Thanksgiving Weekend

Let me start by saying that anyone that is working full time (or more) is certainly VERY thankful to have a 4 day break! I am no exception. The last 4 days have been wonderful and appreciated! And yes... now that it is Sunday night, I am wishing for "one more day"....lol!

Thanksgiving Day
We spent the day enjoying each others company, sharing some great food and watching lots of football! While a good amount of time was spent in the kitchen, it was a relaxing kind of day (in it's own way).

Black Friday
The area where I live is very congested. Not quite Manhattan, but announce a few super-mega-sales for "one day only"... well... let's say that the highways and side streets and mall parking lots become a bit too hectic for my taste. So. We did what no one does the day after Thanksgiving... we went to a grocery store! lol! Stocked up on baking supplies and appetizers for the Christmas month ahead...

Small Business Saturday
Again. To hectic to be on the local roads around here...so I did the next best thing to support small business... I cancelled my Amazon account! Not going to go on a rant here... but, I think Amazon has gotten WAY to big... and is squashing small business faster than "local big box marts". So. Iffin' I can't find something local (or order online directly from a small business that has a website)... I'm guessin' I can do just fine without it.

Football Sunday
Yes. It's football season...and that's what's on our TV from 1:30 in the afternoon until sleep every Sunday! Do we park our butts on the couch and watch the entire game(s) from start to finish? Nope. But, the games are on while we sew, fix radios, cook, clean, play with the cat, read....etc. It's just a good way to have our "day of rest".

Blogger Stuff
Some bloggers have been replying to comments directly on their blog. So once or twice I had returned to a blog post to see if a reply was posted....only to notice that the comment I left was not there. I was certain I had left a comment, but it was not there. Has this happened to you? Well, the answer lies within your browser! I'm a Mac person, so I was using Safari as my internet browser (and my comments were not posting)....once I switched to Chrome, all comments began posting!

And, do you know what else? Those of you that have tried to have blogger email you when a comment has been left on your blog (and have not had success with it)....should try changing your browser to Chrome...then go into your blogger settings and enter your email again. That's what I did, and email notifications began coming through!

Sewing
I haven't been sewing much since we adopted Berwyn. Kittens have lots of energy and he is one curious little bugger... so "everything" is a toy to him. We've learned to keep all small stuff put away in containers...and projects in progress get put away into rubbermaid bins when not being worked on. My sewing space and hubby's radio space have never been so organized!

So. Now that we have a system going...I started a quilt today! Did not feel in the mood to work on any of my BOM's in progress...so I opened up a Christmas quilt kit (that has been in my closet for at least 5 years now). It's called "Winter Greetings" and it's from Country Sampler Quilt Shop in Spring Green, WI. It's one of Selma Bennett's "Nickel Club" quilt kits.... don't they package the fabric so beautifully?

The kit comes with 5" and 10" squares pre-cut... so, it was nice to just sit down at the machine and start sewing! :-) Then, once those squares are sewn together, they get cut apart (a certain way), then rearranged, then sewn together...it makes a complicated looking quilt actually become pretty do-able! Her directions are very clear and easy to follow.

I've gotten as far as trimming up 4 HST's...only 60 more to go! Better stop tapping on this keyboard and get back to Block-Loc(ing) those HST's! :-)

Wishing everyone peace and happiness during this Holiday Season! Stay calm and remember the REAL reason for the season! :-)

Berwyn says... "Stay warm and take frequent naps"...

Until next time...stay healthy and keep on smiling!

~Sharon

The Extra Hour

Thanks to everyone for sharing what they did with their extra hour! From what I can hear....the extra hour is a good thing! :-) Though... sometimes I wish we'd just stay on the daylight savings time. Yes, it is a bit more difficult to wake up before the sun rises... but, I really do miss the little bit of daylight I had during my commute home from work. Now, when I get home, it feels almost like 9:00 p.m. (when it's only 5:30 p.m.)...dinner in your pajamas, anyone? lol!

So, here was the big thing I did during my "extra hour".... Hubby and I drove to a friend's house to pick up a Singer 15-91. This was gifted to us by our friend's mother (who had it gifted to her by her mother-in-law).

This Singer and it's table are in super nice condition! She also included some different feet and the original manual. It is electric and also has a "knee bar" for starting and stopping with your knee! And here I thought a "knee control" was a function only recently offered on "modern and new" machines! lol! I don't know too much about this particular model, so I've been researching online. My plans are to clean, detail and oil her up before I try to sew on her... though I've been told "she does work"! :-)

Well... I've got a meatloaf and scalloped potatoes baking in the oven right now... sure does smell divine!!! This meal is going to be a great belly warmer on this cold and windy Saturday...

Until next time...stay healthy & keep on smiling!

~Sharon

Autumn Leaves and Ponderings

The Autumn colors in central Jersey are very vivid this year...everything stayed green until late October...and then it seemed like they all changed overnight on Halloween...a trick, or a treat? lol! Today was splendid! Temps only in the upper 50's (F) with brilliant blue skies and tons of wind. So many leaves fell and collected on the ground...very pretty...but, difficult to find where the road ends and the yard begins? ;-)

Wool and Cats
When we first brought Berwyn home, he took a liking to a small hooked rug I had on the living room floor. He would sleep on it. That was it. Until he got his confidence up... and then he started rolling it into a ball and chewing on it. He also started to pull large pieces of wool out of baskets and run through the house with them....eventually finding a place to play with and chew on it. And now, since all of my wool is in a closet for safe keeping... he sometimes sits and longingly stares at the closet door... waiting for it to be opened... so he can sneak in and steal a piece of wool and run away with it!

So. I ask my wool and cat fanatics out there... will he outgrow this? Or, do I need to find a new hobby? ;-)

Time Management
Today was one of those Saturdays that involved waking up to an early alarm clock. And once the coffee kicked in and the sun came up... I was off and running and getting things done (and crossed off my list)! Most of it was around the house... laundry... tossing out a few more things... organizing... getting warmer blankets and clothes out of storage from the attic...

And then it dawned on me...that what I really need to do is actually schedule in some time each day for stitching! Even if it's only a half hour a day... it will be a half hour closer to actually finishing some of the projects I have here. And yeesh...so I still have projects here!!!

BOM's and Auto Ships
I've signed on to quite  few of these over the years. And, most of them just managed to collect into piles...that eventually made it into boxes...that eventually I lost interest in...and then eventually got sold on eBay. It's a vicious cycle. So. This year, I made a promise to myself that I would actually only sign on to a BOM or auto ship if I was truly going to complete each monthly (or quarterly) packet in the month (or quarter) it arrived. And so I signed on for two BOM's (both Fig Tree quilts) and one auto ship (the quarterly Box of Figs). And while I do like the projects...I've done a horrible job at completing each shipment in a timely manner. And, because these kind of become the ONLY projects I work on throughout the year...my stash has not decreased in size at all this year. So... looking ahead to making 2019 a create from stash year! :-)

Take a peak at the most recent box Box of Figs shipment...cute Holiday bags...lovely fabrics, felt and thread to complete a stocking runner...and some pretty pads for making lists...

It's all lovely! And, I hope to stitch this runner up for this Christmas!!! :-)

Extra Hour
Sure. That extra hour technically happens in the middle of the night when we are sleeping. So we assume we use that hour for rest, right? Well...what if I get out of bed and hour earlier than I normally would on a Sunday...and take a ride just east of my house...and find something superbly interesting!!!

Tomorrow I will be doing just that!

Check back soon to see what I find...

~Sharon