more weekend pictures . . .

Okay. Because I realized I had not uploaded all the pictures I would have liked to, and because I finally figured out that if you compress your pictures they upload a LOT faster, here are some more glimpses into my super-wonderful weekend!

Here's that lovely breakfast I told you about . . . note that the napkin is still on the table with the spider! I had tomato juice (which was very fitting, considering our table setting, I thought). And please also note the truffles & ice cream appetizer! YUM!

Our second course of eggs, toast, bacon & grits! Doesn't it look great? And I kept the coffee coming! (As I told Jane -- Todd's a one cup of coffee person, and I'm a one pot of coffee person!)

One cat . . . Spot

Two cat . . . Maddy! (And three and four cat, too!)

More festive decorations! (And more cats.)

And more . . . most everything had cats!

See what I mean?

I loved this guy, hanging out at the bottom of the stairs!

This was Ginger, one of the upstairs cats. She was very shy. In fact, she bolted as we came up the stairs to take a look at the other guest bedroom, and only peeked around the door when I called her by name. I think, by her look, she's wondering who the heck I am to call her by her given name. She really did look rather indignant!

These are pictures of the quilts I found in her church . . . they really were beautiful.

And finally, a darling hand wreath which was on the wall in one of the children's Sunday school rooms! (We got the royal tour!)

The heavens declare the glory of God. That pretty much sums it up, perfectly.

:)

what a weekend!!!

And I can say that on a Tuesday, because my weekend extends into Monday! What a nice way to cap off my fun little surprise escapade with my hubby -- with one more day off!

So, the fun started Saturday morning. Todd came home off shift, showered, and we loaded up the car. I had lots of questions; most of them went answered! Anyway, we got settled in the car, ready to head out, and Todd had me put this into our trusty GPS:

Okay! I now know we're headed north to Murfreesboro, Tennessee! Our drive was about an hour and a half through rolling hills and lots of farm land. The leaves are just starting to change, and had it not been a drizzling day, the color would have been absolutely spectacular!

We finally turned our last corner, into the driveway of our destination, which was:

The Hastings House Bed & Breakfast! We were warmly greeted by our hostess, Jane Blakey, and shown to our room, The Quilt Room. How appropriate is that?!?! As you entered the room, the first thing that catches your eye is:

This beautiful quilt that her grandmother had hand quilted hangs over the sleigh bed. Quite beautiful! There were several quilted items in the room, including this gem which was one the wall at the door --

It was a piece of an old crazy quilt that had been in her family, and she'd had made into a skirt. When the skirt was finally too worn to wear anymore, she had a piece cut and framed to save forever. Really cool! There was also an embroidered quilt on the bed, with matching pillow, and several additional quilted pillows, including a patchwork cat! This was truly my kind of lady, as you can see here:

And this was definitely a home; she had two indoor/outdoor cats and four indoor cats! Two of the indoor cats were downstairs cats and two were upstairs cats. The two downstairs felines, Spot & Maddy, were long-haired, but groomed like lions. They were both very sweet cats and beautiful! Jane did warn us that we needed to shut the door to our room; the cats took ownership seriously, and to a cat (as anyone knows) an open door is an invitation! In addition to the live cats, there were a plethora of cats throughout the house as decor; Todd and I counted 49 just in our bed & bath rooms! There is no telling how many there were throughout the whole house. Hundreds upon hundreds, easily!

On top of the cat decor, Jane takes her holidays seriously, and the entire house was decked out in Halloween! It was quite fun, and literally was in every available space!

My favorites in the dining room were the buzzards perched on top of the china cabinet.

The three rats sitting on the parlor table were quite realistic (unless you take all the cats into consideration; perhaps that's why they were so "ratty"!

And there were lots more fun things (and I took lots of pictures that are not posted here), but it was time to get back into the car, because the surprises weren't finished! After a bite to eat at Logan's we headed to . . .

Bell Buckle, Tennessee!!! Where they had their HUGE annual arts & crafts/flea market/festival weekend going on! It was huge -- over 500 vendors, spread throughout the town. All *kinds* of stuff, from hand-crafted hats, to seasonal decorations, to jewelry . . . you name it, it was findable at Bell Buckle! We were able to park relatively close to the action, and the first order of business was finding a vendor who had GLOVES and HATS and SCARVES! It was *soooo* cold, windy, and drizzly! My first purchase, in fact, was a $2 pair of mittens. After that, I was good to go, but I didn't take a lot of pictures, because that meant taking my fingers out of their warm & cozy mittens! Weren't no way! I took one photo going into the food area, because at that point I had a very nostalgic sense of the Annapolis Renaissance Festival and it made me happy! :)

The festival shut down at dusk, and we stayed until the end! I found some fun pins -- a scarecrow, a cornucopia, and a darling snowman with snowflake earrings. I also grabbed some wonderful hot chocolate mix, a red flannel scarf that went perfectly with my newly fabricated sweatshirt jacket, a pink John Deere t-shirt for my Secret Pal, and some yummy pumpkin fudge for me and sugar-free fudge for Todd! Todd was more rudimentary in his purchases -- fingerless gloves with a mitten top, a crocheted scarf, and a crocheted cap. I'll probably end up wearing the cap! :)

