Rainbow Scrap Challenge Post

Just stopping by for a quick post. It's been quite a while since I posted my blog on RSC but I've been sewing as much as possible. Things have really taken a turn around here. We've been dealing with my mother's cognitive issues for a while and, since she moved in, it affects all of us. I've got her back in P/T for balance, strength, and mental well-being. I have to say she's pretty easy to deal with since she doesn't resist much of what I ask of her. In general, she's a cheerful, funny gal and for that we're grateful!

I wanted to share a finish with you today. Awesome Land is a pattern by Lissa Alexander that is in her book "Oh, Scrap!" I started it in January 2020 and here is a link to my very first post of Awesome Land. We've had quite a ride with it for sure but it is now finished.

She finished up about 72"x72" so she'd make a great lap quilt or even a picnic quilt. Instead of Warm & Natural batting, I used Quilter's Dream this time and it is so soft & squishy. This one will be a joy to cuddle up in.

A peek at the backing I used and a bit of the quilting. I've since learned that circular quilting pantographs are much quicker to do than pointy ones. Maybe that's what happened here because this pointy panto took FOREVER to quilt!

At a local quilt shop, they give a monthly pattern for a doll quilt which they will later donate. We are encourage to use our scraps so last month that's what I used for my leaders & enders. It needs to be quilted & bound and then I can turn it in for donation. It is about 12"x18".

I'm keeping up with Twilight Stars QAL. Here are a few of the latest from this week. I still have about 5 weeks left to make up to be totally caught up which I plan to do by the end of January -- you know, after the holidays!

My other SAL is Red Threads, an embroidery block-of-the-week. Here are a few pictures of my latest blocks. I am 100% caught up with this one.

That catches you up on my sewing and my mother. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Peaceful New Year.

Linking up with Angela on SoScrappy.

I Like Thurs #132

Good morning! Are you all set for Christmas? Have you settled down to enjoy the upcoming holidays? We're mostly set but we have a couple extra days to prepare. My brother, his wife, and daughter will be stopping through here for dinner tonight and then continuing their travels to my SIL's parents' house. Everyone (and I do mean EVERYONE!) will be back on Tuesday for a couple of days/nights. "Everyone" will include the original three plus 4 more! It'll be jolly around here, for sure.

Yesterday was "Dress Like an Elf" day at Brody's school. Here he is getting ready for school and then on his way. Wonder if he's eating a Keebler cookie there in the back seat? Lol!

His elfin outfit was worn over the weekend when he got to enjoy The Polar Express. For real! He rode on a train to see Santa, eating a cookie & having a cup of hot cocoa too. He also learned the chicken dance while waiting his turn to see Santa.

Ok, enough Christmas! Haha!

Gracie & I enjoyed a beautiful sunrise Wednesday. Just look at that color!

Still in the subdivision

Just getting to the bike trail

About a minute later. Stunning, right?

Mom & I have been enjoying Christmas music in the car on our way to appointments. Christmas CDs from Dolly Parton, Gene Autrey, Toby Keith, The Starlight Singers (?),  and my favorite CD by Jim Brickman. Do you know him? He plays the most beautiful piano music and the holiday songs are especially lovely.

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas season. If you don't hear from me next week it's because my house is full and so is my heart. Besides all the human company, I may have forgotten to mention two big dogs will be here also -- a 4-year-old Golden Retriever and a 1-year-old German Shepherd. Gracie's Christmas will be complete! Lol!

Thank you, blog friends, for making time to visit my blog. I enjoy all your comments. That is ONE BIG LIKE! Merry Christmas to all of you!

Linking up with other "Thursday Likers" on LeeAnna's blog HERE.

I Like Thursday #131

Hope to make a quick I Like Thursday post. With Christmas around the corner I for sure wanted to share a "Grandsons with Santa" picture and this one just cracks me up. I LOVE IT!!!

At the risk of making Jacob look like he's on the "naughty list", here's a picture of Gracie "greeting" the Amazon driver. I'm surprised she's not pressed up hard against the glass! Of course she feels like she's doing her job of protecting us from danger. Definitely going on the "naughty list"! Hahaha!

I finished my two Twilight Stars blocks for this week. That definitely makes me very happy. I've got 6 weeks to make up to be entirely caught up. I'll get there one day! This has been a fun QAL with Primitive Gatherings.

