Seven Snippets for a bit of catch-up!

1. 1. Taran’s Adventure took an unexpected turn when a persistent (though not continuous) tummy ache (Taran) and then an unexplained foot pain (Gary) cut our time in Fredericksburg short.  We still managed to fit in some fun –
      

      But it was a much quieter adventure than we expected it would be. Yet all is not lost. I was able to get a refund from the campground we stayed at (SKYE Texas Hill Country Resort – highly recommend!) since we left three days early, and have already booked a spot in downtown San Antonio for Taran’s Adventure – Part II!

   2. We have three birthdays in October – one in each of our kids’ families. This year I tapped into a bit of AI to help with their birthday photos –
      

      Reis turned 12	Alex turned 11	Deacon turned 6

      Sure do love these superheroes!

   3. Gary has been very busy this fall. And most of that busyness seems to have involved ladders!!
      

      So many hard to reach chores!

   4. I have a new upgrade in my sewing room. My first ever (and much anticipated) design wall! It’s just a couple sheets of foam board covered with some old flannel sheets, but I’m so excited to have something vertical to lay out my quilts!
      I’m feeling kinda fancy these days!
   5. I’ve been spending a little time each morning updating our mailing address.  Since we have an actual address these days, I won’t be renewing our mail forwarding service when that comes due. Unfortunately, given current postal regulations, since we are already using a forwarding service, I can’t just fill out one of those handy dandy ‘change of address’ cards and be done with it. No. I need to change every address myself. The reality is we don’t get much mail, but even with most of our life on line, there are lots of places to make that change. I think I’ve done the major ones – credit cards, banking/investments, Medicare, and insurances. Pretty sure I’ll be doing this for a while yet!

(Reading over that last paragraph sounds a bit whiny. – Sorry ’bout that – just keeping it real! Life’s not all new decks and sewing studios!)

6. When we moved here we loved the fact that we had a tree in our yard.

And when we decided to add a deck, we knew we would have guaranteed shade. Yay! The good news is that it’s a Live Oak, and it stays green all year. The bad news is that it’s a Live Oak and it sheds copious amounts of acorns each fall. Combined with metal roofs on all of our covers, we often feel like we’re in a war zone. Those little brown bullets land with gusto (are the squirrels throwing them?), and when the wind blows it sounds like a machine gun. If you’re outside and a breeze picks up, you’d better head for cover!
Every morning (truly, Every.Morning.) our deck looks like this.

Gary blows them off, and it starts all over again!  This too shall pass, right? Keep focusing on the shade…

7. We have officially listed our dear Lizzie for sale! She has been our constant companion (and home) for over 20 years, but to everything there is a season. And now is the season for her to find a new family! As I was emptying cupboards and cleaning her up, I was reminded of all the memories we made during our years together.  God has been so gracious to give us (and we had zero RV-ing experience) such a great coach, and we feel she still has many miles to go and more memories to make. So if you know of anyone who might be interested, please let us know! (You can check out more pictures HERE! She really did clean up nicely!)

Phew – that took way longer than I thought it would! But it feels good to be back on the blogging road, even if it is a little sporadic! Thanks for stopping by!