Once we were spent, we headed back to the car. I was so glad to get the heat pumping! We had seen a Cracker Barrel on our way to Bell Buckle, and had already decided that would be our dinner stop. I was still so chilled, I had decaf coffee with my dinner! After dinner we (I) did a little (more) shopping. They had a black fleece poncho with a faux fur-lined hood which I snatched up. I also got a squirrel votive holder for James (because he'd coveted mine), and some Halloweenish stuff for my SP. From Cracker Barrel, we made a quick stop at KMart, and then headed back to the B&B to watch the Alabama vs. South Carolina game! When we got into our room, we found the fire place on, our bed turned down, and bon bons on the bed! I ate mine. Todd's is pictured. I ate his, too! :)

Oh yeah -- Alabama did finally win . . . but not before I feel asleep in the bed! I woke up in time to turn off the light and roll over! Hey, walking around in the chill and damp looking for serious sales and finds is hard work! :)

Sunday morning we leisurely got up and had a wonderful breakfast. There was coconut-rolled truffles in ice milk as an appetizer, with a slice of lemon friendship bread. YUM! Chocolate and ice cream for breakfast? I need to come back here! Then we had egg soufflés, country bacon, sour-dough toast (with a pecan honey jam that was superb), and garlic grits. Breakfast was delicious! Jane had put our napkins in big, plastic spiders. I immediately took mine and reposed it in a rather threatening way! Jane told me later that her husband noticed it and commented, "I bet I know where the man sat!" To which she was tickled to be able to say, "Actually, that's where the lady sat!" I'm a kid at heart, what can I say?!? Jane later showed me her collection of napkin rings -- I'm telling you, she and I were kindred spirits!

On a side note, she also told me that she purchases her milk from a local dairy farmer. He has, she told me, a "cow of the month". I'll have to check it out! Or rather, I did; clink on the link back there and check out Hatcher Family Dairy!

At one point, she was telling Todd & I their history and how they came to purchase the house and whatnot, and she said, "My husband said when he finished school he'd have to work another three years for the VA. I told him, 'You better plan on working longer than that -- I like to shop!" I felt the need to give her a high-five!

After breakfast, we showered and dressed and headed down the street and around the corner (we really could have walked) to First Baptist Church Murfreesboro. We had decided to go to the 11:15 service, which was the contemporary worship. It was a light crowd (the pastor explained they were in the middle of their fall break), but the worship was sincere and wonderful and the message was right on point.

We headed back and packed up, and Jane decided she wanted to show us the rest of her house (included the elevator and the basement) and her church, which was out her back door, through the gate, and across the parking lot! What a bonus for me, as there were several more quilts hanging in their vestry! Lovely.

When it was finally time for us to hit the road, I noticed the house across the street:

BOO! I love the spiders crawling down the side of this big, old, beautiful home. I am sure this town is a lot of fun on Halloween night!

Then we were back in the car and ready to hit the road for home!

My husband *loves* having his picture taken!

What a wonderful birthday weekend I had! We had a lovely drive home, stopping for lunch at a steak house along the way. The sun was shining and we got to see the beautiful fall colors. I really enjoy my dear man's company. I like just sitting beside him and noting things of interest as we drive. We are definitely comfortable companions!

We got home about 4:30; Merlin was most happy to see us! Traveling is fun, but it's always nice to be home. I think that's one of the reasons we're both so excited about RV living. The comforts of home will follow us no matter where we travel!

Thank, dear husband, for a lovely and memorable birthday trip! I had a marvelous time!

Mmmmmwah!

:)

we're off to see . . . ??!?

Okay, so here we go! I'm not taking my laptop, so no sharing until after we return, which will be late Sunday afternoon. I may get back here on Monday. Maybe. :)

So, last night I decided I finally wanted to makeover one of my crew neck sweatshirts. I've had two -- a navy and a black -- for five or six years and I never, ever wear them. But I had this book about quilted sweatshirts. It looked so fun! But there wasn't a pattern I like just bunches. So on my way home from work last night, while I stopped to get my last two blocks and the black floss, I also picked up a couple of fat quarters that I thought would go with my black sweatshirt. After about three hours, this is what I came up with:

Not too shabby for a first attempt! As with anything else, there's a learning curve. When I convert the blue sweatshirt, I'll do things a little differently, but overall, I'm very pleased! I'll wear it with pride today!

Hope everyone has a fun weekend . . . hasta lunes!

:)

ps: Roll Tide ROLL!

busy, busy, busy!

I did mention that I was clowning around at last night's guild meeting, didn't I? Isn't it a darling costume? This won the first place ribbon at our quilt show last month, in the "wearables" category. Kari Hawkins was the designer/creator. It was really cute, and incredibly WARM! But I honored to be able to wear it and show it off for her!

