Hi all... well guess I'll try this new Blogger interface. I've heard rumblings about it but just kind of ignored it. And now it's (automatically) here! So here goes......
Today is Sunday, August 9th. I can't believe it (I know... everyone says that!)..... but really, was July even here? (My son and his fiance DID come for a visit in July, and we took a road trip up to the mountains and walked the trail along the Metolius River - that was the highlight of July!)
 |
| My son and I at the Richardson Rock Ranch, 12 miles north of Madras. They are just that - a "rock" ranch! They have some of the world's largest "thunder eggs" right on the property, besides many other exotic rocks in the raw, and gems and stones. My son and his fiance love visiting there, every time they come to Madras. |
My hubby and I went to a town last week (Redmond), about 25 miles from us..... and we decided to stop at the produce stand, or even see if it was still there this year... and it was...... so we bought fresh peaches, blackberries, strawberries and (non-GMO) corn on the cob. I won't buy just regular corn at all, it HAS to be non-gmo.
Everything was delicious! We have a few peaches left. We've eaten them fresh, made a peach cobbler and I've had them for breakfast twice now. So sad they're almost gone. We don't have a produce stand in our town unfortunately.
We had two boxes of blackberries left, so I decided to make a "dump cake" today. I also had a few strawberries left, so mixed those in too. It turned out just perfect and so delicious! We've already sampled it and it's not even dinner time yet. Oh well... it's a good afternoon "snack".
 |
| So easy! Recipe below.......... |
 |
| Hot out of the oven.......... |
This was so Heavenly! I tried a peach dump cake, but used gluten free Bisquick instead of a cake mix, and it was pretty "doughy" so we didn't love it so much, but we did manage to eat it all!
Can you tell which one is my hubby's????
It was good even without whipping cream or ice cream........... well.. maybe there will be one of those for our dinner dessert tonight.....
Here's the recipe I got from a video on YouTube (of course I tweaked it a little bit):
BLACKBERRY DUMP CAKE
3 cups blackberries or a mix of berries (I used 2 c. blackberries and about 1/2 c. strawberries)
1/2 cup water or juice - I used 1/2 c. of a blackberry ginger ale soda
1 box of lemon or yellow cake mix - I used a gluten free yellow cake mix
2/3 cup sugar - I used 1/2 cup of coconut sugar
2 sticks of butter - I used 1-1/2 sticks (or 3/4 cup) melted
1 cup chopped nuts (I didn't use any nuts)
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray or grease 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour in the berries and juice, smash them up a little bit, then sprinkle the sugar over them. Pour the cake mix over the berries and spread evenly. Melt the butter and pour it over the cake mix evenly. Sprinkle chopped nuts over the top if you use nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes. Mine took 55 minutes.
I LOVE that you don't even have to use a bowl to mix things up.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So far, this new interface is just fine. It's very similar to before, but the icons are just in different places (and some of the photos don't want to mind me and be centered! Now though, I don't know if when you look at my blog, if you will see the pictures and information that I had on my sidebar (to the right). Could someone let me know if they still see that? Don't know why Blogger had to change a good thing!!!
I've been doing a little crafting in between yard work.
 |
| Sweet little mini album using scraps of paper - from a video by Septeria18 on YouTube. She is so talented! |
 |
| This is my "prototype" so you can see all my little notes! I'm definitely going to make more for my Etsy shop! |
I made a pretty card using a "Friday Freebie" from Gi Kerr on YouTube. Every Friday, she puts up a free printable on her Facebook Group, and then she shows us how to make something. I love this pretty vintage card:
 |
| If you would like the link to her Facebook Group or her YouTube video for this card, please let me know. |
 |
| I tried my hand at some of Gi Kerr's origami dresses. She has had several videos on making origami clothes for ladies - such as the dresses, a sweet little handbag, a fan (seen on the vintage card above), a corset and a dress form. She also has an origami man's shirt! Cute! |
 |
| Isn't this vintage paper just gorgeous??? I purchased it off of Etsy. If you want the name of the shop, please let me know. I made a cute folder from two #10 envelopes, that opens up and has a large pocket on each side.. to hold receipts, or cash or notes, money.... something to carry in my purse. Again, this idea came from a lady on YouTube named Posh Paper Lady. She used a smaller envelope and only had a pocket on one side. I wanted pockets on both sides. |
Here's a darling little "tag notebook" I made using a digital printable from My Porch Prints on Etsy. She has so many darling printable projects to choose from, and usually a video tutorial to go along with it. Her digital set includes some ephemera and some little words also. If anyone would like the link to her shop, please let me know.
Well friends, I guess that's all for now. I really was just popping in to say "hi" and show my yummy dump cake! See? I watch so much YouTube by ladies from England and Europe, that I'm starting to use phrases like "popping in" and "bits and bobs".
Have a great week everyone!
~Marilyn~