Yesterday was my birthday and it was a very nice one, indeed.  I told David I did not want a cake as I wanted to get tiramisu at the Italian restaurant we were going to.  So, instead, I awoke in the morning with fresh coffee brewed and Boston creme donuts with two candles on them with the number 7 and 3.   I let you guess how old that made me!    So right there the sugar intake started.   Even though I wanted to have less sugar.

David said I should do whatever I wanted to do on my birthday and I know this sounds boring to many, but I spent the afternoon sewing upstairs.  Sewing and listening to talk radio puts me in my happy place.  But it wasn’t to be for long. David came upstairs and said, “You need to come see something.”  Now whenever David says something like this to me, I never know if I should expect the Queen of England to be at the door or that the dogs have found a new toy.  I never know.   “Is it company?”  I asked since I wasn’t dressed for company.  But it wasn’t company.  I came downstairs into the dining room and there was a beautiful vase of flowers and a large box of Whitman’s Sampler on the table.  “Do you have a boyfriend? David asked me.  “I don’t know.” I replied.  You would think I would know.   I read the note on the flowers that wished me a Happy Birthday and called me Mom so I knew it was somebody who called me Mom.  So that narrowed it down.  They had not signed their name.

And more sweets!  I was not going to eat sweets except for the Tiramisu, but I ate two chocolates, one being a caramel which, while I was chewing it, made me remember this was exactly how I pulled the bridge off a tooth a few weeks ago while eating a Sugar Daddy.  “Idiot,” I said to myself, but I didn’t do any harm this time except for adding a few hundred calories to my day.  The day I wanted to eat tiramisu.

My daughter-in-love called me to wish me a Happy Birthday and she said she had not sent the flowers and candy.

My very best friend from school where we went from first grade to graduation together, called  from Florida where she and her husband were spending a few weeks.  We had a nice talk.  She and I can get together after years and it’s like we have never been apart.  We went through a lot of things together while growing up and she will always be my friend.

I received a few cards one of which is from a lady in my church who always includes the most wonderful prayer for the recipient of the card.  She is so awesome and her prayers are so heartfelt.  I cherish them when I get them. She had sent David a birthday card and prayer also.  She hasn’t been to church for a long time because of Covid and she is not in the best of health.

Later we went to my favorite Italian restaurant to eat. We went kind of early because I was hungry having already eaten a donut and two pieces of candy!   We had the cutest waitress. She was tiny and elfin like with short hair and the prettiest eyes.  She wore two rings in her nose which kind of bothered me, but it’s her business. I don’t know why people wear rings in their noses. The only ones that wore rings in their noses when I was growing up was an old bull we had or the pigs.   So I have never had the desire to wear a ring there.  But if you do so, it’s your business and if it makes you happy.  Anyway, she took our order and was very efficient in getting us our drinks and bread.  We were having a good time talking while I was facing the kitchen where I like to watch the cooks as they toss the spaghetti and cook on the grill. But suddenly I saw smoke coming from there and all the cooks and waiters and waitresses stopped what they were doing and watched what was happening as one of the cooks struggled to get the fire under control.  “The kitchen is on fire,”  I told David and he turned around to look. The smoke was billowing.  What a show!  No one was running for the door, so I thought it couldn’t be dangerous.    As fast as it began, the fire was out and everyone, the cooks, the waiters and waitresses all disappeared.  David said, “It must have been the spaghetti and sausage I ordered.”  We laughed and the manager came to our table and said it was going to be a while before we got our meal and we were okay with that.  By that time the restaurant was filling up with people and no cooks in the kitchen.  Later our waitress came to the table to apologize that our meal would be late and I said, “It’s not your fault.”  So we waited about an hour and the cooks finally came back and started cooking again and we got our meals and let me tell you, the chicken penne gorgonzola was delicious. It was such a huge serving, I took a lot of it home in two cartons and ate it today.  I also ordered the Tiramisu to go as I was full.  We were there for two hours and it seemed much shorter because we were having such a good time. Then I went home and ate another donut.  I know.  I was lost by that time.

Today I finished the chicken penne and ate the Tiramisu and it was worth the wait.

Our daughter called us that night and it was she and her husband who had sent the flowers and candy.  So mystery solved.  I am so blessed.

It was an amazing birthday and I look forward to more, but I don’t know how they can be any better than this one was.

Here’s to Happy Birthdays, may you have good ones always.  Bye.

January has always been the month I just wish would go away. Other than having David’s birthday in it, it’s always been such a cold, miserable month, but this January?  It’s been fairly decent weatherwise.  Not much sleet, snow or ice to speak of.  Today we were outside playing with the dogs and I did not feel cold at all which is strange for me as I am always cold in the Winter.  I wish you could watch Lucy playing fetch. She is so engrossed in the process, you cannot pet her or anything because she is so centered on getting that ball!   Maybe I’ll try to make a video of her sometime and show you because it really is hilarious.  I call her our athletic child because she really is good at catching the ball in midair.  She just has not learned how to give it up easily once she has it.   I really believe she could compete in those dog shows where the dogs run and leap off  into the air above water and catch the ball in midair. Lucy could do that!   Sugar likes to catch the ball, too, but she’s not near as excited about it as Lucy is and Molly holds her own even though she’s a few years older than the pups.

