Summertime stitching and a quick visit to Rome

Thank you! Thank you! I was so touched by the kind comments on my previous post about my youngest son's wedding. I never, ever want to come off as though I'm bragging--I'm just not that type of person... So, I hesitated to even post my photos and descriptions of that magical day. On the other hand, this blog is like my (not too personal) diary so I just had to include memories from that special family occasion. I appreciate each of your thoughts--stitchers are absolutely the nicest people! Thank you again!

So, July is nearing its end and what a summer it's been so far: extreme temperatures worldwide, tornado activity in spots where it's not common, and tropical storms. And let's not forget the horrible air quality (our Air Quality Index was at 368--in the hazardous category--last week) we've experienced due to the wildfire smoke drifting both down from Canada and up to Canada due to our wildfires here in the U.S.  It's so different than the summers I remember while growing up in the 50s and 60s in upstate New York. Yes, there were occasional uncomfortably hot days, but my summer was filled with playing outdoors with all the neighborhood kids from dawn to dusk: pick-up baseball games in the nearby park, roller skating and riding our bikes up and down the street, lazily reading book after book on my shady front porch, and playing kick-the-can until the street lights flickered on and it was time to head home. I wonder how many kids are able to enjoy these things on a daily basis with the climate changing the way it is? 

Summer stitching has been calling my name as I have very few purely summer related pieces to put out once I take my patriotic decor down. Oh, I have my bee and sunflower stitching, but I want more things that are pure summer. After many, many years, I finally finished the fourth and final chart from Prairie Schooler's "Country Seasons" (book no. 123): Summer. I had stitched the other three back in 2006 (Winter), 2007 (Spring), and 2008 (Fall) even before I began blogging in 2009! For some reason, the summer design just didn't catch my interest the way the other three had, so I kept putting off stitching it. But, it ended up being pretty cute, don't you think?

The fourth season, Summer, is finally stitched!

This one turned out smaller than the previous three because I stitched it on 40 ct. platinum Newcastle. I believe the others were stitched on 16 ct. aida and 32 ct. jobelan, but I'm not positive since I wasn't recording my finishes way back then. I've used the same frame to display each of the other three when I change them out for the season, but I'm afraid this frame is just too large for the smaller Summer finish. I'll have to figure something else out. Below I'm sharing all of the seasons--which one is your favorite? I especially love Autumn because the colors are so bright and vibrant!

All the seasons from PS. Book No. 123: "Country Seasons"

You may remember this charming Madame Chantilly piece called "Celebrate Summer" which I shared three years ago in this post. Well, I finally got around to framing it with a rustic, weathered looking frame which I purchased online from Franken Frames. Why, oh why do I procrastinate so long when it comes to framing? This was a particularly easy piece to frame as there were no straight borders to deal with on the stitching itself. As always, I use the framing method in this tutorial by Brenda Gervais. If you are on the fence about attempting to frame things yourself, give this method a try--it really isn't difficult!

My largest summer finish--finally framed!

 

It will be so nice to have this larger summer piece framed and on display for the next couple of months. That grinning whale and little girl in her vintage bathing costume always make me smile. 

I think I'll be stitching the "Celebrate Fall" chart from this series next and I plan on using the same frame.

Even though the Fourth of July has passed, I want to share my red, white, and blue stitching and decorating with you! Also, having photos to refer to, makes it extremely easy for me to decorate from one year to the next :) 

The sideboard in my kitchen all done up in red/white/and blue for July

How about some close-ups? If you have questions on any of these, just email me and I'll try to help!

 

 

This little patriotic display is the centerpiece on our kitchen table for the month.

 

And, last, but not least--the kitchen corner cupboard all dressed up for the Fourth, too.

Garden update... In spite of the sweltering heat and lack of rain, our garden has fared quite well due to the irrigation system my husband installed a few years ago...

We're growing corn this year for the first time, although these may turn out to be the smallest ears on record :) 

 

We picked a good amount of blueberries in spite of a nasty raccoon breaking into our fenced-in garden (he crawled right over!) and eating at least half of the berries.

