Ladybug Dreams

Blue and White or White and Blue?

2012-01-26T19:22:00.000-05:00

My middle daughter has started buying and selling antiques. I love it that she is so excited about this new venture for herself. She has four sons, is a stay at home mom and up until a few months ago hardly went anywhere except school functions, Dr. appointments and to the grocery store. Now she has been studying antiques, finding them at wonderful prices and working with the owner of a local antique mall. And I am loving it too, because I get sweet gifts. This past Christmas I received this basket. Sorry to say I took other items out of it before I thought to take a picture. Now I do not know if the basket is old but it sure went with what was gifted inside it.

Check out this wonderful tag, love it.

This is what came in the basket along with some other treasures.

Pretty handle

So I was inspired to raid my little hutch where I keep my teapots, cups and saucers along with other pretties.

This cup and saucer I bought new the tea pot was a gift I am pretty certain it is older.

Now I am ready for company, who wants to join me? And even though hardly any of these items belong in the same set they all go together so pretty.

I also have some Blue Willow and some other Flow Blue dishes which I think my tea pot is, but I will share those another time. Linking up with Common Grounds Vintage Inspiration.

There are always some wonderful inspirational posts to take in. Hope you will all join me there! Blessings!

Sunday Praise

2012-01-22T10:17:00.000-05:00

Enjoy!

Have a blessed Sunday!

Friday Night Sew In Results

2012-01-21T08:23:00.000-05:00

Here I am with the Friday Night Sew In results. I did not accomplish as much as I intended. If you remember how long the Pearl Harbor movie is from a few years back (two discs) that is how long I spent sewing before I called it a night.

Was able to get the boarder on the wall hanging. It is a Bloom Creek pattern call ""Charm Sampler". I did not use a charm pack though, instead I cut all my squares from the fabrics I wanted to use. I had planned on getting it ready to quilt but the backing I planned on using was just a smidgen to small. I have decided to hand quilt this project. I would love some comments with suggestions on how you would quilt it and with what color and or type of thread.

The above picture is the flannel I chose to make the baby buntings out of. Oh my, do not forget to check the width of the fabric if you do projects out of the book I showed in the previous post. I did not and it was to narrow to use for the pattern that takes every bit of a 44-45 width and I only had a 40 width. But it is washed and ready for another project. I am sure I will use it.

I also started quilting the fabric for the notebook covers. Was not able to get very far with this project though because it was getting late and Ladybug was barking upstairs every time I made a little bump downstairs. I hope to work on it later today and tomorrow afternoon. But right now I am off to spend time with my youngest daughter and mother in love for a few hours. Have a wonderful day and blessing to all of you!

Friday Night Sew In

2012-01-20T15:39:00.001-05:00

It is Friday!!! The weekend is finally here and it is also "Friday Night Sew In" night.

I have not participated for a couple of months and am looking forward to the incentive to get something done, so I have something to share tomorrow. The heater is warming up my creative area and I have the following things lined up for my evening.

The pink and black strips are cut for the boarder of the wall hanging I have been working on and last showed you here.

The two above pictures are fabrics cut, sewn and the iron on fleece has been applied and ready for quilting. These are going to be notebook covers like I made and showed you here.

And I have some flannel in the washer for this project.

It is a baby bunting for grand number seven that will be making an appearance in May. The pattern is from this book which has tons of projects I would like to have time to make in the future.

Happy Friday everyone! Blessings!

Book One What's In the a Name 5

2012-01-17T19:18:00.000-05:00

I have finished the first book for the reading challenge that I joined.

The first of five categories is "A book with a topographical feature". I have picked Patterns in the Sand, by Sally Goldenbaum. This is the second book of the Seaside Knitters Mystery series. I talked about the first one here.

I love a good series and this one fits the bill. There are a lot of characters with such great personalities and there has been a new character to love added to each of the last two books. As I mentioned when I shared the first book with you the author conceals the bad guy rather well. I did not figure out who did it until almost the very end of the book and I only knew it was one of two people. I also love that the books take place in a seaside town which is one of my favorite sites for a books location. The main characters are Izzy Chambers who owns the Seaside Knitting Studio and her aunt Nan who is the main sleuth in this book. Lovely characters that made me want to go out and pick up the next book in the series just as the first one did.
I am not a book reviewer but wanted to take this challenge to add some new content to my blog and something fun for me to participate in. Hopefully I will become better at describing the books as the year goes along. And perhaps my friends that visit will find a new author to read along the way.

Hope you are having a great week so far! Blessings!

Working on the Wall Hanging

2012-01-16T20:42:00.000-05:00

Before the holidays I was working on a wall hanging for my creative space. I posted last about it here. I put it away for a bit because I needed to finish some gifts that I shared with you a short time ago. Pulled it back out yesterday and finished the last two blocks.


Finished the embroidery in the center of this block.

Learned to paper piece hexagons. It was the first time I had paper pieced anything. The above and below photos shows them with the basting still in them.


The finished appliqued block.

This evening I sewed the all the blocks together and now I need to cut the boarder strips and decide if I am going to hand quilt or machine quilt it.

Below is a pretty picture I took outside our back door a couple of days ago.

Wishing you a joyous week! Blessings!

Sunday Praise

2012-01-15T11:59:00.000-05:00

This was my pick this week. Have enjoyed it quite a few times this past week. Love it!

I have decided to share two songs this week. The second is Cindy Bee's pick that she sent my way a couple of days ago.

Enjoy and blessings to everyone that stops by!

Thank You Cindy Bee

2012-01-11T15:35:00.002-05:00

I received the Liebster Award from Cindy Bee The Bee Lady from Hilltop Farm. Leibster means favorite in German, I found this description from a comment left by Fiona on Cindy Bee's post about the award. I want to thank Cindy for the award I truly am grateful. I am to pass it on to five bloggers that have less than 200 followers. Here is the thing. I am sure I visit at least five blogs that have less than 200 followers when I am hopping around blog land. Often. But I like to follow the rules and it seems you should have a close blogging relationship with another blogger to give an award.

Cindy and I have been visiting each other almost from the time I started my blog. She even commented that I was the first person that had left a comment on her blog, which I do not remember, but I believe her. I enjoy her truthfulness and the way she tries to get us to think about what she is posting about. And she is a Bee Keeper, I do not think I have ever met a Bee Keeper that I did not like! So Cindy would be one of my picks. Back at you Cindy Bee!

I also have two other blogger friends that have been wonderful to spend time with since we began our blogging time together. Happy Mrs C who is a faithful friend and wonderful teacher and I Wish I Were a Walton who always comes by for a visit and I love seeing her gardens, antique and flea market finds, and she always goes on the best girlfriend day trips.

I would love to meet each of you in person and expect someday I just might. I drive right by Cindy Bee's home place when I go visit my family and expect the next time to "make time". Mrs C and I have talked often about meeting up somewhere and I would love to travel to the state of Washington to meet Holly and do some junking together. So ladies here is your award.

Since I did not follow the exact directions you do not have to pass it on. Just accept it and know how much I appreciate your friendship!

Here I am back to make a revision. I want to share this award also with Bonnie at City Home/CountryHome where I come across some of the most fabulous recipes. You must be ready to print out or pin each one she shares because they all sound so good and need to be tried! She has four daughters and I think that is what drew me to her because I raised three daughters myself. Mothers with daughters we have a bond.

I may be revising this for days!

Blessings from our house in the woods to yours!

Sunday Praise

2012-01-08T10:42:00.000-05:00

As most of you have done in the last week I watched some of the past years highlights on my favorite morning news show. There was so much more heartache then happy things to look back at that I kept thinking of this song i wanted to share. I love it, it makes me smile and sing in my car every time I hear it. I think I will be listening to it each time I open my blog up in the coming weeks. Enjoy, smile have a wonderful Sunday and a good week!

Reading Challenge

2012-01-07T21:43:00.000-05:00

Trying something new, since I read a lot I am hoping to complete the challenge in the next year.

Here are reading categories listed at Beth Fish Reads.

Between January 1 and December 31, 2012, read one book in each of the following categories:

A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: Black Hills, Purgatory Ridge, Emily of Deep Valley
A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title: Moon Called, Seeing Stars, Cloud Atlas
A book with a creepy crawly in the title: Little Bee, Spider Bones, The Witches of Worm
A book with a type of house in the title: The Glass Castle, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Ape House
A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title: Sarah's Key, The Scarlet Letter, Devlin Diary
A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title: Day of the Jackal, Elegy for April, Freaky Friday, Year of Magical Thinking

The book titles are just suggestions, you can read whatever book you want to fit the category.