The other wearable that was shown off last night (it won President's choice, best of show) was a beautiful vest that I'd love to have! I can't decide if I'm up to making one, or if I want to commission the woman who made it to make *me* one! :)

The Stitcher's Group met at McAlister's Deli for dinner before the guild meeting last night. It was a lot of fun! It's nice to get to know a smaller group of women within the guild. The Huntsville guild is so large -- 350+ members -- it's easy to feel lost! Having a "group" makes it a lot more fun!

You know what else makes a guild meeting more fun?? How about WINNING! I got my nametag raffle ticket (which you get for wearing, well, your nametag) and I purchased $2 in tickets. Can you believe -- I didn't win one doorprize, I won TWO!!!!! Isn't that just FUN?!?!! The first thing I won was four lovely blue fat quarters, and a $15 gift certificate from Quilter's Refuge. The first guild meeting I ever attended, I won a gift certificate from them. It's where I purchased all the neutral fabric in the Grand Hands quilt, and Matt's block in that same quilt. I know I'll have fun shopping there! The second one I won was a darling Moda cupcake package from Patches & Stitches! I've looked at that for a while; what a happy to be able to bring it home!

I also signed up for my first quilter's retreat last night. I'm not doing the Sewanee trip, with the guild, because that's in January (and I'm traveling to Atlanta for my nephew's wedding). But the Stitcher's Group is going to Grand Oak Retreat in Scottsboro in February for a four-day quilt-in! This is so cool -- I've known about Grand Oak since it was just blueprints! We did the iron work for it and I know it's impressive! So I'm very much looking forward to it. Plus the owner, Cindy Hildebrand, is a lovely lady and a quilter herself. It will be a wonderful time!

I finally got a photo of the rooster wall hanging . . . took me long enough, I know! I'll stitch around the applique this weekend . . .

I still haven't decided for sure & for certain, what to do in the corners. Input, please?!?

Are you wondering what, exactly, is the green thing across the bottom? It's a pool float tube (noodle-thingie). They make GREAT tools to roll hand work around, to carry it to-and-fro, so it doesn't get wrinkled. I have several cut into different sizes -- I use them a lot when I'm working on a quilt-as-you-go project. You just poke a pin through the fabric into the noodle to hold it in place. Nifty idea, non?

Speaking of kitchen tools (I know, I wasn't, but I think like spaghetti, remember?), here's a gander at one of my all-time-favorite-how-did-I-live-without-it tools:

It's a hand-held electric shredder.

It's light, fast, dishwasher-safe, and I don't ever have to worry about grating my fingers.

It's got three blade options -- slice, shred, and grate -- all of which work perfectly nicely. The shredding is perfect for fresh Parmesan cheese. I got this two years ago (thanks, Mom) from William & Sonoma. At the time, Todd laughed, because he figured this would be another one of those 'gadgets' that are short-lived. But no, this one has proved itself over and over and over. It will definitely make the RV short list!

I was in the kitchen this morning, taking pictures of birthday brownie bites! My friend, Jennifer, who gifted me with the flowering tea and tea pot last week, celebrates her birthday this weekend! She loves chocolate, so I definitely wanted to oblige!

These are similar to the ones I made last weekend and never got a picture of. I use store-bought brownie bites and store-bought frosting that I doctor. The canned frosting is so soft, and doesn't hold a piped shape nicely. So I add about a cup of sifted confectioner's sugar to a cup of frosting. Then I added butter flavoring to the white frosting, and chocolate flavoring to the chocolate icing. It makes it much thicker and easier to manipulate through the decorating tube. I put the royal icing pumpkins on the chocolate-topped morsels, and opalescent sprinkles on the white!

Of course, tasty birthday treats are lonely without a gift, so I had to do something a little more (and special). I'm all about memory-making gifts, so here's what I made for Jen . . .

I hope she's as excited about this as I am! I won't tell you what I've got planned for us on that day, but it *will* be fun!

Tomorrow, my darling husband's secret plan will be revealed . . . I'm so excited! I don't know anything but that we'll have a blast!!!! He did tell me I could bring my hand work, so we must be doing a little driving. I can't wait to take pictures and share our fun weekend!!! For now, though, I need to be off to work and about today's business!

Happy Friday, ya'll!

:)

nearly there . . . !

Yes! This day is nearly done (at least, the work portion of it is) and then there's only Friday left! Once Friday is put to bed, then it's SATURDAY! And not just any Saturday, I feel compelled to remind you, but the SATURDAY that my husband whisks me away for a fun get-away to destinations unknown! He's been very, very tight-lipped about this whole weekend. Clues are not really forthcoming and I can't even pump my children for info, because he's either (a) not told them a thing or (b) convinced them that they couldn't share *any* news with me! My inclination is that they don't know. What will this weekend bring?!?! All I know is that it's overnight, we're going to church somewhere different, and I need to dress appropriately for the weather. Are you as excited as I am?!? What a birthday this has been -- never ending! I *love* it! :)

I purchased a gift for my S.P. today. She's a Bama fan, so I got her some ear jewelry and a cool cup. Two Friends, the store from which I purchased it, gift wraps, so I let them!! They wrapped it in the hound's tooth tissue and tied it with a red (crimson) ribbon -- very cute! Here's a picture.

