Sorry, it has been a long time...

Hi All!

It has been a while since my last post. SORRY! This has been such a busy summer, I don't feel like I have had time to catch my breath. I have been to two incredible weddings this summer, and still one more to go in August. It has been a whirlwind. My dear friend Tiffany got married at the end of June. It turned into the most beautiful day you could have wanted. It was the stuff girls dreams are made of!I got two really good photos, and want to share them.I think I did pretty good! The week was forecasting nothing but rain! On Sunday it was the most beautiful sunny morning. It ended up being 80' and fantastic. It was one of the nicest weddings I have been to in years. It was great to see the couple tie the knot after nearly 6 years. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Floyd !

Finally, the Quilt is done!

Yea! I have the Quilt top finally done! I have severely neglected this Blog, But I AM BACK, and promise to do better! I set myself a deadline to get it done, and nothing was going to make me deviate from my goal!! That said, I can now enjoy the month of June until the quilt comes back in July to be binded. my good friend Christy, was a life saver. We spent many afternoons at her house or mine working on it. She has almost as much time invested in it as me. Thank you Christy! You make my life wonderful with your friendship. Here are some photos of the monster Quilt. The Pattern is called Pinwheel.

I can't believe it has been two months...

I can't believe it has been two months ago since I last blogged!!! I should be getting ready for work, but had to stop in and let you know I am still around. I have been very busy at work, have made about a gazillion trips to the VA, and just plain busy. I have been working like mad to get a quilt completed for my Nephews wedding in August. Last Saturday we went to our first Wedding Shower for Andrew and Angie. It was so beautiful. had a great time and took some nice photos to share. Hope you all enjoy!

We are on a roll !

In spite of the crazy week I have been having, My ETSY Shop has really taken off. Between the orders on the shop, and locally, We are on a roll! Can you say "TRAIL MIX". What started as a venture with my Twig Santa's and other Carvings, fast turned into a cooking gig. It started out as a shop to sell my crafts, and has become a showcase for my baked treats. What started it all was my Granola. They evolved into many different kinds. I started with Cranberry Pecan, and Lemon Blueberry Almond. Next came Cranberry Pecan with mixed Fruit. By this time I had a Lady asking me about Low Carb Granola, Of course I had to come up with something. I used a variation of my regular recipes but changed the sugar for Splenda. These became fast hits. This same wonderful Lady, talked me into doing Trail Mixes. One thing just lead to another, and now I am putting out several types of Regular Granola, Low Carb Granola and now I have two types Trail Mixes. Off of the Trail Mixes, I have created for the Holidays,Valentines/Mothers Day Blend, St. Patrick's Day Blend, and we are now up to the Easter Blend. This is simply Amazing! To see all my Treats, be sure to go visit Me at my Etsy Shop. http://lisadqueen.etsy.com My next project is to create for my friend Joanne, some dried mixed fruits. It will be interesting to see what kinds of fruits I can find to dry. I have already, Cranberries, Apples, Pineapple and Bananas. I will try to find some Papaya's and Guava's. That should give it some color. Well It is time to set the clocks forward. Good night, and sleep tight!

XOXO, LISA :>)

This has absolutely GOT to be the most rotten day yet !!!

I wonder if I knew how this day was going to turn out, would I have even bothered to get up?

I can't believe the day, week, or month I have been having. It started as a pretty normal friday for me. It seems I am taking someone every Friday to a doctor appointment. So again it was a appointment for Chuck. For those who don't know him, he is my better half. After 27 years of bliss,(yuk ! yuk !) We are still together. Most thought we'd never make it... Well on this auspicious morning we were headed to yet another dreaded appointment at the Portland, VAMC.(Veterans Hospital) This is the last place I like to spend my Fridays. If you have never been to the VA Hospital, live dangerously, take a trip on the wild side and visit one. Any how, we had only got about 1 mile down the road when I heard this loud "pop".

I asked Chuck what did you do? He just smiled and said "nothing". Well by the next 1/2 mile I noticed he was reclining pretty far back in his seat. It turns out the bolts on his wheel chair back popped off, and his seat back was coming off. Next he's lying in the rear of the van.

The chair, and Chuck from the waist down were still in the passenger seat. But Chuck from the waist up was in the back of the van???? go figure??? You have to realize Chuck standing is about 6'2.5" tall. So to me, that is what it looked like! It was the weirdest thing!!!

