Is there ever enough time to quilt?

Aidan James Dyer

2012-01-08T20:30:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to my daughter, Amber and her husband Jason... They now have another adorable little boy. Born Jan 5, 2012 at 6:56pm, 8lbs, 4 ozs. 20 " long.... and, did I say adorable???

And WHAT A HEAD OF HAIR!! I really expected red hair, since mom is red-headed and dad has red highlights. AND brother, Zack is redheaded!....

They are too cute when they are sleeping.

Oh, I meant babies, not necessarily dads.

Happy New Year... Hello, 2012!

2012-01-01T00:37:00.000-05:00

Not much to write about yet, other than I actually made it til midnight.
Resolutions? Sew all day tomorrow.

Can't wait for a grandson (#7) coming around the 20th of January....
Hope my pain (fell on Monday over one of Kai's toys) isn't a hernia, but may have to have it checked.
Love my Nook....(such a deal...$74.99 on Ebay- from Barnes & noble). Glad we got one for mom this year.
Made great ice cream from scratch with my Christmas present from Les & Scott.
Hope Julie and Chris get to live together (can't wait to have them move in together)/ Will miss Malakai, but will like the empty house.(Maybe I'll get to clean it out really well!!)
Hope I finish the main Altar cloth for St Mary's church before Easter.

Hope I go to sleep now.....nite.

Storm Alfred-Danger warzone ahead!

2011-11-04T07:47:00.000-04:00

The day started out okay... when the snow came it came as big puffy snowflakes!! The size of softballs. You should take notice of the limbs on the left of this tree...(they will be down shortly).

Julie's new truck was in a precarious place...those two big oak trees next door always give us 'adjeda' (spelled correctly?) during a storm. See the amount of snow on the ground? The total inches we got were probably 4-5" of heavy wet snow, but the branches on the surrounding trees were coming down already and it's not even dark.

Once the branches started cracking and falling behind Julie's new truck (she's had it a week or so), she decided to move it up close to the garage... (smile- big mistake)....

Notice the tree... Notice the V in the front branches? See that thick trunk through the V?

Watch it come down....This trunk, threaded the needle!! There is all of 10 feet between the front of the garage and the back of our house... It was soon taken up by ALL TREE BRANCHES!!!

It blocked the left side of the garage doors, but thankfully, my car is on the right side.

These two lovely branches were across the driveway...

This was the backyard once the sun came up....Sunday morning. Lots of prayers were said regarding no loss of life or injuries and no structural damage. They worked.

This was the bushy part of the big tree. This photo was taken from the bathroom window. (No one thinks it's quite safe to venture outside yet).

Talk about one dangerous branch to come down. This is our next door neighbor, Brian pulling on that huge branch. The left side of the branch fell right after this photo was taken, but it was 'wishboned' over another stump of a branch high up. The other half is still dangling.

Looks like a hurricane came through. OH, Wait! That was in August! LOL

This is the swerve in the road around downed wires. My trees/house is on the left of this photo (actually, the red house is the neighbors).

This is the neighbors front yard.

This is ours, looking up the driveway...

This is the backyard, from our other neighbor's yard. Can't quite get to all of ours...

Amazing in all this destruction, God does show some beauty......

Parking lot- New Truck for Julie

2011-10-21T22:41:00.000-04:00

Well, I hope this is the start of something good in my daughter, Julie's life. She has a car (VW Jetta) that she really cn't afford (never could, I don't think), so a friend of hers gave her a car for $1. 1990-something Nova (really a piece of junk in my husband's opinion-- he's the mechanic, he should know). She might have used this if she could sell the Jettta, but in the meantime (before that could happen), she and her beau, Chris decided to buy a truck...oops!...
. A TRUCK!!

Chris bought it with $$ he was saving for their 'future', so I guess it's alright. I don't know their intentions, but they've talked marriage, I guess.

Anyway, she is selling the Jetta to a lady she knows from Malakai's school (Justin's mom, Tanya). Installments. Not sure I'd ever do that with someone I don't know well, but that's her choice. I just hope she doesn't get screwed!

Intereesting News....

2011-10-21T22:34:00.000-04:00

Lee came home from the doctors office and said he has the starting of cataract. It may be anywhere from 10-15 yrs before it's ready to be operated on, but it's just news I don't like to hear. He already is 'glacoma suspect' and has drops he uses all the time. I told him he could use braille with me....LOL

What ONE bulb of garlic caused...

2011-10-21T21:35:00.001-04:00

Okay.... so the garden hasn't been tended to all year.

Yes, you read that right. All year. Little scruffy, isn't it?

Oh, I've meant to, but one thing or another has gotten in my way.Read the other posts in this blog to see all the things that might have kept me from working outside. (Mainly the 90 degree weather -- or higher!!)

Well, I went to the Garlic Festival in Bennington, VT again (always on Labor Day weekend) and this year I decided to try planting garlic, so I bought a bulb. Yup. One bulb. Well, I've never done this before and I figure that if I don't like it, then I 've only done one bulb worth of garlic.

Well, since I couldn't plant it in a garden that had gotten so overgrown, I had to at least clear out a patch of dirt. and well, you know how that is....

I got part of it cleared (mostly taking out tall grasses and dead violet plants--those overtake the garden every year), but notice what I had to contend with? ROOTS!!!! Little, spindle-y roots. Some I had to chop with a hatchet, but mostly pull out by hand, which killed my back. I turned the dirt over by shovel and it was easy enough to pull out EVERYTHING , but the roots.

One thing I did realize was that I had wonderful worms in the garden. Goooood! Love it! Made me think of my co-worker, Glo, who is deathly afraid of worms. (wonder why...)

I did leave in the irises, two tomato plants who haven't bit the bullet' yet, a thyme and basil plant and some day lillies. But that was all. I was so sore and crippled from all the back-breaking work I haven't done in ages, that I couldn't plant the silly little bulb of garlic, until the next day. (Oh, I did find lots of scallions-- I thought I'd only planted a few-- and planted some more in the little area with the garlic. This area is in the lower right side of the photo. I marked it with the large rocks going into the garden on the right and filled in more rocks around the the bottom of the photo.) .... It looks good, but the garden on the back left still needs to be done. Maybe before the snow flies....

Bathtime and schooltime for Kai??

2011-10-08T17:47:00.002-04:00

Somehow, the only way to get a kid in the tub is to make it fun....

Doesn't this look like fun??

Of course, he's young yet, so I'm not sure if this is a sign of things to come...This was kai in his bed, BEFORE I woke him up for his first day of school....

This was him running late.... (wasn't this the same outfit he slept in???? I think she purposely put him in this when he went to sleep, so she could save time, but really....I'm not his mom, so I can't say a thing. Everyone was late for work/school.... oh well.

Somehow, he doesn't look quite awake, does he?

Hurricane Irene photos at last!

2011-10-08T17:17:00.002-04:00

We did get hit pretty hard with wind, but never lost power at our house. Two streets over (and actually, the next street over) lost power for three days. My mom 15 mins away, lost power for almost a week. We had her in to our house every other day (she babysat my grandson) so she had power/phone/bathroom facilities. I'll post some photos that I took after the storm went through...Lee & I just walked a few miles to see our daughter, Amber (they lost power for a few days)...

This is the tree on Center Street that we heard come down...

This is how my hubby decided to divert the water that usually comes into the garage....Notice the mini sandbags at the right side of the garage door? The bottom of the garage door is pretty muddy, but it won't stay clean so I gave up long ago....LOL.

This was our back yard.... lots of leaves everywhere, but not a tree down. Good thing since we have so many of them back there....

This tree snapped in half (it's trunk is on the far left of the photo). It was up the road from our house although the swish and the 'thunk' Lee & I heard may have been behind our back yard (see the above photo).

This branch feel from a really tall tree at the elementary school at the end of our street.

This was a a street a few blocks away. They hadn't had power for two days. (Boy, were WE lucky)

These were more on the streets surrounding us...

This is the tree that cut off my daughter Amber's power... it was across the street from her house.

This one was on my way home from work. They were in the process of cleaning it up.

We had half power all week at work, so a few of our machines in my two depts. didn't work... All in all we faired well.

Home safe, so Far.....

2011-08-27T19:26:00.001-04:00

Mom and I got home from VT safely.....Now to brace for Hurricane Irene! I'll post photos when we have power (hopefully, we won't lose it)...

We did have a great time in VT...

Coming onto Rte 30 in Brattleboro, VT, it's always nice to see the highway I just left (Rte 91), except that this is interesting with the low lying clouds hanging on...

What is more picturesque in VT but covered bridges?

You can tell they had some kind of storms the day before, as the weather is starting to clear this morning (Friday).This shot is looking at Bromley Mountain and it's just at the spot I always thought was the best plot of land to build a house!

Stopping in at the Vermont Welcome Center is always a pleasant stop. It always has some non-profit organization offering weary travelers some food and drink (donations only). Malakai couldn't wait to have the chocolate milk and I picked up some muffins and breads for the trip.

Without having anyone else up at the cabin to play with, this is Kai's entertainment... running up the stairs to the deck...

... and jumping off!!! Many, many times! (I know this photo is out of focus, but the expression is priceless!)

How sad to 'stop playing' to come in for dinner... At least he found a great fishing hat (in the bathroom on a hook) to wear. Yes, I know it's not good manners to have a hat at the table, but we made an exception at the camp. And besides,... he was tired!

Somehow, he thought this was gonna be his bunk...on top. But he was so tired, he fell asleep on the bottom bunk, so I moved up top.

Due to the fact that I didn't want to babysit a campfire, we decided to do the 'cheater method' to making s'mores....use the gas stove.

He liked them... although he tried to put a majority of it in his mouth all at once.

After a nice sleep, we woke up to deer in the back field! Three of them (actually a fourth one was by the pond to the extreme right of this photo.

oh! I forgot!!!

I woke up at 4:10am to use the bathroom and as I'm watching out the screen window (I LOVE looking up at the night sky off the deck, usually, since it has such a HUGE expanse of space. You can actually follow the satellites across the sky if you are still enough!), I heard this awful sound! A barking/howling/yipping kind of sound which made me think of a pack of foxes/wolves. It went on for a few minutes and THEN I heard the grunting/growling!!! It was the bear I ran into a few years back! the soulnd was coming from the pond area. I am SO glad I wasn't outside in the dark watching the sky!

These are some shots of the sunrise before it got too cloudy. Beautiful....

Here is my buddy, coming out to get dressed and run in the grass...

Notice the footprints? He loved it...

We even made it home before the Hurricane Irene hit!

We may not have much power for the next few days, so I'll check back in when we do. In the meantime, I have knitting (kids hats) to keep me busy.

Now for Hurricane Irene!!!

2011-08-25T20:51:00.000-04:00

Sure, I just survive an earthquake, and now when I'm heading up to VT to visit with my mom (at a distant cousin's cabin- one room no less- we've vacationed there every year since I was a kid) to help her close up the cabin and come home Sunday, we're getting a direct hit with Hurricane Irene!!!

I'll try and take photos of the changes in the views up there, but I think we'll be heading home on Sat afternoon, instead of Sunday. We may even be without power for up to a week. I'm writing this as my last post, but I'll be keeping a journal (on paper-- imagine that!) while I'm away from the electical devices. LOL.
Really, though, it's supposed to be the biggest since Hurricane Gloria (and I remember that one!!)

Keep us in your prayers....

Earthquake???...At lunch?

2011-08-23T19:27:00.001-04:00

Well, this is a first for this northern Yankee.... I got to experience my first earthquake!! During lunch, at work!

Carol and I were eating lunch and getting ready to go back to work, when I realized the table, chair, BUILDING were swaying back and forth! Along with me!! Then we heard the train (within 50' of our building), but I've felt the train before, many times. When the train rumbles through, the floor vibrates in the lab (Century Color Labs). My feet WERE NOT RUMBLING! And the thin venetian blinds in the window behind me were swaying back and forth, clinking against the wall frame. We looked at each other and said..."that's NOT the train. That's an earthquake!!" We no sooner said it, then it seemed to dissapate (maybe lasted 15 seconds or so, but felt like a few minutes). We got up to see what the rest of the employees in the lab had felt, and I called the local TV station to ask to talk to the weather dept. She asked if it was about the earthquake and I (surprised!!) said, "Yeah! We felt it during lunch." She asked where I was and I informed her, "East Hartford" and she said they were getting more info and they'd have more to report shortly.

The epicenter of this 5.8 (richter scale) earthquake was Mineral, VA, but I'd heard they evacuated the White House, the Capitol, the Pentagon, (I'm sure shades of panic from 9-11-11, after all the 10th anniversary of 9-11 is soon upon us). They shut down airports all over the east coast and even evacuated tall buildings in NYC; New Haven, CT; Hartford, CT. It was felt all the way in Boston. I sent a text message to Leslie (who works in Boston), but didn't hear anything back. I know she has class (law school) on Mon, Tues, Thurs, so maybe she was without her cell phone on.

Wow.... my first (and probably only) earthquake. Now that it's over, it was kind of unsettling, but exciting. Especially, since it was just rocking and rolling... nothing like a huge disruptive shift of ground and building. (Thank you God.)

The Wedding

2011-08-07T13:23:00.002-04:00

I guess it's now time to post the event of our year. Oldest daughter, Leslie-Anne's wedding to Scott Taylor. Rather than put photos up on this post, I may put a link to a slideshow. Much easier (although I will put some special photos).

First I must say that we truely lucked out with weather! We'd had a full week of over 95 degree weather the week before she got married.
I don't think I asked her if she had the usual... "Some old, something new, something borrowed, something blue", but I told her I had a gift for her.... This garter, was my grandmother's (Florence Jones Smith Moses) who gave it to my mom when she married her son (my dad). Mom gave it to me when I married Leslie's dad, and I gave it to her. My assumption if she has no children (I think that's the plan), she'll pass it on to someone else in the family (maybe her sister).

This is the photo of her after she got her dress on... this is when I cried. I had first cried when I was watching the girls get their makeup put on (I had mine done-waterproof, good thing). She looked radient!!

He dad got to walk her down the aisle, although one of the ladies I work with asked me if her grandfather walked her down... No, he's just 10 yrs older than me, so I guess he's just getting older. (A hard life can take a toll on someone). She was so lucky to have him around to do that. I really had hoped she'd have asked both her dad and Lee (my husband) walk her, because Lee really brought her up, but her loyalty to her dad won out. That was fine.

The ceremony was lovely. Short but lovely...I was worried about how long we'd be in the sun (I've had skin cancer already, so I was concerned), but I was assured by the JP that it would be 14 mins. including the procession in and out. Not sure I wanted one SO short, but the hand ceremony and the words spoken, were just lovely.

