Happy Boxing Day!

It's Christmas Day for my Mom's side of the family.  What a ride! Kids running and screaming, the smells of turkey and ham permeate the air and a pile of shoes and boots blocks the entry.

We always have this thing at Christmas of making too much food.  There was tonnes. Well, a lot.  And I have this habit of eating tonnes. But, between you and me, we'll call it a lot.

I didn't make any desserts or cakes for this get-together.  I know...you were expecting one since that's all I seem to have been doing, lately. Instead, I gave away a shawl I've been working on for oh, a year and a half.  Yes, I said it out loud.  That long.

 I made it for my grandma :) She loved it. I don't have a photo of her with it because I'm not with it like that. However a photo of the shawl? I could do that for ya...

 

It's #28 Lace Shawl by Zabeth Loisel-Weiner.  And I love it, too.

Winning!!!

Who doesn't love contests??? I do! I do!!

I love playing contests..and winning, of course! I do radio, Internet and draws...and sometimes, I win!

What have I won? Use of a mini-bus for 8 hours (value approx $600), a gas card for $0.05 off/litre at PetroCan for up to 400 litres....concert tickets, books, gift cards to restaurants, the list could go on!

So, if you wanna win, check out this contest from Fabricworm and enter for some awesome fabrics.  Who doesn't love awesome fabric?? Start sewing!!

Frost-ing the Snowman

So he doesn't have a magic top hat. I thought a good old Canadian toque would keep him a lot, ahem, warmer...

Here he is, in all his buttercream glory...

His hat and scarf are modelling chocolate, made from those melts at the bulk store mixed with light corn syrup. So easy!

He even comes complete with his very own snowball border :)

Cake Making

Tonight is cake night.  Well, the last few days have been cake days.  Tonight is cake icing and assembling.  This is the part that makes my stomach twinge.  I have a vision.  A clear vision of how this 3D snowman should look.  Will it be so? Can I get the "round" look I want without the whole thing *gasp* toppling over?!?!?! These questions have plagued me for days and restless nights.  How I want my vision to manifest itself!!

Source

I'll post pictures when it's done :) 

Something Old, Something New...

..not much borrowed, and a few things blue.  Where was I? Busy with wedding planning!

Me and Andy
on our Wedding Day
June 29, 2013

We've been together since December 2002, so being married had been a long time coming..haha!

If you've been paying attention, you'll have seen that my favourite colour is orange, so this dress, the Jessica dress from Sears fit the bill perfectly! And it fit me pretty well, too!

My apologies for disappearing for so long.  Wedding planning, the Big Day, and (where did it go??) summer have been soooo busy for us that the blog had to take a hiatus.  Sorry for not warning you. Hope you had a great summer!

I love the way he's looking at me, here :) Makes me feel loved !

GAH!

I haven't forgotten about you! I've been super busy the last while..and a post in a bit will explain all.... That is, if you didn't already see it on Facebook.... If you did, well, you'll see it here, again.  Because I can.  And, I'm like that...

Here's a sneak peek...

Details will follow... ;)

How Do You Like...

They're BAAAAAaaaaack....

...no, not the poltergeists.

The strawberries! They're doing their thing.

I love the delicacy of strawberry flowers.

Plumping nicely, see?

And moments away from being plucked from the stem...

All that, and it's not even Father's Day.

Happy Saturday, folks!

 

 

 

 

 

 



Out With the Old..

..in with my new favourite colour!

Super-long Link

I am IN LOVE with orange.  I have no idea why this tickles me so much, but holy cow...Everything I want is orange.  Yarn.  My purse is orange (and awesome, by the way).  I have orange outdoor-croc-like shoes and orange flip flops.  Orange pansies? Yep, I've got 'em! (I'm waiting for the orange poppies in my front garden to bloom).  I'm even dressed in an orange t-shirt. 

Doesn't this colour just do something for you? It does for me. And I really don't know why.  But that's alright. Let's not question what we know is good.

