Ode to Aud

11/50 Audrey Hepburn (for καsια) by Monypussy featuring Chanel bags

Two of my all time favorite movies are "Roman Holiday" and "Funny Face" with the elegant Audrey Hepburn as the star! What amazes me about her is how some of her fashion and hair styles at the time would be just as relevant today. When all the hollywood starlets at the time were getting the roller set, teased up poofy, shellacked hair, Audrey sported a classy and simple short do with more natural looking makeup and outshone them all. In "Funny Face", she was supposed to have a "funny" face, but that's a joke! If that's a funny face, then may I be smitten with that brand of "funny"!

I can stand...I can walk....I can BOOGIE!

Do any of you remember "Good Times", a crazy sitcom from the seventies? Of course you don't, you are probably not as ancient as I am, but maybe you have seen the reruns? On one episode, JJ gets a job working for a phony healing evangelist, and that is his line every time he pops out of his wheelchair pretending to be healed! When I was 18, I played the part of a cripple in a church skit, whose line, after standing up was" I can stand...I can walk...I can run!", but at rehearsal I couldn't help but say the "Good Times" line, but only me and my best friend thought it was funny and knew where it came from!
Well, I said that line this morning because on Tuesday I injured my sciatic nerve and couldn't hardly walk at all and when I attempted it I cried because it hurt so bad.
Because of this awful condition I was in, my husband and I had to postpone a trip to Florida to see my daughter, son in law and grandson and that did not make me happy one bit! At least my daughter Jenny and friend Rachel got to make the trip and I am glad that they are having a great time.
Muscle relaxers barely made any difference until Friday when I could finally hobble around a little. It was the worst pain I ever felt, from my hip all the way down to my toes, ouch!!!
Well, I thank the Lord that today, my prayers and the prayers of my friends and family were answered and I can actually sit, get up and walk! Or should I say, " I could stand....I could walk....I could boogie!!!"

Earthy, Wordy, Etsy, YELLOW!

This and That Cafe

dekanimal

Red Ruby Rose

Barn Owl Primitives

Click on the picture in order to go to the etsy shop the item is sold in!

A Bloomin' Festival

Today Ray and I drove about an hour away to Cullman, Alabama to check out this annual festival held on the grounds of St. Bernard Prep School. The school grounds looked like something out of a movie with several old stone buildings surrounded by beautiful blooming trees.
The craft show was pretty big with many vendors and we had to pay 5.00 each just to get in. It was worth it just to be able to see the beautiful setting, but alas, I bought nothing! There were some interesting benches and birdhouses for a yard, and even though the pricing was pretty good, neither I nor Ray felt like carrying anything heavy or bulky all the way back to the field we parked in! I guess it wasn't anything I couldn't live without! I think I prefer the indie craft show scene a lot better, where young and old alike set up their tables without the fancy professionally made signs or set ups, like using old suitcases to display your wares or other makeshift displays. It is usually a good sign that pricing will be reasonable and not your grandma's craft fair! (well, I am actually a Grandma, but ...you know what I mean!)
Still, it was fun to be there and thousands attended, so I am sure that the school was able to raise a ton of money! Hope your Saturday was enjoyable too!

I Love Smoothies!!

When the weather starts getting warmer, my favorite healthy snack is a fruit smoothie. You can pick up bags of frozen fruit at the grocery store and keep them on hand for impromptu smoothie making.

Basic Fruit Smoothie Recipe

1 cup of skim milk (I only use skim in smoothies) 90 calories
1/2 cup low fat PLAIN yogurt 55 calories
1/2 cup ice cubes
1/2 cup frozen fruit of choice
( I like blueberries, strawberries,peaches) approx 50 calories
2 packets TRUVIA or sweetener of your choice
total calories : 195
Place all ingredients in a blender, and pulse a little at first to break up the ice and frozen fruit, then blend until well mixed. Pour in a large glass, insert straw and slurp!

You can use any combination of frozen fruit, frozen banana pieces would be good too and the yogurt gives it a great taste, but you can leave that out if you want. I think it is a very healthy and satisfying snack for around 195 calories! And....you can adjust the ingredients according to your taste, more ice for thicker and if you use fresh fruit, less ice for a thinner consistency!

Easy Artisan Bread Recipe

Click here for the link with this delicious looking bread recipe!

I just started baking bread in the last 3 years and have found that it is not as scary as I thought it would be! 30 years ago, I attempted a bread called "Fool Proof Whole Wheat" and it never cooked in the middle even after over an hour in the oven! That made me give up the entire concept of home baked bread until a few years ago when I decoded, "what the heck!" and tried again! And the bread I made came out delicious and I realized that it wasn't so intimidating after all! So, give it a try, you may get hooked! And you get to control what goes into your bread so no hidden high fructose corn syrup!

The Long Journey Home

Pheww! My daughter Christina, her husband and little two year old son are in the air as I write this post, heading from Mumbai, India to Newark, New Jersey then to Tampa, Florida!
They had a good long trip which I am sure Christina will post about in her blog Consider The Coffee.
In the pictures above, my grandson is chilling on the bed in his Indian grandparents home and sweetly leaning on his Grandma there! There is also a picture of the area that they live in which is a very nice neighborhood of condos .

ETSY things reflecting my 6 random likes!

