Happy Thanksgiving Week!

I had this idea to make "Thankful" pictures for Thanksgiving week from some of the pictures I've taken lately.  My plan was to share one on Facebook each day this week leading up to Thanksgiving.  I'm not a big Facebook fan.  I'm more of a Blog girl! LOL

I love photography as much as my other hobbies of sewing, quilting, gardening, crocheting, etc.  So, I thought I'd share some of the pictures I came up with here to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.

My thanks go to my husband for the use of his hands in this picture.  The beautiful yellow Fall leaves came from the mountains of Tennessee last week.

These toes belong to my youngest granddaughter, Victoria. Love those little toes!

This food is takeout from the Redneck BBQ Lab in Benson, N. C.  If you are ever traveling on I-40 near McGee's Crossroads, you should definitely stop.  They have won so many awards, its crazy.  The occasion for this food was my sister's 70th birthday.  We stopped on the way to her house for a little celebration.  The food is really good!

The Blessing words do not all show up too well, but it is the traditional Blessing my Mama always said before meals when I was growing up.

My sister's cake:

So there you have it.  My "Happy Thanksgiving" to you!

Chalkboard Messages

I recently bought this little 2 sided chalkboard on Amazon to use as a photo prop with my grandchildren.    In addition to its use as a photo prop, I discovered that I really like writing different things on it.  It sits on the kitchen counter where we see it all the time.  I am really enjoying it.

Here I used it as a photo prop:

I used it here for my granddaughter's 2 month pictures.  I will be using it for this purpose a lot in the future.

Here I wanted to surprise my husband with a compliment!  He didn't notice it at first, so I took a picture and texted it to him.  He thinks I'm kind of crazy. LOL

It will be great for different seasons.  Fall, Winter, Christmas, Valentines, Spring, Summer, 4th of July and birthdays, etc. will be showing up on it.

One favorite way to use it is for Bible verses or Christian quotes
.

I'm not a chalkboard artist, but I can write and draw a simple sunshine, flower or heart!  Also there are all kinds of ideas on pinterest.

The frame is natural wood, but I'm thinking of painting it.  Just not sure what color.

If anyone is interested, my Amazon referral link for the chalkboard is below:

Glimpses of Home = Cleaning and Fall Decorating.

I spent some time working around the house on Labor Day.  This included some decluttering, detail cleaning, reorganizing and fall decorating.  Here are a few glimpses.

Of course, coffee first!

I got an early start.

I cleaned high and low!  For example I moved some small things like the bench that sits in the dining room under the window, and cleaned the dust boards and floor with a Flylady "purple rag".    I decluttered some scraggly plants and dusted some of the plants' leaves.

I used my static duster to clean under heavier things, such as the china cabinet.  There was a petrified piece of a tortilla "scoop" and lots of dust bunnies.  After I pulled stuff out with the duster I vacuumed it up.  I also dusted on top of the taller pieces of furniture that don't get a lot of attention.  Out of sight, out of mind.

Cleaning makes a mess when you are in the process. haha 

I pulled my fall decor from storage.

The kitchen table with a little bit of a fall touch.

This is on the china cabinet.  Almost all my fall decor came from Dollar General. 

I like to rotate my quilts according to the seasons, so this is my fall one.  I really should work on another fall quilt!  I would love to do that!  Also possibly a new runner with the maple leaf block.

In the mudroom at the back door.

Its funny that my Christmas china is behind the Fall potholder!

A reminder note to keep moving the laundry along!

I recently bought this chalkboard to use in a photo shoot.  I'm also going to write different messages on it and use it in this spot in the kitchen.  I can put messages that suit the season, or occasion, such as a birthday.    I removed some things from the counter that I don't use on a daily basis.  It looks so much cleaner with less stuff sitting out.

As for our house,

Its going to be in the mid 90s today, so its hard to think about fall, but in my house, its fall! 

Jake's Reversible Dinosaur/Tractor Quilt

I finished a quilt just in time for Jake, my grandson's, 4th birthday. Its a reversible dinosaur/tractor quilt.  He loves dinosaurs the most, but I thought he'd like both.  The center main fabrics are all one piece.  I added the borders so there would be enough width for a twin size bed.

The tractor side:

The dinosaur side:

I was almost afraid the dinosaurs on this fabric would be a too scary for him, but he wasn't afraid one bit.

His daddy has a John Deere tractor, so the tractor side is appreciated too.

The green and blue borders are 5 inches and the yellow border is 2 inches.   All of the border fabrics and the binding fabric were already in my stash.

This picture is blurry, but here is a matching pillowcase that I made.

It was an easy quilt to make, but at least I finished one quilt this summer! 

She's Here! Victoria!

Its been an exciting week! Victoria arrived on Monday and I kept her brother for 3 days. Only bad thing is that today I am home from work with Strep Throat! Antibiotics are good things, that's all I know. I've had strep throat so many times in my life and I have to say my throat has never hurt this bad. Here are a few glimpses of our beautiful baby girl:

Have a great weekend!

My Dollar General Deals For Today(7/7/18)

I made a quick trip to Dollar General to pick up a few things and take advantage of a few deals.  I love having a Dollar General right down the road.  Its so convenient.  The one I usually go to is only about 5 minutes or less.  But there are 2 more that are about 10 minutes away.  And also 2 in the town I work in.

