It's been a while (again) since my last post. Many things have gone in that have kept me away from the blog. My fingers have remained pretty busy though.
As April ended, Angela announced that May's Rainbow Scrap color would be orange. I quickly dug out my orange scraps, my English paper pieces, and my EPP caddy. I knew it would be just the thing to take on our upcoming trip to Wilmington NC. The last of my brother's kids was getting married on May 2.
So, working in the car along the way, working more in the hotel in between wedding events, and then working along the way home from my brother's house in Lexington NC, I cut, glued, and stitched. I ended up getting almost all of the Grandmother's Jewels completed by the time we got home and then I did finish them up.
One week later .... Now where was I? Ah, Grandmother's Orange Jewels!
My Favorite Jewel
Five Orange Jewels
I also finished up the jewels for Pink Rainbow Scrap Challenge.
Quite a Stack of Jewels
As I began earlier in this post, we went to Wilmington NC for my niece's wedding. We had a wonderful trip and I saw "long-lost" cousins, I enjoyed quiet one-on-one breakfasts with my daughter, and I loved spending time with friends & family.
We finally met face-to-face Mom's great-granddaughter Everleigh, my niece's daughter. She was born the end of November and is at the great age of 5 months -- aware of her surroundings, you don't have to be too careful holding her, full of life and personality!
Since we were here for a wedding, let's see a few pictures from the wedding weekend.
The Bride Preparing with Her Twin Sister
Mom Seeing Her Granddaughter Before the Ceremony
Exchange of Vows
My Brother's Three Girls! His 2 Daughters and His 1st Grandbaby (Everleigh)
The Bride & Groom Let's Party!!!
My Beautiful Cousin and Her Debonair Husband Came in From New York
My Handsome Cousin and His Lovely Wife Came in From Connecticut
So many old memories shared and new ones made. We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to reconnect. Mom was beside herself!
After the wedding weekend, my son & his family joined us for an extra couple of days at my brother's house in Lexington NC. We had so much fun there too. We loved feeding the chickens!
Three of the Five Young Ones
Mom Feeding a Leghorn
Jacob, my Grandson, Feeding Chickens Notice the Dog Keeping Watch!
Chicken Frenzy!
Both Grandsons Enjoying the Chickens
The Quilt Fred & I Slept Under My Sister-in-Law's Great-Grandmother's Quilt
Close-Up of One of the Blocks Hand-Pieced and Hand-Quilted
John & Karen recently bought a couple of jet skis to go with their house on High Rock Lake. My son & daughter-in-law learned how to run them and off they went!
Jared
Amanda
What about the boys? Want to go for a ride too?
Jared & Brody
Amanda & Jacob
When we got home, I managed to have a UFO finished just in time for the monthly TAS (The Applique Society) meeting. Meet Daphne, a table runner made in a class by Katrina Hadjimichael from Austrailia!
I think that pretty much catches us up on where I've been, things I've sewn, and happy to be home again. Our trip was full of memories to last a life-time!
If you've stayed with me this long, please join Angela at SoScrappy to see what others have shared with their orange scraps. I'm sure they've been more productive than me!
As April is coming to an end, it brings the anticipation of what color Angela will choose for June for our Rainbow Scrap Challenge. This month we've been using up pink scraps. I chose Grandmother's Jewels for my main scrap project. For now, I'm planning on making more jewels for a larger quilt than shown below.
My Inspiration Picture from Paper Pieces
My pink jewels made progress this month. It helps when I remember to pack my thimble for Mom's PT appointments! New total = 4.5 of 5 per month as my goal.
4.5 Out of 5
Last One Going Together
In spite of still needing the fifth green jewel, my stack is growing!
In gardening news, I got both rain barrels out of the basement and set up. We had rain this week and they are both full!
The Purple Minkee columbines have started blooming ...
And the front clematis is starting to open. I love this one's color!
I Spy Gracie!
Have a great weekend, friends, and don't forget to look in on Angela's blog to see what scrappiness others have dug up!
This week I finished the 2nd Grandmother's Jewels. Only three more to go for this month. I have plenty of pink scraps so there isn't a shortage in that bin!
Pretty Jewels!
Spring has sprung around here. I've been working whenever I get a small chance to get a handle on the weeds and pruning. I hope to get some weed killer down on the bits I couldn't get pulled up. Then I'll lay down my newspapers and then some mulch on top of that. Let's hope I can get at least some of the gardens done this upcoming week! In the meantime, I've got some blooms to share.
Clematis is Blooming
Late-Blooming Daffodil Bulbs From Mom's Yard
One Lone Amaryllis This Year
We had a visitor the other day. She was there all day but was gone by the next morning. She's a Luna Moth. I read up on her and she only lives for one week because she has no mouth. She conserves energy by just hanging out, trying to interest a mate for her hundreds of eggs. So sad!
I can share a finished project which always earns an atta-girl!
This & That Pattern Called Pumpkin Spice
On to the I Like Thurs prompt now. LeeAnna gave us this to work with:
"April 16 2026
what is your favorite daily routine? describe it to us... for example
wake early when others are asleep for the peace? Make list?"
