I Like Thursday #91

I'm joining other bloggers to share things that we liked this week. LeeAnna rounds us up each week at Not Afraid of Color. Check it out and get some ideas! There's loads of fun and info there.

In the meantime, I'll start by saying that I'm happy to report that some of the new TV shows for this season have started. One of my favorites is Survivor. I watched Quantum Leap and can't say I was too impressed although Mom & hubby found it interesting. Of course I'm happy to report that the St. Louis Cardinals have definitely made the play-offs. Truly happy about that. Hopefully they'll last long enough to segue perfectly into the St. Louis Blues season! Also I'm semi-patiently waiting for Blue Bloods to start. 

The nights are noticeably getting longer and the temps have fallen. Although it's not yet October, one can definitely tell that Autumn is approaching. Each morning Gracie & I can tell that sunrise is later and later. The good news on that is we get to see some beautiful sky colors! Here's a picture from the other morning.

The book I'm currently reading is "A Gambling Man" by David Baldacci. I'm enjoying it a lot and I'm about halfway through. I find Aloysius Archer a very entertaining character and there are spots in the book that make me laugh. You can read Goodreads.com's synopsis HERE.

I can't let you get away without a picture of a grandson. Here's the latest of Jacob, now 4 months old. Check out those cheeks!

This week ends September and it's going out with a bang. Hurricane Ian is really wreaking havoc down in Florida. Thoughts and prayers to all for getting through it unscathed, especially to friends and family.

Make it a great week!

I Like Thursday #90

It's been another good week and I want to 1) thank LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color for inviting me and others to share the good things from the past week, and 2) thank you for checking in on my "likes" again this week!

Let's start with Mother Nature. The other day I saw these two beautiful creatures enjoying the corn that my neighbor had thrown out in their backyard. From what I understand, these two stop by for breakfast most  mornings.

Mama Deer

Baby Deer

While refilling my own bird feeders this week, I discovered that my clematis is re-blooming! They are the usual Jackmanii variety and just beautiful.

How could I go through an I Like Thurs post without a few food pics? We came across a good deal on beef tenderloins and Fred nailed it on the charcoal grill. I loved mine with a baked sweet potato. He and Mom had a baked russet.

Another night this week, I cooked up some thick boneless pork chops using the sous vide method. They also turned out perfectly seasoned and wonderfully juicy. Applesauce, steamed broccoli, and homemade mac 'n' cheese rounded out the plate ... along with a little wine in the glass, of course!

Gracie & I came across this contraption tied to the post on the bike trail the other morning. The post has a sign that explains the rules of the trail and also a map of the trails.

Close-up of the "Contraption"

Contraption tied to the post

The trail maintenance guy was weed-whacking so Gracie & I stopped to ask him what the contraption was all about. He had no idea, called his boss who also had no idea. It's still there as of today.

Let's go ask the Trail Maintenance Man, Gracie.
Head for the light!

Here's some fabulous news. I was a winner in Week #1 of the Island Batik Give-Away. I won a stack of 26 beautiful Baroque fat quarters! Just goes to show, you can't win if you don't play! They are so pretty!!! I'll have to come up with a good project to do them justice!

I hope you had a good week with another good one on the way. Me? I've got a quilty road trip with a friend happening tomorrow. The trip is coinciding with the first day of Fall and the weather is going to prove it. Falling temps -- 93 degrees today with an expected high tomorrow of 69 degrees! Yikes! Grab your sweatshirts and enjoy the changing season.

I Like Thursday #89

Welcome back to my I Like Thursday post. I try to appreciate the good things in my life as do the others that also post every Thursday HERE. Thanks to LeeAnna for making all this possible.

My favorite thing to like this week is this video of my "little conductor" and his vocal sidekick in the background. I hope I get this right for you. Be sure to turn up your sound!

Would you like to see a picture of the sidekick? Of course you would!

