when we last met . . .

Gosh, I can hardly believe that September has come and gone and it's OCTOBER!  

We spent an extra long weekend at Guntersville Lake (the Merkel crew and I).  We came home on Monday, and I left for my sister trip to Alaska!  It was glorious.  We stayed with my nephew and his family in Kodiak, and checked off *all* the Alaska boxes!  We saw bears . . .

I caught a salmon (pink) . . .

Took a three sisters photo in front of the Three Sisters mountains . . .

And saw a LOT of incredibly beautiful scenery . . .

And did a LOT of shopping.  I even found a cute little fiber shop in Kodiak, The Rookery. 

While I was there, I worked (and finished—lots of airplane time to and from Alaska!) on a very cute little Halloween cross stitch piece:

It's October Nine Patch by Primrose Cottage Stitches, stitched on 25 count Vintage Country Mocha. And while I worked on it in Alaska, Ellie worked on it in Alabama!

Her first 25 count linen.  A big deal! Her thirteen year old eyes are much better suited to this than mine. LOL!  I may hand over my Mayflower piece on 40 count linen!  ;)

I continue to work on my Lady Halloween. 

I adopted a method that the gals in my "First Monday" cross stitch group use.  Stitch one strand of floss per day.  And I often find that a second strand follows easily.  It's so doable and you know the old joke . . . how do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time! 

Speaking of elephants, Roll Tide ROLL!! 

Great game yesterday.  I'll freely admit that I was concerned for the majority of the first half.  I was super glad we scored and tied it up right before the second quarter ended. Shew! 30-14 was the final score and I'm glad that one is behind us!

I watched the game with Sarah and Gail, my inner circle stitching sisters! It was our monthly Saturday gathering.  I worked on my cross stitch.  As did Gail.  She's working on this beautiful piece:

Isn't that gorgeous??!  And Sarah shared her finished center of the Halloween quilt she's working on:

I love this SO much!  The colors are just spot on and mostly all from her stash.  I'm so in awe of that fact!

We spent the day together, laughing and chatting and stitching and watching the game.  Before we realized it, it was after 6 PM!  I walked them to their cars and found this scrumptious sky—

Cotton candy clouds!

Coming up it's BIRTHDAY WEEK for me!  Hurrah!!  I'll kick it off tomorrow by working on my Halloween cross stitch; some slow stitching!  Linking up with Kathy's Quilts.

:)

surviving the festivities . . .

Whew, what a weekend!  Two of my sisters came into town to celebrate my mom's 80th birthday.  It was a lot of fun and also a little (a lot) exhausting.  You know how that goes.

I gifted my sisters each with one of the Christmas table runners.  I hope they enjoy them! I picked them both up at the airport and we headed to Chicken Salad Chick for a sister lunch, before heading to my folk's house.

They're so beautiful! We had a good time celebrating the birthday girl . . .

Joc and her crew made the festivities, too!  Julia made manicotti and we got the most divine cake from Edgar's Bakery . . . 

Delish!

What would a sisters/mom weekend be without a crafty little project??!!! In keeping with the incoming season (spring/March/St. Patrick's Day), we put together cute little wool shamrock mug rugs . . .

All four finishes!  I drew up the pattern and kitted it before going, to make it as easy as possible.  They did great jobs, considering none of them have done a lot of wool work or embroidery before!  Here's mine which includes a peek of my new petite violet . . .

Did I mention jelly beans?  The perfect spring food.  LOL!

I continue to [slowly] move forward on Hospital Sketches . . .

Decided the this block needed a little "umph" to the stitching.  It's actually finished now and I've started blanket stitching the next one.  I like the pretty little Spanish feather stitch on the paired leaves.  It was the first time I've used it; it creates a lot of eye interest.

February 23 was Everett's day.  Joc and her family spent time at the cemetery, cleaning up his gravestone and talking about him.

They had a beautiful, clear and sunny day for their visit!  It's hard to believe Everett would be ten this year.

This is such a precious family.  I love them dearly. 

The days continue to break earlier, and end later.  In less than two weeks we'll be "spring"ing forward again.  I don't mind too much ... I love the light later in the day (and not driving to and from work in the dark) ... and making it home in time for the sunset!

