Buzz Inn at Deep Creek Lake

 

Welcome to Buzz Inn, named for Paul's college mascot, Buzz, from Georgia Tech.

 

Paul's Mom bought this house the second year we were dating, way back in 1991.  Since then, it's been painted at least once and the deck stained once - but the wood has been rotting away and needed some kind of facelift.

One weekend last September, we packed up the house and moved everything out into two storage pods that were placed on the driveway. 

 So here we have the removal of the old wooden siding.  I think it only took a couple of days to take it all off.  It looks so naked!

The roof was raised and three rooms and one bathroom were added to the upstairs.  The boys have their own bedroom now - it has two double bunk beds!  The middle room/great room will be for games and more relaxing.  I'm hoping to accomplish a lot of stitching in that room - maybe even this weekend after the furniture is moved in!




This is the finished house, they are just working on finishing up the deck and adding the stairs.  We are here with the extended family to enjoy a blessed Easter together, even my parents will join us on Sunday.

Spring, Games & family

Here we have our bunny flag out, I'm so glad the weeping cherry cooperated!









I made this little hatched bunny for my parents, way back in 1989.  My Dad found it in a drawer somewhere in the house.. I wonder what else is hidden that I've forgotten about??

The boys are on Easter break this week, so yesterday afternoon we headed over to Oma & Opa's house to spend some time with them before heading to the lake later in the week.  

 When Nathan was "playing" Monopoly with Oma, she kept landing in jail and he thought it was funny!  To avoid Nathan landing in jail, she suggested that he pray not to get a number that would land him there.  So he did, and God said no at least once!  But you must know, this is also the little boy who reminds us when we haven't said our prayers at dinner. 

 

Here they are playing a matching memory game, no praying needed for this one.  He was pretty good today considering it was raining heavy at times and we were stuck inside - so much for collecting wood for a fire outside.  Tomorrow is supposed to be nicer with only a 40% chance of rain, so I might be getting some marshmallows yet!

  If you haven't noticed by now, my Dad loves to take pictures!  Even though we grumble, it is always nice to see them later.  We're just missing Paul in this one, he had to stay home to work, but will join us later in the week at the lake.






I don't know which one is the naughtiest of the three, they all have their moments!  But we'll keep 'em, they're cute!

  

Yellow Stripe Belts

 Tae Kwon Do / Hapkido

 So here's Nathan on the left after receiving his yellow stripe belt at almost 4 1/2 and Griffin & Garrett on right after receiving their yellow stripe belts at age 5.

Look at those blondies!  And oh boy, do they look like their Dad... when he had hair!

 

Now we're off to watch the gmen play arena football, only the rough stuff for them now!

SAL and an 88th Birthday!

I finally started the monthly Oakhaven SAL, just a little late.  I kept seeing it on other blogs and decided to join in since they were so cute!  I've finished January and have started working on February.  It shouldn't take me long to catch up, although I am behind on my Margaret Sherry Culinary Cats. 

Nana's birthday was on Sunday, she is an amazing 88 years young!  She came to the boys arena football game on Saturday (they won) and then joined us Sunday to listen to the boys play in their school band festival.  Here's what the band teacher had to say on the performance, 
 "The Symphonic Band sounded very polished on their pieces…especially the slow sections.  The slow sections are the hardest to make sound pretty and musical and they did very well.
Both bands received a rating of Superior which is the highest rating a band can receive.  This is our 14th consecutive year of receiving this top rating at the Baltimore festival."  Great job, guys!

We wanted to take Nana out to dinner for her birthday, but she insisted on making it instead - chicken and dumplings.

As soon as Nathan saw her starting to make something, he was right there.  Although he thought she was making cookies since she had the mat and rolling pin out!  

So here she is, teaching Nathan how to make dumplings.  He was having fun, until he saw Gammy decorating Nana's cake!

But sadly, the dumplings didn't turn out the way she had hoped - she thinks it was the chicken broth in a can that she added.  Good think I had noodles on hand.  But she did end up making cinnamon/sugar roll with the leftover dough!

And here she is with her helpers to blow out the candles.

I had already made her a birthday card and the boys each made one, but I thought this one might put a smile on her face!  I can only wonder what she'll be dreaming about tonight!
Happy Birthday Nana, you are an amazing woman and we love you dearly.

Easter Swap Goodies!

 

Wow, I received my Easter swap goodies from Sherry @ Blessings From Our Nest and they are wonderful!  A big soft pillow, a sachet that has lavender in it from her garden, an adorable chick postcard wall hanging, a music note nest w/eggs, 2 candles, orange/chocolate eggs, peanut butter/chocolate "pie", and of course, a cute little chick!  Thank you so much, Sherry, I love everything you sent.

Here are my goodies, set up in the dining room.  This is where we eat all our meals, so it's nice to be able to see it every day - and it smells good too!  I have behaved so far and have only had one orange/chocolate egg - but need to watch the rest or a little one who shall remain nameless Nathan, will get his little fingers on them!  BTW, the egg was so good, I hope the Easter Bunny leaves me a few more!

