A Life Update and a Little Cross Stitching

     The days are pretty ordinary around here now. I am falling into a routine with little Palmer. He is really an easy baby. I will share more about him near the end of the post. Now for a little brain dump...

     I think I have mentioned that has been so rainy. It has been raining since April. It hasn't stopped and has been causing lots of trouble. The creeks and rivers are swollen and even the ground is saturated. I have seen so many little pumps around the area trying to pump water to other places. Well, two nights ago we had two lines of rain come through. The second one was the final straw for many places. My little hometown just across the Alabama line flooded. The pictures were so hard to see. My folks had a business downtown Brewton years ago. That area was eventually bought out by the state and the Army Corps of Engineers did a lot of work and it has helped tremendously but not enough. I am ready for fall now so maybe we can get some cooler weather and less rain and the threat of storms in the Gulf will be behind us.

Here are a few pictures of the flooding...

The above photo is where one creek backs up to the back side of town. The purple area is where my folks' business was many years ago. They had Brewton Small Motors on this very spot. You can see that when it flooded that the building would have had water in it on the back side.  The entire area to the right of that should not have water. The Army Corps of Engineers changed it to help some and now that area is a great park with a walking trail along Burnt Corn Creek. 

One other note on the above picture. The movie theater used to be where that odd white thing is to the left of the business. It was a two story building where I saw many classics. American Graffiti, Superdad, Jaws, ET, Return of the Zombies...you get the gist.

The railroad tracks are in front of those places and the beautiful old buildings are to the left. Before the changes all of those used to get water in them. 

On the other side of the railroad tracks Murder Creek runs and Murder Creek and Burnt Corn Creek converge together just to east of this bridge above. In the distance is the Piggly Wiggly and other businesses. I think it might be time for the Piggly Wiggly to get an opportunity to be bought out and move a little farther out.

That is just a snippet of it. It goes in many other directions and affects so many businesses which in this time we are living in don't need all that. 

My heart breaks.

Let's move my brain to a lighter topic...sports.

Auburn is playing Georgia this weekend. I love the Auburn / Georgia game. It is by far my favorite game and has been for as long as I can remember. I think it is true rivalry. I know as an Auburn person I am supposed to like the alabama game more, but I don't. It has its place, but I often think it is too emotional and takes away from a fun rivalry. And of course, nowadays I don't even get upset about losing to alabama. I think of them more as a pro team. Now, Georgia is going to slaughter us this weekend too, but I still look forward to the beginning of the game at least. What I am a loss about is - HOW could they (the SEC officials) move this game to October? Is is just one that simply NEEDS to be played in November for life to feel just right. They really should have discussed this matter with me!!!

The Atlanta Braves are in the playoffs so I am very happy about that. Let's go Braves!!!!!!!!!!!! Now the Braves and baseball in October is a good thing. 

Really the people making decisions about sports should talk to me about scheduling:)

Cross Stitching

I know I was trying to keep these posts separate but I am failing now that I am caring for Palmer.

I veered away temporarily from some of my larger projects for some instant gratification. I didn't think I needed any fall stitching, so I didn't seek out any new patterns. When I put out all my fall stitches it gave me the itch so I remembered my state flowers had some Black Eyed Susans. I think they went with Maryland. 

I think this is a great late summer and early fall addition to my stitches. I just backed it with some felt. It turned out cute to me.

I also wanted to stitch my mother a Santa this year. I plan to make a flat fold finish with an easel built into it. I have no idea if she will like it or not. She has always liked Santas and has quite a few that I help her put out, but there is a real possibility that she will dismiss it. As I stitch I am praying for her too.

I picked out my Prairie Schooler Santa and started it with a brighter red with her in mind. I stitched but then I questioned whether it would match the fabric I planned to use with it.

I know it is hard to see from the above picture...remember cloudy everyday. I think it might be too bright for the fabric, so I started again on the other end with the called for darker red.

I think it might match better, but either way I am going to stitch it twice. I have another piece of this color fabric with a little different pattern and I will make two of them. One will go to her and I will either keep the other or use as a gift this year. Stay tuned.

I am always showing pics of Lindsay's home and her doings but this time Katie has been changing things. She had Paul Allen working last weekend. They did this to their front entry hall.

I took this picture from her Instagram because it was way better than the photo I took. I even loved the new rug. She is going to hang photographs above this wall.

They even put in a new light.

Opposite that wall, she put in a command center. I love it.

To the left of that is the kitchen entrance and then opposite it is the laundry room, but all of this is where they come in at the front door. It is just perfect. 

They are adding a larger baseboard to the house as they have time. They are planning to redo their bathroom when they can get the worker there. That would be the money saved from not having a big wedding. 

Now, to share my little buddy. 

I am the worst picture taker because from these you would never know he smiles all the time. His nickname needs to be Smiley. I am enjoying my time with him. 

We were all so worried about how Tucker was going to take the news of Palmer staying with me, but he was a grown up boy. He cried a wee bit but he has gone into school everyday with no tears since the first day. He gives me a hug and can't wait to see his little brother every afternoon. I truly think he loves going to daycare. He sees his friends and likes learning. 

So you can see I am blessed. That is what I have been up to. I realized I have no new Gus pictures. I will remedy that on the next post.

Now, for a little sunshine in the Sunshine State,

Sandy