Caroline modeling her new outfits

Here is Caroline modeling the dress she made this week. The top is lined and she put a zipper down the back. This is the 3rd summer that I have given her sewing lessons. We have been sewing for 2 days and finished the projects she was working on when she put a zipper in her dress.

She wanted to make a dress and some skirts. She will be in the 9th grade in high school this year and wants to wear dresses and skirts. For the last 8 years she has had to wear a school uniform.

Since there's not a place to buy patterns (WalMart closed their fabric section), we went to the local Christian mission thrift store and bought a skirt her size to use as a pattern. She likes the Aeropostale skirt she got for $2 which features 2 ruffles on a waistband. She also found a jumper there and is shown here modeling her two "finds" at the thrift store.

She found some hot pink fabric and black lace at an outlet store near Andalusia and designed the pink and black skirt shown here. I made this outfit for her, after she designed it.

The pretty floral print skirt was made using the skirt pattern of the dress pattern above.

The multicolored skirt with the tiny pleats was purchased from Kohl's recently. Again, we used it for a pattern to make another skirt.

Not all the time was spent sewing. We made two trips to Opp to purchase materials, thread, etc. We took a side trip to the cemetery to check on the condition of the flowers on James' grave. We went to the grocery to get things we needed to bake some zucchini bread for her to take home to her dad and sisters. She's a good cook and loves to make cookies.

Today she and her grandpa went shopping to buy a birthday present for her dad, our son Bill. She looked for a special Columbia shirt that he likes to wear when they go sailing or taking the boat out on the lake. They had the shirt wrapped at the store so I didn't get to see it.

We have enjoyed her visit so much and wish she 

could stay longer. Her summer is packed with camp, soccer practice and conditioning, and other activities.

She will be going to London for two weeks in July and when she returns, she will be having mandatory soccer practice. I guess we are lucky that she could work in 5 days with us.  I think she will enjoy wearing her new outfits this summer and to school.

I wonder how many 14 year old girls visit their grandmother, with their Singer sewing machine in tow!

Grandma Camp - Sewing and Cooking Lessons

Only one granddaughter at Grandma Camp this year. The other 4 are too old and have summer jobs. One graduated from college in Dec. and has a full-time job. The other 3 are working this summer and will be going back to college in August.

Caroline, almost 15, arrived yesterday from Florence, SC, to spend a few days. She had a hard time "working us in" this year as she is starting to high school in August and working out with her soccer team, getting ready for soccer. She has spent a week at 4-H camp at lake Marion this summer, another week at Florence Elite Soccer Camp, and this week was free so she came to visit us. We met her in Atlanta on Tuesday (half-way) and will take her back to Atlanta on Sat. to meet her dad to go back home.

Caroline wants to sew and bake a cake while she's here. Today we shopped for fabric for a dress and found just what she wanted.

Guess where we found the fabric? At the drug store in Opp!! This drug store is so unique. You go there for so many things. Computer supplies, beautiful cards and stationery, jewelry, purses, gifts, books, and beautiful cotton fabric and sewing supplies. Oh, and they also fill prescriptions and sell medical supplies too. I suppose that's why it's called a drug store or pharmacy.

In a small town, you can find almost everything you need. You just have to know where to go to find it! Like fresh ground gourmet coffee from Coffee Co. Roasters (Emerald Coast Coffee) can be found at a local florist. The clerk at a local service station orders my husband's pipe tobacco for him. I guess nobody else in Elba smokes a pipe.

If we can't find what we need, we order it on the internet. The UPS and Fed Ex trucks are often stopping at our house. People probably think we have a home business!!

I gave Caroline a teddy bear I made for her out of an old baby quilt that was her dad's when he was little. I made each granddaughter a bear from an old quilt and gave to them when they were around 16. Caroline is the last one to get a bear. I made hers a couple of years early while I can still see to sew! I will admit that I am starting to age a bit and find things harder to do than in the past.

We will do some more sewing tomorrow and maybe finish her dress in the morning. Then she wants to make a skirt. She brought her sewing machine with her because she is used to using it and knows how to thread it, etc. I draw the seam lines on the fabric and she sews the seams together. She even puts in zippers. I think she is learning something that she will use for a lifetime. I learned to sew when I was about her age. My grandmother taught me to sew on an old treadle machine in the 1940's.

Caroline made a dress last summer and wore it to a school dance this spring. She was so proud of her creation! She even made her older sister a dress last summer also.

I love my granddaughters and have so many happy memories of the times we spend together on holidays and summer visits. I just wish I could see them more often. You don't just hop up to Florence, SC or to Austin, TX and spend the day. That's why we spend a lot of time sending email and on Skype talking to each other.

