Around the house at Penpen's

Summer is upon us and it is hot in eastern NC.  Our garden was pretty much a flop this year, although we did eat squash 3 times.  We've learned that the garden must be planted away from the dogs.  Sweet Pea helped herself to our cucumbers and the few tomatoes that she could reach.  We are already planning for next year's garden.

One of the good things about not having a job, is being able to visit thrift stores on a regular basis.  I've been finding some really cute things to decorate our new house. 

Here's a look at our foyer area.  The table is our former tv table, which will do for now.  Of course,  I'm on the lookout for just the right piece to go there.  The little dogs are vintage figurines that my parents gifted to my grandparents many years ago.  It makes me happy to have them at my house now.  The tree, the white angel arch, and the crochet balls are more thrifting goodness.

These are future projects.  I just love the cow with the tiny head.

This entire grouping came from thrift stores.  The magnetic strip is a knife holder that the former owners left here.  We couldn't figure how to take it down.  Hopefully there will be tile on the backsplash soon.

I managed to complete little Raegan's quilt just in time for her first birthday.

The front of her little quilt.

The back side; I just love the feminine floral fabric. 

The label handwritten and embroidered by me.  :)

I wanted to share with you my beautiful Mother's Day gift from Will and Ashley.  This is my mama's handwriting from a note she had written to me years ago.  I smile when I remember how much she loved us.  It's been almost a year since my sweet mama left us for her Heavenly home.  I miss her each and every day, but I know I will see her again very soon! 

Still home and loving it!

I have been unemployed (by choice) since early March.  Can I tell you that I love, love, love being home??  I've been extremely busy unpacking and setting up our new home, but thankfully, all that seems to be slowing down.

 

Today on my dining room table is a long over due quilt top for baby Raegan.  Raegan is my nephew's daughter and she will be celebrating her FIRST birthday next month.   Better late, than never.  Right?

 

Can you see the pretty sunflower quilt on the wall?  Click on the picture to enlarge.  This little quilt was gifted to me by Sunny at Quilting Dreams.  I just love it!

 

Just perfect in my dining room

 

I've been trying to stock my pantry.  I decided to check the expiration dates on my canned goods and found two cans of tomato soup that were out of date.  I could throw them out ...... or be brave and eat them.  I ate one can today (exp in 2014) and it was great!  If I go missing , you'll know the soup killed me. 

 

 

My latest thrift store craze:  looking for thin spatulas that will flip an egg without bursting the yolk.  Does anyone know what I mean?  The newer spatulas seem to have a thick edge on them, making it difficult to turn the egg.  Since we moved back home, my daddy has kept us supplied with wonderful farm fresh eggs!  These aren't pretty, but  they work so good!! 

 

 

 



A Sweet Visit to Tennessee

April, Annabelle, and my Daddy

I kidnapped my daddy and my three year old grandson, Chandler, and we took a trip to Tennessee.

It was so much fun!  My daddy had never  been to Tennessee and I couldn't believe I convinced him to leave his home for a few days.  We had not seen Annabelle since before Christmas and it was wonderful to get our hands on her again.  She was such a sweet and funny baby, who welcomed us into her home and entertained us to no end.  Chandler was a great travel buddy and he and Annabelle became fast friends. 

Brinley and her daddy, Will

Before we made our trip to TN, we stopped in High Point to celebrate this sweet girl's birthday.  Brinley turned two!  She is one sweet baby and cried big crocodile tears when we took her brother with us, and she didn't get to go, too.  :(  Grandma wants a Brinley-Grandma day soon!

**this is another post from my phone, but I did find my camera charger!! woo hoo!  Hopefully, my posts will be better soon**
 

Barn Quilt

I finally made myself a barn quilt. It's not actually finished in this photo, as I am still cleaning up the edges and adding more paint.  I hope to display on our lil barn this week. 😜

I'm struggling with blogging right now because I really don't know how to do a proper post from my phone.  I have located my camera since moving into the new house, but I cannot find the charging cord.  Oh brother!!  Slowly, but surely, I hope to get it all together soon!

