Cooking, Decorating and Laundry?

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I have been visiting many blogs today and everyone is decorating for Christmas. Where is this energy coming from? I want some! Just kidding. I am looking forward to all the pictures.

My granddaughters and I decorated the Christmas tree on Friday. For me that was a big deal because I rarely get them over the holidays because Momma and Daddy always have to work the next day and they live 200 miles away. I must admit that I was exhausted Friday morning because I was up until 1 AM cleaning up from our Thanksgiving feast. At that point it now became a 21 hour day for me. I tend to be a control freak so needless to say I would not let anyone do the cooking or would I allow anyone to help with the clean up. But I would not change a thing because I love it and we had a wonderful time.

The tree decorating went very slow because I was moving very slow. At one point the girls were wondering if we would ever get the tree finished. As the evening rolled around we finally got it decorated.


The only mishap was I could not get the bottom branches to light. Either I missed a plug or they have finally burned out. Quite frankly, I did not want to rummage around inside the tree looking for the plug. Maybe next year.

I really have been very busy these last few weeks. I so want to get back to my blog. I miss everyone. In the next few days I will post some pictures of our trip to Texas. The weekend before Thanksgiving my husband’s nephew got married. It was a beautiful wedding.

We returned to Sacramento on Monday. On Tuesday morning I had to start a marathon shopping trip for Thanksgiving. Since I was having 19 people I had to carefully plan my day so I could get all the shopping done. Before I began my shopping I thought I would get some laundry started. You probably know where this is going. Yes, my 12 year old washing machine went out. Instead of the grocery store, my first stop was Sears. 45 minutes later and much poorer I had my new washer ordered. Oh and a dryer too. The dryer was even older than the washer and I figured it was only a matter of time before that was going to break down. I now finally own a matching washer and dryer. How many decades did this take? :)

I have been on vacation for the last two weeks and quite frankly I need to get back to work so I can get some rest. I AM POOPED!


Many hugs and much love to everyone, Sue

For All of My Dear Friends

From the bottom of my heart, I am wishing you and your family a bountiful and blessed Thanksgiving.

Hugs and much love, Sue

Sunday Morning Tea

I am sitting here this beautiful morning with thoughts of you.
As we sip our tea please think of me and I will think of you.

Have a blessed day.
Love Sue

Anxiously Waiting

I would love nothing more than to say that fall is in the air. It is my favorite time of year. Alas, I cannot say that. It is once again over 100 degrees here in Northern California, compounded with humidity. But I know that fall is right around the corner with all of its nurturing glory and all of her traditions. I don’t think there is any other time of year that has more family traditions.

There are so many things to love about this time of year. The first sign of fall is when we are ready to decorate our homes in all the colors that seem to hug us. There is something very soothing about the colors of fall. These are the colors of nature after all.


Fall is a time to slow down. It is a time for Mother Nature to nurture us. It is time to take in everything she has to offer.

Fall deocrating can be so effortless.



Fall is apple pies. One of my guilty pleasures is a piece of apple pie for breakfast. Shhh, don’t tell anyone.


The first signs of fall bring the anticipation of Halloween. Whether it is helping the little ones choose just the right costume, or for me and my SH it is the anticipation of all the little ones that come to our door that evening, it seems young and old find Halloween fun. I still remember when our boys were little and how much fun we had making their costumes.



Like many of you I am ready for fall. I love everything about it. The fun, the traditions, the decorating, families coming together, the scents that fall brings with it, and the cooler weather. Oh yes, the cooler weather. I am of the age that I relish cooler weather, but that is for another discussion. LOL!

I am wishing you a very blessed and safe weekend.
Love Sue

It's a Rooster Party...I am a Little Late

I woke this morning to the rooster crowing (well not literally) only to discover I had no internet connection. Aghhh! Now what? Well a morning cup of coffee in my opinion can solve just about anything. Or at least help you start thinking straight. Can you relate? After I got the brain in full functioning order I thought I would try again. Nothing. I waited and waited and tried and tried. Still nothing. By now I am getting perturbed. Do I call the internet service people and wait for what would feel like an eternity? I thought I had better not call, because by now I am running out of patience and I really didn’t feel like being nice to these people because this has been happening on a regular basis lately.

Later in the day, WHA-LA, I am reconnected and I can finally participate in the rooster party but by this time I need to leave for my hair appointment. Oh brother, am I ever going to participate in the rooster party? Well, yes I am. I have been bursting at the seams to share this handsome devil with you. He has always had a place of honor in my kitchen.


He really is a handsome devil. My husband and I were junking one day and he was helping me find the second half to something. I can't even remember what it was now, maybe a candleholder. As he was bent over in the biggest box I have ever seen, he said he couldn't find what I was looking for but he said he found a rooster. I thought a rooster? What do I want with a rooster. As he came out of the box with the rooster he said he had never seen my eyes get so big. Oh my. He was gorgeous. Now the big question, how much? He said $20.00. What? It can't be. I read the tag, yep, $20.00! By now I know people were eyeing this rooster. Maybe it was because I couldn't hide my excitement. I thought I have to get out of here now with this rooster because I felt if I even waivered for a moment someone was going to snatch him. No way!



Here he is on my dining room sideboard.

Thank you for visiting. Please click on the rooster icon and visit the other ladies that have participated in the rooster party.

xxoo, ~Sue

I Miss the Whimsy

I don't know about you, but when Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion stopped publication it made me very sad. When I pulled this perky publication from the mailbox everything else ceased to exist for at least an hour. God forbid dinner was cooking (just kidding). The colors alone were enough to pull anyone out of grumpy mood. Well, we have Mary back. No it's not her magazine but she is now blogging. Yipeeeeeeee! It's time for a happy dance. Or should I say a coloful and whimsical happy dance.

I have collected ME fabrics for a long time. I have made many of my tote bags from her fabrics and those are always the first ones to sell at my craft shows.

Mary's Blog

xxoo ~Sue

The Power of Forgiveness

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32

I read something the other day and it said, “If God didn’t forgive, heaven would be empty.”

It made me think about the power of forgiveness. I believe if we cannot completely forgive we cannot have a full life. We cannot move on until we have forgiven. Forgiveness heals and allows us to grow. It removes our mental and physical pain.

Forgiveness is freedom. Unforgiveness is destruction.

All of us have had the misfortune of being hurt, but if we remain resentful and don’t forgive, it will become a burden on our hearts and bodies. With each passing day it gets heavier until it is carried into our physical bodies. For some, the result is health problems.

I carried with me a hurt for a very long time. It eventually became a burden. Call it stubbornness, call it the ego but in my mind if I offered up forgiveness then somehow I was saying that it was O.K. that you hurt me. We don’t forgive others for their benefit, we forgive others for our own well being. Each time we forgive, a burden is lifted and the heart is opened.

One of the secrets of a long and fruitful life is to forgive everybody everything every night before you go to bed. - Bernard Baruch

Love Sue