Two Unrealized Aspirations of 2025

2025 is long gone. However, I started this blog post in November of last year. 🤣 At the beginning of 2025, I made a list of three things I wanted to accomplish. Not resolutions, just three simple sounding things that I thought would challenge me beyond my comfort zone  be fun during the year. The first thing I wanted to do was learn how to make Sourdough Bread. 

                                           

                                                       Image: Jennifer Burke, Unsplash

All the videos and books on breadmaking (I bought this amazingly beautiful Bread Dough book) made it sound relatively simple and something that would be an outlet for destressing. Hmph. That might be true but it is not something I have achieved this year. I didn't even make a new starter after killing my old one. Now you say, but Anne, you made a starter! I did. Then life became even more incredibly busy, and I forgot about it. Our newest grand son arrived in February 2025 and they live extremely close to us, so daily life became all about babies/toddlers...again. They're sweet and cuddly and lots of fun, but they're also exhausting for this 'old' lady. LOL

Image: Laura Adai, Unsplash

I also had on my list two non-fiction books that I wanted to read, plus I planned on reading through the Bible on audio. One book has been on our shelf for years. One I bought just for the purpose of reading it in 2025. Did I get either one read? Nope. I started the one I purchased at the end of last year and hope to actually carve out some time to finish it. It's relevant for today's culture, especially after the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk, which happened on my birthday. I'm behind on my read through the Bible in 6 month plan, however I don't plan on stopping. I'm determined to finish it even if I go into 2026, which I probably will. I have to say I've really enjoyed listening to it. The narrator for the ESV version in the YouVersion app has a soothing deep voice. :) 

And now it is...May 2026!!! 

I don't know where the time has gone. Life is busy on the homestead, and I decided to teach myself to quilt near the end of Summer 2025. As of today, I've made 9 quilts!!! So maybe that's where the time has gone...into my sewing room. I've given away all but two of them. I have several more already planned and fabric already collected or purchased. 

Most of the stuff I was whining about not getting done in 2025 hasn't been done now either. LOL

Oh well.

Life goes on. And I'd rather be sewing anyway. 

The above quilt is a large throw I made using the Partial Seam Block pattern. It's the second one I've made using that pattern. Super easy for a beginner! I gifted this one to a friends daughter who reminds me of our sweet Amy who passed away on Mothers Day 2012. 

I've listened to a few really good books on audio while quilting and I plan on sharing those at some point. I'll mention this one now...The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow. I know lots of folks don't like any P&P variations but this one is fabulous! I wasn't sure about it either, and it is kind of tedious to get through part one as it's a retelling of P&P through Mary's eyes, but the story is oh, so good. I highly recommend the book!!!

What's Summer 2026 looking like for y'all? Anything exciting planned? 

An Unintentional Blogging Break

I really didn't mean to take a blogging break but summer became one big crazy thing!! So much has happened but hopefully all is on the UP side now. 

Praying it is so!

I've been reading a few good books over the summer that I plan on reviewing here. I'm on the launch team and just finished my review copy of a new book coming out in October, The Premonition at Withers Farm by Jaime Jo Wright. If you've read any of Jaime Jo's novels you know they are epic suspense bordering on thriller, which I love!!! 

As for craftiness, Slow Stitch is my medium nowadays although my husband did buy me a new sewing machine a couple of months ago!! I'm excited to get to where I can use it regular. Taking it in and out of a case is such a hassle. Or I'm super lazy ;) This is a piece I made for my oldest granddaughters 10th birthday this month. It's a combo of applique, beading, and slow stitch. The butterfly was a beast to bead but I think it came out pretty. 

If you're on Facebook, I'm in an awesome group called Roxy's Journal of Stitchery. Soooo many uber-talented stitchers in there. Come on over and check it out! You don't have to post your work (I haven't yet) but you can still enjoy and be encouraged by the other stitchers. It's a project oriented group that two sisters lead with video etc. You can find them on YouTube and check it out first!

Well, lovelies, I'm off to do stuff and get stuff done!

'Where in the World is'...Stuff & Nonsense??

Good afternoon, Friends!!! 

It's a lovely spring day here today. Windows are open, a gentle breeze ruffles the newly budding leaves, birds are flitting around singing pretty songs while building their nests, and in the distance a lone donkey can be heard braying. Such a glorious time of year. 

Remember that TV show back in 1991? Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? Our daughter loved watching it. Then they had a video game and a music sound track. Goodness, we knew the whole thing by heart. When I came on here to mention a book that just released today, I saw that it has been almost 6 weeks since I posted anything!!! I didn't fall off the face of the earth. LOL I have a MOST excellent reason for not posting. Our fifth grand child (a boy) was born on Feb 24th!! Since his parents live with us right now, I've been completely and utterly enjoying my time as Nonna! Arms filled with a little bundle of joy and sweetness every day instead of books has been one of the greatest blessings in my life!!

I'd love to share pictures but they're not doing the whole "put our baby on public social media so some creepo can steal the images and use them for evil" thing. A lot of folks don't realize that's how sleezy people get some of those images. But it is! So this is my warning...Please don't make photos of your children and grandchildren public!!!