Happy Saturday evening!

Projects Finished and Gifts Given

2012-01-05T22:12:00.000-05:00

Here it is a new year and I have not shared anything that has happened in the last month of last year. It is time for Jenny Matlock's Alphabe Thursday, so I have decided to continue to post about the projects that are being worked on or finished around here. I missed week F so I am combining it with week G. Finished projects given as gifts.

In December I finished number 6 afghan crocheted within a year for our grandsons number 5 birthday celebration.

Finished

Turning Five

And a few of you wanted to see what I did with the fabrics I shared with you here. I was making more gifts!

Notebook Covers


Lighting was better in this picture.


The inside of the covers.

And keeping with the hand made gifts I also finished a birthday present for my best friend.

Work apron for the sewing room.

Linking up with:

I invite you to go on over and check out all the other posts, you will find recipes, stories, travel destinations and a number of informative things being shared.
Blessings from our home in the woods!

Happy New Year

2012-01-03T20:25:00.000-05:00

I want to wish you all a Happy New Year! I have missed it by a few days but I do wish it for all of you that have become such good friends to me over the last couple of years. I have been blessed. Along with the New Year come the Sew Alongs on some of my favorite blogs. If you would like to check out the new free monthly BOM over at Jenny of Elefantz here I am sure she would welcome you.

Have a wonderful evening! Blessings!

Sunday Praise/Christmas Day

2011-12-24T22:49:00.000-05:00

Wishing you a blessed Christmas day! This is my favorite Christmas song and since I cannot decide which version to share with you, here are two for you to enjoy.

Merry Christmas!!!

Brenda, Jeff and Ladybug

Some snow on Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T16:58:00.000-05:00

We got up this morning to a little snow. Enough to cover the brown lawn and make the trees oh so pretty.

Let the hens out, but they would go no further then where the ground is covered from above and there was no snow.

We have this little Charlie Brown tree growing between some larger trees that hubs will not cut down. Every year he says it will be the Christmas tree he is going to use in his den the next year. It has been four years, I think I can keep those woodsy ornaments boxed up a couple more years.

And since I have not been blogging much, and in case you wonder if we are celebrating the Christmas season here in our house, the following are trees that I have in different spaces throughout the house.

In the family room.

Can you see the beautiful picture of my grand daughters taken this year?

In the living room.

In the little cottage inspired bedroom where I blog.

I have vintage ornaments and little clip on birds that I collect on this one.


It sits in an old dish pan that I did not get enough ornaments to fill yet this year.

I have a few Santa's through the house, here some sit on the recently updated desk.

I have other Christmas decor though the house and I have taken pictures of it also through the month, but I just have not been able to get them on here to share with you. But I have so enjoyed looking at all of your beautiful decor, it has inspired me for next year.
It is just the hubs and I this evening and Christmas day. We had the whole clan over last weekend so we are just enjoying our time together and remembering the reason we are celebrating. Have a wonderful Christmas Eve! Blessing from our home in the woods.

Sunday Praise

2011-12-18T13:28:00.000-05:00

Happy Sunday friends! I have been missing all week and that is because we have been spending time with the family. Birthday party, grandchildren school programs and our family Christmas gathering was here yesterday. It is just the hubs and I most of this next week and next Christmas weekend. So when I have my house put back together, we had 8 children here 7 of them were 6 years and under, I will be able to spend more time visiting and posting again. Enjoy the Sunday Praise and I will be back soon!

Blessings from our home in the woods.

Sunday Praise

2011-12-11T12:43:00.000-05:00

As a mother the words of this song have been putting tears in my eyes this year. I have been hearing it almost everyday on the radio but I never catch who the artist is so I will just upload it and let you know it is the words no matter who is singing that really matter.

Blessing to you on this Sunday!

Embroidery

2011-12-09T15:38:00.000-05:00

I was itching for a little stitching this week. Wanted to work on something Christmassy. I am still trying to finish the afghan for our grandson's birthday next week. Almost there. I also have some sewing projects to finish for gifts. They are not to involved and I think I will get them done...I think I will. I collected these patterns from SewHappyMe Christmas SAL a few weeks ago. There was one pattern each week for seven weeks and they have been burning a hole in my pocket. Each one was only available for a week and I was so careful to collect them and I want to work on them. They all go together into a banner, I may get it done and hung on Christmas Eve or New Years Eve...

I have started transferring the patterns, I used a red micro pen that a local quilt shop suggested. I am going to use only red floss and that makes the embroidery piece Redwork.

This is the first time I have used only red thread I am loving the look.


Can you see where I have already stitched?

It is E week over at Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday. I am late linking up but am still hoping to share and check out the other links. E is for Embroidery.

Happy Friday and Blessings!

Pressing and Cutting

2011-12-05T16:40:00.000-05:00

This evening I am going to be pressing and cutting these fabrics and hopefully turning them into some Christmas presents on time.

If all goes as planned I will be able to show you the end projects in a couple of weeks. Have a great evening!

Sunday Praise

2011-12-04T10:31:00.000-05:00

My mom-in-love shared this with me and thought I would share it with you. It is a very fun song and not my normal Sunday Praise but I think you may enjoy it.

Blessings!!

D is for Desks

2011-11-30T19:10:00.000-05:00

It is time to link up with the weekly Alphabe-Thursday party and I have been adding a post each week of a project in process or finished by myself or hubs. This week I am going to show you these great desks that the dear man built for our grand daughters. I have been painting their playroom, at their house, in some pretty colors and have just finished the last wall. I now have to find someone to haul these wonderful desks down to lean against a pretty aqua blue wall. They are currently in an unused area of our basement.

These desks lean against the wall like a ladder. I still need to make some cushions for the seats. Hubs did the painting himself. He has claimed he will not be painting anything pink in quite a long time.

I do not know if you can see them in the picture but hubs has painted an emblem on each piece so the girls can tell the desks apart. They knew right away which was who's because the emblem signifies the nicknames that grandpa calls them. I also just finished a desk project myself that I posted about here. You can visit Jenny Matlock's and check out the other D posts or play along if you want.

This is day 30 of the NoBloPoMo posting everyday in November. I have done it!!! There were a few days that I was busy and got home late in the evening and just did not want to sit down and write a post. But I managed to do it before midnight each day. I will say right now, I will not be posting everyday but I will try to post often. Have a great evening! Blessings from our home in the woods.

New Mystery Series for Me

2011-11-29T20:43:00.000-05:00

I recently picked up book one of the Seaside Knitters Mystery Series by Sally Goldenbaum.

I am about 3/4 of the way through the book and am really enjoying it. Have not figured out who done it yet, that is something that bugs my hubs because I usually do have it figured out not to far into the book. So I would say that Sally Goldenbaum is good at concealing the bad guy and will be reading the rest of the books available one right after another. Here is the authors site if you are interested. http://www.sallygoldenbaum.com/home
Now, am I suppose to say something like I am not getting paid or have I been asked to write this post? Next I would say No, who would pay me to do that. I am not a writer. Just thought I would share and I needed to post something because just one more day I will have posted everyday for a month. Hope I have not bored you much with my daily postings while following through with the national blog posting everyday month of postings. Have a great evening and read a good book! Blessings!

Making Progress

2011-11-28T22:33:00.000-05:00

I spent some time in the work room yesterday and pieced the last four blocks for the wall hanging I have been working on.

The following is all of the blocks arranged in the order they will be put together. The top right block is waiting for some applique and the third block down on the right will be getting some embroidery in the center.

There will be a border around the the completed hanging and it will hang in my work room. Really not sure what to call my area downstairs, it encompasses all the things I like to do, sewing, scrap booking, decorative painting, stamping and general crafts. What do you suggest? Hope you had a great evening there is not much left of it. Blessings!

Sunday Praise

2011-11-27T11:43:00.000-05:00

Switching it up to Christmas, hope you enjoy!

Blessings!

Christmas Boxes

2011-11-26T20:53:00.001-05:00

I have been bringing up the Christmas decorations for the last two days. There are just a few more things that need to be hung up or put in place. No black Friday shopping here, but I do hope that everyone that did go had a safe and productive shopping trip.

Remember the reason friends. Blessings from our home in the woods!

