My girl

Good Morning friends!  I should be getting ready for my road trip, but just had to share this fun photo of my Carrie and her girls.  Last week they were in Texas and were given these hats at a picnic; don't they all look so cute.  Carrie and Kim have been the light of my life and continue to be; their hubbies are sons of my heart and my grands-well don't get me started on them. I am blessed beyond measure. I love this photo!  Couldn't not share it with all of you.  Wish we had a better view of Miss A in the back, but you can still see her peaking out.
Hope you have a great day!
Noreen

Happy Monday to you! I hope you had a fantastic weekend; ours was very busy. The first shot is of Copper guarding one of Hunter's toys. She is such a sweet dog and we love her, but she is a big girl. Her nickname is Moose. She is so gentle!

Saturday hubby and I worked more on the yard and got most of the backyard finished; however our neighbors have Aspen trees that haven't finished dropping their leaves yet, so I'm sure we will have more raking.  Last night we had the whole crew over to celebrate Carrie, Brent and Eric's  birthdays; Carrie's family just got back from Texas and it was good to hear all about their trip.  Kim and Eric and some of their kiddos in the next pic; Miss M was so cold.

Here is Carrie's  youngest, Miss E giving her mom instructions of who this was from.

The guys get gift cards from one of their favorite stores.

Brent reading his cards.

Little Man, who won't be little for much longer and Miss E always are together.  He is such a goof ball.

It was a great time as I said.  This morning I headed to Kam's house so we could walk the dogs...only 2 miles, maybe a bit longer.  When I got home hubby and I went to the gym and worked out~weight machines and after that got on the bike-rode about 2.75 miles.  I got a good workout today; when we got home I worked on cutting back our Rose of Sharon bushes-that was quite a job.  This afternoon will be downstairs working on a pincushion for our mini groups Christmas party.
Tomorrow I'm heading to Cheyenne with girlfriends from our street to check out the sales at Dillards and then to have lunch.  Just hope the northern storm doesn't bring snow with it.
Have a great day!
Noreen

Outdoor Wednesday ?

It's Wednesday and instead of being outside, I spent a good part of the day inside. Hunter has his buddies here-Copper and Lily and they were in the mood for a nap too. He has such a blast with them and I think they love being here too.

My days are flying by so fast and the week will be the same. Yesterday our Carrie had a birthday, but we are waiting to celebrate hers with her hubby's and Kim's hubby's on Sunday. Both son-in-laws have the same birthdate, though a couple of years apart. Today I got a haircut and then other than running to Costco, have been hanging out at home. Tomorrow I'll walk with my gal pal Kam and then hit the gym; today I had planned on it but I was so tired that I decided to wait one more day.
Friday I have our mini group monthly coffee and then not sure what the rest of the day will hold.
It's hard to believe that next Wednesday is Halloween!  It's hard to believe how quickly October has sailed by.
I hope your week has been good and that you are content with your life.
Blessings~
Noreen

Autumn Colors

Happy Monday to you all. Our weather has been so warm this last week, except in the mornings when it's frosty. Here are some pics that will make you feel like fall, regardless of where you are.

Blessings,
Noreen

Two Bundles of Love

Greetings All, On Sunday afternoon the whole family gathered at Kim's inlaw's home to welcome Eric's sister to Colorado; unfortunately she was not feeling well and didn't make the party. Were are all sorry, but looking forward to seeing her on Thanksgiving. We had a great time anyway and the kids were in heaven playing with their two puppies. Here are our youngest grands holding them. Those little bundles of energy and love-the Puppies of course, are being held by two of our bundles of love and had quite a workout with 11 kiddos all wanting their attention.

I have to say I've nicknamed Miss E our Dog Whisperer, but looking at the photo I also see Little Man has quite the touch with them as well.
Our snow is melting quickly and even the golf courses have opened. I walked yesterday with two neighbors and it was so pleasant out~seems like Autumn is returning.  Today  hubby and I went to the gym this morning; I started a new ladies study last night and did the first homework assignment and this afternoon will head to one daughter's house to help with a chore-grooming a dog.  I haven't done it before, other than cutting some of Hunter's hairs on his nose so I'm anxious to see how it's done.
Hoping you are all having  a great week.
Noreen

Fresh Grounded Faith event

Happy Monday to you all. I was blessed to attend an event at Timberline Church called Fresh Grounded Faith on Friday night and Saturday. The main speaker was Jennifer Rothschild and I'll be honest, I hadn't heard of her before. What a wonderful event, filled with laughter, joy, nods of agreement and even some tears. Jennifer is a dynamic speaker. She found out she had an eye disease in her early teens and was totally blind by the time she was 15, but she didn't let that stop her from living life to the fullest. She is rich in her knowledge of God's Word and had nuggets of truth and wisdom for all of us. Next in line was my all time favorite author, Karen Kingsbury. I believe I've read all of her books (or at least most of them) and am proud to say I came home with her latest book-which hasn't even been released yet. Karen is a phenomenal story teller who had us laughing and crying. She is a riot and I loved every minute she shared.

