Social Butterfly Friday

 Friday 9/24 was a busy day. I got up, got dressed and headed to Calvert to meet up my friend Linda from Linda's Life Journal.  Check out her blog if you haven't. She does a lot of cool things and is a talented artist. We meet over 10 years ago at a crawfish party and have been friends ever since. Her daughter's husband and mine used to work together back in Katy.  

I stole this picture of her that Sherry took. She's so photogenetic.
Anyway Friday was her birthday and after her visit to our place in August she decided we needed to meet up again for her birthday. Worked for me. We met at Farmers to Market Coffee shop which was great because I wanted to buy another bag of the Calvert Crack Coffee but OH NO! they were out! I ended up buying a bag of Mexican Canalli. Hope I like it.

Linda's daughter in law Sherry came too. Really enjoyed the company of both of these ladies. These two tend bees, all kinds of critters, garden whatever else on Sherry and her husband Dean's ranch. Found that she is too is a quilter. Probably better than me too. 

After we finished our drinks we started shopping.

Our first shop was Under the Chandelier next to the coffee shop. They have some really pretty jewelry pieces. Linda made her purchase and on to the Purple Pig Antiques next door. The lady in there has all kinds of cool stuff. 

I found something I couldn't live without. A very old quilt. 

I have plans for it. Just have to figure out how to make it happen. LOL. Linda found a couple things. In fact she found a denim jacket with some bling that looked to be in great shape. She's always finding the really good, and cool stuff. We nosed through the next antique store called ..ahh I forgot and can't find my receipt. Anyway as I started to walk thru I saw a wine rack. mmm a much needed wine rack. After mine and David's trip my wine bottles over floweth the built in and my cabinet. LOL. That wine rack came home with me and is now full of wine on top of my pantry fridge. Next door to this store was an open court yard that the gentleman that owns the store own this property and the next building he's fixing to open up. Well the open court yard provided us some photo opt moments.

We are all intrigued by the gecko hiding in the flowers. LOL. 

Linda is the energizer bunny. She's always doing something. I hope I look half as good as she does at 73. I for sure don't have the energy she has.  Our next stop is at the Cast Iron Bistro. They have yummy food. We were getting hungry. Just before our food arrived I looked up and here comes my daughter with 2 friends from Bryan. They came up to the Coffee shop and the winery in town. She had texted me earlier to see what I was up too and told her I was in Calvert with Linda. I told her she needed to come see me at the Cast Iron and she did. She was sweet enough to take a picture of Sherry, Linda and I. When the food arrived the girls took off but not before Pamela snuck a bite of the fried goat cheese ball on my Ocean Goat Salad.

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Linda ordered Toast Cheese. (a grilled cheese sandwich with extra umpf) and Sherry ordered the Shrimp and Cheesy Grits

Everything was so good and lots of it. I left them in Calvert and I had to head home. David and I were going to be meeting friends later and wanted to hit the Antique Rose Emporium. 

On my way home I snapped a couple pictures of the cotton fields that are about to be harvested. As you drive towards them that look like the snow has fallen. My picture doesn't do it justice but trust me it does look like it snowed. 

I get home and David isn't ready to leave right yet so I actually had time to sneak in a quick nap.  Awwww.

Love the Antique Rose Emporium. All the roses and the color. David wants to make a bed like this in our yard but he says he needs to figure out where it'll go best.

Had time for a selfie. 

While David went inside to pay I stayed outside to play with the kitties. This one was lazing out on a pallet of potted pots. And then I caught her stretching and yawning. She looks mad and mean but she wasn't.    LOL

Larry called and said they were a tad lost but would be at the Independence General Store shortly. David loaded up the roses he bought and we headed down the road. We all arrived at the same time. Friday night menu at the store was Fried catfish and hamburgers. We all wanted Catfish. We grabbed a couple of beers and headed to the back to their deck that over looks a pasture of goats, maybe a chicken or two and at least 1 cow. It was a great evening to sit outside.

