USPS ~ Service with a Smile?

Bam, bang goes the mail slot.

Mail's here!!

And this was in the mix

. 

The torn envelope.

The sincere apology.

I got a big kick out of this notice. They are just so humble, so sincere, so willing to go the extra mile. Ha!

And yet, when I have packages propped directly in front of the mail slot, it is not unusual for said packages to be shuffled off to the side and not picked up! I have to watch them like a hawk and sometimes race out the door to deliver my packages to the postman. 

Oh how I long for my favorite postman who always picked up every package and looked to see if I had anything to mail, even if there was nothing for me. But he got another neighborhood (lucky them) and I now have a series of different letter carriers, some who are conscientious, and some that I have to go racing across the yard to catch. And then, of course, I give them a polite lesson on picking up my packages. (Yes, I am polite and do not accuse them. You get more flies with honey...)

But, "Oh, I didn't look at the address. I thought it was for you" doesn't float.

I am appreciative of the torn envelope being put inside the bag. And I think that overall the USPS does a fine job -- but I'd sure like to stop having to chase after my letter carriers!

So, what do you think...

Do they CARE?!!!

~ sharing over at Miss Jenny's for AlphabeThursday where we are studying the letter U


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Blues at the Block Party!

Recently, we "babysat" Noli while mama's band performed during a neighborhood block party.

The globe and that cute table lend a bit of old world ambiance to the porch, and the crooked mail box...

Toy Gun performs

It was fun -- her neighborhood is in a historical area and the homes are mostly from the 30s and 40s. Some have been refurbished, some not. Some are very colorful! It is a neighborhood full of a mix of ages and professions -- and lots of artistic talent.

During the block party, this house was designated the "band" house, with all bands performing on the porch. Another house was the "port-o-potty" house (port-o-potty in the front yard, LOL). There was face painting and a bounce house for the kids, as well as chalk drawing on the street.

Of course, Noli's favorite was the bounce house...

~ sharing over at Blue Monday and GRAND Social 


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Trail ~ A Fetching Neighbor...

Trail is our next door neighbor dog -- she's a sweet dog who only barks when the postman passes by and when kids walk by on the backside of her fence. So not a lot (unlike our other next door neighbor dog who
barks at anything that moves...)

Whenever Dennis goes outside, Trail expects.... nay, demands, that he throw her ball or a stick to her. She is definitely a lover of the game of Fetch!

And so he dutifully plays Fetch (I think he secretly likes playing with Trail since our outside kitties don't do much playing) The ball used to have a rope on it which Trail has chewed off, so it has a hole in it where the rope used to be. Dennis uses a stick to scoop up the ball and then lob it over to Trail.

Pretty yucky ball! 

He's not touching it, no way!!

So back and forth goes the ball with Trail running, fetching and then throwing it back over the fence to Dennis! She stands up with her paws on the top of the fence, ball in mouth, and throws it over!

On and on they go until Dennis announces that the game is over for now. Trail always looks so sad when the game ends, but I think she knows there will be another time!

Oh and Trail, true to her name, has made trails all over her yard -- all around the perimeter and a kind of Y shape one in the middle, leading to her ball throwing place at the fence and to the mailman watching area. She is a lady of habit.


~ sharing Trail over at Miss Jenny's for AlphabeThursday where we are studying the letter T


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Softball Noli

Noli has elected to play softball this year (yay! I was growing tired of soccer :p ) Her team is named the Ponytail Express (cute, huh?!!) and purple is their color! Her dad is the team dad and one of the coaches so I know that makes her little softball heart sing!

This past Saturday was her first game so, of course, her proud parents and grandparents were there to clap and yell encouragement.... and take pictures.....

Up at bat

She's got a pretty good swing

Look closely and you can see that one of our dad coaches has just the word Express on his shirt. 

No Ponytail in sight. You'll see the reason for pointing this out in a minute.... :p

Tebowing?

Maybe, but probably just checking out the dirt

In the dugout, waiting for her turn at bat

and being a goofball LOL!

Get that elbow up!

Pretty good swing....

But didn't connect with the ball

Love these bronze statues!

Similar ones are all around at libraries, town centers and such.

We're the Visitors....

Look closely and you'll see that this coach dad is on the other team (the Kittens). The coaches' shirts had a pink paw print with "Kittens" written below it. Oh my, on that burly guy :)

(I think our dads were pretty smart to just have "Express" on their shirts!)

Hey, hey, we're one up!

But note the two outs.....

And the final score!

The Ponytail Express WINS!!

It was a good game and all played well!

But, of course, the best part is the snack!

She always knows when somebody's taking a pic

and she was up against me and her other grandfather

This is how she poses a lot....

little smarty pants

Caught her giggling anyway!

Now we're off to grab a little lunch before taking our sweetie back to mommy. All in all, a pretty terrific day!

