My New (old) Friend!

I decided I needed a blogger buddy.

A friend that goes around with me and helps me take pictures and decide what I should blog about.

After all there is Dana with her Stone Rabbit.

Oh, and there is Mrs. Magpie with her Annie.

And now she as added Roy the Sock Monkey to the bunch.

I was feeling sad that I didn't have a buddy to watch out for me and to help me watch my blue bowls and such that Mrs. Magpie or anyone else may be coveting.

So I thought and thought and I realized I had someone underfoot.

She was underfoot because she was displayed on the floor!! Here is my new (old) friend. Isn't she cute?

I don't know why I didn't thing of using her before.

I think I got her from the Teddy Bear Museum in Naples, Florida a few years ago.

She came with the name Margarita.

At least that is what the tag on her said.

But she didn't want that name.

No offense to the name Margarita, but she felt it wasn't her.

So we had to decide on a new name.

Emma?

hmm....no

Or maybe Sophia?

hmm...eh

What about Wilma?

hmm...not me

I know ...Louise. That is a family middle name.

hmmm....

Ida?

Or better yet...Ida Rose!

We are getting there. Margarita thinks she likes that name.

But we think some more.

By golly I think we've got it.

Helmi!

Why Helmi?

Well, it was my grandmother's name. She didn't go by that name though.

She went by Pearl. My kids called her Grandma Pearl.

Margarita decides she like the name Helmi.

It is different.

Ok, Helmi it is then.

So my blogger friends, meet Helmi!

There is where she used to reside.

Guarding this bear box.

Helmi was getting mighty tired of guarding this box and wanted to have a new role in my life.

Ok Helmi, you can start my helping me put away that Christmas storage box I see in the background there.

Hmpf! Not what I had in mind she says.

Besides why was I guarding this box anyway?

Because you are a bear and it is a bear box.

So what was I guarding?

I don't know let's look inside.

Here is a closer shot of the outside.
See all those cute bears with their red roses.

There is nothing in here!

You mean to tell me I was guarding an empty box!!!

Another hmpf!

Sorry Helmi.

Well, it is not totally empty. You have some random embroidery floss in here.
Yes I see. I wondered where that went.
See you did such a good job of guarding that Helmi, that I didn't even know where that floss was. You didn't let me look in there before.
Now I don't remember what that floss goes to.
Oh well, I will just add to my pile of floss.

Hey Neabear, this box has a mirror in it!
If I had know that, I could have been keeping myself pretty with it.
I never knew what I looked like.
I guess I look pretty good.

For a bear.

So why does this box have a mirror?
I think it is one of those old style train cases.
You mean you keep trains in them?!?
No, that is just what they call them. I don't know why they call them train cases.
Probably because they are used to travel on trains.
You keep your makeup and toiletries in them.
What are toiletries Neabear??
I'll tell you about that some other time.

Hey, wait! What are you doing?
Don't close me up in here! I'm scared of the dark!
Besides I won't be able to see myself in the dark if you shut the lid.
Ok, I won't. Anyway, you are my new friend. I was just teasing you a little.
Helmi decides she wants to help me play on the computer.
This is my favorite solitaire game.
It is called Forty Thieves.

Helmi says it looks like a fun game.
Let me play, let me play!!

Ok, Helmi. Here is the mouse.

But you need to turn around and face the computer.

Oh, right!

Here we go. Yippee!! I'm playing! I'm playing!

What is the name of this game again Neabear?

Forty Thieves.

Hey! Look at that! I won! I won!

No Helmi. We won! I had to help you!

Ok, we both get credit for the win then.

Then the mail came.

No Country Sampler like I was hoping for.

But my order of the 2 Gooseberry Patch books came.

Yippee!

I got books 6 and 8 from the Gooseberry Patch website.

They were on sale when I ordered them.

I had so much fun making gifts from the ones I had that I decided I had to get a couple of the others. I have already seen a few ideas for next year in these books.

Helmi says "Let me see, let me see".

Ok, here you go.

Helmi, you are going to help me make these things, right?

Sure you betcha. It will be fun.

Good, says me.

Pink Saturday #18

Hooray! It is Pink Saturday again! I love Saturdays anyway, having them PINK makes them even better. Thank you to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for hosting this fun day for us. I keep saying I am running out of things to post for Pink Saturday.

But somehow or someway I manage to find something.

This time the pink is not at my house. The pink is at my mother's house.

Temporarily..... it is a borrowed pink.

