Trying a new recipe

It is birthday month!  I haven't made a cake from scratch in forever, and I found a recipe I wanted to try.  I had a friend coming over for lunch, so it seemed like a good opportunity to try it out.

It smelled very good!

I trimmed it and cut it into layers.  I made coffee buttercream.

Again...I had to do quality control, so I used the trimmed pieces and leftover frosting. YUM!

So...now...I have leftover cake in the fridge for my birthday!  Happy Birthday to me!
 

June 24...a Happy Golden Birthday!

I saw the beautiful colors of sunrise at 6:00 am, thanks to Oakley!  Later, the fog rolled in till the sun got higher to burn it all off.  What a pretty morning as I got to work to finish up the last parts of a special delivery!  

Fresh strawberries to go into cupcakes!  Homemade buttercream that I was hoping wouldn't melt!

I filled the cupcake liners too full and they baked into each other.  Next time...less will work better!

I packed up lunch, birthday treats, the dogs, and we drove to Knoxville to be with the girls!  Such a beautiful day for a drive!

Pink and gold...whoops, Alisa's Christmas placements...added more color.

We sang to her and asked her to make a birthday wish as she blew out candles...2 candles and 4 candles for 24!  Mom has botched multiple opportunities for birthday plans this year. I forgot to go back and grab the gold 24 I had found at Hobby Lobby.  In my defense, I was not supervised in my favorite store and wandered the rows, overwhelmed by all the pretty things!  I had not been in several months.

The day's plans were lowkey and involved a day spent inside away from people.  No fanciness!  And I have learned to not snap pictures when we are in the relaxed, no makeup, messy hair, and lounge clothes state.  Just three girls and three dogs...food, treats, chick flick, naps, and quiet!  I hope and pray they felt re-energized to be adulty and peopley today!  Working in and with the public is no joke these days.

Happy Birthday to our sweet Alisa!  and Ashlynn too!  She had a June birthday too.

It was yummy!

Oh the memories!

Our sweet girls!  And we didn't even take a picture together...again!  We have been together a couple of times and have not documented it well for the memories for the blog.  We will next time!

I am in awe of how fast the years have gone by as I look at pictures and then get to watch our young women!  24 and 25 and the best of friends...and I now know how my Mother felt every time we all got together.  Thankful...teary...blessed...
 

Sunday blessings

The church grounds were so pretty with the start of spring.

A trip to the storage unit...and then a return trip to retrieve the forgotten company phone that was laid down.  We both commented on the forgetfulness and delay.  We enjoyed the drive and an impromptu lunch from Weigels.

When we did get home at 2:30pm...Teddy had the remaining job almost complete!  He started at 12:30pm.

A lot of hard work in planning and providing...

Much patience and consistency...

Beautiful weekend weather from God...

Safety...

Teamwork...

A hard worker...

We are proud of the man he has become!

The guys moved the washer into the house!

A weekend full of blessings...hard work and a vision accomplished!

 

The final countdown!

I posted the dryer for sale on the FB marketplace.  How oblivious people are to the words and pictures posted!  I cannot even understand how people can be that stoopid...it is painful!

They got some snow in Tennessee and Teddy texted asking me to recall it to Michigan.  Ha!  We were getting snow off and on too!  And sun and clouds and wind and rain...and then snow again...all in a matter of minutes.

I had to employ the help of Uncle Brad to disconnect the dryer!  Turns out there was no valve to turn the gas on and off to the gas line for the dryer.  I learned something from my friend at Home Depot and we used his cheaper part!  Yeah, for older guys who work at these places and actually can help a damsel in distress.  And, did you know, there is special tape used in home projects?  White for water lines and yellow for gas lines!

Stopping in to see my sis...and Grandma Jan and Little F.  Great-grandmas toys were the toys of our childhood.

A St. Patrick's Day supper with friends...just what I needed.

Taking a break from packing the final boxes to deal with tenant fixes...again.

I sold the dryer after a couple of days of dealing with stoopid.  These buyers knew it was a deal at what we were asking and knew what they were doing to come and pick it up!

Another pile to donate and the last empty tote to fill...

Great packing material...plastic bags and old t-shirts!

Time out to spend with friends.  The children of this family think of us as people who fill the grandparent role in their lives.  Soooo...what do Grandmas do?  They bring dessert for after supper!  I was craving ice cream...so a DQ cake seemed like a good choice.  When the server asked me if I wanted something written on it...this came to mind.

It was a hit with everyone.  And in true Grandma fashion I said to have as much as you want...eat it up...'cause I can't take it home.

Conversation and laughter with the younger crowd is ALWAYS entertaining!

 

Trying a new recipe...Copycat Cheesecake Factory Carrot Cake

Smells amazing!

I chose to do cupcakes for portion and sharing convenience.

Cream cheese frosting.

NO raisins were included in the making of these!

I chose to use toasted pecans rather than walnuts...because that is what was in the pantry.

OOOOO...they are yummy!  Perfect for sharing.