Even the box my goodies came in was a hit, Ming liked sitting in there with the paper and she now smells amazing! 

If you’d like to see what I gave Mollye, check it out @ Fruit of the Spirit BUT, she may not get it until tomorrow.  I was so picky on what I wanted to stitch and then had to figure out how to finish it, that I ended up sending it a little late.  I did let her know and hopefully she will forgive me!  

Thanks again for hosting this Parsley, what fun!

The Gmen have a Birthday! *new pic*

 Thanks for the birthday wishes!  Here's their "official" birthday picture.  Griffin (L) can be a grump when having his picture taken and Garrett (R) has his moments!  The Cheesecake Factory was a hit - leftovers were brought home and even some cheesecake.  I don't have to make their actual birthday cakes until they celebrate it during the summer with some friends.

 No way can these two cute little blond boys be 13 years old today!  That's Garrett in the back and Griffin up front.  I love this picture of them, especially since their Dad is a "rocket scientist"!  
What am I going to do with two teenagers in the house - not that the attitude hasn't already begun.  Their voices have started to change and Nathan has asked them why they have fuzzy hair on their upper lip!  I'm taking him to the store today so he can pick out birthday presents for his brothers and he says he wants to get them Legos.  Never to old for that!
I'll be taking a birthday picture of them later today, and I'm sure they'll be complaining about it too.  Hard to believe that they were born six weeks early and are now taller than me, and eat, eat, eat!  Looks like we're headed to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner tonight to celebrate, yum... cheesecake.

New Moon TUSAL for April

Wow, is it really April?!  Are those really blossoms from our Weeping Cherry Tree?  Yeah baby!


My dragon glass is growing and that's what happens when I stop playing games on the computer and actually stitch!

 My friend, Nina, had services for her Mother today.  If only it wasn't so far away, I would have gone.  But the family was in my thoughts and prayers.

 2011 New Moon Dates: January 4th, February 3rd, March 4th, April 3rd, May 3rd, June 1st, July 1st, July 30th, August 29th, September 27th, October 26, November 25th, December 24th

Prayers, please! *3rd Update*

Late 3/31 Per Nina - Just an update, my mom was an organ donor, so we are now waiting for a surgeon to come in and harvest her kidneys and her corneas. This will take place tomorrow morning at 11:30. My aunt is here, she was able to see mom this evening. Hug the ones you love and remember to tell them. Thanks for the prayers, please keep them coming.

3/31 Per Nina - We have a very difficult day ahead of us, decisions have been made to terminate my mother's life support. Due to the stroke she has suffered severe brain damage. She would never return the fabulous, glitzy woman she was, thank you all for your prayers . Please keep them coming the next few days are going to be hard.

3/30, This is from Nina this morning - My mom is not doing good! They have taken her off sedation and she is not responsive. We need a miracle. They will be doing an EEG and a second cat scan, will update you all later! Please keep praying. 
It will be at least 48 hours before we will know if she is going to wake up, I'm so blessed to have such great friends and family to keep our spirits up.
 
After arriving here at 5:45 this morning, we are at the hotel. going to have dinner and get some rest. We are awating the results of some tests. But so far my mom is not responsive to any kind of stimulation. Keep the prayers coming..

Please pray for GBusy, she had a stroke today and is now on life support.  This is my girlfriend Nina's mother and she lives in North Carolina.  Nina and family are traveling there tonight, it's about a 7-8 hour drive - please pray for their safe journey and that they can make it there to say goodbye if that's what's meant to be.

She came to the boys "Superbowl" football game in the fall and she was as rowdy as everyone else!  She's got a lot more BUSY in her, please Lord, let her show it! 

Amish and More Quilts

Amish farming is hard work!

This is still in Lancaster, but taken at our last girls weekend.  I think the open buggies with children in them are the best, but this one went right by the house we were staying in.

 Here are some more of HJ's quilts, I think this one might just be my favorite.  I love the colours of fall and the leaves on this quilt are only sewn down the middle so they "flap"!  Love it!











How cute are her jars of fruits and veggies?  Although I'm thinking they may be better filled with chocolate and candy for my house!

  

Looking back, I really should have written down the the type of quilts they were when she was telling us.  So, if you're interested, I'll find out.

This is only a portion of what HJ has made, many have been given away and I didn't take pictures of every one she had there.  


HJ helped me finish a gift for my BFF while we were there, but I still need to get the hanging supplies before I give it to her and show it.  She did a fantastic job and even though she asked if I wanted to do it, I was lacking in confidence.  It sure looked easy, but we'll see how it looks when I try it!

 

Another fabulous weekend and we are already planning our next one!  I think some antique shopping is in our future too.

Quilts and a finished SAL!

