halloween hoppin day three . . .

It's the last day *and* my day, YAY! 

When I first read the criteria of this hop — I’m going to make this really simple this year, I’d love to see a project with “Purple” in it, but seriously I’ll be happy also if it doesn’t …What’s Halloween tho without a bit of purple? You are free to make something new, or show a past project you’ve created — I knew this was a hop for ME!  Anyone that knows me, knows I love purple! All you have to do is look at a few of my past Halloween blog hop projects . . .

Wicked Blog Hop

Witchy Stitchy Blog Hop

Pick a Pumpkin Blog Hop

And select pieces of my current Halloween/Autumn decor . . . 

. . . to understand I'm all about including purple in the festivities!  Because, after all, Marian, of Seams to be Sew (our lovely blog hop hostess) is absolutely right.  What's Halloween without a little bit of purple?! ♥

Of course, the possibilities were endless, so I was all over the board with my thoughts. But then a late afternoon/early evening out on the lake gave me my *light bulb* moment.

Where we fish on Lake Guntersville, out near the dam, there also happens to sit a protected brown bat cave, right on the water.

At dusk, the bats fly out of the cave by the hundreds, and boaters come from everywhere to see the spectacle. I caught a bit of the excitement on video as we were hustling back to the marina . . .

Isn't that so cool?!  It's amazing to sit amongst them on the water. And see the waning light of the sky and how it makes every thing look a soft purple?  BINGO! Then I remembered I had a really cute pattern from Quilt Doodle Designs (that I've had for ages) that would be perfect.  

Isn't he (she?!) handsome?  Soft and sparkly . . . that's how I like my bats.  And PURPLE!  

Of course, I couldn't do just one thing. (I mean, right?!)  I'm also a huge fan of candy corn.  Did you know you can actually buy purple candy corn?

Yep.  Never have had it, but I'm curious how it tastes!  Instead, I stitched up a few candy corn bean bags in Civil War prints and backed them with, well . . . purple.

Because I can! And the CW print I used on the back ... I just love it!  It reminds me of fangs.  And candy corns.  Perfect, non? I filled them with crushed walnut shells ... and didn't realize it until midway through the process that there was also lavender in the mix.  Rather appropriate for the look, I'd say. *wink*

So there you have it!  I think my coffee table is getting a little full.  I may need to give away a few things . . . maybe a candy corn or two, some wool acorns and a few other fall goodies?  If that sounds fun to you, leave a comment by midnight on Friday, make sure there's a way for me to contact you, and I'll do a random draw and try and get the goodies in the mail so you have them before the month ends!

Thanks, Marian for such a fun hop!  Be sure to visit today's other participants, too!

Wednesday, October 21

Words & Stitches

Kathy's kwilts and more

me! >>>   Count it *all* JOY   <<< me!

Quilted Diary

Flying Parrot Quilts

Seams To Be Sew

Happy Halloween Hoppin!

:)

birthday weekend . . .

It was a pretty crazy week at work, getting ready for our big annual meeting next week.  But that didn't stop me from getting some evening stitch time in . . .

Work progresses on this sweet little "Give Thanks" stitchery. It's nice to have something relaxing to look forward to at the end of the day!

I came home to some sweet snail mail happies this week, too.  This was a win from Life in Pieces as she celebrated her 13th blogiversary!

Isn't that fun?!? I love the stiletto! ♥

And this was an Instagram win from Kathy Schmitz!

I won one of her sample snow cones!  Total sweetness! I got several Etsy gift cards for my birthday; the pattern for these will be one of my first purchases!

Then I *ordered* these darling little wool candy corns . . .

Because candy corns are second only to pumpkins (and maybe tied with acorns) for happy fall decorating! ;)

Yesterday I celebrated the big fifty-eight.  Whoa.  The local grandgirls (and their parents) came out to celebrate with me . . .

Always a good time when they're around! Edith loves her Paw-paw! 

Last week I stumbled across Faye's post (from Slow Sunday Stitching) on her darling little crocheted pumpkins. SO cute!  Who am I if I didn't give that a try?!?!

So I am trying ... "try" being the operative word.  I'm not a crocheter by any stretch, but these were pumpkins! I'm finished crocheting the first body . . . we'll see how it goes from here!

So I've got my pick of projects for some slow Sunday stitching . . . and since we're still grey and rainy from Delta, stitching away the afternoon sounds just about perfect.  Along with a nap!!  Linking up with Kathy's Quilts and her slow stitching post round-up!!

