Flowers

Three years ago a friend gave me this plant at Christmas........  Not only have I managed to keep it alive but last year and this year it has bloomed......... 

When Joyce came by recently she brought a bouquet of flowers......  Today I finally got them arranged in the right container........

One hat complete.........  It is an adult hat...............

The next one is for a child..........  Hope to keep making them till this skein is gone.........

Christmas 2016

I started getting ready on Saturday........  Double checked the menu, found the appropriate serving dishes and started cooking...........  I managed to get all the veggies ready and in the refrigerator.......
 Yesterday morning I put the turkey breast in the oven then took the veggies out of the fridge to come to room temperature.  When the turkey was done I turned off the oven and put the veggies in the oven.  By the time everything was ready they were warm and we were ready to eat..........

The family has gotten smaller........  It was still a grand time had by all.........  Jason took his father for a ride after we ate so Kim and I had a chance to talk...........

Embroidery is complete except for the initials and the date...........  Reached my limit for stitching so I changed to something else..........

Grabbed a skein of yarn and started another ubiquitous hat..........  I will attempt to finish the stitchery before I begin another project...........

For the Birds...

A bank of seagulls..........  We are 75 miles from the beach but here they are........ 

On the road behind you can see another flock............

And my darling Buffle Head ducks.........  They arrive every November and stay for a few months before they leave till the next year...............

It is fun to watch because they suddenly go underwater only to appear several yards away..........

A New Beginning

When I finished the last projects I chose this one to stitch next..........

It is from a Just Cross Stitch and when I saw it I knew I wanted make this for a dear friend.....  Don't plan to finish it with a fabric ruffle...........  Thought it would look as good with wide lace and that would be much easier.......

Progress is good so far...........

A Finish or Three

But first how about a picture of our dear Wade Hamilton.....  He is enjoying the Christmas season....

And this is why........  When no one is looking he sneaks under the tree and removes the tissue paper from the bags of gifts......... Look closely and you can see a bit of green on the side of his mouth..........

Started this recently and it is finished.......... 

This is an old one.....  Finished it over a year ago but I needed to sew the buttons on it.........
It resurfaced and now it is done...........

Hopefully I can take them to the framer soon........

A friend bought a pillow kit with a cross stitch piece as part of the pillow.........  When she got it home she found it was worked on linen.........  She does not like working on linen so she gave the kit to me........  Now the stitchery is done so I will give the kit back to her.....  When she looks at her pillow she can remember me.

I got a smile today from my Sweetie........  They are becoming rare because his muscles don't always work....................

What I've Been Doing

I began making covers for the little books and got a dozen complete.............

The were finished and before a picture could be taken I gave them to friends............

I then prepped another dozen and this is far as I have gotten making them...............  Lem is having problems with the remote so I spend more time sitting with him instead of sewing..........  I find cross stitch is easy to start and stop if he needs help so I have been finishing up a few projects... 

I took this picture earlier today........

Dear Wade Hamilton is waiting for Santa...........

Happy Monday

I did not realize that I had failed to blog last week............... 

It was a busy week here......... 

Thanks to my personal shoppers I had all I needed to cook a good meal on Thanksgiving..........  Just when I started cooking Lem fell and took me with him........  We were both left with a headache from hitting the floor and he sustained a rug burn on his forehead..

Had to call the neighbors to help get him up and back in his chair........  After that I did not feel like cooking so I called Jason and asked for a couple of plates from Kim's family....

They sure good cooks but we did not feel like eating but we did enjoy it on Friday.  Friday Fleming brought plates from their house.......  More good eating..........  There is still enough for me not to have to cook for several more days.........

When I downloaded the pictures I realized that I had not shown the pictures of the last of the pantry organization....

Now doesn't that look great........  So inspiring that I got the urge to pre-bake for Christmas......

Whipped up a batch of Pumpkin Spice Drop Cookies...........  Cooked one dozen to test the recipe....  Froze the rest.......... 

Baked a pumpkin bundt cake........  Gave away most of it before Lem and I ate it all.......

Yesterday I whipped up a batch of Snickerdoodles.......  Baked two dozen and today I will freeze the rest.......  This year I plan to make all drop cookies so I can freeze them ready to bake........ 

Uncovered some recipes that need to be filed....

Notebooks ready to organize them...........  There is a card table set up in the kitchen all ready to work on that project when I have a few minutes of time......

A picture of my boys at rest.......  Wade likes to sit with his Daddy.......  Wade had to go to the Vet on Wednesday because of an ear infection......  One more person to medicate daily.......

I saw these cute little books on a blog somewhere.........  Can not find it again.....  Finally stopped looking and decided to wing it........  Test one done and I know the fine tuning it needs......  The books are from WalMart...........  three for 88 cents..........  Pencils I ordered from Amazon.........  Button jar ready to play in for buttons to close the booklet........  Finally getting set up for another sewing adventure................

Isn't it sweet?  I can put a button on the front for the elastic closure...

A wee bit more done on the sampler..........  Looking forward to finishing this one..........

A Step Forward

Progress on my sampler......  I usually get to work on it in the evenings.......... 

I spend the day taking care of Lem and keeping up the house........  Instead of sewing I have been organizing the kitchen..........  It takes me a long time because other things use up most of my time but I am at least making progress........... 

This is a picture of the "baking cabinet".  I am getting ready for the Christmas baking.

Now off to get the day started with a good beginning.......

The Last Few Days

Finally finished a tablerunner that was pieced two years ago.  It is perfect for the flower benches.....

Last week I started organizing the pantry.....  I have been working on it for ten days now...  Almost complete.  Just one section left...

The question now is "How long will it last?".

I am trying to get things ready for the Christmas baking....... I just hope I have time for Christmas baking.....

Canisters well marked...

Racks for cans...............

and spices.............

This is the last section to be done......

Somehow this picture got added last........  Ready - Set - Bake.....

This and That

Last year when Jean was here she brought a kit of this sampler........  Of course I had to have one for myself. I ordered the needed supplies and it has been marinating for some time..... 

I was ready for a change of projects and this one spoke to me..........  I had to start something new..... 

Now to stick with it till it is finished........

Today I got a good picture of my boys.........  They enjoyed their time of male bonding.....

Matthew was coming over this afternoon to give me a hand with some clearing out in the studio.....

I rarely show just how bad things can get here........  Here is a picture of the old studio.......  If you don't know what to do with something just put it in that room and close the door.......

While the sewing now takes place in the dining room I still want to get the old studio in good shape....  I am making some smaller quilts in an effort to learn to quilt myself........  I need to use the table that Jason made for me to quilt because the machine drops in and I have a flat surface for quilting...  There were some problems with drag even with the small quilt......

Last week Matthew assembled one bookcase (one left to assemble).  I am slowly bringing the fabric downstairs in order to use it........ 



Lem had a good lunch today........  Collards, sweet potatoes and BBQ.

Sunday Angie brought two of the three bucket benches made for me by Chuck..........  I had them made to put my plants on in the winter time.......  They are lovely.........

Tomorrow we vote and when we go out that is all I plan to do for that day.........   Maybe Wednesday I will get back on track.

Pattern Testing

I found this online........  The link is in the previous post.......

This is for the Guild Challenge and will be given to the Ronald McDonald house...........

I am not partial to brights but I felt this quilt needed to have lots of cheery colors..........

The blocks are trimmed and sewn together......... 

Selected the print for a border and tried it with a white border.........  After several days of viewing I selected the print......  There is enough fabric for the backing..............

Since my stash is coming downstairs where I can get to it easier I am finding lots that I did not remember having........

Last picture is the breakfast room........  Something lovely at which to feast the eyes...........