'insert clever line here' . . .

I've run out of different ways to say "Design Wall" so never mind. Instead, perhaps this morning I'll just say . . .

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

Now. On to the design wall (or table or ironing board or whatever).

Saturday I headed over to join our stitcher's group for a Stitch-In Saturday. My goal was to put together my two blocks of the month, which are due Friday. So here are the latest additions to my orange and purple quilt . . .

Block one.


And block two.

And here's how I've decided to set these two . . .

This one definitely looked best in the orange.


And this one is going in the purple.

I need to start thinking of a name for this quilt. It's orange and purple and has batiks mixed in and the purple leafy fabric is Moda's "October," which makes me very happy since I'm definitely an October kind of girl.

Here's my little stitch-in station . . .

Let me introduce you to Kari, our wonderful coordinator!

She was working on getting a quilt pin basted -- it's one she's entering into our fall quilt show!

There was lots of gabbing and sewing and eating. Lots of eating. ;)

Charmaine finished up the block she was working on for a different BOM.

Isn't that pretty?? I love the colors in there with the black and white!

And my friend Kathy is shipping this one off as a gift.

Lucky recipient!

And if you've hung out with me this long, be sure to head on over to Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times to see what else is going on in design wall land!

Cheers!

:)

orange you glad . . .

Well, you *will* be glad if you hop on over to Katherine's Corner and check out her sweet little giveaway! Hurry, because it's ending today. You won't be sorry!

Click on the her icon for a direct link up!

:)

kerosene lamps and stuff . . .

Who would have guessed that less than two years after moving out of our 3,000 square feet (including basement, garage, and workshop) sticks & bricks home . . .

And into our 500 square feet (including basement--yes we have a basement--and what we call the garage) fifth wheel RV . . .

That I'd still be dealing with the idea of paring down my stuff stuff . . .

This is a shot of the storage tubs Todd pulled out of the RV's basement for me this week, so I could sort through things again and see what stuff could part ways from us. I did manage to cull a full box of stuff that's headed to the rescue mission. And that's on top of the three bags of clothes and two boxes of stuff I cleared out a month ago.

It's not been the easiest of transitions for me in a lot of ways. For forty-seven years I was a collector of things. Craft things, tea-party things, cooking things, sewing things, beauty things, seasonal thing, "one of these days" things, kid things, school things, book, magazine and movie things and just "because it's pretty" things . . . and at the house on Hunter Road, I definitely had the room to store all my things! After nearly two years of living in the RV, I've got less attachment to stuff, but paring down is still difficult -- even when it's things I've not looked at or used since we moved here.

But after the devastating storms of April that left so many without power/water at best, and with nothing, at worst, I've been thinking again about what's *really* important, and what I can *really* do without.

I finished up reading The Long Winter, by Laura Ingalls Wilder last night. It's the sixth in the Little House series. They experienced a dreadfully long, brutal winter -- seven months of it -- and during that time they went without a lot of luxuries and ever tougher, a lot of necessities.

One statement "Pa" made in the course of the winter really caught my attention. He said, "These times are too progressive. Everything has changed too fast. Railroads and telegraph and kerosene and coal stoves--they're good thing to have but the trouble is, folks get to depend on 'em." Really? Can you imagine living in a world were kerosene and coal stoves were what were depended on for light and warmth?

I had to laugh when I read it. We heard similar sentiments about folks becoming depended on electric power and running water during the aftermath of the storms. Shoot, we ourselves *made* those remarks. I wonder what Pa would think of our day and age?

I had to laugh again (quietly and to myself) when Brother Harold Sellars, our DOM for the Madison Baptist Association, said from the pulpit he was filling this morning, "And we've made such progress; from railroad to air to space and from kerosene to electric lights..."

I guess the message I'm getting (slowly but surely) is that from electric power to storage space to tons of clothes and *stuff* . . . the things that are truly important aren't going to fit in a drawer or closet or storage bin anyway.

Our Community Groups have been talking about The Most Important Thing. It's an interesting way for a person to share the one most important thing with other people.

Anyway, I'm rambling now. Just lots of different thoughts that appear to be heading the same direction. I'm sorting and processing. Relaying them here helps see the connections a little more clearly!

:)

july, how did you get here so quickly?

So another month passes and here it is July! I'm again linking up with The Simple Woman's Daybook.

FOR TODAY
Outside my window... it's dark. Just the occasional flicker from a lightning bug. :)

I am thinking... sugar free chocolate pudding makes a tasty treat.

I am thankful... for family. I had lovely conversations today with my mom, sister, son and daughter. I exchanged e-mail with my dad and another sister. And texts with some of the above and my daughter-in-law, too. My sweet little grandson. And my darling husband, who's so wonderful. Yup, family.

