Vacay By The Day

 

Hello friends!

Hope all is well with each and every one of you.

Back in July,

Bob and I had planned on staying

a few nights down in Ohio for our

15th anniversary.

Well plans changed so we decided to do

day trips so we could be back in time

to take care of Tundra.

DAY 1

We went to my cousins to visit,

plus she wanted to give us some furniture

to sell in our store.

She wanted Bob to drive our cargo van

down her hill and back into her walk out basement.

I thought it was a bad idea from the start,

but they both over ruled me.

They should have listened to me.

I though the ground was too mushy...

and it was.

Once Bob was close to the basement,

he got stuck.

Stuck bad.

My cousin had to call a tow truck for us.

We were an hour and a half away from our house.

We loaded the van, but had to wait 2 hours

for the tow to arrive.

We got on the road asap,

and arrived home at 3:30pm.

We left at 8:00 in the morning...

and we were worried about Tundra 

not being able to go potty. 

We had not left him that long before.

Thankfully he was fine and no messes in the house.

Day 2

We decided to go antiquing.

First had lunch at a sushi place.

There was so much to choose and we loved it all.

Then the fun part.

I found this bunny chocolate mold.

Which now proudly sits on my bucket bench

 in the kitchen with my other two.

Then there was this Santa.

Love him.

I also went to a quilt shop.

 Bought some wool instead of fabric.

Day 3 

We stayed home until 

the movie started in the afternoon.

We decided to go see Despicable Me 4.

It was such a cute movie and we love them all.

Day 4

Our anniversary day.

We went to breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Chinese for lunch after a useless car appt.

I had received an email from the dealership

where I always get my cars from.

They would be able to put me in a 2024 car

for the same payment I already have.

Why not Bob said... so I made the appt and we went. 

Yeah Right same payment.

Try it being double what I make right now.

NO THANK YOU.

Dinner was broasted chicken and ribs

with us each having a mango margarita.

Friday Bob had to work the store,

so I made him dinner and I stitched most of the day.

Thank you again for all of the anniversary wishes.

Hopefully we will make it another 15 years

if we can stay healthy enough.

In other news,

as an antique owner I would like to give a bit

if advise to those who like to collect antiques.

DO NOT Clean them.

Other then a good dusting with a rag,

please let them be.

DO NOT re-paint them.

DO NOT stain or rub wax on them.

It is the old patina that gives antiques their  character.

Cleaning them up will lose their resale value.

Robin asked me if the witch from my last post was 

a Prairie Schooler one.

Yes it is.

From the pattern Halloweenies.

I did change up the brown called for floss

in the brim of the hat,

and opted for the same orange DMC floss.

The weekend is almost here.

Hope you enjoy yours.

Vacay Blessings To The All!

Janice

Sunday Starts

 

I wanted to start another sampler.

The other one is so slow to stitch.

I think this will be a faster one...

but will continue to work on the other one.

I plan on this one being a tribute 

to my grandmothers.

I will change this a bit to and it will be a surprise. 

Was not sure if I was going to like this border.

To me it looks like a Grecian pattern.

Once I started stitching on it 

though it is growing on me.

However I already frogged out the letter "A".

These letters are charted to be green and red.

The green to me too much like Christmas.

I did not want a row of Christmas colors.

In fact the second row is also the same.

The picture looks more gray to me,

so I may make row 2 gray and red.

Will see.

Stitching this on 32ct Sand.

My next start is a Halloween one.

Am loving this witch thus far.

Stitching this on 28ct Flapper Cashel purple linen.

A perfect color for Halloween! 

In other news, I hope everyone is aware that 

if VP Harris gets her way and puts in a price freeze...

then our country will be like the 1970's

all over again when President Nixon tried it.

It forces stores to only stock what they can make

money on and then the other items go away.

Everyone in my opinion should take a class

in Economics to know what I am talking about. 

Just like when I knew having the high pay raise 

for the Stellanis workers during the strike

was going to result in folks losing their job. 

Sure some will reap their higher wage increase,

but now 500 lost their jobs....

with more to come.

Companies need to make money or they go out of

BUSINESS.