 

Our blueberry haul so far--there are more to be picked!

 

I love looking out the kitchen window and seeing these happy sunflowers nodding in the breeze in our garden.

Books... I seem to be listening to more and more books rather than reading them. I love hearing the different voices and the way I can picture the characters in my mind so much clearer than when I read the words on a page. Two exceptional, although very different, books that I've enjoyed this month are "The Calamity Club" by Kathryn Stockett (the author of that wonderful book from 2009 "The Help") and "I See You've Called in Dead" by John Kenney. "The Calamity Club" is a b-i-g book at almost 29 listening hours/and over 600 pages! I hesitated to begin it for that very reason, but, honestly--I could barely stop listening it was so well done. I'm sure it's wonderful to read, too, but do yourself a favor and listen to it! "I See You've Called in Dead" was not a title that called to me, but I read the excellent reviews and I'm so glad I took a chance on it. It's a much shorter book (at just 7.5 listening hours/300 pages) and I listened to it over the course of two days while stitching, cooking, and cleaning. To read a bit more about each book, just click here for "The Calamity Club" and here for "I See You've Called in Dead."  Who else loves listening to books?

Two of my favorite audiobooks of all-time! Give them a listen! 

Travels...  As I promised in my post about the wedding, I'll be sharing some photos from our travels while we were in Italy. This first batch is from Rome where we spent just one full day before we drove up to the wedding venue which was almost three hours northeast. We rented an apartment for two nights to get an authentic Rome feel and to be able to walk to the main historical section. Rome itself did not appeal to me--let's say I'm so not a city girl! I found it hot, crowded, noisy, filled with graffiti, and cigarette smoke. The traffic was insane and I'm so glad my husband had hired a car to take us from the Rome airport (which was just rated the third-highest anxiety inducing airport in the world--you can read about the top ten here) to our rental apartment. That being said, I truly enjoyed a brief walk around the historic part of the city to witness those iconic sites in person. The sheer age of the remains of the ancient Roman empire just makes my head spin...

This was the view from our apartment rental in Rome's Ludovisi neighborhood. Simply lovely!

 

Since we arrived very late in the afternoon, the only "touristy" thing we did that evening after dinner (pizza, of course, and, oh, was it tasty!) was walk to the Trevi Fountain. Although beautiful, it was absolutely mobbed with visitors. Rome has now instituted a two euro ticket for any non-resident wishing to go down to the water to toss their three coins. They are hoping this approach will help with crowd management. It's estimated the paid tickets will also bring in €6,000,000 a year in revenue. 

The following day, even though jet-lag was hitting hard, we wanted to do a quick walk past some of the ancient sites. They didn't disappoint!

What's a trip to Rome without at least a glimpse of The Colosseum--the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built. It could hold from 50,000-80,000 spectators depending on the time in history. We would have loved to do a proper tour, but there was simply no time.

 

The Temple of Venus and Roma is thought to be the largest temple constructed in ancient Rome beginning in 121 AD.

Remains of the ancient Roman Forum which, for centuries, was the center of daily life. Elections, triumphal processions, trials, speeches, and gladiator matches all occurred here. Just imagine all the history this site has witnessed over the years.

 

The Forum of Caesar was built around 54 BC to extend the historic Roman Forum and create more room for public meetings, processions, etc. 

The remains of the Temple of Venus Genetrix in the Forum of Caesar date back to 46BC.

The massive Victor Emmanuel II National Monument (also known as the Vittoriano) was built in the 19th century to honor Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a unified Italy. 

After seeing a tiny portion of the ancient sites, we headed back to our apartment to cool off a bit. A beautiful park was located nearby so, after we rested for a while, we headed over and thoroughly enjoyed walking the paths of Villa Borghese. With almost 200 acres, the tree-filled park with many meandering paths felt a world away from the hustle and bustle of Rome's city center. 