I Sing Because I'm Happy...

I sing because I'm free....

            His eye is on the sparrow, so I know He watches me!

Portion of my dining room

It's amazing where life can take us and how things fall into place.  Hubby and I listed our home for sale and had two offers within 24 hours of listing.  God is so good.  We moved into our new home last month and life is so sweet again.

Will's family
Will, Ashley, Brinley, Avery, Chandler
 

Even though we moved three hours away from our son's family, we are able to keep in touch.  They came for a quick visit during Easter break and I was able to get lots of sweet loving.  (and lots of laughs!) 

Annabelle is ONE
 

 This little sweetie turned one year old last month!  (she lives 12 hours from me!)  The princess props crack me up, because she is all tomboy so far!  She has started to love on her baby doll a little these days, but she loves to climb and she loves her animals.... Lucy (dog) and Roscoe (cat) and an old neighborhood dog, that has started sleeping on their back porch.  She definitely has her mommy's love of animals!

 

Hubby shot his first turkey, ever, last week.  Hubby is a retired game warden and had never been turkey hunting before.  He is enjoying being back home near his uncle, who is an avid outdoorsman.  I cooked the turkey breast and it was delicious.  I was able to put two more packages in the freezer for later.  I have never seen as many wild turkeys as I have seen since we've moved back home.

Penny's goat











I live near one of my best friends now and she invited me to a paint party.  I had the most fun and as you can see, I painted a goat for my daddy.  I told him to hang it in his 'man cave' and that is where he now resides.  I would definitely do this again.... just what I need, another hobby!

 

Letters from Mama







As I was unpacking boxes, I ran across these letters from my mama.  We moved away from "home" back in 1997.  These are letters she wrote to me in 97-98, before she bought herself a computer.  In the letters, she is trying to decide if she wants a computer or not, and I had been convincing her that she needed to buy one so that we could email, and not have to wait on 'snail mail.'  I'm so glad she didn't have a computer that year, or I would not have these treasures from her now.  I sat down and read them all before I went to bed one night.  I giggled a lot, cried a little, and thoroughly enjoyed my 'visit' with Mama through her letters.  I don't have ANY of our emails, but I do have a lot of messages from Facebook.  Letters are precious.  And the sticky note is one that was inside one of my letters... I love her handwriting.

 

 









And another reason I'm so happy, is that not only did we move back 'home', but I am HOME again! I had left my full time job for a little part time job, but hubby and I decided it just isn't necessary.  So I am truly HOME again.  I love Monday mornings.... my slow time, to blog, to clean up from the weekend, to do things on MY schedule.  I am so truly thankful and feel that God has blessed me tremendously.  Not only do I have a new home, but I can now enjoy being home.  There is still so much unpacking to do, but I am looking forward to getting into my new sewing room soon.  I have  one baby quilt to make that is long over due... Sweet little Rae is 10 months old now.  We have another sweet girl on the way (my niece, Holly's), so she will need a quilt very soon.   I am so excited to know that I will get to it soon!  More pic's of the sewing room next post!









Ma's Quilt

Sometime back in the 1990's, my grandmother, Marjorie, mentioned to my mom, that she believed she could make a quilt, if someone would pre- cut the pieces out for her.

I was so excited to know this, because it was a perfect Christmas gift for the lady I never knew what gift to buy for Christmas.  I cut out, with scissors, every strip  using a template from Georgia Bonesteel's Lap Quilting book... my very first quilting book.  I pencil drew a design of the block on an index card, so she would know how to sew the blocks.

I never heard another word about the quilt.  ( my grandma and I were not very close).  But after she died, my mom found the box tucked away somewhere.... inside were all the pieces , with approx. half of the blocks sewn together!!!  Mama gave the box to me and I knew I had to finish the quilt.

