December, the month of family sickness. 

Christmas did come and go with me reminding everyone that all was  going to be ok and we have to keep the real reason for the season upfront in our minds: that we have had years when things were more challenging; someone was sick, we had to move things around, etc. Then old Jeff piped into the family group text reminding us that  Paw Paw Palmer (Jeff's dad) was in Bastogne on Christmas 1944. That will quickly put it all in perspective. 

We did all meet at our house on December 22nd but there was sickness. Stupidly I don't think any of us thought about the flu until we were all together. I think there was no doubt Palmer had it that night. I was sick, but I don't think I had it. When Paul Allen came down sick the next day Jeff thought to go get him a flu test. He was positive and missed Katie's side of the family Christmas staying home with Valerie who didn't feel well either. It didn't matter that he stayed home because it is running through them now. Tyler's parents came down from Atlanta and I did see them between church services on Christmas Eve. They were sickie too, so it was all around. All of the kids eventually were sick. 

Fortunately Mama has not gotten sick, but it is all in her senior living facility. She is going to visit her sister in the morning for the week so maybe she will miss it. 

I actually got up yesterday morning and called the Teledoc. I don't have the flu, but my whole side of my head is full of junk. I now have an antibiotic. The only other person other than Mama who hasn't been sick is Jeff. Thankful for that.

Here are a few scenes from the last few days.

I mostly took candid shots on December 22nd which are wonderful in my mind too.

On Christmas Eve, Tucker and Palmer set out their cookies for Santa. All of the kiddos are in full belief age. It is quite sweet to watch. I think Tucker has another year before he questions it all.

Lindsay took this picture of Palmer at church on Christmas Eve. He was on the upswing by Christmas Eve, while Miles and Valerie were on their way to the depths of the flu. The service was so sweet.

This was Miles coming back in from viewing the swing that he was genuinely excited Santa had brought, but no energy to swing.

He would get some fever reducing medicine in and feel good for an hour. He gave it a try later, but even today he was still feeling a little poorly.

One interesting note, Katie did end up taking Valerie to the doctor since her fever was so high. Turns out Miles and Valerie each had a different strain of flu. One A and one B. Go figure.

Christmas morning, Jeff and I made it out for what has become our annual stroll on the beach. Someone took our picture after watching me try to get a selfie.

I am one to pack Christmas up right away. I know I am making some of you cringe. I can't wait to put it out right after Thanksgiving, but I am also eager to put it all away and get the house back in order on the 26th. I do the tree last. 

I love Christmas but for some reason I like the order that comes after Christmas. 

I am in  full on reflection mode now and hope to be back in the new year with some ideas for 2026.

2025 was crazy for us in many ways. I really try to focus on the positive though. Life can be even nuttier if you only focus on the bad. There is plenty of good.

I have listed all of my books in Goodreads the last couple years. I really like the digital footprint of my reading. I know many read way more than me but considering how many people I care for and things I do I felt very good about the 21 books I have read. I have two I am reading currently, but I am pretty sure both will be finished after December 31st.

I read 11 fiction and 10 nonfiction. The nod to fiction is a win for me. I am the girl who read the World Book Encyclopedia for fun as a child, so making sure I read as much fiction was a goal I had. I need more of that.

My 2 favorite fiction books were Theo of Golden by Allen Levi and The Last Twelve Miles by Erika Roebuck. I want to add more of Erika Roebuck this year. 

I honestly can't choose a favorite nonfiction book It would be a tie between at least 5 of them. I read some good ones this year. 

Honestly, I rarely read anything anymore that I don't like. If it is not hitting me right I move on. Don't want to waste the time.

I stitched 7 things; Valerie's name, small hornbook with Christmas/winter sampler, Valerie's ornament,

my little multicolored dolphin, the sandpipers, the Bible verse with flowers (round), and the 12 Days of Christmas.

