Quilting in Doxie-Land

Going My Way

2009-08-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

"Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand - and melting like a snowflake."

- Marie Beynon Ray, writer

I read this quote a few weeks ago, and it has stuck with me, refusing to let go. I realized that it's telling me something, and I need to pay attention to it, and so I am.

For those of you who read my blog (bless your hearts!), you know that I haven't been posting very often in the past months. I constantly find my attention being pulled away from blogging these days. There are so many other things I would rather do, to be honest. I feel that when you have a blog, there comes with it certain responsibilities, like posting on one's own blog and reading other blogs and commenting. Now I realize that there are no "rules" in the blog world, it's just the way I feel about it. I love reading what other bloggers are up to, but very seldom do I find myself commenting on their blogs. I don't know why that is, but I do think it is showing me that I'm losing interest in blogging. I spend little time on the computer these days, and I find I like it that way.

I spoke to The Man about my feelings and he said (he is a very wise man) "Why don't you take a hiatus from blogging for about six months, and see how you feel then?" So that is exactly what I'm going to do.

Having said that, I am of somewhat mixed emotions about this step. The world of blogging has given me some wonderful friends, who will (thankfully) remain in my life. It's opened up a whole new world to me of women who share my love of quilting. I have learned a lot from them over the past year and a half, and have constantly been inspired by them to try new things as a quilter. I also love the sense of community blogging gives. We have cried and laughed together, supporting each other through good times and bad. Those are the things I will miss. Still, I feel it's time to move on to other things, and so I will.

I want to thank you all so very much for reading and commenting on my blog. I have treasured this experience more than mere words can say. Who knows? I may even decide to start blogging again after my time away. I will probably pop in to visit your blogs from time to time to see what all of you are doing. I even promise to comment!

Take care, and know that I'm thinking of you. Thanks again for making my blogging time a life-changing and heart-warming experience.

Now, go do something today that makes your heart happy!

Bye from Doxie-Land, everybodee!

Tumbling into Quilting.....and Blogging

2009-08-02T19:17:00.000-07:00

This is my 2nd attempt to post today. This morning, I was happily typing and downloading photos, and had almost finished this post, when to my surprise, nothing was downloading or saving. The online connection was LOST!! It seems whenever I try to post to my blog lately I have had problems. Then it hit me!! I have Bad Blogger Karma! I have done something to anger the Wizard of Blog!! Is it that I don't post to my blog very often, or that I don't visit my bloggy friends as often as I should?? Probably all of the above. From this day forward, I promise to be a better blogger! I'd better keep my promise or the Wizard will be angry with me once again, and I sure as heck don't want that.

How about we join today's post, already in progress:

Yep, there has actually been Quilting in Doxie-Land! Even though it's been hotter than Hades here, I try to sew in the (relatively) cool morning hours. My sewing room is upstairs and it does tend to turn into a furnace in the afternoon! Oh for air conditioning!

Here's the tumbler quilt I just finished. I bought a fat quarter bundle from Anna Lena's. It is Karen Snyder's Sweet Pea collection, which I totally love! I then added a few tumblers cut from pieces of the Daisy A Day collection (also Anna Lena's) and then fabrics from my stash. It is being held by the hairy-armed model! It really IS him, even though all you can see is one shoe and his fingertips.

I already have the backing sewn for it, and will be quilting and tying it soon!

This is a table runner I made for a friend. She needed a summery something for the table in her front room, and this is what I came up with. I'm very happy to say she loves the runner and says it's the perfect size for the table.I also made a wall hanging for my dear friend Joyce, who had a birthday recently. I am pleased to say she loved it, and it has a place of honor in her home. It makes my quilty heart happy.
I finished this quilt top. It is for Kora, and most of the fabrics are her choices. I added black framing strips around the strip sets and I like the look of it better. It's interesting to create with fabrics that are outside my creative comfort level. Not to say the fabrics are unattractive (because they aren't), it's just not what I would normally choose. It's good to think outside the box once in awhile, isn't it? Kora is very happy with what I've done, and that's what's most important to me. In a (not so) recent post, I showed a dolly quilt I'd sewn for a friend, and she took a picture of the finished quilt on it's bed. I painted the recipient's name on the headboard. I want to be a little girl again, so I can have a doll bed like that! Isn't it cute? My friend's talented hubby made it.
During this heatwave we've been having, it's been rather difficult to keep cool in our house. It affects the dogs as well as us, and this is the way Maddy chooses to keep her cool:She's either laying like that, or on top of a pile of blankets, like so:Miss Lucy would rather lie on one blanket on the floor and snooze. I'm afraid I woke her trying to take her picture, so I got this drowsy look. She went right back to sleep after I walked away.
Is this what is meant by the "dog days of Summer"? It is around my house!

Last, but certainly not least, I thought I would show how Lucy 'helps' The Man when he's cooking outside. She sizes up the situation:
Now she's thinking what to do about it:
Aha! The sweet smell of Success, or as close as she can get to it!

Lucy realizing she's been caught in the act:You can't blame a girl for tryin' now, can you? Naw!!

Have a great week, everybodee! Thanks for visiting!

Happiness Is......Part Two

2009-07-05T06:40:00.000-07:00

Happiness is NOT Blogger! I wrote most of this post ( including photos) the other day, and Blogger was having trouble autosaving, so I waited until Blogger could save, and hit the "Save Now" button, and my post DISAPPEARED!!! It was GONE, and I have no idea where it went! I was not very happy, needless to say, and gave up on the post. I am back to try again - we shall see what happens this time. Everything looks good (so far), so here goes nuttin'! I find it's still giving me trouble about posting photos where I want them, but it might be user error and not Blogger. I'm not the smartest when it comes to computers.

This is Part Two of our wonderful trip to West Virginia. Before we left Tamarack, I saw these daffodils. Aren't they pretty? They never need watering and never wilt, either. Perfect!
Emily cracked me up by taking a picture of me as I was taking a picture of her! You can see Gwen was about to get ready for Mama to take her picture.
We went to see the New River Gorge Bridge, which is the longest steel arch span in the Western Hemisphere. This is just a small part of the elaborate staircase that goes down to the viewing platforms. Hello down there, Miss Gwen!
When you reach the main viewing platform, this plaque shows how the bridge was created.

The bridge and surrounding countryside.
Here's my happy family!

On the way back up the stairs, we met Hector, that cute little ball of fluff that Gwen and Truman are petting. He was the sweetest little guy, and the grandkids and their grandma fell in love with him. We always have to stop and talk to the doggies!
We went to the Visitor Center, and what do you think? They had a special show on quilting! I love the look of this building.
These are the beautiful quilts they were showcasing.

After all that excitement, it was time to leave. Grandpa is carrying a sack o' Truman to the car. Truman doesn't look very comfortable, does he? He was a happy boy!
Next, we stopped at a gorgeous waterfall. It was so lovely and we spent a bit of time there, listening to the water and just enjoying Mother Nature.

Then silliness erupted, as it always does when we're together. Nate decided to stand on the bridge, and Truman had to investigate.
Ta Dah! Truman made it under the mean ol' Daddy troll on the bridge!!
We stopped for lunch at a pizza place, and Grandpa thought Gwen and Truman should try on his glasses. I think Gwen looks lovely in them, don't you? Truman opened his eyes once with them on, decided he didn't like it, and wouldn't open them again!

I will save the rest of our trip for Part Three, which will be coming along in short order, I promise! I'm still having some difficulties with Blogger, but I will try and figure them out, no matter which one of us is creating the problem!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Thank you for visiting!

Happiness is.....Part One

2009-06-21T10:24:00.000-07:00

Happiness is a trip to West Virginia! Simply put, my son and his family are there. Any place they are living is a happy place for me. We went in May to visit them and to see DIL Emily graduate from college. We had such a great time!

The first day of our visit, we went to Tamarack, which is a wonderful building that houses West Virginia artisans. I have been there before and loved it, but The Man hadn't been there, so off we went!

Truman is ready to go!When we got there, I (of course) had to take a picture of the grandbabies - you can see Emily in the background with her camera getting ready to shoot something.

As we walked up to the building, Miss Gwen said "Grandma, why is that guy scratching himself?". I HAD to investigate what she was lookin' at, didn't I? Here is what she saw:
I told her he looked like he was scratching himself and smelling his armpit. She thought that was very funny - I think I'm a bad Grandmama. Whoever sculpted this did an excellent job, and we shouldn't be making fun of his/her art. Still, Gwen started it! LOL

The plaque that greets you as you walk into the building:I love the hands around it - cool huh?

Inside, I was allowed to take photos of anything and everything, so of course, I chose to take photos of QUILTS!!!!! They are all so beautiful, and I don't think my photography does them justice, but here ya go:

Isn't every quilt beautifully displayed throughout the store? Everything you see is for sale, too.

I was chatting with this very nice lady who makes jewelry. Her name is Linda Maher and she creates the most beautiful fused jewelry. She very happily posed for this photo. You can reach her at lindas_glass@yahoo.com if you are interested in her creations.I had to show Truman in this handcrafted choo-choo. He is saying "Cheese!".
When we were leaving, we had this cute doorman who let us pass through the exit doors easily. His tip was a hug from Grandma! I have been trying to write this post for several days, and couldn't get the pictures to move where I wanted them. I realized I was using MSN instead of Firefox. Why it should make a difference, I have no clue, but it certainly did! I'm glad I figured it out! More posts are coming....it's about time, isn't it?

Happy Sunday to everybodee, especially the dads out there! Thanks for visiting!

All right, what happened to April.......AND May?

2009-05-28T08:13:00.000-07:00

My life has not been spent on the computer lately, so it would seem. I have been busy doing things away from the computer. I shall give a quick view of what's been happening lately.

In April, I re-did the sewing room, which took about a week. Here is the new, improved room:I'll show it close up and personal in another post. The exercise equipment went to another room, so more room for me and my stuff! Woo Hoo!

I wanted to show the adorable fabric sent to me by the lovely and talented Thimbleanna. It's wienie dogs!!! Isn't it cute? Thank you, Anna!The Man had a week's vacation in April, so we spent the time working outside. Lucky for us, it was very nice weather. I started painting our sadly neglected white picket fence, which should have been painted a couple of years ago. The scraping of the curled-up paint takes longer than the actual painting (two coats).The red "X" on the post next to the one being painted means it's getting a replacement. There were quite a few of those! This is still an on-going project. It'll be done by the end of summer, at the rate I'm working on it - of course, it's tough to paint when it's raining, which happens a lot here.
Miss Lucy is being extremely helpful, scouting out the area for "intruding" critters. It's her yard, after all! A frog taking a rest in a pond plant - isn't it cute? I love to hear them croaking at night. Spring definitely has sprung when the frogs show up.

I have been sewing, too, believe it or not! I sewed a doll quilt for a friend - she picked the fabric and cut the pieces and I sewed it. I think it's very cute, and the little girl who received it evidently loved it! This is before it was tied.
For some reason, I have lost photos taken of other projects I've sewn lately, dang it! We had to get a new computer, so maybe they're on the old, almost dead one. I had a lot of things to show, too!

It is now June 4th, and I got sidelined once again by really nice weather - I must be outside - AND computer problems! The hard drive died on our brand new computer! Wow! Who knew that could happen? The computer is running better than it was, so we must have been suffering with a dying hard drive for quite awhile. Oh well.....

During the month of May, we went to watch our daughter-in-law Emily graduate from Marshall University. She has worked on her degree for many years, and she's gone to many colleges, finally finishing at Marshall. I am very proud of her for completing one of her dreams. Here's our proud graduate and her beautiful family. You can see Mr. Truman is not wanting to smile for the camera! I have much more to share about our very fun trip to West Virginia in another post. Yes, I said 'another post'. I am getting back to blogging, and that's a PROMISE!

I don't really know where May went, but I did get a year older, and my present was a Mariners game! Below is the Birthday Girl (Woman?) and The Man at Safeco Field. Kora went with us (it was her birthday too), and she's taking the picture. Kora said The Man wasn't smiling, so............ he is NOW - with a little help from his 'friend'!! Doesn't he look happy to be there?Anyway, I had a wonderful birthday, and I will talk more about it soonly. I also want to thank my dear friend Cheryl for wishing me a happy birthday on her blog! It was muchly appreciated, even if a wee bit embarrassing! Bloggy friends are the best!

I will end this post with a look at what's on my design wall - a completed wall hanging and the start to a table runner. I have been sewing a bit! The wall hanging is the Starflower Quilt by Jan Patek using Hemming House fabric. The table runner is a Look and Learn charm pack. I need to add more colors to it, I'm thinkin', don't you?
Have a great day, everybodee! Thank you for visiting!

The King of the Backyard

2009-04-02T08:26:00.000-07:00

Hello! Yes, I am still alive and kickin', but haven't been home much. When I am, there's lots of other stuff to keep me occupied, and not a lot of time to spend on the computer. In short, I've not been keeping up with my blog reading or posting. Don't give up on me, please - I'll come visit your blog soon! I love to see what everyone's been doing - it's truly inspirational and puts a smile on my face.

Now, regarding the title of this post. See that tiny reddish-brown spot in the photo? The one perched on top of the still-naked hibiscus?

THAT is the King! He is the self-appointed owner, and therefore, patroller of the hummingbird feeders surrounding the back porch. The above photo is the left side of the porch, and below is his station at the right side of the porch. He's even showing off his bright red chest. Ferocious-looking, ain't he? HE thinks so, and that's all that matters! Since we have 3 feeders, he is extremely busy! He goes back and forth from corner to corner of the porch, making sure no other hummer is at HIS feeders, except for his lady.....or maybe ladies, I'm not sure. Here's a young lady now......

I stood on the porch the other evening for at least 10 minutes, trying to get a picture of this flying fury, but to no avail. He would chase a "trespasser" away, and then zip around each feeder 3 times, making sure no harm had come to one of HIS feeders. He would then take a quick sip from each, and back to his perch on whichever side of the porch he decided was best for viewing and attacking. This goes on each and every day, several times a day, although his really busy time is in the early evening. That's when the exhausted females come for their evening refreshment after a long, hard day of nest-building. I don't know why I love hummingbirds so much - they're actually very cantankerous creatures, especially the males!

Now I present the "Adventures of Miss Lucy" for your viewing pleasure. When The Man takes his shoes off, she sometimes has it in her head that a shoe would be a wonderful thing to stick her head into. She then rolls around on her back with her head still shoved in the shoe. Don't ask me why - it's a Lucy thing. She's going in for the attack...

She's got it! The rolling on the back begins.....Still rolling around near the shoe - it's part of the "ritual".Funny girl, isn't she?

The other day, The Man decided to clean around the back of the dryer and check to see if everything was still hooked up correctly, and Lucyfur had to "help" him, of course! Here she is inspecting the dryer vent to make sure nothing evil (furry) was lurking there.

Life is NEVER dull with Lucy, that's for true!

Happy Thursday, everybodee! Thanks for visiting!

Staying Blissful

2009-03-19T09:44:00.000-07:00

I promised myself I would keep up with blog posting, but as you can tell, I have failed miserably. The days have been racing past, and I've been busy, but nothing even remotely interesting to blog about. I've spent time cleaning neglected spaces in my home, and that's certainly NOT interesting at all, is it? It does feel good to clean, though. It snowed here last Sunday, so I feel like I'm starting Spring Cleaning early! I don't think Spring is anywhere near here, although I am extremely hopeful it's just around the corner.

I have also started exercising! My DIL told me about Leslie Sansone. She does the "walk at home" exercise videos. I am exercising nearly every day, and enjoying the heck out of it! I found one of Leslie's videos at Costco the other day, and have ordered another one from Barnes and Noble. Here is the 5 mile video:

Leslie is a sweet and happy butt-kicking person to exercise with, and I feel more energy and strength every day I spend walking with her. It's my kind of exercise! If you are interested in trying out one of her workouts, go to RealAge.com and enjoy! I am very thankful Emily introduced me to Leslie - her workouts have made my life a lot more fun.

I have not spent a lot of time in the sewing room lately. I am hanging my head in shame. I have been to other quilty blogs lately, such as Freda's Hive and Living Life at LeeHaven, and have found such inspiration and beauty there, but somehow, life calls me away from quilting time almost every day. I do spend a half hour here and there in my sanctuary, but not enough to have anything to show for it. I am formulating a plan to spend quality time each and every day sewing. It's like breathing to me, so I think it should be made a priority, right?

Speaking of LeeHaven, Karen and I were emailing the other day about her blog post on bartering. She is working on a scalloped border on a friend's quilt, and I commented about her bravery on doing such a border. She told me it is a "Wave" border, not a scalloped one. I didn't know the difference, so I'm glad she set me straight. She wrote back and said "ignorance is bliss", and I said I spend a LOT of time these days being "blissful". The older I get, the more "blissful" I become! I don't always think it's a bad thing to be that way - it makes life a lot happier to remain "blissful" these days. Not to say I am ignoring the world, I am just trying to make my little corner of it a happy place. So far, so good!

My wiener dogs make life at Doxie Manor happy, too. Here is Lucy at her happiest - cleaning out crumbs from an empty bag of dog food. She is the self-appointed clean-up crew of empty bags, and the other two girls know this, so they don't get in her way. She is working at it from corner to corner - mustn't miss one crumb, you know!

I will have something much more interesting to write about my next post - I PROMISE!!! Until then, thank you for stopping by.

Happy Thursday, everybodee!

After 37 Year of Marriage.........

2009-03-06T08:18:00.000-08:00

I still get flowers! Aren't they beautiful? I'm a lucky girl to be married to such a caring man. And they said it wouldn't last........Nothing much going on around here, since I haven't been in the sewing room at all (so far) this week, but I did want to share a few pictures.

Emily sent me these pics of Truman, and they made me laugh. He's just so stinkin' cute! Here is the thoughtful Truman:

Now the starting-to-get-silly Truman. He's a very happy boy.I forgot to show you what my wonderful DIL gave to me while I was visiting - this adorable weenie dog purse! I love it!Speaking of weenie dogs, I have a story about the next photos. It was 30 degrees and icy when we got up this morning. The dogs go outside before and after breakfast, and when little Maddy came in after breakfast, she was frozen. I was sitting at the computer (as I still am!), and she wanted in my lap. I wrapped her in the fleece shirt I am wearing, and she curled up in my lap. The Man walked by, and Maddy had her head sticking out from under my shirt, sound asleep. Of course, he had to take some pictures. Unfortunately, Miss Mad woke up. I am in my jammies, in case you're wondering what's up with the purple pants. Another view of the awakened Maddy. Looks like she's wondering why she's being bothered, doesn't she? Last, but certainly not least, is Miss Lucy. She was looking at me like the Queen that she is, and when I took her picture, she decided to look where that bird song was coming from. When I opted to take another, she decided it was time to leave. Harrumph! You can see her queen-like posture. Our dogs have a rough life, don't they?Have a wonderful weekend, everybodee!! For those of you who "celebrate" Daylight Savings Time, don't forget to turn your clocks ahead one hour before you go to bed Saturday night.

