NEELEWORK TUESDAY......

Heather over at Books and Quilts is the host for Needlework Tuesday.  Sharon over at Pintangle is the host for Take A Stitch Tuesday.  Hop over and check out their places.

I've been working on Dot Quilt.  It's actually a strip quilt.  Instead of blocks it's done on strips of fabric.  I finally got the quilt top done. 

After seeing it put together, I think I should have put the top panel between the other two.  So it would break up the brighter colors.  Oh well, live and learn.

I've also been working on my Crazy Quilt.  Just started block #4.  But am also learning some awesome embroidery stitches from Sharon over at Pintangle.  This weeks stitch is Barred Chain.  This is my Barred Chain....

If you want to see a close up, just click on the picture.

THE GOOD. THE FUN. THE RANDOM.

Tamar over at Random-osity is the host for The Good. The Fun. The Random.  Hop over and check out all the photos everyone is sharing.

THE GOOD.

After a cloudy day yesterday, the sun is peeking through the clouds.

THE RANDOM.

The Honeysuckle is just about done for the season.  I think Autumn is here.

THE FUN.

Over the weekend we cleaned up the deck.  Swept all the leaves off and straightened up all the toys.  Now the twins can come out and play.  It won't look like this for long.  lol

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY.....

Ashly over at Ramblings & Photos is the host for Scavenger Hunt Sunday.  Head over and check out all the photos everyone is sharing.

This isn't a post of sadness, but remembering and love.  My sister passed away last week.  She raised 2 kids on her own and worked as a nurse for 25 years.  She fought with Throat Cancer and won.  She was also a Quilter and Grandmother.

LOVE....

Zoey playing with her phone, she loves all electronic devices.

AFTERNOON....

The gathering of friends and family for my sister was in the afternoon.

LESS IS MORE.....

Just a few of the family and friends that showed up.

HIGH.....

These girls are 3 of Patty's grand kids.  The background is full of really tall trees.  I couldn't get them all in the picture.

PHOTOGRAPHER'S CHOICE....

This is how I will always remember my sister.  These are her 2 kids, Christopher and Cheryl.

Patty
7/6/1953.....9/17/2015

LITTLE THINGS......

Kim over at Little by Little is the host for Little Things Thursday.  Hop over and check it out.

My sister came to visit this past weekend.  She lives about 60 miles north of me.  As I don't have a dependable car to travel far, she usually comes to visit me.  She sat on the floor and played with the twins for a good hour.  Considering she has trouble getting on the floor because of back trouble, I thought this was very awesome of her!

EMBROIDERY WORK.....

I've been following along over at Pintangle with Sharon, teach is teaching embroidery stitches and I've been following along every week.  I totally forgot to post this week's stitch.  The stitch is

Whipped Wheel.....
is a stitch that produces a raised ribbed circle.

Here is my version....

 It's a lot easier than it looks.  Hop over to Sharon's place and check out her awesome needlework.

BOOK REPORT......

Bread Alone - Judith Ryan Hendricks

Product Description(Amazon.com)

