More DIY

I don't know what it is but I can't do enough DIY projects. A few weeks ago I bought a large frame from a consignment store in town. I really liked the frame and I knew I could do something with it. The Picture/Framer store in town didn't give me a good vibe, he said that he couldn't really use it if I wanted to mat a picture, so I went on my way. Then as I was "blog hopping" the other night I saw what this gal did with her mantel for the "Fall" and it gave me the idea to put a mirror in my frame. So First thing this morning I dropped it off at our Local Glass place and they're putting a mirror in it as I speak. I can't wait to see it and show you'all.

Stay tuned............

"georgie"

p.s. if you would like to learn more of what I believe check out

this site:

http://mormon.org/

Harvest Holla!

Have a great day!

"georgie"

Keep Calm

(this one is now in my living room)

So there's this flower shop in our town that I just love and every time I would go in

I would always admire this one picture with the caption "keep calm and carry on" I asked if

she would sell it and she then proceeded to tell me all about it, but no it wasn't for sale.

Bummer. So I a couple of months ago

I went on line and found a business in London, England that

http://www.keepcalmandcarryon.com/

have all sorts of inventory on this. I ordered 2 poster prints one in Sea green and one

a pale pink. They were so affordable $8.00 us each. They came about two weeks ago and

I couldn't wait to get them out and frame them. I wasn't sure

what to do with the other one and then.....

I was having a conversation with a friend and she was sharing

all the things that she was going through and the light bulb went off in my head, "I'm going to frame the second one and give it to her". I think she would appreciate it, and hopefully

love it too.

Framing both of them wasn't as easy as I thought, but it was worth it.

I just love the saying, it can apply to anything that is going on in your life.



The other night we had some company and one of them pointed to the Print and
said the "saying out loud". She remarked "yep" we all could use this.
I'm now ordering a larger Print because I don't think the one I have is big enough.

Last night our nephew was over and as he was passing the picture, he too read it out loud.
It's a great reminder that no matter what trials we
may be facing, we need to carry on. .......



I love this door mat!











Don't you just love it?

Have a great weekend everyone....



"georgie"

M&J's Wedding day

After just four months it all came together. Mackenzie and Jared Wood married.

These next few pictures were some of Mackenzie's inspiration for her
Lavender Vintage themed wedding. She always knew she wanted her reception to be outdoors. She wasn't sure where and after scouring the foothills the venue was right in front of her. Outside on the lawn of her family's Ward chapel.

Below is a sample of how beautiful the table scapes turned out. Vintage bottles and jars sprinkled with blues, yellows and cream flowers, with local grown Lavender flowers that her mom (me) bought in May and hung and dried them for the four months for just this occasion.

The day was beautiful with the sun going in and out of the clouds.

Sticking to her vintage theme, were old books,antique bottles, perfume decanter, various heirloom flowers and a retro suitcase that was used as a desk to hold Mackenzie and Jared's custom guest sign in book.

Above, notice Mackenzie's velvet green flats, she ordered them special to compliment
her 40's vintage gown.

She didn't want to fuss with a veil so she opted with this gold-leaf hair band that accented her hair nicely.

One thing that Mackenzie wanted was to have some pictures taken at the family home. She always loved the front porch because of the great view of her hometown.

This is how I felt on this day and I'm sure everyone did as well.

Mackenzie didn't want a large entourage of brides maids. In keeping with simplicity she chose her good friend Lauren and sister, Cecelia. Each bridesmaid wore a different color of the Bride's bridal colors. Beautiful!

The wedding cake was so beautiful and so delicious. If you ever want the best tasting cake in the world, then Jessica Smith is your cake maker. There wasn't one morsel left after the cake was cut.

You'll notice that some of these pictures were taken by our photographer Nudrat Owens. She was so great, and fun to work with. Here we are on our front porch the
whole fam. My eyes were open but I look kind of weird. We were rushing here because it was after 6pm and we needed to get over to the church where the reception was. You should have seen us right before, it was a mad rush to set this up and then we were off.

This "Herb" tea for two was Mackenzie's idea, she wanted something different for the guests to take, so she chose two different types of herb tea which they could scoop up and put in the organic unbleached cloth tea bags and take home with them.

The night was just beautiful, the evening cooled off nicely, it didn't rain, everyone looked like they were enjoying themselves especially these two. They are so in love!

