I Like Thursday #181

Welcome once again to my I Like posts on this Thursday. I like that we are going above freezing today after 12 days of not! So many of those previous days we struggled to get to 20 degrees C that this is going to be wonderful!! And that is just the first of my I Like post. I love that there is a group of us that share likeable things on Not Afraid of Color's blog. Check it out and see what's happening in other worlds!

As I mentioned earlier, we've been incredibly cold for quite some time. Check out this icicle I found in my neighborhood on one of my morning walks with Gracie.

Longest Icicle EVER!

Last weekend was my sleep-in-your-own-bed monthly retreat. Oh, how I like them!! Since we don't meet in November or December, it's been a long time since I sewed with my quilty friends. I really needed it this month!

Here's a picture of the quilt my friend shared at the retreat. Isn't it a beauty? I really liked how she added the words on the top & bottom too!

Please Pardon the Sunny Rays!

Another friend shared that the bike trail had been plowed. I had not been up that way, assuming that it was like other snow storms and not touched. Gracie & I braved it one morning to check it out. While the trail from the subdivision to the trail was not plowed, once we got to the main trail we discovered that a good portion was! We couldn't go on some of our familiar paths, but we were able to go on the main trail. WE liked that!

Thank You, MCT, for Clearing
Some of the Trail!

You know I love my birds. Here's a close-up (through the screen, sorry!) of the feeder outside my kitchen patio doors.

Mr. Cardinal and Mr. Goldfinch
Sharing Sunflower Seeds and Dried Meal Worms

Our prompt this week is did we share Valentine's Day cards at school? Yes, we did. I think we did that maybe through about third grade. We made our "mailboxes" for our friends to "mail" cards to us too. Sometimes there'd be a card that wouldn't go through our decorated shoebox because there was a sucker or Tootsie Roll attached. Those were my favorites!

I hope you have many things that pleased you last week and my wish for you is many this upcoming week! Don't forget to see what others shared HERE.

Good-bye, Blue 2026!

It's the last day of January and that means Angela will be announcing the new Rainbow Scrap Challenge color. I'm looking forward to seeing which beautiful color  she's chosen for us to pull scraps from. This month seemed particularly long to me so I'm looking forward to turning over the calendar pages around the house and digging into a fresh color.

My sewing goal this month was to make 5 blue jewels for Grandmother's Jewels. I finished #5 on Wednesday evening. Yay!

So let's hear it for BLUE! I predict pink or red for February in keeping with Valentine's Day. Keeping with that thought, I thought I'd show you a peek of a finished top. My chapter of The Applique Society has given us a UFO challenge and I finished my 2025 one. It's a table runner by Jillilly Studios called Tangled Daisies. I'll share more about it after I've shared it at this month's meeting later in February.

Have a great week. Stay warm! And don't forget to check out Angela's blog where lots of RSC posts are shared!

I Like Thursday #180 - The Big Snow

Brrrrrr! It sure has been cold everywhere! Around here, we can expect very cold temperatures through next week as well and then, FINALLY, "normal" cold weather. How did you make out with the "big snow"? We got somewhere between 10" and 12". The way our house sits, we managed to also get the drifts up against our garage door and front door. Every time we got the front walk cleared, the wind blew plenty of snow back all over it again. Argh! On the positive note, it is really beautiful. I like snow!

Snow Blown Up to the Garage Door
Already was Shoveled Twice!

Ditto on the Sidewalk
(See Above)

Why Stop in the Front?
Snow Blown Up to the Patio Doors
and Off the Deck

A Look Across the Pond

I'm trying to keep the birdseed holders filled. Quite a job currently. I like my feathered friends.

Male & Female Cardinal at the Back Feeder

I recently got a tip from my friends at Wild Birds Unlimited. They shared to remove the top from the hummingbird feeders and fill them up to use for the regular birds during the hummingbird off-season! Brilliant! I filled mine up with black sunflower seeds -- cardinal favorite!

Woodpecker Enjoying a Feeder Out Front

LeeAnna, our hostess, has a great conversation starter this week. Do we enjoy puzzles? If so, what kind(s) -- jigsaw, crossword, Rubik's Cube? Check out what everyone is sharing at Not Afraid of Color. Maybe you'll get some ideas how to tickle your brain cells! Hahaha!

I love jigsaw puzzles. I do them all on my own on the dining room table, which can accommodate up to 1500 pieces nicely. Fred doesn't care to work on them and Mom no longer can. I also have a love for sodoku (which I got from Dad) and I also love Kakuro but they are very hard to find. A store was selling off several Kakuro puzzle books which I snagged up quickly and still have to finish. Each morning I also go online to the New York Times puzzles and share with my daughter. We both compete with Wordle, Connections, Pips, and Strands. I'm hoping I keep my faculties and do them until the very end. Lol!

Here's to a lovely week for all. Stay safe & warm and doing what you love to do!

I Like Thursday #179

Let's get this week's edition of I Like Thursday off to a great start with our prompt of the week: Do we buy/like physical calendars? Oh yes, I do! Every year for Christmas I get a new Family Calendar from my daughter-in-law. Each month has a specifically chosen picture or pictures for the month. We all look forward to seeing what the new month will bring!

