Thursday, October 31, 2019

A Good Day Until

Happy Thursday to you!  I hope your week has been blessed and that today you are counting your blessings.  I've had a great week, one filled with spending time sewing inside due to the two storms we got earlier in the week.  Last night hubby and I had his annual dinner with the other seniors that he works with at the golf course.  It was really nice.  Today I was just sitting down to write this and glanced at my right hand, specifically at my original wedding band.  I had noticed yesterday that one of four prongs we bent upward and we talked about going to the jewelers to have it fixed.  Can you imagine my shock this morning when I looked down and saw that the center diamond was missing.  Mind you it wasn't a huge stone at all, but after 41 years it is still very special.  I've gone through what I wore last night, my pj's and have crawled around the floor looking for it as well as checking in our bed.  Of course, I've prayed that the Lord would lead me to it.  It is not the end of the world, but makes me disappointed I didn't take the ring off when I noticed the prone was up.  I never take my rings off at night-just when I clean them.  So I'll go check downstairs, we had to wipe the windows down from the condensation this morning.  If I don't find it, I'll be fine...it's just the sentimental value that it holds.  So girls, check your rings and fine jewelry.   I still have so much to be grateful for~a wonderful life, an incredible husband that has been by my side through thick and thin, two incredible daughters who are best friends plus their hubbies who are more like sons than son in laws, 11 grandchildren who bless me continually, countless numbers of friends who I delight in, pups that bring me joy, an incredible home to live in, a beautiful state that is not suffering the wildfires like California.  It's a great life filled with blessings from above.  Count yours today!
Blessings on your day!
Noreen

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

When It's Cold Outside

Happy Tuesday to you; here in Colorado we are getting more snow and believe me when I tell you it's cold outside. Dear hubby is out shoveling the walkway, driveway and sidewalk; he said it was easier to shovel three inches now and three this afternoon. I didn't even try to go out; I'm getting too leery of slipping and breaking something.

I bought this beautiful Mum at the beginning of the month and it is the only one I have that is still alive.  One I planted in the garden and I have another in the sunroom, but it's very wilted; once the snow stops, I will try to plant it.  This beauty is my favorite this year and I've brought it in when its been freezing or snowing.  I will plant it too in the front yard; just can't bear to put it out there and watch it die.
I realized that with my lack of blogging lately, I hadn't shared any of my harvest decorations.


I have started making small Snap Bags for my granddaughters stocking stuffers; they are small bags than can hold gloss or lipstick.  I received one at our Guild's mini retreat in September and it is perfect for a large purse or travel bag.  I will continue to work on those and hope to start a new quilt for one granddaughter; I can't say I'll have the quilt done by Christmas but I'm hoping for the new year.
To all those in California, many are praying for relief from the devastating wildfires.  We have friends and family who've had to evacuate; it was just two years ago that they had the Tubbs fire and it destroyed much of our old home town.
Blessings~
Noreen

Monday, October 21, 2019

Good morning friends, I hope you all had a great week and weekend. WE have been staying so busy with guests and projects; amazing how quickly a week can pass and I didn't sit down to blog. Yesterday hubby and I went to our daughters & families church to see our second grandson play guitar with the worship team. It was fun, but I just had to smile as we walked in and I spotted our oldest granddaughter wearing the same dress as I had on-just in a different color. We had on black leggings and black boots as well. Needless to say it was has been so windy and cold that we both decided we needed to dress warm. I've had my dress for a year, but didn't wear the belt~I should have.
Miss S is 14 now and as you can see, she has passed me up in height.  It was so fun to be together this morning. Yesterday I just relaxed and just enjoyed being inside.  I have several activities this week and hope I regain my energy after our busy weekend.
Hugs,
Noreen

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Cold Thursday

Good morning friends,  You all know how much I love fall and I'm definitely not ready for winter.  Thankfully this is only supposed to last until tomorrow when it warms back up.  Last night we had Thunder Snow, which I've never experienced before.  Actually when the lightning was happening, we just heard hail; it wasn't until I took Hunter out for the last time that I realized there was snow on the ground.  As you can see there isn't much snow, just a reminder that it is on the horizon. I took my three large new mums inside from the front porch and we also covered our three in the backyard.  Two small ones were left uncovered, but hopefully they'll survive.  Some neighbors just throw their mums out when they're done, but yours truly plants hers.  Next year we'll have two new mums out back and one big one in the front bed.  Love this season.  We do need to go out today, but not for several hours-Hunter gets groomed; poor guy, will be cold when he's done(guess I'll get his sweater out).  I hope you all have a great day!
Noreen

