Why lbpsews hasn't been sewing!

Tomatoes! Coming out my ears! I'm not complaining, I love tomatoes! But what do you do with bucketfuls of cherry tomatoes? I had no idea that I planted 6, yes 6, cherry tomato plants and they are very prolific. We have just been eating them in salads, by the handfulls, giving them away to friends and neighbors, etc...

The large tomatoes have been used for tomato sandwiches. EVERY SINGLE DAY! I eat a tomato sandwich, at least one, every day. So does Yngwie. Dear husband prefers them in a bowl with cottage cheese. No matter how you eat them, they are sooooo delicious.

This weekend I plan to make salsa as I have an abundance of tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos from my garden.

So sewing has been put on hold, temporarily.

How does your garden grow?

Busy, Busy as a bean, I mean bee

I stayed home almost all weekend because I had that wonderful eye problem called "pink eye"(conjunctivitis)! I thought I had just gotten something in it, but alas, it was pink eye. So early Saturday morning I went out in the garden and weeded a little, pulled a few ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers and then decided to pick the beans.

My garden is not too big. It's about 50x50 and I had planted two rows of blue lake green beans. The vines were full! I wish I had taken a picture. Anyway, I spent Saturday canning green beans. 21 quarts of them! There are still beans on the vine!
My flowers are still blooming despite getting little water. This tiger lilly grew to about 5' tall this year.

Our cat Midnight had decided that this garden bench under the sunflowers is her own special place. I have a feeling it is due to the amount of birds who visit the sunflower! My cat is very good at keeping the birds from eating my flowers.

By yesterday evening my eye was much better so I went to the nursing home to see my Grandmother who is 96. For any of you who have been following my story with her, she fell back in April and broke her hip, had a hip replacement and has been in the nursing home/rehab since. She has been steadily declining in her mental capacity. She doesn't always know who we are or what day it is, and imagines all manner of things. But yesterday I took her about 20 photos of my flowers in my garden and she spit out the names of the flowers like a pro! I decorated her bulletin board with the pictures because she liked them so well.

Hope everyone has a blessed day!

Linda

Show And Tell Friday!

Since I couldn't get my photos posted of what I was going to use for Show and Tell this Friday, I will use the post below to show you some of the great "treasures" I found last weekend. For more show and tell head over to http://kellishouse.blogspot.com/ and join the fun!

Last Friday Yngwie and I went to a local estate sale in search of what they advertised as "vintage guitars'. When we got there, there was only one guitar and it was beyond vintage. It was just junk. After glancing around downstairs, I determined there was nothing I wanted and we started to leave. As we stepped in the hall I noticed some stairs and asked if anything was up there and the lady said "oh yes, lots" and boy was she right! Every room upstairs was filled with dishes, pictures, linens, old advertising signs, etc.. I bought a couple of items on Friday This gravy boat and creamer I loved as they are blue and white the colors in my kitchen! Then I noticed a sign that said everything would be half off on Sunday! So I waited until Sunday and went back. Some of the things I wanted had already been sold, but I was able to get a few things.

Isn't this little bird pitcher adorable? He cost $1.00

I guess I was in a pitcher buying mood, because I got this one as well for $2.00. I have a bowl that matches this already.

I got his pretty platter to give to my sister for Christmas. Our rule this Christmas is that it must be thrifted or homemade! So if I fill this with cookies, I have satisfied both rules! I paid $2.00 for this. I also got these two pottery shoes for .50 each and the When you Entertain book for $1.00.

I also got a couple of other things that I will share later on.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Linda

The Yellow Purse

I cut this purse out last weekend and have been piddling with it all week. (piddling, isn't that a fun word!). Finally last night I sewed the bottom in and voila! It's finished.

Well, almost finished. While I was serging the bottom the needles in my serger broke. Both of them at the same time. I must have been pulling too hard to make the turns around the bottom. So I will be off the the store this week sometime to get new ones.

I got the fabric and the pattern at the thrift store so this purse cost at grand total of 50 cents! (Plus two new serger needles). The button is just decorative as the purse closes with velcro.

This purse was super easy to make, and I can see more of these being made in the future! Hope everyone has a great day!

Linda

I Love Summer!

There is an entire meal, right there in that basket! Tomato sandwiches, squash fritters with jalapenos, and sliced cucumbers, ahhhh, it don't get no better than that. Oh yes it does! I just remembered! I have green beans ready to be picked!

Volunteer sunflowers! They look better this year than they did last year when I actually planted them!

Hope you are loving your summer too!
Blessings

Linda

Tilde Cone Angel

LBP Sews really does sew, sometimes. Just not very much in the summer. But, I did get this cone angel made from the Tilda Chrismas Book! She was so much fun to make and I like how she turned out. I had all the materials on hand to make her except the hair, which I picked up half price at Michaels.Her halo is made from a "stray" ear ring with no mate. I am going to fill them with lip gloss, small lotions, tissues, etc to give friends for Christmas this year. Then they can just put whatever they want in the cone and hang it on their tree. Two gifts in one!

Blessings

Linda

My Grandma's Doll

Each Friday Kelli at http://kellishouse.blogspot.com/ hosts Show and Tell.

I hope my post today doesn't offend anyone. It is not meant to, this is a very sentimental gift from my Grandma.

