'On the Fringe'

This month over at Cookin' Up Creations we have an etsy store sponsoring us. It's called Dot & Whimsy & you can check it out HERE.

She has graciously sent us some 'On The Fringe Crepe Paper Trim' to work with this month. I received the Neopolitan colors...got them yesterday. Can't wait to get in here to my scrap table & play!

Mad About Sketches!

If you love scrapbook sketches and a chance to win a great prize while getting layouts done, join us at Cookin'UP Creations during April!

Doppelgangers

The girls dressed up for Doppelganger hall meeting this week. We have Marilyn Monroe, Beyonce & Eowyn. Aaahhhh....the fun of college life!

Springtime in the Country

It was another absolutely gorgeous Spring day today. With the high just right around 60. The boys have been busy for the past two days mowing, trimming, staking up our young fruit trees, etc. They've got it looking nice outside. Now they just need to weed-eat. The picture above is Ashley's Willow tree. It's really growing & beginning to look like a real tree.

Our little orchard. Clay practically had to bush-hog it after the long winter. Now, after that first real good going-over, it'll be much easier to maintain.

I looked up toward the mountain today & thought how pretty it was. These photos just don't do it justice. It made me think of you, Aunt Vada.....so all these pics are just for you. ;-)

Ashley's strawberry patch...all freshly weeded. Thanks Michael.

The Phlox out in the corner of the front yard.

And lastly, some little crocheted flowers that I made while sitting under my Dogwood enjoying the sunshine this afternoon. They will be headed to PA soon.....to a friend of mine who has 4 little girlies & wanted some crochet flowers for head bands. Sure hope they like them.

'Miracle for Jen'

On the night of November 5, 2006, the Barrick family was driving home from church when their van was struck by a drunk driver. Fifteen-year-old Jen suffered multiple skull fractures and severe brain trauma and was not expected to survive the night. But against all odds, she did. As she lingered in a coma, doctors warned that if Jen ever woke up, she would be cursing and screaming in confusion due to her brain injuries. Instead, after five weeks she opened her eyes and began praying and praising God. Jen didn’t remember her middle name, recognize her parents, or recall that she had a little brother—but she remembered Jesus and every word to every praise song and scripture she had hidden in her heart before the accident. As any loving mother would, Jen’s mother Linda wanted God to heal Jen—make her like she was before. Normal. But a loving God had something else in mind—instead of making her normal, God is making Jennifer—and the whole Barrick family—extraordinary, miraculous. Miracle for Jen is the remarkable true story of a family who overcame tragedy and learned to trust God's plan for their lives in a whole new way.

 

Has anyone out there read this yet? I picked up a copy at Sam's this past Friday. The whole family spoke at church a few weeks ago & I just couldn't wait to get my hands on the book. They have an amazing story! I highly recommend it!!

 

 

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NYC- part 5

OK, back to my photos from NY........

I snagged this photo from an online search......trying to find out just what building this was...... & here's what was written under it:  "We wonder how many who pass this building on Fifth Avenue realize they’re reading a Scripture! Three characteristics listed from Micah 6:8 were inscribed on the other side of this building, 'do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with thy God.'"

....and here's my shot where just above that truck you can read 'Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with thy God.' Pretty amazing to me to read that in the middle of all the hustle & bustle of this big city!!

The entrance to the Apple store. Sarah had told us about this......how you go in on ground level & the stairs take you straight down under & into the store. Pretty wild!

Me with the 'Toy Soldier' standing outside of FAO Schwarz. FAO Schwarz, founded in 1862, is the oldest toy store in the United States.^[1] The company is known for its unique high-end toys^[2], life-sized stuffed animals, dolls, games and more. The FAO Schwarz flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City is a popular tourist destination, and has gained iconic status for its “BIG” floor piano, cameos in major motion pictures and real-life toy soldiers.^[3] The FAO Schwarz brand is exclusively operated by Toys“R”Us, Inc., a dedicated toy and juvenile products retailer. FAO Schwarz was founded in 1862 under the name “Toy Bazaar” by German immigrant Frederick August Otto Schwarz, in Baltimore, where he and his brothers retailed toys from a fancy-goods store.

The very same Teddy Bear that we gave Ashley for Christmas. Hers came from Toys R Us.

The Harry Potter section.....'Quality Quidditch Supplies'

Lovely picture of me in my witch hat.

This is what I wanted to see.......the BIG piano!

Check out the price tag on said piano.....$250,000! Ouch!

Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) (known colloquially as Tiffany or Tiffany's) is a luxury American multinational jewelry and silverware corporation. Tiffany sells jewelry, sterling silver, china, crystal, stationery, fragrances, personal accessories, as well as some leather goods. Founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and Teddy Young in New York City in 1837 as a "stationery and fancy goods emporium," the store initially sold a wide variety of stationery items, and operated as Tiffany, Young and Ellis in lower Manhattan. The name was shortened to Tiffany & Co. in 1853 when Charles Tiffany took control, and the firm's emphasis on jewelry was established.

