Fantastic Day & Travel to Providence Canyon State Park

I couldn't believe it Saturday when I got home to find that I had received a package from Jo in Tas. We did a little personal swap and she only mailed my package a week ago from Tasmania. I told her, jokingly, that I didn't know what I would like from Australia other than a kangaroo, didgeridoo, or boomerang - all of which were too large to mail. Well, doggone if she didn't send me a kangaroo after all. In this photo (above) he is attacking Tasmania (a postcard) in the manner of Godzilla. It is the attack of kangazilla!! I also got an Australian Homespun magazine, a bag of Tim Tam balls, a Cadbury's Koala Caramel, (unfortunately these had melted in the heat but I put them in the refrigerator and still haven't eaten them), and some cute fabric and wool. I hope I didn't leave anything out - it is a bit overwhelming (in a very GOOD way. ) Thanks Jo!

Well, next I visited Karol-Ann's blog to find that I had won this fantastic bag of African fabric scraps. I can't believe it! It will be so exciting to receive this fabric which is so different from anything that I have now. I will make something special with it. Thanks, Karol-Ann!Stitching Angel progress - Saturday morning I sent off my first package to my swap partner. I hope she likes it!

Saturday we heard that, sadly, Georgia will be closing some of its wonderful state parks due to budget cutbacks in the Department of Natural Resources. We had always meant to take the kids to Providence Canyon State Park, which is only about an hour away from us. When we heard that it would be closing we decided to go today. (They are also closing the Franklin D. Roosevelt's Little White House park and museum. I can't believe it! It is another that is close to us and it is so fantastic. We may visit it next weekend.) I took so many photos of the "Little Grand Canyon" and we hiked until we were ready to drop. This first photo above is of a kudzu bloom. They have a heady scent that you can smell from a long way off. The scent is almost like grape Koolaid. Kudzu is known as "the vine that ate the South." We hate it but the blooms are nice.
I have some photos of the canyon below. I won't explain them because they are self-explanatory. I have also some photos of wild flora. I know the names of most of these things but won't go into detail here. I am just going to post the photos for you to look at if you want. There is also a photo of me (I look awful - but who cares :-D).

We had a great day but we are extremely tired and are glad to be home. Thanks for visiting my blog. And here is the picture of me - in all my glory!!

Julie

Amy's Turned 100!!! / My favorite quilt

Amy has posted her 100th blog entry. To celebrate she is having a giveaway so hop on over to her site, Amy's Passions, and check it out. She has asked us to share our favorite quilt memory.
My favorite quilt memory is about some quilts that no longer exist. We had several nice feedsack quilts when I was a little girl. I used to love to look at the little scraps of fabric in the quilt. I remember some of them reminded me of pieces of candy, some had figures of animals and people, and some were just squiggly or solid. I didn't realize then that I was developing a love for fabric and quilts. Unfortunately, my mom just washed these in the washing machine and they eventually came apart and were thrown away. She didn't realize what she was doing and so I don't blame her but it sure is a shame.
Congratulations, Amy!
Julie

Paula Deen Chicken and Rice Casserole

WARNING: Non-quilting content ahead. If you don't care about recipes then you may want to skip this post.

Tonight I made Paula's Chicken and Rice Casserole. It was so good that I just had to blog about it. If you are looking for something special, this is it! We had this with salad and that was all that was needed.

Here is the recipe:

2 tablespoons butter or vegetable oil

1 medium onion, peeled and diced

3 cups diced, cooked chicken

2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans green beans, drained and rinsed

1 (8-ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and chopped

1 (4-ounce) jar pimentos

1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed cream of celery soup

1 cup mayonnaise

1 (6-ounce) box long-grain wild rice, cooked according to package directions

1 cup grated sharp Cheddar

Pinch salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat butter or oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl.
Add all remaining ingredients to bowl and mix together until thoroughly combined.
Pour into a greased 3-quart casserole dish. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand for a few minutes before serving.

I have to tell you, this made a lot! I filled my casserole dish and then another smaller one to save for later.

YUMMMMY!

Julie

Package in the Mail!!

Yesterday I was so excited to see that I had received a package from Brenda at Pumpkin Patch Primitives. I ordered a wool pincushion kit. She is one of my blog friends and so she included some extras for me.
I actually ordered a kit AND a pattern, not realizing that the pattern came with the kit anyway. So instead of giving me two of the same pattern Brenda put in another pincushion pattern. I am tickled pink! I was confused (well, ignorant) about the difference between wool felt and felted wool. Brenda tried to set me straight via emails but to be sure I could see the difference she included some samples of each. For one pincushion kit she gave me one in 100% wool and one in felted wool. Now I can make a comparison and see which one I like to work with best. Isn't she just the greatest?
Below is a selection of scraps of various quality. Brenda labeled them nicely so that I can compare and know what to look for in the various wooly stuff. Now is that service or what? I wanted to spend the day today working on these pincushions. It would have been the perfect day to do it since tropical storm Fay has caused us to have tornado warnings and just yucky weather all day long. Instead I decided to clean my son's room. He actually has a floor and now we know what color it is!
He wasn't thrilled that I packed up all his Legos. I had threatened that if I ended up cleaning his room I would pack them all up. Well, I had been saying this for a week and apparantly he didn't believe me. So today he spent the day with his dad at work and I cleaned like the wind!! He will get his Legos back next weekend if he does everything I have asked of him. I did the biggest part but there are still things that need to be organized. I told him that he has to move all the toy bins and clean and vacuum behind them. He is happily doing it now because, as I suspected, he had been overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the job. Now that I took a big chunk of it away and removed the temptation of Legos, he wants to clean. We'll see how long it will take him!
Julie