Here's also a picture of where I work. Or at least, where I sit, where I work. Why? Because I can. You can definitely tell it's me -- my pictures of flowers, my lady having tea, and my "D". Plus in the corner you can see the snowmen James welded me! (Not to mention my purse. LOL!) Yeah, I work in an iron shop, but I'm still all girlie!

We still haven't heard anything on Camp Macoba. Todd was supposed to meet with the committee today, but due to circumstances, they couldn't meet. We continue to pray and rest in the hand of God! You know, as badly as I want an answer and want resolution, I also am learning to be content to wait, and realizing that the waiting is part of God's plan too.

Tonight I'm off to the guild meeting. I'm looking forward to it -- dinner first with a group of the girls. Should be fun!

Ciao!

:)

what day is it?!?!

It's already Wednesday!!!

What a busy week it's been! Sunday, after church, Jocelyn & Jason and Kim & James came over and helped Todd & I celebrate my birthday! Hooray! It was so much fun. We had carryout Chinese for dinner, and Todd got me a cake from Peggy Ann's Bakery! It was *so* pretty -- it had a teapot on it! And it was from Peggy Ann's! Which is one of my favorite cake-baking-places in the whole world! And then, after we had cake & ice cream, I opened presents! Whoohoo! James and Kim got me a six month subscription to The Quilt Show! Isn't that fun!?! I'm so excited! I've already watched a show or two! This will come in very handy, I'm sure! Then, Joc & Jason gave me an pink iPod and the NASB on CD. I can't wait to use it! What a happy, happy birthday! And the best part? It's not over! Todd is taking me away on Saturday for a surprise birthday trip!

Then on Monday, I just spend a quiet day doing things . . . tidying, watching old movies, laundry, the treadmill, etc. I got the rooster, weather vane, and letters cut and adhered to the wall-hanging. It looks so cute! I still need to outline stitch them, but the hard part is done. I'll post a picture of it later. I'm still not quite sure what to do with the corners . . .

Tuesday was back to work. It was a busy day, which is great, it makes the time fly! Mom called me late in the afternoon to let me know she'd received her package. Yay! She was pleased to have Grand Hands back, and loved the topper and towel, so that makes me smile! I headed from work to work, and took care of Derrick's books. While I was there I caught up with Karen and Kelly and got to hear about their lovely time in Disney! From the Stuckey's, I headed over to Jeff's to give him his check. I stayed and chatted with him and his family (whom I dearly love) for a bit. Then I headed HOME! It was a dark, rainy evening, and I don't like driving in those conditions. Yuck! I finally got home and guess what was in the mail?????

The other part of my prize package from Jenny of Elefantz in Australia!!!!!!! What fun! Plus a couple more happy birthday cards, too! I love making my birthday go on and on and on! I know that technically, the prize package wasn't a birthday present, per se, but when I opened yesterday's parcel, it was wrapped in tissue, tied with ribbon, and had a card . . . if that doesn't scream HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I don't know what does! :)

Today it was back to work again, and tonight it's on to church! Tomorrow is the monthly guild meeting and I'm meeting the Stitcher's Group for dinner beforehand at McAllister's Deli. Then I'm helping as a mentor, if there are any new members or visitors, and then I'm going to model a clown costume that was a ribbon winner at the Fanfare Quilt show! I'll share more about that later.

We're getting closer to the weekend Bible study -- I sent out notice to each of the ladies this morning; I hope to hear back from folks soon! I have heard from my darling Kim. One down, six to go! This will be a great time. I'm looking forward to it!

Time to make haste . . .

Manana!

:)

happy birthday to ME! :)

Yes, that today is my birthday *does* explain why this kicks off my favorite time of the year! :)

Lots of pictures today, because I've been a big slacker this week and have not be an active poster. It wasn't for a lack of things to share, but because I was so busy *doing* those things! You know, my blog conundrum.

First, here are the pictures of my annual fall "fun" for my mom. I finally got it finished *and* got it in the mail. Geez. You'd think procrastinator was my middle name!

I think it turned out really well, if I do say so myself! Now I've got two more sets to do -- one for Joc and one for Kim! Hopefully I'll finish 'em before October ends! At least I won't have to mail them! *grin* Below is the table topper along with the tea towel. The annual squirrel -- gotta get it in!

After I got that off in the mail (along with the Grand Hands quilt), I wasn't sure what to do with myself. Lots of options. Like . . . .

New Tea Time magazine! Yum -- doesn't it look like fun? The bagger at the grocery store looked at the cover and asked if I was going to make that cake. I told him I sure was going to *read* about making that cake! :) And look at the pretty cardinals on the tea pot! My favorite! Well, if not the magazine, then . . .

