And They're Off...

The day is fast approaching for both of my sons to head off to college, one will be returning to start his senior year and the other will be starting his freshman year. Have I been dreading this? Yes! Although I am quite happy for both of them I will be deeply saddened to see them leave. As fate would have it, I have finally found a new puppy that I will be bringing home on August 18, just one day before both guys head off to school. As some may know I have been looking for a new puppy for well over a year often frustrated that I could not find one. We often hear that “things happen for a reason” and in this case it is true the timing could not be better. Stay tuned... Cute little Lily, will be featured in an upcoming post!

I received my Fair & Square blocks from AmySC yesterday and am thrilled with the design that she selected. Not too long ago I put a few bird feeders in my backyard and have enjoyed watching, and posting on, the many birds and critters that visit. Take a look, Amy’s design selection is perfect…

Fair & Square round #8

Stitched by: AmySC

Amy also changed the dress color and stitched it in green (my favorite color). She really did make this block perfect in every way. Thank you so much Amy for the beautifully stitched blocks that you sent!!!

Thank you Michele for the Brillante Weblog Award, I am truly honored!!! Again, I must pass this honor on to all those that take the time to maintain a blog and share their talent. There are far too many (as you can see from my ever growing sidebar) inspiring blogs for me to select from so let me pass this on to each of you...Congratulations!

Like so many others I am in awe of Anita’s talent. I was very excited when I learned that she opened an online store and it did not take me long place my order. Her strawberry emery design is wonderful, and the pattern is fantastic; she includes the design, a tutorial for constructing the strawberry emery and a tutorial for making the fancy ribbon bow. Pleased with what I received I jumped at the opportunity to purchase her Patriotic Collection. There is no wait time since she sends the pattern in a PDF file! I did order the Accessory Pack (well worth it, I might add) and she was super fast in send that to me, thanks Anita!

Latest purchase from Designer: Anita's Little Stitches

Like Vonna, I am going to spend less time stitching exchanges and more time stitching from my growing collection of WIP/To Do projects. I am hoping that this will afford me the opportunity to stitch on of Anita’s gorgeous Strawberry Emery designs.


Maybe not the storm of the century but it was a wild ride…We had a strong thunderstorm, with some of that summer ice, pass through which caused us to lose electricity for 17 hours. Thankfully, we have a generator so it did not cut into my stitching time.

August 7, 2008 Hail Storm

Did you know that…

Hail forms when strong currents of rising air, known as updrafts, carry water droplets high enough in a thunderstorm for the water droplets to freeze.

Most hailstones are smaller in diameter than a dime, but stones weighing more than a pound have been recorded.

A strong updraft allows hailstones to grow large enough to reach the ground. In general, the stronger the updraft, the larger the hail.

Once hailstones grow large enough to begin falling despite the updraft that has been holding them up, they hurtle toward the ground as fast as 90 mph.

Small hailstones often melt before reaching the ground, but the larger ones reach the ground and can cause extensive damage to crops and vehicles caught in the storm.

In the USA, hailstorms are most common on the Plains, especially just east of the Rockies. Other parts of the world that have damaging hailstorms include China, Russia, India and northern Italy.

While hailstones are ice, hail is mostly a spring and summer phenomena because the strong thunderstorms needed to produce hail are much more common during warm weather.

I will leave you with another "ugly" picture... This "ugly" critter returned to my backyard feeder with his family! Some have suggested that these are Buzzards, I thought that they were Wild Turkeys but could be wrong ~ I do know that they are ugly.

I hope that you are all enjoying your weekend!

Until next time...