Early Work Mercantile Update

Yes, it's that time again! I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone is offering this month. I'm ready to start some fall crafting. I don't know about you, but I have a lot of fall patterns and can never resist adding another one to my pattern archive! I hope to get at least a few new designs completed this year so I'm starting now! 

This past week was an especially busy one at work, with an evening meeting with many of our lay leaders, a fund raising concert at the church which featured Mark Pender from the Conan O'Brien show (paying forward the benefit he received from being part of a local music program as a teenager) and a church picnic on the weekend, which was well attended despite the temperature hitting 107 on Sunday! There was plenty of hamburgers, hot dogs, ice cold water, hay rides and games for the kids and the grounds were really pretty, with a lot of shaded areas where the picnic tables were set up. DH flipped hamburgers and I got assigned to parking duty so we were both stinky and exhausted by the end of the evening but it really was a sweet and fun event.

Thinking Cool Thoughts

It's been a long hot, dry summer and still another month to go before any hope of relief.  I'm spending as little time as possible outdoors these days, so I decided to do something productive inside and clean and reorganize my sewing room.

Bird by Maggie Bonanomi

WIP

And I may be rushing the seasons just a little bit, but I decided to go ahead and put out a few of my Halloween pieces.

Witchy by Shirley Wehmeyer; tiny JOY by Chris Farr

 

Velveteen Pumpkin from Shirley; crow by crafting friend Jody; little JOL by Chis

Foxy was a little unhappy about all the hub-bub in her usual quiet, napping spot.

What are you doing to stay cool?

Praying for Victims and Their Family & Friends

I'm so saddened by the senseless tragedy in Colorado. I can't imagine the shock and confusion of receiving a phone call about this. At a movie theater? In a Denver suburb? I guess this has really touched me because one son lives in Colorado and the other one is working at a local theater that had six theaters packed for the midnight premier of the Batman movie. God bless all those affected by this evil event.

Bingham Waggoner Antique and Craft Show

We certainly had a hot time in the old town today for this annual show. There were a lot of empty spots so I think a lot of vendors didn't show because of this awful heat wave.

There are a lot of lovely, old trees on the grounds so most of the spots are shaded, which really helps.

The Independence Municipal band performed several rousing numbers and helped us forget the heat for awhile. Here's some views of our booth. Leslie does the dolls and most of the antiques; her MIL is the quilter and I did the wool pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

We had a great time and it was fun seeing friends old and new, but I was so glad to get in my car and crank up the ac after we packed up!

All Star Weekend

Kansas City is so excited to be the host for tomorrow's All Star game. On Friday DH and I went to see a free, outdoor movie (Money Ball) at Crown Center, the headquarters for Hallmark, in downtown KCMO. Does your city have outdoor movies? We lived in Indianapolis when we were first married and used to go to these on the grounds of the Art Museum. 

Heading to the Movie

Across the street the fountains outside the shopping area were gushing Royal blue in honor of the All Star game.

Lego Captain Greeting Shoppers

After the movie we drove downtown to see the other attractions, which included Union Station

and the absolutely stunning new Kaufman Performing Arts Center (Ewing Kaufman was the original owner of the Royals baseball team).

 Towers in the background on the left are from Bartle Hall. 

It was really fun seeing how the city has put on the blue to welcome guests and celebrate this big game!

Blueberry Season

Our local stores are featuring sales on blueberries; one of my favorite summer fruits! Well, pretty much every summer fruit is my favorite but blueberries are getting a lot of press lately as a superfruit because of their high levels of antioxidants and I'm sure I can stand to be antioxidized. Anyway, here is a super easy (once you have all the ingredients) and cool dessert from one my Pillsbury cookbook collection for these hot, hot, hot summer days.

Blueberry, Lemon Shortbread Parfaits

1 cup shortbread cookie crumbs

1 cup lemon curd

1 cup Cool Whip, thawed

2 cups fresh blueberries

Powdered sugar for sprinkling

Crush cookies. I put several cookies in a quart-sized, heavy-duty freezer bag and gently hit them with the side of a meal mallet.

In each of 4 parfait glasses layer about 2 tablespoons cookie crumbs, 2 tablespoons lemon curd, 2 tablespoons Cool Whip, and 1/4 cup blueberries. Repeat layers.

Just before serving, sprinkle parfaits with powdered sugar. 

I also love having an excuse to use my vintage forest green glassware! Makes dessert seem extra special. 

I'm taking part in Mix it up Monday.

Summer Pasttimes

Hope you had a good 4th of July! Kind of throws everything off when it's in the middle of the week, though. I was going to take Thursday off from work but had too much to do. Also, the weather is just too hot and I would have spent most of the day indoors anyway. If we had a beach nearby it would be fun to spend the day there, but I'm really not one to hang out by the pool. It's a good time to rent movies and do some stitching on this fun runner from a Maggie Bononomi design.

Early in the morning I do get out and take a long walk around the neighborhood. I missed my walks so much when I was recuperating from my knee injury!

I go through a little park that is bordered by a strip of woods and a creek. Several times I've seen a fox heading back to its home in these woods.

Lots of rabbits around, even next to the fox's home!

The creek has been here for years and I know the cool water must have been such a blessing to a farm family many years ago.

Most of the scenery on my walk consists of suburban gardens.

 

 

 Thanks for joining me on my walk! I hope we can do this again.

Italian Appetizer

Summer is flying by! I'm seeing that on a lot of blogs and certainly feel the same way. My blog reading and posting has been rather spotty for the past month but I want to share a great recipe with you in case you're going to a 4th of July get-together and need to bring something easy and yummy.

I made these for a party last weekend and they were well received! I got this recipe at a recent cooking class I attended taught by Brenda Nolte and adapted it slightly to use things I already had on hand. It can also be cut into larger pieces and served as a dinner entree.

Italian Appetizer

2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

8 oz sliced hard salami

8 oz sliced roasted turkey

8 oz sliced provolone cheese

6 eggs

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used the pre-grated kind in the shaker container)

2 (6 ounce) jars roasted red peppers, drained 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spray 11" X 13" pan with cooking spray. Spread one package of crescent rolls on bottom of pan, pressing seams together to seal. Layer half of salami, turkey and  provolone cheese. Mix the eggs and Parmesan cheese together. Spread a little less than half over the first layer. Top iwith half of the red peppers. Add second layer of meat and provolone; top with peppers and pour all but about 3 tablespoons of the egg mixture over it.  Top with the second package of Crescent rolls, sealing the seams. Brush the remaining egg mixture on the top of the rolls so you'll get a nice, brown crust when you bake.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30". Uncover and bake another 30" or until nicely browned.

Let sit for about 60" to firm up before cutting into 30 squares. 

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Mix it Up Monday