Happy Father's Day.....

They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, so I have made a delicious little treat for my Dennis - because he has been such a great daddy to our two kids. He tries to eat "heart healthy" as much as possible, so I created a tasty little something that is pretty to look at as well as pretty darn healthy....I made a meringue in the shape of a nest (this started out as a bowl, but turned into a nest when I realized I only had a small fluted piping tip!) and then filled it with raspberry sorbet and topped it off with fresh blueberries - yum! Meringues are simply egg whites, sugar, and a little vanilla & cream of tartar. Sorbet is completely fat free, and fresh blueberries are full of anti-oxidants - this is a winner! This would also be a great 4th of July treat too, don't you think? Here's the meringue recipe to get you started:

6 egg whites

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Beat egg whites until frothy, add cream of tartar and continue beating until peaks form - add sugar slowly and keep beating until stiff peaks can be formed - add vanilla. On parchment paper, draw 8 circles (I traced around a glass) and flip paper over onto a cookie sheet (so pencil doesn't touch the batter) Pipe the merigue batter onto the traced out circles, then put a spoonful in the center of each and spread it out to the edges. Continue piping around and around the perimeter, building up the walls of the nest. Bake at 200 for almost 2 hours.

Well that's it for now - it's time to get out of the kitchen and go back up to my attic - Vintage Barn is right around the corner and I have lots of goodies to make....

Til we meet again...

Pammy

it's Flag Day....fly your colors!

Tomorrow is a great day to show off Old Glory - we decided to jazz it up a little this year, and put up old fashioned patriotic buntings under two prominent windows. We already had the huge flag pole in front, but we decided to add the official USAF flag, in honor of our Dusty who is serving in the Air Force.Then I bought a couple of triple-flag-holders from an RV supply place, and dressed up the front porch with some inexpensive flags from Home Depot.
Of course I just had to add a patriotic touch to my favorite bird feeder/planter that Dennis made me several years ago....
Last but not least, I just had to add a picture of the peonies that are in full bloom on the side of our house....God flying His marvelous colors!

God Bless America!

Thanks for coming by....

Pammy

obsessed with monograms....

I have loved traditional monograms for as long as I can remember. Perhaps you remember a time when it was so cool to have a cable knit sweater (with knee socks to match of course!) with your three letter monogram embroidered on it - maybe it was just an east coast thing. I guess I got the monogram bug from my mom, because she (and all her friends) always sported basket purses in the summer with needlepoint monograms glued to the front. My mom even went through a phase when she was covering waste paper baskets (those oval tin things) with vinyl, then cutting out three large swirly initials out of felt and gluing them onto the vinyl - I seem to remember her having a little cottage industry of sorts, making these for friends and family.

So why not bring them back? As you can see, I have found a purpose for one of the frames I bought at the Farm Chicks. I had the three letters already, (Pottery Barn) but it seemed like they were kind of floating out in space all by themselves - they needed to be corralled! I am not entirely sure if my initial should be on the left or the right (traditionally speaking, that is) but it looked better this way.

Here are a couple of examples of time-honored, engraved monogram necklaces that I cherish....

The one on top was my mother's - the date on the back is May 13, 1950. I came to the conclusion that it must have been a bridesmaids' gift, since that date has no other significance that I know of. The other was a gift to me from my mother for my 21st birthday - it has the date engraved on the back.

I am not the only one in my family, these days, who loves monograms - Aleah, my daughter-in-law, designed this ornament to be handed out as wedding favors at their December wedding....

Their invitation had their monogram on the front, so she had it copied onto vellum. (Staples or Office Depot will do this) She then found a scalloped paper punch the correct size and punched out hundreds of discs. She bought inexpensive clear Christmas balls at Michael's, popped the top off, and figured out a clever way to get them into the hollow ball. Aleah rolled them onto a pencil, stuck the pencil into the ball, and pulled it out leaving the "un-furled" vellum behind! So smart, and so beautiful when all piled into silver bowls and used as centerpieces!!! Don't you just love killing two birds with one stone???

Now I believe my mother (and I) came by this fascination with monograms honestly - check out my 80-something year old grandmother in her cute little monogrammed shift! This was taken on the occasion of my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary - check out that blond on the stairs...

Helen Bennett Dunlap

Well I'm going to do my best to bring the old tradition back - I am now designing jewelry using a very traditional monogram. It took me forever to figure out how to create a custom monogram using my own computer (and limited computer knowledge) but I persisted and now I have the ability to create any classic monogram.