Back a few weeks ago I gave Sylvia a quilt I made along with a partial care package post breast surgery. I found this list recently on a site called Sparkles of Sunshine which I'll share with you in case you know someone fighting breast cancer.

1.   Throat Drops-During surgery, a tube is inserted down the throat for anesthesia.  This can make the throat dry and sore, and throat drops can really help soothe the irritation.  These Luden’s Wild Cherry Sugar Free Throat Drops worked great.

2.   Lip Balm-Chapped lips is another side effect from surgery, so a good lip balm is a must.

3.   Cleansing Wipes-It will be awhile before she can take a shower, and cleansing wipes can help her feel clean and fresh during this time.  These Yes to Coconut Cleansing Wipes are a great option and smell so good!

4.   Dry Shampoo-Since showering is off limits for awhile, dry shampoo can really help her feel cleaner. I’ve tried many brands, but Suave Keratin Infusion Dry Shampoo is still my favorite.

5.   Neck Pillow-She may have to sleep on her back or sitting up for awhile, and a neck pillow will support her neck and prevent any neck pain. This neck pillow is super cute, and comes in many different colors!

6.   Bendable Straws-She will need to stay hydrated, and these will help her drink liquids while resting in bed.

7.   Slipper Socks-These will come in handy in the hospital, keeping her feet warm and keeping her from slipping while walking on the bare floors.  She’ll enjoy these at home, too!

8.   Button up Shirts-Button up shirts will be needed since she may have trouble lifting her arms above her head after surgery.  This will help her get dressed much easier.  You can also buy stretchable tanks/tees that can be stepped into and slipped up the body.  I found my mom some great stretchable tanks at Kmart on clearance that worked like a charm!

9.   Small pillows that fit under the arm-Small pillows are a must have item, to help prop up the arms to relieve pain and discomfort.  We were very fortunate that a wonderful group of ladies in our area make and donate special pillows for this purpose to the hospital to be given to breast cancer patients.  These were a huge blessing to her!

10.Magazines/Books-Like any surgery, there will be a period of recovery time and she’ll need to rest.  Magazines and books are a great way to help pass time as she recovers.

I didn't manage to get everything on the above list but I made a dent in it. The items in pink I got. And here's the pillows and seat belt cover I made for her with Aggie fabric. 

Our yummy catfish arrived and we ate it up. Well actually I had to share some of mine with David.  I couldn't eat it all. We sat out there on the deck until the darn mosquitos started nipping at us so we went inside so the guys could finish their beer while Sylvia and I talked. Us girls were getting tired and she needed to get her feet up so it was time to head home. It was a perfect place to meet. We both drove and equal distance. Good food, Great friends, good conversation and a beer or two. What more could you ask for.

Until next blog....Friendships are sewn one stitch at a time.

A Quilt that wouldn't be nice.

Just FYI if when reading my blog for those who didn't realize this...If you see a location or place in bold, underlined and/or highlighted you can click on it and it will take you to the link for that place/location to read more about the place/location. Someone was asking why some words were special like that.  Now you know if you didn't already.

9/11 Our herd of 20 just grew to 21.  Momma actually allowed David to get close but not too close.

This little baby deserves the name of Freedom in honor of 9-11. Baby calves are so cute. Jerry came over to check out the new baby. Momma wasn't sure she was happy about that but all was good.

  

Sometimes Jerry is ornery and likes to separate the Momma and Baby for grins but today he behaved.

On 9/15 The pups had a grooming appointment which usually means I have a day to waste in Bryan so I hang with Pamela all day. Today we decided to try a new place to eat lunch. The Franklin Deli in Franklin. Would you look at the size of that sandwich. I was only able to eat half. I boxed up the other half for lunch another day. It was really tasty though. The left over half was good too the next day.

So have you ever had a easy quilt turn into the quilt from hell? Okay so it wasn't maybe that bad but it was so frustrating. I'm making a quilt for me using fabric with bluebonnets/wildflowers. First I made a poor choice of placement. I placed a white background block inside a white square. 

