And now that it is October...

What can I say? Sometimes the end of Summer and the beginning of Fall go by in a blur and you are too busy having fun or trying to keep up to write it down, much less blog about it.

Since my last post, I was in a car wreck. Sitting at a red light, hit from behind. So scary. I hadn't been in any kind of accident in almost 30 years. Totaled my car. I cried for half an hour, and waited 2 1/2 hours for the Highway Patrol to show up. But it has turned out to be a blessing, believe it or not. And I was on my way home from a job interview. Like I wasn't stressed already, looking for work again.

We celebrated my grandmother's 94th birthday. She is so healthy, she may outlive us all. My aunt flew in from California to celebrate with us and we had a blast visiting Fairhope, AL and being girls. By ourselves. Its rare.

We made cookies from a recipe that came from my great grandmother. How many 4 year olds can say they made their great, great, great grandmother's Molasses cookie recipe with Nana and Great Gramma Lana? Tyler can! He had recently pulled open a drawer in the kitchen to rediscover my collection of large, shiny, copper cookie cutters, and said with big, hopeful eyes "Are these cookie cutters? Can we make cookies with these?"  Of course I said yes! These are old school cookies that are more like biscuits (lacking flavor) and were meant to be dunked in coffee, which I don't drink. The original recipe called for a certain number of cranks of flour - which refers to a Hoosier cabinet flour dispenser. Thankfully my late great aunt had figured out the ratio of flour in cups for us to use when we don't have a Hoosier cabinet around.

This is Tyler and my mom having a bit of fun with the flour.

I chopped off my long hair!  And I had highlights put back. If you have really long hair, but you always clip it up and are hot all the time, why do that to yourself? That's what I figured. And who knows, it might help me look more professional?  Look how big Lily is getting. She's trying to talk and sit up and teeth already! At 3 months. And Tyler just lights her up! He has that affect on everyone. But she is going to be his shadow, I can tell. And we all look forward to what a good, close relationship they will have all their lives.

Since cooler weather comes and goes, we've been back to the park, the beach, and sleeping with the windows open at night. That is a treat that most people take for granted. Not here. It is like Christmas! Every time I look at this picture of the Little Fish getting to be in the water again, I hear that gospel song "Oh Happy Day!" in my head. Ha!

He ran in with his clothes on. We were going to just walk and look for shells, but you know a fish can't stay out of water. And when the Gulf is still 80 degrees in October, well who wouldn't want to get wet? So we all got a bit soaked and later dried off over lunch at the local Cactus Flower restaurant. Best Mexican food in the county. Maybe in the whole state. And we have 3 to go to!

It was Lily's first time at the beach. She didn't scream or cry at the water touching her feet, so she is probably part fish too.

Lily and her Mama watching the waves.

I really have to tell you that I am letting myself enjoy this break in employment. The car accident has provided a little breathing room financially, so even though it is really tough to get an interview, I take advantage of the weather and the free schedule I have to make the most of my family and our proximity.

What else? I continue to work on my own quilt designs so that maybe I'll have enough for a book someday. Can't show you those, but I can show you a scrap buster that is from a Pinterest pin I found. All these tiny 1 3/4 inch HSTs are the trimmings from the Bali Sea Star quilt I made a few years ago. I started throwing all my corner trimmed HSTs into a bin, and when I see something they could be useful in, I take them out and play with the idea.

Tropical Surf

I have painted my tiny bathroom 3 times. I got it in my head that orange might counteract the ugly blue shower walls and toilet color. I tried 2 different shades, but after 2 weeks of looking at it, I hated it. So now it is a nice light blue called "Tropical Surf." I no longer feel like I am peeing in a cantina bathroom. The blue tape in the middle picture is a nice touch, isn't it? See what I mean about the hideous shower color? Ick. But I am not shy about using color in my house! You have to give me that! Right?

Orange #1

Orange #2