Same is true for any business...even our 

small antique and gift store.

We have to cover the utilities and taxes.

Nothing is free.

The shipping cost of goods just for our little

gift shop has risen 25%...

therefore we have to raise the price 

in order to make money. 

Also dont get me started on giving $25,000

to first time homeowners either.

My Economics tells me this will result in

buyers raising their prices on properties

because they know that folks get money.

This will not work either.

Its just a pipe dream.

Economics 101.

Get rid of the green new deal regulations

that are being forced on the auto industry and other manufacturers.

Become energy independent which will lower

the cost of gas,

which will further lower the cost of goods

that need to be transported all over.

This administration has spent way too much money.

They need to curb the spending.

My personal spending has limits...

so should the governments.

Student bailout $150 million.

$224 billion to force auto companied to go EV.

$300 billion in increasing SNAP by 25%.

(sure wish I could get a 25% rise)

They spent $7 billion on only 8 EV charging stations.

How many of those even work?

That's just some of the spending.

Over 300 million people live in the US.

You want to help us all...

then give us the unspent money you are spending.

That would put a lot of money 

into our pockets to spend.

I worked hard to get where I am.

Nothing was given to me.

Ok enough of my rant.

Today we are headed to a birthday party

foe a young friend who turns 88 today.

Ron is a magician and I love watching him perform.

We just hope the rain will hold off

as it is an outdoor party.

Sunday Blessings To All!

Janice

 

whippy Wednesday

Good morning, afternoon or evening my friends.

Hope your week is going good thus far.

Thank you for coming over to my blog today.

I so appreciate you.

When last I showed Potted Plant

only the border was hooked.

Plus a little bit of the bottom corner.

Now I have all of the bottom and vase hooked.

The wool for the vase is an antique rose

and cream pattern,

But it looks pinkish here to me.

The center of the flower in the vase

is a tan color.

I have not planned out the colors for this.

Just choosing colors as I go.

Next up is Turkey Trot.

Last update the house was completed.

Along with some acorns.

I now have the motif and one turkey stitched.

Just loving their wonky tail feathers.

These make me smile.

Last but not least by no means.

Block 10 of

Halloween At Hawk Run Hollow

is completed.

YAY!!

Am not a fan of this one as you can see.

Not a Halloween block to me.

Unless you call the swamp Halloween.

Just glad this one is over.

Blocks 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 and 10.

Blocks 3, 4. 7 and 8.

10 completed now and only 2 more to go.

At least the final two scream Halloween,

so I will enjoy stitching on them.

In other news,

my morning drives to work have been

 dark and foggy at times now.

The days are getting shorter and I am

getting the urge to start decorating for Fall.

Thank you to those who commented about 

our sweet Shadow kitty and also mentioning

your own pets...it meant a lot.

The other night I swore I heard a meow.

Clear as day.

Maybe we have a ghost kitty now.

Well have to get ready for work.

UGH

Mid Week Blessings To All!

Janice

Our Shadow Kitty

 

Hello friends.

It is with great sadness that I write this post.

Our beloved Shadow kitty 

crossed the rainbow bridge last month.

My co-worker had a wild cat that she started

to feed because she felt bad for her.

Turns out she was pregnant and had 4 kittens.

She had found the kittens in one of her shrubs.

The wild mama was starting to get tamed 

so she was going to keep her and let her stay inside.

We grabbed all of the kittens outside when they were

big enough to take from their mama.

I took one gray one home.

We did not know what to call him.

It was our granddaughter Mikayla

who said you should call him Shadow,

because he follows Peeps (our other kitty at the time)

around like he was his shadow.

A perfect name!

He was very much a wild kitty.

The one story I have,

was when we had a mouse in our house.

The two adult cats at the time ran that mouse

underneath a cupboard in our kitchen

waiting for it to come out.

Here comes little Shadow and gets under that 

cupboard and brings out that mouse

growling at the other two cats coming out.

Bob and I laughed, but knew we had to get that

mouse from him, which Bob did once he killed it.

When he grew up,

Bob had made an outside catio for all of the cats.

