This little piggie...

Graduation 2011...

Pig Roast

Here is the "chef"

who woke at 5am to get the pig started.

Lunch was served at 2pm.

I don't eat meat.

And I felt sorry for this piggie.

Especially when I heard he was fed candy before he died.

Lifesavers.

Ironic.

And, it clearly did not work.

The roasted pig was place on a standard picnic table.

Expert "pullers" 

to make the pork into pulled pork sandwiches

with BBQ

 not Heinz brand

(Boo!)

We *heart* Heinz!

Mrs.,  where is your cutie little dog?

Under the picnic table having a bacon grease shower!

Ironic.

(see comment above about me NOT liking meat)

Totally disgusting.

I told him he couldn't ride home with me.

He didn't care.

And, I heard him snorting greedily

as he tried to lick the grease

off EVERY blade of grass

under that picnic table. 

I tossed him in for a swim,

which just made him WET and GREASY.

And mad at me.

It took 2 baths to get him clean.

First with shampoo.

(didn't work) 

Next with Dawn.

(did work).

My dog has no manners.

Good mess

This was on my kitchen table:

And this:

I didn't mind.

FOUR girls were busy crafting

for the BIG craft sale in July.

I love to see them creating

and doing something positive

with show tunes playing in the background.

It's all I ever dreamed of for my girls.

And...

there was NO bickering!

Longest Day of the Year

We had a Longest Day of the Year Celebration.

First we got these:

Next, this:

(for safe disposal of the hot wires)

and this:

All the grandchildren

(and Mr.'s sister, because the baby was so little)

Look!  A double light!

It's so easy, an almost 5 year old can do it!

Wow!

We did lots.

Careful!

Someone got burned :(

Luckily there was a bucket of water

and ice

and a momma who was ON IT!

He is fine.

You can't even see the spot where he touched the wire.

By the way, yes, that is Lake Michigan in the background.

Family

Do these two photos look alike?

The top one is Mr.

The bottom is his nephew.

When I saw this shot, I thought of the first.

They probably don't really look much alike,

but they both seem to be about the same age.

It's fun to watch the little nephew, 

and imagine what Mr. was like.

Probably a holy terror.

Small changes

This cottage is tiny.

We have NO ROOM for anything that is not functional

  I spend time looking for:

 ways to CREATE space,

and things we don't use. 

I decided this wall was too empty so I moved the cabinet there.

However, I am a big dummy and put a shelf above the window.

It was a great idea and a super place to store vases.

BUT, now the cabinet door on the right doesn't open all the way.

It is blocked by the shelve.

One step forward, one step back.

That cabinet used to be here, but now I have open shelves.

I love them!

I can see all my lovely pink dishes.

The kids can see them too.

Easy to clean up and put away.

Better, for sure.

At Grandma's cottage

If you go to Grandma's cottage,

you might see:

Grandpa cutting bacon for a salad,

Grandma chopping onions for a salad,

player piano whirring along,

a homemade tip jar, 

for the player piano

legs furiously pumping piano petals

to earn those tips!

Favorite tunes:  Tiny Bubbles, New York, New York, Macnamara's Band, and By the Sea.

Traverse City

Lunch:  Mexican

Union Cantina

Mmmm, queso!

Cool Decor 

window boxes

Hello!  Retro bike!

I totally had one of these,

banana seat and all.

I should do this for one of the girls' bedrooms:

On the street,

two sisters,

in peace.

Who built the highway along the beach?

Makes for a beautiful drive

WANTED!

Sister Too is desperate to plan an instrument.

She has been planning for a year.

In OH she gets to play in 6th grade.

Unfortunately for her,

in PA, the kids start in 3rd grade.

So, the 6th graders are already several years ahead of her.

Luckily, she has a SUPER mom,

who spent no fewer than 4 hours,

calling 12 different places

to find a rental, 

68 miles away.

These were taken within the first four minutes of ownership:

And, like all our favorite things: 

croissants,

Nespresso,

friends, 

Eiffel...

It is from France!

SO, we are looking for a music teacher!

My crazy life

Do you know what this is?

I'll bet you're thinking: painting tape.

Sort of.

It's really a signal,

to the movers:

DON'T PACK ME!

Did you know Mr. was out of work,

for almost a year?

And he found a new position,

for a company that he LOVES?

Which means, we had to move.

Again.

9 times in 14 years. 

We are gypsies.

So we sold the house in Cincinnati (thankfully, in this market)

and bought a house in Pittsburgh.

We were kicked out of our Cincinnati house on May 27, 

but Pittsburgh wouldn't have us until June 3.

So, we did what any cottager would do:

quit my job, pulled the kids out of school 5 days early,

and headed NORTH!

Of course, Mr. came too, 

made sure we had water,

and heat,

and soil for the new garden.

Then he headed back to Pittsburgh.

Someone has to pay for all this!

So we girls are here,

early, 

installing gardens and breaking windows.

Hurray for us!

Back to the blue tape:

wondering what was so important it couldn't be packed?

HONEY!

I put it in my coffee,

on my cereal,

on a spoon.

Isn't it beautiful

(and tasty)!

Tastes like home.

When you buy an old cottage...

it is full of stuff.

Some junk,

and some cool.

We found this cool tool.

I love it.

I love the beauty of the design.

I love the shiny silver in the sunlight.

I love the light, fluffy eggs it can make.

It is hard to clean.

The egg wants to stick to each tine in the beater.

Everyday, this situation would suck.

But hey, it's summer!

And in the summer, we have time to do things right, 

the old-fashioned way.

Even the dishes.

We have TWO dishwashers, one 11 years old one 13.5 years old.  

We have no plans to replace them at this time.

M... fudgesicles

We are waiting for our friends to arrive at the cottage.

What better way to sweeten the wait than homemade fudgesicles?

Sister Too made them.

We used THIS recipe.

Delicious!

Our popsicle molds make 6, 

we had to double the recipe.

It made a small paper cup "sample"

which I "tested".

And now we still have three more for another day!

Home improvement?

Only some of my windows at the Quimby

have curtains.

Actually, I prefer the clean, bright look of no curtains.

However, we SHOULD cover the windows, to protect the neighbors.

A.M. hours are not pretty around here.

Also, I want to protect the Mac.

Which you can see, if you look in the front door.

So, curtains.

I made this.

Not fancy, I know.  

I keep thinking it needs ribbon or something.

I installed the brackets to hold it on.

As I proudly screwed in the bracket,

I heard a sharp snap.

Rats!

I guess this means new glass...

Sometimes it feels like I am shooting myself in the foot.