Jun 4, 2012

Marvelous Monday Update 6/4/12

A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE
As children, my siblings and I had an authentic Irish log cabin as our playhouse. My parents rented property from 1967-1979 upon which the log cabin sat. In 1979, my parents moved us to the home they currently live in and the log cabin was donated to a local historical museum.

Front View
Back when it was our playhouse, it didn't have glass windows or a very nice back door. We made do, though. We nailed plastic on over the windows (like we'd seen our Dad do on the house) to keep cold air out (Yes, we played in there even in winter) and nailed old curtains up to make it pretty inside. That was probably my idea, lol. My brothers built bunk beds out of scrap wood in the upper part that was accessed by a *very* steep staircase. Btw, it's not a good idea to try and coax the dog down them, lol. (Don't ask me, how I know) I tried to get a photo of the staircase through the window, but there was too much glare and the windows were too dirty. Believe it or not, my brother and I used to think it was fun jumping out of the upper window in front... Well, that was until his butt landed on the doorstep on the way down, lol. Oak is pretty hard on the bottom side!  I'm sure jumping out the window was my idea, too. I seemed to get into trouble for being "the leader" as my Dad always used to say.

East and Back View
To concur my playhouse story, there's even a blurb about it on the museum's website: "During the decade from 1840 to 1850 Irish immigrants moved into the area... This little cabin made of rough oak logs... The cabin is almost square. It is slightly more than 14 feet in each direction... Over the years it has served its owners in many capacities. Probably it was used as a summer kitchen or cookhouse, for storage and as a playhouse for children."

I scoured my parent's photographs and even found one that has part of the cabin in the background. I was such a little squirt then!

Me and Mom,
circa early-mid 1970's (1974?)


COOKING
I had quite a few requests for the casserole recipe I made last week, so I posted it in the previous post.  To all who try it... enjoy.  With my changes, it really was yummo!


WINNER...WINNER... CHICKEN DINNER
OK, maybe not a chicken dinner but I was a winner!  Not once, but THREE times!!

Last week must've been my lucky week.  First, I received an email from Chris over at Fugue.  She said I was the winner of her recent giveaway!


If you get a chance, take a click over to her blog.  Thank you for hosting such a cute giveaway, Chris!

The very same day, I received an email from Kim at Cupcake Cutie letting me know that I was one of three winners of a chart she designed called Babushka Sampler.  You can see a photo of it HERE.  Kim has a really cute blog and a really cute little boy.  Thank you, Kim!

The next day, I received an email from DMC notifying me that I was the winner of their Easter/Passover celebration giveaway!
 
(Clickable for Larger Image)

CONCERT - CHEAP TRICK
Around these parts, the members of Cheap Trick are considered "hometown boys" as all the band members graduated high school in Rockford, Illinois which isn't too far from where I live. For the BF's birthday, I bought concert tickets.

Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander, Tom Petersson

Robin Zander - Lead Singer

Rick Nielsen

Tom Petersson

I had never seen them in concert, so it was interesting.  I did recognize about four of their songs.  The BF said he recognized all of them except for one.  One thing is for sure, for 60-year old guys, they can still rock the stage.  When the concert let out, all I could hear was a bunch of static noise and voices of other concert-goers I could hear sounded like The Chipmunks!

AIRFEST 2012
The concert was the kick-off to the weekend's Airfest.  It was such a beautiful day... temps in the mid 80's, big billowy clouds in a bright blue sky, and light winds.  Perfect for an air show!

Other AirFest pics can be seen HERE.

STITCHY STUFF
I bet you thought I'd never get to this part, didn't you?!?  I have another finish!!!  I finished Sampler aux Bouquets I and started II.


I decided to join in the Summer Mystery Sampler SAL offered by Donna at By The Bay Needleart.  Each week during the month of June, she will release another part.  Part One was a quick stitch.

I even was able to work on Fleurs et Papillons.  Here's the bit of progress I made:


Until next time,



31 comments:

Berly said...

I love the cabin!! I'll bet you guys had so much fun there!Everything else looks marvelous! Congratulations on all your winnings!

Unknown said...

love the log cabin, the airshow looked like you had some fun. and you stitching is as always beautiful

Anonymous said...

Very cool cabin Meari! I bet that,was a load of fun to play in as a child! Love your blog!

Hugs,
Teresa

OctoberLace said...

Memories like the log cabin are great. My daughters actually went to a Little Red Schoolhouse for Kindergarten and First Grade, which was cool, too. The concert and airshow look like fun. Then the prize really tops it off. You did have a great weekend! Theresa

Rachel S-H said...

What a wonderful place to have had to enjoy! Thank you for sharing the memory.

Katie said...

The log cabin is too cute. That would be so much fun to play in. Glad you have those great memories.

Congrats on all your beautiful winnings. Glad you enjoyed the concert. The air show looks really interesting.

Last but not least your stitching all looks beautiful.

Carolyn NC said...