Needless to say, I got out of having to take him up to the VA Hospital. I had to call my Brother Kevin, and he sent his # 1 Maintenance Man, Ken to come and help me get Chuck back up. We ended up tying him up in his chair with a rope, to get him back home??? Tell me this was not a crazy, nightmare of a day???? I think I will go have a glass of Kahlua, and take a warm bath. Maybe when I get out, this day will have been nothing but a bad dream.

Cheers and goodnight!

Lisa

Easter is nearly on us !!!

Out with the old, and in with the new! It is TIME to unveil the new  Trail Mix for Easter. I wanted something delicious to go with my pastel theme. After much searching at the stores, I came across this juicy blend of Sweet and Sour Pastel Jelly Eggs. I used the base for my Ultimate Mix with lots of yummy Mixed Nuts, Red Hots, M & M's, White Chocolate, and my all time favorite, Cranberries. I think it looks scrumptious! I love the way it looks in the picture. What do you think? Good enough to eat?

Saying good bye to a great Guy!

I have neglected my blog for the past few weeks. It has been hard to feel like writing about much this past 2 weeks. On the 21st. of February, my Father in Law passed away. We were in the middle of Sunday dinner and my Mother in Law called us. I took the call in the other room, and then had to come back to the table and tell my husband. That was one of the hardest things I have had to do. My husband had just spoken to him the week before,so it seemed so surreal. My in laws are out in Michigan, and in the middle of all the terrible blizzards they were having out there. My mother in law is so level headed and practical, I had never heard that level of distress in her voice before. I wish so bad we could have been there with her.  Travel for Chuck is pretty impossible, But I will try to get out there in May. Saying good bye is so hard. Frank Feringa was a great man, and a wonderful Father in Law to me.

Today Chuck and I celebrated our 27Th. Anniversary! Heehaw! Where has the time gone???  It has been a real adventure! I hope the next 27 years go by a little slower! I want to enjoy the time more. Well I am about out of steam, will get back on track again soon.

Bye for now,

XOXO, Lisa

It's time for the GREEN !

Well, need I say more... It is one of my favorite time of the year!!! I love green beer! My husband's birthday is the day after, so it gives us an extra day to celebrate his special day too. In honor of St. Patrick, I created a special "St Paddy's" Blend of Trail Mix. Don't worry, I didn't add any Snakes to the mix. It is a luscious blend of Mixed Nuts,Red hots, White Chocolate,Cranberries, M&M'S, Sour Apple Rings, Fruitos, and Gummy Bears.  It is a take off of my "Ultimate Trail Mix" I sell on my Etsy site. I think it is pretty yummy.  The Red Hots and Cranberries give it a nice ZING!

I will only offer it till March 13, on my site, otherwise I can't guarantee it will ship in time. Well it is 8:30 P.M. So better go make my Popcorn!

Cheers :)

Check out the Craft show!

I just got back on Monday from a real great Craft Show. I was very happy with the sales this show generated!!! It was called the "Confluence" and was held in the old Town of Gardner, on the Oregon Coast. It was a Wine and Seafood Festival. There were lost of great Bands, yummy food, and some of the best wines that oregon has to offer. I had a great booth in the main Vendor room, alongside two women who had tons of Oregon/Oregon State items which drew the crowds to our section. This is a selection of photos I took. You can see my Granola's and Trail Mixes along with my Twig Santa's! The two sisters to my right had the cutes Nome's !!! They also had the college items, which were a magnet for people. On the right of them was the Couple selling delicious jam's with wine. We all enjoyed our two days together. I made lot's of new friends, and got lot's of helpful tips about other shows coming up. I thought I did quite well for my first real show. Mostly I just sell my items on my Etsy site. If you haven't check it out yet, it's lisadqueen.etsy.com  chek me out.  Well it's off to bed :)

It's that time of year again....

Well it is that time of year again...... The dreaded PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIK;'''''''''''''''''/;PLLLLLLLLLL roperty TaxKLLLLL (This is what you get with a cat who likes to walk across your Macbook!) As I was saying it is Property Tax time. I moan and complain just like everyone else, but it is worth every penny!  It has been six years since we found our home at the Beach. It has Morphed into a wonderful place. It started as a haven for Feral cats before we ran them all out. Now we have a place to come and relax and renew. Which brings up the name. This year I will finish the sign I started four years ago for the front porch. We call the house "Come and Renew".  From the minute you walk in the front door, you will understand what it is all about. A place to come to from the City to unwind, relax, enjoy friends and family. It is a Divine invitation every moment we spend there. I always leave refreshed. For the last six years my family and I have spent a good deal of time there. It has become the place to hang out every 4th. of July. We have finally completed most of the exhausting remodel, and now I need to just spend some time over there relaxing. I am showing some of the completed work which included a new bigger back deck, complete overhaul inside the house from top to bottom, a beautiful new bathroom upstairs. I can't remember how many windows we replaced, it seems like most of them though.  

