Is it too late (picture heavy post)

to show Christmas photos? I hope not, because I'm just now getting around to it. It is all still up but will probably start coming down tomorrow.

 Master bedroom

 I put these little silver initials on the shelf over our bed - I kinda like them and am thinking about leaving them there.

 Little tree on the dresser in our bedroom.

 Same tree as last year (in fact I don't think I bought anything new this year - I did make a few ornaments I may show later) Not sure about this tree though - I took this picture before a strand of lights went out - I'm either going to have to re-do all the lights or get a new tree. I hate doing lights.

 Stitched these a couple of years ago, but not sure if I ever showed them.

 In the breakfast area

 I love these little glass snowmen

 and my little sweet tree.

 also in the breakfast area (just to the right of last photos)

 if you look above the little table you see three stockings - my great-grandmother made them and I use them somewhere every year.

 My kitchen cart - it is really hard to get a picture in here because of the glass on the picture.

 Dining room 

 twin guest room

 other bed in twin room

 other guest room - also hard to photograph - if I close the blinds it is too dark.

 a little tree on top of a cabinet in my office/sewing room 

 Stockings hung in the entry - we don't have a fireplace.

 What you see when you open the front door - on the other side of that cabinet is where the stockings are hung.

 Dining room again - these two windows are the only ones that face the front of the house downstairs.

Last but not least - the fireman tree is at the top of the stairs. The game room is just to the right and the bedrooms and my room are down that short little hall.

I hope this isn't post-Christmas overload but I had all the pictures on the computer and just haven't had time to decide which ones to post. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

On our street

Walked to the mailbox the other night with the hubby and took the camera

this is the view down the street starting with the house right next to ours

and this is us. The trees have grown a lot since we have been here it makes it kinda hard to see that side of the house.

Mr. Santa used to have a chair to stand in to he was taller, but it got nixed by the HOA so we just made him a cozy spot in front of the flower bed.

Well, that's it for today. I don't know where the times goes. I thought I might have time to get some of the inside pictures up but there is always tomorrow.

Have a safe and happy weekend!

The big red dot and the little pink flower

I feel like a hamster on a wheel - I keep running and I never get anywhere! 

Last time Timothy was here he brought a little something with him. Why? Because he could and he does stuff like that. We had one of those every garage has one push button garage openers and Timothy thought he could do better.

So he brought this with him and swapped it out. Sometimes you just have to let him have the ball and run with it! I have to admit it is easier to hit than the little button that was there before!

I've been watching this one little bloom on my hydrangea. I took this picture on 12/4

We have had a couple of frosts and each time I think it is going to bite the dust but it is still hanging on on 12/16

Then we had a bigger frost and I knew it was done for but I walked out and took this picture yesterday. I thought about cutting it and bringing inside but the temps are back up (I sent shopping in flip flops this morning!) so I'm going to leave it there and see what happens.

I've decked the halls and I've taken pictures but I haven't had time to do anything with them yet - maybe I'll get them this weekend. I've still got a couple of projects (gifts) to finish up so I need to work on that first..

I'll be back before Christmas - even if it is without pictures!

My grown-up Christmas list

Seems like every time I take an extended absence they (blogger) changes stuff around to where I have to spend forever figuring out how to get a post up. 

 I am always thinking of you and quite often think I will get a post up but then the days is over and I didn't get to it. No promises, but I will try to do better.

I do want to share my grown-up Christmas wish with you - I got it a little early and it was even better than I dreamed it could be. Back before Thanksgiving my dad asked me what I wanted for Christmas - my answer was a hug from my baby boy. That's it. The next week baby boy's bride called to tell us she was arranging a last minute surprise for his birthday - she made arrangements for him to come home to Texas for 5 days. 

We only had a few days notice but hubby took off work so we could spend time with him.

• Since we had such short notice I didn't dare think I could get them all three together at the same time, I figured if I could get two I would be doing good but I called the two Texas boys to see if they could possibly make it down, even for a day.

And look! (so that you don't think I was slighting the other two with my wish, we see them when we can as neither of them or more than a half days drive away and they both will be here for Christmas) - but my baby is all the way up in New York and we hadn't seen him in over two years.

All my guys.

Something you won't often see on here is a photo of me but I was so happy to have my guys together I actually let someone take my picture.