What was I thinking!  I had to rip it out and replace with a different fabric and re-sew the column. Some how I had sewn the column wrong, like in a loop and had to start over. But at least now the new fabric stands out and it looks better.  Hard to explain what exactly I did it but made it difficult.  

In that same column I managed to flip the triangle blocks wrong. This pattern is called a square in a square. Well if you look at the area I circled you should be able to see the problem. The Bluebonnet square was supposed to be in a white square but I flipped the triangle block around so that it had two white sides and a green one that should have been white.. 

Ripped it out and did it again on the next to last row. Grrrr.  So I ripped out most of the row then the bad block. Then I flipped the block the right direction and sewed the row back. 

The best one was the last row.... I sewed the whole row upside down.  Some of the fabrics were directional. So again I had to rip out the whole row, flip it around and sew it up again. But I am finally done with all the blocks. 

I only had to duplicate 3-4  fabrics.  I tried to make every square a different fabric but I couldn't find any new bluebonnet fabric prints. I am finally done, YAY.  All that's left is to add a couple borders and it will be ready for the quilter.  Lilley obviously approved. 

Bri and Sophie came to stay with us while Pamela hung out in Houston. I cracked up laughing because everywhere David went they were right behind him like little ducks. They love their furless Gramps. LOL

Saturday 9/18 David and I went to the Gause Volunteer FD fish fry and it was good. Good thing we got there when we did because they ran out right a few minutes later.. Well they ran out of fish but they were still cooking fries. LOL.

Then we ran down the road to 4C Brew Barn for a drink and a visit. Besides Vernon and Melissa we always meet some really nice people that come in to eat or have a drink.   David got his usual, a Bock and I got their frozen drink that started off as orange-cicle flavor but as it ran out they added different flavors, like strawberry, pineapple and whatever else they could find. It was good so I wasn't complaining. That's Vernon in the background of the drink.

We came home after hanging out at 4C. When David went out to feed Lilley he stuck his head back in the door and hollered at me to come take a picture of this moth. It's camouflaged with hints of pink and gold. Pretty cool lookin.

When it got dark we went out and sat on the front porch with the big full moon. The evening was very pleasant to sit outside until the mosquitos showed up. Dang it.

Monday 9/20 David went out to open the gates and to his surprise there was a new calf. This makes 7 this year. Our herd is now at 22. That's way more cows than we need. Now this Momma #7 wasn't so pleased with David walking around taking pictures of her baby calf. 

She  had finally had enough and charged him. He got out of the way real fast. Maybe it's name should be Seven.   Seventh Calf of Momma tag#7.  LOL

On Tuesday 9/21 I had a doctors appointment down in the Woodlands so I called Joe and told him I would be down so why don't he take advantage and go run errands while I stayed with Mom. I got there at 10 and didn't have to leave until 1:30. I believe he appreciated the break by all means. He got Mom up and dressed and when she walked in the room I waved and said "Hi Momma". She goes what are you doing down here so early.  LOL. She was having a good moment. 

Next she asked me 3 times in a row where I lived but that's okay. We played on my phone using snapchat filters and sent a message to Pamela then David saying 'Hi'. She thought that was funny. Pamela sent us this picture back. LOL. She had to work or she would have been with me.  Mom thought this was hilarious.  Then I took a selfie of us. It came out good. She had a big ole grin. 

I'm gonna end on this happy note. Tomorrow will bring new adventures.

Until my next post...I love my mother as the trees love water and sunshine - she helps me grow, prosper, and reach great heights. ~Adabella Radici

More fun and wine with my man

 Saturday (9/4) continued....

David was surprised at how much time you could spend at these wineries with tastings and the conversation. I know I have enjoyed our time and it's nice to see him relax and enjoy the journey. 

Today we headed to the small town of Van, TX to see a small Oil Museum there. No tour last the one in Kilgore but it has some cool things outside and inside. The young lady manning the place was very pleasant and while David looked outside at things I didn't totally know what they were she showed me some displays inside. 