I've tried a few new recipes. First one was this Cheddar Bacon Quiche with Spinach from What's Gaby Cooking. It was good and we would like  more spinach and I would definitely make sure to "finely chop" it even better next time.

Last night I made this Cheese and Sausage Quiche from Southern Living. Easy and delicious! Definitely on a quiche kick!

Another easy and delicious dinner was this Tuna Noodle Casserole from Mary Berg on Food Network. I made a half-batch and cooked it in an 8"x8" dish. It worked perfectly. I also only used potato chips on top, no extra cheese as Mr. H is not a big cheese-lover. Definitely would recommend it.

A hearty dinner another night was this One-Pot Florentine Pasta from our local grocery store, Schnucks. We loved it and would've loved it even more with more spinach! Two cups of fresh spinach was just not enough. Can hardly believe we would like it more healthier! Ha!

There you go! No excuses for not making a delicious, homemade dinner. Next week I may have a couple of dessert recipes. Stay tuned!

I'm linking up with LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color to share these good things and to see what others are also sharing. I hope you have a great week!

I Like Thursday #130

It's been another week and of course I found things to appreciate. I'll be sharing on LeeAnna's blog with others. You can read & enjoy too if you click right HERE. In the meantime, let's see what I found to enjoy.

Thanksgiving was just last week and I have a few pictures to share from that day. My niece participated in her first Turkey Trot. She was very proud to finish the 5K. Here she is with her fiancé who also ran.

Thanksgiving is all about the bird, right? Here's a shot of ours this year while resting. Maybe this turkey should have trotted away!

We also had another special guest on Thanksgiving. This hawk was looking for his own bird to enjoy for dinner. Here he is just sitting on our deck where you can see my peanut feeder hanging. There are usually plenty of birds grabbing seeds but they seem to have flown away. Ha!

A side story here: Do you know what a junco bird looks like?

National Audubon Society's Photo
Info on Juncos

Anyway, one of these little birds got trapped in our garage overnight the other night. My husband said I should leave the garage door open after I bring Gracie back from her walk. I went to do that but the poor little thing kept trying to get out through the garage window and was beating his beak time & time again. Then he'd sit on the sill, catch his breath, and then start all over again. Since he couldn't be persuaded to leave with a gentle push with a broom, I went over and actually was able to hold him gently in my hands. I took him over to the bush by the garage and he hopped right in and then promptly flew away. This incident reminded me of the time when the same thing happened with a hummingbird a couple of summers ago.

My neighbor surprised with me with a gift a couple weeks ago. These amaryllis plants were only small buds when I got them. As you can see, we are in FULL BLOOM! Don't they look pretty in front of Frosty McChill? The embroidery blocks were shared last year by Melissa from Pinker 'n' Punkin'. She is amazingly generous with her designs.

Bolero on the left
Minerva on the right

Recently I finished "Someone Else's Shoes" by Jojo Moyes. It was very enjoyable. I thought it was going to be too light for me, too young, but I ended up really liking the characters.

GoodReads synopsis

Earlier I finished "The Engineer's Wife" by Tracey Enerson Wood. A good friend of mine recommended it. It's about the woman behind the man building the Brooklyn Bridge. I enjoyed it and, if you like historical fiction, you might also.

GoodReads Synopsis

Last night I started a new book. It's "Simply Lies" by David Baldacci. He's one of my favorite authors and this promises to be a "psychological thriller". Yikes! I hope it doesn't give me nightmares! Hahaha!

GoodReads synopsis

Now for a laugh: Some of our Black Friday orders arrived today. Here's the picture an Amazon driver took of the delivered package by our front door. Notice the "sweet" dog "welcoming" him. This picture just cracked me up although we are trying to get Gracie to calm down when she sees delivery people in our cul-de-sac. When they walk up to the door to drop something off for us, she really goes berserk!

I hope you have an amazing week. Look around and see how good life is.

I Like Thursday #129

Today is Thanksgiving. I like to think that ALL the I Like Posts are about Thanksgiving. Anything that makes you smile, makes you happy, gives you a warm fuzzy, can be reasons for giving thanks, right? So here's another I Like Thursday/Thanksgiving post from yours truly.

Look at this beautiful clematis that was appreciating our nice weather. Gracie & I were appreciating our beautiful weather on our walk too!

Is this upward view on the trail something? Definitely added to my Thanksgiving List this year!

