A trip to Saratoga Race Course

Hubby and I took a trip the second half of this past week to upstate New York. Hubby is a huge horse racing fan and we hadn't been to Saratoga Race Course since before the pandemic. It is about a 3 1/2 hour drive from our home on Long Island without traffic. On Wednesday we drove to our hotel about 20 minutes from Saratoga and then met with an old high school friend of Hubby who lives up there. We wanted to explore the idea of possibly buying a home to retire to in the future. Hubby's friend and her husband had a wealth of information and we saw a couple of new housing developments. Not sure that this is truly the place where we want to be, but it was a start in our search. We aren't in any hurry. We enjoyed a pleasant dinner with them at a local restaurant that first evening.

On Thursday, we headed for the Race Course. The weather was perfect and the racetrack is beautiful. 

The view of the tote board from one of our many change of seats throughout the day.

We would move in and out of the building and find different places to sit. Here we are on the benches facing the track. The grandstand is behind us.

Within the grandstand are betting windows, concession stands and bars. Behind the grandstand there are more betting windows, concession stands and bars as well as pretty flowers and picnic areas.

We are not big bettors, but we did put wagers on almost all the races. Hubby had a winning day, I did not. That night we went to a local restaurant, Nove in Wilton, NY. This is a great Italian restaurant that we have visited previously. We found ourselves seated next to the owner and spoke to him briefly. Our meal was delicious as usual. 

On Friday, we enjoyed breakfast for the second day in a row at The Ugly Rooster in Malta, NY. The first day I had Nick's Famous French Toast with Strawberries. The pastry cream that comes on it was a little too much for me, but on the whole it was delicious. Hubby had two eggs and toast. That is his usual breakfast when we eat out. I joined him in that breakfast on Friday. The hashbrown potatoes that come with it are delicious.

Our betting and winning at the Race Course on Friday was much the same as the previous day. We left for home after the 8th race. We listened to the remaining races in the car on the way. I was glad we left when we did as there was an accident on the track right in front of the grandstand that I certainly would not have wanted to see. All in all it was a nice few days away.

I did bring my Prairie Schooler Santa with me to work on in the car, but I only added a few stitches. 

My daughter has yet to decide on which arrangement she would like for her quilt. These are the other two possibilities that I sent her based on the tweak she requested.

I personally like this second one as the extra stars will definitely land on the top of the bed.

Since I was not sewing together the Log Cabin Star quilt, I decided at the beginning of the week to spend some time fussy cutting more 3 1/2" squares for my I-Spy quilts.

 I now have hedgehogs, squirrels, roller skates, bicycles, and Sesame Street blocks cut out. So far I have cut 31 sets of 2 blocks for each quilt. That means 62 of 120 blocks are cut for each. I still have a few more different fabrics to cut, but I think I may go back and just cut 1 or 2 more from some of the previous fabrics so that I don't have to buy any more. Three blocks each of 40 fabrics gets me to the right number. Several of these fabrics, I probably would not use for anything other than these quilts. Most of the fabrics are fat quarters or quarter yard cuts. 

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by! 

July Stitch Along Post

I can not believe that we are more than halfway through July already. At the end of June I had almost finished the fronds on the palm trees.

 Despite being away for a week. I can now say that those fronds are filled in and I have started working on some of the pretty sky below them.

 This Stitch Along is hosted every three weeks by Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea who kindly sends us the needed posting reminders. 

Grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea and take some time to visit the other bloggers below who are part of this stitch-along. There is a wide variety of stitching projects. These talented stitchers are from all over the world, so please allow for the time differences and check back for each post. 

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret,

 Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, 

Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy, Helen

Thanks for stopping by! 

256 blocks completed!

Yes, you read that right. I have finally finished piecing all 256 blocks for the Log Cabin star quilt (Judy Martin's Timberline) that I am making for my daughter. This is what my second floor landing looked like this morning.

 I laid out two of the borders and the center 4 blocks first and then started playing around with all the other blocks. I came up with a few options. My daughter likes this one...

and this one:

Personally, I think the corner stars will get lost on the sides of the bed.

She asked me to tweak the one below for another option which I will work on Sunday. She wants to see what it would look like with the stripes repeated from the outer stars to the corners instead of the repeat of the center. It's funny, I had set that up, but never took a photo. Darn. 

I sent her this one from the internet as another option. 

This is too busy for my taste.

The reason I was able to get all the blocks pieced is because it has been too darn hot to do much else during the day. Hubby and I visited the local beach and walked the boardwalk one night. On Friday, the heat and humidity finally broke a little bit and we were able to visit the local county park, walk the pathway near the water and look out over the bay. It was low tide and a bit smelly though. We didn't sit all that long. 

You can see the Jones Beach water tower and theater in the distance below.

I have also spent a little time working on the gingerbread man ornament. I am getting ready to add the green buttons.

I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Another finish!

I have finished Overall Sam! Before we went on our California trip, I managed to finish the quilting. This week I looked to see if I had any of the red fabrics from the appliques to use as binding on this quilt. There was just enough of one of them to make the binding. This is all that was left of the red fabric once the binding was attached.

 I made a label and have been sitting in the evenings stitching the binding to the back. I love this quilt. 

I may still want to add another button for the upper left Sam to hold and maybe a hanging sleeve, but I am declaring this quilt finished! 

