Another Thanksgiving in the Books

I didn't know if I even had the energy to post tonight, but after a nap on the couch while football games are going I am now feeling better.

Warning...long post:)

I got a text from my niece Kristan that woke me up ...so this will be a recap of lots of thoughts that many were spurred by her.

We made the decision to sell the farm last year, but it didn't sell yet. We have a verbal offer for January on it, so we shall see.

Anyway, we decided to have Thanksgiving there one last time. I had bared boned some of the farmhouse, but the equipment and fun outdoor stuff were still in place. I took my Hoosier cabinet which had been in my family for a very long time and my pie safe built by a good friend to the Auburn house. I left the farm table and the big hutch that I painted. Kristan just couldn't believe I was leaving that and not trying to sell it. She could be right because I think the people who may buy it will probably build their own home on the property and the cabinet may not be wanted.

Anyway, she was out shopping today and was convinced more than ever I had lost my mind.

She grabbed the four pillows you see in the next two pictures that show all the above mentioned pieces of furniture.

I gathered up my baskets and plates, but left many decorative items in the house that I just didn't need or want. I told her and Katie to grab anything they might want. No Lindsay...more about that in just a minute.

Kristan grabbed the 4 pillows. If you followed the farm journey you may remember I made them from something left in the house by the previous owners.

It had been two really long pillows and I cut them in half and made the smaller pillows. I didn't think they were anything special, but she loved them.

Today she was out shopping and found this...

Yep, $54.

She was so excited. I am happy that she is happy. I love my Kristan.

Now, for a little bit of family talk...

Lindsay and Tyler spent Thanksgiving with Tyler's family at Rosemary Beach. They got a condo so that they wouldn't have to travel with the baby yet. Tyler's twin brother and his wife were flying up from Palm Beach. It would be his first time seeing Tucker and Tyler's parents had seen him since the first few days of his life. Of course, I think there has been a good bit of FaceTime. I missed them, but you have to share.

Kristan, Torrey (hubby), and the twins hadn't seen Tucker either. They all arrived here Wednesday from Texas...yes, it is awful that we only really get to see them at Thanksgiving and summer. Bummer.

They have all been so excited to see him, so we basically had a family gathering Wednesday night at our house here in FWB. We just ordered pizzas and gathered to see Tucker. 

I hardly took any pictures this year which is really unlike me because I usually document everything, but I worked hard over the course of the last few days so I guess that gives me a pass.

It was exactly as I thought it would be....

Tanner was over the moon about Tucker. Katelyn liked him too, but she fell in love with Gus who was five months old last Thanksgiving and has wanted a Gus of her own ever since. 

She pretty much played with Gus the entire time.

Tanner really never left Tucker's side that evening. He just kept touching him and talking about him. He mentioned his toes. They are super long.

More of this photo shoot for another post:)

We had a wonderful time together and if that had just been all there was to it I would have been grateful, but we had Thanksgiving to go.

Paul Allen and Katie got up there pretty early to help get things ready. You know boys are so funny ...I don't think he notices stuff and then the smallest thing is what he mentions. Did you notice the Pilgrims and Indians on the table in the pictures? Well I did bring those home, but I honestly didn't pull them out of the boxes from the farm house yet. They are downstairs packed up and on my list of things to go through and sort out to areas of the house or actually get rid of. One of the absolute first things out of his mouth was, "Where are the Pilgrims and Indians?" Now, that stuff gets me ---he noticed...I was so sad I didn't put them in my stuff to bring up there. Trust me they will be on the table next year!!!

IT's the little things y'all!

If you are still with me, you are thinking girl, break this up into two posts, but I am going with it. 

Paul Allen built me a fire before he and Katie left for her family's house. He texted me late last evening and said in very dramatic fashion that he was so full he was sure he was going to die.

I most thoroughly enjoyed sitting by the fire yesterday afternoon as it was a bit chilly. Nothing like other parts of the country...just a good kind of sitting by the fire chilly. 

