Something to share with you...

Can you tell what's going on in my life?

 These are the unpacked boxes...

These are some of the packed boxes.
Yep, I'm moving.
What a job it is.

Slickables

A couple of weeks ago, Kate and I went to see the Jersey Boys musical at Gammage Theater.  We made a girls' night of it - out for dinner, the musical, and then on to an ice cream place called Slickables in downtown Tempe on Mill.

They are an ice cream sandwich shop - you choose the kind of cookies you want, the kind of ice cream you want, then they put it together for you.

 You really have to use a spoon to eat it.  I chose Snickerdoodle cookies with coffee ice cream.

I can't remember Kate's, but obviously chocolate - maybe coffee or butter pecan.  She looks happy, whatever it is.  It was good and if I remember correctly, reasonably priced.  Thanks, Kate, for showing me new places.  I always enjoy spending time with my girls, one or both of them.

Finished bench pad

Kate sent me the following photo of the finished bench pad...

It fit the bench very nicely and added some color to her room.  Kate tied it on with ribbons so that it stays in place.  Yes, I think it looks nice, too.  I can't wait to see her class room.

My dad turned 90!

YES, 90!

So I recently spent a long weekend in Florida to help celebrate that big day.

Here's a glimpse of the day...

 Ya gotta have cake!

 This is my dad with his two younger sisters.  

One lives in Florida and the other in Maryland.

 At the end of the day, he opened his cards.

 This is something I picked up for him... I love you like butter on my grits.

So true.  I love butter on my grits - it doesn't get any better than that.

 The food line...

 There ended up being over 50 family members and friends - such a great day!

 This is my oldest sister, Susan, sitting next to Dad.

 Two more amazing people - my Aunt Mae and Uncle Raymond.

Guess how old they are?  97!! Both of them!!

They've been married something like 76 years.  I think they were both 21 when they got married.

 Of course, a time for family pictures.

These are the "cousins" on my dad's side (with my dad).

 This next one is my mother's side.

 Okay, I just had to throw this in.

We saw wild pigs on the side of the road - a mama and two babies.

We ooohed and aaaahed over them.

It was a nice weekend, but went way too fast.  

Happy Birthday, Dad!

90 years is an accomplishment.

Both of my girls took international trips this summer...

Kimmy went to Costa Rica with three of her friends.  It was an organized trip through Gate1 Travel.  She tells me they had a wonderful time and really enjoyed their time there.  One of my favorite pictures is her encounters with iguanas.

 She said they were tame, but she still was skid dish.  She did not want to get too close.

 Kim and Tiffany both went out and bought special shoes for the trip -

they bought Keens.  Of course, not only are they comfortable, but are stylish!

 This is a sculpted garden in Sarchi.

 The photo speaks for itself.  That is one super-sized grasshopper.

Here they are on a boat tour.

Kimberly brought back a bag of white chocolate covered coffee beans - so good!

You can see I am enjoying them.

Kate went to Great Britain, Scotland, and Ireland with a group called People to People.

I received a couple of postcards - one of doors - Kate knows I LOVE doors.  

I saw many in Croatia and really found them interesting.

and this one...

This is a postcard of a train station in Anglesey off the coast of Wales.

Can you see the name below the picture?  

Yes, all those letters constitute the name of the train station.

Whew!  Not even sure where to begin with that.

 Kate brought back an assortment of English teas and an Irish tea towel (not pictured).  

She knows I really enjoy Earl Grey tea.
I think I get that from my mother.  She loved Earl Grey Teas, as well.

 So I used my Teavana brewer and made some iced tea today.

 This brewer is real convenient - 

it dispenses out of the bottom when you sit it on the rim of your glass.

Soooo good!

I have to admit my girls have the travel bug.  They like to see new places
and experience new things and new cultures.
That makes me happy.

Part of my weekend was spent sewing

I spent a fair amount of my weekend sewing a 72" bench pad for my daughter, Kate.  She picked out the fabric, I picked up the rest of everything we needed to complete the project.  Here's my process:

Have you ever priced foam rubber?  It is darn expensive!  At JoAnn's Fabrics, it was going to cost $96.00 for 2 yards of 27" wide.  I think that's exorbitant.  I checked out SAS fabric store - it has so much stuff and you just never know what they will have, but guess what?  They did - and for a much better price - $24!  It was 96" x 27" wide.  So now I have the dilemma of cutting it.

The picture above shows the cut edge.  I think it looks pretty good.

How did I do it?  Well, I got on Youtube and found a tutorial by Sailrite.  They said to use a kitchen electric knife and it worked so well.  And I mean really well.

Here's the fabric Kate picked out.  I also bought the trim at SAS for a much better price - about a third of what it would cost elsewhere.

After cutting two pieces for the top and bottom, I made my corner template and trimmed the corners.

Sailrite said to tape down the trim by using double sided basting tape.  That helped quite a bit when it came time to sew.

It really made things stay in place.  You use your zipper foot on your sewing machine so you can get close to the trim.  The corners were a bit tricky, though, even though they  made it look easy.  Hmmm.  I wouldn't say it was easy.  Not hard, but not easy.

This is the Sailrite film I used.  You gently wrap the film around the piece of foam rubber, folding up the bottom edge.  You then use a vacuum cleaner and suck out the air.  It shrinks way down and it makes it easier to put the foam into the bench pad.  It is such a soft, thin film and you can't even feel it inside the pad.  It is noiseless.  No crinkling of plastic.   

Finishing the open end was very challenging for me, but I got it done.

There's Sophie - thinking she is my helper and having to be in the center of it.  Now I am just waiting for Kate to send me a picture of the pad on her bench, which I will definitely share with you.  I thought it turned out very cute!