trick or treat . . .

. . . and Happy Halloween!  I am participating in the Trick or Treat blog hop, offered by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching!!  If you haven't visited her blog yet, head over there and definitely check it out.  She's got a list of participating blogs, and at each blog you'll find a clue to the mystery Halloween phrase!  You'll find my clue at the bottom of this post!

You know how there's spooky fun and spooky scary?  For the most part, I'm definitely a fan of spooky fun! When I was trying to figure out something new to 'brew up' for this stitchy hop, I kept coming up short.  Until I did a search for the word "Halloween" in my saved embroidery patterns, and pulled up this:

This was a cute coloring page I'd saved from holiday-crafts-and-creations.com. I've found that coloring pages make great embroidery, applique, and wool applique patterns!

So I edited the image to get just the frame I wanted . . .

Super easy! Then I needed to decide how to "color" my selection! I decided to go with wool on wool applique.

It was a fast an easy little piece to put together.  It fits perfectly in my mini stand, too!

I love how the yellow face pieces really glow!!!  Spooky fun, right?? I also did something new (to me, at least) with the outline blanket stitch around the background.  I skipped the corners and did a French knot in the center of the open block. I like the way it looks! Linking up also with the slow Sunday stitching post at Kathy's Quilts.  :)

This guy is spooky scary . . .

Todd found him wrapped up cozily in a box of tarps. Trying to stay warm I guess.  Todd said he was not quite as big as the palm of his hand. You'd have heard me from WHEREVER you are if I'd been the one to find him! I'm not even sure how Todd could get that close to snap a photo. <shudder>

Thanks for dropping by!!  My clue for the mystery Halloween phrase is . . .

Yup .. O!  Now head back to Jo's blog Serendipitous Stitching for the final clue.  Have a spooky fun day!!! 

:)

full(ish) disclosure . . .

Since I celebrate my birthday pretty much for the entire month of October, it probably won't surprise you that birthday gifts come in over the course of the month, too.  This year I got some really lovely *quilty, stitchy* gifts, and I wanted to share those here!

I think I already shared that Joc and her crew got me a 16.5" Creative Grids square ruler, but I'll share again, because Edith is so cute . . .

She couldn't for the life of herself understand why this made a good birthday present, much less why it made me so happy. But she proudly paraded it around!

And I shared that Todd had gotten me the 10.5" square ruler, but he also got me a lovely wool applique book:

Very fitting that there are pumpkins on the cover, no? He knows me so well!

Lots of lovely, wonderful patterns inside. This will keep me busy for a while!

The Panter crew sent me Kathy Schmitz's Tiny Treasures, along with a bag of Samovar's Masala Chai (not pictured). 

I've wanted the book for a while ... it's filled with so many sweet little embroidery patterns! And the Masala Chai by Samovar is the best chai I've ever had.  Perfectly blended spices to give it a warm, full-bodied flavor.  It's the epitome of a fall tea for me!

My darling friend Gail gifted me with an Etsy gift card.  I put it to good use pretty quickly!

One kit and three patterns!  (Not pictured is the pattern for the Jack-O-Lantern placemats!)  The wool Thanksgiving bowl fillers are the next season project I think I'll tackle.

My sweet friend Sarah brought me three spools of yummy, gorgeous perle cotton and a spool of shiny, pretty green that just reminds me of pumpkin vines, winding their way in and around the pumpkins in the field . . .

What's funny is that these colors all work just perfectly for the next Hospital Sketches block I'll work on.

I mean, right??!

And dear Janet (Rogue Quilter) send me a lovely package that smelled so good before I even opened it! Some of her handmade soaps (which I treasure), some Hot Cinnamon Spice tea (another fall/winter favorite of mine!), and Pocket Prayer Quilt made in my favorite colors!!

Isn't that so sweet? I love the pocket prayer quilt — it has a cross between the batting and the cotton, so as you hold it, you feel the shape of the cross. Such a powerful, thoughtful gift!

Today is cold, dreary, grey and wet, so no boating.  I spent some time in the Nook this morning piddling around and cleaning up after the barrage of projects (the Trick or Treat bags, the placemats, and hemming costumes).  Then I came in and had some tea . . .

Yeah.  The day calls for a POT of tea, not just a spot of tea.  ;)

Sunday I'm participating in the Halloween Trick or Treat blog hop sponsored by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching!  Should be lots of fun. Each participating blog shares a letter that forms a secret phrase! You hop 'round the blogs in order, gather the letters, cipher out the phrase, and report it back to Jo! Doesn't that sound like fun??