Love the cabin! Looks ideal for kids. Sounds like a fun weekend and fantastic stitching!

Cindy said...

Great prizes. Especially the one from DMC. The Air Show looks like it was a lot of fun.
Your stitching is beautiful I love the Fleurs et Papillons.

Vickie said...

Such a cool story about the cabin, thanks for sharing it. There is an historic Irish home in our area, that you can tour once in a great while. We did once. They would not allow people upstairs because they steps are so steep.

Pam said...

Great stitching Meari! Thanks for sharing your memories with us :).

Anonymous said...

You've been really busy, Meari! The weekend looks like it was fun, and your stitching looks great!

Karin in CA

mab3500 said...

Congrats on all your wins! I love the cabin. Great progress on your stitches!

Kay said...

I love the log cabin. I imagine you have so many wonderful memories, thanks for sharing with us about the log cabin. Lucky you to be the winner of those awesome giveaways. Looks like you had a good week. I love Cheap Trick, I bet to see them was great! Your stitching is always beautiful! Have a good week ahead.

htimcj said...

What a great place to play! It would have been so fun!

Anonymous said...

Meari I really enjoyed reading your blog today.

That cabin is awesome - you are so lucky to have had it as your playhouse.

Congratulations on your lucky streak - that is quite an impressive addition to your stash!

I am glad to see that you are back in stitches - lovely projects!

Tara

Mouse said...

ohhh wow love your wee play home and glad it is being preserved for the future :)
nice air show and looks like it was a good concert :)
and wooooo hooo on the stitching ... love the jardin prive one :) well done on your sal start too
hope you have another good week :) love mouse xxxx

Claudette497 said...

What a fun blast from the past this must have been for you - I loved reading about your playhouse. Your stitching looks beautiful. It seems like your neck must be feeling better to get so much stitching in - it looks beautiful!

Anonymous said...

As usual I'm running behind on my reading, but I've had fun catching up on your blog, Meari. I hope the pain in your shoulder and arm goes away soon. I know that can't be fun. But as always your stitching looks great as do all of your other projects. I love the ottoman that you put together. I may have to figure out how to do something like that for our living room rather than the chair the cats have broken by jumping on the back and knocking it over too many times. :-)

Sandy in NM

Julie M said...

You packed a lot into one post Meari! Love the cabin playhouse. My girlfriend when I was little had a playhouse that her father built and we used to camp out in there all the time. Some of my favorite memories revolve around that place!

Can I stand next to you? Maybe some of that good luck of yours would rub off on me! LOL!!
Congrats on all the lovely things you've won!

Your stitching is beautiful, love the Bouquets from Jardin Prive.

Have a great week!

Anonymous said...

Hi Meari

Congratulation for your finished stitching work, lovely
Your stitching looks really beautiful and I really like to read your blog :)

Tinna

Denise SA said...

That cabin is soo cool. Love the stitching as usual

Anonymous said...

That must have been a fun time to play in a log cabin.

Congratulations on all your winnings.

Marl

Carol said...

Oh, that cabin is adorable, Meari--I can only imagine what fun you must have had in it! And wow--you are on a real winning streak, Meari--hope it keeps on going and going :)

Your SAL is looking very pretty--I do love those colors and congratulations on finishing Sampler aux Bouquets first part--that is, by far, one of my favorite designs ever...

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Nancy M said...

Nice stroll down memory lane and the playhouse! As I've said before, you are the winningest person I know! Looks like your massages are helping, you got a lot of stitching done this week! I saw Cheap Trick in the late 70's or early 80's!! I thought they were from across the pond though! LOL

Veronica said...

Finally! That was a long way to scroll down for the stitchy stuff :P Only kidding!

What a charming little cabin and to have the whole of it as a playhouse? My childhood dream come true. LOL!

You lucky, lucky girl. Congrats on all those wins. The DMC package looks especially yummy. As does your casserole recipe.

I'd love to have seen the airshow in person. Look so cool!

Hugs,
Veronica.

Elena said...

Busy Lady..... :0)

cute story of the cabin. I can picture you hanging curtains. :)

Nice addition to your stash!

sounds like you & BF had a nice time at the concert and airfest. Happy Belated B-day to your BF.

Your stitching looks wonderful.
congrats on finishing part 1 of Sampler aux Bouquets.

Akila said...

Such a cute cabin. Reading of your escapades made me think of famous 5's, with their picnic food :d

Very pretty finish and WIPs. You's done so much!!

Christina G said...

Seems the summer makes us all sentimental. Great pic of you and your mom by the cabin. Congrats on the wins! Chris G

Anonymous said...

I just love your blog. It's so varied. Thanks for sharing the pic of your cabin and the air show. NEver attended one but it must be awesome to see and feel those engines soaring.

Chris G

Shelley said...

Nice pic of you and Mom!!

Congrats on all the wins :)

Shelley said...

Nice pic of you and Mom!!

Congrats on all the wins :)