Summer Time 10 in 10

Ten pictures in ten hours. Give or take a few pictures and hours, since no one seems to be following the rules on this anyway.

Coffee to start the day!  And a very sunny, cool morning too.

Cinnamon rolls for breakfast today. Not homemade. I have not mastered the cinnamon roll yet. I don't really need to when Jan lives 45 minutes away and she can make them for me!  Learn to delegate your baking needs, people.

 

I missed out on all my spring cleaning this spring so today was designated window cleaning day. The girls were quite helpful.  They did the blinds and the inside windows first. 

Then we moved to the outside and everyone had to have a turn with the hose and the window cleaning pole. Josie kept calling it the window mop.  Fortunately, no one was completely soaked when we were done.

  

Grace changed the water in the fish bowl. We have had this fish for a few months and it still remains nameless.  I think we should name him Casserole. Just kidding. 

 

 After lunch, the girls decided to sell a little lemonade out front. It was all fine and dandy until the sprinklers came on and they grabbed their stuff and ran screaming back up closer to the house. 

Cil decided she wanted to take a nap. She didn't actually nap but instead listened to the Secret Garden for a bit before coming back out to see what everyone was up to.

I

 I thought I should start something completely random and unnecessary. Since it looked like rain, I busted out the spray paint to work on a few things the girls had asked me to paint for a project we want to do for their room.

 

And, why not wash your bike and scooter and trike since it looked like rain? 

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For supper we ate up some of the fruit and pasta salad left from the wedding catering on Saturday. We also had Kahlua pork from the freezer with Lauren's Zesty Peach BBQ sauce.  Then, at 5:00 it was out the door to swimming lessons!

For some reason, I always drive through downtown to get to the Rec Center. Our downtown is lovely and there is tons of art and sculptures and a few great restaurants.  Carls Canteen boasts about Made Rites on their front window. They also have Hawkeye and Cyclone flags hanging inside.  It is pretty much a win win for me.

Cil is loving swimming lessons.  She loves the water. That is her in the mint green, droopy drawers.

It rained. In the afternoon, again in the evening and thru the night.  The sun, the clouds and the mountains were absolutely beautiful when I came out of my meeting at church. 

So, there you have it. Now, off to get to work on today.

Welcome to my Kitchen

So, my kitchen was featured over at Life Made Lovely.   I was looking for the post here, because, well, I just figured I posted it here. Instead, I found it in my drafts box. Patiently waiting to be published.  So here you have it. About a year late. (I have probably rearranged a million times since these pictures were taken.)


Hello!  My name is Kellee and I blog  over at Let it be Done.
  

I have always enjoyed reading Heather's blog and  I love checking out all her great pins on Pinterest.  My sister actually submitted my name to be featured here and I am excited to share my kitchen with all of you!

My kitchen is actually a fairly small space but it is filled with things that I love.  Most of the items that decorate the shelves and the walls are handmade by me with things that have been passed down from our family members. It is bright and cheery and everywhere I turn there are little memories of people that I love. It is not too often that all five of us are in the kitchen at the same time, fortunately, but since it opens to the dining room it is a really decent sized space.

I found  a great dresser to serve as an island. I added a vintage metal tabletop to the back to finish it off. The table top is off a table that was probably the first table I had in college and was given to me by my mom. I attached a towel bar to the end and store all my kitchen utensils, dish towels and storage containers in the drawers.  My sister made the cute paper bunting  that hangs on the front because she knows how much I love buntings.

My grandmother was a great cook.  She loved to serve anyone and everyone and going to her house was such a treat.  This shelf sat in her attic and held lots of toys and books that we could play with. When my mom was little  she said this shelf hung over their dining room table and held all their glassware. It currently holds part of my collection of vintage glassware and melamine.  I love all the color it brings to the room and I don't mind letting the girls use the cups and plates for a tea party if necessary!

The Pyrex print was a gift from my sisters. It came from this Etsy store.

I made the hankie wreath and hoops with the dish towels.They were  from my mother-in-law and having these things on display is such a pleasant reminder of her and how wonderful she was.  

I also collect Pyrex.  I love the Butterprint pattern because it was a pattern my grandmother had but my favorite pattern is the Friendship.  Thanks to my wonderful family and incredible friends, I am starting to run out of room to keep it all!  

As I write this, I am realizing that I probably love way too many things.  I grew up on a farm and spent a few summers raising chickens. So now, I have a hard time resisting chickens in their vintage forms.

 

Practically everything on my bulletin board was thrifted. The painting on felt at the top was a whopping 50 cents as was the pillowcase in the hoop that reads "I rule the rooster."  ( I don't really rule the rooster, just FYI.)  The Pyrex potholder is in perfect condition and the embroidered mixer cover says "I'm a good mixer."  It's true, I am a good mixer.   I have  a party planning/catering/cookie baking business with the best friend anyone could ask for and we do alot of mixing.  

You can find vintage tablecloths and aprons in a few different places in my kitchen.   I love the color combinations and the graphics on so many of the old tablecloths.  Most of them are too small for my table but I do fold them up and use them as a runner on my island.  

The elf cookie jar is pretty creepy. No one really likes him but I wanted a cookie jar so badly and he looked so lonely at that garage sale...

 

This little arrangement sits directly next to the coffee pot making it my favorite place in the kitchen.     My husband throws his change in here when he gets home from work, the girls sift through the dishes searching for bobby pins or pieces of gum and the little girl hollers for a pink straw every time she needs one.  I love it because it is filled with little reminders of all of us that share this home and memories of those who don't live here but have contributed to our family with their gifts, their kind gestures and their daily prayers.

New Twists on an Old Favorite

I think it is safe to say that dried beef, pickles and cream cheese may be one of the best food combos ever.  I know, some may disagree and think that I exaggerate, but once you try one of these two new recipes, you might just change your mind!

Since summer is fast approaching and there will graduation parties and picnics to attend, you can't go wrong with either of the make ahead recipes.

Magic Pickle Dip (found here and everywhere on Pinterest:)

Original recipe makes 16 servings 

1 8 oz cream cheese, softened

6 dill pickle spears, diced

1 jar dried beef, chopped

Mix together the softened cream cheese, diced pickle, and chopped beef until well combined. Chill until ready to serve.  Serve with Ritz crackers.

This is the dried beef we have around here.

Stackers 

8 oz cream cheese, softened

3 tablespoons dill weed

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder 

8 oz french onion chip dip

 Mix together well! 

You will also need:

1 jar dill sandwich stackers or think sliced dill pickles

10 - 6inch flour tortillas

2 jars dried beef

Thin sliced cheese (I used about 6 slices of provolone sliced  for sandwiches)

 Long tooth picks

Spread cream cheese mix on one tortilla.  Top with sliced beef to make a single layer covering the whole tortilla.  Spread BOTH sides of the next tortilla and place on top of the beef.  Add a layer of pickles. Repeat tortilla layer. Add a layer of cheese.    Keep going until you have used up all your tortillas.  

To place the tooth picks. You basically want to have a whole bunch of 1-1 1/2 inch squares with a toothpick in each one.  I scored my stacker across the top into 4ths and then into the smaller  squares. I like everything to be even.  Then I added the toothpicks, evenly spaced across the entire stacker.  Once that was all done, I wrapped it up good in plastic wrap and stuck it in the fridge.  I cut all the pieces all the way though right before serving.   

So here's to summer and lots of picnics, parties and light eating!