Red Geranium Cottage

Bermuda Triangle

I know for some reason you can't leave a comment on the last post. I have no idea why. I haven't changed any settings I promise.  If anyone with Typepad knows what I can change let me know.  A couple of you were able to but that's about it.  :(   Hopefully it will fix itself. 

Well we didn't go near the Triangle. I'm not even sure where it is in relation to where we were. Hunka went to some talk this lady was giving on the ship about it. I opted out.  I had stitching to do.  

The cruise was fun. We've never been to Bermuda before. The ship went over, docked for three nights, four days, then went back to NYC.  

Starting the trip off right.  Sewing, and a beverage. What more could I want? 

Here we are.  On the ship for day one and ready to go.  

The view leaving Manhattan Pier heading to sea.  

The other side of the ship.

Our Pilot boat helping us get out of there. Check out the guy down there working out on deck.  You know he loves everyone watching his buff self.  

There she is!!!  Of course my camera decided to start recording instead of taking photos at this very moment. We went right by her.  Such a great view.  Gives you big old goosebumps when you see that.  

Long day, beddy bye time.  Love the towel love.  See the stack of sewing.  

At sea.   This lounge is where we spent every Happy Hour.  And yes we were alone in there. I have no idea where everyone else went but talk about some service.  WE got service. AND our own lounge.  With RED chairs.  

It was pretty cool the first couple days so no one on deck sunning.  By the last two photos you'd think this was our own private yacht.  lolol  It was just the two of us on board that huge ship.

Rolling along............

Sunset.........

Today we dock in Bermuda.

View from the ship. Colorful isn't it?

We booked a tour of Bermuda for the first day.  We toured for 4 1/2 hours.  Saw lots of great things.  The only way to do it.  We had the best bus driver too.  

Uh oh!!!!   This driver of the bus forgot to put the brake on.  His bad!!!  We were on a bus just like this but ours didn't crash.  haaaaaaaaa

Pink everywhere.

Next time he will think before talking back to me.  :)  He wanted me to get on the other side.  Does he think I'm CRAZY???  

Beautiful church.  

The water was so pretty and so clear you could see to the bottom.  

Lots more.  Be back soon.  Hopefull you can comment now.  I checked again and it say's comments  OPEN.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Jane and Kathy!!!

I know I need to blog and I've been trying to squeeze it in since being home. All I keep thinking of is Jane and Kathy Cardiff screaming when they FINALLY realized that I AM Red Geranium Cottage.  lolol   Crazy girls.  Then Jane said, she gets up every morning to read the blog with her coffee to only be irritated that I was STILL on vacation.  So Jane this is for you!  You too Kathy!    Now if I could only get my own fabric line.  Hmmmmmm

Vacation was wonderful. I don't even know where to begin with the photos and stories. I feel like I've told alot of them and shown the pics on FB. I know, I know, not all of you do FB. Hello, that's why I'm blogging.  

I think I'll start with Quilt Market sort of since that was the last thing I did and the freshest on my mind. The cruise seems like so long ago already.  But we just got home last night from Kansas City.  Hunka and I.  Market was fun as usual seeing all of my good friends.  I just love catching up with everyone. Just wish we had more time. I kept talking and Hunka kept reminding me, no way would I make it through that whole show in two days if I didn't zip it.  Well, I showed him!!!!  

He loved the attention all the women gave him.  They all knew his name:  HUNKA.  Thanks Pam for that.  It sure has stuck. 

The only fabric I ordered at market was from Pam. And I ordered 18 bolts of that.  I loved her last line and couldn't pass up this one.  I think you'll like it.  

Isn't this crazy? It from the Alexander Henry booth.  Artwork I guess???

Aren't all of these little outfits the cutest?  Makes me want a ..........I won't even say it.  

Debbie, took this for you.  I know you could whip these up for Ravi.  

And this........

More good stuff....................

Fig Tree Booth

American Jane.........

Sweetwater...........

The cute Sweetwater girls...........

I still have lots more photos to show but I'm tired and my beddy is calling my name.  Before I go I have to show you the next block that several of us girls are doing. It's the Comfort & Joy BOM.  Miss Anne said it's time to show the next block. And when Anne speaks, well we listen.  haaaaaaaa   Although some of us (cough cough)  aren't ready.  This is what I have done.  I've been a little bitty bit busy alright????  

