I Love Thursday #87 Many Blessings
This is our 87th post of things we love for the week. We post these loves each Thursday along with LeeAnna on her blog at Not Afraid of Color. Several additional friends also share on a weekly basis – be sure to check them out. You will surely find something to inspire you.
Love #1
Spending time with my sissy! Recently I have spent a lot of time with my sister. She is a bird watcher and has a wonderful deck from which to do so. She put out her hummingbird feeder and told me about the Oriole that started visiting her last year. It seems they like grape jelly so she put some in a pickle jar lid and nailed it near the bird feeders/houses. She also gave me the recipe for simple syrup and how to make it in the microwave. I am thrilled to say that I made my own simple syrup and added it to my red hummingbird feeder. I guess they are drawn to red and I can see why. I’ll keep you posted on if I see any hummingbirds. My fingers are crossed.
Oh, and here it is awaiting all of the hummingbirds to start feeding. I can hardly wait to share a photo with a few birds enjoying the sweet nectar made just for them! I can see it outside of the living room window and the dinette patio doors, so it will be easy to fill and keep an eye out for birds.
Love #2
Thread bargain. Somehow I earned a $10 Joann’s ‘reward.’ It had an expiration date and of course limitations on how it could be used. I decided I needed a new spool of gray thread, and I wanted to try Gutermann. So I popped into Joann’s to buy just one spool of thread. I didn’t look at the rulers, or the fabrics – although I did give a lime green polka dot bolt a second look. Straight to the thread I went, focused on gray. I picked out the color I wanted and then looked to see how much it would cost. There was a sign – $3.99 BUT buy three and get two free. Yes, I only NEED one spool but come on! Five spools of thread for $2.07. How sweet is that? I hope I like this thread and that Ellie likes it too.
Love #3
Kathleen and EQ8! Anyone who has read this blog for any amount of time will know that Sue and I have had a love/hate relationship with the software EQ8. Unfortunately, that would lean more toward the hate side. Several quilter friends had told me about following Kari Schell’s blog and that she offered classes. Kathleen started her online video class called Tech Know Quilters and shared that she was learning a lot. At that same time, I was torn between attending an EQ8 hands-on class in Ohio. Not only would the trip be expensive, and use up vacation days that I didn’t want to waste, it was also a poor time to take off work. So, I signed up on the waitlist for the TKQ classes and was granted access April 1st. I’ve just completed the first 13 lessons and have learned SO much. I’m a little behind but the nice thing is that there isn’t a deadline to complete each task. I’m leaning more toward the love side of the relationship now thanks to Kathleen McMusing!
Love #4
Lantern Festival! We’ve just learned that a Lantern Festival from China will be coming to our Racine Zoo this Fall. Starting October 1 and ending December 31, there will be 80 nights to enjoy the beautiful displays. We have gone to see them before in a Milwaukee suburb, and it is well worth the time. I can hardly wait to take sweet boy and girl to ooh and awe over them.
Photo courtesy of the Journal Times
Love #5
Visiting the Jelly Belly factory and touring it on a train was on the agenda for Dominic and Addison this week. Up first is what a big boy looks like on a candy store train with a snazzy hat. Upon being released from the Jelly Tram he did the big boy walk! After that, he is playing with the magnetic letters on the refrigerator. Notice there’s a magnet of D when he was just a baby! His favorite letter seems to be “S” to which Auntie Sue said, of course. Dominic remembers when he was just a baby when he enjoyed the bouncy seat and decided to give his sister some tips for getting the best leg action out of it. Addison always has to keep an eye on Dominic and usually gives him a “what ARE you doing” look. Do I have to roll over there to see better?! And finally, she is all smiles for her momma. She loves momma and momma loves her. ♥ ♥ ♥
Dominic is at the door to greet Auntie Sue – come on in! And let me take a selfie with a little cookie on my chine. It’s all good. We love these sweetie peas!
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This time I’m so late with email I get to start the week with the sugar does, not a bad thing actually! Made 4 AM quite bearable for me today! Love the lantern festival…nothing that exciting happening up here. Thanks for color and sweetness to start the long week!
great score on the thread!!! like a fish story, you got the big one! I’d go to the lantern festival with you.
Great “score” at Joanns. let us know how you feel about Guttermans. My Jenome doesn’t like it for some reason. Cool Lantern Festival- wish we had one here. Dominic is such a sweet older brother.