A deliciously magical and mouthwatering debut, Bread Alone is the uplifting journey of a woman whose entire life changes course when her husband announces one evening that their marriage no longer works for him.Not suited for teaching high school and hopeless at selling real estate, thirty-one-year-old Wynter Morrison long ago gave up trying to find a suitable career and drifted into the role of a trophy wife -- mainly to suit her husband's desires. An ambitious advertising executive, David had encouraged Wyn to spend her days among other society wives at wine tastings, French films, and trendy restaurants -- improving their social Rolodex and his array of business contacts. So, after seven years of marriage, when David informs Wyn that he feels confined and that their marriage was a mistake, she is left emotionally devastated and without direction, wondering how she let herself become so dependent.
Desperate for a change of scenery, Wyn leaves behind her posh, pampered life in Hancock Park and ventures north to Seattle, where she spends aimless hours at a local bakery, sipping coffee and inhaling the sweet aroma of freshly made bread. These visits bring back memories of her apprenticeship at a French boulangerie, when her passion for bread-making nearly led her to leave college to become a baker. Once again the desire and ambition to bake bread consumes Wyn's thoughts, and when offered a position at the bakery, Wyn quickly accepts, grateful for the comfort of a routine.
Arriving at the bakery just before midnight and working long hours among the bakery's cluster of eclectic women -- Linda, the irascible bread baker; earth mother Ellen and her partner Diane; Tyler, the blue-haired barista -- Wyn awakens to the truths that she missed while living the good life in Hancock Park. And soon she discovers that making bread -- the kneading of the dough, the heat from the ovens -- possesses an unexpected and wondrous healing power, helping her to rediscover that nothing stays the same: bread rises, pain fades, the heart heals, and the future beckons. 
Hardcover: 368 pages 
Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (June 19, 2001) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0060188952 
ISBN-13: 978-0060188955

MY THOUGHTS:  I discovered this book while reading someone else  review.   I can't remember who it was, but I checked it out and it sounded like a good book to read.  The library had a copy and I checked it out.  The book was kind of slow going, but it was full of characters to keep you interest peeked.  The book is full of memories that Wyn remembers from her time in Paris.  As Wyn fights to find out who she is and what she wants to in life, she meets lots of new people.  But always in the background is her best friend CM.  This is the first book of a trilogy.   From the ending of this book I definitely will be reading the second book.  I give this book 4.....

This is also my reading challenge Full House Reading Challenge.

 

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY......

Ashley over at Ramblings & Photos is the host for Scavenger Hunt Sunday.  Hop over and check out all the photos everyone is sharing.

Here is my interpretation of the words this week.

Birds

You can't see it very well, but there is a bird on the rail.  It's the brown spot in the middle.

Beach

Since I live in land locked Indiana I had to go into my archives for this one.  This is the beach where we landed when we went to Mackinaw Island a few years ago.

Bridge

I go across this bridge 3 or 4 times a day to pick up the twins at school.

Bottom

I was coming up blank on this one.  Then I was changing the bags in the trash cans and it hit me, "this is a bottom".

Butterfly

I didn't get a butterfly, so decided one of my favorite characters, Pooh.

FRIDAY MEMES......

Gillion over at Rose City Reader is the host for Book Beginnings.  Freda over at Freda's Voice is the host for The Friday 56.  Billy B over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addict is the host of Book Blogger Hop.  Hop over and check them out, you could find your next book.

Bread Alone - Judith Ryan Hendricks

MY BOOK BEGINNING

I stand up, unsteady.  Walk downstairs.  Carefully.  Holding the railing.  Into the kitchen.  The bread machine.  How can such a small machine make such a big noise?  The beeps are synchronized to the throbbing in my temples.  I hit the button.  The beeping stops and the lid swings open, releasing a cloud of scent.  I wheel around and vomit into the sink.  I turn on the water, rinse our my mouth, stand panting, gripping the cold edge of the slate countertop.  Then I remember.  David.
I lift out the still warm loaf, set it on the maple butcher block, a perfect brown cube of bread.

This is the second paragraph of page 1.  I think this book was going to get read, but the last line did the trick for me.  Why is she making bread when she's passed out in her bed?  Sorry that was the first paragraph.

MY FRIDAY 56

I pick it up.  It looks fragile, but it's surprisingly heavy.  The heft of it in my hand merges with the sight of my belongings strewn around the porch like trash, and ignites a sudden fury in my brain.  I give a roundhouse windup and heave the lamp straight into the front window.

BOOK BLOGGER QUESTION:
 Where do you keep your passwords for all of your different sites? 

MY ANSWER:
I have a folder made for all my online sites with names and passwords on my computer.  The only bad thing about that is if my computer crashes, which it has numerous times, I can't get to my passwords.  So I guess I need to go the old fashioned way and put them on paper somewhere. 

