Busy....

Friday started with hot coffee and cold cold winds! 30 degrees, sunny! Ha, can't wait to get on the road south this year!

Our Bailey had a rough night but is doing great this morning..yay!

Jer decided to try a new 'do', what do you think? <g>

This evening we went to visit mom-in-law at university hospital. She has a severe infection in her left foot that was finally diagnosed after a month of suffering! She  has been on a couple of antibiotics for 24 hours now and is feeling a lot better! It was heartbreaking to see her so miserable!

Our visit also included a stop at my favorite restaurant! BRONCOS! Yay! Anyone who knows me knows that i am a happy camper tonight!!

Tomorrow we put the rig in storage for a week and head to Des Moines to babysit 3 grandchildren while mom heads to Philadelphia for a class!

Long day

Jer and i took our little Bailey to the vet this morning for laser eyelid surgery. The vet had determined that her eyelids were turning/rolling in on themselves and causing her irritation that we have been dealing with the last few months.

After we dropped her off we took the truck in to have engine light checked out and found out it was because of an emissions area that had basically fallen apart with hoses disintegrated. :( they gave us a ride back to our rig and we patiently waited for the call that it was finished.

Our winds in Nebraska have been horrible, 30-40 mph!

Late this afternoon, we picked up the truck and yay engine light is out! Hopefully it stays out now! Following that we went to the vet to pick up our totally spaced out baby... She is so out of it tonight, i feel so bad.

Maybe tomorrow will be a better day!

Back in Papillion....

Saturday found us heading north in I-29. 

The Iowa bluffs that I-29 follows were beautiful in their fall colors. This time of the year all farmers are in their fields completing their harvests! It always makes me smile to watch such huge operations underway!

We decided to give jerry's mom a call and stop and visit.  His sister Phyllis and her hubby Gary were on the way down too! When we got there we helped them clean the house for her, had a light lunch and a wonderful visit.

Later Saturday afternoon we headed on to Papillion and found a spot at Walnut Creek campground. The last couple of days have been spent vegging around and visiting with our daughter and family!

For our anniversary, the kids took us to Red Lobster for dinner! It was sooo good, we had the most delightful waiter and the 'all' you can eat shrimp was Delicious!

St. Joe, MO and a SWEET reunion

Arrived in St. Joe around 4:00pm and found the local Walmart. We have been looking for propane all day today! Across the highway from where we are parked was a TSC store.. So decided to call them and lo and behold they were able to fill us up! Going to have to do some asking around about how to find propane on the road???

Contacted my sister Linda to see if they were available for dinner and of course they were!

She and husband Albert arrived at our door within minutes!! They whisked us off for a tour of their home and introduced us to their 2 kitties!

We decided we wanted mexican fare for dinner so headed off for the yummiest dinner in their local downtown! Best spicy bean dip and homemade chips ever!  Jer had their mixed plate and I had a taco salad! Yummo!! After lots of catching up they dropped us back at the Big F and we finished catching up!

It was wonderful guys and we will see you soon!

This morning we woke to cool temps and lots of fog....

Heading to Papillion today... Will get settled at Walnut Creek and begin to get a few things done this week before our babysitting gig starts next weekend!

Mountainview Missouri

We stayed in a passport america park last expecting to get half off but noooo, had to stay 2 nights to get discount! Grrrr! Nowhere in their ad was that mentioned! I hate when that happens! People were nice and camground was full of beautiful trees but entire place was gravel!

Stopped at a Waffle House in TN and totally stuffed ourselves! It was so good!

Woke up this morning to a wool socks and warm slippers kinda day!

Had a beautiful drive through central Missouri! Fall colors are spectacular!

Heading to St. Joe, Mo....

It was a Walmart night

After 280 miles yesterday, we decided to call it a night and stopped at the Walmart in Lebanon, TN around 5pm. 

Dinner was easy tonight, delicious chicken fried steak sandwiches that my sister Suzi made for us before we left and my mom's super yummy brownies! We lazed around for awhile and then walked through Walmart for a few groceries .

A highlight this evening was a FaceTime visit with granddaughter Lily! We are sure looking forward to seeing all 4 of our little ones in the next two weeks.

After coffee and a short walk this morning, we headed next door and fueled the Big F and hit the road around 8:30am.... Headed for Paduca, KY.

