Sweet Blogging Friend

Isn't blogging fun?  And it's even better when we meet new friends who truly become a part of our everyday lives!  My sweet friend Debbie J. from Homemaking Dreams  became my friend early on in my blogging life. 

mug rug

Debbie sent a sweet package to me this week.  She is an avid quilter and made the cutest little mug rug and quilted changing pads for my new grandson, Chandler.

Aren't these the sweetest little pads? I love the pretty fabrics she used!  She also sent big brother a little gift...something all boys enjoy:  dinosaurs!  He is going to love those!  Thank you, Debbie, for being so thoughtful.

We didn't grow corn in our little garden this year, but received 12 ears from hubby's coworker on Monday.  I cut it off the cob, cooked in a little bacon grease with a small amount of onion, and froze it.  I plan to finish it up next week, on Tuesday, which is our traditional family night with the children.  I am going to add a little cream, a little sugar, and salt and pepper.  It will be my first attempt at making creamed style corn and I hope it will be as yummy as I imagine it will be.

I've heard a lot of people say that they haven't had too much luck with their tomatoes this year.  We only planted four plants, but ours have been some of the prettiest tomatoes we have ever grown.  I've also received tomatoes from others and have managed to freeze a few quarts for later.  I enjoy the freezing process and can just imagine how yummy these home grown tomatoes will be in chili, soup, and spaghetti sauce when the weather turns cool.  I'm not rushing it, but I am looking forward to cooler weather!

Showing Off (thrift store)

I found this afghan a couple months ago at Goodwill.  $4....yes, $4.  It looks brand new, except for whoever put it together, had put it together with sewing thread.  The sewing thread was coming out and several of the blocks were separating.  Easy fix for me....a $2 skein of yarn and a needle.... and look!

Isn't the detail pretty?  I don't know how to crochet, so I am really pleased to own this little blanket.  I love the colors and now that it is repaired and washed, I will use it in my guest bedroom....far away from my fur babies!  



Love this blue display

Hubby and I just got home from a mini vacation to celebrate my birthday.  We stopped at one of my favorite antique stores and I had to snap a picture of this patriotic display.  Don't you just love that quilt????  I'm having blogger issues today, so once I figure out how to post my pic's right side up and type without the words coming from the middle of the page and going out, I'll post more pic's!! grrrr!!!

My two boys...

Our precious Chandler was born yesterday afternoon at 5:17 pm.  He weighs 8 lbs 10 oz.  He and Mommy and family are doing great.  This picture was taken as they were bringing him home from the hospital.  Avery is wired... enjoying all the visitors and attention.  Grandma is tired...early bed tonight!  ;)

Still no baby...

This silly face stayed with grandma and papa last night.  He wanted to try out his new bed that we bought for our daughter's old bedroom.  He loved the bed and slept wonderfully.  However, grandma didn't sleep too much.  I had closed the bedroom door to keep the dogs out and one little dog, in particular, stayed at our door and cried....and cried....and cried. It was Tumpy...the fat dachshund.   Finally, after approx. an hour of that, I got up and made a bed on the couch for myself, while leaving Avery alone in the bedroom, with the door closed.  Needless to say, I worried that he would roll off the bed, so I stayed awake for a loooooong time.  I woke up around 5 am and got back into the  bed with Avery.  We woke up around 7:30 am to the sound of the dog crying again.  So, we got up.....played for awhile, watered the garden, ate breakfast outside, squirt the dogs with the water gun, put up tomatoes, and did a little laundry.  His daddy came to pick him up around 10:30, as his  family was had plans to swim today.  Guess what grandma is going to do???? My bed is still made on the couch....see you later!  (Baby Chandler still isn't ready to make his appearance.  His due date was Sunday.  If he doesn't decide to come by Thursday or Friday, mommy and the doctors are going to make him come on out to see us! I will keep you posted!)



Still waiting....

This little guy (and his very excited family) is still waiting for the arrival of his baby brother.  The phone rang this morning and the caller ID notified me that it was his dad...I just "knew" it was "the" call.  Nope, he was calling just to chit chat and tell me about his new teaching position at school.  I love those chit chat calls, but was sure hoping it was time for Chandler's arrival.  His due date is July 15th,  so technically, he has a little time before he 'has' to come out to meet his new family.   We sure are looking forward to meeting our new little guy!

