September Anniversaries and Birthday

HWNSNBP and I celebrated out 47th anniversary earlier this week.  This is the card I made for him.  Yes, I know it's a floral and some might consider it a little too feminine, but here's my thought process - there were flowers at our wedding and he almost always gets me flowers for our anniversary so why not make him a floral card.  I also get to display it and enjoy it here.  

 

While they are not the colors of the flowers that we had at our wedding, they are the colors that I mostly go to.  It took me one evening plus a little time the next day to do the stitching.  I wasn't sure what I was going to put in the center but was glad to find that I had the "Love" die that fit perfectly in the space and for the occasion.  

The next three cards were kind of cobbled together with parts and pieces that I came across while doing some rearranging (still in progress) in the stamp cave.  The first one I used as a birthday card for my mother.  I took the picture before I added the sentiment in that blank space near the leaves.

I actually added the handwritten sentiment to this card. 

And this was used for another anniversary.  

We're going to try to get to Cape May for our annual September anniversary visit in the near future, but we did manage to get a visit in to Hens & Honey down in South Jersey a couple of weeks ago.  As we were driving there, we noticed some work being done on the water tower near the restaurant. We'd never seen the "cleaning" process on a water tower before.  I only got to snap the pictures because there was a traffic light we had to stop at right next to it.

My guess here is that he is making sure it's working or adjusting the force of the spray.  The shadow in both pictures is because I was taking the pictures through the windshield.

We had the Cream Cheese Board for our lunch.  It came with 4 different flavored cream cheeses and we wound up with five after the hostess realized that she had put two of the same flavor on our board by mistake.  She brought the additional one on a pumpkin plate and I didn't get a picture of it.  The flavors were pumpkin, cinnamon roll, roasted tomato, and not pictured was strawberry.  We did bring about half of it home with us, because it is a lot even for two people.  HWNSNBP had the Vanilla Bean drink and I had the Harvest Moon Smores coffee.  

The last time I posted about this restaurant I had forgotten to get a picture of the area they have dedicated to Taylor Swift but I made a point to get it this time. 

There's a mirror on the right that says "You're like really pretty........now go get coffee".

One last thing for now, I tried a new cake recipe this weekend.  It's called "Do Nothing Cake".  I think it's only called that because it's quick and easy to put together.  

You mix the batter all in one bowl and bake it.  While it's in the oven you make the icing which can even go on the cake when it comes out of the oven so it will seep into the warm cake.  I let this cool a little longer than I should have and the icing didn't get a chance to seep into the cake too much but did run off a little more when it was cut.  I won't write out the recipe here but here's the link.  If  you've got a can of crushed pineapple, a can of sweetened condensed milk, flour, sugar, baking soda and some eggs, you're on your way.  The coconut and chopped pecans on top are to your choice.  I had to send HWNSNBP to the store for the pineapple and condensed milk so I asked him to get coconut and pecans also.  The cake is sweet and our problem is that it is too much for the two of us.  He said I should try to halve it the next time.  We'll see.  If you try it, let me know what you think.  

Early October Happenings and a Card

We ventured down to Hens & Honey again with the intention of trying the Affogato Flight I had seen advertised along with our lunch.  It's such a busy place we almost didn't get to sit down to enjoy our meal, but luckily, just as we were ordering, a high topper table opened up and we grabbed it. We also almost didn't get to try the affogato because the owner had forgotten to turn on the ice cream machine, but when I mentioned that it was disappointing because I had convinced him to drive an hour and a half to get there after I paid for our order, she must have felt bad and told me that if I still wanted to order it, it would only take about 20 mins. to get the machine going while we ate our lunch so I said yes.

