Stitching Saturday

Well it is another slow stitching week friends.  Marvin and I have been at the beach and my stitching time was limited a bit. I had good intentions.

I brought along this big bag from Cracker Barrle filled with projects. I did have one finish!

This is from Prairie Schooler November. It is the smaller piece you will find on the back of the chart. I admit that I think Prairie Schooler pieces just look better on Aida. And they are surely easier to stitch on Aida.

Mary had asked about the October 31st piece that was in my Fall at Nanaland tour. It is from Lizzie Kate. I believe it was on one of the Tingle sets for Halloween. I passed that on to a friend so I no longer have the chart.  That was one of my first finishes on my own and I love it.  I am a Prairie Schooler fan and  I was happy to see that Hoffman is releasing another reprint ...Christmas Samplers. I did not get it the first time around so now I can pick it up!

Still working on the Chicken Coop for my Farmhouse Christmas.

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And hoping to get this Sue Hillis design done soon...The Most Wonderful Feast of the Year.

Finally...

Hot Chocolate by Little by Little Design Company. I saw this at my LNS and it appealed to me. I have not seen this designer before but her pattern is cute.  Pardon the tilted fabric...it was late at night when I snapped this picture.

I want to give a shout out to a new Floss Tube channel...new to me anyway! Jennifer, The Whistlestop Sticher. I just found her channel this week thanks to Pam and Steph at Just Keep Stitchin.  Jennifer is a quilter as well as a cross  stitcher and she and her husband own The Whistlestop Quilt Retreat in Sweetwater, Tennessee. Their retreat is an old farm house that is just the cutest thing ever. She is planning some open cross stitch retreats there in the future and this stitcher would love to go to one  just to see the farm house. So go by and say hello to her this week if you have some free time.

Happy Stitching!!

Friday Five

Here are my favorite things this week...

1. My new hair cut...

I went a little shorter! It was time for a change....

2. My friend, Sharon, gave me this pretty pumpkin soap dispenser for my guest bathroom. She knows how I love to decorate for the seasons.

3. My soccer player, Landon.  He had some goals this week.

4. My view this week...

And number five is going to require two photos....

My nephew, Will, took command of the Chatham Artillery in Savannah. His unit will be deploying to Afghanistan in December.

Here is Will with the former commander along with his wife, Jennifer and baby daughter, Greta.  Please say a prayer for his safety while oversees. I hate that he is going to miss so much of Greta's first year. Our service men make big sacrifices to protect our country. Jennifer is also in the National Guard. She plans to retire in two to three years when she has in her 20 years. And yes she still has weekend training she must attend while Will is gone. Family and friends are stepping up to care for baby Greta on those weekends.  If Nana lived closer, she would be glad to take care of that sweet baby girl!!

Fall at Nanaland

Come on in...its Fall at Nanaland.

A Jack o Lantern vignette in the guest room!

On the breakfast bar.....Punkins.

The tea cart is dressed for the season.

Boo!

By the kitchen sink....the white pumpkin lights up and changes colors. I found it in the Dollar Spot at Target. The little pumpkin with the G came from Kirklands several years ago.

The china cabinet.

I added some pumpkins to the parfait glasses.

Even the bathroom got a touch of fall. I am on the look out for a small tray to place this vignette on so it is easier to move it to clean.

I love fall colors, they are just so cheerful and happy!

Some of the Grand Boys

Even when Nana is on vacation she is happy to get pictures of the grands! Here are some I got this week.

Landon went dove hunting with his daddy a week ago. He was all decked out in camo.

Glad to see he is wearing his ear protection.

Meanwhile we stopped in Hoover to see the Grimmlins and Katy snapped this picture of me and Elliott.

He is wearing a genuine WW2 army cap that belonged to his great grandfather, Papa.

Landon and Hudson are ready for Halloween in their Dumb and Dumber outftits.( I cannot stand that movie but my children loved it when they were teenagers.)

Ben sent me this picture of Elliott and Baylor enjoying the carousel at the zoo.

Elliott is keeping an eye on his brother. Both he and Margaret are very protective of Baylor. That makes Nana happy.

Still having a good time at the Beach so tomorrow will be a fall tour of Nanaland.

The Stream

1. Life is Good at the Beach! We are spending our annual week at the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama. It is our anniversary gift to ourselves. It is so perfect here in September...mostly retirees and no crowded beaches, restaurants or stores.  We did overhear several people at the beach explaining they had vacations planned on the East Coast and Florence forced them to find a new vacay spot so they headed for the Gulf. They might never go back to the East Coast beaches after enjoying our sugar sand beaches and calm Gulf waters.

2. Prayers for my little sis, Leta. She was walking on Saturday and fell. She says she has no clue why she fell, she was just suddenly on the ground. Sis Kristi took her to the ER where a cut was glued shut and it was determined she had chipped the bone in her elbow. I told her at least she did not break her wrist like the rest of the women in our family when we took a tumble. Ladies, as we get older our balance is not as good as it once was and we have to be constantly vigilant. I am very aware of wet floors, changes in level of sidewalks etc. In fact I will admit it, I am rather paranoid. So be safe out there!!

3. Speaking of the women in my family....I found out I come from a long line of ornery women.( Not that there was really any doubt!). I have been doing some family research and with the help of a cousin, I have found out some interesting things about my ancestor and 5th great grandmother, Christina Chapman. She was married to John Martin Chapman and while they were in Georgia waiting on the Cherokee Land Lottery Grandpa abandoned the family and moved back to South Carolina where he married a young girl. Apparently he did not tell her he had not gotten divorced in Georgia before marrying again.  Well Grandpa and his young wife were standing on the porch of the house he had built for his new wife  and both fell. He broke his neck and died immediately while she died two weeks later. On coming to hear of her husband's death, my Grandma, sent an attorney to South Carolina, claimed all his property and moved all the new wife's family out of the house.  The things you learn when doing family research!!