Leaving Brevard :(

This morning we packed up and battoned down the Big F (our RV). We are beginning our next leg of our journey and leaving Brevard, NC.

These last 3 weeks have been packed with activities, cooking, laughing and magnificent fall scenery!

Jer and I have had fun getting to know the Big F better and are starting to even develope some routines...

It was a very emotional time for me telling my folks, aunt sue and sister suzi, good bye. We are so looking forward to our next leg of our journey, but I so disliked telling them goodbye!

I love the Brevard area and the Smokey mtns and it was so fun watching the color happen this year!

Brevard color

I have been waiting for the beautiful colors to show!

They are finally coming on!

A test for my dad :)

I am trying to get a post to show up in my dad's 'bloglovin' app on his verizon pad????

We are parked in Brevard, NC at their house....our plans are to head back to Nebraska/Iowa tomorrow. We have to babysit grandkids in Des Moines Nov. 1-6? and then head to Papillion for a few days to celebrate a b-day party for DG #4 and THEN head for Arizona! Yay!

Back in Papillion

We arrived back in Papillion, Sunday afternoon, Sept 14. We decided to stay at the Walnut Creek campground, run by the city of Papillion. It is a pretty nice little place. Only electric, but cement, fairly level pads. And oh so quiet (most of the time)...Ha! I was awakened Monday morning by a marching band practicing at 6:30 and horses clopping through on the cement. It was quite a surprise, but nice once I got coffee made! We will stay here through Sun. now.

Originally planned on leaving on Thurs....but we have to change our verizon pkg and have decided to upgrade phones....and of course new ones are not available until Fri. and since it is soooo close to Saturday and my awesome 'Outlander' series....(the wedding is this week!) we have to stay!

Jer has spent the week making sure tires are aired properly and getting a tire stem fixed. Also our title arrived on Sunday, so we got the rv licensed properly now (nearly stroked out on that one!) And last night we were awakened to our propane leak alarm going off! Gaaaahhhh! So now are awaiting a call from Camping Word to see when we get in.

So not a lot and yet lots going on, all in the learning curve! :)

Maiden Voyage

We are finally, mostly loaded up and left for our maiden voyage to camp with Jerry's sister and her husband for a long weekend. The campground was a KOA about 50 miles north of us in Onawa, IA. We were able to get electricity and water, but no sewer :(.

The weather was cold, rainy, and super windy....a perfect way to stay inside and become familiar with all the workings of our 'new' home. I spent a lot of the time, sorting, storing, and rearranging 'stuff'. Ha! I still have much to do and have made a 'list' of things we need, forgot or want!

We went to dinner Friday night with 2 of the couples from the campground, Jer's sister and her husband, to a little restaurant across the Iowa line in Decatur, NE. I had the fried shrimp :) and Jer had the chicken fried steak! It was good.

Saturday was spent enduring severe winds and rain. Bailey and I walked around the campground about 2pm (game time!) and no one was outside. We had been told about all the 'football watching parties' outside, but the place was silent. I giggled at how quiet it was. I made our 'first' dinner in the rv, spaghetti, fruit salad and yummy garlic bread! All cooked on the rv stove!

Sunday morning we had breakfast with Jer's sister at their place...wonderful omelets, fruit and cinnamon toast and lots of good conversation. Afterwards we closed up the rv and Jer 'practiced his first dump'!  We just might be getting the hang of this!

Retirement

Retirement! The word evokes many emotions in me. Sadness, nostalgia, nervousness, fear, hope, excitement, uncertainty....

Hubby and I will be closing our coffee shop on Monday. We have sold it to Petit's Bakery who will be reopening the day after labor day. I have agreed to train them for a couple of weeks until they feel comfortable with our recipes and ways of making our drinks. I think it will be a good thing. But and it is a big BUT it is bittersweet to us to leave a business that has been our lives for the last 10 years :).

We have decided to hit the open road and travel to visit family and friends. Our new home will be our new to us Class C Forest River RV.

When our girls were young we were avid campers in a little pop up trailer and had many wonderful trips with them and good friends! So we have decided to spend the next few months visiting family (North Carolina) and friends (Arizona) and try out this 'fulltime' rv lifestyle we have dreamed about.