That little flag part. That's my contribution this month.   I promise to do better next month and will have all three blocks done.  I WILL!!!    You can hop on over to these blogs and take a peek at their blocks. We've added some new peeps that want to join in.  :) Karen,  and  Diane Im sure they have more done than Karen and I. Just sayin.  Sandy, how's your block coming along????   Thanks Anne for moderating.  You are awesome.  It's such a fun quilt to make.  Do we have to make you a gift for doing this???????  lolol  

Thanks for stopping by.  That's it for tonight.  See ya soon.  With a finished block of course. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bon Voyage!!!

If you need me this is where I'll be.  Going to see the Triangle!!  

Then I'll be here seeing her.

 

And all of this..............

Then I'll be traveling on down the road to Kansas Citiy for Quilt Market.  

I say let's get this fun started!!!!  I'm ready!!!  I'll post along the way on FB.  But then you knew that right??  

 

 



 

 

Mulch Much?????

I  took a pic of my new "challenge" block outside.  Looks better than the ones I did inside. This is the one I'm doing with Karen, Anne and Anne's friend Sandy (no blog).  

Closer

Looks better huh? Now I need to get going on the snowman. I think that's our next block.  

Hunka's been busy making more sewing caddy's. Large and small.  I like the new bright colors.  They are on the website if you would like to order one.  

I had a fun mail day this week.  Debbie sent me something that she and I are going to do "together".  It's called a Smash Journal. I've never heard of it but she said it was all the rage. So we're doing one each.  I love it!!! Can't wait to get started on mine.   Have you heard of this??  Funny thing is my sister and I were just in a huge scrapbook store by my house and I flipped through one of these journals. Had no idea what I was looking at. Then when I got home I had my very own waiting for me. 

Look at all the fun stuff she sent.  The journal itself is on the bottom. Of course she got me the RED!!  They come in different colors and have different pages inside. It's going to be fun!!  I'll show my progress when I get a couple pages done.  

No journalling this weekend. I'm sure you saw on my FB page. This is what we were doing.  Even in the rain.  I love how the yard looks after you've done the mulching thing.  In Ca. we didn't really do that.  I would buy a couple bags at Home Depot and spread around. But nothing like here. Everyone mulches and I mean they don't mess around. It is around every tree and flower bed. These people take their mulch serious.  Sort of like Ca. takes Tri Tip serious.  haaaa

Here's one little area before we put down the fresh mulch.  

and after.......

See how the left side is so dull and the right is so much better??  It seems to make the flowers and greenery much brighter.  

My man hard at work!! We both worked very hard yesterday and again today.  We could barely walk this morning.  But it was so worth it. 

I don't know what this ground cover is called. It was growing on the side of my house so I dug some up last year and planted it here.  Can you see my little gnome? Boo bought me a bunch of them last year and he came over and planted them all over my front yard.  

This is a small part of the backyard.  

Before mulch

After

That's it for now.  It's storming here big time tonight.  Tornado warnings have went off, big thunder and lightening.  I better get off here.  Wouldn't want to lose my computer. 

 

 

I've accepted a challenge...........

I'm back again.  Just like the old days when I used to post everday.  I know I just did my blog yesterday but I have accepted a challenge of sorts. Not really a challenge but I was asked to join Karen from My Yellow Farmhouse blog and Anne from Cottons n Woolens in making a Christmas Quilt.  Of course I said yesssssssss.  I was very excited. Here are my new partners in crime.  Anne's friend is also participating but I think she doesn't have a blog.  I hope I got that right.  You'll have to go to Karen and Anne's blog to see their blocks.  

  I had already started this quilt a year ago.  But knowing that I was joining these two Prim girls, I quickly did a whole new block today. Yes today!!  I had to.   I just did!!   Well they didn't make me, I just didn't want to outshine them and their dark blocks.  :)  This is my block #1 that I did a year ago. Get your sunglasses on first!!!  Then look.  

