The camouflage project

the camouflage project - finished!


Can you tell what it is?
it is a formal vest like men wear with tuxedos - camouflage with black satin lapels and pockets.
Son Bobby asked me sew it for him.
If I got the story right,  Bobby and Sheena are hosting a party with a 1980's prom theme for the workers at Sheena's salon.
Bobby wanted this vest to wear for that event.

Bobby is not a hunter and is not military but he has always liked camouflage.

It is not the first camoflage I've sewn for Bobby.  

I think these camouflage shorts were the first clothes I ever sewed for Bobby.
They were made from one of his dad's unserviceable  blouses (that is USMC lingo for a  worn out  uniform shirt)

Bobby is sitting on a kitchen cabinet in our base home aboard Camp Pendleton, 1982.
The housing area is built on the side of Wire Mountain.
Because we were up high enough,  we could see the Pacific Ocean from this side of that little home and the sunsets were just so wonderful to enjoy every evening.  

another sewing project for Bobby,  in 1999, was this Hawaiian print vest  that he wore to prom.
He picked out the fabric and I sewed it.

Nobody else there was dressed the same as Bobby!


Anyway,  the vests sew up pretty fast and I think could be made by anyone with basic sewing skills.
I used a McCalls pattern for the latest one.
You might choose different fabric for yours though.

Hello-------

Hello, hope all of you are good.  

Here are few recent scenes from my home 

Crinum lilies in bloom 

lots of blooms - 5 different rose bushes, the big Rose of Sharon and the crinums.
in the ground,  the zinnia seeds mostly sprouted and should be blooming soon.
There are also some little moss rose plants and impatiens that are not yet big enough to bloom.

 Lately,  I have not done a very good job of meal planning ahead.  I do just fine when we have company but when it is just my husband and me here,  I've lately not  planned ahead much.
So,  yesterday,  I organized my recipes and planned out about 8 meals - all using ingredients we already had or bought yesterday.

There are a couple of quarts of homemade chicken broth in the fridge so I  put chicken and noodles as one of the meals.  Then I made the noodles last night so they could dry.  

Other meals on my plan

crockpot chicken and veggies

pinto beans and cornbread

Barbecue chicken sandwiches with pickled onions on jalapeno cheese buns

salmon patties

rice taco salad

fiesta chicken and rice

catfish and hush puppies

This is probably close to 2 weeks worth of meals for us as most of these recipes make more than 2 servings.  We both like leftovers and will happily eat the extras for both lunches or suppers, however it works out.  

I hear so many people say they don't like leftovers.  

That seems so silly and wasteful to me.  

Most foods that were good the first time they were served,  are just as good the second time.  

There are a few exceptions but for the most part,  we enjoy leftovers.  

I also hope to do some cleaning projects this week - 

like the dusty ceiling fans and all the windows.

I've also got a sewing project involving woodland camouflage fabric - the things we do for our sons!

Pie with Uncle Rex

This is Uncle Rex,  one of my mom's brothers.  He is 90 years old and makes the best pie.  We went to Enid OK to visit him today and we ate lunch in the cafeteria of his retirement home. 

Then after lunch,  we went to his apartment to visit and he treated us to his homemade coconut meringue pie. 

It tasted just as yummy as it looks!



After we all ate our coconut pie slices,  Uncle Rex got out a cranberry apple pie he made yesterday. 
We were all too full to have another slice of pie,  but we all tasted it anyway. 
Elizabeth liked it,  can you tell? 



See the ribbons on the wall behind my dad?
Uncle Rex won them on his pies at the last Garfield County Fair, 
the purple ribbon is for Grand Champion. 

I think I have a family full of amazing members. 

Mothers Day Surprise

My children completely surprised me on Mothers day with professional photos made to them as a group.  

Aren't they just beautiful?  

little Andie, Gavin and Elizabeth

Jimmy, John, Bobby and Clint standing up
Nina, Elizabeth, Sheena, Andie, Amanda and Gavin sitting.  

Theo

Sweet Theo

see the shaved spots on both front legs where his IV's were?  

Our dog Theo is almost 9 years old and for several months  has not been feeling as good as he used to.
He drinks lots more water,  has weakness in his back legs,  small shakes and tremors when he lays down and sleeps.
Mostly we thought it was just signs of aging.
Then about 2 weeks ago,  he quit eating.  He has always been a quirky eater so at first we thought he was just not liking what was served to him.

He was just getting worse so we took him to our vet on Friday.  They did tests and found some weird levels in his blood but all his other signs were good.  They wanted to start him on IV treatments to flush his kidneys so Theo had to stay there Friday,  then all weekend and all day Monday getting round the clock IVs.
At first the 2 vets thought he had kidney failure,  then maybe cancer but neither diagnosis seemed quite right.
After consulting with 2 other vets,  our vets diagnosed Theo with Addisons disease. 
It is rare and hard to diagnose Addisons but is easy to treat with shots and pills.

The vets gave him a cortisol shot and sent him home with us some more pills to take twice a day.  Theo improved immediately.  He came home Monday and finally wanted to eat!
Theo is just about back to normal happy self.  We are very thankful for our veterinarians who worked hard to save our sweet puppy.

Honor World War II Veterans today

Fly your flag today
to remember that this is V-E Day,
or the victory in Europe part of WWII.


Today I am thinking about 4 of my uncles - Rex, Cecil, Jarvis and Jr - who all fought  during WWII .

Yard sale....

Our neighborhood is hosting our annual yard sale this weekend.   Usually I just shop but this year,  we will be selling.

 It is usually in very hot July so I am really glad it is earlier this year and it should be cool enough to not be miserable.  No rain in the forecast either.

My junk pile is growing and I found much more stuff in the attic than I expected that should be sold.  Our children have added stuff.  What I thought would be just a little stuff is turning in to a big amount of stuff.

So I am going to be busy pricing and sorting and dusting......

be back soon!