Where's my quilt ???

Hello out there in Blogland! This past weekend we had some company here at MBIAJ Headquarters ...... our old college pal Beth and her hubby and daughter. Now Beth tells us she came to visit and catch up ......but it seemed pretty apparant that she also had an underlying mission .....that mission being to check on the progress of a certain quilt that was started last September for a significant birthday that she was having ....





......and here's Lucy .... I mean Beth (in her Lucy hair doo and apron) happily posing with the finished quilt top (notice the difference here between finished quilt TOP and finished QUILT ..... in other words, the quilt is NOT finished yet !!)





........and here's Lucy .... I mean Beth having a hard time giving the quilt back so the Sewing Dept can finish it (Beth knows the Sewing Dept well and is reluctant to let go of the quilt because she knows pigs may fly before she actually holds that finished quilt in her hands ...... she even said "I'll just take it now..... really..... you don't have to finish it!!!) But, no .....we couldn't let her leave with an unfinished quilt ..... so after we pried it out of her hands, we did let her take home that fabric scrap left over from the quilt top that she has her hair tied up with ....she says she won't take that out of her hair until the quilt is finished !! .....AND if that isn't pressure enough, she also bought ......









....this very cute sign that says "Happiness is spending the day with friends" !!! She bought one for me and one for her .... so we each have one to hang in our kitchens .....





.....above the sink !!! Thanks Beth !!!!! it's PERFECT !!! (you were right .... better than that other dinky little sign!) ..... and every time I look at it, I'll send a memo to the Sewing Dept to get a move on with that quilt of yours !!!!

Be back soon!

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Birdie update ......

Good afternoon Blogland Neighborhood. We're sad to report that the little birdie in our last post died this morning. The mama bird didn't come back this morning and before we could dig up some breakfast worms or take him to the environmental center, the poor little thing died.

On a more cheerful note......just about an hour ago when the "Plant Watering Dept" went out on the front porch to water the hanging geraniums, lookie what they found ...







....another nest in the geranium plant with 2 pretty blue robin eggs !!! We're hoping these eggs/baby birds stay put in that nest until they're big enough to fly and fend for themselves !!!!

OK , speaking of flying ..... time to fly away from this computer and make some dinner!

Be back soon!

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Are you my mother ? ? ?

Hello out there in Blogland !! We've had a bit of excitement here at MBIAJ Headquarters ...... this little bird has dropped into the midst of the usual chaos going on around here ..... fell out of his nest and has been chirping up a storm.....









Evan has taken a particular interest in the little guy ..... and this little guy looks at Evan expectantly chirping Are You My Mother? (isn't he cute ?!?!!! .... thanks to our cracker jack photography dept it's hard to tell from this picture, but the little bird is perched right in the center of that stick that Evan is holding .... if you click on the picture to make it bigger, you'll be able to see it better)






....and here he is all snuggly on a towel in a box in the garage for the night after being fed some delectable chopped up earth worms on a stick by our neighbor and Evan... tomorrow we'll figure out if we should take him to the local environmental center or see if Mama bird will take care of him.

......and speaking of baby birds learning to fly ......



.....this past Wednesday we celebrated Matt the college boy's 19th birthday !!! ....and guess what he's learning to do ......FLY !!!!... as in a small airplane !!! So far he's had 1 ground school lesson (he and his instructor weren't able to go up in the plane because it was POURING !!!... 2nd lesson had to be rescheduled because of fog ..... and this picture was taken this past Wednesday, June 17th, on his birthday at a "Fly In" where many small planes were supposed to "fly in" for a picnic/bbq ...... well, it was practically a hurricane, so all of the planes were grounded and the pilots all drove to the picnic instead ....at this rate of weather UNcooperation, Matt will be celebrating his 90th birthday before he actually gets up in a plane for his lesson (which is OK with his Moonbeam Mama who is going gray fast enough from the dirtbike racing he and Evan do ....and the flying lessons will definately expedite the whole graying process ...... probably cheaper to just decide to live with the gray .......)

Well, time to go check on the baby bird then hit the hay ..... I'm guessing we'll have to be up early digging up some worms for breakfast.....

Be back soon!

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Daisies and Buttercups .....and some front porch sittin'

Good Sunday afternoon Blogland Neighborhood! Well, it's a BEAUTIFUL day here at MBIAJ Headquarters! Not much going on since last week's big blog party giveaway (...dead silence .....cue crickets .......) Anyhow, now that all the excitement has come to a screaching halt (and Kitty's head has returned to it's normal size) we're trying to chill out and get into our laid back summer routine .....Kitty put on her sunglasses and sun hat and went for a walk earlier today to pick those pretty daisies and buttercups (hopefully from along the road and NOT from somebody's yard !)




