What's Happening? Visits, family, Wine, Friends and Family

I was in Bryan running errands with Pamela and as we pulled in her driveway we saw these little guys coming down the sidewalk. They weren't that close to the pond that was located at the back of the subdivision. LOL. Obviously they walked to walk around the neighborhood

I had to share this sweet picture. My sister Jerri Lynn and her daughter Emily started taking a mother daughter trip a couple years ago to the beach to create everlasting memories. Well this year they added the little cutie, my great niece in the middle, Whitney Rose. She has decided she likes the beach too..  I just realized this little darling will be turning 1 in less than 60 days. Where has the time gone.  Three Generations.

And while sharing I'll share a picture of my great nephew and niece from Houston. Patrick and Penny Kay. A couple more cuties. My niece Jessica shared this picture with me recently.

 

All the Bluebonnets and the Indian paintbrushes are long gone now but  the Indian Blankets and the Black eyed Susans are out in abundance along the roads and in the pastures. They're so pretty but apparently not tasty to the cows and donkey. The don't eat them.

One of our last cool evenings in May we sat out on the front porch and had happy hour. Pam made sure when she bought my sippy cup that everyone knew I had a friend named Pam. LOL And I just realized David was drinking out of my Aggie Mom glass. We need to get him one that says Aggie Dad.  We haven't been out on the porch with the heat, flies and mosquitos. Well he sits out there for a bit every morning while Bruno and Sadie have their breakfast and if I'm up I'll sit out there too. Mornings aren't too bad yet.

On Friday (5/31) I met up with my friend and quilter Donna Lynn to have lunch and hand off two quilts and a couple other projects that I needed quilted. We met in Sealy at a place called Wolf Pack Bar & Grill. We shared the catfish plate. Pretty tasty and perfect portion for us to share. After eating we went around the corner to the quilt store called the Wooden Spool.  Go figure! Us going to a quilt store. LOL

The weather was acting like it was going to storm again so after getting our fabric fix and talking with the shop owner we headed our separate directions. Since I had to go through Bellville I decided to stop at the quilt shop there that I had been told about called The Quilting Post. Small but cute shop and the owner Debbie is super nice. I got to talking with her and she mentioned she used to own a shop in Conroe and I'm thinking wait a minute I know this woman and that shop. LOL She used to own Quilter's Quarters on 105 in Conroe. I used to go there when I'd visit my Mom. We had a great talk about the shop, quilt retreats, of course quilts and fabric. It was a fun day.

The Twins played some T-Ball and Pamela sent me their pictures from the end of season. Braxton is on the left and Killian on the right. They're so cute and full of energy.  Do you remember having as much energy as a 4 year old? Not sure I do. LOL

A new restaurant in Calvert opened up so David and I had a date night and went to eat. It's called 1868 Landmark. I had a crawfish pasta dish and David had I think chicken fried steak. So I don't have a picture of the food to share but I'd be willing to go back and try something else. They're brand new and working out the menu and cooks but it's worth another try. After dinner we went down the block to En Gedi Winery and had a glass of wine. It was a great date night.

It was time for Bee with the Sassy Stitchers on Monday June 3rd. Everyone works on their own projects but a majority of the girls were working their wonky star blocks. Whoever participates has to make 20 blocks. I went ahead and threw my name into the mix and now 

I'm working on wonky star blocks. Everyone is making a different color with white being the common color. You make 10 with the white being the background and 10 with your color choice as the background.  This is my color. A couple other girls are doing something with black so I thought this would coordinate because most went with a bright or medium color.  Here's some examples of what others are doing.

When everyone has their 20 completed we'll do a swap.  Should make for an interest quilt top.

Brenda is working on this panel top. I love how she did her border and when I saw her last week she found another matching fabric to add another border to make the top bigger. That took a lot of piecimg to make the border she's got done so far.

On Wednesday (6/5) David goes let's go grab a bit of lunch and off we went to Dales Essenhaus in Wahlberg.

I got to get my favorite chicken and dumplings. From there we stop at an antique store but walked out empty handed and money still in our pocket. Coming home we stopped to get a picture of David in front of Bud Adams Ranch sign. Yes Bud Adams, former co-founder of the Houston Oilers. He eventually moved the league moved to the Tennessee  to become the Tennessee Titians. And that's when we got the Houston Texans. David had been telling his buddies in Houston about finding the ranch so a picture was required.  I think got the facts right.