" I now pronouce you husband and wife..."

Mr & Mrs. Scott Taylor! Yaaaa-whooooo!!!!

These were those lovely centerpieces that Janice and I worked on so many hours. They looked lovely on the tables.

And all the foods (fruits and veggies) came from the owners garden on the premises!! Rasberries, blueberries, starwberries, green beans....(Lee even said that there were free-roaming chickens up in the back. I had chicken. -I hope it wasn't 'named'! You can't eat them if you name them, isn't that the rule?)

It was wonderful to see that the whoopie pies were made so nicely. Wicked Whoopie pies in Freeport did a great job!! (Besides, who wanted to be in the hot kitchen cooking, and wrapping and such.)

I'll share a few photos of the family...here am I, my mom (she's going great for 83yrs old), nephew Nick and him mom, my sister, Janet. She took a lot of the great (in focus) photos that I'll have in the slideshow.

This is the moment that made me break down and really cry. Leslie and her sister, Julie. They aren't really all that close (she wasn't asked to be in the wedding party, but had a special wrist corsage made for her... thank you Leslie). They actually spoke nicely with each other. They are so different in oh, so many ways, but they don't realize how alike they are in others. Love you two!

Janet's husband, Tom, is Leslie's FAVORITE uncle!! He is such a sweetie! They are really close.

Lee and I --I don't even think I finished that drink in my hand. I don't remember having much of anything to drink (alcohol-wise). And I really missed the champaigne tower...I saw the champaigne glasses, but never saw what was pouring out of the fountain. Too bad, I heard it was good.

This groomsmen, Billy Fritz is Leslie's best friend from high school... Love him!

Here is Scott dancing with his mom. I think this was happening when I went up to see the garden, before Lee left (he went home with his daughter Amber just about when the dancing started, as her had to be at work the next morning at 7am). I think that was my only regret. I really wanted him to stay longer and go home with my daughter Julie and her beau, Chris, but he was concerned about how late they would stay. I wish I'd insisted. Oh well, no use feeling bad about it. I think it will bother me, if I see the parents dancing in the professional photos in our albums that we're getting.

Don't they look wonderfully in love?

And let's not forget the wild dancing put on by Steve, Scott's dad. LOL....

What a great wedding One thing to note. They never threw the bouquet, nor the garter. And they ate cake with style. Thanks, Leslie and Scott. You two are definitely classy. I expected nothing less.

To see all the photos of the wedding, click on this link.

Secured Flange/Flat-piping Tutorial

2011-08-06T18:29:00.000-04:00

Okay, here is the tutorial that's been asked for. I hope it helps explain how to add a flange (1/4" flat piping) to the edge of a quilt. It can usually be seen on the inside edge of any border, but I'm making it part of a block for this example.

Cut your flange/flat piping fabric 1" wide. Fold in half, lengthwise- wrong-sides inside the fold, and iron.

Open up and pin, right sides to right sides, to the edge of your border.

Sew slightly off the edge of the fold (not ON the fold), towards the raw edge.

I'm using pink thread so you can see the stitching. Unfortunately, I didn't sew enough OFF the fold, so when I closed up the fold (below) you can see it's not folded back EXACTLY in half. (There is a fix for this, so don't be dismayed if it happens to you-see below).

This is slightly off when re-folded .

Some of this was sew OFF-fold.

With the flange folded 'closed' and sewn to the border fabric, lay it on top of the quilt fabric (my sneaker fabric), right sides to right sides, with the flange between the two fabrics.

Sew a 1/4" seam. The stitching you see is the fold of the flange (that is really about 1/2" from the raw edges).

Here is the 'fix' mentioned above... If you want to ensure PERFECTION in having a 1/4" strip showing, sew 1/4" from the fold' stitching, not from the raw edge of the fabric.

This is how it should look once sewn to the fabric (quilt top).

Lay the fabrics with the border fabric on the table. Open the top fabric (quilt top) so that your 'thick seam' is laying flat under the quilt top (sneakers) fabric. Press. Even if your stitch just off-fold isn't straight, you still have a perfect 1/4" strip.

This gives your quilt an thin accent fabric, without having to repeatedly iron it to keep it straight on your quilt.

Benefits are Weighing in....

2011-07-30T09:53:00.000-04:00

I will be jumping in every once in a while to let you know my progress.
I won't tell you the starting weight, but will let you know how I'm doing. I'm weighing myself on Wed a.m. and Sunday a.m.
When I went to the doctor on Monday the 18th, I weighed--- (thought I forgot didn't you...) !**^>%

After the wedding, I'm down 4 pounds (10 days later).

I'm doing it by no seconds (at supper) and watching what I eat for snacks.

Rehearsal moments...

2011-07-29T14:50:00.003-04:00

I'm back and pretty much settled into the normal routine now, so I can post something about the wedding and what I'll be looking forward to doing now that it's over.

...day before the rehearsal day...
Notice the temperature the day before 'rehearsal day'. We were dealing with 90 degrees and above temps for the whole week before the wedding. (So glad I opted out of making whoopies pies and had her order them. I was GLAD you give the check for those to be made in someone else's kitchen!!)

We had rain in the morning in CT (sprinkles), but I heard my daughter and her in-laws to be had torrential downpours and thunder and lightning where they live, 1 1/2 hrs away! By 1pm, we were all up at the Zukas Hilltop Barn (with the exception of Scott's parents-that story is coming...-) and the weather turned out fine. Most all of us were trying to help get things inside (centerpieces, placecards, tables numbers, etc. including the whoopie pies) for the staff to set up the next day.

This was me before we left our house...

Okay, since I mentioned the whoopie pies, let's just say, whoever was in charge of making sure they were in the car (they had an hour drive to where we were), thought they'd snagged the box of them, when they should have snagged THREE boxes of them. (The other two were in Leslie's trunk, 45 mins back at their house!). Scott's parents made it back to the house to get them, but in the process, missed the whole rehearsal. They were NOT happy campers!! And I don't blame them. If there wasn't another wedding soon to be happening (at 4pm), we may have been able to stall off until they got there (at 1:45pm).
The other thing that (I thought) was funny, was that my mom wondered why she hadn't been introduced to 'this gentleman' in the parking lot, as we're all standing around waiting to be told where to proceed to. I thought she was joking and didn't really respond, then she repeated herself. I told her, "That's Richard, you know him..(it was my ex-husband)". "No I don't" then proceeded to introduce herself... "Mom! That's Richard!... Dick, Dick Roach (?)" .... "Oh MY!, Richard I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you." Granted he does look much older than when she'd seen him last, but mom... (he IS 67).
Here are some photos of the place we were at (not our table settings)

At the other end of the tent, is the walkway to the gazebo where the ceremony was held.

This WAS our ceremony... pink and orange balls.

We headed off to the hotel and had some time to check in and relax before the rehearsal dinner. Steve (groom's dad) chose this dinner and it was delicious.

This was the line for dessert (the BEST blueberry pie I've ever eaten!!)

Here is my mom (in the wild jacket), far right is maid of honor, Kim R, Greg (groomsman), Jenn and her girlfriend.

Here are almost all of the parents of the bride and groom; L-to-R, Janice (Scott's mom), me, Lee (Leslie's step-dad), and Steve (Scott's dad).

Here is more of the family... L to R; Dick (Leslie's dad), Muriel (Leslie's gram/my mom), Scott (groom) and Leslie (bride).

Greg, Jamie, Ethan, & Ashley

Bridal party, Emily (bridesmaid) and husband, Mike and Billy (both groomsmen).

Jenn and Kim

Check out the pies!!!

Here is the bride and groom to be...

After dinner, the kids thanked the parents (very nice) and presented gifts to the wedding party.

Leslie and Ashley (bridesmaid)

Leslie looked so lovely....

The guys gifts....

Rehearsal Day....

2011-07-23T10:28:00.000-04:00

Everything is ready... I'm dressed and waiting for my mom to show up and my husband to get showered, dressed and packed (I don't think it will be much in that area, since his suit is in a bag already). I'm going upstairs to do a last minute check before I put everything in the car. We will be leaving at 11:30am. the rehearsal is at 1pm. I plan to take lots of photos and drink lots of water. I have to clean out my car too. (i'll be back)...

Blueberry Season... just starting!

2011-07-22T10:22:00.000-04:00

What is better than going blueberry pickin'? Going pickin' with your momma!! Even at 83, she can still pick with the best of them...

This is how loaded the branches were, but it's early in the season, so they aren't as full of BLUEberries as last year.

They still want you to 'pick them clean'! I think I did!!

Even mom (aged 83) is picking her little heart out! She picked 4 lbs worth. Good for you, Mom!

This is mine which weighed in at almost 6 lbs....

I even got to eat a few (JUST taste testing!!)

As we left, I turned to take a photo of the area we were picking from. Most everyone was WAY down in the back by the orange balloon. We walked down to the shade of the trees on the left and then walked halfway across to the right of the photo. Seemed a long way back with LOTS of blueberries!!

3 Days to go!

2011-07-22T09:09:00.001-04:00

Wow.... I just had the two most fun days!

I went up to Janice and Steve's (my daughter's future in-laws) house to do some last minute things for the wedding. We did get quite a bit done!!

Wed: This is the table numbers that we put together on Wed (had to unwrap the frames, peel off four layers of celephane from clear windows in frame, assemble the stand pat, stamp two sets of numbers, trim brown insert paper -so writing wouldn't show through on other side-they are two-sided, assemble numbers to slide into frames. Whew!) That took a while.

Trimmed message boards for bathroom baskets and message table for bride and groom. Mounted those on navy folded cardstock. Stamped them with daisies.

Cut apart tags, trimmed cards, cut ribbons - 9", punched holes and threaded ribbons through . (These will be tied to whoopie pie bags).

Somewhere in here we had dinner and a snack...

Fell into bed at 10:30pm.

Thurs:

Leslie went up to Maine to get the Whoopie pies (Thank GOD I didn't cook them as I planned!!).

Janice and I got up, had breakfast and went to work on place cards. (God! Look at those thighs!! -- Wait, DON'T look at those thighs....I'll have to diet when I come home). These were pretty time consuming: Janice had to color the stamps-two different colors for each meal choice, pink-beef, orange-chicken, blue-vegetarian. There were 5 allergies, so we would eventually put a purple flower attached to these.

Janice was the flower attacher... two layered, and secured with a winged pin. I had the list of who ate what food, so I had to write the names of each person and their table number on the cards after they were dry.

Then we punched a little hole and Janice attached the flowers. We got a little nervous since we started to run out of the flowers (we figured out she attached the wrong sized flower to some- but we changed them). Problem solved! Then I had to double check, spelling of names (found one I had to add a letter to-easy), correct table number, and correct food colored-flower. Oh. And then alphabetized them (this I tried to do as I sent them to be flowered by Janice). We had such a great system and a grea time bonding. I just wished we lived closer and I was retired! We could get into so much ~~trouble~~ fun!)

After a full two days of artsy-craftsy stuff, we fell into their pool!!! Oh, did I forget to tell you we have had a severe HEAT WAVE in New England!!!! It's been 92-99 degrees everyday all week!

Sat, the day of rehearsal for the wedding, should be 92 and it should move to 80 degrees (Cold spell) on Sunday for the wedding. Yea! God was listening...

The rehearsal will be at 1pm tomorrow-Sat- (outside) followed by a rehearsal dinner at the hotel (air conditioning!). Leslie was saying that they are even having a wedding on Sat- so we must be out of there before they have to have the next wedding at 4pm. Then the hair and makeup moments for us girls (waterproof makeup) will be in their suite (Governors suite- two bedroom and sitting room) at the Sturbridge Host hotel, (MA).

It's getting exciting...
I won't be able to write much after tomorrow morning (no access to a computer), but I'll take notes and fill you in by Monday afternoon (I hope).

Countdown is on....1 week

2011-07-18T07:11:00.003-04:00

Since I won't have access to my computer some days, I'll have to fill you in on those 'missed' days of posting. There are 7 days left before Leslie's wedding day. Seven!

I have a busy day today....vet appt for the cats (missed last years, due to finances). Then clean up and have MY physical. I really need to organize what I'm bringing to MA for the wedding. It's supposed to be a scorcher for every single day between now and the wedding! Over 90 degrees, EVERY DAY!! So much for my worry about it having torrential downpours and high winds. (It's an outside wedding and reception under a tent).

Just IM'd Leslie last night, and she wanted to know if I could make an adjustment in her maid of honor's dress (shorten the halter straps). Yikes! That just put pressure on me, that I wasn't expecting. I really want to see what I'm in for, not through photos over the internet, but unless I go up there, I have to commit or not. Maybe I'll take a run up tonight....no, maybe not. Too much crazy running. Let's see what I get done...

Then I can get into quilting again. (yea!)

Quilting delayed by wedding plans

2011-07-12T21:55:00.001-04:00

I do have a quilt in the works.... and it will get trimmed and 'bound'(?), but I'm not sure if I'll get to doing much about it until this weekend. Why, you ask? (And why isn't anything quilt related being posted in this blog lately???) Well, I'll tell you.

I have a wedding I'm attending. Soon. Actually, I'm more than attending. My daughter, Leslie-Anne is the bride! And the wedding is in less than two weeks! SO!... You can see my priorities are set for things other than quilting. I have the outfit (was to be a dress, but ended up being a top/jacket/long skirt), Just got the shoes (one for wedding, one for dancing if needed)... that was a trip and a half!... and I now have to look for earrings that I bought through Lia Sopia, but can't find them. A woman I work with loaned me a pair of diamond (probably zirconium), and I need to find a necklace for it (the top is scoop neck). I also would like to buy hubby a shirt/tie to match my top.Well, I'm thinking of how it will look in the photos.

I'm going up to MA (where the couple lives) to help with the favors (I'm buying them instead of making them--Whoopie pies), and writing out the place cards for her. I hope to go up on Wed and stay through til Thursday when Les has to pick up the pies, then I'll come home and get ready to go up to the hotel on Sat. The wedding is on Sunday, so we'll have a nice time Sat with the rehearsal and dinner (we'll have my mom with us in our hotel room), then have makeup done (I don't even have makeup on normally, so this should be interesting-it's even supposed to be waterproof, I suppose that's a good thing, since today was the humidist day I've been through in a long time.) Lee will be coming home after the wedding-- he has to be a work at 7am the next day) and I'm staying over with mom that night. I took the week before the wedding off and the day after the wedding off work, so I'm fine.

I'm getting excited!

New Spot for next year!

