Thank You . . . .

It's been an emotional week looking at the lives of the people at Fort Hood and at all that our soldiers go through. One was even pregrant with her first child. Another said they love being a soldier so much that he didn't even need the paycheck. The stories of how some of those that died had just put in for another 6 years of duty even though they had wives and children at home, it is easy to see they believe the cause for which they are working even though each day they are in harms' way. I just want to say thank you, which sure doesn't seem like enough. My God bless those who serve and protect them and bring them home again.

Two and half months behind . . .

I've never been good at keeping up my blog but this is really the longest I have gone without a post. My husband and I moved this summer and I think trying to get things organized and getting rid of a lot of things has kept us busy. Our family has grown so quickly in the past four and a half years since Joy Courtney our first granddaughter was born, now there are seven grandchildren. We are a close family and celebrating all those birthdays, holidays and special occasions keeps us busy and on the road a lot. I still sew as much as I can but not as much as I would like, which would be about 8 hours a day, 5 days a week if I could! So I will try to review back over the last couple months and share a couple of things I've made.
This is the first onesie dress I have made. Looked it up on lots of blogs and kinda combined their construction ideas. Got this idea of strips of different fabrics from here. Lila has wonderful directions on her blog. I love how it turned out and I think she looked so cute in it. It's fun because you can embellish it, I added a yo yo at the waist, and I added eyelet lace to the bottom (thanks Anne!!). My sister has been picking up so many yards of lace, rick rack, buttons, etc. etc. etc. at Thrift shoppes for me. It is so hard to find quality notions like this nowadays, so few stores have them anymore. Since my husband and I have permanently moved to a rural area this is such a great help to me.


We spent Halloween weekend out in Massachusetts with my son and daughter-in-law and grandkids Jason and Grace. Everyone is growing so fast and Jason is almost 2 1/2 now and Grace is almost 6 months!! Snapped the picture above on Sunday while she was waiting patiently in her crib. I think she looks so cute in her onesie dress.
Here she is with Mommy, she is always full of smiles.
Grace Elizabeth was sporting her Yankee outfit for the World Series when we got there, getting to know her Papa here. She thought he kinda looked like her Daddy.
Our Halloween was lots of fun, we attended a party in the morning and did some Trick or Treating in the evening and ended the day with a delicious dinner that Holly made and a visit with some friends of theirs.
Jason was a Boston Bruins Hockey player, splint on his finger, black eye and all.
Grace was a little skeleton, so cute.
Dad was a Blue Man, which brought him a best costume prize for a dinner date with Holly his Hippie Chick.
Walt and I dragged out the old cap and gowns to get in the spirit although after this pic we took them off, they were hot! Oh and both were Walt's from two different Master Degrees, I don't want to take claim for that!

Our granddaughter Leanora Jeanne will be turning one on Saturday so I decided I would sew her a little patchwork skirt. I went together quickly but was a lot of stitching. I still enjoyed making it and decided to embellish it with more yo yos. For the pattern click here. It is Pink Fig pattern.


I'll have to try and get a picture of her in it and post it later.

Well I am not really caught up on all we have done this summer and fall but it has been a lot of family time and not so much sewing. I will be back to the sewing soon, just getting ready to start sandwiching a quilt I started last summer and my mind is swimming with all the things I'd like to sew.

Just want to give credit for the great pic above to Cathy Tarantelli!

A wonderful morning in the kayaks . .

Last friday we loaded up our kayaks and headed to the Kungamuk River in Speculator. For all of you Camp of the Woods folk this river connects to the Sacandaga River which connects to Lake Pleasant, just under this bridge. It is another amazingly peaceful spot.

This duck was very brave and kept hanging around, I think it was looking for some breadcrumbs or something. I had nothing with me!

Each water lily is so perfect, I kept thinking just take a couple, what would it hurt, but I didn't because it would be less for others to enjoy and they are just so beautiful among the lily pads.
I love that quote from John Burroughs, "I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order". And from Ralph Waldo Emerson, "In the woods we return to reason and Faith". Stepping away from the busyness of life can recharge my soul.

