SORRY, DESTIN!

May I whine a little please? You see, every year at Labor Day our whole family goes to the beach for a week over the holiday. We get a multi-bedroom condo and swim, shop, eat, and play games together. The girls and I bring all our scrapbooking supplies and spread out over the dining room table and have a blast while the guys go fishing. We go out to eat every nite at a different place until our seafood gauges are filled to the top. We sleep in the sun or play with the kids in the pool. Mainly we forget the real world and recharge our batteries.

Well, this year we're not going. Life has gotten too complicated. It's not so easy to keep the kids out of school an extra day or two now that they're a little older and school is more demanding. Hubby Tom and Kitty's Tommy are general contractors and have a couple of projects in mid-progress that they can't easily leave. So...here we stay.
All is now lost, however. We will get together and have a family cookout at my house I'm sure.
And now I have a good excuse to feel sorry for myself and go shopping for more quilt fabric or scrapbooking supplies or something, anything for a quick fix. ha, ha
Hope all of you get to do something fun and relaxing this holiday weekend. Luv, Nerm

HAPPY BELATED B'DAY, AMY!

Well, I finally finished Part A of Amy's gift. Maybe Part B will be completed by Christmas! ha
My camera didn't take a very good picture of this pillow's detail. It's appliqued and outline stitched. The interesting part of this pillow is the back (below) Here is the back of pillow: It's made from part of an antique quilt. I bought this at one of my yard sales. The lady selling it didn't know what she had. I bought it $3.00! She told me that her mother had bought it years ago at an antique store and was told it was 100 years old! It sure smelled like it too. At any rate it was in shambles. Full of holes and tears. So I gently washed it and put it out on my deck to dry. I knew I wanted to salvage as much of it as I could. I mended a few ripped seams and cut out enough for the backing. I think it looks great.

I love you, baby girl! Nerm

HUMP DAY

Good evening, friends. Hope the week's progressing well for you all. It's been a busy week for me with nothing much interesting to report. More babysitting for Tanner who started half-day kindergarten this week. I've been keeping him in afternoons--mainly because I'm available and the school IS just right across the street from my subdivision! Let me take this opportunity to say that I'm not a very good boy grandmother. I had three girls who had more girls and this one boy. Boys are so different...active, busy, not cuddly. They don't want to talk, read, sew, etc.
But I am trying... ha, ha.l
This isn't my lawn, but nevertheless, it gives you a picture of a dying lawn. Mine is much browner. We have not had measureable rain in August. Maybe an afternoon quickie shower, but nothing substantial. We have managed to keep our bushes, et al, watered, but we are in a water conservation area, so we have to watch it. Now we're hoping some of Hurricane Fay's rain comes this far over. Tomorrow I am hoping to sew, sew, sew. I am trying to finish daughter Amy's birthday gift. Yes, her birthday WAS in July! If you don't know by now, please know that I am notorious to being late, behind and otherwise time challenged. My intentions are always good, but you know about the road to h--- being paved with good intentions. I'm hoping to give it to her on Saturday (we're going shopping together) so I can't show it yet. Here's a hint: Barbara Bradeburg. But, no, no, no, it's not a quilt! Yikes, I don't have that much free time! I'll take a picture of it to show and tell later.
Have a good night's sleep, my dears. Nerm

THOUGHTS ON YARD SALES

Greetings to you all this Sunday night. Hope your weekend has been relaxing and just plain fun. My Sunday was indeed a day of rest-church, lunch, rest, and then Olympics watching.


You've heard me talking all summer about our outings to various yard/garage sales. I have had my granddaughters a few times, but I always take my mother. I've also spoken about her a lot too. She lives with us and has moderate Alzheimer's. She also suffers from COPD. Although she is actually very agile and gets around just about as well as I do with my arthritis--ha, ha. We're a real couple! Anyway...I have found talking her yard sale-ing each Friday has really been fun for both of us. She doesn't have to worry about remembering anything and we laugh at the funny things we find. Usually it's 3-5 sales at most we go to, because by then we're both tired. But it's cheap entertainment and a good together time for us. It gets Mother out of the house and lets me sometimes find a treasure or two. Here she is with Lilly (Larry) the cat.

Here's a couple of things I found this week. This is a cute cat--kinda primitive style for me, but still okay. It's in really good shape.

Now here's a shabby chic if I ever saw one and I have great ideas for it. This little leafy lamp was a big bargain. I'm spray painting it cream color and then will sand it to look distressed. I may do more, who knows once I get started. I'll post it when it's finished.

