A Christmas gift

    I couldn't show this quilt before Christmas because it was for my only granddaughter.  I had a great time making this, picking out the fabric, sewing it, machine quilting it.  I'd like one like it for our bed, but I have already got another one I am working on for our recently redecorated bedroom.

      Most of my favorite colors are in this quilt.  I love greens and pinks together.  I always thought if I had been an old maid living alone, my house would be decorated in pinks and pastels and lace with doilies on the chairs and embroidered tablecloths on the table.  I try to get a few pastels around me by painting the walls softer colors.  When we repainted our bedroom, however, David had a big part in the decision of the color and I think he picked a wonderful one that complements alot of different colors.  The quilt I am making has alot of red in it which isn't something I would usually do, but it will look good there.  Anyway I hope it will.

        I embroidered my granddaughter's name at the top of the quilt.  I like to add some personal things on quilts I give away whether it is pictures. something about the person quilted in the quilt, things like that.  I used a varigated colored embroidery floss to make each letter different.  I like how it turned  out and I hope my granddaughter will have this quilt all her life. 

       I have several quilts planned for the next year.  Some will be gifts.  I treated myself the other day by ordering some beautiful fabric I absolutely love.   You will be seeing it in at least one of the quilts this year.    You know how an artist has to paint, well, I have to quilt.  I haven't got to do much this week with my daughter being sick and all the after Christmas cleaning and laundry I've been doing and next week doesn't look too promising either, but I do have this weekend so I will be out in my shop as much as possible.  Of course I will be making pillowcases New Year's day.  My mother always had to make pillowcases every year.  For luck, I guess although I just think it's nice to start the year with new bedding.  I got a Bed Bath and Beyond gift card for Christmas so I am going to buy a new set of sheets. I'll make up the bed with all the new bedding New Year's day. 

   Speaking of my mother, this is her graduation picture.  She taught me so much growing up even though I tried hard not to listen sometimes.  Because of her I will be sitting at my sewing machine Sunday making pillowcases and enjoying every bit of it.  I think of her every day and am so thankful she was my mother.

     Don't know if I will be writing again before the new year so hope everyone's year will be healthy, joyful and full of peace.   Always keep looking up to the One who watches over us all. Bye.

After Christmas

  We had a wonderful Christmas day with church in the morning, dinner with family and gift unwrapping in the afternoon  As the afternoon progressed our daughter, who was not feeling well, was getting progressively worse.  She had an infected hangnail and a fever.  I told her maybe she should go to the emergency room and not wait until Monday.   So her husband took her into the hospital while we watched her two boys.

    I thought they would be gone for a couple of hours.  She would get checked out and sent home with some anti-biotics.  Five hours later they came here and Jeremy came in to get the boys and said Sara was completely incompacitated.  Couldn't walk or barely move. She'd been given a morphine shot and had been on an IV.

    He took her home and with his dad's help got her in the house as she was as limp as a ragdoll.  Next morning her hand was red and swollen and she had a big boil on one of her fingers and she had a high fever.  After talking to the doctor, she was sent to St.Vincents which, evidently, is one of the only hospitals around that handles hand problems. 

    As soon as she got there they put her on an IV and later the surgeon came in and after conferring with another doctor did some minor surgery on her hand to get out some of the infection. Unfortunately he had to numb her right at the most painful place on her hand and it wasn't pretty.

      She has been in the hospital since Monday and gets to go home today, but must remain on an IV for two more weeks.   I think I will be going over there to help her out if they need me.

      Anyway, it was a bad end to a wonderful day, but am so glad she is doing better and went to the hospital and didn't wait or she might have been worse off.  We never know when our celebrations can become times of worry and pain so enjoy the celebrations while you can because life has a way of handing you lemons.  Just have to go make some lemonade right now.  Bye

Merry Christmas

    I managed to tie a green scarf around Bonnie's neck without her going berserk so we could take a Christmas picture.  My hat looks like it's superimposed on my head but I was wearing one.    Bonnie seemed kind of proud to be all decked out in what is considered finery for her as she usually will not allow me to put anything on her other than her collar and leash.

     David had to snap the pictures fast as Bonnie was on a mission to go on a walk and did not want to mess with any of this posing for pictures and such.  Isn't she pretty with her shiny black coat and the green around her neck?  Not bad for a middle aged dog.