I still need to share the 12 Days of Christmas finish. I will...I ended up not gifting it. The sickness, the rush, all that just led to me saying no to the gift. Maybe later. I will share it in January. It is cute.

I am a few days away from finishing the Bible Recap again this year. I really do love this. I would highly recommend it to anyone. I am not doing it again this next year as I want to slow things down. I am putting my reading plan together for '26 over the next couple of days. I want to slow the pace, but I truly love having a reading plan all set and sitting down to Scripture within the first 30 minutes of waking. It is a good habit to have a starts my day off well. 

I can truthfully say one thing has worked well this year. Keeping up with the house and having organized or decluttered so much over the last few years. I don't need to hit January 1st and go crazy decluttering. I will do many things, but not like I have in the past. I still need to let go of much in my sewing room, but I have many wins in the remainder of the house. Woohoo for me.

About a year ago, Jeff and I went through one of our closets together that contains small appliances mostly. I felt there was much we didn't need anymore. We did purge that day but we agreed to put some stuff that we were unsure about on the top shelf of that closet. I am here to tell you not one item was touched since the day we put it up there. I would say that is full evidence that the shelf can now be cleared out. It is on my winter list.

Speaking of winter... fall and now winter have been very mild here in northwest Florida. Much to my liking. Winter is swinging in for a day right as 2025 is leaving, but it seems to only be for a day. I will take that.

We are heading to Auburn to ring in the new year. I will ring it in before midnight as always. I am going to rest the remainder of this week and put together my goals for 2026. 

See you next year,

Sandy

December 13, 2025 A.D.

December 13, 2025 A.D.

I have lots to talk about. I will save all the surgery stuff for later.

First up is an early Christmas present. I wrote about all the things I consider treasures from Germany here.   One of those treasures was the cuckoo clock that didn't work and had been sitting in a box for a long time. It is pictured in that post way back in the day. 

One day I walked in the sewing room where the box was supposed to be and it was missing. I immediately asked Jeff about it. I had spoiled the surprise. He had finally found someone local to repair it and thought he had been secretive in taking it out of the house.

We discussed where to hang it much too long and finally decided on the family room replacing a clock that hung in this spot. It has to be very high because of the chains. It is quite loud so there are times that I have to stop the pendulum from swinging such as when we are hosting our weekly Bible study.

Needless to say it was a great present.

Stitching

I have finally finished stitching The 12 Days of Christmas. Here it is just folded under.

I wanted to have it fully finished by now, but I have just worked so hard, and it is what it is. I hope to sew it up tomorrow. Currently my plan is to back it with a green fabric that does have a subtle variegated print. I want to edge it with piping and put some hanging strips at the top to hang on a dowel. Those doggone beads have tried to come loose which I am glad is happening before I gift it. I think I am just going to put a dot of Alene's glue under them to secure them. I hopefully will get it done this week.

Decorating

The house is all decorated for Christmas. I have thoroughly enjoyed it ---I guess that is when you know you have the right amount of decorations out.

Not much has changed in the last couple of years. Maybe a tweak here and there, but nothing new.

There is a lady on Instagram who does a weekly post about how you don't need to buy anything new...you don't need to go to Walmart, Home Goods, etc or order from Amazon. She says you are just bored:) 

I would say she is mostly right!

But....I did buy one thing new. I needed some new placemats for my kitchen table that were green. My others were toast and I had thrown them out last spring. I went to Kohl's and found some that have a wee bit of sparkle in them.

What I couldn't decide was which color napkin to use. I ended up liking both so I am swapping them out often. Green is up right now.

Is there going to be a house tour this year? Truth? Probably not.

I added more green ornaments than red to the bowl...one tweak.

You may even notice Valerie in the background by the Auburn Christmas tree.

One corner in the kitchen.

I have been so busy this December, but coming home to all the pretties has been good. 

Home!

This corner will probably stay a little longer than Christmas.