Now if any of you are working on this quilt and would like this block, let me know and it's yours. Not everyone at once ok?? haaaaaaaa  

Here is the one I'm doing now. The one I whipped up today.  Not done with all of my stitching yet but that's ok.  These are the colors I'll be doing my quilt in.  This is block #1.

I took my pictures tonight so I just couldn't get the lighting right.  I do love the block in these colors though. I'm going to be using a lot of Primtiive Gatherings new line along with others that I have.  

Comfort & Joy is the pattern and if you'd like to make one I can still order it for you.  Just send me an email. It really is a fun quilt.  And it's a big one too.  

I'm off to work on block #2 now.  Yahooooooo

 

 

 

 

Gardening and Cooking 101

Feels like we are heading backwards over here.  Winter is back I swear.  One day it was close to 80 so I went outside and planted flowers, next day we turned the heat back on in the house. I took all the extra quilts off the beds, and now I wish I would have left them on.  A/C switched on  then off Heat on then off!! What is going on????  

At least my Hosta are still thriving.  So far the weather hasn't stunted their growth.  

Before

Now

Before

Now

Ok, now that your bored out of your mind with my Hosta photos, I'll move on.  Onto bigger and better things.  Like food!! What goes better with gardening than food?  

Has anyone ever had Tri Tip?  Well I'm going to show you how we do Tri Tip.  People in St. Louis think your crazy if you say Tri Tip. Now if you say Pork Steak, your a St. Louis Native.  Tri Tip, your from another planet.  Luckily our Costco carries it here every now and then and sometimes Sams club. No grocery store has it that I've found.  So let's get started.   And please pay attention because you could be quizzed at the end.  

Here is what your Tri Tip looks like. No it doens't come from Costco with all that mustard spread everywhere.  Silly people!!  You'll need some yellow mustard, and rock salt, or ice cream salt. That's another thing here.  You say Rock Salt and they look at you like, your from Mars.  Ohhhh you mean Ice Cream Salt, this way maam.  

So you'll start by spreading mustard all over that thing, front and back. Don't be cheap with your mustard people.   It's the cheapest thing you can buy.   Coat it good!!

Yes you can go for more mustard than I have here.  Keep coating it.  You'll want to have enough on there so the salt will stick. 

Now take your salt and start spreading the news.......I mean salt, all over the meat. Both sides again.  Do one side, flip and coat the other side.  

You'll want to have your charcoal nice and hot.

Let it get  nice and hot while your spreading......  Ok that did not sound right!!!!!!!   But that's the way we roll here in Missouri.  haaaaa

Looks like we gotta fire!!!  

There he is.  My very own Smokey the Bear.  We have a gas grill that we use almost always but for this the charcoal works good.  Plus with all the salt and mustard it gets a little messy on your grill.

Now you'll just drop that meat on the grill. There usually is a fatty side. We put that side down first.  Scoop up all the extra salt and mustard that fell off when you lifted it and just plop it down on top of the meat that's right side up.  Don't waste anything!!!  We cook ours 10 to 12 min. a side but we like it more rare than not.  You can cook it longer if you'd like it to stop mooing before you eat it.  

Have you seen my.................   oh never mind. 

Here she is.  Hunka takes a pad of butter and puts it down on the platter before putting the meat on it.  Don't ask me why. I just let it go.  It's really not worth the discussion any more.  You will want to crack off any extra salt that stayed on the meat.  I like to leave a little but I love the taste of the salt with the meat.  

I know that platter,  it's from the 1800's I think. It belonged to Hunka's mom and he loves it. I told you we love our meat rare!  The ends are usualy a bit more done and that's what I eat.  I'm not into raw meat thank you very much.  Can you see the butter on the platter.  lolol  

How about dessert now??

Cherry Pie anyone??? This is a really hard recipe. You open a can or two of Cherry Pie filling, you unroll two Pillsbury Pie Crust and you've got yourself a pie.  

Don't forget the Cool Whip.

Hunka's piece. He loves him some Cool Whip almost as much as he loves butter.

Alrighty then, that's your cooking lesson for today.  I hope you enjoyed and are now very, very hungry!!!

Thanks for stopping by.  

