Sunny Days

Hershey’s Spread the Possibilities Holiday Sampling

2014-01-14T11:01:00.000-05:00

I belong to Crowdtap, a place where consumers and brands can collaborate on brand ideas and items.

Well I was accepted by Hershey's to try out their new spreads. On Saturday 1/11/14 I finally received my product. It probably should have arrived weeks before but with the holiday mailing it was way late So for that fact I really didn't get to share my chocolate with any one but my husband.

So I received my full sized jar of Hazelnut Chocolate Spread. I opened the jar and dipped right in with a pretzel. OHHHHHH yum!!! Sorry no pix of the hazelnut, you just have to believe me.

Then I went to the kitchen and pulled out a can of Pillsbury flaky layers biscuits. Peeled away about half of each biscuit so they werent so thick. Then I stretched them out a bit so that they were about 3 inches big and put a huuuuuuge teaspoon full of the hazelnut spread in the center, folded in half and baked for about 14 minutes on 350.

They may not look like it but they were yummy. Next shopping trip is for croissants instead, I bet they would be even better!!! I did get to try dipping my home made oatmeal raisin cookies in and some fruit. Every bit was deeeelicious!!

I do wish I had more time to try and share this product. I am sure many would love it!!!

Guest Blogger - Are We Walking To Alaska

2013-11-29T20:58:00.000-05:00

Franni has asked to be a guest blogger and tell you about my book.

When I was six our family moved from California to Southeast Alaska (the part that runs down beside part of British Columbia).

It was a huge change for our whole family and this book is the true story of our first years in Alaska - in the 1950s - before Alaska was a state. The book is "Are We Walking To Alaska" - it is family friendly and enjoyed by all ages. So without further delay - here is the post I wrote on my blog. Thank you for taking the time to read it.

Time for thinking of Christmas gifts - so I thought I would give you a few hints as to lovely things you might buy for those friends, neighbors and loved ones on your list. Someone hard to buy for? I have the perfect gift.

Great Aunt Tildy - Book from Amazon.com - Are We Walking To Alaska? she loves true stories of children from Alaska, as she was a child there a long time ago. And this is a true story.
Bertie and Sally - the twins - they are reading chapter books now - Are We Walking To Alaska? - from Amazon.com - they will love the adventures in this true story - bears, whales, deer, and a squirrel that comes indoors to play
Dad - Are We Walking To Alaska? - from Amazon.com - he fished in Alaska as a young man and will enjoy the fishing stories
Uncle Stubbs - Are We Walking To Alaska? - Uncle Stubbs can tell a story like no on else - and he'll get a big kick out of the stories in this book
Paper Girl - Lawn Mowing Boy - Are We Walking To Alaska? - plus a bit of money put in as a bookmark - they both do such a great job all year and now they can relax and go on a true story adventure in the wilds of Alaska in the 1950s
Cousin Sally - Are We Walking To Alaska? - she's brave and would love to have an adventure in the wilderness, and things that happened in the book will intrigue her.
Sisters and Brothers - Are We Walking To Alaska? - reminders of their time growing up in Alaska - they will pass this book on to their children
Next Door Neighbor, Mrs. Benson - Are We Walking To Alaska? - Sweet neighbor is by herself, she'll enjoy the company of a young girl in Alaska, learning all about the new and different way of life.
Mrs. Stilton - Are We Walking To Alaska? - a school teacher for years in Alaska - this true story will remind her of all the wonderful children she has taught.
Mrs. Van Pelt - Are We Walking To Alaska? - grandson's teacher, she might even want to read the book to her 4th grade class.

And so many others - just think how they'll enjoy this book - available in Kindle and print - makes shopping easy.

Others on your holiday lists - - -

Mail Carrier - a break from every day life
Friends in the Quilting group
Neighbor who stops by to chat most afternoons
School Libraries - donate a book in your child or grandchild's name
Public Libraries
Convalescent Hospitals - the residents will enjoy the true story of a young girl in Alaska
Care Homes
Baby Sitter
Co-Workers

Hey - I'm not a bookmark!

One stop shopping - and if you have Amazon Prime you can have the print books shipped right to each person - or if you order Kindle it will be delivered to their Kindle for instant reading.

If you'd like an autographed copy, there is still time - leave a message and a way to contact you, or email me at joann.bayne@gmail.com and we'll work out the details. I'm always happy to autograph a book. The autographed books have to come from me, as none at amazon are autographed - I have a good supply handy this holiday season. If you want it autographed and sent as a gift I'll even include gift wrapping free.

Thanks for shopping - and thanks for stopping by - and thanks to Franni, for inviting me to be a guest blogger so I could meet her wonderful friends.

Wordless Wednesday - Rest in peace my little Rocket man

2013-06-05T10:18:00.000-04:00

1999-2013

What a mess!!