What's your favourite colour? Which one of the rainbow hues makes you happiest? Do you follow colour trends? Tell me! Enquiring minds, and all that ;)

A Rose by Any Other Name...

...would smell as sweet.

As a buttercream bouquet? Perhaps. 

Enjoy the long weekend!

Who Needs Rain...

...to have a rainbow in your backyard?

Yes, I take the time to sort the colours when I hang my t-shirts.  Why? Because people look! Admit it...you take a peek when you see laundry blowing in the wind... 

The way I figure it...if folks are gonna look, they might as well see it hung up in an attractive manner.

Hope you've been enjoying all the warm weather we've been having here, in Ontario.  Sounds like "seasonal" temperatures will soon return.  Not that 17 or 18 Celsius is something to sneeze at..unless you've got allergies.  But that's a whole 'nother blog post..

Thanks for stopping by atgraciesplace! See you soon!

MIA? AWOL?

Have you been atgraciesplace and I haven't been here? I promise, I'm not AWOL nor MIA.

I've been in the jungle.  The mighty jungle.  Where the lion sleeps, tonight.  haha!

Actually, the lion isn't sleeping.  That's because there's a baby sleeping in his bed! I've been in this jungle for the last week.

There she is...sleeping away....

It was such fun to make! A bit nerve wracking, but anything I tackle does that to me. Or maybe I do it to myself - who really knows?! Each tier is a 3 layer vanilla cake, filled with vanilla buttercream. The outside decorations and pink icing are fondant, and the grass is buttercream. Turned out kinda pretty in my opinion. What do you think?

Do you bake? Do you do fancy things or stick to everyday desserts? There's so much to try in the baking world. Let me know when you take your next adventure!

 

Oh, My Shattered Nerves!

Blocking.  I fear it. 

Sewing the Seeds of Spring

So, remember last week, when I said I started some seeds for my garden? Well, this is what that looks like:

Hippity-Hoppity

Look who came to visit :)

Chocolate cake, buttercream icing and monster eyes!

 

Well, a whole passel of these guys came to visit, and as soon as they did, they were gone! We had some happy neighbour kids..though, I'm not sure how thrilled their parents were, what with all the sugar.  Oh well, they're not my kids! Heehee!

I hope you all had a great Easter weekend, and are beating the sugar hangover :) 

I treated myself to some yarn the other day...I'll have to let you in on that one. 

Posts have been sporadic for a bit.  My hope is to blog more, now that spring is here, and I've started planting my seeds for my garden.  I'll show you some pics when they start to "show".  Feels like having a baby :)

Did you start your garden seeds this weekend? It was a great one for getting outside and enjoying the sun.  We did that, and cleaned up most of the dog mess....that one's like laundry.  The never-ending pile...

Peek-A-Boo!

 

I seeeeeeeee you!

Do you know what that is? It's a hyacinth.  Yep.  Poking through the dirt.  A purple one. I took this photo a couple of weeks ago, stunned by how early it was coming up.  The ring in the bottom right of the photo..that's where I had a plant pot over the winter, evidently sheltering this little guy!

There's his little friend, there, on the left.

The beginning of a grouping of tulips...I can't remember which colour these are.  I planted them out of a pot that a friend had given me. It's like a surprise, every spring!

And those daffy daffodils.  They're popping up, too!

I love the beginning signs of spring.  It makes me feel so hopeful for the newness of everything.  Does that make sense to you?

What's your favourite part of spring? The smell of the fresh dirt? Seed shopping? Waiting for the nurseries and garden centres to open? Tell me! And tell me what you plant in your garden. 

I've started planning mine...And it includes one really neat-o kind of plant.  But, I'm not telling until you do!

Oh! These Lucky Ladies!!

You must read this.

It's about 2 ladies.

And a truck. 

And yarn. 

And....ahhhh....if only!



These ladies are living my dream.  I wonder if they'd franchise...?!?!?

Kiss Me! I'm Irish!