The purple flower behind the lily pads is called pickerel weed, it's purple and was pretty! If you want to learn a lot about wild flower visit Adirondack Naturalist. Ellen Rathbone is terrific!

Do you see the autumn colors on the trees in the foreground of the taller trees!!! I always wanted to get a nice cloud reflecting in the water pic and the water was just so still so I was able to.

The sun was super hot as you can tell by our squinting! We kayaked a long way and then back and we were both so hungry after the 3 hours in the kayaks.
Not crazy about pictures of me, one leg up, one leg down, like a little kid, very hot and sweaty here. When we got in Walt's closed up truck the interior temp said 109 degrees, phew that was something until it cooled down. What a great day! I urge everyone to try to kayak this body of water if you enjoy the quiet. A fellow kayaker went by and he said, I wish I was at work! We all laughed!

A visit to White Pine Camp . . .

It has been such a busy summer, but a good one. God has blessed us with lots of rain for the garden, maybe a little too much but still we have had wonderful days and evenings enjoying the beauty of the Adirondacks. Walt and I are very interested in the Great Camps of the Adirondacks, there are very few left. We were privileged to spend a couple nights at White Pine Camp and we loved it! A Great Camp is not what most people would think of with the word camp. Instead they are compounds of many buildings built by the wealthy back in the early 1900's. The architects of the time were greatly influenced by the sloping low roofs of homes in Japan. The building behind Walt says "Presidents" on it because this is where President Coolidge, his wife Grace and one of their sons spent the summer of 1926. They had lost one of their sons and it is said Coolidge was greatly affected by that. It was called the Summer White House is just amazing to us because this compound is located near the top of the Adirondack Park which is a section of NY State the size of the state of Massachusetts.
The picture below is a rock garden fashioned by Frederic Heutte, White Pine's gardener in the mid-1920s and it is presently kept up by visiting garden clubs. The picture doesn't do it justice because you cannot experience the serenity of this lovely place in the middle of the woods without being there.

Walt and I stayed in Guides the name given to our little cabin which was once quarters for the servants. It has been maintained but a kitchen has been added. It is outfitted with lovely rustic, comfortable furniture. Unfortunately my camera wasn't working while we were there so these pictures were taken with a disposable camera. I had a lovely nap here on a cool afternoon with the down comforter pulled over me, it is hard to believe now that we are having such warm days.
The building below is called the Great Room and it houses a large comfortable community room full of books and a immense stone fireplace. We had permission to have a fire there as we did not have a fireplace in our cabin. We did have a lovely propane stove however. It also has an attached porch. The immense type of pines that surround this building even grow through the roof of other buildings. This causes difficulty in the care of those buildings but is something to see. It is amazing to think that many of these trees were here when Calvin Coolidge walked the grounds.
This is Guides, our cabin, we had a shared porch with the next cabin but our neighbors weren't really around so we cooked breakfast and enjoyed it on the porch, with coffee and a good book, I could have stayed there for hours. Each cabin has so much privacy because of the many plantings nearby. When we arrived our host said he would help us unload our car and then asked us to park in an area away from the cabins in the tradition of how guests were greeted, helped to unload and made to feel at home in the day of the Great Camp.
The grounds are beautiful. This is looking down some steps to one of the boat houses.
Down past this boat house is a restored bridge that leads to a little island that has a tea house. You cross another restored stone bridge to get there and reach a place of peace and solitude. Wild roses grew on the island, how lovely that was.
Another view of the boat house, this one needs foundation work we were told but was fully outfitted with canoes, kayaks and a rowboat to use. Walt and I enjoyed a lovely canoe ride on Osgood Pond. No power boats allowed here!
We enjoyed a nature walk with a very knowledgeable man named Ed Kanze, a Naturalist, who has traveled the world but settled nearby to the area where White Pine Camp is located, to raise his family. We chatted afterward and it turned out that his grandfather was once the mayor of the town we now live in, such a small world.

