Sunday Praise

Cannot believe I went from one Sunday Praise post to the next Sunday Praise.  I will try and share something between now and next Sunday.  The busyness of the summer and some computer problems have been keeping me away from blogging.  Hope you have a wonderful week to come.

 Blessings from our home in the woods!

Brenda

Sunday Praise - Big Daddy Weave - Redeemed with lyrics

This and That

The pictures of the quilt block I just finished did not show up very well so I am just going to share some things tonight that I have recently taken some pictures of.

The largest moth I have ever seen.  It was hanging on our Webber grill leg by the wheel which can give you an idea of how large it was.  Do you know what kind?  Tell me if you do.

Bluebird eggs.  The mother laid them in one of the lowest with the worst roof in town birdhouse that we have sitting around our yard.  They have hatched, I peeked, but I cannot get a good picture of the babies.  

Grandsons hitching a ride behind grandpa on his way out to water the garden. 

A bumblebee made out of a bowling ball by my middle daughter for me.  It was my Mothers Day  gift.  The Ladybug below that was also made by the same daughter for a previous Mothers Day gift.  I do not think I have shared them before, but I should have, they are treasures.

My back rose arbor is full this year.  

 For some reason I have one branch that is a lighter color of pink.

Grandchildren, a niece that was visiting and a daughter catching frogs out of our back pond.

One of my granddaughters having the homemade ice cream grandpa made for our 4th of July gathering is in the picture below.  Our two daughters with children and a Nephew and his family that were visiting from out of state had spent the day at  Lake Michigan "The Big Lake" as we call it here in Michigan, and then came to our house for a cookout and ice cream.  This sweet girl had gotten water in her ears and had been tipping her head to the side for quite a while when I took this shot.

 The fairy garden my granddaughters put together for me.  I added the fairy and one of my toadstools that my mom-in-love bought for me as a gift.

And lastly, I have been working on a shaded pathway that is wooded and runs through the side yard.  Yesterday while out shopping some of our local barn sales and primitive shops, I found this sweet angel on sale and brought her home to add to the front of the pathway.

The next picture is on the opposite side of the pathway.

Do not know if you can see the hens in the next picture.  I had read it is best to take your outside pictures early or later in the day.  Not sure if that works in the shade.  I have been adding hosta, fern and other shade plants along with some annuals for color.  If I turn my back for a week the woods grows back in and the hens scratch holes around the plants.

This wire basket is standing midway along the pathway.  I usually line it with a basket liner but it had disintegrated over the last couple of years.  So I decided to save some money and just put the plants in individual pots that I already had on hand.  I really like the look and I think they are doing better in the their own containers.

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you many blessings from our home in the woods.

Brenda

Sharing

I have a couple of things to share that I have finished recently.  I am behind on my BOM that I joined at one of our local quilt shops.  For me local is at least a 40 to 50 minute drive but that does not seem to detour me.
This is May's block in the frame.  Was glad to at least replace the Easter Bunny block.  I may skip June and get July done next.

I needed to make a couple baby gifts so I tried out the pattern that Pamela Lincoln of Mama Spark's World did for the Moda Bake Shop.  I love how it came out and her instructions were very easy to follow.   The link for the Chenille Baby Blanket is here and I hope you will go visit Pam and let her know how you like her pattern.  Pam is the best, I met her last summer when I was in the Grand Rapids area for the Quilt Show. We had exchanged phone numbers and met up for dinner before I had to make the drive back north.  I am not sure if she was at work or not when I recently called her for help on this quilt.  I had a water pipe leak from my kitchen sink which is above my sewing area after sewing together the backing and was afraid that it might not work out after getting wet. You are not supposed to wash the fabric first before sewing this project together.  But she assured me since it was the backing and not the flannel it would all come out in the wash.  Which it did, beautifully!

The chenille side is made with flannel and is considered the front but I love how the back came out also.

I used Moda Apple Jack charms and a half yard of some of the Apple Jack yardage for the binding along with flannel that I bought from Jo-Ann's fabric which was priced reasonably.  But even better I had coupons!  And I also bought the charm pack and another half yard of  Moda Oink A Doodle Moo for the second blanket I need to have made by fall.

So here I am back to do some of my regular blogging and sharing about my normal life instead of all the vacation posts.  I am glad you are still coming by for a visit and hope to hear what is going on in your lives. 

Blessings from our home in the woods!

Brenda

Sundy Praise - The Afters - Every Good Thing (Lyrics)

Day 11 the Last Day in Hawaii

This is it, the final post on our Hawaiin trip.  This post is going to be picture heavy because I have quite a few more pretty pictures I would like to share with you.  We started our last day out going to breakfast at a local coffee shop and had some wonderful food.  Half of our group decided we needed to spend a couple more hours on the beach before finishing our packing. This is Holoholokai Beach.  Each of the beaches we went to while on the Island were a little different along the shoreline.  This beach was more rocky.

 White coral and black lava rock all churned together.

After our beach time we quick packed our luggage and took one last picture in front of the home we were staying in.

Myself and my traveling companions.

We had a few hours before we needed to go to the airport so we did some last minute site seeing.

 This is Hawaii's first church, Mokuaikaua Church.

 And directly across the road from the church was the Hulihe'e Palace which was built by the second governor of the Island and was completed in 1838 a year after the Mokuaikaua Church was finished.  This palace was the favorite retreat for the royal families.

 I took a couple of pictures inside the palace before finding a sign stating no photography.  I'll just show you one of them, the lighting kept them from turning out so shhh....don't tell.

 We all received a lei on the way out of the palace.

 Had a great dinner at Quinns by the Sea.

Stopped at some gardens that were planted where the previous airport had been.

And watched our last sunset.

Blessings!

Oahu Day 9 and Day 10

Continuing on with our Hawaiian vacation day 9.  My best friend, her dad and myself flew to Oahu on the 9th day of our vacation.  We had to get up at 4:30 AM to get to the airport on time.  Our one goal for the day was the Pearl Harbor Historical Sites and the USS Arizona Memorial.  I am sure everyone knows their Pearl Harbor history so I am just going to give you some pictures and not much chatter.

USS Arizona Memorial

Part of the USS Arizona that sticks out of the water.

 My best friend and her father.

 We drove to the Punchbowl Cemetery after leaving Pearl Harbor. "National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific" which is the final resting place for thousands of  American Veterans.

Below is the city of Honolulu where we had lunch and went to the International Market.

We next took a drive to the North Shore area to see some sites while waiting for the time our flight would leave to take us back to the Big Island.

We were told we needed to have shaved ice while at the North Shore.

We took a lot of pretty pictures of the Wai'anae Mountain Range.

Day 10 my best friend took her first diving lessons and did her first off shore dive.

 I do not know how to swim so this was not for me.  But I was so happy to go along and enjoy my friends excitement getting to do something she really wanted to do on this trip.

One more day on the the Big Island and one more post.

Blessings from our home in the woods!

Brenda