Everyone has been showing Christmas tree skirts. Christmas tree skirts can be considered a tough call. You make this quilt and then you a hole out of the center.

A couple of years ago the LQS had a day-after thanksgiving sale. Fifty percent off of anyone item --- if you wore your PJ’s to the store. They opened with donuts at 6:am. I told Chelsey – 14 at the time---“ Mom we have to do it… You can wear some of my pajamas.” Does this mean—mine aren’t good enough??? We’re not even going down that road…. On with the story.

We got to the shop, took pictures even, as proof for the scrapbook that we did it. I purchased the kit for this tree skirt. It was a Thimbleberries pattern.
The fingerprinted picture doesn’t do it justice. Yes, there is a mistake in the green area of each snowflake. There is 1 half square triangle flipped the wrong way and it wasn’t until after the quilt was completed that I realized it. Keeps me humble….

When it came down to cutting the quilt after the quilt was quilted, I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t close the scissors. I figured if I ever decided to use it as a tree skirt, I could just wrap the tree trunk with it. I like the frame it makes on the table. Even though it’s red and green, it doesn’t scream ‘Christmas’ as I can use it after Christmas too.

P.S. We even wore the PJ’s to Wal-mart and Shopko on our next stop…. We still laugh about it…

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Pretty neat. I was born in Louisiana and lived there for 22 years. I've lived in the Upper Midwest for 20 years. I guess some things you never lose.

The Packers lost last night. I went to sleep and they were ahead 21 to 12. At least I got a decent night’s sleep, right?!?!? Win a few – Lose a few.

The journals. They were made from a pattern by Hedgehog Quilts, called Wrap it to Go. The pattern cover is on an earlier post. Tips for making it a little easier. I machine stitched the Velcro before attaching the pockets. Hand-stitching Velcro is no fun. Also on the binding around the edges, the pattern calls for a 2 ½ inch bias strip. I like ‘skinny’ binding, so I made my strip 2 inches. Then, you fold it in half and sew in on--- you know the drill….

I realize my camera has a fingerprint on the lens. But I think you can get the idea still in the picture. Here is my “Mitten” stocking. I made it a couple of years ago. It’s tons of fun. It’s a project that can be out until Valentine’s Day too. The buttons are made of whole cloves and the arms are pieces of grapevines that curl. The project didn’t take much time to make and I gave my secretary one for Christmas a couple of years ago.

I don’t talk about DH’s job much, but he said something I want to think on. This week he’s on a promotion board. People apply for jobs. Feedback is gathered from fellow employees and a council of people from different departments group-interview each person and choose the right one from the list of candidates. In a perfect world this sounds like a great process. Well, he’s been going through the steps. He keeps re-iterating ‘Let the process work.”. After many years in my field, Don has a pretty good idea who should receive the job. But, the ‘Process’ states otherwise. And you know what he said?

“ The guy comes to work. He does a great job. But he’s not well liked. They say he’s stand offish. Hey, he doesn’t gab in the control room. He doesn’t get caught up in the Petty.”

“He doesn’t get caught in the Petty”. Gosh, I wish someone said that about me. That statement has gone over and over in my head. I’ve even mentioned it to my daughter. Whether it’s family squabbles, teenage backbiting, coffee cup gossip at work, or someone stealing your parking place. Don’t get caught up in the Petty. Hey it’s not easy. It’s a lot easier to sit and listen. A lot harder to walk away. But at the end of the day you feel tons better not knowing garbage or waste anger….

Think about it… Don’t get caught up in the Petty…

I’m getting an early start this morning. I have to be at work for 6:00 am. I’m rested at ready to go at it after to week off. Usually I’m in bed between 8 and 8:30 pm. When you get up at 4:30 am, you crave as much sleep as you can get. I was off long enough to get my sleep turned around to where I was staying up till 11:00 pm and living like normal people. I’ll be paying for it come tonight. But Chelsey is working until 9:30 pm and the Packer game is tonight too.

I got more sewing done over the week. Here are the journal covers I made. They were easy and lots of fun to make. I even made size adjustment depending on the size notebooks I had.

Chelsey loved them.

“Mom—where’s mine?”
“Well, you can have one. Just pick out which one you want.”
“Mom, those aren't Cute Colors.”
“Cute colors, huh? Well, go pick out 3 fat quarters and I’ll make you one.”
“Mom, you don’t have cute colors. Can I go to Wal-Mart and pick something out?”


