A Shower for a Dear Blushing Bride

Michelle and Bryce are getting married in October.  Shelly and I planned a shower for Michelle.  The SherylShellyDoreenTami group and their girls and brave, sweet Mother of the Groom, Kathy gathered on the patio for cocktails on Monday evening.  It is still nice enough in the evening to enjoy some patio time before it cools down. 

 We moved Grandma's chairs to the patio because their fabric is the perfect shades of blush and gold.  

 Shelly and I had everything ready but no guests yet so we snapped some selfies.  Hubby made us a G & T to help us cool down calm down.  We were a little giddy to have the girls come and enjoy the party.

 Here comes the bride... Michelle's dress was a gorgeous blush color with beading.  She sparkled!  Especially when she talks about her groom.  So in love and so pretty.

We served feta and caramelized onion tarts, prawns and water chestnuts wrapped in bacon, and rosemary raisin crackers topped with honeyed chevre and fresh blackberries and then drizzled with more honey.  All served with a blush wine or pink lemonade on ice.

 I love this mother and daughter picture of Sheryl and Michelle.  Bryce and Michelle are moving to Montana so I plan on Mama Sheryl crying into her wine at my house a lot this Fall.

 Michelle with her sisters and her mamas.  That dress!  Sweet fancy Moses it is pretty!

 After cocktails we went inside for dinner.  When you put two dish crazy friends in charge of a bridal shower this happens:

Shelly had the gold and I had the blush.

Since we think of Michelle as our little princess, the crowns were a perfect touch.

I found the velvet leaves in Seattle at Nancy's Sewing Basket.  I love velvet leaves.  I think we should bring them back for corsages.  Corsages with velvet leaves for everyone!

 Shelly and I went to the Heeringa's dahlia farm in the morning to pick the freshest flowers.

 For dinner we served an autumn chop salad with Heidi's Chicken and Rice.  I had shared this recipe with my friends and I knew that the girls love it.

 For dessert we served coffee and ice cream sandwiches.  Toasted coconut cookies with strawberry ice cream, triple ginger cookies with blood orange sorbet and chocolate chip cookies with coffee ice cream.  Small enough so that one of each wasn't too much.

 I don't have a group picture but I did get some small group ones.

And oh my, did we have fun.  And laughed and laughed.  Talked all at the same time and got so excited for the wedding and for Bryce and Michelle.

And that was just Shelly and I setting up and cooking for the shower.

Then the girls showed up and the party really got started.

I'm so blessed to have childhood friends that have shared their daughters with me.  Ooh, it was a good time.

I cannot wait for the wedding day.

Best Wishes, Bryce and Michelle!

Chop Chop

 Hubby and I have been eating a lot of chop salads.  I was buying the little salad kits sold on the produce aisle.  I needed a salad for Saturday evening and one for Sunday dinner.  I decided kits weren't the way to go for larger groups and I should make my own.  And I like it to look like I fussed.  After googling and looking at a few recipes I came up with my own.  Common sense, really.

Chop Salad

one bag of 3 romaine hearts

one bag of shredded carrots

two bags of coleslaw without dressing

one bunch of kale

one bunch of green onions

two red peppers

 Even though the carrots and coleslaw came shredded, I did a bit more chopping.

The romaine and kale got washed and went for a spin.  And then I chopped and chopped some more.

Kale is hard to chop so got the scissors out and cut it.

 I filled my Tupperware Lotsa bowl.  That is a lot of salad.

 It's pretty!

Before serving I added slivered almonds, craisins, wonton strips and dressing.

Any Asian inspired dressing would be good but the Trader Joes Sesame Soy Ginger vinaigrette is considered the best at our house.  If you don't live close to a Trader Joes, move.  It's that simple.

Stir everything in and serve.

I  just took some of the chop salad and put it in a pretty serving bowl and then added accordingly.

We had it on the patio Saturday night with guests, I took a bowl to Sunday dinner at Birch Bay, Hubby and I had it for a light dinner last night.  We had a BBQed chicken breast that had been marinated in Trader Joes Soyaki.  Chopped it up and added it to the salad.   It just goes on and on...It's still crisp and delicious today.  I know this because I just had a little bowl for lunch.

Variations:

Bolthouse salsa ranch dressing with tortilla chips and chopped tomatoes and shredded cheddar.

Ranch dressing with chopped tomatoes, and bacon for a BLT.

Poppy seed with chopped apples or pears, feta cheese and craisins.