I laughed at myself while sewing the blocks together, as I figured out why she probably didn't finish the quilt.  The strips were cut so WONKY; some longer than others, some fatter than others.  I had to trim blocks.... trim....and then trim again!  She probably was so frustrated, she had no desire to complete it.

I added the hexie flowers, leftover from another project that I had made back in the 1990's, just to give the quilt a little more 'something'.   Here's part of the pieced backing.  I quilted it along the seams of the strips on the front side, hoping to  make the quilt more durable.   (yep, I have a few wrinkles on the back)

 



 

The fabric had several yellowish stains on it and it smelled kind of funny.  I wouldn't wash it until it was all sewn together, as I didn't know what might happen to the fabric.  I used Spray and Wash on the stains, washed it on gentle cycle, and it came out beautifully... and smells so good. 

I had planned to gift this to my mom for Mother's Day last year, but had not finished it on time.  She did see the completed quilt without its binding, as I took it to her house on Mother's Day for her to see.  Sadly, she passed away in July, and never received the quilt.

Today I will be delivering the quilt to her sister, my Aunt Carol, who was my mama's best friend forever!  They talked EVERY day on the phone and I'm sure my aunt misses her terribly.  I hope she will enjoy having her mom, Marjorie's, completed quilt.... and somehow feel a connection to my mom and Marjorie "Ma", through this quilt.  It was truly stitched with lots of love from my heart.  <3 p="">

Hello again blog!

It's been three months and I really do want to keep my blog going.  I cherish going through my mom's blog :  Ancient One's Place .  Her posts really make me smile and tug at my heart strings, especially now that she is gone.  I hope that someone will enjoy my blog one day too.

Mama has several posts featuring my daddy's goats on her blog.  Curt's  mama goats recently delivered their babies over the past couple of weeks (during the coldest weather we have had here in NC).  He has spent a lot of time in the goat pen, helping along his mama's and their babies.  He lost a few, but now has 14 new baby goats that are thriving and doing well.  I read somewhere that winter baby goats are stronger than spring baby goats; so these should be some pretty healthy goats, for sure.  Daddy says he doesn't want to have them bred as early next time; he prefers spring goats. 

This is my daddy with one of his new baby goats.  He is such a good care taker and has impressed me, the nurse, with his skills.  He knows how to put a tube into their stomach and give them extra milk if needed.  I told him that I had to attend nursing school to learn that.  He said he learned from Alex, his old goat friend, who has passed away now. 

We had been away from home for 18 years before Mama died.  It's bittersweet to be back now, wishing we had done so sooner.  But it has been a pleasure to 'get to know' my daddy all over again.  Now that I am older, I can see so much of my own personality in his personality... it's downright scary.  ha ha   And our feet.... we have matching feet... something I didn't realize until my daughter pointed it out to me.  Bless us, we have short toes... I call them 'toelets'. 

I had been extremely busy since Mama got sick and passed away.  I think I finally hit the wall a few weeks ago.  I really miss my mama.  I'm slowing down again; going into semi retirement again; we will be moving into , what we think is, our forever home in a few weeks.  I hope to get back to the things I love; sewing, quilting, homemaking, grandchildren, family, church, our doggies, etc.  And chickens... we plan to get us a few chickens at our new house.  Daddy has spoiled us with fresh eggs since we've been back home.  Once you've had fresh eggs, those pale yellow yolks from the grocery store just don't satisfy.  :)

I am going to try to sign into my mom's blog soon and make a final post for her.  She had several friends there who probably wonder where she is these days.  She was very private and didn't even want her family to know how sick she really was.  I just wish we had realized sooner.  But it was all in God's hands and there is nothing to change it now.  The biggest lesson for all of us:  Get your routine colonoscopy as recommended.  Love to you all!

Life is STILL good.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

A lot has changed since my mom passed away in July.  Hubby and I packed up the house and moved the 3 hours away to be near my dad.  (and other family) 

We both got new jobs and we both love our jobs!  My new job is so much more relaxed than my nursing home job.  I have decided that nursing home jobs are the hardest....those people work hard!!