 Oh and I did finish both baby quilt tops and got them to the quilter that I mentioned in my last post. I now have them back and getting ready to put the binding on so Pamela can get them to the intended recipients. Once she does that I can post pictures of them.

Well that's it for this post.  

Until next post...Behind every quilter is a huge pile of fabric

Happy Graduation Class of 2024 and a few Sassy Stitchers

Meet Moe.  He was my youngest nephew's constant companion. He graduated Preschool with him and

 

his Mom pulled him out of hiding so Moe could graduate High School with Josiah on May 17..  This guy has been everywhere. Mmmm where will he go now. Congratulations to Josiah and best wishes in the next chapter of his life. 

Josiah's was the youngest nephew and the last one to graduate. Now to wait for the great nieces and nephews to graduate.  Thank goodness I have a few years before that starts happening. 

On Saturday May 18th David and I drove in to Katy to celebrate another graduate, Jackson Sperry. His dad used to work with David. We had to drive down The Grand Parkway and we saw the wind damage to the power line towers.  How can the wind twist those towers like that? But obviously it happened.  A lot of the Houston area was without power but The Sperry's had power in Katy so the party was on. One graduate and 3 more to go..  We had a good time visiting and the food truck had some really good tacos and the mariachi band was good too.

  

The coming home on Hwy 6 I captured the flooding from the Navasota River. It's crazy. The second picture is someone's property. That should be dry land. Sorry the pictures were taken while David was driving 75mph.

On Monday (5/20) it was time for the Sassy Stitchers Bee. Some of these ladies were overachievers I tell you.  Connie completed a pretty bargello quilt.  I want to do one, one day.  Love the colors. 

And a couple other ladies are still working on their mug rugs. It's a quilted coaster to hold a snack and a drink.

Cordelia is working on her wonky star block for a future swap. I might try to do the swap but not sure yet..   

And my fellow book clubber and now quilty friend  

Debra is working on embellishing her quilt blocks for her grandson.

Now check out this adorable pillow Nancy made but what was so amazing is that she made her seams match. You can see them. Holy cow!

This one is called a one block wonder or a stack n whack. The fabric did look like poinsettias. This belongs to Brenda. She cut a piece of fabric up into strips then cut again and then sewed them all back together to look totally different.  So pretty!  

All the while I sat at my spot and cut out two quilt tops to get sewn together in the next 3 days.... Did I do it?  mmmm Stay tuned for the next blog post....

Until Next Blog Post..Knock, knock. / Who’s there? / Yah! / Yah who? / Ride ’em, cowboy!  Anonymous

I'm late for a very important date... Something every day.

So Friday May 10th was Kaleb's birthday but we didn't all get together this year. He was wanting a quiet celebration with him and Pamela but instead they found out the boys had part in Pre K graduation so the plans changed. Such is life when kids are involved. Right?..

So Saturday they came up to the farm to celebrate his Birthday and Mother's Day.  I was wanting to test out a cake recipe I found on them so he got a cake. My decorating skills are lacking and the cake was so so. It was called a purple velvet cake but I'll be damned if I could get the chocolate to turn purple but I got the icing to be purple. 1 out of 2. What can I say.  I'm gonna go to my friend Debra's and have her teach me a few tricks and maybe a better recipe.  Kaleb didn't complain. LOL. I at least cooked a decent penne pasta. I think anyway.  Pamela provided the salad and some rosemary bread. So no one starved.

On actual Mother's day (Sunday) David said he'd take me out to eat. He gave a couple choices and I chose Oscar's Store just outside Temple. 

Well image our surprise when we got to the road to turn on when we saw this. That water was running fast over the road. And we could see cars at the Store. We had to drive just a bit past this to turn off and go in the back way.  We had never even noticed that there was a creek there. We know now. So I got to have a yummy dinner and had leftovers for a lunch another day.

On Monday (5/13) Sadie was going nuts barking but the cows weren't in the back pasture and it was a frenzied kind of bark to get outside so we figured she had a snake or another raccoon. OH THANK GOODNESS we didn't just open the door this time to let her out. IT WAS A SKUNK!  What is it this year with all the critters up by the house.  I forget exactly how David got it to move on so that he wouldn't get sprayed but he did and it shot under the fence from the back yard to the garden area.  That would have be horrible if Sadie had gotten sprayed. We tried that poof stuff they advertised on TV. Didn't work.