Did I mention I'd won another contest?? Yes, I'm pretty sure I did. Part of the winnings arrived yesterday -- this book is GORGEOUS!!! I love it! The pictures are simply wonderful. What I really like is that a lot of the quilts have a very traditional feel, but the fabrics give them new life! Just downright beautiful. Oh but wait -- while I'm on the subject on winning, I did get an e-mail on Friday that I'd won the TGIF Giveaway (the link is on my sidebar). Can you believe it?!?!?! I'm quite excited about this win, too -- it's a darling little accessory kit from Ruby Jane's Retro Fabrics. I was just tickled! What fun. Hmmmm, there's also . . .

A charm pack easy-peasy baby quilt . . . it's laid out, I just need to pin and sew. Actually, I there's way too much I should be doing in this room. I'll save this room for my "sew freely monday"! Perhaps . . .

My darling mom and dad sent me a nice little happy birthday check -- fun money! I turned around and ordered a couple of DVDs that I felt needed to join my collection. Lucky me, they arrived in today's mail! Lots to choose from! Oooh--but first . . . .

Tomorrow is time for another Secret Pal gift! Sticking with the idea that packaging is half the fun of a gift, I hot glued leaf cutouts all over the top of a piece of cardboard, then added the Autumn Angel and lots of Hershey's miniatures! After wrapping it in cellophane, I hot glued a couple more leaves on the outside and voila! I hope it's a happy. So, what will it be . . .

At first glance, this sure doesn't not look like it could possibly be my activity of choice, but . . .

That turns into this! Isn't it pretty? It's a flowering tea -- white peach tea, to be precise. My friend, Jennifer, gave me the flowering tea and the clear pot for my birfday! What a fun happy! So I thought to myself, self, let's make a fun pot of tea to go with whatever it is you decide on! So I did! Then I thought to myself, self, let's go all the way with this tea thing. So I did!

I made the tea tray out of a gold picture frame (LOL -- but not today -- a while back!). I picked a pretty fabric and topped it with a crocheted doily of my grandma's. Then I screwed in the handles and put felt pads on the four corners underneath. Isn't it sweet? The creamer and sugar bowl go with the teapot the kids got me for Mother's Day -- I *love* it! The cup and saucer set is really special to me. I've given one to my daughter, and one to my daughter-in-law. And I'll give a set to every girl grandchild that comes along, too. That way, we can think of each other whenever we have a quiet minute to sit down and have a nice cup of tea; no matter the distance between us physically! LOL---and check out my pumpkin-topped sugar cubes! I had splenda in the sugar bowl, but the cubes were so darling, I wanted to include them! I don't know why I didn't just use 'em -- I ate 'em anyway! It's okay, it's my birfday. :)

So, I brought my tea service into the living room, set the tray on the couch beside me, turned the tv on to the Alabama game (and muted it) and put Hocus Pocus into the laptop. Yes. I vegged. It was a cool, grey day -- the perfect kind for doing exactly what I ended up doing. Curling up on the couch and watching old movies, with a pot of tea. Bliss.

Oh . . . and I made dinner for a family at church for tomorrow; white bean chili and pumpkin topped brownie bites. Cute little things! And I finished scanning all my magazine clippings into pdf files! Hooooray! And I tidied the house (because the kids are coming over after church tomorrow to celebrate with me). I think that's it. Oh yeah -- and I played on facebook. Alot!

Finally, for posterity, here's a self-portrait of me on my forty-seventh.

Life is good.

:)

God is so good!

Not for any particular reason or because of anything particular that happened to me.  He just is.  :)

Joc and I had a lovely day together yesterday.  We hit the road at about 8:30 yesterday morning and took a trip to Franklin, Tennessee (about 88 miles or so) to cruise the aisles of the Whole Foods store there.  It was very easy to find; 3 minutes off of I-65 at exit 69.  It's a pretty store and full of lots of wonderful things!  The first thing we saw was a jackpot find -- local grown mums (that were quite beautiful) at $6.99 a pot!  I think the mums made it worth the trip for Jocelyn!

We started in produce and worked our way around the perimeter of the store, then when back and cruised the aisles.  They have lots of interesting organic foods.  Plus, both hot and cold food bars (lunch for $7.99/lb).  And a bakery, cheese counter, an olive bar, a meat/seafood counter that was really beautiful; we really did enjoy browsing (and putting select items in our cart)!  One thing they had which I've not been able to find anywhere in Huntsville (except as a bulk item at Garden Cove) is quinoa (pronounced keen-wah).  What else?  Oh yeah, they had sodas made with regular cane sugar instead of corn syrup.  Plus it was kind of neat to see what regular stores carry that actually is organic.  They even had vegan cookies! 

After our trip to Whole Foods, we went to Dave's BBQ and had lunch.  Please don't comment on what an oxymoron that is!  It gets worse.  We stopped at Wal Mart (cotton balls and some other details) and I got a Hershey bar with almonds.    But on a positive note, I did drink all my water!

