just the cupcakes...

This pic is from strykingphotography, as we waited for the bride to walk down the aisle...that's me in the curly ponytail, 4th row from the back.

Darius and Kathryn, Jon and Rosi, me, my brother Bob and his wife Mary...lovely pic, I was eating some mashies.  

Camille, Amanda, and Miss Charlotte Claire helping with the ice cream

The cake, four layer carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, and flowers on it..

 I don't have good pictures of the bride and groom yet, as they asked the photography be their own, which is a good idea.  But, I wanted to show you the baked goods we worked so hard on...

I just got back from the pool, slipped out of my Birkenstocks, and moseyed around the yard in bare feet.  I checked on my flowers, watered them, gave the garden a big drink.  Camille and I staked up the tomato plants the other night, they are thriving and I hope we get the tomatoes before the bugs do.  I hung out some laundry, rather draped it on the deck...it's so warm and breezy, almost 90, why turn on the dryer? 

 Now we're leaving to go pick out paint for the bathroom.  I'm letting the girls decide.  They're so happy to help, why not let them choose?   So you all have a good day, and don't melt!

things I like and things I love...

 I like projects.  I like to plan them, and I like other people to help me actually do them.  No sooner did we get the guest room finished and then started the bathroom project.  Paul started to rip up the tile and decided not to.  We are just going to put the flooring on top of it.  He removed the old vanity, and cut the back piece to fit in to the floor where the tile ended, because the new flooring will cover the whole floor (the tile was installed after we had been here a while, and the vanity wasn't moved, so the tile just went up to the vanity and not underneath it)

It's always awful in the middle of a project.  Once he gets the new flooring in, the new vanity can go in, but the new faucets don't arrive until Thursday.  I am keeping the mirrors until I find something I love, so maybe forever, ha.  Same with the light fixture.  I have a new one that I bought months ago, but don't really like it.  We're hoping to put a beadboard backsplash, and beadboard on the other walls just halfway up.  Paul is like...um, do we have to?  um.  yes.  :). Go big or go home, right?  We probably won't be redoing this bathroom again, in our lifetimes?  So we may as well make it lovely.  "We" as in "he".  

So I had a color in mind for this bathroom: 

Just that color, so lovely!  The girls are vetoing.  They say no more blue.  To be fair, look back at what color the bathroom is now, ha.  

This is the shower curtain I bought...it has subtle beige and white stripes behind the floral...

So the paint will probably be a neutral.  Light tan, creamy white.  I'll just go to the paint store and peruse the samples.  

Anyway.  I like updating things.  We're thinking some wood shelves behind the toilet, just to warm up the vibe...we'll see.  

We're watching Newton here for a bit.  

He's so cute.  Sunny lights up when he comes over.

This fine day Grace is getting married.  If you've read here for any length of time, you know who Grace is.  I was there for her birth, her mama is my niece Katie.  She grew up with Sonja.  Mariel and I offered to make the cake and cupcakes for the wedding, and we did.  It's always a stress fest, when the baking is for something so important, but so far so good.  Mariel made four carrot cakes, I made the cream cheese frosting and stacked them up...a wee bit crooked, but shh, will anyone notice?   Cam will help me decorate with fresh flowers today before we put it out.  The cupcakes:  they came out so beautifully.  Mare baked the lemon and the gluten free vanilla, I made the regular vanilla, and the lemon and regular buttercream frostings.  We got together yesterday and got them all frosted, and phew.  It's done.  

In the walk in fridge at church...all the containers of cupcakes and the cake, and the flowers for it.

We're leaving here in a few minutes for the wedding.  Paul is working in the kitchen to help with the food, helping Emily, as well as Evelyn and Nate.  I'll be checking up on them to see how it's going.  Darius and Nate smoked the beef brisket already.  Today the kitchen crew will be adding mashed potatoes, and gravy, roasted asparagus, caesar salad and Italian bread with parmeasan-herb crusted chicken.  Dessert will include a variety of ice creams with those cupcakes, then later in the evening there will be s'mores and popsicles.  :).  (for 165 people). 

 The kitchen is always a fun place to be, Emily at the helm makes it so good, she doesn't freak out, calm-cool-collected no matter what mishaps may occur.  She can think on her feet and she cooks with her heart, recipes are just suggestions to her.  So I will be visiting them in there ha.

Tomorrow, we'll be going to get paint after I go to the pool, then get the bathroom painted.  

Projects are never without trials.  Yesterday after cupcake/cake frosting, I walked in the door right after Paul had accidentally broken a pipe.  Never a dull moment.  He's been to the hardware store so many times, the car will just go there when you get in.  He bought a part for the plumbing, it was the wrong part, back he went.  Thankfully it's five miles down the road, no one should live further than that from the hardware store.  

