I thought I would give Dogs on Thursday a try.....

     Well,   I was just on Nikki's cute blog with Oz and Crumpet and Miles wanted to join in on the fun, too.   Miles is a Miniature Schnauzer.  Yes, I said Miniature Schnauzer.  I know, he can't help himself he just kept growing  and growing.    I guess the Iams Eukanuba was chock full of vitamins and minerals.   But he was the tiniest puppy.  He was so cute.   That little face was just irresistible.

     Here he is with his spiffy new haircut, he is such a pretty boy!

      

 The End!

It's Tuesday!

     Here are a few ideas I have been thinking about for my late summer garden lunch.  I really like these sunflower plates.  I am uncertain about which glassware I want to go with it.  I may have to visit Homegoods or Pier One again.  I was thinking of the green bubbly tuscan style glasses that are short and squatty.   I will be serving grilled flatbread pizzas with roasted veggies and assorted grilled meats such as chicken and italian sausage, a roasted veggie balsamic pasta salad or a garden salad,  artisan breads or breadsticks with the assorted dips like I had on my vacation,  cannolis,  caramel apple cake or a rich chocolate turtle cake or chocolate cupcakes with sunflowers on top.  My guests are my aunts and cousins and all we drink is Diet Coke with ice cubes and a slice of lemon or lime.   I have my three tier stand from Smith & Hawken and ramekins for all my assorted pizza toppings and dips.   I have my zinc galvanized trays from S & H and Pottery Barn.  I also have a 4 hole sugar mold to hold all the flatware on the buffet.   I will definitely take pics when this takes place in a few weeks (after the fair...)

The MSF is Temporarily on Hold....

     Help!   The downstairs fridge called it quits.   That means all the extra meat purchased from Sam's Club has no place to go!    All of the Egg Rolls, Chicken Kiev's, Lean Cuisine's, Ore Ida French Fries......god forbid Dove Bars are melting!   

     Today I made meatballs with 6 pounds of hamburger.   I figured I could freeze them after they were baked and the new fridge was delivered.   I felt like a caterer.

  

    Then I bbq'd chicken breasts,   pork chops,  today is the turkey breast.   I guess we'll be eating lots of spaghetti & meatballs,  fajitas and salads and pizzas......  I can just pretend I'm one of those super prepared moms that makes all her meals ahead of time.

     Meanwhile,  I have to  clean out the old fridge and vac behind it so that the delivery guy thinks  I am spotless.    ~ Robyn

Pink Saturday at the Fair!

     Yep!  We're back at the fair! 

 

      For Pink Saturday I found these tableclothes at the International Bazaar - hey and they are Waterproof!  

Here are a few shots of some topiaries for sale at the fair.

    

And Here's Fairchild!

Hang in there, more pics to come.....my dogs are barking and I'm bushed!

Robyn

It's Minnesota State Fair Time! Day #1

     Today is the start of our beloved Minnesota State Fair!   Twelve days of food,  fun,  farm animals,  and fancy work.   Our fair is the epitome of state fairs!  Not to brag, but it has the highest daily attendance of any other fair in the nation!   For the next 12 days I will share with you why!

     It's a tradition.   I always take a vacation day for the first day of the fair.   I always go with my son Jacob and my Dad.   The fair covers about 320 acres and I think that we cover about half of that on the first day - (my Dad's 71 now.)   

     This is the international bazaar.  It is a little market from all over the map.  It was re-vamped this year and I must say it looks very spiffy.   Here are some samplings from some of the vendors.   

     Remember I am with my son and Dad so I only got to zoom past most of these booths so I will definitely come back here with my girlfriends and cousins for a closer look.   I know that the gazing ball is $40, I just didn't want to carry it around all day.

The next stop was the Horticulture Building.   We all enjoyed an apple treat!

Of course, we spent plenty of time looking at the Jeeps.  Someone will be driving soon and he placed his order for this one. (Keep dreaming, Kiddo!)

It's not the fair if you don't indulge!   We tried one of the new foods this year

Deep Fried Bacon on a Stick.  We also tried Spam curds.  They were an acquired taste. I don't think that I would get them again.  The bacon was good but small.  Jacob called it the Big Fat Rip-off on a Stick.  It was one strip of bacon dipped in maple syrup for $3.

  

We have to visit the Big Pig!

   

     So now that I got you hooked.......stay tuned only 11 more days to go!

Flower Frog Extravaganza!

     Jacob loves, loves, loves Antique Sales and Flea Markets.  His search is always for something you or I would consider junk.  I guess one man's trash is another man's treasure.   He  looks for any old piece of electrical junk, tube radios, glass insulators, light bulbs and little gas airplane engines like Cox .049's, etc.   I  have been collecting flower frogs for years - even before their popularity.  I gave myself rules for collecting them.    Buy only metal flower frogs.     Don't collect the glass ones.  Buy only  one frog per sale or antique store.  Buy only enough to fill the glass jar placed on the shelf of the hutch in the  sunroom .   Try to buy a different type or style.   So okay, I broke a few rules.  I've duplicated a few,  I bought a vaseline glass one or two (not pictured),  and I bought some too large for the jar.     My latest addition is the one actually shaped like a flower.

     After Country Living and Country Home wrote about them in their magazines their popularity soared and so did the price.  I'm lucky I started the collection before all of  the hull-a-ba-loo.  The most expensive was the hairpin frog in the front with little wooden bird on it.   The last one was only $10.00.   What do you like to collect? 

      

Catch-Up Day!

Painted Chairs,  Favorite Finds,  Garden  Updates galore.   With all the discussion of painted and repainted furniture and accessories I wanted to add my $.02.   I painted  the first chair, sanded and distressed it a bit, and applied a light coat of stain over all as a glaze.   I printed the letters from the computer and made my own carbon paper (like grade school or I should say "old school") by rubbing a pencil on the back.   Of course, I painted this chair a while back and I should really make this my do-over project.  Instead of Established 1986, I should change it to Abolished  1999!    

The second chair was painted and repainted just like Susan of Moonlight and Magnolia's hutch project a few times until I got the color just right.  I also used an outdoor paint.   The little oxeye daisies were just simple brush strokes.  Little Rosie was a HarMar Mall antique sale find.

Here is a picture of a lamp made by - guess who - my Dad, of course.   We had a really wonderful store called Mill Creek.  They had the cutest furnishings and decorative items.   The mall they were located in is in the process of remodeling, and I heard that they decided not to come back :(

Anyway,  they had these really cute lamps constructed from wood with different designs painted on the sides.   I was decorating my living room at the time and they did not have one with the color scheme that I was using.  I didn't want to buy one to paint over because they were about $200.   So I traipsed my Dad through the store and pointed  out all the goodies I needed reproducing. (That's probably why they are not coming back...)

 

All four sides have a different floral design.  My favorite, the black-eyed susan is towards the wall in this house.  It figures.   The other sides are lilacs and geraniums.

I found this Raggedy Ann cutout made by my brother Mark.  If you recall from my previous post, he repaired my Rag's foot when she had her minor mishap.  As shown on the back, he made this for me in 1970.  He  was 12 at the time.

 

Which brings me to my latest find.  I purchased a set of 8 of these sunflower plates.  I think they will be perfect for a late summer garden party! 

Finally, a garden update.  The Scarlet Runner beans have climbed the sunflower,    Miles loves the Anise Hyssop (the leaves taste like black licorice),  the mole has destroyed all but one simple vine of my Clematis and the poor baby is blooming with a vengence, and the poor liatris, is really taking a beating by both the mole and the bunnies.