2011-07-04T10:56:00.005-04:00

We have been going to see fireworks at the same place in our town every year. It's a band shell where they have music/bands/food/BBQ/horse rides/etc...and LOTS, and LOTS of people!!!! Frisbee playing, football throwing, kids running, people drinking (even though you know they aren't allowed alcohol on the grounds), young kids being sassy, but also having good clean fun. Just LOTS AND LOTS of people!!!! (However, notice no people here? This was our spot! hehehe)

Well, we realized that if we didn't go all the way to the center of campus where all the action is, we enjoyed the evening better and had the BEST VIEW of the fireworks!!!! The BEST!. No obstruction with trees, or other people. Nothing but beautiful fireworks over our heads!! This photo was of (we think) wind tracers... Certainly not UFOs! They sent up three at a time... twice. they look like lines here, but they were more like moving headlights.

Some fireworks looked just like they should! You know, the explosions and the spray of lights... beautiful!

This looks like the overhead high tension wires are on fire!!!

Armageddon!! If you notice the cars along the driveway, there are many more people on the other side of the cars, but we stayed to the 'light' side. Good decision! This photo made me realize that I shouldn't take the photo RIGHT when I hear the 'BANG!"...but wait a second or two. Wait too long and you miss the initial effect (that happened a few times)!

Some had amazing designs that I actually caught on my camera! (I only took about 6 tries to get this one pattern! Digital cameras that aren't the million $$ ones, have a delay time between when you push the button and when it captures the image :-( )

Then there are the flowers.... beautiful!

There were some that made me think of Nova... celestrial photos. (NASA, eat your heart out. LOL)

The only downfall we had that night, was that we carried WAAYYY too much to walk the distance. I'm gonna track the distance and report back later.

What did we carry, you ask?

Two director chairs, one canvas table-similar to the director chairs, one collapsible cooler (two bottles of water, huge bag of grapes, bag of cherries, three peaches, three apples, three quart-sized bags of ice cubes-- and NO, I didn't pack this, but I carried this), one backpack (two citronella candles-in thick glasses, bug spray, long-tipped lighter, two paperbacks, camera, cell phone, half bag of popped corn, two granola bars (guess who didn't get to carry this one--yeah, me). I swear I'm gonna repack them and weigh them. They were frickin' heavy!!! We each carried the chair, but I got the table and the cooler. He got the other chair and the backpack (he did rescue the table from me--I guess I whined enough...LOL). Still too much to bring.

I wouldn't take my jacket, because it was one more thing to carry-wasn't warm enough to wear there.

I wonder why my hubby looked incredulously at me when I wished we'd brought cheese and crackers!

Holiday weekend

2011-07-02T08:08:00.005-04:00

Well, the holiday started off early for me. I took Friday off to start it, but I had plenty to do....
1. Ran off an application for my sister (sign welcoming her son Dan home from deployment-7 months at sea--was actually on the ship that dumped Osama BinLaden's body into the ocean from ), then had her stop by to fill it out and I emailed it back to Town of Columbia for her.
2. Got a visit from my mom.
3. Had to go shopping for my wedding shoes (daughter's). Not sure they are comfortable enough, but unless I find something better, they will have to do. (Couldn't get a wide, so bought a size 9.5 b width)
4. Had to buy bug spray - deet-free
5. Had to babysit DGS- did so at SW Library.
6. grabbed a quick bite to eat before
7. Mammogram- finally got health insurance!!
8. Shopped for some summer things at Savers (consignment shop)-- bought 3 pairs pants/shorts, 2 tops for $12
9. Came home and worked on computer for a while
10. Weeded some of patio area
11. Ate dinner (salad) with hubby and took a long walk with hubby.
12. Spent the rest of the evening trying to get little one (Kai) to bed...Something makes hime wound up at bedtime. He is AWFUL to get to sleep. Even pulled out the queen sleeper couch and made it up, only to have him crawl off (after tossing and turning) and say he was going to HIS bed.

13. Put him down and finally fell into my own bed at 11:45pm!

OH!!! AND to top it off, my AC in my car was sounding funny when I put the blower on high(er)... My hubby (my hero!) pulled a dead mouse out of it this morning (Sat)... YUCK!

This was the blower fan that the poor mouse was trapped in!

All that was just in one day! Are you as exhausted reading this as I am living it??

Promising start

2011-06-25T17:45:00.004-04:00

It's always a great day when my daughter and her son head out for the day. Not to say I don't love them, but it's nice to think you can get so much done when they are gone. Our intentions are always one thing, but we did get some things started and that's better than where they were.

Intentions:

Lee: work until 1pm, then come home and unclog the drain in the tub (in the cellar, which means clear the cellar of Julie's stuff- Malakai's bed, foam tiles off the floor-in case of spills-, toys put away, etc).

Me: clean the den. This includes the piles of mail/papers/magazines/assorted stuff that's on the loveseat; clear the computer desks; sort and file papers that I don't need to do anything with; throw out papers that are too old to be of use; pack quilts into lined-wicker basket and make the room neat again. (What you don't see above is to the left of this photo on the floor in front of the closet, is a pretty wicker basket that should have quilts in it--but has a quilt in it, topped with magazines that I want to go through before I throw them out.) That stand with the cardboard mag holders (on left of loveseat) is really too much stuff in this room, but haven't decided what to do with the stuff it's holding. I don't think it will fit in the file cabinet. This room tends to be a 'catch-all, obviously.

Me: also, clean up the kitchen and plan something nice for dinner for just Lee & I.

In theory, this would have been wonderful.

What really happened....

Lee: worked until 1pm- check!
Lee: went on the computer, until my mom came over and we ready to leave... (see below)-- But some of the mess is cleared out. The box by the coffee table has magazines and genealogy stuff in it and really has to be gone through to sort into the right binder (I've been into genealogy for almost 30 yrs and have each surname I research in a separate 3-ring binder.)-- And some of the stuff on the coffee table is from my hubby when he came home from work today.

Me: cleaned out the den of quilts (put this storage container in living room, so it can be used when there is a chilly evening)- Results: This means more floor space- check! (see to the right corner--floor!) The bookcase is another day, believe me. LOL

Me: Cleared off the loveseat (of papers)... except now the cat has decided I did this for him. Not. (I scooted him off before taking the photo.)
--However, where did those papers go?

Me: Some of those papers DID go in the trash...okay. More than some. However, there are now a few more papers on the computer desk, and they are almost in piles that are organized together (except for the ones that were there originally- but they're at the bottom of the piles now on the desk--see previous photo).
Me: did get a box (of 'stuff' thrown into the box to check out 'in a minute') cleared out completely and the box got thrown out in the trash. Results: One box down, more floor space.
Me: Found two pocketbooks that were 'broken' (one with a ripped strap and the other, had the strap holding on literally by one thread) and cleaned them out and threw them to the trash (no they are not fixable). Results: This only gave me more space on the loveseat.
Me: Found a box on the coffee table in the den that had clothes from the dryer on it (mine) that had our old DVD player in it. Still workable, we just happened to have been given a blu-ray player and I'd already hooked that up. I folded the clothes and put them on the staircase to take to my room, boxed up the old dvd player and put it in the cellar. Results: More space on the coffee table.
Me: had lunch...salad and toast.
Oops: mom stopped by. Well, come on, if you're 83 yr old mom stopped by, wouldn't you visit? I did. And I'm not sorry, my work got interrupted. The visit was nice... until we went to say goodbye. I'm not sure WHO suggested playing cards (hand and foot)...but the next thing you know, there we were. At the table, playing cards. 2 hrs later, she whooped our behinds!! Then she merrily went on her merry way and now Lee is in the garage (well, hey, the door was open) and I'm here updating how productive my cleaning was. Because I did such a great job, I'm gonna continue cleaning and may even post photos (I DID take some before photos, although I'm embarrassed to show them. This is what happens when you put things off. And I do. sometimes....
Ok. Really. I'm going.
Now.
Almost.

Okay, I did get half the kitchen done. not the island counter (which seems to be the catcha-all area). I can only control half of that, since Julie isn't here and a third of it is hers.
We're not done yet, but it's an improvement and a start!
AND we got to go to the movies!! (That was my reward for getting so much done in 1/2 a day).
THEN... I crashed!

Number 7!

2011-06-22T17:02:00.000-04:00

What a great day...

It didn't start out so well. You'll have to check out my chiropractic blog for the details on how bad it started and what got it better (http://www.wisecrax.blogspot.com/ )

Then I got home from work and what was awaiting me/us in the mail? A card with a photo of Lee's daughter's son, Zackary (he's three) with an ultrasound photo in his hand saying he's gonna be a 'BIG BROTHER"!! Yikes!

Here comes Number 7!

Finlay Alexander Eaton

2011-06-12T17:02:00.002-04:00

I finally got to meet my 6th grandchild, Finlay Alexander Eaton...son of Jason & Emma Eaton (Lee's second son). This is their first child, so it's so exciting. Emma had a tough time of it with this pregnancy, so it is great to see this little one come early and healthy! He was born at 8:05pm on 6-8-2011, 7 lbs, 11 oz., 21" long. He has very long fingers...(Maybe he'll play the piano).

Here are some photos of him, at 3 days old....

Here are the proud parents...

Here is little Finn.(Papa is holding him).

The longest fingers on a baby EVER!

Also, a thinker...

"Hey, Papa, .... I'm cold!"

"this is wayyyy better!"....

How adorable....

Tired boy.... Okay, we'll leave and let you sleep. Love you, Mr. Finn.

Tornados in Massachusetts

2011-06-01T21:43:00.003-04:00

Fortunately, it didn't do any damage to those I know in MA, but I was pretty worried about a daughter (who'd be driving from Boston right into the area it was heading!!), and a new-to-be set of inlaws that were coming back from the Cape (also into the tornado cluster of storms). My family didn't feel the effect, although it did touch down in Westfield, West Springfield, Sturbridge, Monson and a few other towns in MA.

I took a trip up to St Andrews Episcopal church in LongMeadow, MA to volunteer at the collection of toiletries and took some photos of the debris I saw in downtown Springfield (although I didn't get to the worst parts of town--it was rush hour and I needed to get home by 6pm).

Here are a few trees that got the tops ripped off.

Some more roof damage.

Tornado touched down in Springfield, MA

This building had the roof ripped off, but you can see some of the debris inside the windows of the top floor (I'm sure you would have a great view of the sky from up there, too-click on the photo itself to get a closer view).

I did have a quick thought about the venue for my daughter's wedding in July... Zukas Hilltop Farm in Spencer. Wonder if they had their tent up? Hope not,...

I've overcome techology!!

2011-04-19T14:05:00.000-04:00

Just a quick burst of an explosion here....

I hooked up the bluray player (we got it as a gift in Dec 2010) this past weekend, and I just figured out how to set up and activate my wireless connection (and I even know how to change the password if I so desired) and we ARE ACTIVELY WATCHING NETFLIX ON THE TV!!!!!!

For those of you who are techno savy, it's really nothing. But to me, it's HUGE!!

Decisions made and quilting

2011-04-17T19:06:00.009-04:00

Whoopie pies...
Decision is made and the choice is..."Moody's Diner" (of Walderboro, ME). Daughter Leslie, decided to go with the whoopie pies I made using their recipe. Actually, that's fine, I just have to have the details of how they are being packaged prior to the wedding (these are the favors).

Wedding outfit...

Decision is the blue one (Leslie's choice- that is, until she realizes that it's glitter). Her only concern is that it may be too warm for July. I don't think so...

Quilting...
Okay... I got the quilting (two for PbPQ) done, and the binding and label on one (Geisha's Fanfare), the binding half-sewn on the 'Peachy Cream' lap-quilt and will give to my mom, but more important, I got the baby quilt almost finished!!!!!! I even have the binding all cut/sewn and ironed for the quilt.All I have to do is a little fancy 'tweaking' on the panel that has the large monsters on it. I'll ty those two sections so that the strands of embroidery threads act like the hair on the monsters head. I'll post photos when I'm done.

Whoopie Pies and Dresses

2011-04-12T15:54:00.000-04:00

I think my posts are getting weirder and weirder.... at least the titles are.

I told my oldest daughter that I'd love to make the favors for her upcoming wedding, so she said.... 'ok.... can you make mini whoopie pies?'

Sure, I said.... I grew up on them. However, I thought because MY whoopie pies are NOT like the Maine ones, I better have a backup recipe for them in case they don't like MY recipe (actually, my mom's). So I found a recipe online (Moody's Diners = Waldaboro, ME). I would make 2 batches of batter (I made 3), and 2 batches of filling (2.5). Here were the test results...

Batch 1: was a half recipe of my mom's (mixed it by hand), but I used crisco sticks instead of soft shortening. (I think the sticks were kinda old- didn't like the musty smell, but it didn't have a date on it, so I used it.-- I'm sure I won't like it, but we'll try it). They came out REALLY flat! I don't remember my mom's being flat, so that could be due to the 'off' shortening.

Filling A & B: My mom's was filling A (it never makes much, so I made a whole recipe of filling), and I made half of Moody's filling for B (I mixed it all together at once- just seemed like a lot of filling).

Filled half of pies with each filling and marked the saran wrap 1A and 1B.

Batch 2: Made full recipe of mom's batter (mixed it by hand), but used something new this time. There is a mixture in a jar called Lighter Bake by Sunsweet. It's made from puree of dried plums and dried apples. Supposed to be non-fat (use instead of shortening). Smelled okay, but the (still) flat pie tasted a little like prunes. And they were 'stickier/tackier' on the top of the pie... it didn't seem like they dried. But, hey, this is no-fat!! Isn't that a plus? Okay, these get frozen for a week, then I'll deliver them for the taste tests.

I'm also conscious of the fact that Leslie wants them about 2"... see, I'm measuring to get a feel for them.(These are the flat ones).

Anyway, the third batch was made strictly by Moody's. Their batter and their filling. Only this time, I made them according to THEIR directions... as in, use an electric beater!! Okay, yes, ... that DID make a difference. The batter was stiffer and fluffier (think mousse), and the filling was stiffer and fluffier...I figured how much was made (about 60 complete pies from a full recipe). I still had some filling from Moody's from the batches 1 & 2, so I used that, then considered the 'whipped' filling B-C. I'm sure these will be the ones they pick.

Okay.... now, onto dresses for the wedding.

You must understand... I HATE CLOTHES/SHOE SHOPPING!!!!!!

REALLY!!!!

Okay, now that I got that out of my system, I DID make an attempt to 'look' for a dress, because my daughter-in-law, Diana, was appalled that I hadn't by now. (Mind you, I wasn't appalled. Just her. But it made me feel guilty). I went into two stores (NOT bridal stores!! because they are too matronly-- mother of the bride looking and I'm not like that. I'm funkier).