Finished Project

2011-11-25T21:50:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I bought a small desk at a local antique store for $30.00 that I thought would work perfectly on a wall in the family room. I had not been able to find the right piece of furniture for this wall since we moved here.

I shop at this shop often and did not remove all the merchandise from the top before telling them to load it in my car, did not see the paint on the top.

Did not really care for the brass hardware and also did not see that there was a break on the bottom shelf along the side. Hubs also pointed out that the legs had been cut off at least three inches and not very evenly. But being a good sport he did the repair on the bottom shelf and re-glued some joinery. He also told me for the money it was a good buy because it was a solid oak piece.

I did like the worn black paint on the desk so I just sanded off the white paint and also some other areas to give it a more evenly worn look.


After sanding.

Ready to be finished.

Decided to add some tinted wax for the finish. This is something I had not used before but had some instruction from hubs and I like the finished piece.

New hardware.

Recently acquired wire basket at a barn sale.


Worked well with some framed prints and shelf I already had on the wall.

Yes you are seeing correctly, no woodwork on the wall behind the desk. I pulled it off when I painted and hubs has not replaced it. I usually get ahead of the game, we have a bit to replace throughout the house.
Linking up to Common Grounds Vintage Inspiration Friday. Want some inspiration? Jump on over and check out what everyone else has to share.

Blessings!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T14:17:00.000-05:00

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving day. May you be blessed and surrounded by family and friends.

Blessings from our home in the woods!

Thankful For Daughter Number One

2011-11-23T21:51:00.000-05:00

Today when I got home from work my oldest daughter pulled into the drive behind me. She made the drive up today to help with the baking and prep work for tomorrows dinner. I am truly thankful.

We baked a Cherry Crumble Pie from the Farm Chicks in the Kitchen cookbook, the Skillet Caramel Apple Pie from Pots and Pins blog, cream cheese frosted pumpkin cupcakes from Elizardbreath Speaks, my best friends banana bread recipe and there was a pumpkin pie in the oven when I took the next picture.

We also made some dips and chopped up the ingredients for the dressing. It was wonderful to have the extra set of hands. Hubs ordered us pizza and we tasted the cupcakes, so yummy, while watching a movie. Up early to get the bird in the oven. Blessings!

Winter Planting

2011-11-22T17:55:00.000-05:00

Amaryllis Bulb

Paper White bulbs on my kitchen window ledge.

Just potted these bulbs up today. Probably will not bloom for Christmas but we can look forward to some blooms shortly after. It will be a bright spot after the snow falls. Blessings!

Race For the Finish

2011-11-21T21:09:00.000-05:00

Our number three grandsons birthday is December 14th. This is the last afghan I need to finish this year.

This is one quarter of the way done. Every morning and every evening I work on this. I love to make hand made Christmas gifts but I may have to put them on hold to get this present done on time. So hard to prioritize. Have a good evening friends, I am going back to the project. Blessings!

Sunday Praise

2011-11-20T11:50:00.002-05:00

How he must love us so! Blessings from our home in the woods!

Enough

2011-11-19T20:42:00.000-05:00

I have finally collected enough of the 30's reproduction fat quarters to start the quilt along over at Moose on the Porch Quilts, here.


I think I better heat up the iron.

It is hard to believe the weekend is half over already. I went to town to get the food and other items I need for the Thanksgiving dinner and did just a couple of things around the house and Saturday is gone. Hope you had a great day. Blessings!

Bugs Birthday

2011-11-18T22:49:00.000-05:00

I am a bad furry baby mother. That is right Ladybug Nairn of Braemar, Bug for short, turned 3 on the 16th and I forgot. Today she got a wash and haircut so I thought I would take some updated pictures to share with you. Ladybug does not like her picture taken. I get a lot of this.

I would call that the cold shoulder. And if I do get a decent picture it ends up with shiny blue eyes. The red eye reduction does not seem to work on my dog.

That is the best I have for you folks. Happy belated birthday dear Bugs, we love you so.

Blessings!

Camera Bags

2011-11-17T22:57:00.000-05:00

I finished sewing up these camera bags a couple of weeks ago. One for me and one for my best friend. It was a thank you gift for inviting me to tag along on her vacation this fall. I meant to give it to her for the trip but I did not finish them on time and then my sewing machine had to go into the shop for a few days. I finally got it sent out to her so now I can post the end project. I got the instructions out of the Summer 2011 Quilts and More magazine. The designer is Nichol Magouirk. It is a little large for my point and shoot camera but it works great to store both the camera and the charging cord in.


Yellow and gray for my friend and the other is mine, it matches my camera.

I picked these colors because my friend was carrying a bag with similar colors at the time.

It was a fun little project. I thought I might make more of them for gifts but the button hole maker on my machine is little to be desired, maybe in the future when that dream machine becomes real.
It is the letter C week over at Jenny Matlock's Alphabe Thursday. Join in if you can.

Blessings!

It Starts

2011-11-16T22:47:00.000-05:00

It is official, my holiday decorating has started. It started this evening when I came home with some new snow for my winter village. Last year I put it on top of my kitchen cabinets minus the snow. Decided to add the snow back into the scene this year.

I was hanging over the step ladder to take these pictures, they are a little wonky.

Not sure how the felt hanging over the edge will work when I want to get into these cabinets. I taped it up under the snow so I can just pull it off if it becomes too much of a bother. It is about a week earlier then I normally start pulling things out but I just was wanting a little twinkle in the dark. It started getting colder today and it feels like it might snow soon. I think that is what put me in the mood to start the holiday decorating.
Good night and blessings from our home in the woods.

Why I Do and Do Not Blog.

2011-11-15T19:10:00.000-05:00

Here I am, day 15, trying to blog each day of November because it is National Blog Posting Month. I have only done this one other month and it was last November. What have I done today that is blog worthy? I have cleaned a bathroom and am making chili for my husband that just came in from opening day, here in Michigan, of gun season. Watch out Bambie. Not so interesting. I have went over to BlogHer the new home of NaBloPoMo so I could see what the writing prompt for the day was. You can find the button for the month on my sidebar. The prompt was, describe your favorite place. My favorite place is the beach, has been since I first stepped on it after moving to Michigan 30 some years ago. But I am not a writer. I do not know how to tell you anymore than what I just did that would really hold your interest. I just know that is where I like to go to get away and if hubs or my best friends go with me even better.

So I blog and I am not a writer, so why? Because I fell upon it by accident. One day I googled something and ended up on someones blog. And you all know how when we stumble on someones blog for a particular reason there are even more reasons on the sidebar to continue checking out other blogs. The next thing I knew, I needed a blog so I could keep track of all the wonderful blogs out there I enjoyed. I would say I started blogging because you all inspired me to. Why do I have just over 100 followers. I am not sure. I think maybe one day I actually posted something that was of interest to someone and one of these wonderful blog followers thought aha, maybe it will be worth following. Does that mean I had 100 good days? And then what, do you check in often? Or are you bored after that one good day?

I will admit I am wavering on blogging every day for the rest of the month. The month is getting busy. I have quite a few things on my calendar coming up along with the fact that I host the family Thanksgiving dinner. But I do not like not finishing what I start. Granted I have a lot of projects started and not finished. But I know I will finish them. This is like a hand made Christmas present, there is a diffident date that it needs to be done. There is no "I'll work on it tomorrow" when you commit to something like this. And what if the commitment is just to yourself. Somehow it seems to me if I cannot keep a commitment to myself how can I keep it for someone else?

Now friends I will admit this is about as deep as I get so do not come back if you liked this type of post because chances are it will not happen again very soon. But I do thank you from the bottom of my heart for stopping in and listening to my droning. Have a wonderful evening.

Blessing from our home in the woods!

P.S. I do not think I have ever before had a post without pictures. But if you want to look at every post from the past you can tell me if I am right or wrong. Giggling a little here.

Three More Blocks

2011-11-14T21:44:00.001-05:00

I have been working on the wall hanging I started last week. This evening I finished three more blocks. I am not sure the pink was a good choice or not. I will finish the rest of the blocks and if it still does not look like it works, I might start that block over.
Blessings!

Sunday Praise

2011-11-13T11:29:00.000-05:00

Have a blessed Sunday!

First Snow

2011-11-12T21:28:00.000-05:00

It was nothing to write home about and it was gone by the end of the day.

But the dusting of snow made for a pretty picture to share.

