Merry Christmas!

Merry  Christmas everyone! Hope that Santa showed up at your house too! 

garden flag

I wanted to try my hand at coloring embroidery with crayons.  I just used fabrics from my stash and found this embroidery pattern on line.  I must say the shading does enhance the embroidery, something I will have to try again.

Santa came a bit early

We took Max to Petco Saturday! It is always an exciting experience shopping at the pet store with him. He loves loves loves his toys even as he is growing older. The squeakers are his favorite and he prefers furry over rubber toys.
As we entered the store there were large rawhides that were shaped as candy canes. I was very surprised they really didn't interest him, then came the toy aisle. He came across a few favorites that he still has in his toy basket. The squeakers in all of them lasted about five minutes. He has a tendency to bite into them and that is all it takes to kill them. Then his poppy came across an endcap of toys called invincibles they keep sqeaking even after punctured. He first grapped a long snake, but then he eyed a spider. It fit all his criteria, it squeaks, and it has furry legs that he can sit and chew. Well, so far this is his favorite toy so far, and it has been over twenty four hours and it still is squeaking. He literally has wore himself out playing with it, but the great thing is is a great pillow too!

Red and White Miniature

I came across this paper pieced mini atThe House That Kaffe Built. I am not fond of paper piecing but really wanted to do this one in red and white. There is still a lot of room on my mini wall and I have always wanted to do a school house block.

The miniature that I made has four blocks across and four down and sashing in between. I wish I had used a water soluble paper, however, since picking out the paper pieces was quite tedious.

Feeding Dolphins

What is better than feeding the Dolphins at Sea World, but getting to do it twice, once with my Dad and once with my Mom! Xander and the whole family had a great time at Sea World in San Antonio. The weather was perfect for a lot of fun!

First Frost

A few years ago, I decided to make Max the quilt pictured on the left.  It was too darn cute, not to do it.  He is such a bright dog.  He amazes us everyday, and yes sometimes we do forget that he is a dog.




This morning, this is how I found him.In his bed all snuggled in his quilt. Such a lucky dog, just think he could  have been outside in a dog house with frost on the shingles. LOL 

 Wednesday morning Max went out for his morning duty, and I heard a bark at the door. When I opened the door there he was with the paper in his mouth and he proceeded to bring it in.  He has always been very good about going to get the paper when told, but he always falls a bit short when it comes to handing it to me. Not only did he hand it to me, he actually took the initiative to go and get it. No wonder the kids are worried their inheritance may go to him.

Over the River

I finished my "Over the River" quilt yesterday. It was machine pieced and hand embroidered and hand quilted with Baptist fans.The first photo is a closeup of the embroidery I did last winter. The second photo is a photo of the label on the back of the quilt. This is the first time I remembered to attach the label first so it could be quilted into the quilt.  I am pleased with how it turned out. The pattern is by Crabapple Hill Design.  I am so glad that I got this one completed in time to hang for the holidays. 

Pecan Season

Tom and I like to take Max on walks near the river in a wooded area that belongs to the paper mill. It is so beautiful, although sometimes the paper mill stench can ruin it, but Max just loves running free ahead of Tom and sniffing everything in his path.
We notice this summer that the little creek is lined with pecan trees. So Sunday, we went out and collected some pecans. It was a new experience for me, I have never picked nuts before. I am looking forward to a pecan pie at Thanksgiving made with these nuts and I am sure we will have enough to throw into some pumpkin bread.