Visit to Stinesville

Last weekend Keith and our friend Geoff took the kids on a hike through Stinesville, Indiana. Stinesville is a very small town in the north western part of Monroe County, about 25 miles from Bloomington's downtown. It was founded in 1855 by Eusebius Stine, who owned a sawmill and gristmill there. The population fell dramatically in 1916 when the Hoadley Mill burned down and wasn't rebuilt. The current population is about 200.

These pretty yellow flowers were picked for Mom

I wanted to share some lovely pictures that Keith took while they were there. It was a cold and rainy day (Mother's Day) and the kids were soaking wet when they returned home, but everyone had a good time, including the Moms who were at home enjoying a peaceful afternoon.

Wedding Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for a wedding that was this past weekend. The wedding colors were pink, red and black. There are two flavors, red velvet with cream cheese icing and chocolate cupcakes filled with chocolate raspberry ganache. I also made (10) two-tiered cupcake stands, one for each table.

The cake is chocolate with a cocoa butter cream, and raspberry filling.

HOPE

Barack Obama visited Bloomginton for the second time, last week. He spoke Wednesday night to a packed Assembly Hall. An estimated 13,000 people were in attendance which is pretty impressive for our small town of 65,000.

The crowd was energized the entire evening as he spoke about his ideas on providing education tuition credits for those who do community service, ending the war in Iraq, and researching alternative energy resources. We were also pleased to hear him identify Clinton and McCain's "gas tax holiday" as a gimmick. Keith was chosen to be a correspondent for our local newspaper; he answered questions before and after the rally, and wrote a 500 word synopsis for the paper.

We brought the whole family and had excellent seats in the second row, next to the stage. We shared in the excitement as two of our friends were selected to sit on stage directly behind him.

He will be making several appearances in our state between now and Tuesday's primary and we have HOPE that Indiana will do us proud and elect him as the democratic nominee.

The kids had their faces painted while we waited in line for the doors to Assembly Hall to open.

6th Annual Tea Party

Last weekend I hosted my 6th annual tea party. Each year I invite several of my friends (19 were in attendance this year) to an afternoon of tea, good food, and most importantly, laughter and friendship. It is an event that I start planning months in advance. Everything is thoughtfully planned, down to the smallest detail. I spend almost as much time narrowing my guest list as I do planning my menu. And even though I spend many, many hours in my kitchen and on my feet, it is something that I thoroughly enjoy. It is one small way for me to show appreciation to my friends and the many blessings that they bring into my life. And of course I couldn't have pulled it off without my fellow tea-mate, Steph. She spent several hours on the day of my tea helping prepare the savories, and even found time in her busy schedule to help with party favor preparations in the weeks before. It was wonderful having a partner in the kitchen not only to share in the work but also to have as company.

For the second year in a row I hosted a "Royal" tea. The addition of champagne is what makes an afternoon tea, "Royal." Also this year, my menu featured herbs that were mostly evident in my savories and lavender scones. Tub tea party favors also helped to tie in the herbal theme.


I asked each guest to bring their own "favorite" teacup, and they shared charming stories of their teacups and china. Some teacups were family heirlooms, some were from overseas, and even some were disguised as coffee mugs.

All in all I think it was a lovely afternoon. My only wish was that Steph and I would have had more time to mingle with guests and less time in the kitchen.

Champagne glasses and lilacs

Finger sandwiches

Lavender Scones

2 1/2 cup flour

1 stick butter

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp of edible lavender

1 egg

1/3 cup of honey

1/3 cup sour cream

Tiered tray of sweets

Mini chocolate cakes

Fresh fruit tartlets

Cream puffs and chocolate eclairs

Tub Teas

Oats

Lavender

Chamomile

Calendula

Lemon balm

Henny Penny Tea Cozy

A few months ago, my friend, Lisa found a really fun book called, Killer Tea Cosies: and how to make them, at our public library. Knowing how much I like all things tea, she was nice enough to share her find with me. I really enjoyed looking through this book and at its many unique tea cozies. One cozy, Henny Penny, really caught my eye and I knew right away I would make this for A.


A couple of years ago, my friend, A.'s husband (who we all love dearly) found a large oil painting of chicken that he really admired and wanted. So he came up with a great plan to buy the painting and give it to A. as a Christmas gift. Well needless to say, A. didn't necessarily want a LARGE chicken painting for Christmas; she had many other things on her list but none of them had anything to do with chickens. The chicken painting soon became the talk of the town and a big joke among friends, but it proudly hangs above their fireplace, and is quite the conversation piece.