     As I will be up to my ears in baking, cooking. church going, grandkids and Christmas celebrating the next couple of days, I want to wish everyone a very Merry and Blessed Christmas.  Whether you have a crowd or are alone Christmas day, pull up a chair when you dine and invite Jesus to share the meal with you.  He loves you unconditionally and was born to set you free.  Happy birthday, Jesus.  Bye for now.

Almost Christmas

     I've been busy making Christmas gifts and finally gave some away this week.  This is a quilt I made for someone I love very much who always says when I ask her that she wants something I make.

          I also made this pillow.  I love this pattern.  I think it came from an old Better Homes and Gardens quilting magazine and I have made several things from pillows to dish towels to table runners using it.  It is really easy, but looks like I spent days making it.  It works well with batiks which I very rarely use except when I am making this poinsettia.

      I've been burning candles alot lately.  I have one called Autumn Leaves that make me think of Christmas, I don't know why.  I burn alot of candles in the winter as it makes me feel warm and the house always smells good.   I put a candle on the stove burner where I think if I forget it, it won't set the house on fire.   

      Now this thing about Christmas.  I love the season.  It just doesn't seem to last long enough.  We barely get done eating our piece of Thanksgiving pumpkin pie and the race to Christmas begins.  Every year I plan to have all my shopping done before Thanksgiving and the house decorated the week after so that I can bask in the glow of a heavenly Christmas and dwell on what the season is really all about.  I always plan to give more each year to the Salvation army and I do try not to pass a bell ringer without puttin a bill in the pot, but I want to do more.  I love going to church and seeing how beautiful it looks in all its Christmas finery and I love the carols we sing and the good feeling one gets from thinking on the Christ child.  But I want to do more.  I want to give more.  I want to receive less.  My husband and I always say don't get me a gift, but we always give in and get each other several gifts. 

      I am planning right now to do more this year.  To give more of my time and my money.  To tell others the Good News about our Savior.  To do unto others as I would want to be done to.  The grinches in the world do not like this holiday for some reason.  I don't understand why.  It brings out the best in alot of people.  I know it brings out the worst in some also, but those are the exceptions I would like to believe.  I have not come across anyone grouchy in a store.  Even today this close to Christmas, people were smiling at each other and saying excuse me at the packed Wal-mart we were in.  Maybe it's me looking through rose-colored glasses which I tend to do, but I love everything about this time of year. 

      Anyway, me and Bonnie will be back to wish you all a Merry Christmas in style in my next post.  So bye for now.

'tis the season

  I don't know what it is about the Christmas season, but I get especially creative at this time of year and I sew all the time.  I have all my Christmas presents made that I'm going to make this year, but as you can see, I am still making little people.  I'm up to twenty-five and I see no end in sight.  I have plans for some of them and some of them I will place around my shop to remind me of some fabric that I am fond of.

    This is Mr. Jingles.  He has a jolly bell and snowflakes for hair.  He wants to be Santa, but he doesn't quite make it, but he is still a cheerful chap and is pleasant to have around.

          This is Holly Berry all dressed up for the holiday season.  She has big party plans, but she hasn't let me in on them.  Oh, well.

      Besides making the little people I am making quilts for all of them.   They need to stay warm this winter don't you know. 

   Here are a few more snuggled under their blankies.  Too bad they can't shut their eyes.

     I will leave you with the gratuitous picture of Miss Bonnie Blue.  She always puts on her sad face when I try to photograph her.  She and I have a Christmas picture I will share with you another day.  Maybe two or three.  She got all dolled up for Christmas with a bright green scarf.  Have a wonderful day.

Eating and creating

 
   Eating and creating things are two things I have to do.  I have a shop, studio, creative center in what use to be our two and a half car garage.  We removed the garage door and put in a wall and David put up pegboard and I painted the walls and the floor.  The ceiling hasn't been finished, but now I have a great place to go when I want to do my quilting, crafting, sorting of fabric, etc.    I also refinish furniture here and the above chair is one I am working on right now.  I will sand it, stain it and put a sealer on it and then it will go in our diningroom.

     Today I asked David if he would make dinner since I was going to be extra busy making things in my shop.  Things I cannot show because they are gifts for certain people.  He made meatloaf, mashed potatoes and I made us salads and it was all so good.  David's meatloaf is really good.  He said he would tell me what he put in it after I ate it and I told him not to tell me because it might make me sick.  Whatever he put in it, it was delicious.

 

 

                   This is what my shop looks like while I am creating.  I tend to root through all my fabric to find the perfect piece and leave it in piles until I am finished. 