I couldn't get a clear picture of our stinky friend so can't share.

Tuesday (5/14) Gary and Lynn came up to the farm and we drove over to Lake Belton to eat at the Dead Fish Grill. The weather was nice and the Lake is way up.  

As always we had a great visit. They'll be taking off soon for adventures in the mountains and such in their RV Home.

So in 2019 I was in What was called a Round Robin. My friend Margie got various quilters together and broke us up into groups of 5. Each group would pass the quilt to add a border onto the owners center medallion. Mine was a Cowboy Santa.  Each border was done by a different lady. I got it back in 2020 completed and this is what I got back. So in 2021 I put it on my design wall trying to decide how to add and what kind of borders to add to make it big enough to go on a queen size bed.. 

Well I couldn't decide and I knew what border it needed but I wasn't ready to tackle it so the top went back into a box as an unfinished project. 2024 was the year to complete this baby and have it on the bed for Christmas. I tackled the piano key border after adding a couple plain and simple borders. Surprisingly it went faster than I expected but it needed a tad more to make it hang on the queen size bed. 

I was determined to finish this. I added a small inter border of red sparkle and then came the fun. I didn't have enough to add the final border so I had to get another fabric because the store didn't have the same fabric from 2019 of course. It was really close and the girls didn't notice the difference when I sent them pictures.  

Oh and I still had to improvise by adding corner stones on the last border to have enough fabric to finish it off. I used a white/red flannel for the backing.  

Holy crap but I am done and I sent it off to the quilter. Her name is Jane Plisga in Katy. She did a nice job on it.  Now I need to square it up and bind it. Soon.  Right now it's laying on the pool table to admire. LOL

 

I'm ready for some new projects which I have several started. Imagine that. 

While David was in Houston at the Bell Gang Luncheon and picking up my quilt above from the quilters I was with Pamela. Her wedding dress had come in and we had to pick it up until it's time for alterations in October. It's hanging in a closet here at the Rock'n K. She tried it on again with the shoes and jewelry. She had the biggest smile. I didn't have to tell her to adjust her face once. One of her bridesmaid that didn't get to come the day she said Yes to the dress came for this fitting. Chelsie thought she looked beautiful and she did. Wish I could share but I can't until after the wedding.

That's enough for now. 

Until next blog post...Everything in life is easier when you don’t concern yourself with what everyone else is doing.

Line'em up, Knock'em back, Fill'em up.. Gonna have some wine glasses, quilting and reading. LOL

 Well... I was actually almost caught up to my own adventures. Well I was when I started this post and then life happened. LOL

Pamela and I had 2 more wineries left on our Bluebonnet wine pass so we made plans for Friday the 19th.  We invited Kelli to come with us. She had been telling me the next time we go do wine she'd love to go. So Friday rolls around and we're off. Of course we needed put food in before wine and I had been telling them both about WhiteHall Ice House & Cafe so that's where we stopped for lunch. They had a full menu since it was Friday. Kelli got a BBQ plate, Pamela got a catfish po-boy and I got a chicken wrap. 

Everything was really good. I could only eat 1/2 my wrap and some of the chicken out of it. Pamela ate 1/2 her sandwich then ate the most of the fish of the other half.  Kelli almost made a happy plate.  We finished up and headed to Bernhardt Winery. While it wasn't a new winery to us it was on our pass and we each got 3 tastings. Pretty relaxing since hardly anyone was there. We enjoyed our tastings and then headed to our next stop which was one none of us had ever been.

We drove to Golden Oak Micro Cellars in New Waverly. Our route took through the Sam Houston National Forest.  Thank Goodness. We were afraid it was going to take right through Conroe onto I-45 and on a Friday I had no desire to do either. Luckily it had us turn off Hwy 105 just outside Montgomery, Tx. It was a really nice easy drive.  The Winery a home turned winery and cutely decorated inside. Very homey. The owner Catherine was very friendly. Her husband, herself and 2 daughters run the place and produce the wine. 

