back in the saddle . . .

I'm just going to go ahead and admit that I had a hard time typing the post title without laughing.  I know me!

December got busy and then January did too, and now look, only two more days and it's February!  Good gravy . . . please don't tell me 2019 is going to move even more quickly than 2018?!

We had a lovely Christmas time. Our office closed midday on the 20th of December and didn't reopen until January 7!  What a smashing break!  We hung out with family and ate out and did Christmas things. Our Christmas Eve tradition is to go to church with Joc and her family, and then go out for dinner, and then head back to her house to for desserts and to read the Christmas Story. 

My contribution towards dessert was a traditional Bûche de Noël . . . 

I hadn't made one in ages and it was so fun to do!  It's a very light cake so while it looks really decadent and indulgent, it's really not!  Win, win!  All our desserts that evening looked amazing!

 

Jocelyn made figgy pudding and fudge, the girls made the gingerbread house, and my mom made the cookie platter and the eggnog cake!

And since I'm doing Christmas, here's my Panter kids! ♥

For Christmas, Todd and I had decided to forego getting each other big Christmas, and instead to get ourselves an Opal Nugget countertop ice maker for the RV.  It makes the pellet--sometimes referred to as Sonic--ice.  We have absolutely loved having it and I'm pretty certain it was the first time I've ever had iced tea on Christmas day! LOL! Of course, introducing such a significant countertop appliance to the RV meant we had to do some rearranging . . . 

So that whole end of the RV kitchen/countertop space is now ... a drink station. Haha! The corner space was pretty useless for anything other than decor, anyway, so I'm enjoying having my tea things there. Eventually we'll be a table to go over the trash can and put the Opal on top of that, and give me back some counter space!

I didn't do resolutions this year.  Or even goals.  Instead, after a lot of thought and prayer, I decided to do "disciplines" -- and even made DISCIPLINE my word for 2019.  

My thought is that each month, I'll choose one discipline that I want to focus on, to improve me -- whether physically, mentally or spiritually -- and by the end of the year, I'll have twelve disciplines under my belt and be the better for it. To help me stay focused, I got this cute little bracelet . . . 

I'm sure it'll make all the difference. Stop spending money was obviously not January's discipline. Teehee! :)

New Year's Day I started with my Stitcher's ETC. group ... we annually have breakfast at Cracker Barrel together, and then go on to an LQS to shop the sales.

It was a great group of ladies that morning -- fifteen of us!  Pretty impressive considering the date! These ladies rock!  :)

We celebrated Ellie's SEVENTH birthday on the 10th of this month.  Where has the time gone?  

It seems like just yesterday she was this tiny little baby, I could hold snuggled up to my chest, with her sweet downy little head tucked up under my chin.  Sigh.

I've not done a lot of sewing this month.  Though Todd did break our Christmas gift agreement and bought me a pretty little Janome for traveling!

I did stitch up a seat cover for his recliner . . . and a heart mug rug or two for our guild's February swap . . . but other than that, I've been lax. I'm saving most of my handwork for retreat in February! 

Speaking of stitching related Christmas gifts, Joc and her crew got me a lovely book by Kathy Schmitz,  Stitches from the Yuletide.  I've had her Stitches from the Harvest, and absolutely loved it, so I knew I'd enjoy the whimsy of the Christmas-themed book.  

She also gifted me with a gift certificate to Attic Heirlooms, which I promptly used on some fun things . . . 

And the Panter crew sent me a set of tiny-tipped clips!  

Mary Corbet, of Needle 'N Thread, had talked about using them in her stitching projects and I thought that was a must-have gadget ... for the win!

I also scheduled my left shoulder surgery for the end of February. The right one is back to 98%  and the left one is nagging me to no end, so it's time.  We go on retreat February 20-24, and my surgery is scheduled for the 28th.  Whew!

I can't think of much else to share.  Slowly switching from snowmen to hearts; does that count?

I mean, I'm sure there is tons, but this is only one post (and it's already heavy laden with photos), so I'll behave.  Auld lang syne!

