I am SO making some of these tomorrow!

Aren't these the coolest cards?!

2011 - A Review

January 2011 - Started with a walk by the river, followed by the start of a Mystery quilt called - Roll Roll Cotton Boll. It's completed segments are in a storage box with the remaining steps in a binder just waiting for me to pull them back out to complete - I  have a LOT of projects like that - perhaps that could be a resolution - FINISH projects started in previous year or before. Perhaps I will finally attain the "stack of finished projects" that I had planned to have done in 2011. ( I had 27 posts total in January 2011)

February 2011 - A dinner out with the In-laws and a bit of Valentine card crafting began the month. Walks by the river and quilt swapping fun was to be had all month long. Talk of gardening began with high hopes of a lovely garden but that was not to be as the heat was just too much for everything - perhaps this coming year we should get an earlier start to beat the heat. Crocheting also filled this month with a sweater gift for Abby. And the month rounded out with finding a childhood treasure and making her some new clothes. (29 posts in total for Feb. 2011)

March 2011 - Spring arrived with some beautiful blooms in our yard. I celebrated another birthday - number 47. It was not celebrated the way I wanted to with a road trip to Mary Jo's in N.C. but it came and went just the same. March also brought "pollen season" and the beginning of taking a Zyrtec each morning to be able to breathe easily. More sewing/ crafting and I ended the month with a little give-a-way. ( 27 posts in March 2011)

April 2011 - More blooms and a report on Scotts' garlic began the month. We took a trip up to our property and several walks along the river. More wonderful swapping fun with my Quilty Friends. Some time to sit by the river and listen to some wonderful talent. I had a moment of reflection on the state of compassion in this world of ours and our garlic harvest. (28 posts in April 2011)

May 2011 - Cats on the Computer. And a very sick little nephew - Dougie was hospitalized for several days. More blooms and a few berries were to be found in our yard. I was ripping carpet up and out like a mad woman. We found our latest pet by the Guignard Clay pits  - Bernadette came to live with us. Of course there were more wonderful walks along the river and another little give-a-way on my blog. ( 27 posts in May 2011)

June 2011 - Pets, baking and sewing filled the first part of the month. A few garden updates followed. Oh yuck! I was over an hour late to work one morning - I HATE THAT! Over sleeping is the pits! Bernadette was spayed and got a new hair-du and bath. Took a trip to The Old Mill Antique Mall and came home with goodies! More fun with my online quilting friends. More walks along the river we so enjoy. An introduction to my sewing machines. A bit of downsizing talk was to be had and more gardening updates. ( 30 posts in June 2011)

July 2011 - I was called for a Federal Jury pool but was not selected - maybe next time. More quilting fun. Cat antics! I made up a bunch of scrappy potholders and planted blackberries in our front yard. I listed out what I would do if I won the lottery. A visit to a friends farm for bean picking; followed by a day of processing said beans for the freezer. More blooms from our yard, walks by the river  and pulling out an old project that I went ahead and actually completed. (31 posts in July)

August 2011 - Started with a bit of bad weather that created an accident that I had to make a u-turn to avoid and travel a different route to work. More gardening news. A trip to the Thrift Stores. More sewing and quilting fun. Wonderful walks by the river with lots of interesting pictures of all the plants and critters we came across. I shared some special photos of my childhood. Life with a nearly 25 year old is never dull! And I had to replace my rotary cutter. (30 posts in August 2011)

September 2011 -  Oh gosh it started with a post called "Crap'o'la Day"... oh dear. Followed by "those that rule" wanting snacks. The waste in new construction is appalling. Walks by the river - OF COURSE. Injured my thumb at work pushing cardboard into the shoot to the compactor. Baking and more baking. A dress blues inspection for Greg. More sewing and quilting and a vent on how our life had been on hold for so long. ( 31 posts in September 2011)

October 2011 - Attended the Bluegrass festival here in Cayce - most enjoyable but COLD. The beginning of our Fall walks by the river. A look at my weekday mornings with arriving at work at 4:50 AM. Sewing, baking and felines - a typical day contains some or all three. A few gift ideas shared and a couple recipes as well. Picking green tomatoes and making chow chow were on my mind. (35 posts in October 2011)

