A finish, a getaway, and a belated birthday treat!

Wow, it has only been a week since I posted, but I feel like I have a lot to talk about today.
First of all, I finished #12 of #15 for the crazy challenge. This is the Sept. LHN sampler. I subbed the colors on this one like I did for July & August. I am real happy with how all of them look. The Oct. piece will be the same colors as this one.
On Monday morning, my husband & I took off for a very short getaway. Our son & DIL gave us a gift for all the help with the boys while he was deployed. We were finally able to get away to use it. He wanted us to go to a bed & breakfast. We found a WONDERFUL cabin in the Berlin Ohio area....Millersburg to be exact. It wasn't quite the bed & breakfast thing our son meant, but it was perfect for us. The cabin was totally furnished. It had a kitchen with a sink, refrig., stove, microwave...The owners stocked the fridge with some milk, juice, soda, ice, etc.. there were snacks in a basket for us. There was a bottle of sparkling grape juice.
The cabin also had a hot tub & a jacuzzi. The bedroom was up in a loft. It was a GORGEOUS location.....we loved every minute there.
We did much sight seeing while in the area. We did all the little shops in the towns. We went to a huge lumber yard that had all kinds of exotic woods. D was like a kid in a candy store...he got lots of different woods for making more frames..
We went to a Farm that was so fun.....we took a wagon ride thru the farm. We got to feed all of the animals. How many of you have ever been up close & personal with an elk, giraffes, zebras, a texas long horn steer, etc....
One of my favorite stops was a candle shop out in the country. We were welcomed so nicely when we walked in. D found a scent for me almost instantly... I LOVE the Victoria Secret scent of Love Spell...well, guess what they had in candle form??? You guessed...love spell. So, we got a real nice candy dish size candle & also some tarts & a burner for it.
We went to many, many other places, but I won't bore you too much.
Oh, backing up!!!! I had made arrangements to meet up with a fellow blogger. It worked perfectly!!! She was on vacation this week, so she was able to drive up to Berlin to meet us for lunch. So, first thing when we got there on Monday, we met Denise of: http://riversidestitching.blogspot.com/
We had a great time, getting to know each other , in person!!! Denise is such a sweetheart.....I really enjoyed meeting her! She told us about a few great shops to visit.....
Our son usually likes to make me a treat for my birthday. This year, he wasn't able to, because our house was full with our other son & his family. So, while we were gone, he made it. He baked a cake & made a batch of my favorite ice cream. He then cut the cake & made an ice cream cake. He also found a recipe for frosting & made it too.... He did a super job. I forgot to take a picture that night, but I took one today!!!
He also did all of the clean up.......what a great son I have!!!!
I am going to try to attach a lot of pictures. I just wish I knew how to post under each one. Sorry about that.....
I hope you all have a great weekend. I think D will be making frames with all of his new wood!!!! Me?? Probably start a new project or pick one that is already started!

Christmas in July!!!

Ok, maybe not quite, but I have thought Christmas twice this week, while we have endured some extreme heat, as has most of the USA..We hit 99 yesterday afternoon. I think that was the high for a long time! We just had a storm roll thru & we went from about 95 at noon, to 70 right now. (2:40 pm) Gee, maybe I should go pick my green beans, even if the garden is a muddy mess right now.....70 sounds much more inviting than 95.
My TWO Christmas' this week. First of all, on Wed., a dear friend & I went to get our Christmas Candy Making supplies. The prices are going up at the end of the month, so we decided to save ourselves some money. I have purchased my supplies in July before. They keep well & this way, I have them on hand as soon as I am ready to begin my candy making adventure.
I also bought a FUN MOLD to make zoo animals out of chocolate...anyone have ANY IDEA who might like zoo animals made by me???
My second Christmas is my July ornament. I started it last night & I finished it a little while ago. It is a Snow Season Freebie #4 by Count Your Blessings. I saw this a while ago & loved it, so as soon as I finished the SAL piece I was working on, this got stitched.
My SAL piece was the summer segment of the Novalee2 blog freebie. She is sending out each season during that season.
I got a new game for my Wii for my birthday. It is called Walk it Out. Oh my!!!!! Do I love this game. It is not a sit still kind of game....you better be ready to move. You walk to build an island....I am loving it & if you watch my ticker at the top of my blog, you can see I am getting very close to my destination.....lots of miles recorded thanks to my new game.
Thank you so much for stopping by & especially for your kind comments. I know summer is a busy time of year, but it means so much to me to see that people truly are reading my blog.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Up & Coming Frames!!!!!!!!!!

While I was painting frames for orders, Duane was downstairs 'playing'....this is what he was playing with!!!!
We all agree....these will be great & I already said I have an order for him! PLUS.....I think I am going to do a booth at the sorta LNS...each year, they allow people to buy a space & sell their stitching things. I told him he should make a bunch of these in normal sizes & I would put them on my table.....
Stay tuned for pictures of all of the frames we have finished up this weekend......
thanks for stopping by!!!

A Visit to the Zoo & a Finish

We had a very BUSY week last week!
On the 4th, our son, DIL and our three grandsons arrived. They stayed with us until Sunday night, the 10th. We took a few adventures during the week, with the best one being a trip to the zoo. Now, what 2 year old doesn't love a zoo? And what grandparent doesn't love a zoo?
We had a great day for our outing. We saw many, many wonderful animals. I think my very favorite was the giraffe. There are so many of them at our zoo. It was fun to watch the trainer feed one of them some lettuce. Have you ever seen how LONG a giraffe's tongue is? My pictures are clickable, so be sure to look!!!
This evening, I finish my August LHN sampler. I used the same substitution flosses as in the July piece. I am very happy with how they look on this one as well. This is finish # 30 for the year & #11 of 15 for the New Project Challenge.
Our group from church went & saw the last 3 quilt gardens yesterday. We spent the bulk of the day at the Shipshewana flea market thou. You never know what bargains you will find there!!!
We also stopped at the bulk food store. I always buy a BIG BAG of popcorn when I go there. Yesterday was no different. I got a 25# bag. I put it in smaller bags & freeze it.
I am very behind on blog reading & commenting. Please forgive me & PLEASE don't stop commenting....I will get back into the groove of things.....this week was play catch up from last weeks busyness!!!
Have a great weekend & thanks for stopping by!

July LHN monthly

I finished this a day late, but it was worth being late....
I do believe this one is my favorite so far....I did not have any of the called for flosses, so I resorted to my Victorian Motto Sampler flosses & came up with the substitutions. I am real happy with the end results. I love the colors of this monthly...and July is my favorite month....
This is finish #29 for the year & finish #10 of 15 in the Crazy Challenge that was started in January. Only 5 to go & they are the monthlies for August thru Dec.
On Wed., a group of us from my church went on a day trip to visit Quilt Gardens in our area. There are 18 all together. We visited 15 of them that day & will see the other 3 in a couple weeks. I took LOTS of pictures but obviously can't show them all here....I will show you a few of my favorites..some quilts & some other pictures.
I would like to thank everyone for stopping by my blog & especially those of you who take a couple minutes out of your busy day to leave me a comment. They are always so encouraging and uplifting...
Have a wonderful holiday weekend......we sure will!! Certain little people will be here.....