The flooding in Texas has been heartbreaking.  All those little girls, oh dear Lord, I cannot imagine, their poor families.  The only consolation is that they went straight into the arms of Jesus.  

I won't comment on the Big Beautiful Bill because I haven't researched it much.  One part is that any able bodied adult will who can work will have to work 80 hours a month to qualify for Medicaid.  This might be a good thing.  The way things are now: if you get benefits, and you work, and earn income, it can make it so you don't qualify for benefits anymore, and possibly deter some from wanting to work.  So this new plan may make it so they WANT to work, in order to get those things.  

Other politics:  I did like President T. dancing with his wife.  I do not agree with rooting out immigrants who have made this country their home, and sending them back.  If they are criminals, fine.  But if they've been here a while, have families, and have been working, then WHY?  It's heartless.  The past president opened the border wide, practically invited them, it's cruel to send them back.  Just give them citizenship, have them pay taxes, and close the border to all future immigrants unless they go through the proper channels.  The time and money spent on finding people and deporting them is so wasteful.  

God made all the people on the earth.  No one is better than anyone else.  Yes, there are some who have turned to darkness and have no respect for life, and all sorts of people who have given themselves over to evil tendencies.  That is for sure.  But..."there but for the grace of God go I"...as my mother used to say.  We have so much to be thankful for in these last days, these days of grace.

You all have a good afternoon!  Don't melt!  (it's SO hot and humid here in New York!!!)

God bless America!!!

 

This is what I refer to as a No Pressure cake.  It's just for fun, no one's wedding dreams are depending on it.  :). I made it yesterday after baking cupcakes, then frosted it this morning for our family fourth of July celebration.

Every year we go to watch the symphony, and they honor the branches of the military...when the Army song comes on, the vets and active service members stand up, and yes, I am proud of my boys.  That's my granddaughter Elise so excited there in the lavender (her dad is Benjamin) (and there is Sam holding his little Maeve).

The symphony is wonderful, then there are fireworks too!

Emily helping with baby Ellis...

Jonathan Robert with Orange Guy and Kettler, aka Old Kitty.  

These two kind sons of mine arrived early this morning to bless us.  Ben and Jon both work in HVAC, so they kindly installed a mini-split AC/Heat unit in our living room.  It should heat and cool the upstairs!  We fancy!  :)

We had a fantastic day of swimming and sunshine and fun with grandkids.  The new wall unit is all installed, and I won't say it looks fantastic on the living room wall, but hey, it's cool in here, and will be warmer in the wintertime!  I am so very thankful that the boys did this for us.  

Tomorrow is frosting making, and cake and cupcake frosting.   It's always nerve-wracking, but when you get it done, oh it's sweet.  

Anyway.  I think I'll go clean out the camper a bit.  Have a really nice weekend!  

it's actually kind of sad...

 Miss Camille says I make everything sad.  Do I?  Well.  harrumph.  This is my sad story today...

Charlotte Claire got her driver's license.  This fine day, I could sense she was up to something with Cam, they were plotting.  So off they went to pick up their friend and go to the diner and the thrift store.  Am I butt- hurt?  no, of course not.  But.  They don't need me to bring them places all of the sudden!  The final two children.  

Then this picture came up in my feed, on this very day eleven years ago...the same thrift store they're going to.  Time just speeds up and it seems like this was last week.  

But all is not sad.  I made the wedding cupcakes this morning.  It was hanging over my head, I wanted to do it yesterday but didn't get to it.  So eight dozen big vanilla cupcakes, and 3 1/2 dz. small ones, plus a cake for tomorrow's 4th of July celebration.  The wedding is on Sunday, so Saturday is Frost-The-Cake (which Mariel made), Frost-the-Cupcakes (mine plus the 5 dz. lemon cupcakes Mariel made) Day.  So I'm not out of the water yet, but as Char said this morning,  I "hit it out of the park" with the cupcakes.  They seemed to come out really well.

I started out in a mess though.  I needed to triple the recipe, but decided it wouldn't fit into my stainless steel bowl, so I made one batch at a time...but ooops, I realized I tripled the salt!  I was not going to throw it away and start again, so I just took a chance and tripled it.  It BARELY fit in the bowl, but it did!  

Anyway.  I'm going to Home Depot with Paul when he gets home from the gym, to get flooring for the main bathroom.  I think I'll just get the same as is in the rest of the house, instead of something that looks like tile.  With a white vanity with a white top, we don't need anymore white, the wood will warm it up in there.  Someone suggested to paint the mirror frames...

Sneek peek of the new vanity, all put together in Paul's office.  

The tile flooring...Paul likes it and doesn't really want to replace it.  I do not like it very much, I think if we're redoing the bathroom, we should just take it up and put something warmer in there.  

Remember when I painted the top and put shiny epoxy on it, and changed out the faucets?  I do try, ha.  I painted the bottom part a few times too, and spray painted the handles and put them back on.  