I laughed and sent her on her way. For $4.96 including buttons, she came back with this. So on Sunday afternoon I made two more covers--one for her and one for her best friend. It gave me much needed practice on machine meandering and quilting. I think I’m still going to make a couple more. Realistically, from start to finish, it took about 5 hours to make two covers. I love buttons too.

Gratitudes:
1. A job to support necessities as well as the fun things in life.
2. Eric’s safe trip back to school
3. No complaints over leftovers

The vacation is fast drawing to a close. But I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. Thanksgiving was wonderful. Eric has had a great visit home. He been fighting a chest cold, but I even enjoyed mothering him with the Nyquil and Tylenol. It hasn’t slowed him down any. I’ve got 15 kids in my basement right now—home from various universities across the Midwest.

Here are some pictures of the project for the afternoon. After running Ransom I started working on some postcards for the Winter Season.

They are still in the rough stages yet, but I couldn’t wait to show you the progress.

The weather is still warm---warm for us anyway...40 and 50 degree temperatures. No complaints. We’ll have snow before you know it.

The game plan for tomorrow is working on my Sunday school lesson and to continue working on my cards.

Gratitudes:
Safe holiday travel.
Plenty of food for everyone, we don’t know what it’s like to go hungry.
Walks with Eric.

Happy Thanksgiving. Two years ago I put my Bunny clothes away and they have disappeared. I just did without last year. But Life has slowed down and I really enjoyed making them this year..

Eric is home and we’re all home for Thanksgiving—no working for anyone.

We always take a Christmas card family picture. We’re taking it today because Eric will go back to school until the 15th of December. No Snow, it’s suppose to be in the 50’s. Ransom and I aren’t complaining. Eric keeps saying he’s bummed. He said that he’ll Photoshop some snow in our picture. It’s ok with me to not have snow. People always assume we live in igloos and travel by dog sled. It’ll be good for them to see bare ground in November.

We all work on Thanksgiving dinner together. I had been married 2 years before I had ever baked a turkey so I want every one to know how around here. Cornbread dressing is a staple. The kids, since they were little, mash up the bread.

I’m glad we have a season to recognize, as we should everyday, the things we have to be thankful for…. Our freedoms, our homes, our health and our families….

…and our quilting.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I may not “tuck” Chelsey in every night, but I do go in there, make sure she's covered up, give Ransom a couple of pats and make sure the “I love you’s” are the last words spoken for the night. Last Wednesday night, we were going through our routine and Chelsey said,” Can you straighten my covers, I’m cold.” I paid attention. I started straighten the comforters and noticed she had 3 small quilts laid out in alignment to cover her body over the sheet and comforter.

“Chels, you should have told me you needed another quilt” I go to closet.

But upon inspection, I realized that every quilt was the wrong size.

There was 3 queen-size hand quilted ones. I bundled her up for the night.

But I realized something. This wouldn’t work. I’m a quilter--- with a cold daughter. This wouldn’t do. I needed a quilt—quickly that could stand a minimum of 4 teenagers crashing on it at any given moment. It had to be able to withstand wrestling matches with a “Sorta” lab dog in addition to regular teenage abuse. I took out my Thimbleberries Twilight garden quilt. I took it to a friend who machine quilts. Miss Bunny said she could put a pantogram daisy pattern all over for me and stay within my budget. I felt funny about it. I had such plans for the quilt, but I knew my schedule wouldn’t allow it and it was 72 x 90--- that’s a lot of bulk to machine quilt myself, especially quickly.

I picked it up in two days and completed the binding.
I still sort of feel like it’s not my quilt but I feel good that Chelsey is sleeping, warmly, under something I made. If I had a partner in the piece, I couldn’t imagine anyone more fitting than Miss Bunny. She told me I was ridiculous and that it was positively my quilt. Every piece was put together with love by me. It turned out great.


P.S. Bloglines users-- since converting to the beta version of blogger, I noticed bloglines isn't regarding my updates. You may need to go into bloglines, unsubscribe to my post and re-subscribe again and that should fix it. I miss talking with you.

I’m having a great week. I’ve been sewing everyday. Funny story--- DH and I went shopping out of town. Don only shops with a plan. He makes me have my shopping itinerary and potential gift list. It was a pain... but really a good idea. We pile into the car. Of course we have our”plan” and our jackets—it’s cold where we live. I have my hand quilting in my lap. We’re about 50 miles down the road and I realize I forgot my purse. So when it came to shopping and purchasing, Don and I were pretty much Velcro-ed together for the day as he had the credit cards. All he kept saying was “Hey—you remembered your quilting!!!!” I thought it was funny—he didn’t. But for the first time in years he was a participant in the gifts, rather than just paying for the credit card bill.