Earlier this week I cooked up a bunch of garbanzo beans and roasted two red peppers. I threw all that plus 4 cloves of garlic, a couple splops of tahini, a little EVOO, S&P to taste, and the juice of 1/2 a lemon into my food processor. Yum! Roasted red pepper hummus! Mom & I love this with Triscuit crackers ... any flavor! We're not choosey!

What a gorgeous color!

This past weekend I decided to make some homemade ice cream. Look at this bowl of delicousness! Chocolate chip ice cream with a little Hershey Syrup. Yum! I really like that!

I'm pretty sure I've told you how much I like and value my membership to my guild Hearts 'n' Hands. I have learned so much and made so many friends through it. Little by little we are getting more members to come in to join us and we still offer Zoom for those that don't feel comfortable coming in yet. Tuesday night we had over 80 show up and, I'm proud to say, we had coffee, water, and snacks available for the first time since March 2020! I should have taken a picture of the snack table. Maybe I was too busy elbowing my way in to get a bite to eat! Ha!

Anyway, snacks or no snacks, our board continues to have programs for us to enjoy. This week, prior to the meeting, we watched a YouTube from our guests Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr from Modern Quilt Studio. They joined us via Zoom at our meeting to then answer any and all questions we had from the video about mixing fabrics/colors. It was very thought-provoking especially since I enjoy making scrappy quilts. Here's a quick picture I thought to take that night.

I'm missing the class they are teaching this weekend because I'll be sewing for a couple days with my Sleep In Your Own Bed retreaters. Oh well, rats! But I'll still be having fun and I like sewing with this group!

That sums up my current week. I hope you have had some special "likes" this week to remind you that Life is Good!

I Like Thurs #88

Another round of "LIKES" for and from all. What have you liked this week? Anything make you smile? This post is exactly that from me and others joining LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color. You can see the others' posts HERE.

On my walk the other day, I thought I spied a fried egg laying in the grass.

Upon further investigation, I discovered it was a funny-looking mushroom!

The Limelight Hydrangea that I mentioned last week is huge. Here's a picture so you can get an idea.

It's now September which means the St. Louis Cardinals are working hard in the final stretch to make the play-offs. We've been enjoying (most of) the games. On other sports networks, we've also been watching the U.S. Open Tennis tournament being held in New York City. The competition has been wonderful and, since it's held here in the USA, the court times are only one hour different. We enjoy the matches from morning until night. Here's a picture of Labor Day dinner: BBQ pork steak, apple sauce, corn on the cob, scalloped potatoes, and TENNIS. Oh! Don't forget that glass of wine! Ha!

The new neighbors brought a kitty that likes roaming around a little bit by day. She's a sweet little kitty named Val. Val walked through our front yard while Polly was watching birds in the front yard. Here's a picture of Polly tracking Val's movements!

My last photos are scrumptious pictures of two beautiful fat quarter bundles that I received in the mail. They were in appreciation of the Twistie quilt I sent to Mercyful Quilts. I got these fabrics from Preeti @ Sew Preeti Quilts as a thank you for participating in the quilt drive. Aren't they gorgeous??!!??

See that one between the white and the yellow? My favorite -- it has radishes! Yum!

And that's it for me this week. Look around this week ... bet you find something you can like too!

FNwF, RSC Light Blue, Letters to Santa QAL, and IL Shop Hop

The post title seems long but the actual post should be relatively short. Let's begin.

For quite a while I've been working on the Noah's Ark counted stamped cross stitch baby quilt. It has entertained me so much for the $5 (or was it $10?) that I spent on it which included the top and ALL the floss needed to complete it. The guild was selling off the remaining items from the quilt show boutique at deeply discounted prices. I am enjoying it so much! It's a great pick-up project!