It's been a month and more . . . .

I am not much of a blogger not having posted in over a month. My only excuse is Summer!!! I love the summer and being outside which means I just don't hang around my computer as much. There has been a lot of complaining and belly aching going on around our area this summer. We have had rain, and more rain and still lots more rain. The temperatures have been cooler too than normal so that adds to the constant question by people of when will summer get here? Because of that the garden is growing slowly and not so well as other summers and my flowers have not done as well. But still I love the summer, and time spent with family. I love watching mama bluebird fly in and out of the house feeding her new babies that make quite a lot of noise when they are hungry. I love looking at the the lake and mountains in the early morning when there is hardly a ripple on the lake and it is all reflected. I love watching the black clouds rush across the sky as a thunder storm approaches and then marveling at the enormous bolts of lightning that are soon to appear. It's 80 degrees today which seems just right to me and the sun is shining so I am having a hard time completing this without looking out the window. Summer is indeed here, and I hope everyone is finding time for rest and rejuvenation.




Here is the garden a month ago, looking pretty sad, not growing much.














Here it is a month later, so it is growing! The tomatoes are smaller than they should be but there is still time.

July 4th was fun in Northville, it has such a small town atmosphere with so many old victorian and farm style houses, lots of history here. We saw a parade, and a jazz band and ate fried dough and kettle corn and watched a fabulous firework show! It was amazing to part of something that felt like it could only be found in America!
We've had quite a few visitors but I am guilty of not getting all the photos I would like, but that just means that we were having fun.Courtney and Annabelle check out the tiniest frog.
Newest granddaughter Grace gave me a smile and then stuck out her tongue, so cute.
Niece Molly's baby Joe Joe (they told me they call him that) came for his first visit. I am so disappointed to don't have pictures of his sisters, they were very busy playing outside. I did get to chat with big sisters Sara and Anna more than usual when all the cousins are there together so that was really special.Molly's hubby Matt takes a turn with Baby Grace, he was very focused on something he was reading and is such a pro with baby holding.
We are blessed to have Leanora and her Mom and Dad close by so she has been quite the beach bunny this summer, what a sweetie she is!
Jason, Jr. and his Mom Holly. Holly is busy with Grace these days but always has time for Jason too! Jason was already to kayak with his Dad.
My husband, my son Jason and his son Jason, what were they looking at?
Grace took some good naps out under the beach umbrella, here she kicks those feet! So amazing, only two months old!
And my friend Michael and his wife Kate came to visit with their sweet little girl Lily, she and Annabelle got along great! Sorry I didn't get a picture of Kate too. I think I am nervous using my camera around the water, I need to get over that.

And somewhere in all of this I squeezed in some sewing. This little outfit is called Adoree and is from Australian Smocking and Embroidery magazine.


This was my first attempt at shadow embroidery and scalloping the edges of the garment. Once again I just love my Aurora sewing machine for those scallops, it is fun to keep learning something new.

Changes old and new . . .

A new quilt for Grace.


Almost a month has gone by since I last wrote anything on here. I feel like I have been so busy. In that time I have done a little sewing, making this quilt as a gift for our newest granddaughter Grace. I used the pinks and blues from Moda's Snippets line and also added some Aunt Grace's reproduction prints from the 1930's. I had bought those in San Diego on our trip at Rosie's Calico Cupboard, an extremely large and well stocked quilt shop. I was just waiting for the baby to be born so I could decide how to use them. I used the directions from Moda Bakeshop and it was really fun to make. My daughter Courtney and daughter-in-law Katie both mentioned that they thought Grace would enjoy playing with the prairie points once she was old enough. I thought the prairie points were cute and that is the first time I have used them on a quilt, didn't even think about the play factor. I am getting a little better with the free motion quilting the more I do it, just love the crinkled look of the quilt after it is washed. I mistakenly ordered a layer cake when the directions called for a charm pack so I just cut the squares and really didn't have any waste so that was fine. Plus I still have lots of layer cake squares waiting for my next project, I am sure there will be one before long. Of course I need to get smocking a little dress for my new granddaughter.