A Winter Project

I mentioned that I planned to defeat the darkness this year with projects to keep my brain engaged rather than falling asleep so early. My first project was to check off a long procrastinated ancestry book.

I had made an ancestry book for my side of the family, but never followed through with Jeff's side of the family. I buckled down this fall and tried to work on it a few nights each week. I can finally say it is completed with pictures and all. WOOHOO!

I  used this document I made to add information and went back as far as I could safely feel like it was legit. I did use Ancestry's website, but I found the website Find a Grave and in both cases the old family Bibles to be helpful as well. Jeff's mom gave me her side of the family written out in her handwriting years ago. She had asked me if I wanted it and I said, "Absolutely," but raising a family made me lay it aside for far too long. Many of Jeff's family were in one cemetery which did make things easier.

I can't tell you how good it feels to have this task done. I made us a binder and each child one. Now, they have both sides of family information down.

One interesting note on this... I noticed when I was doing my side of the family I only had one grandparent  (of course add great great to that) that was a Civil War veteran. I noticed dates of birth and realized my relatives were just not the age that would have put them in battle. However, just like my dad was in the Korean War and Jeff's dad was in WWII that made all the difference for his ancestors to have multiple Civil War veterans. Jeff's parents are older than mine. They had Jeff a little later in life. I was able to find some interesting information on the Civil War veterans in the family that with the information Jeff's mom had written down for me all those years ago. 

One interesting photo I came across in Jeff's parents' albums was ....

The 2 men standing are brothers of Jeff's great grandparent. His great grandfather was the youngest and these 2 were the oldest. The picture was made at a Confederate Reunion in Little Rock in May of 1911. I had seen the picture in the album but decided to look at the back where the information was plainly written down. He also had one relative who died during the war. Based on the information I wondered if he might have been at the hospital in Point Clear (The Grand Hotel) as that was a hospital during the war. He is buried at Bayou La Batre which would be near there.

I was very proud of myself or getting that done. The kids haven't seen the binders yet. I am waiting to hand those over at Christmas.

Shopping

I also have most of my shopping done and gifts wrapped. I can't take credit for all of that. Jeff has been a busy shopper. 

I hate shopping.

One particular evening we were out and I really felt quite old. I just hate the stores these days as most seem so junky and poor quality stuff. I was lamenting the days of organized department stores or small stores that you could swoop in and find just what you were looking for without shuffling through so much other stuff. Part of this is online shopping of which I am very guilty of utilziing. I was complaining like someone old too. Had to catch myself!

Thankfully Jeff has more patience for shopping than me.

College Football

I just have to go back there one more time this year. I know many of you don't keep up so scroll on down past this heading.  I am usually not one for drama of any kind, but I couldn't help myself with all the Ole Miss / LSU / Coach Kiffin drama. I was lured in and followed like I was hypnotized. Totally unlike me!!! Now, I will say in my defense that our family texts were lighting up with the latest news. Jeff's dad and brother were big Ole Miss fans. Jeff and his brother Danny used to go to the Auburn/ Ole Miss game for years whether it was in Auburn or in Mississippi. Paul Allen and Jeff keep up with Ole Miss so it just continued with all that drama coming out.

I eventually came to a conclusion  ---- and this made me giggle!!!

....Remember the old show "Dallas? and the episode of "Who Shot JR?" Oh my goodness, I was at Auburn  when that aired back in the early 80's. I watched with friends with eagerness to find out who had actually shot JR. Somewhere out there is photo of my friends and I that night having our watch party. 

One day I was keeping up with who said what and that came to mind! The drama with Coach Kiffin had become as big as "Who Shot JR?" The best thing so far is Archie Manning calling Kiffin narcissistic.

I am now on to basketball!

Life Update

Jeff's surgery went very well. Better than we could have hoped for. The tumor was not cancerous, in fact he said it was more like inflammation from the previous surgery. I am still happy for the 4 month scopes. This surgery was not invasive at all, so he was not down at all. He has finally been able to ride his bike again after the knee replacement. I had almost given up on that idea, so that is a huge win.