4. I have been binge reading the Louise Penny Series set in Three Pines, Quebec. I am going to be sad when I have read the last one. However, a new book in this series will be released this fall so I have that to look forward to!

5. I have a big bag of cross stitch with me here at the Beach. I will share my progress on Saturday Stitching. It really is nice to live at life of leisure at the beach, sleeping in, sitting on the beach reading then coming up to cross stitch and finally going out for dinner at one of our favorite places. Tomorrow we will hit up the outlet malls in Foley. I am looking forward to visiting the Vera Bradley outlet and the Yankee Candle outlet.

6. My thoughts and prayers are with those of you who live in North Carolina. I have friends as well as family there. We have some friends who built their retirement home on Emerald Isle. They built it to and above the Hurricane Code  but with a storm like Florence, who knows what they will find when they are allowed back on the Island.  It is going to be some time before things are back to normal there.

Aunt Maggie's Chocolate Chip Cookies

While we were together with the Grimms, several of the kids mentioned how they loved eating cookies at Aunt Maggie's home in Waconia, MN, when they visited from Savannah.

One of her granddaughter's shared this recipe with me and I took some time to try it out.

1 c shortening( she used lard but I stuck with Crisco)
3/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups chocolate chip( I like semi sweet)

Mix shortening, sugars and vanilla well
Add eggs one at a time, beating to incorporate
Mix in flour that has been sifted with salt and soda( The next time I make this cookie I think I will use Self Rising Flour...the cookies seemed a bit salty to me.) Here in the South we pretty much use Self Rising Flour for everything. ( And I use White Lily...the best!)
Stir in Oatmeal and chocolate chips.

Here is the dough....Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. I line my cookie sheets with parchment paper but if you do not, grease your cookie sheet for this cookie.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the cookie sheets and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.

The result...

Marvin and I had to try them out.:)

Most of these are going to son, Ben, who loves cookies.

If you like a chewier cookie, you can refrigerate the dough before baking the cookies. I did not refrigerate my dough as I like a thinner cookie.

Hope you enjoy these cookies from the Land of Lakes!! Aunt Maggie kept these in small bags in the fridge, ready to give out to any grands who might drop by!!

Saturday Stitching

Well this should be Haul Saturday and not Stitching Saturday.

When I got home from Georgia I had lots of happy mail!!

This was my 123 Stitch Order that had come in...George Washington and the Farmer and his wife!

My stitching friends, both named Sandy, sent me some pass the stash.

My friend, Sandy, at I Majored in Home Economics sent me this lovely package.

And Sandy M sent these..

And this one...

I have had my eye on this one for a long time. Even if I do not stitch the complete sampler I will use some of the motifs.

And I had to share a close up of the turkeys...

I love a good turkey!!

And I had to go by Cross Stitch Peddler this week. ( Well I thought I HAD to go!)

Another Farmhouse Christmas was released. Only one more and the series will be complete.

I got this hot out of the UPS drivers hands!!lol

One of Priscilla's favorite fall flosses....I needed it for some pumpkins.

I picked up some discounted fabrics.

While shopping with my mother at Hobby Lobby I picked up these two pieces of fabrics.

They will be great for Christmas smalls.

And finally ....my fall dough basket was completed yesterday.

I picked up the little lights at the Target Dollar Spot. They were three dollars and require 2 double A batteries which were NOT included.  I moved my dough bowl to my coffee table in the living room. I have to day it looks very pretty at night as the lights glow brightly.  Oh and I did have one finish...

I hurriedly finished this one on the spool. When I get home from the beach I plan to antique the spool and add some trim to the spool. I found that the spool was very slim without the thread so I wound it back onto the spool. It gives the fabric something to hold onto. It will look different when you see it again.

Friday Six

Instead of my Friday Five I am doing a post on the Grimm Six.  Yes, our family reunion photos! It has been 7 years since all six siblings have been together in one place and as Marvin reminded us we want to spend time together before we are attending each other's funerals. Sobering but True.

Our cabin was comfy...we all had fun living en famile, as the French say.  Eating together, siting on the porch, playing games, having a good time as brothers and sisters.

Mina and Amy's friend, Leigh, were enjoying the birds from our perch.

Low country boil night!

Niece Gabby was the only child there as her parents are old.lol She was going to stay with her grandparents but her grandfather ended up in the hospital.

Make sure your horseshoe does not go down the mountain.

We all sat around the table for at least an hour after each meal.

Uncle Marvin takes on Gabby in a game of pool.

Marvin and Lee a Grimm Pair o Docs.  Barb is photo bombing in the back ground. We went into Ellijay for some shopping and stopped for an ice cream break at Moo Bears on Main Street.

There was a steep hike down the hill to the Coosawattee River...parts of Deliverance were filmed here.

Barb and Monique swam across. Ed was with them and swears he heard Banjo music.

Another shot from the Ice Cream Store. Ed and Monique were older when Gabby was born. But having this sweet girl has kept them young.

The Grimm six.

Left to right...youngest to oldest.  Ed, William, Lee and Marvin.

The sisters, Amy and Mina.

The sisters in law and love...Barb, Arlene and Monique. Lanier was not able to be with us.

We are already discussing where to meet next year!!