this & that

Just a few random things. I’m still unpacking boxes. Just came across a kitted up project that I think I will get to work on. I’ve wanted to stitch this for ages. I think I might have taken a picture of this at a local shop, that has now closed, that was adorably finished as a wall hanging. I’ll have to look that up. I need to add this design to the webshop!

I tried a new recipe yesterday. These Raspberry Coconut Macaroons are pretty and tasty, I would consider making these again sometime. I love just about anything with raspberries in it, have you tried the new raspberry M&M’s? YUM!

These American White Pelicans were out for a morning swim today so I stopped to say hello!

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looking at barns

I do love to drive down winding dirt roads with tall leafy trees. That is probably one of the things I miss most in Colorado. That and the lakes.

I had hoped to post some good pictures of barns today but I’m very unhappy with my photography lately. There are many barns in this part of the state so I’m getting lots of practice. Here are a few that aren’t too bad.

We also spied some wild turkeys on this very pretty hillside, it looks like a dream to me.

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a rainy day

Yesterday I spent a wonderful day at the Detroit Zoo with a very dear friend and our two youngest children Ethan and Marki. Here is an old picture of Ethan and Marki together, they are so little!

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more starts

In keeping with my restless mood, I’m having a hard time settling on one project just now, eventually I’ll have heaps of finishes if I can keep track of all my threads and patterns, things are in a bit of a tangle at the moment.

Two of these are Prairie Schooler designs and two are from Little House Needleworks. I’m adapting one as a Jane Austen Sampler for my someday JA sampler wall, when I eventually have a wall that is.

Ethan, Jerry and I took a walk at a nature center when he visited last month. Apparently these fowl are accustomed to being fed by everyone who stops by or were very hungry. They chased us like maniacs making the most ridiculous noise until we entered the woods. They made me laugh but Ethan was just a tiny bit nervous they would eat the small guy first.

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thrifty finds

Been thrifting a bit – some of my recent finds.

I think my favorite is the framed Romeny print of Miss Willoughby but the little dish with ladies is pretty sweet too. I have two of the little tea cup snack plate sets which came from a garage sale just across the street and were irresistible at fifty cents a set.

I’ve started to collect the Nancy Drew books when I can find them at the thrift shop that is. I had oodles of these once in my life and read most of them. The Salvation Army sells books for twenty cents but they don’t have Nancy Drew in hardback very often. I am enjoying them all over again.

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hello again!

My poor old laptop has been officially retired. I haven’t been able to get back online til today so I have lots to catch up on, first of all I’ll finish this post I started working on almost 2 weeks ago.

Ethan and I visited a nearby nature center. This was a favorite school field trip location back when I was in elementary school. It was nice to see it still operating and in such wonderful condition.

There were several turtles out laying their eggs while we were there, one was scared away from her work by a dog who managed to get off his leash so we had a good look at the eggs from a safe distance. We saw a small black rat snake in some branches and he was still long enough for us to touch his side but not long enough to get a good picture.

We saw some beautiful dragon flies, baby toads (oodles of them) and were followed everywhere by a cloud of mosquitoes! We kept moving but both of us came away with several new bites.

Jerry was able to come for a very short visit and bring my shop inventory, Impie, Hattie & Bea materials/supplies, along with my postage printer and scale. As soon as I can get this new little laptop updated with all the necessary software, I’ll have the shop up to speed hopefully.

Thank you for continuing to visit me here!

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Frankenmuth, MI

I recently spent a day in Frankenmuth. My sister lives there. Not the sister I was visiting before my illegal border crossing but my other sister. Frankenmuth is about an hour away from where I’m staying in Michigan (with Jerry’s sister and her family), I rode up with my mom and stepdad.

First stop was Bronner’s. I love Bronner’s. I had not been to Bronner’s in 15 plus years. Actually the last time I was in Frankenmuth I was beginning to suspect I might be pregnant with Kellen….So this was Kellen and obviously Ethan’s first experience with Bronner’s. Kellen sort of stopped in his tracks when we walked in the door as you can see.

My favorite ornaments were the ones from Merck’s. I didn’t buy any but had a nice browse. From there we headed on to Zehnder’s for lunch. Here is a picture of Ethan and my sister at the Bakery.

It was a bit of a dog fest, lots of doggie events around town and packs (well it seemed like packs) of dogs on leashes everywhere. We watched the Dock Dog competition for a while before we headed home. When I was putting away a few things I had picked up during the day, I came across a package that I didn’t think was mine. It turned out to be an ornament my stepdad had secretly purchased for me at Bronner’s and then smuggled into my bag in the car. Such a nice surpise.

I was back at Janet’s in time to enjoy another beautiful sunset on the lake.

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a Michigan Wednesday

Sorry for the lack of posts, I can only claim busyness. Catching up with friends and family, someone different each day lately.

We have had lots and lots of rain although the last two days have been sunny. Along with my mom and sister we visited a nearby market, bakery, gift shop, nursery (not sure what that goofy face Kellen is making is about) the other day. They even have peacocks. You can see the evidence of all this rain!

I have lots and lots of stitching to share just need to find time to take some pictures. I’m way behind over at Anon as well.

Hope the rest of your week is wonderful!

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store closing deal

The Borders in Boulder is closing – the 1st picture is pretty much the view from Border’s front door. There is a Borders that is closer to me, close enough to walk to, but this was a bigger and better store, it was also in the beautiful 29th Street Mall which is always fun to shop.

I stopped in this afternoon and picked up a few Agatha Christie books (and got a great deal) for my mysteries shelf. Of course these will go right into my book box that is shortly to be taped shut for the move.

I love the colors!
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the last of my travels – for now

Rosewood Manor’s ABC Tapestry

NeedleWork Press Maria Tilley 1835

Since it’s been so long since I’ve shown any stitching I’ll show you pictures (not my work) of the two things I saw at Market that made me OOOH and AHHHHH. Keep in mind I was only there to drop off product at Hoffman’s room and arrived just as the show was closing for the day on Saturday. So between the elevator and Hoffman’s room I saw these two samplers and stopped in my tracks to take a closer look. Like a ninny I never thought to ask if I could take a picture so I’ll have to just use these, they really don’t show the beauty of either of these samplers.

It’s good to be home and see all my kids, we only took Ethan along. It’s also good to see my cats. We spent a night at Jerry’s sister’s house on our way home. She spoiled us rotten on this trip arranging hotel rooms along our route, it was so nice not to have to think about those details along the way, we just texted her our location and she had us all set to sleep in luxury when we got there. Thank you Janet!

At Janet’s I took some pictures of her pets.

Here is Max-

and Mark & Judy-

Ethan contemplating the lake and the deep snow-

My picture of Orange Cat didn’t turn out very well. We woke up to a foot of snow and decided to take a southernish route home. For the frist 6 or 7 hours travel was really awful and I was glad to get out of the car for a while at Cracker Barrel somewhere along I-69. Things cleared up just before we got to Indianapolis and then we had beautiful weather the rest of the way home.

See you next week with some stitching news I hope!

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