We pick up our new to us rig next week and can't wait. Our plan is to finish training the new owners at the shop and become familiar with all the ins and outs of a big rig! I have been making lists and checking them twice. Our biggest concern is figuring out our connectivity, we still have many questions about internet, phones, wifi, etc....but I am positive we will figure it all out.

Our little Bailey will be excited when she figures out that we will be 'in the car' all the time...she loves to travel with us!

Until next time......

Don't you just love......

Don't you just love when you start a new project? I love when inspiration hits and the decision is made to start a new project....I love deciding and finding or buying the pattern and choosing the linen. Next on my list is going through my thread stash and finding the threads I already have and then (oh no, hehehe) having to go to the LNS and getting the rest of them that I absolutely have to have. Next up I get a new large baggie and fill with all the necessities I will need to do this project.

I have been watching Vonna at the Twisted Stitcher starting her '6 Fat Snowmen' by Lizzie Kate and fell in love with the threads and color of her linen. The combination just sucked me in, lol (I know she said she used an Amber linen, but on my monitor it looked grayish blue and that is what I liked about it) so I just had to do it. My local LNS had a good variety of linens to choose from and I chose a 32 ct Confederate Gray and I love it with the threads.

BUT I am usually a 1 project at a time girl and so I promised myself I would finish this first. I just have a few more stitches to put in and am going to do them this morning when I am done with this post and then the 'new' fun can start....

Lizzie Kate's Sampling Thanksgiving

Started Nov. 1

This will be my first Thanksgiving piece, hehe.....so I really wanted to get it done this year...

Have a great day today....I am just going to snuggle in with my hot coffee and stitch! Hope your day is just as good to you :D

38 years ago.....

38 years ago today,

I married the man of my dreams, my best friend and lover

The vows we said were: 

"to have and to hold from this day forward,

for better, 

for worse, 

for richer,

for poorer,

in sickness and in health, 

to love, and cherish,

(we made them leave out 'and to obey':D),

till death us do part."

Every word of those vows have been woven throughout our marriage. 

We have held strong through everything life has shown us 

and in the process have become one.

He makes me whole.

Happy Anniversary to the man of my dreams, my best friend and lover...

I love you.

I have been stitching like crazy, and have decided that this week....I 'will' get some finishing done! hah! but that is my goal! Its good to have goals right? 

Homespun Elegance Snow (I am going to finish into an ornie) This was my first Homespun Elegance piece and I am totally enthralled with her designs......uhoh!!

Found this one in my finish drawer (not a clue what design this is??? anyone recognize it?....anyway going to finish as a flat fold....Have not done one before so thought I would try it :D.

This is the beautiful freebie from Brenda  and will be my second crow to add to my beginning 'murder'....I am on the lookout now for more crow patterns :D....will give me a 'reason' to add to my stash, hehehe.

I am working on a halloween ornie and christmas ornie right now and will hopefully show you those next time.

I wanted to show you a picture of a fall tree in our backyard, the day I took it (last week) the sun was shining on it and it was just glowing.......

.

Today it (1 week later) looks like this:

Big Sigh.........

Best stitches to all of you and hope your week is wonderful

Cindy

My goto "I just wanna stitch" meal :D

Someone told me about this recipe a few years ago and it has turned into my quickie fix for when I just want to have some 'me' time or am in a super hurry, hehehe....Hope you enjoy it!

You use 3 ingredients:

1 bottle of 64oz V8 juice
1 package frozen cheese tortellini
1 package of your favorite breakfast sausage ( I usually use the spicy hot)
Brown the sausage to your liking, pour in frozen tortellini and V8 juice and bring to a boil....Done! :D
You don't need any seasonings and the longer it sits the thicker it gets....

I hope you enjoy. Now I am off to stitch :D  Hope your Sunday is lovely,

What a wonderful day!

I happened to be home today, I babysit my GD on Monday and Wednesday, when the doorbell rang and it was the postwoman :D.....I won a giveaway (happy dancing going on) from Babs! Thank you, thank you! I have never won anything before and for this to have arrived today.....I can't tell you how big my smile is!! She sent the most beautiful pillow to me, done on 40 count and trimmed in the most beautiful fall colors and very delicate lace :D. I have actually never seen stitching done on 40 count yet and this is amazing to me! How do you wonderful, talented people even see to stitch this....

I also received Barb Adams and Alma Allen's, A Schoolgirl's Works. I can't wait to curl up in my nest and read this :D.....I love history and samplers!

