Merry Christmas and a Blessed 2021

 Nana is taking some time off to enjoy the holidays with her family so a blog break is in order.  As this year comes to an end it is a good time to reflect on the trials and blessings of this crazy year that none of us will ever forget.  I pray that all my blog friends have a blessed Christmas and that 2021 is a refreshment for all of us. I never considered the thought that I might live through a historical event such as this one.  It has taught me many things. 

1. Value your family and friends. 

2. Extend grace to those who have hurt you. 

3. Pray for those who need the Lord in their lives.  I feel so much of the panic over this disease is because people are unsure of their eternal destiny.

4. Say I love you often.

5. Be glad for the interests you have that can be pursued from your own home.

5. Be thankful for technology that allows you to do many things from home.

6. Be thankful for all the caregivers who are putting their lives on the line every day.

7. Be thankful that we have two vaccines that will hopefully bring an end to covid. 

Now for some fun things I have learned.

1. Going without makeup for days on end is not too bad.

2. Weigh yourself every other day because being home and eating go hand in hand.

3. Toilet paper is a necessity. I now purchase a 4 roll pack every time I go to the grocery store.

4. Do I really look like I do on Face Time and Zoom??? Surely it is an optical illusion.

Check in with Nanaland on January 1st.

Saturday Stitching

 Well another week of not a lot of stitching....I am blaming it on Christmas and going to Grimmwood.  My stitchy bug has not been very strong this week. 

I thought I would share a picture of the storage bin I mentioned last week. 

It is not very big and it keeps me from becoming a true hoarder of charts.

My sweet friend, Meg, sent me a package this week with some lovely charts. 

And she sent me this lovely ornament. 

I am blessed with so many sweet friends in our stitching community. 

I did stitch a bit on my January Word play and I finished the dress on the bunny lady. Now to do the grass and  I should have it ready for Deborah before Spring arrives. 

Speaking of the new year....

I have two main projects I am starting in January. Winter Rose Manor by Brenda Gervais. I received my fabric from Inspired Needle. Cathy sent me a nice piece of Vintage Country Mocha fabric, so now to get my flosses. I am going to be using DMC as the fancy flosses are so hard to find because I truly believe almost every stitcher in America is stitching this design.  I am also kitting up Mychal's Prayer as part of Georgia's Stitch Along.  Meg sent me Waxing Moon's Winter Houses so one of those will be a January Start as well. Thanks Meg, those were on my Wish List!! 

I am hoping to return to North Alabama Stitching Days in 2021. I really hope that once the covid vaccine is available to us oldsters, we can return to some of our normal routines. 

This is my last post at Nanaland until January 1st. So Merry Christmas to all my blog friends. See you in 2021.

Friday Five

 1. Cracker Barrel Christmas Tree

We had dinner at Cracker Barrel with our friends, the Gosnells on Sunday evening. What a beautiful tree...all the oldtimey vibes.

2.Ben and Katy

Ben and Katy had a lovely Christmas outing thanks to their neighborhood HOA. Carriage rides, a visit with  Santa and all the family, including Baylor man had a lovely time. It is a red letter day when their whole family gets to enjoy something together.

3.Bee Gift number one 

My sweet neighbor Janet, got this sign for us to hang up at Grimmwood. We have fingers crossed that our one little hive will make it through the winter.

4. Bee Gift number two

My dear friend, Linda, got me this pretty napkin holder for Christmas. I decided to use it as a paper plate holder as we use paper plates most of the time at Grimmwood. It is perfect and I can keep up with the number of plates on hand. I will not run out again, hopefully!

5. Geese on the pond

Marvin caught this picture of our four feathered visitors. Two regularly come to the pond so we were surprised to see four swimming together. Our original pair was named Heathcliff and Gertrude( the Red Skelton show)so now we must come up with two more names. Maybe Rhett and Scarlett?

The Stream

 Well I have not waded into the stream in a while and since I did a picture stream on Monday why not just spend some time splashing around in Nana's stream of consciousness.