Lindsay's surgery was on Monday. She was worse than expected and had to lose an ovary and a Fallopian tube. She thought it would be a 3 day recovery. That ended up not being the case. She is finally feeling a little better. She will try and work some this next week, but Christmas vacation starts with this coming Friday so that will be good for her to use the remainder of December recovering. Jeff and I have been helping with transporting kids to and from school. I am very grateful we can help.

We did have some family pictures taken on the Friday after Thanksgiving. They were so so... sickness and the weather made them so so for me. Here are some of the cutest though...

Well, that is a wrap on a long post. 

I do hope to settle down after Christmas and do more posting.

Grateful,

Sandy

November 30, 2025

 I have been gone awhile...

Stitching Progress

I have #4-12 finished.  I have actually started 1-3, but haven't had much stitching time lately. I am now hoping to finish mid December.

Interesting Fact

Hurricane season "25 is officially over and left us with a very unique season. I will share what I mean in the two pictures of information.

No landfalling hurricane to the United States since 2015, but even crazier is...

We haven't had one here in the Gulf...especially along the northern Gulf Coast.

Crazy, but I will take it!

Life Lately

We have spent a good portion of our evenings in November at Fall Baseball aka "Fall Ball" and then Flag Football.

The last Thursday before Thanksgiving week was Palmer's last game and Tucker had a flag football game. Tyler had to go out of town so Jeff and I helped Lindsay out. We stopped and bought them food to eat at the ballpark because they would hardly have time to go home and change before the first game.

While Lindsay walked back and forth between the 2 fields, I took Palmer and Jeff took Tucker. Palmer was so excited to get his little medal and have pizza.

Tucker had a great play which as Jeff said, if there was an ESPN for flag football for kids, Tucker would have made the highlight reel. Lindsay, Palmer, and I arrived at his field just in time to see his side going crazy and congratulating him. He came from across the field to the other side and dove to get the flag from the opposing team and then slid on out of bounds. He saved the touchdown and they won the game. He was beyond excited.

What I did notice, but thought maybe he had eaten snacks was that he didn't eat. Tucker loves food and rarely ever turns anything down especially Chik Fila because he does not get it often.

At 9:30 that night Lindsay found out why when he threw up. That was the beginning of that wing of our family having perhaps the worst stomach bug in the history of stomach bugs. It went through them and the both ends lasted for a full 48 hours and then just incredible lethargy. I began to wonder if they would even have Thanksgiving.

It was a school holiday week, but trust me none of them had a holiday. 

We did manage to NOT get it, but we have other things of concern which I will save for last.

We had to cancel family photographs, but we all were together for Thanksgiving.

Jeff ordered a craft project for the kiddos to make. Tie dye t-shirts by spraying them with paint.

They poured macaroni on and then used the paint to spray the color to them.

Even little Valerie got one made by her Mama.

Thanksgiving is always a great day. It never fails that I start to wonder if I should have decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving like everyone else in the world seems to be doing or at least social media would have you think. I really don't care what others do, but I like keeping things like I had them growing up. 

I ignored the crowd and as always when the meal is served and I sit down to rest I am glad I waited. 

I have been decorating since Friday morning. I did buy my tree on Tuesday because the best tree stand arrived, but it just sat in water until Friday.

-----

All last week I wore an Auburn shirt...

I know it sounds crazy, but the last few years have not been for the faint of heart for us Auburn folks. If you grew up in Alabama as I did, you know it is just a wee bit different. I completely set myself up for heartbreak. I thought maybe just maybe since it was a home game and at Jordan Hare (remember Coach Saban says the stadium is haunted) that just maybe we could pull off a win. 

Like I said I set myself up for disappointment. I got up every day last week and donned an Auburn shirt. I have an entire wardrobe of Auburn attire. I even slept in an Auburn shirt each night. I was giving them all the juice from afar to pull out a miracle. HA!