            This is a pile of fabric I am working with.  I have about four or five projects going at the same time.  Isn't it funny, with so much fabric I would have to go out and buy some more?  It's true, I do.   I am using alot of Pamkitty Morning fabric right now and I love its colors and brightness.  

 

      

 Whoops, how did food slip in here again?  David was a good boy and ate all his green beans.

  

      I will leave you with a picture of my messy shop which I am not ashamed of because I know I will eventually get it back in order again only to mess it up again when I start on other projects.  Bye.

Little people and a dog who thinks she's one

       This is my black lab, Bonnie.  She is seven years old and far past the pup stage.  This summer she discovered she could lay on her back and she has been doing it ever since.  She looks like a bat in this picture when it hangs upside down in a cave.  She doesn't know that.  She thinks she's adorable and so do I.  But on to something I've been working on.

             You know those nesting Russian doll?  I forget what they are called, but I saw alot of them in Alaska and thought they were wonderful.  I thought, why can't I make a stuffed doll that looks like one of those so I drew a pattern and started in making these dolls.   I have become addicted to making them I'm afraid.  I was only going to make six, but now I have fourteen and I see no end in sight as I have a hundred ideas to make more.  Each has its own personality and, of course, I had to name them.  The two above are Dave and Grandma Nana.   He is quite dapper and she is your typical sweet old granny.

        

        This is Ruth.    She reminds me of my Aunt Ruth who always looked so nice when she dressed up.  She always smelled good too and she always had a smile on her face although she had a hard life.  So I like to think this little Ruth is happy and enjoying life to the fullest.

     This is plaid Patty.  Or plaid Pat if it looks like a boy to you.  Remember Pat on Saturday Night Live who no one could ever figure out if he/she was a boy or girl?   Maybe I should put a bow on Patty's head to distinguish her.  Or maybe not.

           This is a few of the gang together sitting on my quilts on the sofa lounging away while I try to write this blog and get the pictures posted that I want.  I am new to this and I get so dang frustrated sometimes and my husband is trying his best to teach me, but today I think the computer is playing tricks on me with things I've typed disappearing and pictures not uploading.  I am just happy I got this far.         

         

            I will just leave you with a very happy dog.  She doesn't even know or care what a computer or a blog is.  Maybe she is fortunate.  I think I'll go and lay on my back in my bed for a while.  I'm exhausted with this whole thing.  Bye.

Posing

    David and I went to the Santa train with Sara, Jeremy and the boys.  There were alot of different characters there that would pose with the children.  Since the grandboys were not too keen about posing, Sara and I did it for them so we could get some pictures of the characters.  Here we are with Rudolph. 

        The Grinch was there being his usual naughty self.  He was so funny.   The grandboys got to sit on Santa's lap and we finally got them in a picture.   

   
        Sara and I aren't the only ones who have been posing lately.    This is one of Belle's favorite poses.  I've never seen a dog who liked to lay on her back the way she does.  Bonnie is looking bored with the whole thing although she also has learned just lately how to lay on her back and does it quite often.  I will post some pictures of her another day.

        
         Here's a stack of fabric posing for me.  It will soon be made into a quilt and some dolls I am presently working on.   I'll be showing them soon also. 


         It's been a fun weekend with the Santa train and then the grandboys' co-birthday party today.  Hope everyone had a great weekend and ready for the week ahead.  Only three more weeks 'til Christmas.  Just wish the season lasted longer.  It goes so fast.  Bye for now.   

Happy Thanksgiving!

  Thanksgiving is the one holiday when we should all slow down, take time to count our blessings and take a breath before the Christmas season.  Unfortunately, it has just become a speed bump to the hurry and scurry of holiday shopping, parties, and dinners.

   Thanksgiving was originally started to thank Almighty God for the past year and for all his blessings and his caring for us.  Now people sit outside big box stores waiting to grab one of maybe four big screen televisions they have in stock and for sale.

   I have decided that at this house we will not shop on Thanksgiving.   If we don't get the biggest or best thing going this holiday season it really doesn't matter.  At this house we will take a few moments to remember who has provided all that we have, who has died for us, who is Lord of all.  At this house God is remembered and we thank him for the loved ones who surround us and those not so near, but still in our hearts.  We are so thankful for everything we have.  God bless everyone who reads this and may all your Thanksgivings be ones of thankfulness and blessings.