One of the pictures I was looking at she told me was the original school house opened in 1916 with 95 students. The Professor, his wife, children and 4 teachers lived in the building until 1928 when it was destroyed by fire. No excuse for being late if you live where you work. The picture was of the of the rebuilt school on the same site. With the discovery of oil on the school property and surrounding areas the life of the community and the school.  Even today the royalities from the oil pay for all school supplies and lunches for the students. 

The school house are now used for storage and admin, faculty if I understood right. Overall the trip to Van was interesting. I should have pulled my sun glasses down. Not sure why I didn't. Dummy.  We left the museum and went to look for something to eat.  

We ended up in Ben Wheeler, TX at the Moore General Store and Restaurant. This is also a place where Max and Heather Stallings play. Their one of our favorite Texas Country artist.

Always wondered where this place was. 

Cool wall in Ben Wheeler. David walked down the street to see what he could see. He came back telling me to come on that there was a winery a few buildings down.   Alrighty. I'm always game for wine.

It was a cute boutique and wine bar. The owner was really nice. I can't remember her name but we sat there for about an hour, talking, tasting and having a glass of wine. Well David ended up with a wine slushy. It was pretty tasty but I preferred wine. 

Vintage Cork 917 

From here we headed on to The Lavender Mermaid Bed & Breakfast.  We were in the SunFlower Cottage. It had a mermaid theme and I found 1 sunflower picture but lots of mermaids around. This was our place for the next couple of nights.

David needed to stretch out for a bit. LOL On the night stand I found 2 chocolates for us to enjoy that was homemade. They were very tasty.   The front porch had bright yellow chairs to relax in. David sat out there in the mornings while he drank his coffee. I sat out there our last morning with him.

 This was our view off the porch. Never saw any wildlife. We could hear music from a neighboring house but that's it.

After freshening up we decided to run into the big town of Pittsburg for dinner.  David had found a Mexican food restaurant for us to eat. We drive up and this woman is standing out front smoking and looking like she'd lost her best friend. As we get out of the car she tells David that her Chef had walked out a couple hours earlier and the staff and one other cook was trying to prepare food and get it served but one customer has been waiting an hour.  She then said we might want to find somewhere else to eat.  Poor Lady.  We left there and went to our 2nd choice for dinner at the Anvil Restaurant & Brewhouse.  We ordered burgers I think. I've managed to forget. The food was good. I had to take a picture of the menu. Check out the 2nd appetizer.  "Redneck Cheese Board"

David started laughing and made a comment to the waitress about it but she didn't seem to understand why he thought it was so funny. Ooops. 

I guess we didn't offend her to bad because she checked on us often.

Each morning between 8-9 we'd get a knock on the door and we'd find this big yellow lunch box cooler. Inside was the menu and breakfast.

 

The next morning was a similar menu.

David took me to one of the quilt shops I found in Tyler on Saturday called A Nimble Thimble. I should have taken a picture of all the eye candy.  So much fun fabric to touch and admire. I bought some T-towel fabric and a white layer cake. For my non-quilters a Layer cake is 42 - 10" squares. But there was lots more I could have bought had my quilting budget allowed. LOL

Then David found a place for us to go have a drink. He was thinking it was a craft beer place but it ended up being a local sports bar. It was nice but I can not remember the name of it.

 

I wasn't really taking a picture of David but. I was trying to get a picture of the two guys past him.  Sitting at the bar with their masks on. They had food and beer. They'd lift their mask up quickly and take a drink or a bite. I don't remember exactly where we were. 

 Sunday after our breakfast we went driving around. We drove to a winery that was further out called Enoch's but when we got there the tasting room was closed. We walked over to the restaurant that some yummy smells coming from it and asked about tasting wine. Apparently the tasting room had closed last April and hadn't reopened due to Covid.  They let us have a seat in the restaurant to have a glass of wine. Our waiter came over after we ordered a glass and just learned that we wanted to do a tasting and he was willing to do that for us but we said it's okay.  The wine we chose to drink was tasty. While enjoying our wine we ordered an appetizer of Crab cakes. Those things were so darn good. All the food we saw being served looked so juicy and good. 

