wrapping up the month . . .

Backposted (because how ever many years from now I'd regret not having posted these pictures along with their stories)!

Luckily for me, I did Ellie's birthday trip over a long weekend . . . which meant I had Monday *off*...which was particularly nice after the trip to Atlanta. If you know what I mean.  Ahem.  Anyway, I put Monday to good use and finished up my February UFO challenge project for our stitcher's group.

I sewed sashings and borders. And finished . . .

YAY!  This has been a very long project.  Haha!  Because I'm the world's most prolific procrastinator.  But that's okay, because I think it's so pretty. I know this needs to be handquilted; I'm thinking I'll save it for late in the fall, when I'll want to be covered up in a quilt while I stitch on it.  ♥

Joc sent me some pics of Ezra . . . 

Awww!  Tummy time on the quilt his Neesey made for him!  This little fellow has such a darling little smile.

He melts my heart!

Friday night I took another road trip, this time down to Montgomery to see comedienne Chonda Pierce!

My wing(wo)man for the event was my dear friend, Lindsey.  We had a really good time ... Chonda kept us rolling!

Tickets to the show were a Christmas gift from Todd!  I guess February was a month of realizing past gifts!

The weekend was also my mom's 81st birthday!  My sister (Julia) and her daughter (and her daughter's youngest) made the trip down from Virginia. Julia's birthday is also in February, so we had a dual purpose cake!

Edgar's Bakery makes such pretty cakes!  And delicious, too, trust me!  Mom had been enjoying her tree (which I totally get—and do myself), but keeping it fresh with ornaments in keeping with the season.  

Julia and I did it up in shamrocks, leprechauns and green and white pompoms (yes, the pompom maker came out again).  It was such fun and the tree looked so pretty!  The lights help keep the drear of winter away.  :)

And we had a quick minute before the Virginia crew had to get to the airport, to allow cousins (and second cousins) to visit!

A happy way to close out a good month!

:)

evey explorer . . .

Backposted (because how ever many years from now I'd regret not having posted these pictures along with their stories)!

Even though having all the girls is fun, Todd and I have decided that it's more special (for us and for them) if we have the girls do sleepovers one at a time.  They're all just so different and they all want focused attention! So we started with Ellie in December, and we had a movie-watching, pillow-making, popcorn eating great time.  All indoors.  LOL!

Evey's turn was next.  She had all the things planned.  We would ride on the gator, play in the little creek, watch a movie, eat ice cream and popcorn, and watch my iPad in bed.  Whew ... that's quite a checklist!

We really had a lovely time . . . we explored all OVER the camp!  (We both wore our boots for this expedition.)

We had such a delightful day!  She's got an adventuror's heart.  I made note of several things she said during our long walk, and wrote a poem for her:

Leaves that rustle under foot,

A happy, joyful sound.

Undaunted by the lack of path,

Her own way she has found.

Water, stones, pine cones, thorns;

All of them she conquers.

To her the wilderness belongs,

A canvas hers to wander.

We also found a "quilt" for Piglet, and made a ton of pom poms!  

We got everything checked off Evey's list and then some; it was a real good sleepover time.  And *very* different from dear Ellie's sleepover!

Joc sent me this about midway through Evey's stay . . .

I guess this means I'd better go ahead and schedule Edith's sleepover.  <grin>

:)

road trippin . . .

Backposted (because how ever many years from now I'd regret not having posted these pictures along with their stories)!

This past weekend was the second annual retreat for our Sassy Sisterhood!  We hit the road on Wednesday morning and shopped and ate along the way . . .

We stayed in the same cabin (that suits us so, so well) as last year, tucked in the Smokey Mountains in Sevierville, TN.  It's really sweet and cozy, and just the right size for three gals stitching away.  (And I just realized I never did a post just on our reteat last year.  This is why I'm going ahead and backposting!  It makes me so sad when I look back on the blog for something and I didn't post about it!)

My intent this year was to finish the teacup stitchery and to finish appliqueing all of the wool blocks from the Hospital Sketches BOM.  I succeeded . . .

Yay!  I love it when a plan comes together!  Finishing my BOM blocks is my goal for January's UFO challenge (in our Stitcher's Etc. group).  I'm glad to have this off my plate!

We also had a group project that we worked on.  Last year it was "Ewenice" (which I did blog about).  This year it was . . .

TAHDAH! Pompom sheep! Aren't they darling?  We used the tempplates from Betz White. Mine is the bottom one.  Lavender.  ♥  She's hanging from my rear view mirror in my car.  She's so CUTE!

We had a light dusting of snow while we were there . . .

Idyllic! We decided that was the perfect day to stay put and have a fire in the fireplace:

And Downton Abbey on the screen. Ha! It was such a sweet, laid back time.  Perfect get-away.  We booked for 2023 before we left!

;)

one day in . . .

I love the new year . . . the roll out of new resolutions, new challenges, a new word, and a fresh opportunity to get it right.  A clean slate, so to speak!  Mind you, I do not do resolutions, but I do enjoy selecting a word to focus on for the coming year. This year my word is . . .

Yup, aware. That works on a lot levels.  Yesterday, it was important for me to be weather aware.

When your temps get up to eighty degrees ahead of a cold front, chances are good severe weather will follow.  It was a balmy, windy, day . . .

The sun kept popping in.  Dang it!  By early evening we were watching this . . .

. . . and heading over to our shelter.  Grateful we've got that space!

No damage in the camp, but our area of the county did take a hit as rotation moved through. When they say tornado season runs from November through April, they're serious about that 'through' part.

I did manage to prep a new little stitchery to work on.  Kathy Schmitz's One Stitch at a Time project was in my inbox first thing yesterday morning, so I printed it out and transferred it over.

I used one of my new frixon pens!  Then I spent a little time out in the screened room doing a little stitching. 

This year I'd like to make it a practice to keep some stitch work with me at all times so I can keep my hands busy if  I find myself waiting in the hospital or in the car or wherever.  :)

I can't get enough of these pom-poms, either.

I am thinking I might like a couple more sizes. Just in case.  LOL!

Linking up with Kathy's Quilts for some slow Sunday stitching.  Happy New Year!!

:)

out with the old . . .

Happy New Year!

Well, almost. Counting down the remaining hours until 2022 here in good ol' central time . . . two and a half more hours! Figured I'd get one more post in and make it a rounded up forty-five for the year.  <grin> 

I got a Clover brand pom-pom maker.  This thing is such fun . . .

The possibilities are endless! You'll be seeing more of this in 2022. <wink>

My top nine photos from 2021 on Instagram. I shared my last nine years of top nines on my account, @daneesey.  It was fun to take the walk down memory lane!

My team won their bowl game this afternoon and are off to play in the National Championship game in ten days!

Roll Tide ROLL! So proud for these guys!

For my final photo of 2021, the most darlingest baby in the whole world.  I mean just look at that sweet smile!!

Yup.  ♥

Hugs and auld lang syne! 

:)