Baby boy's bride was working and could not make this trip. We love her just as much as we do our boys but I can not tell you what it meant to me to have these 3 guys all together in one place at the same time. Timothy was here less than 24 hours but we managed to get a family photo (one of Jason's friends came for a day and he took this for us.

And all too soon, it was time to say good bye again.

I"m trying to keep myself busy so I'm working on decking the halls for Christmas. My progress is slow. Right now it looks like a Christmas store exploded but I'll get it all together and take some pictures. Like I said, no promises, but I will try to make posts more often - even if I am the only one that sees them!

and then this happened

Not really sure when it did happen. This is the closet in one of the guest rooms. It store out of season (and too small) clothes along with extra decor items that I haven't used here but I might want to use later. I'm sure we would have heard this if we had been home and I rarely go all the way into that room (unless I have my cutting table set up in there or I'm expecting guests. This time it was after the guests left  (glad it didn't happen while they were here) and I finally decided it was time to wash the sheets. Pulled all this crap out and threw it on the beds. Hubby finally got around to putting the shelf back up and the stuff is off the beds so I can make them. I can't believe nothing broke! I keep my framed, seasonal stuff on that shelf but nothing was broken - just some big ole holes in the wall where the plastic anchors were attached. Hubby used metal ones when he put it back up.

Hoping the week is going well for you.
 If you will excuse me now, I have some beds to make and a vacuum cleaner to use.

One thing leads to another. . .

You know how one project always leads to another? Well, quite awhile back I got my hands on this baby - she just needed a little loving and some paint!

 

 

 

 Anyway, I painted it all white except the back of the glass area and it is a pale blue
 (I should have looked for those photos too - bad blogger)

 I didn't really want the inside of it so I left it out and I have cookbooks there now

 but this little thing had to be good for something so I saved it, added some trim, a back and painted. (those cubbies are hard to paint!)

Once we finally decided to hang the tv on the wall we just sat cable boxes on the chest (it is calling for some paint too) The pictures kept getting in the way of the remote so I thought we would put a shelf under the tv for the boxes but in the mean time I thought this would do the trick. I think a shelf might make it a bit much I have decided to keep it like this at least for now. One of these days I'll rehang the stuff on the walls - the tv had to shift to the left to hit studs. I also want to get rid of that clock and get one that hangs on a wall somewhere but for now I live with the cord hanging out.  It must not bother me too much since I haven't bothered to get it done yet. LOL

 

I hope you are having a good week. We have had some nice rain this weekend and the first part of the week. The grass (and weeds) are loving it!

 

edited to add - if the link works, there is a photo of the painted cabinet in this post.http://www.stitchingintexas.blogspot.com/2011_12_01_archive.html

Happy Wednesday!

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy day!

Good Afternoon!

 

My lantana is going strong

I wish I had my camera with me the other day - humming birds were having a nice meal, but by the time I could get in the house and hunt down the camera of course they were gone. I planted three small plants last year and they seem to like it there so I'm leaving them for now. My flower bed has been so ignored this year. We did plant a Texas Sage where the chair was sitting before and I put out some potato vine that is doing pretty well as long as it stays watered. You can see some of it beside the lantana - I'll get a shot of the whole bed soon.

Thanks to those who are still stopping by.

Lots to get done today so I better get busy.

So soon?

If I had of just dragged myself upstairs sooner I might have actually had two posts in the same month. . .maybe this month?

 

 

 

I must confess though that this is an old photo. It went to Sandra for her birthday which was in January. I knew it would be perfect the minute I saw it! The name of it is 'road trip' and we have made more than a few trips (along with Sarah) I'm not sure if any of us has a fancy hat like those - I know I don't!

 

So - I'll see if I have something more recent for the next post - not saying it will be a stitching project but I'm not saying it won't either.

 

Have a great day!

In the water

Okay - let me try this again. I had a whole post ready and lost it - gone, bye-bye.

So anyway, I thought I would dip my toes in the water and see if there is anyone still out there. I had no idea it had been so long since I made my last post. I also didn't know how old and chubby my feet would look in the picture - I would have deleted it except I thought my new pedicure was cute.