Thirties Fabric

2011-11-11T19:11:00.000-05:00

I love any kind of fabric that looks vintage. I believe these fat quarters are considered the Thirties look. I have been collecting these for a couple of years and want to use them in a QAL over at Moose on the Porch. I need to find 6 more fat quarters in these similar colors, hopefully over the next two weeks. I am behind four blocks and I thought if I could start in the next week I would do two blocks a week and catch up. I bought the background fabric a couple of weeks ago. Washed and ready. If you would like to join in late to the same QAL you can go here to catch up.
http://moosequilts.blogspot.com/2011/08/fat-quarter-stars-quilt-along.html

Have a great evening! Blessings!

B is for Block

2011-11-10T18:16:00.000-05:00

I recently bought a pattern to use for a wall hanging in my craft/sewing area. I pulled the fabrics out a couple of days ago and got started.

Mary Englebreit Fabric

The pattern on the left is the one I am using for this project.

Quilt blocks finished so far:

The smaller block will have the embroidery in the center. The larger block is the first star I have put together. There are a couple spots I would like to have done better but I am going to accept it and move on. I forgot to square it up before I took the picture. The light background fabric is not part of Mary Englebreit's fabric line. Thank you for stopping in for the Aphabe-Thursday party over at Jenny Matlocks.

Have a wonderful evening. Blessings to you!

15 Years

2011-11-09T14:31:00.000-05:00

Today my hubs and I are celebrating our anniversary. Fifteen years ago today we were married with my three daughters standing up beside me. He has been and is the best.

Last Valentine Day church dinner.

Being the dear that hubs is, this is what I came home from work to.

A new Keurig and a new mug. Made me smile. I now have a cup of afternoon coffee. When I make coffee in the afternoon I usually end up having two cups this will lower my caffeine intake through the day. And it is the perfect gift for the two of us. I bought hubs the newest book from his favorite author, Terry Brooks. It has become a tradition because he seems to always have a new book out around this time each year. Although hubs has a Nook he always wants the new hardback in this series. Have a wonderful day friends. Blessings!

Out of the Box

2011-11-08T20:11:00.000-05:00

This storage container is mostly filled with Mary Engelbreit fabric. I have been pulling together a project from it this week.

I also have been wishing I had bought more of it. I am loving how it is coming together.
Have a wonderful evening! Blessings.

Today

2011-11-07T20:39:00.000-05:00

Here I am day 7 of National Blog Posting Month and I was already at odds about what to post. I see quite a few bloggers post about their day so here it goes. I get up Monday through Friday at six A.M. I would love to say I work out but I do not. I shower, make some coffee and watch the morning news. I leave for work at eight thirty A.M., I am a slow starter. I have a part time job and usually work a four hour shift which infrequently turns into five to six hours. I expect this sounds quite like a lot of your days.
Today I paid bills, my least enjoyable chore, I know, yours too. Also did some of those normal house hold chores, dishes and some laundry.
Of coarse there was some friendly blog visiting, I really spend way too much time at that. I just cannot help myself. And:

Organizing some projects in their very own containers.

Forgot to crop the above picture. You can see that there is more that needs picked up and put away.
And:

A little sewing. Some Christmas presents started.

That is it friends. A day in my life minus some nutrition and phone calls from daughters and of course a couple conversations with the hubs thrown in here and there. Nothing earth shattering, just my normal day.
Wishing you many blessings!

Sunday Praise

2011-11-06T10:16:00.000-05:00

Have a blessed Sunday!

Not a Chicken

2011-11-05T15:14:00.000-04:00

A couple of days ago I was looking out the front window and saw a bird that looked quite like a chicken. It was about half the size of my hens and was a color that I did not have, so I thought we had a rogue chicken in our yard. Decided to go get the binoculars, because even with my glasses on I cannot see any distance, and found it was not a chicken at all.

The description starts "A brown chicken-like bird". This is the first Ruffed Grouse we have seen on our property even though they live in deep woods and we are surrounded by woods. We have a Birds of Michigan Field Guide that we write down where and the date we see a bird on our land. There is a spot in the back to place a check by the name but hubs and I wanted something more to remember where and when we saw it.

It is really surprising that some birds that are listed as popular in our area we have only spotted once. Our oldest grandson is visiting this weekend. He is working on a list of chores to earn money for a parrot that he wants to buy. He needs to save quite a bit and has blisters on his hands from raking neighbors lawns in his neighborhood. What a trooper.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend and many blessings from our home in the woods.

A Very Pretty Gift

2011-11-04T19:58:00.001-04:00

A couple of weeks ago my Mom-in-Love gave me a piece of furniture that she really could not find a spot for. She finds wonderful pieces of furniture at consignment and antique shops and had too many pieces in her home. So she asked me if I would want this piece. Oh yeah!

This piece has pretty fall coloring to it. I am hoping for some input on how I should dress this piece. Do I leave it as is? I have my favorite print above it right now.

Another problem I have is that the print is hanging to high over the table. I had a taller table sitting under it before and I do not have any of this paint nor do I know what color the paint is because it was on the walls when we moved in. I plan on painting this room in the next few months but I am helping a daughter paint some rooms in her house right now so I am not ready to paint quite yet. Do I just move the print down and ignore any marks that might be left behind or do I put something tall on the table? Or does the print not work with the chest? I have to admit I have never been so stumped on how to use a piece of furniture.

What would you sit on a chest with a painted top like this? I normally would fill something like this with framed pictures and a candle or some sort of decorative piece. I would love a little advice if anyone would be willing to give it. Have a wonderful weekend.

Blessing to all from our home in the woods.

A is for Afghan Number Six

2011-11-03T21:23:00.000-04:00

I have decided to join in a weekly party over at Jenny Matlock's. It is called Alphabe- Thursday and each week you link up a post with a subject that starts with the current weeks letter. I have not played the last couple of rounds because I was having a tough time thinking of something each week to share. This time I have decided to go with a theme. Hubs and I are usually busy working on one or more projects so I am going to share a project that is in process or a project that one of us has just finished. This may actually get me moving a little quicker on a couple of unfinished projects.
This week I am sharing the start of the sixth afghan I have made this year, one for each of the grands birthdays. This one is for one of the boys.

I started a different pattern with these same yarns last week and did not like how it was turning out. So I tore it out and decided to make another Navajo afghan like I made for one of the older boys.

Last April for brother number two.

The color scheme is different and I still need to get one more color of yarn so I can continue. I hope you will go check out the Alphabe-Thursday party and maybe even join in because this is week one.

I also wanted to mention tonight that you will probably be seeing a lot more of me this month. November is National Blog Posting Month and I signed up with NaBloPoMo to post every day of the month.

The weekend is just around the corner! Blessings to all from our home in the woods.

Birthday Party

2011-11-02T19:11:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we celebrated our youngest granddaughters 5th birthday at her home. Picture taking was difficult. Their house is small and it was packed so I will just show you a couple.

Granddaughter and cousin, one of my grandsons.

Just got a real camera. She takes wonderful photos, wondering if that will be her profession. Older sister is behind her.

The afghan I made her.

I showed you the afghan on this previous post. Granddaughter number two really did like it but she was having trouble keeping her eyes off the toys she received. Most of the children at the party had just gotten back from a day of Boo at the Zoo. They were getting tired and so were their parents. Hubs and I opted out of the zoo trip since it is close to an hour drive to my daughters home for us. Our granddaughter's birthday is actually on Halloween. Have a great evening. Blessings from our home in the woods!

Hen House Hop

2011-11-01T15:49:00.000-04:00

Deborah Jean is having the first annual Hen House Hop over at Dandelion House and I am joining in.

I am giving you fair warning this is going to be a long post. I could not decide what to leave out. We have been asked to give our story of how we started keeping chickens, show our hen house and share pictures of our feathered ladies. When we sold our home in the city and moved to our house here in the woods I told hubs I would like to keep chickens. We lived here a couple years before we were able to build a hen house. Hubs did the research and designed it and built it himself. It was built, painted and ready late fall of 2009. I ordered my first chicks spring of 2010.

Day One Spring of 2010

I started out with 15, lost one and gave my daughter 2 to add to her flock. We had 12 for a full year, lost 1 to a fox and 1 died from unknown reasons. When I cleaned out the hen house last week I took some pictures to share today.

Door to egg boxes.


I grow planters of flowers on this shelf during the summer months.


The run off the back of the hen house.


Inside the run.

