A Camping We Will Go........

The first week of Aug. found us camping at one of our favorite campgrounds up in Ohio, about 3 hrs. or so from where we live, in between Dayton and Springfield.  The scenery is so pretty there and they have quite a few things for you to do.  A nice lake you can fish in or paddle boat on.  They have a fenced-in dog pen, basketball court, putt-putt golf, a pizza parlor, an old 'mill' w/running water, where the kids can 'dig' for gold, ha. (sorry, forgot to take pics of those).

 I love the reflection of the clouds on the water.......

 A nice size swimming pool.........

 You can see our camper off to the left of the train(below) when we first pulled in.  They give train rides to the little ones and they also have a big truck/tractor for the older ones w/hay in them and go all over the campground.

  A very nice gazebo is located at the entrance with plenty of gliders inside to sit on.  There is a farm next to the campground that has goats, llamas and horses grazing.  You are only a few feet away from them, divided by two fences, but I totally forgot to take pics of them, sorry.

 We were not too far from the famous Waynesville shops, so one day we decided to drive down there, but they were working on the main road in front of all the shops and had it all torn up for several blocks, so hubby dropped me off on one of the side roads.  (for those of you who aren't familiar w/Waynesville, it is much like the shops in Amish country, only not as many of them).

  One of my favorite places to visit in Waynesville is the famous 'Fabric Shack'!  They have a ton of fabric/patterns and of course I couldn't leave home empty-handed.  But you'll have to wait to see what I will make w/a couple of the patterns I bought that day.  tee hee!   (the real reason is, I've been in a bit of a 'funk' w/the sewing/creating mood lately and I'm hoping it hits me again real soon)!!

I hope you're enjoying what's left of summer!  It is extremely HOT/HUMID here today in Eastern Ky. 

I'll be back again soon w/another book review or two.  I just read one last nite and finished it in one evening, it was that good!!  An amazing true story of how a powerful God rescues a married couple from a burning car crash!  One you will want to hear/read about, it is an awesome story!!

Until next time, 

Happy Creating!!

A Winning, A Recipe and Some Book Reviews

Last week I was one of the lucky recipients of Nancy's b'day giveaway over at Victorian Motto's blog and I received my package over the weekend.  This is the awesome package I won. 

 A drawstring bag filled w/lots of goodies inside.

 I can't wait to use them on my fallish items, hopefully very soon.

 On another note, you can't really tell how big these cucumbers are in the pic, but the one on the right was over 12 in. long and the other one was over 9 in. long and fairly big around ~ they look HUGE in person!  Hubs picked them up from a farmer's market the other day, along w/some deep red tomatoes(my favorite) and some 'peaches and cream' corn on the cob.  We are trying to get our fill of them before the end of the season.

 Here's an old recipe for ya. Can't remember if I shared it a long time ago or not.
 It's Crockpot Beef Stroganoff.  Super dee duper easy!  I've been using this recipe for over 25 yrs. and I've tweaked it just a bit over the yrs. to suit our growing family.

1 large can (26oz.) Cream of Mushroom Soup
2 small cans of Cr. of Mushroom soup - (I get the fat/free or less fat kind)
2 small cans of Cream of Celery soup
1- 2 lbs. of beef stew meat cut into bite size pieces
(feeds about 6 or so)

Spray the inside of the crockpot w/cooking spray.  Throw in the stew meat, then add all the cans of soup.  Mix well and cook on low for 6 -8 hrs.  (you may need to stir it once it's cooked for a few hrs.)
Serve over rice or noodles.  (I always use the extra wide noodles, and after draining them, I just add them into the crock & mix).     Easy peasy!!  It's also a great company dish.  All I add are some rolls to go along w/it.

 Does anyone know the name of this type of bush??  It grows fairly tall(this one is as tall as a tree) and I've seen several in our neighborhood when I go on my morning walks.  They are beautiful and the thing I love about them is that they bloom till late summer/early fall, I'm guessing.

 I'm a bit behind on posting my book reviews, so I am doing 3 at one time, so hang in there.

I receive my books for free from Bethany House Publishers, in exchange for an honest review.
'Into the Whirlwind' by Elizabeth Camden is one of the most fascinating historical Christian romance novels I've ever read.  The story wraps around the famous Chicago Fire back in 1871.  The author does a remarkable job of making sure you get an extensive history lesson of that time era, but in a very personal/interesting way.  The story draws you in from the beginning and lasts till the very end, w/lots of twists and turns throughout.  I really enjoyed all the characters, both the main ones as well as the secondary ones.  The author gives an amazing account into the lives of the people who survived that tragic fire and tried to rebuild their beloved city.
 I personally would have liked to have seen more mention of the characters' love of God and their growing faith in Him, which usually runs foremost in Christian fiction, but in this book it was only stated very few times throughout.  Other than that, Elizabeth Camden did an amazing job and I learned a ton of information in a delightful way!

