Friday, September 20, 2013

Roses Are Red....Wedding Flowers

Once again I got sweet talked into helping with some wedding flowers for my friend's daughter who is getting married today.  While the thought of taking on a project like that is overwhelming I have to admit that I do love working with flowers.                                       
The normal wholesale place I've ordered flowers from before was sold last year and now they require a Nurseryman's license to get in.  This of course put me in a panic because we waited till the last moment thinking it would be easy to just go in and order....yes, I'm a true procrastinator!
Luckily the wholesale supplier through Costco came to the rescue but we had to order all the flowers sight unseen~which for me was really scary.  I'm a visual person and this was a huge gamble to me.  The wedding colors were red and turquoise so we picked out red Peruvian Lilies, red Roses of course and....
these gorgeous red Gladiolus which were even grown here locally in Idaho.
These will be for the tall table centerpieces.  The flower guy told me they were "firecracker red" and he was right!
After working all day on them I quickly snatched some pictures of them last night before they were whisked out the door, so my lighting wasn't good.
My daughter wasn't horribly excited being draped with a towel so I could get a neutral back ground picture either.  Oh, the difficult life of being a blogger's daughter.:)
                                     
I had to do 6 corsages and 11 boutonnieres, each individually labeled and tucked safely into a cooler for safe keeping.
Of course all this was done between squirrel feedings!  We've gotten a few emails inquiring on whether our little squirrels are still alive.
This is what greets me every morning next to my bed.  This is our older squirrel Martina who is about 7 weeks old now.  She has figured out I'm the Momma and source of food~she'll crawl out of the box and has figured how to jump over onto my bed to wake me up to feed her.  I am soooooo sleep deprived right now.  I have fallen off the wagon officially and back on Dr. Pepper after a good year and half of being Dr. Pepper sober.
This is our tiny baby Martin, he is about 2 1/2 weeks old now and just starting to get a fluff of fur coming in around his mouth and on his tail.  He gets cold really easily so he has to be tucked away in the shoe box on a heating pad.
Here they are together, growing fast.  I had them in separate boxes but after a couple of days Martina climbed out of her box and into Martin's to snuggle up with him.  I am so grateful that they will be able to be raised together.  And yes, my daughter picked the names~but at least she didn't go through 10 sets of names before deciding on these ones.  I still find myself calling Martina Fifi.

Tonight is our big annual School Fund Raiser Wild West Night.  Yes, I'm not only on the PTO board, I got talked into being the Vice President again this year.  I obviously don't know how to say no....  It is a carnival style event which consists of many many hours of work and planning.  There are some really fun events though and I'm taking my camera to document it and share with you guys.  What is your most successful school fund raiser?

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Oatmeal Date Cookies

There is something about the Fall that makes me want to bake but
our little family is trying to be a bit healthier so I knew this favorite recipe
from our Mom would be perfect to cure my weekend sweet tooth!
Every time our family gets together I made a huge batch of these cookies
~not just because they are pretty tasty, they don't make you feel sick after eating them
and they stay fresh for days!  (Not that they last that long;))!

Oatmeal Date Cookies
3/4 cup shortening (make half of it butter)
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
 4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sifted flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups chopped dates
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cups chopped nuts (optional but I prefer pecans)

Cream together wet ingredients and also mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Combine dry with wet until thoroughly mixed.  Cook for 10-12 minutes in a 375 degree oven.  Makes about 4 dozen.

Have a wonderful weekend friends!  Candace is busy running around her boys to a million sport games while I in between squirrel feedings will be cleaning out the gutters and putting protective coverings over them in my constant effort to fight the pine needles in our yard.  What are you doing this weekend?

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Wood You Like To Craft September



Today we are sharing our take on Kitchen Decor for September's theme

Make sure to head over and check out the cute Menu Planner that Krystal did yesterday and to see what Melinda and Wendy have up their sleeves for the rest of the week!

                                      
This sign about sums up our summer....
Sorry friends!
It was a crazy one~family in town for 8 weeks straight (I'm not kidding either)!
Lot's of trips to several states~Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, Nevada and Utah.
Our first niece got married in St. George Utah (which we fell in love with, it's so pretty down there!).
Here's one of my Instagram's from her reception~aren't they cute!
                                
Lots of fun trips and family made it a summer to remember but unfortunately not a summer for crafting.
Plus guess what landed at my door last weekend~not one but two baby squirrels!
The larger one is about 5 weeks old and the tiny pinkie was maybe a day or 2 old. 
Yes, I'm completely sleep deprived from feedings every couple of hours, but they are so fun!

We did get some fun projects done which we'll be sharing in the next few days
and a bunch that we are getting ready to do.
What is it about Fall that brings on my crafting itch?
Do any of you get that way too?

It's good to be back, we've missed you!:)