My Favorite Things....

Last year I started a wall collage of sorts of a few of my favorite things. I have added a little to it all year long. I found the iron frame at my favorite place on earth-Canton and home I came dreaming about it all the way -what was I going to create to put in it? I decided to do a fabric collage using my embroidery machine with words all over it. Then added a few pockets to put things in and started creating! It is a work in progress and I think the best part is it will NEVER be done. I love the idea of a on going piece. My girl came to me by the way of a closing Cloth World about 5 years ago - I have loved her standing in my room all blinged up! Happy creating today!

Sunday around the Table...

One of my sisters and mine favorite suppers is Chicken Pot Pie. This is so easy and so good you will want it at least once a week. In our family I think we had Pot pie once a week growing up but the ones you bought in individual foil pans. It was a staple at the Brown table. I think even our Mom who was the BEST cook was impressed with this recipe the first time Brenda made it. You can't beat it !


Chicken Pot Pie

2 Pie crust( buy the frozen ones)
2 cups Cooked chicken- cut up
2 cans potato soup or cream of chicken soup
which ever you have on hand
1 can Veg-All - drain it
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. Thyme
1/2 tsp. Pepper

Mix and put on top of one of the pie crust, cover with the other crust
and bake at 375 degrees till crust is brown.

Now a days we hear a lot about comfort food- this one is definitely one of those foods.
It can make the world look a whole lot better after eating this!

Inspired by Life..

My favorite place to dream and imagine!






I was thinking today about what I was thankful for in my life and what fills my spirit and gives me Joy. God gave me the gift of creativity and that is what fills my life. I often wonder what normal people think about when they see a piece of fabric or a piece of paper and some ribbon? Me? I see hours of fun creating something that maybe no one else would like but me, and that's OK - I do it for me to enjoy and get great pleasure out of. Today I purchased the new Somerset Magazine and drank in every picture as I sat out on my porch. That magazine makes my heart sing. My creative juices were working over time. My wheels started turning and that's when it hit me how grateful I am for this gift. Its hard to imagine a scrap of fabric or paper and odd things found around the house could give me such joy when I put them together and make something magical happen. So tonight I say Thank you God for this wonderful ,crazy, simple gift!

Makes me Smile...

There are things in our lives that just make us smile when we see them or live in that moment. I want to share a few of those things with you this morning.

Taking time to smell the roses or taking a walk around my garden -that definitly makes me smile because I get a proud Mama feeling seeing that the fruit of my labor is growing!

Finishing projects for my home for me to enjoy!

My Cross I finished for my porch. My niece Megan taught me to make this - thanks Meg I love it.

I ordered these medal circle letters on ebay and made another tag art with them I can change the letters to spell whatever I feel like saying-that makes me smile!

Bella the wonder dog running outside every morning to get my paper. I smile from ear to ear on this one. I still can't believe she does this for me. I believe that it makes Bella smile too because we do such a happy dance when she gets in the house with the paper!

I hope your day is full of smiling moments if not- find something to smile about - it makes us feel so much better!

Sunday around the Table....

This week let me share a recipe that is great and easy for large crowds. I have fixed this for as few as 4 people and over 80 people. It is so easy but taste so good. One thing I love about this recipe is you put it together in the morning - cook all day, and you can have a great party that night or for lunch! I cooked this for my family at Easter and it was a big hit. I can always tell when the pan is empty!

Party Chicken

10- 12 Chicken Breast(however many you are serving - I figure one per person)
6 oz. Apple juice
5-6 slices of raw bacon- cut up
8 oz. sour cream
1 can of Cream of mushroom soup
1 can sliced mushrooms

Place chicken in large pan and cover with other ingredients. Cover with foil.
Bake at 200 degrees for 4 - 5 hours
Serve over Uncle Bens wild rice with green beans and cooked carrots and you have a
great meal for a crowd.

His Eye is on the Sparrow...

One of my favorite hymns is "His Eye is on the Sparrow" and my favorite person to sing it has to be George Beverly Shay (from the Billy Graham Crusades)OK -I am definitely old school about my hymns. Every spring I have a sparrow that builds a nest in my little bird house sometimes its a whole neighborhood of birds! I love to sit on my patio and watch them raise their heads to be fed .Then the day comes when the mother teaches her babies to fly - I love that day. But soon after they all fly away and I have to wait to next spring for them to return. It always makes me sing this song and remember just how much my heavenly father loves me. If he cares so much about the lowly sparrows just think how much he loves his children. That my friends is awesome! What a wonderful God we have looking out for us.

Sunday around the table...

