Halloween Bunting, College and Fall!

What a jam packed late summer we've had around here. We had a nice couple weeks coming off of July, and then we started getting our son ready for college. It seemed to last a long time, but wasn't really difficult to do. It was more of an emotional roller coaster, but it went very smoothly. Here he is all moved in!

My son was ribbing me this whole last year about "empty nest syndrome" and what I'd be doing when I was afflicted with it. LOL. However, he was RIGHT. Oh my. That first week was a killer. My husband worked that whole first week and this house was so quiet, it was like a tomb. I had no idea what to do with myself. My son told me that I'd "drown myself in my hobbies", as an initial reaction. Correct-a-mundo! Let's see, I visited every crafty store nearby, multiple times. I texted him this photo, just a day or two after he left:

Kinda says it all, right? Not too far behind was this pic. I had to make something, anything at all, so here I was one night, just making a coaster for no apparent reason:

Pretty sad. Good news is that work has been horrid busy, and it's kept me occupied a bit. I'm still staying on task with my crafty stuff, but dear me, this house is so quiet. Sia's "Chandelier" makes me cry for no good reason. And I have to stay away from the toddler boy's section of Target because I'm flooded with memories of my little boy. My LITTLE boy, who is all grown up and smart and handsome and a whole 'nother animal than my LITTLE boy was. Seriously, you'd miss this face too, right?

 
Anyways, I'm still stitching on that little Halloween house from summer. Nope, not done yet. As I said, work is horrid busy and I've not had much time. I did manage to whip these up using the Hobby Lobby yarn from above. It's going to be a little Halloween bunting for my mantle or somewhere else in the house. These granny triangles are so quick and cute. Give 'em a try! HERE is the link!

I'll leave you with a couple more pics of things I just want to post. Here are some mums that I saw at the store recently. I LOVE FALL, in case you haven't noticed:

And here is a recent moon photo. I don't have a long enough lens to get a great pic, so this is it. :P

 

Until next time,

New Start, Beach, Stash, Graduation and Summer!

What a wonderful summer it's been! I hope all of you are having a great one, too. My husband, son, and I went on vacation last month, and it was probably one of the best we've ever had. The weather was perfect, we stayed just the right amount of time (5 days), and just generally had fun. What more could you ask for?

The shortened time really helped us prioritize our activities and make the most of our trip. My son has a tendency to become bored after so long, and we didn't have that problem this year. Salty Yarns was the recipient of a lot of my money this go round, lol. Oh how I love that place. It's right on the boardwalk, at 8th street, and it's just filled with cross stitch, yarn, and all sorts of fun things. Here's a bit of stash I managed to come away with.

Yikes! Sorry about the plastic glare, but there was no way I was taking them out and then trying to get them back in. If you can't tell, that's the Wisteria Snowman. I think it looks like a snow WOman myself however. The fabric is gorgeous for this one. You know, I thought I had purchased the Prairie Schooler Halloween card for this year, but I guess not. I'll have to rectify that very soon.

I am working on a project I bought last year at the beach.  There's not too much better than stitching on your balcony at 6am watching the sun come up over the ocean.

My son graduated from high school and turned 18 back in June. He's a big strapping young man now. We had a wonderful day. I have no words for just how wonderful it was. Beautiful ceremony. Afterwards, we had a great little party with family and I got to reconnect with a cousin I hadn't seen in years. My sister and her wonderful family were there, along with my in laws and my Mom and son's grandfather. It was great. The pic below was taken the morning of graduation.

Even though he can't drive on his own yet, his Dad thought he should have a memorable graduation/birthday present. He loved it. He probably won't be driving it by himself until next year though.

He is off to college in about 2 1/2 weeks. Unbeleivable, really. Seems like not to long ago, we were taking him for carousel rides and holding him in our arms while he napped. I swear the kid barely spent any time in a crib. My mother told me that the time would go by fast. I didn't believe her. I think I'm pretty prepared to have him go to school, albeit with a huge adjustment to my own daily routine. Now, his father? We'll see about that.

I'll leave you with one of my most favorite things about Summer - my moonflowers. The first one of the season bloomed last week. They are glorious! If you don't grow them, I highly suggest it. I am always outdoor at night stalking the moon anyways, and they just add to the enjoyment of the evenings. Speaking of the moon, be sure to try and catch the Perseid Meteor Shower this weekend! I do believe there's a supermoon as well!

Hello there! Updates, stash, crochet baby blanket etc.

So, it's been a long, long, time since I updated.  I'll get a few things out of the way.  I've done ZERO stitching for a while.  Work was crazy busy this season, but I have a couple months off now, and I plan to start something soon, so that's that. 

My mom and I have a tradition of attending the Woodlawn Needlework Exhibit in March, and this year was no exception.  The show was good, and after going to In Stitches, I picked up these few items:

Such cute stuff.  I'm a sucker for bees, I tell you.  So many pretty designs out there with bee skeps or bees in general.  Love them.  Now to get around to actually stitching them....

I've said it before here many times-stitching soothes my soul and for the life of me, I don't know why I fall off the wagon with it.  I adore it.  I pledge to start a new project within the next week and post it here.  I also vow to finish my sweet little ghost girl (nearly done) from a couple posts ago and get that posted as well.

I have been honing my crochet skills for a while now.  I'm working on a bunch of little granny squares for a project for myself (pic later).  But I've been working on a ripple baby blanket for my boss, who is due in late July.  It's just a small blanket, so I should be done in plenty of time, but here's a progress photo:

I hope she likes it!  She's having a little girl. I've use the sweetest colors in the Hobby Lobby "I Love This Yarn!" brand, which is really nice to work with.  Very soft too.  Acrylics have come a looooong way!  It took me a couple tries to get that pattern down pat, but I persevered, and it paid off, I think.  If you like to crochet and would like to try this pattern, I used THIS ONE.  Enjoy!

Life is good here.  My son is graduating from high school in a matter of days now.  This young man (pictured at the beginning of this school year) will be heading off to college to pursue physics and astrophysics and we could not be any more proud of him.  This is going to be a big adjustment for all of us, but we'll handle it like we have everything else in life.  I am *SO EXCITED* for him to take this next step in his life.  It's something I have always regretted not doing so maybe I can live vicariously through him just a bit!  Good things are in store for this kid!

We had so much snow and cold weather, I just cannot re-hash it, lol.  Suffice it to say that I never thought I'd see green on the trees again and I'm relishing it every single day!  I'll be back soon with a new stitchy project hopefully.  Enjoy your Spring and until next time,