Thanks for visiting!

The 3-Hour Time Change......

2009-03-04T05:54:00.000-08:00

from East to West Coast is something my body does not seem to be handling well. I don't know what it is, but I keep waking up at 3:00 or 3:30 every morning. I've been home since Friday afternoon, and have basically been in a fog since. I actually slept 'til 4:30 this morning - Woo Hoo! - and it felt really good. I'm not so foggy today, either. There's hope for me yet. I am NOT complaining, just explaining why I've been remiss in posting on my blog. I really haven't had the brain for it. Of course, that's never stopped me from posting before!

I had a WONDERFUL time with the kids! My days were spent playing with Truman, and Gwen when she got home from school. The kids are into playing computer games, so we did quite a bit of that. Truman's only 3, but he's a whiz on that computer! Boggles my mind.

Since Nathan was working most every day, Emily and I took a few trips around town and out of town, once to the Fiesta Ware outlet store - oh my, oh my! I treated myself to this gorgeous teapot. It is paired with an ME cup and saucer.

We also traveled to the quaint little town of Sutton. We went to a quilt shop named the Needle Basket - it was in a building that used to be the neighborhood soda fountain and general store, I think. The soda fountain was still intact, complete with bar and stools. I was going to ask the proprietess if I could take pictures, but poor Truman was bored, and it was time to skeedaddle. I did take time to purchase some fabric, though. There's always time for that, isn't there? Then we went to a restaurant/dinner theater down the street by the name of La Dolce Vita. Yummy food, sweet tea, and great prices. Another day, Nathan stayed home with Truman, and Emily and I went to 3 antique stores and had lunch at a tea shop. Once again, delightful surroundings, delicious food and good company.

I am ashamed to say that I didn't take my camera out very often - I was too busy enjoying every day to the fullest. Having said that, I did take a few pictures!

We went to Target one day, and Gwen made some purchases with money her grandma in Boise sent her. Here's our little consumer with the moolah.

Paying for her treasures with little brother watching.
A successful transaction! My granddaughter is growing up, and it brings a tear to my eye.
Truman with the best seat in the store.
Most of the time, we just hung out at home, which is what I love to do with the fam. I took a few pictures, too! Nate and the kids - Truman is saying "cheese".

Truman with his "imp" on. He's a bundle of energy and fun, and he kept me hopping!
Miss Gwen and one of her Lego towers. She made several of them, and of course, little bro came along and knocked them down.

The day before I left, the kids took me to lunch at a place called Bluegrass Kitchen. These photos are from their website, sent to me courtesy of Emily. Most of the buildings in Charleston are very old, and this is no exception.A view of the Capitol building from that area.The restaurant has a tin ceiling and the chandelier (top left corner of photo) is an antique from Italy. The artwork along the wall is done by local artists, and is for sale. The restaurant has a quirky ambience and deelicious food!Another shot of the interior. I love restaurants that are out of the ordinary.

After what seemed a very short stay, I was on my way home. The flight from Cincinnati to Seattle was absolutely incredible. I tried to take a picture of the 4 mountains I could see at one point, but the sun was shining in the window and ruined my pics. I did manage to take this photo of Mount Rainier - isn't it beautiful? If you look to the left of Mt. Rainier, you will see Mt. Adams. When I got home, there was a box waiting for me from Connie W of Cootie Bug 2 fame. She had a giveaway awhile ago, and I was a lucky, lucky winner! This is what she sent - a lovely Longaberger basket, a beautiful piece of fabric, and a very cute notepad. I am absolutely thrilled, and I thank you so very much, Connie! It is a blessing to know you.

I am working on catching up with what is new and exciting in your lives, my bloggy friends. I wish you all a wonderful day. Thank you for stopping by!

West Virginia, here I come!

2009-02-17T14:59:00.000-08:00

I am lucky enough to get to visit my son and his family. I leave late tonight and get to spend 10 days with them. It's been far too long since I've seen them all, and I have missed them terribly, so this will be very nice for me, and I'm hoping for them, too!

Here's a pic of my DIL, Emily, and the kids "falling off" the sled in the snow. I have two very silly grandbabies!

Truman showing his icy, cold hands.

A very chilly and wet Miss Gwen. They got warmed up by hot chocolate served in their mama's special owl mugs. You can tell Truman and Gwen are ready to drink up. Those mugs are just too cute!

I wanted to share some Valentine goodness I received. I bought this wonderful bag pattern from Nanette, and she sent me the sweetest little Valentine quilt! Isn't it cute? Nanette is a lovely and talented lady, and I will treasure that quilt! Thank you so much, Nanette.
On Valentine's Day, the mailman brought me a package from Ms. Red Geranium - aka Sharon - and this was what I found inside: a cute card, an adorable pillow that says "Love, Me" and a pack of two journals. Thank you, thank you Sharon! I am such a lucky girl, aren't I?
I am just about finished packing - just a few things left to squeeze in the suitcase! I will take lots of pictures of my gorgeous grandchildren and my gorgeous DIL and sonny boy, and lots of pictures of whatever fun things they have in store for me to see and do.

Take care, everybodee!! Here's to friendship........

Thanks for visiting!!

Lucky Friday the 13th!!

2009-02-13T10:01:00.000-08:00

Hello everybodee! First of all, I want to THANK YOU all for your lovely, wonderful comments as to why you love/like/hate blogging. For those of you who haven't made the jump into BlogLand, please do so! I know you will find a world full of like-minded friends just waiting to be discovered.

This morning was the drawing .....drum roll, please..... After typing all the names on two sheets of paper, cutting the names into strips, and folding those strips in half (all very scientific, doncha know?), they were put into my old orange striped bowl.

The Man decided that Miss Maddy and Miss Lucy could choose the winner's name, so after putting a couple of treats in the bowl, we hoped they would take a slip of paper along with the treat, but it didn't happen.

Lucy discovering a "cookie" - Maddy hasn't a clue as to what's happening yet.

Now they're getting into the swing of things! They even blew a precious slip of paper out of the bowl with their heavy breathing.

With Lucy and Maddy waiting for more treats to magically appear from the bowl, my hairy- armed model (aka Doggy Daddy) sticks his hand into said bowl and pulls out the name of..................................

CAROL, whose blog is Brown Quilts!!! Congratulations, Carol!!!!!!

I will leave you now with pics of my girls, being lazy on the couch. Maddy stealing Gracie's warmth...................and all three on the couch, about to settle down for a long winter's nap. The Man is taking their photo, but I'm talking to them - guess who they think has something for them to eat? LOL!I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day, and that today is a very lucky day for you! Thanks for stopping by - I enjoy your comments so very much!

Have you Hugged your Blog Today?

2009-02-08T08:41:00.000-08:00

I received an email this morning from a very dear friend, and the words above was the entire email. She and I had been discussing blogging the day before, and she said she felt her blog was boring (I heartily disagree! ), and I told her I felt the same about mine. She told me the only thing wrong with my blog was that I don't post very often. She said not posting makes a blog boooring. I thought about those words of wisdom, and after receiving her email this morning, I knew what to write about today.

When I started blogging, I was scared to death! I'm a rather private person, and to put my thoughts out there for anyone to see was a frightening proposition. I now know it was one of the best things I've ever done. Through this blog, I have met the MOST wonderful people, and have made some lifelong friends. In this blog world, I have found inspiration of the quilty and emotional kind, have laughed and cried, and I must say my world is a MUCH better place all because I started this blog.

This is my 100th post, which is definitely a milestone for me, as it's taken me about a year and a half to get to it. I'm not really proud of that fact, but it is what it is. It's what I do from here on out that's important, right? I have decided to "hug" my blog more often - after all, it has done SOOOO much for me!

The giveaway is now closed - it's almost time for the DRAWING!!
In honor of my 100th post, I think it's time for a giveaway!!! I'd love it if you'd share what you like/love/hate about blogging. A winner will be drawn on Friday the 13th - I think that should be a lucky day, don't you? Here's what you'll win, with maybe a couple of other things thrown in!

I had to share these pictures of Miss Lucy enjoying the fireplace as only she can. Since it's been a mite chilly in the Pacific NW these days, the fireplace has been warming Doxie Manor quite a bit lately.She's ready for her close-up, prim and proper lady that she is - look at those lovely legs. They are together, as befits a lady.

Thank you so much for visiting!! I truly enjoy your comments, and I thank you for taking the time to stop by and share with me. I hope you've all had a lovely weekend!

p.s. Don't forget to hug your blog!

And so begins the New Year

2009-01-27T10:15:00.000-08:00

A very Happy (belated) New Year to you all! I promised myself to be better about blogging, but that has obviously not happened......yet. This month I have been Nurse Nan. The Man got really sick, and I took care of him for a couple of weeks. He got better, and then Kora came to visit us, and she was in terrible pain with her back. She stayed with us for a few days, because she couldn't move! I have suffered with back problems for many years, so I did what I could for her, taught her some things to do to take care of her back, and the poor girl slept on the floor while she was here. I am very happy to say she is doing much, much better now.

Now that the Nurse part is done (for the time being?), I have been sewing! Cheryl lost her sewing mojo at the same time I did, so she decided that they were off having fun together. I think she was right! We got our mojos back at basically the same time, and started sewing! I have finished a table runner, almost finished a Christmas stocking, and I'm working on a strip quilt. Not a lot, I will agree, but much better than not sewing at all.

First strip set sewn, and the pattern.
While my sewing mojo was gone, my cross stitching mojo was alive and well. I spent a lot of time while Nurse Nan-ing stitching this:When finished, it should look like this:
I am going to say good-bye to Christmas 2008 (it's about time, doncha think?) by showing things I made for friends. Here's a table runner made with "Isn't Christmas Jolly" by the very talented Mary E.Here are bags I made for "Red Geranium" Sharon and "Thimbleanna" Anna.Anna surprised me with the lovely gift of a beautiful towel - much too pretty to use - and a wonderful cookbook! Thank you, dear Anna!

On Christmas Day, we had dinner with our closest friends, and I gave this quilt to the lady of the house, Susan. Here we are, hiding behind the quilt. Can you tell she's a LOT shorter than I am? This quilt was quilted by Ms. Red Geranium Cottage - she and Daisy did a beautiful job.

My last Christmas celebration was in the middle of this month, when my friend Sarah came from Texas to visit her family......and ME! She got married over a year ago, and I made this quilt as a wedding gift. A bit late, aren't I? She was SO happy with the quilt, I am happy to say! She loves jungle prints, so that's what she got. Sharon also quilted this for me, and Sarah loved the quilting pattern too. Here's the happy owner, holding her quilt sideways! LOL!

Here we are, very happy to get to spend time together. It was a wonderful day! I didn't realize the waitress didn't have us in focus. Oh well, you get the idea - two smiling faces! Sarah crocheted the scarf around my neck - I love it! This New Year has brought with it much joy and laughter, but also pain and sadness. David's oldest sister has lost her job, as well as our friend, Kora. Also, many of you knew "Pincushion Diaries" Mar. She passed away last week. She was a delightful, big-hearted lady and an excellent quilter, and of course, famous for her beautiful pincushions. She will be greatly missed.

I have been spending a great deal of time lately counting my blessings. I have lost many loved ones in my life, and each time I do, I realize anew how much we need each other and we need to tell our family and friends that we love them and what strength and comfort they bring to our lives. I am a firm believer that no matter what good or bad things may be happening in our lives and our world, there is always, always something to be grateful for. I am grateful to all of you, my blogging friends, for the comments you leave and the joy you bring to my life.

I wish you all a joyous 2009. Happy Tuesday to everybodee! Thanks for visiting!

Christmas at Doxie Manor.......

2008-12-30T20:40:00.000-08:00

also known as "White Christmas 2008". I wasn't going to share anymore s-n-o-w photos, but I just can't help myself. It was so beautiful - we had over a foot of the white stuff.

Here's our steps (where?) and driveway (where?) on Christmas morning. The snowy road to our house.

Gracie wanted to go for a walk with Doggy Daddy to get the newspaper. She decided to tunnel her way down the hill, poor thing!The bird feeders were still full of seed and worked fine, so the birds and squirrels didn't starve, thank goodness.The waterfall and fish pond (once again the question, where?). Under the ice and snow are the gold fish. The Man put an aerator in the pond, so the fish would have oxygen by keeping the water circulating. The ice doesn't form where the aerator is working. We saw the fish today for the first time in two weeks, and they're doing well. Hooray!

The front yard. I think the trees are so beautiful with their snowy branches. They look like they've had a heavy dusting of powdered sugar, don't they?

Inside, the house is nice and warm. The Man took pics of some of our Christmas decor. This is our dining room in it's holiday finery.

Look! The sun is shining! We haven't seen the sun in a long time.

The wiener kids LOVE Christmas! They enjoy checking out the packages, usually looking for food. They found some in this basket of goodies! Maddy's making sure there's nothing bad in there.

This book is called "Doxie Moxie" and the girls were fascinated by it - Maddy and Lucy kept trying to bite it. I'm attempting to cut off the plastic wrapper, and Lucy is my assistant.Miss Lucy also likes to tear off the wrapping paper from packages. She starts off......continuing on her ripping ways, with Gracie taking bits of torn paper and tearing them up. Fun times for all!Miss Madlyn looking quite lovely in her charming bow hat. Time for a nap after all the gift opening excitement.Last, but never least, Miss Gracie is asking "is Christmas over already?".I hope you had a wonderful holiday, and I wish all of you a very blessed and Happy New Year! Thank you for stopping by!

A White Christmas

2008-12-25T07:51:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS -

May your day be full of joy, laughter, and most importantly, LOVE.

There's No Business Like SNOW Business....

2008-12-18T15:42:00.000-08:00

WELCOME to my world of white! The snow started yesterday morning, and it snowed for much of the day. It didn't snow earlier today, and then a blizzard started about an hour and a half ago, and left over 2 inches more of the white stuff! It's very pretty, but people are sure having a hard time getting to where they need to be, and I'm sorry to say, traveling anywhere is only getting more treacherous. My hope is that people will take their time and be safe if they have somewhere to go.

Meanwhile, since I am lucky enough not to have to travel, I wanted to show how beautifully peaceful it is around my home. We have both our feeders full of good stuff for our bird and squirrel friends, and the feeders are extremely well attended. Of course, when I try to take a picture, they all run away! You can see a few birds hanging around to help themselves to the smorgasbord.We also have a couple of female Anna's hummingbirds here, and I can't believe they haven't traveled to California or Mexico for the winter like the rest of the hummers that breed here during the summer do. According to our local wildlife bird shop, these particular hummers don't fly south for the winter. I have two feeders ready and switch feeders after a few hours, so the poor girls aren't drinking freezing cold sugar water. I am terribly worried about them, but they must know what they're doing - I hope! Here's one of the girls, puffed up to keep warm and conserving energy.The Man went out this morning and took these photos. Our snow covered house in its Christmas finery:The side yard, with a view of the gazebo and the frozen waterfall:I love this picture! You are looking at the stairs going down the hill from the house to the street. Can you see them? LOL!Inside, where all is warm and cozy, this is the view from the skylights in my sewing room:

I have been busy working on Christmas gifties, and I thought I would show a few. I decided to make it a "baggy" Christmas this year, and have had such fun doing it! Nanette at Freda's Hive wrote a post a month or so ago about these adorable fabric bags and showed what she had created, and then Darlene at Quilting Daze made a whole bunch of them. It stuck in my fuzzy little head, and I thought I would try my hand at creating some, too. I made the bags the size of whatever gift was going in them, and used my stash of Christmas fabrics. I want to make MORE, I enjoyed it sew much!

This pic I took yesterday morning while the snow was coming down. I hope you can see the flakes falling.Since our home goes by the name Doxie Manor, I must show how busy the doxies are these days. Maddy and Gracie "helping" me in the sewing room:

The girls also "helped" me trim the tree. Here's Maddy working hard by the fireplace - all that work seems to be making her sleepy.Gracie rounding up her toys, to keep them out of my way. She looks tired, too!

Alert Miss Lucy supervising from the chair next to the tree:

The girls also were "assisting" The Man (Doggy Daddy) wrap gifts! They were mesmerized by this FurReal kitty that's for our granddaughter. You wave your hand in front of the cat's eyes, and she meows, blinks, turns her head and purrs. Gracie thought it was the Real Thing, that's for sure! Here they are trying to get at that cat! Gracie actually bit the corner of the box a couple of times - hopefully, the teeth marks aren't noticeable. Doesn't Gracie look like she's saying "Let that darn cat out of the box NOW!"? She was very excited!My to do list is almost finished - must be all that 4-legged "help"! The house is decorated (even the boxes are put away), and most of the presents have been created, wrapped and mailed. Now all I have to do is finish sewing 2 gifts and wrap presents for friends and family who live close by.

I hope you are all enjoying this holiday season with your friends and loved ones. Happy Thursday, everybodee!!

Holiday Time with Cranna Nanna

2008-12-13T07:41:00.000-08:00

Hello all! I am healing very well from surgery, and am spending my days in the sewing room, which this time of year is called "Santa's Workshop". It is a creative disaster, what with fabric strewn hither and yon and wrapping paper and tissue paper mixed in for good measure. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I LOVE this time of year! Giving and making gifts is my favorite thing to do, so Christmas-time is just the BEST.

I would like to explain the name "Cranna Nanna". The lovely and talented Monica, aka Happy Zombie, posted a wonderful show and tell about her friend's cranberry farm, and since I love all things cranberry, I was enchanted by that post! She wrote to me afterwards, saying she's now named me "Cranna Nanna". I told her it shall be my holiday moniker from now on. Of course, she told me hers is "Santa Monica" - cute huh? While you're visiting Ms. Santa M, check out her adorable "Pennie Pockets" pattern. I haven't had the chance to make any yet, but it's on my list of projects!!

Speaking of Ms. M, earlier this year I received a bag from her that I couldn't show, but since the pattern has been published now, I thought it was the perfect time to unveil what she gave me.

Here's the pretty package:

And here's the bag;Isn't it cute? She is a very talented designer, and a generous friend. Thank you, Santa Monica!!

I have a confession to make. Since my surgery, I have forgotten ONE of the rules of blogging - such as, take pictures of everything you make!! Well, I finished my gift for the Polka Dot Swap and mailed it off, and forgot to take a picture of it. My swap person is a very nice lady by the name of Sherry, and her blog is If I Could Set My Soul Free. I received a delightful thank you note from her the other day, and she's in the process of moving, so I don't know when she'll have time to (hopefully) show a photo of what I created. I used the pattern called "Polka Dot Welcome" by Joined at the Hip. I love their patterns!

I am taking photos of the Christmas gifts that I'm making, but I can't show the ones I've finished, because I know those people read my blog! I can show the pillowcases I sent to my grandchildren, though! Here they are:Can you tell which is Gwen's and which one is Truman's? LOL!!

While I was spending serious couch time with my foot propped up, I wasn't idle. I finished this:

The friend who's receiving this doesn't read my blog usually, so I think it's safe to show it. I love to cross stitch, and this was a lot of fun to make. I hope she likes it!