Would you like to see the inside of the hen house? There is nothing fancy, I have not added any frills although I think about it when I see some of your hen house decor.

Loft and egg boxes.

The ladies roost on the right side.


Food storage in the corner as you come in the door.

I named about half of my hens after mine and hubs deceased grandmothers and the rest took a little time to come up with but they all have a name.


Esther, Black Jersey Giant


Florence Barred Rock


Garnet is a Welsummer

I have three Buff Orpinton's, the one above is Sweet Mary.


Helen still looks a little ruff from the fox attach.

This is Ethel, she is very loud and runs for me each time I come out of the house.

There was another red Welsummer named Lucy but she disappeared after the fox attach. Most of my hens were very friendly and liked me to pick them up until this past spring. Quite a few of them were missing feathers and we thought we had mites in the hen house. We went through quite a few dusting's and other treatments and now they do not want me to pick them up so much. When it was all said and done, I bought a flock block for the hen house and they have all started growing their feathers back. Seems I have one or more bored bullies in the house.

Millie and Tillie, Gold Laced Wyandottes. Tillie was almost bare from lack of feathers a month ago.

Dottie, Ameraucana and you have met Esther.

Lou, Ameraucana #2 and Florence

After the fox attack this past spring we do not let the girls out for the complete day. But later in the afternoon if the weather is nice, the fox shows up on overcast days, they get out to scratch around the yard for a 2-3 hours.

They really like to scratch in the leaves that boarder the woods that surrounds our yard.

When we had the full dozen healthy and happy we got beautiful eggs like this daily.

All the hens are getting their feathers back and starting to look their beautiful selves again. The above pictures of the chickens were taken last week We are only getting around 3 eggs a day right now because of the daylight shortening. Last year we had lighting on a timer but this year I am going to let them rest in hopes of some larger egg production in the spring. I hope you enjoyed the hen house tour. Thank you for stopping by and hop on over to Deborah Jean's Dandelion House to check out the other hen house's that are joining the hop. Blessings to you from our home in the woods!

Sunday Praise

2011-10-30T12:22:00.000-04:00

Have a glorious Sunday!

Blessings from our home in the woods.

Afghan Number Five

2011-10-28T19:37:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday evening! I have been making each of my six grandchildren an crocheted afghan for their birthday this past year. I started by making my oldest grandson one for Christmas and all the younger ones asked for one. I have just finished number five.

A large granny square afghan.


Did not care for the center. The afghan is a rectangular shape which made the center hole larger.

I added one of these flower motifs to each side. It really made a difference and was a nice finishing touch.

Our granddaughters came for a visit last weekend and this swinging girlie will be the recipient of the afghan.


Older sister.

Have not lost my knack. I raised three daughters and spent many mornings braiding hair. It has been a while since I have tried my hand at it. Happy Farmgirl Friday!

Enjoy your weekend and many blessings from our home in the woods!

Samantha's Quilt

2011-10-19T18:01:00.000-04:00

It is done and it is gifted. After many years of changing directions, starting out with a pattern from an older magazine then having to make changes and adding my own ideas to change the quilt from one size to another to yet another, I have finished my middle daughters quilt and she came by a couple of weekends ago to pick it up. I could not deliver it myself as planned because my car was in the shop, where it has been a lot in this last year. I think I am going to have to break down and go car shopping soon. Car payments, bah humbug. The quilt fits my daughters king size bed and it was so large that hubs had to wrap the top around a board and hold it as high as possible so I could get a picture. He is over 6 feet tall and he was on his tippy toes.

The local quit shop, Patchwork Dreams, did the quilting. I had planned to hand quilt my daughters quilts, I have three, but time has gotten away and it was so large I decided to have it quilted so I could move on.


Ladybug was feeling left out.

This daughter is the mother of our four grandsons and we are so proud of her. She was very happy with the quilt and could not wait to get it home.

Blessings from our home in the woods.

Sunday Praise

2011-10-16T10:08:00.000-04:00

Good Morning! We have 3 of our grandsons this weekend and they are keeping us busy. Have a blessed Sunday!

Apples

2011-10-14T19:03:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I peeled and cut up a bushel of apples which I used for canned applesauce and apple butter.

The apple butter recipe that I use is posted here. The applesauce recipe that I use is out of a cookbook that I have had for close to 30 years.

The dust jacket has been missing for a very long time. I think you may be able to read the recipe if you click on the following picture and enlarge it and the recipe is very simple to follow.

As promised, I made hubs an apple pie for dessert last Sunday.

I found the recipe at Pots and Pins blog. It is called Skillet Caramel Apple Pie and it is to die for. Mine did not come out as pretty as Nan's did but it was scrumptious! I do not have the correct sized iron skillet. Gives me an excuse to buy a smaller one though so the next time I make this pie, and there will be a next time, it will look just a pretty. I also forgot to sprinkle the sugar on top after the egg white wash. You will just have to go over to Pots and Pins so you can see how pretty this pie can look and get the recipe to make it for yourselves. We had my husbands parents over for dinner the next evening and both mom and dad raved about the pie which we had after I served a roast on this new vintage, farmgirl looking platter that my middle daughter brought over for me last weekend.

Isn't it pretty? I love blue and white dishes. I broke the ironstone platter, that I always served a roast on, a few years ago. The platter was my grandmothers, and every time I make a roast I remember that platter and my grandmother and it makes me a little sad. But now I have a new happy platter. Love how my daughters know what I like. Linking up to Farmgirl Friday over at Deborah Jean's Dandelion House.

Check out the other Farmgirl posts and have a great Friday evening! Blessing from our home in the woods!

Vacation Day 5, the Evening

2011-10-12T17:19:00.000-04:00

This is it folks. This will be the balance of what I have to share of my vacation. On day 5, I shared what we did earlier in the day on the previous post, we went to Fort Macon State Park just shortly before they closed the gates. We were able to take ourselves on a quick tour of the fort and then walk along the beach.

We then drove over to Atlantic Beach to watch the sunset.

So I leave you with a beautiful sunset. It was a wonderful trip. I hope you enjoyed the photos.
Blessing from our home in the woods.

Vacation Days 3, 4 and 5

2011-10-10T17:21:00.000-04:00

Today I am going to share with you what we did on days 3, 4 and 5 of our vacation. Tomorrow or the day after I promise to wrap it up. On day three we went to the Seafood Festival in Morehead City which was fun to walk around at. It was very busy.

We had some of the usual fair food but we really enjoyed the Seafood Spuds that the Sanitary Restaurant serves at the festival. And check out this yacht, it is a few stories high and has some sort of art exhibit in it.

The yacht is in the background.

We spent the afternoon at the fair and then went out for the evening for dinner with my friend's daughter and some of her friends.

My friend and her daughter.

Sorry, cannot remember the name of the restaurant, but we had some wonderful appetizers, lobster bisque, cheesy biscuits, the best hush puppies I have every had and flounder dinners. It was great fun.


Picture of the rear of the restaurant from the deck we watched the sunset from after eating.

Day four our host gave us a tour of the base her husband is stationed at and we made some yummy crab cakes for dinner and had a little more down time, we needed it. On day five we went to New Bern for lunch and some window shopping. New Bern is the second oldest town in N.C. and had a lot of older buildings in it. I wish I would have taken pictures of some of the beautiful old homes.

New Bern is also the home of Pepsi Cola, in case you did not know that. I didn't.


Love these trees!

I was told what kind of trees these are but I have forgotten. Can someone remind me please?
That is all I have for today. Hope you are enjoying my picture tour. Having company for dinner so I better run. Blessing from our home in the woods!

Sunday Praise

2011-10-09T11:05:00.000-04:00

Happy Sunday!!!!

Blessings from our home in the woods.

Vacation Days 1 and 2

2011-10-08T20:30:00.000-04:00

I promised to get back with you and share some of my vacation. My best friend asked me this summer if I would like to go with her to N.C. for the seafood festival that takes place in Morehead City where her daughter's family lives. I was excited to go on the trip with her, I do not travel often.

My friend (on the left) and me. Friends for over 30 years.

Our days were full and I think I drug my body to bed around 9 most nights. The first day after going to coffee we went to a sweet little town called Beaufort to peruse the shops. After shopping for a couple of hours it was back to Morehead for lunch at the Ruddy Duck.

We sat outside on the deck that was right on the water. The signs said not to feed the birds but that was not keeping them away.


I took this from where we were sitting.