 This book, 'Secrets to a Happy Life', by Bill Giovannetti, is now one of my ALL-TIME favorites!!  This is a NON-fiction Christian based book and I ended up using it as a devotional.  I can only say that I'm just sorry it had to end!!  It revolves around the life of Joseph in the Old Testament (who is my favorite Bible character).  The author does an outstanding job of breaking down his life verse by verse and chapter by chapter in great detail, but in a very upbeat, up-to-date fashion, w/a sense of humor thrown in on the side.  I love the way Bill always makes sure that the reader knows who is the REAL true character of the book and that is GOD himself.
  It is filled w/Godly advice and Biblical wisdom, paralleling Joseph's life and how he remained happy even tho' going through the toughest of times.  I hope to remember everything I learned from this book for the rest of my life.   Highly highly recommend!!

 This book, 'Unseen' (NON-fiction) is written by Dr. Jack Graham, (who happens to be my former pastor many yrs. ago).  He tells about his own true story when he was a young man, his father was brutally attacked. Jack later realized that evil forces were involved.  Thus beginning his quest for Biblical answers as to the supernatural forces of good and evil, angels and Satan, heaven and hell. His book teaches about Christians using spiritual warfare through Biblical guidelines.  He encourages every believer that God does provide protection, provision and power for whatever you may be going through.  Well written!  I highly recommend this book.

That's it for today folks!  I will try my best to be back later in the week w/some pics of our recent camping trip.  Hope I haven't bored you too much!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Not a Cloud in the Sky!!

It has been a rather wet summer here in eastern Ky. and yesterday it just poured the rain, but today, there isn't a cloud in the sky(well, not this morning when I was out out walking my dog BJ). Gorgeous blue skies, cooler temps, an absolutely beautiful day for the first day of school.  Yeah, I can't believe it's that time of yr. already!!

I forgot to show you what else I made when I posted last, so here's my latest purse that I made a few wks. ago.  It was actually a free pattern on the internet for a TOTE, but I cut the dimensions down quite a bit to make it more 'purse' size.  I've had the fabric for awhile now, and thought it looked 'summery'.

 Here's an inside look.  I always like to add in some extra pockets.........(it's really not as pinkish as it's showing, more red).

 Then I made a little zipper pouch to match to carry all my small items in.........

 And of course, a little Kleenex pouch to match as well..........

 My hubby likes to take me somewhere different to eat for my b'day every year, so last wk. we all went on a little camping trip up in Ohio and had a ton of fun.  We took our future daughter-in-law w/us for the very first time and she absolutely loved it!!  So for my b'day dinner we chose this Mexican restaurant called, 'Don Pablos' in Springfield.  They only have about 3 in Ohio, I think, so we don't get to go there very often, but it's really good!!  The tortilla chips are twice the size of normal ones and their salsa has a bit of a 'kick' to it, but really really good!!

 On another day during our week, we came across this little restaurant called, "Hot Head Burritos" and it was really good too!  (can you tell we like Mexican food)??  It reminds me of a Subway, where you go through line and tell them each item you want on your burrito.  Man, were they ever delish!!  We ate them outside on the picnic table back at the camper, but if I'd known how good they were, I would have never agreed to 'split' one w/the hubster.

 My hubby said that the little 'head' in between the words reminded him of the movie, 'Castaway' w/Tom Hanks, where his character names the ball 'Wilson' and it looks like his hair is standing straight up.  Ok, well, that's what it reminded us of anyway ~ LOL

I'll be back soon w/more pics of our camping trip and some things I've been working on.

 Meanwhile, don't forget to hop over and take a look at all the new goodies that have arrived in my Etsy shop.  I've got a bunch of new patterns from Buttermilk Basin and a few other companies and I'm still working on getting the rest of them listed in the next couple of days.  (the new format states that I only ship to the U.S., however, I do ship internationally and have done it many times, so just wanted you all to know that in case of any confusion).

Chat soon ~ happy crafting!!

Another Give~Away???

I wanted to get one more post in for the month of July but it just didn't happen!  So happy AUGUST!!  This is my b'day month and another blogger's too, that many of you know already!  Nancy from Victorian Motto(who is an awesomely generous soul) is having a b'day give~away on her blog and if you tell her I sent you, I'll get more entries!  So please let her know where you saw it advertised!! Thanks!!

I'll try to be back soon w/some new goodies to show you!  Until then, happy crafting!!