Where are my sewing mice and sweeping bunnies?

Last night we watched Disney's 'Enchanted.' Even John liked it. I won't spoil it for you if you have yet to see it, but I will tell you there is a Princess. Of course if there is a Disney Princess, you just know there will be enchanted woodland creatures. Giselle (the Princess-to-be played by Amy Adams) summons the woodland....er...um.....sewer critters of NYC to help her tidy up the apartment for new lawyer friend (played by McDreamy Patrick Dempsey.) Suddenly, it hit me! Why must I spend so much time cleaning when I am out-numbered by animals right here? Surely if a little singing summoned the mice and birds and bunnies for Giselle and Cinderella and Snow White, what could I accomplish with a posse of Corgis, cats and chickens? Inspired by Suzanne's cleaning blitz post, I put on my fancy red vintage apron given to me by LaVonne, and stood in the middle of the kitchen and started to sing. 'Ah ah ah ah ah.....ah ah ah ah ah!' Nothing. No rabbits. No birds. Not even one little mouse. The Corgis put their heads up for a minute. Indy cocked his head with that quizzical Corgi look (I know you know that look.) Again I tried, 'Ah ah ah ah ah.' Bridget let out a loud Corgi 'aroooooooooo!' And some of the neighborhood dogs began to howl. Stella and Amy covered their ears. Bailey yawned. The cats ran. And yet, not one of them picked up a rag or a sewing needle. Sigh. Oh well. So much for teaching old dogs new tricks. -CS ^..^
























(Disney copyright images. Sewing mice animation cell by Tony Bluth. Snow White on Balcony by Jim Salvati)

Suzanne's "Make Your House A Home" Challenge

Do pop over to my kindred spirit friend Suzanne's blog! She's hosting a fun challenge. Who couldn't use a little inspiration to make their house a wonderful place to be? You can click her challenge photo on the left side of this blog to read all about her lovely idea. If you have little ones in the house, she is offering some really cute playtime crowns in her shop. I'll be having another blog giveaway in the days to come, so watch for that post as well!-CS ^..^

Aqua this and aqua that....

Saturday I had tea with Steph and Ro at our favorite little tea shop before it closes its doors. (sniff, sob) Do pop over to Susan's blog as she is having a fab little giveaway. Steph gave me this cool Hallmark card which she said reminded her of me. I love the colors in it. Ro surprised me with one of my favorite sparkling wines; Nando Fragolino. It has a hint of strawberry. Yummy. Just look at how she wrapped it. Have you ever seen a bottle of wine wrapped so beautifully? I'm being drawn to aqua lately. Purple always catches my eye, in fact when I got married, my bridal party wore a lovely shade of purple. Then I was in a bright red phase for a while. I even had a room that was painted the most gorgeous shade of red which I had hand stenciled sheaves of wheat across the top in a linen white. It was so pretty. Then we moved and my red room was left behind. Last summer I was drawn to a particular shade of green, like a kiwi or granny smith apple green; which accounts for why most of my micro Corgi paintings were photographed near granny smith apples for size! For some reason, lately I am drawn to these oceany shades of blue-green-turquoise-aqua . They say that most artists experiment with color then go back to a 'clean palate' before experimenting again. We'll see!-CS ^..^

Remember

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day; is a national holiday here in the United States when we remember those who have died in service to our country. To those brave patriots who watch over us from above, THANK YOU. We love you with all of our hearts. It is because of you that we can live freely in this great nation. We are forever grateful. -CS ^..^

Squatters' Rights

On my little porch there hangs a new fuschia plant. I normally check any potted or container plants for watering every few days when the weather is cool, more in the hot summer. I've noticed over the past couple of days that as I've come in or out, there are little birds that seem to fly over my head. It was getting a little Hitchcock-esque; but I figured that maybe there was a nest nearby. Little did I know that the nest was being created in my fuschia plant! I took the plant down to pull the dead bits off and to water it. Of course the birds flew out of the porch and gave me 'what for' while the plant was being tended to. As soon as I put my hand in to start cleaning it up I saw this nest! I don't know how well my fuschia plant will fare after this, but I hope the little birds will hatch. Look closely and you will see all of the Corgi fur they have picked up to fluff their nest. Smart birds came to the right house, eh? -CS ^..^

