GIVEAWAY WINNER: HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL

Hello Everyone,

First, today I will announce the "Winner" of My Christmas Giveaway.  "Gertie the Christmas Owl" has been waiting in the wings to find out where her New Home will be......

Below Gilda, Gertie and Gussie is holding the winner's greeting to me. Congratulation to "Magnolia Tea" you are the lucky winner.  Please email me your address so I can send along to you "Gertie The Christmas Owl".  Thanks to everyone who left me lovely comments to read.  I enjoyed reading them all. 

I have been busy decorating our home for Christmas and would like to share some photos with you all. 

 Last year we downsized our tree to a 4 foot one. I like it so much better. This photo was taken about 1 week ago.  Outside you see green grass which just about looks like Spring weather instead of a December's Winter Day.. 

On our wee tree you will find lovely handmade crochet snowflakes in red glitter and ones in gold glitter made for us by My Dear Friend Ulla in Germany.  I truly Treasure them.  

The rest of the Ornament I also bought in Germany from the village of Lauscha. See more of Lauscha and their glassblowers here.

. Below are more Treasured decorations from Germany and Russia.. The Pickle Ornament I hide every year so our grandchildren can search for it. This has become a family tradition which we all enjoy.

Below is a My Christmas Village from Germany.   The Christmas Tree, Santa and a Snowman are all Smokers that were made and bought in Seiffen.

  The wee Chapel and Carolers are a replica of the church in Seiffen.  The Christmas Blue and White Bell is from Poland.

I love my Christmas Quilt. All the scenes are created by machine embroidery.  It was given to me as a gift a very long time ago.

Below is my art.  I called it "Bavaria Winter Wonderland" and created it in 2010. It took me 6 months to stitch.  Since it has been finished it has sat in a drawer so this year I decided to have it matted and hung on the wall. I think the Matt Store enhanced My Art and I was really pleased with their work.  The Silver frame sparkles and is from Italy.  What do you all think???

Below is My Doppelschwibbogen. They are made by the Woodcrafters in the village of Seiffen.  Seiffen is located in the Erzgebirge Region in the Mts of Eastern Germany by the Czech. border.  Click on the link above to read more about how they were used many long years ago.

While on vacation this past Autumn we visited an area called Door County Wisconsin.  It is a small peninsula that goes out into Lake Michigan.  It is a lovely region. 

 While there I visited a Tannenbaum Holiday Shop.  I took several photos of their very lovely decorated tree but this one was my very favorite.  It is an Upside Down Christmas Tree all decorated with Sparkling Owls.  Oh, how I love the Wise Owl.  It was the inspiration of Gertie the Christmas Owl I crocheted.  What do you all think of the Upside Down Christmas Tree???

Below is a couple of photos from the Christmas Market in Vienna Austria taken by My Dear Friend Ulla's daughter Anjana.  Anjana was so kind and thoughtful to take some photos of this Christmas Market when she and her parents were visiting it.  Oh how I loved visiting Christmas Markets while I was living in Germany.

This AM we awoke to a lovely Winter Wonderland.  All the trees had a lovely sparkle to them. It was just a light dusting of snow which I always enjoy.

I would like to wish all My Family and Blogging Friends a Very Merry Christmas and A lovely Happy and Healthy New Year.

I will leave you with a Holiday thought. 

There is more, much more to Christmas  then Candle Lights and Cheer: 

It's the Spirit of "Sweet Friendship" that Brightens all Year. 

It's :Thoughtfulness and Kindness", its Hope Reborn, for Peace, for Understanding, and for Goodwill to men!! 

Take care all and I will see you all in the New Year. 

Hugs Judy

ROAD TRIP ACROSS AMERICA and GERTIE CHRISTMAS OWL GIVEAWAY

My Christmas Cactus is Blooming!! Isn't it just so very lovely.

Hello Everyone,

It seems I have been away from Blogging for such a long time. I've missed visiting blogs and chatting with you all.

 One reason why I've been gone for so long is that we took a Long Road Trip Across America and travel over 5000 miles. We visited family and saw incredibly awesome National Parks and Memorials and saw endless beautiful Prairies. 

 This was my third trip out West but My Sweetie's first.  I felt such JOY watching him see everything for the first time.  We took over 600 photos so it was a bit challenging to select just a few to share with you all. I hope you enjoy them all.

But First, since being home I have done a wee bit of crocheting.  I have made Gertie the Christmas Owl to give to one of my readers for a Chrissie Pressie this Year.   She is filled with Organic Navy Beans so she can be used for a Pincushion or a bookend.