This one was a possiblility, but I just tried it on, I didn't buy it. Pros: I liked the colors. Cons: Too low cut, and too casual. (Notice the jeans, still around my ankles?? Doesn't that tell you how much I'm into trying this one?)

Then I went to MA to deliver the whoopie pies and visit with my daughter's future mother-in-;aw (who I really like!) While talking about looking for an outfit, I told her my mom had good luck at a place called Chico's. She googled to see what she could find and she found one in her town at the mall. "Let's GO!". While we were looking in all the stores there, we got hysterical over this one, since these ARE the wedding colors, Pink and orange (the bridesmaids are wearing navy, but carrying orange and pink gerber daisies). We got so silly in the dressing rooms, asking other patrons if they'd take our photos...lol. We just wanted to send this to my daughter, saying "We've found our dresses!!" (it's a joke, guys)

But then.... I actually found a skirt (not my original plan-- hoping for a tea length dress), that was flow-y... and had three tiers to the length (although I could hike up the waist and make it tea length). And this top is probably what I'll wear since it IS funky (black tear drop beads around the bottom of the jacket and cuffs). And it has sequins all over it. The shell under it is sleeveless and while I don't think I'll take it off (I have arms that 'wave'), I could if it gets too hot (July wedding).

However, I really like this one better. The problem? It's glittery!! and my future son-in-law HATES (Did I say HATE strong enough??????) GLITTER!!!! What's the worse that could happen? I could bring both of them and switch all day, depending on if I've had enough hugs from him. LOL..... We'll see. I've sent them to Leslie, to see what she thinks. At least I'm done with it. Need to find shoes, but that isn't so bad. I can handle it. Poor Janice, still needs to find hers, but at least she knows what I have found.

Organizing, Cones and Monsters

2011-04-12T08:37:00.001-04:00

Before I start posting.... Emma, if' you're reading this....STOP! I have something at the bottom that you can't see yet, so avoid this post!!! Thanks. Now, for everyone else, keep going.

Well, yesterday felt like a good day!!I can't even tell you how much stuff I have to sort (piles) in various places around the house. Most of it is in the den/computer room, but it travels ("on little cat feet"). I had a huge box of stuff and wasn't even sure what was in it, but I know I'm compulsive enough to HAVE to go through it before I chuck it out to recyling bins (which, btw, it REALLY full!)

I have some photos I need to hang, although I did get two photos hung in the den. I even have a pile (small) of photos to scan into my computer and burn to a disc (for safe-keeping).

I got the huge box emptied and sorted (although the piles are VERY small, they aren't gone yet), I have some things of Lee's that were 'around' and not really actively being used, put away (as best as I knew where to put them), and have all the financial stuff sorted by year in hopes that I can go through them and balance all that stuff soon. I do have a large pile of quilting stuff to go through... patterns I've removed from magazines (so I could through the magazine out), tips, instructions, etc. and that is now in my sewing room. MUST get rid of that so I can finish the baby quilt I'm making for my next grandchild (due in June 26th).

I have one bill to pay today (cable), I'll pay in person. It will get me out and I'll do a double walk through the mall. Hey, that's my exercise today,... I have to get it somewhere and it's supposed to rain most all week.

AND!!! I finally installed the blu-ray disc player my s-son Jason gave us for Christmas! I wasn't sure how it would play, since I tested out a regular disc and it was a little grainy. Julie's boyfriend said it may be that way on NON-blu-ray discs. I'll order a blu-ray from netflix and test it out. (Done)

Today, will be a day to sandwich the baby quilt together and make some homemade ice cream cones.

I also have two other quilts to machine quilt today...One has a 'roll-over binding and the other has a binding that Marilyn (one of our PbPQuilters) is putting together. This will be a productive day!!

This is a preview of the Monsters Galore quilt....

Back to sewing...plus

2011-03-24T11:55:00.001-04:00

I have only been able to sew 'slightly'... while taking care of my mom at her house. She's 83 and has had a case of pneumonia for the past week, however, she isn't taking very good care of herself. She had a few nights over the weekend where she was coughing herself awake, then not getting back to sleep. She called the doctor's office 3 times, but didn't realized she was 'leaving a message' for her doctor that wouldn't be seen until Monday. (She needed to let her doctor know that it was 'an emergency' and speak to a human -answering service). We took her in on Monday to her doctor, but I decided to stay a few days at her house and make sure she eats and drinks enough. My brother will be with her on Thursday (today) to take her back to the doctor (and maybe to his house for the weekend). She made her own breakfast this morning, but realized it was a HUGE effort. She is such a giver, that it's hard for her to 'take' from us kids at all!! Well, mom, 'suck it up'... we love you. Let us help you...

In the meantime, I got one quilt tied and trimmed (and would have finishing the binding, but the rest of the material is at church. I'll make a trip over there today to get the rest of it. Maybe I'll let my mom hand sew it (to keep her from getting bored sitting in her chair all day). I also, finished quilting around 5 roses to finish the Black Rose Panel quilt. Now it just needs a label. I may get it so four quilts will get blessed on Sunday.

I'm also trying to make a few blocks for the frontal cloth that my priest is commisioning me to make for NEXT Easter. I figure if I make 85-100 sections, I'll have enough to spare and some to make into another quilt top. We'll see. I'll post photos.

Patchwork Apron

2011-03-16T00:06:00.000-04:00

A lady from my church asked if I'd be interested in making a patchwork apron for a 'prize'. We are having a potluck supper in June and she is asking people to bring a dish, with a recipe and wear your favorite apron. That's easy for me, as I can't seem to cook well without my apron.

Now I just have to figure out a nice design for a 'half' apron. Male or female....?

Maple Festival

2011-03-15T10:39:00.003-04:00

I took Kai to the Hebron Maple Festival... he'd never been and I haven't been to a Sap House (they call them sugarhouse's now) if over 40 yrs (last time on the Jamieson's farm in VT-we helped out thinking it was fun- they saw it as part of their chores).

He got to see the man stoke the fire right up close!! And we got to "see the smoke, Gramma!!" coming from the sap house (actually steam).

It was neat to see the HUGE cow up close... licking an 'itchy spot' on his fanny!

We also got to see all the activities in the center of town...bounce house, scavenger hunt, quilts show (Kai wasn't impressed with that- but he's 5). It was a lot of walking and it was chilly and windy. I needed a nap.

This fireman on his ladder was waving at all the people!!

They have a neat wall in town that curves... I saw a classmate's family name in it. Hey, Jeff Blow.... that's YOU!

Mike's gone...

2011-03-15T07:40:00.010-04:00

Last Sat night, my aunt Lorraine, Michael Peck (my cousin)'s wife, Lynn and friends (actually it was put on by the friends) had a benefit for Mike.

He's struggled with cancer, removal of kidneys, transplant of one kidney from his dad (now deceased), and all kinds of troubles.
Here are a few photos of my relatives....
My uncle Joe, Lolly and Maria in background.

My cousin, Donna's husband Ed, and Tony & Janice Lepore (my cousin).

My Aunt Delores (Aunt Lolly) and brother Bob.

Here's Bob, and my mom's oldest brother (Uncle Richie), and my mom.

Me and my sister Janet.

Bob & Mom. I love that jacket on you...

Nick even came on his 18th birthday....!

The Urgo family...

Nice photo of my sister and brother.

The benefit for him was put on at St George's Greek Orthodox church, tickets $25 pp, all food, drinks (although BYOB), raffle baskets, silent auction items even the band FountainHead (which my cousin Janis said played at her prom 32 yrs ago) played for free. Mike used to be their sound guy... There were tons of people there, unfortunately, Mike was in such bad shape, that he never was in shape to come to it, even for a little while. According to his brother, Brian, his mom and Lynn (his wife), he was 'hours away' from death. They had a hospice nurse keeping them updated with info on him (the church was only 10 mins away from the house) hourly. The plan as of Wed. was that he was coming! But things turned sour very quickly. He insisted they go to the benefit, and they insisted that he not go anywhere until they came home.

He passed away Sunday, Mar 13th, 2011 at approximately 8pm @ the age of 47.

Can I show what I've been working on....?

2011-03-10T21:41:00.000-05:00

I think NOT!!

Why? Because, if my daughter-in-law sees my post, she'll have a preview of her little critter's quilt. Let's just say... it has monsters on it. And LOTS of bright colors on it. LOTS!!

Federal Taxes are done!!

2011-03-08T16:28:00.000-05:00

I haven't sent them in yet, but I've done them. I screwed up the logging in process for the CT State Tax, but I'll have Lee reset his password then we can file those. I'm getting money back , but not as much as last year. (Because I didn't itemize last year, I took a schedule L deduction-- made a difference). Since I get smaller amount refunded every year, I shouldn't complain. I, at least, haven't had to send them a check at this time of year (slow hrs, layoff time, etc), but it would be nice to get more back.

New Back? or new top...?

2011-03-06T09:21:00.001-05:00

That is the question....

This is the new backing...

This is the original top...

I'm not sure where this post should be posted... here or on my church's blog for PbPQ. It was a heartstring quilt I started back in probably 2007, and has been on my UFO list for a while. I had the top done, but trying to do a 'Marilyn' for the back.

** Clarification... a "Marilyn' is named after one of my friends in the PbPQ group and a very accomplished quilter who doesn't like to have leftover fabric when she makes a quilt (not to say she doesn't have her own stash, just doesn't keep the scraps). So she uses everything leftover from making the top, for the back.

It takes a while, (which sometimes scares me, so I procrastinate) since I have no plan ahead of time

The nice thing is that I finished the back, and I think I can roll this over and use for the binding. I tried a few blocks (half log cabin) that I hadn't done before, so I'll be able to show the ladies at Monday's mtg the block that I've been trying to decribe to them. Marilyn and her friend (and our 4th in a card game) Rachael came over last night and when I showed her the back, so said... "oh no... you can't use that as a back, you've invested too much time into that!" ... "Well, Marilyn, I didn't want to create another top, I wanted to get this one finished!!". I think I'm using it for the back because then I have to create/piece more backs for (now) TWO tops. Somehow that's NOT getting them to the finished stage, it's just giving me more UFOs. Not the point of 'finishing' them!

Taxes

2011-03-02T22:15:00.003-05:00

Today I started the dreaded process of tax preparation. It seems so involved, and I think I have it improved upon from last year, but it still seems to be WAYYYY too involved. And there is only the two of us! We'll see how long it takes to get it done.

And all I wanna do is sew! I have a mtg on Monday and need to get things ready....oh well,....

Mom's 83 Today!!

2011-03-01T08:56:00.002-05:00

Today's a good day. I am on layoff, so I can take mom out to lunch at my/her favorite burger place, Corey's Catsup & Mustard. I invited my aunt Norma and maybe my daughter Julie if she has a chance to come without Kai (no boys today, sorry Kai).

This was my lunch.... spinach salad with grilled chicken, blue cheese, craisins, potato sticks and a light citrusy vinegar dressing. ... 'to die for'....

and we can't forget those sweet potato fries with maple mayo! Yum!!

UFO Challenge Participants | Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara

2011-02-26T12:29:00.000-05:00

UFO Challenge Participants Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara: "!" I just saw this and hope I can join at this late date.... Maybe this year, I'll work on my own UFOs and not the charity ones so much.

2011 UFO Challenge

2011-02-26T08:47:00.003-05:00

Here is a go at working at these UFOs that seem to get pushed aside for the PbPQ group's quilt. Maybe it's time to work on mine, too! This is taken off my sidebar, but I'm updating at what stage they are up to. If I get a chance to photograph them, I'll have photos posted here. Here is my list....

1 Jelly Bean BOM--top has been done

2 Fishing Lines Heartstrings quilt--top done, elaborately pieced-backing done
3 Mystery Quilt 32 1/2" quilt

4 Mystery Quilt 16 1/2" quilt

5 Twister on the Prairie

6 D9P green-purple pillow cover--top done...

7 Mini Poinsettia's on the Fence wall hanging--top done

8 Quartered Star wall hanging

9 Moroccan Table runner

10 African 9-Patch--top done

11 Rings around the Posies (table cloth)-- top done

12 Convergence Quilt-- needs unusual borders

1a Mardi-Gras Madness

2a Diamonds in the Mud--top done

3a Black & white box rotation

Update Mach 1st, 2011:
Since I signed up (even if it's only in my head) at the end of Feb, I don't think working on Feb's # is practical (it was #10). However, March's # is 1, so I'll go pull that from the pile and see where it goes.

Update March 5th, 2011: I've been working on a back for #2 lately, so maybe I'll keep going with that, then snag the correct (#1) for the month and finish it. First of all, I can't believe I'm even touching any of these, since I've put my personal stuff on the 'back burner'. It's a start(or maybe I should say, "a finish"')!

New blog for me

2011-02-25T11:20:00.001-05:00

I have started a new blog, mostly to chronicle my progress with chiropractic therapy. For my migraines. I'm hoping it works, but I'll have everything in 'writing', so-to-speak. It's title is "Snap Out of It!", since he'll be snapping my back into alignment. We'll see how it goes.

Productive weekend

2011-02-21T06:20:00.000-05:00

So far, this weekend has been truly productive in the sewing department. I've gotten some of the quilts back that I shared with the PbPQ group. I labeled them and finished them. I added five more 'done' quilts to their blog list for 2011. I have one more that is in the process of getting done (Orange Comets)... needs tying and a label (maybe I'll make a mini version of the shooting stars on the front for it).

I have one more day off (President's Day) and I've made a decision (important medical decision) that has been taking up my time (mentally), so once I make a phone call to proceed, then I can devote the rest of today with sewing! Nothing major, just spending money in the direction of chiropractic sessions for my migraines. Waking up today at 4:30am with one, helps move that decision in the right place. AND I haven't done my taxes (will do them this week), so I'm hoping to use what refund we get back for that. Pray.

I also made a few labels for our group (without putting a date on them), so I feel like lots got accomplished. I have even thought (hard) about finishing up a personal UFO "Crazy Green Cabin". All it needs is the quilting part and a binding. Maybe if I go ahead and make the binding, I'll be encouraged to keep going with it!

Bound up and loving it!!!

2011-02-19T09:01:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the title, but I had to...heeheehheeeee!
I've been binding quilts lately like crazy. I have three that need bindings made or sewn to them (brought these home from our quilting event at church last week). Unfortunately, I haven't taken photos of THOSE because my mom (the binding queen) took two of them home to finish the handsewing on them.

