Anniversary Week!

This was not our best week to take off, it rained a lot of the time, so I was afraid to make any good plans, just to get washed out. If it was free, I might have, but for the cost of going to the island or Newport, I hated wasting money. Of course when we stay home, the sun comes out and when we go out, the rain comes, can't win.

We usually head north for the week, but with Moki on shots, I would have to pay more for our sitter or leave him with the vet, so for now, easier to stay close to home.

This year makes Forty Four years. It is funny to see how we looked then, Bill with his full head of hair, my dad told him he had to cut it, if he wanted to marry me, lol. That is short compared to the long mane, he had.

We spent most of our dry time, at the beach. The good thing was, we had the beach to ourselves, most of the time. Just being outside in the fresh air was a nice change.

Yesterday we got out late, after the rain stopped, but the fog was thick.

We did find some nice glass on Monday, we spent 5 hours that day, a bit of clouds and sun, so it was a nice day to hunt and enjoy the beach. We also walked the entire length of the beach, so I got some exercise too.

Yesterday we walked more, than hunted, but I did find some nice treasures. The blue piece is my favorite and Bill found a green heart shape. The oyster shell has two holes in it, not sure if it is natural or a piece of lost jewelry.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We finally have sun and heat coming in, but that also means, the crowds will be back.

Friday Finish!

I have a habit of seeing something new and wanting to make it. And with Cheri's free patterns, there are way too many to keep me distracted. This week I made the wedding pillow, perfect for a gift, for an upcoming anniversary.

This was another fun one, done in wool and stitchery, and I added my own fabric touches for the clothes, as well as, faces and buttons. The finished pillow is 12" x 11". If you haven't joined Cheri's Facebook group, you can visit and sign up at, Quilts by Cheri.

The rest of the week was spent taking down Christmas and cleaning out my sewing room. I am thinking of taking out the large table and the kids need one, so they can have that and Bill will make me a skinnier cutting table with stock cabinets, and I am thinking wheels so I can pull it off the wall to work on quilts, so it will be nice to design one to fit my needs and space.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We have some warmer temps, so hoping to finally get out for some beach combing.

Weekend Wanderings!

Another weekend of shopping so we only got out one day, but it was the perfect day to get out for a walk at the light house. We usually go off season and when we got there, the parking lot was full and people were parked on the grass, but we lucked out and found a good spot.

One of the reasons it was so crowded was, we came just as the couple was saying, I do! The guests drove and the wedding party came in a trolley, what a fun way to travel and a beautiful place to say your vows. Though they had an audience of picnickers, as well.

We walked around the lighthouse and went down to the other side to enjoy the views of Newport and the sailboats. Bill decided to take a rest while I walked around and took shots.

The tide was going out, so it was the perfect opportunity to explore further down the coast. We usually stop at the end of the walk and come around, this time we scrambled along the cliffs. With the low tide, we could walk through the crevasse in the rocks.

I thought we could come up eventually, but then we came upon the end and there was no way I could get across that. It was a beautiful gorge and it was mesmerizing, watching the water come in and out.

Looking back, you can see how far away the lighthouse is, my short walk turned into a hike and scramble over a rocky landscape, but it was fun exploring a new area.

On the way home, we stopped to enjoy the Ospreys, I guess he bought dinner home, she was enjoying a fish he had bought to her. We may be leaving a day early. I know I cannot handle a full day drive, so we will leave in the afternoon on Friday and stop midway, that way we can enjoy the ride. Hopefully we will have wifi and I will post from camp.

Weekend wonders!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend and maybe even thought about exploring your own part of the world. This weekend we had rain and when it finally stopped, I wanted to get out and enjoy some fresh ocean air.

I left the house stiff and weak, so I planned to go to the lighthouse and just relax and enjoy the views. But, I changed my mind and wanted to go to Fort Getty so Bean could play on the beach and I could still relax. Well, as you can see, I started walking and before I knew it, I had walked down the entire beach till we hit a dead end. The ocean seems to be my healing place, I feel better mentally and physically and I did get a bit tired at the end, but it was well worth the mental boost, I needed.

On the way to the park, we stopped and enjoyed the views from Newport side of the island. Even on an overcast day, it is beautiful. We even saw two cruise ships, moored outside of Newport.

We have been to the park and walked around the main area, but we have never walked down the beach, I was amazed at all of the beautiful rock formations and coloring, and textures that reminding me of something you would see in the canyon areas.

I always see shapes in things, but I noticed them more when I looked at my photos, at home. A few faces and I love the sculpted look of the third formation. It is amazing how the rocks range from sand colored striations to jagged shale.

I wonder if the Jimmy Hendrix face will look like that in a few years, and with a storm coming our way, we may see some new formations.

This shows how the sea and weather forms ridges and impressions in the rocks, and it comes with an alligator on top;)

Further down the beach, we found a lot of sand colored rock formations. You can see the smooth, rounded areas and the tiny holes formed from hundreds of years of sea carving. A ridge of quartz runs down one area, it is a very diversified coastline.

