closing thoughts . . .

As we close out the work (and I use that word loosely) week, I thought I'd share a pic of one of the carrot table toppers in its new home . . .

Leia gives it her paw of approval.

Indeed.

I guess she's as happy with that as she is with anything else.  LOL!  Linking her up with the Feline Friday linky party over at sarah did it!

After doing a little research online, I've made a decision to eliminate gluten from my diet and see what happens.  To that end, I picked up a couple of magazines yesterday . . .

Both have a LOT of information and recipes.  But what really amazed me was the advertising for all these gluten-free products.  Wow!

I picked up a loaf of gf bread in the freezer section.  I wasn't sure it would taste like anything but cardboard, but I was wrong.

Of course, the homemade pimento cheese spread didn't hurt.

I'm still plugging away at my handwork this week. I'll slip a few more minutes (and stitches) in tonight, babysitting Sawyer and June (post-bed time, of course). I also sketched out my versions of the sweet little Cheryl Fall Easter egg embroidery patterns available on About.com, onto the wool felt egg pattern outline:

I can't trace ... I've really got to re-draw each design. Whew! I'm really digging these darling little things . . . and having a lot of fun 'reorganizing' the embroidery patterns to make them fit the elongated outline.  Hope they stitch as sweetly as they sketched!

And that's it for me, this rainy Friday afternoon.  TTFN!!

:)

farming . . .

Finally, finally . . . got moving and grew me some nice looking carrots!!  Haha!!

Isn't it darling?  I went with the "stitching right sides together" method so I could stitch the green tops into the seam.  I was so pleased with my creation, I went ahead and stitched up another . . .

(Please do NOT look too closely at my ironing board cover ... it's a mess!)  Then I promptly wrapped them up and handed them off to their new owners . . . Joc and Kim!  I handed them off in the parking lot of the Botanical Gardens, which is where we all met yesterday to play.  I had a little *seasonal* treat for the kiddlies, too . . .

Though Ellie was the only one who wanted to wear hers right then and there for any period of time!  Sweet little bunny girl!!  We had a fun time, hanging around in the sand piles . . .

All three--Sawyer, Ellie and June--had fun flinging sand.  When I sent the above picture around to my sisters, one was quick to send it back . . .

Water colored! Isn't that cool?  It's an app on her phone -- Waterlogue -- that does it.  I 'luff' it, as Ellie would say.

Sawyer and Ellie, taking advantage of the free wagon ride:

Sweet cousins!

Kim and June (who is sitting comfortable on Miss Olivia)!

We had a fun day!  Even if it was a bit blustery, it was nice to be outside after such a very cold start to the week of SPRING BREAK.  LOL!

Today I'm scanning more magazines . . .

At least my "to do" pile (on the right) is less than my "finished" pile!  Of course, I won't mention that there are about ten more *piles* to go through!

I've also pulled all the elements of the pineapple quilt back out.  I've got to cut strips to cover seams on the back of my center, and then next will be putting these elements together:

These will make up the borders and corners of the quilt. Once their done, I can start assembling it all.  I'm really not that far from a finish!

I'm offering up a feline flashback for Friday, in honor of the forthcoming Spring . . .

Sweet boy. Merlin's always enjoyed finding unusual ways to make his presence known!!  TGIFF!!  (Thank goodness it's Feline Friday!!)

:)

some bits and pieces . . .

Just a quickie post . . . I still have a LOT to catch up on, but I wanted to share a couple of fun things.  First off, I headed out to stitch with our Stitchers' Group last night and look what my friend Jackie had for me:

WHOOHOO!!  I'm in Miniature Quilts magazine heaven!!  And these are ALL new from the ones I scored here.  I sure wish they still published this little gem!

I liked my summer sunflower so much, I decided I wanted to do something for September.  That month just screams apples to me so I searched my hard drive for an appropriate design.  Here's what I came up with...

Fun, no?  I still have to do some stitching and then put it onto a back ground and quilt it, but I think I'll be in good shape when September rolls around!  In fact, I'm already thinking pumpkins! (Bahaha!)

I spent a nice day with Joc and Ellie, in my digs.  I broke my toe this week and damaged the tendons connected to it, so they came here!

Ellie had a ball looking out the window at the birds and squirrels and chipmunks.  She even took a nap up in the big bed -- a first!

