So what a fun weekend I've had at The Rusty Bucket. Pam and Mack (owners of the shop) were involved in a film festival held in downtown Apex so I got to work in the store so they could be available for all the events. There were lots of movie producers in town for the festival and many dressed up folks. There was even a red carpet to greet the stars of The Rusty Bucket Kids Club show (hopefully to be a regular TV show). I took lots of pictures of Pam and Mack and some of the goings on in between helping customers in the shop. Many of you may remember Charlie Gaddy from WRAL news from years ago. He and his wife Nancy stopped by the store for a few minutes. And on Saturday afternoon Jerry Mathers stopped by for a visit and signed some autographs. That was great fun meeting him since we all loved the Beaver!! Pam and Mack rode in the Model A in the Christmas parade Saturday morning and then stopped by just in time to meet The Beaver. Just a great time in old downtown Apex.

Pam and Mack all gussied up for the big event.

Charlie Gaddy and his wife Nancy

The stars of the show were dropped in front of the Cultural Arts Center to walk the red carpet.

And Jerry Mathers as THE BEAVER

You never know what might happen in the small town of Apex! Happy weekend to everyone.

What a busy week. Lots of classes, watching my little girls, decorating the house for Christmas. So much fun. November 18 was my son Paul and his wife Meredith's 9th anniversary. So we watched the girls so they could go out for a celebratory dinner. We had lots of fun together but the funniest thing was when I handed over the bowl and spoons to the girls after I had finished making up the dough for chocolate covered peanut butter balls. They had a ball cleaning off those spoons. My friend Debbie Busby from Wooden Spool Designs who lives in Portland, Oregon had a very exciting day yesterday, November 19. Her daughter, whose birthday is November 19, gave birth to triplet girls, Hailey, Olivia and Emma. What an exciting day for them and for Amy to share her birthday with her new little girls. They are going to have so much fun in the coming years celebrating that special day. Congratulations to all of them. You can visit Debbie's blog to see pictures of the babies, Amy and proud grandparents.

Some very dear friends visited Massachusetts last week and brought home some "special glasses" for my girls. Reagan often borrows her Poppy's reading glasses when she's sewing so she doesn't get stuck with the needle. Thanks Connie for thinking of the girls!

And last but not least, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around my house!!!! Mark and I are going to be away for Thanksgiving this year and won't be back until December 2, so we decided to go ahead and pack away the fall decorations and get started on Christmas so we wouldn't feel so far behind when we get home. Well, I've just about got the inside done and have really started getting in the Christmas spirit as a result. We'll wait and decorate the outside after we return home. So my porches still look like fall and the inside Christmas. Pretty funny. Here are a few pics I snapped this morning just for fun.

Seems like I am in a red and white mood this year. And maybe candy canes. My favorite color is red so guess that makes sense. I never start out with a plan when I decorate for Christmas. It just sort of happens. I don't think anything is where it was last year which makes it even more fun. Still need some fresh greenery and berries but too soon for that. Here's to warm winter wishes..............................

What a week we've had!! Remnants of a hurricane blew through and brought us some much needed rain but we didn't need the wind that went along with it. I taught several classes this week, some of which I forgot to take my camera to, so there are pictures of some of the gals with their projects. Taught two fun classes on Saturday. I have a busy, busy week ahead of me with classes on most days. It's hard when the holidays are approaching and trying to get as many classes in a shorter amount of time. So thanks for bearing with me ladies.
Marcy came all the way from Michigan just to do a snowman pillow!! Well, actually she came to visit her friend Barbara who just happened to be planning to bring her to the class. Hope you had a fun time Marcy!! It was nice meeting you.

Barbara brought her friend Marcy and also decided to do a blue background for the snowman rather than the red everyone else was doing. He turned out adorable. I always knew Barbara was a rebel in disguise!

Don't tell Darlene's cousin Sharon, but this may be a Christmas present. One thing accomplished Darlene!!

Linda and Debby are working hard on their Christmas Pitcher appliques. This piece is a little more challenging since there is a lot of embroidery embellishing. It will be worth it in the end. I said this was my long distance group. Debby S. came from Fayetteville, Linda came from Pittsboro and also brought her niece who was visiting from New Jersey and Debby H. came from Greenville. So thanks for traveling to the class gals.

Debby H. has been to quite a few classes and comes all the way from Greenville. Her sweet husband has brought her the last couple of times so she wouldn't have to drive alone. Thanks Mike.

Doreen gets the distance award today. She came all the way from New Jersey!!! It was super nice meeting you Doreen and can't wait to hear all about your wool adventures after you get home. Keep stitching!