These pictures are out of order and I just didn't feel like fighting with it today.  So you'll see the flight first.  The two on the ends are espresso - the left with chocolate fudge on the bottom with the chocolate wafers, and the right end with a coffee flavored bon bon.  You pour the espresso over the ice cream/custard and you're supposed to eat it before it melts, but I think the machine could have used a little more time because it was a little liquidy already before we poured the espresso over.  The second from the left was chai with a stroopwaffle and caramel, and the third one was matcha with powdered macha sprinkled on top.   We didn't pour the entire cup of liquid in all at once, just some to be able to eat the ice cream.  We then poured the melted ice cream back into the cup with the leftover liquid and drank from the cup which may be entirely the wrong way to partake of this, but it was a lot easier than trying to spoon liquid out of those dishes.  The espresso was a little too strong for me and I didn't particularly care for the matcha but I loved the chai.  HWNSNBP really liked the matcha which surprised the heck out of me (Clinton Kelly says matcha is like eating grass clippings and I somewhat agree).  It was a nice little indulgence, but I'm good with not having it again.

The gourmet toast on the other hand is quite enjoyable.  I had the prairie sun again which had chicken salad, green apples, cranberries, walnuts, and balsamic dressing.

He had (I forgot the name) egg salad and like it a lot.

You can see a little of how they have decorated it with the pumpkin arch at the door and the "photo" area on the side.  Coincidentally, the couple we had met on our first visit there came in with a friend as we were eating and we would have offered them seats but we were at a table for two this time and they had to wait a bit for a table to become empty.  We chatted for a brief minute before we left and I saw later on IG that they had taken advantage of the photo area and had some cute pictures of the three of them.

We met some friends who were in from out-of-town now at the Chimney Rock Inn and they had a special for Pierogi Day so we shared the pierogi appetizer and then the five of us..............

............split this 28" pizza.  The beer mug is there for size reference.  Two slices went uneaten but came home with us for HWNSNBP to enjoy at another time.  It's always a good time with these friends.

It took 3 tries to actually get the pumpkin frostee that Wendy's has this month.  It is quite enjoyable and looks a little solid here because I had put it in the freezer for a while so I didn't need a straw just a spoon.  That spoon by the way is a long-handled spoon I got from Temu - there's something about a round bowl that I like and I definitely like the long handle and have several other "ice tea" spoons I prefer to use.  I'm not a fan of soup spoons with the bigger bowl, but eating soup with a teaspoon isn't really that efficient, still I gravitate to them.  Do you have a special spoon you prefer?

Our daughter and her family came to the condo for the weekend and we had recently retrieved this lock game that we made for GS1 as he's outgrown it.  The locks have shapes on them and the key tags have pictures of things that have shapes along with the key to open the lock it matches.  GS2 was quite proud of himself opening those locks but need a little help closing them back up to "do it again".  We're going to hold onto this at our place so those locks don't become projectiles with the baby around.

Papa and GS1 made it to the little bay beach on Friday afternoon and the water was still warm enough to enjoy running around in (no pictures).  This is them on Saturday returning from "chasing the seagulls" in the parking lot across the street.  We were supposed to go the the Kite Festival that morning but it was overcast and no wind so we found some other things to keep him busy.  

The wind did kick up in the evening and the temperature dropped enough for me to have to put on a jacket while trying to capture the sunset out the back window.

It was a bit more blustery on Sunday but we did make it up to the island - picture taken on our friend's deck overlooking the dune and ocean.  HWNSNBP and I stayed back at the house with the baby while Rachel, Ryan and GS2 went onto the beach to see the kites and to fly the little kite that he had gotten in his Easter basket.  I understand that it did get up in the air, but didn't last long before it broke... which happens some times.  

I forgot my camera this trip and had to rely on a few quick snaps with my phone.  There weren't as many kites up as there had been in previous years, but it was early in the day and they might not have had the full force ready yet when we were there.

Our son and daughter-in-law celebrated their 11th anniversary this weekend also.  I used the sunflower die as a stencil to put the color in on this panel and then laid the diecut over it.

