Mom's Birthday and the Red Oak Inn Dining Room

Can you picture yourself here?
This is the area by the front counter. The refrigerators covered in red gingham are full of pies for diners to take home! We took a blueberry crumb home for the kiddies!


The outside of this charming place. They also have a shaded back patio with a pergola to sit under and dine in the summertime.

Yesterday was such a beautiful day! My parents and I enjoyed having lunch at the Red Oak Inn Dining Room. If you ever get the chance to visit the historic village of Bishop Hill, Illinois take it! For lunch we had delicious Swedish Meatballs in a cream sauce served over noodles, a side salad, and served with a slice of light Swedish Rye bread. Of course they had ligonberry iced tea and homemade desserts to choose from. My Mom got a slice of their fabulous coconut cream pie, Dad got Swedish cream served with a raspberry sauce and I got quadberrry pie a la mode. Is your mouth watering yet?

I won a Polkadot Pixie Giveaway & New styles to try!

This is the one that I painted in the style of Jane De Rosier for my Mom for one of her birthday gifts. Jane does such a super job on her angels but I wish she would do more trees. Jenny from Wonders of Whimsy has the one that I wish I had. It is so pretty in pinks. My Mom loves it so much she is going to hang it in the not-often-seen guest bedroom. HeeHee!

This one is going to hang in my living room. I painted this in the Noodle and Lou style. The number three is the house number of my home and I have THREE boys! The boys have told me that the house closest to us is Grammy's house.

I painted this on fancy scrap booking paper and stitched the edge. This is dedicated to my son's first communion that took place last Saturday. I wrote the date and the occasion on the back for him to have as a keepsake of his special day.

This one is all my own design. I didn't try to copy from anything. Not sure what to do with her yet but I like her and may keep her on the fridge for awhile.

Wow! I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that I had won! Jenny (aka Polkadot Pixie) has chosen my number to receive one of her oh so sweet creations. http://thepolkadotpixie.blogspot.com/ She does absolutely fabulous work and I wished she lived closer to me so I could take a class and learn how she does what she does. Speaking of trying to emulate others, I have been trying my hand at some styles of artists' work that inspire me. They are too close (or maybe too far) to the original to sell but I created them for me and my Mom.

BTW today is my Mom's birthday so I want to wish her a very Happy Birthday. We will be going to Bishop Hill, Illinois to have lunch at the extremely charming Red Oak Inn Restaurant. Their speciality is handmade swedish food, particularly homemade pie with freshly churned ice cream. Super cool place to visit!

Tomorrow is the start of one of my favorite weekends of the year! The Beaux Arts fair will be taking place in the downtown area of Davenport, Iowa. I always buy something. I've bought art, jewelery, clothing and furniture. This year I am going in search of something sculptural for my yard. They usually have some pretty awesome stuff at this Fair. If you are an artist or a buyer than this is a destination to come to. People come from all over the region to do business here and I think they do pretty well as you see a lot of the same vendors year after year. I will take my camera with me and try to post about it soon.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you! Thanks again to Jenny of the Polkadot Pixie for the giveaway. Have a GREAT weekend!