The guys were all out target shooting in the back field when Katelyn shows back up at the house upset because Tanner is shooting better than her. She is actually pretty good.

Anyway off on a walk in the pecan orchard we went with Gus. Lemony was tucked away inside with Mama as she hates shooting. Doesn't mind fireworks but guns send her packing.

I heard about everything under the sun. It was like a trip down memory lane with Kristan at her age. For reference the twins are in third grade. I heard about how hard math is, the terrible gymnastics teacher, you name it....talked as hard as she could AND I loved it.

All in all a really good day.

Lindsay sent me a picture of her, Tucker, and Hallie before they headed out to the condo.

He is so precious and they are too.

I am blessed. 

Jeff and I went on a date to Pensacola today. We went shopping and ate downtown. We got the tree before we got back home, so decorating starts in the morning.

I have decided to trim the tree while Auburn gets smacked down by that other team. I will have something positive going on while it happens:)

Jeff kept telling me it was big, but I said I wanted this one. IT is rather big. 

Oh my!

I enjoyed my family time very much even though it was all broken up. I couldn't help think that will only get worse as they get older. I was so close to all of my cousins growing up and the most I see them is at a funeral or maybe a wedding. I talk to them about once a year and send a quick card. Two of the ones I grew up with and were so very close with are have troubles with cancer in their families. 

It was just a reminder to me to cherish every good moment.

Time to bring on Christmas and the hope we have in Christ,

Sandy

I Have Been Busy

I decided to pop in really quick with a couple more finishes and updates around here. I will definitely be just reading blogs until next week as this is probably my last quiet slow paced time left this week.

I finished my half window ornament. Y'all I just love it in all of its large Aida retro goodness. It turned out just as I wanted.

I also finished my other Prairie Schooler Santa. I decided I want this one in a basket with maybe some blocks, so no ornament for it. 

As for now, I am going it done. If I come across some cute button or block it may get something added. I think it will be all about the display for it.

I just loved this Santa.

So that was three finishes in a few days for me. Wow!

Speaking of ornaments, I have one more Santa that I really want to get done this Christmas. It may be harder to do since I am stopping all projects, small and large, to try and do something for Tucker. I found some cute Safari animals Saturday at Hobby Lobby. I am not sure if I am going to try and do a birth announcement or ornament. Stay tuned. 

I did start the other Santa yesterday just because I wanted to see if the idea would look good. Oh yes!!!! I have a vision in my head of it. 

***Arlene (Nanaland), I am going to need to apologize for it now. I bet you didn't know the PS Santas were going burnt orange and navy blue and that a partridge would be turned into an eagle and maybe even a live oak instead of a pear tree. Yikes!!!

I am putting all my projects away until after Christmas so that I can concentrate on the two things mentioned above now. I will have much to look forward to after Christmas as I have so many things I want to stitch and finish.

I am taking care of many items on my to do list today as the hubby, son and girlfriend are fishing. I have a very long list. I start cooking tomorrow and our niece and her family will be in on Wednesday. They haven't met Tucker yet, so all will be here for pizza on Wednesday night since Lindsay will be eating with Tyler's family out at Rosemary Beach on Thanksgiving. Tyler's twin brother will be meeting Tucker for the first time as well. His family decided to get a condo out there so Lindsay and Tyler could wait a little longer to travel with Tucker.

Arlene, you will get the last laugh on the Auburn thing this weekend as I am not even looking forward to the game. I will probably put up my tree during the game so something happy will be going on simultaneously to the clobbering:)

I will leave y'all with some doggie pictures. 

Is Gus loving the baby or making sure he is still the baby? 

It was a little of both. The Disney sheet is one that I had when my kids were little. I pulled it out to put on the crib at Grammie's Daycare.

This morning view of the doggies in their respective spots.

My husband found this on Saturday morning...Twitter I think.

It is my scenario with Gus at least everyday. Lemony is a sleep in kind of dog.

