I Like Thursday #89

Welcome to my 89th I Like Thursday post. 

Thank you LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color for encouraging us to find, and share things we find during the week that we like.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas with your family and loved ones.  

Bobbin enjoyed her Christmas she got a red Christmas unicorn squeaky toy.

I like having  dog that likes to play, even though there are times it is really annoying.  When I am on the phone or talking to someone squeaky toys are squeaked at high volume and at a rapid pace, especially if I am on the phone speaking to my mom.

Lately if I want to attend a church function it is a bit of a sprint.  After work, I have to hurry home, feed and water my critters, change and head out, so I have been taking a lot of back roads to avoid all the traffic through town.  I love all the Christmas lights on the houses, and farms along the way, but this is one of my favorites.

A combine all decorated with Santa as the driver.

We don't exchange gifts for adults in my family, maybe something small. I love this little pouch I got from my sister this year.

I like during the holidays at one of the local children's hospitals that there is a sponsored event called Moonbeams for Sweet Dreams.

You can read a little blurb more about it here too!

Finally the latest book I read and enjoyed was Paper, Scissors, Death by Joanna Campbell Slan.

Kiki Lowenstein receives the news that her husband has been found naked, and dead in a hotel room.  The police say he had a heart attack.  Kiki insists not.  After her husband, George's death things go from bad to worse.  Soon Kiki and her daughter are living in a small house in a not so nice part of town, and Kiki is struggling to make ends meet while working at a scrapbook store.  Great book, lots of twists, turns, at times you do want to shake her and tell her to grow a backbone, but you definitely keep reading to cheer her on and hope that the under dog wins the day.

Now head over to LeeAnna's at Not Afraid of Color and check out the other I Like Thursday posts!

I Like Thursday #88

The holiday season is usually hectic.  Throw in what seems like a shortened season because of when Thanksgiving fell, starting a new job, and I can't believe it is Thursday already.  Welcome to my 88th installment of I Like Thursday.  Thank you to LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color for encouraging us to find fun things to share each week.

I mentioned that I started working again and I work in a bakery.  I have a couple of days a week that I do a donut shift which starts at 3 am.  I think that decorating donuts is much like free motion quilting.  I like that I can practice a bit.

I need much more practice.

I like this cup I saw, they also had a shirt.

I am sure there are days that the boys would like to sell my daughters to the circus or the freak show.  Thank goodness they have extreme amounts of patience.

I love this fabric.  I thought it would make an awesome pillowcase for one of the kids.

There was a matching fabric with some grunge and it turned out fabulous.

I saw this truck on the way to work.  I couldn't slow down because it is sitting in a weird spot.

It's kind of neat to see on the way to work early in the morning.

We had a few warm days again, which translates to above freezing, but we are back into the teens for a high, so Bobbin today was sporting her new black jacket.

She thinks it is slimming.  The downside it shows everything, especially when you shed like there is no tomorrow.

Some interesting things I saw and read this week.

Someone developed and app to teach the Blackfoot language.  I think it is important for indigenous people to learn their language and to keep their ceremonies and customs alive.  For too long they were outlawed.  You can read the article here.

The Dog Waiting for Santa made me smile.

I don't know if you have seen "Rita's Quilt" long story short a lady found an embroidery piece on a wall at an estate sale and decided to purchase it. Nearby was a box and inside were birds and flowers of every state to be embroidered.  She bought the box, then put a call out in Instagram.  What happened was amazing and it was shared on the Kelly Clarkson show.

One of the customs of my culture was for women to have facial tattoos.  When I was a kid I was aghast that some of the older women had them.  An artist created painting celebrating the culture.  You can read more about it here. Indigenous Tattoo Culture. 

I read Bucket List by Emily James, book 8 in the Maple Syrup Mysteries.  I shared about this author previously, and speaking of previous I shared this song previously too, but it is well worth the 2nd listen.

Now head over to Not Afraid of Color and check out the other I Like Thursday posts! 

I Like Thursday #87

Welcome to my 87th post on I Like Thursday.  Thank you to LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color for encouraging us to find something that we like to share each week.

It has been a busy fun filled week.  My first day of work I baked, packaged, and priced about 120 dozen cookies.  The next 2 days I worked from 3 am until 11:30 making donuts, then cleaning.  But in the meantime.

The purple sky early in the morning with the fog of my breath trying to catch the right moment.  The quiet early in the morning, those are some things to love. 

My new ceramic Christmas Tree.  I found it on Etsy and had to have it.  

The red lights are candles that look like poinsettias.  I added some more Christmas trees to the display.

I love chocolate and peppermint and Starbucks has peppermint mocha frappacinos. YUM!

I recently spied e peppermint Twinkies too!  No I did not buy these. 

Sandy is the horse in Meijer stores that kids can ride for 1 penny.  I was in a Meijer store and they had dressed their's up.

I saw this video and thought it was worth a share.  Love their music and such a fun video.

Walking through the store I saw this candy card and had to go back and take a picture.

I mean who doesn't love a pile of pugs?  The one licking the Christmas ball makes me laugh.  

I love holiday posts and this one made me smile.  A small hardware store makes their own videos for less than 1000 pounds a year and they are fabulous.

It is just too cute.

I saw these cute card holder garland.  I thought what a great idea.