In the kitchen... the dishes from dinner are clean and drying.

I am wearing... my typical "tour the camp" outfit -- a tee shirt and a blue jean skirt.

I am creating... a full stomach with that chocolate pudding I mentioned above! I'm also working on a BOM quilt.

I am going... to wrap things up and head to the bedroom soon. Along with a book.

I am wondering... how it is that we're already in July and why is it that the older I get, the faster time passes?

I am reading... a couple of things, per usual. The Long Winter (number six in the Little House series) and then on the Kindle I'm reading A Tailor-Made Bride, a sweet little inspirational story and David Platt's Radical. I've also got the summer issue of Celebrate! and the latest Tea Time issue to enjoy!

I am hoping... to grab a shower before I go to bed. It depends on if the water has re-heated since I washed dishes (RV only has a 10-gallon water heater tank)!

I am looking forward to... our Stitcher's stitch-in tomorrow! My sewing machine, materials and supplies are already loaded up and ready to go!

I am hearing... my darling man playing NCAA football on the xbox.

Around the house... it's cooling off and quiet.

I am pondering... God's perfect grace.

One of my favorite things... taking a ride through the camp on the golf cart with my man. We go to the creek and check the traps. Then we head to the pond and feed bread to the little fishes under the dock. Then we drive around and just enjoy the sights, sounds and smells.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Stitch-in tomorrow, along with some grocery shopping. Church services Sunday morning, a cook-out fellowship Sunday afternoon, followed by worship again that evening. Family and fun on the fourth. Visiting with dear friends on Thursday and again on Friday!

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

The brand-spanking-new dock! It's finished and it's marvelous. A wonderful place to sit and soak in the beauty of God's creation.

:)

cleaning up . . .

Since I'm not working anymore and I've got a *little* more time to think of food prep and meals, I've been trying to test and add some healthier recipes to our meal planning. When I was going through my magazines last week (I go through them, cut out the pages that have recipes, ideas, or projects that appeal to me and scan them to my hard drive), I came across a recipe for Flank Steak Roll (or Meat Rollups, as my husband has dubbed it) out of Clean Eating magazine (which is very fun and full of great recipes).

I was a little nervous about trying it. I've had a tough time with rolling foods to be cooked before, and not only was this rolled, but I had to slice the flank steak in half lengthwise, first, and then stuff it! The stuffing was a wonderful mixture of toasted pine nuts, panko (which I'd never used before this recipe), garlic and vinegar, topped off with fresh spinach. The process was actually very, very easy.

So I got it all ready, then rolled it up and got to use kitchen twine!

All pretty and ready to go into the pan and then into the oven. Forty minutes later . . .

Voila! She is done!

It held its rolled up shape very nicely when cut. I did have to affirm that the pink the middle was the panko mixture (because of the red vinegar) and not the color of the meat! He likes his meat DONE! Once we were cool on that, he was ready for dinner to be served!

And a good dinner it was. Todd said we could add this to our list! The only trouble I had was that it makes so much. I didn't enjoy it as much reheated for lunch today, but Todd really did. Ah well, next time I make it, I'll invite someone over to join us!

Happy Friday, y'all -- I'm off to clean out some of the junk in our RV basement, now. And tomorrow, joy of all joys, I'm off to our Stitcher's group stitch-in!

:)

so fast . . .

Can you believe that this young buck, who graced us with his presence just this morning:

Pictured above with his latest dining companion (who is pictured solo, below) . . .

Was this little guy, less than a year ago? I took this picture August 18, 2010.

They grow up so fast! The group of does that he's traveled with over the past year has finally kicked him out. He had too much antler for them. Hence his new dining companion.

I've got my fabrics laid out and ironed . . .

All ready to sew! The question I still have is which pattern?!? Can you believe I'm still undecided? Ugh.

One thing I did decide was that I actually liked my red better when it was wrong side up.

I like the more muted flower pattern, especially for this project. I'm headed back to the bunk room. I'm not coming out until I'm finished! (Or I have to use the restroom, whichever comes first.)

:)

bringing home the bacon . . .

My son-in-law, Jason, really did bring home the bacon yesterday, quite literally.

Bacon Roses.

Aren't these fun?!? It was their second anniversary yesterday, and my darling daughter made these bacon rosettes and had them delivered to Jason at work. She got the idea from here, and pinned it to her "Yum Yums" board on pinterest, to save for the appropriate occasion.

Needless to say, Jason -- who's fond of saying, "Everything's better with bacon," -- has now added anniversaries to the list of things that are, indeed, better with bacon (which is evidently a sentiment shared by many men). And he was the envy of his baconless co-workers.

Modern romance -- gotta love it!