Me--- I think a therapist would say ‘You definitely are showing signs of a quilting addiction!!!”

Anyway--- A couple of things before I return to the sewing room. Pictures will come soon---I promise. Every year I give my Sunday school kids—4 year olds--- a book for Christmas. I search and research to find the perfect one. This is this year’s gift—Room for a Little One.
The Illustrations are beautiful. It’s a unique tale of Christmas through animal’s eyes. I think the kids will go back to year after year. Even my kids who are 16 & 18 go back to Christmas tales. We pile up the Christmas children’s books in a basket. They will be waiting for supper or a date and I’ll see them flipping through them still. Another is The Crippled Lamb.




Money Back Guarantee on this one. I had extra copies last year and brought as gifts in the Nursing Home. Adults love this one.

OK for yourself – on a clearance rack at Barnes and Noble on a College campus I found this book—A Barn in New England, by Joseph Monninger. It’s not a best seller nor will it ever be, I paid less than ten dollars for the paperback version, I’m entranced with it. I’m on the first 75 pages about a couple refurbishing an old barn into a home and their relationship. There's even a lab. I haven’t finished the book, but I’m decorating the barn with quilts already in my mind. It’s not heavy reading—I’ll keep you posted. But I wanted to mention it in case you’re ordering on line, treat yourself to a present for yourself this season…..

The coffee pot just beeped… Coffee is ready—then back to quilting….....

I have succumbed to pressure and swap to the blogger beta version. Other than pains of continuously signing in, I’m doing OK. At least I haven’t lost any posts.

I’m off of work for nine days. I had a good week at work so I’m glad I’m off. Chores and errands for Saturday morning and I hope I get to quilt some. We’re Christmas shopping on Monday.

I want to complete the journal covers I have cut out. They’re lots of fun. I want to post pictures. I want to make some Christmas post cards. I thought of all kinds of ideas, mittens, stockings, ice-skates, stars---all will make cute cards. If I make a bunch, when I have reasons to remember someone, I just pull them out and send. I’ve even kicked around making a few gift tags with the same principle as the postcards. I want to stretch and baste my heart crazies quilt and so the binding on a thimbleberries quilt I have completed. Maybe I’ll get lucky and get half of my list complete.

Eric will be home Tuesday night… He’s got three or four people riding with him. I feel better with him not traveling alone.

I think the main thing I want to focus on is to enjoy the holiday without getting caught up in the hype. Sometimes I worry about the holiday being so “special” for everyone that I forget to enjoy it. I’m going to slow down this year.

Gratitudes:
1.Learning that if I give criticism, I have to be willing to take it.
2.Spaghetti for supper.
3.Taking time to appreciate the little things-
a.letting someone else have the right of way---I’m not in that big of a hurry
b.Crackers and Diet Coke
c.Puppy tails wagging.

I had a great weekend. Friday ended a really tough week at work. I have to catalog every tool desk chair, adding machine etc. It’s a big and dirty job. I’ve almost completed so there is a ‘check in the box’ on the task.

I went to work with cloudy skies and came home to 8 inches of snow. It started about 8:30 am. They almost had to close runway as it was coming down faster than they could clean it up. It was gorgeous. I came home and Don and I shoveled our way out.

Chelsey had a birthday party to go to Friday night. Don said he’d drive; the roads were too bad for her. She never complains--- has a healthy respect for cars and weather. We caught up on some TV we’d missed and I sewed. Look-----


The buggy Barn Heart Crazies is complete. I told you I had run out green border fabric. I sent a swatch to the quilt store and they couldn't match it. It was a Moda marbles. Who knows what shade of green. It was my own fault…I got greedy. I decide a 2 ½ inch border would look better than a 1 ½.

Libby said doing something to aggravate the quilt police. I thought about it. I’ve been really looking at the Lynda Hall patterns and she does some great things with borders, so look at what I came up with. I even have a 12 inch piece of the green left over.

I didn’t tell Chelsey ---a tough critic----. I finished it and showed her, she thought it was supposed to be this way. Victory.

I made a journal cover from a previous post. It was easy and fun. Pictures, tomorrow. I’ve even got 2 more cut out.

I better get to work---

Gratitudes
1. Safety in the weather.
2. Time in my sewing room.
3. 12 kids in Sunday School.

