Down Town Dinner

Today I’m gonna take you to a little place in down town Belmont. Belmont is a little town outside of Charlotte that has a southern charm.

I grew up in Belmont but rarely visited down town. If I can remember right, back in the 80’s, it was rather a ghost town. Nothing happening. The mall, skating rinks, arcades and mini golf were all in the next town over, so that's where I spent most of my time back then.

The town has since florished with restraunts, bars and shops.

Me and my husband had just left a visit to the chiropractor, which is in Belmont. It was getting past our supper time and we were thinking of a place to eat. We normally go back and forth on where to eat leaving the other to answer. Before that argument broke out, I mentioned a little place down town called Sammy’s Pub. It’s a nice little neighbor pub with a variety of foods and drinks.

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We were quickly seated and the wait staff was friendly, chirpy and welcoming. They acted as if they had known us forever. Even the people and families inside eating were all smiles. The bar off to the side was full of people having fun with friends, laughing, meeting and having a good time. You can tell they had just gotten off work and wanted to wind down.  

Nick ordered the special- Grilled Salmon BLT.

I went lite and ordered the Southwestern egg rolls.

In no time at all, our plates were in front of us. The food was delicious. We were happy customers. 

During the drive home we talked about how good Sammy’s was and agreed to go back again soon. We also talked about how nice it would be if our current home town was as nice as Belmont had become. It felt good to be able to walk down the street, to and from our car, without being approached by pan handlers and drug dealers. Yes, the town I live in now is bad for that. Our city wants to improve things but there is hardly any way for the town to thrive as long as there is a homeless shelter in the center of it. 

We plan to revisit Sammy's and take our daughter next time. We also seen other eating places to try. Belmont is a great place to be with an inviting atmosphere whether its taking the kids to the park, a stroll down the street or going for a jog with friends. 

Now I want to live there again.

Cow Baby Blanket

I'm excited to announce that I get to be a great aunt in December to a little boy.

My Nephew and his wife have been married for two years now and decided to add a baby in the mix. Baby Colton is suppose to arrive on Christmas Eve according to the due date given by the doctor. 

They held a baby shower at her parents home. It was a fun drop in to shower. The theme she chose for her nursery was farm animals. This fits them perfect. They are about as country as you can get. the mom works for an equine vetenary. It's not odd to see her tending to a cow or horse weather it be a calm petting or helping one give birth. 

Putting all of this in perspective, I found it fitting to make baby Colton something farm related. I recently learned to crochet a corner to corner stitch and wanted to create a blanket for the new baby. 

I made one with a “cow” print. 

I like how it turned out but wish I had made it a little larger. This one measures about 30x30. It will make a great lap or stroller blanket. With the nursery theme, it will look good draped over the crib as well. Ok, really, I'm just in love with the "black and white" of it all. 

This was the only crochet blanket I saw in all of her gifts. It was a party hit. 

It was crazy in the making. I had yarn everywhere as I had to keep starting a new color. I got tangled several times. I had no clue what I was doing or what I had gotten myself into. 

It finally worked itself out. It was an absolute challenge. 

This is another one of those things I probably would never make again.

I added some extra things to go with the blanket.

I found a cute onesie and loved how well it paired with the cow blanket.

I also added one of my crocheted wooded baby teethers. You can find more of these in my Etsy shop if you want a natural handmade teether. 

The shower was nice. There were lots of goodies and cake to snack on along with lots of fun and laughter with family and friends.
I look forward to meeting my new Nephew. I hope he comes before Christmas so we will have a new baby around at Christmas gatherings.
The wait is on.

The pattern I used for the blanket was actually a pattern for a dishcloth. You can find it HERE. 

Using the same graph, the corner to corner stitch multiplied it by 4 then I added a few extra rows in the center to make it at least 30x30.