From My Kitchen Sink

Good Morning from my kitchen sink!  Do you have a window over your kitchen sink?  We have lived in several homes since we were married and a couple of those houses did not have a window over the sink. I hated washing dishes if I couldn't look see outside a window!  I love the blue bottles and the blue birds in my window.  When the sun shines on this side of the house, I have blue sunbeams in certain areas of the kitchen.  It makes me smile.   The two blue bottles are old Milk of Magnesia bottles.  I work in a nursing home and have a pretty close relationship with Milk of Magnesia... it's still the drug of choice for constipation.  (!)  The little stained glass tulip was found at a consignment store for $1.  I love it!  The blue birds are from a collection I started through mail order over 20 years ago. (I was such a sucker for 'stuff')  I bought two pieces, the birds and a pretty flower (which I cannot find; I may have given it away), but the birds have always been my favorite. My son commented recently "Mom, you've had those birds a looong time."  He is 27 years old.   The ladybug  timer has been moved, she now resides on my quilting frame...see post below.  So, what's in your window?  Show us! 

**Baby update:  If Baby Chandler hasn't arrived by Monday, the doctor plans to induce his mommy's labor Monday night or Tuesday!! So, hopefully, by next week this time, I"ll be kissing on a brand new baby!**

Plugging Away

It was a HOT weekend in NC and I think most people stayed indoors  to stay cool!  I had to work this weekend and am so very thankful that I work where there is a good a/c system in place.

I have my quilt frame set up in my daughter's old bedroom for now.  I keep the door closed and tend to forget about the quilt until Avery comes over and goes in there to get his toys.  (this is the $5 quilt top find from Goodwill in the frame)

I bought myself this cute little ladybug timer and am challenging myself to set it for 30 minutes a day and quilt!  It's amazing how much (or little) I can quilt in 30 minutes.  But I figure if I can do this regularly, I should be able to knock this quilt out in......?? a few months??  years??  who knows? 

I have always enjoyed hand quilting, but I struggle with finding the right thimble.  Leather thimbles have always been my favorite.  (my latest was one made by my husband, by cutting off the finger of a golf glove for me)  However, I have seen this little stick on thimble advertised in several places and thought I would give it a try.  I'm still getting used to it, but so far, I love it.

I found this at a quilt show that I attended back in January.  I finally got around to trying it out  in June.  I think these thimbles can be found at JoAnn's and would probably be less expensive there, especially with a coupon.  I am still playing around with its position on my finger and have caught my quilting thread under it a time or two, but all in all, I like it!!  The little sticky pads are really sticky and can be used over and over.  It has not fallen off my finger at all, which was something I was concerned about when I bought it.  If you struggle with thimbles, like I do, you might enjoy this little gadget.

I purchased a new set of Francie Taylor's CD's  and have enjoyed listening to these while I quilt.  When I finish up this set, I will switch back over to the Ipod and Pandora radio.  I love Pandora!!  I tune mine in to southern gospel and can just quilt away while I sing along! (when I am by myself, of course!)   Is anybody else out there handquilting anything  these days???

Here and There....blogging

I stumbled across an old friend's blog today and she wrote that she started her blog as a 'someday' gift to her grandchildren.  It made me start to think about my own grandparents and how wonderful it would have been if they had left a blog behind....a little piece of their daily lives, what made them happy, what made them sad, what the weather was like, and what their house looked like through the years, etc.  I had been thinking about closing my blog, as obviously, I have not been blogging very much lately.  But after I thought about her reason for blogging and having had a personal scare last week with a breast biopsy, it made me think about my own grandchildren, and what a cool thing to be able to leave behind my blog for them.  (breast biopsy was negative, thank you Lord!)  Having said that, my blog will still be the same random blog it has always been, but I will work hard to keep it up to date, and to leave behind a little piece of me for my grandchildren.

Avery and Aunt April

Of course, this little guy has my heart!  Aunt April loves him, too.  Yesterday she was at my house, waiting for him and his family to come over for dinner.  At one point, she looked out the window and said "I wish they would come on!  I'm ready to play with Avery!"  ;-)

I went to my favorite thrift stores today, something I had not done in awhile.  I picked up a couple of books and this sweet little sampler.  At first glance, I thought the sampler had been made from a stamped design.

But upon further inspection, I decided it was done by counted cross stitch and other embroidery designs.  I don't know what I'll do with it, but it only cost me $1.  I think the box underneath the little girl was supposed to hold a little girl's name.  I wonder why it was never finished?

I got this sweet little bag for $1 , too.  I'm not even sure what its intended use would be, but I thought it was too cute not to buy.  The colors are not very good in the photo, but if you click on the photo, you can see more detail.  I love the cherry fabric and ric rac trim.

