My Brush With Fame

Hi Friends~ ~ ~

This is one of those feel good pictures. Mr. Scott Hamilton of Olympic ice skating fame.

Did I ever tell you the story of the time I met Scott Hamilton?
There was a skating event in town, I believe it was Skate America, a few years ago.
I met Scott at the fixings bar at the Starbucks!
When we walked in I was amazed to see him and a few other skaters ordering coffee.


They stood around chatting and laughing quietly and then it happened~ ~as I approached the fixings bar so did Scott. We stood side by side and added cream to our coffee and I'm thinking "Should I talk to him or not? I'm sure he has so many people stop him to chat that he would rather not be bothered. Should I , Should I?" So I turned to him and said, "Scott I want to thank you for the many hours of enjoyment you have given to me over the years. I cheered with you and cried with you and I feel like I know you as a friend. It's so nice to meet you."

I was truly star stuck and was amazed that I got all the works out and that they sounded relatively intelligent and I didn't throw up.

He responded in the kindest and most gracious manner. He said, "Thank you, I sincerely appreciate it. It has been an honor and my greatest joy."

We nodded, smiled and parted and I thought, What an amazing human being.

I was struck by how gentle he was and how very petite, only as tall as me. As he walked out of the Starbucks I saw him gliding gracefully over the ice and thought~ ~What an amazing life.


I found this picture of Scott and his wife. What a lovely couple.
Thanks for listening. With the Winter Olympics in full swing I thought this was an appropriate story to share.

Make it a great day.

~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

It All Started With A Wish !

Hello Friends~ ~ ~

As many of you know we moved into this house over a year ago so that my Mother could live with us. She is a young 88 and loves to tat and quilt and sew. Yesterday she announced that she wished she could sell some of her place mats and pot holders so that she could sew more. There are so many cute prints she would love to use, so she says. I looked at the two cute sets of 4 placemats she brought upstairs and said "well, why don't we set a sweet little table with one of these for "Tablescape Thursday" and see if anyone would like to purchase your handiwork." I told her many of the gals that visit love to set beautiful tables. Let's see what we can do so this is the result.

This pink set with the ice cream cones is the one we choose to work with. We pulled out all of the things we had around that might work with these colors and got busy.

She positioned the placemats and pot holders over the lace tablecloth. We decided to use the potholders on the table to add more color. Aren't they pretty?

Next we placed the white dinner plates and on top of each plate we used some of my pretty handkerchiefs as napkins. Sweet idea, don't you think?

Each napkin is different and I love them all.

The stainless is Michelangelo by Onida.

We set out the little white leaf plates for each place.

See the corner of the sweet little pink edged napkin peeking in from the centerpiece?

On top of it I placed my French brooch.

We used the glitter trees because, well, they sparkle

and the more sparkle the better!

The bowl in the center is filled with dried rose petals.

First I hung the pink sequined hearts on the candlesticks

but didn't like that so I tried them

atop the rose petals~ ~perfection!

We placed some of the bottles I topped with ornaments and flowers around.

Close up of the bottle and I do love these trees

Sweet salt & pepper and creamer.

Love pink roses.

More sparkle!

The hearts do look better on top of the rose petals don't you agree?
This is the table as you enter the room. (above)

This is the back side of the table. (above) We had lots of fun setting this up and hope that you enjoyed seeing our little work of art.

These are the two sets of placemats. Ice Cream Cones or Cupcakes. If you are interested in purchasing either from Mother please indicate so in the comments and leave your email so that we can contact you. The price for 4 hand sewn placemats is $15.95 + shipping. Set of 3 potholders are $7.95 + shipping.

Please notice that the corners are square on one set and rounded on the other.

This post is linked to Susan at Between Naps On The Porch.

Please stop over at her house to see everyone who is joining in for the fun.

I am also linking to Michael Lee at Designs By Gollum.

She always has a big party too

so stop over and visit for more fun and Tablescapes.

Our Thanks to all of you.

I am Pleased to announce that the placemats

have been sold.

Thank you

~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

Spring Arrangement 101

Greetings Friends~ ~

Last weekend we had 18" of snow and are bracing for another 12" tomorrow. I feel like I need a Breath Of Spring. I'll share with you how I made this dogwood arrangement to fool myself into thinking Spring is just around the corner.

We have a wonderful shrub outside with very fine branches that twist and curl. I have not been able to locate the name of this perennial shrub. The stems are lined with tiny lavender flowers all along the stems and it falls over like a lavender fountain. It's 6-7' tall. It is stunning when it blooms and it blooms all summer! If you can identify this shrub I really would appreciate it.

I choose a few branches from this shrub but you could use any tree branch with a pleasing shape. Choose a pot that you like for the outside pot and then find another smaller pot that is heavy and fits inside the larger pot to stabilize it and add weight. My inside pot is a heavy clay pot. Cut a piece of florists foam to fit inside the smaller pot tightly and push it in.