I thought I would share my to-do list by giving a tour around the house. #1 Finish Decorating the Tree: our partially decorated tree, taken in the dark so it looks finished!

#2 Decorate the House: boxes of Christmas decor sitting in the hallway.

#3 Wrap Gifts: boxes of Christmas goodness waiting for pretty paper and bows.

#4 Sew Christmas Presents: my "creative" mess.

Last but not least, I have an update on the wonderful Polka Dot swap gifts I received from NancyNoBlogBlogs. She confessed that Ms. Red Geranium Cottage created the larger bag and she made the small one. (You can see photos of my treasures on the previous post.) Nancy felt that Sharon was better at making bags than she is, so I was lucky enough to get a Sharon original, AND something made by the very talented Nancy! I am a lucky and very appreciative girl. Thank you, ladies!!

I wish you all a very joyous holiday season, with time to do all you want to do, and lots of time spent with family and friends. I've got to run - my sewing machine is calling!

Have a wonderful weekend, everybodee!

Enforced Laziness

2008-11-24T09:30:00.000-08:00

I have been a bit under the weather, so to speak. Flat on my back on the couch for almost two weeks - a true couch potato. I am recovering from 2 surgical procedures on my left leg. I am extremely thankful I had it done, it's just the recovery time is a bit too slow and painful for my liking. The Man became The Nurse for two weeks and took extremely good care of me, and I'm very happy he was here for me, needless to say. He has gone to work now and left me to fend (hobble) for myself. I'm doing pretty good at it, if I do say so myself.

The worst part of it all is there is NO sewing going on here. Nada. Zip. Zilch. I want to sew!!! For the past 3 days, I have told myself I will go upstairs and sew for a little while and it doesn't happen. Today is THE DAY! Even a few minutes is better than none, right? If I could figure out how to prop up my leg and sit at the sewing machine, I would do it in a heartbeat! There's not a lot of room under my sewing table for a leg up (so to speak), but I'm not going to let that deter me! I just need to sew a few pieces of cloth together, and I'll be a satisfied seamstress once again. I was going to write "sewer", but that always looks like "sewer" (the nasty thing) to me instead of "sew-er".

What has been happening around here? Not a lot, but I do have a few things to share.

The end of October, I finished a Christmas quilt which Sharon quilted for me. It is being raffled with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society at the credit union where I worked. I forgot to take a picture of it finished, so Sharon kindly send me the photos she took of it for her blog. Thank you Sharon! That's Ms. Red Geranium Cottage's beautiful fireplace behind my quilt.

Here's a close-up of the quilting:
Didn't she do a nice job? I'm pleased to see she showed a part of the quilt where my seams match! Thanks again Sharon!

When Sharon sent the quilt back to me, she also included one of her adorable zippered bags. This one's MINE! Isn't it cute?

Last week, I received a polka dotted box from the UPS man! Love the dots!
Inside were these wonderful goodies from none other than NancyNoBlogBlogs! I have admired her quilts on Sharon's blog for quite some time, and am thrilled to now own something sewn by this very talented lady.

First up is this lovely bag! Isn't it pretty?

Inside the bag were these gifties and the cute card. I love the little zippered pouch, and the oh-so-soft slipper socks, and the credit card holder. THANK YOU SO MUCH, NANCY!!

I am hanging my head in shame that I haven't finished my polka dot gifts yet, but I will!!! That's first on my loooooooong list of sewing to-dos.

Last week, The Nurse and I were watching the squirrels eating sunflower seeds. Nurse took photos while the squirrels put on a show. The two squirrels (well fed, aren't they?) started out like this:

Then, one of them decided to do the "squirrel on the flying trapeze" thing, substituting the feeder for a trapeze:

This went on for about 15 minutes, much to my delight. Goofy squirrel!

I thought I would leave you with a photo of the Lucy Girl doing her balancing act on my sewing chair, being "encouraged" by The Man. This was taken pre-surgery, when I could sit and sew for as long as I wanted. Heavy sigh.........

Happy Monday, everybodee!! It's good to be blogging again - actually, it's good to be doing anything again!! Thanks for stopping by.

BOO TO YOU!!

2008-10-31T08:16:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, everybodee!! It is raining here today, after having a week of sunny weather - go figure. I feel sorry for the trick or treaters, but we live in Washington, after all, and thank goodness we're all water-proof (unlike the Wicked Witch of the West in Oz)!!

I thought I'd show you a few sp-sp-sp-0oky decorations around Doxie Manor. Ready to be scared?!? Here we go!

There be a monster in our house! Oh Nooooooo!

A photo of my favorite trick-or-treaters and a little bear all dressed and ready for tonight, pumpkin bucket in paw.

We also have a ghost! The heart-felt ghost is sitting upon a wonderful table topper made by my friend Darlene.
Halloween decor in the hallway. The banner is a Martha Stewart creation that I purchased at Michael's. I thought it was just too cute!
A witch and our hand-y candy bowl for tonight. When you place your hand in the bowl, that lovely(?) purple hand comes down and the bowl speaks to you in a deep and scary voice. I can't wait to hear the kids' squeals! Bwahahahaha!!!!!! It was The Man's idea to buy it, actually.
I will leave you with a photo of a teeny, tiny trickster by the name of Ryann. Kimi (her mama) sent me the photo this morning. Isn't she the sweetest loaf of WonderBread you've ever seen?

Happy Hauntings, everyone!

I wish you all a wonderful weekend, too! Thanks for stopping by!

Visiting Chocolate World!!

2008-10-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

Hello everybodee! I thought I would go back to our vacation of last month, and share our chocolatey adventure. We went to the town of Middlesex Township, which is also known as Hershey, PA. The post office is called the Hershey post office, so all the addresses in this town are Hershey, PA. Interesting, isn't it? Or confusing! All I know is, this is where Chocolate World lives!!

Woo Hoo! We have arrived! This is part of the original factory - they don't allow tours through the actual factory anymore. I was heart-broken. Entering the Land o' Chocolate.We were told by our kids that the first thing to do is take the trolley ride around the town, so that's what we did. Here is the trolley we rode - I thought it was the cutest thing! See? It's the Chocolate Ave Line!The interior was beautiful, too.On the tour, we learned all about Milton Hershey and what an amazing man he was! I didn't get any pictures of it, but Mr. Hershey and his wife founded a school named Milton Hershey School for children of low income and social need families. It is free of charge to its students, and housing, education, clothing, meals, medical, dental, and religious services are provided for them. It is for grades pre-K to 12th grade, and is fully funded by purchases of all things Hershey. The school does not take donations. I wish I had taken pictures of the beautiful school grounds and housing for the kids, but the bus was moving so quickly, I couldn't get one good picture! I had never heard of this school before. When the kids graduate, they are given a laptop to take to college with them, and there are also scholarships available. We were told most of the children who graduate from the Hershey School go on to college. It warms my heart to know that such a wonderful place exists!

In the town, all the street lights were Kissable: This is where Milton Hershey was born. What a lovely home.Mr. Hershey built a home for his wife up on a hill, and we got to drive past it. It's now used as offices for the Hershey Foundation.Another view. Isn't it gorgeous?After the tour, we visited the gift shop and bought all sorts of yummy Hershey treasures. It was wonderful to know our purchases went (in part, anyway) to support the school.

After that, we went to the Hershey Gardens. It is a beautiful place! If you are a rose lover, then this is the place for you! This area greets you when you walk in.When you enter the Gardens, you stop at the Gift Shop to purchase tickets. This is the main entrance.I loved this view of the gardens.
The Man helped me with making this montage, and I hope you enjoy it. He made me stick my face in the middle of all the rosey beauty. I have never seen such colors!This chipmunk was finding yummy things to eat in one of the flowerbeds.

In wandering through the gardens, we found these frogs in the Japanese garden area. I thought they were cute! See their little heads peeking just above the water? There is also a butterfly house in the Gardens, and it is a magical place! Again, The Man helped me with another montage for your viewing pleasure. My photography doesn't do them justice.This funky fountain was just outside the butterfly house, and each kiss would make a different sound when water sprayed though the top of it. After all the walking we did, we were hungry, so we ventured on to the Hershey Hotel. Isn't this a gorgeous courtyard? The ceiling had clouds painted on it. We ate dinner outside, and this was our view of the hotel.

We had uninvited guests at dinner, too. This was the bravest one.
The grounds behind the hotel were lovely, too.There were two huge ponds with a garden area between them, and these are just a few(?) of the fish in one of the ponds.Part of the gardens between the ponds.

One of the ponds. More like a mini-lake, isn't it?One of many lightposts that surround the ponds.Thus, ended an amazing day in Middlesex Township, aka Hershey, PA! I hope you have enjoyed the tour. Are you still awake? Ha ha!! No really, are you?

Thank you so much for stopping by my little corner of the world! I wish you all a Happy Friday and a wonderful weekend!

More Vacation Photos and Quilty Projects

2008-10-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

Catchy title to this post, say what? It's the best I could come up with today. Hubby (The Man) was after me to post, so I knew it had been awhile since my last one.

First of all, I want to say a HUGE Thank You for all the wonderful words of encouragement and congratulations on our business. Also, a special Thank You to those of you who posted it on your blogs! I didn't expect that, and I am touched beyond words. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart!

I thought I would continue on with our vacation. This is the best part when we went to West Virginia to visit the grandbabies and their parents! We had a wonderful time with everyone, and I took a few photos (of course!) that I'd like to share. Miss Gwen loves Webkinz, and we brought her this bunny (she named her 'Easter'), which she plopped on her daddy's head! Easter's necklace was made by Gwen. Aren't Nate and Easter cute together?We went out to breakfast one morning, and here's a photo of my lovely family! After breakfast, we spent time at the Farmer's Market in downtown Charleston. I am totally in love with this place, as I see vegetables that I've never seen before there, and everything is displayed so beautifully. This loveliness greets you as you walk in.

Ton o' pumpkins! See the fan in the upper left? It was hotter than hot that day!I see a quilt here, don't you?Miss Gwen was picking up flowers that were on the ground, and stopped to pose for Grandma. Our beautiful flower among the flowers.The inside of the building that runs alongside the market. There are crafts for sale and a bookstore, as well as places to eat. It's a fun place to visit! Nathan has recently taken up learning to play guitar, and is getting very good at it, so says his mum! Here he is serenading us.Our visit was waaaaaaayyy too short, but on our last morning there, we went to the State Capitol with Emily and Truman. Emily took me there to see a quilt show, but it had been taken away the week before, but these quilts were still hanging waaaaaaaayyyy above our heads!

Another quilt, this time outside the building where the quilt show had been.The Capitol building. The scaffolding is there because they were cleaning the exterior by pressure washing. You could definitely tell where they'd cleaned from where they hadn't.Truman and Grandma enjoying the statue of Lincoln out front of the Capitol.Inside the rotunda.This quilt was hanging in one of the offices. I thought it was gorgeous!Truman is certainly enjoying the models, isn't he? As we were leaving, I happened to spot this above a doorway in the Capitol Complex. I think it is West Virginia's state motto. It's stunning in person, but I don't think the photo conveys how beautiful it really is.

What a cutie pie! You don't think he knows it, do you? LOLWith a heavy sigh, we left West Virginia, and went back to Pennsylvania to continue on with the sight-seeing. More on that next time. Next stop is the town where Hershey's Chocolate is made!

I actually have been creating in the sewing room! It's about time, you say! Yes, I do agree! This quilt top is at Sharon's house right now waiting to be quilted by Sharon and Daisy. It will get raffled at the credit union where I worked - the proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society. No, the feet don't come with the quilt.

Happy Jack is finished! He is already packed in a box ready for WV! Happy Halloween to my grandbabies!This is going to be a pattern for the business. Still a work in progress.Lastly, I wanted to share the sweet package I received from my dear friend Cheryl of "Polka Dots and Rick Rack" fame. She sent me this adorable Annie and a wonderful card to celebrate the opening of my business! THANK YOU, Cheryl!!! Miss Annie is going to have a place of honor in my sewing room. Maybe she'll even help me create a quilt or two? Here's hopin'!I wish you all a loverly day, and thank you for stopping by to visit!

A Dream Realized

2008-10-09T07:25:00.000-07:00

After two (or more) years of much work, sweat and (I will admit) a few tears, and a lot of pep talks from many friends (I don't know what I'd do without their love and support!), Nannie's Quilt Patch is going online. This is a dream of The Man, his oldest sister and myself, that I posted about in July of last year. You can read about it's humble beginnings here: http://doxie-land.blogspot.com/2007/07/and-herein-lies-tail-tale.html .

This morning is the "GRAND OPENING" of our online quilt pattern shop! Right now, we have 3 patterns , Steam a Seam II Lite in sheets and by the yard, applique pressing sheets in two sizes, and quilt storage bags. As time goes by, we will have more supplies for sale in our shop, as I find gadgets and gizmos I can't live without!

If you have any suggestions for goodies you would like to see us sell or how we can make the site better, we would be most happy to hear them! We consider this enterprise to always be a "work in progress", and I know it will evolve over time into something a bit different from what it is now. Case in point: Our son called last night after getting a sneak preview of the site and told us of all the typos in the text, which we will be fixing ASAP! Thank you, Nate!! There is always room for improvement, isn't there?

When I woke up this morning, my first thought was "I are a business owner now!". Goodness gracious, what an amazing feeling! I don't think it has totally sunk in yet to this brick I call my head! LOL

All I can say is it seems incredible to me after ALL the work and planning of the past few years, to be able to open our online doors. I hope you will take a peek inside those doors, and let us know what you think! Here is the link: http://www.nanniesquiltpatch.com/.

Happy Thursday, everybodee! Thank you so much for stopping by and celebrating our dream finally realized!

Vacation Part II: Amish Country and Quilty Goodness

2008-10-02T12:38:00.000-07:00

I thoroughly enjoyed the next part of our vacation - a visit to Lancaster County, where the Amish and Mennonites live and work. To figure out what we wanted to see and do when we got there, we stopped at the Lancaster County Visitor Center, where we were helped by a very tiny, very sweet, white-haired lady. She asked what we were interested in seeing, and I of course said "Quilts!". She looked at me, and without a moment's hesitation, said "Intercourse!". "Excuse me?" said I. She said "Here!" and pointed to a spot on the map with the name of Intercourse. Okay....I'm on the same page now! To my credit, I didn't even snicker! Honest, I didn't!!

So, without further ado, off to Intercourse we went! What a beautiful town, lovely shops and quaint old buildings, and lots of Amish buggies! This is just one of the many we saw as we drove into town. I feel like I stepped into the movie "Witness". According to our buggy driver, parts of that movie were filmed in Intercourse.This one is parked outside of a Quilt Shop run by Mennonites, where most fabric was $5.95/yard, and Kona Cotton was $2.95/yard!I was whisked away by The Man, but talk about a huge slice of fabric heaven!! I verrrrrrrrrry slowwwwwly walked out of that store, just so I could look and touch some of the fabric there. Wonderful!

The first thing we did was go on a buggy ride. Our buggy was driven by a man who was raised Amish, but when he got married, he and his wife became Mennonites. It was fascinating listening to him talk about the Amish lifestyle - their lives revolve around the land and planting and harvesting of the fields. I love this picture of the lone man with his team of mules, plowing the field.

Here's a view of other Amish farmers harvesting their corn with the help of their horses (or are they mules?).

Those are tobacco leaves hanging in the barn. Tobacco is a cash crop for Amish farmers. The Mennonite farmers grow soy beans as one of their cash crops.Our hard-working team taking us to a covered bridge. That is Bridget (the "lead" horse) on the left, and Bristol (her sister and "inside" horse) on the right. Our driver, Elam, waving to a friend. An Amish farm. They usually build their homes and barns themselves. Our driver told us how you can tell an Amish home, because they have a large propane tank (to power the stove, refrigerator and lights) on the side of the house, and pull-down shades on their windows. They are not allowed to have venetian blinds. I thought this house was so pretty, and typical of the older homes in the area. Notice the shades on the windows and the propane tank.I couldn't resist taking a photo of these cows. The cow on the left of the photo was staring at us the entire time we were riding past. I would've had a better picture of her, but the buggy did a jig and Pinkee (camera) and I did a jog, and I couldn't get a picture, so I had to hurry and get a shot of her before we were completely out of sight. After the buggy ride, it was time for some shopping! The shopping center was named Kitchen Kettle Village. I thought this was the cutest cow! I wish the grandbabies had been with us - it would've been the best picture! I tried to get The Man to sit down and at least pretend to milk Miss Klarabelle, but no such luck. I told him "It's udderly fun!" - just like the sign says!!

Now for the quilty goodness part! Woo Hoo!! We went to The Old Country Store, where part of the bottom floor was dedicated to beautiful Amish quilts. I didn't take photos in there, because the employees don't usually allow pictures to be taken of the quilts. I did get permission to take photos of the fabric store, though! Isn't this building beautiful? What's inside is even better!The sign out front......notice the "Fabric Sale in Progress" part of the sign??? Here's the fabric store! I love the way they displayed all this yummy fabric!Upstairs was a Quilt Museum! The quilts on display were created by Fons and Porter and friends! I was SO excited!!! This is Echo Tumbling Block by Jean Horst. Isn't it amazing? It was hanging from the ceiling.Prairie Stars by Liz Porter and Shon McCain. I am totally in love with this quilt!

The stunning Oak Leaf by Marianne Fons and Liz Porter.
This one is Pine Burr by Liz Porter. Heavy sigh......
This quilt is called String Star by Liz Porter & Friends. Texas Log Cabin by Marianne Fons.

This is called Sampler by Ada Martin. One of the quilty vignettes that were part of the Museum. Sorry about the flash, but I couldn't get a photo without it.

And, waiting just across the street was Village Quilts, as this gorgeous sign says.The store in all it's glory - it also houses a bed and breakfast upstairs. The highlight of the day for me was meeting this lovely lady! Her name is Lorraine Zimmerman, and she creates her quilts totally by hand! She said it's the way she's always done it, and she doesn't want to change now. Here she is working on quilting a quilt for a customer. She lives and breathes quilting, and was an absolute delight! I hated to say good-bye to her. I would love to take quilting lessons from her.

After the activities of the day, we went to dinner at The Olde Greenfield Inn in Lancaster. We got to have dinner in the wine cellar! I think it's because they figured out The Man and I are naughty kids, and we need to be kept away from other people - hee hee!! The original part of the building was built in 1780, and the Inn has been remodeled quite a bit, but it was still a lovely place, and the food was incredible! Here's our dining room.....er, cellar. The bartender came down to get supplies, and told us she counts the bottles every night before she goes home! Dang!Once again, The Man is hungry!I'm hungry too, and happy to be there! Behind me and around the corner is another table, but we were the only ones down there that evening.I had to take pictures of our absolutely divine deserts. The Man had pecan pie, which was the BEST I'd ever tasted!I had a totally decadent Creme Brulee. It melted in my mouth. Yummmmmm.......I hope you have enjoyed my visit to this beautiful town. It was hard to leave - I fell in love with the area and the way of life there.