"georgie"

Lemons & Meringue

This was one of the pictures that inspired Mackenzie in her decor for her wedding reception. So we tried to duplicate it. I bought tons of lemons from Costco. Regular lemons
and my new discovery of Meyer Lemons.

So what to do with all those lemons afterwards? Again, more food therapy.
I decided to make Lemon Meringue Pie, but this time I wanted to make
not only my favorite Traditional Lemon Meringue but I wanted to
try Paula Deen's Southern Lemon Meringue.

I have always loved my Mom's Lemon Meringue Pie I think it is my
most favorite pie in the world. I remember every Thanksgiving she would make them along with the Traditional Pumpkin and Apple pies. There's something about that lemony (if that is such a word) zesty taste, it just makes your mouth pucker.

So again with my Mom's help we set out to squeeze and zest every last one of those lemons. I first made the Traditional Betty Crocker Lemon Meringue, you know the recipe that calls for cornstarch. I have to confess I am not a connoisseur when it comes to making crust. I didn't inherit that talent. My sister, Dawn got that talent. She, In my opinion makes a great crust. So I opted for the Pillsbury roll out crust. Still edible but not as pretty as homemade.

I have to say it tasted mighty good with just the right zestiness. Next I took the plunge and made Paula's Southern Lemon Meringue Pie. Oh my goodness!! It was to die for. It is very creamy and very different from Betty Crocker. Paula Deen's recipe calls for sweetened condensed milk and no cornstarch. The recipe is below. When both pies were done we brought in our unofficial taste testers, Hubby- David and daughter Cecelia to see which one they liked the best.

Before I tell you which one they chose, my Mom had her opinion and stuck with the Traditional. David agreed with Mom and Cecelia and I loved Paula's. They're both scrumptiously delicious I wouldn't turn down either one. So here's Paula's recipe and you can decide.
....................................................................................................................
Ingredients

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
3 egg yolks
1 (8-inch) pre-baked pie shell or crumb crust

Meringue:

3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream or tartar
1/4 cup sugar

Directions

In medium bowl, combine milk, lemon juice, and zest; blend in egg yolks. Pour into cooled crust.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks from. Gradually beat in the sugar until stiff. Spread over filling; seal to edge of crust. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until meringue is golden brown.
* Raw Eggs

*RAW EGG WARNING
Food Network Kitchens suggest caution in consuming raw and lightly cooked eggs due to the slight risk of salmonella or other food-borne illness. To reduce this risk, we recommend you use only fresh, properly refrigerated, clean grade A or AA eggs with intact shells, and avoid contact between the yolks or whites and the shell.

Total Time:
25 min
Prep
10 min
Cook
15 min

Yield:
6 to 8 servings

Level:
Easy

Food Therapy

After our daughter's wedding I needed some much needed food therapy.

We have 5 plum trees and I have never made plum jam since we lived here. My mom is visiting us so it gave me the motivation to make plum jam.

I couldn't believe how easy it was and now I'm wondering what took me
so long. I think every one else is wondering the same thing.

Not too shabby. it even tastes good. On to the next!...............

"georgie"

Fall has arrived................

This year I have lots to be thankful for. Last year our family did the Gratitude jar, I think we'll do this Thankful tree this year and share all that we are thankful for at our Thanksgiving feast.

georgie (aka Patsy)

Four Star Hotwire

So we had one extra day and night before we were going to be meeting up with our son and daughter-in-law in Seattle. I thought I would book hubby and I a room, but where. Not having been to Seattle since I was 3 or 4 years old I wasn't sure where to stay.

I asked myself, "self" what would Clark Howard do? You know Clark Howard the Consumer

advocate guy with all the good deals for us consumers. He said, if you are able book

your hotel stay the same week and go through "Hotwire". When you do, opt for 4 Star hotels

because you can't go wrong and you usually get the best deals.

So I did. It's interesting they don't tell you which Hotel it is until you book it. So you are pretty much committed. But it's a 4 Star Hotel, so you shouldn't be disappointed. Well Hotwire

I can honestly say, We were not disappointed. It definitely was a 4 Star.

We stayed at the Doubletree Arctic

http://doubletree1.hilton.com/en_US/dt/hotel/SEAACDT-The-Arctic-Club-Seattle-a-DoubleTree-by-Hilton-Hotel-Washington/index.do

It is located in the heart of the downtown Seattle Financial district, a Landmark Hotel.