Good Morning!

Well It is Sunday Morning. I have had a very busy weekend. I just completed  a large order for a lady in Phoenix. 4.5 pounds of Granola's, and Trail mixes. That is a lot of baking. Then it has to be packaged in 2 ounce bags. She is one of my best customers, so It is worth the extra work. She convinced me to do a Trail Mix for each holiday coming up Soooo......We have Valentines now, next will be something green for St. Patrick's Day, I see Pastel's for Easter and on, and on we go! 

I will be taking a bunch of my Granola's and Trail Mixes with me for a show on the Oregon Coast at Reedsport/Gardnier area. It is the annual Wine and Seafood festival over the Valentines weekend. It should be lot's of fun. Of course my Trail mix will be a big feature. This is the photo I submitted to "Foodgawker" It is even harder to get one on the food site! The competition is real stiff. I think food is harder to photograph. I have been rejected 4 times already. I will just keep trying.

Well, it's bye for now.

My Photo Was Accepted!

YEAH!!! 

I just wanted to share this with everyone, my photo was accepted this afternoon on Craftgawker! I was begging to give up any hope! This is very exciting. I usually take pretty crappy, lame photos. Now I can go to bed and relax!

Let's get on the Valentines Band Wagon!

Well the jury is still out on my photo submission  of the Golden Gate Bridge. There seems to be a really long back up. Maybe I will hear tomorrow. Today I made up another Trail Mix for the Valentines rush on my Etsy shop. You can see it at  lisadqueen.etsy.com   or for those who hate to shop, I will tantalize you with a picture of my mouth watering Ultimate Trail Mix. Please have your napkins ready!!! This delicious Trail Mix is loaded with good things. There are juicy cranberries,mixed nuts, white chocolate chips, good old M&M's, chunks of grapefruit, and one of my all time favorites... Red Hots. Combined, your mouth will think it just had a taste of Heaven. Now would I kid you about a thing like that???  ENJOY all you want, but don't lick my screen. The Macbook's not paid for yet!  Well I have a big day at the Hill tomorrow, (Hmm? maybe we could get a TV show with a name like that? Do you think so?) I am off to Na Na land. 

I submitted my photo of the Golden Gate Bridge...

This morning before I went off to quilt, I submitted my Photo of the Golden Gate Bridge in the post below. I sent it to the Craftgawker site. I just checked it, and the submission is still pending???? I have submitted several photo's before,but none were ever accepted. It has never taken this long to get rejected!!! Maybe they like it?  I thought it was very special and magical when I first saw the picture after I downloaded it. It is just something about the mist over the Bridge? It was actually a sunny day. About 60 degrees, but this fog was just hanging there. I love it. This is another photo from the same trip. It was taken at Fisherman's Wharf. My nephew is a freak for anything John Deere, I just couldn't resist the picture. Enjoy Andrew!

xoxo,Lisa

This Morning I am running to a friends to work on some of our quilt projects. Last Fall I started a quilting series called "The Little Women" series. It is a group of 3 quilts from the Civil War period. The first one was a Patriotic Stripy Quilt of the Stars and Stripes. The second quilt is called Flower Basket. It is nearly done. The third quilt which I hope to start this weekend called Applique. I got so excited in this class, I decided to make a quilt for my Nephew who is a Sophomore at Oregon State University.( Go Beav's!) It is called "Cowboys and Cowgirls" It really turned out wonderful! what do you think??? 

Photo's from my trip to San Francisco

This summer I had an amazing time visiting San Francisco. Of all the wonderful places in the world, San Francisco is magical. There are a lot of beautiful bridges out there, but nothing compares to the Golden Gate Bridge.  When it came time to eat, we headed into  one of the most exciting areas of the city for a sampling  of some of the best food to be had on the West Coast. Beautiful China Town. I never wanted to leave !

SPIDER BITES!!!!

This is so disgusting!! I got bit by a spider! I woke up on Thursday morning, and could barely put weight on my right foot. It wasn't even an option to call in sick at work . I hobbled around all day at work it was insane!!! I even took my shoe and sock off for a nurse on our unit to look at it. Yep, there were real bite marks. It was swollen and kind of bruised looking. We iced it during my lunch break and then soaked it in warm water. After about a million IBProfen and a nights rest, I went to the Doctor today. I shelled out my Co-pay so he could confirm what we had already figured out before. Ended up with antibiotics and a good old tetnus shot. It is looking much better now. Wish I had taken a picture yesterday! But hey! better late than never. Enjoy!!! 