November 2011 - Greg and Rachel thoroughly enjoyed handing candy out to the trick-or-treaters on Halloween. Made that huge batch of chow chow - YUMMY! More quilty stitching. A trip to our property that revealed that we need to get up and do some maintenance before the woods takes over. Mailing fun for quilting friends. Christmas crafting... trying to do too much for the time remaining until Christmas (typical). Baking and card crafting! (30 posts in November 2011)

December 2011 - WORK! the Holiday season demands it when you are in the Retail Industry. I developed a new recipe for biscuits and shared it on my blog. Thanks to Blogging I found a new friend (locally) that shares my interest. Decorated for Christmas. More sewing and crafting; baking and cooking. I sent a special box to England to a quilting friend there. Time with our families - happy memories made! Now I'm ready for the New Year! (only 18 posts for December 2011)

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

WELCOME 2012!

Reminiscing "GROOVY"

This photo was taken in the 1970's on the farm where I grew up in Upstate New York. I was fashioning the new school clothes that my Mom had sent to me holding our dog Katy at the side of the house where I lived for the first 13 years of my life. The large bush was a beautiful lilac that smelt so heavenly when in bloom. I had such HUGE pony tails back then. I miss the greenness of that farm and the hill side we would see looking out from the kitchen window (the double window in the left of the photo).

In the winter the snow would pile up so that we could ride the toboggan from near the swing set to the pasture below. We had to be careful to get stopped BEFORE the barbed wire fence though or risk injury or ripped snow suites. Such fun with my cousin Susie.

The last photo is of the road to my home place in New York; see how green it is? This was taken in September 2007 when I returned for my 25th High School Reunion.

Well enough reminiscing for this morning as I need to get ready for work. Perhaps I will drop in with another post later.

Non-Humans

While at my parents we of course had to go out and communicate with some of the critters...

Buttercup "Pup"

 Lucky the very "lovey" cat

The mini-goats

And ONE of the MANY roosters that patrol the property

Missed getting a photo of Fanny the white Ass and the bigger goats, bunnies and such. Mom has quite the menagerie.

Special Moments/ Special Gifts

I received several absolutely wonderful books that I want to now have time off from work to read. Scott got me the book on mushrooms and the edible plants, Greg got me the Homesteading book and Rachel got me the knitting book and the Recipes for Roughing it Easy. We also received several gift cards to various restaurants and such and will enjoy using them. We received so much more and love it all and are thankful for the love that went into each and every gift.

We also had some special moments with the kids in our life yesterday and we absolutely adore all of them...

Abby with her "Bling"

I saw this hat awhile ago and it absolutely SCREAMED Abby! She is the Queen of dress-up and the more BLING the better!

The "K" girls - Kayla and Kandise sitting by my Mom

My Cousin, Pam and my Dear Uncle Lenny

Kennedy and Jessie with their Grandpa - My Uncle George

My sister Hazel

Double Trouble Cousins - Phoenix and Austin

Me with my little Romeo - Phoenix

My silly Dad - twas singing "If I were a rich man..."

It was a very full day yesterday... love and happiness to over flowing!

The tree at my parents home

River Boat in front of our City Hall

Scott says these are Side Show Bob trees

On the 23rd we drove through the light display by Cayce City Hall. They have music playing this year and it's all so pretty. I may go back to get a few more photos; would especially love one of Cinderella's horse drawn carriage.

A gift of my own creation...

A gift for a Sister-in-law

Sunrise Christmas Eve morning

Mustard Greens - from our garden

Cherry Pie BEFORE... TESLA!

A few nibbles to take to my Mother-in-laws tonight

Holiday Cooking! The greens and the pie are to be taken to my folks' tomorrow and the nibbles will go with us tonight to Scott's Moms'. The pie... well I had it cooling on the counter with a kitchen towel laying over it and went out to the garage to lend Scott a hand and this is what the pie looks like now....

This pie will still be eaten tomorrow and I am ever so glad that I had put that towel over it or it would have gone in the trash. BAD CAT! Made my beautiful pie look so sad! 

More fun to come!