Sunshine Coffee Mug

1000 Indian Recipes e Book on CD

5 embroidered kitchen towels

8x8 Fine Art Print

Where the Green Grass Meets The Sky


5.5 inches x 4.25 inches Zippered Pouch

Click on any image to go to their ETSY location!

six random things I really , really like

Deer
I know I have posted about my deer love before, but I will say it again! When I was a child and staying with my Grandpa, every evening near dusk , I would sit on his front porch and watch the deer graze at the end of his driveway. The golden part of the day combined with the peaceful does and fawns made for a very relaxing view! I get so happy when I see them now, in the wild or at a zoo!
Mountains
When I lived with my grandfather in Pennsylvania it was in the Susquehanna Valley with the Appalachian Mountains all around. It was such a beautiful and majestic sight! God's handiwork sure is nice!

Autumn
After living in Florida for 25 years where there is either really hot weather or a little less hot weather, I am thrilled to be living where there are four distinct seasons! Fall was always my favorite as I grew up in the North East. The colors are so invigorating and they enliven the scenery with each brushstroke. Another example of God's creation being so restorative.


Birds
I love looking at them and listening to them! I find that they are so beautiful and the songs they sing are literally music to my ears! God's creation is the best recreation out there! I also love bird images in jewelry and art, etc. It never grows old for me!

Indian Food

My son in law is from India so we have learned to eat many different foods that he makes and at our favorite Indian restaurant, Taj India in Birmingham . I love Chicken Tikka Masala, Tandoori Chicken, the naan bread, Butter Chicken, Korma and many other delicious things served there! It is now my favorite cuisine!


A Really Good Cup Of Coffee
I like strong, slightly burnt tasting coffee, fresh, not stale, not weak! I like Starbucks, but my very favorite is served at Urban Standard Coffee House, Birmingham Alabama
which also has the most delicious lunches! One of my all time favorite places!
I love making a good strong cup of coffee at home and sitting on the porch sipping away while listening to and watching the birds!

april projects with my favorite material...YARN!

So, I have so much yarn in my back room as many of you already know, and I have been trying to focus on more spring and summer uses for it, so I decided to make about a million pom pom flowers with natural twigs as the stems! Well, I have only made about 6 so far, so I still have a long way to go!
I have been using the pom pom making gadgets shown above which are "Clover" brand and comes in groups of two per package at Hobby Lobby. ( about $8.00 for two smaller, and $9.00 for two larger!) They make it much easier to wrap the yarn and I wasn't too good at the wrap around the hand method, so these babies made an easier process of it!
I like the shaggy look of these poms, but I may make some that are more perfectly trimmed, and possibly use floral wire wrapped in floral tape as stems as well!
I don't know why, but I think these things are soooo fun!

Featuring "For The Cross Jewelry"

I came upon this shop while browsing etsy today and loved the vintage and fairy tale style of the jewelry featured in it. Click on any image to take you to "For The Cross" jewelry!

Festive Weekend

Yesterday, Gadsden celebrated First Friday, a monthly event with antique cars, food vendors, the stores staying open later, live music, arts and crafts tables and thousands of people strolling down Broad Street!
This time we ate delicious barbecue, roasted corn, homemade ice cream and enjoyed watching the street dancers which are there every month! Sometimes people join them who are very entertaining to watch, and that was the case yesterday! Much to my husband's annoyance, I could watch them for hours! Friends were in town visiting their family which lives around the corner from us so it was extra fun for us!
Today, I have been getting ready for Easter dinner at our house with 18 people coming each bringing something to share. I am making family recipe home made meatballs, sauce, some pasta and some additional foods coming are greek salad, chicken gyros, ham, eggplant parmigiana, rolls, desserts, vegetables, deviled eggs, etc, etc!
Hope you all have a happy and blessed day tomorrow!!

Lovely Weather and Missing Christina, Suj and Kavi!!!

Spring has sprung around these here parts! The birds are chirping, flowers and trees are blooming and the bumblebees are out! We mowed and fixed up our back yard last weekend so that we could enjoy that area while the weather is so pleasant and to get ready for Easter guests. A tablecloth covers the stained plastic table on our deck along with cleaned up plastic chairs which I was looking forward to using,to sit on, to sip some coffee, listen to the birds sing etc. etc. Well there was a very militant , fat and fuzzy bumblebee hovering over the table who would have none of that! I swear it was looking directly at me with a mean bumblebee face that said, "this is my turf, lady, you better scram", and scram I did! Even inside the sliding glass doors looking out it was "glaring" and hovering right outside with a "you better not come back out here" stare! Really, I am not making that up, even my family saw it when I called them to look! My husband went out bravely, waving his arms about while us girls stood inside the doors yelling, "you're gonna get stung!", but he didn't, the bee kind of scattered back and forth. A little while later I thought I would brave the great outdoors so I could sit on the deck steps and listen to the birds sing just before sunset. I was actually too intimidated to sit at the table that the bumblebee had claimed and then I noticed that the bee was scaring off some wasps that were checking out the roof eaves for possible real estate. Curious I am, if there is some sort of hidden hive around that we will have to deal with! Any bee advice would be greatly appreciated!
Now my daughter Christina of Consider The Coffee, has been in India for a week with her husband Suj, and son Kavi and I miss them soooo! They have two more weeks to go and it has been very trying on my two year old grandson who is having trouble adjusting to a 9 1/2 hour time change! He has been very clingy to his parents, but his grandparents and aunties there want to enjoy their time with him, and the whole thing is stressing Christina out, so...if you are praying kind of people, please pray for them! The top picture was taken on the roof of the in-laws building!
Happy Easter!!! (just in case I don't have another chance to post before then!)