Which brings me back to the Henny Penny tea cozy. I know A. didn't want or need more decorative chickens in her house but who could resist this one -- after all she is very cute, and functional, I might add. I just knew I had to make it for A.'s birthday and I hope she won't hold it against me. By the way, this year for Christmas, A. picked out her own Christmas gift, a bright, beautiful piece of artwork devoid of chickens.


Making Henny Penny proved to be a little more difficult that I had originally thought. The pattern had to be photocopied and enlarged, and it was hard to figure out how much fabric I would need. The instructions were vague and I wouldn't recommend attempting this if you're a novice sewer. I had problems understanding some of the directions and they kept using the term, wadding. I had no idea what the wadding was. I thought they were referring a part of the chicken and I even asked Keith what it was; he had no idea. I finally "googled" the term and found out that wadding meant, batting. Geesh! Anyway, I muddled my way through the instructions and was very happy with end results. I think it's definitely one of the cutest tea cozies I've ever seen!

Tea Party Monkey

Meet Tea Party Monkey. When I started making her for my niece's birthday gift, I didn't intend to dress her for tea. I had some leftover tulle and I knew I wanted to include that in her outfit some how. (My seven-year-old niece takes dance lessons and I thought she'd appreciate some tulle in her sock monkey's dress) I added the tulle to the skirt of the monkey's dress and as I continued to play around with it, a tulle hat also emerged. My original plan was to make a flower wreath for her head but after seeing the hat, I thought it was more fitting.

It wasn't until I brought her to my literacy meeting (to show my co-facilitators) that she was named, "tea party" monkey. One of my friends also suggested that I give her some pearl earrings. Not only did I make her earrings, I also made her a pearl necklace and bracelet too.

The final touch was this little teacup and saucer that I found at Ladybugs Gifts and Decor. Now she's all set to have a tea party with Miss Olivia.

Where in the world is Senator Obama?

Bloomington Of Course!

Obama has been campaigning in Indiana for the past week and we heard on Wednesday that he would be stopping in Bloomington. Then on Thursday we were somewhat disappointed when the local newspaper reported that a Bloomington stop wasn't a for sure thing. However, Obama had a scheduled appearance in Columbus Friday morning and one in Terre Haute Friday night so we had a good feeling that he'd stop in Bloomington since the easiest way to get from Columbus to Terre Haute is via Bloomington.

Today we followed our local newspaper's blog and read that after his speech in Columbus, Obama would make an undisclosed stop on the way to Terre Haute, and there were hints that it would be at the Little 500.

After the kids got home from school, Keith and I packed them up and we all rode our bikes down to Armstrong Stadium in search for the senator. On the way there, his motorcade passed us by, and the race was on for us to arrive there before he did. We made it to the stadium and luckily we were on bikes because we wouldn't have been able to access the entrance by car since the roads were barricaded. We had a very good view of the stadium and of Barack when he arrived. It was all very exciting until we realized that in our haste to leave we (that is I) left the camera at home.

Obama is spotted here in the white button shirt, just above the cyclist in the orange shirt.

After Obama arrived at the Little 5, he spent a good 20-30 minutes going around the track and shaking hands with people in the bleachers and then another fair amount of time actually watching the race,, during which Keith decided he would head back home to get the camera. Keep in mind that it's about a 20 minute bike ride back home. But Keith, being the speedy cyclist that he is, made it there and back in no time.

When we saw that Obama was getting ready to leave the stadium we hopped on our bikes and rode to the north stadium entrance, the one he was leaving out of. We arrived just in time and to our great delight, all four of us (Keith the boys and I) were able to see him up close and shake his hand, AND Keith got some awesome pictures! (Be sure to scroll down and check out the slide show below)

Barack is working his way towards us. I'm in the blue bike helmet.

Lots of Excitement!
Up Close and Personal

Even more up close!

Last week we all went to see former President Clinton speak at Assembly Hall and Mac and his grandma got to shake President Clinton's hand which was also pretty exciting. However, today after Barack shook Mac's hand, Mac said, "Obama has erased Clinton's handshake." Both of the kids were pretty excited by today's experience and I'm sure it will be one they won't ever forget.

After Obama left Armstrong stadium he was headed downtown to another undisclosed stop. We followed, and when we arrived downtown on Kirkwood Ave, the crowd was waiting. Sure enough a few minutes after our arrival, along came Obama and the men in the black suits. Second stop, Nicks Hut, a popular, local sports bar. On the way inside he walked along the street and shook hands with what seemed like, hundreds of people.

The Kids and I are watching the crowd as we wait for Obama to come out of Nick's. The crowd mobs the streets, Obama in the middle of it all, walking towards his bus.

Obama on the bus and headed out of town. Bye-bye Bloomington......until next time!