Peace!  :)

whirlwind week . . .

Last week I told you that I'd finished up two of my UFOs and gifted them.  What I *didn't* tell you was that I flew to Corpus Christi, Texas, to gift them in person!  

We had a lovely long weekend hanging out in the beautiful canal home of one of my sister's very gracious friends.

We pretty much celebrated the birthday girl by eating out, laying out, and going out to shop. Dream vacay, right?!  :)

Needless to say, I didn't get a whole, whole lot done.  I finished up four sets of swap blocks (which makes for a total of six down, ten to go):

They still need to be trimmed before they're presentable! And that's about the size of it (no pun intended) . . . which means not a lot happened in my stash.

Or rather, NOTHING happened in my stash, in or out! But I ordered this sweet little thing . . .

Both Ellie and June have 15" dolls. They need some new clothes for the babies! I bet I can make a little dent in the ol' stash that way!

I've got my second February ornament cut out and ready to stitch . . .

I love the little heart cutout -- perfect choice for this month, don't you think? He will make for some happy Slow Stitching today!

And, just in time for Spring and in celebration of the lovely weather we've enjoyed this weekend, lookie what I purchased . . .

It was used, so I got it for a GREAT price.  That front porch space of my Nook just needed a rocker, don't you think?? I was considering painting it purple (because it needs a fresh, weather-proofing coat of paint), but I think I like the white. We get just a tad warmer and I'll be doing my slow Sunday stitching right there!

And finally, it's been a while since I've posted a picture of the formidable "Leia". When Joc sent these to me, I knew I had to share . . .

Haha! And so you know it's not a one time thing . . .

Gracious!! I think it's safe to say that Evey loves Leia. Whether or not that love is reciprocated, I won't speculate. Leia rather has that, "Help me!" face in the second one . . . love hurts? LOL!

Linking up today to Patchwork Times, Kathy's Quilts, and the feline Friday post at sarah did it!  Y'all have a blessing-filled Sunday!

:)

the tenth of october . . .

I know it's been quiet on the blog this week . . . but that's because it's been super LOUD in real life this week!

My sister and her crew, from Texas, spent their fall break camping with us! We've had a marvelous time, especially since her youngest are right around the ages of my grands! Hilarity and craziness have reigned this week!

So it goes to figure that there's been very little stitching done this week (a little, and I'll catch y'all up on that a little later).We've hiked and played in the creek and visited the Botanical Gardens and cooked s'mores and just, in general, have had a marvelous time! 

We had a big first -- Sawyer earned his "slept in a sleeping bag in a tent" badge this week!  He's an old pro now and has asked if if can move to the camp and live in a tent all the time. :) This is his 'morning after' cup of hot cocoa, to celebrate his victory! Please do notice the boots and pj's.   

Today, because it is 10/10 (that magic day of the year I like to refer to as the kickoff of my month-long birthday celebration), we are headed to the PUMPKIN PATCH!  Yay!!

Just in time for the kick-off . . . my order from Stash Tea . . .

Happy birthday tea for me! Hahaha!

Have a great weekend . . . I know I will!!!

:)

two winners and a tribute . . .

The first would be Nann of With Strings Attached.  She had responded to my question about taking on a new skill with:

I'd love to be in the contest! New skill? Our guild's next workshop is with a local shop owner who is a certified Square in a Square instructor. For years I thought the SIS ruler was more work than it was worth, but this instructor did a trunk show for the guild a couple of months ago. Wow! Great design ideas. So the SIS ruler will be my next new skill.

And the number generator at random.org picked her!  Congratulations, Nann!  I'll be sending the Traveling Stash Box #5 her way, as soon as I hear back from her. And hey, if you're sad because you didn't win it? Lookie, lookie . . .

Yup.  I also won Traveling Stash Box #1!  I'll be posting the delightful contents of this big ol' box tomorrow with another chance for someone lucky!!

The second winner?  That would be . . .