I spent most of a week out at Jason and Holly's house and enjoyed my time with Jason, Jr. and Baby Grace.
Don't know that she will be a finger sucker, just asked my son to snap this pic because she looked so cute.
Nothing like snuggling with a newborn is there?


This was a visit with Jason to a nursery school sort of program he takes part in once a week, he loves it. Of course we also spent a morning at the Children's Discovery Museum once again.

In the midst of all this busyness I took a job at a diner waiting tables and counter for two days a week. The owner is a friend and she needed help so I decided to give it a try and if two weeks is a try that was what it was and then I told her it wasn't working out. I need to be able to go to see the kids and garden and SEW!! I felt badly leaving so quickly but this restaurant was so busy that I went home just exhausted, never mind the stress factor!! Thank you Jackie for the opportunity, sorry I couldn't keep up!

Just 18 days after Grace was born my niece Katie gave birth to a sweet baby girl, Amelia. This is her fourth daughter, she is following in the footsteps of her Mom and Dad, Audrey and John who also had four daughters. Here is a picture of the happy family. Following her labor through e-mails is so exciting, we find out the news so quickly and we hear wherever we live. We were so thankful for the safe delivery of this little one.


This past week my husband and I have been moving out of our home of 26 years as we moving to our home on the lake. The commute will be longer for my husband to the work so that is our only drawback but we are ready to live in one place and are looking for more rest and relaxation as the care of the two houses was getting to be just too much. My son and his father-in-law helped us and now most of our stuff is in the garage at the lake waiting to be sorted through. And it will wait as I go through it box by box at my pace. I want to enjoy our summer, they are pretty short here in upstate New York. Plus the grandchildren are growing so fast, we need time to enjoy them. Leanora is sitting up and so close to crawling, what a dear she is.
Leanora is just so happy and inquisitive at this age.

The good news is that my daughter Courtney, husband Adam and dear little Annabelle are moving into our family home. Her daughter will have the bedroom she had as a child. May God bless their family as he has blessed ours in this house. We had trials and tribulations as do all families but we do have so many wonderful, special times too. Courtney certainly knows how to make a house a home so before long they will be settled and enjoying their new home.
Annabelle and Mickey were watching Dora the Explorer together.

As I sit here looking out the window here at the lake I just saw a baby deer running after its' mother, possibly the smallest deer I have ever seen. They saw me and would not stick around long enough for a photo. As I continue to enjoy the bluebird nesting on our tree, the view of the lake and the mountains I once again realize how very thankful I am for all that God has given to my husband and I over the years, how he has protected each of my children and now my grandchildren, thanks be to God.

A whirlwind of a couple weeks, but life is very special . . .

May continued to be a busy month especially in the last two weeks. We held our garage sale. It was a lot of fun, met a lot of great people, unloaded lots of "stuff" and just plain enjoyed the day. My daughter-in-law Katie made three kinds of cookies and I made one kind and some muffins and we sold most of them (people get hungry when they go garage saleing). Katie also made two pies, the first one was a strawberry rhubarb and it sold in seconds and the other apple crumb went later in the day, so we didn't get to eat any of it, hehe. I sold some of my tote bags and burp cloths but all in all people were not looking to buy handmade things.

My son Patrick exhibited his Adirondack furniture that he has been building with his father-in-law Joe, and people would pause and tell him how much they loved it, but once again they were looking for the 25 cent deal.

The weekend after the garage sale we traveled to Maryland to celebrate the dedication of our granddaughter Trinity.
What a sweetie she is!
I think my daughter Megan, her Mommy and she look so much alike.
She was happy to have her shoes off afterward to wiggle her toes in the grass. Trinity Rose will be 1 year old in June and she is getting ready to walk.
Big sisters Tessa and Joy loved running around the putting green. I was suprised they didn't mind at the golf course but the owners just smiled. What is it about kids and wide open spaces, they loved it. Jeff wore his pink tie for his special day with all his girls.
Our daughter made the trip to Maryland with us, her husband Adam had to work so it was nice Annabelle and she could travel with us.
Dad and his beautiful daughters!