The mirrors...not sure if I can paint them...they might look fine with the new stuff, not sure.  

Anyway.  I need to move it move it, so I'm not still sitting here in this comfy chair when Paul comes home!  I have to get dressed and brush my tangly hair!  Have a good day!

oh my goody-good-goodness, did I panic!

 So without boring you with the details, but prefacing this with all's well that ends well, and we're fine:

I was driving down the road last evening, minding my own business, with Kathryn and baby E. in the car.  We had gone to the grocery store, and were heading toward her house on a back road.  Suddenly, I noticed a fireball in the sky.  I kid you not.  Right up on the electrical pole, a fireball like a foot wide, with sparks.  Kathryn thought she saw a branch fall on the wire, I just saw this electrifying orange ball with sparks, coming towards me, as I drove.  I did what I do best, yes, I panicked.  Full on terror, screamed, it was coming toward me, and then the electrical wire fell SMACK across my car, as I continued to drive, screaming my head off.  I do not know why I was so hysterical, it was just so out of the blue!

Yes, we called 911, and yes, we were all right.  I wasn't sure if I had been shocked, as that adrenaline rush made me shaky and feeling sick.  I never even checked out the car until today, and there are scratches all over it!  I will have to contact the insurance company...I should have stuck around and talked to the police, we basically just reported the down wire.  (We were rather on the down side of a hill, so we didn't stay there...hindsight says we should have)

Of course I had to go pee wicked badly.  I drank iced water then an iced coffee as we drove, and didn't use the bathroom in the store...lesson learned, don't wait so long, you never know when you're going to be scared silly!  

Anyway.  Lightening out of a clear blue sky.  It was sunny and warm and boom. 

This fine day, I went to the pool, then to bring one teenaged girl to her driver's test.  Miss Cam and I sat and waited, couldn't even look as Char pulled out with the instructor.  When she came back around, we didn't turn around as she parallel parked behind the instructor's car.  We weren't to find out if she passed until 6 p.m., so we went to one of the Finger Lakes and sat in the sun.  We waded into the water, but it was a bit murky, and decided to just be hot.  We left, got iced Americanos, then went to Aldi.  Sonja and Oscar were coming over for dinner, so we hurried home to make it.

I cut up chicken breast and marinated it in vinegar and seasonings, then stir fried it all in the wok in olive oil and sesame oil.  Cam stir fried broccoli, red peppers, ect., in the other frying pan, and made jasmine rice.  We had just finished up when Char checked online, and YAY, she passed!  Oh, the times I've gone through the stress and waiting!  Today, we took it in Seneca Falls NY, and there's a little set of bleachers to sit in!  And, it was a lovely day!)

We're home from our conference and staying in the camper, have most things put away and washed.  Paul is moving into the next project, the main bathroom.  The new vanity is put together in his office.  I'm being a brat and insisting on removing the tile that's in there on the floor.  It just looks blah.  It is not under the old vanity either, I would really like new flooring that goes under the new vanity, if that makes sense...I want it up off the floor too, so maybe it won't get as damp under there.  Granted we used that bathroom SO much through the years with all the kids, but the bottom of the present vanity:  rotting out.  

So.  I'm trying to choose new faucets that won't break the bank.  I like champagne bronze, but oh no, way too pricey.  The gold ones are too fancy and loud, the silver/chrome look dated, and the black matte are going out of style, plus the black tends to flake off, especially with hard water.  So I have tentatively chosen brushed nickel.  

I'm thinking for the flooring:  maybe same as out here?  It's waterproof.  Or I could get some that looks like tile.  I don't know, we only will need one or two boxes, so even if it's expensive stuff, it won't be too much.  The girls want to paint the walls white, of course, everything has to be white these days.  In my book, it looks like an apartment when it's all white.  I don't have a vision for it yet.  I'm thinking if we still use the mirrors we have, which I scored at Wegmans, a grocery store, like 15 - 20 years ago for $6 each, and have gold-ish frames, then the nickel faucets, and I can't remember the light fixture I got for a bargain...will it all clash?  Do I care?  

Ah well.  I'm excited to have the bathroom get done though.  And:  we're getting a.c. installed soon...wow, right?  

The swimming pool though, not sure...

Tomorrow night is the symphony and fireworks at one of the Finger Lakes, then Friday we're having a picnic.  Tomorrow during the day I'm baking eight dozen cupcakes for Grace's wedding.

There never is a dull moment, is there?  I will say this, I'm thankful.  :).  I am never bored.  

room reno almost done: pictures!

 

This isn't even a total "before" pic, as the new window is installed here, just not the trim yet.  When Jonathan was in residence, one wall had a built in pull up thing, and a boxing heavy bag. He had a loft bed, and posters all the teenage boy room stuff...hunting gear and and and.  

