it's my birthday! sort of...

Almost a full week before my birthday last year,

this surprised me in the mailbox.

How cheery is that?!

Of course, I take forever to decide what I want to buy with my birthday money,

and this year was no exception.

But.

I finally decided and made my purchases :-)

The big gift is this

It's been on my list for a couple of years, so I am especially excited to get it.

The question was posed to subscribers of a magazine, "Would you want your daughter to marry a farmer?"

The response to that question, by women who were, themselves, wives of farmers,

was an overwhelming and resounding, "yes."

This book is a compilation of some of the response letters they received,

and quilt blocks that were inspired by them.

I'm looking forward to the letters, as much as the patterns.

(Now, which fabrics to choose?   hmmmm ;-)

I also picked a silicone baking mat set

I sometimes make crackers for our Sunday night snack-y dinner.

They're yummy, but my method is frustrating, so I don't make them 

as often as I'd like to eat them.

I think that these will make my cracker making a lot more enjoyable tolerable,

so I am eager to try them out :-)

After those, I had enough money left to buy a couple of books that I've had on my wish list,

by ordering one of them used, and one as a kindle book!!

And,

because I am so thrifty, I had a little bit of money left, 

so I spent it on some 'add-on' golden-eye needles.

And then, because I am dumb, 

and didn't realize that they hadn't included the cost of shipping my used book in my cart total,

I still owed a couple of bucks after I spent my gift card,

so, I actually bought the needles for myself ;-)

But I expect I will forget that part...

Thanks, Mom & Bill ~ I love you!!

:-)