Beautiful grounds. I want to come back for food one time and enjoy some wine on the patio when it's cooler. This was the tasting room area. Maybe next time.

We keep taking pictures where we have to look into the sun. 

     

Next we head to Los Pino's which is right around the corner from our cottage. They've opened up one in Fredericksburg now but it was nice going to this one. It wasn't crowded.

David is giving me the evil eye since I'm including him in the picture. LOL

We really enjoyed our time here. Nicole took care of us and made sure we found a wine we liked. Like that is a problem for us. She was a sweetheart.

They even have a restaurant there that we want to go back and try. She poured me a off dry Blanc du Bois and told me to taste it the she combine the off dry and the dry Blanc du Bois and told me to try it now. Wow! It was good. More wine went to the car. LOL 

This is the drive into the Bed & Breakfast. If it hadn't been for the sign on the road we might have thought Siri was taking on a wild goose chase.

Our next stop was dinner at Vaugh's on Lake Bob Sandlin. Even though it's Labor Day weekend the lake was crowded. So when we sit down at the table the waitress came right over and took our drink order. When she came out with the drinks she sat down a bowl of cole slaw, hushpuppies, and beans. We're like we haven't even ordered food yet and she goes that this is comes no matter what you order. It was all very good and we ordered the special of shrimp and fish.  I was so full.

Before leaving we took a picture with the lake in the background.

Monday 9/6 came to fast. Our trip is about to come to an end. Noooo!

As we were loading the car I took a couple pictures of the grounds. Of course The Lavender Mermaid B&B had a mermaid fountain.

Oh and remember I told you I'd share a picture of the quilt for our great nephew Parker. Well here it is. The pattern is called Roman Holiday from a book "Quick as a Wink 3 yard Quilts" by Donna Robertson. To make the front you need 3 - 1 yard cuts. It measures about 44x62. I added an inter brown border that the pattern didn't call for.  You'll need 3 1/2 yards for whatever you use for the backing if fabric is 44/45" wide or 2 yards if using the 108" wide fabric. I love this pattern. It's goes together quickly and it's a nice size.

     

My quilter Donna @Donna's Lavender Nest used the Woodland creature quilt motif. You can see the deer, bear and tree.

Time to head home but I made a slight detour to Quitman, TX first. On our last two trips David has helped me look for quilt shops for me to stop at while we travel around. I've followed this quilt shop on facebook for a long time and I definitely wanted to visit and David said sure plug it into the map.

Here I am at Stitchin' Heaven. Yahoo! So So much color and pretty fabric etc.....

The famous cow you always see when Stitchin' Heaven is around.

 

In the same parking lot was this big beautiful white building with small houses in the same big parking lot as the quilt shop. Come to find out it's their new retreat center with flow over cottages. Or you can rent one of the cottages separately.  This is now on my bucket list of places to go retreat at.

So fun looking and the pictures of the inside on line look real nice.

On on route we took we had to go down..... Bunny Rabbit Road. LOL I wanna live on Bunny Rabbit Road.  And before we knew it we were back in Bryan at Pamela's house picking up our Lilley girl. Who probably thought we had abandoned her. I think this is the longest that both of us have been away from her.  She was happy to see us. 

So we get unloaded and I spread out our purchases. LOL. Now David sees how it happens when Pamela and I hit Fredericksburg. LOL

That's 21 bottles of wine, 1 bottle of bourbon and 4 cans of bubbly wine.

David did an awesome job planning and providing a wonderful Anniversary Trip.  Thank you so much David. Here's to another year of adventures. xoxo

That's it folks.

Until my next blog post...... 

  “On our anniversary, I want you to know how much I’ve enjoyed annoying you all this time & how excited I am to keep doing so in the future.”