However, Marilyn finished this one and dropped it off for a label. (I have the label at church- it's a 'real' envelope block that we'll put on and drop a inspirational note in it for the recipient).

This one my mom dropped off after hand-stitching the binding on this one. Very cute.

This one is special.... Our church group had sent a quilt to Mavie's dear friend in Maine who was sick. To thank us, Mavie made all these blocks and I picked them up in Maine on our way to our vacation cottage. I put them together in Maine, then brought them back for the ladies at church to finish. This is the finished quilt. Marilyn rolled the backing over for the binding on this one.

This is the label for a couple of quilts.

This quilt I'm hoping we can have our 'angel quilter' quilt for us. I really love it.

This is my favorite quilt as of yet...It's got such a homey feel about it.

I have some black fleece for the back of this one... then I'm done.

All I have left to do is make some sample blocks for the next meeting.

Super Bowl Sewing! and commercials...

2011-02-08T23:59:00.000-05:00

Super Bowl Sunday was wonderful...except I had to go to an early service at church (7:30am) and they don't play any/much music. I miss that. I really LOVE my 10am service at St Mary's Episcopal, but Leslie (oldest daughter) was coming down from MA and I haven't talked to her since Christmas.

We had spent Friday and Sat raking the roof of snow.

This is so much better, but the ice dams in the gutters are still causing lots of problems inside the house.

This was the back of the house, before we started raking and breaking up the ice dams (having our contractor do them on the front of the house cost us $125) .

It really was pretty think up there... and probably pretty heavy, too.

Notice his weapon of choice?? The hatchet. I hope he doesn't chip too hard or we'll have a roof repair to add to the spring repairs already in the workings.

It was pretty damn thick, don'tcha think?

I put some chili in the crockpot, got some sewing in, and watched the commercial on the Super bowl game (only liked the Dorito/Pug and the Chevy Eco/convelescent home ones). It was a good day. Nice temperature, where the ice was even melting!! Yea!

These are some test blocks for the church group. I'll bring them to church on Sat for our quilting event.

Even Kai had a good time in the snow. It's up to the window on the driveway side. We have no where to put any more of it. Hope we get a break. It's been snowing every 2-3 days, (5"-24" at a time).

Now he can see inside the birdhouses. They are positioned under the eaves of the garage!!

Snow days do not mean more Sewing!

2011-02-02T22:15:00.002-05:00

I thought it was exciting to have every Friday off Jan -Mar (our slow season at work), but with all the snow storms (and ice storms yesterday/today), we've had random days off, but the majority of them have meant that we are shoveling,... and shoveling.... and chipping icicles...and sopping up drips in the house (window frames/ceilings-although the ceiling haven't started dripping yet).

What that really means is NO SEWING! Between the hours spent outside shoveling, and the time spent inside with the water, I'm exhausted!! So, no sewing for a while.

I do have a quilting event on the 12th of this month, so I have to prepare some things ahead of time for that. That may be the only thing I get done.

....OH! Wait!..... I did get to midnight quilters at our local quilt shop and did get one top finished (but that was because I planned out the 6 hr session and it didn't get cancelled this time. Here is the top.

This is a closeup of the "Elusive Borders"....

Snow AGAIN!!!

2011-01-27T22:57:00.001-05:00

I'm starting to get tired of it. I went to bed last night around 10:30pm and there was a light dusting on the driveway... Nothing much. No big deal.

I awake at 2 of 6AM to a phone call from my boss saying work is cancelled. I looked out and realized the 'noise' I was hearing was my hubby snowblowing another foot of snow! He had been out since 4:30 (or did he say 5:30am?), clearing the driveway. I went out at 6:15am and started helping him, since he was determined to make it to work today. It's getting so we have no where to put it!! It's got to be thrown over my head now.

Off he went, and 5 hrs later, I cleared the majority of our front sidewalk and the walk to the front door. I also, cleared a lot of snow off the metal awning over the front door, cleared the snow off the flexible awning over the front windows and as many icicles as I could reach. I also, got snow off the back door's overhang. Boy, was there a lot of snow on that!

Now I'm ready for a nap. Only to get ready for another storm on Sat and again on Monday or Tuesday. I'm staying up the watch the weather tonight. The windows have already started leaking into the livingroom and dining room from between the molding (above the windows).

Priceless

2011-01-25T23:37:00.002-05:00

I urge anyone who takes a regular medication,... high cholestrol, high blood pressure, diabetes, whatever it is, to call a few pharmacies for prices. Here's my latest episode.

My husband (who is the health care provider in the house) started a new job last week and isn't able to go on their insurance plan until 90 days are up. Typical. Not a complaint, just saying. I have only one medication that I take on a regular basis, he... many. Since his last day at his old job was on the 15th, I was lucky enough to be able to refill my prescription on the 14th for a month's worth of pills. He was able to get his at a 3 month supply (mail) right before it stopped. He is all set, but I, however, will need to figure out how to get two more month's supply to me. I had a doctor's appt a week after he left his job, and I explained my situation to the dr. and asked what I should do for the last two months. He said he'd write me a 3 month perscription, ... then he said," Call around. You should be able to get this for as little as $4-$6 for a 30 day supply." ....really?!..... I've never 'called around' before. I always have the same small family run pharmacy fill all my prescriptions, since I like them to know all the meds I'm taking at any given time.

So, today, at work, I decided to 'call around'. Here's what I discovered.

30-day supply of simvastatin, 40mg

CVS, $66.99

Westown Pharmacy (my regular one), $30

Rite-Aid, $10.99

Shop-Rite (my favorite grocery store-best music ever!!), $11.99

Wal-Mart, $18.46

Sam's Club, priceless...

The winner is... Sam's at $5.78, but wait!... get the 90-day supply since it's $10.09!!!

How do you beat that?!!
Guess where I went on the way home from work?.... oh, yeah.

Update on Sneaky sewing....

2011-01-22T15:31:00.000-05:00

I finally had a chance to sneak back up to the sewing room and finish the top I did. Well, maybe finish. It's rather small, but I used up the fabric I had started with. I may add a larger border on the outer edge, but not sure what fabric to use. Probably a batik, since most of the other parts are batiks or close to it. Right now, it would be great as a lap quilt...

The really light fabrics look almost white, but they are a soft yellow/orange batik. Small print.

We'll see.....

Snow cancels non-stop quiting!

2011-01-22T08:49:00.001-05:00

Normally, snow wouldn't bother me. Well, okay, maybe it DOES bother me, but not in the way you think. Sure there is the shoveling, and the ...shoveling, and the ice chipping, and the ...shoveling. Ok, I am starting to be annoyed by it. I think the only consullation is that I might get a day off from work. (I haven't figured out how to use it to my advantage when the grandchild is also home from school. He is constantly at my side- because I'm the 'fun' gramma. I gurss should enjoy these years while he still wants to spend time with his gramma).

Anyway, back to where we were.... I hate the snow for this reason. A local quilt shop has a thing called "Midnight Quilters" where you pay an amount to use their back room to sew from 6pm-midnight. You pay $20 and get fed and get to sew on any projects you want. And visit with others who are there for the same reason. AND if you need fabric for completing anything (this is for the UFO's you brought to work on-- or NEW projects for the future), the shop is available to buy what you need. I tend to get a second wind about 10pm.... then I'm sad when the clock is close to striking 12.

However, due to the latest snow storm- which dumped 4-6 inches more, they postponed it until next Friday. I would have had no problem getting there and sewing, but I'm not sure how their staff is at getting to work. (At this time, the snow banks are up to my shoulders and more snow is expected on Tuesday and Wed. on next week--- Yikes!!)

Guess I'll have to hibernate in my sewing room and hope my 'cutie' can stay occupied OUTSIDE of the door for a while.

Sneaky sewing

2011-01-18T14:39:00.004-05:00

I did get a chance to sneak in some sewing.... I did make an attempt at shoveling, but I got so cold that I came in for a while to warm up. Now, it's raining (pray the ice dams don't send the water inside), so I decided after making my daughter and gs some pizza, I'd sneak upstairs and play.

I've been working on something I saw in Quilter's NewsletterMagazine March 2001 (my aunt tends to send hers my way when she's done with them). Notice the date? Don't run out and try to find this one ladies. (The only reason I had it was because I loved the pattern on the front cover. Beautiful... "California Reel"... has a design that encorporates a snail tail design-like part of it. It's done in blue/purple, yellow-orange fabrics.)

On page 26, there is instructions for free-form stars. They looked really neat against black, but I thought I'd do something 'radical'. Kind of a blue-y, purple-y, brown-y-ish background, but making the stars out of batik-y yellow-orangey fabrics. Check out my background fabric on top of the page (upper left). It's cool. Trust me.

And then to add the oranges I had in my stash.... (I liked going through that box). I decided to substitute the center purple square for an orange fabric.

I used a 12.5" square, but didn't divide it equally. I kind of split it at 5", then divided what was left, wherever.

Using scrap/chunks of the yellow-oranges, this is the first block I made. Not bad. I like it.

I love 'spider-webbing' the pieces to make the block.

I don't usually iron it until I'm done putting the (rough) 9-patch together.

Here is the star, finished. I think I'm gonna like this pattern and choice of fabrics. (Oh, if you are interested, the one on the right was a workshop to make the center medallion- I added the black on to square, actually rectangle, it up).

Here are a few of the blocks. I have 10 squares of the background cut up so far (even though it doesn't end up 12.5" square, more like 11.5" sq.), and enough material (background) to make a few borders along the outside. I have a peachy fabric for a narrow border, then the background as outer borders, and I may use squares of yellow/orange as cornerstones. I'll post more photos when I get it done.

Ice dams vs sewing.... hmmm. (wish I could take the sewing)

2011-01-17T10:08:00.000-05:00

Well, I've been outside for all of 15 mins, at 15 degrees, and chipping ice off the house is not the way I thought I'd be spending my day off (MLK). The gutters are FULL and overflowing with ice, so I'm praying that the amount of ice I chipped off the windows (sorry, honey, I'm sure I damaged a little of the window trim-too bad), is enough to prevent the water from coming in, but I'm sure it will anyway.

We're expecting a lot of sleet, freezing rain, ice tomorrow. I don't plan on going to work if that is the case. I'm waiting to see if they (work) call me, that way I won't lose the paid holiday today. I gotta say, I never felt such pain in my fingers (yes, I had gloves on) when I came in.... had to run them under warm water to get any kind of feeling in them. It's bad when you don't even feel the water at all when you're pouring it over your hands!! The tips are still red, but I have a little feeling in them now.

"Where is the hubby helping?" you ask...

He's starting his first day of a new job (Bolton Motors). Thank you, God! He gave his notice at the last place in the beginning of the year and didn't have a job to go to. Within a week, he had a job. Good thing to be a Master "A" auto technician. You are pretty much valued whereever you go! Who says you need a college degree? He even is bringing his lunch... not sure if a lunch truck comes to this place. He's so used to big dealerships, and this place has all of 5 bays (one of which is emissions). I SO hope he's happy here. (Last job had a very verbally abusive boss!)

Fabrics and organizing= relieve stress

2011-01-07T20:52:00.000-05:00

If you don't think so, go organize your sewing room (actually, I organized the church group's sewing closets. BUT STILL!!...) and see how light you feel!! Don't these look great???!! Wish I'd taken a 'before' photo, but I really didn't think I'd do what I did. And this doesn't even show you the cupboards with our sewing machines in them.

I actually went there to get some strings to send to a lady in CA (on Heartstrings yahoo group) and just decided to make sure our records on what UFOs we have there are accurate. What I didn't realize was that I'd have so much sense of accomplishment by sorting through what we will be working on at our Feb event, what tops are done (and which need backings/bindings), and what quilts are in lesser stages (needs borders, sashing finished, blocks put together, etc).
AND, I found our record books that I'd thought I'd lost!!! They were tucked in the cupboards with the sewing machines, not the fabrics. Now I can get them organized, too!! (Oh, this is TOO much!)

I cut battings and matched them up to the quilts ready to be tied. I also, figured out that when these (many) quilts are finished, we have some great projects to 'start'. And I don't want to think of starting them until we are pretty cleared up with the UFOs.

There were a few backings that I have taken home to play with and make wider. Two quilts needed a border, so I took material to match and bought some at the quilt store.
AND...
Lo and behold, I found my monster fabric that I'd thought I'd bought, but couldn't find in my sewing room at all!! It was bought at Marden's in Sanford ME and I'd given that to the church and kept the dinosaurs. Well, gang, today I switched them. The monster fabric is going for my 6th grandchild!! (That's the theme).

This is one I'd forgotten we'd had.... Creamy Rust is how I describe this one.

And this on, C brought back. She didn't get a chance to make the backing for it, but we'll put it aside until another time. We have many more needing to be done first.

So I came home with my HUGE box of strings for Sarah, monster fabric and a few things to keep me out of trouble.

And life goes on....

2011-01-04T06:49:00.001-05:00

Hopefully, for a long time.

I say that because the tingling of my left arm and the dull ache in the left shoulder blade caused some concern at 4:44am this morning. I got up and took some chewable baby aspirin, went back to bed, but the stress of a possible heartattack being the cause of it and not just sleeping 'funny', made me get up by 5am...
It's gone now, but I'm aware of it happening.

...I relayed the info to my doctor. He said to call if it continues. I will.

STRESS!!!

2011-01-02T08:01:00.002-05:00

Ok, I thought my husband had some sense.... I'm hoping it comes back. He's planning (as of yesterday) to give his two weeks notice to his job. And from what he says, he's pretty sure that the owner will just tell him to leave NOW. It's a new job since June and he chose to leave a place he'd worked at for 18 yrs to go to this job (wasn't necessarily the wrong decision to leave the old place- they are still in trouble $$-wise-, just not for this new place). We dealt with not having insurance for 2 months then, now not sure what we will be doing, since I'll have to switch to health ins with my company and it's awful expensive and not the best plan. (Not that it isn't expensive anywhere).

Back to square one. Again.

He really wants to retire and I can't tell him we can afford it. I feel like the bad guy here, though he says I'm not. We just refinanced last summer which saved us some on the amount of our payment, but still back to 30 yrs,and this may make a big difference. He went out looking on Friday (Dec 31st), but can't really talk to anyone since it was the 'holiday' for most of the office people.

This is sooo stressful. I'm sure for him, who has to go to work for a guy who seems to be a tyrant, but the lack of income may be worse for all of us. I may have to look for another part-time job on top of this. I'll be laid-off in Mar-April, so add that to this and let's just shoot me now.

I'm hoping he rethinks this and doesn't do anything untiil he has a job (at least he did that the last time he left a job). What is he thinking??????or is he?

