Bham Updates

 Over the weekend, Katy's sister, husband and big burly sons stopped in at Eagle Point as they were heading off for a spring break vacation. I am so thankful that they were there to give some encouragement to Team Grimm.

Don't you love this picture of Elliott on the end of the rope?

Kind hearted Charlie blowing bubbles for Baylor Man.  This picture makes the inside of their home look pretty good but believe me there was a lot of damage.. Water is a house's worst enemy once said, Norm Abram on This Old House. And he was right.  

Here is Team Grimm, cheering for their good fortune and encouraging one another to take it a day at a time in the restoration process.

When this much of your roof is missing, it makes an impact.  Praising God for His Protection to Ben's family and all the families in his neighborhood. It could have been so much worse.  

Saturday Stitching

 Well another week of not much stitching. I am trying to finish my April Word Play so it can go up next week.  Again, using my own colors and stitching it on a light blue with clouds fabric I purchased at Hobby Lobby.

I thought I might share some of the most recent Expo charts that have caught my eye.

I love Cathy Habermann's seasonal chalk talks. I have Autumn and Winter so I definitely need spring to add to my collection. Not sure I will stitch anything from it this year but maybe next year.

Lucy Bean....I think this is too cute. Not sure I will stitch it but I agree with the sentiments.

Another Lucy Bean...Ghost sand Pumpkins. I just love that jackolantern. I might stitch him as a stand alone piece.

We were all lamenting our lack of Irish stitches...I think this one is very cute and an easy fast stitch. Designer is Primrose Cottage Stitches/

I have always admired these Beggar stitches by Threadwork Primitives. They have a crow for each season. 

And one last stitch by Twin Peaks Primitive that speaks to me.

I really like this one but it looks like it might have some one over one stitching....and that is not for me. I think you could do the top motif with the houses and flags and years and it would be cute.

I want to take a minute to wish my best friend, Deborah, a very happy milestone birthday. She and Susan are my rocks in times of distress. This week they have come through for me!!

Update on Ben and family. Believe it or not they still have electrical power! Hoping they can remain in the house while repairs are done. The insurance adjuster is coming today. Please pray for  this area. Right now getting lumber and resources is difficult. All building materials have gone up in price so that is a concern as well in getting a timely repair. I am telling myself that God is in control and all will work out in His timing. Thank you for your prayers and concern. I will keep you updated on this situation. Please pray for the people who lost everything. Five deaths were reported but none in Ben's neighborhood. Some had injuries that required a trip to the hospital. Ben and Katy's biggest prayer request will be that Baylor stay safe in this upheaval. He is a master at escaping the house if they do not keep a close watch on him. Life for the spectrum families is never easy at the best of times and a situation like this can be very trying. Grateful for my prayer warriors.

Friday Fun

 We had a nice time in Chatsworth and drove back home to Decatur early Thursday morning as we were expecting some tornadic activity on Thursday afternoon. By the time we got home, poor Marvin was exhausted. Driving in Pouring Rain on mountain roads is not for the faint of heart. We did stop at the half way point in Henagar, Alabama to get a cup of coffee and a Sausage Egg McMuffin before battling on to Decatur. 

We had lunch with Charles in Cartersville, Georgia on Wednesday. I wanted to get the children their Easter gifts and I had a special gift for Charles. My mother agreed to giving Charles the flag that was draped on Daddy's coffin as a veteran of the Korean Conflict. Charles and Joshua are both named for my daddy and my granddaddy so I felt he should have this precious momento,  He sent me this photo.

He and Nancy just finished a nice office in their home so Charles placed Daddy's flag with a set of tobacco pipes that belonged to Papa G. As Charles put it, both grandfathers together. 

If you are ever in Cartersville, Georgia, check out Southern Muggs coffee. Oh my goodness...it is delicious. We stopped in for a cup after doing some walking around the square. Sorry no food photos but we had lunch at Appalachian Grill if you want to check them out on Facebook. Marvin and I used to stop there for dinner after the GA Tech games.

I also want to share a little oil painting I got at my favorite shop in Decatur, Tammy Eddy's Antiques. I stimulated the economy with my stimulus money.:)

I had my eye on this for quite some time. There is something about it that is just so appealing to me. I took my cotton canvas to Grimmwood and hung this one with my Riley Harbor in my bedroom. 

We are celebrating this boy's birthday on Saturday.

Baylor was ten on the 24th. Looking forward to getting to love on him a bit. Elliott got his cast off so another happy day for the Bham Grimmlins. 

After I wrote my blog Thursday at noon a tornado touched down in Ben's neighborhood. Thankfully they are okay but their house is not. They were protected as many houses were totally destroyed. They have some roof damage and their windows blew out. Katy said the house right behind them was totally destroyed. They live in the Eagle Point Subdivision in Birmingham if you happen to see pictures on the weather channel.  Praising God for protecting my crew who were in their basement calling out to God.  Katy sent a few pictures.

Look at that hummingbird feeder...still in place. Tornados are so captious.

