Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Mum Time and a Giveaway!

This post will be short, words-wise, and (I hope) sweet, while my darling mama is visiting me from way out West in Alberta.  When we lived here in southwestern Ontario in the 80s, Mum always would come around this "end of April beginning of May Spring is busting out all over" glorious time of pink trees.
Pink magnolia tree
She is here for my daughter Dayna's graduation tomorrow from Wayne State University in Detroit.

Fun pic of us and a magnolia tree branch
Geography lesson! Yes, we live in Kingsville, on Lake Erie, my daughter Dayna lives in Windsor, Ontario, a half hour northwest of us, and she goes, make that used to go, to school for the past 4 years in Detroit, which is north, yes, you read that right, and I typed that right, of Windsor.  The only place in Canada where you go north to the US.  We are in the 100-mile peninsula of southwest Ontario. Windsor is Canada's southernmost city and Kingsville Canada's southernmost town. Both are south of Detroit.  We like to say that the line in the Journey song, "Don't Stop Believin'", that goes "just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit", clearly that boy was from Windsor, lol.  Any-who...you can take the girl away from teaching, but you can't take...ya I know.

My mum is very English.  Very.  Even though she came over in 1958, she still has retained her accent, and her British pride. Rule Britannia! Today I took her to Annabelle's, an English Tea House in an 1859 historic home here in Kingsville. No we didn't have the English Tea Service, but we both enjoyed a delicious quiche and salad with a pot of tea:


And now for the giveaway!  This is my first time taking part in Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day.  And for the very first time I have a sponsor for a giveaway!  Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs has kindly offered to donate three of her beautiful patterns.  Here is one of them. I just love the name of it, not to mention the colours and fabrics:

Peanut Butter Quilt
Before I show you the other two patterns, here is a bit more about me and some of my quilts. I hope you might snoop around the blog a bit too, maybe come back, maybe even decide to follow me.  There are some interesting things coming up in the not-too-distant future in my little, but oh-so-pleasant world.

My sewing director-in-chief is my Himalayan cat, Bella.
My lover of all other doggies in the world, cats too (even though they do not reciprocate his feelings), and of course, me, is my pittie puppy, my pibble, Rocco:
Naala sometimes makes appearances, but she mainly is glued to my husband, and one of her stuffies.


A few recent quilts I've made:
Scraps of Calm a Scrap-a-Palooza quilt

Shamrock - original design, sewn in our Florida home

Pocketful of Sunshine - original design

Makeup pouch I designed

Placemats made in Angela Walters' class
Seashell runner
One of my favourite quilts to date, Seaside Rose, completed in November 2013
The first quilt I did on my Avanté:

Perky Purses

One of the biggest highlights of my quilting life was taking a class in person with Angela Walters as well as seeing her trunk show just 2 1/2 weeks ago. 

I'm working on a few secret projects at the moment...

These two and another I can't show you!

I'm also very honoured to be pattern testing for Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs. Stay tuned for updates on this project.

If you are still with me, here is another of Cheryl's beautiful quilt patterns that will go to one winner:
Charming
It really is charming, in many ways!
And finally, the third pattern in the giveaway is Pike's Peak.  If I had to pick just one, this would probably my favourite of the three patterns:
Pike's Peak
All three are terrific designs, no?  And she has several more available in her Etsy store.  I am excited to test her new patterns (she has two), so check back for sneak peaks. They should be available for purchase towards the end of June.  Check out her post today for her giveaway and to see the block she designed that got into Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks magazine!  Awesome!

Speaking of peaks, if you come back Friday, you will get to take a peek (get it?) into my sewing space.  I've been tagged by the lovely Lara, of Buzzin' Bumble, who showed us her lovely sewing space last week.

So how do you win one of the lovely Meadow Mist Designs patterns?  Simply leave me a comment telling me your favourite thing you like to do with your mum/mom.  For a second chance, leave me a second comment that tells me how you follow me.  I will pick three winners by Sunday May 10 at 5 pm PST, which is 8 pm EST for me.  Winners will be posted on this post as an update.  International entries welcome as the patterns will be emailed! Be sure to leave me your email in your comment if you are a no-reply blogger.  If you don't have a blog, you can still enter.  Email me if you have any troubles.