Happy Thursday everybodee! Thanks for visiting!

Vacation: A Quilt Shop and Gettysburg

2008-09-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

Hello again! I am actually going to talk about our vacation today! I will start by saying I am in love with Pennsylvania - at least the area where we were staying and visiting. Beautiful countryside, rolling green hills and miles and miles of corn! We kept waiting for the Scarecrow from "Wizard of Oz" to be there showing us which way (or ways) to go! Just one small piece of the beautiful country in Carlisle, PAInnkeeper Dee at the B and B where we stayed (Pheasant Field) told me of a local quilt shop that is part of a couple's home, and of course, I had to go there! It is called Calico Corner, and is the cutest place! They specialize in Civil War fabric and kits, and a local lady by the name of Michelle Howe creates the patterns for the CW fabrics. I fell in love with her patterns, and the kits were gorgeous! I was allowed to take pictures of the shop just not the quilts and patterns of Ms. Howe. I was thrilled to be allowed to take pics, so I did exactly as I was told.

Just some of the Civil War fabrics they have:One little corner of the quilt shop - everything was displayed so nicely.Sorry for the blurry photo, but I hope you get the idea of the look of the shop and all the goodies I had to choose from.The Man said I had to be in one of the quilt shop pics, so here I am with one of the goodies I bought. In my hot little hands is a Christmas table runner. It would make a very nice present for someone, I'm thinkin'. The fabric is by Debbie Mumm. Don't I look happy? Yes indeedy!!I can't believe it! Another blurry photo! I had no idea. Anyhoo, another pic of the shop and it's treasures.Last, but not least, the co-owner of the shop, Pete. He was a very nice man, and kindly kept The Man busy talking while I shopped (Pete's no dummy! LOL). His wife (Pete called her 'the Boss') was away on family business, so Pete was in charge that day. The shop is online: http://www.calicocorneronline.com/. They have many Civil War kits for sale through their online shop. What a grand way to start a vacation!!

On our way to Calico Corner, our GPS (The Man named her 'Susie') took us on a bit of a detour, and I fell in love with this barn, and just had to take a picture of it.As part of our now overlong detour (Susie's name became 'Gertrude' by this time), we went through the cute little town of Newville, and situated on the main street through town was this lovely old mill.There is a family with little ones living in the mill now. What an awesome place to live!Next stop, Gettysburg. Once again, I fell in love with this beautiful city, which is a piece of living history. We took a tour of the city and the battle sites, and during the battle, snipers were in the attics of the townspeople's homes, and you can still see the bullet holes in a couple of the buildings from those snipers. Incredible! Many of the buildings in town had brass plaques on them, signifying that they had been there during the battle of Gettysburg.

When Lincoln came to Gettysburg, his train stopped at this very station .

The 2nd home on the right, with the vehicles in front of it(they were doing reconstruction work), is the home of attorney David Wills, who oversaw the creation of the Soldiers' National Cemetery. Lincoln spent the night and finished his Gettysburg Address at this home the day before the cemetery dedication. Wow! This is the town square, which is actually a ginormous round-about. Our first stop on the tour was at the Eternal Light Peace Memorial near Oak Hill. It was dedicated on July 3, 1938, with many former Confederate and Union soldiers in attendance. At the base of the Memorial, it reads "Peace Eternal in a Nation United". This quote by Lincoln is on one side of the Memorial.This was part of the Oak Ridge battlefield. It's hard to think that thousands of men died on this peaceful field. Our 2nd stop of the tour was at Little Round Top, which was where the Union Army was stationed. Snipers were hidden in the trees down the hill and behind the rocks. This is the view the Union soldiers had of the Confederate troops coming up the hill. The trees at the base of the hill was called Devil's Den, where the Confederate Army had canons and sharpshooters hidden. The area between the two was named the "Slaughter Pen". I thought this monument was beautiful! It commemorates the 44th and 12th New York Infantry. You can climb to the top.The view through the doorway:The view from the backside of the monument. Once again, it saddens me to think that so many men lost their lives at this beautiful site. Another gorgeous monument. There are monuments all over the different battle areas where a particular state's infantry or cavalry fought.I came away from Gettysburg with a sad and humble heart. Men on both sides of the Civil War fought and died for what they knew in their hearts was right. What an amazing time in America's history.

After all that sight-seeing, we were hungry, so we went to the Dobbin House Tavern for din-din. The Dobbin House was built in 1776 - it is the oldest building in Gettysburg . A young lady sat us in the Library. Here are some pics:

The Man looks hungry, doesn't he? He seems to be saying, "C'mon woman, take the picture and let's eat!"This is in the front room where hungry visitors wait for one of the ladies dressed in period garb (I'm sorry I didn't get a photo of them) to escort them to a table.I hope you have enjoyed this first day of our vacation. Sorry I wrote a book! Next time will be Amish Country, and the loot I bought!

Oh, for those of you who asked, here is a photo of my grandbabies:

Thank you so much for stopping by! Happy Thursday, everybodee!

Home again, home again....

2008-09-23T07:55:00.000-07:00

A very fond "Hello" to you all! We got home late Friday evening, and it's sure nice to be home! The doxies missed us as much as we missed them, so it's been wonderful for all of us to be together again. The dogs have been very clingy since we've been home. Every time I sit on the couch, I have all 3 dogs on my lap. Since the weather has turned much cooler here, I love the heat they generate!

Instead of posting about our trip, I thought I'd start with what we did when got home. Saturday afternoon we went to a wedding! The bride was one of my co-workers at the credit union, and it is wonderful to see her so happy. Two of the other gals I worked with were there too, so it was great to spend time with them. I tried to take pictures of the actual ceremony, but the lighting wasn't conducive to taking good pictures. Here is one to give you an idea of what I mean. I got a great shot of that wooden post, didn't I? LOLHere is Sarah, the beautiful bride!Sarah, Kimi and the lovely Miss Ryann.All the girls together again - I'm the goofy looking one next to the bride, being my usually silly self.

Kimi, meself, and Theresa having a good time before the wedding. I miss working with these gals!

Last, but not least, the wedding cake! Isn't it lovely? I'm afraid we didn't stay long enough for them to cut the cake. I had one glass of wine, the 3-hour time difference kicked in, and The Man and I had to leave, as it was bedtime for this old gal. What a party pooper I am!

Before we left, I had a chance to wish our Sarah well, and got a very nice hug!I just love a happy ending, don't you?

Other than that, I have been doing laundry and more laundry (lucky me!), a bit of housekeeping, taking a few naps (Zzzzzz....), and no sewing! I went into the sewing room yesterday, made sure everything was still there, and left again. I am hoping to get some sewing time in today. Oh, and I took pics of the loot I bought while on vacation! The Man actually let me spend time in a few quilt shops! Woo and a Hoo!!!!

I missed you all very much - I wish I'd had the chance to be near a computer while on vacation, and while I did have computer access at the kids', I was very busy spending quality time with the grandbabies. That takes precedence over all other things, doncha know?

I hope you all are doing well, and I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone. Thank you for all the lovely wishes for a great vacation. They worked, as we had such a good time and saw incredible sights.

Happy Tuesday, everybodee!

The Hurrier I Go.......

2008-09-08T12:17:00.001-07:00

This is the story of my life lately! I have been racing around trying to get all sorts of projects done in the sewing room and around the house, and don't seem to be getting anything done! Yikes! Of course, it doesn't help that I get distracted and end up doing a project altogether different than what I needed to finish.....and this is it!

This is the Sandy Gervais pattern "Happy Jack", and I decided to add letters to it. It amazes me how much doing this little project has energized me! I thoroughly enjoyed making it. It was a kit I got at the local quilt shop, and there is enough fabric to make at least 3 of these, and I just might do that. Fall is my favorite time of year, and I love to make things for Halloween. It just makes me smile!

Today is my last day at home before The Man and I take off for Pennsylvania and West Virginia. We'll be gone for 10 days, and we are renting a car and driving wherever our fancy takes us. I know The Man wants to visit Gettysburg, and I want to see the Amish country - especially the quilts!! Other than that, we're going to be playing it by ear. We will spend a few days with our son and his family, so that means photos of the grandbabies when I get back! I'm excited to see them, because it's been MONTHS (feels like a year) since I've seen them all.

That's another reason why I've been racing around like a madwoman! I've almost finished all the things I want to accomplish, I'm happy to say. I even sent a quilt to Sharon and Daisy to quilt for me! One Christmas present down, bunches to go!! Sharon does such a nice job that I know my quilt is in good hands.

Speaking of Sharon, I joined her Polka Dots & Rick Rack Swap in honor of Miss Polka Dot herself, Cheryl! It should be a lot of fun, as our swap partners are a secret! Shhhh.......

I wish you all a very happy week and a half, and Pinkee will be full of photos when I return, so get ready for a (hopefully not boring) travelogue! Maybe even a few quilt shop stops - The Man is screaming "OH NO!!!!". tee hee!

Happy Monday, everybodee! Do something today and every day that makes your heart happy, okay? Thank you for visiting!

Catching up at Doxie Manor

2008-08-29T07:07:00.000-07:00

I have been neglecting the wonderful world of Blogging lately, not for lack of interest, just other things happening in life, and not a lot of time spent on the computer. So, I am going to try and hit all the high points of life at Doxie Manor lately.

First of all, the Cupcake Swap that the oh-so-marvelous Cupcake Queen Sharon of Red Geranium Cottage fame put together is over. Since I shared all the awesome goodies I received from Beth of Beth's Crafts, I thought you would like to see what I made for Beth. It's a small wallhanging of my own design. She loved it (bless her heart!) and has it hanging in her sewing room. I used the Swell fabric line, because I think the colors look like frosting. Silly, aren't I?

Every day at Doxie Manor, my life revolves around my dogs. Imagine that! LOL Miss Maddy woke me up the other morning around 5:00, because she HAD to go outside to take care of business. When she decides it's time to get up, she will nudge me and cry until I finally drag my sleepy carcass out of bed. Instead of grumbling, I went outside with her to get a breath of fresh air and clear the cobwebs from my fuzzy brain. This is what I saw:

What a marvelous way to start the day! Needless to say, I was very happy she'd gotten me up so early.

I am about to step into Thimbleanna territory. I didn't think I was brave enough to do so, because to me Anna is the Queen of Delicious Recipes, but I have decided to take the plunge. For years, I have made this Banana Bread recipe, which is known at Doxie Manor as "Nana Bread". Here is the finished product:
Nana Bread (makes one loaf)

3 ripe or overripe bananas (4 if small)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup melted butter

Mash bananas with fork. Stir in other ingredients, stirring in the melted butter last. Pour into a buttered 8-1/2"x 4-1/2"x 2-1/2" loaf pan. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 1 hour.

It's easy and yummy, and in this house, disappears very quickly! Enjoy!

My beautiful granddaughter turned 7 on August 20th, and I like to make pillowcases for her, and I think she likes to get them, so this is what I made. I am in love with this fabric line - it's called "XOXOXO - The Cat". Miss Gwen loves kitties, and she told me she thought these kitties were "cute". I am a happy Grandmama now! The only thing better for me would be to have been there in person for the exciting event.
There has been activity in the sewing room, too! Much of which isn't ready to be shown yet, but I have a finished flimsy!! A Friday Finish, even! It is a jelly roll pattern called "House Call" by The Teacher's Pet, and I used Madeira by Moda. My hairy-armed model is off earning "doggy kibble" as he says, so I am on my own. My pitiful attempt at "artfully" arranging the quilt top:

I highly recommend this pattern - the instructions are easy to understand, and the quilt went together quickly.

Lastly, I will leave you with a tidbit about the dogs. Whenever they want outside, they are happy out there as long as I am within their sight. If I disappear upstairs or to another room, I am told in no uncertain barks that I am wanted immediately! Once they see me, they are happy to hang around outside once again. Here is Maddy and Gracie keeping an eye on me. Can't you tell they are wondering if I'm going to disappear? Happy Friday, everybodee! Enjoy the 3-day weekend! Thanks so much for visiting - I truly enjoy all of your comments!

Cupcake Love!!

2008-08-10T09:09:00.000-07:00

A little while ago, I joined the Cupcake Swap engineered by Sharon, and my swap partner is Beth. I received a box of cupcake goodies last week. This is all the sweet goodness she sent:I tried to get a good picture of all of my treasures together, but, if you can't tell what everything is, there are 2 packages of Cath Kidston napkins, a Vanilla Cupcake Yankee candle, heart-shape and round silicone cupcake molds, a Lemon Pound Cake mix, and the "Hello Cupcake!" cookbook. Last, but NOT least, is the cutest little cupcake quilt! Isn't it sweet? Beth spoiled me, didn't she? When I emailed her to say "Thank You", she wrote back and said she'd forgotten TWO other things!! Oh my goodness!!

This is Cupcake Love, Part Deux:A decorating kit and awesome silicone cake molds!! Aren't they great?!? I am totally spoiled, and don't I know it! I hope what I'm sending Beth lives up to what she sent me - I don't know if it will, but I'm sure gonna try! Thank you so very much, Beth!!!!!!

I can finally show the baby quilt I made for my friend's newborn girl. The baby shower was last weekend, and I'm very happy to say my friend LOVED it!! It is made with mostly Lakehouse fabrics, which are the nicest fabrics to work with, and the colors are beautiful, aren't they? I'm sorry to say my hairy-armed model wasn't around to help me, so I had to use the couch instead.

This is the adorable bundle of joy, sleeping on her quilt. Isn't she cute?

Looks like Ryann's having sweet dreams, doesn't it?

I am pleased to say I have finished my cupcake swap project for Miss Beth, and will show it when she receives it next week, if the post office doesn't let me down. Other than that, I am working on several projects (as usual), and don't have a thing to show! I will get busy, and promise that next week I will have something to share.

In honor of Cheryl (Congratulations!!) becoming a Grandmama, I thought I would show photos of my wonderful and gorgeous grandbabies. Here is my beautiful Gwenny Girl:And, Mr. "Wild Man" Truman:Told you they were gorgeous, didn't I? Makes a grandmama grin from ear to ear!

Happy Sunday, everybodee! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Christmas in July....on August 1st

2008-08-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

Happy August! I have had a crazy week with lots of appointments and errands, so once again I haven't spent quality time on the computer. The Christmas in July refers to a wonderful gift I received from Darlene last week for the Pay It Forward. It came wrapped in Christmas tissue......and this was inside! Isn't it lovely? The quilty charm is so adorable, too! Here is my wonderful gift in all it's glory....This beautiful quilt is living on the coffee table in our family room, and it looks absolutely perfect there! THANK YOU, DARLENE, so very, very much! I've said it before and I'll say it again - bloggy friends are the BEST!!

Not much going on in the sewing room except for a mess! I am working on several projects at once, which is not the best plan for accomplishing anything, but I'm having fun, flitting from project to project. I guess I'm a fickle pickle when it comes to quilting.

In the front are jelly roll log cabin blocks waiting to be sewn together. Behind those blocks are fabrics from the Fresh Squeezed line, with which I am trying to create something. A sneaky peeky at my cupcake love swap gifty. Those are just 3 of the projects I am working on these days. I do spend a little bit of time in the sewing room!

I thought I would share a few photos of our Lucy girl during a trip we took to the ocean a few weeks ago, and Lucy got to sit up front in the position of Navigator. We had to stop and get a coffee before our journey, and Lucy ordered first..."one dog biscuit latte, please!"She is evidently weary from the all-important navigating she's been doing....A little while later, Lucy's awake and ready for action! Oh no, Lucy! Are we going the wrong way?I thought I would leave you with photos of my antique enamel buckets over-flowing with flowers. I wish the geranium had been blooming - it's getting ready to, as you can see.

At least one of the geraniums is blooming! I love the color!Happy Friday, everybodee! Have a wonderful weekend!

A Walk on the "Wild" Side

2008-07-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

Last week, Kora and I went to the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge that is about 5 minutes away from my house. It is basically a bird sanctuary, but there are lots more creatures roaming the area than just birds. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, so we decided to take the 5-1/2 mile walk.

We walked past a huge wetland area, and kept hearing these weird sounds, almost like a creaky screen door that needs oiling, except much louder. When we investigated, this is what we found.........

a frog! He was the only one we could see, but those weird calls were happening all over the pond, so he was in good company. I have never heard a frog that sounded like that before.

I tried to get a good shot of Mt. Rainier. It was a very clear day, with a crystal blue sky. The mountain looks faded in the photograph, but in person it was amazing.

This huge bird was flying overhead (I'm sorry I didn't get a photo of it in flight), so we followed it to where it landed, and got these pictures. I think herons are beautiful birds, but they used to come to our pond in the backyard and eat our goldfish, so The Man built a pergola over the pond, and we have a motion detecting sprayer hanging off the deck, as they don't like water in their face. I am pleased to say they still come around, but don't get any fish from our pond. They are at least 5 feet tall. A very majestic bird, indeed!Aha! The heron spies something to eat, and is about to have some lunch.The refuge used to be a working farm from 1904 - 195?, and the barns (there are actually two of them, sitting side by side) were built in 1932. The barns were used as an environmental education center for many years after the farm shut down, but sustained a lot of damage during the 2001 earthquake, and have been closed ever since. There were tons of birds nesting in every nook and cranny of those barns. Another of the wetland areas.
A view of the Nisqually River Delta.
We happened upon quite a few ducks - some were lounging.................. others were taking the family for a swim.Before our hike, we spied this adorable little car in the parking lot. The interior fabric was black with pink flamingos, and there was a stuffed flamingo hanging from the rear-view mirror. Isn't it cute?On the homefront, I happened to see on Sharon's blog awhile ago a cute little cosmetics bag she bought from Georgia Peachez, and I just HAD to buy some for gifts. I have already given one away (and forgot to photograph it before I did), but here is the other one. It is plastic lined, too!I was also lucky enough to win one of Sharon's give aways, and here is what she sent me! I don't have any of the Poetry fabric, so I am thrilled! Thank you, Sharon!!!I will leave you with this photo of Gracie enjoying an afternoon on the back porch. Is this what they mean by the "dog days" of summer? Have a wonderful weekend, everybodee!!

Pinkee and "The Brain"

2008-07-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

I am referring to my camera and my hubby, aka "The Man". He's a very smart guy, who only reads non-fiction, so he's full of all sorts of knowledge. His area of expertise is American history, especially the Founding Father stuff. Anyway, I digress.....

The other day, he kidnapped Pinkee and ran out the back door. After the deed was done, he told me he had used my camera! She's none the worse for wear - am I protective of her or what? LOL! So I thought I would share some of the photos he and Pinkee took.

I swear my doxie girls are part mountain goat - they climb anywhere and everywhere on the rock walls. They go wherever their noses take them.

