Happy Halloween!

This is my grandson, Alex's first Halloween!  Isn't he ADORABLE???

Don't you just want to pinch those little cheeks and kiss his cute face???

You all know how much I love to coupon, so after all that cuteness, I'll leave you with this funny...

Loretta

Happy Birthday, Dale!

Quote for the Day:
“With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.” 
― William Shakespeare

I'd like to give a shout-out to Dale, (Erin's fiance).  Today is his birthday so I'd like to wish him a very, very Happy Birthday!  

He received a very special present this year...he found out he's going to be a biological father for the first time!!!  (He's been a wonderful step-father to Sera for the last 3 years!)

That's right...I'm gonna be a Grandma again next year!!!  

I guess that means I'll *have* to make another quilt!!!  *heavy sigh*

Of course, I need to wait to find out the sex of the baby first, so I have a few weeks...but then I'll be off and running on making the new baby quilt!!  

So, Dale...congrats!!!  And Happy Birthday!  

Loretta

Catching My Breath...

Quote for the Day:

“I sustain myself with the love of family.” 

― Maya Angelou

Last week my sister Sharon, niece Susana, and grand-niece Monica came for a visit from Indiana!  They came for a visit last year in October and they must have liked it enough to come for another one this year!  :)

We had fun visiting, talking, eating, shopping, reading, watching movies, and just hanging out together.  We even had a bonfire on the new property and burned some brush on Saturday night!  We roasted marshmallows on the bonfire and got to find out just what a "firebug" Monica is!  She really enjoyed helping Uncle Andy burn the brush!  

Sorry I don't have any pictures of their visit to share...I was too busy just enjoying being with them!

It was a joy to have them here and sadness to see them go.  They left on Sunday and since then I've been trying to get back into the swing of life...cleaning, appointments, quilting, etc....you know..."life".


I thought I'd do a review of a book I finished lately...."Kidowed" by Jessica Kenley.   In fact, it is still a free ebook from Amazon at the time of this posting if you follow that link.

"In this book you'll find the the struggles, sorrows, and triumphs of the author after she has two children with a rare and universally fatal genetic disease. As she travels through her hellish journey, you will experience unexpected humor, endless love, and learn how strong one family can be while they walk beside her."

The book is basically a diary that she started writing to help her deal with the illness and loss of her two children.  Though some parts are difficult to read at times, I found this book riveting and hard to put down.  It is a definite recommend!

Loretta

Minty Fresh!!!

Quote for the Day:

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art...

 It has no survival value; 

rather it is one of those things that give value to survival."

~C. S. Lewis 

Yesterday I put a message on Facebook asking where, this time of year, I could get a mint plant to grow indoors.  A couple of people responded that I could get some cut mint in the produce section and root that.  But one friend said he had a lot of mint and all I had to do was come over and get what I wanted!  :)  

I immediately went over and he had already dug up a root ball for me!  Now that's a friend!  :)  Thanks, Jeff J.!!!

I came home and planted a small part of the root ball in a container for the kitchen...

...beside the aloe plant in the window over the sink...

...and the rest I planted outside between the Autumn sedum and chrysanthemums.

Jeff also blessed me with an 18 count of fresh eggs from his free-range chickens!  :D   It's nice to have friends like that.  I gifted him with a jar of blackberry jam made from the blackberries from my back yard!

I've been quilting on my customer's sailboat quilt and am now ready to roll the quilt to the next section in the frame.  I put a line on the picture so you can see how much is done.  Everything to the right of the line is complete!

And here's a close-up of the stitching...the good, the bad, and the, well, you know...

The problem is that the green checked material is very tightly woven and difficult to needle through so some of stitches in that section are not so tiny and even.

"If it can't been seen at 30 paces while riding a galloping horse, it doesn't matter."  Right???

Loretta

What's Going On In My World...

Quote for the Day:

"There aren't enough days in the weekend."  

~Rod Schmidt

What do you do with a slightly-too-ripe banana?

Add a serving of Greek yogurt and a cup of frozen berries...in this case, frozen blackberries from my backyard bushes this summer...and blend well...

MMMMMMMMMM!!  Better than any purchased smoothie!  Ever!

I've been working on my customer's sailboat quilt and this is a glimpse at some of the stitching close-up!

Last week, I started a new type of chiropractic treatment for my back.  It's called Atlas Orthogonal Treatment.  I've been in chiropractic care for 26 years now and I'm certain that it is the only thing that has kept me upright and working all these years.  It's also the only thing that has ever relieved the daily headaches I had before starting treatment.  

But with the severe arthritis in my back now, I can no longer take the hand's-on adjustments and the crunching and popping movements of traditional chiropractic.  A friend told me about the new technique and her doctor that does it.  I started going last week and am more hopeful about my future than I have ever been in the last 3 years.  If you live in the area, I highly recommend Dr. Lionette and his team at Enliven Chiropractic!  They treat with a holistic method that treats the PATIENT and not just the "condition".  

To help with my treatments, I've taken to drinking LOTS of water, watching my sugar intake, and have lightened up my purse from 10+ bag of "everything but the kitchen sink" to a little 2.5 pound
"only the basics" clutch-type bag.  