My favourite thing to do with my mum is to have tea, either at her house or in a great teahouse such as the one we visited today, and talk and talk!


Update: It's 8:45 EDT so at 114 comments (OMG, and I cannot reply to you all, sorry) I am closing the comments for the draw.  I will draw Tuesday evening, since time with my mum is über-important up until she leaves which is late that afternoon. Thank you for visiting me everyone and Happy Mother's Day! My new favourite thing? Which is really an old one now I think about it, is go to a symphony with my mum, which I did, this afternoon, in Windsor...and it was her favourite composer and one of my top 2 or 3, Mozart.  As in Wolfgang Amadeus.  Ahh it was a great programme and a great way to spend Mother's Day.  :-)

114 comments:

  1. My mom and I started sewing together when I was 6. We'd get together when I had my 2 little girls and have our own "sew-a-thons" and make them summer and winter wardrobes. We still enjoy getting together and doing small quilts, or projects. Her vision isn't as sharp as it used to be, but oh could she sew in any medium. I admire her greatly for teaching me so much.

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    1. Hi Chirpy. Thanks for the comment! How wonderful to have memories such as those. You are a no-reply blogger, so if you see this, can you send me your email address; otherwise I have no way to contact you. You can just email it to me if you click on "view my complete profile". Thanks!

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  2. I like to spend time talking with her
    sushikrazy@hotmail.com

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  3. I like to spend time with her just talking about the kids, and sharing old memories.

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  4. My mom was never a very happy person, but one thing that she enjoyed immensely was watching old movies, mostly from the 1940s, and we watched hundreds! We knew every lyric to every Judy Garland song. Judy was her favorite. I loved watching them with her. My mom passed last October. I can't think of an old movie now without remembering how happy they made her.

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    1. Hi Allison! You are a no-reply blogger so if you read this, send me your email via my email.
      ephdra at gmail dot com
      You wrote such a poignant anecdote so I do hope you come back. I can totally relate to the watching old movies, ours mainly were musicals. She continued the tradition with my two daughters and they, too, have fond memories of watching "Oklahoma" or "An American in Paris" and more with Nana.

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  5. I loved reading your post. My favorite thing to do with my mom is either quilt or go to Legoland together with the kids.

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  6. Going fabric shopping with my mum... we are completely different sewists.... and we operate a bartering system... I make all new baby, house warming presents for her and she makes all my curtains and blinds.

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  7. I love Cheryl's patterns! Thanks for the chance to win :)

    I love to talk crafting with my mom. We are into different crafts but that doesn't stop us from talking about it.

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  8. I had a Grandmother I loved to sew with. Now I have lots of friends to fill those empty spaces.

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  9. Thank you for being such an awesome pattern tester :)

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  10. My mom, 82, and I, share so many interests I can hardly list them. She taught me to knit and we go to wool festivals. She has horses and we used to trail ride together. We like to redo old furniture and browse antique shops. Stroll county fairs together. The number one common interest is local history/geneology and we talk for hours about the Catskill Mts where we live in NY and the days and people gone by.

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  11. My second comment is how I follow you! On Bloglovin! I read ALL your posts even though I don't comment often. I am blown away by your dedication to a single passion and it surely shows! You are a pro and inspiration for me.

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  12. Your site is so inspirational. I love to cook with my Mother. Thank you for the giveaway.

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  13. I always loved sewing with my mom, wish she were still alive so I could share with her my progression in my quilting.

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  14. My Mom lives almost 2000 miles away in Alberta so we don't get to do a lot together but when we used to live closer to them my favorite thing to do with her was to go out to lunch. Thanks for the giveaway and the chance to win! And congratulations to your daughter on her graduation from university!

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  15. I follow you with bloglovin. sarah@forrussia.org

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  16. My favorite thing to do with my mom is to go on day trips with her and my children and explore new areas. She's so much fun! sarah@forrussia.org

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  17. So glad you and your Mum are enjoying your visit together Sandra! And Congratulations to Dana!
    My favorite thing to do with my mom was to take the dogs for walks. She would show up out of the blue and we would go for a walk and then have lunch together.
    Looking forward to tomorrow when you share your creative space!

