More Curtain Pictures

Here's another picture of our momentous curtain hanging last weekend. In total, we have three windows in our living room.Two small ones and this double window. Now I want to make a couple of matching throw pillows for our sofa.

Our New Living Room Curtains

You know the story about the cobbler's kids and how they have no shoes? Well, in this case, it's the sewer's living room and how it hasn't had any curtains in close to five years. I bought this fabric (11 yards for $25 on ebay- wohoo) after seeing it at Calico Corners, bought the trim. altered the pattern so that the scallops perfectly fit our windows, cut out the fabric and started sewing.....

I didn't like how the trim was looking on the scallops so, I stopped sewing... My poor husband. He wanted the curtains so badly and I had developed a big psychological block against finishing them. It got to be such an issue between us that it became even harder to work on them. What was I to say? "I'm going to go up to the studio and work on the curtains".? There would have been way too much anticipation and pressure. Anyway, David went to Florida for five days and it gave me the time and opportunity to bring them back out. I went to the lumber yard and had the 3" cornice boards cut to size. I took the trim off the one that I had done and I whipped them out. They weren't as bad as I had remembered and getting rid of the trim helped alot (I had visions of hand sewing all the hems).

I gave them to David for Valentines Day and he was so excited. He still is pretty excited about them and comments how great they look all the time. (Personally, they're a bit more formal than what I would pick nowadays). They certainly look better than the bare windows.

Now I just need to make some new cushions for the glider.

Thai Recipe - Chicken with Coconut curry Sauce

I made this recipe last night and it was enjoyed by all - even jamie ate some of the chicken. I mentioned it on my facebook page and thought I would share it with everyone. I had cut out the recipe from some magazine, but made a number of changes last night (it looks like a Bon Appetit recipe), so I'll give you my version.

Chicken with Coconut Curry Sauce
Serves 4

2 lbs boneless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
2 tblsp. vegetable oil
1 bunch scallions, cut into 1" pieces
5 teasp. Thai Green Curry Paste
2/3 cup chicken broth
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
2 tblsp. lime juice

In large saucepan, heat 1 T oil and cook scallions. Once cooked, remove scallions and set aside.
In same pan, heat up remaining 1 T oil and cook chicken, stirring. - about 5 minutes. Once cooked, remove chicken and set aside.
Add curry paste and chicken broth to pan, stir and reduce to glaze - about 3 minutes.
Add coconut milk; cook until sauce coats spoon, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes.
Add lime juice, chicken and scallions.
Reduce heat to med-low and simmer until chicken is fully cooked and it is heated.

We served this with jasmine rice.

Kinsey's 16th Birthday!!

Today, my little girl turns sweet sixteen. It's a wonderful thing and she is a wonderful person. I am really proud to be her mother.

Here's an early picture of her. Doesn't she have the cutest cheeks? Of course I made the top she is wearing. I also painted roses on the turtleneck collar to match the top - very sweet.

and...

here's a recent picture of me and Kinsey. She and I went to Southern California for a week in August for her 16th birthday present. We had a great time! Not only did we get along fabulously for the whole week, we saw celebrities (and Kinsey got her picture taken with several) , we shopped at trendy boutiques in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills, we ate at The Melting Pot, (Hugh Hefner's favorite restaurant), and got cupcakes from Sprinkles, we drove through most of Orange County and visited with a very dear tennis friend of mine in San Diego. It was really nice to have this special mother-daughter time with Kinsey. I feel really lucky that we get along so well (still).

The only problem with an early birthday present is that you keep having to remind the recipient that they already got their present. So, tonight's celebration is going to be a bit low-key.

Handcrafted Christmas Presents

I didn't make that many Christmas presents this year. Here are pictures of some of the things I did make for either personal gifts or for my business, Bogate Designs.