:)

surprise!

The trip Todd & I took to the post office box yesterday netted only one thing.

A box.

And it wasn't even the box we were expecting of Keurig coffee k-cups.

It was BETTER (in my estimation, anyway)!

In it was . . .

FABRIC!

I'd entered this giveaway on Nancy's Silly Stitching blog on June 14th (my anniversary). On the 20th, I got a lovely e-mail from her saying I'D WON! She gave me pick of the fabric and said she'd get it in the mail to me. Which she must have done pronto, because I have it already!

But the surprise?!? It wasn't just the two lovely fabrics above, it was a whole BOX of goodies! See for yourself . . .

The two pieces of yardage, which are great (I'm thinking I'd like to use the floral as a whole cloth top for a runner, and quilt the flowers), plus four fun fat quarters and a Mary Englebreight journal and sticky notes, plus a lovely handcrafted note from Nancy herself! I was so tickled. You ought to check out Nancy's blog for yourself!

I celebrated by cutting some wildflowers and making a sweet little arrangement to tide me over.

My July 4th arrangement is ready to take the stage, but I have to get the table topper done first!

And, speaking of giveaways, Vicki B Quilts is giving away a Baby Go cutter! Head on over to her blog and enter before July 3, by clicking HERE!

Happy Sunday!

:)

what a great day!

It really was a great, wonderful day. It started when the chain saw crew got here this morning and took out all the downed trees that were blocking the road and trails! Yay! There were three different crews up here -- it was really impressive.

I left the camp around 10:30 and met my Jocelyn at Huntsville Sew & Vac. She wants to learn to sew and start crafting on the sewing machine! Do you know how much that pleases this mom?!? I'd taken my old Kenmore machine in to have it worked on, and it was ready to be picked up. We looked at embroidery machines while we were in there. There were two that I really paid attention to -- one was a Brother and one was a Janome. I'm really, really considering if I want to go there or not!

From there, we headed over to Patches & Stitches for a quick stop into the guild's library. I wanted to pick up a book on postcards. Guess what I found?

Yay! I've got a month to go through it and see if there's anything that appeals to me. Joc was so sweet -- she told me that she thought the two I'd already done were really cute -- why did I need a book? Love that girl! While we were there, we both picked up a fat quarter. She picked up a sweet little floral print by Moda.

From Patches we headed to lunch. I took her to Po' Boys. It's a Cajun style restaurant that's pretty good. She'd never been there before, but I knew she'd been in a seafood mood so I figured this would be a good place for us. I got a shrimp basket and she got a catfish basket, and we shared. :)

From the restaurant, we headed to ... HOBBY LOBBY! I do *love* that place. We were both interested in some stems. I wanted to do a floral arrangement for the 4th and I'd been wanting some sunflowers for an August/September arrangement. Joc helped me pick out my offerings, and these are what I came home and put together:

This will look very pretty sitting on a red, white and blue table runner!

I love this! We used the mason jar, brown bow and pebbles for the flower vases for James & Kim's rehearsal dinner centers. I handed out most, but I saved one because I'd liked the look. Yep, this one makes me smile.

From Hobby Lobby (have I mentioned how much I like that store?), Joc and I headed our separate ways. I hit the post office before getting home. Score!! It was a great mail day! I had two letters and a PACKAGE! Can you say snail mail love? One of the letters was from my darling niece, Ali, who's away at camp this month. The other was from Joc's sweet sister-in-law, who's on mission in Pigeon Forge for the summer. And the package I couldn't quite figure out. I was expecting two things, but this didn't fit my expectations of either. But the initials fit . . . my dear blogging and facebook friend, Paula. I'd seen a darling table runner she'd finished, and when I complimented it, she offered to send me the pattern. But that sure wouldn't have needed a box . . .

Look! She sent me fabric to make it with! And it's oranges! And such a sweet note. I'm so totally touched!
Look at these gorgeous colors . . . aren't they fun???

I can see my sunflower arrangement sitting on these colors. Yes!

And then to wrap it all up, I got an invitation for breakfast on Saturday from my darling hubby. He's so sweet and romantic! He sent me an event invitation via facebook. It was so wonderful!

Yup -- it was a GREAT day!

:)

rainy day happies . . .

Luckily, the rain held off this morning, for the most part. I went down early and opened the gate for a VBS crew we had coming into the camp today. It did rain just a little on my trip down -- just enough to make everything smell clean and earthy. I love summer showers!

The VBS group came in and did their thing. I finished up my Community Group lesson and then Todd & I headed over to chat with them before they left. It's a good thing we left when we did -- they'd packed up early because of the impending thunder storms and were loading the kids up! They'll be back up here for the next four Tuesdays, so I'm sure I'll get the opportunity to play!