Sunday - what kind of memories does that bring to mind . For myself it brings memories of going to Church and Sunday Lunch at my parents and before that my Grandparents. It was a day of rest, fun with my family and just a special day all around. What I loved most was sitting around the table at my parents and eating and visiting with everybody! When we left each other on Sundays after Lunch ,we already were looking forward to the next.
One of my favorite blog spots is the sisters Kari and Kijsa - they have a Sunday Grace every Sunday - a Verse or something inspirational to think about each week. I look forward to reading it every week and was thinking I would like to do something special on Sunday too. So each and every Sunday I will post a special recipe that could be used for your own Sunday lunch. I have several young blog friends and I thought that might help them build their recipe Box.
My Sundays have changed now and my family does not get together every Sunday like before. My brother, sister and myself all work most Sunday afternoons but get together on other days. But just like before it always centers around eating together.
I hope you enjoy the first of many Sundays around the table....

Texas Potatoes

1(32 Oz.) Pkg. frozen shredded potatoes(hash browns)

1(16 oz.) sour cream

2 cans of cream of mushroom soup or one large can

(you can use one cream of mushroom and Cream of chicken instead)

1 bunch of spring onions or one large yellow onion, diced

1 stick of butter, melted

1 small pkg. bacon bits

2 cups shredded cheese

1 cup of cornflakes-sprinkle on top

(you can leave these out)

Mix together and pour into 11x14 glass baking dish

Bake @ 350 degrees for 45 minutes (uncovered)

How can anything this easy be so good?

Eat and Enjoy!

If friends were flowers...

Took a walk around the garden tonight and look what I found.My flowers were peeking out to say hello. My first pink rose of the year and my crematis were all a glow. Enjoy!

If friends were flowers -
I'd pick you!

Times gone by...

I often think I was born at the wrong time. Why do I love old things so much? Why does 40s tablecloths make me smile when a brand new one from 2008 do nothing for me.I yearn for the simpler times of the 40s. My favorite great Aunt was a young women in the 40s - she was the FUN aunt and I wonder if it was because she lived through the wild times(as wild as they got) of the 40s.Aunt Peggy changed her name 3 times! She was born as one name and got it legally changed when she was 15. Her legal name was Sally Jo but she didn't really like that name so my family called her Aunt Peggy. How funny is that? She was widowed at a young age - her husband was a pilot in WW2. She was a brave and independent woman ,I think she influenced me more than any family member ,other than my parents.
I have lately found a radio station on my satellite that plays all 40s music-I love it.Think about the stars of the time, Bing Crosby, The Andrew Sisters, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire - real stars. Actors that could sing, dance and act. When most of the movies didn't have spoken words but were sung! It was the roaring 30s and 40s when flapper girls were the norm. I do know it was hard times too. Maybe that is why the people that lived through that were such strong people with wonderful stories to share.
Take time to enjoy the music today and enjoy life as they did.Do a little swing dance around the House!

Happy Birthday First Born....

Josh is 30 years old today. Where did those years go? I can't have a child that is 30 but that would make me about 50! Gulp- that is exactly right! In so many ways I felt Josh grew up with me. "I didn't know nothing about burping no babies" as Scarlet O'hara's maid would have said.But He loved me even without me knowing how to take care of a baby.He loved his young Mom and he actually survived my ignorance! Josh has been a Joy to me his whole life- a kid that always knew what he wanted out of life and went after it.I enjoy him even more today, he is like a best friend to me and fun to hang out with. Yes you can hang out with your children as friends - I wish I had known what I had to look forward to during those 2 am feedings and teen age years! And now My baby is going to be a Daddy in September. He is ready to become a parent and I cannot wait to see him father his child.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!

Texas Backroads Visited....

This past week was one of the funnest weeks I have had in a very long time. I spent 3 days at the Roundtop Antique show. I went with one of my oldest and dearest friends Lavon. I have known and loved Lavon and her family for 35 years -WOW that is a long time when you write it down.She is more like a sister to me than a friend - isn't it wonderful God sends us just the kind of friend you need.WE looked, bought, talked, laughed, got lost at least once, lived without cell phones for 3 days and without a TV for one night - I had a blast! The shows at Warrenton, Zapp Hall, Marberger Farms-are beyond description. I found myself thinking how to describe it to my friends and family back home and all I could think of was one word descriptions - INSPIRING, AMAZING, OVERWHELMING, EYE CANDY, DARLING,WHITE, SHABBY, CREATIVE,PRECIOUS,GORGEOUS,OLD, SOOTHING,BLUE, RED, IRON, METAL, BUTTONS, STRING, DISHES.It was the best of the best -booth after booth of cuteness it was really more than I could take!! It was definitely one week I will think back on for a long time.

We finished the week off with a visit, to a little bit of Heaven in south Texas- the Antique Rose Emporium. It was such a treat and inspiring to see the wonderful gardens - will mine ever look like that? I can only wish and keep working in my dirt. We both bought Rose bushes and dreamed of how they would look in our gardens all the way Home.




Thanks Lavon it was one more wonderful memory I will cherish....