Have a happy Thanksgiving,

Sandy

Winter Pillow Finish

I finished the final pillow of my Little House Needleworks monochromatic seasons. I started just after Christmas last year with the spring pillow. I had asked for these for Christmas. I made a wish list on 123Stitch. I enjoyed stitching each one of these. The called for colors of thread were with each pattern. I loved each and every color.

When it came time to do the winter, I just felt it needed something other than tan for the linen. The blue was perfect.

I ran down to the quilting fabric store down the street and found the fabric for it. It has a house and snowy trees motif on it. I thought it was just perfect. 

Since fall didn't really arrive this year in northwest Florida I took all my fall decor down yesterday. I decided I had to get the pillow finished and it is already on display early for the season. Considering where I live it will take all I can do not to place spring out early next year, so I decided why not?!

I love how it turned out. Here are all the seasonal pillows. I really enjoyed stitching these. Isn't it fun when you enjoy your stitches?

I am leaving you with a Tucker picture today. He is one month old. I will share more Gus and Lemony later. BTW, they love him.

I am on a finishing roll today. I have my other Prairie Schooler Santa in progress and the half window ornament only needs its cording added. I should have them to share next week if all goes well.

Today was really a beautiful day, so I guess fall was here today. Sunny and a high of 69. I should be ashamed to say it didn't show up this year, but it really was a flop.

Finishing fool,

Sandy

Friday Five

I have wanted to do one of these forever, but can't get my act together. Here goes..

Many of you know I have been on a health journey for 4 years this month. I started with the diet and then moved onto every product I use since it has made such a difference in my autoimmune plagued life.

My first share is one that I was unsure of but I have been using it for a year now and must say I don't understand a thing about how it works. However, I love it. It is called Airbiotics. I use several of the products, but if you have any of the health problems I have blogged about then I can recommend the all purpose cleaner.

I use it for everything except my wood which it says you can use. I spray it on my tile floor and then I use the microfiber cloths on a Swifter mop. My floor has honestly never been cleaner for a barefoot walk. You can use any microfiber cloths, but that green one they sell is great. I have ordered a set of them.

You can read all about their science on the website. Like I said I don't know much about that, but I wouldn't put it on here if I didn't LOVE this stuff.  I use the spray too. I haven't had a sniffle in two years since I started using it. I couple that with ....

my #2 share...  is the nasal spray at Restore. My wellness doctor told me about this. Since he hasn't steered me wrong about anything yet, I decided to give it a try. If I wake up in the least bit stuffed which 4 years ago would have been daily in my neck of the woods, I take a puff. I have no allergies anymore or no colds. I have just bought my son a bottle for him to try as that boy has lots of allergies and colds. My mother does too, but he is much more likely to try it than her. I love it...again, I don't know about the science, but I do like.

I have used the clean gut supplement too when I am needing to detox.

My third thing is one more of the products I have found on my health journey. I LOVE LOVE this shampoo and conditioner. It has my gray hair so soft and manageable. I was again unsure, but decided to give it a whirl. WoW....yes, I love it that much.

I am sure most of you have glazed over by now, so I will share some fun stuff too.

My fourth thing is my favorite place to order pillows from.

I love all of the things in Jenny's online store, but especially her pillow covers. They are pricey, but zip and are washable. I have washed mine over and over.  

I just ordered these and they are so elegant. She always styles them on neutral couches, but I think they look lovely on my cinnamon/burgandy colored couch. 

I use them on some feather pillows that I ordered from Amazon. She uses an IKEA pillow but I have no IKEA near me.

http://jennysteffens.blogspot.com

I am about to try and snag her Christmas pillow this morning if I can. They sell out fast.

#5 a hodgepodge of stuff ...

I love being a Grammie! It is the best y'all. 

My house is a big old mess.

I haven't had time to stitch.

I am so behind on my Thanksgiving planning and shopping..

I am hoping to remedy all of that today.

Tucker is the reason for all of it, but rather than stressed I feel so blessed to watch my daughter become a mommy.