Happy Friyay!

finally caught up . . .

What a weekend! Friday afternoon we headed out to make things ready for the 5th annual Pastor & Wife Appreciation banquet and retreat.We had about 36 pastors and their wives.  It was a great evening with fabulous food, worship and fellowship—not to mention a terrific speaker who spoke great words of encouragement.  We had about nine couples who were able to spend the night.  There was a fabulous breakfast that morning, and then we broke out into groups, for some more encouragement.  I think it was a success!

But I was itching to get home, because I knew what I wanted to get done . . .

Jack-o-lantern placemats! Yay! They aren't quilted and the faces are just arranged, not permanent, so there's still work to be done. But they're so cute ... I'll finish them up this week so the girls can enjoy them over Halloween weekend!

I also got my little pumpkin & sheep piece finished.  I think I forgot to share.  I also forgot to put it on display!  I rectified that . . .

It makes me feel all happy and fallish.  Todd doesn't think sheep and pumpkins go together.  I'm not listening.

And of course it's a football Saturday!  Todd challenged me to up my football snacking game, so here's what we enjoyed . . .

I adore this cool charcuterie/cheese board! Isn't it so fancy?! James gave it to me for Mother's Day, and this is the first time I've used it! ♥ Needless to say, I think I rose to the challenge.  Alabama also rose to the challenge and beat Tennessee.  Roll Tide!

The weather was looking fine for Sunday, so Todd and I decided to go ahead and go from church to the lake.  As we drove to church, I noted that the future quilt fabric was looking good!

They're harvesting it now ... so I was happy to get a nice shot of a field ready to be picked!

It was a tad windy, but still a beautiful day on the water.

We're stylin! In the live version of this photo, Todd's beard is just a'blowing in the wind!  There was enough of a breeze that a number of sailboats were on the water.

I counted seven that I could see (though they wouldn't all fit in one photo).  I've never seen that many out at one time!

We fished a couple of coves and around the boathouses.  Fall is *finally* starting to make an appearance in the trees.  

The seasonal color has really come in a lot later than is typical!

We stayed out until after sunset (and it was a glorious sunset . . .

. . . don't you think?) and then headed in.  It was a cool ride back!  But it was totally worth it!

Have a happy week ... this might help get it off to a good start!!

:)

babies and sunsets . . .

Monday, I took a little time off and gave Joc a bit of a breather.  This time I took Ezra off her hands so she could shower and do some things she wanted to do.

Ummmmm, my pleasure!

Evidently I'm just the right sleep select comfort number.  Isn't he sweet??!  :)

And then Wednesday (because we knew we'd not be able to go out today ... we have our ministry's annual Pastor/Wife Appreciation banquet) I took off again.  (Because a five-day weekend wasn't enough.) And Todd and I hit the lake . . . again. The weather has just offered itself up for it!  It's not boiling hot, there's a decent mix of sun and clouds, and the fish are biting! We both fished, but Todd did most of the fishing and I went back and forth between fishing, reading, and taking pictures of the sky.

I think it's gotten to the point where I just need to list it as a hobby.

But what am I supposed to do when there's this glorious sky just begging to be captured??!

I think I mentioned my camera roll may go whacko every time we go out . . .

Although, to be fair, it doesn't *just* happen when we're on the lake.  I take a lot of morning sunrise shots going into work, too.  LOL!

I did go to work Thursday (yesterday). 

See? That's a sunrise.  

:)

celebrate on . . .

I may have shared that I give as much time as my birthday wants to be celebrated. A week where you only work two days and have the next five free is as good a time to continue celebrating as any! I gave a whole post to the Tate Farms fun, but I'll condense the remainder of the long weekend here. Mostly.  I think. 

Thursday, the weather continued to be beautiful, and since a wet, cool front was moving in on Friday, our regular boat day, Todd and I decided to go ahead and get our lake action in a day early.  It was another of those days where Todd was really catching them, so I fished, too.  Another fabulous day -- he caught two to my one, but that's pretty exciting to me, especially since our total was 45! And what do you know, algebra does pay off!  2x + x = 36; solve for x.  Hahaha...I caught 12!

What really captured my attention, though, was the late afternoon sun, and the clouds that were starting to pile up in anticipation of the next day's front . . .