 

 

I know I have said before that I was thinking about coming back to blogging and I think about it a lot, I just never seem to get up here to do it. So I'll post this one and then take it a post at a time for awhile. I really do miss it. So many blogs have turned 'commercial' for lack of a better word that I don't read nearly as many as I used to. I don't mind the ones that just have ads on the sides or across the top but I hate the ones that have a box that comes up over the blog content and you have to click out of it or it will just follow you all the way down  the page. I'm not trying to get any one person in a snit about it. Everyone has the right to use their blog how they want, I'm just saying I don't always have time to read through all the ads to see what nifty thing the blog is about. Again, not picking on any one person,

 

 

While I've been working on projects inside (with the a/c on!) Hubby started power washing the house. He didn't get finished last weekend so if the weather holds out he will be back out this coming weekend trying to finish up. We will probably need to paint next year. I want white trim - what we have now is a cream color and you can hardly tell the difference in the color of the house he wants a darker yellow (really I think he would like a different color all together) No matter what we choose it has to have approval from the HOA and I'm just not up to fighting them yet. I've got something else  in mind to duke it out with them about first.

 

I've been working on a few projects and I hate that I can't show them right now, but they are all gifts. I will show them when I can. I do have one little finish but I don't know if I took a picture of it or not.  I will have to look and see if not, I'll take one. I also made some progress on my French Alphabet Sampler but I have a mistake somewhere and I've got to find it. I don't know what else it will mess up if I leave it in - hopefully I will be able to leave it, I really don't want to take a lot of it out. When I bought the thread I bought a little extra but it if I keep having to correct mistakes I may end up short and I would never be able to match it.

 

Well, that's all folks.. If there is anyone still reading, let me know and I will try to not be so long between posts - and next time I'll show some stitching!

 

  

Two out of three

A couple of weeks ago, Timothy was in New York on a church trip. He and baby boy got to spend a little time together. If they had known that Timothy was literally just around from Jason's apartment they might had have had more time to spend together - but then again, it was a working trip for Timothy, They might not have - who knows. Timothy sent me this picture from his phone and I'm just now getting it posted but I've been looking at it daily (and finally had it made into a print)
Warms this momma's heart, especially when I know how much Timothy does NOT like to have his picture taken (he gets that from his momma)
Anyway - baby boy (Jason) in the red shirt and Timothy looking all snazzy in that hat.
Love those boys (and their older brother) with all my heart.

Maybe a crafty post next time, but no promises I have project ADD so one never knows from one day to then next what I'll be working on. Right now there is a project with paint drying out on the picnic table.

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Looking out my front door

This is what I see when I look out my front door. When we bought this house both trees were not in great shape but we thought for sure we would have to replace the crepe myrtle. It was all spindly and had dark spots all over it. It kind of became hubby's tree - he was determined to save it. I would say he has done a pretty fair job! The reason they look like they are leaning is that every time I tried to get a picture the wind would kick back up. It doesn't really lean that far! My mushroom family are all still hanging out behind the hedges until I decide something else to do with them.
Have a great week!

The little plant that keeps on giving

6/6/13

6/6/13

6/11/13

6/18/13

 

One of our neighbors gave us a bulb (or whatever it was) last summer - or was it the summer before? Anyway, I wasn't sure exactly where I wanted to plant it so I stuck it in a (ugly) plastic pot while I thought about it. It came to us in a little styrofoam cup and I really didn't have much hope for it. We just stuck it out in the back corner of the yard and as you can see it just keeps coming back! I swear we don't do anything to it, It dies off in the winter and we just leave it there/ We didn't cover it the few days we had really cold weather but it came back anyway. Every once in a blue moon hubby will squirt it with some miracle grow. I want to put it in a pretty pot for next summer. Now that I know it will come back, but I guess I'll have to wait until it dies back again. Gives me time to shop - I would love one of those pretty mosaic pots but unless I find one on sale I will have to look for something a bit cheaper. (for reference of the size of the leaves, that is a dinner plate in the pot) I need to slip out back and take a picture of the one next door - she had a whole panel of lattice work put up for hers to grow on and it is huge!

 

Well, that's all I've got today. The little bit of sewing I've done is on a Christmas gift so I can't show that and I am still trying to decide if I want to take out a whole set of letters on the FAS before I show it, I'm really hoping I can work around it - it is silk thread on 36 ct fabric and I doubt I would be able to match the floss since I bought it 8 years ago.

 

Hope you are having a great week!