This year I decided to kick off the bucket list with a cute vintage Halloween diddy.

Since Halloween is my favorite time of the year, I cannot resist this cute poem.

Enjoy reading.

2026 is another year heavy on crafts. There are a lot of new crafting ideas out there, not sure if there is revived interest in crafts or just “influencers” trying to find something new to show. I am pulling back from making themed drinks as I struggle to find the ingredients to make the drinks. So it will be more generic.

Of course I will be exploring movies and shows to bring in the spook. This year my sister and I are going to watch those old timey vintage horror monster flicks. That should be fun.

Wish me luck on completing this bucket list.

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My family has been here a long time. I have several ancestors that served in the war. I captured a few to share their bravery.

Betsy is probably the most colorful. She braved the war to find her menfolk. The whole family was involved in the war.

Another ancestor is Robert Mason who saw a great battle.

The last but not the only is Elijah Whitten. He joined after the fall of Charleston.

There are many more ancestors who were involved in the Revolutionary War. But these three stood out as ones who put their lives on the line to help create this great country.

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I decided to make some patriotic themed drinks and food. The drinks did not turn out well. The tri color drink needs to have different levels of sugar content. I could only find sugar free white and blue drinks. So it ended up blending together. Cranberry juice on the bottom, coconut water and then Gatorade It tasted good but looked bad. The second drink was Gatorade ice cubes. I saw it on Pinterest. But the cubes did not really freeze well. I think I will give up on making these drinks I see as I can never find the ingredients. Lol

I do much better with food items. I can usually find new themed food much better. I got flag shaped crackers and make star shaped cheese.

Then I did a snack tray of patriotic goodies. Lots of cookies and snacks galore out there. It will take me forever to eat all this stuff but nice to find it in the store.

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I figured that there would probably be some good shows regarding the American Revolution. Fortunately there were quite a few. Maybe not an overwhelming amount but enough to educate myself.

Of course a good documentary or two is appreciated. First place I looked was to see what Ken Burns has done. Yup of course his documentary was out there, thank you PBS

I always like to check any show from Lucy Worsley. She always puts a different slant on history. This show did not disappoint. She shared the information from the British perspective which made this show interesting to watch. The conflict between the King and his advisors did show the struggle during this time.

I also checked out Apples production of Ben Franklin which to say was a very interesting look at the time he spent in France trying to get support of the Revolution. Although interesting, it has a lot of subtitles for the French which is basically for the whole show. I could not do other things while the show was on. lol.

I also choose to watch the HBO John Adam’s which is a rich production on our second president. Entertaining but educational.

I also read the Pulitzer Prize book Founding Brothers by Joseph J Ellis. At times it was hard to read but it did provide a new perspective of what the founding fathers went thru during the creation of our country.

1. The debate on slavery was prominent in the discussion during the talks. Many states wanted to abolish slavery but Virginia economy based on slavery.
   
2. The political infighting was as bad as it is today. In my mind it is a miracle we were able to finally agree.
   
3. Washington was the only president who received all the electoral votes. No president since has achieved this status.
   
4. Washington appeared to be a divine individual destined to achieve the creation of the United States. There were reports that many expert riflemen shot at him and nary a bullet hit him. In fact one of the Indians who shot at him told his people to stop shooting as he was protected by a divine force. Kinda gives you chills.
   
5. Jay Treaty angered so many people as it was the agreement between Great Britain and the US. It was a slap in the face to the French who sided with us in the war.
   
6. During Adam’s time as president, he sought the advice from his wife Abigail almost exclusively.

I must say I did learn a thing or two about the creation of our country. Always good to educate yourself on history.

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I always enjoy a good patriotic quilt. Last year I had my flag quilt sent to the quilter to finish. This year I finished the binding and laid it out on my bed. I had the quilter do a patriotic swirls and stars design which I think came out great. This was such an easy quilt to sew up and great for beginners. The hardest part was finding all those red, white and blue prints. I scoured every site I could find for charm packs with that theme.

Primrose Garden did a mystery quilt a long this year with a patriotic theme that I am in the middle of making. Obviously it won’t be done for the celebration this year.