PHELPS!!

I just LOVE Michael Phelps. Is he not like a swimming machine? And he makes me so proud to be an American. I almost feel like saying, "Look what we did!" even though he is the one that did it. I can barely swim one lap at our local pool without having to stop for a rest.

Doesn't he just look like a sweet guy? His mama did a good job with him!!

I LOVE this shot. Can you imagine how this feels? Sorry, no quilt photos. I have Phelps Fever! LOL

Obligatory Quilt Photos

It is August and school is back in full-swing now. It has been cooler for the last couple of days which has been such a relief. Our students are starting to come out of their shells, or, as we say, the honeymoon period is over! Sixth graders are such a challenge sometimes. They are cute, however, and I love to work with them. The interesting thing is that this year my daughter, Joy, is in the sixth grade. She is actually in my sixth period class! So far that is working out pretty well.
The top two pictures are of a Sunbonnet Sue quilt I made using a Little Quilts pattern. It was supposed to be redwork but I decided to use fusible applique. It was one of my very first quilt projects. You can see that the machine quilting is not the best but I love it anyway. It was so much fun to pick out the fabrics for Sue's clothing each month.
Here is little Cabalito in swaddling clothes. Joy was treating him like a baby and insisted that I take a picture. He is such a cutie and so tolerant of the kids. I think that is somewhat unusual for a Chihuahua. The photo below is for Candace. Here is the mother plant of the hen that I told you would get so big. Mine is in a falling-apart pot - but it is one of those 12 inch diameter pots so you can see how big it is. Actually it doesn't look that big in this photo! Oh well. The Secret Santa Christmas Swap information came for me yesterday. I am so excited and am already planning what to put into the package. The Stitchers Angel Swap should start one day next week and I can't wait to find out who my swap partner is. This will be so much fun!!!
Julie

U.S.A.!! More Gold!

Wow! I just watched the Men's Freestyle Swimming Relay. I let the kids stay up to watch since Michael Phelps was in it. I had heard about the French team saying they had come to beat the Americans. When I heard that I thought, "Oh yeah, you just fired those guys up!" And sure enough - they won the gold! We were jumping up and down and screaming, "U.S.A."!!! I am too excited to go to bed now but I have to get up early so I will go and stare at the ceiling for a while until I drift off to sleep.

Good Stuff - Carolina Crossroads finally finished!!

Look what I received in the mail from Candace! Such a sweet surprise. I sent her some little hens and chicks and she sent me these. I have to tell you, I think she got the short end of the stick here. In the second photo I spread the contents out so that you can see the great fabrics and thread too. Do you see the little birdhouse? And the fabric and thread was in a pretty tea canister. Thank you so much, Candace!
Here is a quilt that I haven't shown you yet. It is a Scrappy Bargello in which I decided to not zig zag but to just go up (or down, depending on how you are looking at it) continuously. I like it for a change, and no one has to know that it is because I made a mistake ! LOL. Well, I guess everyone knows now. My mom's dentist had asked her to make him a quilt with lots of colorful blocks. She has a group of friends that get together at her house and quilt. They don't piece tops and so I came to her rescue and pieced this top. Her "bee" quilted it and will deliver it to him Monday. I certainly hope he likes it. If not, I want it back!! These next photos are taken in her house. HERE IT IS! Carolina Crossroads!! I finished the top ages ago and gave it to my mom for her birthday. She had it machine quilted by Cindy at Cinnamon Dreams. I am so glad that it is finally finished. Now I have to get busy and quilt my Orange Crush. Here is my little fella, John Owen, helping me to photograph the quilts. He is doing his best to hold it up for me to photograph it. He is saying, "Hurry up!" because his arms were tired.
By the way, hop on over to Candace's blog. She has made her 100th post and is having a giveaway!

"Teachers! Leave them kids alone!" - Pink Floyd

Well, tomorrow is my first day back to work. The students don't start until Thursday but we have to start earlier to prepare for their arrival. Oh boy!!! Where did the summer go? Was it really 8 weeks long? It seemed more like 2!!

I have signed up for the Secret Santa Christmas Swap on Chookyblue's blog. I am excited to get started on this one!