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  18. I follow you ever which way but loose! Haha!

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  19. Being your sister I don't just follow you, I STALK you mwahahaha!
    Love our Mum so much, love all your pics! And so proud of my beautiful niece, Dayna. <3

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  20. That Pikes Peak pattern is gorgeous! I love to laugh with my mom. We are both sassy ladies and I have a fun time talking to her.

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  21. My mom and I like to sew together and talk quilting! I got my love of hand crafts from her and my grandmother (her mother).

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  22. We love to play games together - especially word games like Boggle, UpWords and Scrabble.

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  23. My Mom passed away two years ago but I always made her quilt wall hangings so she could change them throughout the year. I made her a bed quilt 15 years ago and even though I wanted to make another she was always happy with the original and so that's why she kept getting wall hangings. I have 5 brothers and when she passed away I gave each of them one of her wall hangings and donated all the others to the hospice where she had stayed.

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  24. I've been following you through Bloglovin.

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  25. Goodness - my favourite thing to do with my mom(when she was alive) was to go to the mall and browse atteh shoes and clothes, then have a cup of coffee and a Cinnebon and watch people go by.

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  26. My mom passed away 5 years ago, but I used to love sewing with her. We worked together well, me cutting,she stitching. Me sewing, her embellishing. I miss her so much

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  27. I follow you on Bloglovin

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  28. I love sewing and designing quilts/patterns with her! We're a good team. She loves to cut, I love to design. She loves the sewing/binding. I love to quilt!

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  29. We have lived in different cities for 13 years now so I love chatting on the phone with her! Thanks! Sarah: crjandsbj(at)netzero(dot)com

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  30. My mum is no longer alive but I used to love walking with her!

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  31. we do a lot of canning in the harvest season together.

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  32. I enjoy hiking with her! Thanks for the chance to win!
    ktyoung1(at)gmail(dot)com

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  33. It's funny, but my mom and I love to go to Costco together!

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  34. Just talk and talk and talk.

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  35. love the patterns up for grabs. I like to hang with my mom and sew. She taught me to sew when I was little, and I've never been able to put it down :)

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  36. Mom and I just have coffee and chat. Thanks for the opportunity to win such lovely patterns!

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  37. Since my mom lives so far away and we don't get to see each other as much as we should, my favorite thing to do with her is talk :)

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  38. I'd follow you into battle my dear ;) But for your blog I follow via Bloglovin ;)

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  39. your projects are lovely and your pets are so wonderful
    I love your sea shell runner
    mom and I used to love to have tea together (hot or cold depending on weather) sew/quilt, just spend time together, garden together, heck we did a lot of things together. miss her.
    quilting lady 2 at Comcast dot net

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  40. My mom and I love to travel! My hubs won't take time off work from Spring through Fall, so my mom and I run around (or fly around) wherever we feel like going. Next up, is San Antonio, TX (she's never been before)!

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  41. I don't get to spend a lot of time with my mom - and certainly not without several other family members around....but we do get to just chat fairly often, even if just on the phone, and that's always nice :)

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  42. My favorite thing about my mother is how much she loves my daughter. Me, not all the time, but she has a great relationship with my children. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  43. I love having my mom watch my two young children while she talks about my siblings and me as kids!

    Chiara
    SewOldSchool.com

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  44. I just enjoy hanging out and talking.

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  45. My mom has passed, but we loved having sewing weekends together and trying out new coffee shops! Thank you for the giveaway - I enjoyed reading your blog! Congrats to your daughter graduating from WSU - Mine did too yesterday! Go Warriors!

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  46. I follow now on bloglovin - so happy to have found your blog!

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  47. My mother passed almost 8 years ago unfortunately. But we used to enjoy just talking, I could tell her anything, I was lucky to have a mom like that.

    sewsimplelife AT gmail.com

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  48. We used to sew and knit together, sadly she is no longer with us. I miss her so much. Thank you for the giveaway.

