Hello friends, we are finally starting to see some beautiful fall colors here in the south. We are even having some cooler temperatures. The temps have been so warm and the lack of rain made the leaf colors change slowly. But the colors really started to show last week. Unfortunately the leaves have not lasted long and are now all falling.
They were pretty while they lasted.
I have been trying to stay busy. That’s the only way I can get through these days without my precious husband. This time of year is really hard. His Birthday was last week. Oh how he loved fall and winter. But I am going to make sure and try to enjoy it for both of us.
I am working and trying to get some things done around the house. And of course taking care of four cats and a large dog is a job in itself. We have a routine and we don’t vary much from it. And if you know how cats are, they don’t like change in their routine.
I have been crocheting and will soon show you most of the things I have completed. A couple of things are Christmas gifts so I can’t show you those just yet.
I spent last weekend with my friend Lorie and we went to several estate sales. We found quite a few treasures. Well let me just say we had to stop and go home because the car was full!!!! We had so much fun.
This is when we decided we needed to head home.
The weekend before that my sister and I went to Pumpkin Town. This is a festival in nearby Athens Tennessee. We had a lot of fun.
The festival is held in the downtown area and all of the shops decorate.
Lots of vendors participated
The weather was perfect. But the parking was not.
I bought this rug at an estate sale a few weeks ago. It was so dirty but I could tell it was a great rug. The rug was done by needle point and you could tell someone had put a lot of love and work into it. I brought it home and washed it by hand in my large utility sink. The water finally stared to clear after about four washings. I wrapped it in towels and put it on the driveway and walked on it. This helped to get all the water out. I then hung it on my deck and I think it turned out beautifully.
And of course you can see who loves it. Gus and Kitty Kitty keep it rumpled a lot of the time but that is okay.
I just finished Whistler by Ann Patchett. I listened to the audio book and it was read by Ann Patchett. What a treat. I highly recommend it.
That is just a little about what has been going on with me. How about you? have a wonderful week.
Hello friends, how are you? There’s not a lot going on with me right now but I did want to catch up with you. I am quite okay with nothing going on. I have been working and taking care of all of the babies. Taking care of the babies is actually a lot. Four cats and a very large dog can take up a lot of your time. I have been to some thrift stores and a couple of estate sales and I will show you a few of my favorite finds. I have several knitting and crocheting WIP’s. That stands for Work In Progress. I am working on a new shawl, some socks, an afghan for a Christmas present, and a Halloween cross stitch. So I have a lot to do to finish all of those. I will keep you posted.
I had a visit to the dentist last week to get my Invisalign Braces checked and possibly to see if I was finished with this little season of torture I have been in, Just kidding it hasn’t been too bad and I have lost sixteen pounds since starting. so that is a very good thing. I knew two teeth were not quite together and touching the way they needed to be and sure enough more trays were ordered. I will be in these another two to three months. Boo, I am little sad but I want them to be the way they need to be. If you missed my post about getting my braces you can check it out here.
A couple of weeks ago my sister and two nieces and I went to Knoxville with my future niece in law. She had reserved a time at a bridal shop to try on wedding dresses. So fancy. My wedding dress actually came from JC Penney’s. I ordered it. That was a different time. I am overjoyed that she is experiencing everything possible on her wonderful day. I was so happy to be invited for her dress shopping. I had never been wedding dress shopping. The shop was beautiful and they served us champagne and took photos and it was just lovely.
It was a family effort to help pick the dress.Isn’t she beautiful?
My sister and nieces and I took advantage of being in Knoxville and decided to check out Vintage Market Days. This is a fairly big show with antiques, crafts, lots of Christmas and Halloween decor and it happened to be going on the same weekend. It was a lot of fun but I didn’t really find a lot. I bought two small pictures and a small basket. I am collecting baskets to make a basket garland to hang on the side of my kitchen window. It’s not one of the huge garlands that some people are hanging around their mantels. Mine will be small compared to those. All of my baskets are fairly small. I saw a post on Instagram where someone had done this and I loved it.
All of these baskets could fit in the palm of your hand. I like the small ones. It is so much fun looking for them and not as easy as you might think to find them.
I have been working on a granny square blanket. I am using eleven different colors. Each square has four different colors. I put all of the colors into a bowl and randomly draw out four. Those are the four I use for that particular square. I am loving this. Some of the colors seem weird together but when I crochet them into a square they look very unique. I try to do at least one a day.
Here are the colors and a few finished squares.
I put a piece of each color in this bowl and draw them randomly.
My big bag I use to keep everything together
One of my favorite thrift finds so far, is this precious clock that I found at a garage sale for $1.00. It is about 8 inches tall. I told my friend I was with, that even if it didn’t work I could replace the clock movement. The woman selling it told me that it chimes every hour and drove her husband crazy. I took it home and put batteries in it and it works perfectly. It also keeps perfect time. It chimes a different tune every hour. I love it!!!
I wanted to mention a few books I have recently finished either by reading or audio book. I will do a much better review of more that I have read very soon.
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. I can’t believe I hadn’t read this book before. I love Ann Patchett. But it was not one of my favorites of Ann’s. But I did enjoy it. She is such an amazing writer. I would give it a 3 out of 5.
This is the story of Lara and her three daughters who return to the family orchard in Northern Michigan. Lara tells her daughters about her past when she worked for a theater company called Tom Lake. She also shared her romance, or most of it, with a famous actor Peter Duke. Delving into her past makes the daughters consider their own future. It is definitely worth a read especially if you are an Ann Patchett fan.
The Correspondent. This was an audio book for me and it was a little long in places. But the letters that Sybil Van Antwerp wrote to her brother, her best friend, to famous actors, etc. makes you want to consider writing a letter, not a text, to correspond with whomever you want to. Why not? I grew to love Sybil and felt totally in tune with her. I would give this a 4 out of 5.
Theo, oh Theo how I want to be you when I grow up. I was a little late to the game of reading Theo of Golden, but it is a book I will treasure. Theo arrives in a small southern town and visits a local coffee shop. He notices pencil portraits of people of Golden hanging on the walls of the shop. Theo begins purchasing these photos and gives them to each person in the photo. There is a reason Theo picks this town and you will discover that when you read the book. Theo made me want to be a better person, a more loving and forgiving and kind person. How many authors can do that? I give this a 5 out of 5. I will always have this book in my library. Read it!!!!!!!
So that is what has been going on with me. How about you?