1, We have finished watching The Crown.  I have to say that Prince Charles is not Prince Charming in this telling of the story. Gillian Anderson did a good job portraying Margaret Thatcher. There will not be another series until 2022. It took me a while to like Olivia Coleman as the queen and now I will have to get used to Imelda Staunton as the queen. You may remember her as Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter Movies. Speaking of Harry Potter, Marvin and I were watching The Queen's Gambit( thanks Katie at Preppy Empty Nester for the recommendation) and I saw a face that was familiar but I just could not place that actor. He was a chess player and he was thin with very dark hair. I finally got out my phone and tapped on IMDB. Believe it or not it was Cousin Dudley of Harry Potter. He has lost a lot of weight and looks so different.  I love Internet Movie Data Base as it can tell you so much about a movie or a series. It drives Marvin crazy when I pull it out and start telling him facts. lol So I try to keep it to myself unless he asks specifically.  We have been watching DCI Banks and Marvin was surprised to see Louisa from Doc Martin as a main character.  Marvin loves Doc Martin while he gets on my nerves....so Marvin watches Doc Martin up in the man cave. I think Marvin and Doc Martin are probably kindred spirits.

2. Christmas is very different this year. Marvin and I will be traveling to see each child individually.  We will miss our big gathering in Chatsworth but we want to keep Grandma Margie safe so we made the decision to cancel this years gathering.  I am debating doing a lot of baking as Marvin and I do not need extra treats but Christmas is just not the same without the special foods you only have once a year.

3. We are getting Internet at Grimmwood after Christmas. We have found we can watch tv cheaper over the internet than with cable. And I can use my laptop there which is much preferable to the phone. 

4. I visited our new Tractor Supply for the first time since it opened in Decatur. I did some Christmas shopping there. it is a neat store. They have lots of farm friendly clothing and home decor.  Marvin works outside a lot at Grimmwood so I was able to get him some warm and sturdy clothing for the farm.

5. I also visited Hobby Lobby but I was good and purchased my Gift Card and left. Most of the Christmas merchandise is picked over and they were putting out spring merchandise.  Note to self, look for the little signs I need for the grands 2021 Christmas ornaments. 

6. I was glad to hear that my northern friends do not like driving in snow either.  I guess I am a bit sensitive as lots of northerners who move here mock our winter driving skills.  I was at the post office this week, dropping off some cards when a lady with a northern accent told me, "I thought it was supposed to be warm in the South." Well Monday was very cold and windy so I could understand her confusion. We do have some cold weather here but it seldom hangs around By Wednesday the sun was shining and highs were in the 60s.  From the looks of the long term forecast, we will have a warmer Christmas this year and that is fine with me.

Hodge Podge

 A few pictures on my phone that I have been meaning to share here at Nanaland. It truly is a Hodge Podge....rather like a photo stream.

Audrey received a Fact Fabulous T Shirt from her Principal for Mad Math Skills. And this was a red letter week in the Canton Grimm household as Charles was promoted to Assistant Professor at Georgia Highlands College. 

I made some Baked Oatmeal for supper this week. I served it with sausage and grapes. It was delish.

 

This Poem was shared on my Georgia Baptist Hospital School of Nursing Facebook page and I wanted to share it. Georgia Baptist Nurses and Georgia Tech men have a mutual admiration society. Many of my nursing school friends are married to a Ramblin Reck from Georgia Tech.

And two memes caught my attention this week.

This is me.....only its about 40 plus years of decisions. When I was living under my parents roof they made the decisions. Imagine that.:)

This is also me....only now it is Grandpa who is surprised.

Saturday Stitching

As Christmas approaches, my stitching time has been limited. As of yesterday, I believe I am finished with all my shopping...gifts are under the tree and now I can breathe a bit more easily. 

I got a Christmas surprise this week. My sweet reader, Miriam who is from the Big State of Texas sent me a pair of scissors with the Texas Blue Bonnets  scattered across the snips.  Thank you so much Miriam, when I use them I will think of you. 

Another surprise was the release of Winds of Autumn by Blackbird Designs. Well I can see that my plans to stitch on what I have in my stash have flown out the window.  Thankfully the Needlework Market will not be held until May this year so maybe I will not be too tempted until my birthday month. 

My rotation now consists of two days of work on each project in turn. I started with Two Red Houses by Little House Needlework.

Then I moved on to Alas by Lindy Stitches. I got all the words done now to complete the borders.

And finally I worked on Easter Parade. This one will be done in time to display it at Easter 2021. 

Last night I started working on Feast of Friendship and I think it is just my favorite piece of stitching as it is so pretty with the vibrant colors of floss to keep me interested. 