Whole Foods aside, it was nice to spend time with Jocelyn, just chatting and enjoying each other's company.  I like what God has done with my children so far.  :)

I finished the table topper Sunday evening; I'll post a picture before it goes in the mail.  I was very pleased with it -- I hope my mom is as well!  I'd sent her a pdf file from a 2005 (?) issue of Martha Stewart's Living, that had instructions to make some really cute squirrel favor holders.  I think they'd be darling with the table topper!  The squirrel favor holders can be found here.

Tonight Todd and I are heading to Jason & Jocelyn's for dinner.  And I'll get to see the cutest kitten in the whole, wide world!  Only she'll have just gotten back from surgery, so she'll probably be a little delicate.  S'okay, can't wait to see her and cuddle her!  I only ever get to see her on FB!

Oooh!  In yesterday's mail I got a birthday card and check from my mom & dad!  What perfect timing!  I'd wanted to watch Babe in my laptop, but I don't have it on DVD.  Then I wanted to watch Hocus Pocus, but I don't have it at all!  So, me and my little birthday money hopped on to Amazon.com, and both those movies (dvds) and Arsenic & Lace *and* To Kill A Mockingbird are on there way to my collection!  Whoohoo!  So what did I watch instead, you ask?  Twilight.  Don't laugh.  It goes with my Hershey bar.  Thanks Mom & Dad!

Fiddle-dee-dee, tomorrow is another day!

:)

Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe: Freaky Friday Fun Giveaway, WK# 2

Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe: Freaky Friday Fun Giveaway, WK# 2

primative pumpkins!

Oh, and goodness . . . also check out Brenda's Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe blog -- she's got such darling stuff, and right now is having a little contest for a trio of goodies that is *so* cute and I missed my opportunity to buy it, even though I wanted and *intended* to buy it.  Sheesh. 

Fun, fun, fun! 

:)

planning themes . . . hmmmmm!

Okay, so I love women's ministry.  I've been involved with women's ministry for as long as I've been a Bible-believing, born-again member of a church.  I have such a heart for women and the challenges they (we) face as children of God living on this here earth . . . it's almost too much for me to be able to vocalize!

 La.  That being said, I've done lots of searching and researching for resources to use in women's ministry wherever I am.  One that I found several years ago is Marnie Swedberg, who is like a mentor's mentor!  She comes up with lots of great ideas and puts them within reach of those who need them.  I've subscribed to her Marnie Minute, and Event Planners Friend and most recently, Eating With Gratitude.  She's a fabulous resource and I'm so grateful for her (and I've told her that, too)!

Right now, she's got this cool contest going on, "Resources Via Marnie".  She's got thirty-two theme planning sets; each set includes things like the overall theme (okay, duh), game ideas, publicity ideas, food, decorating, entertainment -- it's really quite ingenious, and incredibly useful!  The contest involves folks picking their favorite theme set, and blogging about it, which is what this blog entry is about!  :)

So I went through the different sets.  There are a LOT!  And surprisingly, of all the wonderful themes, I was able to pick one that I thought was the most fun.  Surprisingly again, it was not what I would have thought I'd have picked!  Let me 'splain . . .

I love tea parties and quilting and crafting -- so anything with those themes you'd think would be top picks for me right?  There's also music-based themes, and exercise (okay, that one's a "stretch" for me!), and holidays, and eating and so much fun stuff!!  But the one that *really* captured my eye was this one:

"Taking Every Thought Captive"  Help Your Women Learn How To Lasso Those Wild, Wild Thoughts with a Wild West Event!

A Rodeo Theme!!!!!

It looks like *so* much fun!!!  And what a GREAT way to *rope* women into a terrific study/event, with such a *catchy* theme!  Rodeo just sounds like an exciting time -- and having everyone come dressed to fill the part makes it relaxed and easy to feel comfortable.  Super idea! 

Anyway, that's the one that gets my vote.  Take a swing by there and check it out.  And check Marnie out while you're at it!  You'll be blessed, that's for sure!

Get along, little doggies!

:)

happy FRIDAY!

Even though the day is gray, rainy, and cool, it's still a beautiful day!

Lots of exciting things this week:

1)  I won a prize package!  I was so thrilled -- and it caught me totally off-guard!  I'd forgotten that the drawings for the nine members of the Gum Tree Blog were for September 30th!  So imagine my surprise when one of those members, Jenny, e-mailed me to say I'd won the drawing on her blog!  Hurrah!  Lots of pretty things, shipping all the way from Australia, no less!  I can't wait to play.  Thank you, Jenny of ELEFANTZ!  :)  You can check out my windfall here!

2)  Todd got a call from one of the members on the Camp Macoba committee.  It was very positive and the committee is very interested in having us out there!  He was under the impression we were wanting to move out there in the next THREE WEEKS!  Ummmm.  Wow!  Lots of thoughts to process there.  Pros & cons!  The committee members are going to meet with Todd in another week, and go from there.  There's the possibility we could spend Christmas there, which would be really cool with me, since both the kids are going to Maryland to spend Christmas with my mom & dad.  That's another story!