:)

christmas ornament swap . . .

Greetings!! It's been so CRAZY!  I love this season so very much, but it is time consuming, ya' know?!?

Stephanie, over at The Enchanting Rose, hosted a sweet ornament exchange this year, and I participated in it!  I was gifted to by Deb, a non-blogger, who took some time to get to know me (via my blog) and really found the perfect little ornament for my tree . . .

Isn't that precious?!  A s'more snowman! Just perfect for me!  In addition, she added some fun little happies to go with the ornament:

What a happy package!

I had the privilege of gifting to Cindy at Creations by Cindy -- who, funnily enough, had gifted me in a prior teacup exchange!  So it was fun to be able to shop and gift her!

I chose a snowflake ornament (funny how the theme of both what I was gifted and what I was given was snow!) and a few little happies to go with it.  

This was a fun exchange and I so appreciate Stephanie for hosting it -- linking up to her blog for the swap exchange!

In other news, I went with Ellie and Evey to see . . .

We did the (home)school field trip performance, and it was a lot of fun! The director came out during the intermission and talked to the children about ballet and introduced some of the performers. The girls enjoyed the bird's eye view of the stage and being able to see the orchestra.

The girls took turns sitting next to me . . . and afterwards we went to lunch at a girlie restaurant. Terrific day!

The next weekend I watched the girls while their mommy and daddy went on a date.  We made ornaments!

Aren't these fun?!  They did such a great job making the dough, cutting them out, and painting their own ornaments (and handprints) Even Edith wanted in (and got in on) the action! "Cook -- I cook!"

These are such sweet sister. It's a joy to have them close.

And then there's these three . . . 

Gosh I wish I could be doing Christmas fun things with them!  Look how grownup and beautiful/handsome they are ... I miss them so.  :)

On the homefront, I did get the RV decorated . . . 

Yay!  I love turning on all the Christmas lights and the fireplace and just sitting quietly.  It's my favorite place to do my quiet time!

And I decided yesterday that I wanted to make something to gift to my co-worker ... tomorrow.  LOL!

So I've been busy working on this, too!!

Enough for now . . . if I don't make it back here before Christmas, have a very merry day!

:)

pressing spray and fireworks . . .

I had found a recipe for pressing spray that I was very interested in trying.  Then I realized it had liquid starch in it and I had a most difficult time finding liquid starch.  So I googled it and found several recipes for that, as well (of course I did)!  So first I set about making my liquid starch.  I used the recipe from this link as my basis, but because I just wanted enough to use in my pressing spray, I cut the amounts.  I still ended up with more than I needed, but you can only cut down so much, right?!

I brought to a boil 1 cup of distilled water.  I then mixed 2 teaspoons of cornstarch with 1/3 c. of distilled cold water -- and mixed it well.  I added the cornstarch mixture to the boiling water, mixed some more and brought it back to a boil.  I added a couple drops of lavender essential oil to my mix and allowed it to gently boil for about two minutes.  I turned off the heat, whisked it well, and set it aside.

Then I got ready to made the pressing spray.  I used the recipe found HERE as the basis for it.  I mixed 2 cups of distilled water, 2 ounces of alcohol (she uses vodka ... but you can also use Isopropyl alcohol which is considerably cheaper at 99¢ per 16 ounces -- just make sure the alcohol content is 99%, the alcohol is what keeps the essential oil playing nicely with the water), 10 drops of lavender essential oil (which can be found in the soap making aisle of Hobby Lobby or most any craft store, or in an organics store, like Earth Fare), and 1/2 cup of the homemade liquid starch.  Her recipe calls for 1/3 cup -- I wanted a little more crispiness.  I mixed it up well and poured it into my empty spray bottle.

Then I got ready for the test!  I pulled out a piece of fabric and heated up my trusty Reliable.  

Gave the bottle a couple of shakes and then the fabric a good spritzing and zipped it with the iron.  So far, so good!

Then I thought I'd try the store-bought stuff and see if I good "feel" the difference.  I gave a new section of the fabric a good spritzing and brought the iron down again.