I'm still using Bermuda Bay on their anniversary cards leftover from the stash of it I had stocked up on when I made their wedding invitations.  We spent some time with them the previous weekend as they were getting their house ready to put on the market.  Yes, sadly they are moving to Tennessee soon.  We are very heartbroken over this but want them to be happy.  We've been spoiled, I guess, having them only an hour away, but we'll be able to visit back and forth, just not at a moment's notice.  

I've spent the better part of this week playing house dominos - going through things that have been in storage, deciding what to purge, what to donate, and what to keep, and then finding places to put the things that are being kept.  Some of the stuff had been in boxes since we did the floors years ago had been on the plant shelf I have in the full window next to the slider.  And in order to make room for what I wanted to keep, I had to reassess the plant situation.  Some of the orchids were yearning for attentyion and needed to be repotted, so HWNSNBP picked up the planting material and I ordered some plastic pot inserts and spent time repotting the ones that live on those shelves (8) there are still six on the sideboard that aren't doing so bad right now, but I'll need to get more planting material to do them so they can wait a bit.  I call it house dominos because you start with one thing that leads to another thing that needs to be done before you can go on, and so on and so forth.  But it was a good time to do this repotting as none of them on that shelf are blooming at the moment.  I shall have to remember Orchids in October for the future.  

Our flowers outside are looking quite tired at this time but haven't been frost bitten yet, so I will try to keep him from pulling them out until they are really done done.   The hummingbird feeder is coming down today - haven't seen the little ones in a few days and given the nighttime temps, I'm pretty sure they've moved on by now.  There are still some tomatoes out there, some red, mostly green cherry tomatos which I'm hoping he'll bring in before we do get that killing frost and make them mush.  

I must get up to the stamp cave this weekend to do the Jingle Belles challenge - it's Pink Christmas time.

Anniversaries and a Special Request With a Glimmer

There are two couples that celebrate their wedding anniversaries back-to-back in September and sometimes I cheat a little and make the same card for them both but usually in different colors.  In this case I knew that the first couple had green as their wedding color (only because we were in that wedding party) so I went with the green background.  I only wish I'd used a darker shade for the sentiment so it showed up better.  But I stamped and embossed the heart motif on the background paper first just using clear embossing powder. 

I'm not sure what color the bridal party wore at the other wedding but I know the bride's favorite color is pink and I usually go with that color for them.  Again, I used clear EP on the background.  I liked using this die with the two birds as a couple.

Two birds as a couple showed up in this card also.  Our former school superintendent reached out to me in late July to make a personalized wedding card for her nephew who was getting married in NY in September.  I don't usually do requests outside of the family but in this case I did as a pay-it-forward (or backward) for something she had done for me before she moved out of state.  She had given me a whole bunch of craft punches, stickers, and a few other miscellaneous items she no longer wanted from her craft stash.  She makes pottery and was going to mainly focus on that in her retirement so I was the beneficiary of some nice things she was getting rid of and she wanted no reimbursement for them at the time, so I used that as an agreement to make the card for her in repayment.  

I've made wedding cards for Rachel to give to her friends in the past, and even with those that I make that I need I usually take into consideration the colors if they're known, the design of the invitation (theme), or their hobbies or collections.  The info I got on this couple was that they lived in Queens NY and loved NYC, had a corgi that they loved, and her name is Raven and his Steve.  I had this tree die that I hadn't used yet with the birds on the branch and the heart carved into it.  I watercolored it and added their initials to the heart.  I also found a stamp I had of a crown which is the symbol of Queens.  I stamped it and embossed it in gold EP.  I was able to trim down the stamp to get a crown the size that I needed to fit on the heart.  I found a stamp of a corgi with a heart on the chest which I thought would be perfect.  That was fussy cut out and popped up in front of the tree. For the background I cut some rectangular strips of cardstock in grays and blues and lightly drew in hints of windows with colored pencil which are supposed to represent the NYC skyline.  The sentiment was embossed in gold and die cut with a word bubble die that resembles a cloud.  I framed the tree and background with an embossed piece of cardstock.