January's Calendar Boy!

Speaking of my DIL, look what I received in the mail this week? A belated Christmas gift!

Personalized Suncatcher!

I enjoyed several sunrises this week in my neighborhood while walking Gracie. What a great way to start the day! Isn't this just picture-perfect?

I like my Runkeeper app. It keeps track of my walking and each week I get a weekly recap. I even got a yearly one and I thought I did pretty good for getting out with Gracie this year.

Each morning when we get home from our walk, I feed my birds. I thought all these VERY red cardinals looked so pretty and really brightened up my dreary front yard.

Told You We Live in Cardinal Country!

And that, my friends, wraps up another week of things that have made me happy! Get out there, open your eyes, and see what makes YOUR heart happy!

Linking up HERE.

Little By Little ...

Slowly but surely I've managed another blue jewel for RSC 2026.

After a bit of a warm spell, we've turned bitterly cold again for the weekend. My fingers split at the nail due to the cold & dryness so it makes it difficult to do handwork. This upcoming week might lend itself only to prepping a few more jewels but that's OK. I know we'll warm up again.

I did finish Scarlett, my cross stitch project designed by Stacy Nash. I just love her!! She's very helpful and holds my small scissors. *wink*

Scarlett - Front

Back

My Little Helper

Before She Had a Heart

I'm showing her back before I attached the helping heart. I found this linen at my LQS and knew it would be perfect. I LOVE IT!

On a note from the home front: I've been very busy going through Mom's house, sorting what to donate, what to trash, what to put into storage, what to recycle. I have also been setting up the move to a storage unit and making phone calls to cut off her utilities. On top of that, Mom continues to happily go to PT twice a week and make the drive with me to get her weekly hair care. I have less than a month until the closing date of Feb. 13th, which is a Friday. I hope it doesn't live up to its legacy -- Friday the 13th.

Wishing everyone a safe & healthy week! Do check in at So Scrappy to see what amazing Rainbow Scrap projects are being sewn.

I Like Thursday #178

Midway through January already and sharing all things positive again this week. Valentine's Day is less than a month out so I started getting out the decorations. I made this wall hanging in 2014 after buying the fabrics in 2004, I believe, at Primitive Gatherings in Wisconsin before I knew who Primitive Gatherings was!

Lacy Hearts Made by My BFF

Speaking of Valentine's Day, I finished stitching the cross-stitch piece from Primrose Cottage. Lousy picture. It's actually stitched on a beautiful piece of blush-colored Lugana. I will try to get it finished this week or next. Who knows? Maybe I'll even get a better picture taken!

On the homefront, I managed a monumental task this week -- I hand-washed all my hand-knitted socks! The weather earlier had been perfect to get them washed and hung out on the line to dry. I'll not be able to do that again for a while! Our weather has turned frigid once more.

All Folded Up on the Dining Room Table

Here's one last chuckle for you. Little Polly decided that Gracie's big bed in the kitchen was the perfect size for her.

9# Kitty in a Bed for a 70# Dog!

Question for the week from our hostess: Have you ever lived anywhere else? As a "military brat" who ended up marrying a military guy, yes, I have lived in other places. I was born in Tripoli, Libya at Wheelus Air Base. The base was located in Africa on the Mediterranean Sea and at the edge of the Sahara Desert. After Dad finished his ROTC commitment, the family moved back to their roots, New Jersey. Due to the Cuban Missile Crisis, Dad was re-called back into the US Air Force and we moved to Alabama. Before Dad retired from the military, we saw Germany, New Jersey again, and then on to Illinois. After marrying Fred, I lived in Nebraska, Colorado, Hawaii, Florida, and Maryland before returning to Illinois. Sometimes I wonder if I'll live here forever or if there is maybe one more move left in me! Lol! If my story has you curious about others, check out LeeAnna's blog HERE where we are all sharing this prompt.

Have a great week and "Bloom where you're planted!"

A Little Blue Going On

Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for January is blue so I pulled out some blue scraps this week and set to work. Do you remember my inspiration photo from last week?

Grandma's Jewels
Photo from PaperPieces.com

So I grabbed my 1" English Paper Piecing Jewels and set to looking through my blues, concentrating on contrasting fabrics. Prep time came next -- I'm a glue-girl but you do whatever makes you comfortable. I managed to get one star sewn together and have a 2nd one ready to go. Now  I'm ready to watch some football!

I'll be going through the scraps again. I'd like to have at least 6 of these done by the end of the month. I'll be sticking with a plain ole blue palette and saving my dark blues, light blues, and turquoises for if/when our Fearless Leader Angela calls on those in later months.

In health news: I had my DEXA (bone density) scan yesterday. I figured it was a good idea since my "baby" sister had hers recently and was diagnosed osteopenia. Of course, if you're familiar with my blog, you already know my mother has severe osteoporosis. I don't have the report yet but they did measure my height. OMG! I'm shrinking! I am down to 5'2". No wonder I've been using a stool to get things down in my kitchen! I'll be keeping my fingers crossed until I hear back.

In the meantime, keep on sewing! And don't forget to check in with Angela's RSC quilters to see what they got up to this week!