First frost for the Gulf Coast this year. We went straight from summer to winter. There was no Autumn this year really at all.

I just completely missed fall this year. It didn't show up in weather, but with the hurricane, the baby, I don't know just life...even my created fall in the house just hasn't made it seem like fall at all. It is one of my favorite seasons, but it just hasn't been here this year. I am taking down my created fall today. 

I am going to clean my house really good and put it all away. I am going to prepare for Thanksgiving at the farm and let my house breathe before I put up Christmas the day after the turkey.

Hoping to fully finish at least one ornament today.

Fall next year.

Gus and Lemony say hello...

Gus bringing me a water bottle and Lemony in her usual spot. I heard a commotion and barking last night. IT was Lemony who had been strolling around in the dark and looked out the window only to see our friendly raccoon down by the water. I got a kick out of the raccoon. He would stick his foot in the water like he was testing it only to decide it was way too cold for him. Just life at our house.

Off to be productive at home today...

Sandy

A Random Collection of Goings On

I did not intend to be a week away from posting. I intended to have some cross stitch finishing to share, but life interruptions have occurred and I have been one busy mama.

Let's see...

First up was very long day with Tucker. He is all good, but we spent an entire day doing doctor visits.

Everything is fine and I can't say enough about all the good people he saw that took us in immediately, ran tests, and read them ASAP. It was a long day spent heading to Pensacola in the rain but all is good.

I spent Monday with Jeff off from work. We visited with Lindsay and Tucker most of the day, then Christmas shopped at the outlets (I actually got quite a few gifts behind me), and went to a movie.

Tuesday morning, I got up and went to the gym and was relaxing when my day went crazy with the Pensacola trip with Tucker. I learned a LESSON!!!! When you  get home from the gym, go shower and get dressed instead of being lazy in your gym clothes. You might have to wear them to lots of places all day:)

I have spent most of yesterday and already most of this day running errands and taking care of things for other people. I am pooped.

Oh, the movie we went to was "Bohemian Rhaosody," the story of the group Queen. I am not sure how to review it because I know some of you who read my blog wouldn't care a thing about a movie that tells the story of a rock group. It does have some flavor that would go along with that topic and some of that goes with the story of lead singer Freddie Mercury. The other band members were schooled in dentistry, astrophysics, and electrical engineering. Funny that they would end up being one of the greatest rock groups ever. I did like the movie and the music was great! I would issue a warning that it is not for everyone though. I knew Jeff would want to see immediately though as he loves his high school/ college years rock music.

I have hardly had time to do anything creative and have quite a pile of crafty things waiting on me in my sewing room. I did pick out a piece of fabric for my winter piece so hopefully I will get that pillow made tomorrow.

I finished my Christmas half window from the 1992 magazine. I love how it turned out. I did it on 18 count Aida as I wanted it to look retro. I chose to put 1987 as the date because that is when we built that house that had a window in our great room like that. We brought the kids home from the hospital to that house and they were there until middle school when we moved in our present home.

I will finish it into a circle ornament and at some time in the future hope to stitch the other two ornament that were in the magazine together.

I do hope to be back with more than just a quick pop in. The dogs are wanting to show off for y'all anyway. If you see them now, they have been cooped up in the house due to my running around as well as all the rain.

I am helping Lindsay take Tucker to the audiologist in just a bit. He didn't pass his hearing test at birth, but I feel sure he can hear. Then hopefully I will be home to clean my very messy house and get outside with the dogs. It is cold but the sun is shining finally.

It basically skipped fall this year. I will talk about that later.

Busy as a bee,

Sandy

Some Finishes in the Sewing Room

I am taking a break or maybe you could say putting off finishing up some much needed tasks.

I finally fully finished a piece I stitched ages ago. I actually had it framed and hated it, then pulled it out and it sat for months. I just am not too good at the the Priscilla style finishing even though I think some it is real cute. I am kind of a "plain Jane."

