Happy Day and a Yummy Recipe!

Just loving everything Pumpkin right now....

...and enjoying afternoon walks through the Fall leaves.

How about you?

Here's one of my Fall Favorites:

A LIGHT RECIPE, RIGHT FROM OUR COOKBOOK, FOR YOU TO TRY.

With Smiles! Val

Taking Time to Smell the Flowers

 Our daily walks help get us out during his time of "social isolation".

They help me process all the changes that seem to happen daily

 and ensure we get in our daily "steps" too.

Witnessing the coming of Spring seems to give me a little bit of hope too.

Be intentional to get your daily dose of sunshine and fresh air...it helps!
With SMILES! Val

So looking forward to Spring!

Today, I was delighted by the fact that the mornings are starting to get lighter earlier.

 I just hate going to work in the dark. It doesn't feel humanly right to me.

I'm simply grateful that the morning dawn is beginning to greet me on my daily walk to work.  

I'm also looking forward to what  Pennsylvania's famed groundhog, Phil, predicted is going to be an early Spring. Our Winter has been unseasonably mild without our usual dumping of snow but it has been cold and wet. I'm finding myself anxious to get back to golfing and hiking soon!

Guess you can say I have a small case of Spring Fever. Do you?

Baby it's Cold Outside...

 I took a break from sewing my OMG project to take a neighborhood walk.
We've been under an inversion of COLD this week so I had to bundle up, but the fresh air felt good.

Sorry for the blurry picture. My phone does not like the cold.

Our days have been so very grey that even our little window solar figurines aren't dancing.

Our highs are only 27-29 degrees and the nights are in the teens. Brrrr...

As you can imagine, everyone's saying if it's going to be this cold, let it snow!

Mayybbbeeee not THIS kind of snow, but a white Christmas is always on my wish list.

Yet, after last winter  I have to admit, it's nice not to be shoveling snow yet.

Just dropping in to document our weather and to say hey!

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I'm Happily Back!

I sure missed my routines of blogging and sewing. But, I'm also so grateful I had the foresight to put so much on hold as we enjoyed family fun with our daughter, SIL and grand-guy as they stayed with us this past month during their transition. We so admire their patience as they make this big move with a wee one on the way! Wow! So much has happened.

Our grand-guy turned four! ( I didn't get his spiderman quilt done in time, but luckily, four year olds really don't know the difference and he'll be excited whenever it does get done.)

My niece's college volleyball team played in town. Good to see her!

I had the best little yard helper: 

He even earned $2.00 bucks for helping Meme pick up leaves...

...as he also enjoyed numerous rides to empty our cart into the "trash trailer".

My son-in-law and I finally had some time to enjoy a fresh brewed beer (or two)

as we caught up on his new job and the details of their move.

And of course, hanging out with Poppi is always a special treat.

It was also nice to have my very own "super-hero" to help me with my volunteer work as I made my bi-monthly trip to our local food bank to stock up on donations for our school backpack program.  I coordinate this program for some of our homeless students so they have food on the weekend. 

I'll sure miss our daily walks. Typical four-year old humor, he thought it was absolutely 

hilarious that Jackson would ride in the stroller with him!

Luckily we had the most prefect Fall weather and enjoyed the crinkle of the leaves under our feet.

Poppi will also miss his nightly hot chocolates with too many marshmallows and making him
rootbeer floats "without the ice-cream". (I know! We laughed too.)

This past weekend we found ourselves "wrapping up the month"  with a breakfast of  unlimited pumpkin pancakes and a morning of outdoor fun. (Note: Four year olds are sooo much fun!)

All this was followed by an afternoon of pumpkin carving.

 I can't wait to decorate the front lawn with these for Halloween. 

I also think they'd  make a cool quilt!

Sooo...this morning finds them on the road to their new home and 

though my heart is a little sad to see them go and he cried to leave...

...I'm looking forward to finally finishing that spiderman quilt and the one I got pieced for our new grand-guy who, as you can see, is due to arrive in just a couple of weeks!

November is going to be a special month for us.  I'm looking forward to sharing my November projects with you and catching up with all that you've been up to as well. Please do stay tuned as I soon become a Meme once again and this little guy becomes a BIG brother!

 

November's Tuesday Archives themes are posted on my sidebar. 

 

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Creativity is a Way of Life...

"It's so easy for you, you're creative."

Has anyone ever said that to you?

I'm always a little bewildered when I'm told this, as in reflection, for me, being a creative person has been anything but easy and truth be told, it's kinda exhausting. My husband and mom can often be found telling me to relax as I'm always doing two things at once. But, I truly can't help it. I'm a life enthusiast. I keep my hair pixie short as there's not enough hours in a day to do everything I want to do, but I know my hair isn't one of them! 

 I'm a thinker. A watcher. I'm imaginative and crave individuality. I love thinking outside the box.  But, let me tell you, it's taken a lot of bad ideas in order to make my way to a few good ones.