This area of Birmingham is full of trees and Katy said it looks like a war zone. Please pray for those in Birmingham who lost their homes. No word on loss of life at this point.  Thanking God today for my family.

Porch Time

 We rode over the mountain yesterday to Grimmwood and what a pretty drive it was. Daffodils, forsythia and all sorts of blooming trees.  Spring has finally sprung in NoAla and NoGa. 

We stopped at our favorite restaurant for lunch.  The tree was decorated for spring.

Several of you asked that we post our lunch choices. I guess not everyone is eating out and I am happy to share what we got for our lunch.

I had a BLT and onion rings.

Marvin got grilled pork chops, squash and field peas. I gave him one of my onion rings too.

He also had a piece of Mexican corn bread with his lunch.  

On arriving home I got busy cleaning the front porch. Our ceiling fans were really looking bad. I watch Katharine at Do It On a Dime ( You Tube) and she recommended a cleaner from the Dollar Tree called Awesome Cleaner. It is a yellow cleaner in a clear bottle and a real steal at one dollar. This cleaner got all the grime off the ceiling fans and they look so much better now.  I may be using it on some things at Nanaland as well. 

We had our first porch evening of the season last night and it was so relaxing. Just sitting with family and chatting.  Bruce drove over on the tractor...he smoothed out the driveway which was much appreciated. 

And here are a few photos of my big boys....thanks to Amelia.

Soccer Season is here and Lando is ready. Look at the pond at Amelia's house. They added some chemicals to make it look bluer and it gets rid of algae.

Hudson is never one to sit inside. He was out on his bike.

Hope you all are enjoying some nice weather today.

Saturday Stitching

 A busy week here in Nanaland. Monday I had coffee with my old work friends from Central Weekday School, ran to the courthouse to renew my drivers license and shopped for groceries. Tuesday was my physical at my GP, Wednesday was teeth cleaning in Huntsville. Thursday was car shopping and Friday was errand day so not a lot of time for stitching. Thankful for good reports at the doctor and at the dentist. 

I did get some work done on Winter Rose Manor. 

I am loving the colors on this piece by Brenda Gervais. I am very happy with DMC 950 for the house color. I did see a photo of a finished Winter Rose Manor that was a bit different. The stitcher had used blue for the house and it was lovely. However, after stitching a BIG blue house with Feast of Friendship, I am happy with the pink in this stitch.

I also had a start. Every now and then it is good to go through the fabric stash. I found a big piece of 28 count Spearmint Sage  that I had ordered from Jen's Stitching Niche. After doing some calculations I realized I could do Tis the Season by Blackbird Designs...you know the one with the big red cardinal and the fancy French words.

I am using Cupid for my cardinal...my favorite red color of all.  

Lizzie Kate's Christmas ABC's was a nice break after working on two complicated stitches. 

One of the ways I reward myself for being a big girl at the dentist is by going to Patches and Stitches afterwards. This lovely LNS/Quilt Shop is not too far from my dentist's office. I did not pick up any charts. This was different ....I was on a mission for some additions to my fancy flosses. I have grouped them by dyers so you can enlarge the photos to see the name of the floss.

Weeks Dye Works....I love that black and orange stripe, aptly named Jack o Lantern. I might just stitch a jolly jack with this floss.

Gentle Arts. 

Classic Colorworks. I did pick up Shabby Sheep as I wanted to try it with some of my sheep charts to see if I like it better than Tea and Biscuits. Colonial copper is my favorite orange.

I also picked up a piece of 40 count linen. Now that I have new glasses I am going to try a small on it. I may be living in hope but I wanted to give it one last college try! 

Hope you all got more stitching done than Nana did this week. I am hoping for more stitching time next week. Happy Stitching.

Friday Fun

 Sharing my new wheels today....His name is Bhanjoe. B for Baylor, H for Hampton and Hudson, AN for Landon, Jo for Joshua and E for Elliott.  But it is pronounced Banjo! 

Landon and Kendall decided that Grandpa's car should be the Mak Attack. Margaret, Audrey and Kendall.

It is a Honda CR V in my favorite color, Red.  Now to learn how to operate it and to feel comfortable operating it. I have had the same car for 15 years, way before all the new automotive technology.  But we are blessed to have this vehicle and I will do my best to care for it so it will last 15 years. 

Leta sent me this picture from Grimmwood this morning. They had some heavy rains just as we did here. 

And finally a picture of my pink carnations. I am so enjoying purchasing a small bouquet each week at Publix. Fresh flowers are such mood lifters. I moved my little bunny picture to the kitchen as well.

Have a good day Friends!

Grimmwood at Foothills Farm

 If I had some fancy smancy personalized stationery, Grimmwood at Foothills Farm would be at the top. 

Leta took this gorgeous photo and some of you have already seen it on Facebook but I am sharing it here.

I may have a canvas made of this one....I just love it.

The sign on the Old CCC Camp Road  letting people know that they have reached The Farm. Bruce and Leta always decorate the sign for the season. They even decorate our gate to Grimmwood. We look forward to seeing what they have come up with! 

