Carrot Raisin Bread (Delicious) to go with that Spinich Strawberry Salad

I always like to show something with color on here and I found this chair photo I took years ago in California-wouldn't this be fun to own? Now onto the lovely lunch menu I am giving you-try these two recipes!
Edna's Delicious Carrot Raisin Bread
1 1/2 cups flour, sift
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
8 ounces vegetable oil
1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 cup mollasses
1 teaspoon vanilla (real)
1 cup shredded carrot
6 ounces of golden raisins
3/4 cup of chopped walnuts
350 degree oven
Combine flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder,and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.
In another bowl, mix oil,sugar,eggs,molasses and real vanilla with a mixer. Stir in carrot and raisins making sure to mix in well and separate each piece.
Next add flour mixture into wet ingredients and stir well until mixed. Pour batter into two UNGREASED 8 inch loaf pans and bake for 60 minutes until done.
I love to make a spinich salad this time of year and I love to mix the following together.
Spinich
cut up strawberries
blue cheese
slivered almonds
grated carrot
a small amount of red onion
Mix and add balsamic dressing or blue cheese dressing or your favorite
Serve with the carrot bread and good tea and enjoy while hearing the compliments that are served to you.

Thinking about the Things that Matter and Memorial Day

The photo above is of my Grandchildren at a birthday party. There were lovely gifts one after one and before the party started my Granddaughter caught the ugliest bugs in a green pail that you have ever seen. She rushed through opening the gifts so she could get back to the pail of bugs. This really amused me as I thought about what might matter to us and how something you buy doesn't even measure up to a green pail of wriggly, icky bugs to a little kid. :0)
I have been thinking about my Dad this weekend and how he had a nervous breakdown during WWII. People always talk about the harm we see on the outside but what is on the inside is often more hurt or damaged than anyone knows. I know my Dad struggled with anything violent and this Memorial Day I am remembering him saying we should always respect those that gave their lives and service to make our lives better. I have so many uncles and aunts who served during the war and friends who died in Vietnam. Now a new generation of young men has to fight because others think violence is a way to get their own way.
I have often said I want to buy an island and let only people come on who want to get along in peace and enjoy life. I am always going to have rose colored glasses when it comes to thinking that most good people want what I want.
I am madly making blocks and enjoying the hoochy process. Mark is golfing and so I have the house to myself which rarely happens. It is so nice to crank up the tunes, reflect on remembering my folks and my family who have passed by and friends too. Many of my quilting friends have come down with illness's or that nasty breast cancer. I pray they find something soon to help rid the world of the grief that brings.
I was going through a bin of fabric and on the bottom was the most delicious colors and textures! Isn't it funny how you spend so long building a stash and once you do, you can't find alot of it because of space? Am I alone on this? And buttons! I never thought I would say I have too many but how in the world do you keep them where you know what you have? I want the house that is for sale down the street for a sewing house, wouldn't that be a dream come true? Your house stays a place to cook, rest and sleep and the house down the street is the place to mess up, dream up creations, take out your paints etc etc.I can dream can't I?
I hope you are having a good day and dreaming of fun things and remembering the people you still love who live on in your memories. Think about a story quilt!

ODE TO COLOR ON A DREARY DAY

So it is a chilly, rainy kind of dreary day. We took our Grandkids to go and see Shrek-so many good ideas for quilts in that film-the artwork is wonderful if you look close. Then we took the kids out to the river and dropped them off in the rain with their parents-they ran and got their bikes and joined other kids in the chilly weather, undetered. It was wonderful. No kid ever worries about the weather. A little girl had a new bathing suit she wanted to try out and she put it on over her sweats with a jacket. :0) Very attractive if you are four years old. :0)
I took many photos in Germany of colored things just for a lift sometimes to get color in my head. I thought I would share these. Remember to comment to get in on the drawing. Recipes are welcome by all of us.

A LAUGH FOR YOU TODAY! Thank You Aunt Bonnie!AND a lovely note from Carol (Sacramento)

A 54 year old woman had a heart attack
and was taken to the hospital.
While on the operating table she had a near death experience.
Seeing God she asked "Is my time up?"
God said, "No, you have another 43 years,
2 months and 8 days to live."
Upon recovery, the woman decided to stay
in the hospital and have a face-lift, liposuction, breast implants
and a tummy tuck. She even had someone come in
and change her hair color and brighten her teeth!
Since she had so much more time to live,
she figured she might as well make the most of it.
After her last operation, she was released from the hospital.