I e-mailed her a picture and she liked it so I mailed it off to her in North Carolina.  I was pleased to see that the wedding was this weekend and she messaged me to tell me that the "card was a HUGE hit and they are planning to frame it to hang in their home".  That was certainly a "glimmer" in my day.

If you haven't heard about glimmers, this is something that has been going around lately -  

A Little Guide to Glimmers

~ Glimmers are the opposite of triggers

~They are tiny moments of awe

~ They spark joy and evoke inner calm

~ They have a positive effect on our mental health

~ They are micro-moments causing tiny mood shifts

~ They send cues of safety to our nervous system

~ They bring feelings of ease and contentment

~ Our body responds with positive energy

~ They allow us to feel hope when lost

~ Our nervous system is strengthened by them

~ They can help increase our well-being

~ Once we start embracing them it can be a beautiful way to see the world around you

Ooooh, It's the Middle of July Already

 A catch-up post long in length and photo heavy - apologies up front.

First a couple of birthday cards recently sent.  One freshly made and the other from my stash.  In case you're wondering, the bee card is new.  I've seen a lot of bee motifs around lately.  $Tree has/had some pretty dinnerware with bees that tempted me but I left them for someone else. 

This card was done quite a while ago and was in a box of cards that I had done for Teapot Tuesday many years ago before they were dedicating them to a particular person.  I knew it would be perfect for someone who loves pink and tea.  

Our daughter and SIL celebrated their 3rd anniversary this month and are actually going to have their second wedding, or wedding reenactment next month since it had been postponed due to the Covid restrictions on their original date.

HWNSNBP and our SIL did some surf fishing when they came to visit from Delaware and caught several sharks.....which they sent back into the ocean to get even bigger.

The full moon on July 3rd.

And Maverick painting a flag sun catcher for the 4th of July at the condo.  He is so careful for a 4-year-old.  He may have not followed the pattern, but he kept the paint in the stripes.

Grandma got to spend a lot of time with Beckham when the rest went to have fun in the condo pool.

Back home, our lavender is going crazy.  The cleome volunteers show up in many places in the yard and I let most of them stay where they bloom like here in with the lavender.

A tub full of dill to hopefully lure some swallowtails to lay their eggs and feed the caterpillars which will in turn become butterflies I hope.

HWNSNBP built "tomato cages" for us and our daughter and daughter-in-law.  This picture was taken at the beginning of the month.  The plants are now almost to the top of the cage and a bit crowded so we already know that next year there should only be one in the cage and not two.  He basically did this because they were having problems with squirrels and we with the deer eating the tomatoes.  Usually we just put some wire fencing around ours but HWNSNBP had this idea that grew and grew and, well, you see what it came to.  (I love that he wants to do these projects but sometimes he tends to go overboard.  I've been trying to get him to make a simple plant hanger for me.  We bought a beautiful hanging plant on sale and he says it's too heavy for the bird tree branches so I drew a plan for a hanger that can be added to the pole with the worm feeder on it for him to make.  Something simple that is getting turned into a weeks-long project.  I'm just hoping the plant doesn't die before it gets done.

Finally caught a rainbow on the way home from some errands.

The reflection of the trees in our backyard pool.

Rachel's bridal shower....it was a small gathering that her bridesmaids put together for her and they did a wonderful job.  She was so happy with everything.  

Dad brought the boys and HWNSNBP at the end when things were coming to an end.

I loved the floral arrangements that her friend put together.  Notice the little pineapples - she loves the pineapple motif.  Don't be surprised if we see that again soon.

On the way home to Branchburg we got behind this bus.

The next day we got to see GS1 and his parents.  He's happy those teeth are coming in.

It is cherry season and it wouldn't be complete without a picture of my favorites!

My strawberry pink hydrangea is turning blue, which is okay with me, but I did love the strawberry color too when we got it.

More voluteer cleome.  At dusk we have the solar fairy lights around the bird tree that light up.

And here's another fun vehicle we got behind in our travels.  

I'm still doing my ICAD's and will be back with a post on that and somemore soon.