So, there you have it--an extremely brief visit to one of the world's most historic cities. Would I go back? No... Rome was simply not my cup of tea, so to speak. I hated having to constantly worry about pickpockets and being harassed by people trying to sell me trinkets and such. But, I'm sure some of you have visited at less crowded times and loved it. In future posts, I'll be sharing more of Tuscany--a region that I definitely would go back to if given the chance! 

Today marks a very special moment in my life--on July 23, 1977 my husband and I walked down the aisle at the small Presbyterian church in my hometown and said our "I dos." Yes--49 years ago... We were two newly graduated 22 years olds--very young by today's standards, but completely normal back then. We have no regrets about getting married so young and are truly looking forward to celebrating our big 50th next year with a family trip.  Happy 49th to my dear husband--here's to many more years of love and laughter, fun family times, and further adventures!

Thank you all for stopping in today--it's always fun to read your comments and emails and I appreciate each and every one. I'll try to get back to posting twice a month in August. July just kind of got away from me! Take care now--and happy stitching! Bye for now...  

One short of a dozen...

Prairie Schooler oval Santas, that is! I guess I'd better hurry up and stitch one more so I'll have an even dozen. Hello, everyone... hope your month of June is off to a great start. This is the month my family has been counting down to for over a year--the month of my youngest son's wedding! It's amazing all the thought, preparation, and planning (not to mention money!) that goes into a wedding and then it's over in a flash. But, I know that their big day will be so memorable for the young couple--we can't wait to celebrate them and toast to their future!

I was bound and determined to catch up with the #12in26ornamentstitchalong that I host over on Instagram and I've done it! Two easy to stitch, easy to finish PS Santas helped me accomplish my goal. They've now joined their nine brothers who warmly welcomed them into the clan. Aren't they delightful? The gold-robed Santa and the one to his right in the red are my newest ornaments for May and June. 

Eleven jolly gentlemen for my tree

Of course, right after taking the group photo, I noticed something was missing! Can you spot my error? Yes, that new red-robed Santa has no buttons on his coat. Poor guy--without being able to button up his robe, it might get a bit chilly out there as he makes his rounds delivering toys to all the good little boys and girls in December. I thought about taking the easy way out and just gluing on a couple of beads, but I took a deep breath, threaded my needle, and managed to stitch the buttons even after it was fully finished. Not easy to do and not my best looking stitches, but that's okay :)  May's ornament is from PS Book No. 62 called "Kris Kringle." I used the suggested DMC colors and added tiny stems to the pears. The chart said that is supposed to be a partridge resting with the pears in the basket, but to me, it looks more like a quail with that feathery thing coming out from its head. 

A new PS Santa carrying a basket of pears

For June, a new color joins the blues, greens, and reds... Yes, my first gold-robed Santa and I love him! This one is from PS Book No. 43 "Father Christmas" and is stitched on the same 40 ct. raw natural Newcastle that I used for the rest of them. I used the suggested DMC colors except I changed the ecru to white so it would show up better on his beard and also changed the green to DMC 520. Both Santa's eyes and the berries on the wreath are done with Smyrna stitches to make them look rounder. I usually top the ornament with a small gingham bow, but had no ribbon in a gold color that would coordinate so I tore some fabric and used that instead. 

My ornament for June brings my first gold-robed Santa

So, do you have a favorite? I think mine are the two green ones with the goose and the birds. But, honestly, you can't go wrong with any Prairie Schooler Santa, can you?

I try to have my patriotic pieces out and on display for Memorial Day through July, but this year, I'm running a bit behind. I did manage to at least get them out of their storage drawer, but that's about it. Oh well...

My patriotic smalls: out of the storage drawer now, but still not on display

A very un-springlike May... So many of you are sharing photos of your lovely spring flowers, but I can't do that here. You see, our May was dreadful--cool and rainy and everything is running behind. Our peonies are just beginning to bloom, but that's about it! It's finally warming up to the low 70s this week, but our furnace is still coming on in the mornings due to the nights dipping down into the low 50s--crazy for June! And all of my friends in Europe were roasting have been roasting from their unprecedented heat wave! 