While crossing the street on her way home, she was killed by an ambulance.
Arriving in front of God, she demanded,
"I thought you said I had another 43 years?
Why didn't you pull me from out of the path of the ambulance?"
(You'll love this)

God replied: "I didn't recognize you."
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My friend Carol Baker wrote me this wonderful note-I had to share it with YOU.

I enjoy Yogi Chai Tea, and the little quotes they print with each teabag. The tag on today's tea reads:
"In order to be remembered, leave nothing behind but goodness." I have such happy memories of tea with my Aunt Edie at her little kitchen table. I miss her terribly. Her manner of speaking was so delightful, positive and fun. So many wonderful stories she shared. Until you reminded me today, I was thinking of her passing as a sad thing and the end of a era. I'm going to do some gardening while the sun shines today and then head out to the store for some lemons, to make lemon curd. She had a lovely herb and rose garden off her kitchen with little winding brick paths which she laid with her own two hands. We would walk out there to pick lemons from her trees. They were the best lemons I've ever enjoyed. All around were blooms from sage and lavender and geraniums. Such a special place. I've decided that it's time to stop feeling sad and instead honor her memory and start new traditions, sharing with neighbors and friends. Paying it forward. Mary Lou, you continually say things that remind me of what is truly most important in life. Hoochy hugs of thanks to you

Carol Kandoll's quilt story for her sister Terry and her husband Rob

I first met Carol Kandoll on a bus in San Diego going to a Visions show many years ago. Then later on I stayed with her when I went to my favorite town in Alaska (Petersberg) to teach. It is a fabulously beautiful town with many scandinavians. Since my Grandparents were Norweigen (Grandpa) and Swedish (Grandma), I was happy to see lots of lefse, halibut and other things I ate with my Mother when visiting my Grandparents in Canada. Carol's house was charming and the trip was absolutely one of the best trips I have ever made. I asked why the town only had 300 or so people and she said it rains all but about 60 days or something. "Oh" I said. When I was there it was simply sunny and beautiful.
And hey, isn't this story quilt just charming and even better a gift for her sister who has Grandchildren that someday will call it theirs. Terry lives right on the ocean and it looks just like the view behind her. She and her husband like to go to Palm Springs in the winter and golf. Her flower garden is wonderful and well depicted here. I love the dates and the sentiments here, don't you?
What story could you be planning to share about someone you love?

Know anyone who is a new Mom or Grandma? Maybe they need to do a story quilt!

My friend's Joan and Curt just had their very first Granddaughter. I also met a woman who was the checker at my grocery store and she is a new Grandma and a quilter. She wants to do a story quilt about the joy of having a new little one in her family. I love helping with this.
Today is my Granddaughter Mary Lou's birthday. She had ten little kids over to her home and I enjoyed watching them all play together. Mary Lou found some really gross big bugs in the backyard and put them in a big green pail and brought them into the house to show her Mom (who promptly took them outdoors.) She cared more about the bugs than she did the many darling gifts she received...I think this might be a new story quilt. :0)

Pondering Life and the Things We Hold Dear-How Long Do They Last Really?

When I went to the High Tea at Lillian's house with my Aunt, I went for a short walk to a house of a different time. Perhaps this house had people who celebrated friendships with tea and bisquits too....who lived here and played the piano and drove the old truck to town for things a family might need. Who is left to testify to their lives...are there photos of the family somewhere in someone's home? This is why I love story quilts and what they say about people and things we love. Think about it, what are you leaving that will tell about who and what you care about?
I wonder about this old truck and who drove it and what they hauled and who they loved and worked for. The house, the piano and the truck all in ruin and no story for someone like me who wonders who lived here in Libby Montana and what was their story?

Closer up to the house I wondered about........why is the piano outside and who played it and enjoyed the music?

A view of a house and a piano out front that shows the ruins of time and weather...who lived here and who is related to them? What is their story that we don't know?
What was done in this building and who lived her long ago? Did they hold the same dreams that you and I hold? What were their families like and their hopes and dreams?

A field that once held children and families who ran and worked and looked at their property and the area that they lived in....

Mat 6:19-21 (TEB) "Do not save riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. Instead, save riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. For your heart will always be where your riches are."

LIBBY MONTANA, LEMON CURD RECIPE!,city of eagles and my wonderful Aunt and her friends.....

