Snow Removal and Warm Socks on a Slow Stitching Sunday...

I've said it before and I'll say it again (probably a hundred times more) ...Where did the week go???? I always have so many plans of what I want to get done...and the execution of the plans leaves something to be desired. However in my defense this week did have lots of other obligations to attend to... a 4 hour appointment at the eye clinic that had me up at the crack of dawn (ok 7:30 isn't the actual crack of dawn, but it is in my world)...a therapist appointment for my younger son... a 5 hour stint babysitting the plumber at my older son's house...and several days of feeding his cats...and a midnight run to the airport and back... Why is it that all I want out of life is to STAY HOME?? Sorry for shouting ... I think a nap after I post this will be a good thing.

 Mother Nature has decided that since she gave us above average Summer temperatures, she will balance it out with below average Fall temperatures, so in the end everything will be average...sigh...at least today is sunny and the forecast for the next couple of days is sunny too. I need to get out in the yard and do some clean up...we've had a bit of frost and its time to pack in the annuals...maybe tomorrow...

So you may ask if we've only had a bit of frost why did you have to do snow removal???  Well, it wasn't the fluffy stuff Mother Nature will dump on us later, but the stitchy kind of snow that I miscounted....

Here is In Santa Claus Land by With Thy Needle and Thread...

I started this back in January planning to have it finished for this Christmas ...again that issue with the successful execution of my brilliant plans is a bit poor.  And there is still the possibility that it will be finished if I can stitch more snow than  I remove. The left side of the piece was pretty much done when I realized that I was off by 2 stitches and it wasn't going to match up at either the top corner or the bottom corner...grrrrr.....I had to put it in time-out and didn't pick it up again till last night... still a ways to go...

But I did finish stitching Autumn by Barbara Ana Designs...

I am very happy with this piece...that gold linen is so pretty ...and I just can't seem to capture the true color with my phone....the berries were charted in black with the little dimple/stem in white...too stark for me....

I know it is hard to tell from this picture but I stitched them in a deep violet and made the little stem an olive green... in real life it is so pretty against the gold background.... the crappy pictures of late are having me question whether I should get a new phone...but I don't want to spend the money or learn a new phone...

And since stitching was driving me bonkers I switched over to knitting more socks...I've been knitting socks all year long but during the summer I knit them and then forget to take pictures...
Here a a few pairs I do have pictures of...

This pair is the ones currently on my feet...

Four of those little mini skeins from my Opal Advent Calendar for 2017... I added  maroon heels and toes from some stash yarn. I was looking forward to ordering another Advent Calendar this year but all my online searching came up empty. One store I emailed said the company wasn't doing one this year....insert frowny face... however my online sleuthing did come up with an Etsy listing of 28 mini skeins for less than I paid for 24 last year... you can see the listing here but I think she's out of stock now...and for a bit of a rant...did you really think I'd get through a whole post without one??? This yarn is coming from Lithuania ... postage is a mere $7.77... a certain company in a state out west of the Mississippi starting with an "I" charged me $8.50 postage for an order weighing less that this yarn  that took 4 weeks to arrive... my yarn should be here within the week... how does that happen?? Anyway I'm looking forward to the arrival of those little skeins of fun and in the meantime I played with  some I had from last year's Advent Calendar...

I paired one of the mini skeins with some other leftover Opal yarn and got this beauty (at least I think it is a beauty... a mother's love dontcha know...LOL)

I am alternating yarn every round and I have no clue what new pattern will emerge...it is positively mesmerizing... and if that pic isn't big enough here are some closeups...

I like how sometimes I got lucky and lighter portions of both skeins came together... and I love the little contrasting stripes... heels and toes are some unidentifiable stash yarn... I started the second sock last night ... I wound each of the yarns in the reverse of what I knitted before so I should come up with some completely different patterns... not knowing what is going to appear keeps me totally entranced...okay...I may be easily amused but lets not dwell on that... it keeps me off the streets at  night...it's not immoral  or illegal...and keeps me from self medicating with other substances...yarn is GOOD...very very GOOD...and so is thread and linen and fabric...my drugs of choice...LOL...