....so, we stuck them in a mason jar and .........





...decided to sit out here on the front porch for a little while and work on some stitching that has been sitting around collecting dust since last summer !! (our goal is to finish it BEFORE it disintigrates!)

......oh....by the way ...... notice anything NEW ? hmmmmmm???? How about those jazzy new polka dot sidebars ?!?!?!!!! The MBIAJ Blog Design Dept thought it was about time to do a little sprucing up around here, so they put on their thinking caps and actually read some directions and put those polka dots on all by themselves (mostly because "tech support" .....i.e. the teenage Moonbeam Boys ....are out of town racing their dirtbikes today) .... so the MBIAJ Blog Design Dept had to fly by the seat of their pants and work without a net on this one ...... they're pretty full of themselves right now .....so lets not mention to them that those black bows need to be moved over somehow ..... darned if we know how to do that!!!

Edit: Well, whatdaya know.....they moved those black bows out and added some pink squiggles instead ..... mainly because they couldn't figure out how to move the black bows....

Anyhow, hope you're all enjoying this lovely Sunday afternoon! Time for us to haul ourselves off of the porch and get to that pile of laundry and then head to the grocery store before the Moonbeams Boys get home later today and announce, once again, that there's NOTHING GOOD TO EAT around here!

Be back soon!
Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

It's TIME!!!!..........Time to pick our WINNER !!!!

Good afternoon Blogland Neighborhood!!! Well it's finally here .... today is the big day to pick our winner for the MBIAJ Giveaway to help launch the new SEWN website ! AND, since it's such a HUGE launch party, Kitty whined her way into hosting today's drawing ......so, without further adoo (not sure how to spell adoo /ado?) anyhow ..... without further adoo, here's our Mistress of Ceremonies (wearing last year's prom dress and tiara) ........the one and only ....






......Kitty ......What? the camera is too far away and nobody can see your outfit? .... a close up? (sigh) ..... OK, wait a minute ....








OK, NOW can we get on with the drawing?







Before we pick our winner, first we'd like to show the prize which has been kept a secret until now ..... Kitty, show us what's behind that curtain....(drum roll, please......)






......it's an exclusive Moonbeams in a Jar Chef Hat !!!!! Ta Da !!!!!



.....but WAIT !!! There's more ..... Kitty, is there anything UNDER that chef hat????




.......THERE SURE IS !!!!













......some cupcake baking accessories !! (2 flavors of icing, an assortment of sprinkles and some pastel paper cupcake baking cups !!)

.....And now it's time to pick our winner !!!!


.....Kitty is making her way over to the vase holding all of our entries .....



........she's going in !!!



......OK, she's nodding her head to let us know she's in and doing fine .....




.....it looks like she's diving in to the bottom to pick the winning entry ....









.....looks like she's had a bit of a rough time in there, but she forged ahead anyway ......
(drumroll...) Ta DAAAAAA!!!!! and here's Kitty with the winner !!!! it's "STRETCH" !!!!! CONGRATULATIONS to Stretch !!!! (Stretch, email us your mailing address so we can send out your prize!)


and....THANK YOU everybody for entering our giveaway !!!! 98 comments is an all time record for us here at MBIAJ !!!! Kitty's head will be so HUGE from all this attention she won't fit into her tiara anymore !!!

Be back soon!

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

We're "fashionably late" (as usual) ........for the BIG GIVEAWAY !!!

Good afternoon Blogland Neighborhood! Here at MBIAJ we pride ourselves in our consistancey of always being a day late and a dollar short ...... or as we like to say ......"Fashionably Late" dahhhhlings.....So, in keeping with our image, we are now sliding in at pretty much the last minute to join the big ..... and we mean BIG SEWN blog party GIVEWAY !! ....and, in case you're as "fashionably late" and without a clue as we are, "SEWN" is a new website being started by Sarah Fielke (that creative and crafty Aussie gal).

So.....the MBIAJ Sewing and Design Dept , not wanting to be left out of the party that will launch the new website on June 8th, is busy putting together a blog party giveaway prize ..... all you have to do is leave a comment on this post (or the next one that we'll post of the finished project/prize) ...... the winner will be announced on June 8th .......OK, well, better go check on the Sewing and Design Dept to see how they're doing .....









......oh for PETE'S SAKE !!!! KITTY!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING ?!?!?!!!! How did you get all tangled up in the measuring tape??? Just what we need .... another delay .....as if we're not running late enough!!










......(ok, so now she's zooming off in a snit....) KITTY!! KITTY! COME BACK HERE WITH THAT MEASURING TAPE !!!!!

GOTTA GO !!! Be back soon! (don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into the giveaway..... we'll post a picture of the prize as soon as we get that dang measuring tape back from Kitty and finish sewing the prize!)

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)