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  49. One of my favorite things to do with my mom is sew. We've created a sewing group, and while most of us work on our quilts, she busies herself making Little Dresses and Shorts for Africa. We meet up 2 days of the month at our Joann's, and it's time to share with the many family members and friends who come.

    Julie @ Pink Doxies

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  50. I Love seeing what you are up to via Bloglovin. Thanks!

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  51. Hi
    Love your blog - and I can connect since I grew up in Windsor and still have many family members there.
    I started my first teaching job at Kingsville High School - and loved it. We moved to the Kingston area when we got married and have been in this area ever since.
    I hope to follow your blog since you remind me of an area I am really familiar with.
    thanks
    Beth A

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  52. I must add although I said I love our Mum so much, I neglected to state my fave thing to do with her! Hug her I think. <3

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  53. My Mom and I share a love of books, so we love to exchange new authors and titles with each other! Happy Mother's Day!

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  54. My favorite thing to do with my mom is to just chat. She's my best friend so anything we do together is great! Btw, I love your seashell runner! Thanks for the chance to win!

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  55. Well, mostly I go to church with my Mom these days. Sometimes I talk at her house with a cup of tea. thank you, peterstankovich@comcast.net

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  56. Following on bloglovin, thank you, peterstankovich@comcast.net

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  57. Since my mom has been dead for seventeen years, I would be happy doing just about anything with her.

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  58. My Mum and I sewed on a featherweight that was my granny's - I still use it and think of both of them!

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  59. Following you on bloglovin - with a hot mug of tea in my hand!!! :)

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  60. One of my favorite memories is doing jigsaw puzzles with my Mom and Grandma during the holidays. We would sit at one side of the puzzle and every so often someone would yell "switch" and we would all get up and swith seats. Then we all got a new perspective of the puzzle. It was fun to sip coffee and talk while puzzling away. :)
    craftyccain@gmail.com

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  61. I live 2000 miles away from my Mom, but when I think of her I think of sharing cappacino with her in her sunroom or on the deck, with peonies in bloom...even when I call her, I try and time it to when I think she might be having a cup...she is reliable in her habits that way. Thanks for all the smiles today! All three of these patterns look sew fun!

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  62. Don't do anything with my mom as he passed over 15 years ago. Since then is when I started my sewing, etc. What work I did before in the needle arys pleased her.

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  63. It would be difficult to pick one thing you make as your work is beautiful - thanks. I do like your 'Peanut Butter' quilt - probably because I could and have lived on peanut butter - creamy of course.

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  64. I used to have wonderful talks with mom about the family history. crystalbluern at onlineok dot com

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  65. I'm following you via email. Thanks.

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  66. I love to go to the movies with my mom!

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  67. I like to just be around my mom. She's almost 87 and lives with us and is still a remarkable lady.

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  68. I found your blog accidentally about 6 months ago....believe me---with a name like 'MMM"----I can RELATE!!! I check daily for new posts....I love that you shared your studio space with us. I have an Avante 18 too! I just got mine last June...we're still becoming acquainted as well....he name is AVA.

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  69. I lost my Mom and Dad both last year---6 days apart so Mother's Day is very sad for me...but I do get to spend the day after (Monday) with my 3 grown daughters. One of my favorite things I did with Mom was shop for fabric---even though she had a HUGE stash she always made room for more. I shared half her stash with my middle daughter who is new to quilting and a community group of ladies who quilt for charity. Mom's name was Georgia. Thanks for the opportunity to win and to share....

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  70. Duh...I forgot to say I follow by email now.

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  71. I like to spend a day shopping with my mother - with a break for a relaxing lunch of course.
    sgmcgregor@rogers.com

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  72. I love to sit and sew or embroider and talk with my mum. She has taught me so much both about creating and about life in general and somehow when we are stitching everything is easier to talk about but silences are OK too because you are keeping busy hands.

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  73. My mom and I love to go to quilt shops together.

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  74. I love to take my mother shopping and out to dinner. She is 87 so our time together is precious. ♡♡♡

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  75. Like to talk to my mom about what she sees out the window, as her mind does not allow any other kinds of conversation.

