What a Classy Critter! - Seriously Questionable Style Moments

Maine has lobster and Massachusetts has fried clams. But when it comes to summertime dining in Rhode Island, it's all about Clam Cakes, and nobody makes them better than Aunt Carrie's.

These designs from the Celtic culture have become a source of inspiration to body art. The abstract geometric designs that characterize these symbols have

When Grandpa was small he used to make hollyhock dolls. As our girls grew up in Abraham, their Grandmother Young had lots of hollyhocks and they made dolls also. Today I went out and picked our first hollyhock and grandpa and I made a doll. The first pictures you see here are the ones we found on the Internet. Now you get to see the one Grandpa and I made I think it looks pretty nice!!!! And so does Stevie.

I am very lucky to have some wonderful cooks in my family, and my Aunt Nita is definitely one of them. Aunt Nita and me at my rehearsal dinner She made this okra for dinner last week when we were visiting Tybee Island, and I loved it so much I called her up for the recipe/method to make it for dinner last night. Andy had 3 servings. What I love so much about this recipe is you still get the crispiness like you do in fried okra, but you actually taste the okra instead of fried batter. Plus, it's so much healthier. Have any of you tried oven-fried okra? Well, I have and did NOT like it. I love fried okra, and I might even go so far as saying that I like this version even better. You must try it! These measurements are more like "guess-daments"so just play it by ear when you make it. 1 lb. okra, rinsed and cut in pieces (not that I am accusing any of you of not washing your veggies, but you canNOT skip this step because the wetness from the rinsing is what will make your "batter" stick) *Salt and pepper to taste 1/4 cup flour 1/4 cup cornmeal 2-3 tablespoons olive oil 1. After rinsing your okra, cut it into about 1/4 inch pieces, discarding stems, and place in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. 2. Combine the flour and cornmeal in a small bowl. Add to okra and stir to coat. I only used about half of the mixture. You only need enough to lightly coat the okra...you don't want it to be too battered. 3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat until it smokes. Add the okra and cook until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. *I used about 1 teaspoon or 1 1/2 teaspoons of Paula Deen's "House Seasoning", which is good on everything! Here is the recipe for it: 1 cup salt, 1/4 cup black pepper, 1/4 cup garlic powder. I keep it in an airtight container in the spice drawer and use it on just about everything...especially good on roasted potatoes! On a side note, I am still recovering from a fun weekend in Wrightsville Beach, NC celebrating this girl's bachelorette. We had waaaay too much fun! A few of us decked out in our neon to celebrate with Megan! Poolside! The bride-to-be is the one in the ginormous sombrero! And notice her blow-up groom-to-be chillin' in her lap!

Our Moda Block Heads Block of the Week has gotten off to a fantastic start! Lynne, Jo, Jan, Lisa, Carrie and I, ALL thank you!!! ...

Star Wars : Le réveil de force, approche à grand pas. Il ne reste exactement plus que 111 jours avant la sortie du septième épisode de la cultissime saga....

Get out the arts and crafts supplies to make your own homemade Easter cards with these fun ideas of Easter cards to make with the kids.

Pound Cake-Aunt Sue’s Famous. Discover our recipe rated 3.8/5 by 215 members.