3)  I have about 50 more stitches and I've finished quilting the table topper for my mom!  I will bind it this weekend and put it in the mail on Monday.  She and my dad are in Corpus Christi, and she didn't want to get mail in her absence.  Good for me!

4)  I got out all the "Fall" totes on Tuesday!  Hurrah!  I pulled out three totes of stuff and lined it up on the dresser in Jocelyn's room.  I kept what I wanted, which boiled down to about 10 things -- the squirrel votive holder, the Jim Shores pumpkin, a wicker pumpkin, a ceramic pumpkin, a scarecrow door knob thingie, a three pillared candle holder, a big black spider (!!!), the acorn basket, and the acorn accents.  I've got some garden flags and a door plaque, too, as well as my turkey cranberry dish and two table runners (one I bought, the other that I made last year and have promised to whichever of my children hosts Thanksgiving at their house first).  My plan is to keep *all* my seasonal stuff to ONE tote.  Pretty extraordinary, if you ask me!

5)  The call came yesterday:  I am working my first shift at Tate Farm tomorrow; a light shift, 11-4.  Should be another beautiful day for it.  The rain is supposed to clear out soon, and the clouds are supposed to be out of here by early this evening, leaving us with a breezy, sunny, cool forecast for tomorrow!  Perfect for a day of fun out at the pumpkin farm!

Tonight, Todd & I are having dinner with Kim & James.  Kim is making her yummy Chili!  Should be a fun evening.  Perhaps tomorrow night, we'll spend the night in the RV.  It's been a week or so.  Todd's on shift on Sunday, so he'll head in after church (which means we can't spend the night out there on Sunday).  I'm still tossing around the idea of sleeping out there by myself; I'll have to do it sooner or later.  I might as well give it a shot now!

Alright -- on to be about the day!

Tenga un buena dia!

:)

time!!!!

I do not have it!!  Do you ever fall victim to the conundrum of not having the time to blog about the things you're doing / thinking / feeling, because you're too busy doing / thinking / feeling the things you'd blog about?  It's where I am!

I didn't have a "Sew-freely Monday" because my boss, who had been out of the country for a week, returned to work yesterday and wanted me there to help catch him up.  Understandable.  I have today off instead, which is a pretty decent trade! 

I'm still working on finishing the table topper I started for my mom two weeks ago.  I've finished quilting the appliqués, and now I'm quilting "leaf swirls" in the center.  I'll probably machine quilt the sides . . . or not.  I haven't quite decided on that yet.  I'd like to have it ready to sew the border on tonight, though.  I have until Saturday to get it into the mail.  My folks leave today for Texas, to visit my youngest sister and her family, and they (mom & dad) won't be back until next week.  So I've bought myself a little time there!

I got a sweet call from sister Cynthia this morning.  She returned from Israel on Sunday evening.  I got a brief glimpse of her trip, but can't wait to hear more about it and to see pictures!!!!  I love to see the pictures people take on their trips.  The things people take pictures of gives one an idea about the picture-taker's perspective.  When I see Cynthia's pictures, I won't just be seeing Israel, I'll be seeing it as she saw it.  Interesting.  And, I can't wait!

Then the oldest of my younger sisters -- Julia -- called at around 8 am.  I'm sending BBSQ to her today.  She's using it in a display this weekend.  I need to get busy!!!!

I did something I've never done yesterday; a NEW thing!!  I entered an online quilt swap!!!  Doesn't that sound like fun?  It's a mini-quilt swap -- the largest it can be is 24" X 24", so it's not too overwhelming.  And the deadline for mailing is January 29th, so it's all cool.  I may use the topper that I've patterned and do a fourth.  I dunno.  I'll post the link for the swap this week -- it's a pretty cool concept.

What else?  Let's see, hopefully we'll hear something about Camp Macoba this week.  In the meantime, I just keep praying the prayer that never fails:  Thy will be done!  :)

I forgot to get a picture of my secret pal's gift this week.  It was cute!  I found some fun fall stuff at the dollar store -- a pretty stuffed pumpkin, a leaf-shaped votive candle plate, a bag of Hershey's kisses (ok, they weren't fall, but they were chocolate!), and an autumn angel with maple leaf wings -- very cute (and my sp collects angels).  I found a basket I'd had and arranged the things prettily and wrapped it with clear cellophane draped in fall-colored curly ribbons.  It was pretty!  I may have mentioned this, but I truly believe that half the fun of the gift is the packaging.  A simple gift, thoughtfully packaged, feels extravagant!  :)  At least, that's how it feels for me. 

Goodness.  I feel like there's so much more for me to say, yet if I stay here to write (type) them, I'm not quilting, or scanning more clippings, or going to the post office, or getting laundry done (which wouldn't hurt my feelings too bad)!  And the more I do today, the more I'll have to talk about later!