After the quilt show, after lunch at Good 'N Plenty, after shopping at the Amish and/or Mennonite quilt shops, after spending the night in Lancaster, after shopping at some of the outlet stores, and finally, after another quilt shop and then lunch... we finally headed back to HJ's!  
HJ retired in December and moved to Pennsylvania from Virginia.  She moved next to her son and his family, into the nicest little house which has a HUGE craft/quilting room.  
She might be in the middle of nowhere, but she's in her own world here!

Here she is, showing her stuff.  She has made some beautiful quilts and I'll show you more on my next post.  Bet you didn't know that animals love shoes too!

 

I met DJ & Marie today to do some stitching and finally finished my first Margaret Sherry cat! I think my problem was that I was trying to make it look more like Max and couldn't quite get it right. Although it looks like there is a stain to the left of the cake, there is something wrong with the camera, not the fabric! 

I'm not sure if Max really cares for it, or maybe he's just interested in the cake!

Quilt Show in Lancaster, PA

It's a quilt show/girls weekend! I wish I had the patience to make them, but instead I can only admire them. There were so many amazing quilts, I'm really in awe of all you quilt makers out there! So my question is - pictures were allowed to be taken, but can I post them here? Maybe as long as I give credit to the person?
I did buy a little set of scissors and a kit of some sort, but not quilt related - that will have to be another post.

 
Of course we HAD to go shopping after the show! We went to quite a few quilting stores and the one cross stitch store I knew of was gone... darn it!  I need to check online to see if there is another one near here before we leave tomorrow.

I love the Amish farms and the buggies going down the road, the children in their Amish clothing, and the quilts hanging out to dry on the line.  It was an absolutely beautiful day to see the sights of the country.

After stopping at a furniture store, HJ bought a very nice quilt rack (she's our quilter), this place was next door calling my name!  So here I sit with my plastic cup of wine, chilling out and thinking I should be stitching... but maybe tomorrow night.

Signs of Spring, finally!

So the day after DH replaced the battery in my car, it wouldn't start the next morning, grrrr! We ended up taking it to the dealership that night after he was able to jump start it. Since it was going there, I also mentioned that the sunroof had been leaking when it was out in the rain. Well, I got a call the next day to say that the drainage hole from the sunroof was blocked and there was about four gallons of water in my car. They pulled the carpet up and sent it over the ovens in the body shop to dry and then placed a heater and fan in the car to dry it out - hoping it would be dry on Monday. That's why the battery wasn't working, it was getting wet. Who knew it was sitting under the floor, behind the passenger seat in all that water! Good thing we have the good old minivan to drive around.

 
On a brighter note, seeing signs of spring is a wonderful thing! Of course that also means that we really need to clean out the flower beds, they are a mess as you can see. I find it hard to get to involved in the yard since we are still talking about redoing our house and so then I think, why bother. But talk is cheap so I'd better get busy with it sooner than later!  If only I could open the doors and windows when it gets really nice, but that invites the stink bugs in and they are just nasty little things.  Any of you know what I'm talking about?

Getting ready to meet DJ for some stitching, just need to get dressed, gather my stuff and drop Nathan of at preschool before heading out. I've been working on my Margaret Sherry cat, trying to make it look like Max, but it's not going so well. Not sure I really like the way it looks so I'm hoping DJ will give me some thought to it! And I need to start my owls too!

Electronic Overload & Slow Stitching

Just call me the electronic killer, my laptop is down... again. Along with my camera, phone charger, and as of yesterday morning, my car battery!  I'm crossing my fingers for my phone and camcorder to keep going!  Laptop will have to be sent away to be fixed, waiting to order a new camera, phone charger on its way and DH just replaced my battery - yeah!

I've been working on my Margaret Sherry cat, but didn't get as much done as I wanted to over last weekend. We went to the lake and worked on the house a little more, but we haven't finished decorating yet. I also joined the Oakhaven Designs Group and need to start working on my owls - they are too cute!

 

So since I have no stitching pictures to show, here are my "bookends" instead. When they're not snuggling me, you can normally find them on the TV. That is, until one of them falls off while sleeping!

Looking forward to tomorrow, I'm meeting DJ for a quick shop, lunch and hopefully some stitching. That is if we don't need a boat to get out of the house if it's supposed to rain as much as they say!

New Moon TUSAL for March!

Hidden amongst the dragons, the TUSAL is slowing growing.  Still not as much as I’d like, but pretty good for me!

This is my Nathan’s collection of dragons - the theme in his room is castles, dragons and knights.  I’m hoping he won’t outgrow it anytime soon, but if he does I’m sure I’ll find a home for everything.

2011 New Moon Dates:  January 4th, February 3rd, March 4th, April 3rd, May 3rd, June 1st, July 1st, July 30th, August 29th, September 27th, October 26, November 25th, December 24th

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant hapus!

Happy St. David's Day!!!!

In his last sermon David told his monks to "do the little things, the small things you've seen me doing".
...it reminds us that the primary things for us are the relationships around us, the need to work at what's under our hands, what's within our reach.

Flying the Welsh flag at my parents house.

 Mom & Dad’s “baby” – poor thing!