Mark your calendars & come for a visit!!!

Good Friday morning Blogland Neighbors! Where have I been all week? Besides two away soccer games, "Meet the Teacher Night", and FINALLY getting a chance to get my hair - doo done, I spent this morning hunting .... first I had to hunt for my coffee cup that I had just set down..... when I found that I promptly had to hunt for my camera that I had also just set down .... after finding that I spent the next 10 minutes hunting for my glasses that I had ALSO just set down..... after that I started hunting for MY MIND because I think I'm LOSING IT!! SHEESH !!!

ANYHOW, another thing I did this week was visit with my pals Kelly and Judy at Kelly's quilt shop The Quiltery in Weissport, Pa. Let me show you what we were talking about .... and it must be pretty exciting because .... look!...


.....it made the paper!.....











OK, so here's what we were talking about ....
(sigh...)Daisy, get OFF of that piece of paper!!!

....Kitty! ... MOVE!!(sorry.... I'm TRYING to show you that flier that everybody keeps parking on .... actually, now that I see it, I think it's hard to see that orange paper against the orange background not to mention the fact that it's a bit BLURRY .... let me tell ya, this MBIAJ Photography Dept is always thinking ....) OK, let's try this again ....


.....(I know, Kitty and Daisy are still in the picture .... it's in their contract that they get to be in a certain number of pictures on the MBIAJ blog....) anyhow, can you read that flier? (if you click on it and enlarge it that should help). Let me read it to you .... " Fall Foliage Open House .... Join us at The Quiltery .... Saturday Sept 27th 10-5 PM and Sunday Sept 28th 11-4 PM ... Free beginner class... Free demos....FOOD & DRINK ... Door Prizes....Project Ideas .... Christmas Countdown Projects .... Fall & Harvest Projects " (check website for times of beginner class http://thequiltery.org or call 610-377-5590 )........AND , if that isn't exciting enough, guess what else ?!?!?!!! Kelly has asked me to do a little workshop demonstration of some of my fall projects that I've designed !!!!! I was very flattered (and flabergasted by the way ....) so, now you all have to sit through a little preview of the workshop projects I plan to do .....


.....HEY! come back here and SIT DOWN !!!! ......OK, shall we continue?


first, "Honeybee Pumpkin & Sunflower" blocks using fusible interfacing applique....



...second, "Autumn Leaves" garland (just click on that picture to make it bigger)

next, "Witch's Brew" stitchery colored in with colored pencils and .....

....last, a "Pumpkin Garland"...

......(here's a close up of one of the pumpkins in the garland)








So, anyhow, if you're in the area on Sept 27th (that's the day I'll be there, in the afternoon after Evan's soccer game in the morning) or Sept. 28th, drop in for a visit ! Weissport, Pa is only about a half hour from the Allentown area; about an hour from the Scranton/Wilkes Barre area; and about 2 hours from the Philadelphia area (check The Quiltery website for maps and directions) ..... and , once again ....

.....here's Kitty with the details (she STILL insists she hasn't met her photo quota for the month ....sorry....) anyhow, as usual, if you click on the picture to make it bigger you'll be able to read the flier better!! (again, MBIAJ Photography Dept at their best !)









Be back soon!

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

"Radio Homemakers"

Good (soggy) Saturday afternoon ! Well, Hanna is visiting with us here in Pa today (at least she's only a tropical storm and not a hurricane!)... and, actually, we've only had steady rain from this storm and that's it (and the rain is very welcome since it's been pretty dry lately).... and, so as not to let a good steady rain go to waste ....


....I pulled on my rainboots and my trusty yellow slicker and hauled my plants off the covered front porch and sat them out in the rain .... I thought I'd let Mother Nature take care of the watering today!

Anyway, you're probably wondering what the heck that has to do with the title of this post,"Radio Homemakers"(actually, nothing)..... AND you're probably wondering what the heck are "Radio Homemakers"? Well, unless you're from the Midwest and are at least in your mid 50's or older, you're probably not familiar with the "Radio Homemakers". I never heard of them until I read what is now one of my favorite books......