Fellow Modelers!!! This is my project (from 2008) on this weird equipment used by the Americans in the reconquest of Europe. The M4 Sherman with mine exploder T1E3 "Aunt Jemima". M4 Sherman fitted with T1E3 Aunt Jemima mine exploder Beggendorf, Germany - December, 1944. History: Experience in the North African Theater coupled with intelligence reports on German coastal and national boundary fortifications on the European Continent, established the fact that the Allied offensive in Northern Europe would have to overcome numerous land mine fields layed by the Germans as an integral part of their defense installations. In addition, it was anticipated scattered mines and small, hastily prepared mine fields would be encountered during the advance between main lines of defense, particularly when the battle line was permitted to stabilize. Therefore, emphasis was placed upon developing an assault technique in combat training that would facilitate rapid passage of mine infested areas; with particular emphasis being placed upon the development in the Zone of Interior of specialized mine exploder equipment that could effectively clean a safe path by detonating mines, and at the same time withstand attack from enemy gunfire. Two basic types of mine exploders were developed for detonating unlocated land mines: 1-"Pressure Type" Mine Exploder: activates the mine fuse with pressure applied by a mechanical device, e.g., a roller, plunger, disc, or flail, that is relatively indestructable. In addition, this type mine exploder should be effective, maneuverable, and easy to maintain and operate. Examples: Mine Exploder T1E1 Earthworm: Mine exploder T1E1 (Earthworm) attached in a M32 ARV Mine Exploder T1E3 Aunt Jemima: The Aunt Jemima T1E3 was named after a popular pan cake mix logo, because somebody thought the big exploder wheels resembled gigantic pancakes. Mine exploder T1E3 (Aunt Jemima) attached in a M4A1 Sherman. The image insert is the famous pancake. Notice the paint in the M4A1 side The "hull-art" in the Jemima's side . art: Bison Decals Mine Exploder Flail Crab: Performed the most favorable when mine exploders were first carefully examined by American officers on the Continent in November 1944. British Sherman V Crab 2-"Concussion Type" Mine Exploder: activates the mine fuse or sympathetically detonates the mine charge with the force of concussion or blast obtained by detonating a nearby charge of explosives. This explosive force may also displace mines from the ground without detonating them. Examples: Snake M2 demolition device: Is a linear charge of explosive encased in shaped metal plates providing sufficient rigidity to permit the charge to be pushed over rough terrain. It is assembled to a maximum length of 120m by combining a series of W-shaped channel plates, 35,5cms wide and 2,74 m long. It has a pear shaped nose to deflect it from obstacles, a detonating assembly and a towing hook at the front end, and a pushing hook at the rear to receive tank towing or pushing assemblies. In average soil, a Snake will detonate, throw out, or break up all anti-tank and anti-personnel mines within a path 3,5 m to 4,5 m wide. Snake M2 device Conger: Is a British device which projects a five inch rocket pulling an empty canvas hose (5 cm diameter, 300 ms long) over a minefield. The hose is than filled with a liquid explosive which is detonated to clear a lane approximately 6 ms wide. All the equipment is carried in a towed Bren gun carrier from which the engine and other components have been removed to make room for the unit. Conger attached in the rear of Churchill tank Wurlitzer: Is a British Churchill 3-inch Gun Carrier (without the gun) tank equipped with 25 modified long bangalore torpedo tubes (Snake) on each side of the tank above the track, that project bangalores approximately 3,6 m long to a position 45 to 90 ms in front of the tank. This device was never employed in combat, but is listed here merely as an experimental device that was viewed in the European Theater, and is considered to show promise. font: http://www.lonesentry.com/manuals/armored-special-equipment/index.html#ch2 Churchill Wurlitzer But since the topic is about Aunt Jemima, we focus on this huge apparatus. The 'Jemima' consisted of nothing more than two massive steels rollers pushed in front of a tank, with one roller ahead of each tank track. Each roller was divided into five discs. Each disc was about 10 cm thick and 2,46 m in diameter. The Sherman, itself, was about 2,74 m high and the whole setup weighed in at around 26.000 Kgs. The roller chains from the