The back porch. We love to sit out here in the evening, and listen to the birds and squirrels, singing (the birds) and squeaking (the squirrels).Isn't this gorgeous? I think it's a peony(?). This beautiful plant is growing up against the back fence all by itself. It certainly puts on a beautiful display!The side yard - The Man built the arbor and picket fence. He's pretty handy to have around!A goldfish feeding frenzy! They love this time of year, as the water is warm to them. Aren't the water lilies beautiful? A close-up of the fish. They were teeny when we put them in the pond, and some of them are 8" long now!

I hung around the house for the 4th and sewed, and I have a Friday Finish! It is a kit I bought from the Fat Quarter Shop and it uses the Wee Play fabric line. I love the colors! It's a birthday present for a friend, and I've gotta hurry and finish it, as her birthday was in June. I'm a tad bit late, aren't I? At least I told her it'll be along soon.

I will leave you with a begging Lucy. I am sitting at the desk, eating something that obviously Lucy wishes she could enjoy, too .

I hope you all had a wonderful July 4th, and you all have an equally delightful weekend. Thank you for stopping by!

Because Sharon Told Me To!

2008-06-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

So, I received a comment yesterday from Ms. Red Geranium Cottage , telling me since I have a new camera, where's my posts? Well, ask and you shall receive, Miss Sharon! My only excuse is that I worked a few days last week, and my schedule was totally thrown off. No Friday Finish, no nuttin'!

Since then, I have made up for lost time. I finished Miss Bertha,
and the mystery quilt is almost finished!I have another table topper (a birthday present) cut out and ready for the sewing machine, so I feel I'm making good progress on my sewing projects.

Pinkee and I were outside the other day, and I took a couple of pictures. I just love all these colors together! Lucy is going after some poor, unfortunate bug. She loves to go after bees, even though she's been stung many times. You'd think she'd learn from past experiences, but she never seems to.The sun is shining this morning, so Pinkee and I went out and took a few more pictures. The waterfall is so pretty with the sun shining on it, I think. Look at those snapdragons, will ya? They're reaching for the sky!A couple of areas of the backyard I thought were very pretty. This is above the wildlife feeding station:This area is always prettiest this time of year. Look at that huge hosta!

We have a visitor! See the squirrel on top of the totem? The squirrels spend a lot of time around this totem, running up and down it when they're chasing each other, and taunting the dogs while sitting on top of it. When the dogs get too close, the squirrel will jump to the top of the fence and give the dogs what-for from its safe place.
The Man planted this tomato plant in the fertilizer spreader which broke awhile ago. The plant looks happy in it, don't you think?

These are the hanging baskets from the back porch. They are so pretty now!I am still trying to photograph the hummingbirds, and was lucky enough to catch 3 females on the feeder at the same time. I call it the coffee klatsch.

I wish you all a wonderful summer's day and happy quilting. Thanks for stopping by, and thank you, Sharon, for telling me to post something!

Happy Tuesday, everybodee!

A Day at the Beach and Friday Finish

2008-06-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

Life has been a bit crazy around here of late, and, as usual, I am behind on my posting. I wanted to share some photos from a trip we took on May 20th. It was Kora's (our roomie) birthday, and we thought the dogs would enjoy a jaunt to the ocean, so off we went! It's all about the dogs, you know!!

It rained all the way to our destination, but I didn't care, because I love the ocean, rain or shine. When we got there, this is what greeted us:

Isn't it beautiful? It was windy and cold, though, and Miss Maddy was shivering and begged to be picked up, so of course I obliged. She's happier now, can you tell? Not really, huh?
This is what she REALLY wanted! Now, THAT'S a HAPPY girl!!
Meanwhile, Lucy and Gracie are racing up and down the beach, sniffing and having a good ol' time!

Gracie checking out the sea foam. What is that stuff, anyhoo?
We also played fetch with Miss Gracie with sand dollars. Here she is happily carrying one.
Doesn't Lucy look like she's about ready for take-off? Poor girl's ears were flapping about in the wind, and I think it was driving her crazy after awhile.

Here is the birthday girl and Miss Lucy, having an oceanside chat. I think Lucy was afraid Kora was going to pick her up, and she wanted to run and play on the beach!We even found a message in a bottle!The sad thing is, it was tossed into the ocean the same day we were there and almost exactly the same area of the beach where we were, and came back to land on the sand. We're going to keep his letter for a few months, and then write to the boy who sent it off. It's the sweetest letter, and I can't bear to break his heart.

Here is The Man on a bluff, and who does he have? Why, Miss Maddy of course! Mad was still shivering in my coat, so I gave her to Doggy Daddy, and she didn't shiver anymore.

Ah, the lovely(?) backsides of The Man and myself walking with the dogs. Maddy is waiting for Kora to catch up with us! Isn't that cute? I also wanted to share a few Pinkee pictures - the ocean trip photos were taken with the our old camera, which is nameless. Poor old "no name" served us well, though!

My poor attempt at trying to photograph a hummingbird. We have a feeder at the kitchen window, and I keep trying to get a decent photo of a hummer sitting there without scaring it off. This is the best one so far. Can you see the little birdy in this photo? I hope so! (The left side of the feeder, just in case you can't.) It's a female hummer.

Here is my "Finished by Friday" for the week. I am only showing part of this quilt, because the BFF I am making it for reads my blog, so I can't give away the entire quilt top. I will show the quilt in its entirety once it is delivered to its owner, which will be soon!I'm also quilting a table topper that I need to finish soonly, too. Here is a close-up of the quilting. I hope you can see it! I've got to become a better photographer, don't I? Ahem....Have an awesome weekend, everybodee! Do something that makes your hearts happy!

Here and There with Pinkee and Nan

2008-06-06T08:11:00.000-07:00

I have decided to name my sweet camera "Pinkee", and she has become my constant companion. I don't think she has made me a better photographer (dang it!), but it's a lot easier and much more fun to take pictures with my new baby, that much IS true.

Here are a few photos I took the other day of the backyard. This is one of the planters on the deck:

One of many lilac trees in our yard. The scent from them is heavenly!The gazebo all ready for summer. Isn't the ground cover beautiful? The white one was prettier until it got stomped on by Gracie and Lucy!Then Pinkee and I traveled inside the house, and found a quilt in progress. The long thin shadow is a prism that hangs next to the skylight. I didn't notice it when I took the picture! I love the fabrics in the sunlight.Miss Maddy getting comfy in a spot of sun next to the ironing board.I was reading Nicole's blog the other day, and she mentioned reading on Shallow Thoughts from Iowa a post called "Finished by Friday" . Maria is the author of "Shallow Thoughts" and she says there are so many unfinished things in her life, she would feel much better if she just finished something! It doesn't matter what it is, just as long as it's completed. I am very taken by that idea, so I finished Bertha last evening, and here she is, looking rather crooked! Hopefully it's the way I stuck her up on the design wall. LOL!

It is dark and rainy here today, so I think it is a very good day to spend quality time in the sewing room - of course, isn't every day?

I wish you all a wonderful weekend! Happy Friday, everybodee!

My New Toy

2008-05-30T10:14:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness!! She's posting again SO SOON?!? Why yes I am! I had to share the new toy The Man brought home for me yesterday. Here she is (drum roll please!).......Isn't she pretty? She's tiny, lightweight, and pink! I'm in love, and hopefully, I will now be a Blogger Extraordinaire! A tiny pink camera can do all that? Yes indeedy!

The first pictures I took with my new baby were of the wienie dogs, of course! First up is Miss Gracie Alan looking like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. You'd never know she is a little She-Devil, would you?? Miss Maddy singing a song. If we sing the words "wow-wow" to any tune, Maddy will always sing along.Lucy and Gracie sleeping on the couch with a couple of their blankies. Well, Garcie was sleeping, but the camera flash woke her up. My dogs lead a rough life, don't they? Gracie now decides to pose for the camera. Of course, Lucy continues to sleep.

Looks like alien eyes Maddy is trying to wave bye-bye. I just had to share my new treasure with my bloggy peeps! I wish you all a wonderful weekend, and thank you ever so much for stopping by to visit!

My Trip to Phoenix

2008-05-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

Hello everybodee! Remember me? Maybe? No I don't, you say??? I understand...........I haven't been around the computer much lately, and therefore, haven't taken the time to post. I am once again a baaaaad blogger! It doesn't mean I don't think about all of you, my bloggy friends, because I most certainly do. It means I get swept along in the flow of life, and the days race by. There's been a lot happening around here lately, and it will take several posts to tell you all about it.

The Phoenix trip was absolutely wonderful! I loved spending time with my son and his family! The grandbabies were such fun, and adorable as always. We stayed at the J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge Resort, which is a beautiful place.

This is the view from our room:

There was water everywhere and beautiful gardens.

The grandbabies enjoying the pond.Miss Gwen is the prettiest flower in the garden, isn't she? Cutie pie Truman saying "cheese" for Grandma.Gwen taking time to read before we went to the pool.Grandma giving Truman a tour of the pool. That tall structure had water running down the center of it - there were kids standing inside it getting soaked before they ran and jumped into the pool. Incoming!!My pool boy - doesn't he look comfortable? He's saying "cheese" again! LOL!We spent a lot of time walking around the grounds, as there were loads of wildlife. We saw ducks with their babies, quail, lizards, hummingbirds (my favorite), and Truman's favorite - bunnies!! There were bunnies EVERYWHERE! He never got tired of seeing them, either! I would take him on bunny hunts quite often. This is the best photo I could take without scaring them away.This particular stretch of lawn had as many as 10 bunnies happily chomping away anytime of the day. It was our favorite haunt, needless to say.

Each night of our stay there was something different going on. The first night was a meet and greet, and the theme for the conference was the 4 elements - Earth, Wind, Water and Fire. The elements were signified by 4 sections lit in red, yellow, blue and green lights. It was very pretty, and I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures of it. My camera is old and rather clunky, so it was easier not to take it along on these outings. Besides, I was spending time with my family and stuffing my face - who has time to take photos? Not me, obviously! LOL! There were many open bars, too, so of course, I had to have a margarita! Ole!!

The next morning they had a beautiful Mother's Day brunch set up for us. Once again, the food was incredible, and the table settings were gorgeous! Isn't it pretty? That night was THE big dinner for the adults - no kids allowed. Gwen and Truman went to a safari-theme night and had a lot of fun, and I was lucky enough to get to meet Darlene of Quilting Daze fame! She and I had a lovely time over dinner - we talked and talked and talked! I feel like I've known her all my life, and it's a wonderful feeling. Thank you, my dear friend, for making my trip so very special!

The theme for the adult dinner was "A Night in Paris". Nathan and a couple of his co-workers decided to wear zoot suits, and they were evidently the hit of the evening! Everyone wanted to have their picture taken with the "zoots". I think Nathan and Emily look incredible!

The "Zoots" in all their glory! They look like trouble makers to me, don't you agree? LOL!

The last night was family night and the theme was "Indiana Jones". All the food was named after something from the Indiana Jones movies, but I think my favorite (and the one that all the ladies commented on and giggled over) was the "Harrison Ford Hot Dogs" - LOL!! Once again, I did not bring my camera - I was busy watching Truman, as there really was nothing for him to do, poor baby! We went on bunny "hunts", and I got him a Dove chocolate ice cream bar, which he enjoyed to the max - he was the cutest chocolate mess! There was a 30-foot inflatable climbing wall (I have never seen such a thing!) and a huge inflatable thing called the "Volcano", which had a suspension bridge and a zip line! Amazing stuff! There was also a tiger which did all sorts of tricks - it was a beautiful animal. That night, the drink of choice was a prickly pear margarita - it was quite tasty! They also had snake meat on a stick (too chewy for me!) and alligator sausage, which I didn't try.

We all had a great time, and I was very sad to say good-bye to the kids. We packed a lot into 3-1/2 days! I am so grateful to be asked to come along as the "nanny". I would very gladly do it again! (Hint, hint.) LOL!

I will leave you with pics of Gwen and Truman in a very cool cowboy hat!

Y'all come back now, ya hear?!? Thanks for visiting!

Berth-a the Quilt

2008-05-09T08:21:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go? The days are zooming past, and I honestly cannot figure out where they went or what I did each and every day. It's all a blur. I haven't done much sewing lately - don't want to mess up my pretty room, ya know! Just kidding!

As many of you know, I have been on a fabric diet. Well, I broke that diet awhile back when Kimberly of Fat Quarter Shop fame had a 20% off sale. I can't pass that up now can I? I bought a Tropical Punch Quilt Kit, which I pulled out and started working on this week. Now, if you've been reading Darlene's blog, you will know she has recently been sewing quilts for her friends at Me & My Sister Designs. 4 quilts, and each quilt has a girl's name: Amanda, Bertha, Charlotte, and Dora. The name of my quilt is "Bertha"! Here is what I've done so far:What a great photographer I are, eh? Oh well.....you get the idea, anyhoo!

I am leaving tomorrow morning to fly to Phoenix to spend 3 wild and crazy days with my son and his family. His company is holding a huge shindig for all of their employees at a resort in Phoenix. I am going along as their "nanny", so I will be watching the grandbabies every evening while my son and his wife party on! It will be a lot of fun, I'm thinkin'. Since my lily white Washingtonian skin is going to want to burn big-time in the Arizona sun, I have a HUGE bottle of heavy-duty sunscreen coming with me! Oh, and my camera is definitely going along, too!!

To get you all in the mood for grandbaby photos, I am sharing some pics I received from my son the other day. He took these pics on his cellphone. Wow! Is there nothing cellphones can't do?

The lovely Princess Gwendolyn:

The rough and tumble Truman:And, my gorgeous grandkids together:

Nothing else to report from here, so I'm off like a herd of turtles to get ready for the trip!

Happy Friday, everybodee!! Thanks for visiting!

My Mind was Full and I had to Empty it....

2008-04-23T17:33:00.000-07:00

I don't have any photos to show, although I know I can come up with something! I just had a few things on my mind and thought I would share them with you, my bloggy peeps.

First of all, Perry of OKPeri's Place has a 4 year old granddaughter who has cystic fibrosis, a terrible disease that has no cure at this time. If you go to Perry's blog, you will find a link on the sidebar which explains about a raffle for a beautiful quilt which Cindy made (and donated), and for every $5 you donate to Katy's Voyagers (which is their CF team), you will receive two raffle ticket numbers. It's a worthy cause for a very brave little girl and others like her.

Now to totally switch gears, I will start by saying I love this time of year! All year long, The Man and I keep our bird feeders and squirrel feeder full, as we enjoy watching the wildlife spending time in our backyard. Well, there are certain days when I'm not so happy with this arrangement, as we also have 2 full-blooded wiener dogs and one wiener/terrier mix (Miss Gracie). Wiener doggies LOVE to hunt, as the Germans bred dachshunds to go into badger holes and kill badgers!

Yesterday, The Man let Gracie outside, and she totally forgot her training (such as it is, I guess) took a flying leap into the fenced bird feeding area, and grabbed a squirrel. At the same time, The Man is yelling at the top of his lungs at her and running over to the area as fast as he can. After getting Gracie out of there, he picked up the squirrel (which had a broken hind leg thanks to Gracie), who had dragged it's little self into a crevice in our rock wall. The young squirrel, scared and protecting itself, sunk it's teeth into The Man's thumb. I didn't know that, having run out the door at the end of the skirmish, only to see my husband standing inside the fence of the feeding station, his eyes wide and looking rather freaked out, with his hands wrapped around this little furry body of which I could only see a bit of the squirrel's tail sticking out the bottom of his hands and the squirrel's head sticking out the top!

I ran and got an old bird cage, and as I walked across the yard, it looked like the squirrel was sucking on The Man's thumb. I opened the door to the cage, he unhooked the squirrel from his thumb and very gently put it in the cage. There was blood everywhere! Yowch! I am so proud of my hubby - he put up with the pain so he wouldn't scare the squirrel, which in turn would've meant more biting on his poor fingers. What a guy! After giving the squirrel nesting material, a towel, food and water, we put the little guy (or gal) on the front porch and covered the cage for the night with a blanket, so he would be warm and protected. I am sorry to say that the squirrel was dead when we got up this morning.

It totally breaks my heart - I'm a terrible softie when it comes to animals, especially when bad things happen to the ones that I "invite" into my yard by feeding them. I also realize that my dogs are just that - dogs - and they do what is instinctive to them. It's very sad on the rare occasions when the two collide, as the dog is always going to win. I know such is life - doesn't mean I have to like it. The interesting thing is Gracie has been quite subdued today, as if she knew she had done wrong.

Lastly, the other day I was amazed to receive a lovely e-mail from a lady who has evidently been reading my blog for several months, and wanted to tell me how much she enjoyed it. She has a half dachshund/half lab named Barney - he's so cute! Anyway, she e-mailed me today, and said she had started a blog! It is called Happy Camper Quilts, and I hope you will stop by and give Karen a wonderful blogland welcome!

If you have read through all of my ramblings, you deserve some photos! These were taken by Kora of the 4-legged children.

A very sleepy Maddy.

Gracie with her favorite ball.

Snoozing Lucy.

Lucy enjoying the luxury of Kora's bed.My dogs suffer so, don't they? LOL!

Happy Wednesday evening, everybodee! Thanks for visiting!

Overhaulin' Part Deux - Fini!

2008-04-21T08:18:00.001-07:00

I finally finished the sewing room yesterday! It's been a long haul, hasn't it? I worked on it all weekend because I wanted to get it done. Last week, I was called to work on Monday, and that evening, I pulled a muscle in my neck moving furniture. Tuesday morning I couldn't move, so I didn't do anything for a couple of days. I got The Man to help me move the rest of the furniture around, which I guess I should have done in the first place, right? Ahem!

This is the way the room looked on Wednesday, after The Man moved the furniture to its final resting place.

Yikes! What a mess!This is the way it looks now:

The sewing machine is from the 40's I think - a friend of mine gave it to me, because she doesn't sew and knows that I do. What a wonderful gift! I surrounded it with my vintage sewing stuff.

Doesn't Annie look happy? My patterns live in an vintage orange crate (on the floor to the right), and my CD's are in an old Pepsi crate that I paid $1.00 for. My kind of bargain! If you noticed the "I Love My Bad Ass Attitude" sticker, Bad Ass is a coffee company in Kona, Hawaii, and the "Bad Ass" is in honor of the donkeys that would carry heavy loads of coffee up and down the mountainside. Yes, I do LOVE my B.A. Attitude! LOL!! They have wonderful coffee, too!This is an old locker that I HAD to have and it holds fabric for quilt pattern ideas, fat quarter bundles and bits and pieces of fabric lines, which are in zip-loc bags. The ironing board belonged to my MIL and it still has the price on it written in grease pencil - $3.96!My thread and the table where I paint. The vintage kitchen table is where I store much of my brushes and other painting supplies, and the bread box is where I keep my tools. The Man bought tools just for me - I think so I wouldn't use HIS tools! LOL!This chest is very old - it's been in The Man's family before my hubby was born. It was made by a family member (I don't remember who) and my MIL painted it and put the stickers on it, and I don't have the heart to change it - I love it the way it is. The stuffed animals have much sentimental value - I couldn't part with them!This is the entrance to the sewing room. I love this screen door! It helps keep the 4-legged children out of the room when I'm not in it. As you can see, Miss Lucy thinks she needs to come in NOW!I did let Lucy in, and she's a happy, happy girl! Her sunroom is clean! Yippee!! Now I need to tackle the rest of the house.........