They had some nice wines. Pamela bought me a bottle of the mango peach wine and one for herself and Kelli bought a bottle of it too. They won't be making this wine again they said it was too much work.  Too bad. Time to head home. Our route took us back through more of the Sam Houston National Forest. I got everyone home safely.  It was a fun day.  Even if the owner thought I was Kelli's Mom and Pamela's grandmother... Really.. I may color my hair purple or red after that or rainbow. Whatcha think?  LOL  She's the second person now to call me Kelli's mom.  That would have made me a mother at 11. Talk about being made to feel old. 

Did I share this picture of my great Nephew yet? He's a cutie. His Grandma sent me a picture of him laying on the quilt I made him.

It's nice to see it in use. That's the best Thank you and compliment to a quilter (I use that word loosely when it applies to me) LOL.  My quilts are made with love and hugs but they are far from perfect. 

Went to the eye doctor on Monday (4/22) and got a good report. My eyes have changed some but I can continue to use readers and up the power. Nothing bad going on on the inside. No cataracts, macular-degeneration and no damage from diabetes. The diabetes is now being controlled with my weight less and diet. Yay. No more pills or shots!  Then Thursday David and I went to our favorite dentist and hygienist back in Cypress. I have to be nice to the hygienist since she puts sharp objects in my mouth and she's related. LOL  And then the following Tuesday (4/30) I went to my bariatric surgeon for a 2 year follow up. Not gaining weight but I've stopped losing so she's had me up my protein intake. That's hard to do but I'm gonna work on it. My body still tells me when to stop eating or I'll suffer for taking that next bite. 

On Friday (5/3) I went and had a wine night with the ladies down the road. We sat out on the carriage house front porch with a nice breeze to keep us cool and mosquitos away.

I didn't want to go empty handed so I made a charcuterie board or in this case a "K".

I didn't have a clear short bowl so I had to use a red bowl to hold the olives but it turned out okay. The red bowl kinda over powered the whole thing but it is or was what it was.  It was a fun evening with Gloria and Linda. Next we were told that Kelli wanted to join us. The more the merrier. No one danced on the table or got too loud.  LOL We were well behaved.

Okay so I didn't go pink but I did get low lights put in my hair. It has really toned down my very white hair. 

Now it's 2- 2 1/2" shorter with low lights 

I feel better now. LOL

 

When Pamela and I went to the Navasota Bridal Walk she saw where they put charm pictures of loved ones that have passed and attach it to the boutique and I ordered the charms, found the pictures and put them in the charms to surprise her. All I need to do now is put the glass in that enhances the pictures. I shared my creation with her recently and she loved it. It's a win.

We recently had our first encounter with a raccoon that was probably sick. We tried to scare it away and it wouldn't budge. The dogs didn't scare it, David took a shovel and shoved it out into the pasture, then he got the gun and shot right in front of it thinking it would jump and run. Nope! It just kept coming towards us. Then it ended up in the pasture with the cows and the cows knew there was something wrong with it.  They attacked it to protect the calves.. Totally crazy. And keep in mind this is all happening during the day. Raccoons are nocturnal generally.  

The video I caught was not for the faint at heart. The Momma cow is brutal and this was her second attack. Others had attacked it prior to me videoing it.. I mean the cows and bulls were bellowing and on their knees attacking it.    I have never seen this before.  We think it was rabid. Definitely sick.  It finally sat up straight and then fell over dead.  It had to be a zombie raccoon. I watched the 'Walking Dead' series they needed to stab it in the brain to kill it right away.

Monday (5/6) was quilt bee time with the Sassy Stitchers. We had show and tell. This butterfly quilt was put together in 3 weeks by 3 ladies for a raffle for the Garden club in Cameron for scholarships.  I won't share all the pictures but several of the girls are working on a wonky star block for a swap. They each have to make 20 of them.

  

Everyone is doing a different color. Can't wait to see all the colors put together once they do the swap.

Thursday (5/9) was the G3 book club meeting to discuss the latest book choice.  The Killers of the Flower Moon by David Gran chosen by Kelli. This book is about the killings of the Osage Indians for their Headrights/mineral rights living on the richist land in Pawhuska, OK. You see Native American indians were considered ir-responsible and not smart enough to manage their own finances and were assigned guardians. White men.. This is a historical based book. It's not a guts and blood kind of book. It's very interesting but with all the names of people involved it can get overwhelming but it's still a great book. Now I want to see the movie. And these ladies make the meeting crazy fun.

Well that's it for now. More to follow later.

Until next Blog..I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.  ~ Arthur Rubinstein