EPIPHANY

Happy Epiphany to you. This is the twelfth day of Christmas if you celebrate the season this way. Some countries put more emphasis on it than the USA, but Catholics and Anglicans here celebrate it on Ephipany Sunday which this year was Jan 4th. It's the day the Three Wise Men visited Baby Jesus.
When my girls were young (do you get tired of hearing about them?), we would start the Wise Men in another room and they would move them everyday a little closer to the Manger Scene. It helped them experience the time frame of Christmas. Also showed them that Christmas didn't end on Christmas Day.

I'm still cleaning up, organzing and decluttering from Christmas. I'll probably finish by next Christmas with any luck! I'm anxious to start quilting, so maybe that will be my incentive to speed it up. This dreary, rainy weather we have been having is really getting me down. I need some cheerful sewing to pep me up. Take care, friends. Nerm

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Here we go into a new year. I'll repeat what I've read and heard from everyone, where did 2008 go? Do you make resolutions? I'm not terribly serious about them, but this year I truly want to declutter my house and simplify my life. Check back with me in a couple of months. LOL This being said by someone who loves fabric, yarn and anything paper. I must either produce more or buy less. Painful I'd say.

Last weekend we had another family get-together. SIL Danny's birthday is 27th and Morgan's is 22nd. So it seems they get combined every year. Now a thiry-something man and a 3 year old girl make an interesting combination! Fortunately Danny is pretty easy going about the whole thing. Here's the cake. It was Tinker Bell. Wish you could see Tink better--it was adorable. Loved the colors.
Dear hubby and I spent a quiet night at home on New Year's Eve. We are past the age of going out to party. Watched the ball drop, kissed and went to bed. Is that boring or what?

Recall I was a crafting fool for Christmas. Here is my grandbaby Morgan in a sweater I knitted her. I was so thrilled to see it fit her to a 'T'. It was knitted out of a cotton yarn with little blurbs of multicolor thruout. Fairly simple to make. What a cutie. ..Look at those big eyes.

Here's Tanner with a picture I painted for him. He loves anything with wheels on it, so I painted a highway and glued on die cut wooden vehicles with 3-D glue dots. I was really pleased with how it turned out. Love the bright turquoise color.

God bless you all throughout 2009. May you be healthy and happy and find love everywhere you look! Can't wait to see what we all accomplish this year. Luv, Nerm

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Now that the proverbial smoke has cleared, I'd like to share a few photos with you all showing some of our Thanksgiving gathering. Hope your day was blessed and fun! Did everyone get enough to eat? We are so fortunate to live in a country where food is plentiful and readily available. God bless us everyone!
Here's the star of the show: Hubby smoked the turkey this year and it was so juicy and tender. This will be a new tradition. The beautiful cranberry-orange cheesecake was not only eye candy, but truly delicious. This recipe came from my recipes.com. I get their emails daily and have found several yummy recipes there. Check it out.

Before dinner driving practice down Grammie's driveway for Morgan and Tanner.

Oldest daughter Wendy with Morgan.

Kitty giving Mekenzie a hug at the dinner table:

Poor Morgan! I think this picture says it all. Too much food, family and celebration!

Sorry I have no Black Friday stories to tell, because I consistently stay home on Friday after Thanksgiving. I'll face the shopping a little later. Plus I'm trying to make several gifts for many of the family this year. I can't share what or how because several of them read this blog. But I'll tell you this much, I will be tied to my sewing machine and knitting needles thru the pre-holiday.

Hope you all get all the rest and Zantac you need this weekend. Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent and I've got to get myself refocused. Luv, Nerm

CHRISTMAS VILLAGE

Hope your weekend has been great and relaxing. Let me show you what I did yesterday with my sister Gail. For twenty years (yep, you heard that right!), with very few interruptions, we have made it a point to attend an event called "Christmas Village" here in Nashville. It's a seasonal craft and decor show held for charity and which has over 260 vendors. It's always in November right before Thanksgiving. Sometimes it's been warm and unholidayish feeling. But this year was good because it was in low 40's and very blustery. Notice this banner which was blowing around. The event is held at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in six big buildings. They are crammed full of vendors and shoppers. It is hard to even walk thru part of them. You can see what I mean in this picture:

Lots of fun Christmas stuff like this booth:

Although I couldn't get close enough to it to talk a full frontal shot, this was the Pink Fairy Tent. It was wrapped in pink netting and was so colorful and full of little girl things. So cute!

Another crowd shot-this sure tested my newly found strength and endurance from my illness. My husband wasn't keen on my going, but sweet Sis said if I got tired, we could leave any time. We ate a bite of lunch (premade sandwiches-yuck) which gave us a chance to rest midway and then it was Charge!!!! I mean...when it's shopping and Christmas, I found supernatural energy.

