Tiny Moment Tuesday

I've gotten the most important items for our girls weekend packed-guess I should work on the clothes next!  Priorities people- priorities.

3 on Thrusday

So far April has been a true delight-while it is still cool in the mornings the afternoon and evenings have been sunny and just warm enough to allow for an after work walk without sweating!

3 Things I'm enjoying right now-

Tulips on my walks-several islands have them blooming and the colors have been exquisite.  I'm inspired to plant some for our yard next year.

 I started on my Very Hungry Caterpillar Quilt on Sunday-it felt good to get back to the sewing machine.  I'm getting used to working in this space which can be a little tight at times with the ironing board, extra large cutting mat etc.

Getting around the house projects completed and boxes unpacked.  Now that the curios are out of storage and in place I have been able to get several crates emptied and moved to the unfinished area of the basement.  The final project is to get family photos on the walls and a few I'd like to have on the end tables and buffet.  However, before that happens I gotta get my packing list together for our girls weekend to Beaufort, SC.  So far, I'm totally in love with April.

Weekending when Spring has Sprung

Boy did we luck up with the weather this weekend.  We knew it was going to be nice, but wow we were blessed with the most perfect spring weather.

There were 2 bikes rides, several walks, a beer festival, a play, delicious food, and dinner en plein air!
I ended up grabbing all the achievements on my Apple watch as well, so I felt NO guilt indulging.  It was bing-ing left and right!  There were 8.37 miles purposesly walked, 30.85 miles cycled, 18.36 total miles 29 standing hours, and 44,214 total steps.

The beef festival was a lot of fun and it benefits a local charity- Star House-FTW

Pimento cheese fritters-yea-they were that good- we also had short rib tacos that were pretty amazing too.

I finally found the exact haircut I've been looking-she was very kind to pose so I could get a photo of the front-I sorta stalked her for the other 2!  So cute!

There were 2 great bands-and this guy was definitely channeling his inner Sir Elton!

In addition to cycling and walking, Sunday featured a matinee at the Stage Door Players- Secret Life of a Soccer Mom, we weren't sure what to expect, but it was actually pretty good.

 We had an early dinner and what's becoming a frequent stop for us- Local on North.  

I had the trout which was supposed to be blackened, but was spicy at all-but completely delicious! Steve had the Local Salad with seared tuna-he was quite please with his selection.  Needless to say by the time Sunday evening rolled around we were pretty wiped out.  I managed to get some knitting done, and I'm almost finished with Chittenden.  Our storage unit is finally empty of what we're keeping, and I'm looking forward to getting the curio cabinets and grandfather clock in place so I can at last get the last few crates unpacked.  I know every weekend won't be like this, but it sure was fun.  Happy Monday.

Weekending-Walking Down Memory Lane

After some minor adjustments the anticipated 3 day weekend turned out to be a 4 day weekend which almost feels like a full week off from work!  Friday I already had plans for my Mom to come to our house for the weekend, and when she had to go to a follow up doctor's appointment I was able to schedule it so that we could come straight back to our house and get the weekend started early AND avoid Friday afternoon traffic!

Friday evening my friend Kim came over for cocktails and snacks and of course there was lots of reminiscing about Roswell back in the day.  She found a homework assignment of mine from 2nd grade-turns out I had not done my homework, nor did I have any paper so I did mine on the back of hers!  Oh boy, was I a terrible speller and my hand writing was awful.  Still, it was so cool that she found it and that her mom had saved it since 1975!  We weren't able to do our regular walking time this weekend, and the weather was forecasted to be just too yucky.  Saturday I cooked breakfast and we spent the late morning watching the recorded Westminster Dog Show.  I still have some watching to do, but Mom and I both enjoyed seeing the agility competition-there were some very fast dogs!  Late afternoon was spent getting my hair cut and colored-a 3 1/2 hours later and it was dinner time, some TV and then bed.  I did manage to finish my Essex capelet so now I'm ready for my other projects I've been waiting to cast on.

