Cherries!!!

Rogue Camp and Summer Fun!!!

Another Rogue Camp has come and gone, and it was a fabulous weekend had by all!!! For those of you familiar with my blog, you know what Rogue Camp is...but for those of you new to my blog, its a party we have every summer at our place. We have about 50 friends that come up and camp for the weekend...but its not your regular camping...its sort of a pirate/fairy/renaissance gathering. Folks dress in outlandish costumes, or perhaps just a silly hat...but the point is to have fun...and that is exactly what we did!
A new tradition to rogue camp, is a treasure hunt (which was started about 3 years ago) and the adults, as well as kids, love it! There are 3 teams that have to search for clues out on the island...Here is one of the teams off to seek treasure.....

Another favorite past time at rogue camp is music! There always seems to be beautiful music coming from the island...be it drumming, the didgeridoo, a flute, the guitar, or even the sitar!

Battle croquet is a fun, yet difficult game! The island provides a tough course, but folks are always willing to tackle the terrain! Here is a shot of Kendall getting advice from her opponents.

We were lucky this year, and had fantastic weather...if only just a little too hot :) No matter...just jump in the river for some cooling off.

I was very excited about the amount of children that were at rogue camp this year! Lots of kids for Jordyn to play with, and after all...this is sort of like a fantasy land all weekend...what better place for kids than that! But beware...they were ready to do battle to find that treasure!

Delicious food has become a major part of rogue camp too, and this year Andrew and Sarah coordinated a fajita night on Saturday, which was quite a hit! Chicken, steak, shrimp, and lots of grilled veggies...YUM!!! I think we may have to do Fajita night every year at rogue camp!

And of course, it wouldnt be rogue camp if we didnt gather by the fire every night for some incredible music and dancing. We have some of the finest musicians around! I took some video, and plan to upload it soon, so stay tuned....

New this year, was the nastrovia tent...basically a pavilion tent decked out with beautiful tapestries and tassels, decorative rugs and pillows, a lowered table to sit at, and my lovely cousin serving up nastrovias. What are nastrovias you ask...you take a lime wedge covered on one side with coffee and the other side with sugar, bite into it, then drink a shot of brandy and swish the whole thing together in your mouth...and swallow! WOW! More than anything, its a social gathering place sort of like a bar, but much more magical! I spent a little too much time in this tent on Friday night and paid the price...but it was totally worth it!

With so many friends suffering in this economy...many unemployed, about to lose their homes, and wondering what their next step will be...this was a great way to escape! There is nothing more healing than good friends, great food, some spirits, lots of laughter and glorious music!

I hope rogue camp provides many fond memories for all of my friends and family! And i hope you have enjoyed a little slice of our weekend too~ hugs!

p.s. Here is a shot of another block i made to participate in Kates Stay at Home Robin. I plan to make two quilts...one will be Halloween themed, and this one will be for my Winter theme.

Early Morning Boogie...

Jordyn was stung by a bee on Saturday, and by Sunday her finger was totally swollen. (see pics below) I pumped her with Benadryl, which means she was drowsy all day...well, today, as you can see by the video, shes feeling a lot better :) enjoy!

The Big Birthday Surprise

Look Who's Turning 4 ~

Well, she doesnt turn 4 for a few more days, but we had her big birthday party at the house on Saturday, and it was quite a hit! Lots of family and friends joined us for the "My Little Pony" party, and a good time was had by all! There was delicious food, yummy cake, yard games and laughter.

The cake was a big hit...here's a tip...the next time you make a boxed cake mix, follow the directions exactly, but before you pour it into the pan, mix in a can of cherry pie filling....WOW! Lots of raves for that little surprise :)

Of course, any cake covered in lots of frosting is a hit with the kids :)

Here's a sweet moment of Jordyn with Daddy...no love here! :)

Living in the mountains, we dont have much in the way of paved roads, but she really wanted some roller skates, so here they are. Looks like we'll be making several trips to town to try them out. Of course, there's always the garage at Aunt LeAnns at the front house. She received many wonderful gifts...new clothes, shoes, games, barbies, horses of one kind or another, movies, books, etc...But for the grand finale.......

a new motorized ride for Jordyn, courtesy of grandma and grandpa. She drove this thing for hours, till the battery died. I loved watching her drive this all around the meadow! She laughed and laughed, and just couldnt get enough of her new Barbie ride! She looked so grown up :) It was a magical pony party indeed! Hope your weekend was filled with magic too!

