Oh, what a busy summer!

Oh, my! It is sooooooo busy around here. And it is soooooo hot! I don't mind the "busy" but I am just not real crazy about the heat!  It's July, though, so I guess it's to be expected. Speaking of July.......this is only my second blogpost for the month of July. It started off with a "bang" on the 4th of July and has been hoppin' ever since then. It was so hot on the 4th of July that we decided we couldn't eat outside. Nope. Here we are with a brand-new deck and nice lawn furniture and the temp was 96 and humid. We dined inside and were happy to do so.

A couple days before the 4th, I bought a new toy for my front porch area..............

I saw this little Radio Flyer wagon at Uniques and Antiques in downtown Henderson a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure I should spend my pennies on it. But............when I had some extra pennies on hand, and the wagon was still on display........I decided it was meant to come home with me. ;-)  My dad made the little wooden bear many years ago and the flag he holds is "vintage" as it's actually made from cotton fabric!
For our 4th of July dinner, we had guests........daughter Collette, and son-in-law, Daryl and grandson, Jacob and neighbor, Sue. And, of course, Kaiser, too. See him watching me mix goodies. I didn't give him any of that chocolate cake mix but.........

when I made a white cake mix, I let him lick the beaters. Yes, I did and remember that because later on.........well, just remember that.  :-)
I was in the mood to bake and share. So I made cupcakes with little flags and two pies......one apple and one blueberry..........

Note to self when making pies..........Do not get distracted and run off to take picture of deer in neighbors yard..........because you might forget to put the flour in the blueberry pie filling. Hint: it was a little soupy but it was still very tasty. LOL!  Here's the little fawn that made me run to get my camera...........

And just as I got closer for a better picture, I noticed that off to the left there was another fawn and then they both took off before I could click for a picture!!!
My husband loves white cake with vanilla frosting so I made one for him........and because I wanted a centerpiece for the table. LOL!

And at the end of the day, I had my husband take a picture of Jacob and me together because he is getting so tall!!

On July 5th.........which is our son Devlin's birthday........my husband had been out walking the dog and came in and asked.........."have you ever seen a lot of pigeons on the roof?" And I said "well, yes, sometimes I've seen a couple of doves."  And he said......."no, I mean a lot of pigeons", so I went outside to check it out. Yep..........there were a lot of pigeons. Not sure why they stopped to visit our roof but not the lone white one below the rest of the pigeons............

She seemed to be the "guide pigeon" as they all perched in one area of the roof and then when she walked across to another part of the roof...........they all followed her!

It was so funny to watch them! And then pretty soon.......one by one, they all flew away.

One of the nicest things about where we live is seeing the clouds and sunsets. I love to take pictures of them but they don't always turn out so great. This day, they were great........

And thanks to new glasses, I'll be seeing those clouds and sunsets even better!! I didn't realize how much I needed new lenses until I got the new ones!

Now............remember how nice I was to let Kaiser lick the beaters for that white cake I made? Well, here is how he re-paid me..............

He ate my Prang crayons that I use for fabric quilting projects! Grrrrr!! And I mean, he ate most of the box! Luckily, they are non-toxic so we didn't have to call the vet. And because all things work out in the end...........well, you get the picture. :-)  I am not sure why he ate the crayons as they were sitting in a box of craft supplies that has been in the same spot for two years and he never touched them!! Oh, well...........
I had another cloud opportunity and caught this picture as the sun was shining through the clouds.............

And speaking of sunshine..........this is my friend and neighbor, Sue, who could easily be given the title "Ms. Sunshine". She is always smiling and cheerful. She is helping me with some projects because I realized I needed a little assistance. I am woefully behind on projects due to all the health stuff I've been through the last couple of years. Sue is helping me get organized and we are doing a project that uses my little GO! Baby I got from Accu-Quilt last spring.

I'll share photos in a tutorial when we finish it up later this month. In the meantime, I went back to a project that has been "in progress" since 2006. It's a crazy quilt that is made in Mary Englebreit fabrics............

I am hand-stitching the entire quilt. I first pieced all the blocks, then the borders. I sashed the blocks with the black fabric and now it's ready for the black strips that will connect the rows. I was anxious to see what it is going to look like and I am really liking it .......... a lot!! It's my "watching T.V. and hand-stitching" project.
When my daughter watches T.V. and stitches, she is usually doing it in crochet. I bought the yarn so she would make me some hot pads for the patio table. I loved the bright sunny colors!

I think I mentioned that in June, I made new kitchen curtains. I haven't taken a photo yet because we are waiting for the hooks to arrive for the tie backs. And so, because I had nothing else to do, I decided to start working on a patchwork "race-themed" curtain for my husband's basement TV room. These are scraps from the quilt that I made for him..........

I am not so sure it will look all that great but he is sure it will, so that's all that counts.  

And then............because I had another doctor appointment this past Monday, I decided to reward myself with a stop at Firefly Quilt Shop. Things are changing at the shop as they prepare for the upcoming Minnesota Shop Hop. This little corner was so fun and colorful. I remember that owls were really big when I first started quilting in the 1970's. Whoooooooo would have thought that they would make a comeback?  Everything is new again........

When I left the quilt shop, I picked up grandson Jacob and he has been here visiting and helping this past week. I have been busy with details for my class reunion that is this Saturday night and our family reunion on Sunday. It wasn't all work, though, as we took a couple trips to the library for books and movies. We watched four movies, sorted some toys and books and he played on the computer while I baked more pies...........

There are two blueberry pies, two peach and one cherry. And they will all be gone in no time!  And that reminds me that there are still some cinnamon pie crust bits that I could snack on. Off to the kitchen for a midnight snack.............
Back soon  with quilty stuff. Have a great weekend!
Sandi