Sunday we were fortunate to put together an impromptu family reunion.  Lately it seems like we only see family when there is a funeral, so we are doing what we can to get together more regularly just for fun.  In December I visited with 2 of my cousins and an aunt [Sandra, Marcia and Aunt Betty]  Since I knew Mom would be over I was hoping we could get all the ladies together.  Seated are 2 of my Dad's sisters Betty [one, the baby, lives in California, but will  be here in July], my Mom is in the middle and my the sister born after my Dad, Rena, is on the far right.  My Dad was one of 5 and both he and my uncle have since passed away leaving just the girls.  My dad was married 4 times and the sisters always said they liked my mom the best, and they have always been very good to her. 

The next generation is standing behind the mothers, and the young lady on the far left is the daughter of my cousin Marcia-standing next to her sister Sandra, and then Sandra's grand daughter.  Carrie the "baby" of the family is with her mom on the far right.  Marcia is 10 years older than me and was my babysitter when I was little-she was the best!  I loved playing with her very long very straight hair, and she is credited with piercing my ears when I was 8 and she was a nursing student.  We talked about the "Big House" that still stands on Atlanta St, and where my great grandmother grew up and worked.  Turns out she lived in the mill village and later worked at the Roswell mill and the Oxbo Pants Factory, so she spent all of her 103 years in Roswell!  Makes me wish I would have asked her about Roswell back in the day; as a kid we weren't really taught to appreciate the history that the older generation could pass on.  I also learned that my grand parents had moved to downtown Atlanta in the early 30s where my aunt and uncle were born, and eventually moving back to live with my great grandmother at which point my dad and the next 2 girls were born.  It was truly a great time to bring 4 generations together and we hope to do so again soon even if it means we can't all get together. 

So the rest of the "weekend" will be spent running errands, a long walk with the D-O-G and meeting up with Mary's knitting group and getting my breakfast and lunch for the rest of the work week prepared.  We also ordered a piece of furniture that will be delivered on Wednesday-can't wait!  I need to blog about that and the swords and plates that are now put up.  Maybe I'll tidy up and do a photo journal of the house now that we are more settled in- Happy Monday and those of you with glorious weather today-I AM envious!

Weekending

So a fun filled weekend despite the less than cheerful weather!  Getting caught up on blogs-I have to set a timer so I don't forget there are other things to do.

Kim and I met up at the Smith Plantation to see an open hearth cooking demonstration.  The daffodils were glorious throughout the property.

Clarissa and Misha did a great job explaining how cooks used an open fire and what slave life was like in this area of Georgia.

The house on the Smith property was very different than the other founding fathers of Roswell as were the occupants.  Very serious, non-frivilous non non-sense kinda people.  The house was occupied by its owners when I was a kid so it was neat to finally go inside and learn more about the family.

Sunday afternoon was a matinee at the Stage Door Players- Last Night of Ballyhoo with Polly, Ron and Kare.  This play was set in the Buckhead [north Atlanta] area during the late 1930s. It was quite entertaining, but also has some poignant moments as it dealt with the discrimination amongst the Jewish sects in Atlanta.  The performance was excellent and is based on play by Alfred Uhry who also wrote Driving Miss Daisy.  This was followed by dinner at one of our favorite restaurants Novo Cucino-such a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon/evening.

Looking forward to more family time next weekend when my Mom comes to stay for a few days and we'll be getting together with some of my cousins and 2 of my dad's sisters.  Happy Monday y'all.

Three on Thursday-Totally Random

Today was GLORIOUS-it was definitely a top down drive home from work with temps in the high 70s in early February!  I immediately changed and headed out for a walk when I got home.  By the end of my walk Canton Street was crowded with folks who decided to take advantage of the great weather since so many of the restaurants have outdoor seating.