He then got so use to being inside, he was

afraid to go outside.

It took about a month for him to actually go outside

and enjoy it like our other two cats.

Here he is with his buddy Ace

 who passed two years ago.

He was definitely Bob's cat more than mine.

He was always snuggling up to Bob

when he was around.

Shadow was 11.

He had diabetes and his kidneys were

starting to fail back in May.

We had him on all kinds of medicines.

We tried our best as pet parents,

but alas he passed away in our bedroom.

I had already left for work that day

when Bob found him.

I still cry when thinking about him.

It is so sad to lose a family member...

and our pets surely are a member of our family.

We decided no more pets.

Tundra will be our last one.

In other news,

I did fairly well on the antique trail.

Will show what I brought home 

in an upcoming post...

once I get everything organized.

It was picture perfect weather this year.

Not to hot or cold or rainy.

Bob did well the first day at the store with outside sales.

Our antique store did great.

Hopefully the next two days will be just as good.

Remember to shop small business wherever you live.

I know we do when we can.

Pet Blessings To All!

Janice

In The Good Ole Summer Time

Hello friends.

I just recently realized I had not shown

you pics of the gift shop for

Summer Time.

Here are just a few. 

Unfortunately the small space is no longer

conducive to creating different vignettes.

Everything is just put out now on shelves.

I do miss having the actual store,

but I do like having my weekends back.

Not having a separate room for holiday displays

is also bringing me down.

I will no longer be able to bring alive a theme

for both Halloween and Christmas.

Am a bit disappointed in that as I so loved

putting together my yearly themes.

I thought with Bob adding in another fireplace

it would be alright, however I feel it just

does not have the vibe the actual store did.

Bob and I are going to decorate for Halloween

this week, but it wont be the same.

The ceiling is too high and the lights

 are not changeable.

Just hope our customers are understanding.

I know our worker is already sad about it.

Anyway life goes on.

In other news,

I an taking Wednesday thru Friday off

this week from work.

Am picking up my mom and her and I

will be doing the yearly antique trail

in our neck of the woods.

This is not as big as the I27 one,

but my mom and I have been doing this one

for years and years.

Hope to find some treasures.

More rain on tap for today, but not complaining.

I feel so bad for those in the path of

Hurricane Debby.

My SIL lost power down in Florida.

Thankfully her son brought her over a generator.

Same SIL that had the heart attack....

and she is supposed to not get stressed out.

Well off to work, then Vacay for a few days.

Summertime Blessings To All!

Janice

 

 

Friday Finish

 TGIF Friends.

WOOHOO I have a finish.

If you remember I decided to change 

up the colors on this piece.

I went with the called for orange, 

a yellow and brown.

When I kept looking at the pattern,

I saw the two pumpkins and a sunflower,

plus the leaves at the center bottom.

I also changed the date from 2023

when the pattern came out to this year.

Completed this into a pillow

and rag stuffed like I do most of my pillows.

Doesn't it look sweet in this basket on top

of some flax fiber.

For those not familiar with flax,

this is what linen is made from.

The fibers I have here is the raw form which

 would be spun on a flax winder box...

somewhat similar to the spinning of wool.

This is one of my most prized possessions.

This is a flax winder.

I keep this in the guest room and it never gets moved.

Am too afraid the wood needle at the end will

break off, so it stays put.

The needle spins the flax.

In other news,

Bob has a birthday on Sunday.

He will be a young 61.

Happy Birthday Hon!

We received bad news about his sister.

She was in the hospital last week because

of her heart.

Looks like she had another heart attack.

Now her heart is at 20%.

They sent her home with a heart vest

and she is suppose to calm down and quit

being so stressed out...not likely she will do that.

She is the baby of his family and is only 58.

My granddaughter Mikayla got her first car

last night.

We are going out to dinner with her,

her brother and my daughter tonight so  

I will hear more about it then. 

She will be a senior this year and also has a job,

which I know she has been saving up for a car.

She also has a GPA of 3.9% so we are

very proud of her.

Well have to get ready for work.

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

Any plans on what you will be doing?

It's Friday Blessings To All!

Janice