Spring has sprung on the Farm, daffodils, hyacinths, Bradford Pears and Batchelor Buttons are to be seen. When I was a little girl we had a Lilac bush in the back yard that smelled so good in the spring. Sadly it was cut down to make room for  a shed. But it lives on in my memories. 

I always said when I left Chatsworth to get married, I would never come back there to live. Well I keep half my promise. We so enjoy our little house there. I especially enjoy the summer evenings on the porch with Kristi, Leta, Laura, Bruce and Marvin. We sit out there until the sun goes down. Brings back more memories of my childhood when porch sitting was a regular part of the day. 

Oh and Happy St Patricks Day!! Top of the Morning to Ya!

The Grandest

 Time to share a few pictures of the grandest kiddos.  I just share the pictures I am sent....so I am not playing favorites here. You know Nana loves all her grands.

This young man had lunch at the local Mexican restaurant with his mama. He got special treatment after his surgery as he was out of school for a week. 

Joshua wearing his new overalls...or overhauls as we sometimes say in Georgia.  He managed to sneak into the pantry for a snack. As his daddy said, Hard to be annoyed with a boy as cute as this one.

Audrey is going to have to give up this hiding place soon. She is getting so tall. 

Kendall and Mom made it out to see Snow White at the Princess Theater. Kendall's friend, Beth, played Doc...the leader of the 7 Dwarves. 

And finally our Bham Boy....

He still has his cast...as you can see if you look closely. He wanted Grandpa to see his new GA Tech Shirt. Grandpa is so happy to have one grandson who is pulling for the GT. Grandpa told his mamma that when Elliott gets a little older he will teach him the GOOD WORD.   For those who do not know what that is...TO Hell with Georgia!! The two state schools enjoy a good rivalry.  At all the Ball Games the cheerleaders will call out, What's the Good Word and all those engineers get rowdy, if you can picture engineers getting rowdy.lol  Marvin is a physicist but he did engineering work for many years. That was before he started watching Big Bang Theory and Sheldon informed everyone that engineers are just the oompa loompas of Science.  We got a good laugh from that one. Thankful for my physicist/oompa loompa. 

  We did find our that my Kendall mobile is being totaled. Now to find a new car. After driving my Siena  mini van for all these years it will be hard to learn a new vehicle. As everyone knows, change is hard for me..no matter the kind. 

Oh and Beware the Ides of March, dear friends.

Saturday Stitching

 Good Morning....It was a lovely week here. It seems spring is coming and I could not be happier. I did spend this week doing some stitching and some finishing.  But before I share all that, I have an advertisement for a company I came across thanks to Brenda and the Serial Started on Floss Tube.

I have started putting my flosses on floss drops etc for my bigger projects. I have found it is much easier to find my flosses when I am using a good number for a sampler.  But winding those flosses can be a real pain.  I have used all manners of things to wind my floss with varying degrees of success. My only Haul this week was this lovely tool.

Made from red cherry, it is just a lovely thing to hold and use. I chose to leave mine in the original wood with no clear coat or stain. It is smooth as can be!! You wind your flosses on this and then snip one end. Easy Peasy! Check out rnrwoodworksky on Instagram to order one for yourself. Rich and Roxanne Henderson run this business from their home.  It is also a Veteran owned business which I am glad to share. This beautiful tool was sent to me and with shipping it was just under $12.  Rich and Roxanne also make some other wood products for stitchers that you can check out at Instagram or on their Facebook page. Customer service was great as they wanted to make sure I got exactly what I wanted. They offer several types of wood and finishes.  I am happy to give them a great review.

Now to the stitching. 

I did some finishing this week. I took out the bunny's nose and eye on Hippity Hop and I was much happier with it. It is now residing in the Spring dougbhbowl.

While cleaning out some drawers I cam across two pillowcases I had been saving. One was stitched by my Grandmother Henderson and the other by my daddy's sister, my Aunt Anna Faye. I thought to myself, why not make them into smalls for my dough bowl as I do not use them but could not get rid of them. 

Here is the one made by my Grandmother Henderson. She was quite the needleworker. She could do needlework as well as tat! This was done when she was elderly so it was not her best work but it is precious to me.

My Aunt Anna Faye did lots of needlework as well as crochet.  Her embroidery was very fine and tight. Here is her small.

Both are in my Spring dough bowl where I can enjoy them every day. 

As for stitching, I got a start on Though He Seemeth Sleeping.

Then I managed to complete all the blue stitching on Feast of Friendship's house.

Several different shades of blue are used in this house as you can see. Queen Victoria continues to supervise this stitch.

Lastly, I got out Lady Liberty by Blackbird Designs. I worked on it last year but put it away for a while. I hope to complete it by June so it can come out with the July stitching. It will be made into a drum. 

I keep looking for the new designs that were released at the Needlework Expo but so far, none are calling to me, which is a good thing. I have plenty to stitch here in my stash.

Happy Stitching. Don't Forget to Spring Forward!!