Until Next Time...

  Ya'll know my love of historical romances.  I started out reading them when I was young.  My mom had all the Victoria Holt books and I loved them.  That is why I also have an affinity for Gothic romances LOL   Anyway, in my never ending quest to read anything I can get my hands on, if it's a romance book, all the better, I picked up The Lady Gets Lucky by Joanna Shupe.   If you haven't read her yet, I suggest you get one of her books and get started.  This is the second book in her Fifth Avenue Rebels series.  Joanna mainly writes historicals that are set in the Gilded Age in New York City.  What a fantastic time!  Money, power and excess galore!  Our heroines get a little more freedom than Regency but there are still societal expectations.  And Joanna's heroines are doing their best to move women forward.  Some are more straightforward than others LOL In here we have Alice Lusk.  Typical shy heiress who has a horrible mother and wants a house and a husband of her own

 Where, oh where, has the time gone?  It's already November.  I guess I've spent the last couple months sewing LOL  I picked up some cute kitty fabric and made Granddaughter #2, Emery, the cutest twirly skirt and appliqued tshirt.   Then, I created a wonderful fall outfit for her fall school pictures.   And that sent me down the rabbit hole of fabric, patterns and sewing again.  I even went so far as to open an Etsy store !  I've also been doing some planning for a couple of craft fairs next year. We'll see where that ends up :)  Have you been doing any reading?  Eating anything good? I'm engrossed in The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton.  VERY ENTERTAINING!  I'm chuckling often with this one.  As for food, I have been doing Hello Fresh for almost 2 months.  I am loving it!  It eliminates my need to plan HAHAHA  Seriously, the ingredients all come to you with the recipe card for the meal.  All you need to do is pick the

 HOLY SMOKES, BATMAN!  This series had me captivated from the first page! There are three books in the V Games series - Vlad, Ven and Vas. Think Russian mafia. Think dark depravity.  Think women who are equally as strong as the men - Diana, I am talking about you!  Think twists and turns.  If you have all that going on in your head, multiply it by 5122554256 and you have what is going on here.  This series starts with Vlad's story.  I don't want to say too much about the actual story lines and give too much away, but just know that Vlad and Diana are willing to put their families first and do what must be done.  Do Vlad and Diana love each other?  Of course not!  Remember, family first.  So, who do they love?  Wellllll, Vlad loves Diana's younger sister, Irina.  And Irina has always loved Vlad but knew she could never have him.  Those twists and turns happen and this book ends with Vlad and Irina together. Now,  the series name is the V Games.  Think murder and mayhem where

The Oxford definition for ACCOMPLISHMENT is "something that has been achieved successfully".   I am claiming August as the Month of Accomplishments for my massive cross stitch WIP collection.  My plan is to finish some of the WIPs that are close to being finished or that I have had in the WIP pile for a long time.  Here's a look at my stitching spot...Notice the basket on the floor, it is full of WIPs.  Notice the pile on the sofa, it's all WIPs.  I have got to get some of these gone, especially since I LOVE starting new projects. So, am thinking I will work on Calvin and Trixie.  I am sooooo close on this one.  I even bought finishing fabric for it. I think I will try to complete the January SAL from Little House and Country Cottage Stitching Group on Facebook.  The theme was winter.  I bought finishing fabric for this too. I also want to finish up Seasons in Chalk: Stars and Stripes.  Super close on that on

How's it mid-July? I thought time was supposed to slow down the older you get. That is definitely not the case in my life.  We have moved The Squirrels into their new house. We are going back this weekend to bring them a lawn mower and fix their dryer and get the few pieces of furniture they had out the apartment.  I'll post pictures next week.  We celebrated Hubs's 50th birthday this week. Ashley and her bunch were the only ones missing. He got brave and tried a dirty martini.  Said it tasted like swamp water HAHA he went back to beer.  We went see Lolo's new place. Very nice. We need to get her a housewarming gift.  Hubs is saying a grill. Jarrett is all for that.  So, on to addressing the title. It's #fqsjollyjuly and I had a plan.  That plan has been shot to pieces. I have only started one Christmas project and have been working on other things.  I almost have one of my #stitchsania peices finished. I am loving stitching Flock Together by

I must admit, I really liked how #stitchsania went.  Focusing on one piece during the week had me feeling like I got a lot accomplished.  I've kind of taken that mini-focus and kept on with it. I'm changing it up a bit by giving myself a goal with the focus piece. For example,  yesterday's goal was to complete the black around Kringles on that piece. I almost got there! I'll finish that up tonight and pull out Sunflower Farm to work on - I was browsing through Everything CrossStitch's weekly sale and saw it and remembered I started it last year. It's a happy piece.  So, let's go through what I did last month.  First up was Calvin and Trixie by Stitching with the Housewives.  I got a good bit done on this. I am even further along now because I kept it out of the basket so it will be in my current rotation.  I now have all of the green leaves complete, 2 more of the jack o lanterns, and have started on Calvin's face. I have a cute H

