KidsFest

We had a great day today!
I had been secretly planning on taking the kids to the annual KidsFest here on the island but the weather was looking mighty poorly this morning when I woke up. It was pouring down rain here and the outlook was pretty bleak for down island as well but Hubby and I decided to take a chance and make the drive. I'm so glad we did as the weather held and we got to 'clown' around all afternoon *grin*.

It cost us $5 per person and once we were inside the gates we could do any of the activities for free. Now that's a bargain because those kiddie bouncy houses & rides can add up so quickly but since we didn't have to pay we made quite a few rounds around the ride on train, bouncy houses and face painting tables *grin*.

They had an area set up where there was bowling, ball toss and mini golf. Everyone just LOVES mini golf and M got lots of help from daddy so that he could get a fair advantage over big brother & sister :)

In the same enclosure there was a martial arts demonstration where you could try out a routine with the instructor by kicking, punching, ducking and jumping over his foam baton. This was a big hit with K since he was a tad bit old for the all of the other activities but this was right up his alley!

There was lots of great entertainment to with singing, a puppet show, juggling...

and of course the balloon animal clown :)

I mean who doesn't want a balloon hat or a little pink dog on the end of a balloon that looks like your walking the dog when you hold it out in front of you?! Plus did I mention how much I just love her bright green pom pom socks? So much in fact that I dedicated the first photo slot in this entry just to those green babies LOL.

By the time we were finished going inside and playing with playdough, making bookmarks, running through the cardboard corn maze, building lego structures and exploding paper mache volcanoes we had been there for just under 3 hours and there were big smiles on everyones faces :)

~ Rosina

QAYG ~ Block 1

Okay so I was hoping to have two blocks for the quilt along finished to share with you tonight but I actually only got one done :) Oh well, one is definitely better than none! Right?

I think I just might have thought a little to hard about how I was going to put them together *grin*. So much for mindlessly slapping strips of fabric together! It actually took more time than I thought it would but it could be that it was my first one though and I wasn't quite sure what strip sizes I should use. I ended up using a range of widths from 1.5 inch to 3 inches.

I'm not sure if the 1.5 inch strips are to narrow though. What do you think? Should I use those teeny tiny ones like the green polka dot one and the orange apple print above it or should I go with the larger sizes?

To finish off this block and bring it up to the 14.5 inch size that it should be I'm going to surround it with white strips on each side. I think that it will give it a nice clean look in the end and not so crazy busy to the eye *grin*. I'll update you again on it when I get a few more finished :)

~ Rosina

Quilt As You Go ~ Quilt-Along Round 2

I'm super excited because I got asked to participate in round 2 of the Quilt As You Go quilt-along that is being hosted by the fabulous Heather of A La Mode Fabric!

There are sooo many ultra talented quilters participating and I can't wait to see how their blocks shape up. We get to do free motion quilting on the squares, one block at a time in any design we like so I'm looking forward to trying out the free motion foot that I actually bought for my machine a couple of months ago but have been to scared to use *grin*.

When I was in the city yesterday I stopped by the fabric store and picked up 2.5 yards of a gorgeous 50% organic cotton and 50% bamboo quilt batting that should be enough to complete a queen sized quilt. It is so incredibly soft it's unbelievable. It's nearly a shame to have to quilt it inside the layers later LOL.

I definitely have no shortage of scraps either. My scrap bags runneth over *grin*. We're making Wonky Log Cabin blocks and I have tons of shorter pieces for most of the block but I'm hoping that I can find enough larger scraps for the outer edges of the blocks as I think we're supposed to end up with a 14.5 inch block. I just might have to cut into some of my good stash!

I'm hoping that tomorrow I will be able to get a couple of blocks sewn together after we finish up our schooling and chores in the morning. If I get them done I'll share with you how they turn out :) I can't wait!

~ Rosina

Giveaway ~ One Hand Two Hands by Max Lucado

As you know I signed up to be a book reviewer for Booksneeze a few months back as I thought it would be a great way to feed my reading obsession without spending any money *grin*. In return for receiving free material I have to share a quick blurb about each one on my blog and this time I'm going to share with you and at the end of this review you will have a chance to win my copy of this adorable book One Hand, Two Hands by Max Lucado!!