No dinner to prepare tonight... my son and his wife are on a mini-vacation to Iceland... through the wonders of technology I've gotten lots of text messages and pictures ... it certainly is a beautiful country... the only drawback is that the cheap fare airline they are travelling on departs and arrives at the local airport at around midnight for each way... I agreed to chauffeur them to and from without thinking it through...yes I am up that late every  night but I'm sitting in my cozy chair in my pajamas and warm socks... driving  requires proper footwear and clothing suitable for public display...that eliminates the pajamas with the bunnies... why it didn't occur to me till last night that I could have just paid for their long term parking, I do not know...oh well...


I'll be linking up with Kathy's Quilts today...and then I think a little nap in the sun on the screen porch is in order...just need to get the Dude move over at bit...

happy stitching-
carol fun

Some Halloween Stitching & Some Scary Stuff on Slow Sunday Stitching...

So I finally got all my Halloween decor released from its plastic prison bin and scattered it across the living room... picked up a couple of new pieces this year from Target's Dollar Spot and Hobby Lobby... nothing pricey... a wooden Frankenstein...a sparkly witch's hat...a little tombstone...and an eyeless bat that I gave sight to with googly eyes... I'm such a good person...LOL

On the stitching front I have a bunch of things to show... I really did get into the seasonal stuff this year and have several brand new pieces for Halloween...

This is my display shelf ...lots of Halloween goodies...

Starting at the top is my Bent Creek Spooky Row...

 

When I got this back from the framer I felt there was too much background showing and I thought about taking it out of the frame... instead I just "priscillafied" it and that helped a lot... the neon green Rit dye is really neon-y... in real life it almost glows... in front I have a sparkly broom I picked up at Target's Dollar Spot  (it was $3)  and I stuck in some miniature witches legs I got at Michaels...and I've used several sparkly spiders...not fond of spiders unless they are covered in sparkly stuff...

Moving down  I have my Prairie Schooler Trick or Treat that I stitched last year...and on the shelf below that I have Trick or Treat from With Thy Needle and Thread...

I used a frame I picked up at Target... it consists of a canvas covered insert that can be popped in and out of the wooden frame... I painted the frame black... it is about 10 inches square and can be found in their crafts aisle for about $8... added a bow of wired ribbon and a sparkly spider...

On the third shelf I have Matilda Hornbuckle from Not Forgotten Farms...stitched on sight blinding 40 ct... not doing that again...

I changed out the ribbon bow and added a button but that's all the "priscillafying" I thought this piece needed...that frame does it all... I'd like to do another piece that is just "fall-ish" to go into this frame but it is going to have to be smaller  stitch count so I don't have to stitch on 40 count ... that tiny count was not fun.

Over on the little yellow cabinet I have 2 more new Halloween finishes, both Lizzie Kate designs..

I'm very happy with how the Lizzie Kate Halloween ABC's turned out...

Just perched that sparkly spider up top ... I think that painted linen is enough...

And this little piece was a freebie...

I picked that frame up from Hobby Lobby... loved that it was already distressed in just the right colors... you can find that chart by asking to join the Facebook group Pumpkin Seed Stitchers.  You can find this and other freebies in the Files section.

I still have 2 smalls I need to sew into little pillows...don't think I'm going to stitch anymore Halloween this season even though I have several other charts ready to go...Oh I forgot to mention that the day after my rant I got an email saying my charts were on their way... the package arrived on Thursday of that week... it was missing one of the two charts I had ordered...arghhh...it took another couple of days for the 2nd chart to finally get here... the whole transaction too over 4 weeks to complete and my credit card was charged within minutes of my placing the order... not doing business there again.

Along with all the cross stitch I've  put out decor from previous  years...  the centerpiece on my dining room table...

I found the little card that says "spooky" and the picture of Edgar Allan Poe  in a pack of scrapbooking ephemera... I think Tim Holtz's stuff...

And my Gourdy Guys wreath...