 I embrace my failures. I face life's hardest challenges with a conquering spirit. 

For me, being creative is not a hobby, but a way of life.

That's not easy is it?

Well, Spring has sprung and so has my motivation to create a "bucket list" of creative experiences I want to fill my upcoming summer with. I'm craving a creative change, though at this very moment, I have no idea what that will look like. Thus, when I saw that Eventbrite is spreading this cool message: "Experiences, Not Things", I wanted to join in as sometimes, our "giftedness" can be found through the most unassuming experiences.  I truly believe we all possess skills that are just waiting to be discovered. So I'm pushing myself out of my comfort zone and I thought it was cool to find a website full of events in our own zip code to help me do so. 

 Let the journey begin.

Here we go...my summer bucket list of experiences:

(Check out this tool that makes having get togethers like hiking or going to concerts with friends and family easier.)

1. Go to a concert. Okay, okay, I saw Glen Campbell in Vegas when I was very young, and Lionel Richie in Phoenix while in college. I seriously need to improve this list.
2. Go on a hiking/yurt trip with my hubby. Summer hiking rejuvenates my soul!
3. Take an Art Quilting class...my journal is overflowing with ideas. I need to experiment with new techniques and challenges.
4. Do something totally new just for the fun of it!! (Something from my Pinterest pages??)
5. Go on a wine tasting tour with friends

I hope you follow along as I set out to nurture my desire to live a creative life...

one student, one quilt, one experience at a time...creating something extraordinary from the ordinary!

A Spring Walk & an Announcement!

Team Undertrained & Overconfident:

What better way to start my Spring Break than with a 10K in the back hills of Oregon.

My oldest daughter and I joined my teacher partner and some of her friends, as we tackled the Owyhee Mountain Trails her in Oregon. Once we got three miles of steep trails behind us, 

we enjoyed the 50 degree day filled sunshine and a few more miles filled with good conversation.

At mile four we found ourselves a little punchy
but with only one more hill to go, we persevered...

Finished!!!

And though it might be hard to beat those "team t-shirts" of ours...

this one our little guy wore upon his arrival certainly does in my opinion: 

YES! ""Someone" is being promoted to BIG BROTHER!!!

I can already hear Great Meme's knitting needles clicking and my own sewing machines humming!

Nothing like expecting a new grand-baby to reignite one's creative energy.

We're all soooo excited. We'll have to wait until May for the gender reveal...

but under then, one can start day-dreaming right!?

As always, thanks for stopping by!

A Tiny House Tour

I know many you would agree, it's hard to resist being outdoors on a beautiful Fall afternoon.

 Yesterday found my husband and I doing just that as we adventured into Boise to spend the afternoon strolling through it's historical North End neighborhood touring it's tiny houses. These homes date back to the early 1900's and are all under 1,000 square feet. We can never resist the opportunity to walk through other peoples homes especially as these homeowners so graciously opened up their living spaces for us to do just that! (*The proceeds go to the Boise High School Orchestra program.)

This garden cottage pictured above was built in 1935 and is ONLY 380 square feet! The pamphlet said that this structure was at one time a catalogue house from Sears and Roebuck. It was full of charm and detail! This is her bedroom. (Just she and her dog live here) I kept wishing she had a quilt.

Her "sewing" room...

Tiny right!!

A view of it from the outside:

I liked how cozy her windows were made to look:

 Okay, now is this not THE most creative chicken coop you've even seen!?
Her garden was just a wonderland.

As we continued our tour admiring many houses along the way...

...we discussed and were inspired by the simplicity of living and found ourselves planning our own de-clutter of things that are worn out, never used, and no longer have a purpose in our own home.

I liked that this homes owner's hobby is wine collecting. They even had a wine bible!

As I turned the corner in this tiny house and ventured through that white door you see below, it made me smile to see an old quilt adding warmth and charm to this tiny bedroom.

Straight from what we watch on TV, measuring only 240 square feet, 

sitting on top of a 20-foot trailer...a Mouse House. Uhhhhhh...

 ...no thank you! LOL! No can do. "Your long-arm wouldn't even fit in here Val."

(Don't ya love a husband who has your quilting on his mind!)

So much charm and inspiration was tucked into each home. This next homeowner was a potter. (Ugh...as many you read...a craft not exactly in my future) But never the less, she created those adorable kitchen tiles, and handmade cabinet knobs. Pottery filled her home is useful ways that inspired me to think of my own quilting in an entirely different way. 

For as we continued our tour of their home, her pottery was used everywhere, evident in the table tray on this little dresser picture below. I was inspired by the idea to expand my quilting from bed quilts to creating more projects...something I realize I've never really done. To see the simplicity of one's hobby displayed in a practical way throughout the home added charm and personality. Between my husband's stained-glass and my quilting, we could do this too.

Our tour ended with us enjoying an outdoor lunch and well, thank you for taking this little walking tour with me. I hope you too found a bit of inspiration, as I always enjoy sharing mine with you.  

Cheers!