One Hand, Two Hands
Oh, the ways we can help with our hands!
~ By Max Lucado

Max Lucado has created another wonderfully sweet book for children all about their hands. In a fun sing song rhyming way he describes our hands, what they can feel, do for ourselves and most importantly how we can use our hands to help others.

The story wraps up with a great little poem thanking God for our hands and asking Him to put them to good use again :) I must say this is a fabulous book for younger children and something every parent will enjoy reading and using as a great tool to discuss how to make the best use of our hands.

Now for the giveaway!

We enjoyed this book so much that I really want to share it with you. I can ship this to anywhere in CANADA and the US only please just to keep the shipping costs manageable for me :)

Here's how to enter:

1. Simply leave me a comment below for one entry into the draw and if you want more than one chance to win keep reading below :)
   
   
2. Become a follower of my blog or let me know that you already follow in a comment below (you can find the follow button towards the bottom of my right hand sidebar). Thank you so much to those of you that already follow me, you're the best ♥♥
   
   
3. Become a subscriber to my blog by clicking on the 'Subscribe to Rosy~Posy by Email' button towards the top of the right sidebar and each and every one of my new blog posts will be emailed directly to you so that you don't have to worry about missing anything fun *grin*. Don't forget to leave me a comment to let me know so it counts as another entry!
   
   
4. And finally if you want to help spread the love you can "tweet" about my book giveaway on twitter or share about it on "Facebook". Make sure you let me know your twitter name so that I can come by and add you as a friend and make it count as another entry :) Unfortunately I don't do much on facebook but just in case you don't twitter I didn't want to leave you out *grin*.
   

Good luck and I can't wait to pick a winner next Friday September 17th!!

Hugs,
~ Rosina

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Update and New Crochet Book

Thank you so much everyone for all of the wonderful comments, thoughts and prayers :) My sisters biopsy went well and now we just have to wait for the results to come back sometime over the next 3 weeks. There was no visible signs of any cancer or pre-cancer which was a blessing in itself but unfortunately that doesn't mean she's in the clear and they're hoping that the biopsy will tell more. So for now it's just a waiting game!



On my way home I stopped by the library to pick up a couple of books that were waiting for me and one of them was this really great crochet book, Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs by Edie Eckman. Wowza! She wasn't kidding when she says beyond the square :)

There are 144 different patterns to drool over and there is a really great step by step intro on all the crochet basics so you don't have to be an expert by any means to use this book.

Oh my... total hexagon love *grin*

There is even a section for some really unusual blocks like intertwining rings. Think paper garland chains and you'll know what I mean :)

And of course there are the standard granny squares which are pretty amazing to and just the inspiration I need for my granny square blanket that I have half finished.

This is definitely a great crochet book if you're looking for a new twist on some of the standard blocks so check out your local library and see if they have a copy or maybe you need to treat yourself to an early Christmas present *grin*.

~ Rosina

Blind Sided

Life has thrown our family another curve ball. My younger sister was told only days ago that she has some very abnormal cell growth around her cervix and that she would have to have an immediate biopsy to determine exactly what is going on and a possible surgical procedure to stave off any cancerous growth.

She and her husband were just starting the journey of expanding their family and she is very understandably worried. Tomorrow I take her to a nearby hospital for the procedure and I'm keeping a positive outlook for her no matter what because I truly can't bring myself to think of the worst. I feel like a child with her fingers in her ears singing "la la la la la la la" at the top of her lungs so that they can't hear anything else.

I think what terrifies me the most is that if my dad has had cancer and my sister may have it to that I'm next... I know I'm getting way ahead of myself but sometimes those ugly little thoughts sneak up on you :(

If you could keep my sister in your prayers tomorrow as we find out just what is going on that would be so lovely.

Hugs,
Rosina

A Lovely Surprise

The little bunting birthday cake that I made for L's birthday party this summer has been featured in the One Pretty Thing weekly flickr friends roundup.

What a fun little surprise :)
I hope you all are having a great weekend!
Hugs,
Rosina

Purple-licious Beet Ravioli ~ Recipe

I promised you a great beet recipe and here it is!
A delicious pasta made with fresh beets from your garden and turned into a stunning purple ravioli :)

Don't you just love the color of this?!