It was gorgeous inside. It is an older Hotel so it has all the stylings of a Grand Hotel.When you walk into the the Lobby you see on one of it's walls a large glass encased bookshelf with old black derby's and tall hats from the 20's and up. The Lobby is very large with many places to sit and visit with other guests.

One area is a pool table.

There was an older couple playing pool. David was itching to play, I told him to tell them he would play the winner, but

he didn't want to intrude. Oooh the best part of the front desk was

Freshly warm cookies 24 hours a day.

So if you had a hankering for a Warm chocolate chip cookie you could come down

to the front desk and they would open up their Magical warmer. Each cookie was in its own cookie sleeve, and you could have as many as you wanted.

I didn't want to be greedy, so I just took two. One for hubby and one for me.

(I know what you were thinking I was going to eat both.)

The Bedroom Suite is gorgeous, it reminds me of the 30's era.

I like the color scheme tans, and rich browns.

They even have a fluffy white robe for your use during your stay.
I checked the price tag, if you would like to purchase this fine robe, it is only $115.00. That's

just about what we paid for the room. No thank you very much. Oh

yeah that's another thing, there were a lot of items in the room that you could

purchase at the front desk. But that wasn't quite in our budget.

Let's talk toiletries. If they have them, such as shampoo, conditioner, soap, shower cap,

whatever and they do, we of course use them. But if we don't use them all up it goes in our bag.

I mean it is for us to use. I can't tell you how many miniature toiletries I have at home

from the various places we've stayed. In fact I brought some from home to use. I was using

my Bestwestern bath gel in my Doubletree Arctic shower which carried on into

our Hyatt Olive 8 hotel the next day. I didn't dare leave

a shampoo from another hotel for the maid. I think it would have been

an insult to the other shampoos. Don't judge me.
If you ever get to Seattle, a must stay here at the

Doubletree Arctic Club Hotel.

p.s. Our last night in Seattle we were upgraded to a two room suite at a great discount because our daughter-in-law works for the Hyatt. That was a nice ending to

our Seattle Wedding Weekend.

Mod Podge

Ever since I got my calling as Relief Society President in May I haven't had much time to sit down and Blog. I truly miss it. This evening I decided, that's it. I am doing it. So much has happened in such little time, Funerals, Weddings, Planning a wedding, tenants moving out, lots of cleaning and cleaning, Pest abatement ( the worst)! Still going through this, just had a second spray today. I hope this takes care of it. I don't know sometimes whether I'm coming or going. All in all, there have been some great moments that I will treasure for the rest of my life. Dilemma, how much to say in a Blog? In my short time in this calling I have found a great love (never thought I would have) to want to serve the sisters in my ward, grant it, not all at once and not 24 hours a day, but I truly want the best for our sisters. I wish I could wave a magic wand over our ward that everyone would do their Home and Visiting teaching. Not so much for the teaching but the desire to want to check up on their assign families to make sure they are okay and if they had a genuine need. Not to preach to them but to let their families know they are loved and appreciated, a shared message from the First Presidency or General RS Presidency would just be an added bonus. News Flash: And don't fall over when I say this: but I have come to appreciate the Bishop of our ward. I'm sure I don't have a tenth of a tenth of what's on his plate. I think about the state of our country and of the world and wonder all the time, are we and am I prepared? What more can I do as a mother and wife to be prepared? Is my house in order? Are we learning and teaching others to be self-reliant so in a pinch are we able to take care of ourselves? I was speaking to someone the other day and he was telling me about (I'll call him Joe) who lives by himself and this "Joe" was having shoulder surgery. I asked the man if "Joe" needed any help. He said, oh gosh no, Joe is so independent he would rather eat peanut butter sandwiches or soup from a can for a week or two than ask for help, that's how independent he is. I think I said, good for him, we all could use his tenacity. My friends know me and know I am in no way perfect, but I have my moments, like a couple of weeks ago, I was greeted in our foyer from a very dear sister, and just by being in her presence, I want to be better, I want to do better. She has that affect on me. I'm sure you'all know someone like that. I just need to remember that feeling more often. Well I better get back to busy busy, but this has been a great respite, if only for a few minutes. I'll try to come back soon.

TTFN

"georgie"