doing life . . .

I feel like my stitching has slowed down a little.  Okay, okay, I *know* it's slowed down!  The Nook is a total mess right now, and I have no desire to do anything about it.  I do have handwork on hand ... the big hexie project is still in the works and I'm still working on the Hospital Sketches BOM in wool and some fall monogram work for the girls!

I had a couple of my stitching buddies over one day and we watching movies, drank tea and did handwork.  That was so fun--so fun I forgot to snap any pics! Todd went fishing that day! ;)

I also went through my quilting books and patterns and weeded out a significant number of both.  I gifted 'weeds' to pals who wanted them and put the rest on the "free to a good home" table at guild. I feel lighter now!  I also made a spreadsheet of the books I had, to make it easier to find them (and so I didn't purchase duplicates...again)!

Spent an afternoon at Scott's Orchard picking apples with Joc and the girls: 

We had such a fun time! I got sweet potatoes (right?!), apples, apple cider (which is YUMMY and contains nothing but apples and if you freeze for 90 minutes, makes a great slushy) and apple cider vinegar.  

Jackpot, right?

And look at this . . .

My Liv lost her first tooth!  Such a sweet girl...I miss her--all of them--so much!

Also big in my world right now is diet.  Not a "diet" so much as elimination.  My autoimmune meds quit working and the next step was a (self-injecting) drug that I'm afraid to try.  So I decided to do at least thirty days of AIP (autoimmune protocol), which I started Monday.  I did some prep work over the weekend . . . I made applesauce from scratch, "nomato" sauce, bone broth (can I tell you how much I love my Instant Pot?!) and riced a lot of cauliflower. Most of those things I got pics of . . . 

And we're off to a good start with meals (which I also grabbed photos of) . . .

Orange Beef with Broccoli over Riced Cauliflower--it was yummy!

Lasagna Casserole--to which the nomato sauce was put to good use, along with zucchini noodles--it was also (surprisingly) yummy!

So AIP is where my focus is ... especially since Todd volunteered to do it with me. Wow! It takes a little more planning . . .

And to wrap it all up . . . it's finally autumn (both on the calendar and meteorological), so Happy Fall, Y'all!

We like to celebrate Fall in theory here in the South.

Sweaters, autumn colors, pumpkins, spiced lattes and teas, colored leaves and all the works.  Even though temps are still in the 90's.  Ah well.  

:)

so much to say . . .

Do you know how long it's been since I've submitted a stash report??  About the same length of time it's been since I had anything to report!

Isn't that sad?!?  But finally, I do have a little something to throw out there, so there it is.

I finished up my wool apple stitchery . . .

And it's just fitting perfectly in its little spot.  

Glad I got it finished in time to give it a little 'air' time before moving to the big guns . . .

Which, who am I kidding, the pumpkins have already started making a pretty strong showing . . . 

Tea (which a sweet friend brought back from her trip to Gatlinburg, TN, for me).

Creamer (which my sweet husband spied and brought home).

Even my coloring sheets! Do you color?  I adore coloring -- it's so relaxing and fun!

Here's a fun freebie I pulled down off the Dover Samples.  I subscribe to their weekly samples, not just because of the coloring -- in fact, that's secondary -- but because of the potential *stitchery* and crayon tinting patterns!!  Always thinking, this one.  ;)

My coloring has taken a turn to Bible art journaling, which I'm loving.

I'm working my way through the Book of Proverbs (part of a challenge for a Bible study I'm facilitating, Lysa Terkeurt's The Best Yes).

Todd and I spent a good portion of the past two days over at our house, clearing out the painting supplies, touching up trim, and thoroughly cleaning it all . . .

I'm so ready to be done with this house!  Hopefully the market is at a point where we can successfully sell it. I do not want to rent (ever again) it, if we can help it. Anyone out there wanting to move to Alabama?! It's got a GREAT room for quilting! Haha!

And it's the land of cotton!! Bahaha!  

Anyway, as we were leaving, I snagged up some leaves from the magnolia tree out front.  I've always wanted to make a simple wreath from magnolia leaves and saw one a couple of months or more ago on [I *think*] the Better Homes & Gardens website.  For the life of me I couldn't find it again, but I had the picture in my mind pretty solidly, so this is what I came up with . . .

Have mercy, I think it took me longer to pick the leaves than to make the wreath! I already had the ribbon, so that was nice, and I actually used cardstock for my 'base'. I sprayed the finished piece lightly with a little gold glitter. Yay! The Nook's door needed a little something something!

Speaking of the Nook, after I finished up the wreath, I used up some of  that stash fabric . . . I made a simple little pillow cover for my love seat. 

I've been meaning to do this for a long time -- and eventually want to do something a little more involved with some quilting -- but this will suffice for the time being! I love the colors in that purple. It's hard to see, but it's burnt orange, purple, brown, and just a tad red. It's true autumnal fabric to me. One look around the camp's Serenity Pond and you can see what I mean . . .

The sumac trees are always the first to start changing and gosh, they are just beautiful right now!

And finally, look what Todd brought in to me yesterday morning . . . 

A new turtle hatchling!  They're so darling when they've just 'broken free'!  And not shy in the least little bit!

Time to hit the road to church this morning . . . linking up to Patchwork Times.  Have a wonderful day and thanks for indulging this longish post!!

:)