More randomness:  Do you have, or know anyone who has a dachshund?  We have two of them and have discovered they can tear up almost ANY dog toy!  This little girl loves to chase balls, but she can't resist chewing them up either.  I'm always on the hunt for 'tough' balls for her.  Remember the magic 8 balls?  The ones that tell your fortune?  Well, I found this one for $1 over a month ago at a thrift store.  Sweet Pea loves it, she has tooth marks all over it, but so far hasn't figured out how to chew it up!!  She literally spends hours rolling this ball around the yard with her nose.  Too cute!!

This is our garden this year!  We built a raised bed near the back door, as the deer and other critters feasted on our bigger garden last year,  located down by the creek.  It's a little crowded in here, but we have been eating plenty of squash and a few cucumbers from it so far.  My neighbors have a really nice, really large garden next door.  They called today to tell us they would be leaving Friday for the beach for a week and wanted to know if we wanted to 'have' their garden while they are gone?  Why, yes! Yes, we do!  My son is gardening and canning vegetables this year and he is going to come over and help me pick vegetables.  He will take most of it home with him.  Thank you, neighbors!!

This is our new favorite place to sit in the evenings, especially when we have guests over.  This area is just outside our fenced area for the dogs and it is a nicely shaded area.  Last night it was cool, and I actually had to grab a jacket while sitting out here.  It's great for our guests and our dogs... the dogs can play outside in their area, see the guests, but not jump on them while they are visiting.  These little plastic Adirondack chairs are inexpensive and very comfy.  I want to buy at least three more soon.

And for the end of this totally random blog entry, I leave you "Avery".... Grandma's heart.  He enjoys playing with this little raisin book.  Each page has one photo that is decorated with raisins and he gets to copy the pic. by adding his own raisins on the other picture.  He is pretty good at it, but he loves raisins, and eats them as fast as he decorates!  So much fun!

Chandler's Quilt

Baby Chandler is due to make his arrival almost any day now.  (due date July 15) Mommy is ready to deliver, daddy is on standby, big brother has been prepared the best we know how, and Grandma finished baby's quilt last night.

I was able to use some of the same fabric that I used to make big brother Avery's quilt.  I hope Avery notices.  ;-))  I ordered the "I Spy" blocks f rom Amy Smart from her Etsy shop.  I added a few of my own fabrics to make sure we had a doggy or two in there.

I need to trim the loose threads and embroider his name on the back.  Hopefully I'll get started on that tonight during tv time.  Come on Baby Chandler...we are ready to meet you!

Trying the 'modern' world

Have you seen this??

My daughter is sharing her Netflix account with me, so I recently watched the first series of Downton Abbey on the laptop.  Loved the show!!! Not  so sure about watching it with a computer in my lap. I loved this series so much that I am planning to purchase season 2, as it isn't on Netflix yet.  I am trying to decide if I want to purchase DVD's to watch on the big tv or shall I order the instant downloads from Amazon and watch on my laptop????

Did you know that you can download e books to read on your computer?  Even if you don't have a Kindle or Nook reader?  Duh, you say!  Well, this is all new to me.  I am currently reading this book on my laptop.  I think I would finish it quicker if I had the paper version in my hand.  When I pick up the laptop, I find myself too distracted by facebook, blogs, and other sites...and find very little time for reading my e book.  (This book will be performed as a Musical in Shipshewana, Indiana.  Would I love to go??? yes!  I've entered a contest for a free weekend getaway there....wouldn't that be lovely?)

I'm still trying to read all of Jennifer Chaiaverini's Elm Creek Quilt books.  I'm finishing up this one today and have loved, loved, loved all her books so far.  This one is a Civil War story and describes the treatment of slaves (which I'm sure is described mildly in this book).  I have found myself sad throughout much of this book....

So, now if I can just put some of these books and movies and laptop down....and get some things done. I plan to finish up Baby Chandler's quilt this week.  His baby shower is this weekend....go, Penpen, go!!!

Wal Mart quilt shop!

Have you checked out your local Wal Mart lately?

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when I visited our local Wal Mart to pick up a yard of white fabric.  (sewing for Baby Chandler, who will be here in two months!!) 

Our local Wal Mart had a huge selection of fabric at very good prices.  I know there is a huge debate about the quality of quilt shop fabrics versus department store fabrics,  but hey, I saw a lot of yummy looking fabrics in our store yesterday.

Not only did they have a huge selection of fabrics, but a large quilting notions section, as well as other sewing gadgets.  I remember when Wal Mart was going to do away with fabric altogether and couldn't believe it when I saw the remodel and the large sewing section. 

The lady who cut my fabric said there had been so many complaints from the public about closing the fabric section, that Wal Mart decided to bring it back....even bigger.  Yay!  Go Wal Mart!