Set the smaller pot inside the large pot. Crumble newspapers and push them all around the small pot to keep it centered and make it stand upright.

Arrange your branches artfully and wire them together. Trim them to the height you like and push them into the foam.

My helper says keep going your doing a good job. He is always in the middle of a project.
Cats are such a delight.

I used dogwood branches I got a Michael's for 40% off and some Spanish moss to top the pots off and hide the newspapers. You really could use any spring flowers I also considered forsythia but I wanted white flowers.

I hung two sequined hearts that I had around the lower branches for Valentines. I will change these out for possibly birds or ivy after Valentines day.

I really needed something to fill the empty corner in the diningroom and I love the way it looks in front of the lace curtains.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

Snow Storm Entertainment

Hello Friends~ ~
This is what we woke up to this morning and it's still snowing. We have about 18" of snow on the ground. This is the view outside the back door from the sun room.

Isn't it beautiful lying over everything, untouched?

This shot is through the screened window out onto the road by the house.

We got the cross country skis out this morning. Should be fun.

The birds are eating large amounts of food. We are filling the feeders every hour and putting seed on the ground for the doves, sparrows and cardinals who prefer to ground feed. There are so many birds here that the feeders cannot accommodate them all. Everytime I step up to the window to try to get a picture they scatter.

This sweetie loves it when it snows because it's the only time he gets to go outside. If the snow is deep enough he can't get very far so out he goes for a little romp.

This is my snow entertainment a new knitting project. I've had this bulky yarn for some time now and thought great, this will be a quick knit. Oh yeah, was I wrong. I really have to pay attention because every row is different. Reading the rows and the chart at the same time. Was I nuts?!

This is the pattern from the book "French Girl Knits". It's called "Wrenna".

I love this book. It has a few sweaters in it that I really want to knit. Like this lovely cream one on the cover.

This is my progress so far. I am using Lambs Pride Bulky in Brite Blue.

So. . .What are you doing if you are snowed in this weekend? Cooking is always another option for me and will happen later today. We will be having Vegi Lasagna tonight. Something warm and hearty. How about you? Stay warm and dry.

~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

Today Has Been A Strange Day

Hello Friends~ ~

The other day I was sitting on the sofa just relaxing, imagine that? I left my eyes go soft and I looked around and thought. .You are pretty lucky girl! You are living in a lovely home with family and a feeling of gratitude swept over me. I snapped a few shots of what I saw. Do you see the black kitty sitting in the doorway? I'm grateful for him too.

The double glass doors lead to the sunroom.


This is not exactly what I would have choosen as decor had I done it myself but the location of the house and the situiation fit our needs perfectly. We are very close to loving family and we are Blessed with wonderful neighbors.

I prefer hardwood floor to wall to wall carpet it's definately different as the w to w is patterned.
The border around the ceilings is almost more than I can handle but I solved that problem by not looking at it! I only look at the things I am grateful for. I would like to say that this follows through in the rest of my life as well.



A few crappy things happened today but I dealt with them and now I am moving forward. How do you deal with it when things go wrong for you. Do you bitch and moan about it to everyone you see during the day or do you deal. . .and Move On?

Life is really a pretty good thing (got that from Martha) I like to look at the good stuff because looking at the good and not the bad will Always bring to me more of the good. And look at all I have to be Thankful for. I'm sure that you can count your many Blessings too. Stop, and do it now! Don't wait another minute run through the list of what you are Thankful for right NOW!

Go ahead, everything else will wait~ ~ ~ ~Now, take a deep breath. Doesn't it feel good?

Thanks for listening and playing along.

Love to all of you

~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

and The Winner Is~ ~

Greetings Friends~ ~

Since this Give-a-way was this lovely pie dish from the kind folks at www.cookware.com I think it's fitting to end the contest with my Favorite pie recipe for Banana Pecan Cream Pie. It's easy and the result looks like you are a pro even if you aren't.

Please remember that Emile Henry will give 10% of the sale of each PINK pie dish to Breast Cancer Research. Wouldn't it be a great gift to give the women in your life a Pink pie dish as a Valentines gift?
It would also make a sweet Easter gift too.

Ingredients at the ready.


Mix the crust and press it into the pie dish.
Bake the crust and cool.
This crust is so good you will want to use
it for other pies that you bake. It's a No Roll Crust! Yeah.



Mix up the filling and pour it into the shell.

Top the pie with the Cool Whip and sprinkle with pecans.

Isn't this table quilt lovely? Is was a gift from my Mother.

She sewed it and quilted it all by hand.

This is the very simple recipe. Enjoy!

. . .and the Winner Is~ ~ ~

Kathleen's Gonna Want Seconds Cooking Blog!

Congratulations Kathleen. My sincere Thanks

to all of you for entering and for honoring me

with your presence here at my home

~ ~Joyously Living Life. Stop by again soon.

~ ~Ahrisha~ ~