Sharing Christmas photos

2010-12-31T00:06:00.003-05:00

Finally got a chance to download some photos of the holidays in CT.... enjoy.

First fire in the fireplace in years...... Now all we need is the glass doors, so we can close it at night.

Three of my favorite people...daughter, Amber and son Zachary, and Malakai

Can this family photo ever get taken without some of us fooling around?

Probably not.

Great shot of Malakai and Anaka playing.

Ompah and Papa

Emma and Jason opening our "dinner and a movie" (they got movie tickets with the pizza stone)

Morgan in her new pjs... surveying the other gifts.

Julie, Amber and Ann in kitchen...hanging out before dinner.

Hamming for the photographer....

Okay ... on to my brother, Bill's house for Christmas Eve....

Here is my mom and her friend, Amby.

Hmmm..... I'm not sure I have enough pie on this plate....

And here's the real dessert table. Have a little milk with that, Bill...

Cousins get to catch up with each other.... Scott,(future son-in-law), Leslie and Kathy.

What's your favorite present Kai....? well, Grammaw, my scooter, but I need my cookie (in hand) and my water.

Don't you even doubt I busted a gut, when he came in the den one morning and wanted to show me his 'stuff' (tucked in his pants). It was the hat and glasses that had me in stitches!

Come on, Grammaw, take my picture.....

Isn't he just the cutest???

This was one of our trees..... It was so crammed in the dining room, we couldn't be in there to open presents. The living room gets too crowded with the bed for Les and Scott, so we put up the spiral one in there, and this year, we tried this in the dining room. (Last year for that thought).

Change of Plans--sewing!

2010-12-30T10:09:00.001-05:00

Yikes! Well, the quilt in the last post never even got touched...Why, you ask? Because I couldn't find it!! I may have left it at church or it's in another bag brought home from the last meeting, but I wasn't wasting time looking for it, when there are so many other things to do up there.

First things first, ... I needed to de-Christmastize the room; get the box of tags and ribbons boxed up, store the wrapping paper, put away the leftover gifts --they'll be used for someone's birthday or such-(I always buy more than I need in case of emergency) and...well, what do we have here?...A few pieces of clothing that needed mending/repairing. I can do that quickly! (And I did)

The table looks much better than it did, but it still has a long way to go.

Okay, I found a couple of quilts, already tied needing to have binding made/found etc. (I'll put those aside).

Ah! I keep moving this partial heartstring block, out of my way(the one on the left)... why don't I just finish it. Done! (Ok, it's done, but not used in a quilt, you say...not a problem. We have other HS blocks at church to be joined at some point. It will go there and be joined with others like it.)

Here are the two that needed to have bindings pick out, put together and sewn on them. They have it just at the pinned over, then my mom can hand sew them to the finish (she' loves that part). The one on the left (Blueberry HS) is going to a lady at church who has cancer, the one on the right (Easter Eggs) has no home yet, but it's always good for a child.

This is the pillowcase that never got made for Christmas (I use them to give to the grandkids and put their birthday/Christmas gifts in...). This will go into the stock pile (of 1). I have to make 10 a year, but in a few more years I'll add another to the list (Lee's son Jason and wife Emma are expecting, but the pillowcases only start coming when the grandkids are in their own bed).

This is the design wall in my room at the end of the day... I added some solid brown to two sides of the leftover blocks from Shattered Tiles and cut them to 12.5". Then I threw a few things up on the design wall to piece together for a backing. This is for the quilt "Shattered Italian Tiles". The medallion at the bottom is just a test run of something else, but I like it.

I also added some side borders to my Black Rose Panel quilt (not photo-ed yet) and it made a great quilt top.

Damn, do I feel great!!

In all this producing, I also started saving bags of crumbs (I had a few small bags that I consolidated into one) and strings to donate to my hearstring quilt project group (a yahoo group).

Aftermath.....

2010-12-26T14:09:00.000-05:00

Well, the house is finally quiet...
Daughter Julie and son Kai are off to visit friends before the big snow storm hits later today/tonight/tomorrow, ... Papa is watching tv (probably snoozing) from the couch, ... and I mean to get my piles of papers that I never get to organize, organized/tossed out/taken care of, ... and bills paid to the end of the year.

Then, when no one is here to interrupt me (I'm hoping the kids are still gone), I intend to attack the sewing room!!!! Yes, and maybe quilt!

I do have a top that was hurridly 'bordered', before it was squared (oops!), so maybe I can rip that apart and square up, in front of a good movie-- one that I can't watch with a 4 yr old in tow....

I used the sewing room as Santa's wrapping station and it's in need of a good going-through before it serves it's purpose as a sewing room again. (Although I did sneak up there and take the 7" square pieces of fleece (corners cut off from a tied blanket for GS,Kai) and made him two blanket/sleeping bags for his Zhu-Zhu pets this morning.

Merry Christmas to all....

2010-12-24T08:21:00.000-05:00

We'll be heading out later to my brother, Bill's house for the holiday. I still have wrapping to do, but my appetizer is done and in the frig. Really should get the house cleaned as Leslie and Scott are coming to stay the night. They'll open up gifts and then leave to have breakfast with his folks around 10am. I'll add photos as I can.

Great news!!!!

2010-12-22T07:34:00.002-05:00

In all the panic of Kai, I forgot to blog about the best gift card we got this year!

Lee and I have 6 kids, collectively, of which 3 are married and one to-be. Of those kids, I have 5 grandchildren, but one couple has not had any (and I truely didn't expect them to have any). This couple tends to give us restaurant gift cards/movie passes and we do the same with them. I think it's getting to the point where we're waiting for the year we give each other the same restaurant (we've done it before), then we'll go with each other.

Well, this year they gave us our card at Lee's oldest's Christmas party (last Sat), and when I opened the little envelope, the card's front had this on it..."6<>26<>11". The <> is a rinestone. It puzzled me only because my oldest is getting married on the 24th.,,, but of July. Still puzzled, I opened the flap to see the most precious wallet-sized ultrasound picture!!!! All I could do was inhale sharply....and almost forgot to exhale, until someone else (other gramma), yelled! Wheeeee, yippee!

Second best gift..... after thirteen yrs of not being able to have my car even 'breathe in ' the air in the over-sized two-car garage, I now have a space in the garage for MY car. (We've always had antique car(s) in there, but since he sold the 1960 Falcon, the 1954 Ford Customline... I share the space with the 1948 Willy's

Night terrors in a 4 yr old...

2010-12-21T06:08:00.001-05:00

It's a reasonable time now, (5:50am.., well, maybe not for some), but I've been up since 1:10am with my grandson, Kai as he's dealt with the struggles of night terrors and hallucinating. He's been diagnosed with Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) and impulse control issues (slight hint of ADHD) and was recently put on medication (Concerta) for it. As in yesterday evening. They told my daughter, Julie (who still lives with us) that he may have some symptoms of sleeplessness. Well, I gotta say (pardon my language, but I've had 2 hrs sleep), No shit, Sherlock!! I 'felt him leave my bedroom and head down to the first floor. I followed. The back door was wide open, he was talking about being afraid to go back to bed (they sleep in the basement), so tucked him in with us in our bed. He kept fidgeting and lifting his head up. Since Lee is a light sleeper, I took him downstairs to tuck him in and lay with him.

Then the 'sky opened up' and all he did for 5 hrs was talk about 'bats coming out of the hole', and 'do you see those eyes, Gramma?'... "There is a cow over there (pointing to the cellar window) and he's blocking our way. He's going into space."...." this story is just coming out of my brains!"... "Did you see that? There was a ghost flying by!!"... "But I caught him, See Gramma, he's sitting in my hand."... There's a crab/spiders on my leg/in my bed/ on my hair!! Get him off!!!"... and so on. He would sit up, and then lay down for seconds, then "Did you see that spider? There is his shadow!"...By 5am, he had all his clothes off and his mom was talking to the doctor on call (but he still wouldn't sit down in his bed- he was standing there). She is now at the Manchester ER hoping to have them tell her what she can do for it (was it a reaction? a side effect? a poisoning of his system?...).

Now how do I get through the rest of today. Probably with a lot of coffee...Pray for us all.
****
Update on Kai,.... doctor said to cut pill in half and give to him on Christmas eve (I say go one more day since we're going out that evening- in case we have a bad episode), and Christmas day and see how he is on Sunday. If fine, then give full dose on Sunday and after that. Julie wants to only give 1/2 dose all week then see how he is. (He was fed crackers and orange juice in ER, then allowed both of them to get some sleep before discharge from hosp). He still talks about the crabs/spiders in bed, but I sang him to sleep with Christmas carols and stories of Goldilocks.

Can I sneak in a sewing weekend?

2010-12-11T06:23:00.006-05:00

Yes, I know it's close to Christmas and I should be buying/wrapping gifts, but there has been a 'silver lining' that came in with this dark cloud at our house...MY SATURDAYS ARE FREE!!!

If you read my last post, my 24-yr daughter (who lives with us, along with her 4 yr old son) lost her job at a veterinarian hospital. I used to give up my Sats. to watch her my grandson and that was okay (I actually told her that I'd give her one day of the weekend to watch him for work- it just ended up being Sat almost always), but I guess, since I spend the morning at church on Sundays , I really ended up with a half day for ME on the weekends. And at this time of year, my busy time, that pretty much sucks, since I can't get a lot done for me. He's very active (has issues with ADHD and impulse control), so I spend most of the time loving him and having fun (yes, I'm the entertainment committee).

But NOWWwwwww, I'm free!
...to sew
....and soon I'll have a shortened work schedule (maybe no Fridays), so that's even more time to sew. YEA!

Soon,... very soon, my hubby will be off to work (works every three Sats), and daughter and son will be off to an annual Christmas party at a social club in town, and I'll be alone. Yeah,...alone. I have so many things to do, but I should do the things I can when they aren't around. Like wrap my husband's present (I got a ...well, I can't write it here since he's sitting next to me on his computer), and a few other things I've gotten. Then I can see where I am with buying. I also have to make 3 more pillowcases (I use these for gift wrapping for my grandkids presents). I need to pick out fabric for them and I should call and ask them what they want; dogs, cats, fairies, cars, etc.

I should just make the list here, then cross it off as I go..
1. ~~Wrap gifts already bought~~
2. ~~Buy/mail MIL's giftcard~~
3. ~~grocery shop (sometime this weekend)--need milk~~
4. ~~make and add label to quilt for Darrell~~
5. ~~write letter to go with quilt with correct spelling of name~~
6. ~~write letter to go with Betty B's quilt~~
7. ~~make 3 pillowcases... made two~~
8. make purple binding for Easter egg quilt
9.buy blue fabric for blueberry quilt
10. Make binding for Blueberry quilt
11. ~~go see if DIL needs help moving into new house(rental)~~
12. ~~go to~~ ~~http://www.theknot.com/~~ ~~site to check out what daughter needs for wedding~~.
13. rip out borders on lasagna quilt that it wicked off-skewed
14 ~~Write to Anna with records keeping of PBPQ; Betty, Darrell, Erk~~
15. ~~Contact Lelia for delivery info for Erik's quilt~~ --quilt delivered
16. ~~Write annual report for St Mary's- PBPQ~~
17. Write announcement of upcoming quilting event and send to Noreen for newsletter.
18. ...
I think that's it.

If you wish to see some of the projects that I may be working on at home, this blog is where I posted the photos....(Boy, see how many are getting done?....)

not a good day....Julie

2010-12-09T00:19:00.001-05:00

Well, my daughter just informed me she may be losing her job on Thurs....her boss is an idiot, but that's besides the point. Says she can't do her job without others helping her out (then why did they give her a promotion, and raise a month or so ago?)...AND he's offering her a 'good recommendation' if she wants to transfer to the E Hartford branch (veterinary clinic) or she can be 'let go'...(How does that work? You thought she was worth a 'good recomendation', but she doesn't do her work well???? As a boss, I even know that doesn't really make sense!).... I say, take the 'good recommendation, tell him he'll have to 'fire you, get a pink clip and collect until you find another job. Call all the people (car payment, school loan, ins.... those you'd owe money to) and arrange payments considering your circumstances. Better to approach them, then repo the car.

She really has gotten through life the hard way. Mostly by her choices, but she must look for every rough road!

Let's hope she doesn't:
1. lose her car (due to lack of $$ to make payments),
2. lose her insurance on that car (ditto)
3. lose her patience with her son (and the rest of us),
4. lose her mind.... (or ,... maybe that's ME).

Maybe it's like Elizabeth Edwards (RIP) says... that you will find that the winds around you will change often in your life. You just have to remember to adjust your sails. Keep moving forward....everything that comes to mind...
This could be a blessing in disguise, this will be something you learn from, it's actually a blessing for me. I now get my Sat.s back...(I was always babysitting Malakai on Sat.s).

ps... her 'good recommendation' that was typed up, sounded more like a work 'verification' to me...and yes, she's done.

New Pages Feature

2010-11-20T20:02:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure I have the gist of it quite yet, but I posted a tutorial up there (at the top bar), and maybe that should have been in my normal posts. Oh well,... I hope you get to enjoy the process anyway.

Never a Dull moment....

2010-10-30T17:47:00.002-04:00

Well, it's been an interesting two days. All I've wanted to do was sew. Granted I knew there would be work to contend with, but I knew that with no more overtime being allowed (thank goodness!), I'd be getting out at around 12-1pm on Friday....and I had plans...........
1. Go home and have a quiet cup of tea and lunch (ALL BY MYSELF)...didn't happen.
2. Go through a couple of boxes of stuff from my late aunt and send things to people who sent them to her... didn't happen.
3. Sew (I have a lasagna quilt in the machine on the dining room table, still waiting to have me play with... didn't happen.
4. Get ready to go to the MGM Grand theater at Foxwoods Casino to see America's Got Talent (with my hubby),... okay, that DID happen, but only after my daughter called me at work to see what time I could pick up her son, Malakai from the sitters....(damn!)...
Well, there went my afternoon.
And the fact that my hubby ran out of work early and was home when I got home at 1:30pm.... well, we could have gone down to the casino early and played the penny slots. Oh well....

We did have a blast at the theater and did get some shots of some of the contestants on tour (not great since I took them with my cell phone and downloaded them...). I also found out some interesting info regarding the show. Those who don't get first place really get no monetary compensation other than $1000 a week while on tour (5 wks), but I never found out if that was per person or per act. Hmmm. I never asked details, it was just told to me by Taylor Matthews when I told him I hoped the top ten got some kind of monetary compensation for being in the top ten. I got a few signatures of Anna and Patrik (ballroom dancers, 12 yrs old), a few members of Fighting Gravity, Jeremy (bike trick act), Taylor Matthews (songwriter and singer), but I really wished I'd seen Michael Grimm (FABULOUS singer) and Michael Grasso (magician)...oh well.