To win Gertie just leave me a message why you enjoy reading my blog.  That is it.

 The Winner will be announced on DECEMBER 8th.  Make sure you check back with my blog than.  If the winner does not contact me within FOUR DAYS  I will pick a new winner.  I will send Gertie anywhere so please do enter.

The first National Park we visited was the Badlands NP in South Dakota. There are 244,000 acres  of pristine National Wilderness and our country's largest Grasslands.  This was My Sweetie favorite spot.  He could not believe how these rugged structure just jutted up in the middle of the grasslands.

More fantastic Beautiful rock formations.

Oh, how we enjoyed watching these wee playful Prairie Dogs in the Badlands.  They have endless seas of grassland to dart around in.

One surprise we had as we traveled across many states was seeing the Prairie's burn areas like this one.  The Midwest experience a severe drought this year and we were told that these fires were started by lightning storms and careless people throwing cigarettes out their windows.  Very sad, hey?

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a very awesome site.  The granite portraits are of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.  They represent the birth, growth, development and preservation of our nation.

Wyoming was and is my very very favorite state. I love the Wild Wild West and especially Yellowstone National Park.  I love the Rocky Mts. and the Grand Tetons.  A state of great wonder and beauty.

I can not begin to tell you how seeing this sign saying Yellowstone National Park warmed my heart and gave me great JOY!! It had been 13 years since I visited this spectacular place. The last time I visited in the middle of the Summer it snowed several inches.  I loved it.

Yellowstone NP is our First National Park and was established in 1872. It has over 2.2 million acres to explore. The highest elevation is over 11,ooo feet and lowest is 5,282 feet.  Here you can find many species of wildlife from Grizzly Bears, wolves, Bison, Moose and Elk and 320 birds species. Most wildlife can be seen in Lamar and Hayden Valley and Mammoth Hot Springs.

There is 10,000 hydro thermal features in the park, the best known is the famous "Old Faithful Geyser" which erupts about every hour and shoots thousands of gallons of steaming water into the sky.  This is the most incredible site to see.

As you leave the south entrance of the park you will drive into the Grand Teton National Park.  Another very grand and beautiful place to see.  Here the Teton Mt. range has very jagged peaks.

This Jackson Lake and the tallest peak in the Tetons is 12,900 feet.

In Teton Village I discovered a female Moose nipping on someones Willow Trees.  Finding this Moose was one of the many highlight of our trip.

In Jackson Hole Wyoming you will find their city park with very grand Elk Antlers arches on all 4 corners.  After the rutting season the Bull Elks loose their antler and the locals people collect them and make all kinds of creations from them.  Even buttons.

This was my very favorite place we ate on the trip.  The cafe was called the Mangy Moose and it was located in Teton Village which is a ski resort in the Teton Mts. 

Inside this cafe we found about a half a dozen lovely painted Murals. Below "Desire In The Tetons" was my favorite.  After you look at them please tell me which one was your favorite. 

This one is a cowboy roping up his Hamburger dinner!!

Moose enjoying life in the Tetons and having a cuppa!! 

Bison warming up some coffee at Old Faithful Geyser and acting like tourist!!

We traveled to 7 states and I only went to "2" places to shop for goodies!! Can you believe??  LOL  

 I just had to go to Nordic Needle in Fargo North Dakota. It was even more grand than I imagine.  A stitcher's dreams come true. There outside sign was as grand as the store inside.

This lovely lady who waited on me was so very kind and helpful and we laughed and chatted as I shopped.  You can see some of the goodies I bought on the counter.  I treated myself to several Aussie Magazines and lots of lovely embroidery flosses.

I wish I was so fortunate to work in this shop!!

As you all know I love working with wool so as we traveled across Wisconsin we just so happen to drive right through where  "Primitive Gatherings Quilt Shop" is located.  VBG

No photos inside of anything unless you buy a kit.  I fell in love with this "Crazy Quilt Christmas Stocking" so I was allowed to take ONE photo. 

 Anne one of the lovely ladies who worked in the shop held up the Stocking for me so I could take this photo for you all.  I have never been in a quilt shop were mostly the whole focus was on hand dyed wools.  I was overwhelmed with so many selections.  Love it.

After 3 weeks of being on the road I was so very Happy to be HOME.  Truly. The Next day after we got back we started renovating our living room.  The builders came and put in a New Very Lovely Bay Window.  Photo in next posting.   

