- Good food, good company, good advice from Grandma

I Made It! Blog Party

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Pretty

I make these tote bags to sell in my shop. Today, my niece, Stefanie, asked me to make one for her friend who is having a baby girl. I had this “Pack Your Bags” fabric in the cabinet, and I thought it would make a cute diaper bag for a baby girl. It has Eiffel Towers on it, and the words say: “love-hope-dream-wonder-travel”. I think it turned out pretty good.

Want your own bag? I sell them for $35 plus shipping. You can email me and I can let you know what fabrics I have on hand, or you can tell me what color you would like to have. They are pretty big, measuring about 18″ wide by 13″ tall, with pockets inside. One of my daughters uses hers for a knitting bag, one uses hers for a book bag for shcool (she’s a teacher), and one uses hers for a diaper bag. What would you use yours for?

Just Another Day At The North Rim

Karen · 2 Comments

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Yesterday was my project day, and since there was nothing to do in the office, I took a drive up to Point Imperial and Cape Royal. The drive up was gorgeous, as usual.

DSCN4347 — The fork in the road: turn right to get to Cape Royal, turn left to get to Point Imperial.

DSCN4342 — Still on the way to Point Imperial.

When I got there, my objective was to walk around and talk to the visitors there. They always have questions, and if I can answer them, I do. Yesterday, everyone wanted to know about the fire in Flagstaff. Point Imperial is one of the most visited viewpoints at the North Rim. I can see why:

After about an hour or so, I left, and headed out towards Cape Royal. I wanted to go to the geology talk given by the Interpretive Ranger up there–it started at 2:30. I had enough time to stop by Greenland Lake. Greenland Lake is the only “lake” here. It is created by melting snow. By August, it will be dried up until next spring.

While I was at Greenland Lake, the battery in my camera died, so I was not able to take any more pictures. But I continued on to Cape Royal, and met up with Ranger Gaelyn. Even though this is my third season working here, I have not ever made it to the geology talk. I usually have other duties and don’t have time to go. She did a fabulous job of explaining how the Grand Canyon was formed. Next time you got to a national park, make a point of going to the Ranger Programs.

Flagstaff Burning

Karen · 3 Comments

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fire 01 — Fire at Humphrey's Peak, taken from Point Imperial at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

I know it is hard to see in this photo, because it is almost 70 miles away, but if you look you will see the mountain to the right, beyond the rim of the Grand Canyon. And to the left of the mountain, you will see the enormous plume of smoke billowing out to the east.

This fire was first spotted on Sunday morning. It has caused over 1,000 homes in subdivisions to the north of Flagstaff to be evacuated, with more evacuations expected. Highway 89 was closed yesterday from Flagstaff to Cameron, causing a detour by way of Highway 64 through the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. People trying to get to Flagstaff from Page, the North Rim, or Kanab had a more than two hour trip by way of Williams to I-40 east to get there.

And it is not over with yet. As of this morning, the fire had already burned over a thousand acres, and was only 10% contained. And this did NOT have to happen. It is not a fire started by nature, such as a lightening strike. It was caused by a careless camper, who left a campfire burning when they broke camp.

So, please, people, if you go camping, please, please, please–put your campfires out. Cold to the touch, no smoke. Drench it with water, or cover it with dirt. But put it out. As Smokey the Bear would say, “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.”

Oh, I Forgot About This

Karen · 2 Comments

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Because of the excitement of Miss Amelia’s birth on my birthday, I forgot all about this. We went to Mesquite, Nevada to the Casa Blanca Casino for my birthday. I remembered this today when I got around to actually looking at the pictures on my SD card in my camera.

DSCN4213 — On the way to Mesquite in the Virgin River Gorge

We had a marvelous time. (except for trying to get room service the next morning to bring us some coffee. What the heck is up with me and room service? why can’t I get a dang cup of coffee???) Anyway, we had coupons for a free room for two nights, dinner for two, and $15 in coins for the slot machines, so off we went. You have to go through the Virgin River Gorge on I-15 to get there, and OH! how beautiful is that?

We got there, got checked in, ate some dinner, then got down to the serious stuff: Slot machine! Cha-Ching!

We did pretty good on the first night as you can see. I was on a roll! The second night, I won over $800!

DSCN4195 — The view out the window of our room.

The view out the window of our room was of the Nevada desert, stretching out to the Virgin Mountain Range to the east.

redrum — This reminds me of "The Shining" REDRUM!

The hotel there is really nice, but this picture of Fabgrandpa walking down the hall reminded me of a scene in “The Shining”.

National Park Meme

Karen · 2 Comments

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Outside The Interzone posted this meme today. It is two lists of National Parks, the Most Visited and the Least Visited. Instructions are to bold the ones you have visited, and italicize the ones you have never heard of. Here’s my list:

Most visited:
10: Glacier
9: Acadia
8: Grand Teton
7: Cuyahoga Valley
6: Rocky Mountain
5: Olympic
4: Yellowstone
3: Yosemite
2: Grand Canyon (you all know I work and live here! Best backyard ever!)
1: Great Smoky Mountains

Least Visited:
10: City of Rocks NR, Idaho
9: Cumberland Island NS, Georgia
8: Florissant Fossil Beds NM, Colorado
7: Chiricahua NM, Arizona
6: Tonto NM, Arizona
5: Dry Tortugas NP, Florida
4: Katmai NP & Preserve, Alaska
3: Kalaupapa NHP, Hawaii
2: Hagerman Fossil Beds NM, Idaho
1: Russel Cave NM, Alabama

So, how does your list stack up?

I’ve Been Nominated!

Karen · 3 Comments

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I was really surprised by this, but my blog has been nominated as one of the Top Medical Blogs for 2011 in the “Diet” category. I do feel honored by this nomination, as someone out there thinks my blog is pretty good! So, what do you think? If you think I should be honored as the winner of the award, click on the link below and go vote for me. When you get to the page, put in the this url, https://fabgrandma.com, and click on submit to vote. And thank you if you do!

I’m Ready For A Party

Karen · 2 Comments

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I have my new barbecue grill set up and ready to go on the picnic table.

Got my new outside rug and the solar lights down on the ground.

Got my cute lights hung up in the trees.

But good gosh! The weather just won’t cooperate! Although it was about 70 degrees with sunny skies, and little puffy clouds, the wind is blowing about 45 miles per hour, with gusts up to 60 miles per hour. So, while I’d love to have a barbecue, all I can do is sit here and enjoy the view from my picnic table.

Amelia’s Dress Finished

Karen · 5 Comments

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dress — I am so happy with how this turned out!

This has turned out to be a very satisfying project. That curtain panel really looks great in the finished product.

The pattern I used does not call for an overskirt, so when I cut the skirt, I cut it about 3 inches wider on each side than the underskirt, so that it would be “fluffy”. I also cut it with the original hem at the bottom, and cut it 3 1/4 inches shorter than the underskirt, so that when I hemmed the underskirt, it is just the right length.

Here is the pattern I used, McCall’s 2053. I bought it in 1999, when Miss Sarah was born, and used it to make a dress for her, too. Her’s was a baby plaid seersucker. It turned out just as cute. I made that hat for Sarah, too. I’m thinking this dress needs a more “baby bonnet” looking hat, though.

I finished the back with baby snaps instead of a button, so that it will be easier on her mommy when she is dressing Amelia. Can’t wait to see the pictures, except that it is about the size to fit a 6-8 month old so I will have to wait. Sigh.

I’m sharing this on Everything Etsy’s “I Made It!” Blog Party