Mother-Daughter & Book Club time

 So this year our Mother-Daughter time was not a trip to Fredericksburg and wine but more of a Staycation.  Maybe next year. 

For the first day of our Mother-Daughter time we met my friend and quilter Donna Lynn in Sealy for Lunch at Wolf Pack and a trip to the Wooden Spool quilt shop around the corner. Win win.  I had about 7+ quilts to hand off to Donna Lynn from me and the girls that were at retreat to get quilted. That should keep her busy for a little while. 

The idea was that Pamela and I would hit a couple of the wineries in the area but dang it they either weren't open on a Thursday or didn't open until 4. We both needed to be back in College Station by 5:30. 

So we found an alternate winery to check out. We went to a new place called Chapelton Vineyards outside Brenham. It's a beautiful place with a beautiful balcony patio upstairs for members only but the place is a bit pricey for our pocket book. We're not a doctor or a lawyer but we went ahead and had a tasting. The wines were good but unless you're a member that don't sell wine by the glass. You can buy the wine by the bottle but unless it's one on the tasting you won't know if it's to your taste buds. And we can't afford their wine bottles or club membership sorry.

We finished our tasting and needed to head home to get her back in time for the boys softball game and I had book club in Bryan. 

G3 is trying to have our book club meeting at least a couple times a year in Bryan to make it easier for one of our members who still works get there.  We met at Shipwreck to discuss our book by Frieda McFadden, The Intruder.  This book was written slightly different than all her others.  

You still don't know who the antagonist is until the end and there were a couple twists but the writing just seemed different. If you're triggered by child abuse and revenge this might be a book to avoid. Overall it was still a good book.  The big question was did the Mothers get what they deserved? Read and you decide.  We've been having a good turn out lately. There's 11 of us and 8 showed tonight.

Friday (4/10) was day two of the Mother-Daughter staycation.  We had 90 minute massages at 10:15am at Peace at Hand.

That was one of the best massages I had I think.  I didn't walk out afterwards with any tender spots from her working one spot too hard and I was totally relaxed. Pamela had the same experience with her masseuse. That started our morning off really nice.  Then we went to lunch at Marfa and split the Shrimp taco plate. Yummy.

From here we headed to 36 North Winery. We really like this winery. If you do a tasting you can pay $3 more and they'll pair your wine to a bite size dessert. And the owner is super sweet. Her sister is the baker for Sweet Jar Treats. Fair warning if you want a treat for later get them as soon as you decide what you want because if you wait they'll be sold out.

This was only a two day Mother-Daughter staycation but it was fun and we made memories. We didn't leave the winery until close to 6 and I had told David not to wait on me for supper.  Silly man waited until I got home to around 7:30.  He's such a sweetie.

On Monday (4/13) David and I spent quality time together.

We went to doctor appointments and with the intent to attend the boys softball game. So first stop was David's appointment where he got an all clear and no new bladder cancer.  Then we had time to kill before our appointment at the Eye Doctor. Which included lunch at Costco after shopping, a trip by HEB to see what new plants they might have, a trip to drop off Goodwill boxes and we still got to our appoint Early.  Hmm our eyes had some slight changes and we both ordered glasses before walking out. He was getting new ones and I was getting my first pair since I'd had lasik back in 2011. I'm tired of pulling my readers off and putting on sunglasses or just taking them off to see to walk. 

But no ball game. It was cancelled due to the fields and parking being so wet. They've had more rain in BCS than up in Gause. 

On our way home I got a text from Quilt Bee Organizer asking if I wanted to go on the Lori's shop hop on Wednesday that she planned, organized and was providing transportation for annddd I said Sure.

I almost said no but David said go and I couldn't say no then.

I'll share our fun shop hop on my next post..

Until then.. A wonderful thing about a book, in contrast to a computer screen, is that you can take it to bed with you.”  ~ Daniel J Boorstin

Quilting, Purse class, & Critters.....

So I finally got this quilt finished and in the mail.. I had been under a time crunch to finish a commissioned quilt so I didn't get this one finished until well after little Beckett was born and trying to work out a meet up with Momma Karina's busy schedule wasn't happening.  The quilt is big enough to last Beckett until he's 5 at least..  Of course no quilt goes together smoothly. There's always that one block goes together wrong. LOL  I've been know to rip out the error and then resew it back wrong again. but not this time. I could have left it as an Amish block. Rumor has it that they tend to miss sew at least one block in the quilt on purpose but I didn't do it.

Donna at Donna's Lavender Nest did the sweet Bee quilting theme.                                                                                                                                   I did have fun with the binding. Normally I make my bindings with a 2 1/2" strip but the pattern used 1 1/2". Holy cow that's small! But I got it done. Looks nice but wow it's small to work with.

I hope Beckett gets lots of cuddles and play time out of this quilt. The quilts I make are made to be used and abused by the recipient not saved for a special day. Just saying.

Wednesday (4/1) I went to a class to learn how to make a Mondo bag. It was a fun class given by Lori Vega. She's a quilter, jack of all trades, creative and she runs Vega Transportation. I used her for my daughters wedding.  

Okay back to our class. We kept her busy from 9am to 6pm. I don't think any of us expected to be there quite that long but we all went home with Mondo bag.. Some people really got into the
class. LOL. Judy provided the smiles. Some Our bags. Somehow I missed getting a picture of everyone's individual bag...

 

The class and teacher, Lori with our bags.

And my bag. I still need to topstitch to finish it but I keep carrying it as it is. Maybe later this week I'll finish it off.  