When life gives you lemons, just toss 'em in your pitcher!

I just happen to love lemonade, especially in the hot summertime. I have good memories of stopping by Cook's Grocery Store in Elba on the way to visit Mama and Papa Smith when I was a little girl, and buying a dozen lemons to make lemonade for lunch at their house. We didn't grow lemons on our farm so they were very special for us. We grew almost everything we ate except sugar and flour. (At today's prices, I buy lemons one at a time and make my lemonade from Crystal Light powder, slicing one lemon in it to make it look like the real stuff!).   


I also like lemon curd or as my mother called it "lemon cheese".  She made this to frost white sponge cake and it was so good.


But that's not what it means "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade".

Now to tie this into my cooking! I have been working on putting recipes into cateories and putting them into a folder in my computer. These recipes I've had in boxes, etc. for years and are written on backs of envelopes, cards, torn from newspapers and magazines, and many are covered with flour, etc.

When the recipes are "failures" or I didn't have the necessary ingredients, I would write notes in the margin about what happened and what I would do next time to"fix" it. And these are the "recipe keepers" I am putting in my recipe file.


When a recipe is a failure for me, I turn it into something better - or "make lemonade from the lemon" . Sometimes the revised recipe is so much better than the original - or to us at least it is.


I have been putting my recipes in categories such as dips, appetizers, beverages, sauces, pies, vegetables, etc. Now all I have to do is go to "My recipes" file, click on the category and find the recipe I'm looking for and print it out. So simple...... no more pulling down the boxes of individual recipes and searching for that elusive recipe for Baby Ruth bars or chicken chilli.


I even made a Miscellaneous file for things such as how to crack and peel a coconut. blanching and toasting raw almonds, substitutions, and many more.


This has been a tedious task, but very rewarding. Next, I will print out all the recipes and put them in a spiral bound binder to give to my granddaughters in college. They might enjoy using some of them. I'll enclose some pockets at the back of the binder for them to put their own recipes. Now isn't that being a good grandmother?

"Oh, Say Can You See (better)?"

Yes, I can indeed see better now that I have had my eyelids tacked up. I was having trouble reading the newspaper and the computer monitor screen. I went to see my optometrist and he said, "No, you don't have cataracts. But your problem is your droopy eyelids, and that can be taken care of."

So he made me an appointment with a plastic surgeon in Dothan, 50 miles away. On the initial visit, they measured my eyes, and did a lot of tests, etc. and made pictures. I didn't include the before and after photos taken at the Dr's office. They were terrible!!

The photos here are just some of my photos I have on hand. On the left you can see the droopy eyelids and on the right, after surgery. I've also lost some weight in the photo on the right. My cheeks aren't as fat!

Eyelid surgery (I don't know the medical term) is more uncomfortable than painful. You have to put ice packs on your eyes off and on for 20 minute intervals during the first 24 hours. (I didn't get up at night to do this.) This was to prevent bruising and black eyes, etc. It worked. I never had any black/blue spots on my face from the surgery. I used ziplock bags of frozen peas. I would put one bag back in the freezer and take out another to always have frozen peas, one bag for each eye.

Unfortunately I was allergic to the antibiotic ointment they gave me to put inside my eyes and after doing this for a couple of days and having red eyes and burning, I called the Dr's office, and they said to stop using the ointment immediately. And the problem cleared up.

After about a week, my eyes were feeling much better and when I returned to have the stitches removed, I was dismissed and the Dr. said my operation was a success.

The first thing I noticed after having the surgery was that I could read the entire page of the newspaper without having to turn my head from side to side, or look up or down. What a difference it made in repairing my droopy eye lids.

I can't believe I don't have cataracts, at my age. I guess that will come a little later when I am in my 80's? Jim had his cataracts removed this spring, and no longer has to wear glasses. He bought a pair of reading glasses to see the computer screen since he has to sit so far back at his new computer desk. He has worn glasses all his life, almost. They implanted a new lens in each eye and it's a miracle how much better he can see.

Creative and Healthy Cooking Pays Off

For the past several months I have been cooking healthy meals. No more pre-packaged foods, frozen pizzas, Subway sandwiches, and things that are easy and fast to put together for a meal.


I cook fresh vegetables at least once a day, serve fruit and cereal for breakfast, and either bake or grill our meat. Plus I cook some meat in a crock pot. No more fried foods for us. We eat salt sparingly (I have to have it on my sliced tomatoes). Never use sugar anymore; sometimes use Splendar if we need sweetner. We still drink coffee with caffiene and ice tea. This summer we are enjoying a lot of fresh fruit.