Why do Sunday's always lead to Monday's....

Hi There,

Why do Sunday's always have to lead to Monday's ? I am not ready for my weekend to end. This weekend I created two new Products for my Etsy site. You can view my shop at :www.lisadqueen.etsy.com . I am adding two new Trail Mixes, "Ultimate Trail Mix, and " Hawaiian Munch Trail Mix". Ultimate is a blend of m&m's, mixed nuts,cranberries, white chocolate, red hots,  and grapefruit. Hawaiian is made up of candy corn, pineapple, white chocolate, m&m's, and yummy macadamia nuts. I will include their photos now. 

I am so excited!!! Just got in a Treasury on Etsy

Wow I am really excited ! I was just chosen for a Treasury on Etsy.

Check out this link.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=105153

Thank God it's Thursday !(Friday for Me...)

Yeah ! It's my Friday. It has been a real long week. Today on Pillhill we will be inspected by the Health Department, I have two Children to take care of on the "Ped's" Unit, and a huge bag out for our regular Feeding Studies. That is 42 meals to prepare for a weekend. Not much unless you figure in that every item in those meals is weighed out on a scale. Somewhere during that time I need to get my H1N1 SHOT??? Well I better get ready for a rollercoaster day. This weekend I will figure out how to do more on this blog than just write!!! Cheers,

Lisa

I think I can !

When ever I think this is to hard, I just remember the "Litte Engine" that could. I say to myself, you can do it, this blogging isn't so hard.... Just have a few moments to pop in. I am running late this morning. I have been getting lots of help from other blogger friends, Just want to say THANK YOU ! It is all kind of overwelming right now.

I was so pooped from work, I didn't even want to look at the site last night. I will master this on the weekend when I have more time to devote to it. Well I have to run, can't be late for work today.

Beach Photo's of Remodle

This last mini post s of the old fire place. We converted to gas this past year. Now when power goes out, we can still have heat!!! The old mantle was rescued from the North Portland area." The Rebuild it Center". It is pretty cozy.I don't know if you can see our collection of old Hurricane Lamps on the mantle, but that is the light source when the power goes out!!!! Very Romantic. Especially with the fire.... Well got to get ready for another day on "PILL HILL", Cheers!

Beach Photo's

I am still trying to navigat this blog thing !!!! Some of my photo's want to come up , some don't. Let's try this again. I call this shot "Twigs in the Rhodidendron's". This was taken in the back yard.

Walking through the Twig Forest...

This morning as I am contemplating getting ready for work, I came accrossed some of my Photo's of my Twigs at the Beach. We are so Blessed to have a old Cottage at the beautiful Oregon coast. I took these photo's around May of 2009. We had just completed a major remodel inside the house.Hope you enjoy the shots!

Another Manic Monday .

It is always nice to leave the "Hill", and head for home.  Why do Monday's always seem so much longer than any other day of the week?  Can someone explain this to me?  My poor feet!  

I have so many projects to finish, can't wait to get home.... These are a few of my Folk Carvings.  I have about 10 different Carvings from Uncle Sam, Miss Liberty, There is Abe Lincoln with his Gettysburg Address,  Snowmen, Pilgrims, Indians, Cowboys, Santa's, Scarecrows, Adam & Eve, Angels, and a bunch of others I can't think of right now. What should I carve next? I have a show in February on the Oregon Coast, and I want to take some new items with me. I plan on having some of my Twig Angels with a Valentine theme, a few Scarecrows, several of  the Uncle Sam and Abe Lincolns since it is around the Presidents Holiday, and my Santa's are great anytime of the year. I will also be taking my Awesome Granola and Trail Mixes. That's a bowl of my Cranberry Pecan Granola at the top of the post! Well, I'm  off to create. Night :)

Good Morning !

Hey out there...... I can't believe it's Monday morning already. This will be my first day back to work, after a nice little Christmas and New year break. I always hate it the first day back. When I left work on the 24th. we had no patients. Today there are 3 new patients starting our 2 week diet Phase. I know this does not sound like much, but just look at it this way, every speck of food that goes into their mouths has to be weighed to a 10th. of a gram. The diet is calculated for each patient so they do not loose or gain weight. The object is to maintain. Each patient gets 3 meals and a snack for a 2 day pack out. A total of 8 meals x3 patients is 24 meals. All will be prepared in our Mega-Monster kitchen at OHSU(Also known as Pill Hill) . Well better go jump in the shower ! Cheers.