 

 

Dishes and Clotheslines

Hey there!  How goes it where you are? It's going well over here.  But you know me, if it's not, you'll hear about it.  :)  

Last night we had the storm of all storms.  Our house was shaking from the thunder.  Hunka said he would have gotten up and looked out but he was afraid a tree would fly into the window and hit him.  Yep, that's my hero!!!  I feel very safe.  I guess more storms are on the way but of course we get a different opinion from each tv channel. 

I went to Homegoods a few weeks ago and they had these dishes!!  OMGGGG  I tossed all they had right into my cart.  I love them.  I had seen them on Pinterest and googled them.  Then when I saw these cuties sitting on the shelf, I wanted to scream with joy.  Instead of kept quiet and tossed them in so no one would try to beat me to them.  I'm no dummy!!! And these will go perfect with my other dishes I have.  

I love the red gingham!!

Here are some of my dotty dishes while we're talking dish.

All of the red plates have white polka dots on them.  I got them on clearance at Nordstroms years ago.

I have a few other dotty dishes in different colors but I mostly go for the RED. Big surprise huh?  

We saw these at a local antique store. No, they didn't come home with me.  I would have bought just the red but I think they were sold as a set. 

And these red dotted bowls are expensiveeeeee.   Needless to say I haven't bought one yet.  My luck, I'd get it home and drop it on the tile floor.  

Now let's talk clotheslines.  Another one of my favorite things.  I had asked Hunka to put a clothesline outside. Well,while I was away in N.H. he did just that.  I love it. Now I can use it to take photos of my quilts, etc.   Oh look, there he is now.  He found this plate at the antique store.  Perfect don't ya think?

These are some of the mini quilts I've made.  Some were montly mini's I offered on the website.  

Finally got the binding on this one.  I love it.  Frannie my sample maker did this one and it's one of my favorite quilts.  I think I still have a kit or two on the website. 

Here's another one.  I'm going to drape this one on my red swing out front for July!  Kits are there for one or two of this one too.  

Now it's time to get back to my stitching. It was a gloomy, rainy day today so I decided to stay planted in my favorite RED chair and embroider.  Thanks for stopping by and for your comments. :) 

Happy Saturday to ya!

A day of Site Seeing

Bet you didn't expect me back so soon. Thought I'd share more of my photos from my NH trip.  

Brenda and I were driving down this road on our way to a quilt shop and I saw a sign blinking that said PINK POODLE Quilt shop. So she veered off the road.  Well I'm just going to tell you right now we should have kept the car going straight.  But you know when it says quilt shop you must check it out.  As we were going in Brenda said, get ready to buy at least a fat quarter. 

There was sh&t uh I mean crap everywhere outside.  

I mean everywhere!!  How many quilters do you know that own their own SEMI???  Or maybe he was a quilter. I am not judging!!

We then went inside...........

Nope, didn't get a picture of that.  But I can tell you we walked in, there was a man standing there by a curtain.  From behind the curtain we heard a voice say, "tell them about the sale".  He turns and says everything with a dot on it is on sale and turns back toward the curtain.  We politely said thank you and left!

This red car was parked here when we arrived. I even told Brenda, don't block that car in or she won't be able to get out.  When we walked out of the quilt shop this is what we saw!! Brenda said,  "I don't think they are going anywhere".  LOLOLOL  The tires were flat, and dug into the dirt!  I mean really DUG into the dirt.  But it was RED so I'll give it props for that one. 

Onto the next shop.

Much better!!

I so am going to have Hunka make me a little gate like this going from my dining room to the kitchen.  Brenda isn't THAT short. She was just posing.  

We bought some goodies and were back on the road.  I love a white picket fence don't you?

This was the side of the quilt shop I think.  I forget but I loved that little door up there.  Looks like a door for hay doesn't it? 

Back on the road we go.  Along the way we saw this primitive place and of course we had to turn in again.  We are brave souls aren't we?

Inside was the biggest surprise and I wish we could have taken photos. This lady had restored this house from the 1800's and everything inside was from the 1800's. Yes she lived in here!!!!!  Even the beds were old.  It was the neatest thing I've ever seen.  We had so many questions and she answered everyone of them. She asked us if we wanted the tour and we said YESSSS very fast.  