Happy Monday, everybodee!

Overhaulin' Part I

2008-04-11T18:44:00.000-07:00

'Tis the season for serious cleaning, and that's what I'm doing, starting with the sewing room. I have wanted to re-arrange this room for some time and to get rid of crafty stuff that has sat dormant for over 10 years (much of it, anyway). I figured I haven't done anything with the stuff for all these years, so it's time for it to go bye-bye. I used to do a great deal of decorative painting, and nowadays spend most of my creative time quilting and very seldom paint, so I am allowing my crafting space to reflect the change in my creative path.

Yesterday I started to clean, and here is the beginning of the mess-making - er, the clean-up.

Today, I spent many hours making an even bigger mess, which is always the way when I am cleaning and re-arranging. Now the sewing room looks like this:

My sweet Annie is keeping me company, and making sure I continue on this path of destruction - ahem, construction!I shall be posting again with the new and improved sewing room when it is finished - stay tuned!

Meanwhile, Miss Lucy is wondering what the heck I am doing to her sun room!

Have a wonderful weekend, everybodee!!

Life in the fast lane........

2008-03-28T08:24:00.000-07:00

Since I wrote about my life being slow, things have picked up considerably! I got a phone call a couple of weeks ago from my boss at the credit union (who is also a very good friend), and she asked if I would PLEEZE come back to work and train the new hire. Much to The Man's chagrin, I agreed. It felt good to be a part of the place where I spent much of the past 9 years of my life, seeing old friends and teasing my co-workers (just so they wouldn't miss me when I left again!). I love being at home, but I do get lonely once in awhile for the "real" world. Once I'm out and about in it, I am happy to be home again. I guess that means I'm a fickle pickle.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! Mine was quiet - just me and the wiener kids. It was a cold and rainy day here, and I felt sorry for all the Easter egg hunts and hunters that had to be indoors. I was a "good" Grandmama, and sent a box of Easter candy to the kids in WV. I also made a pillowcase for my Gwenny girl.

My son called last weekend and said they received the goody box, and said Gwen was asking him what his favorite doggy was on the pillowcase - I don't remember his answer, but I think he said her favorite was "all of them"! My favorites are the green wiener dogs, of course! I got the pattern from Quilts and more Fall 2006 edition, but I think it's in the BH&G Fast and Fabulous magazine that's on the newstands now. It was fun to do, and I used fabrics from my stash! Hooray!

I think I mentioned in a previous post that our boarder, Kora, was taking a 5-1/2 week training course to be a flight attendant for Alaska Airlines. I am happy to say she graduated!
This is the program for the event:Kora with a couple of her classmates after the ceremony. Their newly-earned wings are hanging around their necks. Don't they look good in their uniforms?
Kora's family came from northern Idaho, and we enjoyed getting acquainted with them. We all went to the Cheesecake Factory afterwards. Yummy!!

With all this excitement, I haven't been in the sewing room much, but I am going to remedy that situation this weekend! I have many, many projects to keep me busy, and hopefully, I will finish SOMETHING!!

While actually getting to spend a bit of time in the sewing room last week, The Man was keeping me company, and Miss Maddy kept crying to be picked up, so he put on the Snugli, and plopped Maddy in it. We put a folded up towel in the bottom of the Snugli, so Mad's bottom was warm and cozy. I think she looks comfortable, don't you?

She's forcing herself to put up with scritches from Doggy Daddy. She leads a rough life, doesn't she? It's nap time in the Snugli! She was sound asleep, and opened her eyes when I took a picture, darn it!Happy Friday everybodee!! Have a wonderful weekend, and do something that makes your heart smile!

Life in the slow lane........

2008-03-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

Hello!! Not much has been happening around here, except for me still trying to shake off this nasty bug. It is almost gone, I am happy to say, but it keeps raising it's ugly head every other day or so, and tells me it's still here. Aaaaaackkkkkkk!

I have been doing some blog reading, and happened across the sweetest little quilt sewn with Civil War fabric on Beth's blog, and I shamelessly copied it after Beth very kindly told me the dimensions of the blocks. I knew I had some Civil War fabric, so I dug it out and and put together this:I don't know if the red is of the CW family, but I liked it with the other fabrics. I have become a great fan of CW fabrics now. I don't know why I didn't give them much thought before, but now I see them everywhere! Then there is that beautiful Web Sampler Celebration that is definitely calling my name.........

I also went to visit Doe's blog, and she said she has gone on a fabric "diet", and then proceeded to show all the wonderful things that she WASN'T going to buy!! Shame on you, Doe! LOL! Well, it got me to thinking. I have a room full of BOM's, kits, and fabric that are all just begging to be sewn, and yet I find myself buying more and more. Then I start to feel overwhelmed by ALL the wonderful things I have, so a fabric diet is for me. It's going to be difficult to stay on, as there are such beautiful fabrics coming out on a regular basis, but I know if I start busting into my stash, I will feel ever so much better about myself and quilting. Wish me luck, cuz here I go!!

Yesterday, the mailman brought me a box and it was from the wonderful Sharon! Inside, was a beautiful card and these sweet little egg cups! Aren't they cute?!? Talk about bringing a lot of joy and sunshine to my rainy day - thank you, Sharon, so very, very much!!!! There is nothing better than my blogging friends - how did I ever get along without them in my life before?

I also wanted to brag about Ms. Monica, the fabulous Happy Zombie, because she has a quilt in the newest edition of Quilts and more magazine!! This is the cover:
This is the quilt:
And, most importantly, here is her name!
I'm so proud of her I could pop! Way to go, Monica!!!!

I thought I would finally share some photos from early in February, when The Man, Kora and myself went to a place called Chopstix. I forgot my camera, but Kora remembered hers, so I got the photos from her.

Chopstix is a piano restaurant/bar, and there are two huge electronic grand pianos on the stage. Then, two bald guys came out, and started to play and sing our requests. We had such a great time! The food was excellent and quite inexpensive, too! Here are the bald guys - looks like one is being lazy right now, but he is looking up a request.

This guy played a mean saxophone, too! I believe he is tooting away on an alto sax. Both men were very accomplished musicians.

The girls are having a lot of fun! My cheeks give away the fact that I've had some alcohol, don't they? Dang it!Finally! A photo of my hairy-armed model, The Man! He always has something to say! Kora caught me with food in my mouth - ain't I loverly though? LOL!

I don't know if this is restaurant is a chain or not, but I highly recommend it as a great way to spend an evening. They also have a family night one night a week, which would be a lot of fun, I think! I am a music lover, though. One of the baldies was trying to sing the Bonnie Tyler song, "Turn Around", and since he couldn't do both parts, the other baldy came over to me and shoved a microphone in my face, and I sang a duet, much to my embarrassment! I don't know if everyone there was drunk already or not, but my singing was well received! LOL! A good time was had by all! I am looking forward to going again!

I want to thank all of you for your very kind get well wishes during my illness - they brought a smile to my face and put a song in my heart! Thank you!!!

Happy Wednesday, everybodee!!

The Long and Winding Road......

2008-02-26T05:56:00.000-08:00

has finally led me to post on my blog! I came back from my trip on the 19th, but have been too ill to sit at the computer for any length of time. In fact, for the past week, I haven't done much of anything. I have been in my jammies, either lying in bed or on the couch, and content to be a slug. A couple days after I got home, The Man called in sick to work, because he had the virus,too - it got stuck behind his right shoulder blade, and he could hardly move. We were quite a sight for a few days - I had totally lost my voice, so I would whistle, squeak or make hand gestures (no - not THAT one!) to get his attention, and then the pantomime would begin. Once he had figured out what I wanted, he would lurch from his chair and drag his painful self to the kitchen to do my bidding, all the while grunting and groaning because of the pain. I would have gotten up, but truly did not have the energy. My "energy" was saved for potty breaks. Looking back on it, it's very funny, but at that moment, it was truly sad, we were so pathetic.

I knew I was really ill, because I had absolutely NO desire to sew - nada, zip, zilch. The thought of sitting at the sewing machine filled me with dread, which is NOT "me" at all! I also could not abide the thought of coffee either, so I drank herbal tea with honey. Better for me anyway, right? Those same things are now telling me that I am better, because I am drinking coffee at the rapid(?) rate of one cup a day, and the thought of sewing is enticing. Hooray! I'm getting back to my old self! I almost forgot to credit my 4-legged girls - they have spent quality time with mama on the couch or in bed doing their part to ensure I was staying warm and wasn't lonely. I couldn't have gotten better without them!

My trip to visit the kids was a great one, although everyone was sick at one time or another while I was there. The day before I left, my granddaughter got very ill, and I was feeling a sore throat that day, so I guess she and I came down with the same thing at the same time. I was so concerned for her - she looked absolutely miserable! My dil said that they have all been ill once again with the stuff that Gwen had! There are some very bad bugs running around, so please be good girls and take your vitamins and get lots of rest, and maybe the bugs will run the other way when they visit you!

Before I could get to the kids in West Virginia, I had to go through the wonderful and exciting O'Hare Airport in Chicago. When we landed at 11 a.m., it was snowing, and our flight was delayed by 1/2 an hour in Seattle because of the snow in Chicago. It snowed all day long without stopping, and since my flight kept getting delayed by an hour, then 2 hours, then cancelled altogether, until I was put on a flight at 7:30 p.m., I had plenty of time to watch the snow fall. I also had plenty of time to listen to angry passengers, who would yell at anyone who dared to look at them how angry they were. I felt badly for the gate agents, who were doing their best to keep up with the changes that were being thrust upon them at a moment's notice. I was impressed by the huge machinery the airport has to move the snow and all the de-icing trucks they had at the ready for whoever was lucky enough to leave snowy Chicago. I am very happy to tell you I did manage to get out, and got to WV at around 10:30 p.m. The kids felt really bad that I was delayed, but I was fine with it - I mean, what are you going to do? I now feel like O'Hare is my home away from home. They have a Starbucks, a Chili's restaurant, and lots of books and magazines, so you can't be too miserable!

I am happy to report that Truman liked the quilt I made for him, but only after his mama pointed out the trucks, trains, and boat on the quilt. I am sorry I didn't get a photo of him with his quilt, as he is a very busy boy, and doesn't spend a lot of time being a couch potato. His favorite game with me is for me to pick him up with his arms wrapped around my neck and his legs wrapped around my waist, I lean over the couch and, after saying "Ready!", we both let go, and he goes bouncing into the couch cushions. I lost count of how many times we played that game - I will say we both enjoyed it a whole heck of a lot! Or we'd play a type of peek-a-boo, where I would cover him up completely with a blanket, and then call out for him and ask where he'd gone, then he'd pull the blanket down just a bit (here I am!), and we'd do the same thing all over again. Such fun!!

Miss Gwen was in school for much of the time I was there, but her new fun thing is stuffed animals called Webkinz. They have the most wonderful website, where you register your Webkinz, and it is given a room and you can proceed to buy your animal clothes and furnishings for it's room by playing games online and winning "cash". You can also take your little friend to the doctor, give it a bath, feed it, and make sure it waters the plants in it's garden! I spent a lot of time online with Gwen learning all about this world. I told her I would buy a Webkinz when they make a dachshund!

Now for pictures. I brought along some silly things that I thought the kids would enjoy, and here is proof that they enjoyed them! Check out the earrings on Gwen!

Truman looking like he may or may not grant your wish! It depends on how magnanimous he's feeling at any given moment........Emily told me that the kids love to help her in the kitchen, especially Truman, so I took these pics of the kids making brownies. Look how serious Truman is here - he has a very important job to do, doesn't he?
Truman looks less like a toddler and more like a little boy in this photo to me. They grow up way too fast, don't they? Sharing the workload with Big Sister.
When I got home, there was an envelope waiting for me, and inside was a Valentine from Ms. Thimbleanna! I had seen them on her blog, and thought they were the sweetest thing ever! Who knew I would be lucky enough to receive one? THANK YOU, ANNA!!

My body is telling me it's now time to rest, so I am going to listen to it and do just that! I hope you all have a lovely day today and keep a smile in your hearts!

Thank you so much for visiting!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane......

2008-02-11T08:27:00.000-08:00

I am leaving tomorrow morning squeaky early for Charleston, West Virginia, to spend a week with my grandbabies! Oh, and my son and dil, also! LOL! My bag is packed with clothes and presents for everyone. I finished a quilt for my grandson, which I hope he will enjoy - he loves a raggy quilt I made him quite awhile ago, so he may like this one, too. It's being held by Mr. Hairy Arms, can't you tell? LOL!The past week has been craziness, with me getting ready for my trip, and Kora packing up to leave for a 5-week training course to become a flight attendant for Alaska Airlines. She left yesterday afternoon to move into student housing, and I promised myself I wouldn't cry, but I did! She thought I was "cute", and gave me a huge hug again. She has fit in so very well here with us - she is definitely like our daughter - and I have become quite attached to her. I feel that 'empty nest' syndrome once again. It's not as bad as when our son left home (I was totally lost and cried for months), but it's still there. The dogs waited for her to come home last night, which was very sweet and kinda sad. They checked her bedroom door this morning, too, and went away disappointed that Kora wasn't there. Ah well, life goes on, doesn't it?

I haven't really sewn much of anything this week, just quilting Truman's quilt, and still sewing the binding on a quilt for the biz. When I get home, I am going to jump with both feet into the business, and finish what items need to be done to go online! I'm still ascared, but I'm also determined to do this thing! For better or worse, here we go!!

I have also been buying fabric recently - partially due to Sharon showing a quilt done in the Katie Jump Rope line, and I HAD TO HAVE IT! Isn't it fun fabric?
I have since ordered more of it from my fave online quilt shop, Fat Quarter Shop, as I have an idea for a pattern using that fabric. Ooooh goodie - I'm excited!

The other night, Kora was getting the dogs to do tricks for 'cookies', and I tried to take some great photos of their shenanigans, but this is what I shot instead. Here is Miss Lucy, not sitting up as pretty as she normally does, but she's going for that cookie! Gracie is actually sitting up very pretty, but you can't see her very well.Now, here is Miss Gracie Allen in her perfectly executed "sit up pretty" mode.
Miss Maddy is patiently awaiting her turn.I wish all of you a wonderful week, sewing perfect 1/4" seams, and all your quilty pieces fitting together like a glove! I don't know how much time I'll get to spend on the computer, but I will try to check in with you all to see what's happening in your world.

Happy Monday, everybodee! Thanks so much for visiting my little corner of the world!

How I spent the past week......

2008-02-04T08:54:00.000-08:00

Once again, time is flying by at an exagerrated pace, or maybe it just seems that way to me. During the past week, I have spent time in the sewing room, not accomplishing much (so it seems to me, anyway), just working on a little of this and a bit of that.

I have also started exercising this week - I thought it was time to get moving, and I feel better for doing so. As much as I love time spent at the sewing machine, it doesn't do much to get my heart racing - very often, anyhoo! There are times, though, and you all know what I'm talkin' about, that I get totally excited when I find the PERFECT fabric to complete a quilt, or the seams all match without having to use the seam ripper and try again (yeah, I'm that type of quilter), or I come up with a great idea for using fabric I've had for YEARS. Anytime spent sewing is a good time, isn't it? Yes indeedy!

Besides sewing, there were errands to run, the house to clean, and laundry to do, but who cares! LOL! That's not interesting, just routine. I have also almost finished another pattern for the business, which I think is exciting! This one is using charm squares, which are a wonderful invention. I will give you all a sneak peek once the pattern is finished.

Today is a momentous day in that Darlene and I are starting a quilty project together!! We have been talking about sewing together (even though we live states apart) for some time, and we decided to do a jelly roll (another wonderful invention!) project. Same pattern, different fabric. The pattern is called "House Call" and has been created by The Teacher's Pet. Here is the pattern and my choice of fabric - Moda's Madeira line. Hop over to Darlene's blog, and see the pattern and her choice of fabric.

Darlene and I have agreed there's to be no timeline on the project, but we would show our progress the end of this month. So here's to starting a fun project with a bloggy friend!!

I recently finished a project that was to be done by Christmas for Kora - better late than never, right? It is a HUGE tote bag, made with batik fabrics all chosen by Kora. I am happy to report she loves the way the bag turned out! My hairy-armed model is being employed once again. I'll have you know the temperature at the time this photo was being taken is 32 degrees! Brrrrrrrr!!!!I wanted a photo of both sides of the bag to show the different pockets, but the other outdoor photo was totally blurry (my bad!), so we moved indoors, and I took a photo of more than just the hairy arm of my model, and the tote: It still looks a bit blurry, doesn't it? I wish I'd take decent pictures!! I'll keep tryin'!

I will leave you with photos The Man took of Miss Maddy and Miss Kora reclining on the couch together. Here is a close-up of Maddy keeping warm: Here is the full view of the lazy girls:
Notice the blankets on the couch? They are always there for the wienie dogs, as they love to 'nest'. There MUST be 'blankies' (that is the word the dogs understand) for my four-legged girls. They especially love them washed and warm from the dryer!! My dogs aren't spoiled, are they? No sirree - ha ha ha!!

Happy Monday, everybodee! Thank you for stopping by to visit!!

A Winter Wonderland.......

2008-01-28T08:01:00.000-08:00

This is what my world looks like this morning!

The front yard:

Looking down the driveway - no, I'm not driving anywhere today! I'm lucky I get to stay snug and warm at home!The backyard:

The bird feeding station:Look, there's a wild beastie in the yard! Gracie was having the best time, scooping snow up with her nose, and then racing around the yard like she was being chased! Sharon e-mailed me yesterday, saying she'd love to see some snow, so Sharon, this is for you!!

Time to go sledding..........

Happy Winter and Happy Monday, everybodee!!

Another Quickie!!

2008-01-23T08:39:00.000-08:00

I thought it was time to say "Hi!", and tell you what I've been doing. Nothing real exciting, dang it!

My girl's day out was wonderful!! We left early in the morning, and stopped at Jamba Juice to got some shopping energy, then, off to the antique stores! I forgot my camera - I gotta stop doing that - so, no photos, I'm afraid. I did find two wonderful items, though! Wonderful to me, anyhoo - LOL!

First up, is a dish for my collection of OvenServe - I have only seen bowls like this on Ebay for lots of $$$, so I was excited to find this one. It was in perfect condition, AND on sale! Woohoo! Here it is in all it's glory with some of my other favorite pieces (the new one is front and center):Now, for the best find of the day!! Hubby and I have been looking for something to sit beside the fairly new grandfather clock in the front hall, and I found IT!!! IT is a telephone table, and fits perfectly next to the clock - hooray!!!
Here is my new find again, this time with some cuties adorning it: They look like they're in trouble, don't they? Poor abused babies! Ha ha!