These healthy meals, plus walking a mile early every morning, going to the gym 3 or 4 days a week and walking on the treadmill, and working outdoors are committments I made to myself several months ago. So many of our friends (over 75) are "falling apart" and just sit at home and watch TV or go to a myriad of Drs. every week. Jim and I want to be in charge of our health and work to stay healthy. His recent cataract surgery was a great success and he no longer has to wear glasses.


We are making plans to celebrate Jim's 76th birthday on July 15 by going on a riverboat cruise in Chattanooga, TN, on our way to a family reunion in northeastern KY, near the Ohio river. We want to stay in shape so we can continue to travel for several more years - to visit our family in several other states.


About a year ago, I joined weight watchers and to date I haven't lost a lot of weight but I have lost two dress sizes. It was so much fun shopping this afternoon for some new clothes. I came home with a new pair of Gloria Vanderbilt denim capris that have no elastic in the waist and they fit comfortably. This time last year, I wouldn't have attempted to put on a size 14. I also bought two pair of knee length Liz Clairborne cotton shorts - those also without any elastic at the waist.


It has been years since I bought shorts or pants, or skirts, without elastic waistbands. I'll have to start wearing a belt now.


I have been taking clothes out of my closet and donating them to Good Will. Many of them were given to me by relatives over the years. I only dress up once a week and that's on Sunday to go to church. So I don't need many dressy clothes. In our hot Alabama climate, cotton is the choice of fabric for summer, and very casual. Nobody wears stockings to church here in the summer; wouldn't look right with sandals.

I asked Jim to take some photos of me in my new denim capris for you to see the "new" me. I am also attaching a photo made when I started my blog in July 2007 (see photo on left). Maybe you can tell a difference. The photo on the right was made tonight, June 23, 2010 on the back porch.

I wonder how I will look one year from now? I'm going to keep eating healthy and exercising. I might be another dress size smaller next year!!!

Remembering Father's Day

One of the first Bible verses I learned in Sunday School was "Honor thy father and mother". And I never forgot to do that. I always wanted to please my daddy and mother and tried hard not to disappoint them, as long as they lived. In turn, I taught our boys to respect us as parents and we always made "Father's Day" a special time in our home. 

I remember that the boys would make "coupon" books to give to their dad for chores he wanted them to do. Once Bill drew pictures of the chores and at the end of the book, he wrote "good until I die". The coupons didn't last too long.... Jim used them all.

Jim traveled extensively during his working career and when he was gone from home, I had to be mom and dad. We always tried to make things easy for dad and treat him special when he came home from his trips. Birthdays were very special. Bill shared his birthday with his dad on July 15. We always had one big party for the two of them.

When Jim retired, and we moved to our home in the woods in the middle of our tree farm in AL,

James and I had to get used to having Jim at home 24/7. We always did the grocery shopping while he was at work. We were getting ready to go to the grocery store one day, and James turned and looked at his dad as he was getting ready to go with us, and said to me "Does HE have to follow us every where we go?" It didn't take us long to get used to having him at home all the time, and he had to get used to us as well!

It's always "Father's Day" at our house - not just once a year.

Jim's New Computer Desk

For many years, Jim has been using a desk he made by putting a  top over two file cabinets. He had a shelf on the wall to hold things and the top of his desk was always cluttered.

When the boys gave him a new computer, I mentioned that he needed to look for a computer desk. He found just what he wanted at Office Depot, and it was 1/2 price. When he went to pick it up, they told him it comes unassembled. He asked the price to assemble it and when they told him $129, he said he'd do it himself.

After struggling with lots and lots of parts, instructions that were not too clear, and heavy boards to put together. we both decided that $129 was a good deal after all. But over a period of several days, we got it assembled and didn't have any parts left over!!

Then came the task of trying to make things fit in the spaces. First of all, some of the cords were too short. He had to buy extensions, some of which he found locally at Fred's. Others he had to order on the internet.

The keyboard sits on a "pull out" shelf and away from the monitor. He had to shop for some reading glasses in order to see the screen.

At last he has everything in place, and working. He loves his new "man cave". His love for research and genealogy keeps him busy when he's not outside mowing the lawn or doing his volunteer jobs.

Oh, and I failed to mention the new camera and microphone that sits on top of the monitor for him to "Skype" the granddaughters. They love dialing us up on the computer and talking to us on the computer screen. (I also have a camera and mike on my computer monitor.)

We use our computers for entertainment in the evenings. Not much on TV to watch and we don't enjoy parlor games. We both like Facebook, email, reading newspapers online, checking news and weather online, and "googling" for info we need. We sit side by side working on our computers and sometimes don't speak to each other for long periods of time. Doesn't sound very exciting, does it? But it's fun and relaxing for us.