I'll leave you with this . . . 

Seventy-five days!!!  Aye-yi-yi!!  

:) 

acorns, candy corns, and pumpkins . . .

Oh my!

Did a lot of wool stitching this week . . . 

Still working on the acorns!  This is the perfect day for a little Slow Sunday Stitching!! I imagine I'll slowly be working in wool for the rest of the week . . . my sister and her crew arrive late this afternoon!  

I also stitched up two dresses . . . one for Olivia and one for June:

Kim bought the fabric, so I can't count it against my stash for this week!

I did, however, send some yardage to a fellow quilter who'd lost everything to a house fire. Her daughter is a quilter/blogger and posted the call for fabric here. It always feels good to give to others. It was also the only thing that happened to my stash this week:

Still, this time last year, I was at -50.5 yards, and the year prior I was a whopping -119 yards at this point.  Uh . . . I'd say I'm not buying enough fabric this year!!!  I'll link this right on up to the stash report at Patchwork Times.

I also put the finishing touches on my candy corn and got it hung on my front door:

Whoohoo!  I wasn't sure about the brown ribbon, but seeing it up, I think it's perfect!

Found a little treat in Target the other day.  I know "the season" has started when the sugar-free peppermint mocha has hit the shelves! It's my absolute favorite flavor.  I'd drink it year around if they stocked it. As it is, I can't find it at just any store, so when I *do* find it, I buy a bunch.  (Like, all they had.)

I also found these darling little mugs on sale at Cracker Barrel -- I got two to replace the old, plain mugs I've used for forever.  I needed something pretty and girly!  And I got the two of them for less than six bucks.  No brainer!

And finally, what would an October post be without a pumpkin in it???

Ellie and her Grandma Merkel made this little cutie!  I think I may need to make one for my own display this year!!

Happy Sunday!

:)

orange, purple, blue and plaid . . .

One of my sweet sisters spent the past week with me . . . it was the first time she'd been down without husband or kids, so it was a true sisters week (except for the fact that we spent a lot of it with my husband and kids and grandkids)! Actually, since I knew she was happy to get her hands on some babies, the grandkids were part of the charm of the visit!

We had a lovely visit, though not near as long as I'd have liked for it to have been! One day we got our craft on and played around a little with painting drop cloth door hangers:

I wanted a candy corn and my sister wanted the pumpkin.  They were such fun to make!  I still need to finish mine up (it won't take much), but we wanted to make sure she could take a finished happy home! (And I'll probably go back and make another one -- a pumpkin -- just in case you were wondering.  Haha!)

Oh, the elephant fabric came in . . . and even though I had company, I couldn't resist playing with it just a bit!

So "Dot" is cut out!  I've got to stitch down the ear, stitch and fill the tail and place it, and then I can stitch up Dot's sides.  Whoohoo!  The fabric is even prettier in person . . . and what you're seeing is the 'wrong' side!

So . . . like I said, the fabric came in.  Which means I have stash to report again this week!

And I could only buy those two prints in one yard increments, even though I only needed a quarter yard of each print. Which means I only used a half a yard. Que sera, right??!  Linking this up to the stash report at Patchwork Times!

Spent yesterday making a cheese ball (a manly-man cheese ball, with pimento, bacon, and onion) and cream cheese mints for a couples baby shower we're having a church today:

Blue is for a boy!  I tried the baby buggy mold for the first time.  It's a little tough to manipulate. I did four and then reverted to my old (and easy) standby; roses!  

And this week, I'll probably find some time to play with a little wool project I'm currently in love with:

Isn't it fun? Hmmmm . . . this may actually constitute my Slow Sunday Stitching! Fall is here!!!

(Edited to add:  Linking up to the Design Wall Monday post at Patchwork Times!)

:)

post-op . . .

So, it is finished. And without a whole lot of to-do. The doc did a great job -- took him about two hours. A chunk of donor hip-bone, two 4" serrated screws, and two sheets of some special bone-growth promoting material. I am feeling pretty bionic . . . or at least I *will* be, once I'm not feeling so puny!

Look at this side view . . .

It's pretty long -- I think he inserted it at the base of the heel (from the outside) and screwed it in to be pretty flush with the outside bone.

So this is what I came home with. A white cast and oompa-loompa toes. LOL! I keep the cast on until October 10. I'll go back in for a checkup then, he said he'd cut off the cast, check everything out, and put a new one on with a hole cut into it somewhere, so he can attach a gadget that stimulates bone growth/health. I'm not really sure about all that, because he told this to my daughter and hubby, not me.

