Winter Wonderland

This is what we have been experiencing in our area. First the freezing rain, then the snow.

 I'm not walking in this winter wonderland though. I don't have the equipment, ie boots, gloves, etc. because we don't normally have this kind of weather. We usually have at least one spell, but seldom more than one.

I don't know if my Oleander tree will survive. I know I'll have to cut it back and that's not a problem. I just hope it comes back out in the spring.

It's lovely to look at from the warmth of my window, that's for sure!

Last night I took some photos of the white stuff coming down. They turned out pretty cool.

Stay warm my friends!

A Christmas Card for You

From my family to yours, I hope you have a blessed Christmas!! May 2013 bring you peace, joy and happiness.

Seated: Grandson "LMW", Daughter "LeLe", Mother-in-Law, Me, Daughter-in-Law "K"
Standing: Son-in-Law "MK" , Father-in-Law, Husband "SR", Son "J"

Merry Christmas!!!!!

B

Giving it Up

Noo, not blogging. Had ya going there didn't I?

I meant, I'm giving up and showing some of my Christmas decorations. Everyone else is doing it, so yeah, count me in.

My tree, stockings and wall hanging.

It's full of red, white and green. Lots of candy cane type ornaments and a few little birds. I used one of the huge ornaments from Hobby Lobby for the topper. I just turned it upside down and hot glued a dowel rod into it. It's heavy, but it works.

This is between the television cabinet and my recliner. It didn't stay this way long because LMW likes to play with the people in the village and the nativity characters.

Santa used to move around, but he decided to retire. You see the little reindeer thingy? Well, it is all the rage now, but let me show you something interesting...

My grandmother created this when I was a child. What comes around, goes around and everything old is new again. *wink* I may try to make a larger one too, since this one hangs in my sister's home. Lucky girl. We all made fun of it until recently. My sisters all made fun of me for making a smaller version of it. The joke's on them!!

On the opposite wall is LMW's little white tree and my first Christmas quilt.

This is one of my dining room walls.

It's packed full, but I like it that way.

And this is between the dining area and the living room. I painted the cheese box lid back in 1983, but I added the fun stuff to it just this year.

So, there you have the biggest part of my Christmas decor for 2012. I'm hoping to add a little more next year. My mom was famous for all her holiday decorations and the kids all loved it. I hope to carry on that tradition for this little man here.

Uh, I mean the one on the right. *grin*

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

A Fall Day Trip

No, it's not Winter just yet. I'm trying to be patient about it. I do have some Christmas "decoratings" to show you eventually, but not today.

Today is all about the day trip SR and I took to Pinnacle Mountain State Park. Most of the leaves were gone, but the ones that remained were pretty.

That is the mountain. Some folks hike up to the top, but we aren't that kind of folk. We did take a little walk down the flat path though.

Great for tenderfeet like us. Neither one of us were wearing the right kind of shoe for hiking, but we discussed going back with hiking gear and such. We even talked about trying to hike all the way around the entire base of the mountain. I dunno....we'll see. It's a tempting thought, but it's gonna have to cool down a LOT more before we seriously discuss it again.

This is Little Maumelle River.

The base trail runs parallel to the river and we walked a little way down. 

PHOTO OP!!!

The river is really picturesque and I saw lots of turtles on rocks. Couldn't pass up the chance to take some shots of them. 

They're cute from a distance....

On we went to the....

There were some very interesting exhibits inside. Hmmmm.....I ddin't notice the snake until it was pointed out to me.....otherwise I probably wouldn't have gotten this close. Even if it IS fake.

I couldn't tell if this little guy was real until SR ran his finger down the glass and it closed its eyelid. I bet LMW would have gotten a big kick outta that!
Then up we climbed to the...

No, we didn't hike the mile Quarry Trail, but maybe another time. When we reached the overlook, this awaited us...

That's the Arkansas River.

The view is lovely handsome very nice! It was a lovely trip and one we hope to repeat.
 On the way home we stopped at a flea market/antiques and collectibles place in Benton. We love to browse for treasure and both SR and I found a little something.
This was his...

(going in his man cave)
And this was mine...

It's a bit bold, but has that mid-century modern vibe going. I have a few things in that genre and plan to put this little gem somewhere above my kitchen cabinets to bring some color into the room. Sometimes something ugly not so attractive can really add a punch to the things around it if placed just right. Keep your fingers crossed that I can do that.