I'll stop now... there are many variations and of course, you could shred your own carrots and cabbage, leave out the kale (not sure why you would though), make it Greek, make jar salads to take to work for lunch, etc.

Enjoy!  Now chop chop!

Around Here

 When you picture a cute lil' vintage trailer you probably don't think of this...

This a painful part of the project.  Hubby is a perfectionist and I am not.  That said, he is right and I am wrong because he is a craftsman and I am a decorator (my time is coming).   Thus the floor was replaced and will last another fifty years.  Just in case I want to go camping when I'm 105.  Yesterday he did get one of the walls cut and ready to nail.  Many cuts and curves so it's not an easy project.  Patience grasshopper.

 I went junkin' with Chris and Shelly to an estate sale.  I was a doubter and really thought there would be nothing I wanted or needed.  I stand corrected.  Vintage Christmas and a cute little suitcase came home with me.

 We have a very prolific fig tree.  Not really a fan of figs but make a little jam and give many figs away.  Friends, Mike and Chela love the figs.  Saturday Mike showed up with Chela's tamale pie for us.  They wanted to show their appreciation for the figs.  Again, I stand corrected.  Something muy bueno can come from figs.

 I usually leave summertime kicking and screaming but this year we actually had summer in the Pacific Northwest so I am just enjoying the last bits and ready to move toward Fall.  Evenings on the patio are savored and the beginning of fall light enjoyed.

 A little game of whiffle ball ended badly on Sunday at my folks.  My Mom was like no big deal, we replace those windows easily.  She loves having her family and the guys' friends over for Sunday dinner.  And we all know that Collin is her favorite.  So it's all good.

 Snowflake is for sale.  Snowflake and the '57 Aloha both need to be in the carport for winter and it's pretty tight.  She is a fun car.  If interested please send me a private message.

 Once a year I make a peach pie to share with our favorite wait staff at Streatfood and Kulshan Brewery. Last night was the night.  Braden joined us one last time before going back to college.  It was a perfect evening, the friends, the food, the weather, and so much laughing.  And the peach pie was pretty tasty too.

Now you're all caught up and you know I'm not always right.  But that's okay.  

It's all good here at the Stone House.  We will be laboring for Labor Day this year with a bit of fun thrown in too.  Enjoy the last bits of summer!

This Week & A Guys Update

 Our friend from MO, as in Missouri, is visiting.  Becky Beck is here!  We had a lil PaRTay at Jodi's #fancyshanty at Birch Bay on Tuesday evening.

Jodi and Becky are best friends and when your sister has a best friend you become friends too. 

 My other sister, Kathi and her BFF Janice.  

A nice series of pics of my sisters with their other sisters, if you will.  

We walked to the C Shop for dessert and to the beach for sunset.  Holly wanted to jump the fence for a vintage trailer.  Two trailers on one lot, one for each of us.

 Yesterday I had the trifecta, I talked to all of my guys.  It makes my day!

Danny was on a local morning show making a martini for restaurant week. 

Besides being on television Danny is busy working at Mercy hospital and Bistro Bella Vita.  Next week he starts school.  His sweet girl, Jess is teaching school and going back to school to work on her masters degree.  They are very busy with jobs and school but the end result will be worth it because Danny want to move back to where he belongs, the PNW.  

Danny sent me this real life pic.  Yeah, it's not all TV personality...When I look at the picture of Danny in his scrubs I think of the show Friends.  Remember when Joey Tribbiani played Dr. Drake Ramoray on Days of Our Lives.  Oh yeah, it's close.

I've talked to Sam several times over the past few days.  His car was broken into and his camping gear stolen. Sam and Angela went to Montana with a group from their church, they spent a night in Spokane on the way there and were robbed.  I had to find receipts from Christmases past.  Not an easy task but I did pretty well and it looks like insurance will cover a decent portion.  They did have a great trip in spite of the broken window and the loss of their backpacks.   Sam and Angela are busy living happily ever after...
I "borrowed" this pic of Sam and Angela from their pastor's FB.  I love how Sam is watching Angela.
Such a love as this.

And Max.  He finished his internship yesterday and is moving to George, WA.  I had asked him several times if he wanted me to come to WaWaWA to help him move.  Oh no, he'd be fine.  It turns out I should have gone because last night he called to ask how to pack.  Uh, put it in a box.   Well Mom what about...? Uh, put it in a box.  Some days that momwisdom is valuable stuff.  If I had a dollar for every time I said, "put it in a box" last night I wouldn't be going to work today.  I think he got the hang of it though.  I'm excited for him and this next step.  When I asked him about unpacking he told me that Kassie would come over to help him.  