Speaking of playing . . . raccoons barely get along with each other. So it's no shock that they don't get along with . . .

Cats! The raccoon walked up behind the [feral] cat (who was laying down there ready to pounce on the next unsuspecting bird). When the cat finally turned around and saw the coon, he JUMPED up and *very* warily backed away.

Yup -- the coon reigns in the clearing! The birds and squirrels don't mind the coons and were probably happy to see him chase the cat out!

Storms did finally move in, and the rainy afternoon lent itself to another of my favorite past times -- reading! I'd recently had a hankering to go back through the Little House series. I'm reading Farmer Boy right now. These are such charming stories.

And so well written. I find myself laughing out loud all through them! I wish, I wish, I *wish* that they were available for the Kindle. I wonder why they aren't?

It was also the perfect afternoon to brew a pot of Chocolate Orange tea and settle in with my latest issue of Tea Time!

Lot's of fun articles and tea parties and recipes in the July/August issue. I read it cover-to-cover! I did see on the tea calendar that there's a Sweet Tea Festival nearby in Thompson's Station, Tennessee, on August 27. There's a website and facebook page for it and everything. Sounds like something I may need to investigate!

i ♥ rainy afternoons!

:)

a full, fun father's day weekend . . .

It started out Friday evening with a surprise call from Kim, wanting to know if I wanted to get in some "Sawyer time" that night. Are you kidding me?! Of course! I suggested they bring Sawyer over for a sleepover, so they did! I love Sawyer sleepovers!

We had pizza for dinner. As you can plainly see, Sawyer likes pizza . . .

I know it looks bad, but he cleaned up very nicely! He sure can cram some pizza into his little mouth.

After dinner, Sawyer and I went out for a ride on the golf cart. He *loves* to ride around the camp. We went down the low road and saw this . . .

At first I was very startled, but then I remembered that we had the Christian Southern Archers coming out on Saturday for an event, and they'd already set up their targets. Sawyer didn't know the difference, though, and for the rest of our sixty-minute ride, he growled at every animal we came upon.

Especially this big ol' guy, up in the upper meadow. Even when we got close enough to touch it, Sawyer just growled and growled. It's very funny to listen to and even funnier when you know that he's actually mimicking his Aunt Jocelyn's cat, Leia (who growls at most everyone).

Sawyer even growled at this fellow . . .

Can you see the little Frog Prince in the center of the photo? Every time he jumped, so did Sawyer.

And I couldn't get a smile out of him for the life of me -- he was too intent on all the animals. He was hard-pressed to look away from them long enough for him to look at me!

Back at the RV, I turned on our happy lights and he amused himself walking up and down the stairs about a million times.

And once we were cleaned up and in our "escape proof" pj's, he still wanted to go outside!

We had a good night's sleep and his mommy and daddy picked him up early, to go visit Kim's dad. After checking on the archery group that was already up at the camp, I headed to the grocery store. It was a relatively quiet day, with Todd working down on the dock, and me doing domestic things and working on the ministry's newsletter, when a violent storm popped up and passed through the camp.

It took with it a couple of trees, including this one which came down over the main road *and* the road into the main camping area.

And yes, if you look closely enough, those are power lines and we were (once again) without power. I've never been so thankful for my husband's foresight than when he purchased that generator!

Saturday night we went to sleep lulled by the sounds of the cranked generator. We got up Sunday morning for a happy Father's Day breakfast of french toast and bacon -- Todd's favorite!

A quick call to Huntsville Utilities confirmed they did still have our repair ticket and that they'd get to us when they could. *sigh*

Sunday was a hot, hot day. Our raccoon visitor stopped by and took a little dip.

He really is very cute!

Later that afternoon, everyone came up for a little Father's Day get-together. We celebrated with Todd's favorite; a Carvel ice cream cake. I think it may be Sawyer's too.

Just take a look at the blue from the ice cream frosting, around his mouth!

Then Todd got down to business and opened presents!

He was very pleased and surprised by the Kindle! Yay!

And I couldn't post it on my blog on Friday, but this was actually the first Kindle holder I made! One for my dear man's new toy. :)

Sawyer makes himself right at home. I found my old cell phone for him to play with. He loves to carry around cell phones and remotes!

And here are the hers and his Kindle cases! We'll always be able to tell our Kindles apart.

And this morning, I played around just a little bit with quilted postcards.

This is definitely something I'm going to need to play around with more and get in lots of practice. I did two different techniques for securing them (mainly because I wasn't real pleased with how the first one turned out), but the second one did better. This will be a fun past time when I feel the urgent need to create. I even got them in today's mail!

Whew. I need a week to rest from the weekend!

:)