And given that both my birthday and Thanksgiving arrived on the same day this year I decided to share what I am thankful for. First and foremost I am thankful that I know Jesus Christ as my Savior and that he has walked with me for most of my 71 years. Second I am thankful for my husband, Eric, who has been my partner for almost 53 years. We have survived good years and bad years (currently good) and each has made us stronger both individually and as a couple. And third I am thankful for our 4 children. Each has grown into a strong and successful adult with good marriages. We have watched them mature and grow as parents and to learn to accept each child as an individual rather than carbon copies of themselves.
There are many other small things that I am thankful for (other family members, our nation, my home, friends, etc.) but if I tried to mention all of them I would forget someone and that wouldn’t be good (sounds like the academy awards, doesn’t it?).
Now let me tell you about my birthday. As 
you can see from the picture above, we went to the beach after a Thanksgiving dinner at Applebee’s, which was terrific. We walked the beach so we could make a stop at Village Inn for PIE. They make the best lemon meringue pie and serve very big slices.
Anyone who regularly reads my blog knows that DH took me to see Kenny G earlier this month as my birthday gift. But this morning he presented me with this book, which I didn’t even know was coming out. I have read all of her Elm Creek books so this was well welcomed.
He also gave me these earrings. Aren’t they the cutest? And perfect for a person who has three doxies.
I also need to show this again. It is a bedside glass owl pitcher that my/our twins and their very special spouses gave me for my birthday after they had been together this summer.
It is quite unique and I have never seen another like it. It always makes me feel special when my children remember me even though we are so far apart.
And I guess there is one last thing. Look what followed me home. A whole lemon meringue pie. I guess we will be celebrating my birthday for a while longer: but of course there are still 2 more days in BIRTHDAY MONTH!
Gari
The owls are back on the wall.
And these are the newest ones to be completed. I still have one small one to do but I think I will wait until next month and do two of them together. These three were lots of fun and required a really long tree branch.
Most of my time this week was taken up with this. DH and I did some antiquing/shopping early in the week. He saw this and said “Here is your desk” as I have always wanted a big old roll top desk. Of course we couldn’t afford it even though it was less expensive than I had thought (not an old desk). Then a couple of days later he offered to share the cost if I wanted it. So I called the store and found that it was now 25% discounted ….. so I bought it. However it was 100 miles away and way too big for our already overcrowded house.
So we drove down, completed the paperwork and I measured it upside down and backward. Then home we came and I began measuring everything else in the house.
Saturday, while DH and our SIL went to get it, I moved every big piece of furniture in the front and dining room. By the time they gone back with my new “birthday” desk, I had the puppies completely confused and I was ready to collapse. But it was worth it: isn’t she beautiful?
Look at all those little drawers. I have been filling them up but there are still several that are still empty. 
She is even beautiful from the side, isn’t she?
After all that work even Fred was tired and felt the need for relaxing.
And Stubby, afraid she would get sucked into the work, took refuge among the plants on the deck.
I have been knitting but partial socks are not very interesting so I will show them later.
I did start a couple of small projects. I had decided to not make Christmas gifts this year but changed my mind when I couldn’t think of or find anything I wanted to gift for a couple of people. DH has this week off so he will be watching football and taking care of the puppies giving me more studio time. All of this needs to either be completed or almost before Bonnie doles out Part 1 of her Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt on Friday. My plan is to put last years completed mystery quilt, Easy Street, out in the studio to remind me, when I feel overwhelmed, that it can be done cuz I did it before. 
For all of my US readers, have a great Thanksgiving. As it is my birthday we are going out to eat, something we have never done before, and then plan to spend some time at the beach (if it is not too cold).
And for everybody, have a great week. Gari
On Saturday our youngest children became 45. They were so cute.
But these were the pictures they posted of each other on Facebook. I blame it on their spouses. 
This is what is on my Design Wall, my fish from Fat Cat Patterns. I think I am up to date, or maybe there is one more, I’ll have to 
check. I know there are 11 there but I did one twice, by accident, so it doesn’t count. I guess I will need to go through my patterns to see which one didn’t get made. 
I thought I’d show how I draw my fusible pieces. On the big piece, the outside line is the fish. Inside that line are smaller pieces that go with this fish. After I get it all drawn I cut about 1/4” inside that outside line and that leaves me all that inside fusible to use. Usually I will also “window” the medium pieces but when I was doing this fish I was so eager to see it complete I forgot. Tisk, tisk.