This furniture piece I bought in Germany and has been the place where we sat our TV.  I decided I wanted to paint it a new color and put into the kitchen where it really belong. 

This is the results of the new paint job.  I used Buttercup Yellow in Milk Paint.  The same paint I used on My Plate Rack My Sweetie build me several years ago.   The light brown in was color Match to the smallish squares in the Rooster Rug.  I reckon it was a bit darker brown but I can live with it.  What do you all think????

To my pleasant surprise My Sweetie brought me home some very lovely Autumn flower yesterday for no reason at all.  I love those kind of surprises, don't you???  

I would like to wish all my family and blogging friends here in the USA a Very Happy Thanksgiving Holiday tomorrow.  

I will leave you all with some words of "Wisdom"!!

There is Wisdom in taking the Time to Care;

There is Wisdom in Giving and wanting to Share;

There is Wisdom in Grace and Making Amends;

There is Wisdom in Having and Keeping Good Friends. 

I hope in my absent I have not lost any of My Cherished Good Blogging Friends??

Please enter the giveaway and I wish everyone Good Luck.  

Hugs to ALL.

Judy

HAPPY TO BE BACK: VERY BUSY HOT SUMMER

VERY HAPPY TO BE BACK,

Even thought officially Autumn has not arrived when September arrives it is Autumn to Moi. This is also the time of Year when My "Sweet Autumn Clematis" blooms. Isn't it glorious this year.  vbg

This past Summer was the hottest since 1950 here in Michigan. I hope we never have another one like it.  It has been very hot and dry across most of the USA.

 I have spent very little time in my garden accept for watering all my gardens which was no easy task by any means. vbg

I have spent allot of time knitting Lacey Scarfs this Summer.  I think I have made 7 in all and this is the one I kept for myself.  This one was made from Moda yarn and the color was called Rainbow Sherbet which I really like allot.  I plan to make some scrafs for Chrissy Presents this year. I really enjoyed making them.  Has anyone tried making these Lacey scarfs??

When we could no longer tolerate the heat anymore we traveled to Michigan Upper Peninsula and there it was in the 70F verse our 90 to 100F plus heat at home. It was so wonderful to feel the cool breezes off of Lake Superior I want to spend the whole Summer on its beautiful shores.

Lake Superior has many Lighthouses but this one was near us.  It is called Port Iroquois Lighthouse.  So very grand. 

In our modern times we now see these kinds of "Windmills" popping up every where. I am not sure I like how they spoil the lovely landscape.

Lake Superior has a reputation of being a very fierce and unforgiving lake. It is a huge lake and many freighters have went down to their watery graves.  The most famous being the Edmond Fitzgerald.  There is a utube video on the broadcasting of this ship being lost and the tribute song,"The Wreck Of The Edmond Fitzgerald, by Gordon Lightfoot. It was neat to hear it again.

This past Summer My Sweetie decided he needed a "Garden Shed". He worked many days in very hot weather. One day Grandson Zack and son Craig came and stay for 12 hours working very hard and helped put up the walls and the roof.  My job was to provide food and refreshments, easy compare to their tasks.  Many Thanks to grandson Zack and Craig. They were all a great team together.   

Below is a photo of the finished Garden Shed. My Sweetie was very pleased with it.

Despite the lack of rain this Summer My Butterfly Bush produced heaps of blooms.  Truly very lovely.

And our Hibiscus Bush also put on a grand show.

I continue to stitch on my Wool Pomegranate Table Rug.  One half is totally completed and the other side is just about done.

This is a photo of the Pomegranate section. I used as many stitches and threads and yarns on it as I could think of.  LOL I can hardly wait to finish it.  It will be a year of working on it this coming November and I promised myself to completed it before November 1st. Fingers crossed.  vbg

I did attended the AQS quilt show in Grand Rapids in August.  I had a super great time and met a new stitching friend named Caroll.  More photos of this the next time. 

Next time I will have a wee giveaway of one of those Lacy Scarf I made this past Summer.. I will also have some photos of exciting happenings.

I thank all My Blogging Friends for stopping by to see me again. I have missed you all.  I am very Happy to Be Back and I am looking forward to catching up with everyone's blog soon. 

I could not resist showing everyone

My Two Very Sweet Nephews Tee and Jack. Those smiles will melt your heart, hey?? They live in South Dakota.  We will be heading west this Fall to visit with them.

Take care everyone and I will chat with you all again soon. 

Hugs Judy