Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Things I like: January 31, 2019

It's a bit chilly here in Pennsylvania!
I won't complain, my husband has been working in Wyoming and I know that my midwestern friends, as well as hubby, have been dealing with ungodly temperatures.  Stay warm everyone!

It's I like Thursday and another reason not to complain!  What are you enjoying this week? 

I like Scout's new coat.  It was on sale at Chewy for about $7!!!  She doesn't mind it too much.  She won't be walking the next day or two because of the temperature so we will working on her training homework indoors.  

She has has school on Saturdays.  I really laughed when I took this photo.  

Normally she is up pretty early but it's like she had sixth sense that it was a school day. 😁  Who could resist a baby that sleeps with her wubby frog?
Actually Scout loves school and I'm seeing improvement.  Even some of my neighbors have commented on how much better she is walking.

Before the snow, we were walking and saw some crows.  Did you know that a group of crows is called a murder?  I don't care for them and they were circling an area of the creek.  Turns out Big Blue (one of our local blue herons) was there so Scout and I just stood by the creek for a while and the crows eventually left.  You might wonder if the crows would take on a heron but I've seen them go after the foxes here so I've no doubt.

These days I spend about five hours a day writing or researching.  I've written two new programs.  For people who are new to "I like Thursdays", I present lectures and trunk shows to guilds, historical societies and museums.  This weekend I'm hoping to get the new flyers sent out to the guilds I visit regularly.  You can read about my programs at my website here.  

I had no sooner finished the programs when an opportunity to submit an article to an historical bulletin arose.  The editor is interested in the research I've done and I'm hoping to submit an article by the deadline of March 31.  It's a LOT of work and I haven't written a professional paper in decades so I'm a bit nervous.  If I finish and if it's accepted, I'll post more about that later.  

By evening I'm fried and I just want to watch tv and chill out with Scout.  There are only 47 days until spring and I love watching gardening shows.  They are few and far between on tv these days (remember when HGTV used to have gardening shows???).  But I've become addicted to watching Monty Don's shows on Netflix. 

Image result for monty don

He's a wonderful British gardener and has such a soothing voice.  This show is keeping me inspired until spring!

Last night I was excited to see a gardening show on one of our PBS stations.  It's called "All Gardens Great and Small" and features British gardens as well.  Narrated by Miranda Hart (she played Chummy on "Call the Midwives"), Miranda narrates as her mother visits British gardens.  

Image result for all gardens great and small
Oh the weather they have there!  They can grow so many more things than we can in our zone.  Anyway it was fun and lightweight and I do recommend it!

I hope you have a wonderful week!  Stay warm!
For other positive posts, visit Leeanna at Not Afraid of Color!

Thursday, January 24, 2019

I like Thursday: January 24, 2019





Last night I dreamt I was working in my garden.  I woke up with a smile on my face...

Good morning!  How are you doing?  Things here are finally calming down and I hope to be able to catch up with everyone's blog this week.

It's Thursday and that means I like Thursdays sponsored by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.  Check out other positive blog posts by visiting her here.


I like my new sneakers!!  They are from a company called Hoka and I can't recommend them too much.  It's like walking on deeping sponges.  The shoes have also helped my back a lot!

We had snow over the weekend and it made the world look pretty, even if it was happening at night:

 Scout thought snow was pretty wonderful too!

I have a few of these little hearts that my grandfather made before he was shipped out to the Navy to fight World War II:

The factory was in Bensalem PA and my Pop used plastic scraps to make little hearts for my grandmother.  I know he wasn't the only man to do that because I have occasionally seen similar ones at flea markets.
Image result for 1940s airplane factory bristol pa

This week has been crazy.  Monday it was -15F when we woke up and this morning at 8:45 a.m. it is 58F!

Only 54 days until spring!!!
Have a great week!





Saturday, January 19, 2019

Snow is coming!


This has been circulating...
I live in Allentown :)


Friday, January 18, 2019

Missed I like Thursdays and dog food

Good morning!  
I'm waving a day late today.
Things yesterday just got out of hand.

Scout has her first ear infection.  We were wondering if she had allergies because the last month or so she was licking her feet.  Our vet said right away, "I want her dog food changed to venison or salmon."  But here is the thing I wanted to share with you.  He did not recommend a grain free diet and said recent studies indicated that grain free could actually contribute to heart disease.  

Of course I had to research this and found the recent FDA article about this.  Here it is if you want to read it:





Thursday, January 10, 2019

Things I like..January 10, 2019


69 Days Until Spring!

Do you garden?  I step outside every now and then and just look at the beds and think...what am  I going to do with them?  Then there are all the chores.
The path to the house has to be replaced and so does the front door.  We were supposed to have the path replaced last year but with all the rain, the contractor got behind.  City life and constant rain means we now have algae growing on the house so that has to be powerwashed.  I don't dread any of it!  Working outside provides almost immediate gratification when you see how improved it looks.



 Little Miss starts dog training on Saturday.
This is what she does when she doesnt' like what I am saying. 
Yup, just like a kid she looks the other way like she can't hear me.
More about that after we attend class!

It's a busy week here so I'll just wish you a great week!
For some quilt fun be sure to check out my previous post on the challenge quilts I saw at the guild on Tuesday night!!!




Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Challenge quilts from guild!

Last night at our guild, we had our challenge meeting!  As you might recall, our challenge this year was to use a panel--in a quilted piece that could be a quilt or a garment or other type of item (as long as it was quilted).

The evening was so full of inspiration that I had to share the photos with you!



 The above was FLANNEL and she cut apart an additional panel to make the border.  We couldn't figure out how she did that without ruining the flannel.   Turns out she did find it challenging but if you knew this quiltmaker, you would know how great she is!


I think this one looks like a bakery shop window:


This took first place, the panel was the background piece:





 Doggie quilt and wall hanging!!!







This piece had this amazing border along the side:

paper pieced border of triangles:







 This was a quillow:


Hope you enjoyed the photos from our meeting.
It was really a fun challenge and I found all these diverse ideas so inspiring.
I hope you did too!
Have a great day!

Sunday, January 6, 2019

Pennsyl*rain*ia


2019 was the third rainiest year on record here in Allentown.  It doesn't look like things are going to change much in 2019.  Yesterday the rain stopped around 4 p.m. and I actually was able to take Scout for a little walk.  The sky was lovely!

One of the weirdest things happened last night.  We stepped outside and I realized...something was different.  We could see stars in the night sky!  It actually startled me and today when we walked, a neighbor actually stopped me and asked, "did you see the stars last night?"

I spent the evening dreaming of spring and watching Monty Don's gardening shows on Netflix.  I also finished binding my butterfly quilt:


 The alstroemeria is now blooming in my vase of sunshine!
This flower always reminds me of orchids.

Well today we are going to gravitate between sunshine and clouds.
While the sun is shining I'm off to get some things accomplished!
Have a wonderful day!