R.I.P. Sweet Girl

R.I.P. Cocoa Marie
1998-2015

Champion 'where's the baby' player.
Awesome RV Traveling Kitty Buddy.
Queen Kitty of the sewing room.
Our Miss Independence!
Fearsome and loving protector of your sweet Granny.

You grew from an ugly duckling into a big beautiful girl.
Take flight baby girl on those sweet kitty angel wings and soar with no more pain or suffering.
Love you always.
Ma and Pa

Snow...yes

We got snow, which was predicted.
No not in the amount predicted but too much for us!
Thank goodness we did not have much of the ice/sleet on top of it either.
Still  we are out in the boonies and do not expect to see a plow truck anytime soon.

Road what road?? It is there buried!

 Took these early this morning.

We got up to maybe 6+ inches in spots and 5 inches in others.

Cold and some wind out of the north.  No this is not as bad as our pals up in North East but it is not the North East!

My sweetie feed the birds, cleaned off our truck and cars. Shoveled walk ways and steps.
We have sunshine now but that will go away soon . Another chance at snow later tomorrow.
Also temps predicted  -4 F Wed night and 2 F Thursday!
What in the world!!! Sure hope and pray that does NOT happen!
We have a pump-house for well which has a heat lamp in for warmth but that is 'tooooo coooold' for us here in Southern VA!.
Pipes could freeze even with dripping!
We have been dripping faucets for a while now too.
Heat seems to stay on...dread next elec bill!
May need some one to float me a loan to pay it...;-)
Happy Winter is short for us...most of the time!

I know this too shall pass. Spring will arrive!
We have jonquils blooming, hyacinths popping up and the maples have buds!
So back to my pot of tea and sewing flannel fabric squares!

Take care everyone and be safe!

Easy Fun Sewing

So this is the fun project I finished up today! Our little great grandson Jay , almost two, loves dinosaurs.
I was looking at Pinterest one day and saw this idea!

 A stuffed tail with a waistband. I used Velcro so can be sized up or down.

Found this green 'scale' fabric in the magical stash!

Found a 98cent hoodie at thrift shop to add the 'fins' straight down hood and back.

Had to make a stuffie dino too! Tail and this fella were easy to draw up free hand and sew up!
Look forward to seeing a pic of Jay in his outfit!;-)

I am sewing up a baby carrier cover for newest great grandson Early. He needs some cute bibs too!
Their Mom, Donna, is our eldest grandchild. She says she loves receiving the 'sewing goodies' boxes!;-)

So many bibs, burp cloths and flannel blankets, pillow cases and quilts to sew up!;-)

Our sweet grand gal Olivia is teething plus has a stuffy head cold. Poor darling. Also my great great nephew baby boy Ryker has a 100F temp and was to go see doctor. His sister and twin, Rylie, seems fine. So hope nothing serious. They are the cutest darling pair of babies!
Just seems to be a lot of babies sick these days. Hope and pray they are all on the mend soon.

We are so cold! Temp did get up to 40F today but with wind blowing did not feel like it at all! Even the house seems to not stay warm enough. Happy to see the sun though!
Forecasters say we may have another Winter rain/snow mix come Monday. :-(

Best get back to my projects. I am trying to be good and tidy up between jobs!
I am sure it will not last!!!

Snow Day

 Yes we have snow. Not much mind you but more than I thought we would get! I figured we would get nada! Temps going up so will be gone soon enough. Least it is nothing compared to what others up North are getting. Hoping they will all stay warm and safe.

Our sweet little grand Olivia loves Elmo! We got her the dancing Elmo for Christmas and she has been crazy for him since day one at 5mths! I drew up this Elmo and put him on a bib. Cute!

This is a smaller version to go on a dress. Been a while since I made baby clothes! Crossing fingers I can still do simple!

I also cut some dark red wool heart for a February small quilt  block.

Have a snow man for January. Just a last minute thing.
Not like I do not have enough projects to get finished as it is but yet start new ones!

The house is pretty much back together after all the holiday mess was put away!
Been doing some cleaning and moving things around. Just always seems so bare and all after the  decorations come down. Nice time to change things up a bit.

