February was a very interesting month of weather for us.  We broke all kinds of cold temperatures and low snow levels.  I am hoping March is a bit kinder to us.  I've been having to cover all of my tender plants each night and it is getting rather old at this point.  We have, however, added inches more rain to help fill up our lakes and streams - all good and welcomed.  We've enjoyed rain, rainbows, hail and snow.  The groundhog was apparently right about six more weeks of winter.   All the cold temperatures have made me want to stay in the kit ..read more

I'm not quite sure how we have already reached the middle of February, but the calendar never lies.  I guess I can start pulling out the greens for St. Patrick's Day now.   We had such beautiful, warm days last week and we are now under freeze warnings for the next few nights.  Today was spent covering up all of my frost prone plants, and there are quite a few.  The stone fruit are all in full bloom and too big to cover.  The citrus is as well.  We just need a tent to cover the entire yard at this point. lol  I am more than ready to see the arrival of sp ..read more

Today is Day 3 of the Virtual Cookie Exchange, hosted by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt.  Carol always does such a great job with these blog hops and is so good at keeping us in line and ready.  Thanks, Carol.                                     These are the fabulous maker/bakers you'll meet: December 5 Creatin' in the SticksDesertSky QuiltingKarrin’s Crazy WorldDays Filled With JoyJust Because QuiltsThat Fabric FeelingFor The Love Of GeeseWords & Stitches December 6 MooseStashQ ..read more

 I haven’t been at the sewing machine much the last few weeks due to acquiring a bit of new hardware in this creaky body, but I have had fun catching up on some hand sewing projects.   First in the queue were a couple quilts that needed the binding stitched down.  I had done the machine sewing in anticipation of my sewing vacation so the hand stitching was left.  Years ago I participated in a New York Beauty sew along.  I can’t remember who sponsored it, but the earliest note I made in my blog was in 2012.  Well…..ten years later it is now in the finished pile and ..read more

 October has arrived and fall is definitely in the air for us.  We've had cooler days and a few chilly nights.  The colors that we do get are making grand appearances with the changing season.  We've managed to escape - so far - the terrible Santa Ana winds that are so common in October.  I won't complain about that.  We've even had a few rain showers, one including a thunderstorm this month.  I hope this is a sign of more moisture for us this year. I've managed to get some sewing in this month.  Connie from Freemotion by the River  had a cute tuto ..read more

 Just like that, the seasons are changing and we bid farewell to summer.  We enjoyed a mild summer until we had about two weeks of incredible, record breaking heat.  Wow....it was toasty!  We even hit 112* one of the days.  Other than the heat burst, it was a delightful month.  I always love going back through the photos to do a post.  It's incredible what can happen in a month.   We had a granddaughter that got married so we had lots of fun wedding events and family visiting from Iowa.   I did manage to get a bit of sewing done too.  ..read more

 I guess it has been a quiet summer since, according to my blog, nothing has happened these last two months!  In actuality, it has been anything but quiet.  If I go to my photos, I am reminded of how busy it has actually been.   With a garden and orchard, summers are always busy with harvesting and putting food up for the winter.  Over the years, the granddaughters have shared the duties with me.  As they have gotten older, I find they are handling the job on their own.  It is more of a social event these days and I love it.  They are thrilled to b ..read more

With the busiest month of the year behind us, I feel as though there is a fresh start to the new month.  Life is good! Sewing took a big hit in May.  Most sewing came in spurts here and there.  I love a good empty day where I can sit and sew till my heart is content.  The bits of stitching here and there always seem to leave me feeling scattered and looking for something quick and easy.   These leaves fit into the schedule.  The idea comes from a photo of a table runner that I had attached to my "dream" board.   Several years ago when Block Lotto w ..read more

Happy May!  May is always our crazy month.  We have seven birthdays, our anniversary (53), Mother’s Day and then First Communions (2), Confirmations (2), and graduations (3).  It seems like it is party after party for the entire month.  There’s never a dull moment with a large family. Sewing seems to take a back seat for the month of May.  I did manage to get my selvage quilt quilted and bound.  It was a love/hate relationship.  I quilted the entire quilt and was not happy with the quilting.  I spent two days ripping out EVERY STITCH and requilting it ..read more

 I'm not quite sure where April has gone, but guess an update is appropriate.   While looking through a bin for something completely unrelated, I can across my pile of selvage blocks.  How easy it is to get distracted!!!  I decided it was time to get them together into a quilt.  I was really quite ready to be finished with all of the selvages by the time I came to the borders.  I knew it really needed mitered borders so ended up making even more blocks to complete it properly.   This was my bucket of selvage strips.  They had settled nicel ..read more