grat•i•tude : \ˈgra-tə-ˌtüd, -ˌtyüd\ noun ; from Latin "gratus" ~ grateful; the state of being grateful; thankfulness

Saturday, November 23, 1974 - a day filled with emotion.

Thirty five years ago I married my best friend - that sounds so cliche, but it is true. We were musicians living "for free" as caretakers on a beach estate in the Santa Barbara area. We had little money, few responsibilities, but knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.

I am so thankful that I followed through with an invitation to come and spend an evening singing with a crazy group of boys...

...and thankful that one of them asked me to spend the rest of my life with him.

Happy Anniversary to the love of my life.....long may we run.




As we enter into this busy season, my heart is filled to overflowing with gratitude for my lovely family and dear friends...

...and for a Savior who has brought me from darkness into Light.

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Amen.

Pammy

and speaking of snowmen.....

Around this time last year I hosted my Bunco group. I needed to come up with a fabulous dessert, so I decided on cupcakes - but not your ordinary cupcake.


I made regular old vanilla cupcakes (from a mix) and frosted them with store bought icing - then dipped them in coconut "snow".

Pretty boring.


I have a thing for snowmen, as you've probably noticed. I love meringues too - who doesn't? (oh yeah, my daughter doesn't)

Meringues kind of look like mounds of snow, don't you think? If I made three different sizes and piled them on top of each other(using a dab of frosting as cement), they might look like a snowman.

Using pretzel sticks for arms, a dot of melted chocolate for eyes, and an orange Tic-Tac for a nose...

I plopped this little snow dude on top of one of those cupcakes - success!!!

My dessert was a hit - and made the ladies smile....

It made for a pretty cute centerpiece too!

Here's my recipe for the meringues:

Meringue Cookies Recipe:

3 large egg whites (3 ounces or 90 grams)

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 cup (150 grams) superfine or caster sugar (if you don't have superfine sugar simply take granulated white sugar and process it for about 30 seconds in a food processor)

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven
to 200 degrees F and place the rack in the center of your oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. You can form the mounds with a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) plain tip, or I often just use two spoons to make the cookies.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on low-medium speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat the whites until they hold soft peaks. Add the sugar, a little at a time, and continue to beat until the meringue holds very stiff peaks. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Note: The meringue is done when it holds stiff peaks and when you rub a little between your thumb and index finger it does not feel gritty. If it feels gritty the sugar has not fully dissolved so keep beating until it feels smooth between your fingers.

Before placing the cookies on the cookie sheet
, place a little of the meringue on the underside of each corner of the parchment paper. This will prevent the paper from sliding. Transfer the meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) tip. Create 3 sizes of mounds of meringue in rows on the prepared baking sheet. Alternatively, spoon the mounds of meringue, using two spoons, onto the prepared sheets.

Bake the meringues for approximately 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours, rotating the baking sheet from front to back (about half way through) to ensure even baking. The meringues are done when they are pale in color and fairly crisp.

Note: it is much easier to pierce the meringue when it is fresh out of the oven and warm - it tends to crack after it has cooled. Use a toothpick to create each hole for arms and nose.
Also, finish each *section* before stacking them on top of each other.

Cupcakes are not just for kids anymore....they've come a loooooong way.


That's all from Pammy's kitchen...thanks for stopping by!

Pammy

Let no one ever come to you without leaving better or happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile
~ Mother Theresa

there's a chill in the air....

A few years ago I stumbled upon Dee Foust's work for Bayberry Cove - I loved those potbellied vintage-esque snowmen and angels and decided to try my hand at sculpting.

First I found this book and started playing around with Sculpey clay.... I discovered that as long as I followed the step-by-step directions,
it was remarkably easy to do!

Here are the first faces I came up with....

They needed a body, so I made one out of paper mache clay...

Once I had a body and an assortment of faces I was satisfied with, I decided to try and *clone* them by making latex molds of them using this product.....

they don't look like much yet...

I filled the molds with this.....

It takes so much time to make one body....now I can make as many as I want to and they all come out the same!

They needed a few accessories....After affixing their heads to their bodies I added a little rouge and antique-ing to make them come to life....
I decided to add some vintage mica flakes and glass glitter too.
His collar is made from a used coffee filter. Some may think my wee SnowBees are a little scary.

I think they are...

Best

In

Snow.

Thanks for visiting!

Pammy

the great wall...

In April of 2005, my son Dusty, his wife Aleah, and their baby Karise were visiting us in California from Germany where he was stationed in the Air Force. Since it had been a few years since all the kids had been in the same zip code, I called on an old friend to see if he could take some photographs of all of them - before everyone flew the coop again.

That old friend is Barry Goyette - a gifted photographer who I originally met when he took PR shots of my daughter Jaime when she was applying to theater programs. You see, he used to do all the photography for PCPA (Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts) I had also seen an exhibit of his in San Luis Obispo, Ca., where he used regular people as his models. These unique portraits were quite stark - black & white and printed life-sized. I never forgot this, so when I called him to photograph the kids, I asked him for that same "look". Barry never disappoints....

here is what he came up with.....

Dusty.....

...plus Aleah & the wee Karise.....

...plus Jaime & Jacob.....

equals....
...one happy family!
This is the composite Barry put together - most people think they were standing together when this was taken.

I had him print this very large, and ordered a few of the individual shots as well. I had Dennis build three "floating" shelves for me, and I came up with this arrangement:

The *F A M I L Y* garland I made from 2" beveled glass - and I think you might spot a couple of familiar paper dolls dangling from corners....

