I'm so Ready to Fall into Autumn!

With record-breaking temperatures beating down all summer, I've really been drawn into making quilts for Fall.

I started this one for "someone special." Can't tell you who it's for until I give it to her, but you can check it out all the same! It's machine-pieced but hand-quilted. I try to have one going by hand at all times. I love to sit and stitch while watching TV in the evenings.


This next one is for ME!!! I've really done very little work for myself over the years. I've done a few things that are around here, but I can always use more -- right??

It's the same pattern, but machine-quilted on my new machine. Not perfect, but I'm still working on it!!! One of these days I'll graduate to some "real" designs in my quilting.



Close-up of the stitching. I did this with a variegated thread in Fall colors. I love the way it looks!




Both of these little quilts have this farm scene for the background.

Stitching up a Storm....

I've spent the vast majority of my "free time" stitching up a storm. Remember this quilt??



Well... I just wasn't that happy with it. I thought it needed a little something.





The flowers looked kinda dreary.





So I added a little "punch" and beaded the centers of the flowers. I like it much, much better now!



Here's a pink ribbon quilt I've been working on this week. I started it on Retreat in the spring and have just gotten around to quilting it this week. My quilting is far from perfect, but I'm learning!!!

Here Fishy, Fishy.... Here Fishy, Fishy!

Just wait till you hear what all we've done this week. It's about enough for 10 posts!

Last week Biggsy whisked me off to Sargent for a day of fishing. No Kids. Woah. AND he hired a guide. I'd never gotten to fish with Captain Gene, but Biggsy and Abbie had fished with him earlier this year.

Wow. What a difference that made!!! Captain Gene runs Living Waters Guide Service out of Sargent. It doesn't take long to realize that Captain Gene strives to be the hands and feet of Jesus to everyone he meets. We had a great time sharing God Stories and all the ways God has worked in our lives.

Beyond that, Gene is GREAT at putting you on the fish. We boated a lot of redfsh and trout. For once, I out-fished Biggsy and brought home five trout. He brought home a redfish and a trout that were both bigger than any of mine. But I prefer to talk about the sheer numbers of fish I caught.

THIS is the best part of fishing with Captain Gene. He cleans all your fish! Yippee!!!

Okay. Here's the Deal.

I've been thinking about this -- how could I not?

Tomorrow (Tuesday) marks two years since my Momma went to be with Jesus. That's two years of her dancing in His kitchen and eating off everyone else's plates at His dinner table.

Last year, our first "anniversary" was spent on a grand adventure. We were with Kelly and the Owen Kiddos, bottle-feeding fawns and and an angora kid. The tribe did a rain dance with Miss Kay out at Paint Rock and had a grand old time. I was determined to make a happy memory to mark that day.

This year, Biggsy had planned to whisk me away this evening for a little surprise trip. That all fell through Saturday morning at 2:00 a.m. when Kait made it all the way downstairs before she threw up on the floor of our bedroom. The next 41 hours brought more of the same. I called the pediatrician's office late yesterday, and they said she needed to be in an ER or an after-hours clinic within the next four hours.

We made it to Excel up by Target about 20 minutes before they closed. The staff there was second-to-none. They decided very quickly that she needed an IV. She was dehydrated enough that it took three tries to get it to work. Not as bad as the stitches after the tree incident, but no walk in the park, either. After about an hour, I brought her home -- along with two different formulas of anti-nausea.

She basically slept until 12:30 today. I had to wake her up to go get Abbie. But when I woke her up, she was completely back to normal. She didn't stop talking all afternoon -- it was like she had been storing it up. Even turned a few cartwheels in the playroom this evening.

Unfortunately all the drama put Biggsy's surprise on hold.

I really don't want to wallow. And I really don't want to sit around and think of what we're missing out on not having Mom here -- and what she's missing out on in return.

So.... I have this idea.

If you knew my Momma, would you take a moment to post a memory or two about her in the comments section? I'd love to hear what you have to share.

I can get you started....

I remember....

When I had to stay home in the first grade because I had pink-eye, and she taught me to ride a bike without training wheels.

Strawberry cake. 'Nuf said.

Dancing in the kitchen.

Mom driving us ALL over for stock shows and everything else 4-H had to offer.

She bought the girls' Easter dresses.

She made all our Easter dresses.

The straight pin she sewed into my formal for Sr. Prom. OUCH!

It was always Feast or Famine.