I got up yesterday and put on my Iron Bowl traditional orange and navy stripes, tiger socks and Auburn Sorelli. I pulled out the stops.

I said I would take the loss if we just stayed in the game until the end. Oh! I should have never voiced those words. More yardage on offense but lots of mistakes left me undone and saying I am never watching college football again. 

I will. I do hate what has happened to it lately. I have no idea what I think about the coaching hire, but it is time to get on board anyway.

So, War Eagle!

And now on to the reason for no words from me for a while.

Lindsay's sickness of course caused her surgery to be postponed. That is twice that has happened. Nothing you can do but go with it. It is now scheduled for December 9th.

The even tougher stuff. Jeff has another bladder tumor. I just could not write ---

Surgery is in the morning in Pensacola. 

The tumor is in the same location as the last one. Even though the biopsy was clear, the doctor said a cell could have remained. It is small so the surgery should be much quicker and less invasive as the last one. Thankful for those cystoscopies every 3 months.

Cherish the good moments with your family. We did get the pictures taken Friday. Haven't seen them yet, but glad we were able to get them.

Mom slid down in the shower today. She is more and more feeble daily and while her mind is good enough to get the important things done, I will say it is slipping too. She will tell a story and it is a new story made with things from at lest 3 real events. She just combines them in to a new story. It all sounds good and logical, but wow is all I can say.

I can tell you all of that wears on me. Just haven't felt like communicating. Sometimes you just need to be quiet and let God hold you which HE DOES.

One day at a time. 

Don't know when I will be back. (sounds like song lyrics- I know you oldies are humming it now)

To Christmas and the birth of our Savior,

Sandy

November 9, 2025 AD

It is predicted to be cool when I wake up in the morning and even colder (34 degrees) on Tuesday morning. My bottlebrush have still been blooming and even today when I took this picture a little bee was happily flitting around the blooms. I would prefer to keep the mild temperatures we have had, but I guess it is time.

This week kind of wore me out physically and mentally. I am much better with all the sickness thankfully. I love days when I don't have to leave the house other than to pick up little Valerie, but those don't happen very often. There are always little things to keep me hopping all around. 

I usually walk out on the deck when I get up and get dressed and then sit back down at the kitchen table for my Scripture reading. I like to walk out even in the cold and look out at the sunrise and peacefulness of the water. The sunrise has moved way over to the right at this time of year. It is always amazing to me to see it in the different seasons. While we don't have the typical seasonal things, it is the little things like the location of the sun in relation to the water that lets you know the time of year.

The setting and the time with the Lord always help start the day off on the right tone.

I didn't take too many pictures this week, but there was some fun things mixed in with the other. I left Valerie with Jeff and scooted over to Tucker's school to watch him in a Veteran's Day thing. His grade level sang patriotic songs and in between the songs some of the kids shared history. Tucker had a line for his class. He did well and I loved watching him. 

I must say walking in to the school, I couldn't help thinking of aging. My goodness, I am a grandma. I spent so many years teaching and doing little performances like his and there I was walking in white headed and wrinkled and in a completely different stage of life. Unsure of how life has moved so quickly, but I do love being his grandma.

I am still stitching away on the 12 Days of Christmas. It is taking longer than I thought. Sometimes, those little small stitches have way more stitches than you expect. I have thoroughly enjoyed it though. Each one takes about 4 days, so my goal of having it done right after Thanksgiving was a little ambitious. I will keep at it, and I am sure it will get to the person at the perfect time.