Sherman sprockets drove the loosely mounted discs; the spacers were arranged and grooved to allow the discs to move. The T1E3 worked well in tests, but in service use the device proved difficult to maneuver. One account says that it took the length of 2-3 football fields for it to make a U-turn!! The 'Aunt Jemima' detonated mines by its heavy weight, but this caused severe mobility problems, when it sank into soft terrain, and other Sherman tanks were often called in to push it. T1E3 stuck...a common problem... The few U.S. Units that used this device highly disliked the mobility problems and quickly lost interest in the vehicle. The British 'Crab' which flailed chains in front of a Sherman was a much better device. Specs: Based on a George Bradford drawing T1E3 Mine Exploder Aunt jemima Type Pressure type mine exploder Place of origin USA Service history In service 1944-45 Used by USA Production history Manufacturer Whiting Corporation Produced March - Dec. 1944 Number built 75 - 22 in action Specifications Weights: each disc: 2 ton all unit: 26 ton. Overal length (front sprocket to disc) 3,6 m Overal width of unit 3,3 m Diameter of disks 2,4 m Width of disk 7,5 cm Minimum turning radius 31 ms Maximum backing speed 4,8 Km/h Maximum forward speed cruising 16,1 Km/h Maximum forward speed cleaning 4,8 Km/h Maximum grade ascending ability - approx. 15 percent Max. trench crossing ability - approx. 1 m The kits: For this project, I used an old Tamiya M4 early production (35190) and a Mineroller T1E3 conversion kit (827) from Verlinden , which I bought on eBay. Old and honest M4 early Tamiya Odd-ball resin kit from Verlinden. When I built this beast, I modified the bogies of my Sherman mine exploder for the version with straight arms of return rollers, spoked idler wheels and spoked wheels in the bogies. To do that, I used bogies and wheels from Academy and idler wheels from Dragon (from my spare parts box). I swapped the bogies of the Academy by Tamiya and vice versa, as was building a M4A2 Russian Academy, in parallel. The russian M4A2 Academy got the raised arms bogies (Tamiya). See the pics; bogie from Academy to Tamiya's Sherman M4A2 Academy with Tamiya suspension And the two hulls: Tamiya with Academy shoes and Academy with Tamiya shoes. Notice the one piece transmission cover in the M4 Tamiya Shermie. The Tamiya M4 tank was easy to built...Let's see the Verlinden conversion kit: Cleaning the resin and metal parts... The disks and the spacers... Getting together!!! ...and the T1E3 in the Shermie's snout !!! While the mine exploder device dried, I took the time scratching the coils in the hatches of Shermie coils made with metal wire close-up Done !! The tank is almost ready Cano em metal da RB Models The Shermie is almost ready...dry-run Adapting the pushing-plate... Well, painting time...olive-drab in shades.... A huge girl.... Well, the tank was almost ready when Roy Chow at Armorama, reminded me to a detail in the aft portion of the hull of the tank. Here are the words of our colleague: "From all photos I've seen, the T1E3s with M4s used the Baldwin manufactured M4s -- characterized by a vertical rear bulkhead.For the Tamiya kit, this shouldn't be that difficult to alter..." Wow..That was intense... Based in this alert (thanks a lot, Roy...), I did this: Notice the M4 rear hull (red rectangle) I confess that my first reaction was: I'll make a tarp and cover the wrong rear of the tank... But this would be a lazy and wrong action ... I decided to fix the tail of my tank. See the picture below: the rear hull of the M4 Sherman is vertical. M4 Sherman ( Baldwin hull) Notice the vertical real (red arrows) and the sandshield( blue arrow) Time of surgery: Dremel and saw disk: Cutting the rear hull... Tamiya hull transformed in Baldwin hull. Notice the rear portion of the sandshield... Baldwin rear - right side above and left side below... Added a few more details on Verlinden disks: Metal ... Reinforcements and mud scrapers Belly view... After this scare, it's time to relax, applying the decals .... Hmmm...I don't like this step between the rear hull and the sandshield The step...grrr...Awfull !!! As my father said: When the head does not work, the body suffers...Let's do the right thing!! Fixing the defect ! The real and the kit... Final touchs in the disks; Doing crew stuff in the back of the tank: Resin stuff... Tarp made with silk-paper and white glue... And my medium tank M4 Sherman with T1E3 mine exploder "Aunt Jemima" was done !!! M4 mine exploder with M4A1 dozer In good company !!! Thanks, my friends !!! See you, soon !!!