First of all, I had to make Marlene a stocking as they don't hang stockings in Germany. (they put out their shoes on St. Nicholas Day). I hope that she will take this home with her and start a new tradition with her family

I felted red wool fabric for the stocking in the washing machine. It is then embellished with wool felt appliques, gold rick rack, sequins, beads and jingle bells (Marlene loves her jingle bells). I embroidered her name on my machine. I was really happy with how this turned out, but of course, it wasn't until late on Dec. 24th that it was done.



In early December, I bought a book called It's A Wrap: Sewing Fabric Purses, Baskets, and Bowls. These bowls are based on that book. Basically, you wrap strips of fabric around clothesline and then sew the covered clothesline together. You can adjust the shape of the item by the angle you hold it when you sew. I made several before the holidays. They're fun to make, but my arm and wrist definitely hurt after wrapping the clothesline for awhile. I think I would develop some kind of repetitive motion syndrome if I did it for too long.

I made these red and white ones based on the shape of a planter. They looked great with a pointsetta in them -very festive.






Since I really don't market my children's clothing business very well, it is a blessing that so many of my sales are from repeat customers. A number of people called me after not seeing me at a specific holiday craft fair and bought things directly. (I love the sales without the corresponding booth fee). These two fleece tops were made for a set of twins. It is the third year in a row that they have gotten Bogate Designs' tops for Christmas from their aunt Patty in Vermont. This heathered green fleece is reversible so we alternated the main pullover color so that the boys wouldn't be too matchy-matchy. I don't know if it shows up in the pictures, but I also did some handstitching on the truck to define the wheels better. These tops are a first with these applique designs. I like them, but I might try doing reverse applique on the truck's wheels and windows next time - I want really round hubs.

Marlene and the Exchange Students

Marlene has been here now for 2 1/2 weeks and we are loving the new addition to our family. We could not have asked for a nicer, fun, and enthusiastic person. She and Kinsey are having a great time checking out all the stores in Manchester and working on their wardrobes. Marlene also likes the outdoors and has been playing lacrosse, shooting baskets, throwing frisbees and just generally playing with Jamie. He is thrilled!
School started last Friday. There are a total of 11 foreign students and four of them are from Germany. The day before school started, I invited all the EF exchange students and their host family kids to the Bromley Thrill Zone. We spent 3 hours going on a variety of rides. In this first picture, Sasha (from Northern Germany) is standing on the left and Marlene is standing next to him in the brown sweatshirt. Sasha is living with Matt Rosenthal who is lounging (posing) on the bench.







Here's another, closer in, picture of Marlene. I don't know - with this expression she must have hit a bad shot in miniature golf.




















When we were looking at Marlene's application, there was one area of concern. She liked cats (which is essential), but she stated that she did not like dogs. We were aghast. How could anyone not like dogs? Well, even if she didn't like dogs in general, we knew that she would love our two dogs. At least, that is what we were hoping. Yeah, well look how much she dislikes dogs. She has been won over by Brook and Belle. If we breed Brook again in the Spring, we are convinced that Marlene will want to take a puppy back with her to Germany in June.















There's one more thing we have learned about Marlene. She loves Nutella. I think she even considers it one of the major food groups. We introduced her to Vermont Maple Syrup last week, but she wasn't impressed. So, on Sunday morning, I made pancakes and, instead of butter and syrup, we put Nutella on them. Oh, my God, they was good! I had five kids for breakfast that morning (due to sleepovers) and they all loved them. I will never eat pancakes the old fashion way again. I'm also sure that it is alot healthier. I mean Nutella is like peanut butter - made from nuts-right?

Jack's Birthday Party

We were invited to a party yesterday to help Jack (pictured here) celebrate his birthday. Parties at the DeSario's are always fun. They have a knack of making everyone feel relaxed and there is always alot of laughter. They also have a knack of making the best food and lots of it! In addition to a roast, many salads and side dishes, we had some great desserts.

They couldn't settle for one birthday cake. So, we were offered our choice of 3 amazing cakes.

Here we have the flourless chocolate cake - my personal favorite.