-----------------
Okay, Saturday came....
Now, Lee went to work (an occasional thing) early- 6:30am- and when I woke up (7:48am), I noticed the back door opened....I looked out and saw Lee's car gone, but realized == NO MALAKAI! My grandson was nowhere to be found!! I woke up his mom, who usually has him in her bed. We looked outside, and called him. I suggested going next door, where his newly acquired friend, Alex (8 yrs old) lives. They have a slider onto a porch, but their back door was locked, so I didn't think he was there. After double checking all the possible places he might be (garage, back yard, Alex's backyard, Calling Alex's house by phone, banging on their doors- they were asleep, looking up or down the street, calling him, repeatedly, ... my daughter resigned herself to call the police. She just got off the phone calling work to say her son was missing and she couldn't find him and wouldn't be in until she did, and he came walking in the back door with Alex's Hess tanker truck in his hands....!! She wanted to kill him! And just seconds after, the two police cars came flying to a stop in front of the house. We rushed out and told them he just showed up, saying he'd been at Alex's house playing in Alex's bedroom (unbeknownst to any of them as they were all sleeping-someone left the back door unlocked, but Malakai probably locked it after going in, "so mommy wouldn't come in after him to take him home" --this is my guess). He said he went in through the "curtain", we realized that he called their screen slider door 'the curtain' and was playing in Alex's room when Alex woke up and asked him what he was doing in his room, and did Malakai's mom know he was there, (Yup, says Malakai). We found this out after Alex woke up and brought Malakai's fleece jacket over. Apparently, Julie had plopped him into bed fully dressed, since he'd fallen asleep in his clothes...but he didn't have his shoes on, just socks.
Once we took the truck back to Alex's (over major protest by Kai!!-oh well), and tried to tell him how scarry it was for my and his mom, and how it was wrong to go into someone's house without them knowing it or mommy knowing it (I don't think he got that part), and DEFINITELY wrong to take someone's toys home, just because you want it!!!, I heard my daughter say ...something about being grounded for life, and I wanted to laugh (since that's what I used to say to her often...not that she got that either (and she was a teenager). I'm not sure what this feels like to have it happening to her like it happened to me, but I hope she just lets this go lightly, since he's only 4 and he won't understand it like we adults do.
She went off to work and our day continued....
Until my hubby came home and told me he forgot to set the brakes on a used car at work and he drove it into the garage door and broke some plate glass windows in the door. He and the owner will talk on Monday, but he's upset. He's never done this in 19 yrs of being a auto technician. He's very upset and I feel so bad for him. He's only been with this place for a few months, although I think the owner really likes his work so far. Well, until today. Poor guy...
I hope I sew tomorrow....(remember, .. I really wanted to sew sometime this weekend.)

Sewing weekend...? This is it!

2010-10-15T08:28:00.003-04:00

I think I'm gonna set up my sewing machine in the dining room... ON the table.... and put a project in the seat of the chair next to it. THEN I'll be ready to just sit and sew.

What will I be working on? I've gotten back in the habit of checking the Heartstring quilt group to get my juices flowing and it's working. I'll put out a lasagna quilt that our church group (Peace by Piece Quilters) has started - the strips are sewn, end to end. Now for the layering.

And there is the envelope blocks that are pinned in columns, but not sewn. That could be a good job. I could even do that by hand at work, but I like the sturdiness of the machine sewing. I want to make one of these blocks that are actually an envelope and use it as the label for the back and put the washing instructions in the envelope. I'd like to call this ..."PS I love you". Maybe I'll have to applique a heart somewhere....

Good start, don't you think?

--------------------------------------

Update: I DID get to sew... even if it was in-between commercials of the Amazing Race and for a little while in the afternoon on Sunday! I have the lasagna quilt strips sewn together and the layers have started. It's been folded in half twice so far...Let's see if I can get any more done before the very busy weekend! (ps. it's not a good idea to leave your sewing machine in the dining room for too long, even with the cover on it. I found it with a bunch of fabric crunched up behind it, ... my 4 yr old granson was 'sewing, Gramma'. Good thing I taught him to sew correctly. still......

An aside...

2010-10-10T18:20:00.001-04:00

I thought I would sew today... I have a lasagna quilt I'd like to put together... and I still may. However, I absent-mindedly went through a box in the den that was tucked under a table (off to the side) as my hubby and I were watching a movie on the computer.

This box was just 'papers' which I always seem to have around to 'go through'...LOL I never want to throw out stuff unless I at least look through it, but there's the rub. They seem to pile up. Those who know and love me know I always have a few 'piles' to go through. Someday, I'll unclutter my life.

This box, come to find out.... was things from my Aunt Jessie-Jean's house when we cleaned out her stuff after her death in 2005. ... or was it 2004?

Anyway, I found a newspaper of the 1938 Flood of Hartford, CT...and her last evaluation and 'fight' with administration at her long-time employers, The Institute of Living. Interesting read. Quite a few photos and negatives (threw out the ones with no people in it, and I'll send some things to my siblings that they must have sent her... And I also found a framed poem by her Aunt Jessie (Russell), entitled, "Devotion". She apparently used the pen name, Jessica English. I'll send this to my cousin Dinah Coleman, since this Jessie is HER grandmother.

Devotion

Little son o'mine with eyes of blue

And the smooth, soft hair of brownish hue,

You cannot guess how great your power

To make me love you more each hour!

Let other ladies have their joys

In silken gowns and puppet toys,

And pity me who needs must stay

At home and care for you each day.

How can they sense a mother's bliss

The wonder-joy of your sweet kiss?

How can they know when the day has fled,

The fun of tucking you (in) bed?

Your rosy lips, your chubby fists

They see them not as joys they've missed;

So pitying them as they do me,

I turn to kiss your dimpled knee.

Jessica English

Boiler coming on Friday

2010-09-29T07:13:00.002-04:00

This is exciting because not only will we be getting a new boiler, but I'll be home for the day and that means I MAY get in some sewing!! This is such a busy time at work that I never 'plan' to sew unless it's for my quilting group at church. I really need to update their blog, too.

This is "the old Beast"... It's been there forever. We've had the house since 1997, but it was built in the 1940's and was an oil burner. It was converted into gas before we bought the house, so I'm sure it will be a bear getting it out. I've been told it probably weighs 700 lbs. and the new one coming in will be half the height and closer to the back wall. We'll keep the expansion tank since it's pretty new.

This is the water tank that we AREN'T replacing at this time... She's beast, too, but she's still plugging along for what we need, so as the old 'New Englanders' say.... "if it aint broke, don't fix it."

Of course, that doesn't apply to boilers, because as the gas co. told me, there are two obsolete parts on our boiler and if they suddenly go (and you KNOW it's gonna be on the coldest day of winter with 4' of snow on the hatchway), they would condemn it. Then we would be without heat until we put a new one in (and that sounded like an instant decision on a boiler -whatever isn't a special order, just what they have available- and instant money coming from the bank acct-which we may not instantly have).

We've been saving for a little while, so we could replace it now. And besides, we can use our energy rebates for this year and last year up to $1500, so let's do it!

Almost quilting....

2010-09-27T00:08:00.000-04:00

I haven't been doing much quilting as of late and I miss it. I even kept my sewing machine in the trunk of my car, since my last mtg at church ....until today. It's in the house. Hopefully to be used this week. Granted not in the next day or two, I have too many appts. for tomorrow, but just taking the thing OUT of the trunk, gets the juices running.

I do have a quilt for charity that I've been waiting for an updated address to send it along, but I'll have to go with the one that's been on their caring pages. This isn't the whole quilt. I've added borders to it, so I'll post a finished photo of it as soon as I unload them from the camera.

Sad sister news

2010-09-24T21:51:00.002-04:00

Have to wait for Tuesday of next week to find out results of my sister's biopsy. She found a lump under her armpit while applying deodorant in mid Aug. this year. Had a mamo and an unltrasound, met with a doctor who said they wouldn't know anything definite until after the biopsy, but it didn't look good. (I'm pissed that a doctor would tell my sister something so negative without knowing. You want to work with hope, not just 'possible' reality. Yes, I know she works with this all the time, but ...)
My prayers are with you.... especially, since she is having issues with her husband right now. She doesn't feel loved.
I love you....

New Chapters

2010-09-18T23:59:00.001-04:00

Well, I'm glad my daughter has turned a new chapter in her life, even if it means she stays with us a little while longer. She has sold her dog, Snoopy, even though he hasn't lived here with her and Malakai. She's been keeping it at a friend's house in New Britain. I wouldn't allow a dog here, and she knew it. It was a birthday gift (?) from her 'former' fiancee when they were engaged...but that ended with a text message on Labor Day weekend. From him. Sad, but not...She is doing well with it, but it certainly changed the way things were going for her.(Transfer of job/Kai's school/doctors/child care/med ins/etc... to FL, and plans to save money for the move - $1300 for moving van). He wasn't ready... being in FL makes it easier for her. It's easier on Kai, too... He's so in cinque with family and Sheila (day care) ....It will be a better Christmas for us, too.

Hello Nelson...

2010-09-02T22:18:00.001-04:00

Well, it didn't take him long to replace old Bess... here is the new occupant of the garage. Nelson from CA. He came on a double tandem trailer and rode with some pretty impressive occupants; jaguar, rollsroyce.... He looks at home in the garage, doesn't he?

He seems to be in good condition. Lee likes him. And by the window decorations, he seems to have ahd some interesting history at the Bonneville Flats, racing.

Malakai enjoyed that he could sit on the tail and not scolded that he couldn't be there...

In fact so much that he decided to 'help Papa' with the tires...

gave him a better seat!

Of course, that means the hands are FILTHY!! ...(come on, Gramma, he's a boy! He can get dirty!!)

At least I got ONE hand clean!!!!

Bye Bessie...

2010-08-02T20:03:00.000-04:00

Okay.... I haven't been on my blog since before our vacation and I miss it. SOOO much has happened that isn't getting written about and documented. But today is a really big day. My loving husband and I went to a very large car cruise (Cruisin' on Main) in our town on Sunday. It usually pulls in about 10,000 cars along a one mile strip.We haven't gone in a few years, but this year we went... and this year, he decided to make the hard decision to put a "For Sale" sign in the 1954 Ford Customline's window. It sold SO fast we couldn't see straight! The photos are when we first got it in 1996...Julie was 9 yrs old.... (she's now 24).

He's been looking for something to work on (think, giant model car to build) since we've had this one for about 15 yrs and it's really done. Maybe a few tweaks to do, but basically done.

He got so many phone calls about it, he's still spinning. This one guy (Bessie's now proud owner), Scott, REALLY was looking for JUST this car. He's been looking for a few years. The minute he saw it, he told his wife, "This is the car I want!"

Well, it's his.... I'm kinda sad.... I think Lee is, too. He may regret it later, but he's glad it's going to the guy it went to. ..... bye Bessie...Love you.

Genealogy- brush the dirt off those roots!

2010-05-13T23:33:00.000-04:00

I was asked by one of my co-workers to help her find her grandmother's side of the family. Since I do this as a hobby and have freelanced for others out of state, I agreed to be hired by her.

I have been a member of the CT Society of Genealogists, Inc since 1983, although I've done it sporadically. I have my family done on some branches all the way back to 1590's....

I LOVE the process of the search, whether it's on my family or someone else's....It's like putting together a puzzle, and hope to get certain sections connected, then bringing the whole thing together is a gift. I love just getting a section at a time done. Even if it's not MY family. Sometimes, I end up knowing their family better than they do. Such a mystery.

Thankfully, they are mostly in CT at the moment, but all the resources online, make it great for branching the tree out. After my vacation, I hope to use a half-day Friday at some point to go to the CT State Library (Archives) to do some serious looking.

Lots of doings...and planning sewing too!

2010-05-13T23:27:00.000-04:00

I have to plan what to take to Maine with us..... sewing-wise, too, since my dear hubby said to bring the sewing machine (we're going for two weeks). Something fun! Maybe a UFO or two. I should stock up on pillowcases for the grandkids birthdays and christmas (I use them for giftwrap)...

Another 'doings', is that after 18 yrs at a local dealership, my dear hubby gave his notice. They took it fine, mainly because he didn't say he was moving to their competition. He just said after 18 yrs he thought it was time to 'move on'... after all he is 63 this year. They asked if he was retiring or working parttime somewhere and he said "I don't know.... I just know it's time to move in another direction in my life"... That was SO well put. Didn't burn any bridges and hopes all goes well for the last two days.

After our vacation, he'll be starting at another Toyota place in the state. Working for someone he's worked with before and really likes!! It will be a 'flat-rate' place too, with potential to make lots of money. Hope so.... Good luck, honey. I support whatever makes you happy.

Now, what to pack for Maine?..... guess I need to check the laundry. I'll have the car packed by tomorrow night, since we're leaving at 5am. Sat. I hope to hit the Marden's in Ellsworth, ME for supplies (;-) just love to get a bargain. Maybe I'll actually look at the rest of the store (not just the fabrics)!

Dan's First Naval Leave- May 2010

2010-05-09T19:11:00.006-04:00

Dan, in the center, came home after naval school in Pensicola, FL for a 10 day visit before deploying to his permanent ship, the USS Carl Vinson, stationed in San Diego, CA. It was so nice to see him. Here he is with his friends, Kyle and Melissa and cousin Julie (my daughter).

Here he is with his friend Melissa, his Uncle Bob (the builder) and his two nephews, Jonathan (in his lap) and Malakai.

His cousins enjoyed themselves,Kathy and Jenny and my stepdaughter, Amber.

Here is some of my brother Bob's family...Jonathan and wife Paula. Nice photo.

We would have stayed longer, I'm sure, but there was a power outage 5 mins. before we got there, so we all were in the dark shadows for the party (we stayed 2 hrs). The kids built a bon-fire in the back yard, but the winds were REALLY whipping, so it may not have been a great idea to do THAT!! Hope we see him before we leave on vacation and he goes back. He certainly has grown up.... nice to see that.

Bob's Last House...

2010-05-09T18:58:00.000-04:00

As my aunt Norma said when we pulled into the driveway... "That's his house?? The HOTEL??" LOL

Well, yeah, I guess it does look like it. Once you get to the house and walk up along the right side of it, the drop off is pretty sharp. My mom has a fit getting near the edge (she's 82). I guess it IS pretty steep, and he does have a 2 yr old.

