Done!

Okay, it is finished. I have it up on my design wall, that I see needs to be vacuumed. If you click on the photo you can see the bells I put on the tree and some of the other stitching detail. I certainly hope my secret sister likes it.

I have this lovely tin that is filled with buttons.








I've been throwing buttons in there for about 15 years. I knew I had some cute stuff in there and thought I would see what might work on this piece. So I grabbed the tin out of the cupboard and reached to put it on the table and well......I missed....


I will say, I probably wouldn't have found those tiny little bells if this hadn't happened!!

Now I need to finish up my gifties for my quilting friends in my small group. Last year at Christmas time I asked them what their favorite Christmas carole's were. And if they had a loved version of it. So I took my list and spent some time on iTunes and found all these lovely songs. And now there is a CD with everyones choices on it, so we can all enjoy them. Just need to do the labels and wrap them up.

Happy Wednesday!

A New Phone!

When I was away with my BQF's for the weekend (best quilting friends) I was terribly jealous when they were all doing all kinds of cool things with their phones!! So I thought, WTF (fa la la la la), and drove into town and bought myself a new phone!!!

One of the reasons was because I could download a FREE Kindle app! Eileen had it on her phone and that was the factor that made me decide. Yes, I still had to pay just under $10 for the book, but I LOVE it! My screen is showing you the book I downloaded. I had been pondering a actual Kindle ever since they came out, and they were becoming more affordable, so this at least gives me a chance to see if I would like reading a book with this format. Will let you know.

Here is my center block for the secret sister project I have been working on for my small group. The party/exchange is day after tomorrow, and I still need to create the pieced border around it. So I probably ought to get to it!!

We did put our Christmas tree in the stand and got it watered, but it will be bare until Friday at least.....maybe even Sunday.

Tomorrow evening we have a dinner to attend and Friday we are heading south for the weekend.

I'm still feeling just about 0 "Holiday Spirit" this year.....

A Look Back - Cooperstown!!

Every time I look at these photos, I remind myself that I haven't yet posted about this part of our big New York trip that we took last spring. So here it is!!

This is the Inn where we stayed for our Cooperstown visit. Last time we were on the east coast we visited this wonderful town and were thrilled to return. The first time we stayed a bit out of town so it was great to be right in the middle of it this time around. Our room was the three windows on the top right.







These pots of tulips were outside all the big buildings in town.














So beautiful I had to take two photos....













This is the top of the staircase outside our room.
















This is the staircase heading up. The desk to the left is where we checked in.













And a view looking down!!














This is the dining area where breakfast was served.











And here is a shot of the sitting room area.













This is Doubleday Field. The place they filmed A League of Their Own.















In the stands
















I loved taking this photo....a view out onto the field of play










the score board















from the right field area












Cute, cute, cute diner where we liked to get a bite.














this is the inside of the diner....really small. But good food!!













this is the library












across the street from our Inn

















and around the corner








I spotted this house that is actually built INTO the hillside on our way into town. Had to go back and get some photos of it.
















Amazing place....I sure hope you enjoyed my little tour of Cooperstown. Yes, Lynn spent another day at the Hall of Fame, is now even more grateful to get to see Dave Niehaus honor being there. If you ever get a chance to visit this spot, we highly recommend it.

Catching Up

It is well after midnight here. So much has happened in the last couple of weeks. I will be playing some catch up here, some looking back and some planning ahead.
I just had a wonderful long weekend with my three favorite quilting friends. We went to a new place in Poulsbo and spent three days visiting, laughing, eating, sewing and planning our next few get togethers. I've been having trouble using the generic battery charger for my camera, so I didn't take my camera to get any photos, but I certainly will next time. I noticed that Sony finally charged my account today for the charger I ordered, so hopefully it will arrive soon. I have a bit of charge left and will get some current photos up here soon. In the meantime, here are two of my favorites I have on my media card.

This was taken in the summer at my Uncle Robin's place way out in the back forty! My Mom is on the left and her older sister Adele is on the right. Just a couple of sisters. This is an annual gathering for the family that has been going on for about 35 years. We used to get together the Saturday before Christmas. Some of my very best memories are of the party at Adele's every December.

These two are only about 18 months apart. It was fun at this gathering hearing them talk about being "girls" and how they would test each other on trivia at night when they shared a bed.

Those of you who share Facebook with me have seen this next photo. Thought I would share it here, it's so fun.

I took this a few Sunday's ago. Lynn had spent a lot of time in the yard, raking, mowing and puttering. After a nice shower and the sun going down, he decided to lounge on the couch for a nap. Next time I checked I found that Dutch had decided to join him!! Talk about dedication.

Hope you are all well, and enjoying the Holiday Season.