Here a tick, there a tick... everywhere a tick tick! What does seem to be here in abundance this spring are the horrible ticks that spread Lyme Disease! My poor husband has found three embedded in his arms in just the past couple weeks. It's honestly getting so bad here in Pennsylvania that I'm afraid to even walk on the grass. This excellent article, written by a professor at Penn State, mentions that Pennsylvania reports the highest number of Lyme Disease cases in the entire country (30% of the reported cases!). My husband got one of his from simply leaning over to pick a bit of lettuce from our garden. I so hope they can come up with a solution soon because this is a serious problem here for both humans and pets. There are currently vaccines in clinical trials, so I'm hopeful that we won't be dealing with them forever. Are Lyme ticks bad in your area?  

One of the teeny ticks, not much bigger than a pin-head, that we pulled from my husband's arm.

Here is a helpful fact sheet from the Pennsylvania Medical Society for anyone concerned about ticks that cause Lyme Disease:  

 

If you have a tick that you would like to have sent in for testing, here is a helpful link for you at TickCheck. My husband has one of the evil little fellows that burrowed into his arm on the way to be tested right now! 

I'm sorry to be going on and on about ticks and Lyme Disease on a cross-stitch blog, but it is very concerning for many of us. My youngest son calls it "Pennsylvania's natural disaster" because we're pretty isolated from the normal disasters such as flooding, wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. But, those tiny little ticks have made us all fearful!  If Lyme Disease is not caught and treated early on, the results can be debilitating.

Zzzzz.... My sleep has been even more out of whack than usual as I lie awake night after night and make lists in my head of all that needs to be done for the wedding. I saw this cartoon online and it is so me! I usually fall asleep just fine, but wake around 2 or 3AM and can't get back to sleep no matter what I do. Does anyone have any solutions? How about any of you--are sleeping problems part of your nighttime routine, too?

Me at 3 AM--wide awake while my husband sleeps soundly right next to me!

And so, a new month begins. For me, it will be one of fun family times and new beginnings and adventures. I'll be taking a little blog break, but promise to come back. I'd miss all of you very much if I didn't. I so appreciate each and every comment and email more than you know. Until next time... happy stitching! Bye for now... 

Spring, please come soon!!

The middle of February already! How did that happen? I always look forward to this short month of February as I feel that the worst of winter is over. And what a winter it's been here in the East! I can't remember having snow on the ground continuously (for most of January and February) in a long, long time. Thankfully, our deep freeze seems to be waning--it will be in the 40s this weekend. I know, I know... for those of you in the South or in California, you are thinking that still sounds quite cold. But... after weeks of not coming anywhere near the freezing point, 40° sounds darn good to us! 

So, what has been keeping me busy since I definitely avoid going outside at all costs? Well, three things--reading/listening to a couple of good books, stitching (of course), and spending way too much time browsing online looking for a mother-of-the-groom dress for my youngest son's wedding in June. Oh, boy... what a process! I've already tried on 7 dresses and my petite stature is not doing me any favors when it comes to long gowns. They are just overwhelming/swimming on me! They do make a few petite dresses, but none that I've really liked. Thankfully, both Macy's and Nordstrom offer free shipping for the dresses and then I can return them at my local stores so that is very helpful. It's just an extremely frustrating process. At age 71, I'm truly feeling like the grandmother of the groom rather than the mother. Sigh... I may have one possibility, though, so I'll be taking that dress into Nordstrom to see if alterations can easily be made. Any advice for mother of the bride/groom dress shopping? All suggestions are welcome! 

Anyway, back to my stitching... I've managed to stitch and finish my ornaments for January and February and both just happen to be Prairie Schooler designs. The first one is from the "Old World Santas" (Bk. No. 80) chart and is stitched on 40 ct. raw natural Newcastle linen. I changed the colors a bit and eliminated the base that Santa was standing on.