A couple needed to be reglued but they survived nicely in the giant plastic wreath box I picked up last year after Christmas at Joanns. 

Now for some scary stuff... do you know how many days there are till Christmas???? 71 days!!! and if one would like their Christmas stitching done by say December 1, a person would have a mere 46 days to complete the projects they've been thinking about since LAST CHRISTMAS!!!.... insert emoji of person running around with their hair on fire!  I have 3 significantly sized pieces  I'd like to do and a couple of smalls... probably not realistic to believe they all can be finished in time. I started one Lizzie Kate Christmas ABC back during StitchMaynia... I got one letter and one word completed... I started Silver Creek Samplings "My Christmas List" last week... it is 101 X 287... you can see it  here ... I LOVE this... I dyed some line for it... I stitched the first two lines... I don't like it on the color linen I dyed..not at all ...need to start over... dye some more linen  and go from there... and there is  Barbara Ana's Christmas Joy you can see it here...it  is kitted and ready to go.  Now I do have WTN&T's  In Santa Claus Land started... Santa is done...Rudolph is done... lots of snowbanks to complete...hope I don't go snowblind...

To add to my Christmas angst I've already watched a couple of YouTube videos of Christmas decor  shopping. Now Hobby Lobby has had their stuff out since June...Big Lots, Dollar Tree, Kohl', Home Depot and Lowe's also have stuff out... I ventured to Walmart today and they had some but not all their stuff out at the location I went to but the whole store was topsy-turvy as they are "updating" ... I saw a couple of cute items but could see from the empty hooks with printed plans taped to them that there is more to come. 

I need to slow down and enjoy the season at hand before I go racing headlong into Christmas... that's what I'm telling myself as I stitch snow... hang head in shame....

Now to my weekly rant on weather...you thought I forgot didn't you??? ha- ha...Well I've come to the conclusion that Mother Nature is not detail oriented .... last weekend it was hot and humid... I wished for a bit of cooler weather...this weekend she gave us cooler but it is rainy, gray and COLD not cool... my furnace kicked on this morning... what happened to those lovely sunny dry warm Fall days we were suppose to get??? The forecast for the week is more of what we have today... all I can say is it will be good weather to stay inside and stitch ...but somewhere I have to find the time to plant those hundred or more daffodil bulbs I bought... darn you Costco...those big bags with the great prices are irresistible...and several have jumped into my cart in the last month... and there is the garden clean-up that needs to be done too... I'll be waiting for better weather... lets hope it materializes.

And while I'm complaining about the weather I am glad that the car show afternoon last week was hot, that was better than if it had been this weekend.  Here's the banner that was made to remember my brother...

This was hanging where two of his former cars were parked... a Graham-Paige and Plymouth  Barracuda... both cars have been purchased by friends of his so we know they will be loved... they presented the "Funi Memorial Trophy " to a little Crosley car which you can see here... it is just the kind of car my brother would have loved.  My brother was called Funi by all his buddies ... it is pronounced foo-knee... a shortening of our Italian last name... the car show organizers were the sponsors of award and say it will be given out every year. My brother loved this particular car show and volunteered to help out every year...one of the things he  would do on his own  was to buy a gazillion doughnuts on the Sunday morning of the car show and drive around the fairgrounds giving out them out... a friend of his picked up the task and did it in my brother's memory this year.  I'm glad I could be there last week even in the 90 degree heat and I'll be there every year from here on... it was such a lovely tribute to my brother even though it made us miss him so much... there is a hole in my heart for him.

Ok-- onto the linky part... I'll be linking up with Kathy's Quilts today... busy week ahead... eye appointment at the crack of dawn for me ...ugh...younger son has therapy appointment... taking my older son and his wife to the airport late one evening... they're going to Iceland for a couple of days...got a great deal on airline tickets...and I said I'd feed their cats and be there to let the plumber in to fix the shower faucet while they are gone...so we'll see how much stitching or yard work I get accomplished.

happy stitching-
carol fun 

Funky Trees on a Slow Stitching Sunday...

