Welcome to Friendship Crossing!

Where strangers cross paths to become friends, sharing their love of PRIMITIVE/SEASONAL decorating, CROSS STITCH/ WOOL/SEWING/QUILTING/CRAFTING, recipes and home life.

**I have an Etsy shop filled w/the newest PATTERNS/SUPPLIES/KITS that are mostly PRIMITIVE, SEASONAL or WHIMSICAL in style. To take a peek, just click the button below on the sidebar .

***I LOVE reading your comments and thanks to all who take the time to write them. If you ever need to contact me, the best way is to just leave a comment on the most recent post and it will go directly to my email inbox first, w/out being published.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy your visit!!

Tanya (pronounced like the color TAN) : ))


Tuesday, September 30, 2014

It's Fall, Y'all

 Just a little bit of fall around the kitchen.....I forgot to take pics of the front porch, but I still LOVE to decorate for the seasons and switch things around a bit.   I found this cute box recently for an amazing price so it just jumped in my buggy, tee hee.  It has a chalkboard paint finish on the front, so I bought some colored chalk to write a little fall welcome...........

 The two pumpkins on the left, I found at Dollar Tree, along w/the flowers.  I already had the leaf candle holders, but the colored Mason jars were new this yr.
 I also threw in several faux gourds and straw around the base of the jars to fill in the empty spaces....
I don't really decorate for Halloween, but more of a harvest theme each fall.........
 I had to put extra flowers in this big ol' basket this yr. as it seems to lose some every time I store it.  I made this arrangement a few yrs. ago and the flowers were in there sideways when I retrieved it from my seasonal decor.  I need to find a little stand for it to sit on.

I still have way more fall items all packed away in a very untidy 'barn' out back that I need to go through and purge/re-organize in the near future, but I put out what my hubby could get his hands on for the time being........

 I made all the stuffed owls, a few new ones from last yr.....
 The stitchery pillows were a gift from a dear blogger friend across the ocean........







 I just love old barns and I found this one recently when we went for a long drive...........I thought it was really picturesque, w/the stream flowing nearby........
 And now onto two book reviews that I'm a bit behind on b/c my computer was down for awhile and just recently got it to work again.

I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

$10 Great Dates was written by two sets of married couples and was written w/married couples in mind. So many of us who have been married a really long time tend to think that we can't afford to date our spouse anymore/or simply just don't take the time to date our spouses, but this book proved that there are a number of 'dates' $10 and under, that we can achieve w/our own mates, w/out breaking the bank.

The main reason I wanted to read this book was to give me even more ideas for dates w/my hubby of almost 28 yrs, b/c we tend to do the same types of dates on a regular basis and I wanted some new, fresh ideas for the both of us.  The authors certainly need to be applauded for doing just that.  With the ideas that you get from both sets of couples it was really fun thinking 'outside the box' for several of the dates.  I never would have even thought of some of their creative ideas, however, some were a bit more simplistic in nature, but they all were referred to as not just dates, but 'GREAT' dates, which I thought was rather unique/charming, and is geared to make you draw closer to each other as a couple, with God at the head of your marriage.

  Each chapter was only a few pages long, making it a quick read, plus you got great tips on 'before your date', 'on your date', 'talking points' and 'great date takeaway'.  I loved these features, it really got my creative juices flowing.

I'm sure I'll pass this 'great' book on to my own son/future daughter-in-love when they get married next summer.
  Another Bethany House Publishers book is 'Playing By Heart' by Anne Mateer.

First of all, as I've mentioned before, I am NOT a fan of books written in first person.  In this book, BOTH the main female and male characters were written in first person.  I found myself having to constantly remember who "I" was, throughout the book.  It was a beautifully written book otherwise, but I think first person usually takes away, instead of adds to the story line, in my opinion.

This book was set during World War I and the main characters are both strong Christians, which I appreciated.  Lula Bowman felt she had finally reached her goal of a teaching position and had won a scholarship to continue on w/her college education.  When she received sad news from her sister, Lula felt very strongly her only option was to leave her job and dreams behind and go back home to help her sister out.  But she still needs to make a living, so when the only teaching job available is offered to her back home, she takes it, even tho' she feels that a music teacher/basketball coach are not real professions.  The author does a wonderful job of intertwining the history of basketball into the story line and makes it very interesting at the same time.

Since Lula knows very little about basketball, she turns to the boys' coach, Chet Vaughn, to help her understand/learn it.  She is determined not to fall for him or any other young man, but to return to her college scholarship/teaching position later on.  As the story progresses, she and Chet find that sometimes God has a very different plan for your life than what you previously imagined.

If you don't mind books written in first person, and you like good, historical Christian fiction, then this is the book for you!
     Happy Fall, Y'all!!!  Thanks for visiting!!

Thursday, September 11, 2014

A Fun Place to Visit

Ok, so I totally forgot to show you all these pics of a couple of places from my hometown.  Back in May of this yr. we took a trip to Findlay, Ohio where I grew up for my dad's 93rd b'day!  (My parents  had me later in life, I'm not really that old!! LOL).  He still lives on his own and makes a mean pan of cornbread!! 

We always go to Dietsch's Ice Cream Parlor that's been around for over 75 yrs. Two brothers started their homemade ice cream business yrs. ago and added the homemade chocolates and candies over the yrs. They also added a second shop on the other end of town, which has doubled in size as well as the original shop. 

 I remember our 6th grade class walking there after school one day when our teacher treated all of us who had made straight A's in Spelling for 6 wks. in a row.  Needless to say, I think the whole class walked there! ha  She told us we could order anything we wanted and this really skinny friend of mine ordered a big ol' Banana Split, which of course she couldn't eat the whole thing herself!  

 I really wanted to show pics of the old-time parlor, but there were so many people milling about that day, that I couldn't really take any good shots.  However, I did get some of the homemade candy/taffy they make, which was quite colorful!  I love the display of the buckets w/the taffy in them.

 My hubby always has to buy some chocolate-covered peanuts, which have gotten quite expensive over the yrs. so now he just gets a very small bag ~ LOL.

 Other candies they make....
 And a small gift item table........
 Another place we visited on the edge of town is called the 'Homestead Collection', which houses several properties.  Again, I didn't get pics of each of the buildings b/c of so many people, but there are several smaller out-buildings that have prim decor items for sale in them.


 I believe the owners built place for them to live that connects to the main building(on the left).  The main building is beautifully decorated on the inside w/a lot of wood and a cute loft area for Ohio State fans.
 Just a fun place to visit if you are ever in the area.