Bits of This and That

Today I have a few miscellaneous things to share with you that have been brought to my attention and I thought I'd pass them on. My sister-in-law Kathy sent me an e-mail about a seagull in Scotland with a penchant for Tangy Cheese Doritos tortilla chips (or crisps as they're called there). I went looking on the internet for the story so I could give you a link. Crime in Scotland is pretty high, I think, if even the seagulls are getting into shoplifting! But I like a bird who knows exactly what he wants and goes for it! If you haven't seen this yet, click HERE and play the video of the news story.

Carole's been doing some serious MEGGING over on her blog with her idea for using fabric scraps to make rugs. At least I know she megged me! I had to go order the book from Country Threads. And while I was there, I had to order a couple other things as well. My friend Patty--one of the gals who went to the Thimbleberries retreat earlier this week--was going to try to get down to Country Threads while she was more-or-less "in the neighborhood"--if you figure Iowa is in the neighborhood of Minnesota--but I'm not sure if she made that trip or not. When we were both at the retreat a couple years back, we ALMOST went until someone mentioned we weren't supposed to take our rental car out of state unless we arranged with the car rental place ahead of time. Well, that and we were pretty busy with the retreat anyway, so we didn't go. In any event, Patty brought this new Country Threads pattern to our attention recently and, since I was right there on their website with my shiny little credit card in hand, I figured that with just a little click, the kit could be MINE! So, yeah, into my cart it went. That's it up there at the top of the blog post. You can either order just the pattern or you can get it as a "starter kit" with enough scrappy fabrics to get started, and then you can add more of your own. Cute, yes?! Then, since I noticed some really cute quilts on Ms. Sharon-Over-Achiever's blog site the other day and saw the very exact same pattern at Country Threads, I really felt I needed to add that to my shopping cart too. Here's a photo from Sharon's blog that I shamelessly stole. Think she'll sue me?

Go on over and visit Sharon and see the rest of her fall quilts though--they're worth a visit. (You'll need to scroll down a couple posts.) More importantly, check out the red and white gingham apron and matching shoes she's wearing! I swear she looks almost like my grandma when old grannie was busy in the kitchen baking. Well, except those photos of her where she's shoving an enormous wooden spoon in her mouth. Grannie wouldn't do that. Or the even LARGER spoonful of "whipped topping"! Only Sharon! (Okay, I know that most of us probably WOULD do the same thing, but I'm pretty sure there are few of us who would want to memorialize it in photos on our blogs.)

Then there are Cheryl and Darlene, both of whom seem to be losing their minds lately--and nearly everything else. If you haven't already read about their recent "adventures" and want a chuckle, go over and visit them.

Friday's here--finally! I haven't done much quilting on my leaf quilt the last couple nights, but then the extra thread I ordered hasn't arrived yet either, and I'm limited on how far I can get without it. I DO think I'll start my Autumn decorating this weekend though--between bouts and bursts of quilting on the leaf quilt. The rain stopped Thursday but it's supposed to come back today and/or tomorrow, so it will be a good time to stay indoors and putter around the house. Seriously, I DO need to pull out my soup cookbooks and find some good recipes because soup season is upon us and I'm ready! Do any of you have a good recipe for a beef and veggie soup to share? Cream soups are my favorites but are too high in calories and fat, so I'm looking for soups made from beef or chicken stock that still pack in the flavor. I'd love to try a couple more recipes if you have any to recommend!