Charming Chatter

Blogiday with Nancy and a P.S. from Studlyville

I goofed yesterday - so let me start off with that!  I'm super excited that Jeanette is joining us in the NPNT Stitch Along - all the way from Australia - and I failed to add her link to our list!  She posted her first two blocks yesterday - be sure to visit her blog and see her cute blocks!

 

(Nancy's Between Charming Friends Quilt Along Quilt, and some adorable decorations)

Now, for the blogiday.  I've been blessed to meet so many wonderful women through this blog - many bloggers, and many without blogs!  

(Nancy's "Rest" block from Jenny of Elefantz - heart this one)

One of them is Nancy (you may have seen her comments as "Stitched with Prayer" or as teenitaters in her e-mail)! 

(A sweet little Birdie Stitchery by Nancy)

Nancy is not only an encouragement to so many of us in blogland, but she does beautiful work!  And, she was kind enough to e-mail pictures so I could have a blogiday today

(another beautiful quilt Nancy is working on - she has all of the blocks finished and is assembling the top on this one)

 - and still share some beautiful eye candy with all of you! 

(an adorable Christmas quilt Nancy is working on - I need to find this pattern)

And, Nancy is also stitching "Nice People, Nice Things":

(Nancy's "Cup of Tea" block)

(Nancy's "Spring" block) and

(Nancy's "Daisy" Block - aren't they CA-UTE)!!!

Thank you so much Nancy!   You do lovely work - and I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to share it with everyone!

TTFN,

Kelly

P.S.  Movie night was awesome.  The pretzels really did taste like Auntie Ann's.  But, they were a challenge to make.  I read on the recipe that it was a Difficulty Level of 4 (1 being easy and 5 being hard)!  And, I thought - how hard can it be to make some pretzels? 

Well, let me tell ya girls - it's a 4 Difficulty Level to make them!  I didn't knead the dough enough, so when we tried to roll out the strands, they kept shrinking back (the key is to get them as thin as possible) - and it was tough to get them the same size. 

I have to confess, I got pretty frustrated with the dough a couple of times, but, this is all part of cooking and learning.  Sweet McStudly kept saying "I don't care how they look, it's just so sweet of you to make them."  And, I said "Well I do care how they look - UUHH this stupid dough"  - being a bit of a crank bucket - I know (sigh)!

 We made the traditional kind with salt

and some with Sugar & Cinnamon

And, at the end, well - I made it a little easier and did a few pretzel nuggets!

Truly - they don't look all that pretty, but they were delish.  You can find the recipe Here!

And, on the Zen thing - well, I have to say it was really nice.  I didn't do any stitching.  The boys helped me to recover my zen (which was temporarily lost in my pretzel dough woes) by turning the lights off during the movie so I couldn't even think about stitching! 

They are so sweet to me like that :)!!

In all honesty, it was nice to just cuddle up with McStudly and enjoy a relaxing movie.  And, for a man flick, "Captain America" wasn't too bad!

It's NPNT Wednesday & More!!

Oh how I'm growing to just love NPNT Wednesdays!  And our group is growing, too!  I'm so excited that Gabriella and Claudia are joining us all the way from Italy and Jeanette is joining us all the way from Australia (be still my heart)!  They have both ordered their patterns, and will be joining us as soon as they arrive!  And, of course, we have Vickie and Carol, too!  If you'd like to join us, please let me know!  The pattern we're working on is "Nice People, Nice Things" by Helen Stubbings - we stitch one block each week, and post them on NPNT Wednesdays!

This week, I worked on

"First Kiss"!  Speaking of Nice People, they say that a woman can tell a lot by a first kiss - that a first kiss can be the beginning of a long term relationship - or end the whole thing right there!  I was thinking about my first kiss with McStudly - it was very soft, warm and sweet!  In all honesty, I'm pretty sure he "had me at hello", but if not by then, he definitely had my heart after our first kiss - and he's had it ever since then :)!

Speaking of Nice Things, I love fall and I love Halloween!  I already have our party planned!