DH has been doing most of the cooking but today we are having my Pepper Steak.
He will fix the rice though..;-)
My dear mother-in-law, Miss Nellie, loved this so much.
She would call and ask.. if I buy the fix'ns will you make it for supper...awwwh sweet memories.

Well best get back to it! Day will be gone before I know it. Seems to happen a lot of late.
By the way January is almost gone...really!!!!!!

Sharing Wonderful Gifts

Sweet Di sent me a lovely gift package! Cute Santa pin cushie. He will stay out all year!
The cute zippy bag full of sewing needfuls!

I still have this mug rug on my pc desk! Love the jolly fella!
Thanks again Miz Di!

Santa brought me a new rotary cutter.  Have not tried it out yet. Hope not too much of a learning curve!

Adore these Twas the Night bowls from our niece !  They are red no pink. Silly camera.

DH gave me this labeler. Tt will help me keep track of things in sewing space or I hope!
A new hummer feeder too. Love feeding my hummers!

I also received new house slippers, new LL Bean shirt, gift cards and books along with a shipment of citrus fruit!!
We had a lovely Christmas with family and friends.
Made many treasured memories to last a life time which is the best gift of all!

Ice Day

We have ice today. It is covering most everything. The roads are better as a lot were pretreated. I have not ventured outside to take pics. Nope! Do not wish to add any broken parts to my already poor body!
Just hope wind stays down and does not pick up. Do not want any limbs over wires!

We had to go out yesterday to Williamsburg. Happy we got those errands taken care of before this mess came in last evening. We can just stay all snugged in today.

DH wanted spaghetti so we had that for our dinner. He has been doing most of the cooking so my turn! Not sure he will do my clean up as I do his though! We are just learning each day how to get a long being together all the time. Well most of our time. We do have some time apart!
We had warm brownie for desert!

The outside Christmas decor has been taken down and packed away for another year. Inside not yet. We have to wait on weather to go to storage building to get the boxes and totes, then when packed up take back. Can be a process when we have rain and wind. Takes me a day to take down and a day to pack up! We normally do not take down til after Old Christmas Day anyway. Jan 6th though has come and gone a week!
Do not mind as we have really enjoyed our trees and decor this year!

I did work on cleaning the 'sewing studio' trying to sort and get things in some kind of order!
Once again I have somehow managed to pile up the small room up with fabric, craft things and other related items! My gal pal Alice says we are preppers! Happy I found some good bargains over last few years as now things will be a tad bit tighter in the purse as they say!
Seems the cost of everything we need to live food, meds, healthcare, utilities, etc. is going up! We are glad to see our gasoline prices down. Now 1.88 a gal. Sure will not last into warmer months when we like to go on trips. Shall see I reckon.

I know some are saying...clean, really????? hahaha! Well yes it is!

Can see most of the floor! Put a few of my machines back in closet along with other things that belong in there! Still out are my 'new to me' vintage Singer Featherweight and vintage heavy duty Singer to finish oiling and replacing belts etc. My Bernina is my go to machine and lives on this table.

Yes there is still piles of 'stuff' here and there. Things will remain that way till used or until room grows bigger! Have managed to tuck away as much as I can.

Fabric storage in here consists of cabinets and some of the closet, an old pie safe from Aunt Dot which is the clothing fabrics, totes, shelves, drawer units which hold scraps, cut strips and thread. There are also baskets full of holiday theme fabrics.
Mind you I love antique and vintage fabrics. So have two large totes in hall closet.
Along with my wool supply which I need to find a better way to store to be able to get to easier to use!
The secret to all the storage woes is USE IT!!!! So less coming in and more being used should go  A LONG WAY TOWARDS LESS CLUTTER...YEAH RIGHT!;-)

So have you been sorting and moving and trying to get your sewing/ crafting space ready for a new year of  making projects too??

Happy New Year!!!

My wish is that 2015 will bring each of you much joy, good health,

family love and times spent together, hours of fun sewing ,

 along with all you and your family may need.  

I pray and hope for peace and understanding for our country and the world.

Happy New Year!