 Happy June, everyone!  Summer is almost here.  Most people are gearing up for vacations and get togethers.  In our family, we are getting ready to trade homes.  Both Lola and the Squirrels are moving this summer.  On the same day.  How am I supposed to pick who to help?   Actually, we will be helping Lauren move first.  She has to be out of her apartment by midnight July1...which is also her birthday.  She and Agent J are moving into a newer three bedroom, two bath apartment with their fur baby, Ridge.  They are super excited. The Squirrels have are moving out of their apartment in Tuscaloosa and into a two bedroom house.  They have most of the month of July to do it though.  While they have more time, it meant we have to pay double rent for them in July and we need to find some living room furniture.  Their current apartment is furnished while the house is not.  Harley wants a new bed as well.  She has stated that she wants this because then she will have a bed to sleep in when she c

 One of my favorite things to eat, especially during the warmer months, is a salad.  A little side salad is not what I am talking about.  While I do enjoy those, I am talking about a salad that will fill you up on it's own. While I was digging through food blogs and websites, I ran across several BBQ salad recipes and figured I would try it.  I fell in love!  So when Hubs said he was grilling night before last, I had him throw some chicken on the grill so I could make the salad. Harley and Mallory came for a visit last night and were thrilled to know this is what was for dinner.  Mallory said she could have eaten the whole bowl herself.  And I don't doubt it for one minute LOL   This is easy peasy to throw together.  I added BBQ sauce to my serving.  Not everyone in the house wanted extra BBQ sauce on theirs.  Here's the recipe: about 6 cups mixed greens - I used spinach, iceburg and romaine lettuce 2 chopped tomatoes about 1/3 of a red onion diced c

 HI!  I'm back as promised with my focus pieces for #stitchsania this month.   Up first is Calvin and Trixie by Stitching with the Housewives.  I don't know when I started this.  Last September, maybe.  I dyed the fabric grey and then coffee/tea dyed it.  I liked the fabric then, but when I picked this up to work on it this week.  I don't know.  The fabric just looks dirty to me.  And that makes me sad.  But, I have so many stitches in it already that I will just keep on with it. Next week will be an easy peasy finish.  This is the third ornament in the Secret Santa series by Hands on Design.  It's called Silent Night.  I love the fabric and they way the colors pop on these.  I'm going to have to make these a priority this year so I can finish them and put them on my Santa tree. Third focus piece is the squirrel from Waxing Moon Designs Bittersweet Trio.  I have lots to go on this LOL  I have a couple other squirrel patterns that I want to do.  We call our youngest

 Ya'll know my love of counted cross stitch.  I am wondering why I gave it up for so long.  I started doing cross stitch when I was about 9 or 10.  I remember my grandmother giving me fabric with the blue printed embroidery pattern printed on it to stitch.   Then, when I was in junior high, or maybe a freshman in high school, my mom taught me to do counted cross stitch.  I fell in love!  I've done wedding gifts, graduation gifts, stockings and various other pieces.  I did a teacher piece with a bear holding an apple to give to my Aunt Myra for her kindergarten classroom.  She gifted that back to me when I started teaching.  It will always be a treasured piece. Since I quit stitching and have come back, things have changed somewhat in the world of cross stitch.  There is this thing called Stitchmaynia.  It even has it's own hashtag  #stitchmaynia The idea was to start 31 new projects. One a day for the month of May.  While I ADORE starting new projects, I can not imagine sta

 We have been BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!  Spring has finally come to north Alabama and we have been taking advantage of the warmer temps.   The front of the house has been an eyesore for several years.  The girls have parked in the yard so much that I had absolutely NO grass, just a dirt pile.  I have been asking for grass for about 3 years now LOL  I finally got it!  Hubs and I spent a weekend tilling and adding topsoil and planting grass seed.  Of course, we put hay to cover it.  It's been 2 weeks and I finally have little blades of grass showing up.  We also put in a walkway from the main walk to the driveway.  I LOVE IT! We also planted some hydrangeas in front of the porch, and some gardenias in front of Harley's room.  I had to put in a red crepe myrtle on the corner of the house.  I can't wait for them to bloom!  I need to pull the ivy off the house behind the gardenias.  I am not sure where that came from, but it's growing there HAHA  Ashley and Grant came

 It's already mid-March.  When did that happen?  Was it when I was busy at work?  Was it when I was trying to do anything but clean the house?  Was it while I spent hours reading? Or while I spent hours cross stitching?  All I know is that I woke up this morning at 4:30 and was astounded that it was already almost the middle of March. And you are probably wondering what is so special about the middle of March, aren't you?  Well, my oldest daughter's birthday is Sunday, the 14th.  And my only grandson's birthday is on Tuesday the 16th.  And let's not forget that I turned the BIG 5-0 on Tuesday of this week!  March is a special month in our family. To celebrate my birthday, Lola got me an amazing Cuisinart stand mixer in a beautiful aquaish Tiffany blue.  Then when I got home that night, Jenna had blown up 50 black balloons and had them all over the house.  Emery has loved playing with them all week. I am thankful for all the things I have and