Rorschach Test Pancakes

Look into my griddle....what do YOU see? Oh my, the giggles around here for this breakfast-for-dinner. For as many years as I've been making pancakes, for some reason or other, the first pancake is always the weird one and becomes a sacrifce to the pancake gods (a.k.a. drooling Corgis.) As soon as I ladled this one onto the hot griddle, it became completely clear to me that it was the profile of George Washington. Yes! Truly, George Washington I tell you! By the time someone answered my pleas of 'someone get the camera!' poor George had morphed and spread as he cooked. Of course Laura was laughing so hard that she could hardly hold the camera steady, hence the blurry image. Use your imagination....start at the handle..the left side of the pancake. See? His chin, lip, nose, brow, all of it going right around to his hair and neck? I know you can see it. Let me tell you about this griddle...it belonged to my grandfather and it is one of my prized possessions. We don't seem to have diamonds and jewels to hand down in our family...cast iron griddles, yeah, we're all about those. There are so many memories attached to this griddle. My Grandpa made the best pancakes. Always at 5:30 AM, always as big as a plate, always while wearing a short sleeved button down, pressed sleeve shirt with casual pants and black tie shoes. It was the only thing he ever cooked. My Grandmother usually did all of the cooking. He even had a 'notch' he made on the stove to know where to turn the gas knob to the perfect setting. When I would sleep over there, he would wake me up by opening up the wide slat Venetian blinds and squeezing my big toe and singing something like, 'Does your mother know you're out Cecilia' or 'MaryLou, I love you' or 'If you drool just like pasta fazool, that's amore' or a Jimmy Durante imitation of 'Ink-a-dink-a-doo.' It meant breakfast was on the table. How I miss them both; but I'm so grateful for the memories I hold in my heart and that have been created by this old pancake griddle. -CS ^..^

What's black and white and loved all over?

Last night (I just KNEW it would be last night....why do they wait until the wee hours to have these babes? Yawn!) Mary Elizabeth's Border Collie, Feisty, had her puppies. They look like they could be little Corgi puppies, don't they? Well, except for all the white... We knew Feisty would be a good mother because she just loves all of the Corgi puppies. Mary Elizabeth looks so perky and awake, doesn't she? That photo was taken when only one or two of the bunch were born and the night was still young. Later she had a brilliant idea and invented a delicious hot coffee/chocolate/mocha drink for us about midnight or so because at that point we were desperate for caffeine! I think I got back home about 3:00 AM after mother and babies (5 girls, 1 boy) were all snuggled in and nursing quietly. I no sooner put my head down then the alarm went off, or so it seemed. I was signed up for a Myra Savant Harris canine reproduction seminar early in the morning and did not want to miss it. Such good, solid information! I already had her books so I've been familiar with the info in them, but today she shared new information that was not in the books and that will be in a new (soon!) future book which I'm looking forward to already. At the end of the seminar, she closed with a little story about puppy breath which brought tears to my eyes. You can just tell how much of a dog lover she is. Well, time to take the Corgis out and get a good nights sleep! Hurrah! -CS ^..^

Friendship

I am blessed. So blessed. To have a friend go on a well-deserved mini break to an enchanting Bed & Breakfast and have her think of you while she is there...so very blessed indeed. This lovely little Victorian dolly was given to me last evening; along with this most excellent piece of dark chocolate she discovered in her travels. I wish you could see how pretty it was (yes, it only exists as a delicious memory now...) The little specks you see were actually tiny flecks of gold on this little fan of chocolate. Thanks, Steph! xo xo **mwah!!** -CS ^..^

Happy Mother's Day!

