passing through last week . . .

Whew!  What a terrific week!  Todd and I usually rent a house on the lake and take a week, but our plans got all shaken up this year due to (what else) and so I thought perhaps the summer might pass us by with no vacay.  But Todd surprised me and I was able to take a week off, and we were able to rent a suite (a bedroom with private bath and a sitting room, with a private entrance) at a Bed & Breakfast in Guntersville – Lake Guntersville Bed & Breakfast – with a stupendous view of the lake, and just a five minute drive to the marina where we keep our boat.

After a week of stunning breakfasts like these. . .

I told Todd this was my preferred manner of vacationing from here on out.  ;)  Having the suite with a studio kitchen allowed us to make sandwiches to take out on the boat, but we were right on the edge of the main strip in downtown Guntersville, which allowed us me to take advantage of all the fun shops, and we ate dinner out a time or two when we didn't stay on the boat until after dark!  We didn't have the advantage of being able to just walk down to the dock and get on the boat, but we also didn't have to drive the boat two plus hours to get it where it needed to be. Anyway, I enjoyed it a LOT!

Got home and decided I needed a sleepover with Ellie.  I'd given her an embroidery sampler kit for Christmas.  I'd put the kit together myself using the pattern freebie I had found at Adventures in Making.  It's absolutely perfect for a beginner, especially a younger beginner.  ♥  We really hadn't had the opportunity (alone time) to work on it since Christmas (pesky pandemic and all), so she brought it with her.

She picked it up quickly; a born natural!  By the time she'd left my house Sunday afternoon, She had finished the first six rows.

At 8:30 Sunday night, I got this photo from her . . .

And yesterday morning, her mama told me she'd stayed up Sunday night (unbeknownst to her parents) and finished the whole thing! 

We think probably that her Pawpaw's prediction that she'd have it finished by Thursday may have woken up a bit of competitiveness in her!  LOL!  (I'll share about the outline stitches sometime down the road.)

She also got to meet Rascal, up close and personal . . .

Y'all met him in my last post.  She was absolutely thrilled!  

I think she truly believes that he is "our" pet! (I think Rascal believes that, too.)

I also got to deliver custom-made masks to Joc and all three of the girls.  

Janet had given me the pattern she had used to make her masks, along with a smaller version she'd used for children.  I shrank that child's version a tad more to make one for Edith's baby face (the bottom mask). She's so very tiny – still wearing 18 months clothes in some things, but coming up on 3-1/2 years old. The girls each picked out the fabric for their masks – yes, even Joc!

This week it's back to work ... and making masks for the California crew! I may even attend a Stitcher's gathering (with face masks and proper social distancing, of course) for the first time since February. I've experienced two mornings now where I smell the faint promise of September in the air.  The week is supposed to be in the 80's (instead of 90's), and our garden has mostly peaked.  Here it is JUST August, and I'm already thinking autumn.  Wishful thinking!  

:)

comparing apples and oranges . . .

Or rather, chestnuts and acorns.  Haha!

I got a lot of feedback yesterday on my mystery nuts.  I have not found a single tree that matches both the leaves *and* the look of the nut.  And I scoured the Internet!  The nut matches the acorn from the Bur Oak ... but the leaves look more like a Pin Oak.  Aye yi yi!!  But Todd and I did head over to the house and while we were there, I collected some chestnut samples.

The chestnut is large and the *very* prickly outer covering starts out covering the whole nut, and then splits open to reveal several nuts within . . . 

The nuts themselves are irregular in shape and glossy.  (And, in case you're wondering, I have a bag full in the freezer now, ready for cooler temps and a little open fire roasting!)

The mystery nuts are much smaller and the caps don't enclose the nut, split open, nor do they have more than one nut.  

Here's a selection of several (at least four) varieties of *known* acorns.  

Oak trees are the *only* trees that make acorns.  I learned that yesterday.

Here's a shot of the tops and bottoms of all the acorns ... the mystery nuts are in the center.

I'm still leaning towards acorns, y'all.

Seeing the chestnuts side-by-side with the mystery nut makes it all the clearer:

To me, anyway.  But I have the benefit of being right here with them, too!  Perhaps they're a hybrid?  It's not a tree in the wild ... it's a planned, planted tree in a high-trafficked subdivision common area.  (Which also leads me to believe it's *not* a chestnut variety.)

We got out and about the camp yesterday afternoon.  We spotted a tree in the upper field that was just loaded with something.

Persimmons! 

It's full of them.

We also spotted some lovely wildflowers . . . 

I love this time of year.  Nature offering up it's fruits and labors.  So beautiful!

And since it's Friday and felines are the name of the game . . . here's an oldie but a goodie from my files . . .

Raccoon vs. cat.  That coon's back arched just like a cat's ... I'm pretty sure the coon won squatting rights, too! As per usual, I'll be linking up with Sarah's Feline Friday!

And, if you've hung in with me this long, here's a sneak peak to let you know I've not completely ignored my sewing room . . .

More to come soon!!

Happy Friday!

frosted fabrics . . . they're great!

Ooooh ... a fun happy in the mail . . . 

All that Fairy Frost fabric!  Oh the plans I have for you, my pretties!  But first I will pet you, and unfold and refold you, and gaze on you lovingly. 

Ah yes, fabric is one of my *Favorite Things*!  :)

The rain FINALLY started Tuesday evening and has just been softly but steadily falling ever since.  It's absolutely glorious!!  And with the rain have come much cooler temperatures . . . driving home from church last night I looked down and my car's temp gauge showed 68°F  - we haven't seen temps that low in over a month!  Last night I slept without the a/c running ... just the sound of rain hitting the roof of the RV.  What a wonderful sleeping backdrop!

Before the rains, though, came the winds.  We'd had a little bandit visitor out back, but when the winds came up -- very suddenly -- sent him running to the safety of a tree!

He wasn't sure what it was he'd heard coming -- and he sure couldn't see it.  They are such cute little critters (for the most part and in their proper setting)!

We also had a rather unwelcome visitor at our hummingbird feeder.

She's been parked here for two or three days.  At first she didn't bother the hummingbirds and they didn't both her.  But yesterday we noticed she was very aggressively guarding the feeder and chased off every hummingbird that came in.  Time to take care of that.  I don't know if you can see it or not, but her stinger is quite impressive! Todd will be taking care of it -- not me.

Quiet day today . . . perhaps I'll go dream up something fun for that Fairy Frost fabric!

:)