So, it looks like my work here is finished.

And I'm good with that.  Good luck Kassie.  I love you!

Come On In

Come on in, it's been a awhile.  We'll get all caught up on life at the Stone House.

 Last post I shared my blog book, today I'd like to share my instagram books.  I found out about these little gems on Dear Lizzy.  Sixty instagram photos per book, you may edit, choose your cover, and give books a title.  I used @tamraraery On Instrgram.  Not very creative but that is what it is.  The books are $6 each and I am now set up to automatically receive my next book when I hit 60 more instagrams.  I think I'm at 36+ now so it will be a bit.  But when I do, they will notify me to edit and then book will arrive by mail.  

Who doesn't love some happy mail?

 These little books will be nice for me to take to the old folks home.  A small basket of books by my rocker to flip though and get nostalgic with someday.

 Yes, it adds a date at the top of the page, yes, it prints in chronological order and yes, it prints your caption and hash tags.  The app for your phone is called chatbooks and it is a free app.  Shipping is also free.  That's a lot of free!

 I spent a day cleaning appliances for the '57 Aloha last week.  The bottom heat shield in the oven was written off as garbage but I scrubbed and scrubbed and it is once again shiny and silver.

 Hubby got the trailer base cleaned up, removed the rust and painted it.

 He also worked on the new floor.

At the end of the afternoon we were feeling pretty good about our accomplishments.  I went into the house to get some ice water for us when the phone rang.

We got a call from Max, he had an accident.  A large tire blew as he was adding air.  He was taken to Urgent Care and treated there.  The gashes on his chest were pretty nasty. The air ripped his shirt and skin off.   I'm not including photos cuz it'd give you a sick stomach.  He temporarily lost his hearing and he permanently lost some skin but he's okay.  It shook him up but the guys working with him were even more upset.  They could not find him because of the dust from the explosion.  The disc (I found it spelled disc and disk)  machine was new this year and the tire had less air than the others so they aren't sure why this happened.  We are so thankful Max is healing and is going to be fine, it could have been so much worse.

So, I laid awake Monday night wondering if they'd really checked him for internal bleeding, cuz I'm the Mom, that's why...  But it's all good now.

 We are loving the garden produce that comes with August.  And we had a few cooler days for walking.  I was trying to balance out the fair food last week.

 Hubby and I spend our evenings on the patio soaking up the last of summer nights.

 Karen and I spent a day in Anacortes shopping and lunching.  We had lunch at Girl'd Cheese, which I highly recommend.  Your grilled cheese sandwich comes with homemade tomato basil soup for dipping.  We shopped in the antique stores and at Pearl Buttons.  A fun girl's day out.

 Shelly and I worked at the Tough Enough to Wear Pink booth at the NNW Fair on rodeo night.  Of course, we had more fun than should be allowed.  We pretty much had a class reunion at the Fair, including Audrey Doesburg!

 Saturday evening we went to the fair and saw Collective Soul in concert.  Thanks Dor!  We went with Mark and Karen.  Braden dropped us off and picked us up at the gate so we didn't have to find parking.  All we had to do was bring him home a plate of poffertjes.  It was a fun night and a great show.

 I love a baked potato at the fair. And I got a new potato cookbook form Farm Friends.  That always makes my fair experience complete.

I think we are all caught up.  This week I need to dust, vacuum and start cutting back in the flower beds.   August is dry and dusty and my house looks it.   

The last two weeks of August are the fastest weeks of the year.  Enjoy!  

Volume Four

 While there may be several reasons why I have maintained my blog one of the big ones is Blurb.  Blurb is a company with software that  slurps  the blog, has editing tools, and then prints the blog into a hard cover book.

 Volume IV of  The Lady in the Stone House  arrived this week.  I don't change the writing or content but I do use the editing to arrange and resize the photos with each post.  I keep some photos fairly small to keep the book size reasonable.  I usually slurp about a year and a half per book.  My next slurp will begin April 2013.  I choose my end date based on number of posts and events in my life.

It's rewarding to get the blog in print and for someone that doesn't scrap book it is a nice alternative.

Can anyone buy a copy?  Yes, but my books run between $95 to $125 per copy.  So, you may want to think that through and just read it online.

By the way Blurb doesn't pay me to mention them on my blog.  

No one pays me anything, ever, to write this blog.