In the end I spent very little money. I think I've seen most of this stuff so many times, I have become jaded. Besides if I'm going to get something else to dust, it has to be spectacular!

But it was fun to get out, get in the holiday spirit, and spend time alone with my sister which is very rare. Usually my mother is there as well, but this is just too much for her. When we got home, my sweetie had made a great dinner of chili and cornbread. How good is that? Nerm

HAPPY ALL HALLOW'S EVE

I can't believe it's been a week since my last post & I promised to do better. Problem is right now my life is kinda boring. Hope this Halloween evening went well for everyone. Can't wait to see the photos of all my little people in their costumes. I didn't get to see them in person this year. We don't have many trick or treaters at our house. We live in a subdivision kind of out in the country and on top of that, we are at the end of a cul de sac. But my daughter Amy says that they have huge crowds.

I have been sewing this week. The realization that Christmas is only two short months away has driven me into action. Some things I won't be able to show you til after Christmas because my family reads this blog and a lot of my handiwork is for them.
As I was looking through my fabric, I found these pieces I had painted years ago when I took a fabric painting class. I guess I must have finished them and just put them away. I think the scarecrow is really cute, so I whipped up a pillow with him. I even had some matching trim in the bottomless supply closet full of sewing goodies!

I also found this little pumpkin so I turned it into a door hanger. Found this remnant of ball fringe which just matches and finished it off with a twine hanger cord. I'm going to use them
thru the fall since I finished them so late. That way I'll get some enjoyment from them.

I'm going to bed, folks, with just one word of caution: brush your teeth so all that Halloween candy you've eaten won't give you cavities! ha, ha. Nerm

BACK TO WORK

Hi folks! Did everyone have a restful and fun Labor Day holiday? Mine was kinda quiet, but nevertheless, very nice. We had the family cookout on Sunday since Monday was really more of a work/school night. We gave our dogs baths-now don't laugh-that's quite the undertaking. And, as promised, I bought some quilt fabric. I have started a little lap quilt for me for the long, winter nights to come. That's a joke since I live in Tennessee and it hasn't snowed here to speak of in the last 3-4 years! Hope springs eternal, because I love a good snow.
Anyway, here's the beginning of that little quilt. I have tried to restrain my love of color and make this a little softer in line with my idea of my newly redecorated bonus/rec room. (still in progress).

This is the fabric for the backing, kind of a shabby chic, muted print. Much prettier than shown here. I'm working diligently on it, so hopefully I'll have the finished product to show you soon.

Thanks for all your sweet words of encouragement to me because of non-vacation. You're the best support I know. It was nice to have a laid back time to spend with my husband and sleep late, so all was not lost. Have a good week. We'll talk soon. Nerm

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 FOURTH OF JULY! (a little late)

Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July holiday. My, it was grand to have a three-day weekend! Saturday, we went to family reunion of my hubby's family down in Fayetteville, TN. They do this every year. Loads of good food, lots of conversations & catching up on lives, and swimming. I was so happy that it had rained a little earlier in the day and it wasn't as hot as usual for this time of year. Last year's get together saw temps of 95.
Tom's sister had been going thru some things of their mother's (she passed away several years ago) and brought him a number of things from his childhood. Just look what collector's items we have now! I told him it means you're old when your toys are 'vintage' and collectible. ha, ha.

These are both metal banks. You place a coin on the rocket and it sends it into the opening.

The silver rocketship has a similiar action. Aren't they neat?

Here's his Boy Scout handbook and school dictionary. How funny is it that I remember the same dictionary even tho' I grew up in Kentucky and he was in Tennessee.

The other item which is kinda hard to see is a wooden pencil holder with a cowboy carving on the front. Tom was a hugh Roy Rogers fan and we have a photo of him with his cowboy hat and guns just like in the movies. So cute!

Well, that's all for today. We'll talk more later. Luv, Nerm

HAPPY HEDGEHOGS!

Here's something you didn't know-I love, love, love hedgehogs and porcupines! Now I can't exactly remember when I became enamoured of them, but it's been at least 10 years or more. I can't even tell you what I love about them. It's just a quirky little thing about me. Okay, you guys, no comments about my quirkiness!!!
Here are a few rubber stamps I have:
I may be a grandmother, but I still like stuffed animals, esp. if they're porkies or hedgies. I look in every toy store I pass, in zoos, gift shops and the like. I've bought my collection all over the world as I have travelled.

Here's a shelf in my "craft/sewing" room with some of the smaller one, including Miss Tiggiewinkle from Peter Rabbit fame --you'll have to click on it to enlarge enough to see them.

Here are a few more stuffed hedgies in my bedroom. Aren't they cute, just smiling at ya!

Can you tell I live in a fantasy world? ha, ha. I hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend and get some rest, eat good food, and enjoy friends and family. God bless America and all our troops serving this holiday. Luv, Nerm