Tomorrow if Friday-I have some fun things planned this weekend which include an open hearth cooking demonstration at the Smith Plantation on Saturday morning.  Sunday is another production from the Stage Door Players and dinner.  Since all my chores are done I'm hoping for some knitting, embroidery and making headway on the rest of the fabric cutting that I've let fall by the way side.

I have swatched for 2 sweaters and I'm nearly finished with my Essex capelet.  I plan to knit Mountain High by Keidi Kirrmaier out of come lovely Madeline Tosh Eyre in Cove that Mary gave me, and I'm repurposing some Swans Island Worsted to knit Chittenden.  Both pullovers and both I probably won't be able to wear until the fall, but that is OKAY.

Amaryllis Watch 2019

I thought about waiting a full month for posting the progress, but these things are growing like CRAZY!  This is last year's amaryllis on January 9th.

This year's plant on the same date.

I've been moving them around since we've had some very gray days so as to ensure they get enough sunlight.  Looks like I might be doing something right!

They are doing great-this was a photo from yesterday and I can't wait to see how the flowers look and I'll be getting out the taller stakes out soon.

Tiny Moment Tuesday

Channeling my inner 3 year old with real cheese toast and apples for breakfast.  Ignore the jumbo coffee cup!

Sometimes Monday

finds me reflecting on time well spent.  Last weekend was a long weekend for me and it got started with a 3pm dismissal from work.  What a great way to end a Friday and start the weekend.  Steve and I had plans with Karen, Ron and Polly that evening, so we met for dinner at a new for me restaurant Local on North and then we went to a theatre production that was a play on the screenplay writing of Gone with the Wind.  The food, company and the play were fantastic.  Saturday included a visit with my Mom, and while the weather was crummy we enjoyed a delicious quiche [thank you Costco] and 2 very cheesy movies on the Hallmark channel - I had time for get some knitting done while she worked on her embroidery.  Simple, easy and no make up required!  Sunday Kim and I were able to get together for lunch an more catching up.  We met up at a restaurant that has been transformed over the years; it was a Burger Chef back in our day.  If you click on the links you can tell that the building hasn't changed at all.  I also got a chance to see her very cute home which I have clocked at 1/2 mile door to door!  Monday my friend Brenda came over, I have't seen her since August and this was also the first time she has had a chance to see our new place.  It was great catching up with her and I know with her daughter getting ready to graduate from college in just a couple months she is going to be very busy.  Sophie and I managed an exploratory walk on Monday, and then come Tuesday work proved to be pretty hectic, and since I had to take a day and a half off for doctor appointments I ended up working over the weekend so as not to get too far behind-this is not the time of year for that!

 This weekend I managed to begin cutting the fabrics for my very hungry caterpriller quilt.  I'm doing much better with my cutting, but did manage to mess up on a couple strips, but I think I can get those sorted without too much trouble.

Sophie and I walked on Saturday and Kim joined us on Sunday and we had a great time reminiscing about where our early years were spent.  We should have taken a selfie in front of our old elementary school-next time!  We stopped at Roswell Provisions for a quick breakfast and since this isn't a real restaurant Sophie could come inside!  We will definitely make this place a regular stop on our weekend walks.  It feels very satisfying to balance out time spent with family, friends, outside and getting things done.  With the pending inclement weather I find myself with an unexpected day off-mmmm I wonder what I can get accomplished!

Crafting Plans 2019

Here's a aerial view of my sewing plans.  I managed to collect a couple kits several years ago, so I plan to start with those since I already have the fabrics.  I have learned that my best approach to quilting should be like my knitting-find a pattern first [except sock yarn] and go from there.  I am much more successful tackling projects this way.  Brenda is coming over next week, so I hope to she'll be able to help me with a few things.  She's been quilting and sewing for a long time, and has even designed some patterns, as well as, design work for Jacquelynne Steves -she is so very talented!