Perhaps I went to bed TOO early

I awoke at 12:45 AM - WIDE AWAKE! I have to be to work at 5 AM and it's just now 1:34 AM... going to make for a VERY long day. I turned the A/C on to remove some of the humidity in the house, started a pot of coffee and have read blog updates. So many are doing such creative things for the Holidays and are creating such fond memories with their families. I'm looking forward to creating some of my own. After work today I will be purchasing a few more little things for a couple projects using mostly items I all ready have here at home - things to make the end results more personal. I'm thinking there will be a lot more coffee in this day.

Our tree as it is today

I will be baking a cherry pie to take to my Moms' on Sunday but that will happen tomorrow - today will be strictly gift making after work. I will be picking the mustard greens from our garden and will also cook them ahead of time to take to my Moms' and we will be taking the fully cooked ham that Scott received from his work at Thanksgiving that we froze since his Mom had made a Turkey. I am also planning to make some of my sour cream biscuits once we get to Moms' on Sunday.

My Mom has put in a request for a new family photo so I will have to see if my sister-in-law can come over and take a few of the 3 of us in front of our Christmas tree tomorrow. I can print one off for my Mom before we leave and perhaps some for my siblings as well. Perhaps our Kitties will join us in the photo - I won't press my luck with having the 2 dogs in it as well... that could end looking like a creepy Halloween photo with all the blood that would be drawn by the cats. ; )

Talk about leaving a bunch to do until the last minute - SO ME!

A Lovely Thank You!

Received  today   Christmas  Swap

Oh  Becky  where  do  I start  -    thanking  you  would  be  the understatement   for  the  magnificent  things  you,ve  sent  me  in our Swap.
Oh  wow,  the bracelet -  I,m  wearing  this  on  Christmas  day,  you  are  soooo  clever  making  these ,  you  remembered  I  love  wearing  bracelets and  to  choose the  pearls  and   sewing  trinkets  attached  is  really  something  personal  which  I  adore. The  magazine,  the Fat  quarters.  etc.  My only  wish I  cant  just  take  hold  and  give  you  a  wrap  around  hug.
Thank  you so much  for  all  your kindness.


Irene xxxxx     

I am so glad that it got to her before Christmas and that she loved it all. Now back to my Elf job.

A day indoors

It's been drizzling rain ALL day; so I spent most of it in my sewing room working on a quilt that will be completed and mailed to it's little owner in January. I have to make one for his brother and sister as well... so they'll get surprise packages later. I had hoped to have these done for Christmas but the sewing bug refused to bite so I've put it off until it's too late to have them ready in time.

The view out my sewing room window.

This morning the day started with an absolutely gorgeous sunrise that I tried to capture but the colors are just not as intense as they were in "real life".

I also started doing the laundry - the never ending task. And I pre-washed some fabrics that I will be using either later tonight or as soon as I get home from work tomorrow. I found a wonderful tutorial for a gift idea (I'll try to remember to share the link later - don't want to show too much just now).

I received some lovelies in the mail today and I have to share. First I received another block from one of the gals in the FQ block swap. I think it's fun to see how all the different people use the same fabric. This one is from Mary Lou...

LOVE IT!

Next I received my Christmas goodies from Carrolyn in Washington State and I am tickled to death with them...

A quilt pattern and a lovely Christmas Jelly Roll... and inside Santa?

A measuring tape and a Kanzashi Flower Maker.

LOVE IT ALL!!! Getting goodies in the mail is so much fun!

Today I also watched a man come and change the door knob on the house next door and install a Realtor's Lock Box; so it looks like the place is now up for sale. I hope we get some nice new neighbors - preferably someone crafty! I guess we will just have to wait and see. Well I've all ready tried to burn dinner up once so I better go keep a better eye on it.... Scott is home!

Swap Fun

These are the blocks that I received from my swap partners in the "Pick Your theme" block swap - my theme was "Harvest". I think the gals did a wonderful job. I'm going to make a few more blocks and make a wall hanging to use in the Fall months. The group that I do all these swaps with is a yahoo group called Our Quilters family home . If you quilt and are looking for a fun little group to join feel free to stop by and join in the fun.

I've also received 3 blocks so far from the gals using the fat quarters (FQ'S) that I sent out to each of them last month. It's a swap that I've got to get to right after Christmas. Here are the blocks I've received so far... (sorry the colors are a bit off)

The gals sent back the remnants from the FQ's so that I can make more blocks with that print and I also bought 6 more FQ's that I can make more blocks from so that I can end up with a full size quilt.