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  76. I like to watch mystery drama with her. She always falls asleep - so sweet!

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  77. My mum is.into gardening, and apparently I am to blame. I introduced her to perennials back in the 1990's, and things exploded. She especially loves magnolias and camellia's, but also has a thing for daffodils and pansies. So, every birthday, christmas and Mother's Day I send her vouchers, or plants if I turn up in person. Tarnia.hodges at gmail.com

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  78. I love shopping with my mom!

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  79. Bella is such a cutie! I love going to open houses with my mom.

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  80. My mom and I like to sew together. Thank you (pegandky@gmail.com)

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  81. I'm following you via email. Thank you pegandky@gmail.com

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  82. Sadly, my mum is no longer with me! We used to enjoy sewing and knitting together.

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  83. I love all her patterns. Lucky you to be a test pattern quilter. I like to go shopping and out to lunch with my mom. Thanks for the great giveaway.

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  84. I loved just sitting and talking with my mom

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  85. Go grocery shopping with my Mom. She always buys something at the store that you like. It's like feeling spoiled all over again. We just adopted a tri-colored female 1 year old cat and we named her Bella. We just now adopted 2 little kitties, female and we named them Sophie and Gina. Have to keep the Italian side going. Thank you for being a part of the SMS Giveaway and giving me the chance to win a quilt pattern from Meadow Mist Designs. I love her patterns already.

    Sandi Timmons
    sandit1@sbcglobal.net

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  86. I would love to just sit and spend with my mama. We live so far apart, me in Arizona and her in Georgia. We don't get to see each other very often. The last time was in early 2007 after my son was paralyzed and she came out just to be with me and give me support.

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  87. I enjoy chatting with my mom on the phone. Mom will 90 years old in a few months. Thank you for the chance to win.

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  88. My mom would have been 73 years old yesterday but unfortunately she passed away 8 years ago. My favorite things to do with her were always the little, mundane everyday things, like paint the kitchen, refinish a piece of furniture, work a puzzle together.

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  89. We enjoyed shopping together.

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  90. I enjoy talking with my mum (who happens to be Canadian, but moved to Australia!).

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  91. I just love for me and my mom to enjoy quiet time together, without my little ones, just talking about any random thing.

    detroitgirl77 AT gmail DOT com

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  92. I enjoy just being with Mum, but we do enjoy card making and sewing together, but mostly talking occurs. ikinfamily at bigpond dot com

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  93. Thrift store shopping!

    jhunsberger (at) gmail (d0t) c0m

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  94. Following on bloglovin

    jhunsberger (at) gmail (d0t) c0m

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  95. Cooking and gardening, and our newest addition baking bread. Basically it's just spending time together... :-) Thanks for the chance!

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  96. Thanks for a great giveaway. My favorite thing to do with my mom is just spend time with her. My family moved away 2 years ago (they went form living 1 hr away to living 3day-drive/ plane ride away) so those 2x/yr I get to see her, it doesn't much matter what we're doing. When they lived here, I loved going to the Oregon coast with my mom and visiting all the antique shops.

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  97. Following on Bloglovin' @trekkiechick

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  98. I love to thrift with my mom, harmonize with her, play boardgames and just hang... I just love my momma :)

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  99. Although I'm a year and a half late, I find that I still want to reply... sigh... since I'be been going through her things recently. When I was in college my mother was given about a million (not kidding) zippers from a place that went out of business. She also got a load of huge scraps from a local blue jean factory. Every year that I've taught we made denim zipper bags for each of my students to keep their pencils, scissors, markers, etc. in. She'd sew... I'd paint their names... Let's see 25 per year for 20+ years and 56 per year for another 10+ years... That's... hmmmm... a lot of little zipper bags. I always said, "When we run out of zippers, I'll know it's time to retire." Well, there are still hundreds and hundreds of zippers yet... Don't know if that prediction will hold true... might run out of energy before I run out of zippers! Ha ha :)

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I wholeheartedly appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment, as they make my day! I answer every one by personal email. :-) Unless... you are a "no-reply" blogger, which can occur for a few reasons. You can get around that by writing out your email within your comment so that I can answer you.