There are also 3 patterns, 2 complete with thread, material, ribbons, beads...oh my, i can start right away!! Shepherd's Bush Passion Fob kit, the limited Addition Santa from Prairie Schooler and a 2004 Prairie Schooler Santa :D! The darling little scissors in the beautiful fall colors will give me my second pair and begin to 'grow' my collection, lol.  The beautiful skein of Silk 'N Colors is the most luscious  fall color of Autumn Bouquet...can't wait to work with it! There was even a pack of needles to use with it, hehe!

And last but not least the beautiful frog! My first one!! I put my 2 pair of scissors in it already :D!

Thanks again Babs...this is just over the top for me and I am still tapping my toes (sitting tho, tired from the happy dancing) with happiness!

I found a beautiful halloween giveaway

I just came across the prettiest Halloween giveaway..... click here to see it and enter :D.. Benjamin is sooo talented and a mouse told me its his birthday today!

First Fall Finish :D

Good morning! Thank you to all my new followers! This is so much fun joining the 'blogging' world and finding so many people with the same interests and loves as mine...I have been so inspired and learned so much already from all of you!

One of the first blogs I found was Carol's and her posts are so inspiring to me..she did a post of little crow small's and since I love crows, fall and smalls...hehe..used this freebie from Primitive Betty's...who does some wonderful pieces..:D and here it is, all finished in my first pillow:

I used all dmc colors and rummaged through my material/ribbon stash to finish off!

The weather here in the USA midwest has been cool (50s). rainy and cloudy for the last few days....perfect stitching weather and super for hubby and mine's coffee shop.....lots of shivering customers, hehehe..I felt sorry for the parents yesterday that were coming in for something hot and heading out to soccer, softball tournaments with their kids.....I so remember those days!

I think this afternoon when we get home I will make a homemade steak and onion pizza.....the smell of onions sizzling and bread baking and football playing in the background will be a perfect backdrop while I stitch on my next fall small.....I hope your day is just as cozy!

Best stitches to you!

More stash reducing! Yaaay

Good morning and blessings to all of you. I am personally remembering in my own way all those and those of us that were touched in some way by 9/11.....may you find peace....

I have been busy reading blogs, getting inspired by all of your pieces and finishing some of my own! The cooler weather and lower humidity in the midwest always inspires me to get my duff in gear and finish stuff, lol.....of course, the ideal weather never lasts long around here so who knows what the week will bring,  I have even started my 'fall' cleaning.....but i know that won't last...hehehe

I have been working on a xmas gift for my DD and her family...I wanted to do a family sampler for them, but they are sooooo NOT into old vintage stuff, so i got creative with Bent Creek's Gnomes in a Row....I am hoping they like it....I have to add their personal charms, I have a baseball, soccer and an Iowa football charm so far....i still would like to find a girly charm for my dg, but haven't come across one that trips my trigger yet.

Bent Creek's
Gnomes in a Row
I used all the suggested threads and fabric count

 Another finish that i have been working on for several years a while is Sweetheart Tree's B is for Bunny....I am so glad that i decided to finally do it, cuz i love how it turned out. I think after I have seen a bunch of yours finished that I will finish as a flat pinkeep :D...

Sweetheart Tree
B is for Bunny
it was a kit with thread and linen :D

I have D is for Dog also, so maybe will pick that one up this winter to work on....I love the colors and beautiful threads...2 of the bunnies are done with whisper thread and are fuzzy and the pearls, buttons and charms are just too cute!

DH and I have a coffee shop and are coffee nuts so a friend gifted me this next pattern and  I finally got the chance to stitch it up....I am having such fun discovering all the 'new to me' linens, dyed and all the new overdyed flosses etc......coming from someone who stitched in the 70s and 80s and just now getting started again....good grief, I feel old.....things have changed soooooo much and for the better!! hehehe....so bear with me as I learn all the 'new to me' stuff!

Bent Creek
Good Morning
done with recommended threads

I have found a sunshine charm and am looking for a coffeepot/cup charm too and then will finish and put in a small frame.

Today is DH and his cousins reunion....they have not all been together for 30+ years....so it should be really interesting??? I would really rather stay home and stitch, sigh....but will go for him....you know all the things that a wife must do....its a wonder we get any stitching, crafties, etc. done at all! lol

Best stitches to all.....