..."Standing in the Rainbow" by Fannie Flagg. One of the main characters in the book is Dorothy Smith, or as her radio audience knows her "Neighbor Dorothy". The book explains that in the late 1920's and early 1930's as electricity became more available to isolated farmhouses, women began broadcasting radio shows FROM THEIR HOMES! These ladies were known as the "Radio Homemakers" and they "shared recipes, tips for raising children, household hints, gardening advice, crafts, and their day to day lives and the lives of their families." They also would sometimes have some sort of music on their show. Now, I thought this was pretty interesting and sounding somewhat FAMILIAR (I'll give you a hint ... you're reading one right now) ..... anyhow, I like reading about women's history (you know, the everyday Jane's ... not that Betsy Ross and Clara Barton aren't interesting, but what about the day to day of Mrs. Normal back in 1776, or 1853, or 1925, etc?)....so, I went online and looked for more info on "Radio Homemakers" and I found .....


another book on the subject "Neighboring on the Air Cooking with the KMA Radio Homemakers" by Evelyn Birkby . This is a great book on the subject with lots of down home recipes and .....


...pictures of the "Radio Homemakers" broadcasting from their kitchen table, or dining room table, etc, while their family life and all the chaos that goes with it went on all around them. ( This is a picture from the book of a lady named Jessie Young.) So, the more I read, the more it dawned on me that these ladies are our BLOGGING FOREMOTHERS !!!! Right this minute I'm "broadcasting" to all of you from....
...the computer in my kitchen...
..in between trying to bake some banana bread from some way past their prime bananas.....
.....amongst the revving of dirtbike engines from the garage just steps away from where I sit .... (Martha Stewart eat your heart out !)


Anyhow, so here I thought we blogging gals were doing something new and innovative .... NOPE! We may be using computers and have readers from all over the planet while the "Radio Homemakers" had a big ol' microphone and only reached a few neighboring counties, but they were the real innovators.....they were sharing recipes, crafts, tips, and their daily lives with their listening "neighbors" long before I set foot on this planet!

OH! ... the banana bread is done..... let me go get it out of the oven....
....mmmmmm smells good!

......here ya go, have a piece..... I tried to make it a little more heart healthy and substituted all natural applesauce for the oil in the recipe.... here, I'll write it out for you ...(actually, this may be a repeat recipe that I may have posted last fall, but I'm too lazy to check back and see .... so, here it is again)

Banana Quick Bread
Ingredients:

2 large bananas
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup 100% natural applesauce
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 inch loaf pan with Pam. Mash bananas. Whisk in 1/2 cup water, then brown sugar, then applesauce, then eggs until smooth.

In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining dry ingredients, then fold into the banana mixture until just combined. Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake until firm and golden brown, about 70 minutes. Let bread stand for a few minutes. Turn onto a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Recipe doubles easily and freezes well.

Enjoy !! Be back soon!

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETHY !!!!!!!!!!!

Good Morning Blogland neighbors!!! Today is a special day .... today at MBIAJ Headquarters we are celebrating my best pal, Beth's __th BIRTHDAY !!!(those first 3 songs playing are for you Bethy, ol pal o mine!)
Kitty is here for the party and .....
...she brought some of her friends.....
.....uummmm, I think they've been into the catnip already.....

.......how about some mini cupcakes and a martini instead!.. .....and while we have some cake and booze sit back and enjoy this....another little Birthday Celebration .

...So, Bethy (this is Beth and her sweet as pie daughter, Jenny)

.....THIS ONE'S FOR YOU !!
.....really .... I mean this (unfinished) quilt is FOR YOU !!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!! (I plan to have this finished for your 75th!!!! )

So, hey everybody out there in Blogland, join me in wishing Beth a VERY HAPPY __th BIRTHDAY !!!
Be back soon!

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Some sewing ... some gardening ....

