October 18, 2025

As usual, time just gets away with life. I am still kicking, but was surprised that 3 weeks had passed so quickly. 

Here goes a catch up post.

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I have been stitching on 2 things. This first one I was enjoying, but I came across something that would make a wonderful Christmas gift if I can finish it. 

First up is the one I have been working on for fall.

The pattern is below and I think because of the pattern that AIDA will work quite well.

I ordered it from 123 Stitch and it may have to be finished for Fall 2026, since I did come across a pattern for the gift. It is a 12 Days of Christmas pattern and I immediately thought of a good friend who has helped me so much in the past few years. She has held my hand through so much of Jeff's diagnosis of Parkinson's so... if I can finish it that would be nice. I won't worry about it, just try.

Here is the pattern from Stoney Creek. My friend Anne loves the Christmas lights at Calloway Gardens. I specially remember the 12 Days of Christmas from last year when we went together. 

I am stitching them altogether in a grid and thinking a quilted type finish to hang on a door would be a nice finish. We will see what I come up with when I finish the stitching. I started from the bottom and plan to do 4 rows of 3. I have a little more to stitch on number 10.

Now, for some things going on here in the last 3 weeks...

I finally decorated for fall inside and now I feel like life is going by very rapidly. I always feel like fall is the fastest season. I am not sure why, but before you know it is Thanksgiving and people have already forgotten that and have decorated for Christmas. I am a huge Thanksgiving fan. 

I think the weather has been amazing here. It is not what people think of when they think of fall, but it is beautiful nonetheless. 

Blue skies. Perfect warm weather. Lights changing but still giving me plenty of it. Cotton fields a bloom still while some has been harvested and you get those big beautiful bales. All of it reeks of fall in northwest Florida.

I did plant my orange pansies yesterday. I love that they will take me through the winter.

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Little Valerie at church in one of the dresses Mama smocked for Lindsay all those years ago. She is a cutie in it.

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We have had another home improvement project this month. It was a quick one and only took a couple of hours. I mentioned earlier that after the removal of the pine trees the kitchen and living room got tons of sun and heated up pretty intensely.

We have thought about lots of options, but Jeff remembered at our previous home we had one of those half circle windows above the French doors in a vaulted great room. It let in a lot of sun and heat in the afternoons. We had gotten a window tinting on it and it had solved the issue. That was 35 years ago, so our thoughts were it would be much improved now.

We had them do the bay windows in the kitchen pictured above and the French doors in the living room right behind my stitching chair. That is all we did. I had really observed the situation for a while and think that will take care of it. We decided we can always add more windows if needed. 

The day we had them install was an overcast day, so we couldn't really tell what it would be like.

You can see that is it darker than the doors out to the deck by the table. We didn't want them all done because it will make the room a good bit darker. We have had several weeks to think it over and I must say we are good with the decision. At first it was liking looking through some lighter sunglasses, but the view is not obstructed with curtains or blinds. We are totally used to the new look now.

The outside does have a darker look, but we have dark screens so we got out on the boat the next day and it is not an issue at all. In fact, the next picture the doors do not have film on them....

and the ones below are the ones that we covered by my stitching chair in the living room. 

We just didn't notice much from the boat so I think we are all good. 

The plus side is if we ever sell, this is removable if future owners didn't like it.

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Jeff is pictured with Paul Allen's dog, Dansby below. They were at the vet. You may want to caption it and then I will tell you what was happening.

The day before Paul Allen arrived home to discover Dansby had eaten 2 boxes of raisins. If you don't know, raisins are highly toxic and can cause kidney failure. Paul Allen gets home after picking up Miles and I take Valerie to him about 5 minutes after he arrives home. I walk in and he is on the phone with the vet. They told him if he could get Dansby there in 20 minutes they could see him, otherwise it would be an emergency vet. I told him to go. I had the kiddos. 

They gave him a shot to cause him to throw up. He threw up 36 raisins and had to drink about a liter of charcoal water. He was fine the remainder of the day. They wanted to take his bloodwork the next morning to make sure he was all good, so Jeff took him in the next day. He was sitting on the floor, but decided he needed to be closer to Jeff while waiting. Fortunately, he is fine.

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Now, for a funny...

Miles and Palmer were talking and Palmer who takes after me and loves dogs. I mean as much as me.

So, he asked Miles if he liked Dansby. Miles said, "Not really, but my dad really does."

This is funny on many accounts. The conversation between a 3 year old and a 4 year old, but also truth. Miles has no interest in the dog. Palmer can't imagine that.

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We went as family to Auburn last weekend. We had bought tickets for the kids to go to the game and we kept the grandchildren. It also turned out that long time friends were there as well.

A little backstory...

Jeff and the other Jeff have been friends since junior high. They were roommates in Auburn. I met Jeff in our apartment complex and the other Jeff met his wife in that same complex too. They lived here in Fort Walton all of our kids' lives. We did a lot of life together. Lots of Auburn trips were made with our 2 (Lindsay and Paul Allen) and their 3 boys. It has been ages since all 9 of us have been together. And of course, now they are married with kids too. Jeff and his wife Nancy have a home on the same street as us in Auburn. Their permanent home is in Huntsville. 

We were altogether for the first time in ages. I thought the below picture was just precious.  Sam, the same age as Paul Allen and the father of twin boys and one on the way was making them all tell each other their names. I put stars on the ones that you could see their faces and are not mine. One of the twins is kind of hidden behind Palmer. There were 7 kids, 8 if you count Valerie.

They had lots of fun and there were some tired boys for Jeff and I to watch. Didn't have too much trouble getting them to bed.

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Tucker has turned 7. I can not even believe that. 7 years ago he made me a grandmother. One of my best titles.