I spent only about $2. for the piece of wood. That was my first real issue. After I pulled it out of the frame, I spent a long time looking for a "just right" something or other to mount it on. Nothing suited my fancy. I was in Tuesday Morning one day when I saw this piece of wood. It was unfinished and a tray but the right size. I took the handles off and stained it with some stain I had in the garage. I have seen these for way more than I paid for it at Joann's even with a coupon. That was a win. Then I couldn't decide how to embellish it. That would be classic me. I spent way too much time thinking about it. I decided I wanted some rick rack, but I couldn't find the burgundy anywhere. I finally ordered this from Amazon. I thought it was wider, so that didn't work out like I wanted. I worked with it anyway. That was done. Then it sat again for a very long time while I pondered what it needed.

This is where I am just not a Priscilla. No matter what I did it looked awful and took away from the stitch. I finally went to my ribbon stash where I had the color ---win! and made a bow, added a button, and decided to quit. I am happy with my plainer look. You just can't change your stripes.

I am happy with it not being framed. It is just in my sewing room and makes me happy. You may remember I changed the bird to a redbird because sometimes I have a cardinal outside my sewing room window. He has been elusive lately.

I was in AC Moore here the other day and they mentioned they have a new framer who specializes in stitching. She laces and all. When I finish my space shuttle after the new year I will give her a try.

Now, for my other finish.

Lots of information before I share the picture...No scrolling people.

I made a lot of mistakes. He is a bit crooked, but I am happy with him. "Why?", you ask when he is crooked. I learned so much from doing this one.

Nothing ventured - nothing gained - right?!

I have hesitated to try one of these flat fold ornaments for several reasons.
I really really like the pillows.
I can never get the corners straight enough for my liking.

I decided that I was going to give it whirl. If I don't try things I will never get better. I can always restitch something that small and so, I played with it.

I laced it which I really loved doing even though I got it crooked. It was so much easier for ME than gluing. I could have probably put a dab of glue on the back to keep it straighter. I think this gave me much better corners.

I also had a whole piece of mat board downstairs in a closet. In all my listening to Vonna tutorials I picked up on that uses that. I really must say I liked the thinness of it. IT made the flat fold not so thick. I have a bunch of it from a project long ago, so I should be able to do projects for a while with it.

I felt better about the cording this time. I think I have it down how to make it now. I am just not good at figuring how to finish it off, but you know I am going to figure that out too with practice.

I am sharing it even though I haven't finished that yet. I think I will add an embellishment, but I am kind of tired for today.

Oh, and the other thing I didn't like was that I left too much margin.

I am not going to redo this one. I am just going to finish off the bottom and keep on learning. He was fun to stitch and will look fine on the tree.

I still have one other Santa stitched. I haven't decided if I will do him to match this one or do a pillow, but I am done crafting today. Now, I just need to get some energy to go and clean up my mess!

Sandy

I Do Collect One Item

This a follow up to a post I started 2 weeks ago.

If asked if I collected anything I would probably say no, but that wouldn't be exactly true. I do collect books. I have no other collections in the house, but I have several different book collections. I should know better. Collections only mean something to the person who collects them and when you pass on someone else has to deal with them. Those collections are never worth anything. Trust me I know because I have had to deal with them.

My mother-in-law was a collector of things such as Depression glass, Wedgewood plates, Cabbage Patch dolls, etc. I had to try and find homes for all of it. The Depression glass was the only thing that was easy. If I waited a decade maybe the plates would have been easier. I still have a set of pink ones in the cabinets now if anyone is interested:) I actually took the Cabbage Patch dolls to Goodwill with their little official certificates and everything!

Anyway, I am going to take you on a stroll through my book collections which I do enjoy looking at, so I am hoping my kids will forgive me one day for leaving them so many books with which to contend.

This one is an obvious to anyone who know me locally. Space books.

Many are signed.

