap

accommodation.  I don't plan to hang out

at the campground all day, I have jam packed

plans for the days and figure we will just head

back at night and crash.

Last night before bed we went outside to look

at the stars and the temperature was in the

40's F.  Very odd for our summers, much more

like Fall.  Here is how our conversation went:

Me: Brrrr, it's cold.

Wonderful: Imagine if it is this cold when we 

are camping.

Me: Well....

Wonderful: So, we should look into hotels.

Me: But, we can cuddle up and throw on 

extra quilts.

Wait a minute!  Am I actually trying to 

convince you to go camping?

Ohhh, how times have changed....

One of our best vacations ever was back before

we were married.  We spent a few weeks in the

Canadian Maritimes, we camped the entire time.

It was fantastic, the scenery was beautiful, the 

people we met were lovely and we ate lobster

for at least one meal a day.  

Nowadays, you hear about glamping or glamorous

camping.  Well, we were doing that decades ago

except we called it Out of Africa camping.  We brought

our china (we actually had china just for camping) and

crystal and set up a beautiful campsite.

We drove to Maine from New Jersey, took the 

Bluenose ferry to Nova Scotia and then explored

all of Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.  We 

would take these little ferries shown above to take

you across a little strip of water, but it could save 

you a hundred kilometers of driving.

It was unforgettable.  

So, if all goes well, we will be heading into 

western New York and up into Canada by 

way of Niagara Falls.  

Stay tuned and I'll let you know how the

camping goes...

Elle's Kitchen: Garden Mish-Mash

Late July at my American Homestead means we

start to harvest veggies from the garden.  Here,

at Avalon, we have half of our back garden as a 

picturesque area with a pond, a butterfly garden,

perennial plantings and a gazebo.  The other half

of the garden is the working area, it has the clothes

line for drying clothes, the garden sheds and our

kitchen garden.

A few nights ago I pulled a few things out of the 

garden to make a vegetarian dish.  It is a bit

ratatouille-ish and a bit Shepherd's pie-ish but

I just called it Garden Mish Mash.

Ingredients:

1 zuchinni and 1 summer squash - quarted and sliced

1 onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, pressed

olive oil

Hunt's fire-roasted diced tomatoes

mashed potatoes - we had some left over.

Heat some olive oil and saute onion until 

translucent, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add garlic, zucchini and summer squash,  cover

and simmer until squash is softened, about 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes and cover again and simmer for about

5 to 10 minutes.  You want the flavors to come together.

Place the mixture in individual ovenproof 

casseroles. (I bought these in the markets 

in Spain and I smile every time I use them.)

Top with the mashed potatoes,  (if using 

leftovers, microwave for a minute) swirl a fork

through the potatoes to make ridges, I 

sprinkled some smoked papkika on top for

added color.

Put them under the broiler until the potatoes

begin to brown.

I served mine with some fresh picked Emerite 

Filet pole beans (I highly recommend them) that 

I steamed, then tossed with some butter and lemon 

zest ~ perfection!

Elle's Kitchen: Bacon Pancakes

I have been seeing this recipe on Pinterest

for a while and since Brennan is leaving us

for a few weeks, I thought we should send

him off with a hearty breakfast.

In researching this recipe, I found it was 

first developed by the Aunt Jemina company

in 1962, though it has been around for a long

time, I never heard of it until recently.

Cook the bacon on a tray in a 365 degree F oven

for 10 to 15  minutes or longer until fully cooked.

Place the bacon strips on a griddle or in a 

pan, make sure to grease the griddle or pan

with some of the bacon grease, butter or Pam.

Pour prepared pancake batter over the bacon.

Wait for the pancake to bubble around the edges,

it won't bubble where the bacon is.

Flip and cook on the other side.

Serve with butter and maple syrup.

We rarely have a big hot breakfast around 

here these days.  We are all too busy and 

eat at different times.  Today we sat around

the table talking, about travel, of course and 

pulled out the World Atlas to dream of future

journeys.

Life According to Plan

When we were young Mr. Wonderful and I lived 

the Big City life and it was great.  But we learned

after a few years that it was not what we wanted

forever.

We didn't write up a plan that sitting on the deck 

or in the gazebo of our back garden while enjoying

an iced coffee was going to make us happy but that

style of living was certainly part of the plan.

It has turned out that those little things in life have 

made us so happy.  Enjoying nature in our garden

can make us giddy with joy.

The happiness we get from watching the antics

of the birds in our garden is incredible.

We fill up the feeders and the show begins.

Melissa, do you remember this behemoth of 

a feeder from your visit all those years ago?

It is still in use, though a bit worse for wear...

We do have a thief though.  Some fairly large

animal is raiding the feeders at night.  He crushed 

one of our purple cone flowers.

And smashed this sedum autumn joy.  What can 

this animal be?  I think we will have to do a 

night watch to see.