I did say that I would show you a few photos of our California trip. We were visiting our son, DIL and grandson from the first to the sixth. The weather was sunny and warm while we were there. We all visited the Birch Aquarium one day. This is a fairly small aquarium, but it was perfect for a short outing with a 13 month old. He enjoyed looking at the fish with Grandpa.

There were penguins to see.

This was the view from a little patio area where our grandson ate his lunch. The adults ate later when we returned home.

Our grandson also went to the local kiddie park for the first time and got to have a dip in the pool with his dad at their apartment complex for the first time while we were there.

It is a really pretty pool area. 

We had a wonderful time.

On the 5+ hour plane rides to and from CA, I spent a little time working on this Prairie School Santa. It was a small, easy project to travel with. I made good progress on Santa's coat. There is a lot more red stitching to be done.

Now that July is here, I have started on the two ornaments I want to make for my grandchildren. I had to sort the floss (black is missing) as well as the sequins and beads. I cut out the gingerbread man first and have a small start. 

I have also been working on the Log Cabin Star quilt for my daughter. I am happy to say that all 28 of the "W" border blocks have been completed. 

Next I am working on the 28 "X" blocks. I have the first log sewn together. These blocks are very similar to the "W" blocks except the long and short green logs are reversed. I hope to have them completed by the end of next week. 

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Our Anniversary

Hubby and I are celebrating our 39th anniversary today. Weren't we cute? 

We just returned home last night from a week in California visiting our son, daughter-in-law and grandson. No photos yet. 

Since we were traveling across the country, I needed a craft to work on during the trip. When I wrote this post....before we left...I had yet to decide whether I should bring a small whole cloth quilting project. Only one thread to deal with, but a 16.5" by 16.5" pattern. 

Believe it or not, this photo is after I gave it a good, dry ironing. The pattern is water solulable so I can't steam it. 

My other option is to work on a Prairie Schooler Santa cross-stitch project. I'm planning on stitching the top one with the quilt. I think this was probably what I choose to travel with.

I had started on the border blocks of the Log Cabin Star (Judy Martin's Timberline) quilt before we left. Each block has seven logs and each log has two pieces. These do not sew up as quickly as I had hoped. I decided to work on all 28 of the "W" block at once to ensure that all the fabrics are random. 

Since this phote was taken, I have added that fifth log to all 28 blocks.

We are now in the month of July, so it is time to start working on my grandchildren's ornaments. I will be making two of the felt ornaments in this kit.

I think the gingerbread man and house will be made this year. Or maybe the candy cane instead of the house. I haven't decided yet. 

I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Second June Stitch Along Update

After several days of no air conditioning on our second floor, it was finally fixed on Tuesday. I sit on the second floor landing, in front of a large window, when working on Three Boats. It has great light and I can place the lap stand on the loveseat to work on my stitching. 

 Needless to say, it was way too warm up there to work on Three Boats for any length of time. This is where I was with my stitching three weeks ago. 

I tried to make up for the lost stitching time this week and added quite a bit of stitching since Tuesday. Of course I was able to stitch in the week before the A/C went out. I like my progress so far. The fronds on the palm tree on the left are almost finished.

I hope to be able to finish this page by the end of July. I think that should be easily doable. 

This Stitch along is hosted every three weeks by Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea who kindly sends us the needed posting reminders. 

Grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea and take some time to visit the other bloggers below who are part of this stitch-along. There is a wide variety of stitching projects. These talented stitchers are from all over the world, so please allow for the time differences and check back for each post. We are welcoming Helen back after a brief break.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret,

 Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, 

Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy, Helen

Thanks for stopping by! 

Two finishes

What a week this has been. First, we finally got the central A/C for the 2nd floor fixed on Tuesday morning. It turns out that the on/off electrical control switch within the unit was corroded and had blown apart. Thank goodness it didn't go on fire. It was a quick 15 minute fix and all is well now. 

On Wednesday night there was another thing that broke....the water main in the street in front of our next door neighbor's house. A man walking his child in a stroller stopped to inform us that there was a small river of water flowing into the drain in front of our house and coming up through our street. Hubby contacted the local water district and they came immediately to assess the situation. Work started within the hour, but then had to stop due to a hour of thunderstorms coming through. 

Our water was turned off for about 3 hours or so. Work was completed around 11pm. The hole is filled, but the road still has to be repaved. It has collapsed a little around the repair site as of today.

I do have two finishes! Several of you guessed that my crochet project was a little lamb. Isn't it adorable.

It has been given to my friend to pass on to her infant grandson. Those books you see in the background were my own children's board books from 30+ years ago. They are nice to have when the grandkids come to visit.

I also finished Pumpkin House. 

I have ironed it since this photo. I think I will make it into a small pillow.

Hubby and I took a break on Thursday and drove to the North Fork of Long Island to enjoy lunch at a local vineyard - Terre Vite Winery & Vineyard. There was a pretty patio with a great view of the vineyard. 

Hubby had a glass of chardonnay and the Caprese panini. I enjoyed a glass of the Mercato Red Blend and The Figgy panini. 

The weather was beautiful and the food and wine were delicious. 

I have a bunch more flowers in bloom now. My coneflower is putting on a show.

The lavender is in all in bloom with the butterfly bush behind it soon to follow.

The hydrangeas are flowering also. One pink/purple....

and two blue.

I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!