The new year is bringing in more snow and some bitter cold weather......the older I get the harder it is to deal with single and minus digits on the thermometer.  Just trying to stay warm can be exhausting!

It is good weather to stay inside and work on a quilt though with a nice cup of hot tea and maybe a couple of cookies.  A nice bowl of cream of broccoli soup tonight for dinner.

All in all it has been a good start to the new year.  All is well...

For the last couple of weeks I have been thinking about my blog and how I let it slip away.  It's been two years since I last posted--how time flies!   I thought I should just start over with a new one, but I had hard enough time setting this one up so I thought I would try and slip quietly back into this one.   While checking back into blog land I came across a challenge just beginning tomorrow (a FB group) 1 Year of Stitches and I knew it was something I wanted to do.

So out came the thread, the fabric and the hoop.  Since this is a slow stitching process (a stitch or few a day) I want this piece to somehow represent my year of 2017.  For the last few days I have had the word Practice floating around in my head.  At first I was looking at it as a Buddhist term and then a term from writing group -- writing practice.  But then I got to thinking--life is a practice. Some of us strive to practice until perfect (which at my age I now know there is no such thing as perfect), but things are constantly changing so we need to continue practicing. Anyway I am going to start this piece of stitchery out with the word practice in mind.

The best of New Year wishes to everyone!

52 Book Challenge

Brian Haynes, the third-generation owner of a successful realty company, who married the owner of an even more successful lumber company, remembers back to one pivotal summer during his childhood that changed his perspective on life forever. Following a frightening premonition from a mysterious neighbor, Brian, believing he has inadvertently contributed to the death of his grandmother's housekeeper, runs away from home with his best friend, Charlie. Aided by their friend Stephanie, the two friends find refuge with an old man living a hermit's life on a nearby knob. The old man teaches the boys the virtues of living a simple life and teaches them even more about letting go of the past and never taking things for granted. It all comes to a terrifying climax one day when Charlie climbs inside an abandoned, rusty truck, a truck that still has a few chips of red paint, and closes the door. Here begins a struggle between life and death. Chips of Red Paint is a modern Southern Gothic novel that weaves the past with the present into a colorful quilt that touches every emotion.


*****an okay story*****

Slow Stitching Sunday

My granddaughter Kyleigha was born on January 24 so I am working on her quilt today and linking up with Kathy for Slow Stitching Sunday.  I have one more block to quilt, then on to the borders. 

 I wasn't happy with the original fabrics I had for the quilt, but a couple of weeks ago I went into JoAnn's for a skein of embroidery floss and just happened to walk down the fabric isle and saw this fabric.  It practically jumped out at me.  I'm so happy I found it.  It just seems more baby girl to me than what I had purchased previously.

Happy stitching everyone, 

Rose

52 Book Challenge

Summer. Death. Love & Peaches.

Deep in the heart of Georgia where the oaks drip with Spanish moss and the scent of peaches wafts through the air, bitter teenager Fern Merris is trying to survive the breathless heat of summer and all the trials and tribulations of a small-town Southern life.

But she is haunted by the tragic secret of her sister’s death and even her beloved orchards can’t seem to save her. Refusing to give into sorrow, a desperate Fern goes in search of the courage she once had in order to live and dream again.

She gets more than she bargained for when she finds friendship, understanding—and even love—in unexpected places. Soon, her summer of hopeless grief turns into an enchanted journey of healing that will be life-altering and unforgettable.

Sometimes all of life’s answers can be wrapped up in one hot summer. Especially if peaches are involved…

Coming of age/YA/Romance that deals HEAVILY with death.

*****Sad, but good story*******

Welcome to Mossy Creek, your home town. You'll find a friendly face at every window, and a story behind every door.
We've got a mayor who cleans her own gun, and a Police Chief who doesn't need one. We've got scandal at the coffee shop and battles on the ballfield, a cantankerous Santa and a flying Chihuahua. You'll want to meet Rainey, the hairdresser with a tendency toward hysteria, and Hank, who takes care of our animals like they were his children. Don't forget to stop in for a bite at Mama's All You Can Eat Café, and while you're there say hello to our local celebrity, Sue Ora. Like as not, she'll sit you right down and tell you a story. People are like that in Mossy Creek.
Award winning authors Debra Dixon, Donna Ball, Sandra Chastain, Virginia Ellis, Nancy Knight, and Deborah Smith (Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes) come together once again to blend their unique southern voices into a collection of tales about the South, this time focusing their talents on the fictional town of Mossy Creek, Georgia. Chances are, you'll recognize it. But even if you don't, you'll want to come back, again and again.
So welcome to Mossy Creek, the town that ain't going nowhere and don't want to.


*****Light reading, enjoyable characters, I might try some of the other Mossy Creek books.  They might be perfect reading out in the yard while taking a break from gardening.******

52 Book Challenge

When Iola Anne Poole, an old-timer on Hatteras Island, passes away in her bed at ninety-one, the struggling young mother in her rental cottage, Tandi Jo Reese, finds herself charged with the task of cleaning out Iola's rambling Victorian house.                                                

Running from a messy, dangerous past, Tandi never expects to find more than a temporary hiding place within Iola's walls, but everything changes with the discovery of eighty-one carefully decorated prayer boxes, one for each year, spanning from Iola's youth to her last days.  Hidden in the boxes is the story of a lifetime, written on random bits of paper--the hopes and wishes, fears and thoughts of an unassuming but complex woman passing through the seasons of an extraordinary, unsung life filled with journeys of faith, observations of love, and one final lesson that could change everything for Tandi.                                                             

                                                         

********************

This story had potential and I really wanted to like this book, but for me it seemed so disjointed, which made for slow reading.  It took a long time to get into the story.  I'm glad I finished it though, because I was really intrigued with the idea of a prayer box.  It left me wanting to make my own prayer box. So because of the prayer boxes I could recommend this.

Goodbye sweet Mother..........

goodbye sweet Mother
your hand has slipped from mine, but
your love stays with me

Emma Catherine Hitchens Armstrong
November 1, 1919-January 18, 2015