Plans include:
1. A Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt-I have just over half of the required fabrics and I did an on-line order for the rest and hopefully that will arrive by next week.
2. I found a skirt pattern I had bought a long time ago.  I hope Brenda will help measure me and between her and Mary I think I should be able to make at least 3 of these skirts.  Perfect for warm weather.
3.  A Christmas Tree Wall hanging
4. A table topper for my kitchen table [the red poppy fabric]
5. A small quilt using the jelly roll fabric
6. A larger quilt using the green and yellow fabric-I had all the fabric required for this quilt.-it's just a matter of starting it.  I have another complete kit in my stash that I'll save for another time.
7.  Another Christmas project using a panel and coordinating fabrics that I bought forever-ago.

I've also got a cross-stitch project I want to do-it requires a linen fabric, but I can't see the holes very well so I'm going to start over and use Aida 14 count and see how that goes.

I'm inspired by Carole's post about small seasonal goals, so while my list may seem exhaustive I think if I work on things slowly and with purpose I'll be able to get these projects to the point I want them by the end of the year and hopefully sprinkle in other small projects here and there.  I figure if I have my plan, materials, and tools that's half the battle.  I'm going to start by cutting the pieces I need for each project, label them and keep them handy so I can pick up a project and make progress depending on how much time.  One thing I really need to do is to improve my cutting skills.  Once my  new mat arrives I'll begin that process.  I can take the cutting to work as we have several long tables that'll make this job a lot easier.

I would dearly love to deplete my knitting and fabric stash substantially this year, and have completed projects as an end result.  I need to stick with projects that are at my skill level [maaayyyybe a little bit of stretching of those skills] as I'd rather do a few projects that are great than a bunch that are okay, or I'm not really happy with-so we'll see how all that goes-stay tuned

Weekending Times 2

I had ever intention of blogging about last weekend, well last weekend-then this week was upon me and now it is Sunday evening.  I am very pleased that much has been accomplished here at Maison Sheffield in the last 9 days and that it wasn't all work and no play.  I took 2.5 days off from work which would explain my ability to get so much done.  I made 4 trips to our storage unit between Sunday and Thursday as I've been determined to get it cleared out.  I am happy to report that all that is left in the unit is a table saw, a dining room table/chairs/china cabinet, 3 curios/cabinets a piano bench, a grandfather clock, and my great-grandmother's rocking chair.  Unfortunately, I think we are going to have to part with the curios/cabinets as the space we have in the house needs to be reserved for functional furniture-well really just one piece-this one from West Elm I'm hoping we'll add so we have more storage and serving area.  We have decided where the clock and piano bench will go, but nothing so far for the rocking chair.  I also managed to unpack ALL THE BOOKS that I've had in storage and while I got rid of quite a few in our moves the ones remaining have sentimental value-maybe I should mention ALL THE PHOTO ALBUMS that I have as well.  Needless to say those aren't going anywhere.  My next approach is to sort through things that were PJ's-that's going to be a tough chore, but will need to be done [in due time], and Andrew's childhood stuff needs to be organized too.  I want to have things arranged so that it will be easy for him when he decides what he wants to keep.  We have to space to store it so I'm not worried about it leaving the house anytime soon.  We got our swords and Italian pottery plates out as well, and so we're hoping those get put up soon.  That's worth another blog post as these items are hundreds of years old and I know once they are on the wall that'll mean we are settled/settled in our new digs.  Also, the swords require some thought and engineering so it's not a job you rush through. 

How about this fire?! Since we have an old school fireplace I don't ask for one of these unless the weather really calls for it which it did on Saturday!  We plan to hang the swords over the mantle-and photo of their installation will definitely make it on the blog.

As I said the last several days have not been all work, oh no, on Wednesday I went to the High Museum with Polly, Mary and Karen and saw a new to me artist and it was quite the experience.  Since Mary did a great job I'll take the easy route and link to her blog post ;-).  I honestly will never look at polka dots the same way again! 