A couple of questions to answer....

Georgia asked how I store my charts. Well I have one of those plastic file boxes that really is not very big. I have the charts sorted by Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Farm charts, Christmas ornaments and last but not least, all my Prairie Schooler chartss. I routinely go through my file to see what I might be able to donate to North Alabama Stitchers for their door prizes and sometimes I do a give away here at Nanaland. I am trying to be realistic about what I want to stitch. BlackBird Designs is my new favorite where I used to really enjoy Plum Street. I seem to change my tastes regularly. I was sharing with my friend, Meg, that I have come to like samplers. I have a lot of pillows for my dough bowls and how many seasonal things do you really NEED?  I do plan to stitch a few more farm related designs for Grimmwood however.  And as I type this I am thinking, oh well, I will probably have to eat these words.:)

Robin was very sad that I did not get any stitching done at Grimmwood on our last visit due to a lack of a q snap. Oh I was very sad too. Robin suggested having a stitching bag that stayed at Grimmwood. Well Robin with a red face I must say that I do have a bag I leave at Grimmwood but I only had one q snap in it and I took it home with me by mistake. Now I am taking three q snaps to Grimmwood and hopefully I will not have that problem again. 

Our North Alabama Stitchers Thanksgiving exchange was so fun that we are doing one called Stitchy Love for Valentines Day. I have been busy looking for a small project that meets my partners desires. She said she loves Red and Prairie Schooler...likes the Prim style most of all. I think I found the perfect chart on ETSY and it is a digital download so I plan to get started on that project soon.  These little exchanges have been mood lifters in this covid year. 

I will be back next Saturday but I do plan to take a blog break from Dec 21 to 31.  Its good to pull away from the computer to enjoy the season with the family. You can be sure I will have lots of pictures to share when I return in the New Year.

Friday Five

 1. An Irish Photo

 A friend who lives in Ireland shared this photo with me this week. I think Ireland must be one of the most beautiful places. I guess it is my Irish heritage that calls to me from this picture.

2. Pecans

  Our good friend, Barry, picked up Pecans while he was in Georgia over Thanksgiving. They were on the ground at the home of his son and no one was picking them up so Barry brought home quite the treasure. He shared some of them with us. He even took them to the co op to be cracked. That is a true friend. 

3. Christmas ornaments

 My sweet Brother in Law, William, took home a few fence posts that Bruce had discarded when a new fence went in over the summer.  Well knowing our Daddy's posts meant a lot to me and my sisters, William lathed these ornaments for us. There are enough for the three sisters and all the grandchildren. He put hooks in the end and I am adding a pretty ribbon as a hanger. 

4. Baby in a Basket

   Can there be Too Much of Joshua??? Nana thinks not.

5.Advice from a Southerner. 

 Yes we hear it all the time. You Southerners do not know how to drive in snow. Well no we do not as we have it so seldom we do not have equipment to clear the roads.  Marvin and I laugh when we see cars off the road in northern states during the winter. "Look, another Southerner is making problems up north!!"  I don't think anyone can drive on ice or frozen slush. Cars like to spin around in that mess.  So stop making fun of us for staying home when it snows. It is usually gone by the next day and we are on our way again.   

Christmas Times a Comin!

 Y'all have seen my house every Christmas that I have written this blog. So this year I am just sharing a few things.  

Our tree...it changes color and even has a remote. This is amazing to a little girl who grew up having to get off the sofa, walk over to the television to change it to one of three channels we received from Chattanooga, Tenn. When we were first married and living in Athens, Ga we had one of these big antennas that you control with a dial on top of the tv set. I was amazed that in addition to Atlanta, we could get Greenville, SC stations!!  So a remote for a Christmas tree is truly a big thing.

The arrangement on the coffee table. I used the big container I ordered from Olde Town Market

My arrangement on the mantle. There are two flanking the big screen tv.

Reindeer are back in their original spot. These ceramic reindeer belonged to Mama G. She won them as a door prize at a Christmas luncheon she attended one year. This drum table was also Mama G's. You may remember how Marvin had it redone for me last year. Well Mama G put the reindeer on this table in her living room and the sleigh held her Christmas cards. Last year the reindeer were up in Marvin's man cave but I knew they belonged on this table this year.