These prices are good through today.

Buy a pack of Luvs Diapers for $6.50
   Less a DG digital coupon of $1.00
   Get a Luvs wipes (value of @2.00) free (do not clip the 50 cents off wipes digital coupon)

Buy a Gain Laundry Detergent on sale for $3.95
  Less a DG digital coupon of $2.00

Buy a Gain fabric softener sheets (105 ct) for $3.95
  Less a DG digital Coupon of $2.00

Buy 2 Cover Girl Continuous color lipsticks at $5.00 each
  Less a DG digital Coupon of buy one get one free (less $5.00)
  Less a DG digital Coupon of $4.00 off 2. (see note below)

On the Dollar General App, only click on the above 2 coupons.  Not the $1.50 off.  If you do the cash register will use it and the $4.00 off will not work.

ONLY $1.00 FOR BOTH LIPSTICKS!  ( bought bronzed peach and smokey rose)

Buy 3 Nestle Ice Cream Sandwiches at $1.25 each
  Less a DG digital coupon of $2.00 of 3

Use a $5.00 of $25.00 order (either digital or paper)

Total out of pocket:  $7.15 (plus tax.)

There were many more deals.  I would suggest just going over the Dollar General coupons on their app or website and see which ones you could use.

For example:  Tide, toilet paper, grocery items, deodorant, Razors and more.

A little bit of everything!

Happy July 4th, 2018!

I had a little time today with being off work, so I wanted to do a little update.  I want to start blogging regularly again.  I miss it when I'm not blogging and am constantly thinking of ideas.  So here are a few things that have been going on with me lately.

Walking!  I have really increased the amount of exercise I get.  I tend to be pretty sedentary with having a desk job.  My sister gave me a Fit Bit for my birthday in February and it has really opened my eyes to what I should be doing.  The goal for steps each day is 10,000.  I have reached that goal only twice, but I've improved a lot!  Most days I try to shoot for at least 8,000.    I love my Fit Bit!  It sincs with my phone and gives me so much information on my health, such as sleep, steps, miles, heart rate, minutes of active exercise, and more.  It says I am in excellent health, which may or may not be true, but I like hearing that.

How do I do get my steps in?  Lately its too hot outside most of the time, but I have found if I walk in the shade for 10 minutes at the time, its doable.  Also doing inside walking works good for me.  You can find all the videos you could possibly be able to do on You Tube.  I can do a 2 mile walk in about 30 minutes.  Lots of mornings I fit in 1 mile before going to work.

I can also meet my hourly goal of at least 250 steps by walking inside.  From one end of my house to the other is about 40 steps.  So Walking back and forth a few times while listening to music, or You Tube Videos works too.  Here's my Fit Bit:

I've been couponing at CVS, Dollar General and Food Lion.  I made a small purchase at CVS this week.  3 containers of laundry detergent, and 2 boxes of cereal for $3.69 out of pocket isn't too bad.  I also received $2.50 extra bucks for my next order.  There were lots of deals I could have taken advantage of , but I'm trying to keep things simple.  Its gets very complicated some times when you get to the cash register with a hand full of coupons and I figure I should not buy stuff I don't really need or even like just because its a good deal, or even free after coupons.

There is a P&G deal this week, where you spend $30.00 on certain P & G products and you get back $10.00 Extra Bucks for your next order.  I just didn't need or use most of the products, but you might want to check into it.  If you have coupons to apply toward the items, you could get some great deals.

I've been working on a reversible quilt for one of my grandsons.  One side will be dinosaurs and the other side will be John Deere tractors.

My vision is for him to use the quilt on the floor as a play mat when he is playing with dinosaurs or tractors, or what ever.  Then he can also use it on his bed, since he is bigger now and has outgrown his baby quilts.

I'm still working on the double Irish chain quilt, as I can, doing leaders and enders, or just sewing on it as the main project occasionally.  Here's a stack of blocks and some samples of different colors.  Oh yeah, its going to be in rainbow colors.

My current coffee cup.  Its not that pretty, but its solid and I love to drink coffee in a solid feeling coffee cup.  This one came from Cracker Barrel a few years ago.

Coffee center:  That's Pyure Stevia in the glass jar with the chicken lid.  I use half and half and stevia in my coffee.  Sometimes I'll put a scoop of collagen in it, which is what's in that plastic jar with the lid at the back.  Drinking K cups is much more expensive than regular drip coffee, but we love the convenience and the taste.  A few ways we save money on them:  We always buy them on sale.  We always buy the store brand.  We often buy them at Dollar General on Saturdays and use the $5.00 off $25 coupon that is usually available.  One trick is that you can make the large size cup with the K Cup the first time and then change the setting to the small cup size with the same K Cup which will make another "about" a half of cup, which isn't bad if you combine it with the first cup.   (by itself its a tad weak)   I often combine it all together for the coffee I take with me in an insulated travel mug on the way to work.

We are expecting a new granddaughter any minute!  Her due date is today, the fourth of July!  But her Mama is still waiting and is so ready for little Victoria to arrive.  So, I'll post about her as soon as she arrives.