The wildlife around here seems to love our porches. This Momma Dove scared the heck out of me the other day when I walked out the front door. She flew out of the wine barrel planter and at the time I didn't know why but a couple days later she had eggs in the wine barrel. So she's nesting on the front porch..

We went to the back porch and had happy hour.  Had wine in birthday present. A big cup of wine if I were to fill it all the way up but I won't.

Meet Evie. She looks so regal laying in the bench.  It's like she's saying " I'm a princesses and 

I know it". She comes to supervise us ladies when we exercise and sometimes provides distractions with her lovies.  She belongs to Peggy's aunt who lives next door.

This will be a shorter post this time. Aren't you glad. LOL

Until next blog post.......Each new day is a blessing. Let go of all worries and be grateful for all the positive in your life.

Last Days @ Retreat, Sports and Sorority celebration

 Our last couple of days we worked hard on getting projects completed or closer to completion. Several of us ran to Meme's and All Around the Block Quilt shop for supplies. Like Rulers, Thread or of course Fabric. I needed fabric for a couple of tops I finished but still needed backing fabric

A couple of the quilt tops finished I won't share them until I decide where they'll be homed.  This top I'm keeping.  One day when I was in Sew Vac City  in College Station as I was about to walk out the door when I hear Carol, one of the sales gals saying it's an easy quick quilt. Really? Basically all you need is a striped fabric of different widths and it makes this cute quilt. After seeing how it works I look at striped fabric in a totally different way.  This fabric was in my stash so I used before cutting new fabric.  Of which might have already bought.  One fabric makes 2 different blocks. It's all about how you cut the fabric.

Got a quick selfie with Jane, Pat and Ellen. The cool blue, green and black quilt top is one Ellen completed while at retreat. I like the pattern.

 Debra took on a quilt pattern that I'm not sure I would have taken on. And she's questioning her decision.  Actually the pattern might not be the problem but the book it's in is.  The directions are a tad unclear but she's doing a great job and she's learning to adjust.  It's going to look great when she's done. Love the colors.

 Walked around and snapped a couple pictures of the girls sewing and more finishes. Denise worked a couple different tops and somehow I have no pictures of either. How did that happen?  Mmmm  And this is Ellen while she was working on the binding on one of the quilts in my previous post.

Jane completed her quilt top and was working on the backing.

And here's Pat with a few tops she finished off.  

Donna Marie is lucky she gets anything done because I'm always asking for her opinion and help. I worked with her at CyFair ISD.  

 Diana finished two tops. She had to make a couple of corrections using Jack the ripper (seam ripper). The error wasn't hers but she couldn't ignore it.  Long story.

It was a great retreat and very productive. Hidden Treasures is an awesome venue. It's spacious and the lighting is great. The owner Christi is a wonder to work with. Her husband and daughter came by each afternoon to pick up after our meals and chatted with us and her brother in law did all the cooking this time.  He's a pretty good cook! We didn't starve and enjoyed every bite.

While I was at retreat David was home digging trenches. He was trying to dig faster than the moles who kept coming behind him and filling in the trench. He won and got the water line in. He's gonna have running water in the little red shed eventually. Next he's got to get the sink he wants in.

The day I got home from retreat we went to Bryan for the boys T-ball game. This year outs count and the score the runs. Hard concept for some. The boys team is called the Hammerheads.  It's fun to see the progress from last season. Braxton is getting the hang of it and Killian is our lefty.

They play all positions right now. Eventually they'll learn which is their favorite and where the coach thinks they're best suited.  Killian does a pretty good 1st base and Braxton hustles when he's playing the pitcher so who knows. I believe the boys won. Both teams have some pretty good hitters and catchers for such a a young age.

Okay I know this is random but on my way home from exercise I saw this bull. He looks so handsome.  LOL. If I could have pulled up next to him he would have been as big as my Highlander or bigger actually. Yep like I said random. It's a country thing. LOL

So it was rodeo time at the Rock'n K again.  Our young neighbor Garrett and his friend Dillion came down to cut the tips of the horns off so maybe Jerry won't get hurt so bad if he antagonizes the cows again. And Little Butch was getting steered. It helps him to grow bigger and eventually he'll go to freezer camp only he wasn't having it. I missed catching the picture when Butch went through the barbed wire to get away from the boys and then when they released him he shot off and went through the barbed wire to the north pasture.  You can click Here and Here to see the videos.

  

Farm life can be a little rough at times. I should have taken a video of Jerry. He got so excited when he saw the horses. When they were in the trailer Jerry came up to the fence and smiled real big and bayed at them. It was funny. Jerry was in love with Garrett's horse. I don't think she was so enamored.  LOL

Time flies when we're having fun they say. Saturday 3/28 was my Sororities Founders Day Luncheon where they will celebrate 6 of us who have been a Phi Mu for 50 years. Wow. Someone made yummy cookies. Our lunch included a salad, Steak and/or chicken, garlic mashed and a veggie and dessert besides the cookies.

I didn't even think about how long I'd know some of my sorority sisters. Dang.

Raffle tickets were sold to raide for money for The Children's Miracle Network our philanthropy. There was some nice raffle ticket items on the table to choose from.

There was a nice turn out of ladies. 

While I've been running around David was working in the raised flower bed or AKA the bunny garden.

He was pulling up the weeds when this pile started moving. He jumped back thinking or crap it's a snake but instead it was cute little baby bunnies. There was 5-7 of them all huddled up together.
It's time to stop so I can go do another load of laundry and sew up another quilt.

Until next Blog.. Play nice with others except at fabric sales