The quilt stores in Illinois have started an Illinois Shop Hop which lasts all of August and September. Fred & I have been taking several Friday road trips exploring the towns and finding new and remembered fairly local quilt stores in our Southwest Region of the hop. Yesterday's trip was a long one as we ventured 129 miles straight north to visit Ma's Got a Notion in Havana IL So worth the trip! Tons of wide backs and civil war prints, flannels, and homespuns. I was in 7th heaven!! On we went to Jacksonville IL to visit Times Square Sewing and Sew Sweet Quilt Shop. We also made time to grab a bite to eat at Kim's. It was a small cafe with a friendly staff -- just the kind we place we like to eat! We made a note to try again to eat at Babe's in Havana. We tried to get in there but it was very crowded. Must be good, we thought! We tried to get in at Dora's Spinning Wheel but she's closed Friday - Sunday so that will be another day. After picking up my car for a brake job, we finally made it home .... 281 miles round trip.

With all that travel time, I couldn't just sit and chew poor Fred's ears off. I brought the embroidery and stitched in between stops and definitely during highway mileage. Check the header at the top. That's pretty much where I started the cross stitch on Friday. Here's a picture at the end of the day. I also sewed Friday evening watching Serena Williams lose to an Australian woman and it was a very exciting match! Now for the picture. Check out all the extra blue waves stitched! Now that's progress!

I'm considering the blue embroidery part of my RSC post because it is a light, bright blue too!

The Letters to Santa QAL hosted by Moda is proving very fun also. Stitching the letters is not difficult but there is a lot of cutting to be done before the sewing can begin. I'm OK with that. Just letting you know if you'd like to jump on board too! If you want to, here are the current links: Introduction, 1st Clue, and the Current Clue. I started sewing the letters at last week's retreat and accomplished JOY, CHRISTMAS, and the M for Merry. I now have the first three words finished.

 Click on one of the links above to see a picture of Moda's finished quilt so you can see where my words are going. I'm looking forward to sewing TWINKLE so I can mix in a little green!

Looking back, I guess I got a little wordy so this post is longer than I anticipated. Hope you at least looked at the pictures! Ha!

Have a great weekend and, if you feel like looking in on more quilty posts, check out the Friday night sewers HERE and the other rainbow scrappers HERE.

I Like Thurs #87

Happy September! Lately I've noticed a few leaves on the ground under certain trees. Has it been the heat and lack of water that has caused this or is Autumn truly around the corner? Today is the first day of the first Fall month (September) after all. The days are getting shorter, the mornings taking longer to come around. I especially notice this because it's getting later & later for me to put out my hummingbird feeders. Which reminds me that we've probably only got about 6 more weeks of their buzzing happiness.

So what's been going on around here to like lately? I spied this beautiful spider web on my walk the other morning. Isn't the sun gorgeous glistening through the dewy web? It almost looks like a bull's eye on the shed! Haha!

This past Tuesday I took Mom and her neighbor Dee to see the movie "Where the Crawdads Sing". Mom & I had read the book but surprisingly Dee had not. All three of us loved the movie though!

My friends at retreat had told me that the movie would not disappoint whether you'd read the book or not. They were right! I recommend either or both.

Our prompt this week is any warm "back to school" memory. I'm afraid I'm drawing a blank. We of course got some new school clothes but mostly what we needed. Same went for our supplies. We went through our old stuff and got new what we needed. It wasn't made a big deal of in our house. Very practical upbringing, I guess.

I will say that this time of year is when I collect "office" supplies due to the sales. I love these mechanical pencils by PaperMate They make a very fine, visible line for sewing and cutting HSTs.

I also look for the Elmer's School Glue. It works wonderfully for applique and tricky-to-match seams.

Upon occasion, I have been known to pick up a 3-pk of pretty gel pens. I really liked the last ones I got but I can't remember the brand or the particulars. There was a pink, a purple, and a light blue pen in the pack. I've had them stolen lost them along the way and would love a fresh pack. I'll definitely be on the lookout for them.

I'll bet the other "I Like"rs will have better school supply tales to tell than I. Check here at Not Afraid of Color for more back-to-school fun!