To get your dough started you need to cook 3 or 4 fist sized red beets with their skins intact and just the tops trimmed off. That will keep them from bleeding to much in the water as they cook. It takes roughly 30 minutes for them to be fork tender when tested and once they are cooked you can dump them into your sink and you just grab them and give them a bit of a squeeze and they will pop right out of their skins *grin*.

You need two cups of pureed beets so add them chunk by chunk into your blender until you reach the 2 cup mark and then you will continue pureeing them along with 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of olive oil until they are nice and smooth.

To finish your pasta dough you will need:

2 eggs
3 1/2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon salt

Place your flour and salt in a large bowl or directly on your counter and make a nice big well in the center. In the well add your eggs, and beet puree.

With a fork slowly start to beat your eggs, mixing them into your beet puree and then start to gradually pull the surrounding flour into your wet ingredients until it has taken on a dough like consistency and you can start to work it with your hands. It takes about 10 minutes to get a beautifully soft and silky dough by hand or about 6 minutes if you are using your mixer with the dough hook attachment :)

Once you've finished kneading cover your dough with a greased bowl and let it rest for 20 minutes.

Now comes the fun! Using your pasta machine work your dough through it, dusting it with flour as necessary and gradually tightening the rollers until you have a really thin dough roughly 3mm thick. If you don't have a pasta machine you can definitely use your rolling pin to roll out your sheets of dough as well!

I made a really quick potato, bacon & cheese filling by steaming potatoes until tender, mashing them smooth, adding 1/2 pound of cooked and crumbled bacon, one medium sized sweet onion that I diced and sauteed, stirring it all together and then seasoning it with salt & pepper.

My husband loves this perogi type filling but you could easily use spinach & feta or pine nuts & chard with goat cheese or... well the possibilities are endless *grin*.

Place a teaspoon sized blob of your filling in increments roughly 2 inches apart down the length of your first piece of dough and then top with a second rolled out length of your beet dough. Then using a butter knife or pizza cutter slice each section of dough apart and fold each edge over itself and lightly press it with a fork to seal each little ravioli pocket.

That's it! You've got some beet-a-licious ravioli to serve your family :)

To cook your ravioli bring a large soup pot of salted water to a boil and cook your ravioli for about 10 minutes. You don't want to cook them at a rapid boil though as this might tear your little raviolis apart so reduce the heat so they gently boil in the water. This will reheat your filling and make sure that the thicker folds of dough around the edges cook through.

You know I completely forgot to take a photo of them cooked! We were so excited to taste them that we devoured them before I even thought to grab my camera *grin*. I can tell you that it was plenty for our family of 5 for dinner with fresh garlic bread (there's a really easy recipe here) and a cucumber salad. Mmmm, so good!

Have fun making some for your family :)

PS. Check out the Wholesome Whole Foods and Food Renegade weekly link up for more great recipes and articles :)

~ Rosina

Recreating The Flying Cloud

K just finished reading a really great novel called 'All Sail Set' by Armstrong Sperry which is a fictional story peppered with the true facts of the famous clipper 'The Flying Cloud' built in 1851 by Donald McKay. It is a beautiful ship with all of its billowing sails and K being completely obsessed with any kind of boat has set to work recreating it :)

Throughout the book are quite a few diagrams showing the layout and shapes of each of the sails....

as well as all of the intricate ropes that covered each of the masts.

Using scrap wood, wool from my yarn stash and scraps of muslin fabric he started building.

Each of the sails he carefully cut to fit and then hand sewed them onto the ropes :) I just love watching him work on it and I can hardly wait to see it finished. He's taking a bit of a break though as I think all of the hand sewing was a bit more work than he had anticipated *grin*. At least he knows his way around a needle and a thread! LOL

If you know of any great novels about ships that would be appropriate for an 11 year old I would love to know :)

~ Rosina

Pickling Beets

I think I must have lost a day just boiling and chopping beets! *grin*. Today I finished the last batch of pickled beets with the 2 canner loads I picked from my moms garden the other day :) I've got 16 quart sized jars full of the little maroon beauties.

I also found a great way to add my pickling spice to each batch of pickling brine.... I used my tea ball!! Instead of tying up the spice in a cheese cloth each time I just refill my tea ball and drop it in with each new batch. Love it :)

I'm tempted to go and pick some more beets tomorrow and I've got a great beety recipe all planned for you on Friday *grin*.

~ Rosina