It's Rednesday!

Okay, I think I've just come to a realization.  Red is my favorite color.  How did this happen?  Blue was always my favorite (and don't worry Royal Blue, you're still in the top three) but somehow, red just snuck in to #1.

We just got back on Sunday from Louisville, so I have no Christmas decorations out, but that can't keep me out of Rednesday.

Today I'm sharing a little piece that I just had to have and then I didn't know what I was going to with it.  Well, one day, inspiration struck and I hung it at the end of my counter.  

I loved the red, I loved the picnic gingham, and I loved the spoon hooks! 

One of the great things about it is when I change my kitchen colors (soon I hope) I can change the fabric backing and keep on using it.

Not only cute, but handy too!

And a bonus red for you on Rednesday - my oilcloth bags!  

Thank you Sue for coming up with this brilliant idea to celebrate Red (especially now that I realize that red is #1 with me)!

Please stop by and check out the other wonderful reds being shared over at

It's a Very Cherry World.  I know I will!

Thanks for stopping by.  I sure wish you were here sharing this vanilla breve latte with me.  Ahhhhh!  Doesn't that sound yumptious (another new word I've made up)?  I'll gladly make one for you.  Maybe you'd like a piece of homemade English toffee to go with that latte?  My mother-in-law sent back a nice little can of it for us to enjoy and share.  

It Snowed, It Snowed, It Snowed!

This was the happiest Thanksgiving ever for Baby Bee!

This past week we flew to Louisville, Kentucky to spend Thanksgiving with Worker Bee's family.  Family came from Minnesota and California (like us).  Every single grandchild was there and every son and wife. The adorable great-grandchildren were there too.  Worker Bee comes from a family of four boys and for all of us to get together makes for a large, loud, and wonderful group.

But, I must confess, this was not what made Baby Bee so gloriously happy.

Wanna' know what sent her over the moon?

*S*N*O*W*

Yes, it snows in California, but not in our part.  The last time any snow stuck was 2000?  

See?  I can't even remember the last time it snowed.

Now Baby Bee has been to the snow in the mountains near us but she has NEVER seen it snow.  Every winter we hope and pray for a bit of snow fall, but it hasn't happened yet.

Well, when we got to Grandma's house after enjoying our Thanksgiving feast, Worker Bee's brother texted us that is was snowing in Indiana and we should see what was going on in Louisville.....

Yep!  *S*N*O*W*

Do you see that look of pure joy on her face?  

She was on the phone calling my family back in California.  They put her on speaker phone so everyone could hear how happy she was.  I just wish I had a video camera (or thought to use my cellphone).

Isn't it beautiful?

When we woke up in the morning we found.....

Baby Bee has a snowball waiting for her in Grandma's freezer for the next time we visit.

We loved how we could see the bird tracks in the snow.  

Do you remember the first time you saw it snow?

Do you still get that same feeling of delight?

Thanks for coming by today.  

Lucky Me! I Won a Delightful Giveaway!

Aren't bloggers the nicest people?  At least the ones I've met sure are!

Not too long ago I happened upon this creative lady, Sue over at Gossamer Creations.  She was having a giveaway and I was the lucky winner!  You have to see what she has over at etsy shop.  She also has this great website The Gypsy Factory.  

What a lovely presentation!  I'm saving the lovely black ribbon!  I know it will come in handy.  I think it might be some of that bias tape I keep reading about.

 Just look at all the lovely treats!

 A tiara of course!  (What bee would be complete without one?)  Can you see the pretty blue ribbon/bias taps peeking out from the back of this?

 Sweet little cake or other sign!

 Now I just adore a scrumptious cupcake and won't these be lovely sitting on top of all that fluffy icing?

 And (my personal weakness and favorite) a Make a Wish banner!  I love it!  

Do you see the coolest tape she used to edge the cardboard that was in the package to keep everything safe?  Isn't she awesome??? 

Please be sure to go see her lovelies over at her etsy shop!

Oooooh - I'm going to be bad here because I didn't ask permission, but I hope she'll forgive me....

Here are some of her sweet Christmas creations:

Now I hope you all had the most wonderful Thanksgiving!  My family and I spent the day with my husband's family and I am so glad we did!  It has been 19 years since we last celebrated this holiday together and this might the first time when all of us - every single stinkin' relative - were able to be there! It was marvelous!

Now - let the Christmas fun begin!

Thanks for buzzin' on by!  

Are you ready for some peppermint mochas?  

Don't you think it's time we enjoyed one together? 

That has got to be my favorite Christmas treat!  What's yours?

Sweet buzzin's,

Happy Thanksgiving to One and All!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my dear friends!  

Enjoy your turkey and pumpkin pie!

Thanksgiving for Rednesday!

Happy Rednesday!

Don't you just love the red of autumn?

Just a little basket o'plenty (of red) welcoming you to Sweet Bee Cottage!

Mr. Tom Turkey is sitting over on the other side of the stoop.  See his red feather and waddle?

(Isn't stoop a delightfully old-fashioned word?  But it works here because I don't really have a porch - it's more of a landing.)

And here's something I've been saving for a special Rednesday!

My heart-shaped table!