On Thursday I had to make a quick trip to help my Mom and decided to go to the Frederick Remington Exhibit at the Booth Museum in [little bitty] Cartersville, Ga.  I'm so glad I did, I wish they'd have allowed no-flash photography, but alas I only have my memories.  I learned so much about this artist and I'd love to go visit his museum/home in NY-road trip anyone?!  This museum is truly a hidden gem.  Also on display [temporarily] were photographs by Bob Kolbrener and landscape paintings by Scott Christensen and Quang Ho.  I need to keep this museum on my radar so I don't have to rush to see the next exhibit.

Today I had plans to FINALLY sit down at my sewing machine and work on the quilting portion of the the only quilt that has a finished top and backing.  I've decided that the other quilt tops that I've done will be quilted by someone with better skills than I have as they are large and I don't do well with them.  They are neatly folded waiting for me to get backing, batting and schedule a time to drop them off with a quilter I learned about nearby. 

But alas----when I went to do a little practicing to make sure the machine was in working order I discovered that the feed dogs aren't doing their job?! Ugh!  I reached out to my friend Brenda who guided me by text and phone on what might be the problem, but to no avail Helga is going to have to go to the shop.  The last time my machine was serviced was in 2014-what?!  To be fair I've used it very little since then, but I need to make sure she gets in more frequently to be serviced.  I spent the rest of the afternoon organizing my sewing/quilting books and patterns.  Many of these books have been in storage and I'm so glad I have them out now for reference.  I did go through many of the kits and such that I've collected and I have a quilting game plan for this year.  I'll feature those plans in a separate blog post.  I'm feeling very inspired and since I have so many friends who are happy to guide me along I think my sewing/quilting for 2019 is going to be very satisfying.

On an unrelated topic-here's the yarn that Andrew gave me for Christmas-lovely sock yarn from Dragonfly Fibers he got at the LYS Looped Yarns in DC which we visited when I went up there last year-[Pajamas (L) and Big Apple (R)]-what a good lad!  Now to decide what to knit with these. . .

As the weekend comes to a close I'm looking forward to another glass of wine, some on-line shopping and hopefully another episode of Outlander-nearly done with the current season.  Jamie has certainly grown on me- Claire is starting to, but I'm not sure about Brianna-we shall see.  Here's to another good week of good things.

Hello 2019 and Hello to a very old friend

I got an unusual text early Monday morning basically asking me to confirm my identify by someone claiming to be an "old friend".  Needless to say I was a bit suspicious.  I responded that they had the correct person and then wanted to confirm where I lived- hmmm now it was getting more suspicious and the text-er wanted to stop by if I was free?!  Problem with that was that Steve and I were getting ready to leave for a party, so I asked him how I should respond.  Do I say we're not going to be home in case this was a scam?  I had the person confirm "Kim's" last name from when I knew her, and then it was like OMG turns out it was my friend from elementary school.  So plans were made for her to come by the house today, and we did a LOT of catching up. 

We haven't been in touch for at least 25 years, and it was great seeing her again.  I dug out some old photos and apparently we were in the same 1st, 2nd and 4th  grade classes.  I moved from Roswell about half way into my 4th grade year.  I've tried to find Kim's whereabouts over the years, but last time I saw here she had married a naval guy and I had helped her move to Maryland, but couldn't remember her last name.  I also couldn't remember the names of her parents or siblings and even the high school's Facebook page did not provide any information.  It would appear that we both like to cycle and making things.  She was always a great sewer and crafty-probably from her Girl Scout days, and her Mom was very accomplished as well.  We still have a ton in common and since she lives less than a 1/2 mile away; we're hoping to see each other more often.  I think this was the perfect way to start the new year- new starts and a new/old friend.

 This is us in 1977-"nice" outfit amiright?! I was rocking the bob look before it was a fashionable, and yes, my hair was actually very red-ish when I was a kid.  So my transition to a red head is not that far off.

So here we are almost 42 years later and I'm so looking forward to nurturing this relationship.