I have used cooking twine and small clothespins in past.  I guess they could be decorated, but these didn't really appeal to me.

I saw this article and took a quick look.  Such a great way to recycle used computer parts. 

Slow down and watch Mog's Christmas Calamity.

I saw this clock on Facebook and thought it was a great idea.

Since I am working my book reading has slowed down considerably.  I will say that I do enjoy the Benni Harper Series by Earlene Fowler.  I just finished Kansas Troubles.

I will finish up this post with this video that made me giggle.  My youngest daughter has a thing for unicorns and one year she did snow removal.  Her sister's and I have been giving her no end of grief.

Now head over to LeeAnna's at Not Afraid of Color to peruse the other I Like Posts

I Like Post #86

Welcome to my 86th installment of I Like Thursday.  A Huge Shout Out to LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color for encouraging us to find things that we like, love or just tickle our fancy for the week.

I like the virtual cookie blog hop that Carol of Just Let Me Quilt does annually.  If you are looking for something new to try check out the bloggers that are participating.  There are some yummy recipes, and quilty eye candy too.

I like this video that popped up on my Facebook feed this morning. It made me smile.  See if you can name all the Christmas movies referenced in the video.

I also loved this video that popped up on my Facebook feed this morning.  Can I get a great big AWE!!!

I was taking the garbage out the other day and I had a visitor on my porch.

Sorry for the screen but he was so close!  Not too sure if he was threatening the sparrows and wrens that were in the honeysuckle vines near the house or he was just surveying his domain. 

I like that I started playing with my embroidery machine to do something other than just a quilt label.

I am getting mighty proficient.  I can set it up and let it run while I am working on quilting projects. 

I love this vintage basket quilt top that I found on EBay.  I think I have a new love, now to start quilting them.  

It has been cold here so Bobbin now needs a coat.  I purchased 4 for her so we have options and some days no matter what we get really muddy and the coat needs a wash, so we have back ups.  I like the burgundy one I bought her.

Yes I know she doesn't look thrilled.  She was napping and I woke her up to take a picture.  I ordered myself a big fluffy, chunky, oversized sweater from Amazon during black Friday.  It came today and I got to laughing because it is the same color as Bobbin's.  We could be twins!  I would have taken a picture but it was impossible to tell where Bobbin ended and I began.  We started resemble the creature from Total Recall called Quato. 

While visiting the cousin in Vermont we were talking about geology, bedrock, granite and ledge.  His house which I shared earlier this year, that he built sits on what he calls ledge. I thought it was granite, but it is actually Monkton Quartzite.  Talking about quartz we then segued to Herkimer Diamonds.  Per Wikipedia:

Herkimer diamonds are not actually diamonds, but double-terminated quartz crystals discovered within exposed outcrops of dolomite in and around Herkimer County, New York and the Mohawk River Valley.^[1][2] The "diamond" in their name is due to both their clarity and natural faceting - crystals possess double termination points and 18 total faces (six on each point, six around the center). Because the first discovery sites were in the village of Middleville and in the city of Little Falls, respectively, the crystal is also known as a Middleville diamond or a Little Falls diamond.^[3]

Herkimer diamonds became widely recognized after workmen discovered them in large quantities while cutting into the Mohawk River Valley dolomite in the late 18th century. Geologists discovered exposed dolomite in Herkimer County outcroppings and began mining there, leading to the "Herkimer diamond" moniker. Double-point quartz crystals may be found in sites around the world, but only those mined in Herkimer County can be given this name. 

I love Etsy and these came up on my feed the other day.

Herkimer Diamond earrings.  I love odd jewelry and these are so different.  

I had to go back to work and have been pretty specific about what I was looking for.  I didn't want to work in the computer industry again.  I wanted something close to home, that did not involve a lot of travel or miles to work, something where I wasn't sedentary, and perhaps could make enough money to cover my monthly expenses.  There is a chain of stores called Meijer here in the Midwest.  I was called in to interview for working in produce.  I thought hey, healthy, moving, would be a great job.  I got in and they told me they brought me in with ulterior motives, they really needed people to clerk in the bakery.  My thoughts running through my head, "Yeah, put the fat girl in the bakery."  Anyway I have been doing training and orientation the past few days.   The good thing though is I see some fun things.  Like this rocking Triceratops.

Another picture that popped up on my Facebook, just especially for LeeAnna.

A 25 foot tall Christmas tree made of plastic Flamingos at the Luminature at the Philadelphia Zoo.  You can read more about it here. Seriously you cannot look at this tree and not smile.  

Finally my book pick for the week is Death By Committee by Alexis Morgan.  It was a recommendation at the end of a Kathi Daley book so I looked it up.  

I am going to borrow the write up about the book:  After a rough divorce, Abby McCree only wants to stitch up her life and move on. But other loose ends appear after her elderly Aunt Sybil passes away, leaving Abby to tend to a rundown estate, complete with a slobbery Mastiff of questionable pedigree and a sexy tenant who growls more than the dog. As Abby gets drawn into a tight-knit quilting guild, she makes a twisted discovery—Aunt Sybil’s only known rival is buried in her backyard!

Thanks for stopping by, now head over to Not Afraid of Color to check out the other I Like Posts for the week.