Huh????

I see this bag sitting on her coffee table.

"Mom, what is the bag for? "

"Oh, it is the crab kit"

"Crab kit??"

"Your brother and his wife loaned to us for the crab feed."

"Crab feed??''

"We have tickets to a crab feed and we have never been to one before"

"Neither have we."

"A lady in my exercise class bought a table and gives out the tickets to people. These tickets are $50 a piece!"

"Whoa! That is sure nice of her."

"Anyway, we don't know what to do at a crab feed. So your brother loaned us this crab kit."

Me to brother--"I thought you were allergic to shellfish."

Brother-"No, mainly allergic to mussels. But I got enough mussels so I don't need to eat those anyway."

Me-"LOL" at his pun.

Me-"Sooo.... what is a crab kit?"

I take a peek inside.

There are two of these bibs.


And two of these bibs.
That adds up to four bibs for two people.

Hmmm...crab feeds must be messy.
Unless two are for sharing.

These are longer in case you are messier and need your lap covered too.

I don't know my fish that well, but these look like lobsters to me.
Oh, well.
At least you can stay clean no matter what you eat!

A ziplock bag had these tools in them.
I guess crabs are hard to eat.

I'm so naive.....


And a couple of butter warmers. These are cute!
I could covet these.
I did not realize crab feeds were so complicated.
I hope my mom takes pics of them eating crabs so I can see what they look like.

I'm so naive when it comes to crabs.

This event is next Saturday, so I don't know yet how it went because it has not happened.
In our area there are a lot of crab feeds as fundraisers for various organizations.
This particular one my parents are going to is a fundraiser for the local Boys and Girls Club.
But there are going for free.
Remember, this lady with money bought a whole table!!!

Happy Pink Saturday!

Remembering Grandpa

I know I have posted memories of my grandparents before. But while at work today, I suddenly remember what today is.

January 16th.

Why is that signaficant to me?

Today is the anniversary of the death of both of my grandfathers. I don't have a picture right now of my dad's father. Also I grew up in California and he lived in Kansas. So I did not see him very much as a child. I was in the third grade when he passed away on January 16, 1966. We made a sudden trip to Kansas to attend the funeral. My mom was not able to contact my teacher or my principle to let them know why I was going to be absent from school for a couple of weeks while we made the trip there and back. I remember that the kids did not go to the funeral. We were all watched by someone at someone's house. Obviously I don't remember that particular detail.

This picture is of my mother's parents, taken not long after they were married in 1928. Both of my grandfathers worked in gas stations for awhile. But the job I remember this grandpa doing is with the post office as a lettercarrier as he was called. He also played the drums in the lettercarrier's band. He knew how to play the piano too. He died on January 16, 1997 at the age of 92.
Here are my grandparents as I remember them the most. They used to square dance and round dance in their retirement years. My grandmother also did some painting and I have a few of hers hanging in my house.

It is really strange that my grandfathers should die on the same day but 31 years apart. My grandmothers did not do the same thing. One died in the month of April and the other in December. I am blessed to have memories of both sets of grandparents, even though I did not see my father's parents very often.

Three Or More Thursday #10

Yay! It is Thursday again! Two reasons why I am happy about that. One, it is almost the weekend. I live for those it seems. Two, it is time for Three Or More Thursday! Many thanks to Tam over at The Gypsy Corner for hosting this fun day.
This time I am sharing with you my bells. I really don't know how I ended up with some bells, but bells I have.

This one is from Avon. My mother-in-law used to sell Avon and I have ended up with some of her Avon things as well as other things I have already shared on my blog.

This bell is part of this set. I have included a picture of the other things that go with this bell. The pitcher and the butter dish. I have a collection of pitchers too. But that is another post.
I really like this one with the graceful bird on top. This one is also from Avon and was in my mother-in-law's things.
This one is silver and yes I know. It really needs to be polished. I truly don't remember where this one came from. I believe it is one that was handed down to me. But I don't remember who I got it from.
Then I also have these two school bells. Again I don't know how I got these, but I really like them. I have them displayed on this table with the Special Edition Crayola Collector's Colors and also with the large elementary school pencil. If I had 6th bell, then I would have saved this picture for a future Three or More post.

Happy Three Or More Thursday!!

Blue Monday 16-B

Yay! It is Blue Monday again!! Thank you to Sally over at Smiling Sally for being our wonderful host for this fun theme. Go on over and see who else is posting for Blue Monday.