He is now old enough for a big bike. I feel like it is a new era for him.

He can ride it and Palmer not to be outdone has taken his old bike and will have it down soon. 

My life is completely busy with the kiddos and my mom and just the regular things of life. Sometimes I long for it to be a little less chaotic, but I would not change a thing about living near family. The boys are playing fall ball and it seems like someone always has an issue like a dog eating raisins. We took Lindsay's dog to the vet for a UTI 2 weeks ago. I am just glad I can help them out. 

I am thinking about making a list of all the things I can do in my sewing room or around the house for the months of November, December, and January when the sun goes down too soon. I want to try and avoid going to sleep too early. It is already happening. I need a list of things that I am mostly sitting to do but will keep me awake during those months for at least until 9:00.

We will see how successful I am. Determined not to dread those days this year!!!

For now, enjoying fall in Florida,

Sandy

September 28, 2025 AD

It is almost the end of September and again I am wondering how it has passed so quickly. It hasn't been the kindest month to me (lots of appointments and sickness), but yet I can't complain too much about it. It has been very mild in terms of heat. Heat is still lingering, but not oppressive heat like usual.  I have slowly added some fall decor which comes in waves for the entire season. I like to add it slowly based on the occasions of the months. For instance, 

my kitchen table usually has placemats, cloth napkins, and candles adorning it, but they change with the months of fall beginning with burnt orange and navy to start football season (it looks like it will be another long non fun one for us). Then it moves to a more orangey look for October and more browns and greens for November. I have no pictures to share of that, so you will have to use your imagination.

I did add the pumpkins on my dining room table. I still love the pumpkins I picked up at Joann's about 12 years ago.

The sideboard will get its Pilgrims and Indians with the cornucopia in November. That is one of my favorite decorations. Now, my mom would pull out her turkeys in October because I don't think I ever saw any Halloween decorations at our home growing up. For now, our doggies decorate the top. 

I have been in a ribbon mood this year. I have no explanation for it because that can happen some years and others I find them detestable.

It is a brown gingham that has been sprinkled all around the house this year.

I had grandiose plans for September and quite frankly not much of it happened. That just comes with the territory sometimes. I have stitched and read good books so that is a win. 

We kept Tucker and Palmer for Lindsay and Tyler to go out to eat Friday evening for her birthday. Normally, Lindsay and I share a party for our birthday but as I said, my plans have all been turned upside down for this month.  Jeff and I along with Valerie did pick her up from work to go to lunch this week. I do plan to celebrate with a dessert and all the family over in October when we have our normal weekend all together in Auburn. We have been doing this in September for the past few years, but we switched it up this year. I will probably just keep that surprise a secret. 

On Friday evening, I took some owls that I got at the Dollar Tree to put together. I wasn't sure they would have any interest in doing them, but they surprised me and loved it. We played outside until dark. They were getting along and coming up with things to do without any arguing. Mimi enjoyed herself immensely. We then came in and played some games before the parents got home. I wasn't even tired at all...reåson?... they got along. I told them so too.

I finished my Christmas gift stitch. Isn't it cute? I will love bringing this out in December.

I buy entirely too many books but I have tried to allot that in to my budget. I figure if it is one that Mom, the girls and I will all read, it is worth it. I have 3 to be delivered in October by 3 of my favorite authors; Sean Dietrich, Karen Kingsbury and Jan Karon. I should have plenty to read for the remainder of the year. I keep my list of books read on Goodreads. I really thought I had read more fiction this year than nonfiction but they were close in number. Fiction will win out with my 3 latest books coming. I have made an intentional effort to add more back into my life and it has been a good and positive thing.

I did read the latest Fannie Flagg book which is a collection of short stories called Something to Look Forward To. I enjoyed it and definitely think it is geared to the older more mature :) reader. I would probably say wait until you can get it at the library though. My favorite book of all time of hers is Standing in the Rainbow. I can only say that it is quirky and reminds me of my childhood which had a lot of hard times with so many deaths in my family, but the book hugged me in that the descriptions of things such as Christmas decorations made me think of the good in that decade of my life. I choose to think of standing in the rainbow rather than all the sadness...if that makes sense.

The picture below is testament that I gave the door and the surrounding casing a new coat of paint. I chose to share the full setting of said door to show you the dilemma with that door.

The tower would seem as though rain wouldn't be an issue since the overhang on the tower is pretty far out, BUT the tower doesn't have an issue with rain. Rain in northwest Florida is hardly ever a sweet little shower. When it rains, the bottom falls out and we get torrential downpours. Literally almost every time. What happens is the rain comes pouring around that tower and is supposed to go into those gutters. The rain is usually too much for those gutters and it just comes down so hard that it wets the windows to the left of the door and the door. This will be the second time in 12 years we have had to replace the casing around the door due to water damage. This time a composite material was used and I have often suggested a storm door might help. Jeff will not hear of the storm door idea. For 41 years we have mostly agreed on every issue, but this one not so much. The window casings had to repaired and the door now. It has been caulked multiple times and no one really has a great idea to help the situation.

Soooo.... I repainted the casing and gave the door a fresh coat of paint. Looks pretty nice at the moment, but for how long?

Valerie is officially a crawler and that has actually made her a little happier. She can now move around and entertain herself more. She gets places quickly which has me on guard.

We went out to the beach Saturday morning and the Gulf is still very warm, so we can't let our guard down for hurricanes just yet. 

September is about to move on out and October is coming in. I see no sign of fall temps in the extended forecast. Time will tell --- I just don't want anything stirring in that southern Gulf so I guess I need fall to come on and get here.

Until next time,

Sandy