Good Friday Morning, Roseanne, I am going to look into those EQ8 lessons online. I do not like EQ8. I tried a different brand of quality cotton thread on my machine last week because supposedly the Aurifil I have been using is “linty” in the bobbin area. Well, my Janome said “no” and “give me my Aurifil.” I just could not adjust the tension and my stitches looked awful. I may have to redo some of the seams on my Beothuk top. Those littles just get cuter every week, don’t they? Thank you for sharing … 🙂 Pat
Roseanne – this is the second time I have heard about using jelly to attract Orioles. I must try it. If that picture is anything to go by, the Lantern Festival will be spectacular – jealous!!! Man, if I had known you were going to the Jelly Belly factory, I would have tagged along – a huge fan of the jelly bean! Enjoy your weekend!
I’m tickled about your thread purchase! I won EQ8 in a giveaway. The only thing I’ve learned to do is print out templates which is fine for me right now. BeaQuilter has some good tutorials, but I haven’t had time to really get into the how to!
I’ve liked Gutterman’s upholstery thread for the drapes of doom. The new place has hummingbirds – I’m going to have to learn how to use a hummingbird feeder. Lantern festival looks like fun. Huzzah for bargain thread!
That thread deal definitely worked out in your favor, Roseanne! I use Gutterman thread all the time and like it very much. Love the picture of Dominic in his Jelly Belly hat! That tour is so much fun! We’ve done it with our grown kids and thoroughly enjoyed it.
So love those scrolling photos, how do you do that? Yay for Kathleen: I should look into that course too. I did work through a good chunk of the workbook which has really helped me too. It definitely isn’t very user friendly but 8 is much better than 7. WHAT a fantastic deal; I love Gütermann threads; have used them for decades. Maybe I should approach them since Aurifil rejected me ha! I feed hummingbirds and the orioles come to the same feeder too; I’m already on my second fill-up!
I love a bargain, especially on sewing items. We had the China lantern festival here in Utah…it was wonderful.
What sweet babes!! I need to upgrade to EQ8 so I can further my knowledge and skills!!
Sure this is a great post, Roseanne. I have lots of hummingbirds in the flowers when they bloom! But I am trying to attract the orioles which I know are out there. Kudos for you taking lessons and learning new things. And it is amazing how much thread we go through, isn’t it…always great to get a bargain. And the kiddies of course are so cute. I think they still resemble each other.
Hello Roseanne, The lights seem like a fantastic event to go to! I hope that you all have a grand time when you take the kiddos and see it. I am going to have to check out my JoAnn’s add and see if they are offering the same thread deal because I am running low on threads myself. High Five to you from Me for such a great find!! Since we have moved to the mountains, I do not use the Humming Bird feeders, we have dozens of Hummingbirds that come and visit all of my flowers every single day and many of them stop for a few short seconds and say hello before continueing your their dining delights throughout all of the flower beds I have. Whenever I have lived in town, I have always had hummingbird feeders, I can not really explain why I am so adamant about not using them here. I am just very weird at times, I admit it and am very proud of it….ha, ha, ha! I know and hope that you are laughing also!!! Thank you so much for sharing all that you do, it is always great to read your posts! Have a fantastic day!
I have a spool of Gunterman thread, it was free with a purchase of something. I’ve not tried it mainly because if I like it I will want more and I only purchase thread in the large spools. Good luck on the hummingbirds.
So glad to hear you are getting along with EQ better and getting the help you needed to enjoy using it. What a deal on the thread. I managed to get a $15 reward from JoAnn’s, of course I used it on fabric! I found out you have to buy $15 or more in order to use it though, I was just under a few cents and it wouldn’t let me use it!
Those kids are adorable and I love that Addison is always watching her brother!! They will LOVE that lantern festival! Well done you on getting free thread, that’s great! Hugs and have a great week!
Be patient with the hummers; sometimes they take awhile to warm up to the feeder. Orioles also like oranges. We were late in changing out our hummer juice the other day. Once BigJ took it out, the hummer buzzed his head and went right to the feeder, as if to say it’s about time. Now I’m going to have to give that EQ8 class another look.
Great likes. I have EQ8. I have a book. Have I messed with it? No. Oh the lantern festival looks awesome, and always sweet Dominick and Addison. I don’t blame Addison for being a bit pensive about what big bro is up to.
Thanks for the shout out! I am so glad you are enjoying the classes. I need to see if I can get a challenge up this month….a little busy. Haven’t used Gutterman in awhile – I need to pay attention to the Joann adds – there isn’t one so close to me but I have a feeling enhancing the thread stash will be important. Addison looks so different in those shots; as usual totally adorable!