Meet my dogs and other things

       When I started my blog I called it "I Love My Dogs," mainly because I had brain freeze and couldn't think of anything else.  I soon changed the name, but I still love my dogs and today I am going to introduce you to them..  The woebegone faced pup in the above picture is Bonnie.  Her full registered name is Miss Bonnie Blue named for Rhett Butlet's and Scarlette O'Hara's daughter in the greatest movie ever made, "Gone With the Wind."  Most of my pets have had names from the movie.   Bonnie joined our family over seven years ago and is a real spaz dog at times.  I have heard that black labs are a little more hyper than the yellow or brown labs and I believe it.  She can get so excited about the littlest things and tries so hard to talk to us.  Honestly, sometimes her whines sound like words to me.  She is a real sweet dog and I love her to bits.  She is a true friend and a wonderful addition to our family.

       This is Belle our chocolate lab.  Her registered name is Bellelattedah and she is a real sweety.  She is named after Belle Watling from  "Gone With the Wind," a woman of ill repute.  Belle is a real lady, she's been fixed, you know.  No messing around with her!   She is easy going and loves to take walks.  We walk for miles some days and she never gets tired.  She is three years old now and quite the grown up lady.  No chewing everything in sight any longer.  Well, maybe once in a while.  You can see she loves to pose as she knows she is the cutest pup around. 

  See these well-behaved pups.  They are sitting smack dab in the middle of one of my flower beds. Oh well, I always say the backyard is the dogs' yard and I don't get too verklempt about them digging something up or sitting on a flower. They are actually pretty good about not destroying plants.  Maybe one in a while Belle would pick a tomato out of the garden, but, hey, she likes her vegetables too.  I know, I know, tomatoes are fruits, but I still think of them as vegetables.

   Now on to other things.  We have been redecorating our bedroom for what seems like months now.  David and I don't like to hire anything done we can do ourselves so things take a little longer to get done around here than usual.  We painted the room a greyish-blue that seems to change with the light and I love it.  David is putting in all the woodwork that I painted when the weather was warmer.  He discovered today he had not gotten enough for around the closets so he had to go to Lowes and buy some more and he gave it the first coat of paint today.  The woodwork is a cream color.  If you have ever been in our house you know all the woodwork downstairs in a dark oak.  I wanted things to be lighter upstairs and thus we have put in cream colored woodwork in all the bedrooms.  We installed, or rather David installed, new light filtering shade in a brown color. 

    This is the first and the last time you will see inside my closets.   Linens and clothes are actually folded and stacked neatly right now, but that will not last long so I wanted to take a picture of a miracle.   The closet doors are getting a new finish and will be back up when I get them done.  Maybe I will have to keep things neat for a while!

      This is my closet with clothes arranged in order right now.  Skirts together, blouses together, and I even have it somewhat color co-ordinated.  About a week from now this will not look nearly as neat so you won't be seeing this closet anymore either.  I don't know when was the last time I cleaned out my closets, but I do know why I don't do it more often.  It's work!

    

      The bedroom is so neat, I had to take some pictures of it.   I wish we had done this a long time ago.  We have been talking abour redecorating the bedroom for years.  That's how we do things.  We mention it, think about it for a few years, then do it ourselves.  The only thing we didn't do was lay the new carpet.  It is a soft plush medium brown that is wonderful to walk on.  I told David no eating up here and so, guess what?  I ate crackers in bed last night.  The last carpet we had I dumped a whole plate of spaghetti with sauce on it.  Don't ask me why I had spaghetti in our bedroom bacause I don't remember.  Maybe I wanted to eat alone.  Maybe David wouldn't take me to Fazolis so I made my own pasta.  Maybe I had just watched "Lady and the Tramp."  I don't know.  Anyway, the end of this project can be seen.  By Thanksgiving everything should be done and then David and I will talk all winter about what we will redecorate in a few years.

Moving a chest

        I have a small chest in our bedroom piled high with vintage tablecloths I have collected over the years.  We need to get everything out of our bedroom in order to have the carpet replaced.  David and I were discussing this one day.  Needless to say our conversations get totally off subject sometimes.  Here is how one conversation went a few days ago.

        Me to David, "Where can we put this chest and all the tablecloths?"

       "Well," says David, "If I were a good husband I would build you some new shelves in one of our closets" 

        "You are a good husband," I replied,  but that would be a good idea."

          Looking at the pile of tablecloths I said in exasperation, "We need another room."

         "Here's what we could do," says David. "We could build a huge storage room off our bedroom(which is upstairs)  and you could have a sewing area on one end and downstairs we could put in a new laundry room."