FHB -- Family Hold Back.

P.G. -- And not the movie kind.

Staying up LATE to type 4-H and Commercial Steer record books.

Cutting out dresses on the conference table at work.

Rice, cream of chicken soup and cut-up chicken.

Mom's Stew

Mississippi Mud.

Hummingbird Cake.

Pasta salad. Pasta salad. Pasta salad.

Collecting dishes.

She who has the most fabric wins.

Borrowing a serger, so I could make that pink formal.

FedEx.

"Anderson and West."

Lindy Long-Legs

Ranch Oak.

Killing 2-3 water hoses every time she needed to kill a snake.

Rick-Rack.

T-shirt Dresses.

The Beached Whale.

Taking Chatchie to Ruidoso.

The banana on the way to ski in Ruidoso.

Fanny Fantastic on the trampoline.

Granny.

Feeding the cows.

AND White Eyelet.

Tweaking it a Bit...

Okay. I've gone 10 days without "The Big Four:"

Alcohol (Not a sacrifice, but still a good thing to elminate from my diet.)
Caffeine (Not a huge sacrifice, but it's good to have around when you're sleeeeepy.)
Sugar (Can't even begin to tell you how addicted to sweets I am.)
Anything from any place with a drive-through. (This is the biggie. It's summer. Do you have any idea how much my kids beg for Chick fil A, Sonic, Taco Bell and Buc -ee's Icees in the summer??)

So. 10 Days. I've lost about 5 lbs. And no, I haven't "cheated." Not half bad, if you ask me. That was all what I consider "bump up" vacation weight, leaving me right about where I was when we left for the Creek in June.

It's good progress, but I need to give up something else. It needs to be The Big Five. I thought about peanut butter, but there's no way. So.... I'm giving up unhealthy restuarant food. Like pizza and the queso from Chili's. Now we're talking willpower!

TODAY!

Is Granny Nelva's Birthday!!! If you get a chance to call her, her number is 3255732426.

God just blessed me with memories of her candy drawer and Schwan's Fudgesicles from her freezer. And of her fixing my hurts. And taking my girls in when Mom was sick. And all sorts of things.

Goldman Sachs in Talks to Acquire Treasury Department

Sister Entities to Share Employees, Money

In what some on Wall Street are calling the biggest blockbuster deal in the history of the financial sector, Goldman Sachs confirmed today that it was in talks to acquire the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

According to Goldman spokesperson Jonathan Hestron, the merger between Goldman and the Treasury Department is "a good fit" because "they're in the business of printing money and so are we.

"The Goldman spokesman said that the merger would create efficiencies for both entities: "We already have so many employees and so much money flowing back and forth, this would just streamline things."

Mr. Hestron said the only challenge facing Goldman in completing the merger "is trying to figure out which parts of the Treasury Dept. we don't already own."

Goldman recently celebrated record earnings by roasting a suckling pig over a bonfire of hundred-dollar bills.

Elsewhere, conspiracy theorists celebrated the 40th anniversary of NASA faking the moon landing. And in South Carolina, Gov. Mark Sanford gave his wife a new diamond ring, while his wife gave him an electronic ankle bracelet

Hat Tip: Biggsy

THIS.

Is all my fault. I promise. I single-handedly caused the downfall of Crocs.

I bought a pair.

I did.

I bought a pair of those ugly, plasticky, sloppy, sorry excuses for shoes.

I swore I never would, but I did.

I bought a pair because I can put my Grandma Orthotics in them and wear them at the Creek.

I bought them because it was 157 degrees, and my poor little feetsies were miserable in my tennis shoes.

I crashed the company.

I'm sure you think I'm exaggerating, but I have proof.

In Jr. High I got a pair of parachute pants for my birthday. Finally.

They went out of style the very next week.

From My Sweet Kaitlyn...

Kait gave me this verse a couple of weeks ago. Now I'm giving it to you....

For He will order His angels to protect you wherever you go. Psalms 91:11

Newsflash!

Granny Nelva's Birthday is TOMORROW!!! Friday!

For a Chuckle....

Mike Huckaby on Sarah Palin:

"I want her to succeed, and I'm delighted to see her continuing to use her voice because I do think that she rallies people," he said. "She brought electricity to the Republican ticket last year, when, frankly, there was about as much excitement as you would see, you know, at a — at a Baptist dance, which means there wasn't any, until she showed up for the ticket. And then there was fire going forth."