Daddy is doing well and we are happy that we are all together again.  We are living 7 miles from him and I see him almost every day.  He misses Mama a lot, but he is adapting well to life without her.  My heart is so full.

The grandbabies are growing up:

Chandler(3) Avery (5) Brinley (1)

 

I miss being able to see them anytime I want, but so far, we have all done well with the transition.  We are still traveling back and forth to get our home ready to sell, and we are  visiting regularly. 



Annabelle

Annabelle is 8 months old now (this pic is older).  Her mom sent me a message that she stood and took three steps yesterday towards her daddy.  She is a strong little girl and has been moving along for awhile now.  She's really growing up so quickly!

A more recent photo of Annabelle

I lost one of my 'best friends' shortly after my mama died.  This is my Gene Gene:

Gene and Butterbean

 

Gene was one of my special friends from the nursing home where I worked for almost 12 years.  We bonded right away after he was admitted years ago and he was like family to me.  He loved my doggies, especially Butterbean.  He called Butterbean 'MY dog'. 

Heaven got a whole LOT sweeter for me this year:  I have my Mama and my Gene Gene waiting for me there. 

On this Thanksgiving 2015, I am still very thankful.... we have so much to be thankful for.  One of the greatest things on my heart today is being thankful ..... not only did my parents care about my earthly life, but they have always cared about my SOUL.  Loving my life here, but longing for Heaven....

Happy Thanksgiving!

** Mama **

My sweet mama passed away on July 27, 2015.

She had a blog here:  Ancient One's Place

I started this blog for my mom, years ago, when we lived so far away from each other.  Then she started her blog for me.  We have both met so many wonderful blogging friends and enjoyed our time here.

I will miss her so much, but I KNOW I will see her again soon... just on the other side. 

Please pray for my sweet daddy as he transitions into a life without her.

Love to all!

Missing the Good 'Ole Days...

Do you miss the good ole days?  I do.  What do you consider to have been the good ole days? 

*I miss 'pre' technology days.  Don't get me wrong, I love the conveniences of computers, smart phones, kindle readers , etc.  But when is enough, enough?  I feel totally overwhelmed most of the time, having this urgent need to "check" my phone for messages, "check" my facebook for messages or "likes", "check" my instagram to see the latest pretty pictures, "check" my email to see if there is anything important there...... grrrr..... I hate the sense of urgency I feel because of these devices! 

Remember when we waited for the mail carrier's daily run?  We would wait in anticipation,  happily retrieving the mail, to see what goodies were in the box each day.  Maybe a new magazine, ( I currently have no magazine subscriptions), maybe a letter from someone special... a letter to read and reread again and again..., maybe pictures from that roll of film that we sent off a week or so ago, to be developed into prints.  We would look at those pictures over and over and over again, being so pleased with the one or two 'great' shots we happened to take on the 'ole 35mm camera.  (Now I may go days without even checking my mailbox)

Again, I love having a digital camera and having instant gratification with the picture taking.  We can repeat the picture over and over again until we get it just right.  Not to mention how we can edit our own photo's now, to make them so perfect!  It's a great thing.  But I seldom print any pictures these days.  I always have to go to my computer to find them again.  Click, click, click....

Pinterest!  Oh my.... it's a lovely thing.  Click, click, click.... for hours.... pinning beautiful things.  But guess what?  To see them again, I must turn on my computer.... click, click, click..... hey ! let me check this thing out over here.... another hour or two on the computer...  Shut down the computer a few hours later and I can hardly remember what I've seen! 