Jennifer Rothschild

Karen Kingsbury

Our worship leader for the event was Michael O'Brien, who many years ago was the lead singer in Newsong.  My daughters, one son in law and my nephew went to one of his concerts when we lived in Santa Rosa.  He says he is nearing 60-haha-I just googled his age and he's 54.  He is a talented song writer, worship leader and also made us giggle. For those who watch America's Got Talent, you might remember his son Joseph O'Brien from last seasons episode; he was such a nice guy and I remember the judges asking about whether he had a girlfriend and he didn't.  Howie made a comment about he would after being on the show. 

Timberline Church did an excellent job hosting the event, along with a group of other churches.  The sanctuary was filled and there were other  vendors, including Chick- Fil- A who took orders for Breakfast on Saturday morning.  Compassion International was also there and had two guest speakers.  I can tell you the entire event was rich beyond words.
I especially enjoyed it because I got to spend some time with a friend that I don't see very often; I also saw another girlfriend whom I know from my church and we shared hugs.  She was there with friends from New Mexico and I know it was a great time for them.
This is the beginning of my busy season with making presents etc.  so my time here might be less than normal.
We got snow starting on Saturday night and woke up to several inches on the ground yesterday.  Hubby and I got out and shoveled our driveway and walkways as well as one neighbor's.  Today I'll hit the gym and then work in my sewing room.
Autumn Blessings,
Noreen

Happy Wednesday to you! Brrr, it's cold here in northern Colorado and it is snowing very lightly. Hubby and I've been to the gym already and now I'm getting ready to clean our hardwood floors. Here are a few more photos from the Farm that our granddaughter Miss S took on Sunday.  I love barns and this one is wonderful!

Love this arrangement.

I'm not sure I've seen Broom Corn before, but it has a very interesting look.

I hope you stay warm and for those in the path of Michael please stay safe!
Blessings,
Noreen

Pumpkin Time at the Farm

Autumn is here and our weather is testifying to it; it has been cold and damp all weekend and this week snow is in the forecast. Each October a family friend invites us to a local farm,Osborn Farm, is Loveland to celebrate the season.  There are all sorts wonderful activities-face painting, a hay ride, good food and every type of pumpkin or squash you might like.  Its a beautiful setting and the only drawback yesterday was that it was freezing and a light rain was falling.

Miss S and Little Man enjoying the fun.

Kim, Little Man, myself and Miss D going on a hayride.

Kim and her kiddos, her hubby came down with the flu-poor guy.

I'm having a gathering here on Friday and should have got some gourds for my antique bowl; guess I'll get some at Safeway.

Love this little cottage/out building.

Kim and the kiddos had lunch and then got their pumpkins; we were full from a brunch we went to, so just got three pumpkins for the front porch.
Today we've been to the gym, ran another errand and are back home for a bit.  So glad to be able to stay inside.
I hope you are enjoying Fall.
Blessings,
Noreen

Happy Friday

Happy Friday to you! Oh what a day it's been and I'm so excited to share with you. This morning hubby and I went to an Estate Sale; he has been mentioning for quite awhile that he wanted to get me a small, antique Singer sewing machine. Each time I told him I did not need another machine for my sewing room; guess I should have clarified his comment more. So the Estate Sale had about 15-20 antique Singer machines-some treadles, some old but electric and some small machines. My girlfriend told me she thought they were children's machine; I went to the sale looking for Jim Shore figurines that I collect. Well I didn't get any, but came away with a Christmas Appliqué wall hanging. Hubby came up to me with these beauties and asked which one I liked-now I understood his previous statement. I told him and he said he hadn't decided yet which one to get. So I cruised through the rest of the rooms and we went to check out. He told me we were getting both and that they would look good on the shelf near my Mom's treadle. How could I argue? I am planning on researching these, because I don't believe they were children's machines; I can tell they date back many years. The one with the thread will work and I'm sure the other one will as well.