It was a wonderful day to walk on the beach, no crowds and we could let Bean run off leash at the beach inlets we found along the way. 

When we came back we stumbled on a wedding party, they were taking photos of the couple, I bet those will be beautiful. It was the perfect way to spend our day, relaxing and magical as we walked around the different rocks and I even found some sea glass and heart rocks.

Friday ( un) Finishes!

This week I have been working on and off, on different projects. One is a new punch needle design that I am working on, today I finished the main design, now I just have to add a border. It is always nice to see a piece in a photo, then I can decided what I do and don't like about it and of course, it always looks better when I antique it;) I think the hands need more definition, but overall I am happy with the piece.

A bit late for Valentines, but I was inspired by an antique fraktur and wanted to make this piece.

Another thing I have coming up is, my son's birthday. We gifted him money to pay for some things for his house and a loan to do the rest, so no big present, but I wanted to give him a little something. I found a nice frame and made up photos of Nicholas to hang in his office, he can change the photos when the new baby comes, but I liked the idea of doing 3 of Nick, just being a boy and having fun. The photos are 5" x 7", so today I learned how to adjust my photo sizes in photoshop;)

I always found some beach frames for my new room. Someday I will use the room, but for now, I am happy just decorating it and making things for it. I found a nice barn wood frame and a large beach themed framed for multiple photos. I will put pictures of all of the family with beach themes. I put one of Nick's photos in the white frame, he just makes me smile, so it is a perfect photo to put in that room.

I had to buy some extra fabric to do the baby quilt, now if I can just get it made. One more week till the shower so if nothing goes wrong, I can have it done, I work well under pressure;)

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, filled with family and new memories.

Shabby Apple Giveaway!

Who wouldn't love a new dress! Shabby Apple, a shop that features "Vintage Clothing," is offering one of my readers a free dress. I spent the day browsing their online store and found so many beautiful dresses that I would love to have.

Shabby Apple's line of "Vintage Clothing" takes us back to the days of romance and fun, with their vintage and retro lines. Their collections feature dresses based on themes which makes it fun to shop. You can choose outfits for a vacation, a special trip, wedding, night out and a beautiful line of clothing for the mother to be.

I was able to choose from a list of dresses and I hope you love the dress, as much as I do. The dress is called, "At Last". Besides the fact that green is my favorite color, it is a color that can go through the different seasons by adding a sash or belt in a coordinating color. It is a versatile dress with classic styling, who wouldn't love it.

To enter the contest, leave a comment on this post only. Visit Shabby Apple and then come back and tell me, what dress you would pick if you could have any one, that you want. They also carry a fun line of skirts, tops, shoes and accessories, so have fun browsing through their shop as  you pick out your dream dress. Sorry, but this giveaway is open to U.S residents, only.

Now you get my pick, other than "At Last". I love Inca Trail, it is a beautiful dress with sleek lines and I can hike in it, lol. I really think this look is sexy and flattering to the figure, if I only had one;)

I will leave the contest open until Friday 11:00 pm EST, July 12th and announce the winner, on Saturday night. Have fun browsing or even treat yourself to a little shopping, we all deserve a special dress just for us and if you love "Vintage Clothing", you will love Shabby Apple Shop. 

Saturday Drive!

It was a nice day, and with a storm going by in the atlantic, it was the perfect day to go to the lighthouse and watch the waves.

These first two things are what I call, dumb things to do during a storm.

Does this look like a good way to fish?

There were lots of people sailing, perfect winds for that, but ski doing in the waves around the rocks, not my idea of smart.

But it did look fun and great way to catch some air.

Speaking of catching some air, the seagulls were loving it. 

We decided to drive to the other side of the island. The cove here is a bit quieter and a lot of divers come to explore the coves.

We walked up a path to the top of the old forts and got a beautiful view of Newport Harbor.

Then it was home for a cookout with my son. My DIL had to work, but Billy bought over photos and a CD for us, of the wedding.

Here is one of the professional photos, beautiful shot of them both.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

My Son's Wedding!

Well, it is their second, but the first was by a justice of the piece, until they had time and things in order to get Married in the church with her family. Sort of sad that it is so far away and I could not go with them, but I understand, her parents are getting older and hard for them to travel, and she lives here now, so this is her special day with her family in the church where she was raised.

I snagged some photos from Facebook, my son doesn't have access, so I will see the professional photos when they get back. I can see by their smiles, that they are having a wonderful time and it was a happy day for all. A bittersweet day, so happy for them but sad that I can't be there to share it with them.


Everything was arranged by her mom and family, so this was the first time I saw her dress. It is so beautiful and she looks so beautiful in it. Not too sure about that green tie, though, lol. I think the embroidery on her dress matches the pillow I made, talk about a nice coincidence.

A family photo, have no idea who anyone is;) I guess they dress more casually for weddings there?