We took advantage of the beautiful though windy day to get some pictures out on the putting green. We enjoyed a lovely lunch at a golf course.

My husband and son-in-law Jeff spent Saturday building a great swingset for the three girls Joy, Tessa and Trinity and on Sunday we celebrated Trinity and Mother's Day. It was a wonderful weekend!
The swingset was a big hit as is obvious by this picture.
Courtney's daughter Annabelle also loved the swingset, just love how cute she looks in her popsicle dress.

No sooner were we back home and not quite settled in when we got the call that Holly was in labor and Jason and she were on their way to the hospital. We are praising God for a much easier delivery than her first for Holly (not that any is easy) and a brand new granddaughter Grace Elizabeth. What a sweetie she is and the first meeting between big brother Jason,Jr. and Grace was beautiful. It was so neat the way Jason wanted to hold the baby so much. My daughter Courtney was also there to visit with us and her daughter Annabelle who is not even two years old loved her chances at holding the baby.
First picture of Mom, Dad and Grace Elizabeth after she was born.
Jason, Jr. came to meet his baby sister.Jason giggled when asked if he'd like to kiss her. He is very serious about holding her that's for sure. I got a kick out of how still he was because this is one busy guy, but when it came to holding his sister and sat very still.

We think she is quite the beauty.
Courtney and Annabelle came along, I think Aunt Courtney is smitten.
Annabelle decided she too loved her baby cousin although she did not let go of a balloon that she was clutching, so funny.


















Nana and Papa couldn't wait to get their hands on sweet sleepy Grace Elizabeth.
So now we are back home for awhile and the list is a mile long of things I would like to accomplish. My garden for one is waiting to be planted, I know that might sound crazy to you girls who live down south but it is only safe to plant things like tomatoes at the end of May.

In the meantime I am trying to finish some UFO's. The first is a stacked coins quilt, that was pinned and waiting for me for at least a month or more.


It was fun to make and I think the white sashing really shows off the other colors. The teddy bear fabric is from Timeless Treasures and is just adorable. I was a little undecided about the binding, and went back and forth between the blue and the polka dot but the polka dots won out because I loved how it looked with the backing.

A little stitching . . .

Yesterday I had such fun pulling out scraps and making some pillows. I've had these yo yos for years and never quite used them for their intended purpose. I do like them on this little pillow. There are a lot more where these came from.
These fabrics are pieces left over from pants for my granddaughters, two tote bags and a Kaffe Fassett print that after I bought it I wasn't sure if I liked it, it kind of glows. But now that I used a piece and mixed it in with other pillows I do like it.
Then I made some sugar cube pin cushions, the idea comes from the Moda Bakeshop. I didn't have the moda fabric so I used scraps but will probably get some in the future. They are quick and fun to make while watching tv. Speaking of Moda Bakeshop, it is full of adorable ideas, and they are posting new ones often using their charm packs, jelly rolls, honey buns, etc.Speaking of baking I need to do some right now so I'd better run.

Big brother turns two, well almost . . .

My grandson Jason who will be two on May 9th was celebrated a little early this year because his Mom Holly is due with #2 on May 12th. Getting the family together can be difficult but my daughter Megan drove a long way with her 3 daughters to be there.

Megan said lets get a family pic and her daughter Joy, age 4 jumped in, it is so cute I think. We took another without her but I just love how happily she popped into the picture.

My son Jason put this cake together, Holly baked many cakes and Jason did the assembly and the artwork that turned it into a dump truck, the theme was Construction Friends, it was really cute.




