Elf on the Shelf…My ship came in

And went….farewell mon amie….met some wonderful tourists today at the beach. They were from the cruise ship Tuna of the Sea. Had a great day frolicking on the beach, snorkelling, sunbathing and playing Frisbee.

Elf on the Shelf…the man of my dreams

I’ve met the man of my dreams her on the island……I’m in love!

He is Monsieur Frog and he owns a diving ahop on the island called Frog Legs. Oh I love the way he looks in his wet suit. He says he loves me and wants to come to Canada…says he needs a “Green” card …..because of his color….says if I marry him …he can hop into the country right away. 

Elf on the Shelf…Bye Bye Birdie

Got the scare of my life today…sitting out enjoying the pool and a very large chicken decides she wants to meet me…up close and personal. I froze like a tongue to a metal rod in the dead of winter…a little peck here and a little peck there, a sniff here and a sniff there and she decides I’m not worth the time of day.

Her first mistake was that she ventured out on Thanksgiving!  Her second mistake was that we left it to the last minute and turkeys on the island were sold out!  Third mistake was that she failed to introduce herself, so I felt no real bond to her! Fourth mistake, she sauntered away to slowly for the good of her health! Music to my ears…….

Bye bye Birdie….Goodbye!

Elf on the Shelf..Home Sweet Home

I’ve been visiting with my Dear Great Uncle in Grand Cayman at his wonderful residence at Coral Bay.

It’s been long beach walks, short pier talks, no more winter socks, sunset viewing on the dock, no more watching any clock….

Crap…writer’s rhyming block!

Elf on the Shelf…Surf’s Up

Having a blast here on the island…awesome weather. It’s a little uncomfortable  with the leotards…I got them wet earlier today, laid out in the sun to dry out…. the felt shrunk and now I feel like I’m wearing support stockings! Kind of like  the control top stockings you buy that say they fit 5 feet to 5.5 feet and 100 lbs. to 120lbs…..you stretch and pull and grab and grind and wonder…did I read the package wrong…maybe they meant inches and ounces?

Elf on the Shelf….Priceless

$550.0 for the flight down, $375.00 for new shorts and shoes, $150.00 for two pieces of fabric less than the size of a charm pack that they call a bikini, $15.00 for the bottle of wine to make sangria, $24.95 for 3 bottles of suntan lotion…….the sunset at dusk, Grand Cayman….Priceless…for everything else…there’s MasterCard.

Elf on the Shelf…Life is Good

Life is Good…I have the Five S’s here in Grand Cayman…Sun, Sand, Sangria, Sewing and a 3 letter word _ _ _

SEA!

Having a wonderful time with Dear Great Uncle Robert, we’ve been spending quality time together….

Elf on the shelf…can you hear the ocean?

I’ve had this damn seashell up to my ear for the last hour and I’m not hearing nothin!  Now my arthritis has kicked in and I can’t bend my arm back down. The only sound I’m able to hear is the elbow joint creaking and cracking when I try to move, I look like an idiot seating here with this thing up to me ear….*_)*&!_*#)*!_*$$&

Life's a Beach Elf on the Shelf

 











They say a picture is worth a thousand words....so I'm gonna shut up and let the picture speak for itself.......all I can say is Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....

Coco-Loco Elf on the Shelf

Put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up You put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up ...
Just trying to climb this tree as I see a perfect coconut at the top....Now I'm thankful I wore my leotards cause the bark on these trunks is doing a number on my inner thighs. 

Sea Shell Elf on the Shelf

Try and say that 3 times quickly.....Sea Shell Elf on the Shelf, Sea Shell Elf on the Shelf, Sea Shell Elf on the Shelf.... especially after a few glasses of Sangria....wow.  The weather has been beautiful, very warm, in the high eighties, makes me wish I had brought something with me other than these damn leotards, they are keeping me in a continual state of inelegance.

Found this utterly wonderful, just my size sea shell chaise lounge today while walking the beach....oh this is the life!

Elf on the shelf Sangria Girl

Well I made it to Grand Cayman without incident, other than a little turbulence on the flight down.... it gets bumpy in that there cargo hold. We had fun making a  _ _ _ _ load of Sangria today and I got kind of _ _ _ _ faced. The only struggle I had was trying to navigate the spout on the 40 gallon dispenser. I'm sure I can master the technique the more glasses I pour!

I've been trying really hard to get healthier these days.... so far today I'm two for two...... as the health and fitness magazine I read recommended 5 servings of fruits a day and drinking to stay hydrated!

All my bags are packed.....

I'm ready to go....just need to find a way to hitch hike to Grand Cayman!

I'm sure that they won't find me stowed away here....I'm looking forward so much to this vacation before Christmas.....it's such a busy time for me, it'll be good to get relaxed and rested before the holiday rush.

Please Prepare for Take-off

I’m on my way, totally prepared for take-off, to the Cayman Islands for 2 weeks of glorious sunshine, barrels of sangria, unlimited hours of peace and quiet to read and veg and maybe just a small bit of quilting and embroidery.  Michelle at the store introduced me to Stuart McLean’s books….Vinyl cafe. I’m taking four in the hopes I can belly laugh the sangria intake calories off, one book at a time.

I’ve packed up the fabric for my sister in law to try her hand at quilting. Dear Great Uncle , where we stay, has a sewing machine..BONUS…

I’m hoping to teach her the Quilt in a day log cabin method. I’m also taking Dear Eldest daughter’s better half to be’s tractor quilt, in the hopes I can get that completed before Christmas. 