A new "Old World Santa" finish for January

As you can see, I wanted to make this an oval finish so I added lots of Smyrna-stitched snowflakes surrounding Santa. I then used handmade cording (DMC 221 to match Santa's robe) and a burgundy checked ribbon to embellish the top. 

Oval and round finishes are my favorites. 

If this finish looks familiar it's because this is the fourth Santa in this series that I've finished the same way. Love seeing them all together! There are four more in this chart, but I only have enough gingham ribbon to finish one more. Of course, I can always change it up... we'll see!

Such a handsome quartet! Do you have a favorite? Mine is the Santa with the walking stick and the little bird (on the far left).

February's ornament brought this cute galloping deer carrying Santa and his bag of toys. This is from the "Santa Rides" (Bk. no. 47) chart.  I rarely change colors in Prairie Schooler designs, but I did this time. I used DMC 610 (rather than the charted 844) for the deer so he would resemble the local deer that visit our backyard. I also changed the color of the motifs surrounding the deer, to white. They were charted as a sort of pale yellow color (DMC 3046) and I just didn't care for that look.  

Another Prairie Schooler Santa finish for February

To finish it, I created a simple pillow ornament bordered by green cording with just a touch of green ric-rac peeking out between the (40 ct. raw natural Newcastle) linen and the accent fabric.

"Santa Rides" his deer with some color changes

I tried something new to hang the rusty bells from the right side... I took three strands of DMC and braided them to create hangers for the bells and I love the look! Will definitely be doing this again. Here's a close-up for you...

To hang the bells, I simply braided some strands of DMC floss.

So, one-sixth of the 2026 ornaments are finished--ha ha! One-sixth sounds so much more impressive than 2 out of 12, doesn't it? On to March--time to select a new chart! I have an huge folder of ornament charts that I love browsing through to find my next project. 

Two down--ten to go for 2026!

 

So, do you celebrate Valentine's Day? I think this is the first year in a long time that I didn't stitch a single thing for the holiday. But, I did do a bit of decorating in the corner of my kitchen. These are my "mostly red" ornaments, the  "mostly pink" ones never saw the light of day this year, I'm sorry to say... They're still buried in a dresser drawer and, at this point, they'll just have to be patient and wait another year! I bought the sweet felted mice on Amazon and thought they made a perfect addition to my tiered tray display this year. If you have any questions about the stitched pieces, just let me know... I was too lazy to link them to previous posts this time :) 

Such a bright, happy corner of my kitchen!

 

I love the sweet white mouse couple carrying the fuzzy red heart!

Sending all of you a little L-O-V-E today! Aren't their little gold bow ties and hairbows adorable?

Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

 

"V is For Valentine" (by Heartstring Samplery) hanging on the wall is one of my favorites!

Giveaway time... I received a wonderful package of birthday gifts from my friend, April, in Virginia, a couple weeks ago. In the package she thoughtfully included some small-sized charts that she said I could use for giveaways. Wasn't that sweet? So, why not start today? The first one I'm offering is just perfect for this time of year and is called "Spring Delivery" by With Thy Needle and Thread. Would you like to be entered into the drawing to win this darling chart? If so, please leave me a comment below with the answer to the question: "What is your favorite fabric to stitch on and why?" I think you all know mine: 40 ct. Newcastle linen! I love the feel of it, the weight, the muted colors. I don't like fabric to distract from the design itself which is why I often use basic colors like white, ivory, gray, or various shades of brown. But, the primary reason I love it is because I am able to stitch with just one thread--so much easier, in my opinion!  If you do want to be entered to win this chart, please make sure to include you email address (if I don't already have it). And thank you again to my generous friend, April--your charts will be much appreciated by the lucky winner of the one below and those offered in the future!

I'm giving away this sweet chart by With Thy Needle and Thread. If you would like to be entered into the drawing, please follow the guidelines above. I'll post the winner on my next post.