And here he is in all his glory. When I first went fabric hunting, I was thinking of doing him in blue. I pulled 7 different fabrics but they just did not want to be a fish. About that time the darker purple started yelling from it’s shelf. The other two chimed in and we had a purple chorus and then a fish.
I finished these angora slippers and they are now on the blocking forms. They are kind of funny looking (one at least) but it was an experiment. The second one looks more like the picture on the pattern. But I’ll bet they both will feel soft and warm.
And today I finally got back to this sock. This is the one I had started, on bamboo needles, when one of my sweet puppies found it. By the time she had played with it the yarn was in tangles and four of the needles were like broken matchsticks. I put it all aside until last week when I spent 3 hours untangling the yarn and then today I began knitting it again.
I am, however, using new needles. I found these steel needles recently and I really like them. They are sturdy, of course, but they are not slick. I only bought the one set but there may be others in my future.
Now I am going to get some sleep so I can get busy finishing up these projects and be ready for Bonnie’s mystery quilt later this month.
Have a great week, Gari
Today I am showing my “design ironing board.” Before we left for Biloxi I pulled fabric for Bonnie Hunter’s Celtic Solstice mystery that starts 11/29/13. I had pulled blues and bright greens but all of a sudden I decided that I really wanted to do something with purple so I made a change in the green, too. I think I am going to use the dotted fabric as the neutrals even though I originally pulled black on white prints.
Then we were off to see Kenny G. He was every bit as good as he is on my albums. I think I grinned all through the 2 hour program.
Both on the way to Biloxi and back home we visited some antique malls. The first thing I bought was this set of shelves. I love that they have sides and that they rotate up and down. I also got a copper coffee pot, made in Turkey. I love copper and have started collecting items for my kitchen. I hope one day to cover my kitchen island with copper…..someday. Also on the shelves is a sailor hat. I looked for one last April when I bought a Navy Middy Blouse for Fred, but I couldn’t find one. Yesterday I found this one in a mall. It was $25 but when we got to the register it seems it was 65% off. Boy, Fred is going to look really good when he gets dressed up to celebrate my father’s birthday month in April.
We also visited two really nice quilt shops on the MS Gulf Coast. This fabric is from a Northcutt line called Stone Chips (I think). It was really difficult to choose which fabrics to buy, they were all so luscious.
The stripe fabric is not from the same line but goes well with it. However who knows how any of this will get used.
Just when I was ready to move the shelves into the studio, there was Stubby, making herself at home. I didn’t move her, I just started “walking” the shelves and she decided she didn’t need the aggravation.
And this is how the shelves are really being used. I have put the three BOMs I am working on on the shelves. When I go to make a new block I like to see all of the others up on the design wall so I can make sure the colors are different or a different mixture. With them on these shelves I don’t have to thumb through other BOMs or blocks to find the one’s I want. Also they are out in the open where I can see them and, hopefully, keep up.
Not too bad as a beginning of Birthday Month, huh? There was one other highlight:
I got this on our way to Biloxi. It was so good that DH bought me two more slices on our way home: there is still one in the refrigerator. Breakfast?
That’s all folks. Hope everyone has a great week. GARI
And given that both my birthday and Thanksgiving arrived on the same day this year I decided to share what I am thankful for. First and foremost I am thankful that I know Jesus Christ as my Savior and that he has walked with me for most of my 71 years. Second I am thankful for my husband, Eric, who has been my partner for almost 53 years. We have survived good years and bad years (currently good) and each has made us stronger both individually and as a couple. And third I am thankful for our 4 children. Each has grown into a strong and successful adult with good marriages. We have watched them mature and grow as parents and to learn to accept each child as an individual rather than carbon copies of themselves. 
you can see from the picture above, we went to the beach after a Thanksgiving dinner at Applebee’s, which was terrific. We walked the beach so we could make a stop at Village Inn for PIE. They make the best lemon meringue pie and serve very big slices.
Anyone who regularly reads my blog knows that DH took me to see Kenny G earlier this month as my birthday gift. But this morning he presented me with this book, which I didn’t even know was coming out. I have read all of her Elm Creek books so this was well welcomed.
He also gave me these earrings. Aren’t they the cutest? And perfect for a person who has three doxies.
I also need to show this again. It is a bedside glass owl pitcher that my/our twins and their very special spouses gave me for my birthday after they had been together this summer.
And I guess there is one last thing. Look what followed me home. A whole lemon meringue pie. I guess we will be celebrating my birthday for a while longer: but of course there are still 2 more days in BIRTHDAY MONTH!