My granddaughters spent the night last night for the first time in ages it seems. We took them out to dinner and then off to buy a $10 toy for being such good little girls. It was agony for them in the toy aisle to choose something for JUST $10. There were too many temptations so we started adding their wants to the Christmas list. That seemed to help a bit. This morning Reagan reminded me that she wanted to do the turkey mat (like the other ladies got to do she said) and that I needed to help her get started on that. She's asked me for more than a week to do that project and I thought it was a little daunting for her but I guess I'll get busy and put it together and see how she does. I promised her after she got home from church I would have it ready for her to start stitching on. She wants to get it done before Thanksgiving! Well, of course!! Hope everyone has a wonderful fall week.

Well, another quick weekend with lots of activities. The Rusty Bucket open house was a great success with lots of familiar faces. It's always a lot of work to get ready for an open house and a great relief when it's over with hopefully some fun mixed in there. My friend Evette and I went to the Just Country open house on Saturday. Neither of us had ever been to one of Jenny's open houses and we planned the day trip a couple of months ago. I, unfortunately, got sick Friday evening and wasn't sure I was going to be able to make the journey. I did go, almost didn't go, didn't feel great, felt better by the afternoon and was glad I got to spend some girl time with my friend. Jenny's open house was also a lot of fun with lots to see. I left with a couple of red electrified lanterns, a wooden box with a hinged lid that used to be used for painting supplies, a nutmeg grater, an old wooden cutting board (great for displays), an old shaving mug and a rusty pan for a candle holder. I go for all Jenny's antique things. After that Evette and I headed over to Fayetteville to one of our new favorite quilt shops -- Quilt 'n tiques. Gail and Naomi are so much fun to visit with and are always very helpful. We both left with some fabric for upcoming projects. We decided we should get home since it was getting late and accidentally passed another quilt shop we had never been to. So a U-turn took us back there with an hour remaining before they closed. Lovely shop, lots of fabric, huge classrooms. But by the time we got there we were so tired we walked out empty handed. Maybe another time. On the way home Reagan (five year old granddaughter) called to say she wanted to come to my house. Well, since we made the last unexpected stop, we were later getting home and she was getting frustrated with me. I asked Evette if we could pick-up the girls and take them to her house for a quick kittie visit since Reagan had not yet met the kittens. So we grabbed the girls and headed to kitty-land. Reagan was very timid and shy and afraid of the kitties at first. She is very, very afraid of dogs and I'm afraid it might carry over to all furry creatures. Raleigh, however, just dove in and grabbed her favorite orange kitten. By the end of the night Reagan finally got to hold a couple of the kittens and was so excited that she had made that achievement. Good for her. Taught my first December 25 pillow class yesterday afternoon. That was great fun and the ladies love the pillow. They, unfortunately, went home with home
work. Can't wait to see the finished pillows. So a very busy weekend with a very busy week ahead.

Well, Halloween has come and gone. The girls had a blast on Halloween, loved the dressing up part, of course, and participated in lots of activities. Reagan had a soccer game first thing in the morning which I was able to attend. It was her last game of the season and the first one I was able to go to. She scored two goals. They had a party to attend in the afternoon and then a parade around their neighborhood in their costumes. It was all great fun. Then off to the church for a fun evening of rides and entertainment. Not too late for a little trick or treating for two tired little girls.

The new classes have started and turkey mats are being created. The classes were so much fun, but the most interesting thing to me was watching how the turkeys evolved with each one being so unique and different based on the wools that were chosen. Can't wait to see some of the finished pieces.

The rest of the week has been busy helping Pam get The Rusty Bucket ready for the Christmas open house. We've moved furniture around, moved out all the remaining Fall merchandise and brought in lots of fun Christmas merchandise. There are a lot of great hand made creations by local crafters that are just wonderful. I hope everyone will come out and support a much needed local business and get in the Christmas spirit.

I had Raleigh all day today and my friend Evette called and asked if we could come to her house. On the way there Raleigh told me she thought Ms. Evette had five cats. I told her I thought Ms. Evette only had two cats. But Raleigh insisted that she had five cats and one was purple and one was pink. Well, unbeknownst to me, one of Ms. Evette's cats had kittens three weeks ago and there were four little kittens in a crate. Well, Raleigh was beside herself and loved them all and held them and played with them and decided that the orange one was going to be hers. She named it Punkin' because it was the color of a pumpkin. And there was another she decided would be for her sister which she named Flower because "there are black and white flowers Mina". I'll go along with that. Even though the kitten was a calico kitten. Who knows how the mind of a three year old works, but hers is pretty interesting. Her Daddy has already said no way to any animals so we may just have to visit Ms. Evette's house for awhile until the kitties find homes. Anyone up for a sweet little kitten?