If we could only go around saying that every day!!

Here's my contribution and what I did yesterday in preparation for St. Patrick's Day.  We don't do much around here to celebrate.  Besides, it's a Sunday and I have to work today. 

Butter Pecan with buttercream icing.  Who can say SWEEEEET!


May you always have walls for the winds, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire, laughter to cheer you, those you love near you, and all your heart might desire. ~ Irish Blessing~

Happy Day, my friends!

Drumroll, Please!

I like contests.  I like to enter them, just to see..juuuuust in case I might win.  That doesn't mean I'm a gambler..the occassional scratch ticket or Lotto pick, but nothing serious. But contests...radio contests, I seem to be quite good at!  Some of the items I've won are concert tickets, use of a mini-bus (what a trip that was! No, you're not getting details...), gift certificates radio station swag and so on. It's kind of fun! 

I haven't entered too many big name brand internet contests, as the chances of winning are super-skinny-jean slim. So, I stick with blog contests.  Kind of like this one which is over, so please don't enter.  I came upon it by chance, as another blogger I read had commented on it over my social media feed.  Did you catch all that? Ok, so I clicked on the link, all curious-like, took a read and left a comment.  It helped that I love the book that Truly Myrtle was reviewing.

 Pacific Knits by Alexa Ludeman and Emily Wessel has so many cozy-looking patterns...click on the link to see the look book!

Then, as usual, I forgot about entering.  What were the chances of my comment being picked out of who-knows-how-many to win this great offering?

Give it a few days...and then I checked my blog comments (because it's fun to see if anyone reads)!  I saw a comment.  My heart skipped a beat.  It said:

"Hey Kathy - you've won my giveaway for Pacific Knits! Email me your address or drop me a pm on Ravelry so I can send it to you :) Congratulations!!!"

Holy cow! I was stunned! I checked her blog. It was true.  Not some cruel joke.  I had WON! It's right here. See that?? I won! Yay!

This is the first thing I've won in quite a while.  I think my luck is returning! And with just a little more (tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day..gotta catch a leprachaun!) I'll be knitting from this little beauty soon!

It's been a While!

Hey folks! Sorry it's taken me so long to come back.  You're always welcome at gracie's place, even if I'm not here :)  It's been a busy week so far at work which should explain my absence.  If you don't go for that excuse, well, I don't have another, so it'll have to do!

Last weekend (and man, I meant to post this before now) I was one busy girl.  Some background: I work in a kitchen.  All day, every day, with food.  Lots of food.  Cookies, sandwiches, pies, salads, catering trays, baked goods....and produce.  We sell produce, too.  So, you'd think, that when I have 3 days off..yes, count 'em...3!... the last thing I'd want to do is be in my kitchen.  True at the end of most days.  But you see, Friday was my first day off.  And typically, that is a work day.  So after checking my various social media websites for the latest in everything I started to bake. 

And this is what I came out with...

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread...YUM!

And while that was baking, I did this...

White Bread...YUM!

 

And after that? Well, how could I not bake these??...

                                                  the best Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER..YUM!

 

Three dozen cookies, 5 loaves of bread and a banana loaf.  The only thing left is the loaf and the bread.  The cookies were gone by Monday! Can you say...sweet teeth?? Not just me, though I do..admittedly...the Other Two were in on the munching too.  Oh well, that's what they're for, right?!

 

And I know you're going to ask what I did for the other 2 days I had off. 

 

Let me just say that I didn't spend them at my stove. 

 

Hope your week (March Break! ACK!) is going well, and that your baking lasts longer than mine!

                                                                         

Pssst! Guess what?!

...Spring is coming!

I'm over here!

Looks like I've moved! Ha! Didn't think I'd be doing that so soon, now, did you!

Let's be honest, neither did I...But, the one link I wanted to use, just doesn't want to show up on the "other" blog hoster..so, here I am...
 
I'll be using this link from now on..I'll update all my "places" soon..I don't want you to miss a single post!