The beginnings...new ceiling paint, one coat on the walls...that's the trundle from the day bed covered in an old sheet.

And:  after!  The Pottery Barn day bed with trundle:  the best Marketplace find EVER for one hundred dollars, so nice and clean and new and sturdy!  The yellow chair we've had forever, the little wicker table is outdoor furniture from Target, 70% off, same with the rug.  There isn't trim on the window yet, we are still deciding to change to white, along baseboards too, or leave it wood.  

It's so nice to have a clean new room!  

This fine morning, after the pool, Kathryn and I went to a few stores with just baby Ellis and two year old Jamie.  Char and Cam stayed here with Achilles and Rhys.  We got some seltzers and croissants and burger and buns, and some good snacks for our get away.  

I can barely make it through two stores, but I do like to get my steps in.  Yesterday it was almost 6,000, but oh dear did I have a rough night, aching.  Today I was especially sore, but jeepers, how are you supposed to do things?  

Ah well.  I have to go finish packing.  I lazed out and put the chicken in the oven instead of grilling it...we're packing it up for tomorrow's dinner, with fajita fixings...mmmm.  You all have a really nice weekend!

sounds promising...

 A second conversation with the United Healthcare rep leads me to believe the surgery will be approved sooner or later.  She talked to the insurance handler/surgery scheduler at the Ortho office, and here's her conclusion of why my surgery might have been denied:  The surgeon read the x-rays and determined that I have bone on bone end stage osteoarthritis.  The surgeon.  Oh heavens, it has to be read by a radiologist, according to the insurance lady!  Heaven help us if an orthopedic surgeon can't decipher an x-ray, but what do I know?  

The interesting thing is they have kind of ruined my summer, although not really because I'm enjoying the heck out of it, but you know what I mean.  Plans all askew, camping reservations for three long weekend trips, thought I'd be healed enough to go...now, not sure.  So.  I may request a September surgery.  Get all my summer swimming and summer fun in...except that's when Sonja and Oscar's baby girl is due.  There will never be a good time to say, sure, give me a bionic knee.  

Happenings:  yesterday, I went out and about all by myself.  I got seltzer and iced tea and a watermelon, to combat the heatwave we're having.  This fine morning, after water aerobics, Char and Cam accompanied me to greet Elise when she got off the bus, as Anya had an appointment.  We stayed around for a while and went in their new pool, ahhh so nice!  

Then, to Target for a few snacks for next week, a package of half price steak which I cooked in the air fryer, and not too shabby!  We're working frantically on the guest room (I say as I sit here with my feet up and listen to my girls play Taylor Swift as they paint the room ha).  We're having guests this very weekend, so now we're in a hurry.  

The new window is in, the entry door needs one more coat on the back, the closet door one more coat too. The door handle was spray painted, the heat registers spray painted.  The trim won't be done, we're doing new trim around the window, and have to paint the baseboards and closet trim.  We have to assemble the bed, put up some blinds, hang some sheers.  Today at Target, we found a lovely rug for 70% off.  It's labeled as an outdoor rug, but nonsense, it's lovely.  We also found a little outdoor table for $25, which was regular $85, it will look fine in there.  And a $3 lamp, and two throw pillows.  

I have three sets of sheets in the wash, and will wash a few comforters, and hopefully it'll all come together by Friday night. 

Since I never published this yesterday, I may as well add more ramblings.  This fine morning, I put another coat of enamel trim paint on the bedroom door which is in the kitchen resting on two stools. Orange Guy was mewing to come in, so I stopped painting and let him in. I dried him with a towel, but he wanted more kitty chow, so he stood on his hind legs and put his paw up on the door I was painting, then walked away, leaving a trail of white paint paw prints, which were cute, but I had to wipe up.  I did get the message, so I fed him.  Well, he didn't eat the food, followed me back in the kitchen, then promptly barfed in Camille's Croc shoe.  I will spare you the details, but that nice orange kitty is a dangerous bunny hunter.  For goodness' sake, can't I just paint this door?  I didn't even have coffee yet. (Yes, I cleaned and washed her shoe).

 I fetched the comforter that was drying on the deck railings in the pouring rain, and put it in the dryer, oh the irony.  The sheets were dry, it was time for coffee...and here I sit.  It's dark and rainy and the aroma of the summer day wafting through the window, oh heavenly.  

The girls are on track to paint the second coat this morning, and we'll leave the trim painting for another day.  We will work on getting the bed together, and the room all nice and pretty, the fun part.  

Our church Family week starts Friday/Saturday, so we will be staying in our camper there.  I have to pack for that, too.  Then next weekend my sister's granddaughter, Grace, is getting married.  Mariel and I are making the cake and cupcakes, for 165 people.  She has started on her portion, and is freezing as she goes along, I have my plans written out.  

So I have plenty to keep me busy.  You all have a nice day.