And, the doc sent me home with some pretty decent pain meds . . .

And Todd stopped at the store on the way home and picked up some pain meds of a different nature . . .

Haha! What good caregivers I have!

Like my candy-corn sock?! Is this not perfect for me?? My darling friends, Carol and Chad, brought those to me yesterday! Love 'em! Joc came over and sat with me and fixed me lunch and ran some errands for me. We piled up in my bed (which is where I'm already piled) and watched movies!

And you know what else?? I got to feel MM2 moving around! Yay!! She was just a kicking and a fluttering! So precious, so very, very precious!

Thank you for your kind thoughts, prayers, and well-wishes! Oh yeah, and if you're looking for the giveaway post, click HERE!

:)

worn . . .

Up, out and down! I'm at least three or four posts behind, but I've been so busy with just regular life stuff and then helping my darling husband get ready for a very big and important conference tomorrow. Whew! He's gone on to the faculty meeting and together we'll head over there very, very early in the morning!

As soon as that's finished up, our priorities will turn quickly to the second annual Fall Jamboree!

Truth be told, we've already been working on it, of course, but starting next week, we're full steam ahead! I'm really excited about it -- we've got live music, more kids activities, and the food will be provided by an outside source! It will be a *great* morning at the Camp!

We've also been really busy with our church. Last Sunday service, James led our worship and he brought Kim and Sawyer. Joc, Amberley and I kept nursery . . .

Okay, so we're not your typical church so it's not your typical nursery! He is so, SO cute!

Monday, Joc, Kim and I got together to work on our Candy Corn Wreaths. I have a whole post to put together for it, too, but figured I'd leave you with this little teaser . . .

Don't they look fun?!? I made two -- one for me and one as a door prize for the Jamboree! I'd thought about using one as a giveaway item for my blog -- I'm coming up on 600 posts in the not-too-distant future! But I'm afraid it wouldn't ship well. I'll have to come up with something else. Any thoughts?!?

Of course Sawyer was present for our craft day get-together, too. He is such a little darling -- and quite the ham, too! I'd say, "Where's Sawyer?" And he'd cover his eyes until I said, "Peek-a-boo!" And he'd fling his arms wide open as if to say, "Tah-dah! Here I am!!"

He *melts* my heart. Oooh -- and that was the day I heard him say, "Neesey" for the first time!!! Color this grandma excited!

Tuesday night was Community Groups (church) ... Wednesday night I picked up some videos and a VCR and dropped off some quilts and stuff ... last night was the last official guild meeting of the 2010-2011 year and I'm now officially on the new board. Whoohoo!

Wooowhew!

:)

craftily i go along . . .

Guess what came in the mail last week?!?

No, no ... not a diabetic coma in a bag. Five pounds of yellow, orange and white candy corn goodness!

Hmmm. I guess that *could* be considered a diabetic coma in a bag. But I'm not going to EAT it, I'm going to CRAFT with it!

Last year I saw this darling candy corn wreath in a Woman's Day magazine. The directions for it can still be found on their website, *HERE. And tips for keeping/preserving candy corn crafts *HERE. I made one in October for my then Secret Pal, who was a big candy corn fan.

This year, I'm getting an earlier start, and along with Joc & Kim, I'm going to make one for myself! We're having a craft day next week and we'll each make one to keep -- then Kim and I are making an extra one. I'm making my extra one as a raffle prize for the second annual Camp MACOBA Jamboree!

It was super-easy and looked so darling ... I can't wait to have one hanging on my own door! The only thing I'll change is that I'll use wider black ribbon this time, I think.

*Note: I had a hard time moving through the pages and links on the WD site. The links are close to a year old, so if you're interested, you might want to check them out sooner rather than later! I went ahead and printed the pages to a pdf file, so I've got them forever.

For today, I'm headed to the optometrist for a long overdue vision check today. I'm seriously considering contacts. After 24 years of wearing glasses (and 24 years of searching frantically for the place I last left my glasses), I want to *see* for myself if contacts make a difference! I'm a little anxious about putting something in my eyes. I know hundreds and thousands of people do it every day ... but they don't do it in MY eyes! I'll have a week to try them out before I commit.

Then, after that, Joc and I are meeting at Emma's Tea Room for lunch! Yay!

:)