Wedding Pillow: Back Done!

I finished the back of the pillow and it was a lot of stitching, but worth it. I wanted to add a saying, a blessing for their marriage since I would not be at this wedding. It is not as perfect as I would have liked, I was getting tired and my lyme is acting up, so it makes it hard to sew nicely. I took a quick photo, but it does look nicer in person.

I did the lettering in a darker shade so it would show, which is hard to tell by this photo. In bright light is is muted, but in darker light, you can read the saying.

It says: May your joys be as bright as the morning, your years of happiness as numerous, as the stars in the heavens, and your troubles but shadows, that fade in the sunlight of love. You are welcome to use the saying if you would like, for a pillow or something special for a wedding.

I also added the lace and the ring ribbon and flower, but I was not pleased with the stuffing, too bumpy looking. I will go to the store tomorrow to see if I can find something more suitable and was even thinking that I might be able to use quilt batting and fold it together to insert, inside the pillow for a more even look. I am also thinking of adding a satin cording, so will see what they have in the store, I think it will give it a nice finished look. I will take a photo of the finished pillow and scan in the design I used for the top, in case anyone wants to make their own.

Wedding pillow!

After a failed attempt, I finally got the top, of the wedding ring pillow, stitched. With the advice from a friend, I went with a cream linen. When I got the fabric I checked out the threads and went with a cream pearl cotton. I like how the thicker pearl cotton gives it just enough of a raised effect to show, but blend in with the linen. My DIL is letting her mom make the arrangements and pick out the dress, etc, so I want the pillow to be simple, but nice, and match any type of setting they have.

I will be adding a ribbon with pearls down the middles of the front and on the back, I plan on doing a simple design with names and date, so I need to draw that out tomorrow. I used my pocket camera, so not the best shot to show it off. The camera wanted to turn it yellow, but it is more of a light cream.

The pillow size is going to be 8". The design itself, can be found on this website. It is in french and I have no idea what most of it says, but enough to know that they have wonderful free designs. I modified it, to fit the corners of my pillow and will be happy to share the design with you, as soon as I scan it in.

Before I started stitching I needed to clean the house and Izzy does not like the vacuum, so she ran into the bedroom, but that was where I was going. When she realized that, she decided that this would be a good place to hide.

Camping and Weddings

Today we went back to camp for the final day. I think I had too much fun meeting new relatives and paddling, so I might sleep the rest of the week;)

The wedding was on the beach in front of the big rock. My family camped here, we took our kids here and now they are taking their kids, so it is a special place filled with a lot of memories.

This is my Nephew George and my new niece Dawn. My mom's name was Dawn, so now we have a new Dawn Tucker and she is as sweet and special as my mom was. I know my mom was smiling down on them.



Today we paddled some more, I do love to paddle:) We followed the coves since it is windy and it gives us more area to paddle and I wanted to get a good one in, since it was our last for this week. It is so beautiful and peaceful, none of the motor boats can get in this far.



It wasn't that hot today, but we swam anyways. It helps my sore muscles, so I can paddle back around. To the far left is a rock, behind that area is where our camps were. She reserved the whole front area, so no crowds, just family members, which was nice.

I am camping!

LOL, since this is not exactly camping;)
Our nephew is getting married tomorrow and they reserved a section for the people who want to camp.
Since I wasn't sure about taking the dog, we came home tonight to feed him his dinner and I needed to make a batch of cookies.
I have a special diet and need to make my own snacks, so those are a must have for me.

They reserved a cabin for us and another for our son and DIL. They have a tent and were happy that the cabin was nice and clean and could sleep in that, instead. They are just beds inside, but they are all clean pine. I am sleeping in my bed;) We have lots of room outside, which is nice and their area has a good view of the lake, so that is where we are sitting. Tonight we had a fire and chatted, before we went home.



We spent the day walking, took a swim and went for a paddle down the shoreline. It was only half a day and we came home, but packed lots of fun and time together. We also met my nephews, wife to be and tomorrow will be the wedding. It will be on the beach if it is not too crowded and then a catered party afterwards.

This is Bill and the kids in front of the beach area. I say kids even though they are married adults, because they will always be my kids;)

Happy Anniversary & A Contest

Tomorrow is our Anniversary. I was supposed to have pictures of our wonderful drive to maine today, but you know what they say about the best made plans;) So, we are staying home and will enjoy the things we can do close to home. It is hard to believe that 34 years has gone by.

This is what happens when you get married in the 70's. My father said Bill had to cut his hair, so this is the result. It was hanging to the middle of his back;)



And Tomorrow is also father's day. We both lost our parents a few years back and we miss them, but the good memories of the times spent, will always be with us. This is my mom and dad.



And now, in celebration of our Anniversary, I am giving away a free pattern or booklet, you choose. All you have to do is leave a comment on my blogs from now until next friday. You can leave one comment in each blog I do and get that many chances to win.