~ The first and most exciting entry ~

Quilting a baby quilt ! 

Yes, our oldest son and his girlfriend are expecting their first child, a girl.  She is due in two weeks. The quilt I am making for her is the first I've made since this tapestry quilt I made many moons ago that graced my sons' bedroom walls. I'd forgotten how much I love to piece fabric and stitch to create something warm and beautiful. 

The tapestry quilt is newly discovered after its residing in a storage box for years. I created it from some clothes I loved that I didn't see wearing any more:  the velvet cats came from my favorite going-out pants I used to wear before children; the purple sky is a re-purposed Eighties satin dress I had made and worn to Christmas parties, as is the black velvet border (the coloring of the sky went wonky a long time ago), the green leaves are made from a summer sundress.

I wore that shiny satin??

 I've gotten a bit further along than this on the new "diamonds" baby quilt now. The purple flannel to the left is the back: 

 ~ Fruit and berry edibles in our yard ~

 One cherry tree, two blueberry bushes and two red blackberry vines. It took almost twenty years for the often-visioned-and-chatted-about dream of settling down, buying a home, and planting our first blueberry bushes, to come true.

 We have been harvesting from three to a dozen blueberries every day lately. Treasure! The bonus of the cherry tree and berry vines that came with the house help with our contentment while we live in all the unfinished potential our home has.

~ New 'avoiding stress' habits ~

This has been a tough year for our  family. I've been avoiding stress by taking photos of pretty flowers, by hiking in woods for hours, in yoga, by tossing out the chaff in our lives, and in writing.

Writing about anything other than the tough times we're having, that is. That is more easily handled differently for me at this point.

I do have a new flower photo though-- an emerging "red"calla:

~ Youngest is a teenager! ~

While not new, he might as well be.  Our youngest child has been morphing out from the cellular level into a fine lad of thirteen.  Since we've had two teenage sons already, I am going to enjoy the new growth in this young man right now, before the hormones really kick in.

~ Google ~

How is it that I only learned about this fountain of knowledge recently? Middle Son got tired of Husband's and my endless queries and let us in on this little known secret last summer. We're still marveling. 

A pathetic admission, I realize. 

~ Re-discovering cousins ~

It's been fun to get to know cousins by email this year -- cousins I last saw when we were all kids.  Really? Has it been that long?

Our clan is clearly not the reunion type. 

~ Drinking tea from a tea cup ~

I had no idea how a Monday morning could be enhanced just by drinking my morning tea from delicate china. These are inherited items that have been sitting in my cupboard while I guzzled from mugs.

Not anymore. 

 ~ Eating meals outside ~

Our first boughten home does not have air conditioning...yet.          Weekend breakfasts and summer dinners are served outside in the back yard, under the shade of the tree.

Aaahhhhhh.

 ~ Arrested Development ~

Our family just discovered this show online last month. I know, we are way behind "trending", but that's how we usually roll. What a hilarious and weird show, our favorite kind.  Husband and I both find Portia de Rossi to be one lovely-looking human.

~ New books ~

There is always a book I've just found I am excited about, although my tastes do veer wildly.  This is the one constant my family can count on about me, other than my feisty love and protection for all of them.

And tea.

~ Going downtown and seeing what my town is up to ~ 

Since we bought our home, we've not taken advantages of the events our small town offers. This summer we have made a concerted effort to get out and about more often in the evening. We have had so much fun, I think this might be an upcoming post....

Thanks to Alysa for the fun Open Call! 

~

~ All images taken by me.  

Husband says I played up the good parts very well ~