The rest of our girl's day was a lot of fun. We had a delicious lunch of a HUGE chef's salad, and just before heading home, we had to stop and have a piece of coconut cream pie for me, and chocolate cream pie for my friend. All in all, it was a day well spent with a good friend!

On the sewing front, I have been quilting a quilt for the business, which I will have finished soon, and then I decided to sew up this Valentine's table runner using a Flirtations charm pack. The pattern is called "Dancing Hearts" by This & That. It's not quite finished, but it gives you an idea of what it's going to look like. I do love this fabric!
Lastly, a photo of the "kids" on Doggy Daddy's lap. This is where they usually are (when he's home, that is!) when The Man is reading the paper in the morning. Now you see them..........
now you don't!

Happy Wednesday, everybodee!! Thank you for stopping by!

Just a Quickie!

2008-01-18T07:47:00.000-08:00

I wanted to post a quick note, as I am going out with a friend today, and we are going to spend the day antiquing and eating and (I'm hoping) to visit at least one quilt shop! WooHoo!! It's gonna be great! I haven't had a girl's day out in a very long time. Can you tell I'm looking forward to it? Yes indeedy!!

I finished the heart block topper, and here it is:

After the sewing madness that (for me, at least) was Christmas 2007, there was talk on many of the blogs about working on Christmas gifts and/or projects throughout this year, and by golly, that's what this ol' girl is gonna do!! If you would like to join in creating Christmas gifts/projects throughout the year, please do! Cheryl has already chosen a project for January, and maybe Anna (she and I discussed it, anyhoo) will participate, too. It will be great fun to share projects and ideas! I am looking forward to enjoying a relaxing Christmas this year!

So, having said all that, this is my first project. It is from allpeoplequilt.com, and looks like it will be fun and easy to make. The fabric is "Santa's got the Goods". I don't know if I'll use all those pieces, but I have a nice head-start on the look I want for this project, doncha think?I've got to run, but I thought I'd leave you with an image of where my lazy dogs spend most of their winter. Of course, Gracie heard the camera and jumped up to see what the heck that noise was, otherwise, they were both lying down zonked in front of the fire. It's really tough to be a dog at Doxie Manor, isn't it? Lucy will sometimes lie with her head on the hot bricks - I don't know how she stands the heat!

Have a wonderful weekend, everybodee!!

"Time Flies Like the Wind........

2008-01-14T08:07:00.000-08:00

fruitflies like bananas." I have no idea who said that, but it is written on a plaque I've had for many, many years, and I thought it was appropriate to share with you today. I once again don't know where the time has gone, but it is flying by, and taking me with it!

Last week was a busy one, with something going on almost every day. I had lunch with friends, got my hair colored (hooray - the gray is gone!), and ran errands with The Man. In between the time away from home, I got some sewing done and tried to catch up with my blog reading, which I haven't managed yet. There are so many wonderful events to read about and projects to drool over, I don't want to miss any of it! I spend what I call "quality" time with a couple of blogs a day, which takes me awhile, but I don't miss anything that way. I also managed to do laundry, and clean the house, two of my favorite(?) jobs. Yeah, right!

I was so taken with Sharon's tutorial on the heart table topper, that I decided to sew one up!

Here is what I've managed to sew, made with Quilt Pink fabrics:

Separately, I think they look wonderful, but together, I just don't know. Of course, they are going to have fabric strips between them, and I was going to make two more blocks exactly the same as these - one light and one dark - and alternate them. We shall see - any suggestions? Please and thank you! LOL!
Since I have nothing else to share, and a HUGE wind storm is coming, I thought I would leave you with a photo of silly Miss Gracie, sitting in The Man's lap, looking out the window. She's leaning on sister Lucy, too. Isn't she funny? She could sit like that for hours!

Thank you so much for your encouragement and support for my budding business venture! I love you all!!

Happy Monday, everybodee!!

Hello......Happy New Year!!

2008-01-06T18:33:00.000-08:00

I am a bit late in wishing all of you the best in 2008, aren't I? Since the year started, I haven't sat at the computer very much at all. I have been cleaning house, cleaning the sewing room, watching football (the playoffs, you know), visiting with friends, and just enjoying life every day.

Many of the blogs I read have been talking about the new year bringing thoughts about life, goals and doing what makes you happy. It got me to thinking, too, about what I would like to accomplish this year, and in what direction I would like my life to travel. I am no longer working (for the first time in almost 10 years), which seems weird to me, but I am getting used to the "retired" life, and starting to enjoy it very much. We also have the online quilt pattern business to get on its feet, which should be by the end of this month, if all goes according to plan, which of course, never seems to happen.

So, it would seem to me that my first goal for the year is to make the online business a reality, and everything else will fall into place. My problem is I feel terrible fear and anxiety about starting the business, and it paralyzes me. I look at all the other ladies who have wonderful businesses and blog about them, and I admire them greatly, and wonder how they summoned the courage to start their businesses, or did they just decide to jump in with both feet and DO IT!?! I need to quit thinking about it, and just do it, I know. Fear of failure and fear of looking stupid are what's holding me back. I realize if I never try, I will never know. I don't want to let my husband and his sister down, either, as they are partners in this venture. I am hoping as I bare these feelings, I can leave them behind and move on. Sometimes it helps to write down what you're thinking, and having done so, it's no longer an issue. Thank you for bearing with me - it's something I needed to do.

I agree with Carol and Darlene who both said they would find joy in EVERY day, doing things that make them happy, and live life guilt-free! Woo Hoo!! That's what I want to really accomplish this year!! The business actually makes me very happy, as it gives me an outlet to take the ideas and drawings that my sister-in-law and husband give to me and turn them into something fun for other quilters to (hopefully) enjoy creating, too. I have always had a self-esteem problem, and this hits it square on its pointed head, doesn't it? LOL I have always believed that nothing happens by chance, so it's onward and upward for this old girl to make Nannie's Quilt Patch a reality. Wish me luck!!

I wanted to share a gift I made for my sis-in-law, but couldn't until after I'd given it to her, because she reads my blog. She is the proud mama of two chihuahuas, so I made this bag for her. The front:
The back:
This is a close-up of the front. Sil has a white and a black chihuahua. The white one is a female named Carney and the black one is a male name of Pancho.

She said she would definitely use it, so that makes me very happy indeed. I had a great time sewing it, too!

Thank you so much for stopping by - I appreciate you all! May 2008 bring you all much love, joy and laughter!

Happy Wednesday, everybodee!!

Another Christmas is over.......

2007-12-28T07:15:00.000-08:00

and I hope it was a wonderful holiday for each and every one of you. We had a very nice day at Doxie Manor, just The Man, Kora, and myself, and of course, the girls. It even snowed for us on Christmas Day, which is an amazing event where I live in Washington State. It didn't stick very much, but we enjoyed watching the snow fall.

I thought I would share a couple of the gifts I made. This is an apron for my dil, Emily. Strawberries are a sentimental favorite of hers and she loves to cook, so I thought I would combine those two loves into an apron, being modeled here by (the headless) Kora. I thought her stunning beauty would take away from the apron, hence the headlessness!I also made an apron for a friend of mine to match the placemats I had made earlier. Once again being modeled by the lovely and talented Kora:I also put in a gingerbread man spatula to complete the gift. I am very happy to report that my friend LOVED it!! Hooray!!

I also had a very special surprise that arrived Christmas Eve. It was a box from one of my all-time favorite online shops, Fat Quarter Shop! The Man thought it was something I had purchased, and I said I wasn't expecting anything from them until after Christmas! So, I opened the box, and this is what I found:

They did such a nice job of wrapping the gift, didn't they?The card says "Merry Christmas Surprise Nan!". Well, I couldn't imagine who would've sent me something so wonderful, but this time, I was a good girl and waited until Christmas Day to open the box. This is what was inside:

Isn't it wonderful?? I have been wanting this jelly roll and pattern since I first saw it, but decided not to buy it because I was buying fabric for Christmas gifts. I didn't know who had sent it to me, but then I got an e-mail from Sharon, asking if I had received something else from her! WOO HOO - my "secret" Santa is secret no more!! Thank you, Sharon!! Aren't bloggy friends the absolute bestest in the whole world?? They most certainly are!!!

Another gift I received was a Snugli. A Snugli for a woman who doesn't have a baby? Yes indeedy! Actually, I do have a baby, and her name is Maddy. The story behind this is the fact that Miss Mad has a whining, crying fit whenever I go out in the front yard to work. She stands on the other side of the fence and cries at me, or is in the house crying and barking at the top of her tiny lungs. We can't trust her not to run away if she's out front, so we don't let her out without a leash, which she's not happy being on. Doxies don't have any car sense - they are too busy following their noses to pay attention to a car driving down the road. Anyhoo, I came up with a solution that I think just might work. Why not a baby carrier? She is the right size, and I think she will be happy being close to me while I work. So, here is a very serious Mama and Baby:Maddy's not quite sure about this yet, but I think she's more comfortable-looking here:

I am going to make a bag insert for the bottom of the Snugli, so Maddy's legs don't hang. I don't think she feels safe or comfy the way it is now. More photos later of the finished product and the happy doxie girl! Can you tell the dogs are my "children"?

Lastly, I wanted to share one of my favorite photos from Dancing With The Stars 2 seasons ago. Jimmy Kimmel and Jorge (was that his name?) in one of their dance numbers. Aren't they cute? If they can dance, anybody can!

Happy Friday, everybodee!!

My Wonderful Bloggy Friends!

2007-12-19T14:50:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the holiday craziness and joy. I am taking a moment to share what Sharon and Darlene sent to me this week.

On Monday, the mailman brought a package from my wonderful friend, Sharon! Of course, I HAD to open it, partly because there was a tiny tear in the tissue paper, and mostly because I wanted to do it NOW!! Ain't I awful, though? I'm the girl who receives a lump of coal in her Christmas stocking every year, so I gotta earn it, don't I?

Here are all the goodies!!

This is what was hiding in the tissue paper! Isn't it the cutest? The best part is I can leave it up until winter is over. It's even cuter in person, since my photography leaves something to be desired most of the time, I know. I'm tryin' to take good pictures!! Really I am!

Today, the mailman brought to me, a box from my dear friend, Darlene! Here is the package:
Now, inside this bag is my treasure! (I'm prolonging the suspense......)This is what was hiding inside - Longfellow! Isn't he precious? I had tears in my eyes when I saw him. I am still a bit weepy these days, I'm afraid, and I've always been a big ol' softie! I am dedicating him to my Henry, and he is going to have a very special place in my sewing room where I can look upon him every day! I am a very lucky girl to have such wonderful friends, and I thank you, Sharon and Darlene, so very, very much for making me smile from my heart.

Blogging is one of the best things I have ever done for myself - how else would I get to meet all of you awesome ladies! I feel very blessed to know each and every one of you!!

Now I shall go back to the madness of my sewing room that I call Christmas!!

In closing, I just had to share a photo of my "girls", sitting on Doggy Daddy's lap:

Happy Wednesday, everybodee!!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like........

2007-12-16T08:53:00.000-08:00

Christmas!!! Besides spending most of my waking hours in the 'workshop', I managed to decorate the house yesterday! I didn't put out ALL of my decorations, but I put enough here and there that the house does look rather festive.

There are gifts I have been working on that I cannot share yet, because the recipients are readers of this here blog. After Christmas, I will post those that cannot-be-shown now. I can, however, share with everyone the gifties that are going to non-readers of my blog - one can't read yet, and the other one I keep forgetting to tell about my blog! Can we say 'duh'? Yeppers!

Anyhoo, here is the stocking I made for my grandson! I know he won't care about it yet, but I hope his parents will like it! It is a Thimbleberries pattern that I made a few changes to:This is the flannel quilt I made for one of my dearest friends who lives in chilly Ohio!

I also received my Secret Santa Swap gift this week, and of course, didn't wait to open it! I was soooooooo excited, I just had to see what was in this package from England! I have never received "Royal Mail" before - how exciting!!This is the most adorable card:And, here is my gift - a beautiful quilted journal cover, created by Fiona/Scraps in Progress:Open it up, and a lovely journal sits inside, just awaiting my chicken scratches:Aren't the fabrics wonderful? My sad attempt at photography doesn't really do them justice - they are like a breath of summer, which at this time of year is totally welcomed! Thank you, Fiona!!!

Lastly, but most importantly, I want to thank all of you, my blogland friends, for your outpouring of support and understanding during this very difficult time in my life. You all helped me more than mere words can say, and I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart. Each day that goes by since Henry's passing, I realize we definitely made the right decision in letting our sweet boy find peace. Wonderful memories of a very happy Henroo are flooding into my mind now, and of course, my 4-legged girls are helping to close the wound in my heart.

Happy Sunday, everybodee!!

A Full Life

2007-12-10T18:43:00.000-08:00

Today we had our dog of 19 years put to sleep. Life had lost its joy for him, and The Man and I couldn't bear to watch him struggle through day after day anymore. I thought I would share a bit about his life, because I feel it is better to celebrate the sweet and silly boy he was than to spend a lot of time mourning him. Don't get me wrong, there is a huge hole in my heart and my life today, but I had forgotten the happy-go-lucky dog he was in his younger days.

I had told The Man that I really wanted to get a dachshund, because my family had doxies when I was growing up. At the time, we owned a doxie/terrier/cocka-poo mix dog (Sam), and we thought a doxie would mesh really well with Sammy. The Man's oldest sister found a doxie for us, and we got on the phone and talked to the breeder and decided to meet her at a movie theater parking lot about halfway to Seattle. There we met and fell in love with this little, skinny puppy who moved like a snake when he walked. He was with his mama, who was a beautiful dachshund, and of course, we decided to take him!

We named him Oscar (Oscar was my very first dachshund's name) Henry - O. Henry. He soon became known as "Roo". He was a Mama's (me) Boy, and my little shadow. Here is Henry in January 1989 - he was 3 months old.

Shortly after we brought Henry home, he got very sick - constant diarrhea and vomiting. Finally, our vet said he would keep Henry until he figured out what was wrong with him, and wouldn't charge us for room and board, only for tests that were run and drugs administered. After many weeks, we got Henry back, and found out that he had bad allergies, which made his stomach horribly sensitive, and he could eat lamb and rice kibble ONLY. He was put on Vetalog, which is a doggy steroid, and we were told he would have to be on Vetalog the rest of his life, and that it would shorten his lifespan!

Henry enjoying the outdoors:Being a long-haired dachshund, he didn't shed, but needed a haircut every so often. Henry was a very skittish and shy dog, so we didn't dare take him to get his hair done, so I did it! Thank goodness he was such a cutie, because I never gave him a good haircut. Happy Henry after mama's barbering:Henry at 10 years young, enjoying the view out the front door of our then brand-new home:I am lucky to have known this funny, furry little guy, and there will always be a special place in my heart for Henry. I wish you all could have known him.

While we were at the vet, the girls all needed to get their toenails cut - we get a multi-dog nail-trimming discount. The vet's assistant brought Lucy out, and she had a bandage on her foot with a plastic baggy over it! Turns out she had busted a toenail, and it had been broken to the quick, and was starting to get infected! They said it looked like it was a recent break, thank goodness, because I felt really bad that we hadn't noticed it. So, Lucy is doing a funny little dance with the "sock" on her foot, and does not like to go outside with the baggy over it. She does NOT find this situation in the least amusing! Here is Miss Lucy and her bandaged foot:Not a happy dog, is she? And, to add insult to injury, we insist on taking pictures of her in her misery!!Since this post seems to have gone to the dogs, I will finish it up by showing more photos of my 4-legged children. This was Turkey Day - 2 sleepy wienies all comfy and cozy in the chair:And, last but certainly not least, here is silly Miss Maddy snoozing behind me on the couch. You can't see it, but there is a fireplace blazing away to the right of the couch. Maddy was getting the best of both worlds: being close to Mama, and to the fire!

Around here, it definitely is a dog's life! Thank you for stopping by!!

A Snowy Day in West Virginia!

2007-12-06T07:09:00.000-08:00

These photos just in!! My grandbabies playing in the snow! I do believe they are wandering up the hill to get ready for their photo shoot.Voila! Two happy bundled-up snow bunnies!Since there wasn't a lot of snow, they named their snowman Leafy. Here is adorable Truman with his snowy friend. It looks to me like Truman was eating some dirty snow, don't you think?Here at Doxie Manor, all sorts of craziness abounds. I have been in the workshop for the best part of almost every day, and I feel like I haven't accomplished a whole lot, but things are coming along. I thought I would show the many projects I am working on right now. I do believe at this particular moment, there are 4 of them in different stages of done-ness. See what I mean about craziness?

While I am working, the 4-leggeds are playing! Here is a montage of a bit of the canine madness. Gracie and Lucy looking rather bored here:Then, something magical(?) happens, and away they go! It's not nearly as impressive as it could be, because you don't hear all the snarling, snapping and barking that goes on with this rigorous play.

I am about to run up the stairs to the workshop for the day, but I wanted to leave you with this great photo of my grandpuppy, Max. As Emily says, "Strike a Pose"! Isn't he funny? His left leg looks so skinny because he just got it out of a cast recently.

Happy Thursday, everybodee!!!

The Holiday Season Approacheth!

2007-11-30T06:24:00.000-08:00

Things have been hopping here at Doxie Manor! I have been working feverishly to finish my Secret Santa Swap gift, and here it is, done at long last:The Man took the photo for me, since he's much taller than I am (he stood on his tiptoes for this shot). I'll have you know I dusted the dining room table before I would let him lay the runner down on it! He said, "Wow, this looks really good in here, doesn't it?". Why, yes it does, dear, but it's flying away across the sea. Say "buh-bye runner"!

I have also been spending much time sewing presents for family and friends. I have several soon-to-be gifts in different stages of done-ness, but nothing interesting to share....yet! When I haven't been a sewing Santa, I have been a shopping Santa. The Man and I went out and power shopped on Tuesday - what fun we had!

Yesterday, after we mailed a couple of packages, we went shopping again! To Costco this time. We went for just 2 things, and wound up with a whole lot of yummy good stuff! There were samples to be had - it was lunch-time, after all - we tasted Louisiana Hot Links - oh my, oh my! They were D-licious! Into the cart they went. We then sampled some Cranberry Goat Cheese w/cinnamon. My husband said something about there can't be too many cranberry goats around, so we'd better get some of this, too! The lady dishing out the samples thought we were crazy.......she's right!! LOL! We HAD to check out all the candies, and HAD to buy Bailey's Irish Cream Chocolates. It says they're non-alcoholic, but it tastes just like Bailey's, except it's wrapped in chocolate - what could be better than that?

Just as we were wandering up to the front to check-out (finally!), I spied a gingerbread house kit, and I knew Kora (our boarder) would LOVE it, so into the cart it went! When she got home from work, I gave it to her, and she was thrilled, so after dinner, she created the gingerbread house. She told me she "needed" my help, so what could I do? I had to give in! Here we are, hard at work:

I think the sugar high is starting to kick in now! The Man said it looks like I'm about to stick that candy cane up my nose! I gotta get a good sniff, don't I? LOL!
The finished product! The Man had been sampling lots of the building materials, too, so I'm thinkin' he was a bit tipsy.
Of course, Lucy had to come and view our handiwork up close and personal. She IS Quality Control, after all. Just ask her!

