Friday, June 27, 2008

Life is good


Today is my first day of retirement. I don't think it has sunk in yet. I may not feel the full impact until September when everyone else returns to work while I merely yawn and roll over. Someone, peel me a grape. Please. Thanks ever so.

It has been a very busy week, but I am happy to say much of it has been in the form of celebration. One very special celebration took place yesterday morning. But first a little background. For a number of years I did a fund raiser for the school library; it was called the Library Cafe. As with all things, it came to an end. There are a number of reasons why I had to end it, but we all missed it. Well, yesterday morning, when I walked into the library for the last time as a full-time employee, my colleagues had set up the Library Cafe. In addition to coffee, there was a buffet with cakes, muffins, Danish, bagels, croissants, and many other items. It was such a delightful and heartwarming surprise. Many of my colleagues and friends drifted in and out all morning. We sat and reminisced about "the old days" and other wonderful memories...and a few not so good memories that we can now laugh about. It was a perfect last day.

I was stunned by the gifts I received. My house looks like a flower shop. As you all know, my pictures leave a lot to be desired. But now I will have time to improve that skill. I will start tomorrow...or maybe next week.


Here are some of the gifts I received. The pendant is actually a beautiful cushion cut green stone and the earrings have crystals in the center. The watch is also really beautiful. I love the interchangeable straps. Note to my Pink Friends: one of them is PINK. The gift certificate is for my very favorite restaurant. That was given to me by my younger friends. We had a lovely party last Friday at a Mexican restaurant and later adjourned to a friend's nearby apartment. That was also a memorable event and lots of fun. I even forgot that I was old enough to be everyone's mother.





And one of my very favorites was from Carolyn. There is a little story to this one. I will share it with you. One day Carolyn offered me a slice of her home-made lemon pound cake. Oh my goodness! It was lemon heaven in my mouth. So her gift to me was a copy of the recipe with some of the ingredients packed in a bundt cake pan. And a giant Retirement coffee mug. Just perfect for our morning coffee chats.



Oh dear, Buddha's belly is sticking out. I did mention that I was going to start working on the photography thing, didn't I? In a month or two.
Well now, you know two things must happen. First, I will post Carolyn's pound cake recipe.
Second, it's once again time for a giveawy. It's not just a giveawy... it's a RETIREMENT GIVEAWAY. So because retirement means no work for me, my giveaway means no work for you! No quiz, no questions. All you have to do is leave a comment. The fragrance of this month's gift is appropriately, Strawberries and Champagne. Winner will be announced July 3.

Now for Carolyn's Lemon Pound Cake Recipe

Ingredients
1/2 pound of sweet butter
1/2 pound or cream cheese (8 oz.)
2 cups sugar
2 cups Presto Cake Flour
6 eggs
2 Tablespoons of lemon extract

Beat butter, sugar, cream cheese, egg yolks, and lemon extract together. Add flour, beat at medium speed for 4 minutes. Beat egg whites for two minutes at high speed. Fold into batter. Bake in a greased 10-inch tube pan. for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Arte y Pico Award




I had the honor and privilege of receiving the Arte Y Pico, award from Janet of Janet's Creative Pillows. The Arte y Pico Award is “given to those who are creative and have a penchant for art.” Thank you Janet; I feel very fortunate to be in such creative company.



Here are the rules:
1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award for their creativity,design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language.


2. Each award has to have the name of the author and a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.

3.Each award winner has to show the award and put the name of and link to the blog that presented her/him with the award (I know it says this is a rule , but I know not everyone likes to do this, so I won't be upset if you don't.)

4. The award winner and one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico blog so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5. To show these rules.Now for the fun yet very hard part... to choose 5 other people for this award...drum roll please....






5. Inka of Inklings Designs




I am so happy to present this award to all of you lovely ladies. I think you are extremely talented and so deserving of this award!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

My C List

It has been a while, but at last I had a hot minute to get my C list up. This was so easy. Many of the items seem decadant, but you only live once, and according to Joe E. Lewis, "If you do it right, once is enough." So here are a few of my favorite "C" things and people.
Champagne
Chocolate
Chenille
Cheerios
Chico Hamilton
Cake
Cookies
Candy,
Cross Stistch
Charlie Parker
Casablanca (film)
Cheese
Cinnamon
Coffee
Cats

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Show and Tell Monday


Well this is a bizzare photo, but it is what I have to show and tell for today. I am sure my sisters at Make Mine Pink have had enough of my retirement news. Too bad. One more time today, and then I will be quiet until the champagne toasts have been made.
I worked on my retirement papers, located in the photo. I am also working on my offering for Pink Friday. It's a wonderful Honey Lemon Hand Soap. Quite a mouthful, but it is quite a soap. Made from a goatmilk and honey formula, it is scented with lemon. It smells divine, but more important, it cleanses, moisturizes and removes those pesky kitchen odors, like onions or garlic from your lovely hands.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Janet & Roscoe













Today I received a custom painted pillow from Janet of www.Janetscreativepillows.com Janet is as talented as she is lovely. She creates lots of pillows, including custom painted pillows. This was painted from a photograph I sent to Janet. As you can see, she did a great job. She also has great prices. Roscoe's family, including my grand daughter, who calls him her brother, will be wildly delighted when they see this. And I am not exaggerating about the wild part; they really are a wild bunch, but you just gotta love them. And I do. Thank you, Janet. Once again you have made Grandma look like a brilliant gift giver. This was supposed to be saved for Christmas. but one day DIL plied Grandma with a rum punch. What can I say, I spilled the beans.























Friday, June 6, 2008

Congratulations, Colby

I am pleased to announce that the winner of this month's giveaway is Colby. I was going to have my cat, Spike draw the winner My method would have been to throw numbered pieces of paper on the floor. The paper he pounced on first would be the winner. Luckily, I visited Francie's blog and saw that she used a random math calculator. Francie's blog is so delightful. Stop by and say hello. thescentedcottageblogspot.com

Thanks everyone for participating in this month's giveaway. Check back at the end of the month for the next one.

Welcome!
Hello Everyone,Welcome to my new blog . And I really mean new. This is all so new to me, but I am sure I will soon be up to speed. I knew it was time to create a blog when I started feeling that I was missing too much fun. I plan to share ideas, favorite things, and information. I love making soaps and toiletries, so you can be sure to see some ideas and tips related to bath and body care. I have so many favorite things; I hope to share them with you in fun ways. Enjoy your visit.