I am still reading away this year. I started Jan Karon's Beloved and had to pause to read another book. Let's first talk about Jan Karon and her fictional town of Mitford. My mom first shared them and the author of the other book I will share today. I tried reading the Mitford books before I retired and couldn't get in to them. I will tell you why ---- I spent all those years teaching reading voraciously in the summer. I think I chose books that could be read in that manner. Page turners if you will. I don't think Jan Karon's books are meant to be read like that. It wasn't until I had been retired for about 2 years that I picked them up again. No hurry---just slow methodical reading. I saw the beauty of the characters and the town and fell in love with them.  Beloved is not meant to be read quickly and I am enjoying connecting again with all her characters.

My other book that I read in a few days was Karen Kingsbury's The Christmas Ring. I had a surprise when I realized the setting for the book was Columbus, Georgia. Long time readers know I have lived there twice in my life and have a strong connection to the town. Anywho, KK has made this one into a movie. I will say this movie is a sappy love story. The book had more depth, but both were classic Karen Kingsbury. Her movie last year held Jeff's attention. This one not so much. I warned him, but he insisted on going :) I took Mother to this one and she enjoyed it much. If you are a Karen Kingsbury fan, I absolutely say go and read the book but take your girlfriends.

Jeff's back issues have returned so a phone call will be in order in the morning. I am guessing once again, we will schedule a surgery. The severe spinal stenosis probably won't go away and couple it with the Parkinson's makes it even more troublesome. I am very sad about it. He just can't catch a break. It is sometimes overpowering and heartbreaking to think on for too long. I have learned a lot about living one day at a time over the past few years.

I have also learned a lot about focusing on the good and the blessings too. 

In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. - 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Until next week,

Sandy

November 2, 2025 AD

 Sunday evening, November 2, 2025 AD

I could not wait to put this out. I love Thanksgiving! November is here and I do love November. 

I am going to start and go backwards in time with my post today. Jeff and I went to a wedding this weekend in St. Augustine. We had good friends who moved to Ponte Vedra a few years ago. One son is here and one is in Jacksonville, so the one in Jacksonville was getting married. We drove over with another couple and had a nice little weekend in a great location. We ate at Columbia Restaurant on Friday night. It was so good. It is Florida restaurant with the largest one in Tampa. Man...it was tasty. St. Augustine is always a fun trip strolling in the historic district. The wedding was there with a view of the water on a rooftop. Very pretty!

I did not take pictures on the trip other than of us all gussied up. What kind of blogger am I turning into?

We don't get this dressed up much and I am ok with that. I am not one to go around sloppy, but dressing up doesn't suit me all that much.

I got sick once more and have had another round of antibiotics and hope I am fully past all of that. I need to really work on getting my immune system in order. I am starting in the morning with a pretty regimented plan for the month of November. 

We have been going to fall ballgames on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the past few weeks. It finally turned cold this past week and I had to put on leggings under my pants and a sweater and a blanket, but I do enjoy watching the little ones play.

That first cold evening which I know is all relevant to where you live  is so shocking to the system. It seems so much colder than it actually is but when you live in a warm weather climate it can be a blast on the system. 

September and October have been very pleasant months but not fallish at all. I think the Florida fall arrived so November is giving me some vibes.

College football is not helping me at all. Being an Auburn girl has been hard for a few years now. I am so ready for a change there.

Enough of that.

Here are the kiddos in their Halloween costumes. We were in St. Augustine for that, but I will document the costume choices. 

Tucker and Palmer chose Darth Vader and the Incredible Hulk.

Miles was Spiderman and Valerie a sheep... minus the mask and ears. 

Lindsay got a promotion. I am not going to tell you her title due to privacy issues but it is a BIG DEAL. She had to be board approved which I knew would happen. She is very qualified! I was in charge of making sure 3 little boys were quiet while this all happened. They did great! The family was there to support her that night. 

Her new duties will officially start in January, but she is super busy right now getting all the details with her new job while getting ready to hire someone to replace her current position. Mama is just trying to be there to help.

Many will remember her birth with Palmer was rough and endometriosis has reared its ugly head since . She will be having a procedure on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to hopefully alleviate that. No hysterectomy on the docket but she has been told not to have children anyway, sooooo other than her age that might not have been a bad idea. We are just praying for the right thing to be done to help her. She is a tough cookie.