As y'all know, I've paired back my own schedule of reviewing, not just because of the baby but because I've started a different creative activity, slow stitch sewing. My hope is to share more of what I'm working on in that arena as I get some projects figured out and start sewing on them. My brain is FULL of ideas although I'm not sure my hands can keep up. Arthritis, you know.  

Book posts are coming soon. I have two fiction and a non-fiction that I'm reading for review purposes, and I know for a fact that Rebecca has read some amazing books while I've been "off-grid". I'll share photos of the books I'm currently reading so you can see what peaked my interest. Let me know in the comments what you've been reading.

NEW RELEASE!!!

Purchase:

https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/381265

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COMING JULY 2022!!!!

Purchase:

Amazon

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Publication Date: 12/01/2021

Purchase:

https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/280463

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Sewing wise, I'm working on a stitch journal but not ready to show any pictures yet. LOL So here's another little slow stitch project I'm currently working on as well. (Sorry about the poor lighting)

This will be a small wall hanging for a special girl. I'm in the process of completing all the butterfly beading, and designing the back piece of fabric. I'm really enjoying this hobby I started back in spring 2020! 

Do you slow stitch? Or sew at all? 

Any good books on your to-be-read list for this spring? Or maybe you're a gardener and you're excited about some new plants!! Leave a comment and let's encourage one another!

Anne's 2021 Top Reads

While I wasn't any kind of marathon reader in 2021, I did read some really good books! I had set a goal on Goodreads to read 20 books. I managed to exceed that and read 36. Now mind you, they weren’t all fiction. I actually read and reviewed several non-fiction titles that consisted of devotionals and journals, an Amish cookbook, and a lovely photography book. I only read 28 fiction books in 2021, of which three or four were audio books.

I have found that as much as I love to immerse myself in a good book, when my creative side suffers, I suffer, so I put aside my desire to read many of the popular CF books available to learn the art of slow stitching and beading. My sister is a master craftswoman in anything to do with a needle so through many texts, images, and video chats she helped me along the way to learning a new craft that I absolutely love!! I have a lot to learn but I was pretty pleased with how my first piece turned out and my granddaughter loves it so that’s all that matters, right?!

My husband and I officially moved back to NC just before Christmas after six years in VA. We just couldn't let our little "hobby farm" go over the years so we're back in the same place we fell in love with almost 23 years ago. There is a lot to do to get rid of extraneous items we don’t need so we can start back a couple of the things we enjoyed so much the first 18 years we lived here, like raising chickens and starting our greenhouse back up.

Oh yeah, back to books, right? In no particular order, I’ve listed seven books that I would highly recommend to my friends. One author made the list twice!!! Each book title is a hyperlink to my review on Goodreads, in case you want to see what I thought. J

When Forever Fades (Spencer Family 2) by Andrea Boyd

 

Sword of Trust (Winds of Change 2) by Debbie Lynne Costello

 

Hours to Kill (Homeland Heroes 3) by Susan Sleeman

 

Let It Be Me (A Misty River Romance 2) by Becky Wade

 

Husband Auditions by Angela Ruth Strong

Hope Between the Pages by Pepper D. Basham

The Mistletoe Countess by Pepper D. Basham

Thanks for hanging in here! If you’ve read any of these books, let me know in the comments. If not, share what you read this year and enjoyed. Do you have any recommendations for me?

Have a blessed New Year!!

The Art of Embroidery

In our family, my mother-in-law is known for her expertise in needlework. 

From sewing to quilting to embroidery, her art is superlative. 

 (Clicking on photos will enlarge them so you can see even more detail.)

Here she is adding finishing touches of grass to an embroidered *barn. 

Y'all know I ♥ barns, right? 

And she has incorporated a Cardinal in the design, too. 

Oh, I love birds!

I love how authentic the Pine Tree looks.

When she is finished, there will be four designs and she will quilt them 

together to form the wall hanging. Isn't this awesome?! The first square is finished. 

It's so much more dramatic in person. I can't wait to see all four pieces put together.

 Did you know the earliest surviving embroideries are Scythian and date back to the 5th-3rd centuries BCE? There's a form of embroidery called Blackwork, where they only use black thread to make the designs and twist it in a certain way to give it dimension. I'm not sure what technique my MIL used on the barn but it seems awfully close to Blackwork. 

And look at this finished wall hanging...

Isn't it phenomenal?!

It's an ancient art form of Embroidery called Thread Painting or Needle Painting.

And the detail is absolutely stunning.

Can you tell that my mother-in-law's reputation is well deserved? 

But being the humble woman that she is, she'll be the first to tell you that it is a gift from the Lord. 

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When I started writing this post I was only intent on sharing how much I admire and love my MIL's ability with a needle. I was going to attach a Scripture verse here but I have to say that after knowing her for 33 years, she is truly the epitome of the Proverbs 31 woman. She is an awesomely dedicated wife, mom, MIL, grandmother and great grandmother who aptly fits the description. She has always put the welfare of her family first. Her faith in the Lord and love for hearth and home is what is to be admired. Her handiwork with a needle second. She may or may not read this post but I want to say Thanks, Mom. I love you. 

Have a blessed day in the Lord, my friends!

*The barn pattern is by Beth B Dix/ Primrose Lane, Black Mountain, NC. 

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Homemade Cloth Diapers...

What a cute idea!

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