I'm not sure if Barry would approve of me stacking all these photographs against each other - or hanging fun little chatchkes from each corner - but I love it!

Fast forward a few years....we have a new grandchild, and Karise is growing like a weed....

Time for an update.

Since that original photo shoot, we had moved up to Idaho, and Dusty's family was now stationed in Las Vegas. I knew I was going to be in California for a few days last fall, so I called on Barry again, made sure all the *youngsters* could be in Ca. when I was, and we had another session.

Also, Dusty was deployed to Afghanistan, and I thought it would be the perfect Christmas gift for him to open so far away from home...

Here's Karise now, almost four years old!

...and 10 month old Dresden, just getting used to those legs....holding onto mommy's hand....

...and here is the composite Barry put together of the two of them...

...it may look like this is one shot, but again, Barry worked his magic and put two shots together to come up with this one.

Just for fun, here are some examples of why I continue to call on Barry...

Jaime at 18....

This is the album cover Barry did for the CD Jaime recorded in 1996...

...this one is almost like a picture within a picture...I love it's graininess...
Barry used Jaime's image from the above photo shoot for this poster...
Barry also is a master at photographing dance - I love how he not only captures dancers in action....

but how he is able to use them as still life as well...

Want to see more of Barry's work? Click here.

...this is a favorite - little brother and big sister...

Lastly, Barry just put the final touches on a video he directed - if you have never heard Inga Swearingen, you are in for a treat here. I have temporarily taken my playlist off the blog so that you could hear this music. Sit back and enjoy Barry's beautiful photography and Inga's beautiful voice.....

Get ready for another call from your biggest fan Barry - Pammy's Great Wall will need another update....Jaime and Jacob will be adding to our family in early May!

We may need a bigger wall....

Thanks for stopping by,

Pammy
(I even got in the act....)

this 'n that...

Just want to mention a couple of items ~

First, one more inspirational story from the Barn....

This is my friend Beth Johnson.
Beth has been very, very sick - she has been battling recurring Lyme disease for many, many months - in and out of hospitals - stuck (no pun intended) in the house with an IV pole tethered to her - lots and lots of pain. Her one desire was to get to the Remnants of the Past Antique Show, and even ordered a couple of dog necklaces from me that she promised to come pick up in person. She and I had been emailing back and forth, and though she was in the hospital still as of the Wednesday before the show, I set aside her treasures, not fully believing she would be well enough to make it to the show.
About mid morning, as I was chatting with customers, someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind - there was Beth! She said she had "ripped" her IV out of its port and told her husband Brad to drive her to the Barn. I was blown away and honored that she would go to such lengths to shop! Not only did she shop with me, but she bought loads of vintage ribbons and trims from Beth Descala in Booth 7. Beth later emailed me to tell me she was back in bed, on the IV, but happily surrounded by trims from Beth's booth - she is making "corsages" for all of her friends to wear on their winter coats!

Here is Beth in action....

...she says her IV pole is the perfect glue gun holster!

Great job Beth!




Now a couple of days ago I was honored to have been nominated for the Kreativ Blogger award by my friend Jermaine - you can visit Jermaine on her GORGEOUS blog French Kissed here.
Here's the plan: I must tell you Seven Secrets about myself, and then nominate seven bloggers who's work I admire. So off we go.......

1. I was on Wheel of Fortune in 1979 – the host was Chuck Woolery. I kept hitting bankrupt, but when I finally was ready to solve a puzzle with over $5000, good old Chuck told me I was $75 from a new car.....so I went for it. (wouldn't you?)

You guessed it.
Bankrupt.
Boo.....
(as if it wasn't painful enough at the time - I have it on tape - my kids loved to play it for their friends, so I have been able to re-live that scene over, and over, and over, and....)

2. I was once a singing waitress at Johns at the Beach in Santa Barbara. It was the 70's - they were all trained opera singers.
I was not.
I was an experiment - to see how "pop" would go over.
So-so.
But it was a lot of fun.

3. My favorite flavor is this....

4. I am not a great housekeeper, but I am obsessive about making my bed EVERY DAY. There can be dust-bunnies swirling around in every corner and a ring around the toilet bowl....
but my bed is made.

5. I have donated my hair to Locks of Love three times – mostly because I am extremely lazy about getting to the salon....

6. I hate food from the sea....

7. My favorite artist is Andrew Wyeth. This print, Wind From the Sea, hangs over our bed – it used to hang in my mom’s living room.
She knew Dennis loved it too.
I once went with my mom to a Wyeth exhibit at the de Young in San Francisco - to see those nudes of Helga that created such a stir...

And finally, I would like to nominate the following women and their fabulous blogs:

Arlene - I just love your writing style....

http://www.heartrockshome.com/heartrockshome/

Carol - not one, but TWO blogs....

http://poeticpumpkins.blogspot.com/
http://oldwillowfarm.blogspot.com/

Rolane - love your country, laid back style...
http://barnbarnbaby.typepad.com/vb/

Shari - you constantly inspire me...
http://sharifrench.blogspot.com/

Judy - my friend and encourager....

http://remnantsofthepast.typepad.com/remnants_of_the_past/

Judith Claire - you have been an inspiration to me for 25+ years.....
http://danapowershouse.blogspot.com/

Jaime - my sweet baby girl - the most gifted writer I know - I am your biggest fan....
http://jaimeclewis.wordpress.com/

There you have it! Thanks again to Jermaine for encouraging me and for the new gift of friendship.

Ta ta.....
Pammy