ME!  Yay!!  I finally put in the last stitch and ran it through the washer!  I have to share, though, this poor needle.  I'd used it for assembling the blocks into rows, the rows into blocks, and stitching down the binding. But it just couldn't handle the pressure of the last 18 inches . . .

It *snapped* in half by my *fingers*!!!  CRAZY!  But I finished my sweet My Orange Crush, and Todd and I have even snuggled under it already . . . 

*Happy finished quilt sigh!*

I have three younger sisters and though we're spread out from Texas to Alabama to Virginia to New Jersey, we are very close and I count them as my dearest friends.  The four of us keep an ongoing text conversation going and I love that one (or all) of them is always just an iMessage away!

Of course, when one of us hurts, all of us hurt ... and so this Feline Friday is a tribute to Malachi, the sweet fur-baby of my beautiful sister Cynthia.  Malachi passed away this week leaving a definite empty spot.

He was a handsome, dapper fella in his mustache and tuxedo.

Her snuggle buddy.

I love that Malachi had a perpetually surprised look on his sweet face!  He reminds me so much of my own Gwenevere in this shot:

He was a good, loving and sweet cat who will be much missed.

Rest in peace, sweet Malachi!

:)

three and three . . .

In 2003, I had a whopping total of three posts in the month of September.  To be specific, I had a whopping total of three posts in the whole of 2003.  That was the first time I'd ever blogged.  Ever.  (My very first blog post was quite touching -- read it here.)  Who knew that ten years later, I'd still be plugging away at it?! 

To be truthful, though, some months I definitely plug away better than others . . . it's more than a little ironic to me that a decade later, in the month of September, I still have a whopping three posts.  LOL!  

I'll get back into the swing of things.  Probably.  In the meantime, here's a healthy handful of photos to entertain, edify, and educate!

Represent!  My Crimson Tide has played (and beat) Virginia Tech, Texas A&M,
Colorado State and Ole Miss.  We're 4-0.  Roll Tide!

I flew to NJ (via Philadelphia Airport) to visit one of my sisters (Sister #3) ... not a
bad way to spend a two-hour flight, right?! 

First stop in NJ -- Olde City Quilts.  It did not disappoint! 

Visited the lovely city of Princeton!   

Found this darling mini-bundt pan at my sister's local Homegoods.
This has been on my wish list for a while -- it was HALF the price!  YAY!

Ate well.  The. entire. time.  ;)

Then Sister #3 and I headed south to visit yet another sister.
Early morning sunshine selfie.  Waaaay early.  

Waaaaay south!  Remember the Alamo!  (We then traveled even
*further* south to Corpus Christi!)

We were greeted by Sister #4 and her oldest and youngest!

Meet darling Liesl . . . she is such a precious baby! 

Meet my brother-in-law . . . quite the entertainer, non?
And this was a quilt shop in Corpus Christi -- a lot of fun things there, too!

Three Sisters!
Please look very carefully ... those are actually bar stools we're sitting in.
I haven't completely lost my sense of propriety!
(But aren't they hilarious?!?!)
It was my idea to pose this way -- perhaps I have lost my sense of propriety!

Ferry boat ride from South Padre Island.  Hello pelicans!

Flight back home . . . totally inspired to make a "travel" quilt!

Welcome home!  My Todd is always so sweet!!

Free book that was waiting for me when I got home -- YAY!!

Not-so-free book that I got soon thereafter.
(It's filled with all kinds of lovely tea-party things!)

Put that mini-bundt pan to immediate good use.

Was given Ellie's high seal of approval.  ;)

Realized Ellie's grown waaaay too much!  Definitely not a baby any longer.

Leia, on the other hand,  hasn't changed.

Sawyer, James and I went turtle hunting.

We actually found FOUR turtles that day!  It was a terrapin record!

We also found some really, really cool mushrooms growing around the camp.

Seriously -- they both look like something you'd find in the
coral reef, not the forest floor!

Helped some dear friends set up the pavilion for their wedding at the camp.

Attended said wedding!

Autumn arrived!

Purples and yellows abound in the camp right now --
this is a favorite combination of mine!

And days like this make it hard to stay inside.  So I DON'T!

The end.

:)