Between Christmas and New Year's Day

We've been busy around here -- shock! shock! My son and his family arrived Sunday (21st). With two boys, aged 3 & 6, it's been fun and very active. We had our Christmas turkey dinner the day they arrived and exchanged gifts on Tuesday morning. Jacob (3) got a couple of styrofoam (?) airplanes which gave us great joy throwing them about in the backyard. The weather was perfect -- sunny, 60s with a light breeze. That fun ended when we discovered the neighbor's rocks and we could throw them into the pond out back! Why do boys always NEED to throw things into water??!! Lol! Anyway the family packed it up on Wednesday (24th) and headed to the other grandparent's house. We'll see the group again tomorrow, the 28th, before they head back to Maryland on the 30th.

In the meantime, we've got a family funeral to attend today. Hubby's great-niece's 17-year-old son passed away from an epileptic seizure recently. We'll drive on down today to express condolences. So sad and especially so during to the holidays.

So have you been enjoying the month of December? We started the month with extremely cold temperatures which flipped last week with unbelievably mild temperatures. We're about to get cold-snapped this upcoming week so I hope to get behind my sewing machine a bit. I've got Christmas gifts to finish sewing! ACK!!! And a couple of flannel blankets to put a crocheted edging around. Sounds like a good project for watching all the upcoming football games!

As I'm sure you've noticed, there hasn't been a lot of time for sewing or blogging for me recently. There's lots to  do with doctor appointments and things to get straightened out for selling Mom's house. However, I have made sure that I've gotten in a little handwork most everyday. That's the beauty of cross-stitch & embroidery -- pick it up and go! Time's up? Shove it aside. Hahaha!

Here's my cross-stitch project -- Scarlett. I took a picture last week of where I was. Today I discovered I never even shared it. DOH! So here's my progress in four steps for your enjoyment -- whatever!

November 8th

November 20th

December 19th

Today, December 27

She's definitely coming along, slowly but surely. I feel like I'm in the final stretch anyway.

Since I also mentioned embroidery, during Mom's weekly standing Friday hair appointments and bi-weekly PT appointments, I've been working on Primitive Gatherings Snowman Gatherings panel. You really can't see it but the top half is done and I've only got from about the waist on down. I hope to piece the outer borders this winter/spring. I've got the pattern and the layer cake for it.

That's about it from here. Take some time to enjoy the stillness of Winter here in the Northern Hemisphere or enjoy swimming & boating if you live in the Southern Hemisphere. Wishing eveyone a moment of reflection as we approach 2026.

I Like Thurs #175

Welcome back to another round of likable things. My first "like" is the weekly invitation from LeeAnna to share our posts and the next "like" is what all the other bloggers share. Visit LeeAnna's get-together HERE to see what I mean!

First up to like was the Senior Center Luncheon. We always have a good meal and a good time! Lunch, cookies, and entertainment!

Beautiful Cookies Bagged Up for the Taking

Look Who Showed Up! Santa & an Elf!

Mom Enjoyed a Santa Visit

She Tried to Convince Him She was a Good Girl! Lol!

Even I Got a Hug! I Liked That! Ho Ho Ho!

A Christmas package arrived in the mail. Polly liked that! Hahaha!

One of our lovely neighbors dropped off a bucket of Christmas cookies. Definitely the most wonderful time of the year and a big Holiday Like!

One night I made this Hamburger Stuffed Acorn Squash. Too bad I can't find where I got the recipe. Argh! I hate when that happens but, trust me, they were good and even hubby liked.

Last night we went to Olive Garden. We were supposed to go on November 25th, our 47th anniversary, but Mom didn't feel like it so we ordered Jersey Mike's subs instead that night. Last night we all enjoyed our dinner out and anniversary celebration.

Don't forget to check out the other posted "likes" HERE. Have a great week!

I Like Thursday #174

Good morning, friends! It is very cold out here in the Midwest. Today's high temp will be 23 degrees F and currently (6am) it is 20. Our ugly low tonight is projected to be 8. Yes, ma'am, that's pretty darn cold.

Weather Captured as Leaving
with Gracie for our Walk
(Check out the Feels Like! Brrrr!)

Let's move on to our prompt from LeeAnna -- it's all about board games -- do you play them? Is there a go-to game at Christmas? Etc.

My family loves board games. Fred & I used to play board games just the two of us a long time ago. Scrabble was a good one. We also played card games: Rummy & Crazy 8s in particular. A good dice game is Kismet which is a Yahtzee-type on steroids. The Cribbage board was also a good one.

As we added members to our table, Scrunch, Pinochle, and Hearts were favorites. As our family gatherings grew, we added Parchesi to the mix. That was always a good time with players moving in & out. One year we even had 3 four-man teams competing in a Christmas tournament! Such great memories! A very big "Like".

This past Monday was our Christmas party at Quilt Club. Those of us that participated in the mystery quilt brought our tops to share. What a show!

These were all that had room to hang. Then there were many more shared at share 'n' tell.

Here's Me with Mine

Diann at Little Penguin Quilts reminded me HERE that Christmas decorating can start small. It could even include a Christmas coffee mug, so I brought one of mine out this morning. My coffee tastes so much better in the holiday spirit and that includes with a piece of Carole's Pumpkin Orange Bread! Carole shares a lot of her recipes and this one is definitely a keeper. You can find it HERE and she even included a PDF for easy download!

And that, my friends, is the end of another I Like Thursday post. Visit LeeAnna at her Not Afraid of Color blog HERE to see what others have shared. There's plenty to like there!