I'll leave you with some wintry photos...hope to have sunnier spring photos the next time I post. Thank you, as always, for taking the time to read my little blog and say "hello" in your comments--I truly appreciate each of you! Happy Valentine's Day to all who celebrate and I hope everyone enjoys the rest of this short month. Take care all! Bye for now... 

It's been such a cold year that even the deer have become frequent visitors to our bird feeders. Isn't this buck magnificent?! We usually only spot female deer so seeing this handsome guy was quite a treat.

 

No, my little grandson wasn't running around in the snow. These are all deer tracks shown in this night time photo! We call it our deer superhighway :) 

With the sunshine comes melting icicles. Can you spot the tiny water drop falling from the middle icicle hanging just outside our bedroom window? Spring is coming soon (hopefully)!  

♥ HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ALL OF MY STITCHING FRIENDS! ♥

January musings

Well, this has certainly been one frigid month, hasn't it? I'm hoping that when February arrives the tide will turn and things will begin to warm up... It does make for good stitching weather, but I've found it hard to settle lately. The world seems to be spinning out of control lately and even my stitching doesn't  seem to be helping relieve the stress. So few stitches have been added lately...

The finishes I'm going to share with you today were all stitched and given away as Christmas gifts in December. Thankfully, all arrived safely and in good time. After much thought, I've come to the decision that I won't be exchanging stitched gifts any longer. To be honest--I'm simply getting older and my eyes are as well. I just don't stitch as quickly as I used to and what extras I do stitch, I'd like to be for my family. I truly hope everyone understands--and may even be a bit relieved! I've received so many wonderful gifts over the past 17 years since I began blogging--from all over the world: the U.S. and Canada, of course, but also England, Ireland, France, The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Germany, The Czech Republic, Austria, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa! Amazing, how a simple hobby like cross stitch can draw us together. We may not speak the same languages, but we speak the language of needle, thread, and fabric--one tiny thread  on a blank canvas that starts out as a single stitch and grows into a beautiful design. I'm so thankful for each of the gifts my fellow stitchers have sent me since I began my blog on January 24, 2009 (17 years ago tomorrow!). But, I'm even more thankful for the friendships!

Many of these designs are ones I've stitched for myself in the past, including this first one. I'll post the details on each finish in the caption underneath the photos...

"Joys of Christmas" by The Drawn Thread stitched on 28 ct. dirty linen. Love the two-colored cording and teeny buttons on the snowman!

 

"Good Tidings to You" by The Sampler Girl (found in the 2011 Just Cross Stitch Ornament magazine). I stitched this one "over one" on 28 ct. tea dyed Monaco with DMC threads (I changed the red to DMC 221).

 

Prairie Schooler's "A Christmas Visit" (Book No. 48). I stitched this sunflower Santa on 40 ct. vintage country mocha with the suggested DMC threads. 

 

This cutie gingerbread boy card is by Crocette a Gogò from the chart called "Christmas Green Chic." I also stitched this one in 2024 and made it into an ornament which you can read about here. 

 

Peace and Noel from Hands on Design's "Oh, Christmas Three" chart made into greeting cards. They're both done "over one" on 25 ct. black Lugana.

 

A trio of charming cardinals, stitched on 40 ct. vintage country mocha are from "Christmas Advent Calendar" by Crocette a Gogò. She also has some wonderful free charts on her website right here.

 

For my 5-year-old grandson, Mister B, I made this cute dinosaur sporting a Santa cap. He is stitched "over one" on 25 ct. black Lugana with the suggested DMC threads. The chart is one I found on Etsy (right here) by MaxStitchesArt and is called "Christmas Velociraptor."

 

And I know you'll recognize this gingerbread boy ornament--I think I must have stitched it at least 10 times now! It is from the JBW Design's chart called "Baby's First Christmas." I changed up the colors a bit and stitched it on 32 ct. black Belfast linen. This was for my youngest grandson and is always my go-to gift for new baby boys.