Misc Fun in July ~

Here is my first block for the Stay at Home Robin on Kate's blog. Obviously im doing a Halloween theme...and obviously, its not lined up very well. :) Its paper pieced, and once again i am reminded why i dont do paper pieced blocks very often...tearing the paper off is a nightmare! Thats probably why my block didnt turn out very square...i did the four sections, then winged it without paper at the end. Oh well, its still cute, and i can always applique a spider over the center :) I think i might try to work on a second SAH Robin quilt, perhaps a Winter or Christmas theme. Each month Kate will post a size requirement, and after 12 months, we will have created a 16"X18" quilt. The first block was to be a 6" finished square. I chose the spiderweb pattern from Marcia Hohn's quilters cache. I saw photos from a similar round robin, and the quilts were lovely. These quilts will not travel though, so we will be creating these at home, hence the name of the Robin. Anyways, ill be posting these as we go...so stay tuned!

Last night we had a ferocious hail storm...this photo doesnt quite do it justice, but the storm lasted about 20 minutes, and who knows what kind of damage it did to my garden! Too wet out to check it out yet!

Jordyn was a little freaked out by the storm, but then, we have a metal roof, so anything falling from the sky makes a thunderous sound when it hits our house.

And i thought id include a few 4th of July photos...Here is a shot of Justin's Aunt LeAnn and Patrick, Justin's old elementary school teacher from the one room school house. He was out visiting from Arizona, so this unusual cold weather was a bit much for him. He moved there for health reasons about a year ago and we sure miss him, so it was nice to get together!

Naturally, i had to include a fireworks shot...

and last, Jordyn enjoying her very first sparkler! Hope everyone had a happy 4th!

Can it really be July already?!?

Warning: Photo Overloaded Blog!

Not much on the quilting front...alas, nor the painting front, but i have been creating! I finished the Santa stitchery and started on this "Seasons" stitchery. Its a cute design and should make a nice gift at Christmas :) Trying to stay ahead of the game this year!

Speaking of getting ahead...i also ordered some novelty fabrics that were on clearance at Hancocks...now im ready for the next I-spy swap. And of course, i just had to order some of that new Christmas fabric by Kaufman...isnt it pretty?!

We had family up for father's day weekend, and Jordyn had a ball playing with cousins. They pigged out on watermelon, swam all day in the kiddie pool, climbed all over the swing set...

and basically had a blast together! Jordyn loved having kids to play with, and i was pretty thrilled about the break too :)

Last weekend we celebrated my Father-in-laws 70th birthday!

He was part of the FAB Company back in the day, and this poster was given to him from one of the other band members. He was quite surprised, as he didnt know any of these still existed :)
For his birthday, Justin and i put together a slide show set to some of his original tunes. I spent a week scanning in photos from the first 60 years of his life (obviously the last 10 or so were already in digital format), but the whole project took longer than we thought, so Justin and i pulled an all-nighter to have it ready in time for the party. Needless to say, it was a big hit. Id share it here, but its 20 minutes long :)

This handmade bench was brought up from some family that couldnt make it to the party...an early birthday present for Jordyn, and as you can see, she loves it!

The evening winded down with laughter and s'mores around the fire. The kids were so exhausted, the were getting giddy...as were the adults. A lovely 70th birthday celebration.

Now for some randomness...are you still with me :)

Here is a lovely basket of flowers my cousin gave me for my birthday...they are so colorful and bright!

and this year, my orange and yellow irises decided to bloom for me too...arent they pretty.

Yesterday, Jordyn and i spent a day in town having fun...She received her first official hair cut (its taken this long for her to grow any :) She really enjoyed the experience, and thought she was quite the adult. She actually told me to "go sit down and read a magazine and ill be there in a minute". hehehehe

I think she was just tired of me taking a bunch of pictures...but still, look at the serious expression on her face. :)

Afterwards, we cooled off at the park. So much for the new hairdo! We also picked up some fireworks on the way home...a first for Jordyn...we are usually camping at this time of year, but decided to stay home instead, so Jordyn will get to experience fireworks for the first time. Im looking forward to that! Stay tuned for Independence Day Festivities....Cheers~