Good Labor Day evening Blogland neighbors! It was a gorgeous day here in Pa .... sunny blue skies and low humidity! (you know I'm all about the LOW humidity cause when it's high humidity there's a good chance I'm cranky!) The men folk around here went on a "who can out do the other guy" bike ride with one of Mr. Mooonbeam's high school buddies and his son , so that left yours truly with a little stretch of PEACE AND QUIET !!! so, I ignored the urge to clean up the kitchen and instead I did some SEWING !!!! and for more than just my usual 15 minutes!!! I actually had a 2 hour stretch of uninterrupted sewing ..... that's SEWING NONINTERUPTUS!!!! a somewhat foreign concept at MBIAJ Headquarters .... anyhow, what was I working on? I thought you'd never ask .....
....some piecing....
.....and making piles of pieced pieces (working on the beach quilt that I started last month)..but that's all I can show you of that because ....shhhh, it's a secret....

Well, as much as I was enjoying my "Sewing Noninteruptus", I have to admit I was feeling a little like a mole being inside on such a beautiful day..... so outside I went with my guard cat ....
....Shadow (aka Birdly .........long story)
....the Bug Hunter...

here's the jumbled up mess of coneflowers and hydrangeas ...I'm going with the story that this is the "cottage garden" look (which is what I was trying to do, but that coneflower is just too close to the hydrangea)
....oh look! a butterfly sitting on one of the plants I'm going to put in the window boxes....(it's right in the middle of the picture ... if you click on the picture you'll be able to see it better .... honest). Anyhow, I did some watering and I planted all these plants in the porch window boxes. I didn't take a picture because it got too dark , so......



....come on up on the porch and sit and enjoy the last summer evening ..... it's a gorgeous night .... the stars are out and the cicadas are chirping away .....aaaaahhhhhh.......

Be back soon!

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Some Fresh Air and Exercise (complete with Flora and Fauna)

Good Saturday afternoon all you Blogland Neighbors! Well, this morning when I dragged my carcass out of bed I just could not face the mess of a house and the pile of paperwork (leftover from my job and due by Monday) ... not to mention the frustration of having a WHOLE bunch of sewing projects just lingering in "half way done land" that I just can't seem to get at ...you know .... just feeling BLAH! So, let's just toss all that aside and get some fresh air and exercise... might just be what the doctor ordered to kick me out of the SLUMP! Let's go out in the woods next to my house for a walk... BUT,uh oh ... before we even leave the backyard, look at this.....

...the birdfeeder is on the ground .... which usually means Mr or Mrs bear has made a visit for a midnight snack .... hmmmmm, should I venture into the woods?


......yeah, why not.....here we go!


.....hmmm.... a fork in the path ..... let's go to the right....(I think)








Now I know I mentioned this before, but it seems we're having a very premature fall around these parts! I looked back in the Moonbeams archives and found this post from Sept 25th of last year. Today is only August 30th right? Seems Jack Frost is a bit ahead of schedule .....just look what's out in the woods.....
yellow leaves....
orangish (well, brownish) ferns...
.... and red whatever this stuff is .... looks like FALL to me!











Well, let's continue with our hike ....
....oohhhh....pretty ferns...(not brown yet)
looks like a squirrel was having lunch ....


.....oooooohhhh .... moss! ... I just love moss!










OK .... let's keep going (don't tell me you're tired! I'm the one doing all the hiking! You're just reading!! We'll take a rest when we get to "The Point"....it's just down this path ....

..... and up over the top of this hill....
....and here we are! "The Point"
...we're up pretty high...
...That's the Lehigh River down there .... and if you click on the picture to make it bigger you'll be able to see the white water rafters down there (that's what those little blue things are in the river...)

OK is everybody all rested up? I guess we should be heading back home .... there's still that list of stuff to do....


......shhhhh......look over there .... a deer (just a little below and to the left of the center of the picture ... click on the picture to make it bigger). How's that for some fauna?!?! ...I'm glad it's just a deer and not a bear!! Even so, let's just scurry along in case the bear family is still in the neighborhood!

Well, I hope you enjoyed our little hike in the woods ... now it's time to get back to "the list". Be back soon!

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

TGIF !!!

Happy Friday and Happy 3 day weekend Blogland Neighbors !!!! I don't know about you, but Daisy and I are POOPED! I have lists and piles of stuff to do, but right now, getting into my pj's and crawling in bed to read is about all I can muster the energy to do .....and odds are half way through the first sentence I'll be snoring away, mouth open, catching flies (I know, doesn't that paint a pretty picture!).

OK.... back to my book! Be back soon! Sweet Dreams!
Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)