So, the other night at work, I had four empty beds and I had a slow night at work.  No personal technology allowed at work, so I grabbed a couple of magazines to flip through, while my patients were sleeping.  Country Living.... oh how I have missed you!  I looked through the magazines several times each, paying close attention to the details in the pictures, ooh'ing and ah'ing over the beautiful rooms.   Thinking to myself, I would love to copy this room.... it would be so easy, keep this picture handy for reference, and go for it.  This is so much easier to do with a paper magazine picture than something from my computer.  Yes, I could print the picture, keep it as reference on my phone, in my pinterest account, etc... but it's just not the same. 

I realized how much I missed the afternoons of resting on the couch, no click, click, click involved.... slowly thumbing through magazine pages, making mental notes of what I loved about each picture, reading through the articles, deciding which recipes I wanted to try.... and maybe even trying them!  Oh I miss the good ole days.

My brain is so overwhelmed with technology... so many images, so many facebook posts that are such a waste of good time... Yes, I can even read my Bible on the computer.... but it's just not the same.  A digital note in the side bar cannot compare to a hand written one, one to ponder each and every time we see that handwritten note again. 

Is anyone with me here?  I don't see that giving up technology is in my near future, because I would truly miss what we have... instant connectivity to friends, family, and even strangers.... strangers that we love to follow.   And that feeling of urgency to 'check' my devices for important messages.    That feeling that if I am not 'connected' , I am not in the loop and no one will think of me. 

I don't even know where this post is going... my intention was to post about this book I found at a consignment store yesterday:

I paid $1 for this book and spent my afternoon and evening reading yesterday.  Flipping through its pages, underlining the words that spoke to me, wondering who this Regina Franklin author was, and learning a LOT about how worldly we have become with our looks!  (To my mom, this author's dad grew up in Vanceboro NC.... how cool?)

Yesterday felt almost like the good ole days..... I went to several thrift stores, I encountered real live people and had a couple of conversations, I read a REAL book, ... but all along, I felt the need to 'check' my devices.... just in case something important was going on that I needed to know about.  How can we stop the madness?   My brain is always on overload.... not to mention how my housework is declining.  Why can't I stop this??? 

Remember when we looked forward to going to church to see our friends and family?  Now that need is not  so strong, as we can click a few clicks on the computer , and see what they are up to.... if they are behaving, if they are being naughty, if they are living right (throw in being judgmental here).  No need to go to church..... everyone is fake.  (for real!!! I have these thoughts!!)

Does anyone else feel this way?  What are we to do?   I sure do miss the good ole days.   I would love to hear your thoughts on this.  Is it just me???

May post

Hello out there! My world is much busier these days since I have returned to work. I have a goal in mind and hope this full time work will be short lived. 😛

I'm blogging from my phone this morning, and I don't quite know how to do the picture thing. So here are a few random photos since I last posted.

Sweet Annabelle is growing quickly

More mornings on the patio

Sweet Brinley Kate just turned a year old

We took the kids for ice cream yesterday

I've managed to pin a quilt sandwich together

And I've joined weight watchers again... lord help me! 9# down so far.

And life goes on...

My busy world

Papa and I made a trip to TN to meet our newest granddaughter:  Annabelle.  Can I just say that she is beautiful????  Grandma was sick with a yucky sinus issue the whole time we visited, so I wouldn't kiss on her.  I'm hoping to go back very soon for our 'first kiss'. 

Grandma also made a difficult decision to go back to work last month.  I have gone from working every other weekend to now working 30 hours a week.... for insurance.   Insurance stinks!  Something we all need, but has gotten outrageously expensive for me. 

On a positive note, I am not feeling as lazy since I've gone back to work.  My days off are spent doing things that must be done.  I had spent too many years just lying around the house, on and off the computer all day, putting off chores that could wait just another day, getting little to no exercise... I can already tell I have more energy than before.  Don't get me wrong, this ole girl is tired at the end of a shift, but it's a good tired.  I hope I can keep this up for awhile.

On a negative note, working is cutting into my sewing time.  I have two projects that need to be done soon and I haven't found the time to work on them yet.  I'll figure it out.... there's nothing like working under pressure, right?

I hope all is well in your world!