Evidence…. You’ve seen it. I’m alive and sewing a little bit. These are the postcards I made 16 of my Sunday school kids. I mailed them yesterday. I tried to complete them last week, but it just didn’t happen. I almost put them away. But I stopped and said, ”No—they’re worth it (the cards and the kids).” It was some Wal-Mart fabric I had picked up a couple of years ago. I tea-dyed muslin for the back. The cards are an opportunity for Mom and Dads to read to their kids. You can never tell kids you love them enough times a day.

What’s been going on? The weather has been incredibly mild…. in the 50’s. Ransom and I have been doing lots of walking. Don’s been working some extra hours, but we’ve spent a lot of time together working on the house junk…cooking, and cleaning, laundry—this man irons and I hang up… is he a keeper or what?!?!. Chores aren’t quite as bad if you have someone to do them with.

I had no luck with finding the fabric matching for the buggy barn quilt. I’ve going to have to get creative with the OOPS in not having enough fabric for the border. Maybe I can work on it tonight. I’m in defiance mode now. We’ll get it worked out.

Here’s one last photo. Ransom came home a few nights ago after roaming in the woods. He had something all over his head. Truthfully, it looked like an elephant sneezed on him or something. There’s no way I was letting that dog in the house. So, Chelsey and a friend volunteered to clean him up. I took it as a photo op.

I have to get to work---quilt a couple of stitches for me.

Gratitudes:
1. Warm weather in November
2. Good grades for my Kids
3. Lots of Rest last night

Trick or treat!!!! It’s Halloween. Chelsey and a couple of friends are carving pumpkins after school. We typically don’t get trick or treaters out where we are at, but I bought candy just in case. One can always hope…..

Trivia question once asked of me: You’ve got a bucket of trick-or-treat candy, what piece of candy are you digging out first? I’m definitely the Nestle Crunch kinda girl. While it’s not my ‘All-time’ favorite candy (Special Dark Bars), for some reason it’s the grabber from the Trick-or-treat bucket.

I’m at a holding point on the Buggy Barn quilt. I’ve got it all together, but I’m 12 inches short on border fabric. Yeah, I sew it without measuring, but I guess it’s that lack of detail thing coming through, I don’t have enough. I wrote the quilt shop I purchased it from and sent a sample asking to purchase more. The rest is just up fate. I know it’s a Moda Marbles fabric--- but do you know how many different shades of green there are?!?!?!

I’m making a fabric postcard for my Sunday school kids, this week. I’ll post when complete. Then I’m hoping to work on the journal covers for Christmas.

I made my Scarecrow about 14 years ago.
It was an attempt to teach a friend to sew. I think it was a Simplicity pattern. I remember us going to Shopko (the only place to by fabric in town) to get supplies. Fabric was just tossed on tables and you had to “dig” to find what you needed. We split up and met back at the cutting table. She chose something TOTALLY different from what I envisioned a patchwork Scarecrow to look like. We both left happy with our fabric. She’s since moved across the country several times I think. We’ve lost touch. The patches on his knees are my favorite parts

Gratitudes:
1. Crisp days in the fall.
2. Mail in the mailbox
2. leftovers for supper

The weekend is here. Of course, I have the opportunity to sleep in and I’m wide awake at 5 am, so I thought I’d type a few lines. Eric made it home this weekend. I haven’t seen in him 6 weeks. It’s the longest he’s ever been away from family. He seems to be thriving. We celebrated Don getting a promotion last night, going out to eat –lots of fun.

Work is going well. Lots of tasks completed, but longer days than I would have liked. Don and I have been getting home about the same time. He’s been running Ransom with me and helping out a lot around the house. We’ve kind of got an unwritten law that housework is divided by how much you’re home, so we’ve put in about 50/50.---No complaints.

Chelsey is having friends over for a Halloween bash tonight. They’re wayyyyy tooo cool to dress up, but we’ll have munchies, a couple of games, and movies… I’ve got the bunnies ready.

I’ve got one last seasonal quilt. It was a Thimbleberries quilt from a few years back. The vines are a little different than the pattern.
I guess reading and studying everyone’s quilts has gotten to me. I want my quilts to be different. We’re neck deep in Thimbleberries country around here, but when ever I go shopping now, it’s not the Thimbleberries stuff I purchase. I guess everyone’s taste changes over time.

Gratitudes:
1. The quiet hum of the furnace this morning.
2. All my chickens, aka my kids, asleep in their own beds.
3. Time to sneak down to my sewing room right now.