I am not sure if I took the above photo in Beaufort or Morehead but there are boardwalks along the backs of all the shops and restaurants along the Sound.

Our second day our host set up a ferry crossing to Ocracoke Island.


Cedar Island Ferry. This was taken after we docked on Ocracoke because I could only get a shot of the back of the ferry when we were driving onto it.

We were on the ferry at by 7:00 A.M., so we were able to watch the sunrise during the crossing which took around 2 1/2 hours.

Pretty.


Picture of the island as we were coming in to dock.

Island Ponies.

That is most of what our first two days consisted of, along with some good and some bad coffee breaks, and we made our dinners at our host's home together those first two evenings. More to come.
Blessings from our home in the woods!

Farmgirl Friday

2011-10-07T19:57:00.000-04:00

I have a ton to share with everyone about my trip but I do not have the time this evening to give any details so I am just going to share a couple of things I am busy with here at home. I went to one of the local orchards yesterday and brought back apples.

I will be canning applesauce and apple butter this weekend. Yum!

Today after work I remembered hubs had told me I needed to harvest the gourds that I grew this summer. He said the plants had all died and that the gourds were again, as they do every year, weighing down the fencing that surrounds the garden to keep the deer and other garden eaters at bay. So I borrowed hubs garden tractor and trailer, my smaller one is on the blink, and took a drive back through the woods to get the job done. Tried to upload a little video of my ride back through the woods but it did not work. Anyone that can help me with that problem?

I can grow these really large gourds in our sandy soil but I can never grow any of the little pretty decorative gourds to use in my fall decor. Linking up with Deborah Jean's Dandelion House Farmgirl Friday. Check out the rest of the farmgirl posts here.

Blessing from our home in the woods!

Sunday Praise

2011-09-25T11:16:00.000-04:00

Have a wonderful Sunday friends!

Blessings from our home in the woods.

Farmgirl Friday

2011-09-23T18:34:00.000-04:00

Good evening friends! It has been a week since I posted so I will just show you a couple of finished projects before I go over to Deborah Jean's Dandelion House to check out what all the Farmgirls have to share this week.

How much more farm girl can you get than a project from MaryJanesFarm magazine. I have been meaning to try this pattern since I got this issue of the magazine but just got around to it. Had to look through quite a few to find it, which was not a hardship at all.

Knitted these to pack for an upcoming trip this next week.


Love the color.

Last Friday night I was Friday Night Sew In and I was suppose to post what I got finished on Saturday. Well I did not have the project finished until Monday so I will just have to add it to this evenings post.

Jelly Bag pattern from Bunny Hill


Fabric used.

I also wanted a new tote for the same trip I mentioned a minute ago. I thought this fabric made a great fall bag. I think I can get all my magazines, a book, some knitting and my normal bag stuff in this bag.

This is my favorite tote I have sewn so far. I think the handles are so cute!

Since today is the first day of fall I thought I would share this photo. I walked through my flowers and cut enough blooms to fill a jar this evening. These are hubs favorites and I did not want to miss bringing some in the house before they were all gone.


Happy First Day of Fall!

Hope you will all go over to Farmgirl Friday for a visit here. I will post Sunday Praise but then I will be "Leaving on a Jet Plane" (sorry could not help myself) and not be back until the following week. I am sure I will have a lot to share with you when I get back. Until then, blessings from our home in the woods!

Sunday Praise

2011-09-18T12:45:00.000-04:00

Blessings from our house in the woods!

Friday Night Sew In

2011-09-16T17:55:00.000-04:00

I have sat here for a couple of hours visiting some of my favorite bloggy friends and getting some wonderful ideas to pin to my Pinterest boards. But now it is time to get busy. It is Friday Night Sew In over at Handmade by Heidi.

My choice of sewing projects actually starts from a recent weekend spent with the wonderful group of ladies I hang with whenever possible. That is me in the center. Do not like my picture taken and usually move off toward the end or in a less conspicuous spot so I am not sure how that happened. We spent the weekend at this wonderful lady's cottage.


Receiving a thank you gift.

We did a bit of this.

We did a lot of this.

Took the following picture just because I loved the front of the shop. Did not go into it.

But getting back to the Friday Night Sew In. I picked up the following patterns and fabrics of which one I plan on working on tonight. Just need to get downstairs to my work room and make the decision.

A tote for my upcoming trip?

A Christmas gift?

I actually do not have the fabrics for these but I bought them on my girlfriend weekend and thought I would share.

We also went to a Hosta farm that was inspirational. Although mine have not been planted yet.

Enjoy your Friday Night and hop on over to the party and check out what everyone is working on. Or maybe you might want to join in? Have a wonderful weekend. Blessings from our house in the woods.

What I've Been Up To

2011-09-15T22:53:00.000-04:00

I know it has been a while since I have told you all what I have been up to. I think tonight I will mainly just post some pictures and you will understand that I have just been living life as we all have to and need to. I always have good intentions of posting more often and sometimes do, but most often I am a once or twice a week poster and sometimes less. Want to thank you now for coming by and for putting up with this post of pictures. Hopefully I will have something of substance soon. In the mean time this is what I have been doing.


Tomatoes from our garden.


Salsa put away in the downstairs storage room.


Tomato sauce for pasta.


Peaches.


Dehydrated tomatoes and hot peppers.


Worked a lot on this project over Labor Day weekend while our power was out.


Still hand sewing the binding on this quilt.

Spending Time with the Grands


Gramps giving a golf lesson.

Lost first tooth.

First week of school.

As you can see, I have been busy with family and projects. I have not forgotten about you friends, I think about you all often. Tell me what has been happening in your lives, I hope it has been as full as mine. Blessings!

Sunday Praise

2011-09-11T12:44:00.000-04:00

So sorry I have been missing for a couple of weeks. We have been living life here at our house in the woods. I will give you an update soon. How many of you watched the tribute for the 911 victims this morning and how many tears were shed? I think this song is appropriate for this day. Have a wonderful Sunday!

I am a Winner!!!

2011-08-22T21:50:00.000-04:00

I was very excited today to get a package in the mail from a give-away that I won. Fabric, gorgeous fabric.
All these different fabrics from Jennifer Paganelli's West Indies. I popped over to her blog for the first time from Stash Manicures guest post that Jennifer did last week and saw that there was a give-away in process. I think if there is anything that I would love to win, besides a car which I need a new one rather badly right now, is fabric. And it is lovely fabric. It is a little more modern than I would usually pick out for quilts or sewing projects but I will be looking for a pattern that is just perfect for it. Take a look.

This group is my favorite.

If you would like to visit Sis Boom, Jennifer Paganelli's site, go here.
Counting down to the weekend. Girlfriend weekend coming up. Hubs is going to be kicking back here at home with the Bug. Which suits him just fine because he does not like to go away much. Wishing you all a blessed week.

Sunday Praise

2011-08-21T10:48:00.000-04:00

Have a wonderful Sunday friends!

Friday Night Sew In Results

2011-08-20T10:07:00.000-04:00

It may not look like much but I did get the binding cut and pressed.

I also crocheted on the afghan I showed you the start of last night. Did not get another picture though. Off to take care of some Saturday errands and then hopefully start sewing the binding on the quilt. It is a king size, it might take me all week. I should amend that, I am sure it will take me the whole week. Enjoy your Saturday, I know I will. Blessings!

Friday Night Sew In and Farmgirl Friday.

2011-08-19T22:30:00.000-04:00

It is Friday Night Sew In and I have been cutting bias tape for our Middle Daughter's quilt that just came back from the quilter.

Actually, I picked it up about a month ago, but we had the youngest daughter's wedding here last month and I did not get to work on it until now. I will be cutting this fabric this evening for the binding.

I am also going to work on the afghan that I started for granddaughter number two's birthday in October.

I have been looking for a new camera. The colors on all of the above pictures are not right so you will have to take my word for it that they look better together in person than what you are seeing. Hopefully I will get a camera soon so I can show you the true colors.

On to Farmgirl Friday over at Deborah Jean's Dandelion House. As some of you know I spent the earlier part of the summer outside working in the yard getting flower beds ready for the wedding held here last month. I did take some time to go to a couple of barn sales and here are a couple of things I picked up at one of our favorite spots.

When I found the iron candlestick I knew exactly what I was going to use it for. Not sure what the wire basket was used for originally but I knew I could find a use for it.