I actually have two favorite daily routines. I do cherish my quiet mornings. Mom & Fred sleep in later than I do. I enjoy my coffee and wake up with games on my phone. First games are in the New York Times app: Wordle and then Connections followed by Strands. I save Pips for last because it has a timer involved and I really need to be awake! I move on to a game of Spider Solitaire, then Blockadoku, and then, last but not least, I do a Mahjong Solitaire. All that takes about 30 minutes and then I wait to talk to my best friend, who lives in Knoxville TN. We chat for about 45 minutes most Mondays through Fridays. Then it's off to get dressed and walk my Gracie by 7am. We return around 8 and I can usually hear stirring going on upstairs and I know the day will officially begin in about a half hour.
My next favorite routine starts between 5:00 and 5:30pm. WINE TIME!!! 'Nuff said, right? Hahaha!
Please join all my friends to see what they are sharing.
LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color for all the wonderful inspiration and happiness.
(Clearly I missed an update or something because LeeAnna's prompt apparently was favorite song to sing. No time to change my post now. Ugh! Sorry, LeeAnna!)
Also, Angela of SoScrappy for all things pink on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.
Let's dig right into the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, shall we? Our fearless leader at So Scrappy has chosen pink for our focus this month. Out came my pink scraps for Grandmother's Jewels. There are 5 sets prepped for sewing now. So pretty!
I did want to let you know that the red jewels are 100% done for March now too.
Next up is my cross-stitch progress. You may remember I'm working on this ...
And I was this far along ....
Currently this is where I am. Coming right along, eh?
Sure Hoping the Bottom Meets Perfectly with the Right Side! Lol!
The rest of this post is about our trip to Texas so you can take a pass if you like. Just remember: You've been warned! Hahaha! If passing, just go to the next set of asterisks which indicate the end of "family business".
We left for TX on a Wednesday and arrived on Thursday. We're old and can't take being in the car too long or driving after dark. Early Saturday morning, Mom got misplaced a bit and thought she was returning to her bedroom but instead ended up in the living room. She thought she was getting back into her bed but, since the bed wasn't there, she ended up on the floor. That's where I found her around 6am. I couldn't move her without causing her pain so I roused Fred. He determined that we would need to call 9-1-1. Long story short, Mom got her very first ride in an ambulance and it only took her almost 93 years!
The EMTs were wonderful, the Emergency Room was wonderful, the nurse was wonderful, the doctor on duty was wonderful (and very tall Mom noticed), the Xray tech was wonderful, the registration lady was wonderful. All in all, it was not too bad an experience and I would recommend the Texoma Medical Center if you have a medical emergency and are in the area! Lol! Per my phone, from calling the EMTs to getting Mom home, the whole experience lasted less than 2.5 hours.
The Xray confirmed Mom broke her collar bone and she was sent back to my sister's in a sling with some pain medicine.
Later that day, my sister and I wanted to go to Costco and Mom also wanted to go. What a trooper! She walked all over the store holding on to the cart and eating samples right along with us. That night and the next day (Sunday), we all laid low from exhaustion! Hahaha!
Monday we decided to explore and Mom again wanted to go with us. We decided to make it an "Ike Tour" since President Eisenhower was born about 10 minutes from my sister's in Denison TX.
President Eisenhower was Born Here Denison TX
Mom & Me by President Eisenhower's Statue
Take 1 on a Selfie I Need More Practice! Lol!
There! That's better! Us Three Girls!
Plaque at the Base of the Statue I Loved the Wording
Then it was off to the President's bust that overlooks the Highway 75. Officially it's called the Eisenhower Veteran Monument. Here's a little AI-generated history on it:
The Eisenhower Veterans Monument in Denison, TX, features a massive 16-foot bust of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, created by artist David Adickes. Located at the entrance to Loy Lake Park, this landmark honors the 34th President and5-star general, who was born in Denison in 1890. It is surrounded by engraved bricks and five 35-foot flagpoles.
Key Details About the Monument:
Location: Loy Lake Park entrance (off Highway 75), Denison, TX.
Artist: Renowned Texas sculptor David Adickes.
Structure: A 16-foot tall bust atop a 5-foot stone pedestal, flanked by flags for each military branch.
Dedication: Dedicated in 2011 to honor Eisenhower’s service as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe and as president.
Features: The monument is surrounded by inscribed paving bricks that can be purchased for veterans.
We did end up checking out Loy Lake Park and talked with the museum's greeter. The museum was closing soon so we didn't get to wander through but she had lots of information. We would like to check the museum out next time we visit. There are a lot of old quilts in there!!!
We left for home the following day (Tuesday) and arrived in beautiful Troy IL on Wednesday. Thursday was a full day as Mom had an already planned appointment that day with the podiatrist and we added a visit with her PCM who wanted to check Mom's collar bone out. He ordered up another Xray to be taken around the 2-week mark and another follow-up appointment at the 3-week mark to keep track of how she's healing. We accomplished the Xray yesterday after her weekly hair appointment.
If you managed to stick with me to the end, congratulations! Next Friday Mom's house goes on the market and the house-flipper (Joel) has invited us for a special tour on Thursday after the house gets staged. We are so excited because the house is already looking so good! We hope he makes lots of money on it because he has put in so much work on it. I'll share pictures next week!