A bluebird landed on the deck the other day. That is very rare for this time of year. I usually only see them in early spring here. I do love my bird watching. I just happened to walk over to the window and there it was.

A little Gus who is the best cuddle.

A little Valerie in warmer clothes on that first cold day.

I have some reading to share soon and I am sincerely going to try and post once a week for the month of November.

Quote from Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember by Barbara Rainey

After 65 days at sea from Plymouth (a total ofd 97 days from the first launch at Southampton), the Pilgrims caught a glimpse of their destination, the new land where God would be worshipped freely and -- in time -- where freedom would flourish. Shouting for joy and falling to their knees to pray, they celebrated by reading Psalm 100.

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.

Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before Him with joyful singing.

Know that the Lord Himself is God;

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving, 

And His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him; bless His name.

For the Lord is good;

His lovingkindness is everlasting, 

And His faithfulness to all generations.

The book is so good. I will need to share more about it later. 

That is it for now...Going to try and stay awake until 9:00. It seems like is midnight and only 6:25. Oh this time....I must remain positive.

Sandy

 

October 18, 2025

As usual, time just gets away with life. I am still kicking, but was surprised that 3 weeks had passed so quickly. 

Here goes a catch up post.

*****

I have been stitching on 2 things. This first one I was enjoying, but I came across something that would make a wonderful Christmas gift if I can finish it. 

First up is the one I have been working on for fall.

The pattern is below and I think because of the pattern that AIDA will work quite well.

I ordered it from 123 Stitch and it may have to be finished for Fall 2026, since I did come across a pattern for the gift. It is a 12 Days of Christmas pattern and I immediately thought of a good friend who has helped me so much in the past few years. She has held my hand through so much of Jeff's diagnosis of Parkinson's so... if I can finish it that would be nice. I won't worry about it, just try.

Here is the pattern from Stoney Creek. My friend Anne loves the Christmas lights at Calloway Gardens. I specially remember the 12 Days of Christmas from last year when we went together. 

I am stitching them altogether in a grid and thinking a quilted type finish to hang on a door would be a nice finish. We will see what I come up with when I finish the stitching. I started from the bottom and plan to do 4 rows of 3. I have a little more to stitch on number 10.

Now, for some things going on here in the last 3 weeks...

I finally decorated for fall inside and now I feel like life is going by very rapidly. I always feel like fall is the fastest season. I am not sure why, but before you know it is Thanksgiving and people have already forgotten that and have decorated for Christmas. I am a huge Thanksgiving fan. 

I think the weather has been amazing here. It is not what people think of when they think of fall, but it is beautiful nonetheless. 

Blue skies. Perfect warm weather. Lights changing but still giving me plenty of it. Cotton fields a bloom still while some has been harvested and you get those big beautiful bales. All of it reeks of fall in northwest Florida.

I did plant my orange pansies yesterday. I love that they will take me through the winter.

***

Little Valerie at church in one of the dresses Mama smocked for Lindsay all those years ago. She is a cutie in it.

***

We have had another home improvement project this month. It was a quick one and only took a couple of hours. I mentioned earlier that after the removal of the pine trees the kitchen and living room got tons of sun and heated up pretty intensely.

We have thought about lots of options, but Jeff remembered at our previous home we had one of those half circle windows above the French doors in a vaulted great room. It let in a lot of sun and heat in the afternoons. We had gotten a window tinting on it and it had solved the issue. That was 35 years ago, so our thoughts were it would be much improved now.

We had them do the bay windows in the kitchen pictured above and the French doors in the living room right behind my stitching chair. That is all we did. I had really observed the situation for a while and think that will take care of it. We decided we can always add more windows if needed. 

The day we had them install was an overcast day, so we couldn't really tell what it would be like.

