I've Had a Great Day!

This is who I was today.  I had a wonderful day decorating the house for fall and cleaning.  My husband helped me change the furniture yesterday and this morning I cranked up our CD player with some favorite music and had fun.  I will finish up decorting on Friday and post some pictures of my fall décor. 

I hate to keep repeating myself but it was a wonderful day.  Our neighbor showed up to start cutting the pasture and you know that is one of my favorite things.  It will be the last cutting for the year.  Then Gary and I went out and mowed this afternoon and the weather was great and it was such a clear blue sky today. I also picked a bucket of pears from our pear trees.  I have really enjoyed this summer, it has been so pretty and green and really not too hot.  I'm usually always ready for fall and I am this year but I have thoroughly enjoyed this summer and it's beauty and bounty.

As you can tell, nothing spectacular happened but I had a great day doing some of the things I love. And I'm very thankful for my life and health and family and friends~

I'm ready for bed, goodnight all.... sleep tight!

PBS Special - America's National Parks

Last Monday night was the starting of a week long special on PBS by Ken Burns on America's national parks. I just stumbled onto it and it was excellent.  PBS almost always shows these specials more than once, so watch for it.  I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it was.  I looked forward to watching it every night. 

Probably Monday was my favorite of all the episodes.  Although they talked about several men who were instrumental in the preservation of the national parks my favorite was John Muir and they talked about him on Monday night. He was the first to take up the cause for preserving these majestic places on earth.   He was a naturalist and a spiritual man and from listening to them talk about him you could tell that he understood the oneness that we have with nature.  He also understood what God wanted us to get from spending time in these majestic places.  These places are healing to our souls and bodies and Muir referred many times that these beautiful places were the sanctuaries of God.  I think he understood if man could get away and visit these beautiful places that they wouldn't totally by taken over by materialism.  I haven't made it to the library yet but I plan on checking out some books and reading more about him.  He was very impressive and someone I want to learn more about.

It was really great and I would highly recommend it.

Quilts

I finished the baby quilt this weekend.  It took me all summer and my goal was to work on it at least an hour a day but that didn't always happen.  I'm a little past schedule but I'm DONE!  It feels great to finish a project.  I'm getting more disciplined as I mature ;).  Before the end of the year, I want to finish a wall hanging quilt I started for my oldest daughter 3 or 4 years ago, a huge pot that I'm putting ceramic tiles on, that's another project over a year old . Then there is another several projects for after the first of the year.  It will take me until the end of the year to get these two finished.  Below are pictures of what I have done on my daughter's quilt.  I want to tell you about it.

I gave this to my daughter 3 years ago for her birthday. I still needed even then to sew the edge around it and then it still needs to be finished off with another row of triangles.  I'll show you the finished product in the future. My embroidery could be a lot better.  I've learned a few tricks since I did the embroidery on this quilt and if you are a quilter extraordinaire don't look to close because there are plenty of mistakes.  But in spite of all the errors, this is made with much love. 

I'll start with the last square, look close and you will see a little baby gold heart.  This was a baby necklace that belonged to my daughter and I put it on the quilt.  While I was working on the quilt I got the wonderful idea to incorporate her jewelry as a child and a piece of jewelry from my great grandmother who had given it to my mother because she was named after my great grandmother and  my daughter is named after both of them. On one of the squares, there is a pin that says Anna and that pin is about 150 years old.  I thought it was a great idea to put it on the quilt because my daughter will get it some day and it may be one of those things that would just end up in a box in a drawer.  There is the letter A on one square and that is a necklace she received from her great aunt at her first ballet recital.  Another square says precious and cherished and this has a pin that was my grandmother's.  She always wore it when she would dress up.  The charm is a picture of my daughter and I bet we all have one of these stuck in a drawer;  that is if you are my age.  Back in the day, those little charms were part of a gift package you received when you had your child's picture made. 

I lucked out when I chose the fabric.  The quilt will go great with the colors my daughter is using in her home.  I will now start working on my daughter's quilt and hopefully in the near future I can show you the finished product.

I hope I have given you some ideas for a new project.

Succulents

 This is hens and chickens (a succulent) and it took off growing from the center.  I've never seen one do this before and thought it looked interesting.  Just sharing!

Have a great weekend!

 
 

Before and After Picture of Flower Pots

 

 

Here are some updates of photos I took of an arrangement of some galvanized containers. A picture when I first planted the flowers and now this picture of how everything looks once the flowers fill up the pots.   

 

 

I didn't take a before picture of this but it really changes once the coleus and sweet potato vine fills up the space.

Iceberg Wedges with Bacon and Gorgonzola Dressing

This is one of our favorite salads.  I may have posted it once before but it's worth posting again.  If you haven't tried this I hope you will because it is sooooo good.  The sweet cherry tomatoes this time of the year just make it extra special and the Gorgonzola dressing .......well I love it!

1 head iceberg lettuce, cut into 4 or 6 wedges (depending on how large of a salad you want)
4 strips of bacon, cooked until crisp and broken into pieces

dressing:
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream
3 small garlic cloves, minced
6 ounces Gorgonzola cheese
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Add buttermilk, sour cream and garlic into a bowl and mix well, the add cheese and salt and pepper and mix well. 
This dressing can be make 2 days ahead.  Cover and refrigerate. Stir before using.  If necessary, add a little buttermilk to thin before serving.
Place iceberg wedge onto salad plate, spoon dressing over lettuce, then crumbled bacon and add tomatoes.

Happy September