Thanks for viewing my trip photos. I enjoyed the trip and sharing it with you.

Where's Waldo?

LMW has had a ball playing in the leaves. Yes, we in the south still have leaves falling. I've heard there are none left on the trees north of us. Doesn't seem like Christmas yet because of all of them, but I bet by the time December 25th comes around, they will all be gone.

I have a new camera. It seems to be taking much clearer photos than my old one. I think it might be due to the fact that a little red haired boy pushed on some of the old one's buttons too many times, and his Nanna dropped it one too many times. Ya think? Nah.

I've been considering discontinuing this blog, and just posting everything on The Seam Rippers. I find it harder and harder to write this one. I see that my posts are becoming fewer and there is more space between them. I used to wake up in the night with topics to blog about. I would even get up and write them down at times. Now? I got nuthin'.

I will hold off until the first of the year and maybe then make a new start with the other one. I hope that you will follow me there if you don't already.

I appreciate your reading and your comments so very much and I've made some really cool friends. If you would like, we can be friends on Facebook. Until then, I'll muddle along. *grin*

"I found Waldo! I'll take his picture for you Nanna."

Very Quick Post

I don't have much to post except to say I'm very happy to find out that my son and his wife are having a GIRL! Woo hoo.

One other thing though:
Please continue to pray for my friend Tonya and her husband Jerry. The situation does not look good for him and he needs a definite healing miracle.

Thanks.
B

Storm of the Century

The news people are telling us that Hurricane Sandy will be the storm of the century. I sure hope they are wrong about that!! I have a friend in New York and she has had some bad bad weather in the last few years. Knowing her though, I can rest assure she will be prepared and will persevere.

Life is routine these days. Sewing a little, doing housework, and trying to keep up with LMW.

I let him play in my car last week...he LOVES to pretend he's driving but he also loves to turn every single thing in the car on. I didn't check that before we went inside and I didn't leave the house the next day. He and I climbed in the car to go to Walmart the following day and....you guess it, the battery was gone. Dead as a doornail as they say.

Luckily, my son J was headed down to the deer camp, and he stopped by to jump me off. From now on, there won't be any playing in "Nanna's White Tar" for LMW. Poor baby.

He is now uninterested in any "school" type fun, I guess he got bored with it. He is one of those children who need to be physical and entertained in that way. Sure wears a Nanna out.
Today the weather is going to be cold and wet and I must come up with something to keep him happy. If LMW ain't happy, no body's happy.....

Frustration, Elation, Anticipation and Progress

I have a new computer. Well, a new to me gift from my cousin in California who is a computer guy. It is his three year old system and it is better than my old one that was about to pass into computer heaven. For the last several years, he has gifted me with his old systems when he upgrades. It's a blessing for sure. And even though I'm so very thankful, it can be very frustrating to switch everything over from one to the other and get it all going.

It took me two weeks to get it all in sync with my internet connection, my kindle and get my files transferred. And I have to admit I did say a very bad word once.  But I think I have it all under control now and working like it's supposed to. Keeping my fingers crossed anyway.

I won a book giveaway from SewCalGal!! I was elated. It's called Urban County Quilts by Jeanne Large and Shelley Wicks.

I can't wait to try one of the projects inside. Maybe this one first....

It's always nice to win something. I have been winning books mostly in the past year, but would be happy as a clam to win some fabric. Speaking of which, I'm anticipating the arrival of these beauties.

 

They are Jason Yenter fabrics and I won't receive them until after the first of the year. I ordered them from my good friend Tonya who has a fabric page on facebook. Click here to check her out. It's a prepay order but at least I know eventually I will get them. The first five I plan to make into a quilt of some kind, the last two I plan to make myself an awesome new purse. I can barely wait!!!

I'm progressing with my postage stamp quilt to the point of having three strips ready to connect. I quilted the strips separately thinking it would make it easier since there are so many little blocks.

I pieced them all by hand, and they are not perfectly square anywhere you look, but that's the fun of hand piecing. I can hardly wait to finish it so I can place it on the twin bed in my sewing room.
When I do finish, I will post it on The Seam Rippers blog.

So that's what I've been up to in the last week or so. Thanks for stopping by!