Have a good weekend—
Count Your Blessings

Just a short note this morning----I’m not going in to work today. Yes, we’re dancing right now, you just can’t see. I have a 3:00 doctor’s appt. Soooo, I didn’t want to be late. (yeah, right).

I tried to make it the night without Nyquil, but at 12:30 am I got up and took it. This cold isn’t letting go, but it’s not slowing me down. I’m off to Green Bay/ Appleton before the doctor’s appointment to shop. Just a routine check up, no worries. I’m going alone. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.

I got the Buggy barn hearts squared up. Maybe I’ll start sewing them together tonight. No definite plans, when ever I make plans--- they change.

Here is my Front Porch Witch.
She’s at least 13 years old. I made her myself from a wired tomato cage. She has Spanish moss for hair that I picked off of a tree in Louisiana. I’ve tried throwing her away 3 times. Once Eric, then Chelsey, and even once Don all said she can’t be thrown away and pull her out of the trash. So after every Halloween season, we pack her away for next year. I guess she was meant to be with us.

I had 13 kids Sunday in my class. Our lesson was about being a cheerful giver. I guess I’ll leave you with that thought. Whether it’s time, talents, or money --- it doesn’t matter if you do your part in giving--- if your heart, isn’t in the right place….

Quilt some for me today…

I am alive. It’s the weekend. Don and I are both getting a much needed break. We just completed the most hectic and tiring 3 weeks of work ever. Our Lansing Hangar has been sold so my job should get to a new level of normal. Don’s work just went through a maintenance outage –now complete. So we’re both at home together.

Enough about work. Here is a photo from my covered porch about 10 days ago. Incredibly peaceful. To sit on a porch swing and look out is the best feeling.


We cleaned the house together today, got the errands ran, walked Ransom 2 miles, and even squeezed in an hour nap. I am fighting a cold. Ever since I was a little girl… put me under pressure and I’m going to catch something. Every semester during finals, a new job, a new challenge…I guess my defenses wear down and I get socked with kooties. I am just refusing to give in. I can be sick during the week…but never on a weekend.

Look at my witch Don helped me build to day. I saw one in Country Home magazine and decided the porch needed one. She’s a hip one--- complete with a spider tattoo.

I baked a pecan pie after supper. The 42 buggy barn hearts are complete I’m about to go square them up and start piecing them together.

It’s definitely a great weekend.

Gratitudes:
1. Spaghetti for lunch
2. Broken in tennis shoes
3. Day-quil to ease the pain of a cold.

Tuesday morning—early, very early. But I like the quiet at home and at work early in the morning. It kind of gives you time to ease into the day. No quilting last night. Chelsey’s Spanish class is going to Mexico and there was a meeting on it. Don told her she had to pull B’s in order to go. This is her 3rd year, and even the teacher has seen a difference in her, she’s making A’s. So a deal is a deal. She wanted to go last year, but mentally AND financially, one kid in a foreign country at a time…..

I haven’t talked about my quilt shop trip 10 days ago. I went to ‘My Favorite Quilt Shop’ in Green Bay. That’s its name. It’s small, but it also sells antiques and is a framing shop so there are framed prints throughout. A neat place. I bought this fat quarter bundle.
It’s by Whimsicals called Grandma’s Garden. Chelsey and I were leaving and we saw this pattern for covered journals. It was too cute. We studied it carefully and decided I didn’t need the pattern. I could make it without it. Then the next day I wished I had bought it. If I tried to make it without the pattern I would waste $10.00 worth of stuff and lots of time to save $7.00 for the pattern. So, I called the shop and they mailed it to me.
It’s by Hedgehog quilts—Wrap it to Go. It’ll be great for several people I want to remember for Christmas…just because. That is what the fabric bundle will be used for. It takes 3 fat quarters for each cover.

Gratitudes:
1. Blankets on cool nights.
2. Pumpkins
3. Headlights lighting my way to work in the morning.

Just when you have plans—especially Plans to not do anything---things are going to change. It’s bound to happen, at least to me.

Friday night, Eric called. There were a couple of things he needed. Yes, I realize they don’t have stores in Lower Michigan, so Don and I went and picked them up. I threw in a pumpkin and Orange and Black M & M’s for the season. He’ll probably think it’s ridiculous on one hand …and know he’s loved on the other. He’s got friends home this weekend so Saturday I brought the package to them to tote back.

