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Posts Tagged ‘Savvy Entertaining’

sespring_cover

Just a little reminder that you can download my Savvy Spring Entertaining book for free just about anywhere you can find ebooks.

Or you can download the pdf right here.

Enjoy!

Savvy Spring Entertaining  – Everything the savvy host needs to know for successful spring entertaining! Discover simple decorating ideas, easy entertaining tips and some delicious spring recipes. Savvy Spring Entertaining gives hosts the information they need to shake off the heavy mantle of winter and prepare for a fun season of spring entertaining!

From Savvy Entertaining’s blogger, this short e-book includes her best hints for welcoming spring!

An excerpt from the author’s novel, The Cowboy’s Spring Romance, is included as well.

Download Spring Entertaining for Free!

Kindle

Smashwords

Barnes & Noble

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wedding ring

When I was working on the back cover art for a recent romance novel I published, I wanted to use a quilt because one of the main characters owned a quilt shop. Quilts were also mentioned throughout the story.

I didn’t have to look far to find quilts to photograph. I am the happy owner of several.

The one I used on the book cover is pictured above. It was a wedding gift from friends of my most wonderful mother-in-law. In a traditional wedding ring pattern, the colors are bright and cheery.

quilts

While I was trying to decide which quilt to use for the book, I dug out several.

quilt grandma nell roses

This beauty Captain Cavedweller’s Grandma Nell made for us one year for Christmas. She knows how I love roses so.

quilt roses grandma nell one block

Especially pink roses. The stitching on this is incredible.

quilt rose of sharon full

This is the quilt my Grandma Ila made for our wedding. She let me pick the pattern and the colors then she and my mom pieced and quilted it.

quilt rose of sharon

There was a lot of piecing and a lot of quilting and a lot of love that went into this Rose of Sharon variation quilt.

quilt sunbonnet sue

My Grandma Ila also made this quilt for me when I was a little girl. It graced my little twin-sized bed in my very pink bedroom for years and years. The pattern is Parasol Lady.

quilt grandma jackson

My Grandma Elsie started this Tulip Basket quilt for my mom back when she was a teen. Mom told Grandma she didn’t like the colors, so Grandma never finished the quilt. One day we were at Grandma’s helping her clean and found a bag with the quilt blocks. Grandma gave them to me, so Mom put the top together and quilted it. When she get all done, she couldn’t remember why she thought it was ugly in the first place.

quilt grandma nell's mom

The blocks for this quilt came from CC’s Grandma Nell. Her mother made the squares and no one ever finished the quilt. She gave them to me and when we needed one more block to make the quilt work, Mom did the one with the pink rose (pictured top left of the above photo). Mom sewed the top, then did all the quilting.  I should mention that Mom and Grandma did their quilting by hand. No fancy machines for them. I remember seeing a quilt frame stretched across our entire living room on many occasions. In later years, Mom would quilt using a big hoop instead of the frame.

Unfortunately, with all the talented quilters I’ve known, the gene and talent completely escaped me. I can sew – but quilting is beyond my patience and skill. That doesn’t, however, keep me from having one (or three) storage tubs full of fabric I hope to someday make into quilts. I’ll just have to hire someone to do the quilting.

quilt mrs henry purple

This is a quilt my beloved Aunt Robbie gave me that her mother-in-law made. Love the vintage fabrics and colors in this one.

quilt wedding ring mrs henry

Aunt Robbie also gave me this one her mother-in-law made. Classic Wedding Ring, it again has great vintage fabrics and blends of bright colors.

quilts glynda turley

I bought this quilt. It’s called Rose Rhapsody by Glynda Turley. I loved the colors, the flowers, the pattern and it is right now on the bed in our guestroom.

quilts pile

I love to look at the quilts and think of all the love, detail and skill that went into making them.

She Who Is a Very Lucky Girl

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There is something about spring that makes me crave lemon treats.

And there are so many yummy ones to choose from.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Sprinkle a little lemon zest on top and enjoy!

Lemon Bundt Cake

 

meringue-browned

Lemon Meringue Pie (so, so yummy)

 

lemon-cookie-plated

Lemon Cookies (super easy with a cake mix)

lemon-tarts

Easy Lemon Tarts

pink lemonade bars

Pink Lemonade Bars

She Who Really Wants a Pie of Lemon Meringue Pie!

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Last night, I was madly typing away, working on my next romance novel, when the power went out.

I yelled “what did you do?” to Captain Cavedweller just about the time thunder boomed across the early evening peacefulness, rattling the house and my nerves.

Hurrying outside with CC, we glanced at the sky, watching a fast-moving storm roll in.

I ran inside and grabbed my camera. From the time I took the first photo until the rain drove us back in the house was probably about ten minutes.

storm 1

The sky was not yet dark, just filled with amazing clouds when I started taking photos. This is looking south of our house.

storm 2

It quickly began to darken.

storm 2 a

storm 2b

The clouds were moving so fast.

storm 2c

And getting really interesting…

storm 3

This is a view over our back fence to the west.

storm 4

You can see the sky getting darker, the clouds moving closer.storm 5

And closer…storm 6

And looking really scary.

storm 7

There were these awesome holes in the clouds where the lighter sky behind them poked through.

storm 8

It looked like the dark parts of the cloud were about to fall.

storm 9

This was really cool. See where the white and dark connect. There is just a little glimmer of silvery blue…

storm 11

The clouds started to split…

storm 12

Until the two clouds broke apart and you could see blue sky between the two.

storm 10

Then it got really dark…

storm 13And rain started pouring down in sheets, chasing us inside where we watched it dance across the road and chase the cats for cover.

Two hours later our power came back on and the rain stopped.

There’s nothing quite like a spring storm, unless it’s one in the middle of the summer!

She Who Does Not Like Thunder

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