This past Saturday we celebrated my niece's first birthday. Anna pieced this beautiful kite quilt for her. The kite string is yarn that Anna zig-zagged to sew it on. What a clever idea! Anna made her own pattern but got the idea from another quilter.This is the birthday girl! Darling Abby was passed around to everyone and she took it all in stride. Boy did we like that! Simba smoked a bunch of different meats to see how Dad's smoker worked. Yummy! The ribs were our favorite. I even smoked my sourdough rolls and they were good. Simba also took a Bobby Flay idea and made grilled potato salad. The recipe included grilled red potatoes, grilled onions, grilled bacon, and, unlike Bobby, ranch dressing. Everyone liked it a bunch. (Our family used italian dressing and it was good!)

I bought a new Black and Decker Countertop Convection Toaster from BJs this week. (My first toaster lasted 20 years, my second lasted 6 years.) I am very pleased...I can toast 12 slices of sourdough bread at one time!

We harvested some of our potatoes last night...and found no snakes!
These ladies are keeping our garden free of pests...except for the tomato-loving deer. It is heartbreaking to see our tomato plants chopped in half.

Yesterday we visited an independent, fundamental baptist church that is only 20 minutes away. The visit restored our faith in what baptist churches should be like...no immodesty but lots of Biblical music. And to top it off...the pastor was not ashamed to say they are fundamentalists! And I got to talk to Lynn, whose sister was my roommate at BJU. It's a small world.

Monday is my day to run from violin lessons to voice lessons to piano lessons to occupational therapy, to errands, and then home. So I am off and running.

Many blessings ~ Kathie