Wedding cake...

I've finally recovered enough to post a picture of the wedding cake we made last week. Here I am with my adorable assistant- my little neice, Bethany. OK, she's a sophomore in college... and I used to rock her to sleep... boy, do I feel old!

This cake may not look like it, but it weighs about 50 pounds. It has 38lbs of powdered sugar, 4 dozen eggs and 6lbs of pure fat! And 500 tiny little daisies- those yellow swags are actually daisy chains. Each tiny daisy had a tiny white "pearl" center. The round layers were lemon- a big hit- and the square layer was traditional white. There was also cheesecake and a chocolate layer cake. We had plenty of cake for the 150 folks who showed up for the happy occasion. This was my first effort in making a big cake and the bride and groom just loved it. What more could I ask? Well, I did offer to help buy them a cake... but they just really wanted something homemade... They weren't a bit put off by my statements that I didn't have the foggiest idea of what I was doing! But it stood on it's own four legs- which we decorated with a lot more daisies before the guests arrived, and it tasted pretty good. Mission accomplished.

Two for Grandmother...

Thank you for the dresses, Grandmother! We like them a whole lot! Please tell Aunt Margaret thank you for the fabric. Love you! We camped out in the yard, last night. It is raining, now, but we didn't get wet. We miss you. love- Eva and Boo

Color my world...

This is a whole-cloth quilt top tie-dyed by my cousin, Grant. I quilted it up for him and hope to get it out in the mail, by morning. These are called "bull's eyes"- for obvious reasons, but they also remind me of an eyeball- the iris, anyway. My favorite parts are where the colors collide. Sweet!

Why they're called The Smokey Mountains...

Yep, they look "smokey." My son, Dan, took this picture on one of their sightseeing jaunts. I believe it's part of the Cade's Cove drive. An historical area. I understand you just drive through it. I didn't go 'cause once I drive that many miles to get somewhere, I really don't have a hankerin' to get back in the car.

To answer a few questions...

• Yes, the cabin is for rent- along with several other very nice ones. Just look up http://www.topoftownsend.com/ and they'll hook ya up.
• I think several of the cabins are open, year-round. It would be fun to go in the winter time- cool enough to be fun, mild enough to not be miserable.
• It's near Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. But don't hold that against them as they are on the quiet side of the mountain. If ya like traffic jams and hokey entertainment, well, that's just a few twisted miles away.

Well, Happy 4th of July to you guys! I am home, baking sample wedding cakes. No, not a traditional way to celebrate the patriotic holiday, but as good a way as any to celebrate the middle of the week... They're lookin' and smellin' pretty good, if I do say so myself. A traditional white cake with almond frosting. A white cake with lemon filling and vanilla frosting. And a lemon cake with vanilla frosting. Wonder which one they'll choose? And I am pinning a quilt onto the frame. How's that for multi-tasking?

Mountain Hideaway...

This is the cabin we stayed in on our recent trip to Tennessee. (Top Of Townsend, Little Mountain Getaway.) It was quite a hike up those stairs- though, really, it might have been the BIG HILL before the stairs that get ya! Huff-huff-huff!! This was a 10 person cabin- with room to spare. That's a rare commodity with a big family. We had 7 cabins for our extended family- with a BIG HILL in between each! Kept the extra vacation pounds away. Especially where my family is concerned. They are great cooks and nobody knows how to make an average-sized portion. I got to wondering if the legs on the food table were going to be able to hold it all!

I'm off to work, today. Need to get backings for 4 different quilts- now doesn't that sound like progress? yes, indeedy. I still haven't sewn a stitch... but I will, as soon as I get my prairie legs back.

Tie-dyed, tongue tied...

Haven't got much to say- still trying to recover from my vacation- but thought you'd like to see the fruits of their labors. The kids tie-dyed these shirts. Yes, their bottom halves are filthy, but they had been climbing mountains- in the rain. And I am sure the older boys were wrestling- I have long ago quit trying to figure out why they do that. And I notice that my stair-step children are beginning to shuffle up the mix! Yes, they are in the proper order, age-wise, but a couple of the younger ones seem to be out growing their older siblings... hmmm... isn't that what we warned them about when the older ones would pick on the younger ones, "Some day they are going to be bigger than you..." ???? Not that any of my darling angels would ever pick on some one smaller than they are!