I have my costume ready to go.  I'm the same thing every year.  I'm a bunny.  Not one of those hot-to-trot bunnies, but the cute kind, with a lipstick pink nose and eye-liner whiskers!

And, I have our menu planned!  We'll be doing a Nacho Buffet and Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting.  Oh, and I'll have Chex Mix for snacking while we go through the grueling work of digging the icky stuff out of our pumpkins and carving them, and a cute new table cloth to keep the mess in check:

And, baked pumpkin seeds with lots of salt after that!

And, I have goodies to make treat bags for our trick-or-treaters.  Holy cow -  do I love trick-or-treaters!  I just love seeing kids out having a good time, just being kids, giggling, laughing, and excited to get some candy! 

And, if we're not too tired after all of that, we'll have a bonfire, and smores with these

GIANT marshmallows! 

The holidays are upon us - and it is quite a busy time here!  Between Halloween and early January, we will celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years along with my brother's birthday, Katiebug's birthday and our anniversary (November), my b-day  (December), and McStudly Jrs. birthday (January)! 

I love the holiday season - all the shopping, decorating, cooking and family get-togethers (especially those)!  And, I am contemplating as I'm on this "Wellness Journey" how I will do it all amongst the many other things we have going in life - and still sneak in some sewing :)!

Like tonight - it's 3D movie night! 

So, for dinner, we're having movie food - hot dogs, nachos, popcorn and candy!  Oh, and I'm going to surprise my guys with these:

I've never tried this recipe - I'll let you know if it's good!  We love Auntie Ann's Pretzels - they're somewhere near divinity in the pretzel category!  Hope these are as good!

What do you think? Do you think I can put my sewing glasses on over my 3D Glasses and get some stitching in during the movie?

No, Kelly No!  No - I will not do that!  I shall remind myself:  "Zen is doing one thing at a time."   Zen is being present and just thoroughly enjoying the one thing you are doing right now.  It is not cramming two or ten things into one moment, nor is it fretting over the past or worrying about the future!  It is joyfully doing one thing at a time.   And, I shall do just that! 

I will sit and watch the movie with my guys and just enjoy the moment.  And, eat of course - one, maybe even two pretzels.  Eating doesn't count as a second thing - right? 

TTFN,

Kelly

Drawn To The Simple Things!

Hi Girls!  I hope you all are doing well.  I've been on a computer break for the last few days.  Perhaps it is the fall weather, but I found myself longing to get away from this computer screen for a bit, and just enjoy the really simple things in life for a few days. We ended off last week with McStudly Jr's commissioning ceremony on Thursday night, and his last marching band performance on Friday night:

Guess I don't have to even say it - it's patently clear from the photo, I am one proud woman to call this boy my Son!!  And, one of the sweetest joys of my life is that of getting to be a mom!

We spent the weekend cleaning up the yard for fall - trimming the bushes for the last time, pulling the flowers, etc.  The weather was beautiful - sunny and warm.  Being outside, amongst the trees and busy squirrels is one of the finest simple things in life. 

And, I enjoyed another one of my favorite simple things

I baked an apple pie

I experimented with the crust - used butter instead of Crisco!  Yum.  I'll be doing that again!  Another simple joy in baking - I made

pie crust cookies with my leftover pie dough

a McStudly favorite (he gives roses - I give heart shaped pie crust cookies :)!

Fresh herbs have got to be in my top ten favorite simple joys in life (okay maybe top 20 or top 100 at least).  Now, I have more of a brown thumb then a green thumb when it comes to indoor plants - and my indoor herb garden died out quickly last year.  But, because herbs are one of the simple things in life that bring great joy, I'm going to give the indoor herb garden another shot

I planted it in different pots and it's in a more sunny location by a window in my kitchen.  Yum, I wish we had smellaputers - these herbs smell so good.  Wish me luck in keeping them alive!

And, then, there is the simple joy of stitching a quilt for someone you love

and I did a bit of that this weekend, too!  McStudly's quilt top is almost finished!

So, that's about it girls - a very simple, quiet few days just enjoying some of what I think are truly the finest, yet most simple pleasures in life!

Wishing us all many more simple things, simple joys in life!

TTFN,

Kelly