I found this table painted red in a little shop in Old Town Clovis many years ago.  I painted it white and it lived in my room and then Baby Bee's room.  When it wouldn't fit in Baby Bee's room anymore, I painted it red and it earned a promotion to the living room!

Don't you just love the legs?

Sorry about the color in this picture - couldn't get it bright enough! 

Played with a it in iPhoto to get it to this point.  

Oh well!  I'll just have to share it again some time when I can get a better photo! LOL

I'm sharing this tonight over at the lovely Sue's.  I'm so glad I finally have a red post to share.  I've missed participating in this delightful celebration of all things red!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I Have a New Toy!

When you were a kid did you ever order from those Scholastic Book Club order forms?  Do you order from then now with your own child?

Well, every time you do, you earn bonus points for the teacher.  Somehow I acquired 24,781 points over the years.

That's a lot of points.

A......lot......of......points.

So many points, in fact, that I ordered this and I still have about 5,000 points left over.

Do you know what this is?

Yep!  It's my new iPad!

I LOVE IT!

I found a great apple green cover for it (no apple pun intended - really) and I am set to go.

(See how it goes with my little old green iPod?

Are you hoping for one of these under your Christmas tree this year?

Apparently I Took a Blogging Break

I didn't intend for it to be more than a week since my last post, but I guess I did just that.  The evidence clearly shows that I have not posted for over a week!
(Da Dum - Law & Order sound effect)

Just finished up Parent Teacher Conference Week.  It's always exhausting!  Now I have a week off to gather strength.  LOL

I have some news about my sweet Baby Bee!  Since second grade she has been growing out her hair for Locks of Love.  In order to donate, the hair must be at least 10 inches long.  I inadvertently increased this growing time because I kept having it trimmed so it looked neat.  Once I realized my mistake it didn't take too much longer for it to reach that magical 10 inches.

Well Saturday was cutting day!

Here was how she started out in the morning.....

After all was said and done.....

She loves it and so do we!  

But boy!  I sure do have to get used to how she looks now.

I'm so proud of her!

If you want to know more about this wonderful program, please go

here to the Locks of Love website.  What a worthwhile cause!

Thank you for stopping by!  Your comments and visits are always such a delight!

Where Has the Week Gone?

Didn't I just gain an extra hour last weekend?  Why do I feel like I just can't catch up?  What does adult ADD feel like?  These are burning questions in my mind - especially this weekend.

I have had a four day weekend and my house is till a mess!  I have half my Thanksgiving decorations out looking pretty and the rest are sitting on bookshelves in the library.  I have Parent Teacher Conferences this next week and I still haven't finished my report cards.  Do I sound like I'm whining?  I suppose I kind of am.  Please forgive me - I'm not generally a whiner (I think - - - on second thought don't ask my husband).  

I've missed visiting with so many of you this week.  

But there have been some wonderful things this week.....

1.  I attended a wedding and I was the official photographer. 

      The whole truth?  My nieces came over for the morning on Thursday and we had an impromptu wedding out under our front arbor.  Cutter Bee was the preacher (who kept telling us how she didn't have time to do the ceremony again because she had to do it in English and Spanish - where did that come from?), Reader Bee was the lovely bride and my daughter, Baby Bee, was the leaf girl (no flowers but there were plenty of fall leaves to throw about).  We cranked open one of the front kitchen windows and played the wedding march and recessional umpteen times.  The girls had so much fun!  Then there was the backyard reception.  I had a bottle of sparkling apple cider and the girls celebrated the wedding out back. 

2.   I went to the oncologist again this week - my blood still looks 100% normal so in December I'll have a CT scan and one more follow-up visit before I guess I will be declared to not have ever had lymphoma.  Thank you God!

3.  I discovered the Pioneer Woman blog/website.  Where has she been all my life?  I've already made her banana bread, chicken cacciatore, and this YUMPTIOUS (yes, I made up that word and I probably better copyright that one - it sounds perfect - yummy and scrumptious)  tomato and blue cheese pasta!  That last one made my skirt fly up!  Did I take pictures of these efforts?  NO!

4.  Went to a local thrift store today and found some fabulous white dishes.  

Lovin' this Homer Laughlin "Best China."  I'm thinking it might be some restaurant ware.  I picked up 4 of these.

The other pattern was Wedgwood "Hedge Rose."  I was able to score 5 of these plates.  

5.  Baked the most delicious pumpkin muffins today.  I used Trader Joe's pumpkin bread mix and their pumpkin cream cheese spread.  Actually Baby Bee made the pumpkin batter.  I scooped a little in our prepared muffin tins, the Baby Bee put a teeny scoop of the pumpkin cream cheese in the middle and then I topped them with some more pumpkin batter.  Oh boy!  More YUMPTIOUS!  We even had some extra batter so we made a mini loaf and took it over to the neighbors.  

6.  Spent some time snuggling with my Baby Bee.  

So - I shouldn't beat myself up, right? 

(Best part?  Snuggling with Baby Bee!)

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to come by and see what the Sweet Bees are up to.  It's always such a delight to see you.  Do you get just plain ol' tickled when you see friends have been by to visit?  Well I sure do!

So nice to see you!