Advent #7 and #8

 There aren't enough hours in the day but the ones I have are good ones!  Yesterday, I went to Tractor Supply and they had everything on sale and marked down already!  They had real trees for $5 and I got a real wreath for $3.....I bought it for the smell!  

I also got a cute Christmas mug for 1/2 price and I had bought another one at the Dollar General the other day.  I like having mugs for the season........  

Plus, I got a kit to grow paper whites which I have always wanted to do but I've never seen them around here before, just amaryllis.........

If you have a Tractor Supply near you this sale is great.  They have their artificial trees 75% off and all their Christmas stuff is marked way down at least 50% or more.  I got some Christmas lights for 1/2 off too.

As for Advent #7, Amy got the little school ornament I made for her...........

and I received the hint.........

is.........yum!

Advent #8 for Amy was...........

she's loved stickers ever since she was a little girl!

I got the hint..."You can't see the forest"...........and look at these!!!!  She made these for my little Christmas village......so beautiful!!!  I think she has my Aunt Alice's genes for ceramics!

I've gotta run now as I am  having wood delivered and I have to gather kindling as it is supposed to rain starting tonight and all the way through Christmas!

Happy Trails!!!
 

Advent #5 and #6....I fell behind

 Mondays are so busy and on top of that there was a security breach at the medical facility I use so I had to deal with that.  But all is well as they provide identity protection and insurance and monitoring for a year  PTL!  They checked mine and so far so good as it happened in October.  They are a little late telling their patients.  That took time out of an already busy day but at least I'm protected...I like that.

So, on Advent Day #5 Amy received Dulce De Leche caramel syrup......we love anything Dulce De Leche

I received this hint and this..........

Sorry for the blurry picture....when I look at through the viewer it looks fine.....it's just when I upload it that it is blurry....go figure

For Advent Day #6 Amy received her sugar skull mug...she loves Day of The Dead and anything connected with it........

I received this awesome handmade little Mary Engelbreit style cottage that she made.....LOVE!!!!  BTW...that bird on the tag spells Licher.....look closely as all the letters are there.........
 

That 's all for today....I gave Santa my list so hopefully Christmas morning there will be more presents under the tree for me!  Because as you all know, I have been very good this year! LOL!

Happy Trails!!!

YOP Week #25 Year 13

 It's a busy time of year but so enjoyable.  I've been decorating piece meal...a little bit each day.  Most of the presents are sent or getting ready to be. 

 

Yes, those are little red truck lights around the stable gathering.........

 I did manage to work on some projects.....

I'm almost done with the Berry Basket.....which is my morning stitch.......I just  need to pick out the stitches on the beak, feet, and chest, and replace with the same color yellow that's in the basket.  This was a "small" XS piece but boy was there a lot of stitches in it!  I will have it finished by next week and I need to pick out the next "small" to work on in the mornings.

I also put down Sally Spencer to do a little Christmas stitching...........I started this last year.........

as you can tell I haven't gotten very far.........I'm pretty sure I will need to work on this piece throughout the year if I ever want to finish it...........

I'm behind on the Annual 2023 Collectible Christmas ornaments...it may be 2024 before they get them...

 I didn't work much on Prism the crocheted blanket but I have some projects queued up for the Holidays.

Yesterday's Advent on Day #16 for Amy was some Christmas socks.........no, I did not make them....

My gift from her was some Spoonflower Christmas material which I'm pretty sure will be a project bag in the future and 2 beautiful hand appliqued dresser scarves or guest towels that she found at a garage sale..........LOVE!!!  This was her hint...............yes...never enough fabric!!!

If you want to see the other Advent gifts just check my past blogs for the past 3 or  4 days.  I post them each day.

Here's some good information.......

Happy Trails!!!

Advent Day #15

 This is the advent gift Amy got...I made her a lavender sachet for her knitting bag.........

I received from her,  some Mukluk socks to keep my feet warm...they are really soft too!  She especially got them in case we lose power in an ice storm.  I still need to get a sleeping bag and maybe a tent........

I also finally got the light bulb and cord for the Dept. 56 Sam's Meat Market that my cousin Kay got me ...it is so cool!!!  Here are pictures of it all lit up.  I still need to put some snow around it........