I put our phone in front of it for size-comparison purposes.  My old purse could have been used as a lethal weapon, but this new one...not so much.  :)

I have also purchased an exercise ball chair to use at my computer.  This helps strengthen the core muscles.

What I've really noticed with the new chiropractic care is the difference it makes in my right knee pain and stiffness.  Up till the day I started treatment with Dr. Leonette, I was using a cane to assist me in going up and down the stairs in my house.  Since my first adjustment with him, I no longer need it!  

With regards to my back and leg radiculitis, I'm not "pain free", but I do have long periods of time with no pain...sometimes up to 48 hours in one stretch, but most of the time it is in 4-6 hour periods.  

Now you can see why I'm feeling more hopeful now than at I have in a long time! 

Loretta

Fall Is Here...

Quote for the Day:

"Love the trees until their leaves fall off, 

then encourage them to try again next year.” 

~ Chad Sugg

Autumn is in full swing here in West Virginia.  The leaves are starting to turn colors and drop to the ground, the nights are getting cooler, and starting tomorrow, so will the days.  We've had a brief "Indian summer" (that's probably not a "politically correct" term, but I don't know what else to call it)  with lots of sun and warm temperatures, but tomorrow the highs are going to start only being in the 60's and lows in the 40's.  Andy mentioned today that he will probably have the coal stove up and running when I get home from work tomorrow.  

We live in town and are surrounded by mountains.  Here's the view off of my back porch.  You can see the leaves are starting to turn brown...

One of the trees on our new property...

The mountain to the south of us...

The "Burning Bush" on our neighbor's property is starting to turn brilliant red...

Now, in quilt news...

I finished up the Blue Ridge Beauty quilt on Monday and took it out of the quilting frame.  I sewed the binding onto the front and it is ready to be turned to the back and hand-sewn down.  I had planned to take it to a fiber arts group that I attend on the first Tuesday of the month, and get started on sewing it down, but this month I was unable to attend at the last minute.  It is currently folded up and sitting in a tote bag...without me getting a picture of it, yet.  :(    So you'll just have to take my word for it that it is done at this point.  I'll be sure to take and post pictures when the binding is done.  

Today I loaded a customer's quilt into the frame.  (Don't worry about the wrinkles, those are taken care of by tightening the rollers on the frame to pull the fabric more taut.)

It was HAND PIECED by the mother of a co-worker for the grandson of said co-worker.  

It is an adorable quilt, but did have some "issues", but because it is hand pieced by the child's great grandmother, I chose to leave them in rather than "fix" them.  It will just be a part of the quilt's history.  Sometimes that is more important and endearing than "perfect".  

I did go through the back of it and cut off all the "dog ears" and some extra fabric that the maker left on.  Also, she did not press the seams as she went, so I spent at least an hour yesterday trying to figure out which way they laid best, spritzing them with water, and then pressing them down into submission!    Today I marked it, loaded it into the frame, and put the first stitches in it!  

It is a twin-size, so it should go fairly fast...I'm shooting for 2 months.  We'll see how close I get to that time frame!

Loretta

I'm BAAAAACKKKK!!!

Quote for the Day:

"Sometimes, only one person is missing, 

and the whole world seems depopulated."

~Alphonse de Lamartine 

Sorry that I've been missing action for the last month.  A lot has been going on and I just haven't had time to stop and do a blog post.  I hope you will forgive me.  

The thing I want to share with you today is about our trip to Nashville, TN, for our granddaughter's 7th birthday!   Also there were Paul, Trinity, Andrew, and Alex, from Georgia, as well as my sister and brother-in-law, Bev and Denny, from Illinois.  

It was an exhausting trip, but I'm so happy that we were able to make it and see everybody!   We even got to meet Dale's mom for the first time!  (Dale is my future son-in-law!)  

Okay...now for pictures...

On our drive to Nashville, we saw this gorgeous sight...a bunch of hot air balloons taking flight!!!

Sera's birthday party was a beach theme and included a pool and a slippy-slide! 

The adults sought shade as much as possible!  :)

It was so good to be able to see our newest grandson, Alex, again!  Here he's smiling at me while I hold him and talk to him!   Hey...it's a Grandma's job and I take it very seriously!!!  :D

Ginger, Daisy and Chewie playing nicely together ...

Andy, me, Erin, and Dale...

The day before Bev and Denny left to go back home, the four of us took a walking tour of part of the old downtown Nashville...

Bev and Denny toured the Country Music Hall of Fame, but physically, I wasn't up to that.  Instead, the four of us toured the much cozier "Johnny Cash Museum"...

 That's quite the wall of accomplishments...gold and platinum records...

This past Saturday and Sunday, Andy and I had a yard sale so he could liquidate some of his vintage glassware and antiques collection.  It was a huge success but he still has way too much, so we'll be doing it again in the Spring.

(picture courtesy of my friend, Theresa!  Yes, that is my backside.  LOL   Didn't realize she was taking this picture!)

I've finished the Blue Ridge Beauty quilt and have taken it off the frame.  It just needs the binding hand-sewn down to the back done and then I will take pictures and post them. 

I'm in the process of starting a new kind of chiropractic therapy/treatments and that it taking a lot out of me as well as taking up a lot of my time.  I'll try to get back to some semblance of regular posting, but if I'm absent for a few days, please be patient..."I'll be back"...

Loretta