This is the lady that owned the house.  Yes the ceilings are that low, I'm not that tall!!!  

This was the outside. She had little vignettes all around.

Can you imagine doing laundry like this back in the day?  

Back on the road again...................

LOOKY what we found. I'm sure YOUNG Sharon Rd was somewhere near.  

I'll leave you here on Old Sharon Rd.  Be back with more. 

 

 

 

New Hampshire or bust..............

Before I go any further I'd like to say thank you for the nice comments you all left for me and Hunka.  We miss Madeline more than we can tell you.  The cards, gifts, donations in  Madeline's name and phone calls were so nice.  You guys are awesome.  Thank you from the bottom of our heart.  We are thinking in May or June sometime we will look into adopting another sweet doggy.  We would both love to have a Golden Retriever puppy but not sure at this point.  That would be a lot of work neither of us are ready for. lol   Hunka wants to adopt aged Golden Retrievers that no one wants but I think that might be too hard on him.  He has really suffered over the loss of Madeline. They were joined at the hip and this has really gotten him down.  So we'll just take our time and see what happens.  But we do know there will be another doggy.  

I've been away for a couple weeks in New Hampshire helping a friend out with a move.  Brenda took a break and drove me to Maine, so I could say I was there. lol   I've always wanted to go to Maine and now I've been.  

I had Clam Chowda in Maine too. It was so good.

We didn't have a whole lot of time for site seeing but we made the most of our time.  Brenda got me to Boston, New Hamsphire and Maine.  You gotta love that.  Unless YOU are the one that was riding with her!!!  I'm just sayin!!!  The girl likes to drive right down the middle of the road.  YES you know you do Brenda.  

We ate, drank,  shopped, laughed, cried,  packed, unpacked, and traveled in our two weeks together.  

I even got to see Sandy while in town.  And meet Sandy's daughter.   Talk about a sweetie.Nyshma was even nice enough to have a bbq for us one night because we had no food at the house and everything was being packed away.  She thought she was coming over to go out with us girls but we talked her into cooking.  And she looked so cute in her little sundress too.  

Why am I always the TALL one in the picture?? WHY I ask you????    

Brenda's son Gene Paul and I are now buddy's.  At first he wasn't sure of me but once he knew I had a time limit and wouldn't be moving in, we were friends.  Looks like I have a headlock on him doesn't it? lolol   No wonder he wasn't sure of me.  

One of the things Brenda took me to was Peterborough Basket outlet.  OMGGGGG  I had fun there. And had to ship a box home.  Surprise huh?? Not really.

Loved the bike basket. All I need is a bike!

These are the baskets  I bought. I wanted more but I restrained myself.  

This was a thing I guess showing you how they made them????  Looked like a mess to me.  

I have so many pictures that I can't show them all at once.  So I'll share a little at a time.  

Spring has sprung in a big way here in St. Louis. Everything is in bloom around here. Even our allergies.  Would that yellow pollen stop falling already?  It is all over the place.  Today was 92 here in St. Louis which is a record for us.  Usually around Easter we are wearing sweaters and getting rain.  Not this year.  My tulips  were ready to bloom while I was away but the deer were hungry so...........you guessed it. No tulip blooms for me.  Darn deer!!!!! They are lucky I think they are pretty.  And that I don't like to eat deer meat!!! Just sayin.  

My Hostas have survived so far. Last year they didn't bother them either.  Guess I'm lucky there. 

This flower bed is filling up with Hostas.  I keep separating them each year and they produce more and more.  They were all at this house when we moved here.  I just dig them up pull them apart and replant.  

I hope you all have a Happy Easter on Sunday!!!  Thanks for stopping by!!  

 

 

Dear Madeline

Dear Madeline,

We are sorry that you had to leave. We miss you more than you will ever know.  You were the best dog I could have ever asked for.  You were alway there to protect us, to make us laugh and to comfort us.  Our hearts are broken right now because we have lost you.  You were everything to us.  There is a hole  in our heart right now.  We are happy that you are no longer in pain but we miss you terribly.  We had no idea that you had cancer and were suffering.  Now you will suffer no more.  

We love  and miss you so much.