Our Moda Block Heads Block of the Week has gotten off to a fantastic start! Lynne, Jo, Jan, Lisa, Carrie and I, ALL thank you!!! It is my pleasure to bring you Block 2 Aunt Dinah. For this block, I chose 5 prints for a scrappy look from Hope's Journey and the upcoming Rachel Remembered lines. Right below this photo is the link to print your pattern and some piecing tips. Click HERE for Aunt Dinah pattern by Betsy Chutchian After selecting my prints, I spray starched and ironed each piece. Starching helps so much when cutting out the small pieces in these blocks. After cutting all the parts, position them for sewing, checking to see you like your choices. Sew small cream triangles to two sides of red squares. Press to triangles. Pair this unit with each chocolate brown triangles, matching edges and points. Pin in place before stitching. Stitch with the pieced unit facing you. Press to the dark triangle as shown below in the 4 corners. The unit should measure 2 1/2" In Step 2, stitch remaining small triangles to blue triangles, pressing to the blue triangle. Pin units to larger cream triangles, matching edges and points. Stitch with pieced unit facing you. Press to large cream triangle. This unit should measure 2 1/2" Sew units together in rows. Press top and bottom rows out to corners. For center row, press to center square. Here is the back of the block. Note I flipped the intersections in the center, to stagger the seams, then pressed well. Block should measure 6 1/2" for a 6" finished block. There were not any true leftovers from this block, but I made a little mini anyway. 3/4" finished squares. 3 1/2" finished block. These little mini blocks may become pincushions or a little quilt at the project's end. Who knows! I don't have a plan. This is sew me. I love to play with tiny leftover bits. Did you miss my mini from last week? Maybe I have a thing for pennies???? Have fun with Aunt Dinah. She's a sweet block! If you have a question, let me know! Next Wednesday, go to Jo's blog for Block 3. Details for all blogs and other social media for each designer are below. If you want to be assured of receiving the block each week, sign up on EACH designer's blog to receive their blog posts by email. Don't forget to sign up to receive my blog posts in your inbox! Or, just visit us all often! We love to hear from YOU! Thanks for joining us on this 48 week journey. My pattern numbers are 2, 8, 14, 20, 26, 32, 38 and 44. Remember, each one of us posts block patterns 8 times during the series, in a 6 week rotation. I look forward to seeing YOUR blocks. For those of you on Facebook, have you joined the group Moda Blockheads? Members are posting their blocks, asking questions and having fun chatting with one another. Until next week~ Betsy Lynne - Blog - http://kansastroublesquilters-lynne.blogspot.com/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/KansasTroublesQuilters/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/lynnektq/ Betsy - Blog - http://betsysbestquiltsandmore.blogspot.com/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/betsy.chutchian Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/betsy_chutchian/ Lisa B - Blog - https://lisabongean.com/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/primitivegatherings.quiltshop/ or https://www.facebook.com/lisa.bongean Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/lisabongean/ or https://www.instagram.com/primitive_gatherings_quiltshop/ or https://www.instagram.com/primitive_gatherings_ca/ Jan - Blog - http://janpatek.blogspot.com/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/jan.patek.79?fref=nf Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jan_patek_quilts/ Jo - Blog - http://jomortonquilts.com/jos_journal/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/jomortonquilts/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/joquilts/ Moda - Blog - http://blog.modafabrics.com/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/modafabrics/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/modafabrics/

Brighten up your look with these fresh, warm blonde hair colors. From your lightest warm blonde to your darkest warm blonde, here are our favorite sun-kissed blonde picks for a sweet refresh.

I got this recipe from a friend, who got it from her aunt, who got it from...who knows? Whatever the original source, it's a tasty favorite that's a cinch to make.—Margaret Adams, North Vernon, Indiana

Yesterdays news that George Lucas is giving the keys to the Star Wars universe to The Walt Disney Company in a $4.05 billion mega-deal surprised fans around the world, including some famous filmmakers who grew up on the franchise . It even caught a key figure in that…