Enough!!!

:)

just a quickie . . .

I have so much to share -- lots of things running around in my head today. From the ministry, to moving to the RV, to moving the RV . . . it's amazing to see God at work in so many areas in my life, and to see how it's all connected to one good.

I do want to share a quick pic I took Wednesday night -- this is an RV parking spot (!!!) up at Camp Macoba. It has full sewer, water, electric hookup. The little campsite sits at the top of about 110 acres of beautiful woods, ponds, creeks, meadows, and walking trails. Gorgeous. My dream yard! Over and over, as we looked at this and pray through the formalities, God keeps bringing my verse back to me -- Ps. 37:4: Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

I'd love to share more, but now is not the time . . . busy day!

:)

such a daze!

I think I got lost.

So much has happened over the past few days! Where to begin?

The first day, of course! Saturday and the Quilt Show! Oh wow. Let me just tell you how incredibly impressed I am with the quilting talent we have in the Huntsville/North Alabama area! *So many beautiful quilts!*  I worked Saturday for most of the day, being a floor hostess and then at the admissions table.  It was so gratifying to see so many people walk through the doors (after buying a ticket) to see all the wonderful handiwork!  I was thrilled to have the white gloves, so I could go around and inspect quilts all the more closely!

One thing that really captivated me was that, unlike at the national (or international) shows I've been to, where the quilter was from some far off state or even across the ocean from another country, all of these quilts were created by women I see at guild meetings every month.  They live and work and raise their families in the same area I do.  Fabulous quilting isn't just done by faceless folks.  I know them!  I could become them. 

With a lot of practice, time, patience and practice.  Lots and lots of practice.

The good news is, I bought *plenty* of new fabric to practice with!

So, I worked the show on Saturday, and took some pictures, and I think I purchased something from just about every vendor that was there (we had about twenty), even if it was just a fat quarter, as my way of saying "Thank you!" to each one of them for helping to make our show a success.  From what I gathered after speaking with many of them, the weekend was good for them, too.  I'm glad.  Happy vendors tend to come back for future shows!  I won't bore you with pictures of *everything* I purchased, but let's just say I got lots of different orange fat quarters (must be pumpkin month) and several MODA charm packs (for little baby blankets) and a very interesting tutorial on machine quilting, that came with pre-marked fabric to practice on!  Fun!

Sunday, after church, Todd and I headed back to the house and I made us a quick bite to eat, then we headed back to the show so I could continue to take pictures.  I'm fairly certain I got at least one picture of every quilt in the show.  I got duplicates of several -- especially if they caught my eye.  I'll post a few of my favorites before the week ends -- but I decided I won't post all of them!  I think the guild is going to post them all -- I'll link over to their link!

I wanted to be at the show on Sunday when they drew for the raffle quilt.  It was created (mainly) by one of the women in our guild.  One who happened to win several ribbons.  LOL -- Okay; we could enter up to four quilts.  Karen did.  She got three blue ribbons and one second place ribbon.  Plus one of those blue ribbons won the people's choice award, to boot!  Anyway, she did a beautiful job on the raffle quilt as well, and I'd have loved to have won it!  But no.  Oh well!  My quilt didn't win anything either, but I really didn't expect it to.  Not in a self-deprecating sort of way, but in a realistic, I-know-(now)-it-wasn't-a-show-quilt kind of way.  I'll speak more to that line of thought later one.  At five, my quilt (and my apron) were ready to be picked up and taken home!

As we headed toward home, James & Kim called and wanted to meet us for dinner.  Since we were already in town, we suggested Applebees.  They met us there at about six-thirty and we stayed there until after NINE!  It was a fun night and we talked and talked and talked.  It's nice to have that kind of relationship with your adult children!

Monday, I put my feet up!  I diddled, mostly.  A little tidying here, a little grocery shopping there, and a little scanning to add to the mix.  I also worked on the leaf & acorn table topper.  I was blanket stitching the outlines of the leaves; I started with the sewing machine and did one leaf, but I didn't like the way it looked.  So I pulled out the floss and finished the rest with a double dose of thread.  It looks better.  I varied the stitched lengths between the two remained leaves, so they all three have a little bit of a different look.  I'll probably go ahead and do this on all three of the toppers.

Jason and Jocelyn headed to the house on Monday for dinner with us.  I do love my children and spending time with them!  I'm really experiencing the best of both worlds in a lot of ways.  I've not felt in any way useless or like I'm missing something since both my children have moved out and on . . . and yet I still feel very privileged to be a part of their lives and to communicate with them (one way or another) on a very regular [daily] basis!  God is GOOD!

Work is work.  And why spoil a perfectly nice post by saying more?

FIN! 

:)

shhhh!

Okay.  So there's a new text editor in blog-town and I just 
wanted to take a moment to check it out.

And voila, I'm done. 

Do you realize how many terribly creative people there 
are out there?  It floors me.

And it humbles me. 

:)