Trinity and Leanora are five months apart, I'm sure they'll grow to be buddies.
Tessa and Annabelle always end up side by side. It's pretty special having six grandchildren 6 months old to 4 years old and with a new one due soon we are so excited!

A wonderful trip away . . .

Our family has had a lot going on for the last year so my husband and I decided to steal a little time for ourselves and head out to San Diego. We had a great time, rented a convertible to enjoy the gorgeous weather while driving and knocked off everything on our list. We saw all sorts of architecture, lovely terrain, flowers and trees and enjoyed fish tacos, a new treat for us. We traveled north to wine country and had a dinner cruise one evening. I even went to a quilt store and bought some fabric to bring home (sewing is always with me).


We stayed on Shelter Island very near to San Diego and on the bay so we had a lot to see. The first night we took a walk out on a pier and met up with these pelicans. They were really large.

The view from our hotel was pretty fabulous as was the constant stream of boats of every size and color. It was very impressive seeing the military vehicles go by.

San Diego is home port to the air craft carriers the Nimitz and the Ronald Reagan. I believe this is the Nimitz. These vehicles are protected so I couldn't get very close to take a picture.


We learned of a scenic ride along the coast so of course we couldn't miss that. The statue behind Walt is of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the man who in the 1500's sailed into the San Diego area from Portugal. They presented the statue to California.


The Star of India, a beautiful square rigger still used to this day and there is no engine on board.


HMS Surprise, used by Russell Crowe in the movie Master and Commander

A picture of downtown as the sun was setting and we were on the deck of a dinner cruise.

The Hotel del Coronado on Coronado Island

Old Town, site of the original San Diego, before it was built on the bay. A nice change to visit here and see historical buildings and visit cute little shops.

We had a lovely vacation and did so much more and found lots of relaxing time in between. Walt and I are looking forward to more vacations for the two of us in the future.

March was a busy month and now it is gone with the wind . . .

In the middle of March we got down to Maryland for a few days to help celebrate Joy's birthday, 4 years old. I got to spend time with each child quite a bit and that is always what I need. Below are numerous pictures from our visit and a trip to Ikea. That place is so kid friendly it was an easy place to visit, starting with feeding them lunch.






We had lots of fun. I got two out of three girls in their new dresses. They are a little big but will be great this summer. Hard to photograph these girls, they are always moving.




On to Chuckie Cheese for Joy's party. I was honestly not sure I would enjoy Chuckie Cheese but the party was run so well by the employees, and all the moms and dads stay so all is very safe. I think the kids had a blast.

It was a lot of fun and then the party at home was great. Joy was so sweet opening her gifts and so appreciative. The biggest squeal came with the bicycle!









Whoops I put this picture on twice, sorry. I am leaving it, been fighting with blogger and lost the whole post once so it's staying, hehe.


We did get over to see Miss Leanora when we got home, what a cutie, she has the prettiest blue eyes which I never seem able to capture, the photos often come out with red eye. I have tried to fix them here.




The rest of this month has been filled with sewing. We are having a garage sale the first weekend in May and I thought I would attempt to sell some of my creations also. Mostly I want to get rid of clutter that has filled our house.


Pincushions in flowerpots, they wer fun to make with all the different trims I have stashed away. Now I know why I keep every little piece of ribbon and lace.


Embellished bibs from Ikea, I just love this fabric from Alexander Henry it is called Smiles Around the World. I don't think it is being made anymore, I bought it off of Ebay.

Lots of tissue cozies, once again, those scraps come in handy.

Doll quilts, practice for my attempt at free motion quilting.
Some embroidered sachets with balsam needles inside, they smell just like the Adirondacks.

And there has been a little more sewing for the grandkids. I made the cap and shirt for Jason, I have been wanting to for such a long time. I made the hat out of jeans, felt good about recycling and the denim is so soft.

The cap is the Eddie Cap from Mushroom Villagers Blog. Can't wait to try another, maybe some for the girls in something more feminine.

Last but not least a dress and bonnett for Leanora, I think I have to admit my fingers are tired.