At first I was startled by how different the lavender scent was between the two. 

And then I remembered that I'd purchased a refill bottle of spray at a great price, but they were out of lavender, so I got cherry blossom.  Whew!  I truthfully could not tell the difference between where I'd used the two different sprays.   I think this is definitely a Go/Win for me!!  That makes me smile, because I tend to be a little stingier with the spray than I'd care to be.  The essential oil is the most expensive ingredient I used, and I'll be able to make gallons of pressing spray with it.  Most cost effective, I think!

I had a lucky capture yesterday out the back window ... my primary-colored birds, all in one shot!

It happens all the time ... it's just that I can rarely pull out the camera before one flies off! 

We had a marvelous time of family yesterday afternoon/evening!

It's hard to get everyone looking at the same place at the same time ... at least one of us is smiling!

Sawyer had a blast with his glow sticks ... he was such a character!  I'm so grateful for this camp and being able to have a place where he can just let loose!

Ellie was having a grand time, herself!  Especially once we traded her little outfit for a bib.  She thought that was grand!

Evidently Bear thought she was quite grand, too.  Grand tasting, that is . . .  

Boy did he get her good . . . her whole face was washed by that tongue!

Remember that cute, cuddly puppy James and Kim brought home a couple of months ago?  Here he is!  Sixteen weeks old.  Almost.  He's HUGE!  But he's got the sweetest disposition.  

As is evidenced here by Sawyer's headlock ...errrr... hug.  :)  

Soon it was dark enough that the sparklers came out . . . 

I think we all played with the sparklers ... except maybe Todd.  And Sawyer.  Not that Sawyer didn't want to play with them.  Oh he tried, all right!  Gracious.  

And here's Jason, doing his air traffic controller imitation! 

Finally it got dark enough that we could start setting of the big rockets!  We had an eighteen-rocket show.  James set 'em off, and Jason photo-captured them all!  They make a great team.

As soon as the noise started, Sawyer choose to view the fireworks from the comfort...and safety... of his mommy's lap!

Bear choose the safety of underneath his mommy's chair.  (LOL!  He was fine, I promise ... he handled the whole night pretty well.)

And Ellie, for her first 4th of July fireworks?

She slept like a rock through the entire thing!!!  


:)

pool, pins, and pinwheels . . .

What a lovely day we had yesterday!  After Joc made her trip to the grocery store, we got geared up and headed over to her pool.

Ellie's now sporting a new bathing suit and hat.  She's grown out of her pink flamingos already.  And she's cut a third tooth, too!  She'll be sixteen in no time ... and I teared up just a little bit typing that out!

She loves the water . . . she'd fling those little legs back and just start kicking away!  She tried to put her face in the water and blow bubbles several times while I was holding her, but her mommy would get all panicky.  (That's my story, Joc, and I'm sticking to it!)

After pool time, Ellie went down for a nap and I pulled out Joc's wedding quilt.

I got it all pin-basted and ready for me to start hand-quilting.  Yay!!  I'm just going to do simple lines following the tan/signature fabric -- like a wide cross-hatch.

Of course, I had some help ... but I'll save that story for Friday!!

I was going to make some homemade pressing spray, but hadn't realized until I got to Joc's that I needed liquid starch.  I stopped at a half-dozen stores last night on my way home and couldn't find any.  *sigh*  I've googled up a recipe for it; I'll give it a try and see what happens.  If the two recipes work well together, I'll share the whole kit 'n caboodle here later on.

And ... just in case you haven't noticed ... there's a terrific blog hop going on right now, hosted by Jane of Jane's Fabrics and Quilts:  "Celebrate Red, White & Blue"!  

Already there have been some awesome entries and I'm really enjoying all these gorgeous patriotic blocks!  Click on the above button to head over to pinterest and see the entire grouping of blocks displayed so far.  The master list for participants can be found by clicking HERE.   There are lots of fun giveaways connected with it, too ... so definitely take a look!

I didn't participate in this one (wishing I had!), but that's not stopping me from displaying my good ol' red, white & blueness!

:)