MAY WRAP UP

Oh my goodness!  What a merry month of May this has been!!  We have been very busy as a family with both of our grandsons reaching milestones.  Our older one graduated high school and the younger one is heading into middle school.  See my blog posts of May 23 and May 24, 2014 for a little introduction to these guys.

Earlier in the month hubby and I participated in Antique Alley Yard Sale.  We had two strong selling days and packed up early because of the rains coming in on the third day.

LilBit and I sat in the truck and watched the rain for a long time!

An annual excursion for us is a local Neighborhood Yard Sale.  This year was a bonanza buying year for us.  Since hubby is an avid re-seller at Flea Market and Long Yard Sales, he must constantly be looking for inventory.  This is such a fun Memorial Day Weekend Event for us.  We just take LilBit and browse through this very old neighborhood.  St. Elmo is a neighborhood that has very old homes that folks are buying and re-furbishing.  Many times they buy the house and whatever furnishings are left.  One of those houses this year was having a huge sale and Hubby was very happy!
Sorry I don't have any pictures. 


I love spending time with my family!  That means that I do not do as much quilting as usual. 

I did have one finish that I can show:

This was started several years ago in a Bonnie Hunter class and I just finished it.  I chose to do straight line quilting on my Bernina sewing machine and I love it!!  Bonnie calls this Virginia Bound.  I call mine Facets and Gems. 

I completed two other projects but I cannot show them yet.  They will be shown next month after they are presented to their recipients.  A third project will be shown next month after my Modern Quilt Guild meeting where it will be part of this month's program.

The other thing that has kept me busy this month is trying to clean up and de-clutter some of our flower beds and foundation plantings.  This has taken me over two weeks to complete.  I have a couple of pictures to show.

This section shows some droopy, transplanted calla lilies and some added stones.  Of course all of these beds had to have added top soil and then be mulched heavily.

In this section I added the ornamental stepping stones that were made of the footprints and hand print of my grandsons when they were each about a year old.  They have been in another flower bed in the back yard until now.

This Procumbens Nana Juniper is way out of hand here.  My plan is to slowly cut it back until I can remove it completely and then plant something less bulky.

 

There was one on the other side of the entrance and I removed it and replaced it with softer, cleaner plantings of variegated liriope and dianthus.  I like the looks of this so much better.

 

 Until next month when I hope to have a lot more to show. . .

 

 

-sandi

 

 

 

 

 

 

PORCH CHATTER: 2014 AWARDS DAY

Our family has been really busy this year with our two grandsons each reaching a special milestone in their lives.

Nick is our younger grandson and he just finished elementary school at Bluff Park in Hoover, AL and is now headed to Middle School where he will continue to shine and continue to develop the leadership skills he started developing at a very early age.

Nick has been an Alabama State Champion in wrestling and excelled in being a terrific team leader and encourager of his teammates.

 

Later, he decided to play football...

 

 

He is very successful in sports despite being one of the smaller players.  He is focused and determined.  Two characteristics that will take him far in life are his natural ability to lead and his strong sense of self-confidence.

He has developed some strong friendships over the year since pre-school days. It was so much fun to go for lunch at school with him and to meet his friends.

 

 

 

Of course, having Nick come to our home for visits is always a treat.  He has such a great sense of humor.  We are always talking about "Nickisms" - those funny sayings he has to describe what he sees or hears.

He and I love to go out for lunch.

 

 

 

 

Fifth grade was his glory year.  He was elected treasurer of the Student Council and his responsibility was organizing the school store, keeping it supplied, and finding "staff" from his peers to run the store.  He is a great organizer and cheerleader of his peer groups.

Here he is with Elizabeth Ray Chapman handing out programs for the Awards Day Program.  Nick and ERay (as we affectionately call her) have been best friends since pre-school days.  She was elected President of the Student Council and the two have served as leaders of their class this year.

This young man received several awards at Awards Day and was recognized for having all As for the entire school year.

 

 

School work and sports are not the only interests of this well-rounded young guy.  He was selected to join the Birmingham Boys Choir this year.  He now spends many hours in practice/rehearsal and participated in the spring concert.

For you, Nicholas Taylor Smith, we send you off to Simmons Middle School next year where we know you will continue to make your mark as a leader and an awesome individual.

 

We are sending you all our love and our support!!!

 

 

 

                                                -sandi
                                                a.k.a. - grammy





















A

PORCH CHATTER: 2014 GRADUATION

This has been an exciting year for our family.  Our grandson, Preston, graduated from high school and he is heading to Auburn University in the fall to study Veterinary Medicine.

A few pictures I want to share for the family and friends.

This guy has brought so much joy to all of us.  He is always so giving and appreciative of his gifts and opportunities.

 

 

Talking on the phone with his special girl, Leah Byerly,  and thanking her for slipping over and hanging this banner on his special day.

Of course, there had to be a "big box".  My family members know that a box that size usually has a quilt in it.

Today's box was no exception.  It did, indeed, have a quilt in it.  This is the back of our college quilt.

That smile just lets me know he loves his other gift, too.  A check!!!

 

The college quilt still needs a binding and then it will be ready to go to college with our special guy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

There will be a complete post about this quilt once I have the binding on it.  In the meantime, it will be getting its finishing touches of a label, binding and its first washing in the next week.

Congratulations, Preston Alan Smith!!!  We love you and are so proud of the success of your life journey to date.  We know there are big things still ahead for you. 

We are sending you off to college with all the love and support we have for you!!!!

Mom and Dad,  Heather and Byron Smith

and Papa and Gram, John and Sandi Suggs

                                            

 

-sandi

a.k.a.  -  gram