2013-05-31T15:05:00.000-04:00

I haven't been in the mood to post in so very long. Its hard to be happy and crafty when you are feeling like crud. For those of you who don't know me well I have Common Variable Immunodeficiency, it is a primary immune disease I was born with. Your b cells are few and don't function well. You have problems fighting off bacterial infections. So you get antibody replacement. I get mine weekly. But anyhow before this was diagnosed I had a lot of bronchitis and pneumonia, which created bronchiectasis in my lungs. This was all diagnosed when I was 17 but treatment didn't begin until I was 24.

Just about 2 years ago I started working in a small insurance agency. Not too much people contact which works for my health. Running the office and filing and stuff like that. The first year I think I did very well but then my health started tanking. I stopped stitching, sewing, embroidering, playing with the dogs.

I finally lost that job due to my declining health (I was too stupid(determined)not to give up). That was early January. It took some ranting from my lung dr. to get me back on track with meds and sleep and such and finally last month I started to feel better. I mean seriously better.

I have reopened my online shops, haven't really stocked them there is a group that buys felties from me that keeps me quite busy. I have been doing some custom work when people ask. I restarted working on my hexies for my someday grandmothers flower garden quilt. Saving so that I can hopefully get to New Hampshire this summer to see my baby girl who moved there in November for an awesome job at Dartmouth. This is the only good pic I have of the 2 of us its from 2010. I really miss her soooooooooooo much. Hopefully my run on imitating an healthy person keeps up and I can start stitching embroidering and blogging even more. (I have already started playing with the dogs more)

2013-03-18T19:16:00.002-04:00

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Happy New Year!

2013-01-04T16:54:00.000-05:00

Ok, you know me better late than never. Last year was NOT a spectacular year. I don't even think it was a good year. Bye Bye bad year. Cya, don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out!!

The only good for me (others in the family have had good, but we aren't going there today) is that the man and I were out bed hunting (our bed has been hurting our bodies for about 2 years now) and ended up in Rooms to Go (RtG) where we bought our original bed about 8 years ago. We talked to a manager who told us the mattress was under warranty. So they sent out a service man who did some measuring with a string and he told me the dip in the bed was 1 3/4 inches. 1 1/2 is allowable. A couple days later customer service calls and said the bed is defective and we have a store credit for the full amount we paid for the bed.

So back to RtG and of course I want memory foam, and I want adjustable. OF COURSE. Sometimes with COPD you just can't sleep laying flat. Even laying flat with o2 hasn't been much help.

The decision was left up to me. Ugh I hate decisions. But since I deal with the bills and part of it had to be financed, it became my choice. 0% interest kind of made it a no brainer so I went for it.

The first 2 days of 2013 were nothing special. Yesterday the bed was delivered, I had so much fun playing with the buttons on the remote and seeing how each adjustment felt.

Looking for twin xl sheets on the other hand was a bit of a pita. I ended up in bed bath and beyond and spent way too much on jersey knit sheets. They are ok but not what I wanted.

Last night I went to bed about 8:30 and was sleeping before 9. I woke up about 10 am today. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH the best sleep in a long time!!!

Couldn't find a picture on the web so you are stuck with a pic from my bedroom, just ignore all the junk on the other side of the bed. This is my favorite position that the bed goes in. Just hit the button and it props you and your legs up for using your pc or watching tv in bed.

Nothing new but I forgot there was!!

2012-11-15T10:51:00.000-05:00

Well there is nothing new in the sinkhole fix up. The adjustor for the insurance company was out 2 weeks ago, said it would be at least 3 weeks before we would see his estimate.

I had a sinkhole renovation company come out they gave me their estimate. They don't seem very reliable, told me a few fibs about things that could get fixed so I think I will join Angies list and see what I can find there.

This whole process is right now at about 2.5 years, much too long and drawn out. Once we get an estimate who knows how long it will take for them to do repairs.

I just finished a huge embroidery order and am now trying to get motivated to do some holiday stitching for the family. It isn't happening. :(

OOOHHHHH yeah, I forgot to tell you that my precious Nicole, her boyfriend Matt and their cat Knobby moved to New Hampshire because Nicole was offered a great job at Dartmouth College. Isn't my Nicoley beautiful?? The beard on Matt was a dare she said he couldnt keep a beard for a month. I am gonna miss these 2 soooooooo much. Time to start saving for a trip up north.

2012-10-07T08:31:00.000-04:00

Well the sinkhole stuff is finally done a couple weeks ago. Now for the cosmetics. There are holes not filled in on the driveway, patio and front door pad. Hydraulic fluid on 2 sides of the house.

I had a restoration company come out here for an estimate that will be in by the end of the week. Still have to wait for the insurance adjustor to come out and give his ideas on it. Its going to be a long road because the insurance company will want to do a quick fix and the restoration company wants to do it right. So it will probably end up going to mediation.