Lantern Lane on the Tea Cart.

The dining room trees and table. 

The Santa Claus was made by Mama G and gifted to us. It is just so special to me.

The top of the China cabinet.   I left the blue and white and added these big picks since I was not using them on my tree this year.

The hutch.

Nana's treat can.  And a Holiday Cookie Tin from Byrds Cookies in Savannah.

Landon Santa. This comes out every Christmas....I love it. Thanks to the Kindergarten teacher who came up with this idea.

My gingerbread house.

My Nativity. As I have said before, I used some money that was a gift from my daddy to purchase this nativity the Christmas after he passed away. I think of him whenever I look at it. 

Grimmwood.....my version of Smoky Mountain Christmas.  Those bears....I just love them.

Our tree, my dough bowl and the kiddy corner next to the tv.  My grands say that my old doll, Sherlynn is creepy. No she is not. She is about 62 years old this Christmas. Give her some respect.

Hope you enjoyed visiting Nanaland and Grimmwood.

Birthdays and Such!

 Our Elliott turned 7 on Saturday.  Here are seven things I like about Elliott.

1. He has a good sense of humor. He and Grandpa like to tease each other.

2. He is a numbers guy.....even his kindergarten teacher was surprised at his grasp for numerical concepts.

3. He never met a Hot Wheel he did not like. Buying a gift for Elliott is always easy.

4. He loves his daddy. Since Daddy is my big boy, that makes me so happy.  By the way Ben turned 42 on Sunday.  The Birmingham Grimms have three birthdays in one week!!

5. He thinks I am the best Nana in the world. Of course this was proclaimed after I took him to Target and let him get two snacks to eat while watching a movie. He has a sweet Granny Pat who is also the worlds greatest nana. I am glad to share that title with her.:)

6. He is not afraid of a little dirt. Ok, sometimes he looks like Pig Pen from Charlie Brown but no little boys should be worrying about keeping neat and tidy.

7. He is full of charm.  I tell his Mama that this boy is going to drive all the girls crazy.  But that is a long way off and of that I am glad. Celebrating my sweet and funny seven year old today.

Saturday Stitching

Not a lot of stitching was done this week. I took two projects to Grimmwood but forgot to take a q snap! I thought I had one there but alas I did not. So frustrating. 

I did get two new starts before we left for Georgia.

A Valentine House by Waxing Moon Designs.  I am using my Always Needleminder from Brenda's Minders and More. The perfect needle minder for a Valentines piece  You can see how I use my magnifier on my q snap. It saves my eyes for sure.

And my January Word Play by Brenda Gervais.  Charlie Brown is watching over the proceedings. I turned the blue bird charted to a cardinal. January is when we see many of those beautiful birds in our area.

I also took advantage of a sale at Jen's Stitching Niche on ETSY. She had a good Black Friday Sale. 

The Easter chart by Shannon Christine is just so cute.

So did Fat Quarter Shop!  They even included a free bottle of sew Fresh Hand sanitizer.

 And sweet Cathy Roginella at Inspired Needle is going to send me a piece of fabric for Winter Rose Manor.  The called for Brenda's Brew is hard to find and Cathy shared that she had some fabric that would be a good replacement. I am not a purist about stitching the design on the called for fabric. Many of those fabrics are hard to obtain and cost a pretty penny. IMHO, as long as your stitches show up nicely and do not clash with the fabric I am okay with that.  I have always thought that the stitches should be the star of the show. While I like some of the colored and mottled fabrics, you cannot go wrong with a nice neutral. 

I want to apologize for the pictures today...not the best but I have having issues uploading my photos from my mac book to the blog and Facebook. I have to use my phone to add the photos and we all know how hard it is to do a blog on a phone. That seems to be my only option. I am hoping it is a temporary glitch. I have googled and fiddled with settings to no avail. If anyone has any words of wisdom I will be glad to hear them!

When I opened my mail on Thursday guess who I had a holiday card from? Jenny, the Long Dawg Stitcher on Floss Tube. She was one of the ladies who shared my table at the Winter Retreat in Huntsville last year that was hosted by Katrina Boyd.  

I also had a sweet card from Dena  of Half Stitch Cross Stitch.  The stitching community is very sweet and gracious. I may steal Jenny's idea for the needlework card next year to send to my blog and stitchy friends.