What I Am Up To Lately

Good Morning friends! Hello to new friends! So glad you all have stopped by. We are still having beautiful, sunny days with wonderfully cool evenings. We went to our State Fair yesterday, the five of us. Had a very good day there. Madeleine and I truly enjoy petting the huge draft horses. Do you? Madeleine and I shared  Funnel Cake. The boys shared  Deep Fried Oreos. ʘ‿ʘ We brought home a six pack of Cream Puffs (our State Fair is famous for them) and we each ate one right away. Four out of five of us went to bed with weird feeling tummies!

Speaking of weird feeling tummies, Henry threw up the other day. On Mabel's bed. yeah. It had been washed one too many times. The fluff was lumpy. So I made her a new one.

I never made one this deep. She loves it! Her problem is that Henry loves it too. ;)

Did you notice Henry is getting a little bit fluffier? Yay! And Mabel is too fluffy. She definitely needs a haircut soon. She is doing very well presently. We are sure hoping it stays that way too.

I have been waiting for weeks to get a cute(if you can call it that) picture of Tilly and Todd. Our resident toads. Those two live under the patio stone in the garden. Well, we have a lot of Tilly and Todds. (◕‿-) Mabel found one the other night in the dark. I used a flash for the picture.

I finished reading The Prisoner In The Third Cell by Gene Edwards. It is an historical fiction book that takes a look at John the Baptist's life. I liked it. It was inspirational. I am now reading The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier. This is a very good book so far.

I found this on Etsy last week.♥

Not the poodle. The antique silver thimble. Do you see the "V" that I see? It has two "V's" on it, and I love it. It is in very good condition.

I have all kinds of viola seedlings growing here and there. The seeds fall from the previous years of plantings in the hanging baskets on the trellises. I just love finding them pop up. Here is one variety. So sweet!

If you did not read my last post, maybe you should! You can receive a chart or another gift for leaving a comment and answering a question. That giveaway ends Thursday August 15th.

That is all for today friends. I am stitching a freebie right now. I hope you have a stitchtastic day!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Sewing and Gardening

Good Morning friends! Wow! We shot right up to 89º yesterday! Lovely day for gardening. I have been getting some done every day this week. Madeleine and Brian even helped a bit on Sunday. I am so glad. I just cannot garden all day long anymore at all. Take a look at my garden pals.

These two were hanging out under the trampoline for a shady rest. They continue to get along. The biggest issue is that Mabel wants Henry's food and he wants her diet food! I have to stand watch every time or they will switch!

These two sit on the back porch now. =)

I could not find the same pink pansies as last year. These are a pretty pinkish purple. I also planted the two pots in front of the garage with the Pius XI colors, since the graduation and party are not far off now for Jacob.

I am not sure if I made mention that he is officially registered at Marquette University. He will begin the nursing program in the fall. They only had room for 125 nursing students. Over 1,100 applied from around the country and world. It will be so very interesting to see how many male students there are.  It appears there will be few. Jacob received very good scholarships and grants.

Jacob just went to his Senior Prom with a friend. They had an excellent time. It is now a whirlwind of school activities. School is done before May is over. Jacob and Emerson have both begun studying for Advanced Placement course final exams. These will be difficult, but if they do well, they will receive college credits for the courses. Lots of money saved then. ;)

This is the little bed I made for Henry. Now he has two, like Mabel. He loves it. Have I mentioned I love HIM?!?

SQUEE!!

I finished the book A Skeleton In God's Closet by Paul Maier. A very good fiction book. It is twenty years old. I read it because our Pastor mentioned it. I just began The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen last night. This is one of the Royal Spyness series I very much enjoy.

No cross stitch to show at all. I must get this latest book read and back to the library so I can begin another waiting for me. =) I just love books. I love to stitch too, but sometimes new books just need to be read. ;)

Today promises to be another hot one. I may garden again, don't want to push the pain too far. I have prayed for all of you today my friends! I hope you have a glorious day!

Reading and planting,
Vickie

A*Pink*Christmas, At Least On The Front Porch ;)

Good morning my friends! Hello to my new followers. I am so glad to have all my friends come visit me, new and old.

Well I have been busy making things. And none of it cross stitch! Since the kids were home for 5 days because of the holiday, I could not stitch on the XI ornaments. This is a picture of our front porch taken yesterday afternoon.

I have had the little pink Christmas tree with pink lights for a few years now. I just made the wreath over the weekend. I found the book Have Yourself A Very Vintage Christmas at the library. Well, when I found that 50's wreath, I just had to make it. I was rather surprised Brian is agreeable to it. But I am glad.♥ I think it looks pretty good with the pale pink bricks in our home.

While shopping at JoAnn for my wreath supplies, I spotted the perfect fabric for a pair of pajama pants for Emerson. He keeps growing!!! He is 6'3" now, the tallest in the house.

I teased him and said he would look like a tall tree with this fabric. ;) He likes such different fabric than me. He is very artistic. I have made him pj pants before. Actually this is the seventh time I have sewn these for the family, everyone but me! I use the tutorial found here. I decided from the start to keep them simple and I skip the whole cuff thing.

I also found some really nice yellow fabric at JoAnn. My kitchen is pale yellow. I am telling you it is hard to find pretty yellow fabric at JoAnn. I kind of look for it occasionally, so that when I do find some I get it. So I bought small quantities. That's all I need to make two hot pads. I made one last year using a pattern I found in another library book. This one I just went on memory and guess work.

I like it! I have two other yellow fabrics, to make another hot pad, but not just yet. The kids are back to school and I need to get their ornaments done before St. Nick's!

So this is "Fuzzy Wuzkins" in her new bed I stitched up for her. I had the fleece for months, waiting until it was time to replace her last bed. I should be giving Mabel her hair cut this week by the way. I just gave Brian and Emerson theirs! Always something right?

I don't use a pattern for these dog beds, I just wing it.

I finished reading The Sanctuary by Ted Dekker. Wow! What a good book. I have never been disappointed in a book by him. And I have read 35 books by him!! He writes pretty wild thrillers about good vs. evil.

Well off to the treadmill and then to stitch. I hope you have a fabulous day my friends. Thanks for visiting me! Come again.♥

Stitching and praying,
Vickie