I had this small gazing ball from a project that came apart after being in the elements for many years. I had to add some sand in the top of the candle stick to hold the ball in place. You can see it in the flower boarder here where I posted about the boarder we re-worked this summer. I was going to link that past post up with Farmgirl Friday, but for some reason the link I had saved for Deborah Jean's was out of whack for a couple of weeks. Was glad to make it right again so I could participate with this fun party.
This is what I used the wire basket for.

And for some real Farmgirl talk. It seems one of the feathered ladies was having an off day.

I do not think that since they first started laying eggs last summer there was ever an egg this small. I took this carton to my daughters house so the grands could use it in their baking with their mother this weekend. Thanks for coming by and go check out the Friday night parties.

Have a wonderful weekend! Blessings!

Done and Delivered

2011-08-15T19:37:00.000-04:00

Finished our youngest grandson's afghan this weekend. This is afghan number four since last December. There are two more birthdays, one in October and one in December to crochet afghans for.


The birthday boy. The family just got back from a camping trip and this little guy managed to get a lot of bug bites despite the bug spray used.

We also got him a set of Lincoln Logs.

This is a family of four boys and the birthday boy is the youngest. There was also some ice cream eaten before we stopped in. There is a few traces left behind on sweet faces.

Well another Monday has passed. I am sure if you work, you know as much as I, how hard that first day of the work week is. Hope Monday was a good one. Blessings!

Sunday Praise

2011-08-14T11:25:00.000-04:00

Happy Sunday! Have a wonderful day and remember it is all because of Jesus!

Crocheting, Reading and Swinging

2011-08-11T18:11:00.000-04:00

This is where I was sitting yesterday, enjoying the cooler weather, reading and trying to get this afghan finished for grandson number fours birthday which is tomorrow.

Our grandson is going away with his family this weekend so I have the weekend to finish this afghan and we will deliver it to him Monday. Ready for the weekend, how about you? One more day of work this week.
Blessings!

True Blue Friend

2011-08-08T15:01:00.000-04:00

I have a friend, my best friend, that helped me with some projects for my daughters wedding. She knew I was stressing and wondering how to finish everything on time so she offered and I accepted. I have a tendency to say "no I think I can get it done" but not this time. She came after work and stayed both times late into the evening to help finish and then had to drive over an hour home. She is the best. I found a pattern for a small clutch posted on a blog ran by a quilt shop I had visited in person earlier this past spring. I am not sure when they posted it but if you wanted to get in touch with them I am sure they could help you with that. This is the blog Common Threads Quilts, the shop is in St. Louise, Michigan. We made these as gifts for my daughters Bridesmaids.

I just called the shop and asked if they had the button sets that the pattern called for. I described the material that I used over the phone and the wonderful lady that helped me said she had something that would work and I paid for them right then and she sent them out within a day. Look how wonderfully they matched!

My friend also helped me another evening to put together these program fans. The one on top is the back of the fan, it is covering the info on the front of the fan. Last names were used and I expect the wedding party would not want me to post them. If I knew how to blur them I would have, but alas I do not.

So dear friend, if you are reading this, I want you to know how appreciated you are. Cannot wait for some girlfriend days out!

I also made these favors that you can find instructions and templates for on the Martha Stewart site.

If you decide you want to make these for wedding favors, you should print one good copy and then take them to a copy center for the additional pages you need. It took a lot of ink. I used one full color cartridge and most of another. They are filled with wildflower seed. You do not need to order it from the site they promote. It was rather expensive per pound in my opinion. I bought four small boxes of wildflower seed from a local greenhouse for at least 1/4 of the price that was offered on line. I did have to order the small envelopes on line though because I could not find them locally. You can find the instructions and templates here.

That is all the wedding craftiness I have to share. I am moving on with other projects and life challenges. I have some more garden pictures to share later this week. Does anyone know what happened to Debra Jeans Dandelion House site? I was going to hook up with Farmgirl Friday last week and it totally takes you off to somewhere else. Just wondering if anyone knows what is going on with it? Have a great week friends! Blessings!

Sunday Praise

2011-08-07T09:50:00.000-04:00

Good Morning Friends! Enjoy your Sunday. Blessings!

Orange and Purple

2011-08-05T22:21:00.000-04:00

Orange and Purple were the colors my daughter picked for her wedding colors. Mostly it was purple with some orange flowers added in bouquets and center pieces. I on the other hand was planting as much orange and purple as I had time to add in my flower border and pots. It was a new combo for me having never used them together in planters before.

With hubs help laying the edgers we finished the border that I tore up to widen earlier in the summer. You can see how it looked on a previous post here. This is what it looked like a earlier in July.

The border has been filling in nicely the last couple of weeks. Here are some good pictures taken by sis-in-law this past weekend.

While I was cleaning out from under shrubs and trimming them I ran into some slippery characters. When they got tired of me disturbing their peace and quiet out of the sun they would move to higher ground.


Rebekah, this one is for you farm girlfriend.

I have some other before and afters from our summer "getting ready for the wedding" work that I have saved up to share with you all since I have been away for so long. Have a great weekend! Blessings!

The Wedding Reception

2011-08-03T15:51:00.000-04:00

We rented a large tent and filled it up. That would sum it up but I will admit the caterer that we hired was wonderful. She let us use her linens and silverware. Picked it up a couple of days early and the bride to be spent a few hours wrapping it in a napkin and paper napkin rings that she picked out. I made paper cones to hold nuts and mints and stuck them in glass containers that I found at the dollar store. And we floated Gerber Daisies in rose bowls with lavender glass marble thingies in the bottom. We think it looked pretty and perfect in our out on the lawn reception. Again these pictures were taken by my Sis-In-Law. She is the best to share.

I found the cone idea from Serena Thompson's The Farm Chicks Christmas book. You can visit her blog here.

The caterer also baked and decorated the cake. The flowers were what we did not use in the bouquets that my middle daughter put together for the bride and bridesmaids.


The wedding was at 11:30 A.M. so we had a luncheon instead of a dinner reception.

I only have a few odds and ends to show you tomorrow and then I will show you how my gardens have survived. The roses did not make it until the wedding day. Some heavy rains, heat and Japanese Beetle attacks put a damper on that. But I have been planting and potting a lot of purple and orange flowers that I will share with you Friday. Blessings.

The Wedding Part II

2011-08-02T22:08:00.000-04:00

I am going to show you a few more pictures today. It is late and I was back to work after four days off so I am tired all over again. These pictures were taken after the ceremony before the reception started.


A completed family.

There are two people cut off on the ends but this is the only picture with our oldest grandson who took care of starting and stopping the music that was set up on CD's for us.


Ok, here I am. By time I was in pictures my hair was flat from the heat and it looks like I had probably ran my fingers through it a few times.

My eyes always close or squint when I smile, everyone always wants to do a takeover or many takeovers. Sometimes it is just what it is.

Tomorrow I will post some pictures of the reception tables and the cake. Having a great time getting to stop by and visit all your blogs again. I have missed that a lot. Hope you are having a great week. Blessings!

The Wedding

2011-08-01T16:20:00.000-04:00

I am back. Not completely rested but back. We could not have asked for a more wonderful day Saturday for our youngest daughters wedding that was held right here in our back yard. After two months of working day in and day out we have to admit it came together beautifully and I think our daughter and son-in-law were pleased. I am going to start out saying that the photos I am sharing were taken my my sis-in-law, hubs youngest sister, and they are lovely. My camera was missing in action. I would spy it but be in a hurry helping to get things done and then totally forget to grab it. These are beautiful photos and I hope you enjoy them. I will have to spread things through the week or the posts will be to long. I will start with pictures from the ceremony today.

Groom on left, Pastor on right.

Grooms Brother and our Middle Daughter

Son-in-law (middle daughters husband) and our Oldest Daughter

Our Grandchildren

Daughters of the Bride and Sons of our Middle Daughter

Our oldest grandson was in charge of the music do not have a picture to share or him.

Groom and Groomsmen


Bride and Bridesmaids (taken later)

Father and Bride

Cousins doing a little whispering.

Vows


Mr. and Mrs.

That is a start of a look at our past Saturday. I am finding if you click on the picture to enlarge it you will get a clearer picture. You will also see that a couple of the children managed to get into the punch before the ceremony and dribbled down their white shirts. I saved them from my sis-in-laws Facebook page with her consent. They were much clearer there. Thanks for coming back for a visit after my long absence. I hope you will not get bored with wedding posts throughout the week, I hope to post my normal drivel next week. Blessing to you all!