2012-08-14T08:34:00.000-04:00

Well I was trying to post once a week on this sinkhole stuff, but anyone who is a spoonie gets it. If you aren't a spoonie you can look up spoon theory or wait for me to post it here maybe next week?? maybe not depends on how many spoons I have left that day.

BTW tomorrow I am having a bronchoscopy done and right after that picc line inserted. Sinkholes and hospitals, this girl knows how to have fun doesn't she??

So back to sinkhole from 2 weeks ago. It was pretty uneventful in the end besides one of their machines blowing up and spewing hydraulic fluid all over the side of the house and grass.

Ok not a great pic, its a bigger area than it looks like but I didnt feel like stepping on morning wet grass in bare feet. Some of the cracks are worse. Some are new.

That was the end of the cement grouting. They filled what was the deepest 100 feet up to 15 feet under the house.

A couple days later that little outhouse was gone. I was told it would be 2 weeks to a month before the chemical grouting began.

Yesterday the chemical grouting began. They usually use some sort of stuff that gets shot into the ground and is like that great stuff you get in a can to fill in small gaps in the wall where air is coming in like around light switches. They decided that wasnt good enough this time and are using some 2 part liquid that will fill in around the sand and make it like cement. The supervisor is supposed to get me the name of it, if he does I will let ya know. Anyhow they work from 15 feet down and work their way up to the foundation one foot at a time.

The nasty looking stuff in the bucket is the stuff they are pumping into the ground. The tubing this time is less than an inch. so you really dont see any thing like you did with the cement. The holes they made for the cement are 4.5 inches. Today they will be working in the garage, lets see what happens in there.

Sinkhole day 2

2012-07-25T08:10:00.001-04:00

Well the garden is more trashed than I imagined it would be... :( They said where they were going with the drilling machine but they ended up taking out(squashing) the whole back row of black eyed susans.

Rob was home and he took out most of what I wanted saved. Wish they told me about those black eyed susans

Drilling point by the front door

Master bedroom side

and the front.

Day 1 before drilling

Day 2 after drilling. I think it looks a bit worse. but then so does every other crack that was there and there are lots more new ones.

I think its kind of neat how they went thru the cement and pulled out a solid piece of the cement

Day 3 starts pouring cement into those drilling points lets see what happens in the way of damage from that....

Its sinkhole week.

2012-07-24T09:31:00.001-04:00

It really has been a long depressing year for me. I haven't really posted because I have nothing to post about. I stopped doing embroidery, started working, raised a puppy on my own.

And now... Its well over a year and a half that I filed a claim with the insurance company for a sinkhole under the house. Tell tale signs were cracking straight thru the bricks of the house, garage floor cracking and getting wider... Pictures from a year and a half ago are on my flickr, maybe later I will post some here for comparison. This is what todays are like. Just a couple from each side of the house and in the garage. First is my little garden. Lets see what they can do to mess this up. I was warned that all plantings may have to come out.

This first one starts above the hose reel and goes down to the ground.

Under the man cave window

This was one of the first of the bigger cracks on the garage side of the house.

Inside the garage.

here you can see it goes to the ceiling

Bedroom window. The sewing cave window is worse but that pic is on another camera.

Outside the sewing cave.

There are so many more cracks. From 2 days ago really too many to show. The work started yesterday and there is much more cracking and my little garden is trashed. Today the drilling is finished and in a couple days they start pouring cement under the house.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-05-23T07:10:00.000-04:00

2011-07-05T10:00:00.001-04:00

Jo and I have been friends for about 18 years, she says 17, whatever its a long time. We met in a Prodigy chat room for quilters. She taught me most of what I know about quilting online and in the mail, sending me blocks to see how things are done. She has alot of patience this woman. She didn't only teach me about quilting she taught me about friendship, how to be a good mom and hopefully someday how to be a wonderful grandma like she is to her 3 boys.

Jo always amazes me with the quilts she makes, and how many she can make a year. Its amazing.

This slide show snitched off her blog shows some of her quilts and the hand stitching she puts into them.

I was always kind of jealous of her kids she is always doing something for someone and well I havent ever had anything anyone made for me, my mom knitted and crocheted and I guess she thought since I made lots of things myself if I wanted it for me or my kids I could make it myself. I am rambling back to the reason for this post.

I got a box in the mail from Jo about a week or so after my 50th birthday, with the most wonderful surprise in it.

A QUILT just for me, made by the best friend in the world. Hand quilted by Jo. What an amazing piece of love she made me. (just so you know the quilt holder upper wasn't very cooperative. I will get a better picture another time.)

Thank you Jo for my quilt and for being my best friend.

Changes in the garden

2011-07-02T20:06:00.008-04:00

This was the garden 6 months after moving in. lots of work and I never really paid attention to it till this year.
A couple months ago...

but i kept on changing and adding...

and taking out and adding...

this was last week.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-29T10:50:00.001-04:00

Baby quilt, when will it happen??