So the last time I was here I was sure Fall had arrived.... I was wrong... while the calendar says it started on September 22, Mother Nature has her own schedule... and it is hot again... upper 80's yesterday, today and tomorrow... don't know when I'll get to break out my wool socks and shawls... sniffle...boo hoo...

Well I'm ignoring the thermometer and stitching up Fall anyway... I have something old that I "priscillafied" ... something new that I "priscillafied"...and something I can't wait to finish to get "priscillafied"....

First... this is an old piece I did ... and I thought it was a Bent Creek row but I can't find it anywhere...so I don't know who designed it...

I added the ribbon and some Fall berries and hung it in my back hall way ....

Sorry for the bad lighting ...

Then I "priscillafied" my latest Barbara Ana Design Autumn Sampler...

I LOVE how this one turned out... the board I mounted it on came from Hobby Lobby and was suppose to be hung horizontally... I removed the hanging wire and filled in the holes and it was the perfect proportions for this funky tree...

I picked up the plaid wired ribbon at Michaels... I really like wired ribbon for these finishes...

and the little lady in the polka dot dress makes me smile...

As soon as I finished this piece I jumped into the Barbara Ana Design I meant to purchase when I mistakenly downloaded Autumn Sampler... this  one is just called Autumn and this is how far I've gotten...

so close... the linen is  a wonderful shade of gold... I'm making a few changes... I left off the word "autumn" at the bottom of the design ...and I ditched the witch and the black cats... I want a Fall look without any Halloween overtones... I've used the called for flosses except for the moon and stars (using DMC 712) and the berries I've made a yummy shade of purple (DMC 154)... they were charted in DMC 3371... black brown...yuck... I need to decide what color to make the little dimple ... I'm thinking an olive-y green... and I love the multi-stem look of this funky tree...

In fact I love that multi-stem look so much I bought a new maple tree for my yard that has that funky form...

I swear it didn't look that big at the garden center... and it now that it's planted it doesn't look that big anymore... but it will grow to 15 to 20 feet tall...

It has already started to turn in the week it has been planted... I'm so happy with that yellow color...you know it's my favorite!!  If you enlarge the pic you can see my bird feeders tucked back in the corner ... I think the birds will love this tree as a perch before dive bombing the feeders. The yard is looking good right now... the grass is very green ...we've had lots of rain ...and the mums are very colorful... I LOVE Fall color!!!

So I'm spending today at a local car show... The Pumpkin Run... this was my late brother's favorite car show... you can read about it here...two of his cars, which were purchased by his buddies, are displayed in the show... and today a trophy will be awarded in my brother's name and memory for the best "orphan" car. My brother dearly loved those cars which were only produced for a short time... and which are now "orphans"... the weather is going to great for a car show... dry but a tad on the warm side for me... I'm sure I'll be looking for shade and cool drink but it will be fun and a bit sad... I was speaking with my niece last  night and she was a bit discombobulated...she realized she's never been to this show without her Dad who took care of her admission and always brought food and drinks...there will be some bittersweet moments I'm sure.

I'll be linking up with Kathy's Quilts before I go and I hope that next  I'll  have a bunch of new Halloween things to show... I'm working on getting them "framed" and "priscillafied"...

Hope you have a good week and I hope Mother Nature brings cooler weather for me...

happy stitching-
carol fun

Cross stitch and dahlias and a bit of a rant on Slow Stitching Sunday....

It is noticeably cooler...and it was rainy...but right now it is gloriously sunny as I sit on my sunroom porch... and that is all I want to do... sit here and stitch...

The Dude is keeping a close eye on the birds and the squirrels and the chipmunks... and my stitching time has been productive... ta dah... a finish!!! Barbara Ana Designs Autumn Sampler...

Well almost a finish... I just noticed I forget to fill in the sign that says 2018... now this is not a great pic of this piece... I can't for the life of me capture the correct green of the linen... it is so much prettier in person... a lovely  rich mottled olive-y avocado-y green...I tried taking pics of it all over the house and just can't get it to register.