         "That sounds nice," I answered envisioning the new addition, "but if we are going to do any remodeling, I still want that room up in the attic I've always wanted."  Our attic is big, but the only access to it is through a door in the ceiling of our upstairs bathroom.  "How would we get into the attic?"  I asked.

         " We could put in a landing here and build the stairs from it," says David as he shows me his plan.

           I stop to think for a few seconds.  "You know," I said.  "We are the only people I know who can go from moving a chest and some tablecloths out of  a room to building an entire addition and remodeling the attic in a few sentences.  I think our house is big enough for us and I would rather spend what money we have on vacations.

           "Me too," says David.  End of conversation.

Another project

  Anyone who knows me knows that I am always working on a project.  While I'm working on one my mind is already wandering to the next one.  While I have several projects to complete before Christmas, I found this pattern in one of my quilt magazines and decided I just had to make it for our bedroom.

           We have been remodeling our bedroom for the last few months, tearing out old woodwork, painting new woodwork, tearing out part of the carpet to refinish some wood flooring underneath, painting walls, etc.  Right now we are about halfway done and will soon need to go pick out carpet.  The old carpet that is in there now is over twenty years old and is really gross, I don't mind telling you.

              When we built the addition onto our house everyone was telling me what color I should paint our new bedroom and what color of carpet to get.  I was doing a Bible study at the time with three other women and one of them said she thought white walls with gray carpet would be pretty.  I evidently didn't have a brain back then because I went home and told David that is what I wanted.

              Sure, white walls and gray carpet was pretty at first, but after a few years it was boring so I had to paint so I painted.  That color didn't last long 'til I saw a picture of a bedroom in a magazine with dusty pink paint on the walls.  I talked David into pink for our bedroom,really, but I am not real good at picking out colors at times and we ended up with a Pepto-Bismal room.  Think of sleeping in such a ghastly room!  Well, we did for two or three years until one day I was in an antique store and I absolutely loved the color of their walls, a grayish green.  I asked if they could give me a sample and they found a chip of paint for me and off to Lowes we went and got the paint..

              We finally got the color right this time and lived with it for several years, but this year I got the redecorating bug again and we are redoing the whole room

                Thus the new quilt I hope to get made.  It looks like a Granny afghan, but is made with fabric.  Lots of little tiny pieces and about 80 blocks to make for a king-sized bed.  I made a practice block today and it took me one and a half hours.  I hope they all don't take that long.







               This is my first block.  The colors don't show up very well in this picture.  They are much brighter.  Anyway, our room will be a grayish blue, almost slate, but lighter and I love that color with browns so the quilt will have a dark brown background as shown with brighter colored squares. 

                I took some before photos and will try to post them some day along with some after photos.  This blogging takes alot of time so I am not an every day poster.  I still haven't posted our Alaskan trip and written about it.  David reminded me today that in Valdez we saw alot of little black bunnies everywhere.  The lady at a store we were in told us a man had let his rabbits loose several years ago thinking they wouldn't last long in the wild with all the carnivorous animals around, but they have multiplied!   That made me happy to know the little bunnies survived and are flourishing.  They were so cute and all of them black.  Where there's a will, there's a way.  Bye for now.

Miracle in the sky

 

       "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou has ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him?"  Psalm 8:3-4.

          The moon was glorious a couple of nights ago.  My husband and I sat out on our front porch and took several pictures from several angles.  It seemed the man in the moon was posing for us.

            It was a beautiful sight.  Sometimes I think we take the moon for granted.  Next time it's full, go out and look up and see the amazing light God has placed in our sky.

Why I've already changed my blog name

   I have only posted a few blogs under "I love my dogs," and noticed I haven't written one thing about my two sweet labs, Belle and Bonnie.    I decided to change the blog's name to something that is a loving memory for me.  So from now on my blog will be called "Snicklefritz."  I will, at some time, post about my babies.  Bye again.

Recorating again

      See this painting?  I bought it the other day at an antique shop.  I am going to decorate a whole room around it.  Let's start from the beginning.............  Oh, and please forgive the bright white flash in the center of the painting. I told you I was not a photographer.

     Thirty-four years ago my husband and I packed up and with our three children left a place I had known my whole life and moved to a town where we knew no one and had no family around.  I was use to always having family close by.  Needless to say at the time I was not a happy camper.  I cried the first week we were in our new, old house.  We bought an old house because that was what we wanted and we wanted a fixer upper.  Well, this house whas built in 1913 and had the original bathroom that was put in in the fifties.  It had a thirty year old furnace, cracked walls, the ugliest blue paneling on the upstairs hallway, with bright blue paint on the woodwork.  

