Cold, wet, rainy days

Hello my friends! It is cold, damp, wet and rainy here in North Central Florida. Yech! I hope you all had a fabulous Valentine's day! Mine was lovely, as I received beautiful red roses from my hubby the weekend before:

I love fresh cut flowers. For those of you who know me, my birthday is on Valentine's Day. I have two rules on that day: I do not attempt to go to a restaurant and please do not buy me flowers. Every other day of the year, flowers are affordable...well, except for Mother's day. I'd rather stay at home and have a nice meal with my family. This year was wonderful: Stevie, Nicole and my 4 year old grandson, Xander, came over for a pot roast dinner made by hubby. It was delicious! And I got to spend time with some of my favorite people. THAT makes my heart smile!

I was supposed to go kayaking with a few friends Saturday to see the manatees at Three Sisters Springs in Crystal River. Out of 10 of us, four guys did brave the cold and managed to dodge the rain until AFTER they were off the water. I chickened out. Like I told my friend, Craig... I get whiny and bitchy when I'm cold and wet....and NOBODY wants to see that! But kudos to the guys for not only braving the weather, but getting pictures, too! Bob and I did meet the guys for lunch afterwards, so it was fun.

So today is Daytona 500 day, but we just saw that it is rained out until tomorrow. I hate when that happens. I always love the track and the races. But, it's Monday and I have to work. Guess I'll have to be satisfied with the highlights. I haven't been able to make it out to the track for a long time. Maybe I'll try for the Coke Zero 400 in the summer. At least if it rains in August, it shouldn't be as cold! Onto my crafting: I'm working on a quilt for my great niece Madelyn Rose. She turns 15 on February 22. She loves Paris and usually has an Eiffel tower themed birthday. I've had this panel for her for a few years, but finally got the top put together:

I know it won't get to her before her bday, but I am contemplating bringing it to her in March. We are travelling to NY to visit my brother and to see Maddie in her first high school play. I can't wait! We are planning on going opening night, so it will be really special. I hate to wait that long to give her her birthday gift; I know I love to receive mail, so I will probably mail it once it's done. Ok, that's it for now. I need to get ready for my birthday lunch with Tim and Sarah at the Indian restaurant in Ocala, Amrit Palace. I only wish it wasn't raining. Oh well. maybe I can get more done on Maddy's quilt! Til next time..... Beth

Hello Again, Hello!

 Hello Again!

(and yes, that is a reference to a Neil Diamond song...just love him and his music!)

I am going to give this blogging thing another try, lol. I can't believe it's been almost two years since my last post! A lot has gone on...changing jobs, heart cath for hubby (he received a stent in August and is doing well), rescuing an abandoned pit bull, trying to kayak and hang more with my friends, births, deaths, and traveling to NY to spend time with my brother and nephews. All the time trying to squeeze crafts in there and kayaking too. Whew...writing it down, it's an awful lot. 

  This is Gabbi, short for Gabbiano...yes, she's named after a bottle of wine, lol. She was left in a garage for 7 days with no food nor water when a friend of my son's broke her out. Gabbi is an absolute love, but hogs all the attention from Slash and Fiona. She also loves to chase cats. Sooo, we keep her on a leash and in the harness. We've found she doesn't like to be without her harness. It's her security blanket. 

On to the crafting front: I recently finished this table runner:

I found this kit on my latest shop hop with my friend Gayle. This is last year's all Florida Shop Hop fabric,,,the kit was precut, so it was a quick stitch. I'm trying to work on my quilting skills as I have two Quilts of Valor to make this year for a couple of guys near and dear to my heart. I probably won't do the quilting, I have a friend at the guild who has a long arm and does great work. Betty did the quilting for the first one I did for a friend of a friend. 

  This was fun to do, when it wasn't frustrating, lol. But when I saw Gary's reaction to the quilt I made for him, it was all worth it. I also arranged for Tim's friend Diego to receive a QOV through the guild. Whild I didn't make it, I'm so happy to have helped in his receiving one:

I was finally able to meet Diego's mom, Carolina, who is my FB friend and big supporter of my boys. She's an absolute delight and I'm very happy to have met her in person. 

   

I was able to finish at least one crochet project; my crochet cable wrap that I began 13 years ago, lol. I had ripped it out and started over, but here it is finally finished:

It's super warm and I love it. A friend asked me to make  her one in white. That one is in progress; it will not take me 13 years to finish it, lol.

Oh and I did make one other quilt I wanted to show you. I made this for a dear sweet daughter of another mother of mine for Hanukkah/Christmas, as she celebrates both:

This was fun to do and even more special because Meghan is a sweetie. 

   That's it for now. I will post more of my adventures over the past two years with pictures. Let me leave you with our DiBiasio family Christmas picture. The theme was GWAR, thanks to my son Tim.

Til next time, show me what you all have been up to, stay safe, keep moving forward and be kind to one another! Beth