Now I did make a few changes...and yes the color in this pic isn't right either...grrrrr....

Any way... I worked in a big pair of scissors and I changed the cat to resemble Big Dude...  for a piece I started by accident I really am happy with this ...it is whimsical and life could use more whimsical...

Now I can't wait to start the piece I meant to do.... here is the linen I dyed for it...

I'm very happy with this linen... it used Rit Golden Yellow with just a tiny bit of Tan... and again...prettier in person...  but I may start something small first. I have been really obsessed with cross stitching lately...it is all I want to do ...even though there are quilting and sewing and knitting projects I want to do too.. and while Halloween is just around the corner...and I plan to get out my Halloween decor around October 1, I'm kinda Halloween-ed out on cross stitch. I prefer Fall over Halloween and I want more Fall pieces... gonna go root through my Lizzie Kate stash for a small or two...

One of the reasons I'm cross stitching so much is that I hate leaving the sunroom porch...it is  my very best super favorite place to be... I have nice views of some of my plantings....

dahlias here...

dahlias there...

and more dahlias over there...

Now those pics are through the screens...here are some closeups of these lovely blooms...

this is the front view of the first pic... a mix of pink and burgundy colored dahlias...and a close up...

and here is that apricot yellow one...

and some others I have in my yard include this one that looks like a peppermint...

and I have a ton of these pink ones...

and here's one I cut and brought in ...its sitting on the window sill above the sink...

They call these dinner plate dahlias and while this one isn't as wide as a dinner plate it is as wide as a Fiesta ware salad plate.  I planted a ton of tubers... something like 70...several varieties...and I've had pretty good success with them. I got them in late but I'm not sorry about that now as I have some lovely new color while the petunias and zinnias and marigolds are fading. I will plant them again next year but I will get out and stake  them waaay earlier. Most of these plants are over 4 feet tall and have huge stems. I bought some nice garden stakes...48" tall... should have gotten the taller ones... live and learn...next year I'll do it better.

And if you want to see more gorgeous dahlias check out this link on Garden Grumbles and Cross stitch Fumbles...I drool over these blooms!!!

And now for a bit of a rant... as you can tell from all the cross stitch I've been doing I've been purchasing a lot of charts...all online shopping...and for the most part I've had no issues. 123 Stitch is fantastic...good prices, quick delivery and when there is a problem (remember my mangled BBD charts) they step up and remedy the problem quickly. I've had good experiences with The Silver Needle too. But right now I'm ticked off at certain company (but I'm not going to name names at the moment.) The situation is I ordered a couple of charts and some pompom trim from this company on August 28... my credit card was charged immediately... when I got an email confirmation of the transaction it mentioned that it could be 7-10 days before my order would be shipped...okay... I can wait... but I don't remember seeing that info anywhere on the website prior to my making the purchase.  However it is now September 23... in 2 days it will be 4 weeks since I placed this order... and yes I have tried to contact the seller...once through their website and twice by email...and I haven't heard a peep... two of the charts I ordered were Halloween charts... running out of time for them... I will be sending another email tomorrow if nothing shows in my mail... I know this is a single proprietor business but in this day and age this is just not acceptable ... and oh  I forgot to mention that the shipping and handling for the order is twice what  123 Stitch charges.  At the time I ordered I was primarily interested in the pompom trim and added the charts to justify the postage ... that didn't work out well... think I'll be looking for white pompom trim and trying to dye it myself... and now back to stitching to make me happy...

Hope your week is looking good... I've got a couple of lunch/dinner plans that will be fun... the weather is going to be cooler but rainy and then sunny... can't wait for the sunny cool part.

I'm linking up with Kathy's Quilts and then I'm going to put a few stitches in something new...

happy stitching-
carol fun

Pizza on the wall and Jelly on the floor...

So how's your week starting??? I have pizza on the wall and jelly on the floor.... figuratively ...not literally ...thank goodness. I have had quite a productive couple of days with my sewing machine...and here's my progress...


Pizza on the wall...

