Happy Independence Day!

I hope everyone has enjoyed a wonderful  4th of July!  This was the first one in a very long time that didn't involve a family or neighborhood potluck.  It was just the 3 of us.  This, however, does not mean we don't celebrate.  I still make some holiday themed vignettes inside and out and cooked a downscaled but tasty meal of delicious summer foods.  This year's menu consisted of mom's potato salad recipe, barbecued ribs, coleslaw, baked beans and for dessert a batch of homemade ice cream using the recipe handed down for generations in the family.  It was a delicious meal and both Bill and Keith seemed appreciative of my efforts.  Head on over to A Stitcher's Snippets Cooking for a couple of the recipes.

I've managed to put a few stitches in the 2 projects I'm currently focusing on.  On the left is Miss Peepers by Country Cottage Needleworks and on the right is Red Riding Hood by Primitive Hare.  I really am making fast progress considering I've not spent more than a couple hours on them all week.  Tonight - I'm thinking will be a stitching night - we'll see if the guys agree with that.

On the reading front I finished Saint's Gate by Carla Neggers.  It was a good mystery but as always I knew who the killer was as soon as the cast of characters was revealed.  Some think it would ruin the book for me but then again I don't really know if I'm right until the end and I don't peek.  

I'm still reading Inferno by Dan Brown.  It is a page turner but am trying not to read it as fast as 11/22/63 as it is so hard to find a really good book these days.  I also started Porch Lights by Dorothea Benton Frank  and thank rosek for the recommendation.  It is my porch book to read while waiting for Keith's bus.  I have to say in 3 sittings I'm already 1/3 of the way through the book.  I am really enjoying the book and the author's style of writing.  I see myself reading more books by this author.

I want to share that my friend and designer, Belinda Karls-Nace of Blue Ribbon Designs has designed a special piece to raise money (she has to raise $2,300 to walk in this walk) for the Susan G. Komen 3 - Day Walk in San Diego in November.   It is titled Red Rosies and Pink Posies.  Click on this link and it will take you to her website and will tell you how you can get this lovely design and donate to this worthy cause.  It is a cause near and dear to my heart as my mom lost her battle with breast cancer in 2010 and a day doesn't go by that I don't miss talking to her!

On the fitness front I'm really enjoying my membership at the Y.  I've taken a variety of classes and have already identified a couple of favorites to go with my cardio workouts.  I think in the next couple of weeks I will meet with the Wellness Coach again to learn how to use all the weight machines so I can incorporate them into my routine.  I have to say I'm already noticing a difference in my body shape.   I've not yet stepped on a scale to see if there is weight loss and as that is not my main goal I may not.  My doctor tells me to quite worrying about that number and just concentrate on the healthy eating and healthy exercise.