This is one of my latest designs - it is a "double" necklace that is strung with vintage pearls and rhinestones from the 1940's - a fabulous way to feature one of my soldered monogram pendants...

These are the pendants that I brought down to California for those lovely Nine Ladies ...

Well I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane with me - now it's time to grab my "boat bag" and get out on the lake! Thanks for stopping in....

Pammy

field trip!!!

Yesterday was a day I have been waiting for months to attend....the Farm Chicks show! It is held once a year at the Spokane Fairgrounds, about an hour from me. I put on my comfortable walking shoes, packed my backpack with a camera, measuring tape and cash, and kissed my husband good bye.....

Last year I went and it was rainy, cold, and the line was HUGE, so I didn't go in. This year I said I would wait for as long as it takes to get in. This show used to be held twice a year in the farming town of Fairfield, Washington, not far from me. They set up big tents and all over town were different venues chocked full of antiques. This is the second year that it has been held at the fairgrounds, and though it doesn't quite have that festive atmosphere it had under big tents, they get more people to come through. This is a great show no matter where it is held, with unique treasures, friendly vendors and amazing prices.

Here is a peek into my day....

you had to get there early!

two huge bins filled with old name patches to dig through...

check out the price - $38 for this old silver ash tray complete with planting!

I was drooling over these old trophies:

the award for the best use of old sheet music goes to.....the guy who created this told me the inspiration was revenge for all the hours of piano lessons he was forced to take - a true piano bar!

lots of wonderful cabinets...

a great booth - The Barn House from Battle Ground, Wa.:

fun with old spoons....
clever "re-purposing" of vintage keys...

it's hard to tell from this, but this mobile was made up of butterflies that were cut from pages of old books - adorable!
cute crowns to celebrate your "inner queen"...
ta-ta for this year.....

Now you may be wondering what I came home with???? It may not seem like much to you, but boy oh boy, do I have plans - stay tuned.....

Thanks for joining me....

Pammy

my paper dolls...

For years I was one of nine women who met once a month for lunch. One of our dear husbands dubbed us Nine Ladies a'Lunching, which after a few years morphed into the Nine Ladies Luncheon, and then Nine Ladies and finally, just The Nine. We have been together for about 15+ years. (I use the present tense even though I moved away 4 years ago - they still send me invitations and have never replaced me or renamed themselves The Eight!) We took turns being hostess, so each had a different month each year. This involved the hostess first sending an invitation, which set the "tone", or color scheme for her lunch. These women I had the privilege of breaking bread with, are incredible cooks and all are artistic in their own right, so it was an event we cleared our calenders for each and every month! I will talk more about The Nine in another post, because this one is all about the invitations...

Each invitation was better than the last, so it became a challenge to come up with something different and original each month. When it was my turn to hostess, I decided to create a paper doll "messenger" to carry my invitation. Now you already know by now that I collect (and LOVE) old sheet music, so I chose to use that for the body, and my adorable kitty Schmitty for the face/head. I had taken a picture of him once when he came home from the vet with one of those awful clown cones around his neck, so I sized it, printed it, and cut it out. I created a pattern for jointed arms, legs and a (headless)torso, and then placed it on some old, yellowed music and cut out all the pieces. His head was glued to his torso, and I used tiny scrapbooking grommets to put him together. (but small brads work just as well) I embellished with a glittered crown and a "grass" skirt made from upholstery fringe and added more trim at the neck to cover the seam between the head and the torso. I then printed out my invitation in a long column, cut it out, folded it up into an envelope shape, and glued it to Schmitty's "hand", with the words open me on top. Even though my beloved Schmitty has been gone for years, I still have this paper doll hanging on a mirror in my hallway - gone but not forgotten.....

Fast forward to Valentine's Day this year....what to do for the kids and grandkids???? How about paper dolls of them? (carrying Valentines of course!) How about using my sweet wee Monkey's face or Jaime's Murphy? The possibilities are endless! Think of how you can put a smile on a loved one's face if they see either themselves or their furry friends as a paper doll!

Maybe I've been alone a little too long in my attic, but I think my paper dolls are pretty darn cute, don't you? Here's all you need to make your own paper dolls:

cute faces!

body parts...

embellishments...

Voila!

My Prince...

Princess Reecie...

Sir Monkey...

Thanks for keeping me company....
PammyJ