The dear deer are not so dear any longer!

We have lived in our home almost 10 years and never had a problem with the deer. But this summer they have found us! The hosta plants on the backside of the house have been tasty tidbits for them. Note, they just took out the tops.

Our home is in a subdivision but backs up to a farm. Even with an electric fence the sweet deer managed to find hosta plants in our subdivision. Apparently they went from house to house enjoying the hosta plants in the subdivision as most all of the hosta plants of my neighbors were eaten also.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

Do you remember The Andy Griffith show with Jim Nabors. One of his favorite sayings was "Surprise, surprise, surprise"
Well let me tell you about my wonderful surprise! My birthday was August 16. Our oldest daughter had called the week before and invited Sweetman and me out for lunch on Saturday at Olive Garden. Nice birthday gift! The Thursday night before that Saturday I was sitting in our sitting room watching TV and doing a little hand quilting when I had a telephone call from my Mississippi sister, Pat. We were just chatting away and she asked the strangest question; what are you doing and which room are you in. Just then the door bell started ringing. I loudly asked Sweetman to answer the door. He did and there stood two ladies asking for me. So Sweetman being a sweetie asked "Are you from the church?" The said no. He then asked if they were from one of my quilting groups. And about that time my sister Pat just ran into the house and my baby sister from Texas, Edwina, was trying to get Sweetman to be quiet long enough for her to tell him who they were. I heard Sweetman say "She is going to have a heart attack". Then I looked up and there stood this woman in the doorway of the sitting room and I did not recognized her at first. Then I did and I almost did have a heart attack. I had not seen my sisters in almost seven years. Yet, we email and talk most every week. They had driven from Mississippi to help celebrate my birthday. What wonderful, sweet sisters I have.
We celebrated all weekend and they graciously treated all of my Georgia family to lunch at Olive Garden on Saturday. This is a birthday that will be remembered forever. All of my children and grans called to wish me a special birthday and I loved every minute. I am one of the luckiest ladies in the world to have such a loving and caring family.

Fig Preserves

A friend brought us a small bag of fresh figs yesterday. Neither of us eat figs except as fig preserves. Last night I washed the figs and then added sugar for them to sit overnight. Then this morning I started the cooking process. This is what I ended up with. Of course, Sweetman wanted biscuits for lunch so he could start eating on them today. But we decided we would not open a jar until after the first frost of the season. If you have fresh figs send them my way!

Baptist Fan Quilting Pattern

Are you a hand quilter? Have you ever wondered how to quilt using the Baptist Fan pattern? Bonnie Hunter over on the Quiltville blog, www.quiltville.blogspot.com, has a great tutorial on how to quilt the Baptist fan. Go to http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2010/05/questions-on-fans.html or go to her blog and scroll down on the right and click on the Baptist Fan tutorial.

Friendships

When we first married I worked and Sweetman went to collage. Then he went to work and I stayed home for eleven years and took care of our four sweet blessings. When baby boy was eighteen months there were career changes for Sweetman and I returned to work for a few years. Returned home for about a year and then decided to return to the work force. And for almost twenty five years I worked for a major corporation and enjoyed every minute of my career. With a career, a husband and four sweet blessings I had no time left to develop real friendships. But when we retired and moved to our small town my life changed. I had the time and energy to connect with some wonderful people and started developing friendships that I consider to be real gifts. This group of friends are from the Nicholson Quilt Group that meet on Tuesday mornings. The quilts hanging on the walls were made by the leader of this group "Miss Susan". You want to have fun and laughs, join a quilt group.