Libby Montana is called the city of Eagles-I remember going to Crystal Lake close to Libby and watching the many eagles soar...Libby is beautiful and it has so many charming qualities...especially the people who live there and support each other. My family has many roots in this place and it is nice to go and remember that. My Aunt took us to the cemetary to visit family and friends there. Lots of memories and oh so many ideas for story quilts.
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Tea sets and flowers and a lovely time at Lillian's house in lovely Libby....

Offerings at the High Tea----wish I had some of those lemon tarts today!
Aunt Bonnie's Fab Lemon Curd Recipe
3 eggs, beaten
1 c sugar
1/4 c butter
2 lemons
Use juice of 2 lemons and the grated rind of 1 lemon.
Mix ingredients together and cook in double boiler, stirring constantly, until thick as honey.
Put in jars and tie down when it is cool

My plate at the High Tea-OK, I admit it, I took too much food...and ate it all. Anything homemade is wonderful and I get tired of restaurant food...I never thought I would ever say that.

If you read about the High Tea in Libby then you know about the tea sets. Here is a simple photo of some lovely pieces owned by Terry.

My Aunt Bonnie, Cousin Kristi and friend Lillian and I had a wonderful lunch at this restaurant before I drove home. For a good place to eat in Libby Montana, go here and be sure to order soup with whatever you order. It is delicious!

Libby Montana and My Aunt Bonnie and Cousin Kristie, a true joy!

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Two of my favorite people are my cousin Kristi and my Aunt Bonnie who lives in Montana. I no sooner got home from California than my cousin Kristi came and we headed over to Libby Montana to visit, have fun, watch movies, eat good food, laugh, look at old old photos, quilt, go to a lovely high tea put on by Lillian, enjoy my Aunts friends and fill our hearts with love for each other and prayers for good things for our family. I came home happy, filled with joy and thankful for my many blessings for those that I love-both family and friends.
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Here I am at the High Tea with my dear Aunt Bonnie. She has been ill with lung cancer lately but she is a tornedo of things she is doing and planning and she is working on a lovely 4th of July table piece as well as a Christmas wallhanging. She is positive, a gift to her friends and family, alot of fun to laugh with and reminice and just a joy in many ways.

Aunt Bonnie with her wonderful friend Lillian. Everyone should have a kind friend like this. Or, maybe you can be a friend to someone who needs you today.

Quilt sandwiches in our honor. All delicious and lovely. The nicest High Tea I have ever attended including ones at the Empress in Victoria. Lillian is gifted as a hostess, a cook and a friend.

Can you tell how beautiful the foods were that Lillian made for the High Tea at her home for my Aunt (who Lillian cooks for each day), my cousin Kristi from Seattle, myself and some lovely quilters and Lillian's friend who brought china for us to use.


Here is my darling and fun Aunt Bonnie in her favorite apron...she always looks great in red! She is the Matha Stewart of our family only nicer....

Beautiful scones, hand made bisquits with lemon curd and huckleberry butter, pean tassies, fruits of all kinds, salmon sandwiches, cucumber canapes, egg salad and bacon sandwiches, layered sanwich loaf,more I can't remember-Lillian is one wonderful cook and friend along with her friend Terry who provided rare tea ware to use....wonderful English stuff



Guests included a variety of animals with lovely eyes.

You have the feeling you are in Montana when the animals in the house have straw hats on for the High Tea....charming and fun!

QUILTER'S ESCAPE GAVE US LOTS TO LOOK AT AND THINK ABOUT!

Above is the house I want to buy if I win that lotto......
Here are Lynn's blocks for her story quilt- she chose cheddar color for the center thus getting an A+ from Mary Lou. You may google "Quilter's Escape" to find out the fun planned for next year!

Cindy's quilt is all ready for her story!


Pat shows off just one of her many flowers-this one is one of the simpler ones she did-she got quite proficient at making some great posies!

Beth's Paris quilt block...isn't it wonderful? Paris is wonderful too.

Cindy made real progress on her blocks! She lives at Fort Bragg.

This is Mary's pine tree block for her border. She is doing a story about her husband. Mary lives in Hayfork which is close to where we had Quilt Escape.



These were the tables at the banquet. We had nice treat boxes with fabrics and goodies in them along with colorful tissue paper. The room was so pretty!

This cow came down to eat my last energy bar-I seem to be giving these to horses and cows more than people lately. Her eyes were so beautiful.


Talk about wonderful color! This heather was wonderful! Flowers and everything else grows like weeds here.

Wouldn't this make a lovely painting or quilt? I loved this scene as I walked to eat each noontime.