DREARY AND WET

We have had the gloomiest, grayest, rainyest (?) weather lately. The skies are leaden and if it were colder, I just know we'd have snow. You know how we here in Tennessee pray for snow and haven't really had a good one in several years. Seriously tho', all this rain is causing area flooding with some people being evacuated from their homes.
This is what the view from my back door looks like-this was mid afternoon and it looks almost like nightfall. My poor little dogs don't want to go outside to do their business and who can blame them?

On a happy note, my niece Callie is in the hospital as I type this having her baby. Hopefully, we'll have a picture to share tomorrow.
Stay dry and warm wherever you are. Nerm

ST NICHOLAS DAY

Happy St. Nicholas Day! This is also the second Sunday in Advent. Boy, December is whizzing by at an alarming rate.

When my girls were young and still at home, we would celebrate St Nicholas day by reading the story of his life and exchanging small gifts of remembrance. I always felt it was important for them to know there was a REAL Christian person behind the secular Santa Claus. He was a bishop in the 4th century in what is now Turkey. It's a very interesting life story if you want to read further about him here.





I hope all your Christmas preparations are coming along nicely. Hopefully I'll have some decorations to show tomorrow. Take a deep breath! Nerm

UNDER THE WEATHER

Sorry I haven't been around this week-I've been under the weather. Finally caught the nasty cold my whole extended family has had for a month. And I thought I was the lucky one! But today I feel ever so much better, so I wanted to say hi. Can you believe that Christmas Day is a mere three weeks away? This is no time to be out of commission. heavy sigh.

Even tho' I've been on the couch all week, I have had plenty of time to crochet and knit some goodies for Christmas. Here are some little ornaments. These were all done in Lily cotton yarn. Love that stuff. The ornament shaped ones came from here.


I made up the tree shape and the little dress. Isn't it cute? It'll be for one of my granddaughters.

Next you can see I've been making dishcloths. These are so wonderful to wash dishes with or even used as washcloths to bathe with. The red/cream one is crochet; the green is knitted. I like the pine tree design. I'm working on a yellow one with a star in the center. Fun, fun.

I hope you are all staying well and proceeding toward your Christmas plans with no obstacles.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get some decorations up. Nerm

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Hi everybody--hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful and you are full and happy. Ours was very low key this year with only nine family members. But the turkey and fixings were all there and I think there are still a few lingering in the fridge.

If you'll remember a few posts back, I mentioned my niece was having a baby and I made the sailboat baby blanket for her. I decided to add a little hat to match. It's always hard to remember how tiny newborns really are. Can't wait to hold this one. Picked up these tiny socks at the Target $1.00 aisle. How cute are they?
On Friday daughter Wendy had to work, so I kept Morgan all day. We had lots of fun. Joined up with middle daughter Amy and her girls and went shopping. Something I said I wouldn't do. But she got to see her cousins and I got some time to visit with Amy. We had a big day and Morgan slept all the way home.

Hubby and I are having a quiet Sunday afternoon watching football-our Tenn. Titans are playing Arizona and it's a close game. So I'll get back to it and we'll talk later. Tomorrow I've got to hit the ground running. Christmas is hurtling toward me with lightning speed. Nerm

I PROMISED YOU A PILGRIM!

Tomorrow's the big day and I am prepared! The dining room table is set and decorated just awaiting our hungry crew to arrive. I'll get up and make the pumpkin pie and a few side items and be ready. Sweet hubby is smoking the turkey all nite & I'm sure it will be yummy.

Here's my pilgrim dishcloth compliments of Lily Yarns. Don't you love that cotton yarn they make? I have many different colors and can't wait to do something for Christmas.
Here's the link if you're interested: http://www.sugarncream.com/pattern.php
By the way I took the photo outside so it would look more realistic -Hey, the original folks ate outside, right?

Many Thanksgiving blessings to you and yours. Nerm

MORE DOGS

I know Thanksgiving is day after tomorrow, so why am I talking about my dog collection? Well, if you'll look back to my previous post about cleaning my dining room, you'll understand. I spent my whole day in there putting all my sewing and quilting stuff away so we could eat in there on Thursday. I am SO tired. Hence, the dogs. I had these photos ready for another post that never came, so I thought today was a good time.
I love little china dogs, most of which are from Japan and made around the 40's and 50's. The one below here was an ashtray and is very unique. I love this guy. Looks like he's saying "who me?"

This one (kinda blurry) looks kind of like my shih tzu. He's sweet too.

Here they all are assembled on a shelf in my new green family room. There's even a vintage dog print below the shelf that once was my Grandmother's.
Thanks for indulging me. I promise to show some pilgrim decor soon. HA HA Nerm

ONE WEEK TO GO

Thanksgiving is one week from today and you wouldn't believe my dining room. I've been busy sewing in there for weeks and have several projects spread from one end to another. Yikes. I'd better get going this weekend. I envy all those good bloggers whose homes are decorated for the autumn/Thanksgiving celebration. I do have my front door done, so I'm good from the outside. Ha, ha. (slightly hysterical laughter)

I will show you something I HAVE done: continuing in my bird & nature theme in the bonus room, I have made a little arrangement which is on a shelf over the TV. I found an old 1 x 4 in the garage (thank goodness, hubby is a builder) and attached these letters to it. Painted it all with my favorite antique white. Then out to the yard for misc. grass,weeds, and sticks to make the nest. No, I didn't use a real one. Glued my birdie in and voila, there it is! I'm pretty proud if I say so myself.

Thought I'd share one of sewing projects with you: I love making pillows. So many choices and possibilities. Also so fast and easy! This one has red and white ticking on the back, making it more cottagey feeling. It was for a friend's birthday.

Guess that's all for today, friends. It was a glorious day here--cool but sunny. Perfect fall day. I am going to be sad to see them go. Nerm