And since it *is* Feline Friday and I've been *so* lax about that for most of this year (I'm sorry Sarah!!!), I figured I'd share Leia in her new digs . . .

Yup.  Nothing's changed for her!! 

Happy weekend!!!

:)

finishes and fire stations . . .

Whew ... what a whirlwind the past couple of days have been!  Monday morning I got my stitches out -- easy-breezy -- and I had a long enough wait that I was able to finish quilting my mini-hexie top, write and address several note cards, and finish my grocery list.  Aye-yi-yi.  From there it was errands and grocery shopping, and by the time I got home, it was after two-thirty!  (I left at seven-thirty!)

I had a guild board meeting ... there was lots of discussion and it gave me the opportunity to finish up stitching together my other hexie project . . . 

Yay!  Mr. Owlie in the Burning Ring of Fire is ready to put together and quilt!

I've told y'all I'm a magazine addict, right?  These were some of the issues at the meeting that were 'free to a good home':

I'll go through them and carry them back to the December meeting (or send 'em out upon request). There were some cute things that caught my eye.

Especially these two titles, which I'd never seen before.  Since the one on the right is published in France, that explains that one!

Yesterday I spent the daytime with Ellie ... I can't believe how she's practically growing up before my eyes!  She's crawling and pulling herself up, and walks very competently (frontwards *and* backwards) when she's got a finger or two to hold onto to.

Needless to say, I had my hands happily full with her -- she's such a darling delight -- and I didn't snap a single picture.  I remember lamenting about this when Sawyer was this age, too!  The above is compliments of Jocelyn.  :)

I finished up the binding on the mini-hexie project while Ellie was napping:

Yay!  The binding is so dark it just blends into the background -- but it *is* purple!

Yesterday afternoon I picked up Sawyer and we headed to the Fire Station to have dinner with Paw-paw!  He was ready to GO when I got to his house ... Kim said he'd pretty much talked about it the whole day long!  He sure did talk about it the whole drive over there!

Sitting in Ladder #6 with Paw-paw!

Ready to drive off in Rescue #6!

Strapped in and ready to go!  That helmet is so heavy,
he's having a hard time holding his little head up! 

In his Paw-paw's turnouts!  You'll notice Todd's holding him up?
When he'd let go, Sawyer would fall over (he's wearing the coat,
boots, *and* pants)! 

In the driver's seat of Ladder #6 with the lights flashing!

He really had a marvelous, marvelous time -- and talked about it all the way home!

I spent a little time at the house when I dropped Sawyer off ... I got in a little June time, too!

Yup, I'd say it was a day well spent!

Gotta get busy today ... lots of cooking to do!  I hope your day is filled with happiness and marvelous smells from the kitchen!

:)

stash report #45 and digital magazines . . .

I know.  An unlikely combination, right?  Still, once I've shared my *amazing* stash report (cough, cough), I want to share some digital fun I've found.  You tea party enthusiasts will be particularly delighted!

Used/donated this week: 7.5 yards

Used/donated year-to-date: 45.5 yards

Purchased/added this week: 4.0 yards

Purchased/added year-to-date: 167.00 yards

Net used/donated for 2012: -121.5 yards

A definite step in reduction.  The funny thing is, most of that is what I put in the traveling stash box!  Yes, I put in a bit more than I took out -- but I put nice pieces of several collections, and since I had the collection, it would be sad to put one piece and not another.  Right?!  None of what I added to my stash this week was purchased, so that's a happy for my little pocketbook!  Make sure you head over to Patchwork Times and check out the rest of the stash reports!

Oh!  Are you looking for the book review and giveaway?  It's HERE!

Okay, so on to digital magazines.  They've been around for quite some time.  One of my favorite hot spots for them is Issuu.  I found it when I became aware of Ruby for Women, and found their publication on the site.  Can I just insert here, that I'm a magazine junkie?  I *adore* magazines!  They're such fun!  But they're so impractical ... and even more so for someone like me with limited space.  I admit that I do subscribe to several . . . and I even faithfully keep every issue of one of them -- Tea Time Magazine (of which I have every issue ever published).  The rest I distribute between Kim and Jocelyn and the gals at my guild. 

