September Fun

 Fall has finally arrived! Not the cooler temperatures, mind you, but the actual season. We are getting a bit of a reprieve this week, though. The high was in the 80's today, and it is supposed to drop into the 50's tonight. Last week was HOT!

We got our new windows installed on the 8th. I love them! I haven't gotten an electric bill since then, so I don't know how much, if any, difference we'll see on our bill. But I think it will eventually make a big difference! The new windows are so pretty that we are keeping the blinds open much more and enjoying the view. I love this picture window in the small guest room!

On the 16th, I had planned to go to a quilt show in Weatherford. I got up that morning and got into my morning routine, when it hit me...maybe Diane was available and might want to meet me there. Sure 'nough, she was and did! We met up for lunch and then headed over to the show. It was quite a treat! Beautiful works of art to enjoy, plus the company of a dear friend. Good times!

I finished Jesse's quilt and made matching pillows for both him and Shepherd. It feels so good to get those projects completed! Shepherd's birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks. We plan to take his quilt to him on our way up to Arkansas next month. It just happened to work out that the night we are planning to be there, Stephen and Mandy had dinner plans, so we'll be watching the kids. I love it when that happens! Looking forward to some special time with those three!

When we leave Paris, we'll head up to Ricky and Amber's a couple of days before Archer and Dennis' birthday parties on the 15th. I wanted to be there to help Amber get everything ready. If nothing else, I can entertain Archer while she does what needs to be done. It's hard to believe that he is almost a year old! (He'll actually be almost 11 months old at his party...we are celebrating early.)

Speaking of Archer and his folks, they were down this past weekend. Amber's family all came to town for a get-together and zoo trip. Rick and Amber came a day early and spent one night here before meeting up with the Hays bunch at a guest house in Santo. Archer is at such a fun age! He is so much more sociable now...as well as mobile! He's very well behaved though. Even though he was tempted by a couple of things, he kept his hands off! He loves to play...and eat! I had made a double batch of snickerdoodles for the weekend. It was his first time to try one. He is a fan! I took the rest to the zoo on Saturday, where we met up with the whole bunch. It was fun watching the littles (Archer and his cousins) enjoy the animal exhibits. When something particularly caught Archer's eye, he would do his funny little wave at it! He really liked the giraffe, the flamingos and the rhino. The flamingos were squabbling, which I guess sounded a little like music to him, so he started dancing "with" them! 😁After a couple of hours, when everyone was hot and tired, we all went out for lunch together and visited even longer. It was a good day!

Dennis is making good progress on the vanity in our dressing area. We picked up the hardware Saturday on our way home from FW, and he has all of the drawers assembled. He still has the cabinet door to do, plus painting everything. I really like the way it is turning out. We are going to have SO MUCH storage!

Last week I made a new deer lovey for Archer. Rick had contacted me a couple of weeks prior to that asking if I could make another one. Archer has about worn out the old one! Of course I was happy to comply! It warms my heart that he enjoys it so much. When they arrived Thursday night, he was a bit shy. But when I held out his new lovey, he was quick to grab it! Now Amber has a spare for when one needs washing. (She still had the ear that he had pulled off the old one, so I was able to repair it.)

I also started making some fabric "ragged" pumpkins last week and added the finishing details today. I'm happy with the way they turned out. For my next project, I plan to do something with an old UFO (un-finished object) that my Granny started when she was a young woman. My Aunt Coez had given it to me years ago and made me promise to finish it someday. It was intended to be a flower garden quilt. The material, I'm sure, is old flour sacks and scraps from clothing. My idea is to sew them onto muslin and make a lap-sized quilt. I haven't decided if I'll do it rag quilt or traditional style. I'm a little nervous to try doing a "real" quilt! I'll have to take some time and work out some ideas on how I want it to look, and what I think I am able to do.

Saturday, when we got home from the zoo, Dennis discovered a shed snakeskin in our front yard. It is about 3 ft. long. I sent a picture of it to Sheila to show Nam. She immediately texted back that he wanted us to save it for him! He is supposed to come a week from Friday for a sleepover. So it is waiting for him on our "window seat".

As I was going outside to snap the picture of the snakeskin, I noticed a large sphynx moth on the screen of the garage window. They are so neat looking! So, of course, I had to get a picture of it, too! I do enjoy critters.