My friend's daughter had a Friendsgiving get-together last weekend. Charcutier boards were the potluck theme. Here's a picture of my friend's dessert board. Isn't that Rice Krispie Turkey in the middle of the back wonderful??!!??

My daughter sent this picture to me from her local grocery store. She was very impressed (😜) with the marketing on this loaf of bread. She's pretty sure it's just plain ole white bread but I think it has poultry seasoning in it to taste like stuffing but no mushrooms, oysters, or other "different" additives. What do you think?

Last Thursday Mom, Fred, and I went to a Veteran's Day luncheon with the Troy Senior Center. They served ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans with bacon, and for dessert - your choice of pumpkin or apple pie. It was delicious but the best was yet to come! They honored all veterans from all branches of the military and we were entertained by the Scott AFB Airlifter Brass Band! They were magnificent and we certainly were privileged to meet these fine young Air Force musicians.

To say we were razzle-dazzled would be an understatement. They played a little jazz, a little marching music, a little orchestral, and an extraordinary rendition of a medley of all the military branches, including the US Marine Corp, the US Navy, the US Army, the US Air Force, the US Coast Guard, and the newest US Space Force! We didn't even know the last two branches had songs! Man, are we old!!! Lol!

Yesterday's walk, Gracie & I went up and over the bridge to see what our friend Emma was talking about when she said there's a giant Care Bear on the other side. She was right! There's no plaque to explain it but there it is.

Last week we watched (on two recommendations) "All the Light We Cannot See" on Netflix. It has four installments, each about an hour. It took us two nights to watch the whole thing. We all enjoyed it. I can add that I read the book in April 2022. Besides synopses, GoodReads is also good for keeping track of books I've read! You can read about the book HERE but watch it on Netflix.

On top of all this, we seem to be in good health around here so we are all thankful for that as well. Warm Thanksgiving blessings to all of you and your families!

November Progress

All I've manage to accomplish this week is summed up in three pictures:

This week's Twilight Stars

Trying to catch up on a couple more Twilight Stars

Red Threads block this week

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

I Like Thursday #128

Well, it's been a while since I posted on I Like Thursday but there is always something happy to find. Some days you just have to look a little harder is all. One of the best ways to feel good is to read about what others have found "happy" and that's what I'll do too. Just hop on over to LeeAnna's blog where other happy-sharing folks link up too.

We recently took a trip to see family. Who could not be happy here?

Brody watching Wheel of Fortune with Grandpa
and eating gummi bears

I got love from Jacob

Brody likes his back rubbed. Grammy is good at that!

Brody went to the pumpkin patch and brought
home a Giant Pumpkin

Anniversary Date Night
(Grammy & Grandpa watched the kids)

Grammy got to play Monster Trucks with Brody

Grammy took Sadie & Jacob for a walk.
Jacob likes to stand in the wagon to
see where he's going

Brody & Jacob's Halloween Costumes
Brody - Ghost Buster
Jacob - Slime

Family Portrait
before we hit the road

We also visited my brother's family.

Mom, John, Fred, & me
checking out John & Karen's
future homesite

A Boy & His Mama

Jennifer & Chris

Kelli & Hunter
The girls had a wedding to attend

Picture of my Garden
Before we left on the trip

We did not get to see my brother's son but there was exciting news to be shared!

Will you marry me?

She said YES!!!

Lovely Rock!
Of course she said yes. Lol!

John III & Katharine - So Happy

I love Fall. I love being outdoors in the cool, sunny weather even if it means raking Mom's yard.

Lots of leaves

Filled the can with ground-up leaves

 

Looks good!

Right before our trip, my BFF came to visit for a week with a 5-day retreat scheduled in there. We went to Kinderhook Lodge with about 15 others and enjoyed our time together. Kinderhook is located in Illinois but very close to the river. On the other side of the river is Hannibal MO, home of Mark Twain. Vickie & I took a walk to see the Mark Twain statue on the water and check out this river cruise boat. We agreed to do this one day.

Mark Twain Statue
American River Cruise

Polly sort of liked Vickie - Lol!

I usually find something to admire while I walk Gracie. On this day I spied these lovely asters. Aren't they a beautiful shade of purple?

I'm sure LeeAnna gave us a prompt but, the renegade that I am at times, I won't follow today. This post has gone on long enough. Hopefully you can understand why I've been so neglectful of my I Like Thursday posts  now.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your week. We are looking forward to another nice weekend here IL!