We went to the High School football game Friday Night. It’s the weekend for the major small town rivalry. It was pretty chilly in those stands, but fun. Even in the dark, you could see the blaze of color on the fall trees. Chelsey made it home about 10:00 pm, there was a school bonfire—pep-rally thing. Major problem—Chelsey and her boyfriend broke up. She was devastated. Remember those days. She’s never been one to just date one guy for long, but Joey has been around for 6 months. Oh, the tears.

Don’s response was ‘they’ll be lined up at the door tomorrow—what’s the big deal?!?!?’ No, he’s not a girl. I rolled my eyes and tried to settle her down. The next morning Don left for work, I talked with her all morning. I remember those days and no--- I don’t want to re-live them. We talked about seeing other people, about him still being a good guy, about keeping him for a friend. All those things…Finally, she says, ‘Mom, do you need some help cleaning house?’ ‘No Chels, just get in the shower…I do it.’ The Varsity game was at 1:00 pm and she was cheering…


I worked on the house and ran errands in the afternoon. Life as Mom…:).

Friday I came home from work. Look what was in the mail!!!
It was from my Mother-in-law. It’s my favorite lotion. I had seen it in Green Bay the week before and passed it up. It’s one of those ‘treat’ things that I thought I’d pass up this year and the lotion only comes out in the fall. She always knows just the right thing to do.

I finally got all the Terracotta Pots all put away for winter. Kind of sad…

I planted Chrysanthemums in the fall of 2005. This is the only one that returned the following year.
Our winters are really hard on them. Isn’t it beautiful?!?!?

Gratitudes:
1. My radio – on the country music station right now.
2. My dehydrator...the apples & oranges are ready for my SS Kids today
3. The Woods outside –yellow and orange.
4. My Mom… she went through those same things with me…

I worked until after 4:00 pm yesterday. Most would say,”Hey that’s not too bad,” but when you are at work at 6:00 am, that is way too long.

I made it home about 4:30 and Don and ran Ransom together. Then we cooked supper together. Nothing is too bad if you have someone to lighten the load with. I tackled some laundry next. Then I sat down and started working on my Buggy Barn quilt again.

Every day, I’ve been getting between 15 – 65 seams done and pressed. Chelsey “scrap booked “ with me, so we had time to catch up. But by 7:45 pm that was it. I was tired. I sat down on the other end of the couch. I laughed to Don, ”You know, I love to quilt, I just wish I could do it and not be tired before I even begin.” It sounds like a complaint, but I don’t think it really is. I just noticed it was a fact. You know you love something if you do it even if you’re tired. So Saturday, Don has to work and Chelsey has school activities. I’m sewing first---- before the house housework, and before I’m tired.


Today’s picture is a cross-stitch piece from a couple of years ago. It was a free pattern from BH & G. I finished it 2 days before Thanksgiving, but I knew I’d have it for years to come. The words read:

Count your pumpkins while they last,
For soon their time will come to pass.
The Winter winds are sure to blow,
Turning Autumn fields white with snow.

Gratitudes:
1. Animal Cookies
2. My pearl bracelet
3. The weekend ahead.

It’s the day before Friday, October 5th. Work has been pretty intense with the pending sale of our Lansing branch. I’ll be glad when it’s complete. Don’s in the middle of a maintenance outage at his work, so he’s got long hours too. If we’re not working were taking care of business at home or just plain ‘dog tired’.

I played in my quilt room last night. I really made a mistake by walking down there this morning before work. Now all I want to do is quilt. I’m going to say it’ll get me through the day, but right now I’m just a cranky..

Look at what Don built me this weekend. The Raven--- The Old crow.
I saw it in a picture. I’ve searched far and wide for one. I finally drew it out on paper and Don built it for me. I painted it—antiqued it in green. (Don helped with that part too). He comes in handy every now and then. There’s even a piece of quilt fabric around its neck. We built one for Don’s Mom and it’s done in antique blue. I mailed it out yesterday. It’ll be a nice fall/Halloween decoration for years to come. I really like them both.

The leaves have peaked in color now.
This has been one of the most beautiful falls I remember.
Or maybe it’s because I’m stopping… and taking the time to appreciate it.

Both kids are doing fine. Don got up and said, “I’m really missing Eric today”. I guess there will always be days like that.

Gratitudes:
1. Wood Working Tools – for things you want AND things you need.
2. Spaghetti – last night’s supper
3. My washer and dryer – thank heavens we don’t have to tow those clothes down to a river or something….