I have so many projects to work on. I just HAVE to get myself motivated and organized, because you-know-what is coming up in just four months! I have lots of things I want to make folks and they require my participation! ha, ha. Stay tuned to more whining. Luv, Nerm

ODDS AND ENDS

Hello out there in blogland-hope your August is going well. We've been actually having rather nice weather her in middle Tennessee-high 80's with lower humidity. Last year at this time, we were over 90 degrees for over a month with killer humidity. Still I've already got the fall fever!

When I was at my aunt's house earlier this summer, I found this old 1986 copy of Woman's Day magazine. I loved the afghan on the cover and have started making it. I like to crochet because it's easier on the arthritis in my hands than knitting. I LOVE granny squares too. Lets you use up all those scraps of yarn. And you should know by now, I love COLOR. So there you are...
We had the family birthday get-together for me last weekend. Here's my cake. See, even my family calls me Nerm. Isn't it pretty. Very good too. Thanks for all your sweet birthday wishes-that means alot to me.

More flowers (from Wendy)--I sure could get used to receiving flowers twice in one week!

I hesitated to put this photo in because I detest having my picture taken, but as they say, it is what it is. L-R: Me, Amy, Mother and my sister Gail.

I've been helping take care of Tanner this week since school doesn't start til next week and his preschool is out for the summer. So Kitty and I have been trading off. Here he is all outfitted for his scooter riding. We worked in the yard today too. Put all that energy to good use! He starts kindergarten next week and is so excited. I am too -can't wait to see what all he learns.

That wraps it up tonight. I'll be back soon. Lots of luv, Nerm

A Day for a Fresh Feast

Today after church Tom and I decided to go with my parents, my sister Amy and her husband to the Famers Market. I'm afraid these pictures don't even do it justice though. They are some of the "best tasting" local grown fruits and veggies in Nashville. I have to say, a day like this makes me appreciate it that I live in the South.

The best part about all of this, is that I bought all of it for under $20! The eggplants are only $1 a piece. The red and green peppers are $.50 a piece. Can you even believe that?

Tonight we have already decided we are going to have quite the feast. I can't wait. This is the food of my childhood and it takes me back to helping my Granny cook in her kitchen. She lived in Alabama and was the best southern cook I know. I will take some more pictures tonight to let you all see the final product.- Kitty

HOME FOR MY BIRTHDAY

Back home and so happy to be here. It was great to go visiting, but this is where I belong. Yesterday was my birthday (I can't remember which one) but we'll have the requisite party this weekend so everyone can come. Of course, I'd rather skip it and I'm not just saying that. Let's face it, I'm beyond the point of being excited about birthdays. But it's important to the rest of the family and I know it's good for the kids to have that continuity. So I'll be gracious and eat my fair share of cake and ice cream. My favorite cake is white with white icing. Just in case any of you decide to overnite a cake this way.

Beautiful hydrangeas from my precious daughter Amy. My favorite flower. While at my aunt's house, she cleaned out some cabinets of old dishes and lucky me, got to bring some home. There's a piece of carnival glass, a hobnail bowl and even a vintage little glass refrigerator dish (before tupperware). The red banded platter is from my grandmother's everyday dishes I remember from my childhood. What great memories!

Here's pretty much what the countryside looked like for much of the trip up and back. Acres and acres of flat prairie land with fields of corn and sometimes, soy beans. Being from Tennessee where it is very hilly, these flat fields were just incredible. I could see where a lot of the corn for ethanol is coming from. They also have lots of oil wells just drilling away in the fields up there.

Here is the welcome sign to the little town my aunt lives in. This is a very, very small town.

But I've been coming up here all my life, so it seems familiar to me and I don't think much about the size. While here with my mother, daughter Amy and two girls, Madison and Mekenzie, we took my aunt shopping and visiting friends and relatives. Had fun catching up with everyone and helping the little girls connect with relatives they didn't know they had.

Here's a picture of my aunt Maxine and my mother Joy. Maxine is 90 yrs old and my mom is 86 yrs. old. They look pretty good, don't they? It was a good visit, but let's just say my aunt who lives alone was just not used to children no matter how well they behave. But to be 90 yrs old, she is fantastic. I can only hope I have inherited her genes.

That's it for now, folks, I'm still doing laundry and catching up on emails. Luv, Nerm