2014 Fall Giveaway Wins

This is a belated post of two lovely giveaways that my name was drawn!
I did send my Thanks out to the wonderful givers but did not post about them on the blog!

First was a nice box stuffed full of this lovely pile, yards, of fabric from Laura Nownes!
These will work so well on gifts for the modern gals in my life! I love the yellow and blue myself! New tops maybe for summer! Thanks again for sharing Laura!

Next was this lovely Fig Tree by Moda  honey bun roll and book from Elisabeth of Brown Bird Designs.
This may have to become a pretty new runner for Spring!
Thank you again Elisabeth!

Hope you will check out both of these lovely ladies blogs and websites!

Enjoyed a Lovely Christmas Day

Here is our sweet grand baby Olivia on her very first Christmas morning! Her bib was made by a cousin's wife with a new Bernina machine. She is also a new Grandma so when doing bibs she made these up to share with our grand baby too!

Yes we got up very early and off we went to their home along with DIL's parents.  Changing the tradition of having Christmas morning here.
Kids put on a nice spread. Enjoyed it all so very much!!

We all had to pack up and head to DH's sister's home for dinner. We had prepared our portion day before. Fixed two desserts, Pumpkin Roll and mincemeat pie, along with a butterbean with corn dish.

I did sew  up a couple quick gifts for our two nephews. I made the Rice Heating Pads. They both seem to have more aches and pains these days! Close to and turning 50 can do that to ya! :-)

We still have more baking and treats to get together to mail out or take on visits.
Hope to do the visiting across state soon. DH promised to help son, who has week off, do some kitchen remodeling. This will give me time to finish up more sewing too!
Still have the pretty decorations up. Will save the take down job for later!


Friday found us just laying about, sort of wore out! We babysat Olivia Christmas Eve day and then had late supper with nephew, wife and our sweet grand niece Hollyanne. Course all the traveling Christmas Day too! Did do some sale shopping Saturday. Was not to bad out at all. Crowds must have been out of town!
Found a few good bargains for next Christmas. Popped into AC Moore with my 20% off coupon. They have nice name brand fabric regularly for $6.99 yard so used that coupon! Enjoyed lunch out. 
When we got home we once more just kicked back relaxing!
Kitties were so happy we were home again. They did not like us being gone so much!

Today had to do some home chores. Yes on Sunday. I normally do not do that but we needed clean clothes and bed linens changed!! So two loads later that was done! Did the fridge clean out and trash was taken off. DH changed oil in his truck.
I really have to keep checking the calendar to be sure of the day! Any holiday that comes on a week day can mess me up! Like Christmas day felt like Sunday!!

Do hope everyone enjoyed their holiday!!
Here we are close to another New Year's Day!!
2015...WOW seems like we just turned over 2014!!!

Hey Ya'll !!

Been a bit busy around here since I last posted!! Lots of year end appointments and of course Christmas preparations!

We had a family and friends gathering here at our home to kick off the season. Was so wonderful enjoying the time together! Loads of good food and fun times!  Not a lot of pics to share. Thought I had loaded them up on my PC so deleted them off the camera!!!!!! Santa please bring Lola a new memory function for Christmas!

 We have been busy baking and making candy for our gift boxes. For a few days our home smelled better than any Yankee Candle you could want!

 These are the large containers!

Delicious pound cakes DH makes that are asked for every year. They are wonderful!
 Need to pack up the tins and boxes! We will be delivering most ourselves this year instead of mailing!

Why??? because DH retired on Dec 5th!! 

His office group gave him big send off with a yummy pot luck luncheon party! So many folks wishing him well on his new adventure!!

Was so wonderful to see how they all held DH in such high regard! He will be missed by many.
DH and I also celebrated 40 years hanging out together!!! OH MY GOODNESS! Time is moving on for sure!

Needless to say my days are now no longer my own! Having to learn a 'new normal'! ;-)
 DH was always on vacation for 2weeks during this time of year. So after the Christmas and New Year holidays are past... the big change will sink in for sure!!!

Hope to get more pics posted but not sure when that will happen! Crazyville here these days!

So I want to take this time to wish all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
Big Christmas Hugs to all who take the time to read my posts!
I appreciate you all very much!