You can see that is it darker than the doors out to the deck by the table. We didn't want them all done because it will make the room a good bit darker. We have had several weeks to think it over and I must say we are good with the decision. At first it was liking looking through some lighter sunglasses, but the view is not obstructed with curtains or blinds. We are totally used to the new look now.

The outside does have a darker look, but we have dark screens so we got out on the boat the next day and it is not an issue at all. In fact, the next picture the doors do not have film on them....

and the ones below are the ones that we covered by my stitching chair in the living room. 

We just didn't notice much from the boat so I think we are all good. 

The plus side is if we ever sell, this is removable if future owners didn't like it.

***

Jeff is pictured with Paul Allen's dog, Dansby below. They were at the vet. You may want to caption it and then I will tell you what was happening.

The day before Paul Allen arrived home to discover Dansby had eaten 2 boxes of raisins. If you don't know, raisins are highly toxic and can cause kidney failure. Paul Allen gets home after picking up Miles and I take Valerie to him about 5 minutes after he arrives home. I walk in and he is on the phone with the vet. They told him if he could get Dansby there in 20 minutes they could see him, otherwise it would be an emergency vet. I told him to go. I had the kiddos. 

They gave him a shot to cause him to throw up. He threw up 36 raisins and had to drink about a liter of charcoal water. He was fine the remainder of the day. They wanted to take his bloodwork the next morning to make sure he was all good, so Jeff took him in the next day. He was sitting on the floor, but decided he needed to be closer to Jeff while waiting. Fortunately, he is fine.

***

Now, for a funny...

Miles and Palmer were talking and Palmer who takes after me and loves dogs. I mean as much as me.

So, he asked Miles if he liked Dansby. Miles said, "Not really, but my dad really does."

This is funny on many accounts. The conversation between a 3 year old and a 4 year old, but also truth. Miles has no interest in the dog. Palmer can't imagine that.

***

We went as family to Auburn last weekend. We had bought tickets for the kids to go to the game and we kept the grandchildren. It also turned out that long time friends were there as well.

A little backstory...

Jeff and the other Jeff have been friends since junior high. They were roommates in Auburn. I met Jeff in our apartment complex and the other Jeff met his wife in that same complex too. They lived here in Fort Walton all of our kids' lives. We did a lot of life together. Lots of Auburn trips were made with our 2 (Lindsay and Paul Allen) and their 3 boys. It has been ages since all 9 of us have been together. And of course, now they are married with kids too. Jeff and his wife Nancy have a home on the same street as us in Auburn. Their permanent home is in Huntsville. 

We were altogether for the first time in ages. I thought the below picture was just precious.  Sam, the same age as Paul Allen and the father of twin boys and one on the way was making them all tell each other their names. I put stars on the ones that you could see their faces and are not mine. One of the twins is kind of hidden behind Palmer. There were 7 kids, 8 if you count Valerie.

They had lots of fun and there were some tired boys for Jeff and I to watch. Didn't have too much trouble getting them to bed.

***

Tucker has turned 7. I can not even believe that. 7 years ago he made me a grandmother. One of my best titles.

He is now old enough for a big bike. I feel like it is a new era for him.

He can ride it and Palmer not to be outdone has taken his old bike and will have it down soon. 

My life is completely busy with the kiddos and my mom and just the regular things of life. Sometimes I long for it to be a little less chaotic, but I would not change a thing about living near family. The boys are playing fall ball and it seems like someone always has an issue like a dog eating raisins. We took Lindsay's dog to the vet for a UTI 2 weeks ago. I am just glad I can help them out. 

I am thinking about making a list of all the things I can do in my sewing room or around the house for the months of November, December, and January when the sun goes down too soon. I want to try and avoid going to sleep too early. It is already happening. I need a list of things that I am mostly sitting to do but will keep me awake during those months for at least until 9:00.

We will see how successful I am. Determined not to dread those days this year!!!

For now, enjoying fall in Florida,

Sandy