Sigh of Relief

The wood floor installation was finished at 8:30 on Monday night.

We moved a lot of stuff back in, and cleared enough off the beds to permit sleeping, and redecorated in time for company on Friday night. There's still a lot of stuff hidden upstairs.

I was touching up the paint in the dining room where I had spackled nail holes, and the paint no longer matched. So that room got LOTS of quilts and pictures on the walls.

I got granddaughter Lily into her hard-to-put-on Patsy Aiken romper. (Her hair is not really that close to the candle as it appears in this picture.) She and Avery enjoyed the new granite island.

The yard was looking pretty good in time for the party, too.

These purple berries grow along the branches of the beauty bush. I saw one growing in the middle of our woods the first year we moved here. Must have been deposited by a helpful bird. Then I finally found one in a nursery nearby. Daughter-in-law Emily helped me get things ready for the pig-picking. We hung up some quilts on the deck rail and made a lady scarecrow . Behind her is an old quilt that I purchased on E-Bay.

I tried to take Lily's picture with Aunt Emily in front of the mums, but she decided not to say "cheese" this time.
Avery was not too into the party at first, but he made friends with two other little boys who arrived later.


My father drove from Boone to attend the pig-picking. That is him down by the pig cooker, talking to two ladies

The party went just fine. We had a beautiful day, absolutely perfect! Sunny and mild.

The next day Bryson was packed and ready to take the kids back to South Carolina. Since Avery's pre-school was closed Monday and Tuesday, we talked him into letting us keep the kids here a few more days. I will meet their mom halfway on Wednesday morning.

So, you know I love 'em when I have just finished remodeling, and allow Thing 1 and Thing 2 the run of the house. So far the floors are winning. They have both slipped on the wooden floors several times.And I'm glad we got the tile in the kitchen instead of wood. That bowl of Fruit Loops wiped up very easily!

Although the weather was perfect on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday have been rainy. We played with Play-Doh and decorated pumpkins on a plastic cloth on the garage floor. This worked better in the summer when they wore shorts and went barefoot. Both came in with Play-Doh stuck to their jeans and the treads of their shoes.

It was Lily's idea to use Play-doh to make pumpkin faces, but she pulled it all off before I came back out with the camera.

I am hoping to inspire a new generation of quilters. Lily loved this little trapunto quilt with all the crystals and beads.

She was trying to claim this one. It is PINK and has a heart and sparklies. Just what she likes! I have promised this one to SAFE Child for their Valentine's Day auction.

And I was tickled that she called this one the "Cupcake quilt."

Well, it has taken me three days and about twelve sessions to post this blog. Tomorrow I will be missing the little messers an awful lot!