  

 

Shoulder replacement surgery update... Thank you to all who wished my husband well on his right shoulder replacement surgery which took place on January 5th. The surgery itself was supposed to last 1 1/2 to 2 hours. When the 3rd hour wrapped up, I was beginning to worry that I hadn't heard from the doctor yet! About 15 minutes later, the doctor finally appeared in the waiting room to say everything was fine. She explained that it took longer than normal because "the component was larger than expected." WHAT?! I can just picture them scrambling around to find the "right size component" for my husband's shoulder! Anyway, he's been home recovering for over two weeks now--and, like most men, he is a very "impatient patient." At times I feel like I'm having to tell a toddler "no!" "No, you can't go shovel the driveway," "No, you can't do a spin on the exercise bike," "No, you can't lift that heavy pan!" You get the idea... 

He received some much appreciated and extremely thoughtful gifts during his recovery. For those of you who are looking to do something special for someone who is recovering from surgery, any of these would make fine gifts. It looks like a lot of food, but my youngest son had driven up from D.C. to assist us that first week and he certainly helped gobble everything up very quickly! 

The dried fruit tray on a bamboo cutting board was a gift from his old office and came from 1-800-baskets.com. The wonderful fruit and chocolate tray came from a former coworker from Edible Arrangements. And the containers of chicken noodle soup and yummy rolls and cookies came from my youngest sister and her husband from Spoonful of Comfort. All were just wonderful! 

Another trip around the sun... Yes, I'm a year older! After all that worrying when I turned 70, I'm happy to say I survived my first year in my '70s just fine. My 71st (how can that be?!) birthday on the 16th was very quiet this year since my husband was recovering from his surgery. My middle son came over that evening and picked up pizza on the way so I wouldn't have to cook. I received some wonderful cross stitch charts and linen, gift cards to a restaurant, Etsy, and 123 Stitch, and a box filled with a dozen tasty chocolate-covered strawberries. But, the very best gift of all (in my eyes) was the fact that my dear husband, one-handedly, made cupcakes so I would have a sweet treat. Now, in our nearly 49 years of marriage, I don't think he's ever baked a cupcake--and for him to do so while recovering from shoulder surgery truly touched my heart. They were so good--chocolate (made from scratch!) with peanut butter frosting (I did make the frosting and decorate them for him as he couldn't use the mixer or pipe the frosting with one hand). For me, it's always been the simple gestures like this that have meant the most in our marriage. How about you? 

My 71st birthday and still smiling :) 

The best thing about growing older has been experiencing being a grandmother. The joy that Mister B and Baby N have brought me is almost indescribable. They just love me for me! Even if I appear on FaceTime with rumpled bedhead hair still in my pj's--they still smile and seem excited to see me and my heart just melts. 

Grandma stage--the best stage in life!

Time does pass by way too quickly in our older years, doesn't it? As kids, we were always anxious to get to our next birthday or next milestone, but when you're older, you only wish for time to slow down. I'm still in awe of the many changes a baby goes through in that twelve month period before the first birthday. From helpless blobs to rolling over to sitting to crawling to standing to those first hesitant steps. It's quite a miracle, really. I'm so blessed to still be here to witness these sweet boys growing up!

Baby N turned 8 months old this month

 

Mister B instructing Baby N in the fine art of car racing!

So, what's on my agenda for the last week of January? Would you believe I still have my Christmas tree and outdoor lights up?! That is a new record for me, for sure. I've so enjoyed the light from them this month, but it's time... I'm not going to turn into one of "those" neighbors :) So, after the last bit of Christmas is tucked away, I plan to do some cleaning out of closets and drawers. Who am I kidding that I'll ever wear those clothes from fifteen years ago that no longer fit? I hope you enjoy this final week of what always seems to be a long, dull month. Take care now--especially those of you who are in the path of the ice and snow storm that is forecast here in the U.S. A foot of snow is expected in our region--we'll see how accurate the weather service is this time! Thank you all for stopping by to say "hello!" Bye for now...