A Day Off

2011-07-19T19:00:00.000-04:00

That would be a day off from wedding preparations, and I took it about a week and a half ago. I just have not sat down here to write about anything I have been doing because I can always think of something else that needs done before I take time out. But close to two weeks ago when the weather forecast a very hot day I decided to take a day off and go have some fun with my best friends. We took a short trip to Shipshewana, Indiana to go to a couple of quilt and specialty food shops. It was a nice break and then back to work for me.

My best buds!

The inside of the quilt shop from the above picture.


Great pretzels and the top reason for the driver of the group, she was out of the mustard they sell. Actually this was a mustard run.


This is what I brought home, some fat quarters and the yardage is for a Christmas gift.

It was a fun day and I also brought home some treats for hubs, mustard, hot sauces and some very melted chocolate covered peanuts. Like I said it was a hot day. So sorry I have been missing in action but the daughter's wedding must come first. Hope you are enjoying your week and staying as cool as possible. Blessings!

What's Bloomin Wednesday

2011-07-06T22:17:00.000-04:00

If only every bloom I have shared would still be blooming on July 30th.

Hoping you are all having a wonderful week and many blessings!

What's Bloomin Wednesday

2011-06-29T15:03:00.000-04:00

I should call this What's Bloomin Every Other Wednesday. I have been very busy. Shopping for wedding things, gardening and more gardening and sewing gifts for the ladies standing up with my daughter. I cannot show the gifts until after they have been given though because at least one of the ladies reads my blog. My wonderful best friend came one afternoon last week to help when she should have been getting ready to leave on her vacation. Isn't it wonderful to have friends that just know when you need help? I have been taking pictures as new blooms open, so here they are, the last two weeks blooms.

And the prettiest bloom I have to show is my daughter at her wedding shower this past Sunday.

This is my youngest and she turned 25 today. We had a wonderful time at the party. It was given by the grooms aunt and all the ladies in this family are so sweet. And they love my daughter. Wonderful. Blessings to all of you!

Sunday Praise

2011-06-19T10:55:00.001-04:00

Happy Fathers Day to all the wonderful fathers out there! Remember our Father above. Blessings!

Friday Night Parties

2011-06-17T21:44:00.000-04:00

Good Evening!!!! Since I have been missing in action so much lately, wrote about that in my last post, I thought I would post what has been happening around here and hook up with some Friday Night Parties. First off stopping in at Common Ground's Vintage Inspiration Party .
We use some vintage items for just the thing they were meant for such as this garden trug that belonged to hubs grandfather. It is strawberry time here.

Other vintage items I like to use in new ways like this old tool box hubs brought home last year after buying it at an auction full of nuts and bolts. I had to twist his arm but I got the tool box to make into a planter. It is not filled out completely yet but last year it looked wonderful after a few weeks.

The birdhouse is not vintage but cute and hanging under that same shelf on the hen house. So go check out the Vintage Inspiration Party, there is always some wonderful things to see.

Next stop is Deborah Jeans Dandelion House Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop:
Over the last couple of weeks we have been watching out for a sneaky fox. We lost one hen and hubs chased the fox off while he was trying to drag another one out of the yard.

My middle daughter, who use to work in a burn unit, came over and helped me bandage this girl up. She had quite a few tears in her back and teeth marks under her belly.

It is hard to see but the bandage is camouflage print. My daughter has 4 sons and there is a lot of that sort of thing around her home.

She is pretty much healed now, just missing a few feathers. She, along with the other hens, want out into the yard but I am afraid of loosing them all. So they have been confined to their run for a couple of weeks now.

As I have mentioned in previous posts we are getting ready for a wedding in our back yard this summer. I decided our back border needs to be deeper so I can get more color in it for the late July wedding. First I had to dig up all this black plastic edging the previous owners put in. It was buried pretty deeply into the ground.

Then I laid out a hose to decide where to cut the sod out. I had read this was a good way to figure out a design layout in quite a few magazine articles. I put it to the test and it is very helpful.

It took me two evening to get it dug up.

Now I have to do the same on the other side of the walkway, add soil and compost and of coarse a lot of flowers. For more Farmgirl post hop on over to Deborah Jean's.

And lastly I signed up for the once a month Friday Night Sew In over at Handmade by Hiedi. It is now almost 9:30 P.M. Friday night. I came in from my digging and watering and have been eating a very late dinner salad while writing this post. When I signed up for the sew-in I was hoping for rain. No rain today, so as I wrap up this post I will be having a crochet-in for the rest of the evening. I am working on our youngest grandson's afghan for his August birthday. It is afghan number four this year only two more to go for the 5 year old's birthdays in October and December. I am going to try and get at least 7 rows done before hitting the sack.

I expect it is to late for you to participate in the sew-in but it is great fun to check out what everyone else is working on.
That is all friends. I know it was a long post but I have so much to catch up with. If it rains tomorrow I will be painting inside, if there is sun I will be digging in the dirt. Have a wonderful weekend! Blessings!

What's Bloomin Wednesday

2011-06-15T18:22:00.000-04:00

Hello friends! I do not have as many new blooms to show you this week.

Here are some wild flowers that are blooming all around our back pond area in mostly sandy soil. I am thinking they may be called Indian Paintbrush, but if not I would like to know what they are if you know.

And this little guy was watching me dig in the dirt yesterday.

I am a little sad to see some of my followers have removed their selves from my blog. I am not sure if it is because I have not been posting very often lately or because I have not had the time to come visit or comment as often. I do take a few minutes a day to pop around as many blogs as possible but unfortunately when I would normally take time to leave some sort of comment I have had to back off on that a bit. I would like to say I am closer to being ready for our daughters wedding we are having on July 30th in our back yard but alas there is a lot of work to be done. Yesterday I started enlarging the back border so I can get more color in it. Hubs thinks I'm daft. So if you could hang in there, like this little frog did while I was working yesterday, I would be so thankful. Miss you all, and hope to post some short posts a little more often. Hope you are all having a great week! Blessings!

Sunday Praise

2011-06-12T09:59:00.000-04:00

Waiting for the sunshine. Blessings!

What's Bloomin Wednesday

2011-06-08T18:51:00.001-04:00

Happy Wednesday! These pictures are actually from the last two weeks since I did not get a post ready last Wednesday. It is raining this evening or I might have worked outside too long and forgot to post again this week. Going to wait to show you all the purple and orange baskets and planters I have been planting for our daughters wedding after they all start filling in and blooming better.

What is bloomin around your home? Blessings!

Sunday Praise

2011-06-05T11:37:00.000-04:00

Good Morning to my Sunday Friends!!! I know I have been missing in action. We are getting ready for our youngest daughters wedding that is taking place in our back yard the end of July. A lot of flowers getting planted along with our usual vegetable garden. I hope to be able to spend more time with you all soon! Have a blessed Sunday!

Sunday Praise

2011-05-29T11:11:00.000-04:00

Have a blessed Memorial Day Holiday.

What's Bloomin Wednesday

2011-05-25T17:48:00.000-04:00

No words about the blooms this week. Somewhat sad. We had a fox in the yard today and now have one injured hen and two missing. Walked around until we found 3 hiding out, in hopes of finding the other two. I'll check back in a couple of days.

Blessings!

Announcement

2011-05-24T08:46:00.000-04:00

My youngest daughter has been a single mother for the last 6 years to these pretty little girls.

My Granddaughters!!

I was off playing with them at the Rockford Dam Overlook while their Mommy and Daddy to be were getting their picture taken for invites to their upcoming wedding. This is what the complete family will look like. Of coarse this was taken by my camera and not as nice as the pictures will be for their announcements.

The wedding is taking place in our back yard the end of July.
Blessings!

Sunday Praise

2011-05-22T07:29:00.000-04:00

Have a wonderful Sunday! God is Good!

Sew Saturday

2011-05-21T23:13:00.000-04:00

Sew....I participated in the Friday Night Sew In yesterday and this is what I got done.

Three Barbie doll nightgowns.

One of three robes.

The other two robes are about one half finished. Hope everyone had a wonderful Friday Night Sew In. I felt as though I got enough done even though I did not completely finish the project. For those that participated in the last Friday Night Sew In you can see the finish of the bag I was working on here. That is all I have for you tonight because it is finally gardening time and that is where I spent most of my day. Blessings!