We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Pin It

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS,

WE WISH YOU A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Please remember to give your loved ones a hug!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Pin It

As the sun sets, trees are lit across the world, stockings are hung and children will be tucked into bed tonight with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads, my heart goes out to those who are not spending such a lovely night.  Those who are hungry, homeless or who have just lost someone they love and I feel so blessed.  Blessed to have people in my life who love me and care about me, a home, a job, pets (albeit naughty ones), clothes to wear and food to eat.

These thankful thoughts always bring me to Linus from Charlie Brown who said .....

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.

- Luke 2:8-14

photo credit

May we remember those who are less fortunate tonight and say an extra prayer for all who are struggling in every way.  May they find peace tonight even if it is fleeting.  Peace to celebrate the reason for the season and find some joy in their lives.  

Hold your loved ones close, we never know what the future brings.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pin It

Thanksgiving..... one word which conjures up images of turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie.  Family and friends gathered around the table ... unfortunately some of our family members have to be absent this year .... namely Luke, Sarah and my Mom but they are close to our hearts today.  We love you and miss all of you!

photo credit

We wish you lots of joy, laughter and good food on this day in which we give thanks.  Remember to give your loved ones a hug!

Waiting for It

Pin It We are waiting for it.

Waiting for the onslaught that will start tonight .... the arrival of the HUNTERS!  Hunting season officially starts tomorrow morning and like each year we have family that arrives each weekend for the three weeks that hunting season is open.  They stay all weekend, go home on Sunday evenings and then return again Friday nights.

We are hoping for a full freezer this year as last year we were skunked.  It made for a pretty slim winter.  Let the hunt begin!

Good luck to those hunters out there and remember to give your loved ones a hug!

Rice Bags

Pin It

Oooh, rice bags .... they are making waves on Pinterest right now.  I would assume it is due to the fact that the cold weather has either started to settle in around some parts or is on it's way.  

Nights have gotten chilly .... really chilly.  Rice bags are the perfect solution to this problem.  They are wonderful to heat up and place under the covers at the foot of the bed a few minutes before crawling in.

They are wonderful on the lap under the quilt that covers my legs while watching television in the evenings or when I am curled up with a good book or while I am knitting.

photo credit

Rice bags are also great pain relievers ... either warmed up or used as a freezer pack, rice bags take away aches and pains oh so very easily.  They mold nicely to the small of the back or around the neck and on the shoulders.  Best of all they make great Christmas gifts!  Easy to make and easy on the budget, rice bags are a gift that everyone will love!

Remember my huge fabric stash?  Well this is another way of slimming it down.  I have done quite a bit of searching for the easiest pattern so they would not become a chore to make and as usual, the good old internet came through once again!  Selina over at Sew We Quilt gave the fastest, easiest and had the clearest instructions.  Making six bags at a time was the perfect solution to sewing them up quickly.

Digging through the stash, I found some odd and end pieces of flannel.  I have a few people in mind to give as Christmas gifts and I was lucky enough to have flannel that suited each person's personality.  The flannel will be used as the 'outer', removable bag.  This way the 'outer' bag can be washed when needed.

Selina mentioned using only 100% cotton for the lining of the rice bags and I found it in an old, flat bed sheet!  

Perfect!  Cutting the fabric for the inner bags and the outer bags, I increased the size a bit .... I never can seem to keep to the exact patterns!  

My outer bag was cut at 24 x 8 inches and the inner bag was cut at 25 x 8 inches.  I thought that was strange the inner bag was bigger but then it dawned on me that once the rice was added, it would actually 'shrink' the bag.  Duh.  Sometimes I am slow on the uptake.

Anyhoo, I cut six outer bags and six inner bags and sewed them up.  So easy! and fast!  

Filling the inner bags was of course messy since I am a born klutz and more rice ended up on the counter top and floor than in the actual inner bag but I wasn't complaining! In under one hour, I had six bags made for three very special people on my Christmas list and I know they will be appreciated.  

How wonderful is that?  Making something homemade for the ones you love and in your heart you know that they will be used and used gladly.

Doing some more searching, I found a cute Rice Bag saying that will be printed on hardback paper and added to the bags.

 The Rice Bag                                                                    

This little pillow filled with rice                                                                                             

Microwave for 1 to 2 minutes on high,                                                                                  

And kiss those aches and pains goodbye

Apply it to the troubled spot,

The heat will ease the pain a lot.

Or warm those little toes so cold,

You’ll find this nice to have and hold.

Or freeze it for a little while,

And fix that boo boo up in style.

Instead of a compress made of ice,

Use this pillow filled with rice.

    

Remember to give your loved ones a hug!

Happy Father's Day!

Pin It

to all father's and especially to my 

courtesy of http://socialmediaseo.net

father - in - law Pasie

and

for my hubby

Bob

love you both with all my heart!!!

Family Pics and the Ride Home

Pin It

Before taking my Mom home, we had to get some family pictures. We won't be seeing her again until Christmas and we miss her a lot.




Bob and Mom





Luke and Mom.....Luke is 6 feet 7 inches tall so he kind of towers over her!






Me and my Mom.... I HATE having my picture taken! UGH




After the pictures, we loaded up the car with her belongings and shopping finds. The car was pretty full! This is about 1/2 way between where we live and Canada. It is a small town of Virginia ... a mining town. Very pretty but it was very overcast that day. They have 10 of the big windmills lining the hill...unfortunately you cannot see them in the picture because of the clouds.

That was our adventure when my Mom was visiting. A lovely time and always a joy to have her. Miss you and love you Mom!

Four-wheeling

Pin It

Yesterday was one of those perfect autumn days. Bob worked in the shop all day on a customer's vehicle, Luke gave him a hand and I sat and crocheted while watching them work. Around 5pm Bob locked up the shop and said... "Let's go wheeling!" Yippee!






First, we took a ride around the property and the guys just had to try out the swap pit! Luke managed to get himself stuck in the cattails and tall grass.







After some struggling and standing ankle deep in swamp muck, he was able to pry himself loose and we took off once again.



There are beautiful state trails around our area so after visiting with a friend close by (I will post pictures later of her beautiful fruit trees) we headed for the trails. In order to get to the trails, there is one little hill that needs to be conquered first! I walked down that hill!!!

It's not much fun riding on the back of a wheeler with Bob when you are climbing down a hill over rocks that big and trying to dodge ruts! Luke also walked down part of the hill as he had never been on this trail before so he was a little nervous.

We did some sightseeing and enjoyed the wildlife.

Crossed bridges and took lots of pictures.

As the sun was setting, we headed for home. Didn't feel like attempting to go up that big hill again so we took a different route past a gravel pit and through a field of wildflowers. I tried to take a picture of the wildflowers but it turned out blurry as Bob had the wheeler going at top speed!

I am glad we headed out. There won't be too many more nice days such as that one and it was a fun, family time. When we finally reached home, each one of us fell into bed exhausted from riding for a few hours.