Anyway, for a magazine junkie like me, digital magazines are the bomb.com!  I'd kind of forgotten about them until one of my favorite tea bloggers, Angela McRae, blogged about doing a Christmas Tea spread in the magazine for which she's an editor.  She provided a link for her readers to enjoy, and lo and behold, her magazine (a local publication) Newnan-Coweta Magazine, is on Issuu.  

What *you* really want to know is that there's a GREAT article with wonderful tea time recipes and you can check it out by clicking on the cover of the magazine!

That got me thinking -- perhaps you'd be interested in checking out some of my other favorites?  There are a lot of seasonal entertaining mags and several quilting/crafting ones as well.  I'll let you see for yourself.  Click on the graphic to enjoy the contents.  And perhaps, if you're familiar with digital magazines and you have a favorite, you'll share it with me??  

        

                          91             Bird's Party           Zest              Festivities

        

                             Asian Fabric     Sewing Cottage    Sweet Living

    

                                 Irish Quilt & Craft           Ruby for Women

Some are even downloadable to your hard drive.  Registration to Issuu may be required, but it's free and easy.  And you can subscribe to issues as well as scroll through back issues.  A nice way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon, perhaps?!

:)

blooms and butterflies . . .

Today's a rainy, dreary day.  The temps are cool and it just feels like the perfect kind of day to curl up on the couch, pop an Audrey Hepburn movie in the DVD player, keep a cup of hot tea handy, and do a little stitching.  Aaaaaah ... now that's my kind of Saturday!

I wanted to share a couple of fun things I've won in various giveaways recently, that I received in the mail this last week.  First was this darling set of tea stamps from over at Angela McRae's Tea With Friends blog.  Truly hers one of my *most* favorite tea blogs ... she's always got fun tea finds, whether it's different types of teas, tea rooms, recipes, fabrics, products that use/show tea ... loads of fun!

 

Cute, aren't they?  I see a world of possibilities for these stamps ... place cards, sweet little thank you notes, and perhaps even a stitchery or two!

I also received a signed copy of anonymous by Alicia Britt Chole.

I won this off of a giveaway from womensministry.net.  Yay!!   

Not a giveaway win, but anyone who gets Celebrate magazine knows it's a winning publication!

It's published by the same folks who do Tea Time and probably my second favorite magazine of all time.  In fact, if I find a need a break from movies and stitching (what?!?), I may just pull this out and peruse through it!!

And to brighten the dreariness of the day, I thought I'd share some color and pizzazz from our trip to the Botanical Gardens in Huntsville.  That day the weather was gorgeous and the blooms were sizzling!!

The spring theme for the gardens is "Butterflies" and there were plenty of these beautifully painted creatures all throughout the garden.

This beautiful tree was just so happy in its pretty lil' flowerpot!  It was fun to see children come upon it for the first time.  Their eyes would pop wide open!

And this darling little miniature town with the running train and track wound through it was fascinating.  They've done so much to make this an enchanting garden to visit.  We caught our tour tram here and rode (for free) the rest of the way through the gardens.  I took over a hundred pictures!

 

 

It probably not surprising that a lot of the flowers that captured my attention were shades of purple, right?  With a little orange thrown in for balance.  :)

 

Ellie was perfect for the whole 90 minute tour -- she's just took it all in!  She and Joc strolled behind our tram.  It was a lovely day to be walking!  They've done such a fabulous job at our Botanical Gardens ... and they take such care to have a major event for each season, so it's always fun to visit.  In the summer they add water fun to the children's section (which the tram doesn't go through), in the fall there's always the parade of scarecrows, which is SUCH a fun (and funny) tour, and in the winter, they do the Galaxy of Lights, which I'm pretty sure I blogged about HERE.  We are considering giving both our kids a family membership as a gift.  And then getting one for us, too!  ;)

 

Can you tell I was quite captivated by all the butterflies?!?  :)

We finished out the day with dinner and some wii action at Joc and Jason's -- one last chance for photo ops. 

In the end, you'd never know they hadn't been "Best Buds" the whole trip!!  I was so happy to get this shot.

And I'll close up with a sweet shot of my folks and their great-grandchildren.  Okay -- so I didn't get the greatest capture here, but it's still sweet.  And James and Jason were both clicking away too, and I know they both got terrific shots!  It just takes me longer to get my hands on those!  A terrific finish to a terrific visit!

Happy Saturday, y'all -- I know I sure will!

:)