Wishing all moms everywhere a Happy Mother's Day! -CS ^..^

Chickens...

Yes, my dears, we now have two chickens. They are Abigail and Josephine. What have I gotten myself into? -CS ^..^

Philadelphia

If you recognize the view of this Noguchi sculpture from the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, and this snippet of Chinatown, you will know that our Girl Scout troop was headed toward Philadelphia, PA.






We saw so many things and visited so many places while there. Here are just a few photos of places we visited. Here are Anna, (my)Laura, Megan and Kaitlin outside Betsy Ross's House. She lived in a rather small, rented house. General George Washington actually visited her to commission the flag. The stars and stripes were his idea, but it was Betsy's idea to make the star with 5 points rather than the 6 that the General had suggested. He thought a 6 pointed star would be easier, but Betsy quickly took a scissors and a piece of fabric and with a quick snip snip snip she showed him how easily she could create the 5 pointed star. See? sometimes it takes a crafter! :) She had to hide upstairs in her bedroom when sewing the flag or she could have been arrested by the British and killed for treason to the crown.

Ads for the awesome John Adams mini-series were found here and there. I'm so glad I was able to watch it before our trip. It made it that much more special. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it!

Here is a little bird friend who shared a shortbread cookie with me while waiting outside Independence Hall for our tour time.







Inside Independence Hall, it is awe inspiring. The architecture alone is worth the visit. However, it is the history that transpired there that brought tears to my eyes and a lump to my throat. I must say that our National Park Rangers who work there are very informative, seem to love their job and are not jaded by how many tours they have given to the thousands of visitors.

We found these little guys here and there on the streets (literally!) of Philadelphia. I figured it must be some form of street art. I did a little research when I got home (since no one we asked seem to know) and found out he is called 'Reflectorman.' The artist must spend time between New York and Philly.























We had a special candle lit dinner at the City Tavern; another historic stop. I highly recommend a visit here. The food was so delicious we bought the chef's cookbook; but more about that another time :) This cake was made using Martha Washington's chocolate mousse recipe. Everything was presented so beautifully. Everyone was happy with their dinner. The adults would have liked to sample the $4,999.00 bottle of wine that was on the menu but alas, it was not in our Girl Scout budget. I wonder how many cookies the girls would have to sell....






















We wrapped up one evening with the 'Lights of Liberty' walking tour. They give you a headset and a tour guide and as you walk through the historic section of Philly, you listen to the story of the birth of our nation while images are projected on panoramic screens set into parks and on historic landmark buildings. Our tour guide encouraged shouts of 'Huzzah!' as the Continentals prevailed and we were happy to oblige. There are loads of wonderful things to see and do in Philadelphia. It is truly a place where today and yesterday happily converge. -CS ^..^

And a wedding....

Last Saturday we attended a lovely wedding. If you are a long-time reader of this blog, you may remember this post about our friends who have 'The Lighting' every Christmas. It was David's wedding. He married a lovely girl named Wendy. You've gotta love a girl who chooses this hysterically funny wedding cake topper (the bride is dragging the groom by his collar!)...

Catching the garter frenzy:

Congratulations, David and Wendy! May God bless you both as you begin your lives together! xo xo xo -CS ^..^

The Battle of Ridgefield...

Late morning last Sunday we headed over to Ridgefield, CT for a re-enactment of the Revolutionary War Battle of Ridgefield. The 'living history keepers' made an encampment early in the morning and by afternoon hiked over to the park for 'the battle.' There were quite a few people there.

My kindred spirit friends will recognize the reflector oven or
'tin kitchen' as Tasha Tudor would say. Notice that the musket
training did not interest Stella. In true Corgi style, she is following
her nose straight to the chicken. Hmmm... perhaps there is some
tracking in her future?

Here we have some Loyalists and Redcoats, Militia and Patriots....

Some pretty colonial style dresses...

Stella making friends....for who could resist a Corgi's charms? -CS ^..^