That's pretty much what has been going on around here this month. I hope that all is going well with y'all, and that you are enjoying the early days of fall!

Ps 104:24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. (KJV)

Time spent with loved ones

This past weekend was the annual Labor Day Gathering, hosted by the Young family and Henrietta Creek church, after a 2 year hiatus (due to COVID). We got over to the park, where Saturday's activities were taking place, around 10:30. It was SO good to see everyone again! The day was pretty warm, but not nearly as hot as the temperatures had been in July and June. The park had a wonderful playground and splash park for the kiddos. A few of the older ones cooled off in the splash park, too! It was a great day.

I woke up yesterday morning at 3:30 sneezing my head off. I had been surprised that I didn't have any allergic reactions during the day on Saturday. It was a delayed reaction, instead, and boy was it a doozy! In spite of using my nasal spray and taking Benadryl every six hours, I spent the day blowing and sneezing and snoozing in my recliner. I was miserable. So Dennis had to go back over to Henrietta Creek for the day by himself. I hated missing it! I was able to sleep all night last night (thanks to Benadryl) and woke up feeling slightly human this morning. (Yesterday, I would have qualified more as a zombie.) I love the changes in the weather that come with approaching autumn, but my allergies DO NOT. 

It was nice to have milder weather this August. Instead of daily temperatures in the 100's, most days had highs in the 90's and lows in the lower 70's. We got several rains, too...just right for saving our grass. Things went from brown and dead looking to lush and green practically overnight. 

Last month, I did a movie night/sleepover at Diane's. It was a lot of fun, as usual! Dennis and I also took a short trip to Paris to see Stephen and family. It had been way too long since our last trip! The boys gave me a little fussing out a few weeks ago during a video chat, which made me realize we were long overdue for a visit. We enjoyed the visit. We went to a tiger refuge up in Hugo, OK, which was amazing! I definitely want to return sometime in the future with Nam. He would love it!

Progress on the house is coming along slowly. Dennis has finished the walls and floor in the dressing area of our bathroom and is currently working on building the vanity. He expects to have it completed this week or early next week. We heard from our window guy that our windows are in, so we are just waiting until he has an opening in his schedule to install them. He could have done it Friday, but we were too busy getting ready for the Labor Day festivities to mess with them. 

I finished Shepherd's rag quilt and am getting close to finishing Jesse's. This one has taken me longer and has challenged me more than any of the others that I've done. I'm working it "on point". It is amazing how that has messed with my head! It took a LOT of figuring to work out the design before even beginning. Then once I started sewing the rows together, I had to rip out a LOT of them! I've finally (after doing 12 of the 17 rows) gotten to where it is coming along pretty routinely. I've been enjoying my new sewing machine. I've used a decorative stitch for making the X's on each sandwich. I also plan to do a different decorative stitch around the outer edge of the quilt. It is just a month until Shepherd's birthday, and I'm looking forward to giving his to him. He and Jesse recently moved into a new room and redecorated. Their quilts were designed to go along with their new decor (Star Wars). 

I heard from Ricky last week that Archer needed a new lovey. I had made him a little deer lovey last winter. He has about worn it out! Thankfully, I cut out 2 when I made it. I just never sewed up the second one. So once I get my current project finished, I'll put it together for him. It warms my heart to hear that he loves it so much!

We aren't getting to see Nam as much now that he has started back to school. We had his family over for Matt's birthday last month. That had to count for our monthly visit with him, since we just didn't have time to work in a sleepover. Ricky and Amber are planning a trip down here in a couple of weeks to meet up with the Hays bunch to go to the FW Zoo. We're going to have Nam for a sleepover at the same time and take him with us to meet up with them at the zoo. That ought to be a lot of fun!

Next month our bunch is planning a get-together at Rick and Amber's to celebrate Archer's 1st birthday and Dennis' 70th. (Archer's actual birthday will be on Thanksgiving Day, and they will be in NM.) I'm looking forward to having everyone together again. It's hard to believe that it has been almost a year since Archer was born!

Well, I guess that about wraps up what's been going on around here. I hope that you all are staying well and enjoying your Labor Day weekend!

1Co 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. (NKJV)