~ sharing Softball Noli over at Miss Jenny's for AlphabeThursday where we are studying the letter S
~ and sharing all the pink uniforms, helmets and shoes over at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday
~ and sharing over at Grandma's Briefs for GRAND Social


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Swimming in the Ocean Blue

Oh, I love it when I'm asked to crochet something special for someone! When they find something I have in my shop, or that I've done before, and tweek it a bit for their own needs. When they want something but in a different color or size, or paired with something else. You know, something special just for them.

Well, that happened with some fish.... I had made a play set that had several sea creatures in it, including said fish, and I was contacted about making those fish for a crib mobile that the customer was making for her nursery. She sent me pictures of her nursery colors -- a wonderful ocean blue, a lighter blue, grey, and navy for good measure!

These are her fish, swimming in the ocean blue 

A school of fish, looking at you!

 Oh, fish poetry!!

After they were done, I asked if she would send me a photo so I could see how her mobile turned out... and she did and gave me permission to use them here.

Didn't it turn out cute?

I love the way she painted the bobbers to match!

and the midnight blue for the wall is perfect for a fish theme!

Click on the pic to make it bigger and check out that cute sign...

What a lucky baby to have such a talented mom!

~ sharing the blues in this cute fish mobile over at Smiling Sally's for Blue Monday

~ and sharing at Grandma's Briefs for Grand Social

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A Special Quilt

I have several quilts made by two aunts -- one my mother's sister and the other my father's sister. Aunt Annie (my father's sister) made this one.... and her sister (my Aunt Florence) left it to me in her will.

The pattern is called Sunbonnet Sue

The cute girls remind me of Holly Hobby!

I love this quilt with its hand embroidery on each Sunbonnet Sue and the different dresses which I know were from fabric left from sewing.

It's all hand quilted -- not a machine stitch on it.

It's really big -- here, it's on a king-size bed and has an overlap on the sides of one full row of Sunbonnet Sue's. When my daughter graduated to a twin bed, I used the quilt even though it was pretty big!

Now I have given it to that daughter (who is now 30) and she has put it on my granddaughter's bed. It's a double size bed so the quilt fits much better and makes a wonderful bedspread. Noli knows that she must keep it nice -- no food allowed!

Before I gave it to my daughter, I took pictures of each of the squares. I just couldn't let go of that quilt, or at least the memory of it!

It's a four generation quilt! Five if you count Oliver... 

Even though I miss looking at it, I'm thrilled that Noli loves it and that it's getting some good use. I have told her about my Aunt Annie and what a sweetheart she was. How she told me stories and showed me how to catch frogs in the backyard pond.... and then we had frog legs for dinner! Yes, it tasted like chicken!

I loved to visit my Aunt Annie and Aunt Florence (sisters, sharing a home). Aunt Annie always had a lap to sit in and stories to tell. Aunt Florence was a teacher and I remember going with her to school. They could both cook up a storm and it was fun eating different food.

There were two different times that we were visiting and I had come down with mumps one time and pink eye the other. I got to stay with Aunt Annie and Aunt Florence while my parents continued their vacation -- oh the fun! Sick or not, I had a great time! I remember the little girl from across the street looking in the screen door at me.... but I couldn't play with her because she had not had the mumps. But the next door neighbor boy had had them so I could play with him. But all he wanted to play was trucks. I wished I could have played with the little girl instead!


~ sharing the Sunbonnet Sue quilt over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter Q.
~ sharing at Grandma's Briefs for Grand Social


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Play Plants for a Special Someone

The countdown is on! Spring is actually on its way, no matter what the weather says. We don't get a lot of winter weather here in Texas but we sure had a huge drop in temps recently.... 60 degrees in one night! Eighty degrees one day, and 20 and below the next!

Check out the cutie Spring Countdown up there.... there's hope for warmer weather!

But we have a ways to go before the flowers are blooming... so I have crocheted ones to look at right now! I've shared these potted flowers with you before -- it's a cute play set with flowers that "grow." You can plant a seed, grow a seedling and then the flower blooms!

A bit before Christmas I made a special order for a sweet little girl who asked Santa for some "play plants" and these potted growing flowers fit the bill!

Her special flower colors were purple and pink!

Here's her whole set with a cute swirly storage bag

And here she is!

Her mama sent me this picture and said that I could post it.

Isn't she adorable with her "play plant" : )

Then it turns out that her cousin came to play...

and this set was ordered for her!

Are you wondering about that green flower? Well, her favorite color is green, green and more green! So a green flower was a must, along with a green bag with those cutie swirls! Her birthday is sometime around St. Patrick's Day, so the green is super duper special! 

Proving of course that flowers come in all sorts of colors!

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sharing these cutie potted play plants over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter P

Oh, and you can find the play set in my shop!


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