I couldn't stop taking pictures! I think partly because my photo never looks quite as spectacular as what I'm seeing, and I want desperately to capture it that way.

I'd never seen a sun dog before ... it was just beautiful! I had to confirm with the meteorologist of Alabama, James Spann, to make sure it was what I thought it was.  If James says so, it is so!

The combination of the sun setting and the clouds amassing made for fabulous effect. My camera roll has no end of these photos.  Just saying. 

The City of Guntersville finally has a developer working on a spot of land on the lake aimed at boaters/tourists.  It's called City Harbor, and it's supposed to be a great spot for dining and entertainment, once they get it all built.

Not the best pic (this was actually taken 10/8).  We were moving at a pretty good clip!

It's really close to the marina ... it's a pretty spot now; just imagine what it will look like when it's all finished!

Friday I did a couple of things.  I visited Patches & Stitches and picked up some pumpkin oranges and greens (and used my birthday discount) . . .

Quite a nice little haul there, don't you think??

And then I traveled on to a new old shop.  It's an old shop that's been bought and is now being run by a new owner.  Southern Charm Quilting!  The new owner is in my stitch group.  She was having a terrific sale, trying to clear out some old inventory and make room for new fabric lines and wool.

I did very well here, too.  Seven yards of fabric for $36!  You can't beat that!!

From there I headed home and spent a little time in the Nook.  Worked on a mock-up of some pumpkin/jack-o-lantern placemats I wanted to make.  I messed up on the width of my strips, so I ended up with this little cutie instead . . .

I'll keep it for me ... at 12" wide it's too small for a placemat and a little too big for a mug rug ... but perfect as a small topper.  So be it.  I big stitched around the edges and down the lines.  It makes me smile!

Saturday was game day.  I made a double crust pizza and prepped the other two trick or treat bags for stitching . . .

I also finished up (finally) the pineapple block for Hospital Sketches in wool.

I've got two more blocks to finish.  The two most involved.  Go figure!  LOL!

As the evening (and the football) went by, I finished up my stitching . . .

I can't wait to gift these to the girls! 

One final photo.  Joc actually took and sent me this one.  In case you're wondering what Edith thinks about her baby brother . . . 

Baaahaaahaaa!!  As is usual, her face clearly says it all.

:)

tate farms . . .

As much as I'd love to be retired, if I do need to keep working, the place for which I work does us well. Our annual meeting was on Tuesday.  It takes a lot of time prep work, and then it's a long afternoon of meeting, but then we have the next two glorious days *FREE* which makes for a five-day weekend!  I put Wednesday, the first day, to good use!

One of the things I feel like I must do in order for my birthday month — and autumn in general — to feel complete, is visit Tate Farms!  I love to go with/take the grands, but truth be told, if no one could go with me, I'd go alone!  It really is one of my very favorite places. But this year, the local grandgirls were happy to go with me (which gave mama a bit of a break)!

It really was a lovely, glorious day.  First things first, we took the group photo in the pumpkins!

I got one of the girls, and also was gifted a shot with the girls, thanks to another visitor!

I knew where we'd go once we got inside the farm . . .

I think you'll be able to understand, after seeing this photo, why Edith refers to this as the "corn pool"!!  LOL!  They were having swimming races in the corn!  

From there we spotted the corn train.  It really was a lovely day ... look at that sky!

We headed that way via several additional photo opportunities and activities.

Not pictured are the bouncy thing, the petting zoo, and the bicycle track (which I did so Edith could ride on the back) (you didn't want pictures of that anyway, trust me)!  

The girls did have fun on the train (check out Ellie with her hands in the air, like she just don't care!), but Edith spotted the 'rainbow slide' on the ride, so we headed there next.

It's a big, tall slide!  But she insisted she wanted to go, so the three girls went up, and I waited at the bottom with the camera.  The two big girls thought it was amazing!  Edith, not so much. Heh. Her face says it all!!

After we'd seen and done all the things, we headed to find refreshments!  We ended up getting a famous pumpkin slushy ... (yummy!!) and glazed pecans.  Then we put all wristbands in for a show of Tate Farms solidarity . . . 

All for one, and one for all!

Yep ... check that one off my bucket list!  The only thing I'm sorry about?  I didn't get a pumpkin!  

Dang it, Bobby.  Hmmmm, maybe I'll need to make a second trip . . . 

:)