It's said that it's better to give than to receive, and believe me, I'm all about that. But if you've ever been in a swap with Janet of Rogue Quilter fame, you know it's awesome to receive, too! Janet and I did a little swap between our birthdays (mine is early in October and hers is later in November). I stitched up a mug rug for her and she stitched up one of her marvelous pin cushions for me. We both stayed in our comfort zones!
Along with this beautiful pin cushion (which reminds me of swirling snow), she sent a ton of lovely goodies, including some of her fabulous soaps, a lovely set of Temecula note cards, a note pad (I use the heck out of note pads in the Nook when I'm trying to figure out dimensions or measurements), Orange & Cinnamon Spice tea that's just lovely and smells like this holiday season, patchwork pins (because who can have enough of these?!), and a bag of raspberry flavored, chocolate dusted almonds. YUM!
See what I mean??
Janet's mug rug was my secret stitching over the past couple of weeks . . .
I love this sweet Kathy Schmitz pattern! It paired nicely with the patchwork, too.
And of course, I padded my envelope. It tickles me how similarly we think when gifting each other! She's a precious friend.
Monday was Veteran's Day. I shared this pic (along with a couple of others) on social media . . .
Look at the tiny waistline! This is March, 1985, right after I graduated from boot camp. Just a baby. Of course, I didn't think so at the time!
I had off on Veteran's Day, but Todd didn't, so I took advantage of the alone time and walked through the woods. This is one of my all-time favorite trees on the camp's property . . .
Todd believes it's close to (if not older than) 200 years old. It's a massive oak. I found a sprouted acorn under it.
I'm taking it to Joc for her to plant in her yard! A walk deeper into the woods shows how green the trees still are were. (The bitter cold snap we had on Monday night took care of that!)
The beech trees stay green longer than most everything. And after they change, they stay on the limbs until spring!
It was a pretty afternoon for a leisurely hike. I love that I live where I do and have access to God's creation like I do! The afternoon netted me a good handful of great acorn caps for some more woolies.
These have a lot of character! They're all dried out and ready to craft!
Monday night I put stitching away and pulled out the makings for cream cheese mints:
Joc needs them for a baby shower she's hosting tomorrow evening. The things we do for love! ♥
But last night I was able to pull out the stitching again. Making very good progress on my pumpkin . . .
I'm very pleased with it! I just need to finish stitching the leaves in the acorn panel and do the pumpkin outline and then it's done. Still not sure how I'm going to use it (the pattern intends it as a pillow, and I didn't want a pillow), but I'll figure something out, eventually. ;)
Have a great day -- make good choices!
:)