This is for my younger son... he refers to it as a quilt of his childhood memories... memories which included Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, pizza, Pokemon, Mario and other characters I'm not sure what their names are...

It is a busy busy busy quilt but he likes it... the pattern is called Craftsman from Amy Smart... I purchased  the pattern to use with  some Christmas FQs and I thought it would be good way to showcase all these graphic prints... now it still needs a small border and then off to the long arm quilter... I have minkee for the back so it should be nice and cozy.

And Saturday was National Jelly Roll Day... I broke into a jelly roll I have had for a long long long time... the price on the tag was $27.50... the collection was called Fresh Air and it was from Chez Moi. I went cruising the internet for a pattern and stumbled across the blog Runnstitch which you can see here.  She had posted in 2016 about a block that was a mistake that she ran with to make a quilt she called Cherry Fizz...and you can see it here.

And here is my version ...so far...

I had to lay it out on the floor in the living room since my design wall was full of  pizza and Pokemon...this is a very versatile strip idea. Each block takes 2 strips that are 2.5"wide by 6.5" long and 2  2.5" squares of each the jelly roll and the background... I'm using Mustard Grunge as the background and it is hard to capture the true color of this fabric ... it is a very rich gold color.

Now this is the block I'm making...

but you can move the strips around and get this block layout...

or move them another way and get this block layout...

I think I might shuffle the fabrics on this one  if I did it... and I definitely see some interesting possibilities for another quilt or two... 

So with all the sewing I've done I think there will be more in my week. I saw on Amy's Creative Side that she's doing a Blogger's Quilt Festival again... you can read about it here.   Perhaps it will kick my butt in gear to get the binding on my latest project back from the long arm quilter...perhaps...

Since  I have something to show today I'm be doing some link-ups...Small Quilts and Doll Quilts ...and Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than housework...and Moving it Forward at Em's Scrapbag...

Hope you week has some sewing time in it...
happy stitching-
carol fun

Trying to pay closer attention on Slow Sunday Stitching....

Well, where was I last Sunday... I was napping in my chair feeling sorry for myself with a nasty cold... I had mentioned the week before to my family how I hadn't had a cold in ages... I was so proud of myself... pride goeth before a fall...and a stuffed up nose, and a cough, and a scratchy throat.... but I am feeling better today...not fully recovered but much much better...and I have  lots of stuff to show you...

Let's start with the stitchy stuff and explain the title of this post... I finished up my Lizzie Kate Halloween ABC's...it is off to the framer and I was itching to start something new (aren't I always???)... well I had seen a "new" to me chart on IG and I loved it... a Barbara Ana Design ...

I like the whimsical quirky nature of this one and I really liked the pairs of scissors hanging from the branches. I knew that I could purchase this chart as a pdf from The Creative Poppy website which you can find here. So off I went to buy this chart... she has lots of cute charts on the website and I found the one called Autumn Tree and I bought it...and printed it out...and taped the 4 pages of charts together...and dyed some fabric...and pulled the threads ... and jumped right in and started stitching....

Notice anything???  Yeah...this isn't the same chart....this one is called Autumn Tree...the one I saw is called Autumn Sampler ...and while they do have some similar  aspects they aren't the same ....sheesh... now  I had the top 5 branches of the tree completed but hadn't started the motifs...that was my first clue... when I looked the  chart for Autumn Tree there are no scissors hanging from the branches...but I do like the house and the mushroom and that cute little squirrel...he was charted in black but some of you may remember the Moby Dick white squirrel in my neighborhood from several years back... well... what to do... rip out what I had stitched and start over???? Or just go with it??? Well I obviously just went with it. I actually like this one a lot too... here a pic of the whole chart...

The gal in the polka dot dress is cute and so is the little fox...here's my fox...

and here's what I've completed so far...

The linen is 32 ct and I used the Rit Apple Green dye which comes out olive...and I love olive green... I was traumatized by the 70's... avocado green, harvest gold, coppertone...love them all!!!