2011-05-30T18:15:00.004-04:00

About a year ago Cindy of Sew Happy Designs asked me to make some embroidered blocks for her to turn into a baby quilt. I said yes then bought the designs she asked for.

She chose the Ocean Creatures from Smart Needle Embroidery

Cute HUH?? Well this week she finally mailed me the fabrics she wants me to use for the blocks.

The question is HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE FRANNI TO ACTUALLY DO THE BLOCKS??
Are we taking bets?? Someone should :D You all know me, the queen of procrastination.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-16T09:13:00.001-05:00

Time to start posting again now that things have calmed down.

Today is all about puppy love.

Holiday Handmade Shopping

2010-11-27T05:53:00.007-05:00

If you are looking to get really good quality items this Christmas, then you really should look into handmade items. When you have someone spend their time, energy and money on making an item, to me it is so worth it. It has been a very long time since I have bought items from retail stores. Handmade items are so much more special to give then store bought manufactured items. These are some of the best handmade shops to shop in. Stop by and take a look and I hope you decide to buy handmade this Christmas.

Auntifranni – ArtFire Artisan Studio

aislinnseroticjewels – ArtFire Artisan Studio

Badgereels -Artfire Artisan Studio

Butterfly-Crafts -Website

C Newcomb Woodworking – Artfire Artisan Studio

ColtPixy – ArtFire Artisan Studio

CWinspirations – ArtFire Artisan Studio

CatsWire – ArtFire Artisan Studio

CharSpirit – ArtFire Artisan Studio

CrysallisCreations – ArtFire Artisan Studio

Cymberrain - Artfire Artisan Studio

DerondaDesigns – ArtFire Artisan Studio

DsignsofAvalon – ArtFire Artisan Studio

EmilyClaireCreations – ArtFire Artisan Studio

FantasyClay – ArtFire Artisan Studio

Glasstastic Treasures - Artfire Artisan Studio

GypsyGoods – ArtFire Artisan Studio

HaffinaCreations -Artfire Artisan Studio

JewelledTrellis – ArtFire Artisan Studio

Merigreenleaf – ArtFire Artisan Studio

MamasLittleMonkeys -Artfire Artisan Studio

MicroMops - Artfire Artisan Studio

MothersLove – ArtFire Artisan Studio

MzzThang – ArtFire Artisan Studio

Nightmaiden – ArtFire Artisan Studio

ManyHorsesJewelrySupply – ArtFire Artisan Studio

Pegasus Soaps- Artfire Artisan Studio

SassyClayCreations – ArtFire Artisan Studio

Sewhappydesigns – ArtFire Artisan Studio

ShinyAdornments – ArtFire Artisan Studio

SilverRiverJewelry – ArtFire Artisan Studio

Simply Smiss – ArtFire Artisan Studio

StudioDTQ – ArtFire Artisan Studio

TheBeadedBranch – ArtFire Artisan Studio

WillowWalkerDesigns – ArtFire Artisan Studio

Wooleycreek – ArtFire Artisan Studio

RainbowFingers - Artfire Artisan Studio

Ignisfatuus - Artfire Artisan Studio

Madelines Wardrobe - Artfire Artisan Studio

3 artfire collections

2010-11-02T06:03:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I was lucky enough to have my items put into 3 artfire collections, too bad I was feeling so bad I didnt look until today. Stop by give them a little love.

Curated By: CrochetKiosk

ArtFire.com

Fine Art Paintings

Red & Green Stock...

Curated By: kathisewnsew

ArtFire.com

Vintage Fashion

Spiders and Snakes

2010-10-22T08:32:00.000-04:00

Spiders and Snakes

Curated By: WindysDesigns

ArtFire.com

Craft Tutorials

Plurk Friends Collections

2010-10-13T10:01:00.002-04:00

2 Great Collections my work is featured in today :) Thanks Deb and Chris

Are you Plurky en...

Curated By: CrysallisCrea...

Change in Setup

2010-10-11T18:22:00.005-04:00

So those of you who are my craft buds know about a year ago I was shopping at the liquidators for cabinets to do my craft room in, base kitchen cabinets and countertops.
This is what I was starting with...

While doing all my shopping a friend called and said I have this for you....

That shelf thing got moved to the one empty wall left....

Only to be replaced by this yard sale find.....

Gotta love a good yard sale, organization for 25.00. Only thing left is to get a corner wall shelf for my little tv and I am all set.

Snakes and spiders

2010-10-09T20:07:00.001-04:00

Gazing at the Moon

2010-10-07T08:43:00.000-04:00

Lets play pretend

2010-10-05T08:49:00.000-04:00

Lets play pretend

Curated By: skylinecandle...

ArtFire.com

Handmade Soap