I Like #321

 Happy almost-advent everyone!  I was privileged to get to spend Thanksgiving with my family in New Mexico last weekend so I have lots to like.

I left my pups at home with a housesitter, the original plan was for Spooky to go back to the kennel, but he had a persistent cough so I didn't want to send him.  Unfortunately, the dogs, who had been very good recently, got into a scuffle while the housesitter was there which was very stressful for everyone.  Luckily there were only minor injuries, but now Blue has an infected ear flap, so we're in antibiotics land again.  Even so, they spend lots of time happily snuggling.  I just don't get it.

While at my mom's we got to enjoy lots of wonderful dog time.  My mom's two dogs Swatch (she's 14 now!) and her puppy Quark are lots of fun, and they were joined by my sister's Husky puppy Kubota, and the two dogs my parents babysit every day, Abby and Ziva.  They all got along great and Kubota, Quark, and Abby just played and played and played.

Swatch!

Mom and Quark!

Abby and Ziva!

It snowed just a little while we were out there, ledaing to a lovely view out the window on Saturday morning.  It melted off quickly though so the roads were fine.  

We got to spend lots of time hanging out with family, my Grandma, cousins, sister, niece and nephew etc.  We played tons of games, including (before the snow) a fun round of croquet!

And then on the last day I went through a box of stuff my parents had found in their attic, it turned out to be college and high school notes, including this set of my MCAT study materials from 1999.  Crazy!

Now I'm back home and about to start a bunch of construction so I didn't do my traditional big holiday decorating.  I put up a small tree in a room that isn't going to have construction and am enjoying this silly car blow-up santa that rides in the backseat!

Hope there are things to like in your life!  Click over to LeeAnna's for more things to like!

I Like #320

 Welcome to another week of things to like.  I've started the process of getting a contractor to do some work at my house and unfortunately the damage is quite a bit more extensive than I thought.  No estimates yet but I'm preparing for the worst.

Blue and Spooky had been "nesting" in the sofa enough that they tore through the top layer of fabric.  I was very sad because I really like this sofa, so this weekend I sort of recovered the seat where he'd been tearing through.  It's not really that nice because none of the cushions come off (which is actually good), but I stitched it down all around as best I could and stapled it around the back of the footrest.  And this fabric, a remnant from my sister's mother-in-law (thanks Mary!) is fairly sturdy.  We'll see how long it lasts.  Blue wanted to help and almost expired from stress when I made him stay in the nice beautiful 70 degree backyard while I did the couch project alone.

The dogs are super snuggly, but unfortunately Spooky is sick, he has a horrible cough that won't go away.  We went to the vet first thing Monday and they gave him some antibiotics but so far they're not doing anything.  

We're nearing Christmas cactus season which always brightens up the grey days!   They're not open yet but all the leaves have buds and the promise of more color to come cheers me up!

It's been a fun week for internet memes too, these three all came across my feeds this week and made me giggle.

#fitnessforknitters

And this one is Spooky all the way.  If I'm lucky.  If I'm not lucky I still get that much bed space but I get the spiky feet side.

Hope everyone is hanging in there!  For more things to like, head over to LeeAnna's!

I Like #319

Sadly I've missed a few weeks of I like posts.  Last week I was out of town, but the weeks before that were just absolutely crazy.  It's been a tough work month here, but I'm coming out of the fog here.  And there have been things to like in the interim even though I didn't have time to post about them.  

Most recently, I made a whirlwind trip to Houston for the International Quilt Festival.  I was only there for one day, during which I volunteered at the SAQA booth, gave a gallery walk about the SAQA exhibit Color in context: Red, gave a lecture on Quilting and Science, and had some meetings and a SAQA reception and dinner.  It was a very full day, but I found time to run through the quilts and booths.  I wasn't particularly in the market for anything, but this yummy yarn did find it's way into my sstash.

There were of course wonderful quilts.  My favorite special exhibit was a solo show by wonderful, new-to-me artist Galla Grotto, whos series of abstracted quilts of women's faces really resonated with me.  Here are just a few I really loved.

There were also wonderful quilts in all the other exhibits. Just a few I took pictures of:

I found this mouse treehouse quilt to be very charming.  It's called Boscodirovo by Italian quilter Laura Gamaleri.  It reminds me of the Berenstain bears tree house.  I've always loved the idea of tree houses.

I loved this Art Deco-inspired quilt by Claudia Myers (called Going Up because the design reminded her of the doors of an ornate elevator).

And I loved the bright neon colors of this more traditional pieced quilt called Tropical Stars by Laura Hirotsu Gates. 

One last silly picture from Houston- a friend took this of me talking excitedly about Paola Machetta's wonderful quilt "Heat Map"

Of course there were many more and I didn't have a chance to do more than whiz through them once, but it was still lovely.

On the way down to Houston, I stopped for a few brief hikes at Big Thicket National Preserve.  They are known for carnivorous plants and boggy terrain.  It was fairly dry, but it was still fun to see the "knees" in the bog, and a field of carnivorous pitcher plants.  And definitely so good to get out and walk a few miles after many hours in the car.

On the way back from Houston, I stopped in Dallas and spent the weekend with my sister and her family.  It was so wonderful to see them.  We hung out and rennovated furniture and roasted marshmallows and played games.

Unfortunately before Houston, we had several days of deep freeze/cold front.  Right before that happened, I went out and cut all the remaining flowers in the garden and harvested all the remaining ripe tomatoes and jalapenos.  It was a good haul, but I was sad because there were still tons of unopened buds, unripe peppers, and green tomatos.  And then after the cold front killed everything, we've been back up in the mid 80s for the last week.  Today at least has normal fall weather. 

Anyway, that's the end of this year's garden because now it looks like this!  I'm going to go out and clean it up this weekend.  I know sometimes they recommend letting the stuff stand over the winter, but the dahlias get slimy and gross and most of the tall flowers had a weird leaf mold by the end of the season which I really don't want to sit in the garden over the winter.

The pups are doing well, very snuggly and wonderful.

I hope there have been good things to like for you all!  Click over to LeeAnna's for more!

Recent Crafty Gifts

 It seems like a good time for a catch-up posts on some crafty gifts from the last few months.  

These are the most recent to be finished, a pair of Jelly Roll socks for Becky's birthday.  I love knitting socks and I love wearing hand knit socks, and except in deep winter, I especially love ankle socks, so I thought I'd make some for Becky.

Then before that, it was my mom's birthday.  This is from the Sew Sweetness wallet trio.  I've made it twice before, one of them I gave to Becky and then this hippo one for mom.   Mom's has worn out so it was time for a new one.

It's actually made from some scraps of the same fabric I used for a Weekender bag for mom back in 2014.

And then finally, I made a boxy bag for Alex.  The "Buckner" labeled handle and the brown fabric were in a box of stuff my sister's mother-in-law (Hi Mary Alice!) destashed to me and I thought it would be fun to make it up into a little bag. 

I love making and sharing little projects like these.  And of course, now we're into Christmas crafting season so I'm sure more gifts will be forthcoming.