So I've got a great start on this piece which was no where on my stitching radar, but that's okay...shiny things catch my eye all the time... and I did go and purchase the Autumn Sampler chart and I plan to stitch it too... and I should have paid closer attention to the details on that chart as well,  as there is a little witch and some black cats at the bottom... not liking that detail as I want this to be a more Fall piece... so I'll replace her with a giant acorn from the Autumn Tree chart and I'll add a scissors from the Autumn Sampler chart to the Autumn Tree piece.... details details... it's all in the details, isn't it???

I did get some other tasks completed last week... I hauled out all my Fall stuff and decorated my house... it may still be 85 degrees outside but it is Fall inside... here's my shelf display... those new wider shelves let me put more stuff out...

Starting at the top we have my latest Drawn Thread Welcome along with older Blackbird Designs and Lizzie Kate and lots and lots and lots of pumpkins...

new additions include candy corn striped trees (Joanns) and a candy corn filled hurricane glass...

more Blackbird...more pumpkins and several Debbie Mumm Fall quilts...

Here's the little display cabinet...

That little wagon came from Michaels years ago and I put my Barbara Ana Autumn Keeper over here.

And now to the porch/sunroom re-do reveal... this isn't a big space...about 75 square feet... but right now is it mine...and the Dude's...favorite spot...

the couch is Klippan from Ikea...got the slipcover on Amazon (should have smoothed out the wrinkles but I had just hauled my butt off of it before I took these pictures)...this couch is sooooo comfortable...and since it is flush with the newly painted window sills it is a great spot for the Dude to perch and "chat" with the birds at the feeders...

the Dude on another perch... the recliner that was my son's (he got a newer  bigger  one) and yes that is a chicken underneath... a recent birthday present from a friend... she's is quite large and very pretty...and I don't have to feed her anything because I wouldn't want to  mess up the new carpet... I really love the color of this plaid...got it from Flor which you can see here.

And this is a view from the recliner....it is comfy too... I like having that little shelf to decorate and along with  the corn husk garland is camouflages the electrical stuff... I love having more places to decorate!!! Those turquoise blue pumpkins are a new addition... the result of watching a ton of youtube videos when I was feeling poorly...

So I have to tell you about these videos... I was watching Flosstube videos and somehow there was a list of  other videos that people recommended ...and one thing led to another and I found these videos from a gal who calls herself Auntie Coo Coo...check it out here... this gal shops... A LOT...now she doesn't buy a lot but she goes and scopes out all the places I love to shop for seasonal decorations...Target, Hobby Lobby, Joanns, Michaels, Homegoods,  Big Lots, Dollar Tree, Tuesday Morning, Ikea, etc etc etc... she makes great videos showing all she finds and the prices ...and she has the most calming, soothing voice I have ever heard...if she did relaxation videos I'd be asleep in 60 seconds...LOL 

Anyway she showed some great stuff that I had to track down...and I just saw that she posted a new video about the latest Halloween stuff at Target. She has several videos on the Target Dollar Spot...its called Bullseye's Playground and she shows the tag/price sticker on the items...there is an inventory code (not the UPC thingy) called the DPCI code  that Target and other stores are using and with this code you can go to a website called BrickSeek.com and you can put in that code along with your zipcode and find out if the item is available at your local store.  You can watch the video here... it is only about 7 minutes long...so I learned something new... which will probably get me into trouble... details details...LOL

And to close out this magnum opus I have a couple of pics of my house and yard... as you saw in the porch/sunroom pics I put mums in some of my window boxes but they finally  got pumpkins in at my  local "cheap" garden spot and I got pumpkins...

I love having those pie pumpkins in the window boxes...they require no watering.... and I got my son to haul this one into my rose bed...

Forty pounds of pumpkin-y goodness!!!

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today and I know I've said this numerous times before but  I plan to do a post tomorrow on what I played with yesterday for National Jelly Roll Day. I broke out a vintage Jelly Roll and sewed for the first time in a while...

Hope you have a good week ahead... my prayers go out to all those affected by Florence ... I complain about my weather but I really shouldn't ... that is real weather and real problems... take care and happy stitching-

carol fun