These pictures were for Jon. Taken outside of the Ferrari store.

Clay was adamant that we MUST take Alli (our little chocoholic) some chocolate from Godiva. So, we stopped in this one while shopping at the Rockefeller Center. We got her the cutest little stuffed teddy bear holding a Godiva chocolate bar.

Atlas is a bronze statue in front of Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan, New York City, across Fifth Avenue from St. Patrick's Cathedral. The sculpture depicts the Ancient Greek Titan Atlas holding the heavens. It was created by sculptor Lee Lawrie with the help of Rene Paul Chambellan, and it was installed in 1937.

The Waldorf Astoria Hotel......We got Starbucks coffee here....thanks to Sarah for the anniversary gift card. We thought it very appropriate & 'Sarah-like' to get coffee at the Waldorf. ;-) Wasn't Clay just the smartest thing to think of the fact that if we got it here......it would say 'Waldorf Astoria' on the receipt & that would be something cool for me to include in my scrapbook?!

St. Patrick's Cathedral

The New York lights from atop the Empire State Building. The Chrysler building in the bottom photo.

It was SO windy up there!!

This is looking straight down on Macy's.

Looking on up toward the tippy-top

The Empire State Building rises to 1,250 ft (381 m) at the 102nd floor, and including the 203 ft (62 m) pinnacle, its full height reaches 1,453 ft–8⁹⁄₁₆ in (443.09 m). The building has 85 stories of commercial and office space representing 2,158,000 sq ft (200,500 m²). It has an indoor and outdoor observation deck on the 86th floor. The remaining 16 stories represent the Art Deco tower, which is capped by a 102nd-floor observatory. Atop the tower is the 203 ft (62 m) pinnacle, much of which is covered by broadcast antennas, with a lightning rod at the very top.

 

Red Neck School

Just thought I'd take a little break from the NY pics & share a little bit of my 'everyday' here in the country. Clay & the boys had gone fishing at Smith Mt. Lake on Tuesday catching about 50+ crappie which we had for supper last night. Mmmm-mmmm! Can't beat FRESH fish.

Anyway, it's safe to say that they are in full-fledged fishing mode around here these days. And yesterday found the boys building their own little minnow pool out here by the building. A way to have live minnows handy for them when they decide to head off to the lake. First off they took a 55-gal. water drum & sawed the end off. Then they set about the task of hauling pond water up here to fill it with. Michael was doing it by himself at first until Jon came out to help. They then advanced to  Michael driving the scooter while Jon held two 5 gal buckets of water....one in each hand from the pond up the hill here. That got old really fast & then Jon's ingenuity kicked in. He found these two old meat hooks out in the building & hung one off each side of the scooter basket & then he could hang a bucket of water on each for the haul up the hill.....easy-peasy!

Don't you just love their Red-Neck ingenuity?! Git 'r done!

And voila! Here's their 'Red-Neck' minnow tank. Complete with a bubbler & screen topping to keep the critters out. How's that for a day's work?!

On a different note....a little 'Ta-Da' moment for me. I have had this hexagon blanket basically finished for a while now. All put together, that is. I was just contemplating whether to leave it as is or to do some sort of edging. I finally decided that at least a nice single crochet edge would give it a nice 'finished' look. But I ended up going one round further.......I did a row of single crochet & then a row of double crochet. Nothing fancy.....just something simple & I really like it!

A close-up of the edging.

I used Lucy's Attic 24 Hexagon pattern for this afghan. And I also did her 'join-as-you-go' method of joining my hexes. You  can find her pattern HERE.

I know I kind of over-did the pictures just a bit. But it was just so photogenic.....I couldn't help it! I absolutely love how this turned out.....color combination & all....especially the off-white edges. It really seems to make all the other colors just 'POP'. It's such a pretty little spring time afghan too. I KNOW I'm going to enjoy using this!

 

NYC-part 4

Tuesday morning we started off with muffins & coffee from Duncan Donuts which ate outside at Columbus Circle before taking a stroll through Central Park. Clay just HAD to have me take this picture.....he said Michael would get a kick out of it.

The statue at the center of Columbus Circle.

Globe statue by the Trump International Hotel and Tower.

CNN

Clay strolling through Central Park.

Statue of Beethoven.

Steps leading down to Bethesda Terrace.

...overlooking the terrace

Seventh regiment statue....one hundred & seventh U.S. infantry.

The Central Park Arsenal, designed to resemble a medieval castle, has been used for just about everything. It has been a munitions depot, a police precinct, a museum (that would later turn into the Natural History Museum), a weather bureau, a zoo, and an art gallery.
Constructed in 1851 as a munitions depot for New York State's national guard, it is the second oldest building in the park. And located at 64th and Fifth Avenue, it was considered to be at an ideal position to deploy troops to the city or to either coastline.
The Building was taken over by the famous Robert Moses in 1934 as his command center and currently remains as the office of the parks commissioner.

The Plaza Hotel

Carriages lined up outside Central Park.