I got David two puzzles for Christmas  called  The Country Diary of and Edwardian Lady. One is of Winter flora and fauna and one is of Autumn.  They are so beautiful and David has already put them both together so I told him I would order him the Spring and Summer ones for his birthday. I looked up Edith Holden, who is the artist for the water colors for these puzzles,  and she was  quite the artist in her time. I can’t imagine sitting down and drawing such beautiful pictures of animals, bird and vegetation.  It reminds me of Beatrix Potter who did the same in her time, but she wrote children’s books and put her water colors  in them.  I guess during the time these ladies were growing up there was not a whole lot women were expected to do but keep house and raise children or paint or sew.  But they took their talents and made something wonderful from them for which millions of us are very glad they did.  I will try to have pictures of the puzzles on my next blog or you can see them and order them, if you wish, on Amazon.

One of my presents for Christmas this year were tickets to go see the Van Gogh immersion show that is being shown at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. I actually cried when I saw the tickets because I had seen it was coming, but didn’t think I’d be able to go.  There will be a lot of walking, so we are borrowing our daughter’s old wheelchair and David will wheel me through it.   I still cannot walk long distances although I am getting a little better, but there will be a lot of walking at this show.  You walk through Van Gogh’s pictures that surround you from every side. I cannot wait.  I bought a new tunic that is of Van Gogh’s Irises painting and I will wear it and I will be immersed into the picture! HA!

I have been busily sewing in my shop. I’ve made six more pillows and a small quilt and have several more cut out.  I have so many ideas of things I would like to sell at my craft show next Fall.  I plan to finish a few quilts and lots of little things such as potholders and Christmas stockings and pillowcases, etc.   I ordered some new fabric from the line called She Who Sews and I have so many ideas for it.  I love this line and plan to order more if it’s available. It’s been very popular, I’ve noticed.  I had the She Who Sews wall calendar in my shop last year and got a new 2022 calendar for Christmas.

We got the nicest thank you note from one of our youngest grandsons thanking us for his Christmas presents.  We thought it was so nice and what was so cute was he addressed the envelope to Grandpa and Grandma. No names, just the address and we got it.  I’m sure the postman smiled about that.

I really do hope we get one good snow before Winter is through.  One that covers everything in white marshmallow heaps, but doesn’t stay on too many days.  We haven’t had much snow the last few Winters so we are due one.

Hope your January is going well wherever you are. Bye.

Shhhhh.  I’m busy making things for Christmas that I can’t show you now.  So, I will see you on the other side.  I will have lots to show you.

Merry Christmas everybody and may God bless you all. Bye.

Didn’t it just seem like Summer and now it’s almost Winter?   I know I talk about how time is flying all the time, but now it’s on jet wings flying through space at the speed of sound.

Before it is Winter, I want to show you some of the scenes we have well, seen, in the past couple of weeks.

On a wonderful sunny Autumn Day, David and I took off on a little journey.  The skies as blue as a fresh Robin’s egg.

Past lush fields and valleys.

With beautiful Autumn foliage on all sides.

Past cornfields ready for harvest. I always wish the farmers a bumper crop and it looks like they might get it this year.

By trees changing from green to golds, reds and yellows.

One absolutely gorgeous tree standing alone.

Through patriotic little towns.

Towns that have remembered their vets on their lamp posts. I thought that was wonderful.

We must never forget them.

Such a wonderful memorial.

Over bridges.

Past Lake Monroe.

We have been on a pontoon boat on this lake. It is so beautiful.  My daughter and her family have camped by this lake also.   I would love to have a pontoon boat and take it out in the middle of the lake and stay there all night looking at the stars.  It could happen.

To little privately owned shops all around south central Indiana. I didn’t get many outside pictures this time as it began to rain, but we got to several shops and I did buy some things which I cannot show because it’s “tis the season.”  This shop in particular had several things I purchased.  It’s the second time this  Fall we have visited this shop. Last time I bought those cute fence toppers that were on my blog header.

Back home again and I have been working on several projects. One I can show you.

I made this quilt.

From this book.

This is my version. Autumn and Halloween prints throughout.  I love it. It’s a rather large quilt, but I hope to get it done this next year.

Almost one hundred pieces in each fifteen inch block.  Once I figured it out, it went together rather quickly.

Looks so pretty with the golden light shining in the window.  You can just barely see the chick quilt I made from Lori Holt’s book Farmgirl Sampler.

I’ve been working on some things from this book.  Mary Etherington and her friend, Connie Tesene published this book a while back. Mary writes on her blog about the quilts she makes and the animals she cares for.

I would love to make this, but not this year.

I’ve chosen to make these instead. Pillows. I’ve made a few of them already. They are like potato chips. Can’t stop at one.

Here’s one I was preparing to pin.

The big quilt I showed you. This is a smaller version I made a while back.

I really think this pattern would be pretty in Christmas colors.

Outside our back door sits three dogs waiting.  The three amigos.

” When are you coming out to play?” asks Molly.

The athlete in the family. Lucy loves to play fetch so much that she never wants to stop.  We play with them every day and every day when we stop and are just sitting in our lawn chairs, Luch keeps bringing different toys to us for us to throw. Over and over and over again. She would never stop fetching, I don’t believe.  We have never had a dog that loved to fetch as much as Lucy does.   She’s not the dog you can sit there and pet. Oh, no. There must always be some action. Her sister, Sugar, however, loves to be petted and have her tummy rubbed.  And Molly does too.

The next couple of days I will be in the kitchen preparing for Thanksgiving.  There will be eight or ten around our table depending on who shows up.   I’ve tried a new frozen cranberry salad that is so good because I tasted it when I was scraping the bowl.   I hope others will like it because it’s so easy and a pretty dish.  We don’t eat turkey in our family. Not because we want to save the turkeys, but because none of us like it. It’s chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes at this house.  And I will make scalloped oysters even though just me and my son-in-law likes it.

Hope your Thanksgiving is blessed if you are celebrating it at your house or others.  Remember to thank the One who created it all and blesses us every day with His goodness.  Bye.