If I turn around, this is the side of the house that actually looks out on to the view. The porch enters into the living room (lower right) and the upper floor slider is in the master bedroom (little Jonathan's room is the left window sticking out).

This is the view from the upstairs bedroom porch.... nice.

This is the wrap-around porch. The window into the living room (the brick is the chimney).

I love the peek-a-boo spot above the porch... there will be windows on each wall. This is also from the master bedroom (I think I'd just like to live in THAT room!!)

And to think he designed this house from a picture in a magazine (just the outside of it). He 'winged' the inside rooms since it was just a Victorian house in the photo. He is truly a gifted architect and builder. He's doing almost all of it himself. Damn, you're good, Bob!!

Electricity and procrastination

2010-05-09T18:20:00.000-04:00

We had our electrician come and fix our lines... the outside lines ...and change us from fuses to breakers.

He also added an outlet in the kitchen and fixed our chain lights downstairs (Malakai figured out that, even though he can't reach the chain (to the florescent lights) from his bed, if he climbed onto his mom's bed and jumped OUT and towards HIS bed, he could grab the string/chain. This is the old chain he took out....

No matter that the string couldn't hold him. Hence, needing to have the electrician take apart the fixture and install a new chain). This time, I have the strings hitched up higher (I hope high enough). We'll see...

The only problem was that due to the weather, he didn't hang around long enough (the electrician) to label ALL the breakers, but I said we would do it. Why do I do that???? Say that I'll get it finshed? I KNOW I won't. It'll drag on so long that when the building inspector comes to inspect, it won't have gotten done. Of course, he was nice and said he could either 'fail us' and we'd have to have the electrician come back to do that, or he'd 'pass us' and we'd have to promise to do it and call him to let him know that it's been done. I siad we'd do it. (Do I even have to tell you...? No, I haven't done it and it's a week later). TODAY, Lee and I WILL get it done. I hate electricity. Why did I agree to do it myself? Besides, it's Mother's day. I invited my mom over for spaghetti and a movie ("It's Complicated"- given to me by Julie for mom's day). It was a fun day, but we have lots to do before we leave for vacation next Sat.

You wanna see the awful electrical lines on the outside of our house??? Here are some of them.

Pretty bad, huh? I wondered whether the meter hanging was a mistake or not. He said the inspector would okay the job then notify the electric company to reset it. Ok!

How I spent my 56th birthday!!

2010-04-25T08:56:00.002-04:00

The day before I went to my sister's hair salon and got my haircut... very short, but nice.

I also planned to go with my sweet husband to the Foxwoods casino, but NOT for gambling. He had a pinewood derby race scheduled with the boyscouts group down there, but for adult racers. It was a fundraiser ($50 an entry, so we only entered one car-- "S Car Go") for BSA (Boy Scouts of America).

Lee also set up a table for his other cars and a flyer that we made up for his NEPRL racing group. He got a lot of action there at the table and may have a few more new members.

His car in on the right, second from the bottom... "S Car Go"... with the snail and the rocket on it's back! LOL

He wasn't running his car in the beginning, being 34 cars entered, so he had time to get a feel of the race times. I think he got a little nervous with one racer who's car was running 3.005's and 3.004's. That seemed to have made a new track record.

Then came "S Car Go".

She wasn't too impressive on her first of 6 heats and by the 3rd lane/heat, she was getting worse... then the announcer said "S Car Go" was entering the slowest lane, lane 4... the green lane. I'm sure Lee was wondering how much worse it was gonna be. The last lane (3) he ran 3.010 (started in lane 1 with 3.007).

Here she goes..... aaahhheeeeeeee! Damn! 2.997 !!!! (the photo is fuzzy, but the guy's head kept getting in the way of the screen)

A NEW TRACK RECORD!!

He also didn't do so bad on the last two lanes....
In fact he WON the competition. I was very proud of him. I don't think he thought he'd won, since the first few heats weren't really great!

Once the race was over, they let him run a few of his exhibit cars on it.... They did great, too!!!

Life changes?

2010-04-21T17:53:00.002-04:00

I got a call from my hubby, while I was at home today, and he is gonna interview for another job (actually another employer, same type of job -- Auto technician) on Friday. He's gonna go to where his recent service manager left to go to. His present job is a good dealership, sales-wise, but the son doesn't run it as good as his father did.

On similar notes, I have this week left before I go back to work on Monday. Poop! I really was getting to like it. Let's see how much stuff I can get done before I go back! (The race is on....)

Such a Deal!...?

2010-04-18T18:10:00.002-04:00

I took a break from sewing and took my hubby shopping for a mattress for us. We've been married for 13 yrs and our bed was mine when I was just divorced... 1990?... can't remember if it was a hand-me-down back then, so it's old and saggy and lumpy... and my shoulders hurt when I wake up and my hubby's hips hurt when he wakes up, so ... since we came into some money, we're doing it right this time. I assume it will be the last time we buy one.
Anyway, Better Bedding had a nice set for $700.... then we went to Sleepy's.... BIG mistake, since we spent almost twice as much there (although the bed was made for us-- not a sleep number, just computerized for each side to be conditioned for us on our side of the bed). They doubled the 'rebate' that thay originally were gonna give us (we told them we found one we liked at BB)... and they couldn't give us free delivery (BB would have), nor free removal (BB would have), but since we asked if that could happen, they reduced the price of the set the amount of Delivery & Removal so that when they added it on, it looked like it would be free! It was still an Expensive set.... more than I almost was comfortable, but hubby was set on them (AND they were throwing in two $100 pillows that we'd been carrying around to try out beds with. Very comfy!
We slept on it last night for the first time and I'm not sure yet, even though it comfy to lay on, to sleep the whole night may take a little getting used to. VERY different from my old bed. I'm trying it with my old feather pillows tonight. Maybe that will be okay, til I get used to the bed.

Organize, then sew?

2010-04-17T07:04:00.000-04:00

I haven't been doing much sewing in my sewing room, because 1) I was given about 6 plastic tubs of fabrics (mostly batiks, tone-on-tone) and it's still sitting on my cutting table, because there isn't any room in my closets where I store my fabrics, 2) I haven't taken my sewing machine out of it's case since I went to sew with a friend in MA... AND I am attending a quilt-a-thon at our church in three days, so I might as well keep it in the case and really should bring it downstairs now (it's really heavy) and 3) I've been trying to get taxes finished and house decluttered (didn't I post a while ago that I needed to finish taxes??). Whew! One long sentence.

Well, I plan to go up after posting this and organize the space in the sewing room, at least. I'm working on some plaid (white centers) heartstring blocks so I thought I'd go finish those (have to count how many I need to finish a quilt- have 13 done).

I thought this was cool with a label from the inside of the neck showing...(I saved everything from the plaid shirts).

... or I could clear the cutting table so I could cut my outer border for the Alexa's quilt (swimmer with leukemia). I found some purple Hannah Montana fabric for the back (although I'll need to add Chinese coins to extend it- that's ok).

I did get to put the two inner borders on at Cricket's house last week, so I did get SOMETHING done. See? oh. I guess you don't see, since I didn't post any photos here. Here you go....

I even got the back finished.

I really wish I had enough time to put together a few tops (36"x 36" or 45" x 45") for the Project Linus quilt-a-thon on Tuesday, but I won't, ....I know it.

One week left....almost

2010-04-07T07:29:00.000-04:00

In just over a week I'll be back to work. Damn! Yup, that's just how I feel about it. When do I retire?? (Obviously, not soon enough).
I've gotten alot of things accomplished, but I could have gotten a lot more done, if I was more organized. We are getting a lot of things done within the renovation mode we were in, but things did stop for a while when we were notified that we need to think about replacing the boiler. That will put us back about $4,000-9,000 ... AND we need to replace the outside electrical line to the house (the one that runs down the side of the house- not coming from the pole on the street), since it's so frayed!! These became priorities when there was a safety issue involved.
The only good news is that we got a 'gift' from my mom that enabled us to reconsider at least looking into a mattress for us and redoing the floor in the kitchen/hall/bath. We'll see.

In the meantime, I've gotten a lot of things done sewing, too! The projects this week have been to go over to church and clean out the complete set of cupboards (not particularly my job), and in that process I organized the Parish Life cabinets (my old committee), and the Peace by Piece Quilters cabinets. I also learned we have been given all of the lower cabinets for our 'stash'!!

I also, bit the bullet and machine quilted the "Swimming with Montana" heartstring quilt (leg/bone cancer for Alexa Marie Feragne). I wasn't sure how much machine and how much tying I was to do on it. It would speak to me, I'm sure. I'm almost pleased with how it came out... one little wrinkle. But that's not bad for how hard it was to keep it straight/flat when we were pin-basting it at church.

I cut the borders for an experiment quilt that our church group made... spikes on a Heartstring quilt, instead of the 2" straight cut center strip. I wanna name it "Starlight".Came out rather nice with the black border, I think, but I hope adding the yellow outer border doesn't make it look too much like a bumble bee! I'll find out today.

I also signed up our group for a little girl 8yr old who loves pink & black!! This should be a fun quilt to do... She has been on Charlotte's Garden since last July or August, so I have to work quickly. I think I'll put a few blocks together of 9-patches with Pinks and various blacks.

Quilt-a-thon

2010-04-02T09:47:00.001-04:00

Our church has an annual quilt-a-thon for Project Linus, usually in Feb or Mar. and this year I was able to attend (I am still on layoff 'til the 26th of this month). This year they ended up with about 100 quilts put together on that day, but the Lutheran church always seems to add another 20 or so. Here are some pictures of this year's day... (Some are just fabric, sandwiched and tied.... no piecing done).

Here are Margaret (front) and Linda and Marilyn, working diligently on piecing (some were) and on sewing them envelope-style...

...these ladies were doing the tying

Here is the batting area...

Anna is hard at work... Notice the pile next to her? They need to be sewn and turned, then tied.

Lots of work going on....

Margaret is finally done with her heartstring quilt.

Here's the start of them getting put up.

Here's more...

and more...

and more... Good work, ladies!

GHQG Quilting Retreat-3 days!

2010-03-30T00:38:00.003-04:00

I just got back from a quilting retreat, from Friday 2pm until Sunday 5pm... and let me tell you, other than eating and sleeping (and there wasn't much of that going on) all we did (43 of us) was SEW~!!!!! It was done through our guild (GHQG), and although I went solo (didn't know who else was going), I had a great roommate and met some great fun ladies! Oh, and did I SEW!!!

This quilt is one that a woman named Janet made with crumbs and 9-patches...with a wild print sashing. Looked great!

While others took time off occasionally to head to Walmart for fabric, supplies, etc (Not what I wanted to be wasting my time with), I kept my nose to my machine. The theme was a MHS (Material High School) reunion, where we even had a chance to dress up for the Sat prom (dinner). We all got MHS Homecoming 2007 t-shirts (Manchestger High is near where I live), a Financial totebag with lots of goodies in it, including scissors, unbrella, setting ruler, leather thimbles, and so much more. For the prom, some had some pretty crazy outfits!! It was the only time I didn't mind being away from the machine (I considered it an extension from dinner). The only thing I wished I had done, is send money with someone to get me lithium batteries for my camera, since it died early Sat morning. Drat!! I took these pictures after the event. I'm posting the link to GHQG so you can see photos when someone posts them there. As of this posting there weren't there yet, but check back.

Although no one needed a 'hall pass' for the bathroom, we were asked to 'ring the teacher's bell on the desk" when we'd finished a project ( sometimes only to whatever stage you could get it done to at the retreat) and then show everyone what you got finished. There were some great quilts done there!! It got to the point where 'my friends' wouldn't let me ring the bell on Sunday, since I 'finished' 7 projects by Sat afternoon!! I brought various UFOs and a few projects from my PbPQ crew, so some really didn't have much to do, but I moved them a few steps further than they would have had just sitting in the drawer at home. I offered to teach a class (pillowcases) on Sat. and learned (in someone else's class) a really interesting trick with bindings that actually helps me iron those little suckers really fast (works the same for my trim on the cases). I'll post a photo tutorial regarding it in another post soon.

Finished: (kinda)... 1. Smokey Mountain Stars (this link is for Bonnie Hunter's version, I still need to take a picture of mine, but I will. I only just had a third of the blocks put together ahead of time, so I finished the blocks there and made it into a top-- My version is not as 'smokey', but still plaids. I'm sure there is a great green plaid backing material at church, and I'll probably make a dark binding or roll the green backing around to the front.

2. I prepared a binding for a quilt "Diamonds in the Mud", that I've had in my UFO drawer for at least 3 yrs. Now I'll go find material for the backing.

3. I fixed a backing for a quilt that I knew the backing fabric was too narrow for, by cutting it diagonally and shifting it to widen. It goes with a quilt that was my first bargello (a test size)-- I liked it so I kept adding borders until it told me to stop. I think I'll make it into a tablecloth. ANYONE KNOW WHAT/WHETHER I NEED TO PUT BATTING IN OR NOT? I thought maybe I'll use a flannel sheet (good idea?).

4. Learned how to make a 'snap bag' from a placemat and a metal tape measure (that's what makes it go snap!), so I finished one! Cute.

5. I also brought a quilt that I loved how it got created, but I was so afraid how to quilt it by machine (I still have to figure how to quilt the border-- 'cuz I think it needs it). I bit the bullet and DID IT! Whew! Now just to figure if I have the soft green materials to bind it.

6. I brought the 'Liberated Log Cabin" (it was just to the block stage) and got it to a top. I realized afterwards that one block (bottom row) got turned... oops! Not sure if I'll turn it yet, but isn't this "Furrowed Rows"? Maybe I'll call this "Don't Drink with a Plow Horse" or "Furrowed Rows on the Rocks".

7. I finished the last border of Alexa's quilt ("Swimming Star"- 9yr old with leg cancer who just had surgery), and used the leftover fabrics to make Chinese coins to piece her backing. Then I cut up some of the Hanna Montana fabric from the back and made the binding, so it's ready to sandwich and quilt/tie/bind.

8. Decided to cut up some Oriental 5" charms for a quilt I saw at a quilting event (jotted the design on notepaper) and have that ready to make at some point.

9. and last but not least, I made four last RWB HS blocks (I had 20) for a quilt we are making for a returning soldier, put it together, then added the first of two borders. I plan to make a red scrappy binding.

Of course the only way I got so much accomplished is because I got up at 6:30am each morning, ate, then sewed....ate lunch, sewed... ate dinner, then sewed until 12:30am-1am both nights....then stayed until 4:45 pm on Sunday. Nothing like staying until the last shot's fired, huh? I also got 2nd place with a quilt challenge….Great weekend!