I have more of these than I will even show you or you would be sure I have gone off the deep end. They are in lots of places in the house. If I put them altogether I might scare myself. I have been fascinated since I was a little girl and this is the one collection that others have enabled me with. Students, friends, etc.

Get a load of the price on it. $.25

In fact this one was located in a library by a former teacher that I worked with. She called me one day and said, "Hey, I found a book that was being discarded I thought you might like." She was correct. I loved it.

This is one of my favorite children's author for science books. Had no idea he was that old.

I have lots of picture books that I used for teaching with and then there are those that I just like to look through. I have shared only a small amount of  these with you...Seriously!



About 15 years ago, I set out on a mission to gather up my old elementary textbooks. I was sure of the titles because Mother was such a great documenter of life with the camera and having attended such a small rural school our annuals (yearbooks) had elementary school pictures too.

I started with the Dick and Jane readers. I had the 1963 edition.
I loved everything about them. I have written about them before here. What is not to love about these pictures?!

And poems...

That collection then turned to the science and social studies books. I was very successful with the science books. I remember them like they were yesterday.

The one of the far right is from my teaching years. I loved teaching 4th grade and this was my favorite book I taught science from.

Y'all when I was doing the science coach job my last three years I used these books to write up some third grade lessons that went over wonderfully. I was in need of something to transition the third graders into these kits that we bought. I took these books and wrote up two missions that the teachers and children loved to help them move into the big kid stuff. They were invaluable.

I wasn't successful with the social studies books. I did get a couple, but they are not the ones I had. I can remember them so well and KNOW that if I ever see them I recognize them. They are probably in a landfill somewhere. Pooh! My third grade one was my absolute favorite. IT was about a family that moved from the east to the west. It followed them on their journey and we learned about geography and cultures along the way. It was like a story.

If you are thinking I am nuts by now, it is ok. Everyone has their obsessions. Mine is books:)

I also have stacks of history books all over the house. I have passed that love onto my son. We are partial to World War II, but not exclusively. There are little groupings like this everywhere in the house.

Of course, any good Auburn alum would have some groupings of Auburn books along with many many coffee table books that can't be displayed at the moment due to a little doggie named Gus. He likes books too...just not to read.

I collect old books as well. I have many old sewing, gardening, and decorating books. I took some of those to Auburn to enjoy when I am there. Of course, I have mentioned before I simply love love love decorating books.

I have lots of books I had in my classroom. These are some of my favorite read alouds. They bring back so many good memories.

With a few of my childhood books mixed in.

And then more space books...

I told you!

And more picture books.

This is one of my favorites!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also have a big collection of books from my childhood and from my own children's childhood.  I saw someone else's collection of Little Golden books the other day and I thought I had a lot, but no I really don't.

My own kids were fans of The Berenstain Bears. They are in the basket behind the Little Golden Books.

Paul Allen was obsessed with The Messy Room.

We had to read every label on every box EVERY time we read it. He wanted to be this neat, but there was no chance.

I love old magazines. There are decorating, space, and Seventeens in there. I really really wish I had kept my old Southern Livings because I would enjoy looking through them now. Mother had a huge stack of 80's and 90's ones in her utility room that she finally got rid of. If I had known how much I would miss those days of Southern Living I would have held onto them.

One more item to share... cookbooks.
I have a short closet in my kitchen hallway that I store them in along with my vitamins, medicine cabinet, and paper plates, cups, etc. I won't share with you how many I have because you might think I need to start a food blog. That would be a real big joke around here!!!! I only like to bake and each cookbook probably has a recipe or two that I love. I probably need to compile a cookbook for the kids with those recipes.

That one with the watermelon spine is one of my favorites.

I do love the set of Southern Living cookbooks I have kept. The 1982 and 1983 are my absolute FAVES!!!!

If you are still with me, I will stop this stroll, but I could go on...I promise. I will leave you with one last picture. I had this nursery rhyme book since I was a little girl in the early 1960's. 

I hope you enjoyed my little collection tour. Do you collect anything?

I will be back next with some stitching.
Sandy