And I always take a few staples to get us through  the two weeks, even though Caymans has a great selection of necessities. Tim Horton's, pantone, Christmas cake, honey, italian seasoning and card sleeves for Uncle’s batik cards. These are the things that are really expensive in Cayman or that you can’t actually get there.

I have no doubt that I can cram it all into one suitcase….I’ll just have to go naked the whole two weeks!

Sweethearts

This is a great example of  Quilting is Happiness…..my new beginner class at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. finished their very first block.  They look amazing for first blocks, I am so proud of them. Marion, Donna, Bev and Tricia spent the first few weeks learning about quilting basics, then jumped right in to complete this heart block. Their quilts will consist four more blocks, setting triangles and borders. I love the fabric choices. 

Before, After and During

It started off civilized…….then went down hill faster than Roger Rabbit, on a banana skin, pushing Baby Herman's pram down the apartment steps in Toontown.  Once a quarter, the staff from Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. get together to plan the 1/4 newsletter.  Around the table are Amy, Jane, Sharon, Gloria, Liz, Sylvia and Michelle.  That’s the first pic…then Sharon disappears, Sylvia and Liz  scramble  for the last glass  of wine, Amy has to prop herself up due to the double martinis Michelle made and Gloria…well the picture is worth a thousand words.

 

Martha Michelle out did herself, making flavoured coffees and hot chocolates decorated with rim trim and gingerbread sprinkles….ahhhhhhhh.

Jane was photo bombing at random, Liz just plain photo-bombed (she hates her pic taken) and Jane gave a nauseating quick demo on the serger while Sylvia and I tried to pass the time doing the wave. Wow that was the best jinx Sylvia.

Gloria made the most amazing apple cheese flan for desert and totally redeemed herself after the broken glass episode mid dinner. 

Overall an awesome LMAO night and we actually did accomplish getting the newsletter in some semblance of order thanks to Amy.

Generosity Abounds

Last week I received the most beautiful gift in the mail from Zurn of http://spillingenergy.blogspot.ca . I have been admiring her blog for quite some time and way back in January she posted about 2013 Creative Pay-It-Forward. I commented and posted the invitation on my blog as well. She certainly did Pay it Forward with 2 wonderful, ORIGINAL designed and quilted Christmas place mats, along with some wonderful Bali prints to swoon over. Her generosity was overwhelming and the gift was fabulous.

Dear Hubby and I sit and have coffee at our kitchen island in the morning, and these are going to be perfect to start the day with.

The Bali prints from Hoffman are absolutely gorgeous and I have started looking for the perfect pattern to utilize them with. I have wanted to do a landscape quilt and I have a feeling that these will work perfectly. Zurn, thank you very much for the wonderful gift.

Embracing Embossing

Like most days, I have stretched myself to the max. Dear Eldest Daughter is getting married in  May and I am making the wedding invites. After a few prototypes, we agreed on a concept and got all the details finalized.  Where the problem lies…. I have offered to do a lot of the little things for her wedding. Trying to keep on track and myself organized, I compiled a list of things that need to get done.  You may think that May is a full 6 months away and there is loads of time…… but not if you saw “The List”….. I felt like Martha Stewart on crack when I looked at the 2 and 1/2 pages of tasks that need to be completed.  From invites, to vases and table decor, bouquets, place cards, menu cards, escort cards,( who the _ _ _ _ thought all this crap up) shower invites, church programs, and of course the wedding cake and bridal bouquet. That was Thursday and today is Wednesday and I’ve crossed 2 things off a list of  54 things. I’m so far behind…I’m first.  I have a plan…….somewhere, I just need to execute it. I think it was the math plan, you know the one….6 months, that works out to 24 weeks, there are 54 things on the list so that averages 2.2 things a week to complete. That will work out fine, if I don’t need clean clothes for the next 6 months and if no one in the household wants to eat, ever.  So this week  I embraced the embossing item that was on the list. I had all the wedding invites cut and printed, but they still needed to be embossed with a pretty scroll down the side. While Dear Hubby watched the hockey game, I brought up the Cuttlebug, the invites and embossed my way through 3 periods of  the Canadiens losing. But their done…both the invites and the Canadiens. 

They do look great, I’m happy, Dear Eldest Daughters happy…The only person who’s not happy is Dear Hubby…..sorry honey, pick another team!

Everything is better with butter

Ingredients:

5 Tbsp. butter softened

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup Delight Butter Pecan Creamer
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• . . SUGAR CRUMB FILLING/TOPPING
• 1/4 cup cold butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 cup flour

Instructions

1. First make sugar crumb filling. In a medium bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and flour. Cut in COLD butter until a crumb is formed. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
3. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together.
4. Beat in egg.
5. Add sour cream and creamer and blend until well combined.
6. In a small-medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
7. Pour half of dry ingredients into batter and stir in with a wooden spoon until just combined.
8. Add in remaining half of batter until just combined. Don't over stir. Note that the batter WILL BE THICK. Totally normal and perfect.
9. Drop by large ice cream scoop into large free standing baking pans, spread an even layer
10. Sprinkle some crumb mixture over batter. Layer another layer of batter over the top of crumb. Layer a second layer of crumb.
11. Bake at 375 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Fabulous with a coffee, and a bit of peace and quiet first thing in the morning…mmmmmmm!

This recipe was an adaptation from http://www.chef-in-training.com/2013/03/creme-brulee-muffins