This is also for my Full House Reading Challenge.

SISTERS......

I lost one of my sisters today.  Patty passed away at 12:18pm today.  Patrica Joan Hall(Heil).  She just turned 62.  Patty was 15 months younger than me.  She is survived by her two children, Christopher and Cheryl.  Plus 8 grand children. 
This is how I will always remember her.

Ten years ago I lost another sister, Cindy. 

EMBROIDERY WORK....

My embroidery stitch I'm learning this week is the Running Stitch.   Running stitch is also known as quilting stitch and Darning stitch.  I learned this stitch when I was a girl, but had to have some practice to brush up on it.  Here is my Running Stitch.....as usual, to see close up just click on the picture.

I am linking up with Sharon over at Pintangle for Take A Stitch Tuesday.  Hop over and check Sharon's place out.  She has some awesome needlework to see.

I'm also linking up with Heather over at Books and Quilts for Needlework Tuesday.

THE GOOD. THE FUN. AND THE RANDOM......

Tamar over at Random-osity is the host for The Good. The Fun and The Random.  Hop over and check out what everyone is sharing.

THE GOOD.

I remember my mom making a dressing where she used ketchup, but couldn't remember how she made it.  So I went searching with Google and found it.  It's  over at allrecipes, it's called Grandma's  Salad Dressing.  It's a family recipe that has been passed around for 4 generations.  Don't know where my mom got it, but now I have it and am going to share it with you.

Grandma's Salad Dressing
1 cup vegetable oil
 3/4 cup white wine vinegar
 1 cup white sugar
 1/2 cup ketchup
 1/2 teaspoon salt
 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
 1 onion, chopped

 Prepare dressing in a large jar with a tight fitting lid. Add the oil, vinegar, sugar, ketchup, salt, Worcestershire sauce and onion. Shake until the sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate and shake well before using.

THE RANDOM.

We got a new shower caddy and shower head, with a bonus hand held shower head.  Our old shower head was totally wore out.

THE FUN.

This is a game I play on my computer.  It's called League of Mermaids.
Description(Big Fish Games)
Help League members - Cora, Mishell, Koh, and Marina - on an epic quest to save their gorgeous mermaid homeland from destruction! League of Mermaids combines Match-3 gameplay with realistic physics to create a challenging and fun gameplay experience. From the creators of Legends of Atlantis: Exodus and the award-winning Atlantis: Pearls of the Deep!

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY......

Ashley over at Ramblings & Photos is the host for Scavenger Hunt Sunday.  Hop over and take a look at the photos everyone is sharing.

Here is my interpenetration of the words this week......

A Pile....

of rocks around the Yucca plant.

Starts With A.....

an couple of apples hiding on the shelf.  Along with some peaches and bread.

Remember.....

when the twins were this small.....

now look at them.

Strength....

Luke has a pretty strong swing when he's hitting a ball.

Solo.....

a squirrel sitting all alone on the tree limb.

BOOK REPORT......

Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein

Product Description(Amazon.com)
Oct. 11th, 1943-A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun.

When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?

A Michael L. Printz Award Honor book that was called "a fiendishly-plotted mind game of a novel" in The New York Times, Code Name Verity is a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other. 
Paperback: 368 pages 
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion; Reprint edition (May 7, 2013) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 1423152883 
ISBN-13: 978-1423152880

MY THOUGHTS: This was an awesome book.  It had so much description I could almost believe I was there with the people who fought the war.  It is set during World War 2 in England and France.  The main characters are young girls just coming into womanhood.  They both want to help with the war effort.  One wants to fly and the other turns into a spy.  But they are both linked by friendship.  This friendship leads them both to the same place, France.  One gets caught by the Germans and the other gets stranded in France and finds out her friend is there as a prisoner of war and about to be sent off to a concentration camp.   I can see why this book won and award, it's really a spell binding book.  I give this book 5......

This book is also for my Full House Reading Challenge.