I like Thursdays, February 22, 2018

I woke up thinking today was Wednesday!  But Thursday is always a fun day because I get to think positive and share some of the things I appreciate.  Link up for more likes at Not Afraid of Color.

There are 26 days until spring!

This was a weird week.  The weather was fairly mild and even on Saturday I was frolicking with Scout on Saturday afternoon.  Although snow was expected in the evening, I didn't think it would be that bad (famous last words).  The snow started at 5 p.m.  By 8 p.m., we had 6 inches.  By 11 p.m. when the storm was ceasing, we had 8 inches. 

It was an amazing amount of snow in such a short amount of time.  My mom and her brother got caught in the storm and it took her twice as long to get home.  My friend Beth had gone to the town next to hers for groceries (about 5 miles away).  It took her and her husband 5 hours to get home.  This week, I am grateful that I wasn't anywhere but at home with my little puppy.

It was so nice before the storm that I took Scout for her first walk at the big park! It was sunny and about 40 degrees before the snow. Scout was intrigued by the swan that resides on the lake.  She actually would have gone right in the water to see the bird up close if I had let her!  Poodles are supposed to be water dogs but I've had a few that wouldn't venture in the ponds around here.

The weather has been weird to say the least.  Yesterday at 5 p.m. it was 80 degrees Farenheit. 

I like the first true sign of spring, my snowdrops!

Scout is going to be 1 year old on March 1 and I can scarcely believe it.  I just brought the mail in and our dear friend Sandra had a surprise for us.  A special birthday card for Scout!!!  Sandra is our friend from Canada and she is so sweet and thoughtful.  Scout says "thank you Auntie Sandra!!!"

I don't know how Sandra knows this but our girl is quite a jumper and prancer and the card is PERFECT for her!

Well I hope you have a great day! 

Have a wonderful week!

I like Thursdays, February 15, 2018

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Greetings friends!  Can you believe it:  

Only 33 days until spring! 

My first like is that Scout is finally able to exercise and be a normal puppy.  Even though she got the cone off after 2 weeks but the doctor felt she needed an additional week of rest.  She is free!  Free now!

Greta was glad to see her again!

We are happy that we can walk again and the weather has been wonderful this week.  We are supposed to get some snow again on Saturday but next week looks wonderful so we will be able to keep exercising.  

I like walking.  It allows me to appreciate so much in our little world.  The wonderful thing about winter is that it heightens my appreciation for springtime.  Right now, I see the world through "spring eyes" which is a mixture of emotions: relief that the weather is turning and joy at everything that is emerging or appears beautiful again.

Doesn't this Red Twig Dogwood look lovely in the sunlight?

I like donuts but these goodies are different.

These are FASTNACHTS!

I live in Pennsylvania Dutch country and in our valley, we celebrate Fat Tuesday by eating Fastnachts.  Fastnacht translates to "fast night" and are special donuts made just for this day.  For our local bakeries, it means an overwhelming amount of business.

The line outside our local bakery.  By the time I got my donuts, the line had tripled.  It's a fun day because as we all wait patiently for our pastries, we chat about which topping we prefer and how far we travel.  There are always some newbies to our region who are intrigued (and delighted) about a special donut day and we welcome them with opened arms.

These donuts are the ONLY thing bakeries make on Fastnacht Day.  You can get them plain or sprinkled with sugar or powder.  The newspaper reported the one bakery was prepared to make 60,000 fastnachts for the day.  I know that our local shop had 10 people baking in the kitchen.  Most places run out of donuts by 2 p.m.

Well that is this week's edition.  Have a good day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Have a great day!

Another donation top done.

I made this top a few weeks ago.

Last week I finished another one!

 I had lots of the navy blue left and just used a different orange.

Now I'm on to start the premie quilts!

The good news?  The sun has come out, it is above freezing and I can walk Scout again!  We are about to take our post lunch walkies.  Have a good day!

I like Thursday, Febuary 8, 2018

40 Days until Spring!

It's time for another rendition of "I Like Thursday"  You can link up to LeeAnna's blog for more posts!

I like Celebrations!

Friday was Groundhog's Day which is also my Mom's birthday.  My Mom says that she has learned one thing from having been born on this day:  if the groundhog sees his shadow, there will be 6 more weeks of winter;  if the groundhog doesn't see his shadow, there will still be 6 more weeks of winter :)

I took Mom and my Aunt Kathy out to lunch on Friday and we had a great day!  Our favorite lunch spot is a little cafe in the next village called Sweet Memories, it is just comfy and sweet and we love the food and the family that owns it!

I mean how can you not love a cafe with an old quilt displayed?

Love their chandelier and all the little chachkies they have for sale!

I was treating my Aunt and Mom and was surprised when my Aunt presented me with a bouquet of flowers too.  It was very sweet of her!  Flowers this time of year make the weather more tolerable!

Love the blue Sea Holly flowers!

On Saturday, I decided to take another field trip.  I live in a neat part of Pennsylvania.  We are an hour west from Philadelphia; 17 miles west of us is a little college town called Kutztown.  My fabric shop is there on a Mennonite Farm and nearby is a farmer's market/flea market.  I hit both places on Saturday and didn't buy anything--it was just fun to get out.

I also visited the nearby flea market.   So much fun!  I have a very real fear of hording places (probably claustrophia in a way) so some stands make me crazy like this textile one:

 Even if it has an interesting quilt top, I just can't be in there long!

Stands like this one are wonderful, especially if you have a kitschy kitchen with red accents like I do!

On Monday, Scout got her sutures out!  Yippee!  But her seratoma is still visible (although 80 percent reduced) so she is on another week of quiet.  At least she doesn't have to wear the cone anymore.  She went from being a cone-head to a matt-head.  The rubbing of the cone on her fur has created terrible mats :(

I like that the Eagles won the superbowl! It made me so happy that my hubby's team finally won!  Scout like the day because of the Puppy and Kitten Bowls.  They really kept her engaged!

I hope you have a great week!

Cheers!

We are the Champions!!!

I like Thursday, February 1, 2018

47 days until Spring!

It's been a busy week.  Scout developed a seratoma near her incision after too much activity this past weekend.  I'm applying warm compresses to the area and fortunately, it doesn't seem to bother her.  I'm also working on her hair every day which has gotten very matted from the cone.  That brings me to my first like, a dematting comb!

My groomer had recommended I get one a few days before her spaying.  She knew the cone would make her matted.  

We are counting down the days until Scout can return to her normal life and we can all take walks again.  She's not sleeping through the night and Mama wants to get sleep again.

I've been sewing in the dining room.  My husband was working out of state last week and I finished another donation top.

I had found a stack of 4 inch novelty blocks in my stash and after cutting some more blocks, I pieced this together.  The navy fabric is leftover backing fabric and the orange fabric has been sitting around here for years.  I'm glad to use them up and it is a very simple pattern.  This quilt will be donated to a child at Camp Erin and I'm making a second one to donate to the pediatric cancer unit of our local hospital.

While scouring the sewing room I found a few pinwheels and a lot of triangles and have been piecing them as well.

These blocks are only 4 inches square and I'm not sure what I will do with them.  I think I will just finishe them up and then decided if there is enough to do a project or use them on another top.

Lastly, it's almost Valentine's Day.  I think this is an overblown holiday but I'm always grateful that my favorite candy is available this time of year!

Yup, chocolate covered cherries!  YUM YUM YUM!  I have to be careful not to buy too many boxes because I absolutely adore these candies.

I hope you have a lot to like!  Link up to LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color for more posts!  Have a great day!