I did not buy their kit, so I have been using Lori Holts Americana fabric to make my quilt. I really like Lori Holts Americana fabric as it is so versatile. So I have been trying out the various fabrics to determine color placement entirely. I tend to just use kits that tell me what color to use so it has been fun “auditioning” fabric.

I enjoy quilting but I know that I can only quilt when I am in the mood. Otherwise I make too many mistakes. Nothing worst than using that seam ripper.

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All I can say about my little terrier is that she will never be an Instagram star. She views posing for the camera a personal insult to all dogs. All I can say is she is much better than my Maltese was. Poor Olive thought she was being punished and she would look away when I tried taking a picture. But Olive loved to dress up. But to Penny, dressing up is the worst punishment out there.

So I made her a patriotic bandana for the 250th celebration. I was sure I could get one quick photo and be done.

50 photos later and I got ONE that was doable.

The cute bandana was double sided and very fashionable.

All I can say is I tried.

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I love to do jigsaw puzzles. Originally I only did puzzles for Christmas. You know, cozy at home, hot cocoa, puzzle, Hallmark Christmas movies playing in the background. But last year I expanded to Halloween. Since this is a special year I decided to do a July 4th puzzle. One of my favorite puzzle brand (Galiston) had just what I wanted.

This puzzle by Galiston is a Michael Storring design which I believe the same artist from the Halloween puzzle last year.

Halfway thru, so far very easy to find the pieces.

Completed in time. 500 piece puzzles are pretty easy and quick to put together.

Now onto the new exciting series. For a long time I have seen these companies that send you letters via snail mail for a whole year. You become involved with the characters and events. I decided to sign up for the American Revolutionary series.

Here is a sample of some content that I will receive. So for 12 months I will receive snail mail. I look forward to my first letter. This should be fun and exciting and if all goes well, maybe I can do another series.

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I love doing cross stitch projects and have many finished pieces (but rarely fully finished). I have been doing this craft since my late teens. I love how the industry has grown and there are so many great patterns and designers. Not like when I was young which was only white or beige Aida and DMC threads. Although I still love Aida and DMC there are so many other threads and fabric to choose from.

Being the 250th anniversary I wanted to do something special to commemorate the event. I have several in the pipeline which I know will not be done this year.

The one I am currently working on is from Lori Holt called Scrappy Americana Flag. Because this almost a full coverage piece it is taking me much longer to finish.

A lot of stichers are working on this one and I have seen many finishes. In fact my sister finished and framed this piece.

I only have the red stripes, the words and the border to finish.

Another stitch I have seen many people work on is Teresa Kogut’s 250th Celebration piece.

Other patterns I am interested in stitching are as follows:

I suspect none of these will be stitched before July 4th but some of them are easier so I may get them done shortly thereafter.

The Holiday Sampling from Primrose Cottage is part of a series that originally were the seasons. They now have branched out to holidays. I strongly suspect that a Halloween Sampler is coming soon.

I know my eyes are bigger than my stitching fingers but time will tell on which of these get stitched.

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I enjoy drinking tea, both hot and iced. I am always intrigued when one of my favorite tea companies comes out with a special blend during the holidays.

Smith Tea is a newer tea company to me but I have been eyeing their website ever so often. Well when I saw their patriotic red, white and blue tea for summer I could not resist.

Their three tea blends are Hibiscus Mango (red), White Peach (white) and Blackberry Jasmine (blue).

• 4 1-Quart Sachets of Hibiscus Mango Iced Tea: A bright mango forward infusion of juicy hibiscus flowers, orange peel and smooth rooibos. Caffeine-free for enjoyment any time of day. One sip and everything’s rosy.
• 4 1-Quart Sachets of White Peach Iced Tea: Delicate yet full-bodied white tea is rounded out with juicy peach, pineapple, orange peel and vanilla. A shimmering golden tea you’ll want in your glass all summer long, preferably poolside.
• 4 1-Quart Sachets of Blackberry Jasmine Iced Tea: A dazzling sapphire blend of premium Jasmine Silver Tip tea, sweet blackberry, orange peel, and mango. The beauty of butterfly pea flower naturally makes it a brilliant blue.

So far I have really enjoyed the flavor of the tea, very refreshing and tasty. The only thing I am missing is the fresh fruit to garnish the teas.

You should check out their teas.

So here is to sipping a cold drink during summer!

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