      With three children to clothe and feed we didn't have a whole lot of money back then to pay to have any work done so we did it all ourselves. We painted, stripped woodwork, put in new carpet one room at a time and eventually got the house looking almost good.
        The years went swiftly by and one by one the children left home and we kept on working on this old house.  Two years ago I finally got a whole new kitchen.  Before I had one little countertop and cabinets above the sink to store dishes.  Now I have all the room I need to do all the baking that I love to do. 
         One by one each room was decorated, carpeting removed and wood floors refinished and new ones put in and now we have started doing the rooms all over again.  My tastes have changed so much in thirty-four years.  I use to like the primitive look with dark colors and homespun.  Now I am into pastels and have painted all but two rooms in the last three years.

           Then I bought this painting and I am going to do our family room in a chabby chic decor using the colors in the painting.  Right now the room has a red, white and blue theme with American flags all over, very patriotic.  Since I spend most of my time in the winter in this room working on my quilt and sewing projects, I decided to make it a room I would love to be in.  Something bright and cheerful and kind of girly.  Since my husband has the livingroom with the big screen tv and his comfortable lounge chair, I don't think he will mind if I have this room for myself.
       

        Steering clear off the subject, this is the little wooden bowl, scoop and acorns I bought the other day.  It's in my husband's room where all the nuts are kept. Ha! I know you will read this, David.



         By the way this is an angel food cake I baked yesterday.  It's been iced and two pieces have been eaten since then.

           So that is why I showed you the painting.  I should have been an interior decorator because I love transforming a room.  Bye for now.

Buying white muslim

           I love white muslim.  It gets softer the more it's washed and makes a quilt feel soft and cozy.  I was saying to myself the other day within hearing of my husband, who shall not be named, that I needed some more white material to finish a quilt I was making

           There is a perfectly good fabric store, JoAnn's, here in our town, but my husband said, "Why don't we make a day of it?  We'll go antiquing, eat out and you can get your fabric."  Well, I'm not too hard to persuade when it comes to a day away.  Considering we got back from Alaska two whole weeks ago, my wanderlust had set in and I was ready to go anywhere.

             We left early and drove down the interstate, which we both hate, to Salem.  Salem is a little town in southern Indiana that has small town written all over it.  It has a quaint downtown with an antique store, some restaurants and a wonderful craft store that also sells good quality quilt fabric.  I love, love,  love to go there.  I always get inspired when I walk its aisles.   Well, anyway, I was looking for white muslim and all they had was the extra wide 108" bolts so I bought a couple of yards.  Then I started to look around.  That was my downfall.  I suddenly found in my hands fat quarters and was longingly fingering other fabric. 

              Since I had bought so much fabric on our trip to Alaska, I didn't feel I should be buying much more until I knew what I was going to do with what I had.  So I went down an aisle that had dish towels to embroider or applique and I was off!  Soon I had three dish towels and a whole handful of embroidery floss.  Next I chose a pattern of a pumpkin to embroider on them.  Next I looked at some wonderful puzzles that had quilts on them and my husband asked me, "Do you want one of them?  Well, halleluhah, yes!  So that was added to my pile.  Then I saw something I had read about on some quilting blogs called Best Press, a clear starch alternative called linen fresh because I love the smell of freshly laundered and pressed linen.

             I thought it was probably time to get the heck out of the store before I found something else so I made my purchase and we headed out of town.  But, what do you know, my husband took me around the corner to a cute little shop in an old house that we had visited once before.  It has all kinds of home decorating things and sells the best smelling candles.  The whole store smells heavenly.  I found a little wooden bowl and wooden scoop and bought a bag of the cutest fake acorns to pour in the bowl.  I felt like it was Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one. 

            Well, to make a long story short, or a short story long, whatever, I ended up with a whole lot more than white muslim, plus I had a wonderful day with my husband.  He is the sweetest, most generous, loving husband in the world.  He made this such a wonderful day.  I asked him what did I do to deserve this? 

               Here are a few pictures of the things I bought today.  Please excuse the pictures.  I am not a professional photographer nor do I play one on television.  Maybe one day I will learn how to take a really good picture, but until then, this is what we all will have to put up with. 

              Hope you all get to have a wonderful day once in a while like I did today.  Bye.