The working side of our back garden is our little

farm.  It is so nice to run out and grab some fresh

veggies for dinner.  When I travel on trains in Europe

I can see little veggie patches in all the back yards.

What has happened in our country that so many 

people never do this anymore?  When I was young

it seemed like everyone had a little garden out back.

We love sharing our photos and stories on

facebook with other nature lovers.  This

simple life has brought us so much joy!

Christmas in July at The Back Door Quilt Shop

It is time to start working on all the Christmas 

projects!  Yes, it may have snuck up on many

of us but it is JULY ~ how did that happen?

And the perfect way to do that is at a 

Christmas in July celebration!

I will be at the famous Back Door Quilt

Shop this Saturday July 12 from 9 to 3.

The Back Door is a destination quilt shop

located at 2503 Fairview Place, Ste. W in

Greenwood Indiana, (317) 882-2120.  The

owners of this shop have been in business

together for 41 years.

I will be there for a Meet the Designer day.

We can celebrate some woolie wonders with

my Christmas ornaments.

If you haven't done embroidery stitches in 

a while ~ no worries.  There will be a hands

on Stitching Demo that will give you all the

information and skills you will need to stitch

up a storm.

Many of my customers make the ornament/

pincushion patterns for friends, all their

co-workers and especially children and 

grandchildren.  Some lovely stitchers make

many ornaments for their loved ones so when

those kids or grandkids are old enough to

have their own homes with their own trees

they will have a collection of lovely hand

made ornaments from their Mom or Grandma.

Start a tradition now!

You can also hear the story behind my book

and see a trunk show of all the quilts from the

book.  I'll also be available to sign books too.

So here's the days schedule:

10:30 - Story of the Wool Work and

Wool Trunk Show

11:30 - Hands on Stitching Demo

12:30 - How I became a designer and

got a book contract

1:30 - Trunk show of quilts from the book

2:30 -Trivia contest with prizes

I'll be in the shop all say so there will be

plenty of time for chatting and stories.

I hope you will stop by!

Building the Empire: Fun Book News

So I walked into a quilt shop on Saturday and I met a

quilter who has my book in her hand and she is buying 

fabric to make the Beach House quilt,  I walked a bit

 further into the shop and met another quilter who has

made the Colonial Saltbox quilt from my book, and she

only bought the book last week!

Oh yeah, that felt awesome...

When we compare the quilt to my quilt from 

the book we see this quilter has decided to use

only 3 fabrics.  In the original I used 8 different

cheddar fabrics in the center checkerboard area

and then used those fabrics in the corners as 

well.  I think it is great when quilters make a 

quilt their own.  I always tell students to 

remember this is their quilt and they can make

changes to suit their tastes.

This quilt design started when I bought this

roll of cheddars.  I knew I wanted to use all

of the fabrics in one quilt.  I had seen a game

board when I was visiting Colonial Williamsburg

and thought it would make a great quilt, so 

using these 2 things as inspiration, a new quilt

design was born.  This was the quilt I used

to show a sample chapter in my book proposal

and it was what shaped the idea for...

... my book, American Homestead Quilts.

The Colonial Saltbox quilt was the first 

quilt I made for the book and then I went

forward to design 8 other quilts inspired

by iconic American homes.

This is another version of the quilt using

a more scrappy style.  I think I may have

to make this one, I rather like it.

If you should spot my book out there in a

quilt shop, book store or library, please take

a picture and send it to me.  Or, if you or

someone you know has made one of the 

quilts, by all means, let me see it!  It is one

of the joys of being a designer to see how

someone else interprets your design!

From Friar Park

Scan not a friend 

with a microscopic glass 

You know his faults, 

now let his foibles pass...

                     ...from George's garden

Happy July 4th!

It is Independence Day here in the United States.

While the eastern edge of the country is dealing

with a hurricane, we in the Midwest are enjoying

perfect weather.  The sun is shining, a cool gentle

breeze is unfurling all the flags, it is the coolest 

July 4th I can remember in years, we are usually

scorched on this day.  

Katie Rose & I rode our bikes up to our town parade

today.  We used to be in the parade in our Girl Scout

and Cub Scout days, now we just watch.

The Boy Scouts lead the parade.

This reminds me of Mayberry.

Living in a small American town is

very much like Mayberry but my

town is even smaller than that.

But on July 4th the Main Street is filled

with people out to enjoy the parade.

Our small town has a devoted group

of volunteer firefighters.

It must be fun to ride in this but I  

hope they were straped in.

My friend Nancy is riding on this

John Deere tractor.

I love these guys but old guys in the hot

 sun doing synchronized formations on their 

motorized trikes make me a little nervous.

My friend Irene was riding with her 

motorcycle group.  I think she is having

a cookout for 40 people today, she is a 

woman who burns the candle at both ends...

I love this little car, maybe Mr. Wonderful 

and I will  one day have an American 

Homestead car.

Happy July 4th!