Better yet, join the fun if you haven't already.

On Sunday we were the coffee hosts for coffee time after church. Our turn comes up now and then. I decided to do something different than our usual bagels and cream cheese.
I found a lemon cake recipe that I wanted to try.

When do I decide to put this together?
Sunday morning.
Why I wait until the last minute I don't know.
It seems to be an inborn trait I think.
I need to decide which bowls to use. See them stacked there?
Oh no, maybe I shouldn't have shown you where I keep them.

Mrs Magpie is going to know where they are.

She has a tendency to covet my bowls.

This set is a pyrex set I had gotten as a wedding gift 29 years ago.

No blue there though.

This set used to belong to my godmother. Told you I had a lot of things handed down to me.
I love using this set. I tend to use these more than the pyrex set.
I decide to use the yellow one.
The recipe does say to use a large bowl.

Here is the cake mix. Sorry no blue there.

The recipe calls for a can of lemon pie filling. I could not find canned lemon pie filling.

Other types of pie filling yes, but no lemon pie filling.

What to do, what to do?

I decide to buy this Snack Pack of lemon pudding.

It was about an ounce shy of what I needed.

This should work. Notice the blue wording on the packaging.

I don't have a nice Kitchenaid stand mixer.

Boy I wish I did though.

I want a red one.

So I had to settle for using my hand mixer once again.

It was also a wedding gift. I have had that darn mixer for 29 years.

You know using a hand mixer gets messy.

I had spatters all across the front of the sweatshirt I was wearing and on anything else that was in the vicinity.

I will probably be finding spatter remnants for days.

Recipe says to use a jelly roll pan. I don't have one of those either.

So I look at the grocery store.

No jelly roll pans.

Too late to check any other stores.

Instead I use this 2-pack of aluminun pans I found at the store.

I figure it should work. Notice the blue in the lettering there?

Here it is! The aluminum pans work out just fine.

They came with lids which made it perfect for transporting to church.

Now they have to go into the oven.

Without the lids though.

Yummmmm. Look at that bowl.

There is some left to lick.

Do you lick your spatulas after you empty the bowl?

How about a finger scoop? Yummm.......

Ahhh....yummm......can't you just taste that lemon flavor?

I did.

And boy, was it lemony yummy.

Now I gotta make the icing! Look at all the blue I have here.

The recipe called for a 3 oz package of cream cheese.

Could not find that either.

Boy, I had a tough time finding what I needed.

So I get the 8 oz package and figure I would have to use my little scale to weigh out 3 ozs.

Then there is the butter.

Blue lettering there people.

And the blue package of powdered sugar.

Here is my blue and white towel I used to dry my hands/dishes as I was going along.
Well! What do you know!
Tells you how long it has been since I bought the 8 oz package of cream cheese.
I was surprised to find the oz markings on the package wrap.
In BLUE no less.
I don't have to use that scale after all.
Now all I have to do is cut on the 3 oz mark.
See it is right there between the 2 and the 4. (just in case you couldn't tell)
Yay! The BLUE bowl gets to help me out here.
The butter and cream cheese was not soft enough yet.
Into the microwave it goes to soften it a bit before I add the powdered sugar.
Oh, and some vanilla had to go in there too.
And I make more mess with my hand mixer again.

Here is the cake as I served it. The plate is not mine.
It is one I used at church. This went like hotcakes. Everyone liked it.
Yay! Success!
The best kind.
And I am happy.
We did not get home till much later because of a concert we went to after church.
Guess what I found when we got home.






ANTS!!




In the kitchen.

Guess they were after all my spatter mess from the mixer.

Happy Blue Monday!

Three or More Thursday #9

Here we are at Three or More Thursday again! Thank you to Tam at The Gypsy Corner for hosting this for us. Go hop over there and see who else is posting this week. Or better yet, why don't you join us.

I have ceramic type bears as part of my collections as well as the stuffed variety. Today I am going to show you three of them. All three of these were gifts to me at one time or another. All I have had for several years now.

The first one the left is a teacher bear. I think it was given to me while I was still working for the school district as an intructional aide in special education. I had done that for 12 years before switching to what I do now. The second one was from my son several years ago.

This one was given to me by a co-worker when I was working for the school district, but not the same person who gave me the first one. I have other ceramic bears also. But I will save them for other Three or More Thursdays, or Blue Monday or Pink Saturday depending on where they fit best.

Happy Three or More Thursday!!