I love this picture!!The Man decorated the outside of the house the other day, and surprised me by decorating the gazebo in the backyard. Isn't it pretty?That's what's been happening in my life. Christmas-time is such fun, and I am totally inspired by all the decorating that is happening in my bloggy friends' homes. When I get around to decorating, I will show my sorry attempts (I think, anyhoo) at Christmas decor in Doxie Manor.

Before I bid you all a fond adieu, I wanted to show you the snowman I bought at a country Christmas fair I went to a couple of weeks ago. I think he's the cutest fellow! Happy Friday, everybodee!! And, a jolly HO HO HO!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much for stopping by!

We Have a Wiener (Winner)!!!!!

2007-11-23T08:14:00.000-08:00

Last night, the winning name was drawn by The Man. Here is the lovely red bowl with all the names, and the hairy arm about to choose: And, THE WINNER IS..............................HAPPY ZOMBIE!!!!Ms. Monica, please send me your snail mail address, and that yummy stack o' fabric will be on its way to you!!! Unless you'd like me to deliver it in person! (She doesn't live THAT far away from me.) Are you ready for me in Real Life?!? LOL!

Yesterday was a delightfully lazy day, so I got to sew for several hours. I am quilting my Secret Santa giftie. I still have a bit of quilting to do, but I thought I would share a sneak-peek now:Also, I have sewn 4 placemats, which need some handstitching, and then quilting, and they'll be done! Another Christmas present almost finished! Hopefully, most of you are enjoying a 4-day weekend, and get to spend time doing whatever your hearts desire.

Happy Friday, everybodee!! Thanks for stopping by!

Counting my Blessings........

2007-11-21T08:31:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Not only does it signify that Christmas is right around the corner, but I love the idea of the feast (eating is always a good thing), and the feeling of gratitude for whatever life has brought or is bringing our way.

Besides being grateful for my family, friends, my home and doggies, I am very grateful for all the blogging friends I have made this year. I haven't been blogging very long, and already I have made some truly wonderful friendships. You ladies are here for me through thick and thin, bringing encouragement and support no matter what is happening in my life. Thank you, thank you, thank you so very, very much!

I wanted to share some photos I have received from West Virginia recently. Here are two of my favorite blessings:

Mr. Truman looking cute as ever!

Gwen and Truman in a quiet moment:A beautiful West Virginia hillside in all of its Autumn glory:My DIL just had her 30th birthday, and her mama created this gorgeous quilt for Emily - I had to share! Here is the proud quilter and her beautiful creation:A close-up of the quilt. Aren't the fabrics incredible? I wish you all a blessed and happy Thanksgiving!!

My 50th Post Give-Away - Part Deux

2007-11-18T08:03:00.000-08:00

In the past couple of days, I have been looking through my ginormous stash - trust me, it's a LOT of looking - trying to figure out what I would like to have as my give-away goody. I have been blog surfing this morning, and discovered at Sharon's blog that she is also having a give-away! She is giving away a Quilt Pink fat quarter bundle. Well, that got me to thinking........I have a Fresh Air fat quarter bundle! So, ladies, that is what I am giving away!

I decided to extend the time for comments until Wednesday, the 21st. On Thanksgiving Day, The Man will pull a name from a yet-to-be-determined container. I will post the winner on the day after Turkey Day! If I am not too full and sleepy, I will drag myself off the couch and to the computer on T Day to post the winner, otherwise it will be Friday.

You may comment on this post or the previous one to be entered in the drawing. If you choose to post to both, your name will only be entered once. Sorry! I've gotta be fair to all entrants, right? LOL!

Good Luck to everyone, and I thank you all once again for coming to visit me - I enjoy all of your comments so very much! Oh yes, and thank you, Sharon, for the great give-away idea!

Happy Sunday, everybodee!

I am not very observant, but.....

2007-11-15T09:39:00.000-08:00

my last post was my 50th!!! I do think that demands a give-away, don't you? Yes indeedy!! I don't know what I'll give away (because this thought just came to mind), but it will be something from my extensive stash!! I will choose something that will be tailored to the tastes of the winner! Please make a comment (hopefully a positive one - LOL), and you will be in the running. The winning name will be drawn by The Man on Monday, the 19th.

I have truly enjoyed being a part of the blogging world. The friends I have made are very special to me, and to think I almost didn't start a blog, because I didn't think anyone would care what I had to say. It has become for me this wonderfully close-knit family of like-minded women, and I cannot imagine life without all of you now! Thank you all very, very much for making life a fun and exciting place to be!

In other news, right after I finished posting in my blog on Monday, our power went out! We had 60 mph winds and tons of rain for most of the day! It must have affected the dogs, too, for they got into a free-for-all fight! Thank goodness The Man was here, as he finally got the girls pulled apart. Maddy had a tear in the front of her ear that was dripping blood, and a hole in her neck (yikes!) that was also bleeding. Lucy had a gouge in her back that was bleeding profusely, and Gracie was just fine, thank you very much! After getting a very good talking to by the Alpha Male, and getting cleaned up and bandaged, the rest of the day was quiet time. Good grief! It was stormy outside and inside that day. Too much excitement for this old girl, I'll tell ya!

The morning after the storm, I woke up to this beautiful sky, which I had to share. I think it is known as the "calm after the storm".

In the sewing room, I have been working on my Secret Santa giftie. I am allowed to show a sneak peek, so here it is:

I don't have anything else to chat about, so I will finish this momentous post (to me!) with a photo of the very sweet (killer) Gracie sitting on The Man's lap. She is quite the cutie! She loves to sit in a lap in that chair and look out the window. There are lots of squirrels and birds to watch, and usually, to run out the door and give chase. Life is good for my doggies!Once again, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for being such a meaningful part of my life. I don't know what I'd do without you!

Happy Thursday, everybodee!!

"Life is Just a Chair of Bowlies"........

2007-11-12T05:43:00.000-08:00

so says Mary Engelbreit. I think that pretty much sums up my life lately. All sorts of things have been happening, but nothing earth-shattering, except to me. Last week went zipping by, and it seems like a blur now.

I guess I will start at the beginning, and go from there. For the past month and a half, a friend of mine has been living with us. She is 23, and for a time, worked at the same credit union as I did. She worked at the other branch, and I actually met her face-to-face once while she was there. I didn't really get to know her until my co-workers would have get-togethers, and she would always be invited. She has been having a rough time in her life, and needed a place to stay where she would have the space to decide what to do about it. Last week, the decision of what path to take was made, and The Man and I helped her move her belongings from a storage unit shared with another person to a storage place closer to our house. All the frayed ends of her life are tied up now, and she is free to move in a new direction.

I really enjoy having my friend live with us. She adores the dogs, which is a good thing, since they are constantly underfoot, and spend much of their time in her lap, or lounging on her bed. She never seems to be cranky around us, and always asks what she can do to help around the house. The Man tells her to go under the house in the crawlspace and clean out the spiderwebs, but she doesn't seem to want to do that - LOL!

This weekend, my friend's sister came to visit from northern Idaho, and I'm sorry to say, sister is leaving today. It's been great fun with both girls being silly together, and we have been laughing a lot.

On Friday, I had lunch with my boss at the credit union. She is also one of my closest friends, so we had a lot to catch up on. The credit union has been going through some "growing pains", and there are many changes about to take place. I have worked there both full and part-time for 9 years, and it has become a very large part of my life. I have been soul-searching about whether or not it was time to leave the credit union, and decided it was. So, on Friday, I quit my job. Since I had been on an on-call basis, and had worked one day the past 3 months, I figured it was time to go. It's a very strange feeling, but it's time to move on and work full-time on our (soon to be) online quilt pattern business.

My neighbor (who also happens to be a good friend) had a birthday last week, and I made a wallhanging for her, and gave her a Raggedy Old Annies doll made by Nicole. I don't have a photo of the Annie, but my friend promised she would take one and e-mail it to me. She is out of town this weekend, so I'll post her Annie another day, but this is the wallhanging:

The stitchery pattern I took from Danielle's blog, Princess Nimble-Thimble. She very kindly has a download for the pattern on her blog. I fell in love with it, and knew it would be perfect for my friend. The rest of the wallhanging is my own design, which lost something in the translation, but my friend loved it, so all is well.

While I was sewing, the 4-legged ones were with me, so I had to take pictures of them, simply because I haven't for awhile. Here is Lucy and Maddy, curled up together in their favorite blankie.

The wild and crazy Gracie was racing all around playing with her toys, but she finally decided to see what her sisters were doing.I don't know why the picture is blurry. The photographer must have moved!

I spent quite a bit of time sewing this past week, but I don't have anything to show - I will in a few days, though.

Last but not least, I wanted to show this crazy plant that is growing up between the windows in my kitchen - isn't that something? Since it's at the ceiling, I don't know where it's going to grow now!

I wish you all a happy Monday, and thank you so very much for coming to visit!

Happy Halloween from West Virginia!!!

2007-10-31T08:14:00.000-07:00

I received an e-mail from my son this morning, and I just had to share the photos he sent. The trick or treating in their area happened last night, because of all the church activities planned for tonight. My son and DIL take the kids to an area called Kanawha City, because it's flat (where they live is very hilly) and the neighborhood sets tables out with Halloween goodies in front of their homes and the streets are well-lit, so it's a wonderful place for the kids to trick or treat.

Emily and Truman trick or treating!Gwen is a "princess witch" - that's her name for her lovely ensemble.

My favorite trick or treaters in the whole world! Aren't they the cutest?
Mr. Truman had to have his picture taken all by himself, too!Having fun trick or treating!

The happy pumpkin at the top of this post is Miss Gwen's very first pumpkin she helped carve! She enjoyed scooping the guts out of the pumpkin - who doesn't, right? LOL!

Happy Hauntings, everybodee!!!

I've been Sewing!

2007-10-30T13:57:00.000-07:00

I have actually finished sewing a couple of quilt tops in the past few days! Hooray! It means I didn't spend very much time on the computer, but then I never really do, anyway. I love blogging, but there are so many things I want to do each day, so I don't sit at the computer for very long.

First up is a topper from a pattern by Sandy Gervais, and the "Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet" charm squares. I have even quilted it - it just needs binding now.

Next, is the topper I made for the "Trees on the Table" weekend challenge that Kim talked about on Saturday. I failed the challenge because I finished it today, but at least I finished! You can see the toppers made by other ladies HERE. I think they are all beautiful, don't you?

A friend gave me some beautiful fall flowers the other day, and I wanted to share them with all my bloggy friends, so I was taking a picture of them the other morning, when all of a sudden, this little wiener doggy came flying into the picture! However did that happen, you might ask? Remember the hairy-armed model from many, many posts ago? 'Tis the same hairy arms you're lookin' at now! LOL! Poor Maddy didn't know what the heck was going on!Here are the flowers without the doggy or the arms! I am lucky to have such a wonderful friend, aren't I? The water is red because there is a couple of dried flowers in the bouquet that are dyed a deep red. I kinda like the water that color!Happy Halloween, everybodee!!

MeMe - It's all about ME!

2007-10-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by the delightful and talented Darlene to reveal the 4 Things about MeMe, so here goes:

4 Jobs I've held:

Accounts Payable and Receivable Clerk
Assistant Manager for a Ben Franklin Store
Quality Control Clerk for the Ram Corp. - they own a bunch of restaurants
Credit Union Teller

4 Films I could watch over and over:

While You Were Sleeping
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Princess Bride
Young Frankenstein

4 TV Shows I watch:

NFL Football - any day, anytime
Boise State University football - whenever it's televised, that is!
How I Met Your Mother
Dancing With the Stars - just can't help myself!

4 Places I've lived:

Tacoma, Washington - born and raised
Ithaca, New York
Battle Ground, Washington
Goleta, California

4 Favorite foods:

Brownies
Spaghetti - any kind of sauce
Salmon
Pie - any kind! I was called "Pie Face" by my family when I was a kid.

4 Favorite colors:

Purple
Blue
Red
Orange

4 Places I would love to be right now:

Charleston, West Virginia (where the kids live)
Battle Ground, Washington (my BFF lives there)
Kauai
Australia

4 Names I love but would/could not use on my children:

Amanda Marie - she was lost to a miscarriage
Warren - only had one son
Grace - I just love that name, so it's a 4-legged 'child' name now!
Anne - I only had the one son, so a girl's name was not appropriate, now was it? LOL

4 People I would love to TAG:

Yvonne at Quilting Down the Stairs
Kairle at Happy Valley Quilter
Lisa at Stashmaster
Angela at Quilting in Cornfields

I hope you have enjoyed my MeMe exercise - it's my first one!

Happy Tuesday, everybodee!!!

Good Monday Morning!!

2007-10-22T08:27:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend doing all the things your hearts wished for! I didn't do one bit of sewing once again - too much life going on! I spent Saturday helping a friend make lefse at her church . Lefse is Norwegian in origin, and is basically a potato crepe, for lack of a better description. My aunt was Norwegian and made lefse every year, so I ate a lot of lefse when I was growing up, and I love it! It was a great deal of work, but we had fun hanging out with the ladies and two men(brave souls, don't you think?) who came to help in the kitchen.

Sunday, I MUST watch football, so don't get anything quilt-related done then either. My Seahawks won for a change - hooray!! I also had to watch the last game of the ALCS bout between the BoSox and the Indians. I felt badly for the Indians, as they just seemed to fall apart, but I was glad the Red Sox won. I've been a fan since we were in Boston - Bostonians truly love their team! When you're there, you can't help but get caught up in the excitement!

So that was my exciting(?) weekend - are you still reading? LOL! I finished decorating the house for Fall/Halloween, and thought I'd share a couple of pictures. Here is my fall dolly. I love her hair!I made this scarecrow a long time ago, but he's still one of my favorite decorations. No, he doesn't 'live' on the stair railing! I bought this magazine at the grocery store on Friday, and had a chance to look through it yesterday. Lookie what I found! A quilt made by Monica, aka "Happy Zombie".

She created the quilt with two other ladies I don't know, but I just had to share the quilt they made together. Isn't it beautiful?Hooray for Monica!! It's always exciting when someone you know is in print, isn't it? Yes indeedy!!

I have been tagged by my dear friend Darlene for 4 Things About Me-Me, which I will post tomorrow - I promise!

I thought I would end this post with a photo of a beautiful tree in my backyard:

Happy Monday and Happy Fall, everybodee!

A Dash of This, A Pinch of That.....

2007-10-17T06:40:00.000-07:00

I am very sad to report that I haven't been sewing for the past few days. Boo hiss!! That little thing called "Life" has gotten in my way. The week started out crazy for me, as I was unexpectedly called in to work for a few hours on Monday, and that threw what few sewing plans I had out the window. I was very happy to be there, I just had to re-think my day, and I was worried about my co-workers and what they had going on in their lives on that day.

Yesterday, I had a doctor appointment and grocery shopping, and once that was done, I was pooped and just hung out the rest of the day. This rainy Washington weather is turning me into a slug, I'm thinkin'.

On Saturday, I received an unexpected present from a very good friend of mine. Isn't it cute the way she packaged it?

Here are the wonderful contents of the basket:I can't wait to find uses for all these beautiful fabrics! I am very blessed to have such a wonderful friend - thank you, Joyce!

Since Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, I decided to take photos of the fall foliage and splendor of my backyard. I don't know the name of this bush, but I love the color of its leaves this time of year.

I don't remember these flowers still blooming this time of year, but they are working their little flowery hearts out, aren't they?

I had cut back this nasturtium to a little bitty stub a month ago because it was very nearly dead, and look at it now! You can see the tired hydrangea blossoms in the background, too. I have much yard work to do, it would seem! While at the grocery store yesterday, I happened to find myself in Starbucks, (How THAT happened, I don't know! LOL) and had to get a Caramel Macchiato (yummy!). This mug called out to me, and of course, I had to bring it home! Here it is - isn't he cute? I think coffee always tastes better in a happy, pretty mug, don't you? Tee hee!

I wish you all a very Happy Wednesday!

Welcome Fall - Part Deux

2007-10-11T19:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had promised a picture of the pumpkins lit up, and here they are! Are you ascared yet?? BOO!Just like Sharon and Cheryl, I had to have the Trick or Tater! Now I AM frightened!!Eeeeeeeeek!!! A monster!!!Remember the photo of Miss Gwen holding the HUGE chocolate bar? This is the home of that ginormous chocolate bar. It looks good enough to eat, doesn't it? Thank you so much for coming to visit, and I wish you all a wonderful weekend!!

Welcome Fall!!

2007-10-10T11:05:00.000-07:00

I have officially welcomed Fall to Doxie Manor! Yesterday I finished sewing my scarecrow for the front porch, so I was ready to decorate. Here he is, looking very much at home, I think!I made this many, many years ago, and we hang it outside our front door every Fall. The front door and a Fall planter that The Man bought for me - isn't it pretty?The Man and I created this nine years ago, and I think the neighbors have finally figured out the pumpkins aren't real! LOL! It lights up, so I'll take a photo later when it's dark. Sp-sp-spooky!Gracie was very curious the entire time we were working on the front porch, so The Man took her picture. I'm sorry it's blurry, but she's still a cutie, isn't she? "Whatcha doin'?", so says Miss Gracie Alan.
May your Wednesday be a happy one, everybodee!!

Finish What You Have - I'm Trying!!

2007-10-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

This week has flown by, and not much has been happening at Doxie Manor. I'm not complaining, mind you, it's actually very nice to have some quiet time.

The night before The Man and I flew home, I had a raging sore throat, and he had a very upset stomach. By the time we got home, I had a nasty cold and he had the stomach flu. I'm glad it waited until after vacation, thank you very much! I dragged myself around enough to do the mountains of laundry, and very little else - oh, and posted about the vacation.

I wanted to sew, and I think it was on Cheryl's blog that I read "Finish What You Have"! Why didn't I think of that? Since I didn't have the poop to sit at the sewing machine, I got out a table runner that is at least 20 years in the making, and sat my sick fanny on the couch and sewed on the binding! It's done - finally!!! Takes me awhile, doesn't it? LOL!!This week, I have felt much better, and actually have energy to get things done. I have soooooo many projects I NEED to work on, but I chose to sew a scarecrow that will sit on my front porch! He's not quite done yet, but I will post a photo when he is completed, which I am hoping will be today.

Since I have nothing else of interest to talk about, I will leave you with a photo of the cutest sign that my DIL gave me when we went to visit. Isn't it sweet? I love it!!And, in closing, in honor of Sharon's Chocolate Swap, I thought I would leave you with this:If that doesn't get you in the mood for chocolate, nothing will!! I know Sharon still has some room on her swap, so get over there now!

May your weekend be full of all things wonderful!