I'm off tomorrow and will be finishing up my gift making and wrapping. Take care!

What planet am I from anyway?

Just feeling a bit... out "there" this week and thought it best to stay away from my blog. I'll be back when I'm more cheerful and upbeat. Didn't want anyone thinking I'd vanished.

New Man in my Life and Special Moments

This is the new "man" in my life! A Woodland Santa to add to my collection. I've decided to make my Santa collection stictly of the "Woodland" variety. I just think they have the most character and fit "me" the best. Isn't he handsome? I just love him and I saved 50% PLUS another 40% using my Holiday Employee Discount yesterday. I had been hoping and wishing I could afford one and that special discount made it so that I could. Merry Chrsitmas to me!

I had today off and slept in until 6:30... woo hoo. Still made it up in time to watch the sunrise from my computer chair. After Breakfast the "Nap Lures" went into action and tried to pull us back into bed. But today they had competition for our attention as the two dogs were waiting for us to take them for a walk. Amelia and Bernadette had positioned themselves right by the back door where we put their leashes on them. I looked out the bedroom window and took this photo of them kind of waiting patiently. They were OH SO HAPPY to gather new smells from the neighborhood and to just be out of the back yard. Speaking of the back yard it is a wreck at the moment and I am hoping to remedy that in the New Year. I have 5 more gifts to make or buy before next weekend. If I make something I will post a peek or two.

Perhaps I will re-create this mess...

And make some more jewelry or perhaps I will make up some kitchen sets. THINK THINK THINK.

We've been receiving some lovely Christmas cards and today I got a VERY special card... it contained a family photo... LOVE FAMILY PHOTOS! I put it on our Christmas tree and will buy a little frame to put it in tomorrow. It's of my youngest brother and his wife and children. LOVE IT!


If anyone is traveling I want to wish you safe travels and much happiness this Holiday Season.

Observations

This week I've found myself thinking a lot about the people that have been,are in and will be in my life. The memories of those in the past are a mix of good, bad and some ugly. I cherish the people that I was able to create a tether to; those that even after time or space has separated us I still feel that connection to them. I could call them today and we could chat away an hour or more "just catching up". I've decided that the bad and ugly are best left in the past and that those connection are just rotting roots that will return to the earth. Perhaps those fizzled relationships were just there to teach me to appreciate the ones that blossomed into full beautiful friendships.

People really are like planets in that we all float around each other with some connecting and forming glorious universes where beauty abounds. There will always be space junk but how we choose to handle that is up to us as individuals.

The people that are around me now are truly a mix. Some have just a thread that connects us as there hasn't been enough time spent together to understand one another. Some form walls around themselves and live in there own space not prepared to step out and understand someone different from themselves... so the connection has been halted. Some embrace me and enjoy spending time with me - those will be my friends forever - their tether of friendship has formed a solid connection with me. Some I have thrown my own wall up for whatever reason I haven't felt any connection what so ever and wonder if I ever will.

The most glorious thing about life is you never know who will travel close enough to form a real bond of friendship.

"The tethers of friendship are formed with love, understanding, compassion, joy, and laughter; they are like beautiful iridescent strands that capture all of the colors of the rainbow to shine through your soul." Becky McAuley - Me

Trying to decided...

Well I was thinking about waiting until I heard from Irene that she received the package that I shipped today before posting picture's of the bracelet that I completed last night for her; but then I got to thinking about all the other little bits she will still have to unwrap....

And I decided that it would be OK if she sneaks and reads my blog and see's the bracelet. It will give her something to stalk the Mail Person over... HA HA. SOOOOooooo... here is the charm bracelet that I created just for her. I made the beaded charm drops and found the cute sewing and word charms to add to give it a more personal touch.

Irene's Charm bracelet

So it's been sent off to Merry Ol' England and I am hoping that she will get it in time for Christmas. The most beautiful thing was I didn't have to wait in line at the Post Office to mail it either.

Scott was amazed by the bracelet and thought it was GREAT! Hopefully Irene will enjoy it as much.