 

Those are all the sides of the Butcher Shop.  I grew up hanging out at my Uncle Homer and Aunt Bernice's Meat Market as a child...what great memories.  Thank you again, Kay....this is a very special part of my Christmas!

Stay tuned for more Christmas decorations and I'll be sharing my Christmas and Holiday menu!

Boy, where have I heard that before says the gal who has a January 4th birthday....lol! 

Happy Trails!!!
 

Let the Advent begin!!!

 I tried to blog yesterday but couldn't upload my pictures so I rebooted this morning and it seems to be working now....whew!

So for the first Advent day on the 13th Amy received this gift from me.........we usually start out small and work up to better gifts as the days go by.............she has a Keurig in her classroom at work so I thought this would be convenient.....

She gives me hints on all my packages and this was this packages hint.......

here is the gift...so cute.....where does she find this stuff?

For the 14th she was gifted this.........some pumpkin lights and maple leaf lights............

I received this hint.........and a great smelling bar of handmade soap....I could almost eat it, it smells so good!

That's all for today...hopefully, I will be able to post our Advent exchange every day including Christmas Day!  I hope you are all enjoying the lead up to The Big Day!  Every year I read Rick Warren's book The Purpose of  Christmas.....it's a wonderful book to remind us all of what Christmas is all about.

Happy Trails!!!

Monday was chores but today there was some progress!

 I got busy and did some wrapping, packaging and card writing.  I also got some decorating accomplished....just a little...........my  Aunt Alice made this Santa Plate....I used to fill it with Christmas cookies but now it is just me, myself, and I, so I hang it on the wall...........

I put her Christmas tree in the window........

and a wreath on the door.........the wreath is looking a little tired like me....lol!

I've been multi-tasking lately too....I thought I lost that skill but it's coming back!  Besides regular chores and Christmas to prep for I've also managed to clean some closets, pack up more boxes for the thrift store and work on the garage a bit.    It's a Christmas Miracle!!!

Happy Trails!!!

Yop Week #24 Year 13

 I can't believe how long I've been gone from YOP.  I thought it was just a couple weeks but it's been a month!  I hope I  have the week right.  I have been busy, packing, cleaning, and entertaining.  The grands were here for a week with my daughter and speaking of "grands" we had a grand time!  I did no handwork or sewing while they were here and the sewing is just for Christmas now.  The cross stitch I can pick up on "breaks" and the Prism crochet blanket I work on while watching T.V. in the evenings but the priority is packing, getting rid of things, and cleaning.

I did manage to make some progress on my Sally Spencer...........

 

and the Cherry Basket is worked on a bit in the morning.........

 

I've decided I am definitely going to redo the beak and chest in a more appropriate color....I can't stand the bright pink........

I ran out of black yarn again on the Prism crocheted blanket so I ordered 3 more skeins and it came last week.  It's getting big and I will keep  going on it until I run out of the big Mandela skein....I didn't care for this blanket at first and I almost put it aside but I'm so glad I didn't...I love it and it is really enjoyable to work on......plus it doesn't have a bunch of holes like some crochet blankets....

I'm working on the grand boy's 2023 Christmas Collectible Ornaments............they look a little rough but that's because they aren't pressed until done and  that makes the design show up better....I hope!  These are hooked with wool strips.........

As for "haul"...I got a few books...........this is a Blackbird Design book with stories and biographies of some of the women that served in WWII and there are quilt blocks representing them.......my Mother was an Army Nurse in WWII so I thought  this would be a fun project.  When  I had my little farm in Iowa, I had made a Memorial Rose garden with roses that were named for things from WWII but I had to leave it behind when I moved.  My stepfather and many of my uncles served in the war also so it was tribute to all of them.

I also got the 2024 needle workers Book of Days.  I paid extra to get it spiral bound, a plastic cover , and extra pages for notes and photos.   I want to get one of those little printers that print out 2 x 3 inch photos from your phone to paste in the back of the book of all my projects from that year.  I got it at www.coloradocrossStitcher.com

That's all for this week.  I hope to get back to blogging and visiting this week.

Are you all ready for Christmas?  I'm not....I'm hoping to do some decorating today and cards, and some wrapping.  Have a great one!

Happy Trails!!!