Here is the a layered white cake with fruit and whipped cream - I guess this is the healthy and light one.



















...and here is the kid oriented cake - Go Elmo! Katie Kelly's face also kind of looked like this after she finished eating her piece. It's OK though as she is only 4.

Despite the rain and an indoor barbeque, it was a great afternoon.

Skateboarding Dude

Jamie has really gotten into skateboarding. We got him a new board and helmet so that he would be better able to do tricks and his daily goal is to practice 1-2 hours a day for the rest of the summer.

It must be working because everytime I see him, he's looks better with his moves (of which I can never remember the names) .

Marlene Is Here

Our biggest news this week is that Marlene Wessel, our German Exchange Student, came last week. The poor thing had to travel on the day of the terrorist threat in London, but luckily it did not impact her trip. --just the weather did. She was delayed for several hours and didn't arrive into Albany until after midnight!

Marlene is from Brensbach, Germany (near Frankfurt). She is 16 years old and will be a junior at Long Trail School.

I need to get a new picture of her to post as this one is from her exchange student paperwork. She is much cuter in person. She also is a wonderful person and we are all so happy to have her be a part of our family.








































These two pictures of the bedroom that we decorated for Marlene. I wanted something that a teen would like, but something that we could also use as a guest room in the future. Found these comforters at Linens and Things for $25/each and that was the beginning. One of my favorite things about the room are her curtains. Actually, it's a curtain - it is a shower curtain, even attached to the curtain rod by cute shower hooks. I originally was going to cut it in half and shorten it to the lower sill. But, my creative Kinsey put it up as is and it looks adorable. As the craft magazines like to say, it was a great "no-sew" project. We don't have the dresser knobs on yet in these pictures, but we bought some wooden ball knobs, painted them the green wall color and then put on blue polka dots. They are a great finishing touch.

Marlene has also done a great job of making the room her own. She brought many pictures from Germany and wanted to put them on her walls. We bought some 12 x 12" cork tiles, glued them to the walls and she hung up all her pictures on them. I'll have to take a picture of the wall and picture art because it really looks good.

Mattapoisett Vacation

We got back this past weekend from a two week vacation in Mattapoisett, MA. Each summer, David's parents rent a huge (9 bedroom) home on the beach for a two week family vacation. When everyone is there, we total 17. Ten adults and 7 kids with ages from 5-16. In addition to going to the beach, I read three books, completed one jigsaw puzzle, worked on some bead embroidery, ran, biked, and slept in. It was also great to catch up with inlaws and nieces and nephews, especially since Susie, Michael and their three kids are now living in Monterey, Mexico.

The highlight of the trip was renting a 65 foot sailboat for a two hour cruise (sounds like Gilligan's Island) to celebrate Poppy's 80th birthday. After several rainy days, the evening was perfect. It was so much more wonderful than I anticipated and everyone had a blast! The younger kids may disagree as they were a bit seasick, but I was psyched that our two kids weren't quessy at all.





Here we are getting ready to board. We had been told that the boat would only hold 10 people so it was to be an "adult only" trip. Then, the captain said everyone could come. There was much celebration from the kids and we all climbed aboard.




Everyone loved a chance to steer the boat - especially the kids and Uncle Bill. The Captain was also enjoying himself as he didn't have to do much except chat with us and occassionally say, "Turn a bit toward port".



Here is Uncle Beaver Bill with Sam.


















Here's the birthday boy waving to his fans.

More Mattapoisett Pictures

Here's another sailboat we passed on our voyage. I guess this is a "at sail" school with lots of boys on board.




Poor Emma wasn't feeling very well during the trip. After some dramamine, she fell right asleep on Uncle Tom's lap.
















Kinsey and I doing some mother-daughter bonding.












Sunset...

This is what we saw as we were coming back to dock. It was so beautiful.

Sheridan watching her course setting...




















Jamie at the helm...



















Audie and Poppy - We wouldn't be our big family or have this annual vacation without them. Many thanks from us all!