My Grandma grew up in a very poor family. Her father had died 5 months before she was born and her mother took in wash to provide for the family. One December when she was about 4-5 years old, the church she attended held a Christmas party for the "poor" in their community and had Santa had out gifts to the children. When she opened her gift, she found this doll.

She was so happy because she had never had a "store bought" doll before. Right after Chrismas some friends came over to play with Grandma and made fun of her because she had a black doll. She said it had never occured to her that there was anything wrong with having a black doll but these girls kept laughing about it and making fun of her so she took a box and put the doll in it and buried it out behind the house. She told everyone she gave it away. She was so sad but couldn't stand the taunting she got from the other girls.
When she was a teenager, she remembered the doll and she and her sister went out back and started digging. It took them a while but they finally found the doll! She put the doll in her trunk and there it stayed for decades. She finally showed it to me one year and told me her story. I asked how the doll got so cracked and broken, and she said the doll was used before she got it and I guess just age and heat made it worse. Anyway, the year I graduated from high school my Grandmother gave me this doll. It was stark naked so I made her this little dress. She has been proudly gracing the top of my entertainment center for over 20 years now. I wouldn't take any amount of money for her.
I think she is a beautiful doll with a sad story.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.

Blessings

Linda

The Stupid Boat

Let me start my saying that I truly love my husband and son. They are the light of my life. But.... sometimes they get started on a project that takes over their lives. They eat, sleep and breath it. This year that project was this Stupid Jet Boat. I have called it Stupid every since they pulled it out of my brother in laws shed and got started on it back in the winter.

Dear brother in law had the boat several years and then just stuck it under the shed and there it has sat as a home for mice, bees, leaves, mold, etc.. until my husband and son decided they wanted to restore it.

My idea of the perfect boat is a pontoon. Something that just cruises along slowly, has room for friends and family and a grill. Their idea of the perfect boat is something that clips along at break neck speed and can only hold two people. Enter the Stupid Boat!

After spending countless hours and more money than I even want to know about, the Stupid Boat was "finished" a couple of weeks ago. "Finished" is the relative word here as I keep hearing about other parts and pieces that they "need". Did I mention that his boat gets about 3 miles per gallon of gas?

Anyway here are the photos of the Stupid Boat out for it's maiden voyage.

I will admit they did a great job with the restoration and the boat is very pretty. I just say a little prayer every time they leave and breathe a sign of relief when they return.

And here is a bonus photo of a sunset, just because I thought it was pretty!

Blessings

Linda

p.s. I just noticed when I was proofreading this that THEY DON'T HAVE LIFE JACKETS ON! grrrr! ( I'm sure they were in the boat, but still...)

More Flowers!

" In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers and the dreams are as beautiful."

Abram L. Urban

Independence Day Fun!

We had a wonderful 4th! How about you? Friday we had some friends down to go tubing and boating. After about an hour it started storming so we headed back up to the house and pulled the grill under the porch and told the rain " ha ha, you don't bother us!" It only stormed briefly and we headed back to the lake for more fun. My friend and I rode the tube together and I don't think I have laughed so much in ages!Later in the evening we went to town for the fireworks. On Saturday evening we headed down to a local marina for fireworks and they were fantastic. I have never seen so many at one time. Just breathtaking!

Around the house things are blooming and growing! These cactuses are so pretty when they bloom. My late father in law planted these from a little slip that I had been given. They are now spreading everywhere over this rock wall. The vegetable garden is producing a ton of squash and cucumbers! I have already preserved all that we will use and now the neighbors are running and locking their doors when they see me coming with my big bag of squash! Not really! I am glad I can share our abundance with them. Some of my tomatoes are just starting to turn red. I will be so glad when this happens! There is nothing I like better than toasted white bread with mayonnaise and tomato. It's even better if the juice from the tomato and mayo start running down your arm. Then it's perfect!

Until next time!
Linda

Where are you from?

I have been reading several blogs that ask the question, Where are you from? I decided this would be fun to play along.

I am from a little brick ranch house beside our church. I am from walking to church with my family and best friend. I am from potluck dinners on the gounds with homemade ice cream being churned. I am a child of God.
I am from clothes washed on a wringer washer with Little Boy Blue bluing. I am from clothes hung on the line for the sun to kiss dry. I am from the smell of clean clothes being ironed. (One of my very favorite smells!).
I am from chicken houses, tobacco barns, smoke houses and equipment sheds. I am from running barefoot all summer long.
I am from climbing apple trees and riding bikes from sun up to sun down.
I am from vegetable gardens and eating ripe tomatoes right in the garden. I am from digging potatoes and picking corn and beans.
I am from the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This is forgotten far too much today.
I am from hard working honest parents and grandparents who gave me unconditional love.
I am from fried chicken, fried apple pies, and chocolate cake. I am from souse meat, corn bread, and homemade biscuits loaded with butter.
I am from peanuts in my Dr. Pepper, Hershey bars dipped in peanut butter, and mint julep taffy.
I am from a wonderful marriage with the greatest husband of earth. I am from a teenage son who is such a joy to me.
I am from finally finding peace with who I am. Plain. Honest. Country.

That's who I am.
Blessings
Linda