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Another Quilt in the works

Good morning friends, The cold weather is due to arrive tonight, complete with snow; let me just say for the record that I'm enjoying fall and not ready for snow. This last year our mini quilt group embarked on a challenge to make all the squares in Eleanor Burns latest book. The blocks were all the same, size and color choice was ours. I had left over Log Cabin blocks from the quilt on our bed that I made about 4 years ago, so decided to go with those colors. As you can see my choice of colors was from the line Kansas Troubles. I will say that it was indeed a challenge and I've learned a lot about what I still need to learn. I will also admit that I did not finish all the blocks, for two reasons~the first was that I had all the necessary blocks for the lap size quilt and secondly I started working on Susan's surprise quilt. Now that I've got this together, I can honestly say I probably won't make the other two blocks; I have five left over and will put those into a table runner or topper. I had pondered having this machine quilted, but decided I so love hand quilting that I'm sticking with that. If this was a better quilt top I would have taken it-like I said I still have to undue and master some bad habits I've gotten into in the past, so want to really focus on precision and a tidy back.

I've off today to go with a dear friend to pick up her wall hanging she just had quilter and then errands and one days homework on my ladies study. Hope you have a great day!
Noreen

Friday, October 4, 2019

Oh The Colors of Aspens

Happy Friday to you! When we first moved here I so missed the beauty of the colors of our favorite trees in Northern California. While I appreciated the yellow Aspens, they did not touch my heart the way other trees did. However, we've been here now for almost 12 years and I can tell you that I love the gold Aspens, especially when they start turning orange. Yes, I do miss the purples, reds, oranges and golds of other trees, but I'm always anxious to get to the mountains. While we don't have as many photos of the trees, here is a sampling.


It doesn't compare to New England~ which is why that is one of my top places in the U.S. or to Sonoma County, but I've grown to love our Autumn.  We went from the park over to Grand Lake looking for Moose, but never saw any.  It was a wonderful day for an adventure and I'm thankful we got up extra early to see the sights-it was well worth it!
Have a great weekend!
Noreen

Thursday, October 3, 2019

The Mountains Are Calling and I Must Go!

Hello Friends, Even though we just returned two weeks ago from The Tetons and Yellowstone, the mountains have been calling to me. We are so blessed to live in an area that within 45 minutes we are up in Rocky Mountain National Park. We went up a week ago and didn't see a thing-no wildlife and the color was sparse. We've been watching the nightly news to see how the colors are peaking and hit it just right. Our daughter Kim and family went up last Saturday morning, bright and early and not only saw so many Elk, but also the colors. Hubby is off today and I told him I wanted to leave by 6:30 a.m. to get up there first thing; we got on the road about 6:40 and were in the park by 7:30. We headed to the area Kim saw the large herd and were not disappointed at all. I didn't even try to count the number, but there was only one bull around. We did hear another bugling from about a mile away. They would answer each other, but we never caught sight of him. Isn't this big guy amazing!
Here is he answering the call that he is watching over his harem.
The small female is obviously pregnant.

I love having a nice telephoto lens, event though it's not as big as some of the others we saw~it still captures wildlife up close.
At this point he was chasing a young buck away-the youngster didn't have any horns yet, but obviously he was interested in the females.
One of his kids I presume.
Love this shot.
I can tell you that Colorado has been in the news this week when someone up in Estes Park tried to walk between two males fighting.  What happened was the bull knocked the female down and someone had to drive his truck between the two; his truck came out with a huge hole in it.
So, you'd think with all the signs saying don't approach the wildlife, and the news,  people would give them space.  As we were leaving the park this afternoon, we saw a crowd gathered with cameras ready.  A single bull was lying in the grass, very much awake with a man crouching in the grass nearby trying to get a close up.  He did not have a telephoto and we just shook our head, thinking how reckless he was being. Finally the man got up and walked away; he's very lucky.  We've seen several attacks in recent years, some innocent and some from stupidity.  I love wildlife and love getting great photos of them, but I'm always aware they are wild.
Tomorrow I'll be sharing the colors we saw today.
Have a wonderful evening!
Noreen

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

A Wonderful Story

Happy Tuesday to you! While we were in Yellowstone, we went into the lodge at Mammoth Hot Springs and decided to see what was in the store. I saw this book and was immediately intrigued, being the dog lover I am and being in Yellowstone. I choose not to get it there, but came home and ordered it immediately from Amazon. It is the true story of a Australian Shepherd(Aussie) who was lost after his owner was in a car accident for over 40 days.

I fully expected to cry reading this, but didn't~knowing it had a good ending. In fact, it was amazing that the dog survived for so long. If you loved dogs and want an easy book to read, this is a good one.
I'll be mailing it to my girlfriend in Carmel Valley.
Have a great day!
Noreen