There are no model numbers on them, unlike my treadles so it makes it harder to know how old they are.   I do believe it would have been difficult to sew using the hand crank.  If you have any information about them, please share.

We had errands to run and I'm heading downstairs now.
I hope you have a great weekend.
Noreen

A Fall Day

Happy Thursday to you. Fall has definitely arrived in northern Colorado-right now it's raining and we hear thunder rumbling. This morning one of my gal pals and I walked and when I saw this Burning Bush with Russian Sage in front of it, it truly showcased our changing season. All of our Russian Sage has been chopped down and cleared out; I felt bad for the bees, but it had become so overgrown.

Carrie and her family are in northern California visiting family and enjoying the beauty of the San Francisco Bay Area. This week is Fleet Week and the Blue Angels are practicing over the Golden Gate; she's been sending texts with photos~it brings back so many memories of when we went to see them at Moffett Field.  While the family is away the pups are here with us, don't they look like they are just having a miserable time-LOL.

Hunter is loving having them here; we still call Copper a Moose, but she is such a sweet dog.  Lily is showing her age of 10, but still will join Hunter in taking Copper down.
Tonight I have a baby shower to go to for Kam's daughter and I'm sure it will be fun.  She currently lives in North Carolina with her hubby, but was out for her sister's wedding.  Kam will definitely miss her when she heads back home.  I've got Chili on the stove and it smells so good; I have to own up  the fact that I've had a small bowl-just to try it out.  We cook it for two days so the flavor is more intense; however, we don't make it very spicy.  It's a perfect day for it.  Next week the forecast is calling for snow-what?!!!  It much too early; it can stay in the mountains, but I'm really not ready for it.
I hope you have a great afternoon and evening.
Blessings~
Noreen

Happy Wednesday to you.  Today hubby and I went to the gym, I did all my weights plus 2 miles on the bike and then we came home and walked Hunter 2 miles; it feels good!  We woke up to strong winds, but it is 83 out~reminds me of the Santa Ana winds.  I never made it downstairs yesterday as I was working on meeting notes for my mini group next week; I still have one more handout to make and then really need to get going on my first of many projects.
I hope  your week is going well!
Blessings~
Noreen

St. Vrain Historical Society

Yesterday I had the privilege to go to Longmont's Historical Society to hear Jeananne Wright speak on a Century of Quilts. Jeananne is a quilt appraiser, antique quilt collector and gives wonderful lectures. She brought many antique quilts from her collection of 800. Where does one put that many quilts?! She covered the years between 1830-1930 and we were so lucky to see several Civil War Quilts. I didn't get photos of them, as I was sitting to far back. However, these are some of her beauties!  The next four were from the 1800's and I love the colors, especially this top one. Can you imagine cutting all those tiny squares by hand-oh my.

Two variations on a Log Cabin pattern.

This pattern is the Drunkards Path.

Love this rework.

The remaining quilts  are from the 1930's.  Love the color and appliqué on this one.

This green was a mixture of blue and orange, because the green that was prevalent in this time frame was not as pretty as this.  The Hexi's must have taken forever to make.

Believe it or not, this fabric all came from grain sacks.  Such vibrant colors.

She had many more quilts, but these are the ones that struck my fancy.  My mini group is looking into having her come and speak with us on another topic.
It was so fun and I'm glad to share these here.
Happy Tuesday!
Noreen

October Already?

Happy October to you! I hope you all had a great weekend~ours was so busy, but fabulous. On Saturday we went to my gal pal's daughter's wedding. It was such a magical wedding and we were so blessed to be there to help celebrate with the couple. Saturday night we went to Carrie's to celebrate her oldest daughter's, Miss F, 13th birthday. Look at the dinner they prepared. Let me tell you it was delicious!

After dinner, we all enjoyed a Chocolate fountain with lots of fruit.

Here she is with the two youngest kiddos in the families-Miss E who is 5 and Little Man who is now 6.

After presents, we played a new game called Watch Your Mouth-it was hysterical.  Then we had a large game of Tripoly.
Yesterday hubby and I went out to breakfast, to a restaurant that is from the Carolina's-called Famous Toastery.  We've been there before and enjoyed it just as much, except that I left our leftovers there.
In the afternoon a quilting friend and I went down to Longmont to hear a Quilt Historian/Appraiser speak on A Century of Quilts.  She is a wonderful story teller and has so many quilts she shared; one bonus was that we got to go through the Hover Home-it was beautiful.
Today hubby and I will hit the gym and I will again be downstairs sewing.
Have a great one.
Noreen